A/N: Well, guys, it's been a long road, and it's almost over. Do you realize I've been working on this fic for nearly 2 years?? Well, anyway, there's only 2 chapters left. I know I'm excited, and I hope you are. Please remember to review! ^_~ And enjoy!!!
Chapter Twenty-Three
Of Tears, Training, and Lord Voldemort's Smile
"So wait...where did Ron go?" Sirius asked, looking at Harmony in mounting confusion.
"Simple," Harmony shrugged. "Don't you remember that Ron and I both have centaur mane wands?"
"Yeah...?" Sirius replied, more confused then ever. When Harmony didn't elaborate he continued in exasperation, "What's that got to do with it?"
"Huh? Oh yeah. Well, back in the middle ages, the powerful (and really rich) wizarding families would all have wands made from centaur manes of the same clan. Not the same centaur, which was rather redundant, but the same family. They did this for a reason. It has something to do with centaur magic, which is a rather peculiar brand, you know. Well, whatever the reason, wands made with centaur mane from the same clan are connected. If one of them snaps, the owner of that wand and the owner of a wand with the same clan of centaur simply...switch places."
"So you're telling me," Sirius said, looking at Harmony in mounting amazement. "That Ron is at Hogwarts right now?"
"Basically," Harmony shrugged. Sirius looked at her in disbelief.
"There's still something I don't understand."
"What?" She asked, getting annoyed.
"Why was your wand snapped in the first place?"
"I was caught last night," Harmony sighed. "Summoning Voldemort. It was working too. I'm such an idiot; we had to chant in Snake! I can't believe I didn't figure that out sooner. Well, to make a long story short, I was expelled."
"How did they find out you weren't Brooke Silinster?" Sirius asked, still confused. Harmony met his eyes mockingly.
"I have two words for you, Sirius Black: Marauder's Map."
"Oh..." Sirius's eyes widened with understanding. "That's...not cool."
"Yeah," Harmony snapped. "And what's worse, they saw you and Ron."
"Oh dear..." Sirius mumbled, looking guilty. Harmony sighed again.
"I'd better write Ginny so she can explain to Ron what he's doing at Hogwarts..."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Harmony.
It was the first word that entered the thoughts of Ron Weasley upon waking up every day for the last seven months, and this occasion was no different. Her name was burned into his mind, and then the facts that she was at Hogwarts, and he was the biggest jerk on the face of the planet.
Once these thoughts went through the usual process of making Ron incredibly guilty and grouchy, he opened his eyes. Immediately, he realized something was wrong. This was not Marigold. It looked like the palace's sickroom, but one glance told Ron otherwise.
This was the hospital wing. The Hogwarts hospital wing.
He sat up bolt right, realizing that his mysterious return to Hogwarts hadn't been a dream after all. Looking around in wonder, he realized how much he had missed the school.
And there, on the other side of the room, were four people in a tight circle, whispering. He could see the faces of Madame Pomfrey, looking quite confused, and Dumbledore, looking only slightly less composed than normal. He could only see the backs of the other two conspirators, but he recognized them immediately.
Harry Potter and Hermione Granger.
As if they could hear Ron calling them in his thoughts, Harry and Hermione turned around, and Ron swallowed compulsively. He hadn't realized how much he really missed them until this moment.
Before Ron knew what was happening, Hermione had run to him and pulled him into a bone crushing hug, crying. Ron hugged her back, realizing that he might start to cry in a moment. Hermione. He had missed her so much it almost hurt to know she was here, but even more, he had missed Harry.
Hermione eventually released Ron, wiping away her tears. And for a moment, Harry and Ron just stared at each other.
"Ron," Harry finally managed to choke. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. Ron nodded, and when he spoke his voice was raspy from the effort of not crying.
"Yeah. I'm home."
Harry smiled, and gave him a brotherly embrace, which Ron returned. Hermione began crying again, and Madame Pomfrey began to claim there was "something in my eye" as Dumbledore smiled, approaching them.
"Mr. Weasley," He said. "It's good to have you back."
"Thank you, Headmaster," Ron replied. He was now beginning to get over the general shock of being back at school; his mind was going wild with the puzzle of how he got there in the first place. And where the devil was Harmony?
He decided that he probably shouldn't ask outright where Harmony was, mostly because he couldn't remember her code name. (It turned out, of course, to be one of the smartest decisions he ever made.) So, he decided that he would ask for the next best person. "Where's my sister?"
"Ginny?" Harry replied, blinking. "Oh, well...I don't know."
"Um...I really want to see her," Ron replied, deciding it would probably not be wise to tell them Ginny had known where he was since Christmas. "I mean...she IS my sister, you know. And while you're at it," Ron added as an afterthought. "Go ahead and let her bring Malfoy along too."
Hermione ran off to find Ginny. It never occurred to her that Ron hadn't been around to know that Ginny and Malfoy were dating. It didn't occur to Harry either. Only Dumbledore was alert enough to ponder the question.
"Ginny!" Hermione cried, seeing her friend standing just out in the hall, intently studying a sheet of parchment. Ginny didn't look up from the parchment. It was Draco Malfoy, who had been reading over her shoulder, who addressed the Head Girl.
"What is it, Granger?" He asked, not beating around the bush. Hermione glared at him.
"Ron...Ginny, its really him! He asked to see you!" Hermione cried, deciding to ignore Malfoy.
"Uh-huh," Ginny mumbled, her brow furrowing as she continued to pursue what appeared to be a letter.
"Ginny!" Hermione shouted, aghast. "Ron! Hello? Your brother who died! He's ALIVE! He wants to see you! Don't you care?"
"Of course," Ginny snapped, looking up from the parchment, her eyes alight with fire. Tucking the parchment into her robes, she swept past Hermione and toward the Hospital Wing. Malfoy followed.
"Ron!" Ginny cried upon seeing her brother. She threw her arms around his neck and pretended to cry.
"What are you doing?" Ron whispered, hardly able to breathe in his sister's death grasp.
"Just play along," Ginny whispered back. She then continued in a louder voice. "I can't believe you're alive!"
"Yeah," Ron replied, not being able to think of anything else to that particular proclamation. Dumbledore realized the two wanted some time, so he ushered Harry out into the hall. Draco tried to follow Ginny in.
"Where do you think you're going, Malfoy?" Harry asked, stepping in Draco's path.
"Er..." Draco mumbled, trying to think of a plausible answer.
"Mr. Potter, Ron said to let Mr. Malfoy accompany his sister, if you remember," Dumbledore said, nudging Harry aside so Draco could go through. He shut the door behind him.
"Why?" Harry muttered, giving the door an evil look. Dumbledore shrugged.
"There are some questions I cannot answer, Mr. Potter. That is one of them."
Meanwhile, Ron had exploded the minute the door to the Hospital Wing was shut.
"What's going on? Where's Harmony? What am I doing here? How did this happen? Why-"
"You're here, Harmony's at Hogwarts, and this all happened because Harmony was expelled," Ginny interrupted loudly, breaking through her brother's flood of questions. Ron stopped short.
"Expelled? What?"
"Here," Ginny sighed, handing the letter from Harmony to Ron. Draco, who had been interrupted by Hermione, read over his shoulder.
"Oh," Ron said at length, after finishing the letter. "Well...that means I have to pretend I've been captured for the last eight months or whatever?"
"Pretty much, yeah," Ginny replied, sighing. "This isn't good."
"You're telling me," Draco muttered. Ron sighed.
"I am such an asshole," He mumbled, putting his head in his hands. Ginny gave him a funny look.
"What?"
"I had the chance to make it up to her last night," Ron said, meeting his sister's eyes. "And I was just so...Can she ever forgive me?"
"I'm sure she can, Ron," Ginny replied, her heart and eyes brimming with emotion at the look in her brother's eyes. "She loves you, you know."
"I don't know why," Ron muttered. Draco rolled his eyes.
"Don't wonder why, that'll just make you feel terrible," He said. "Just accept the fact. You love Harmony, don't you?"
"Yeah," Ron mumbled, unable to believe his was having this conversation with Draco Malfoy.
"Well then, it'll be fine," Draco said decidedly. Ron just rolled his eyes.
"She had your ring, you know," Ginny said. Ron's gaze snapped to her in disbelief.
"My ring?" He echoed.
"The engagement ring," Ginny explained. "She wore it on a chain around her neck."
"Oh my God, I AM and asshole!" Ron cried in dismay. Ginny raised her eyes to the ceiling in exasperation.
"Harry and Hermione are dying to see you, I'm sure," She said. "Just...tell them the experience is painful and you don't want to talk about it. You have to put it off as long as you can, okay?"
"I get it, Ginny," Ron snapped. Draco rolled his eyes.
"Let's go," He said, gesturing for Ginny to precede him, which she did. She gave Harry and Hermione a brave smile as she passed them, feeling positively rotten as she saw their anxious faces.
Harry and Hermione rushed inside the minute Ginny was gone. "We owled your parents, Ron," Hermione said, smiling. Ron felt as if he had been punched in the stomach. His parents! He had completely forgotten about his family there for a few...days. Okay, weeks. Oh, who was he kidding? He hadn't thought about his family other than Ginny for months! He felt an overwhelming rush of guilt, and struggled to conceal from Harry and Hermione.
"Thanks," He stuttered. "I...I can't believe I'm going to see them again."
"Oh Ron, it's going to be okay. You're home now," Hermione said, giving him a hug as her eyes filled with tears. Ron felt like swine at that moment. He had never felt so guilty in his entire life. That was all about to change.
"Ron?"
His mother's voice was barely above a whisper. Hermione released him and stepped aside. There, in the doorway, were Ron's parents and all his brothers. They were staring unabashedly, their mouths and eyes wide open in disbelief. For a long moment, the only sound was the distant footsteps of students rushing to and fro.
"Oh my God..." The words were his father's, but it was his mother who rushed forward. Before Ron knew what was happening he was in a bone crushing embrace, and his shoulder was soaked with tears.
"My baby," She cried. Ron buried his head in his mother's shoulder. After all that had happened that day, he started to lose it. And having his mother here, and knowing she was crying for HIM, ungrateful pig that he was, pushed him over the edge. He began to sob, not out of relief or happiness, but out of sheer guilt that he had put his family through so much.
His family insisted on staying the entire day and most of the next, but eventually they had to get back to their normal lives. Dumbledore and Harry tried to interrogate Ron on his capture. Ron managed to mumble some kind of mumbo-jumbo pertaining to a dark cell and lots of pain, and not really remembering much. However Ron, unlike Harmony, was a terrible liar, and both of them knew his was keeping something from them. They didn't press the subject, feeling Ron probably needed some time to accept what had happened to him.
They were right in that aspect, anyway.
Ron tried to readjust to life at Hogwarts. He went to class, even though Harry and even Hermione urged him not to. He was far behind on classes like Potions and Care of Magical Creatures, but where Defense Against the Dark Arts, Charms, and Transfiguration were concerned, he was actually a little bit ahead. It was amazing what a classical royal education in Marigold could do for one's magical abilities.
The teachers, of course, were extremely easy on him. Mindy and Crystal were especially nice, although his fourth day back Mindy made a comment that made obvious exactly what she thought of Ron for breaking up with Harmony, which was that he was the stupidest jerk that ever lived. But he already knew that.
After a week, Ron didn't know if he could take it any longer. Would he have to live the rest of his life pretending like the last eight months...the BEST eight months of his life, had never happened? How could he pretend that Harmony, the woman he loved and adored, had been a confederate of Voldemort's who kept him prisoner for those months?
He was sitting in the Gryffindor common room as these thoughts went through his mind. His gaze was drawn to the window. The sky was gray, and the typical rainy weather of spring was in full force, with rain endlessly falling all around. Ron sighed, and let his eyes fall on the Forbidden Forest. She wasn't terribly far away, but she might as well have been across the ocean. He wondered what she was doing right at that moment...
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Harmony moped around the castle, and was only slightly better company than Ron had been in the previous weeks. Sirius watched her sullen face with alarm, his eyes dark with worry. They needed to make up, or something would happen. He wasn't sure what it would be; only that it would be good.
It had been just over a weeks since Harmony had returned to Marigold, and she hadn't enjoyed a moment of it. Well, it had been good to see her father again, but her mind was at Hogwarts. As always, as she settled down on her window seat and looked down onto the gardens, her mind was with Ron.
The weather suited her mood perfectly. The endless gray drizzle was exactly what she felt like. She wanted to lie down and never sit up again, she wanted to just give up. What was left that was worth fighting for anyway?
She knew the answer to that question of course. She knew, deep down, that as long as their were still children and laughter and sunlight in the world, moonlit meadows and romantic sunsets untainted by hate, innocence in the eyes of the young and all that rot then there was still something worth fighting for. But at that moment, she really didn't care.
Sighing, Harmony pushed herself away from the window and walked out the room, letting her feet carry her where they wished. Before long she found herself where she knew she would, where she always found herself when she was troubled. The Training Room.
In Hogwarts, she would be somewhere in the dungeons, nowhere she had ever seen. However, in this was one of the rooms Harmony was most familiar with in her palace. Ever since she was big enough to hold a sword she had been down in this room, training and preparing for the upcoming battle.
The walls, ceiling and floor were all the same dull gray, except for the black splotches on the walls where powerful curses had hit. The walls were charmed to absorb spells, but the more powerful (namely the Unforgivables) left a black stain.
Harmony removed her long green cloak, folding it neatly and placing in a corner. She then slipped off her dainty silver slippers, placing them on top of her cloak. She had always fought better bare foot, all sprites did. She walked over to the left wall, placed her hand in the center and breathed a soft spell. Opening her eyes, she saw the wall covered with weapons, from swords to arrows to chains. There were also shield and mail, helmets and armor.
Harmony chose her favorites of the selection. She had had her wand replaced her first day back, and she held it firmly in her left hand. With her right, she lifted a long and heavy sword bestowed to her by her father on her eleventh birthday. From the rack of armor she chose a shirt of mail fitted perfectly to her size and the only thing on the whole wall that looked as if it didn't belong there: a dress.
The dress was a deep Slytherin green, the sleeves were long and covered her mail, ending in loops around her middle fingers. It remained as close fitting a dress can over mail, but at the waist it fell in folds and folds of cloth. To most this seemed impractically, but in actually it was not. The dress ended just above her ankles, so she never tripped. Her legs were perfectly free to move, perhaps even more so than with the standard green trousers distributed to her army. And, even more useful, was the fact that if worn with a cloak one would know you were prepared for battle. And, of course, the dress was designed to hold her wand, sword and any other weapon of her choosing invisibly.
Harmony was of the opinion that the entire army should fight in dresses, but of course this did not sit well with Sirius, who had been General of Slytherin's Royal Army since the old general had peacefully passed away two years previously. To the men, he argued reasonably, a dress would have many setbacks. Harmony had to agree with this, since she was been training to fight in a dress such as this since she was two years old.
She quickly changed into her mail and dress, placing the clothes she had been wearing with her cloak and shoes. She picked up her wand in her left hand, and her sword in her right. She narrowed her eyes at the stone walls as if they were threatening her. For a moment she stood perfectly still, composing herself and clearing her mind.
Then she started dueling.
Her wand was spitting spells so furiously that there seemed to be one continual stream of light. Meanwhile her sword swept through the room, parrying and lunging at her unseen foes. Her daintily arched brows furrowed, her soft hands firmly gripping the sword and her pretty red rose lips pursed, her eyes were the only sign of the warrior within. They had turned hard as stone and cold as ice, a frozen wasteland.
She didn't think about Ron. She didn't think about anything. At that moment, nothing mattered except the way the sword moved in her hand, and how fast her wand was moving. Her mind was completely focused on the task at hand. Her feet were steady, moving only when they had to and pivoting effortlessly. Her mind was set on her goal, and nothing else in the world mattered.
She felt her body tiring, but her movements didn't slow. She didn't know whether she had been at it for moments or months, only that she had to keep going. She could hear her heart pounding in her ears, and the blood flying thought her veins. She could feel the magic in her fingertips as her mouth decreed, in Snake, the curses she was shooting. Her eyes were gleaming, she was breathing heavily, and her movements were still as graceful as ever. Her mind was singing and her heart was on fire. She was in her element in that moment.
"Harmony?"
Harmony spun around in shock, and Sirius ducked as a jet of white light went soaring over his head. She cringed, realizing she had almost hit him dead on with the Cruciatus Curse. He gave the hole in the wall behind him a curious glance, then shut the door and faced Harmony. "Practicing, I take it?"
"Uh...yeah," Harmony replied, going red and suddenly feeling very embarrassed. She felt like he had just walked in on her soul. She had only ever let on person in while she was dueling, and that was...Ron. Go figure, he haunted everything she did!
"You're damn good, Princess," He said, giving her a quirky grin. "If I were Voldemort I'd be running like hell."
"Is that a compliment?" She asked, giving him a funny look.
"It was supposed to be."
"Ah," Harmony nodded, looking down at her sword. Something occurred to her and her head snapped up. "Hey Sirius, you know what?"
"What's that?" He asked.
"It's a lot easier to fight with my hair cut like this!" She said, gesturing to the golden locks that ended at her waist. Sirius looked at her, then at her hair, then back at her. After a moment, he started laughing so hard he had to lean up against the wall. Harmony frowned.
"And what, exactly, is so funny?"
"It's just..." But Sirius was overcome in another fit of laughter. Harmony tried to smile, for she saw the humor in the situation, but she couldn't find anything to be happy about. She knew the Battle was coming, and she knew that she had probably messed up any chance her victory.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Voldemort smiled in the cruel fashion only he could. Peter Pettigrew swallowed compulsively. If his master smiled, it usually wasn't good for him.
However, on this particular occasion Peter wasn't the person who gave the Dark Lord a reason to smile. He had just received news from Lucius. Ron Weasley was back, and they had unmasked the new transfer as his annoying alter-heir distant cousin. This meant, he knew, that there had been a rift between Potter, Granger, Weasley and their new found enemy: Harmony Slytherin. Now was the time to attack.
Voldemort assembled his armies and prepared for the Final Battle, the one that would decided the outcome of the world as it was, and the world as he would make it. He set the day of his attack for the 17th of May.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
It had been three weeks since Ron's return to Hogwarts, and he was finally starting to accept the fact that he was no longer in Marigold with Harmony and Sirius, but at school with Harry and Hermione. He was also getting used to school life again, a considerable feat.
It was a beautiful May morning, the sun was shining brightly and the birds were out singing. However, the majority of the students were inside studying for exams. Harry, Hermione, and Ron were not among them.
It was the first time in his life Ron could remember Hermione not insisting they stay inside and study, and he was amazed at both of them, especially since NEWTs were right around the corner. He was starting to get uncomfortable with all the special treatment, but he wasn't going to say no to a walk around the lake. It had been days since the weather was as nice as this.
For nearly an hour Ron managed to climb out of his shell and just have fun with his friends. However, his eyes kept wandering to the Forest and he would gaze longingly at the life he left behind and his feet were yearning to run through the now well-known paths to Marigold. He sighed, which caused Hermione to interrupt his thoughts.
"Ron?" She asked tentatively.
"Hmm?" He said, turning his gaze from the forest. Harry and Hermione were looking at him in concern, and it occurred to him how different he was to them now.
"Ron, you can tell us anything," She said, stepping forward and putting a comforting hand on his shoulder. "We won't tell anyone. Not even Dumbledore if you don't want us to. I hope you know that."
"Of course I do, Hermione, it's just that..." He sighed. He had a carefully planned a well rehearsed tale of his "capture" planned, but he didn't really want to lie unless he had to. However, in this situation... "Okay, Herm. Here's what happened-"
Ron never did have to tell that false story.
"Harry!" Hermione interrupted in hear, grabbing onto Harry's arm. He looked over at her in alarm, caught off guard since he had been listening to Ron intently. He followed her gaze to a large black snake crawling through the grass toward them.
"It's okay," He said calmly, then turned the snake. "Turn around, buddy. There's nothing here for you."
Ron gave Harry a funny look, wondering if he was just trying to confuse the thing by speaking to it. Then he realized Harry was talking in Parseltongue. He hadn't realized he would be able to understand Harry speaking with snakes. Well, that made life interesting, didn't it?
However, the snake didn't turn away at Harry's words. "Go on now, go home where you belong!" The snake didn't deter from its course, straight past Harry and on to Ron. It was then that Ron realized two things: 1) the snake was injured and 2) the snake was speaking.
"Mr. Weasley," It panted. "Mr....Weasley!"
"Richard?" Ron whispered, finally recognizing the snake as the animagus form of Sir Richard of the Royal Court of Marigold, and the one who was supposed to go and inform Harmony if an emergency should arise while she was at Hogwarts. What on earth was he doing here?
He didn't notice the wide-eyed shock of Harry and Hermione, mainly because he didn't realize he had spoken in Snake.
"Richard!" He cried again, kneeling and placing a hand on the snake's head. Immediately it took on the form a human man with a grisly injury in his right arm. Hermione let out a strangled gasp from behind him.
"Mr. Weasley," Richard panted. "Thank God!"
"What happened to you?" Ron demanded whipping out his wand and trying to tend to the wounds. Richard wouldn't hear of it.
"A scratch, a scratch," He insisted.
"This," Ron argued, gesturing to the bleeding gash, "Is no scratch."
"Listen to me!" Richard interrupted, annoyed. "The city...the city is under attack!"
"WHAT?!" Ron cried, leaping up and staring down at Richard in shock. Marigold was under attack? Voldemort must have...and they were coming to Hogwarts and... HARMONY!
Without a second thought Ron turned and sprinted full force toward the forest. Harry and Hermione looked after him for less than a second before the man Ron had called Richard spoke to them.
"Go with him," He begged, his voice hardly a whisper. "Go...they need you."
"Who-" Harry began.
"GO!" The man cried, and Harry and Hermione didn't try to argue with him again. Ron was already nearly in the forest, and they knew they couldn't lose track of him.
He was running with all the speed he could (which was a considerable amount) and Harry and Hermione had to work to keep up with him. More amazing was the way he seemed to know where he was going. The gnarled trees and twisted limbs were enough to make anyone dizzy, but Ron never slowed in his path.
Harry was getting lost, confused, and slightly annoyed. What in the hell was going on? Why had an injured man in the form of a Snake come up to Ron and tell him a city was under attack? And then tell Harry to follow? And where in God's name did Ron learn Parseltongue?!
Ron stopped abruptly, bringing Harry and Hermione to a halt behind him. He didn't notice them he was staring down into the valley at his feet. Harry followed his gaze, and suddenly felt as if someone had punched all the air out of him.
He could tell the city had once been beautiful. It was the likes of which Harry had never seen before, small yet with the flair of a capitol of the world, with marvelous buildings, quaint homes, and a powerful castle. It was now being overrun by Death Eaters dressed in black, and helpless, innocent people with long ears and long hair were running everywhere, screaming. Half the city already lay in ruins. Beside him he could feel Ron tense up and breathe heavily.
Then, before Harry or Hermione could react, Ron plunged into the fray, running down the slope into the city, and Harry and Hermione had no choice but to follow.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Of Tears, Training, and Lord Voldemort's Smile
"So wait...where did Ron go?" Sirius asked, looking at Harmony in mounting confusion.
"Simple," Harmony shrugged. "Don't you remember that Ron and I both have centaur mane wands?"
"Yeah...?" Sirius replied, more confused then ever. When Harmony didn't elaborate he continued in exasperation, "What's that got to do with it?"
"Huh? Oh yeah. Well, back in the middle ages, the powerful (and really rich) wizarding families would all have wands made from centaur manes of the same clan. Not the same centaur, which was rather redundant, but the same family. They did this for a reason. It has something to do with centaur magic, which is a rather peculiar brand, you know. Well, whatever the reason, wands made with centaur mane from the same clan are connected. If one of them snaps, the owner of that wand and the owner of a wand with the same clan of centaur simply...switch places."
"So you're telling me," Sirius said, looking at Harmony in mounting amazement. "That Ron is at Hogwarts right now?"
"Basically," Harmony shrugged. Sirius looked at her in disbelief.
"There's still something I don't understand."
"What?" She asked, getting annoyed.
"Why was your wand snapped in the first place?"
"I was caught last night," Harmony sighed. "Summoning Voldemort. It was working too. I'm such an idiot; we had to chant in Snake! I can't believe I didn't figure that out sooner. Well, to make a long story short, I was expelled."
"How did they find out you weren't Brooke Silinster?" Sirius asked, still confused. Harmony met his eyes mockingly.
"I have two words for you, Sirius Black: Marauder's Map."
"Oh..." Sirius's eyes widened with understanding. "That's...not cool."
"Yeah," Harmony snapped. "And what's worse, they saw you and Ron."
"Oh dear..." Sirius mumbled, looking guilty. Harmony sighed again.
"I'd better write Ginny so she can explain to Ron what he's doing at Hogwarts..."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Harmony.
It was the first word that entered the thoughts of Ron Weasley upon waking up every day for the last seven months, and this occasion was no different. Her name was burned into his mind, and then the facts that she was at Hogwarts, and he was the biggest jerk on the face of the planet.
Once these thoughts went through the usual process of making Ron incredibly guilty and grouchy, he opened his eyes. Immediately, he realized something was wrong. This was not Marigold. It looked like the palace's sickroom, but one glance told Ron otherwise.
This was the hospital wing. The Hogwarts hospital wing.
He sat up bolt right, realizing that his mysterious return to Hogwarts hadn't been a dream after all. Looking around in wonder, he realized how much he had missed the school.
And there, on the other side of the room, were four people in a tight circle, whispering. He could see the faces of Madame Pomfrey, looking quite confused, and Dumbledore, looking only slightly less composed than normal. He could only see the backs of the other two conspirators, but he recognized them immediately.
Harry Potter and Hermione Granger.
As if they could hear Ron calling them in his thoughts, Harry and Hermione turned around, and Ron swallowed compulsively. He hadn't realized how much he really missed them until this moment.
Before Ron knew what was happening, Hermione had run to him and pulled him into a bone crushing hug, crying. Ron hugged her back, realizing that he might start to cry in a moment. Hermione. He had missed her so much it almost hurt to know she was here, but even more, he had missed Harry.
Hermione eventually released Ron, wiping away her tears. And for a moment, Harry and Ron just stared at each other.
"Ron," Harry finally managed to choke. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. Ron nodded, and when he spoke his voice was raspy from the effort of not crying.
"Yeah. I'm home."
Harry smiled, and gave him a brotherly embrace, which Ron returned. Hermione began crying again, and Madame Pomfrey began to claim there was "something in my eye" as Dumbledore smiled, approaching them.
"Mr. Weasley," He said. "It's good to have you back."
"Thank you, Headmaster," Ron replied. He was now beginning to get over the general shock of being back at school; his mind was going wild with the puzzle of how he got there in the first place. And where the devil was Harmony?
He decided that he probably shouldn't ask outright where Harmony was, mostly because he couldn't remember her code name. (It turned out, of course, to be one of the smartest decisions he ever made.) So, he decided that he would ask for the next best person. "Where's my sister?"
"Ginny?" Harry replied, blinking. "Oh, well...I don't know."
"Um...I really want to see her," Ron replied, deciding it would probably not be wise to tell them Ginny had known where he was since Christmas. "I mean...she IS my sister, you know. And while you're at it," Ron added as an afterthought. "Go ahead and let her bring Malfoy along too."
Hermione ran off to find Ginny. It never occurred to her that Ron hadn't been around to know that Ginny and Malfoy were dating. It didn't occur to Harry either. Only Dumbledore was alert enough to ponder the question.
"Ginny!" Hermione cried, seeing her friend standing just out in the hall, intently studying a sheet of parchment. Ginny didn't look up from the parchment. It was Draco Malfoy, who had been reading over her shoulder, who addressed the Head Girl.
"What is it, Granger?" He asked, not beating around the bush. Hermione glared at him.
"Ron...Ginny, its really him! He asked to see you!" Hermione cried, deciding to ignore Malfoy.
"Uh-huh," Ginny mumbled, her brow furrowing as she continued to pursue what appeared to be a letter.
"Ginny!" Hermione shouted, aghast. "Ron! Hello? Your brother who died! He's ALIVE! He wants to see you! Don't you care?"
"Of course," Ginny snapped, looking up from the parchment, her eyes alight with fire. Tucking the parchment into her robes, she swept past Hermione and toward the Hospital Wing. Malfoy followed.
"Ron!" Ginny cried upon seeing her brother. She threw her arms around his neck and pretended to cry.
"What are you doing?" Ron whispered, hardly able to breathe in his sister's death grasp.
"Just play along," Ginny whispered back. She then continued in a louder voice. "I can't believe you're alive!"
"Yeah," Ron replied, not being able to think of anything else to that particular proclamation. Dumbledore realized the two wanted some time, so he ushered Harry out into the hall. Draco tried to follow Ginny in.
"Where do you think you're going, Malfoy?" Harry asked, stepping in Draco's path.
"Er..." Draco mumbled, trying to think of a plausible answer.
"Mr. Potter, Ron said to let Mr. Malfoy accompany his sister, if you remember," Dumbledore said, nudging Harry aside so Draco could go through. He shut the door behind him.
"Why?" Harry muttered, giving the door an evil look. Dumbledore shrugged.
"There are some questions I cannot answer, Mr. Potter. That is one of them."
Meanwhile, Ron had exploded the minute the door to the Hospital Wing was shut.
"What's going on? Where's Harmony? What am I doing here? How did this happen? Why-"
"You're here, Harmony's at Hogwarts, and this all happened because Harmony was expelled," Ginny interrupted loudly, breaking through her brother's flood of questions. Ron stopped short.
"Expelled? What?"
"Here," Ginny sighed, handing the letter from Harmony to Ron. Draco, who had been interrupted by Hermione, read over his shoulder.
"Oh," Ron said at length, after finishing the letter. "Well...that means I have to pretend I've been captured for the last eight months or whatever?"
"Pretty much, yeah," Ginny replied, sighing. "This isn't good."
"You're telling me," Draco muttered. Ron sighed.
"I am such an asshole," He mumbled, putting his head in his hands. Ginny gave him a funny look.
"What?"
"I had the chance to make it up to her last night," Ron said, meeting his sister's eyes. "And I was just so...Can she ever forgive me?"
"I'm sure she can, Ron," Ginny replied, her heart and eyes brimming with emotion at the look in her brother's eyes. "She loves you, you know."
"I don't know why," Ron muttered. Draco rolled his eyes.
"Don't wonder why, that'll just make you feel terrible," He said. "Just accept the fact. You love Harmony, don't you?"
"Yeah," Ron mumbled, unable to believe his was having this conversation with Draco Malfoy.
"Well then, it'll be fine," Draco said decidedly. Ron just rolled his eyes.
"She had your ring, you know," Ginny said. Ron's gaze snapped to her in disbelief.
"My ring?" He echoed.
"The engagement ring," Ginny explained. "She wore it on a chain around her neck."
"Oh my God, I AM and asshole!" Ron cried in dismay. Ginny raised her eyes to the ceiling in exasperation.
"Harry and Hermione are dying to see you, I'm sure," She said. "Just...tell them the experience is painful and you don't want to talk about it. You have to put it off as long as you can, okay?"
"I get it, Ginny," Ron snapped. Draco rolled his eyes.
"Let's go," He said, gesturing for Ginny to precede him, which she did. She gave Harry and Hermione a brave smile as she passed them, feeling positively rotten as she saw their anxious faces.
Harry and Hermione rushed inside the minute Ginny was gone. "We owled your parents, Ron," Hermione said, smiling. Ron felt as if he had been punched in the stomach. His parents! He had completely forgotten about his family there for a few...days. Okay, weeks. Oh, who was he kidding? He hadn't thought about his family other than Ginny for months! He felt an overwhelming rush of guilt, and struggled to conceal from Harry and Hermione.
"Thanks," He stuttered. "I...I can't believe I'm going to see them again."
"Oh Ron, it's going to be okay. You're home now," Hermione said, giving him a hug as her eyes filled with tears. Ron felt like swine at that moment. He had never felt so guilty in his entire life. That was all about to change.
"Ron?"
His mother's voice was barely above a whisper. Hermione released him and stepped aside. There, in the doorway, were Ron's parents and all his brothers. They were staring unabashedly, their mouths and eyes wide open in disbelief. For a long moment, the only sound was the distant footsteps of students rushing to and fro.
"Oh my God..." The words were his father's, but it was his mother who rushed forward. Before Ron knew what was happening he was in a bone crushing embrace, and his shoulder was soaked with tears.
"My baby," She cried. Ron buried his head in his mother's shoulder. After all that had happened that day, he started to lose it. And having his mother here, and knowing she was crying for HIM, ungrateful pig that he was, pushed him over the edge. He began to sob, not out of relief or happiness, but out of sheer guilt that he had put his family through so much.
His family insisted on staying the entire day and most of the next, but eventually they had to get back to their normal lives. Dumbledore and Harry tried to interrogate Ron on his capture. Ron managed to mumble some kind of mumbo-jumbo pertaining to a dark cell and lots of pain, and not really remembering much. However Ron, unlike Harmony, was a terrible liar, and both of them knew his was keeping something from them. They didn't press the subject, feeling Ron probably needed some time to accept what had happened to him.
They were right in that aspect, anyway.
Ron tried to readjust to life at Hogwarts. He went to class, even though Harry and even Hermione urged him not to. He was far behind on classes like Potions and Care of Magical Creatures, but where Defense Against the Dark Arts, Charms, and Transfiguration were concerned, he was actually a little bit ahead. It was amazing what a classical royal education in Marigold could do for one's magical abilities.
The teachers, of course, were extremely easy on him. Mindy and Crystal were especially nice, although his fourth day back Mindy made a comment that made obvious exactly what she thought of Ron for breaking up with Harmony, which was that he was the stupidest jerk that ever lived. But he already knew that.
After a week, Ron didn't know if he could take it any longer. Would he have to live the rest of his life pretending like the last eight months...the BEST eight months of his life, had never happened? How could he pretend that Harmony, the woman he loved and adored, had been a confederate of Voldemort's who kept him prisoner for those months?
He was sitting in the Gryffindor common room as these thoughts went through his mind. His gaze was drawn to the window. The sky was gray, and the typical rainy weather of spring was in full force, with rain endlessly falling all around. Ron sighed, and let his eyes fall on the Forbidden Forest. She wasn't terribly far away, but she might as well have been across the ocean. He wondered what she was doing right at that moment...
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Harmony moped around the castle, and was only slightly better company than Ron had been in the previous weeks. Sirius watched her sullen face with alarm, his eyes dark with worry. They needed to make up, or something would happen. He wasn't sure what it would be; only that it would be good.
It had been just over a weeks since Harmony had returned to Marigold, and she hadn't enjoyed a moment of it. Well, it had been good to see her father again, but her mind was at Hogwarts. As always, as she settled down on her window seat and looked down onto the gardens, her mind was with Ron.
The weather suited her mood perfectly. The endless gray drizzle was exactly what she felt like. She wanted to lie down and never sit up again, she wanted to just give up. What was left that was worth fighting for anyway?
She knew the answer to that question of course. She knew, deep down, that as long as their were still children and laughter and sunlight in the world, moonlit meadows and romantic sunsets untainted by hate, innocence in the eyes of the young and all that rot then there was still something worth fighting for. But at that moment, she really didn't care.
Sighing, Harmony pushed herself away from the window and walked out the room, letting her feet carry her where they wished. Before long she found herself where she knew she would, where she always found herself when she was troubled. The Training Room.
In Hogwarts, she would be somewhere in the dungeons, nowhere she had ever seen. However, in this was one of the rooms Harmony was most familiar with in her palace. Ever since she was big enough to hold a sword she had been down in this room, training and preparing for the upcoming battle.
The walls, ceiling and floor were all the same dull gray, except for the black splotches on the walls where powerful curses had hit. The walls were charmed to absorb spells, but the more powerful (namely the Unforgivables) left a black stain.
Harmony removed her long green cloak, folding it neatly and placing in a corner. She then slipped off her dainty silver slippers, placing them on top of her cloak. She had always fought better bare foot, all sprites did. She walked over to the left wall, placed her hand in the center and breathed a soft spell. Opening her eyes, she saw the wall covered with weapons, from swords to arrows to chains. There were also shield and mail, helmets and armor.
Harmony chose her favorites of the selection. She had had her wand replaced her first day back, and she held it firmly in her left hand. With her right, she lifted a long and heavy sword bestowed to her by her father on her eleventh birthday. From the rack of armor she chose a shirt of mail fitted perfectly to her size and the only thing on the whole wall that looked as if it didn't belong there: a dress.
The dress was a deep Slytherin green, the sleeves were long and covered her mail, ending in loops around her middle fingers. It remained as close fitting a dress can over mail, but at the waist it fell in folds and folds of cloth. To most this seemed impractically, but in actually it was not. The dress ended just above her ankles, so she never tripped. Her legs were perfectly free to move, perhaps even more so than with the standard green trousers distributed to her army. And, even more useful, was the fact that if worn with a cloak one would know you were prepared for battle. And, of course, the dress was designed to hold her wand, sword and any other weapon of her choosing invisibly.
Harmony was of the opinion that the entire army should fight in dresses, but of course this did not sit well with Sirius, who had been General of Slytherin's Royal Army since the old general had peacefully passed away two years previously. To the men, he argued reasonably, a dress would have many setbacks. Harmony had to agree with this, since she was been training to fight in a dress such as this since she was two years old.
She quickly changed into her mail and dress, placing the clothes she had been wearing with her cloak and shoes. She picked up her wand in her left hand, and her sword in her right. She narrowed her eyes at the stone walls as if they were threatening her. For a moment she stood perfectly still, composing herself and clearing her mind.
Then she started dueling.
Her wand was spitting spells so furiously that there seemed to be one continual stream of light. Meanwhile her sword swept through the room, parrying and lunging at her unseen foes. Her daintily arched brows furrowed, her soft hands firmly gripping the sword and her pretty red rose lips pursed, her eyes were the only sign of the warrior within. They had turned hard as stone and cold as ice, a frozen wasteland.
She didn't think about Ron. She didn't think about anything. At that moment, nothing mattered except the way the sword moved in her hand, and how fast her wand was moving. Her mind was completely focused on the task at hand. Her feet were steady, moving only when they had to and pivoting effortlessly. Her mind was set on her goal, and nothing else in the world mattered.
She felt her body tiring, but her movements didn't slow. She didn't know whether she had been at it for moments or months, only that she had to keep going. She could hear her heart pounding in her ears, and the blood flying thought her veins. She could feel the magic in her fingertips as her mouth decreed, in Snake, the curses she was shooting. Her eyes were gleaming, she was breathing heavily, and her movements were still as graceful as ever. Her mind was singing and her heart was on fire. She was in her element in that moment.
"Harmony?"
Harmony spun around in shock, and Sirius ducked as a jet of white light went soaring over his head. She cringed, realizing she had almost hit him dead on with the Cruciatus Curse. He gave the hole in the wall behind him a curious glance, then shut the door and faced Harmony. "Practicing, I take it?"
"Uh...yeah," Harmony replied, going red and suddenly feeling very embarrassed. She felt like he had just walked in on her soul. She had only ever let on person in while she was dueling, and that was...Ron. Go figure, he haunted everything she did!
"You're damn good, Princess," He said, giving her a quirky grin. "If I were Voldemort I'd be running like hell."
"Is that a compliment?" She asked, giving him a funny look.
"It was supposed to be."
"Ah," Harmony nodded, looking down at her sword. Something occurred to her and her head snapped up. "Hey Sirius, you know what?"
"What's that?" He asked.
"It's a lot easier to fight with my hair cut like this!" She said, gesturing to the golden locks that ended at her waist. Sirius looked at her, then at her hair, then back at her. After a moment, he started laughing so hard he had to lean up against the wall. Harmony frowned.
"And what, exactly, is so funny?"
"It's just..." But Sirius was overcome in another fit of laughter. Harmony tried to smile, for she saw the humor in the situation, but she couldn't find anything to be happy about. She knew the Battle was coming, and she knew that she had probably messed up any chance her victory.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Voldemort smiled in the cruel fashion only he could. Peter Pettigrew swallowed compulsively. If his master smiled, it usually wasn't good for him.
However, on this particular occasion Peter wasn't the person who gave the Dark Lord a reason to smile. He had just received news from Lucius. Ron Weasley was back, and they had unmasked the new transfer as his annoying alter-heir distant cousin. This meant, he knew, that there had been a rift between Potter, Granger, Weasley and their new found enemy: Harmony Slytherin. Now was the time to attack.
Voldemort assembled his armies and prepared for the Final Battle, the one that would decided the outcome of the world as it was, and the world as he would make it. He set the day of his attack for the 17th of May.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
It had been three weeks since Ron's return to Hogwarts, and he was finally starting to accept the fact that he was no longer in Marigold with Harmony and Sirius, but at school with Harry and Hermione. He was also getting used to school life again, a considerable feat.
It was a beautiful May morning, the sun was shining brightly and the birds were out singing. However, the majority of the students were inside studying for exams. Harry, Hermione, and Ron were not among them.
It was the first time in his life Ron could remember Hermione not insisting they stay inside and study, and he was amazed at both of them, especially since NEWTs were right around the corner. He was starting to get uncomfortable with all the special treatment, but he wasn't going to say no to a walk around the lake. It had been days since the weather was as nice as this.
For nearly an hour Ron managed to climb out of his shell and just have fun with his friends. However, his eyes kept wandering to the Forest and he would gaze longingly at the life he left behind and his feet were yearning to run through the now well-known paths to Marigold. He sighed, which caused Hermione to interrupt his thoughts.
"Ron?" She asked tentatively.
"Hmm?" He said, turning his gaze from the forest. Harry and Hermione were looking at him in concern, and it occurred to him how different he was to them now.
"Ron, you can tell us anything," She said, stepping forward and putting a comforting hand on his shoulder. "We won't tell anyone. Not even Dumbledore if you don't want us to. I hope you know that."
"Of course I do, Hermione, it's just that..." He sighed. He had a carefully planned a well rehearsed tale of his "capture" planned, but he didn't really want to lie unless he had to. However, in this situation... "Okay, Herm. Here's what happened-"
Ron never did have to tell that false story.
"Harry!" Hermione interrupted in hear, grabbing onto Harry's arm. He looked over at her in alarm, caught off guard since he had been listening to Ron intently. He followed her gaze to a large black snake crawling through the grass toward them.
"It's okay," He said calmly, then turned the snake. "Turn around, buddy. There's nothing here for you."
Ron gave Harry a funny look, wondering if he was just trying to confuse the thing by speaking to it. Then he realized Harry was talking in Parseltongue. He hadn't realized he would be able to understand Harry speaking with snakes. Well, that made life interesting, didn't it?
However, the snake didn't turn away at Harry's words. "Go on now, go home where you belong!" The snake didn't deter from its course, straight past Harry and on to Ron. It was then that Ron realized two things: 1) the snake was injured and 2) the snake was speaking.
"Mr. Weasley," It panted. "Mr....Weasley!"
"Richard?" Ron whispered, finally recognizing the snake as the animagus form of Sir Richard of the Royal Court of Marigold, and the one who was supposed to go and inform Harmony if an emergency should arise while she was at Hogwarts. What on earth was he doing here?
He didn't notice the wide-eyed shock of Harry and Hermione, mainly because he didn't realize he had spoken in Snake.
"Richard!" He cried again, kneeling and placing a hand on the snake's head. Immediately it took on the form a human man with a grisly injury in his right arm. Hermione let out a strangled gasp from behind him.
"Mr. Weasley," Richard panted. "Thank God!"
"What happened to you?" Ron demanded whipping out his wand and trying to tend to the wounds. Richard wouldn't hear of it.
"A scratch, a scratch," He insisted.
"This," Ron argued, gesturing to the bleeding gash, "Is no scratch."
"Listen to me!" Richard interrupted, annoyed. "The city...the city is under attack!"
"WHAT?!" Ron cried, leaping up and staring down at Richard in shock. Marigold was under attack? Voldemort must have...and they were coming to Hogwarts and... HARMONY!
Without a second thought Ron turned and sprinted full force toward the forest. Harry and Hermione looked after him for less than a second before the man Ron had called Richard spoke to them.
"Go with him," He begged, his voice hardly a whisper. "Go...they need you."
"Who-" Harry began.
"GO!" The man cried, and Harry and Hermione didn't try to argue with him again. Ron was already nearly in the forest, and they knew they couldn't lose track of him.
He was running with all the speed he could (which was a considerable amount) and Harry and Hermione had to work to keep up with him. More amazing was the way he seemed to know where he was going. The gnarled trees and twisted limbs were enough to make anyone dizzy, but Ron never slowed in his path.
Harry was getting lost, confused, and slightly annoyed. What in the hell was going on? Why had an injured man in the form of a Snake come up to Ron and tell him a city was under attack? And then tell Harry to follow? And where in God's name did Ron learn Parseltongue?!
Ron stopped abruptly, bringing Harry and Hermione to a halt behind him. He didn't notice them he was staring down into the valley at his feet. Harry followed his gaze, and suddenly felt as if someone had punched all the air out of him.
He could tell the city had once been beautiful. It was the likes of which Harry had never seen before, small yet with the flair of a capitol of the world, with marvelous buildings, quaint homes, and a powerful castle. It was now being overrun by Death Eaters dressed in black, and helpless, innocent people with long ears and long hair were running everywhere, screaming. Half the city already lay in ruins. Beside him he could feel Ron tense up and breathe heavily.
Then, before Harry or Hermione could react, Ron plunged into the fray, running down the slope into the city, and Harry and Hermione had no choice but to follow.