Misunderstood
Chapter Six
The Prisoner In Azkaban
Disclaimer: I don't own anything besides the plot to this story. All characters that you recognize belong to J.K. Rowling and Scholastic and all them people.
Professor Snape apparated as close as he could to the place the Weasley family called their home. He walked up to the crooked house with floors held up by magic and knocked on the door with disgust written all over his face.
The door opened and a short and stocky red haired young man opened the door with red-rimmed eyes and a tear-stained face. Professor Snape almost mistook Charlie Weasley's freckles for a tan. Charlie Weasley looked very upset and miserable when he opened the door, but once he saw the person on the other side of the door, he turned nasty.
"What do you want?" Charlie asked dangerously.
Professor Snape watched Charlie suspiciously for a moment and then snapped back at him. "Your brother didn't arrive at Hogwarts, and I'm concerned for his whereabouts."
"I bet you're concerned. As far as I'm concerned, you can go to hell." Charlie spat and slammed the door in his face.
Professor Snape was taken back, and now a bit irritated. He debated whether to knock again, while he listened to the conversation inside.
"Who was at the door?" Mrs. Weasley asked sharply.
"Nobody." Charlie said.
"It best have been nobody, because you were not brought up to speak like that under any circumstance!" Mrs. Weasley yelled.
Professor Snape knocked on the door again.
"I'm getting it." Mrs. Weasley said dangerously.
Mrs. Weasley opened the door looking upset, exhausted, and irritated. Charlie stood just behind his mother glaring dangerously at Snape.
"Can I help you?" Mrs. Weasley asked.
"I'm Professor Snape, the Potions Master at Hogwarts." Professor Snape said.
"Oh of course, Professor… I remember you now. May I ask what brings you here? Would you like to come inside for a cup of tea?" Mrs. Weasley asked.
"Thank you." Professor Snape said as he stepped into the burrow. Mrs. Weasley pushed Charlie into the living room and led the way for Snape to sit down. She boiled some water and brought him a cup of tea offering cakes, which Snape surprisingly accepted.
"May I ask what brings you here?" Mrs. Weasley asked.
"Your son, Ronald, didn't arrive at Hogwarts yesterday, and I came to find out why." Professor Snape said.
"Oh, right… I'm sorry. I meant to owl Professor Dumbledore, but things have been a bit chaotic around here." Mrs. Weasley said.
"Perhaps, you could give me a message to tell the Headmaster?" Professor Snape asked.
"Oh, right, of course… I apologize. Ronald's been arrested and the Minister won't tell me where they're holding him. I'd assume Azkaban, but he's only fifteen, and the Minister would've told me, but he didn't, so I can't tell you where my son is, as I'm not being told. However, I may tell you that he probably won't attend Hogwarts this year." Mrs. Weasley said.
"Why was he arrested?" Professor Snape asked with concern and interest.
"My husband was murdered. As Ron was the only person home at the time, the Minister believes my son to be the murderer." Mrs. Weasley said.
Professor Snape looked from Charlie to Mrs. Weasley. "I'm terribly sorry about your husband, Mrs. Weasley, but the Minister can't charge your son for being the only other person in the house." Professor Snape said.
"Well of course he can't." Percy said. Percy and Bill had come down the stairs and into the living room; both young men were looking at their former Professor with suspicion and curiosity. "He arrested Ron, because he had evidence and reason to believe that Ron did murder my father."
"What do you mean by evidence?" Professor Snape asked.
"The last spell that came from Ron's wand was the killing curse." Percy said.
Professor Snape looked from Percy to Mrs. Weasley with shock. "I'd better be going. I have to speak with Professor Dumbledore." Professor Snape said putting down his empty cup and plate as he stood up.
"Professor?" Mrs. Weasley called, stopping Snape in his tracks. He turned around. "Please don't let my children know. I don't want them to hate Ron."
Professor Snape nodded before leaving.
Professor Snape apparated just outside of the Ministry gates. He was let in the Ministry building by the Goblins who guarded the gates. He found his way to the Minister's office and knocked on the door. The Minister opened the door and looked at Snape skeptically. He looked disgustedly at him, remembering that he was once a death eater, after being shown the dark mark on his arm last June.
"Severus, what can I do for you?" The Minister asked distrustfully.
"Where is Ronald Weasley?" Professor Snape asked. "I spoke to Molly Weasley, and she claims you haven't told her where you've been keeping him. Now she said he was arrested, but she didn't know where he was taken too. She doesn't believe he's in Azkaban, since he's only fifteen. Where is he?"
"He murdered his father. He is in Azkaban, and will remain there until his trial, and he will be sent back there after his trial, if he is proven guilty. I don't have to tell Molly Weasley where her son is, nor do I have to tell Albus Dumbledore. He's been taken into custody that's all there is to know." Fudge said sharply.
"When is his trial?" Professor Snape asked.
"Before the end of the month." Fudge answered.
"What date?" Professor Snape asked.
"We haven't set one yet. It'll be late into the month. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm the Minister of Magic, and a very busy man. I have business to attend to. Good day." Fudge said and shut his door.
Professor Snape walked in to the Great Hall as everybody was eating his or her lunch. He strode up to the head table and spoke briefly to Professor McGonagall and Professor Dumbledore, before all three professors disappeared into the dungeon.
"I was planning to stop by the Weasley's later this afternoon. What did you find out?" Professor McGonagall asked.
Professor Snape looked out the dungeon door at the Great Hall again just to be sure Fred, George, and Ginny Weasley as well as Hermione and Harry were all there. Seeing that they were Professor Snape closed the dungeon door.
"Arthur Weasley was murdered." Professor Snape said.
"Oh dear…" Professor McGonagall said compassionately. "I'm surprised the others didn't stay home as well."
"It's because they didn't know, and they don't know. Mrs. Weasley doesn't want them to, not yet anyway." Professor Snape said.
"Did you suggest it best for Ronald to come back here?" Professor Dumbledore asked.
"No. They think he's the one who murdered his father." Professor Snape said. "The Minister believes that too, and yesterday Fudge arrested him and took him to Azkaban. Molly Weasley has no knowledge of where Fudge took him, and Fudge doesn't believe it to be her business. Fudge said he'll stay in Azkaban until the trial and he'll go back after he finds him guilty. He wasn't going to tell you either, he declared it nobody's business, but I thought you should know."
"Why would they believe Ron to be the one who murdered his father?" Professor McGonagall asked.
"Apparently, he was the only one home at the time and the Killing Curse was the last performed on his wand." Professor Snape said.
"But that's not possible!" Professor McGonagall cried.
"When is his trial?" Professor Dumbledore asked.
"Fudge wouldn't tell me. He said before the end of the month, in the last two weeks." Professor Snape said.
"What am I supposed to tell the Weasley's and Mr. Potter and Ms. Granger when they ask?" Professor McGonagall asked.
"Nothing." Professor Snape said.
"Tell them to owl Molly Weasley." Professor Dumbledore said.
"He can't have done it!" Charlie argued over the dinner table with Percy.
"But he did!" Percy shouted back.
"Were you here?" Charlie asked.
"Yes, I came and saw him crying! He felt guilty!" Percy claimed.
"Did you see him kill dad?" Charlie asked.
"No, but I happen to know that dad yelled at him that day." Percy said.
"Oh my God, he yelled at him? God forbid! Everybody watch out! Percy yelled at me today, I'm going to kill him tonight!" Charlie said mockingly.
"You don't know how bad he was this summer. Dad left the Ministry to yell at Ron at Grandfather's! Do you know how many fights he was in with muggles?" Percy asked.
"No, do you? Can you tell me you saw him go up to a muggle and punch him?" Charlie asked.
"Did you know that Ron hit Ginny? I mean he actually punched her! I saw the bruise!" Percy said.
"Did you see Ron give her the bruise? No, but if he actually hit her, it was because he lost his mind! You try being Ron and spend a summer at Grandfather's. Unfortunately, Percy not everybody's as perfect and respected as you are." Charlie said.
"Yes, it's obvious he lost his mind, since he killed dad!" Percy said.
"Ron's brilliant Percy, but he's extremely lazy. He wasn't one of the higher students in his grade." Bill said speaking up.
"What does that have to do with anything?" Percy asked.
"It takes a lot of power and intelligence to perform the killing curse, and no fifth year could perform that curse, especially not Ron. Dad might've snapped at Ron, but Ron didn't kill him over it. I think somebody else did it using his wand. Had he done magic, the Ministry would've written a letter about underage wizards not being allowed to perform magic during the holidays. In the process of writing the letter, they'd have realized what curse he performed, and they'd have to get the hit wizards all over here. As it was… there was no letter, and the Hit Wizards came after Perkins got here. I had a good talk with Perkins. He said that Ron and dad were really close, and dad only snapped at Ron that day, because he was trying to reassure dad that mum had some logical reason for not wanting to speak to him, and dad was trying to accept the fact that mum wasn't coming back to him." Bill said.
"You never should've left him!" Charlie snapped at his mother.
"He left me. I said I would go home with him, if he had Ron stay there. Ron turned my father into a liar and an abusive drunk. He convinced your father to believe him over my father." Mrs. Weasley snapped.
"I wouldn't put it past him. He was a good drinker even before Grandmother died." Bill said.
"I can't believe you would say that!" Mrs. Weasley cried.
Charlie stood up and grabbed his cloak, not wanting to witness an argument between his older brother and mother.
"Where are you going?" Mrs. Weasley asked.
"To find Ron. He needs to know that somebody believes in him, even if it's not his own mother." Charlie said meaningfully.
"I'm going with you." Bill said grabbing his cloak.
Ron shivered in his cell in Azkaban. He didn't know he was in Azkaban. He just thought it was terribly cold and miserable looking at his father's dead body on the kitchen floor. The sight didn't leave him no matter where he turned. It was only his father he could see.
The dementors loved new prisoners. This new prisoner, half of the dementors watched, haunting him, making him cry and scream. He'd already screamed himself hoarse, without knowing it.
Sirius Black listened to Dumbledore with his face in his hands. As soon as Harry had written him, worried about Ron not showing up for school, he ran to Hogwarts demanding answers, for if he were in Harry's shoes, he'd be worried too, and Sirius knew Harry had enough to worry about without the whereabouts of his best friend.
"I don't want Harry to know, because the second he finds out, he'll run straight to Ron. Azkaban is full of dementors, which cause Harry to pass out every time he's near one, and half the prisoners in Azkaban want to kill him. I know Harry is worried, but I'd rather him be the one worrying, rather than us worrying about him." Professor Dumbledore said.
"I get that. We're not telling Harry. He doesn't need to know." Sirius said resignedly. "Did you speak with Ron?"
"I can't leave the castle." Dumbledore said.
"You don't believe he did it, do you?" Sirius asked.
"I believe he is as innocent as you are." Dumbledore said.
"Did you hear something?" Sirius asked walking over to the door.
The door swung open and Sirius hid behind it as Charlie entered the office.
"Professor Dumbledore, are you busy?" Charlie asked.
Professor Dumbledore looked to the door, and a black dog came trotting over to his side.
"Not quite. What can I do for you Mr. Weasley?" Professor Dumbledore asked.
"Can you talk to Fudge and ask him to stop being so terribly stupid? I'm seriously thinking about letting some dragons free over there. I just thought you might want to spare your friend the trouble." Charlie said angrily.
Professor Dumbledore couldn't help but be amused. Though he spoke seriously and looked at Charlie with concern. "The minister and I aren't exactly friendly nowadays. What would you have liked me to talk to him about?"
"Ron. He's holding him in Azkaban, and he keeps pushing the date for the trial back! First of all Ron shouldn't be in Azkaban! He's a minor, and he didn't kill my father! He couldn't and he sure as hell wouldn't! Second of all those dementors drive full grown wizards mad! My brother isn't even sixteen years old, and he's already been made to endure twenty-four hours in there! Fudge won't let me go and see my brother, because I know he's innocent! He needs to know that somebody in his family believes him, but Fudge isn't being cooperative. My brother's in hell right now, and he doesn't deserve it, and on top of that there's nobody there to keep him sane! Fudge said he'd have my brother's trial sometime during the last two weeks of this month. Then he said the thirtieth, but then he said it would have to be some time in October, because he's a busy man. My father was murdered, and he's just going to push the trial back as late as he can. If anything he should move it forward. A fifteen-year-old boy is suffering every second in there, and he doesn't give a damn!" Charlie cried.
"Yea, and your temper's not helping." Bill said. He had entered just in time to catch Charlie talking about Ron. "Hello Professor Dumbledore. Sorry about him. I think he's having a breakdown. Fudge really pushed his buttons. I tried explaining to Charlie that you and Fudge weren't exactly best friends, but he's desperate to see that Ron's all right. So am I for that matter, I believe that Ron's innocent, but even if he did it, which I know he can't have, he still doesn't deserve that place. I need to know for sure, and I really want to talk to my brother. Fudge won't let us see him, because we think that he's innocent, so if you think it would help any, would you please talk to Fudge?"
"Boys, please have a seat." Dumbledore began.
They both sat down.
"I know that if I were to talk to the Minister, he'd only make things worse for your brother. What you need is somebody who is likely to think that Ron is guilty to get a visitor's pass from Fudge." Professor Dumbledore said.
"What's the good in that? That's only going to make the situation worse! Send Percy to Azkaban, and he'll spit in Ron's face and chew him out, making him feel a hundred times worse, and the dementors will only make Ron remember how terrible he feels for the rest of his life." Charlie said.
"No, Charlie, that's it! We get Percy to get a visitor's pass from Fudge, and he'll give it to us so that we can visit him." Bill said.
"That's never going to happen. We'd have to hurt him to steal it from him, and then he'd go running to Fudge, about how he never went. He'd never take part in deceiving Fudge." Charlie said.
"Unless he didn't know he was deceiving him." Bill said with a meaningful look.
Charlie nodded to Bill and then looked back to the Headmaster. "You can't do anything to move his trial closer?" Charlie asked.
"I will be writing to Fudge, telling him that he'd better have the trial before the end of the month, or I'll go to the Daily Prophet and give him a bad name, which would be the end of his ministry days. Though, I can't promise to go to the papers about this, as this could really ruin your brother's name." Dumbledore said.
"We understand. We would've gone there ourselves, but we don't want this blown up, because we know he's innocent, but if Fudge got one word in, the whole wizarding world would see him as guilty." Charlie said.
"That and I don't like that Rita Skeeter. She called me a long haired pillock." Bill said bitterly.
There was a knock on the door ending any further conversation. Filch entered with Fred and George looking offended.
"Ah, Headmaster, sir. You're busy I see. I couldn't find their head of house, and so I thought I'd let you deal with them, but as you're busy..."
"He's not. What have those miscreant brothers of ours done now?" Charlie asked.
"All the toilet seats in the school have been stolen. These two were seen roaming the halls today, and they always seem to be in trouble." Filch explained.
"Sir, he can only assume it's us; he really doesn't have anything to go on." George said seriously though he threatened to burst with laughter.
Charlie snorted and Bill covered his grin with his hand.
"I say you lock them up and throw away the key." Charlie said. "They're nothing but trouble."
"No, but then they'd just pick the lock with a pin." Bill reminded.
"I believe Professor McGonagall might be in the Great Hall." Professor Dumbledore said.
"No, she had to speak with Professor Snape. You might want to try his office." Bill said.
"All right then. Thanks." Filch said.
They left the office.
"All right then. We must be going as well. We've got to go trick Percy. Thanks for all your help." Charlie said standing up and shaking hands with Dumbledore.
"Yea, thanks." Bill said also shaking hands with him.
"Boys, I want you to know that I'm truly sorry about your father, and I will do everything I can to help Ron." Professor Dumbledore said.
"Thanks."
Bill and Charlie were walking out of the castle doors, when a familiar voice called their names.
"Bill! Charlie! What are you doing here?" Ginny asked happily as she ran down the steps of the castle.
"Hey Ginny." Bill said smiling.
"How are you doing?" Charlie asked picking her up in a tight hug.
Ginny laughed. "I'm all right. What are you two doing here?" Ginny asked again.
"Wow, you've grown up, since we last saw you." Charlie said.
"Yea, I think you did grow a bit since…" Bill stopped to think.
"Since June in your case. It was November for Charlie. Why won't you tell me why you're here? I'm not as stupid as you think." Ginny said.
"We don't think you're stupid!" Charlie said quickly.
"There's no such thing as a stupid Weasley." Bill said.
"Then stop treating me like I'm stupid, and tell me why you're here. Please." Ginny said.
"I'll tell you why we're here, if you tell us the truth about something first." Charlie said.
"What?" Ginny asked.
"Let's go outside." Bill said.
They walked to the Great Lake out of earshot and started talking again.
"Ginny, I want to know who really gave you that bruise. Please be completely honest. Bill and I won't tell Grandfather or Ron, but we need to know who hit you." Charlie said.
"It was an accident! He didn't mean to hit me, I know he didn't." Ginny said biting her bottom lip. She sighed. "Grandfather hit me, but he didn't know it was me when he swung. He thought I was asleep."
"Is that the truth?" Charlie asked.
"Yes, I didn't want to lie to mum, but Grandfather was going to kill Ron if I told the truth. At the time we were stuck there, because mum didn't know any of my friends' parents well enough to ask for a favor, and Ron didn't have anywhere to go, so we couldn't leave." Ginny said. "Now tell me why you're here."
"Ginny, mum would be really mad at us if we told you everything…"
"So I won't tell her I know. I'm really good at keeping secrets, and I won't see mum until at least Christmas, and I'm not going to owl her the minute you tell me. Please tell me everything, including what mum doesn't want me to know." Ginny pleaded.
Charlie looked at Bill with a pleading look. Charlie couldn't tell Ginny, but at the same time he would if he opened his mouth.
Bill sighed. "I'll try and tell you everything I know, but you have to promise me that you won't tell Fred or George, or Harry or Hermione or anybody." Bill said.
"Especially not mum." Charlie added. It didn't seem fair to keep things from his family.
"I promise." Ginny said seriously.
"Dad was… murdered." Bill said.
"What?" Ginny asked unbelievingly. She was taken back. "What about Ron? He was at the burrow too! What happened to him?" Ginny cried.
"Calm down, please Ginny. This is why mum didn't want you to know." Bill said.
"How can I calm down? Ron didn't show up for school, dad's dead, and you want me to calm down?" Ginny asked as tears filled her eyes.
"Ron's alive, I promise you that, but I need you to calm down so I can tell you what's happened to him." Bill said.
"I think she knows too much as it is. That's a lot right there." Charlie said.
"What happened to Ron?" Ginny asked in a tone that demanded answers. Her eyes were red and tears were falling down her face, but she was determined to get answers.
"Charlie!" Hagrid's cheerful voice called from his hut across the lawn. "Charlie, what're you doin' 'ere?"
"In a second Hagrid." Charlie called back.
"What happened to Ron?" Ginny asked again in the same tone as before, reminding her brother of the question.
Charlie didn't want to lie to Ginny, but he didn't want his sister to be any more upset than she already was. To know that her father was murdered was beyond overwhelming alone! To tell her that the brother who had been her best friend for the first ten years of her life, her closest brother, was in the worst place imaginable was just wrong.
"Nothing's happened to Ron. He's just upset about dad, and he couldn't come back to Hogwarts in tears, it's unmanly. You know how Ron has a lot of pride." Charlie lied.
Ginny glared at her brother and slapped him hard across the face. "You lied to me! I hate you!" Ginny shrieked.
"Ginny!" Bill cried grabbing his sister tightly around the waist so she couldn't run.
"Let go of me! I hate you too!" Ginny cried as she kicked at her brother.
"Calm down!" Charlie cried.
"Tell me where Ron is!" Ginny yelled.
"You have to calm down!" Charlie cried.
"What happened?" Hagrid asked as he approached the trio of redheads who were yelling.
"Ginny calm down!" Bill tried.
"Tell me what happened to Ron!" Ginny cried. She was hysterically crying.
"Ginny… what's wrong?" Hagrid asked with much concern.
"Charlie lied to me, my whole family's lying to me! I want to know where my brother is! They know, but they won't tell me!" Ginny shouted, composing herself.
"We want to tell you, but you need to calm down." Bill said forcefully.
"You three want to have a cup of tea in me hut?" Hagrid offered.
"Please." Charlie said with relief.
In Hagrid's hut, Hagrid poured three cups of tea as he listened to Bill explain what had just happened.
"Our mother didn't want Ginny, Fred, or George to know about anything going on, but they're bound to find out. I know Ginny's responsible and mature enough to understand the truth, and I know my mum would never tell her, so I thought it would be better for her to know now, while we were here, since our presence stirred so many questions. The thing is, it's very overwhelming, and we haven't even told her the worst part. I'm afraid that she'll do something drastic if we tell her the rest."
"I'm in the room." Ginny said bitterly. "And you'd better tell me the rest."
"May I ask what the truth is, or the part that Ginny already knows?" Hagrid asked.
"Our father was murdered." Bill said.
Hagrid's expression turned sympathetic. "I'm very sorry. I can't tell you how sorry I am. I lost me dad when I was twelve, and I know the pain very well." Hagrid said.
"Sorry." Charlie said understandingly.
"Anyway, I ought to tell you the worst of it." Bill said.
"I'm not leaving. You're telling me too." Ginny said warningly.
"Do I have your word that you won't tell Fred or George?" Bill asked sharply.
"Yes." Ginny said.
"If you're telling yer sister, why don't ya tell yer brothers? They ought to know as well." Hagrid said.
"Fred and George don't need to know the truth right now. There are a lot of terrible things happening, and they're just the funniest people we know. I reckon they can make anybody happy. If they found out about everything, they'd be really depressed, and I don't want to kill their spirits, not now. They'll find out at a time that's more appropriate. The only reason I'm telling Ginny, is because she and Ron were really close, and I don't want her to hear it from somebody else." Bill explained.
"What do you mean we were very close?" Ginny asked apprehensively.
"Ron's still alive Ginny, but you have to understand something. Fudge doesn't believe that You-know-who is back. The Ministry was torn apart because half believed that he is back, and half didn't. Dad believed that he was back, because Harry saw him." Bill said.
"There was no dark mark or anything the night of the attack on the burrow. Fudge doesn't believe that You-know-who or any of the death eaters were responsible for the murder. He thinks that You-know-who is gone, and the death eaters are all in Azkaban or dead." Charlie helped.
"What are you trying to say?" Ginny asked looking tearfully from Charlie to Bill.
"The only other person home on the night of the attack was Ron." Bill started.
"Wait, that makes no sense… where was mum?" Ginny asked.
"Dad took Ron home, away from Grandfather's, against mum's wishes. Mum stayed with Grandfather. They separated." Charlie explained.
"But dad should've brought Ron home! Grandfather would've killed him, if he had to stay there all summer! You don't know what Ron had to put up with! Mum should've went home with dad!" Ginny cried.
"I agree with you." Charlie said.
"Who does Fudge think murdered yer father, if he doesn't think it was you-know-who?" Hagrid asked, interrupting Charlie and Ginny.
Ginny looked up at Hagrid and then she looked to Bill.
"Ron was the only other person home on the night of the attack." Bill said becoming interested in the boarhound, Fang, who had come over and rested his head on Bill's lap.
"Fudge thinks Ron killed dad?" Ginny cried with horror. "Because he was the only other person there?"
"Fudge believes that Ron killed dad, because he was the only other person there, and because the last spell on Ron's wand was the killing curse." Bill mumbled.
Hagrid and Ginny heard him though.
"Ron didn't kill him though!" Charlie said insistently.
"No, he didn't." Bill said. "We wanted to tell you Ginny, so you'd know he was innocent. Mum believes Ron to be guilty, but you know Ron can't have done it. Ron loved dad."
"Ron wouldn't kill him." Ginny said with teary eyes.
"No, he certainly wouldn't. I don't think he did it." Hagrid agreed. "That'll be the second time Fudge sent an innocent man to Azkaban. I mean… wait! He's not in Azkaban, is he?"
"He can't be, right?" Ginny asked.
"Fudge thinks he's a murderer. He doesn't care how young Ron is." Bill said.
"He can't have sent him to Azkaban! He's only fifteen! He'll go mad in there! Tell me he wasn't sent there!" Ginny cried standing up.
"You don't know how bad I wish I could say that." Bill said.
"He can't do that!" Ginny shrieked. "He can't! Did he even get a trial?"
"His trial's sometime next month." Bill said.
"Next month?" Ginny cried. "Ron will have died by the end of this week! He can't keep him in there that long without a trial!"
"Dumbledore's going to make Fudge move it up, or he'll go to the Daily Prophet and give him a bad name." Charlie said.
"His name's already terrible! They should remove him now, before he causes any more mistakes! Ron shouldn't be in there before his trial! This isn't right!" Ginny sobbed.
"Nothing's right anymore." Charlie cried as he embraced his crying sister.
"Go away, please go away… go away… leave me alone… please leave me alone. Just go away… please… please…" Ron mumbled as he rubbed his eyes to stay in focus. He had curled himself up into a ball on his bed, which was actually a wooden board attached to the cement wall with a pillow and blanket on it, in the farthest corner of his cell away from the dementors, which wasn't far at all. He sat next to the barred window looking outside to the violent crashing waves that encircled the island of Azkaban, making escape impossible. The breeze from the ocean's air was brutal enough, as it was freezing. Ron only had a worn blanket and his robes, which were filthy from him not having showered since before he had come across a violent ferry ride.
Ron had come back to reality when dementors had left him alone for him to eat his supper. They had rules to follow, and in order for them to continue to torture the prisoners, they had to keep them alive. Therefore they had to let them eat in some peace. Though Ron could find no peace here.
Ron couldn't eat the dinner they gave him, as hungry as he was, used to having extra helpings at every meal and having no meals for two days, he would've wolfed anything down, except this plate of dinner that had spiders crawling all over it.
Ron coughed painfully for two minutes without stopping. The freezing ocean air was making him sick. He was sure he'd catch pneumonia.
He only had a few minutes before the dementors came back to haunt him. Every minute seemed like a day, and he hadn't even been in there a week. He didn't know how long he'd been in there though, and nobody here could tell him. He was sure he'd been in Azkaban for almost a month, and nobody had come to visit him. But then again who would visit a murderer? But he didn't do it! Then again who would believe him over Fudge. He wanted to kill Fudge. He gasped in horror. Had he wanted to kill his father? Could he have done it? Ron wasn't sure anymore. Had he killed his father? When the dementors came to haunt him all he saw was his father's dead body, and he heard his father yelling at him, he heard how disappointed and ashamed he was. He also heard Fudge yelling at him with disgust about how he murdered his father. He couldn't have! He wouldn't have! But did he? The questions haunted him.
A terrible feeling inside his stomach and head were letting him know the dementors were returning. Ron cried to himself, covering his ears trying to block out the hateful and angry voices. He had to block them out somehow. At the back of his mind he remembered a lullaby his father had sung him when he was a baby. He never remembered it before now, though his father had told him about it several times. He knew it and sang it to block out the dementors. His voice was soft from having lost it several times from screaming and crying. Still he sang.
On the day I was born
Said me father said he
I've an elegant legacy
Waiting for Ye
'Tis a rhyme for your lips
And a song for your heart
To sing it whenever
The world falls apart
Look, look, look to the rainbow
Follow it over the hills and streams
Look, look, look to the rainbow
Follow the fellow who follows the dreams
Such a sumptuous gift
To bequeath to a child
Oh, the lure of that song
Kept my feet running wild
For you never grow old
And you never stand still
With A whippoorwill singing
Beyond the next hill
Look, look, look to the rainbow
Follow it over the hills and streams
Look, look, look to the rainbow
Follow the fellow who follows the dreams
So I followed me heart
And I roamed the world free
To the east with the lark
To the west with the sea
So I searched all the world
And I scanned all the skies
Till I found it at last
In me own true love's eyes
Look, look, look to the rainbow
Follow it over the hills and streams
Look, look, look to the rainbow
Follow the fellow who follows the dreams
Follow the fellow
Follow the fellow
Follow the fellow who follows the dreams…
Ron thought of his father and then of Hermione. Hermione was the only female friend he had. Would he ever find true love?
His thoughts darkened as the dementors swarmed around outside of his cell. Instead of wondering about true love, he found the meaning to true hate.
Author's Note: Thank you all so much for your reviews and support and for continuing to read my story. I feel satisfied with this chapter, so I hope you enjoy it. I know you might not all agree with Ron singing. I can't picture it, but the song seemed right if you read the words, because the world around Ron is falling apart. It's cool if you don't like it. I had second thoughts about putting it in there. The song is called Look To The Rainbow from a musical called Finian's Rainbow. I never saw the movie, but the song is pretty. I only heard it because it was one of the songs I used to sing. So I hope you enjoy! Have a wonderful Christmas! I'll try to have another chapter up by/on Christmas day. I can't promise anything though. I have to go Christmas shopping, and Christmas day is out of the question for writing anything. So check back, and if nothing's updated, check back on the twenty-seventh. Thank you so much for the reviews! I really appreciate all of them! Happy Holidays and God Bless! ~*Carey*~