IN WHICH RELIEF AND DREAD ARE BOTH FELT IN ONE DAY

"Harry," Merloyn suddenly said after receiving her mail. "He's done it."

"Done what?" the boy asked innocently. Then as if the answer had fallen from the sky he continued. "Oh, no. Shit no. He couldn't have. There's no way we'll get him now.  Merloyn, tell me it's not what I think it is."

She nodded gravely. Yes, it was true. He'd done it. Raven had done it. They were doomed. Absobloodylutely doomed.

With a quick glance at her twin and best friend the three rose almost simultaneously and walked out of the Great Hall. The two Gryffindors waited for the Slytherin to catch up before all heading off in the direction of the library.

~*~

"I saw it in the Daily Prophet too," Draco agreed. "I still can't believe it though."

The trio were now seated in a shadowed corner of the library that the boys didn't even know existed. There was a dusty table in the middle of the group who seemed themselves surrounded by the dust on their velvet seats.

"We have to tell Professor Dumbledore," Harry concluded.

Merloyn shook her head. "Do you really think we have to?"

"By the look on his face at breakfast I'm pretty sure he already knows," Draco added.

"Well, we should still probably go see him anyway. Just to ask about he exact predicament we're in. Remember the others probably think that the 'mysterious death' was caused by one of us" Harry argued.

"What predicament we're in Harry? I can tell you right now what predicament we're in. The predicament where everyone's gonna die cause the most evil wizard of all time has pretty much risen to full power by draining the life of one of the most powerful wizards in the world! The one where we all die miserable deaths trapped in our own minds as we waste away or do things that we don't even know we're doing. The one where the villain isn't the one committing the crimes, where the ones most likely to kill you are the ones you love. The predicament where pretty much everyone is either killing the one they love or are driven into a state like Ron. That's what bloody predicament we're in!" Merloyn stated through tears.

There it was again. The tears brought on by everything that concerned Ron. Even the mention of his name was bringing tears to her eyes. Even when she was the one mentioning him. Molly's letter hadn't worked. She hadn't received it back from Ron either. If anything he was worst than ever. He was looking at Ginny even more strangely than before and he looked almost as if he was trying to reach out of his shell and touch someone. Anyone. That's what made it worse. The intensified confusion and pain in his eyes. The look that pretty much made people expect to hear a cry of anguish or something of the sort.

The two boys sat mouth gaping in shock. What had all of a sudden caused that outburst?

"Oh, I'm sorry guys," Merloyn apologised. "But to tell you the truth, 'cause I don't wanna give you false hope here, that's probably what's gonna happed.  At this stage, just having a laudabilis on our side won't be enough. We'd at least need a few fully trained Argepenics. We're doomed! Bloody doomed!"

Then all of a sudden the girl could feel a hand rest tentatively on her shoulder. Seeing the startled looks on the boys faces she was about to reach for her wand when she heard a familiar yet long missed voice.

"It'll be okay 'Mione. At least we've got a Argie-what-sha-ma-callit on our side."

"RON!" the girl exclaimed.

"In the flesh," he replied with a smile. "Mind you, I was pretty sure I was never coming into the library again but after your reaction in the hall, well, let's just say I didn't really have a choice."

"Oh, thank god Ron! You're back! You're really here. Thank God! I still can't believe this. Wait just a sec," Merloyn's excitement died down to suspicion and she leaned forward and whispered a question in his ear.

"I can't believe you're asking this. Could at least be happier I've come to my senses but okay. Not sure what day, no idea what time, just at night, you were raving mad 'cause Draco had told everyone you were his twin. Er.. oh yeah, and we were in the common room," he replied with a confused expression on his face.

This confusion grew as Merloyn's face lit up and she literally threw herself at him.

"Ron's it's really you! Oh, I was so scared Ron, I though you were Him," she exclaimed.

The red-head let out a sigh of relief. "But if I really was Raven, how would you know?"

The grin was still plastered on her face as she replied. "It's simple really. Raven hasn't been human for over 15 millennia. He doesn't understand about humanoid faults like not knowing exact dates and times. If it really was him, and I'm just making the info up here 'cause I can't remember it either he'd probably reply something like: Your first question, in the Gryffindor common room, the third section from the right of the couch facing the fire place. Your second question, the 14th of August 2001. And finally your third question. 19:27 hours and 23.74673 seconds."

Ron just grinned like a maniac.

"Oh Ron! I've said it once I've said it a dozen times, I'm so glad you're back!" she exclaimed before pulling him into a shameless kiss.

A few seconds later the couple were disrupted by an uncomfortable "Ahem," coming from a now composed Harry.

"We're both glad you're back mate, and I'd come up and hug you if only Merloyn wasn't clinging on to you like a chimp but we're in deep trouble now and we need to do as much planning as we can manage," he continued.

Draco nodded in agreement and after Merloyn had reluctantly untangled herself from Ron's grasp and allowed the others to express their utmost joy and excitement, the quartet moved out of the library, earning some surprised looks on the way, as Ron was plainly uncomfortable about being there.

As the four walked down the halls after catching Ron up to date with things a thought hit the boy.

"Harry," he said suddenly disrupting the silence. "Isn't Seamus's dad a muggle?"

The other three stopped in mid step.

"I haven't thought of that before," Harry replied.

"It's all a plot. I can just sense it. Raven's gained power. He's messing with our heads, planting false info. What happens if Seamus's dad was just an illusion that had been implanted into McNamara's brain? He's doing this on purpose. False information. He's up to something, and it's far worst than this. I'm sure this is only the beginning."

"But Merloyn? What could possibly be far worst than draining the remaining life from Voldemort and all of his elder Death Eaters?" Draco questioned.

"I don't know," Merloyn replied. "But I'm sure Raven does."