Through The Eyes Of Ron
Chapter Sixteen
Pain
Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the plot to this story. This is just fan fiction, I'm writing this for fun and for free. Any characters you recognize belong to J.K. Rowling, and all them smart, rich people.
Author's Note: This is fan fiction, a story idea from the brain that's mine entangled with J.K. Rowling's world and characters. I'm writing this for me, and posting it on Fanfiction.net so I have it saved. I'm not trying to impress anybody I'm just writing and saving that's all. Don't flame me if y'all don't like it, but if somebody should happen to enjoy it, please feel free but not obligated to leave a review. ~*Carey*~
A month had gone by and nobody, not even Harry knew where Ron was. He wished he had made him come back with him, but he couldn't make Ron go back to be punished by a dementor. He didn't deserve that. Harry hadn't spoken to Sirius, since that last meeting in Dumbledore's office. He sighed. Deep inside he prayed that his best friend would come back, but he knew that he wouldn't.
Ron sighed. He was a few miles away from Birmingham and less than two hundred miles away from London. Ron didn't know exactly why he was headed towards London, but that's where he was going. Ron walked into the woods. After a half an hour's walk he sat down on the edge of a river. He drank the river water from his hand and then he leaned back against a tree. He wasn't sure that he wanted to be this free, but he knew he didn't want to be back in Bridgeton. Well now that he thought about it, Bridgeton didn't seem too bad. It was better than Azkaban anyway. They had food and shelter, but they had a dementor and a no privacy policy, but Ron had about all the freedom he could stand. He was barely alive, walking eighteen hours a day, on only a little water that he found every now and then. He was filthy, with only the clothes on his back to keep him warm, and he had been rained on two nights ago.
Ron hated Professor Campbell, or whoever was responsible for letting muggles know he was a runaway. A week ago an old lady in a grocery store had let him spend the night at her house. She was going to have his clothes cleaned for him when he went to bed; only Ron never went to bed. They were eating at her kitchen table, listening to the news, when a special announcement was made on the television. Ron's picture, somehow still, had been posted on the muggle news. Underneath was a special hotline number for muggles to call if they spotted him. Ron had thanked the lady for her hospitality before tearing out of her home.
Ron wished he had stayed and had let that lady call the hotline. He wanted to be caught so badly now. The dementor sounded just a bit friendlier than it was, as Ron thought of everything he was missing. He wanted to be clean, warm, and filled with food. He wanted to go back now. Ron stood up. He was ready to go back to Bridgeton now. He'd run to the nearest town and ask a store clerk to call the hotline number. That's what he would do. Ron turned around ready to run. He gasped before he was grabbed and carried away.
Hermione was rereading her notes for Professor Binns' class trying to remember every word Binns had said, or every word in her History of Magic book, as Binns only taught by reading from the book.
"Hermione, you need to eat." Harry said handing her a plate of her favorite foods.
"Not right now, Harry, I have to remember this, and I can't think straight." Hermione said.
"Hermione, your brain isn't going to function unless you eat. You eat, and if it makes you feel any better, I'll study for the rest of the night." Harry said.
"It's not that. I'm too worried about Ron to study, and I don't know why! I thought I could block my worries out if I studied, but it's only making me worry more." Hermione cried.
Harry was silent. He had been worried about Ron as well. Supposedly, some old lady had taken him in, she told Ministry people acting as muggle authorities, that he was in a terrible state, filthy, starving, and exhausted. He was gone as soon as he saw his picture on television.
"Eat Hermione." Harry said taking care of his other friend. Hermione really didn't need to be taken care of, but she was driving herself mad over her O.W.L.S. Ron was the one who really needed to be taken care of. He should've brought Ron back to Hogwarts when he was in Hogsmeade, but no, like Ron said, he didn't stop him.
Hermione put her book away and started eating. Harry was eating as well, only he was lost in thought.
The Great Hall was filled now, after looking at books and notes all day, everybody was hungry.
"Hey Harry. Well, well. Look who's taken a break from her studies to grace us with her presence! How are you Hermione?" Fred asked.
"Fred, shut up." Hermione said before shoving another bite of food into her mouth.
"Sounds like hungry." George said.
Hermione glared warningly at him.
A gasp and a cry from Harry caught the Gryffindors' attention. Harry fell to the ground clutching his scar in pain.
"Harry." Hermione said putting down her fork, wiping her mouth and getting out of her seat, to kneel down beside him. "Harry, wake up." Hermione urged, as she shook him.
Crabbe and Goyle dragged Ron to a huge mansion and up the stairs to a room on the third floor, where Voldemort was with the rest of the death eaters.
"Guess who we found?" Crabbe Sr. asked.
Voldemort who had been talking to Lucious Malfoy turned around. Wormtail also turned around and he paled.
Ron looked up to the scariest sight he'd ever seen in his life: Voldemort's face.
Ron struggled to be free of the magical binds that Crabbe and Goyle had placed him under. He looked angrily up at Voldemort. He wouldn't show any of the death eaters that he was scared.
"Stand him up." Voldemort hissed.
Crabbe and Goyle pointed their wands at him and he magically was forced to his feet.
"Ah, this would be a Weasley." Voldemort stated.
"Not just any Weasley, either. He happens to be the one who's supposed to be in Bridgeton, but ran away to beat up my son." Lucious said.
"I nearly killed him too." Ron said proudly.
"You're bold." Voldemort said.
"And I'm not afraid of you." Ron said daringly.
"We'll take care of that." Voldemort said. "Now why did you to want to find him for?"
"Because they're stupid." Ron said as if it were obvious.
Crabbe and Goyle stepped towards him.
"That isn't answering my question." Voldemort said pointing his wand at Goyle dangerously.
"He's Potter's friend." Goyle said.
"That's true." Lucious said.
"But because Lucious put him in Bridgeton, he won't be allowed near Potter, now will he? What were your intentions?" Voldemort asked.
"They didn't have any besides eating." Ron said rolling his eyes and faking a yawn.
"We could make him a death eater." Crabbe said.
"What did you say?" Voldemort asked.
"I didn't catch it probably something stupid." Ron said.
"I said we could make him a death eater, my lord. I thought that if we burn the mark on to his arm, he'd be thought of as a traitor and thrown in Azkaban." Crabbe said.
"I'll have to remember this day, for once you had an idea with thought behind it." Voldemort said.
Ron couldn't help but laugh.
"Did you have a thought?" Voldemort asked.
"Well er… yes my lord, see I thought that since Potter sees you when you kill somebody, he can see you murder his best friend. Then he'd probably kill himself of depression." Goyle said.
"Oh yea, because you know Harry can't live without me by his side. I don't know why he's still alive when I've been gone ever since November." Ron said rolling his eyes.
"Do you have a comment for everything?" Voldemort asked, staring dangerously at Ron. The voice was casual, but Voldemort's eyes frightened him. He didn't cower though.
"Yea." Ron said.
"All right then. Free him." Voldemort said pointing his wand at the door. It shut and magically locked itself.
Ron felt his legs and arms loosen as they took the body bind off of him.
BAM! Ron was thrown backwards into the wall. Ron's elbow had broken the wall, and a chunk fell out. Ron grasped it in his hand. Goyle came at him. Ron kicked him hard in the balls, and he fell backwards.
Malfoy grabbed him by the collar of his sweater and pulled him to his feet. Ron tightened his fist around the chunk of wall and punched Lucious hard in the face. Lucious let go of him and dropped him to the ground.
Ron fell on his side. Lucious and the rest of the death eaters started kicking him hard in the ribs, breaking the bones with every kick. Ron bit down on his lip in pain, trying not to cry out. Lucious stepped on Ron's hand and another death eater kicked Ron in the back. The jolt of pain caused Ron to jerk, and his shoulder was dislocated as his wrist broke.
Voldemort was laughing in the background, every few seconds another bone would break. Lucious was pulling out his wand, while Wormtail, Crabbe, Goyle, and the other death eaters continued to beat him.
"Lucious. This is fair play. He's as helpless as a muggle. You fight the muggle way… for now anyway." Voldemort said.
"Fine." Lucious said. He went into a dresser and pulled out a belt.
"Creative." Voldemort said smiling.
"Move." Lucious said.
All of the death eaters moved apart. Ron looked up through blood and tears to see Lucious grinning dangerously with a belt in his hand. He pulled Ron up to his feet painfully by grabbing an ear. Ron couldn't help but cry out. His ribs were definitely broken, and it hurt to stand. Lucious yanked off Ron's shirt painfully, and all of the death eaters saw that Ron's arm was dislocated, and indeed broken.
Ron shivered. He was freezing without his sweater. He bit down on his bottom lip in fear. He knew this would hurt terribly. Ron tried to keep his cool. It was only a matter of time before he died. There would be terrible pain, but then they'd kill him. It would be all over. There wasn't reason for him to show them weakness. He'd die, and he'd be able to see his Grandfather again. Maybe the pain would be worth it.
The Death Eaters and Voldemort laughed and watched Lucious Malfoy get revenge for his son. Ron didn't scream, but they all saw the tears run down his face, and they knew if it weren't for the fact that he was biting a hole through his bottom lip, he'd have screamed himself hoarse.
Ron fell to the ground. Every part of his body hurt, especially his back. He couldn't see it, but he knew that all of the skin had been taken off of his back. And he wasn't exactly wrong. Lucious Malfoy made sure every inch of his back from his waistline to his neck was whipped, and he had even whipped some spots twice to three times. Ron's back was dark red, in some spots purple, and there was a lot of blood.
Ron looked behind him angrily. Weren't they going to kill him? He hadn't gone through all this pain for it not to go away. He was going to die, and he was going to see his Grandfather again. Why wouldn't they just kill him already?
Wormtail walked up to Ron with a knife in his hand.
"Get away from me." Ron said through gritted teeth. Wormtail kicked him in the back, causing a jolt of pain to rush through him. Ron gasped in pain.
Wormtail raised the knife and stabbed him hard in the kidney. Ron cried out in pain.
"Just kill me already!" Ron pleaded.
"But why kill somebody if they want to die?" Voldemort asked picking up his wand.
Ron stared at Voldemort with fury.
SPLASH!
FLASH!
Harry coughed. He couldn't breathe. Somebody had just poured pumpkin juice on him, but Harry had still seen the green light of the death curse! Voldemort had murdered Ron! But he wouldn't do that; Ron wanted to die, so why would Voldemort kill him?
"Mr. Potter?" Professor Dumbledore asked with much concern.
Harry looked up. Professors Dumbledore, Snape, McGonagall, as well as many of the other Professors stood near. Hermione and the twins were kneeling next to him. Fred was holding an empty goblet. Harry remembered where he was, in the great hall where everybody had been.
"Harry, are you all right?" Hagrid asked paling. Hagrid had been right behind Harry looking worried.
Harry shook his head and tried to remember what he had just seen! Ron was dead. They had killed Ron, and if Voldemort didn't kill him, he would die soon enough.
Harry was surprised when Professor Snape and the Headmaster lifted him to his feet.
"Let's go to my office." Professor Dumbledore said.
Professor Snape let go of Harry, who was still very shaken after what he had seen.
"CRUCIO!" Voldemort hissed for the third time. All of the death eaters laughed as Ron cried, he had screamed like never before, losing his voice and all.
Ron relaxed against the wall, trying to catch his breath and trying to stop the pain that ran through him.
"Dispose of him." Voldemort said to his followers.
"They were all there. They were beating him up the muggle way, and I think they killed him." Harry cried, not drying the tears that fell from his eyes.
"Killed who?" Professor Snape asked.
"Ron." Harry said.
Professor Dumbledore had to sit down.
"Are you sure?" Professor McGonagall asked.
"I'm positive. Because Crabbe and Goyle's fathers brought him there, and Voldemort asked what use he was and they knew he was my friend, and I guess they were planning to use the Imperius curse on him, but Voldemort said because Lucious arranged for him to be in Bridgeton he wouldn't be allowed to step foot on Hogwarts. Then they said they could kill him so that I would get so depressed I'd kill myself. But Ron kept running his mouth, and finally Voldemort let them fight him, only he said play fair and do it the muggle way, I think he said that so it would look like muggles beat him up and not wizards, and they broke so many bones, and then somebody spilled pumpkin juice on me, but I still saw a green flash!" Harry said.
"Do you remember where it was?" Professor Dumbledore asked.
"No." Harry said.
"Minerva, go talk to the Ministry officials, I want Ron's picture in the muggle newspaper and on their television news programs. I want him found, and hopefully he's alive." Professor Dumbledore said.
"Offer a reward. Then the muggles will actually look for him." Harry said.
"There's always a reward involved Harry." Professor Dumbledore said.
Ron walked slowly through the doors of Hogwarts. He walked softly up several staircases and stopped at the marble statue of the gargoyle in front of Dumbledore's office. He guessed only three passwords, before the statue jumped aside. It was a good thing Ron loved sweets so much. He knocked on the door to Professor Dumbledore's office.
"Come in." Professor Dumbledore called.
Ron opened the door and limped over to a seat.
Professor Dumbledore looked up at the beaten boy.
Ron had bruises covering his face. His arm was in a sling and a cast, and his ribs were bandaged tightly underneath his hospital tee shirt. A nice nurse had given him money, and he paid his way to London by a cab, and in Diagon Alley he exchanged the muggle money for just enough money to get him to Hogsmeade where he had walked to Hogwarts.
"Professor Dumbledore, I'm sorry for hurting Malfoy, and I'll go back to Bridgeton, but I was hoping you could ask them to please not punish me with a dementor. Please?" Ron asked desperately.
"Of course. How are you? Harry thought you were killed by Voldemort." Professor Dumbledore said.
"No, he thought it would be best if I suffered more." Ron said. "He used the Cruciatus Curse a few times though."
"Mr. Weasley, take this note." Professor Dumbledore said writing a note before handing it to him. "Take this note to Madam Pomfrey, and I want you to rest. In the meantime, I'll talk to your Headmaster."
Ron nodded. "Thank you."
Author's Note: Not near over yet. I hope you guys liked this. If you didn't, I'm sorry. It didn't turn out how I planned. Lordoftherats and curly29 mentioned Voldemort in their ideas, and I thought let's torture my favorite person a little more. I'm sorry again if you don't like this. Ron's going back to Bridgeton next chapter, and you readers will find out a lot more than you bargained for.