IN WHICH RE-ACQUAINTANCES AREN'T ALWAYS GOOD

The teenagers were no longer exaggerating when they said that they had been in the cell for weeks because indeed, they had been. Three weeks to be exact. During that time they had been fed a tray of stale bread and a bowl of water every two days. The time they didn't spend eating and sleeping (which didn't happen very often) were spent planning and working out the specifics of those plans. Considering the amount of time they had on their hand it wasn't a surprise that the six of them had come up with 7 fool-proof plans, each originally named Plans A-G. The only problem was that each and everyone of them involved Merloyn and the fact that she wasn't there didn't help very much. 

But then, as luck had it, she did come walking through the door. Quite literally actually, and if that wasn't strange enough the fact that she was dressed like an angel (wings and all) and that Nevar came waltzing through the door like he was a ghost after her definitely was.  Ron, who was mad at Nevar to say the least, was about to lunge at the Molwordenack but stopped when he saw his love's slender arm slid into that of the former warlock's.

"Her… 'Mione…what the heck are you doing?" he stuttered.

"It's simple of course, Weasley. Our famous laudabilis has finally come to her senses, haven't you dear?" Nevar added the last part while smiling to the beauty next to him.

"WHAT!" exclaimed Draco. "Merloyn, you can't! You've just signed our death warrants, you've.. you've killed the whole Light side! Merloyn, how… how could you?"

But Merloyn just smiled while Nevar answered for her.

"It's simple really," he began. "It did take a lot of time though. See, she wasn't gullible but when she finally realized that, to put it simply, I was right and she was wrong, she agreed to transform into her laudabilis form. It's amazing isn't it? And all the power a laudabilis possesses. She can perform a spell and enhance the power ten fold. Can you believe that?"

He began smiling and walking about the room, her arm having been extracted from his during the short conversation. As soon as he got to where Ron was standing the teenagers winced as they saw Nevar's arm turn into a fist and swing back and….

"Wait!" came Merloyn's voice. "Just leave the little git alone."

"But Merloyn, dear! Just watch and you will have truly proven yourself to me," came Nevar's reply.

"Oh, so I have to prove myself to you now do I? So much for partners, Raven. Equals."

"No, it's not that dear. I just.. just want to make sure you've got a strong enough stomach for this sort of thing. A laudabilis can be used for a lot of things, you know."

"Well, you can just ask me now, can't you?" came her dignified response. "Anyway, I don't want to see your beautiful hands covered in some slime ball's blood."

"Yes, I guess dear. Let's just leave these imbeciles shall we?" And with that the two disappeared (once again quite literally) through the door.

"Who are you calling imbeciles?" Ron roared to the back of the door.

"Just calm down mate, calm down. We'll figure something out," Harry reassured.

"You want ME to bloody well calm down Harry?" Ron yelled.  "Well, I don't think so. Did you see that? The only girl I ever loved, is now not only clinging to the arms of the most evil …THING in the world and complimenting his 'beautiful hands', she's bloody well helping him kill us all! And you want me to calm down Harry. Well, I don't think so. I really don't bloody think so."

"She wasn't complimenting his hands as such as saving your arse, " Draco reasoned. "She's not that gullible, give her that at least. There has to be a logical explanation for this. "

But there wasn't. Weeks passed and now and then the two would come to sneer at their captives. Ron and the others were getting more and more worried as they watched their hopes and dreams wash down the drain. It really didn't do to dwell on dreams after all. To rely on someone else except yourself to save you neck when you needed it saved. Merloyn's betrayal was like a slap on the face, a good wake-up call but yet an all so real revelation of the shit they were in.

"Yep, we're screwed," Seamus simply stated out of nowhere.

The six teenagers were all lying on the stone floor, bored as nails and confused like hell about what had happened. They still couldn't believe it. Merloyn Malfoy. Hermione Granger. Their little 'Mione had passed onto the Dark side when they had needed her most. It just didn't happen. It didn't happen in the movies, it didn't happen in the books, it didn't happen in the news. It just didn't bloody happen. Friends weren't suppose to desert each other. Not like that. Not ever. They'd only just then realised how important an asset she had been to them all. How much they had needed her. And now all her talent, all her skill and knowledge were going to be used for the Dark side. Used to ruin and end the lives of hundreds upon thousands of people. At that was only if they were defeated before the battle could rage outside the United Kingdom.

"Wait a sec," Ron said mysteriously. "You do realize, don't you? That we're gonna have to KILL her if we can't talk her back into joining us. That or put her in Azkaban….. Shit. I don't think I could do that."

"None of us could," Seamus replied. "And speak of the devil, here she is."

And in walked Merloyn and Nevar, the girl still in all her laudabilis glory and the Molwordenack in his dark fervour.  Instead of the usual taunting, this time Nevar just walked straight up to Ron and kicked him where it hurt. The others watched to see Merloyn's reaction as he kneeled over in pain but she just stood there, still as a stone, using her powers to prevent them coming any closer to the two.

"It's the house elves who have to deal with the blood this way," muttered Nevar sadistically as his steel-capped boots connected with Ron's ribs. Ron cried out in pain and curled tighter into a ball.

"That's not going to help you," sang Nevar and he kicked Ron some more.

"THAT IS IT!" Ginny exclaimed. "YOU ARE GOING TO STOP USING MY BROTHER AS A PUNCHING BAG WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT!"

After the sudden outburst, the strangest of things happened. Nevar was thrown into the opposite wall with such force that he left a dint before crashing back, unconscious, onto the ground.

It left them all so stunned that all Parvati, who was normally extremely talkative, could say was "Whoa, Ginny. Whoa."

The six captives turned around to face Merloyn, who had a worried expression on her face. They all secretly wished it was some of her old love for Ron coming out but when she started to walk towards Nevar their hopes diminished. She tentatively placed her hands over his chest and from her open palms came a soft blue light. Nevar's eyes fluttered open and he gave a small laugh.

"I keep underestimating your power don't I, Merloyn?"

"This definitely hasn't been the first time, Raven," she replied with a smile.

The two linked arms and walked through a neighbouring wall, not even taking a glance at Ron or any of the others.

"Looks like I underestimated his physical capability," came Ron's feeble voice.

The remaining five, as if waking up from a trance, rushed over to the red-head's bloody body.

"Ron!" Parvati exclaimed. "You look like hell."

"I thinks that's the least of our worries, Pav," Ginny snapped. "Ron, you feeling alright."

"Probably not half as bad as I look," he joked back.

"I'm sorry we didn't do anything, Ron," Draco said. "We couldn't. She was using her powers. It was like there was an invisible shield surrounding you guys."

"Well, you were lucky then. I as hell didn't want you guys jumping in. He is one strong evil thing and I've finally figured out what rhymes with steel-cap boots."

"What?"

"Pain. A hell of a lot of pain."