Author's Note: Dun dun dun…who will Ron choose? It's quite a pickle. Second to last chapter; right here, Ladies and Gents. This should be completed by the end of this weekend, most likely, and at least the first chapter and preface of Emily's story will be up, too (five of my twelve year old cousins are staying at my house this weekend. I plan on barricading myself in my room and only coming out for meals and the bathroom). Might I just say that this chapter was a very hard one to write. It isn't a light chapter, nor with the typical funniness that Landon (or I, I'm not sure) usually brings into the story. It's an emotionally challenging one for all of the characters, namely Ron and Landon. Of course, Harry and Hermione do see their share of emotional hell, but more so for our favourite redheads I think. I hope that you enjoy it.

"Bring Weasley," she said. Dad was thrown out of the barricade, and struggled to rush to Mum. Instead, the same boulder man that had hit her held him back.

"I propose a choice," she said. A boulder man grabbed me by the shoulder, and brought me to stand next to Mum, who looked down and offered me a reassuring, although unbelievable, smile.

"Weasley, it is time to decide what means more to you. Would you rather 'ave your family alive, or would you rather prevent a war?"

Without hesitation, Dad said, "Family." 

"I zee. Well, you will not be able to prevent zis war, Weasley, and your family will die. Ze choice for you is…wife or son?"

The words echoed in my head as I saw Dad's mind calculating. He looked down, unable to look at either of us. I couldn't look at Mum. She was looking down at the ground, either, unwilling to sway my father's decision. I know what she was thinking. She would rather that I live, and, given the choice, would have given up her own life for me. But it wasn't her choice; it was Dad's. He had to choose between his own flesh and blood and the woman he loved more than life itself.

"Ron…" Mum whispered. "Choose him. He's got so much of life ahead of him." Dad shook his head and held up his hand in a gesture for Mum to be quiet. He needed to think this out on his own.

"Well, Weasley? Wife or son?"

Eternity passed me by.

"Wife," Dad whispered.

"No…" said Mum, "Ron, no!" But it was too late. They threw Mum down on the ground, but she got up again, struggling against the Death Eater that stood in between the two of us. I stood there, appalled, and on the brink of hating my father.

"Take him away," said Delacour, "And the other two children as well."

I didn't feel a thing as I was slung over the man's shoulder and carried from the Great Hall, James and Charlotte in tow. I was completely numb, emotionless. I didn't hear Mum's sobs, I didn't see Dad's rage, and I didn't see Uncle Harry's fury or Malfoy's determination. Nothing. All I knew was that I was going to die and that was it. I would never turn twelve, I would never be able to date Fiona, and I would never get to be Head Boy. I would never get married, I would never have children, and I would never get to hear if it was true that Jack could say my name the right way.

No sooner had I thought of Jack than did I explode with rage. Of course Dad chose me! It was so obvious; he and Mum had already replaced me with Jack! What did they need me for; they already had two children at home. They could have more kids; they could replace me. But Dad would never be able to replace Mum; he was so incredibly devoted to her. It all made perfect sense, and I felt as though I really didn't have anything to live for any longer. My parents didn't care about me, Charlotte was going to die as well, so there would be no more competition to drive my success, and it seemed as if my parents were going to die anyway.

We were taken outside into the crisp March air, but I didn't feel the cold. It appeared as if Hagrid's hut had been turned into a barricade of sorts, for that's where they threw us. Guards stood outside, and the three of us were stuck. We just sat there for a while, ready to face the fate that had been laid out before us. Charlotte sniffed a bit; I wasn't sure if it was because she was going to be killed, or because of her broken wrist. I was sure that her wrist would have been bothering her anyway, so James and I helped to fashion a splint of sorts with a piece of Hagrid's chair and pillowcase. It worked all right, and I put a numbing charm on her wrist. We lapsed back into silence.

"Are you scared?" Charlotte asked after a long silence.

James and I both nodded.

"But my dad will figure something out," James said, "Don't worry, Char." She nodded bravely, but there were still tears clinging to her eyelashes.

"Bronte?" I asked. "What was that piece of parchment that you gave my mum?"

She smiled mischievously. "It was a position of the Death Eaters. We could see them from the owlery- all of their posts, hideouts, every regiment, everything. We intercepted one of their owls with all the details of the attack. Thought it might help."

I could have kissed her. No, not really, I mean, I wouldn't have, but I could have because I was so happy. Actually kiss her? No…no.

Bronte was still crying, so I reached into my pocket to find a handkerchief or something. I hated, hated, hated crying girls. Instead of finding a tissue in my robe pocket, though, I found a smooth piece of fabric. I realized that I still had the invisibility cloak. Further examination of my pockets revealed the Marauder's Map, as well as a chocolate frog (for nourishment, you understand- it is my firm belief that one should not go without chocolate for more than a day).

Of course I wouldn't kiss Charlotte!

I looked down at the cloak in my hands, by all standards, a passage of redemption. What would I do with it? How could I use it? I didn't show it to my friends right away. I knew what they would think- they'd want to come with me and imagine every possible scenario of 'what-ifs' know to man. I didn't want that right now, and most importantly, I wanted to sort things out on my own.

Damn it, Professor Dumbledore would know what to do. I'm crap at figuring out plans and secret missions. James was the one who had the imagination, but I knew that there was no way that I could tell him. I couldn't.

Perhaps I could explore a bit, you know, find out what was going on with the Death Eaters and report back to my parents? No, they already knew what was going on, thanks to Charlotte. Perhaps I could have a little fun with Professor Delacour? No, she would figure it out, I'm sure, that I was the one hurling 'curses' at her. Maybe I should just get out of here while I could, and send Malfoy down here for James and Charlotte? Yes, that was probably best. I didn't have to do anything heroic, just make sure that they made it. The three of us could sneak out of here and into the Forbidden Forest, then I could get back up to the school. I could go to the owlery to get word to the Ministry, and then go tell my parents where James and Charlotte would. Certainly with Bronte's broken wrist, we'd be slowed down a bit, and she couldn't stay alone and defenceless. James would have to see the sense in that and stay with her.

I stopped them from their talking and quickly whispered my plan. We could sneak out the window in the small bathroom, I would go out in the invisibility cloak, since I was the tallest, and hold it up in front of the window so James and Charlotte wouldn't be seen coming out. Brilliant! Once all three of us were out of the house, we jogged to the edge of the forest. This was the part of the plan that I had left out.

"James," I said, "stay here with Charlotte."

"Landon! We'll freeze!" Charlotte protested. She was already shivering intensely. I hadn't thought of that. I took off my cloak, wearing a long sleeved shirt underneath and handed it to her.  I was going right inside it wouldn't be too cold. That, of course, was assuming that I went right inside.

"Dude! You can't just leave me here! I want to come!" James was protesting.

"What, and leave Charlotte alone?"

"Why can't we both come?"

"She can't come with a wrist like that. The spell's going to wear off in a bit, and she wouldn't be any help to us! No offence, Char. We can't leave her here by herself, either, because she'll be defenceless. If you're both here, then maybe it'll be better."

James looked utterly dejected. What would Dad do?

"Look, James, I've made up my mind. I'm going. You can either come with me, thus abandoning your best friend, or you can stay and things will work out for all of us. Your choice."

He glared at me.

"Next time I have an adventure," he said, "You can't come."

"The trees should be a good cover for you; so should the cloak. Perhaps you should bewitch the colour to blend in with the underbrush? That might work better."

"Newsflash, Landon," said Charlotte, "We haven't got wands."

Hahaha…funny, Bronte. Only I can get away with saying things like that.

"Well…well…I dunno, improvise. I'll be back; don't worry," I promised them before slipping the cloak over my head and sprinting off in the direction of the school. What I saw at the gate scared the crap out of me. Dementors.

Your father doesn't love you…was taunting me as I ran past them. I knew that they could see me, but I didn't care. I had to get inside. Your classmates could be dying right now…Delacour betrayed you…your father doesn't love you…your mother didn't stop him…your father doesn't love you… I couldn't take it anymore. This was horrid, and I wanted to die just from hearing it. Tears stung my eyes as the faces of tortured students flashed before my mind's eye, and I never wanted to be safe and at home more in my life. But that was the scariest part of all. I might never be safe at home ever again.

The door couldn't have opened any slower. It seemed heavier than a hippogriff as I tried to pull it open only far enough for someone as skinny as I to fit through. Although it didn't have to be very wide, it still took a lot of effort.

I squeezed through, and shut it silently behind me. I made my way to Gryffindor tower to retrieve my wand. The sight before me was terrifying.

First year students were tied together, like cattle, being led by a Death Eater. The students were sniffling as he whipped them like animals. I caught sight of Fiona. She was very small for her age, and when the Death Eater sent a whip cracking in her direction, she collapsed on the ground, causing the whole group to stop. The Death Eater kicked her when she didn't get up, causing her to double over in pain once again. As much as I wanted to help her, I couldn't. Jessie was feeling the same emotions, I could see. She was sobbing like Fiona was as she saw her best friend beaten. Shackles bound her wrists and feet, and she was also helpless to react. Finally, the Death Eater picked her up by her collar, and commanded the group to keep marching.

When they were gone, I raced forward, stopping to hide behind suits of armour as similar groups passed me. I remained unnoticed, and slipped into the Common Room. It was abandoned; so retrieving my wand was not a difficult thing to do. I hurried from the Common Room to the owlery, desperate to get help. There was no way that this battle would last for the staff here, especially if the Death Eaters succeeded in gathering more followers in their campaign through Hogsmeade. I found my owl, Calliope, and scribbled a hasty note to my grandfather, also asking him to alert Uncle Sirius. I also sent out James's owl, Pegasus, to Aunt Ginny, explaining to her and asking her to take care of Jack and Emily until this was all sorted out. I wondered if the adults would believe me, and prayed that they would.

I slipped the cloak over my head once more, and made my way down to the Great Hall.  The staff was all sitting in a clump, talking quietly, with their hands bound behind their backs and feet bound in front of them. I snuck over to where they were, and was close enough to hear Mum and Dad's conversation.

"You'd better have a plan, Ron," Mum said angrily. She was more upset than I had ever seen her. Her eyes were red-rimmed and bloodshot from crying. "I'll not let my son die. I still can't believe that you did that."

"I have a plan, Mione, trust me," he said, trying to work out the knot that was binding his wrists.

"Oh, yes, I'm sure it's brilliant. Just like that last one that you had which landed us here!"

"Listen," Dad said, edgily, "I don't want anything to happen to him, either, but-"

"Oh, yes, that's evident. At least I could have fended for myself, Ron; he's a helpless little boy!"

"Yes, but they would have tortured you because you're…well, you! They won't harm him, Mione, don't you see? They're using him as bait."

"As bait for what?! They've already got us here. Why do they need to lure us to them when we're already tied and bound in their clutches? Honestly, Ron. Just…just get him back. I want him back."

"I know. Just wait."

"But Ron," Mum protested, tears in her eyes again, "If we wait he could be dead."

"No, I'm not!" I said in their ears. I could see their eyes grow wide, but they remained silent, refusing to give me away. "James and I stole the invisibility cloak back awhile ago; I used it to escape! Here, Dad, I'm untying your hands."

"Where's James?" Uncle Harry asked urgently; as I moved on to untie his hands.

"He's in the woods with Charlotte. They won't be seen, and they've got my cloak so they won't freeze. Don't worry; they're safe." I moved on to untie Mum's hands, and then Malfoy's. That was when Dad made the mistake of massaging his wrists that had been cut into by the rope for the past two hours- a move that didn't go unnoticed.

"Accio!"   Fleur called. The invisibility cloak flew off my back, and I was visible there, caught red-handed. I hadn't a clue about what to do, until she muttered another word that I was somewhat familiar with.

"Imperio."

I didn't know what was happening to me, but I had to stand up. I didn't care if she saw me, but I just had to. Then, I was overcome an overpowering desire to be near her, so I walked to her.

"Leviosa," she said, and I floated inches off the ground so my face was level with hers. "You're trying my patience, boy." I wanted to spit in her face, like they do in cool action movies, but I didn't think that it would be a good idea because 1) it wasn't very gentlemanly, and Mum was in the room. When we got out of this mess, she would, no doubt, punish me for it; 2) this woman actually would kill me, whereas James Bond will never die. I wonder what James Bond was like when he was eleven? I bet that I could have beaten him up. Wait…maybe not.

She set me down on the ground hard, and bid me (rather, forced me) to sit in a chair, promptly tying my arms behind the back of the chair, and my feet to the wooden legs of the chair. There was no way that I was going to get out of this one, especially after she put the magical bindings on the ties, which were severely cutting into my ankles.

Fleur went back to talking with Pettigrew about something or another, and I was left there, silently communicating with Mum and Dad. Dad said that he had a plan; Mum said not to worry. I told them that I was brave and could handle it. I wonder if they saw the transparency in that statement. Probably, considering that my forehead was sweaty, I was paler than usual, and my eyes were darting nervously around the room, looking for escape, help or any blunt object that could be used to hit Delacour over the head with. None of them seemed like an option right now.

"Now," said Delacour, pacing in front of the hostages, "what are we going to do wiz you all? We certainly can't kill all of you…no…zat would be too easy. Imperio."

Mum stood up, and seemed to be trying desperately hard not to. Professor Delacour brought her a few steps forward, but that's where Mum stopped with a look of tranquil determination on her face. Her breathing was deep and even, and it appeared as if she was willing herself not to give in to the curse. Professor Delacour was enraged, and it appeared as if she were turning purple from trying so hard to bring Mum under the curse. It wasn't working, though. The Professor's grip slackened on her wand, and her features relaxed.

"Fine," she said. "Sezius Respito."  

Mum's face grew terribly white as her breath caught in her throat. This is how my mother is going to die, I thought. She couldn't breathe, and her arms were shaking from lack of oxygen. She seemed determined, though, not to be proven weak. I didn't notice that Dad and Uncle Harry were shouting an insane amount of profanities at Delacour. I was alone with my mother, so it seemed, who was dying right in front of me. I felt helpless, as I'm sure my father did. His hands had been retied, as had mine, and he was left watching this as well.

I felt tears clouding my eyes as Mum collapsed onto the ground, still alive, but it appeared as if she was slowly losing consciousness. Before I knew what was happening, Delacour had released the curse, and Mum was doubled over, coughing, sputtering and panting for breath. Dad, Uncle Harry and I simultaneously heaved a sigh of relief even as Mum struggled to shake the oblivion away and regain might.

Delacour laughed, almost happily at the horrible sight that we had just beheld, before saying, "You 'ave seen 'er walk to death's door and back. Now, what does 'til death do us part' really mean to you?" Uncle Harry and Dad stood up, as Mum was lifted and seated into a chair next to mine. Knives, not the typical weapon of choice for a wizard, were held at my throat and Mum's. Dad inhaled deeply, his face filled with terror, no longer 'playing it cool'.

The two men were thrown wands, as Mum and I sat there, entirely too tense for our own good. Wand in hand, Dad stepped forward, the same cold fury in his eyes that I had seen before, but stopped when he saw the knife tighten near Mum's throat. It was that cold fury in his eyes that told me that he would stop at nothing, so long as the two of us were alive. When I saw that, I knew that he really did know what he was doing when he chose Mum over me. It had nothing to do with him being heartless, or not loving me. No, he was the best father that anyone could ask for, and he didn't intend on letting me die at all. But now, he was faced with that reality again, and I didn't think that anything would stand in his way. Even his best friend.

"Duel," commanded Delacour.

Dad and Uncle Harry looked at her blankly.

"Excuse me?" asked my uncle sceptically; sure that he could not have heard her properly.

"Duel," she repeated. "Weasley, do you want your family alive? I let them live if Potter dies. It's as simple as that. Buy their freedom with 'is death. Either way you choose, you can't win, and I do. It's up to you."

"Why are you doing this?" Dad asked her, darkly. He didn't seem to care that tears of frustration, pain and hate could be seen swimming in his eyes. It seemed that with only one word, he would break and they would come pouring. I couldn't even begin to imagine how this was killing him inside.

"Free will," she said. "Ze 'uman nature betrays us all, which is why I'm so grateful zat I 'ave no 'eart to speak of. Ze 'eart is ze worst enemy of all. So, ze question is zis: which is stronger, your loyalty and love for your family, or your loyalty and love for your friend?"

You could almost hear Dad's heart break. He stood there, not wanting to move, not wanting to think, not wanting to go through with what he was about to.

"What if I refuse to duel?" Dad asked. "What will happen then?"

"Please, Weasley, need you ask? Death is ze only outcome in every scenario. Choose."

"And if I die?" he asked. "If I die, you'll let them live?"

She smiled. "Zere's a penalty for defeat, Weasley. If you die, so does ze rest of your family, Potter, and 'is children. You cannot win, so I've said."

Dad looked at Uncle Harry. It had always been my opinion that the two men had somewhat of an uncanny mental telepathy, just as James and I did. It ran in the family, I thought, and usually, I could tell what they were thinking as well. This time, though, I was completely lost.

"Duel," Dad said. "We'll duel."

I was half expecting Mum to jump in with a valiant No, Ron! You can't; we'll die! Take us instead! Had the decision not have involved me, then I have no doubt that she would have. She had always been the only person to fully understand the facets of her two best friends' friendship, and how deep the water ran. Even Aunt Ginny didn't fully understand, but that was all right, it seemed. She wasn't meant to. It was only for the three of them to know.

"Good, good," Pettigrew said, making his first sound since I had seen him. "I have been waiting for this day for quite some time. Potter, Weasley and Granger will meet their end here."

I couldn't take it anymore, I just couldn't. I wanted to tear the man to shreds and make sure that he would regret how he was destroying everything that my parents had ever worked for, right down to their own lives.

"Begin."

In typical duels that I had seen, the duellers would circle each other like cats, ready for the pounce, eyes daring the other to make their move. Not this time, though. Dad and Uncle Harry stood facing each other, eyes expressing the most deep and utter sadness that I had ever seen in my life. There weren't any words, as there doesn't tend to be with men, and yet, somehow, they were saying everything. I had never seen either of them this intense, but somehow, they knew what they had to do. Uncle Harry lowered his wand arm, and dropped to his knees, head bowed. I knew what that was. It was the sign of defeat, much like raising a white flag. He was exposing the back of his neck, clearly allowing Dad to kill him.

"Crucio!" came from countless voices in the room. I tensed, waiting for the knife to slice through my neck, but it never did. Instead, I felt the ropes around my hands and ankles slacken, and saw Mum shaking hers free. Professor Delacour was lying on the ground, writhing in pain. I saw that the origin of that pain was coming from Dad, Uncle Harry and Malfoy. This was confusing. Apparently, everyone had been to busy taking in the sight in front of them to notice that no one had rebound Malfoy's hands. He had, somehow, managed to make his way over to where Mum and I were being held and untie our hands without being noticed. Don't ask me how this all happened, but somehow, it did. This was sooooooooo bloody confusing that even I couldn't work it out. Death Eaters sprang to action as Mum grabbed my hand and pulled me from the room, picking up a wand from the forsaken pile.

"What about them?" I asked her as we ran up the steps.

"They'll be fine," she told me, pulling open the large oak doors. We raced through the hallways, and I was very surprised that Mum could keep up with me. She was full of surprises, though, especially when she turned around on reflex, it seemed, to curse the Death Eater that I didn't even hear behind us.

"Where are they?" she asked, once we were outside of the school.

"Over there!" I said pointing to the edge of the Forest. I held my breath as we ran. In order to get there, we had to pass Dementors. I didn't want to see my parents dying in my head; I didn't want to go. But Mum kept running, and as we passed them, sent a glittering thing shooting from her wand, which kept them away from us. We made it to the Forest safely, and James and Charlotte were never so glad to be caught out of bounds in their life. Without a blink of an eye, Mum healed Charlotte's wrist.

From the angle we were at, we could see in the large windows of the Great Hall. Sparks were flying, and the yelling carried down to our location at the edge of the Forest. Charlotte jumped up and down as she saw Aurors from the Ministry running to the school. Mum turned to me in wonder.

"Did you do that?" she asked me, breathless. I nodded, and before I knew what was happening, I practically had the wind knocked out of me by a bone-shattering hug.

"Mum…" I croaked out, "I can't breathe…"

"Sorry," she said, releasing me and wiping tears from her eyes. "I'm just so proud of you…" And a fresh wave of tears spilled over her cheeks.

"Aw, Mum…" I said, ears turning red.

"Sorry," she repeated. "Come on now, we can't stay here. Look, when we get back into the school, I want you three to find a safe place to hide and stay there. Stay there, understand?"

We nodded, and Mum set off running towards the school again, the three of us following closely. When the door opened, sparks flew everywhere, and Mum joined the queue, hurling curses at Death Eaters nearby.

"GO!" she shouted at the three of us. We dodged curses, and ran to the nearest and safest room that we could find, which turned out to be a broom closet next to Mum's office.

We piled in, barely able to fit, but somehow, we managed to close the door. Charlotte was practically lying across James and I, but she was light; it didn't really matter.

"Where is everyone?" Charlotte asked in a whisper.

"Yeah…" said James. "I haven't seen anyone except Death Eaters and Aurors since we've been in here. School, I mean, not the closet."

I had forgotten about what I had seen; I had been too busy focusing on staying alive through the entire Great Hall debacle. Where had they been taken? How could we get to them without getting ourselves killed in the process? All of my 'mystery research' had done absolutely nothing to prepare me for what was going on right now. I had barely even been on target with my theories, and here I was, stuck in the middle of something that I hadn't even begun to imagine.

After I'd told James and Charlotte what I saw, I got mixed reactions from them. Charlotte had her hand over her mouth, and looked as if she were fighting back tears. James was piss angry.

"What? How the hell can they do that? Someone has got to stop them!" he was saying (which would have been shouting had we not cared about being found).

"I know," I said, "but we don't know where they are!"

"Maybe Professor Dumbledore knows?" suggested Charlotte. "I mean, he's got to know all of the secret places in the school that are large enough to hold a lot of kids in, hasn't he? It's worth a try, and we've got the invisibility cloak."

"Actually," I said, "We haven't got the invisibility cloak. Professor Delacour took it from me; that's how we were found out."

"Maybe they won't see us with all of the confusion outside?" James wondered. "But then we might get hit with a curse or hex or something. That wouldn't be very good because then we will have accomplished nothing at all."

Except getting or arses kicked…I thought it best not to say that one out loud.

"Well," Charlotte said after awhile, "Are we going to be brave or be a bunch of wimps in a closet?"

"I'd be fine with being a wimp in a closet," said James, "But I don't think that I have a choice, knowing you two."

Charlotte and I exchanged a smile and shook our heads at James.

"Well, then lets get going," he said, "Because I haven't got much nerve left to lose, and sitting here until our legs are numb won't do to much to help. Just for the record, though, this was all your idea, Landon."

"Thanks. I take full responsibility and bragging rights."

"Well, I don't know about that…"