Title – Harry Potter: Return to the Chamber

Author – Grace the Amazing Cracker

Rating – PG13

Genre – Romance

Disclaimer – Its mine, all mine! Worship me like the goddess J.K. Rowling claims to be, bow down to me, pay me the respects I deserve! I taught Hermione everything she knows (and we all know that that's a lot)! I'm the genius behind the magic (*gets pelted with tomatoes for bad pun*)! Not really, but a girl can dream.


Summary – It's Ron and Hermione's wedding day. The day they've been waiting for all their lives. Yet, something is missing…

***

Ron gulped. He would have to go back to that terrible night – the worst night of his life – but now he would really have to relive it. But, it was worth it to bring Harry back.

"All right, I'm ready," Ron said, drawing a deep, determined breath. Hermione took April from him, then she lifted her wand. The last thing he saw as Hermione muttered the incantation was Moaning Myrtle peering at him from over the top of one of the stalls. Then there was a whirl of black and white, and a strange whooshing sound, and he was back at the Burrow.

Ron looked down at himself. He was in his seventeen-year-old body, which was sitting on the edge of his bed. He recognized the room to be his old bedroom.

Harry was on the other side of the room, putting on his shoes. He was motioning for Ron to hurry up. Ron hurriedly tied his shoes, and while doing so, realized that he had to control his own muscles, unlike in the flashbacks where the memory would guide him itself. Taking this into consideration, he figured that he could probably prevent Harry's death altogether. But knowing Hermione and her odd way of choosing nitpicky spells, the spell probably wouldn't work – or worse, he would be stuck - if he did anything too different.

The cool night air felt good on Ron's face as they walked across Stoatshead Hill. Their sneakers made a soft crunch crunch sound in the snow.

Harry was babbling about something, but Ron wasn't listening. He was too busy worrying about whether or not he could get behind the tree again in time to save his own life, since saving Harry's was out of the question.

As they entered the forest, Ron saw Lucius Malfoy's face again. Once more, he heard Harry cry out for him to get away, and he saw the green light that drained Harry's body of its life. For the third time in his life, Ron saw his lifelong companion fall to the ground, lifeless. (A/N: I just used the word "life" four times in the last sentence-and-a-half. O.o) He waited for Lucius to disappear, then he kneeled beside Harry's body, unsure of what to do next.

Then he heard a voice. It was barely above a whisper, hardly audible. He turned around to face the speaker, but no one was there. Ron was confused. He didn't remember this part. He held his breath and stayed totally still, hoping to make out where the whispers were coming from.

He realized that it was Hermione's voice. She was calling to him from the bathroom back at Hogwarts.

"Touch his scar, Ron. Touch his scar."

Ron lifted a shaky hand and placed it on Harry's cold forehead. A bright green light flowed from Harry's lightning scar and into Ron's fingertips on contact. Then the scar disappeared altogether.

Then Ron found himself back inside Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. He was breathing heavily and felt sort of faint.

"Oh, Ron!" Hermione cried, sounding distraught. She threw herself toward him and flung her arms around his neck. Ron hugged her close, out of force of habit. "You were just standing there, like a zombie, and you were twitching, and-"

"I'm fine," Ron whispered. "I'm okay now." He released Hermione from his grip. "And if all went well, I can speak Parseltongue now."

"It only lasts an hour," Hermione told him. She picked April up. "So we'd better go now."

Ron nodded and turned toward the sink. He couldn't help thinking that Myrtle was being awfully quiet, but he decided that was a good thing.

He focused his whole mind on the tiny snake. Concentrate on the snake, he told himself. He took a deep breath.

"Open up."

That's what it sounded like to him, but Hermione heard a series of spitting and hissing issue from Ron's mouth. She looked a little startled, maybe even alarmed, but immediately calmed down when she realized that was what Parseltongue sounded like.

Ron watched in awe as the carving wriggled to life once more and the wall behind the sink opened.

"You did it!" Hermione squealed.

He had done it. He had opened the Chamber of Secrets.