Showdown
Hermione came up the stairs and entered the master bedroom where Ron was still in bed. "I thought you were still asleep," she said, putting something down on her night table and sitting down on her side of the bed.
"I was until you woke me up grunting and groaning down the hall."
"Well, it's hard. You try walking on those creaky floorboards when you're almost seven months pregnant!"
"Thankfully I'll never have to. I was just teasing; it was time for me to get up anyway. What's that?" he asked, looking over to the paper she had put down.
"Oh, it's nothing," she said quickly, trying to grab it before Ron could, but he was too fast for her. He snatched the paper from the table and tried to read it while keeping it away from her at the same time.
"'The Dark Lord has kidnapped the Boy Who Lived,'" Ron read out loud. "Hermione, why'd you clip this?"
She sighed and stopped trying to grab it. "Read the rest of it."
The Minister of Magic, Harry Potter, was kidnapped on Saturday. The Dark Lord must have caught him by surprise: there appeared to be no struggle in the office where Potter was last seen. Potter has just vanished without a trace. His apartment and his office were searched, to no avail. No clue was found. Said the chief of the Magical Law Enforcement department, Dean Thomas, "Mysterious disappearings in the past were linked to the previous Dark Lord, Voldemort, and it seems as though they are linked now to the Dark Lord himself."
Ron stopped reading. "You don't think he really has been kidnapped, do you?" he asked.
"I'm not sure. They can't find him anywhere, and even owls can't reach him."
"Yeah, but he defeated Voldemort, everyone was certain - even Dumbledore. What does the new Dark Lord want with Harry?"
"Revenge?" Hermione guessed. "At the end of Voldemort's rule, didn't he have an apprentice? You know, the one who escaped?"
Ron nodded. "Still, you'd think security would be tight around the Minister of Magic…." He trailed off. "So what's for breakfast?"
"Ron!" Hermione scolded. "Aren't you going to do anything about this?"
"Like what? It's my day off, Hermione. You're the one who told me I should take time off to spend with you."
"But, Ron, you're one of the world's best Aurors!"
"Yeah, one we can't afford to lose. Besides, we haven't really even seen Harry since Hogwarts."
"But he was your friend, Ron. Our friend. He always helped us in a jam, why can't you do the same?"
"Oh, come on, Hermione! It's my day off!"
"Who saved Ginny from Tom Riddle's diary in second year? Harry. Who kept us from getting in trouble when McGonagall found us in the broom closet during the Halloween feast seventh year? Harry. Who-"
"Alright! I get it. Fine, I'll see what I can do." Ron got up and went into the bathroom to get ready for work.
* * *
Ron couldn't believe he had Apparated all the way to the Ministry for this. He hadn't even spoken to Harry in ten years, though he had tried. First the owls, there was never any answer. He tried less and less. Obviously Harry thought he was too important for his school friends. Ron sighed. He probably was. No, Ron had never wanted to become the Minister of Magic, but he was still somehow jealous. Harry had always made him jealous. Frankly, he was almost glad when Harry didn't answer his owls. He didn't want to hear about how Harry had beaten Lord Voldemort at the height of his power. He didn't want to hear about how Harry had gotten a top job in the Ministry almost right out of Hogwarts. He didn't want to hear about how Harry had single-handedly captured Peter Pettigrew and cleared Sirius' name. And he certainly didn't want to hear about how Harry Potter had become the youngest Minister of Magic in history at the age of twenty.
Ron hadn't done that badly for himself, either. No, he had become an Auror, and a damn good one if he said so himself. He and Hermione had been married (around the same time as Harry had become Minister), and now they had a beautiful four-year old daughter and another on the way. But somehow, he still resented Harry, and this wasn't helping much.
Hadn't Harry always been able to worm himself out of trouble? Ron was certain Harry, especially an adult, twenty-seven year old Harry, could get himself out of this.
And that was what made him the most curious.
* * *
Ron walked up to the Muggle-proofed Ministry building and entered silently. He had been there many times before, investigating, and he always made sure that he would never run into Harry there. Now it was different. Everyone in the lobby was running around in a frenzied fashion. The doorman jumped to his feet when Ron walked in.
"Excuse me, sir, security's tight. I'm going to have to ask you to leave." The doorman stood like a blockade to the hallways and offices beyond.
With out a word, Ron reached in the pocket of his robes and pulled out his Auror badge.
"I'm sorry, sir," the doorman said quickly and apologetically. He moved to the side to let Ron pass.
Ron smiled as he walked down the hallways to the Minister's office. Perhaps the biggest benefit to being an Auror was the badge, which allowed him to go almost anywhere without question. He followed the signs to the reception area.
The Ministry of Magic looked like any Muggle office building; Ron knew because Hermione had forced him to take Muggle Studies in sixth year. But once you got into the offices, it was just as magical as any other wizard building.
Ron walked casually past the receptionist, and old school acquaintance, Lavender Brown.
"Excuse me, but you can't go in there. The Minister isn't in," she called. Ron turned around. "Oh, Mr. Weasley, I didn't know it was you." Ron approached the desk. "I don't know if you've heard, but Harry's been kidnapped."
"I've heard," Ron said shortly. "That's why I'm here."
"Oh, have you been assigned to the Potter case?"
"You could say that. You haven't seen anything suspicious around here lately, have you?"
"Not really. We've been very busy lately getting ready for the Quidditch World Cup, and Mr. Potter's been working overtime a lot. I even found him sleeping in his office a couple of mornings."
"What happened the day he disappeared?"
"Well, the day before, he stayed late. I had to take care of my son, so he told me to go on home. The next day, I came in and he wasn't here, but that wasn't strange because I usually get in before him. I waited a while, but he didn't come in. I sent one of the employees in the lower departments to his house, but he wasn't there. I owled him, but it just came back with my letter. He seems to just have Disapparated off the face of the earth!"
"Mind if I take a look in his office?" Lavender shook her head and handed him the keys.
Ron entered the office. It looked like all the rest: a desk full of papers, file cabinets lining the walls, plaques, Quidditch trophies, and Dark Art detectors filling the empty spaces. Ron dug through the papers on the desk and opened every drawer, but found nothing. No ransom note, no piece of a robe, not one trace of a struggle, just like the newspaper article had said. It was very curious.
He went out of the office, closing the door behind him, and gave Lavender back the keys.
"Did you find anything?" she asked, as she dumped them into a desk drawer.
"Not a thing, but I'll be back," Ron said, as he swept by and back to the lobby.
The doorman stood at the door. "Going out?" he asked.
"No," Ron said. With that, he Apparated out of sight.
* * *
"What's that?" Hermione asked when he came in the door and started to hang up his cloak.
"A book from the Library of Records," he stated.
The Library of Records was another place that only Aurors and officials could go. It was like the restricted section of the library; anyone who wasn't an Auror or a head of department needed permission to go in. The library contained all sorts of books and records one every subject anyone could think of. The particular book Ron had taken out was a book on the Ministry.
"It's an update-book," Ron explained, as Hermione peered at the cover. "I searched Harry's office today. The lock on the door and the windows were all working, and they haven't been tampered with. It has to be an inside job."
"You think someone at the Ministry would want to kidnap Harry?"
"If they were a spy."
"Ron… spies in the Ministry?" Hermione asked skeptically.
"It's happened before." Ron opened the book to the section called "Information on Current Employees," and thumbed through until he found what he was looking for. "Look at this, Hermione," he said, pointing to a name.
"Head of Department of Dark Arts Detection, Draco Malfoy?"
"Didn't we always suspect that Malfoy would become the next Dark Lord?"
"Ron, your sister is dating him! Besides, he works at the Ministry. Do you know how many background checks they run before you can get a job there? I did work there for two years, remember? They hardly ever take anyone from Slytherin."
"They'll take anyone who gives them as much money as the Malfoys have." Ron started to read through the information listed.
Draco Malfoy, Department of Dark Arts Detection
(picture not available)
Position: Head of Department
Age: 27 years
Education: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Slytherin house
Work: Department of Dark Arts Detection, assistant, ages 19-22
Department of Dark Arts Detection, head of department, ages 22-27
"Picture not available, that's suspicious," Ron muttered to himself.
"Suspicious, why? You know what Malfoy looks like."
"The pictures are locators, Hermione. It shows the person at any second of any day. If Malfoy doesn't have his picture in the records it means he doesn't want to be tracked."
"That is suspicious."
"And what was he doing right after school? He graduated at seventeen; we all did. Where was he between there and when he turned nineteen? I think I'm going to go have a little talk with Mr. Malfoy."
* * *
Again, Ron Apparated into the front lobby of the Ministry offices. The doorman bowed to him, but Ron kept walking to the receptionist's desk.
"I need to know where Draco Malfoy's office is," he said.
"We can't let anyone in to see Mr. Malfoy without an appointment," said the receptionist.
Ron took out his Auror badge and flashed it in front of the woman's face.
She sighed. "Mr. Malfoy doesn't like Aurors, (Wonder why, Ron thought) but I suppose I'll have to let you in. Go all the way down towards the Minister's office, then take the last left before you hit the Minister's lobby."
"Thank you," Ron said. He followed her directions, taking the first left before the Minister's lobby. There was a long, dark hallway with a door at the end. But the door had no knob or handle.
"Welcome to the Department of Dark Arts Detection. Please state your name and your business here."
"Ron Weasley. I need to speak with Mr. Malfoy."
The door swung opened and Ron stepped through.
He was back in the lobby.
He stomped up to the reception desk. "What are you trying to pull!?" he demanded.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Weasley, but I have no control over the door to that Department. I can't do anything for you."
Someone is trying to keep me from finding something out, Ron thought, as he Disapparated with a loud pop!
* * *
It was midnight of the same day. Ron had to find out what was in Malfoy's office. It could be the key to solving "the Potter case." He needed to break in. It wouldn't be easy, and he would need time and no distractions. Night would be the best time.
Ron Apparated outside the doors to the lobby. Just as he suspected, a night watchman was prowling the lobby. It was the best spot for break in, since you could only Apparate and Disapparate from there. There was bound to be guards everywhere; Ron would have to work fast.
When the guard turned, Ron whipped out his wand and tried, "Alohomora," on the door. Nothing happened. He should have known better than to try a first year spell on any Ministry security features. What he needed was a distraction so that the doorman would leave the lobby long enough for Ron to get inside. He put his wand right up against the glass doors. "Serpensortia!" he called, and a huge snake slipped out of his wand and under the door.
The watchman screamed in terror and fled down a hallway the opposite way of Malfoy's office. When Ron was sure he wasn't coming back, he Apparated into the lobby and ran towards the end of the hall.
There were a few guards standing by the entrance to Harry's office, and they would probably see him before he could turn left into the hall leading to the Department of Dark Arts Detection.
"Bliebiosa," Ron whispered, and he became invisible. The spell wouldn't last long, so he walked as quickly as he could without making too much noise. He had made it to the door when he became transparent, and soon, back to normal.
"Welcome to the Department of Dark Arts Detection. Please state your name and business here."
Ron didn't answer the door; instead, he tapped it with his wand and whispered, "Kojikocio." The door exploded. The magical protection was down now, so Ron could easily get into the office.
"Welcome to the- Welcome to the- Welcome to the-" the door repeated. Ron entered.
The office was dark; Ron lit his wand and searched around. There was nothing suspicious. He checked all the drawers and rooted through some papers, but he found nothing of importance.
As he was about to leave, he suddenly heard, "What the hell happened here?" It sounded like Malfoy. All the candles lit at once and the room brightened. Ron had to hide! He slipped into a dark closet.
"Stupid guards," Ron heard Malfoy muttering. "Always thinking there's someone there and just blasting everything to smithereens! It's going to take me a whole day to repair that door."
Malfoy footsteps were getting closer to the closet, and Ron could see his robes under the door.
"Well, at least it wasn't me." He fumbled with the doorknob. Ron reached for his wand but it had fallen to the floor. Malfoy opened the door.
"Ron? What are you doing here?" he asked.
"You wouldn't let me into your office, so I had to break in," Ron answered, not wanting to come up with a story. "What are you hiding?"
"Well that explains the door. When did you come to my office?" Malfoy asked, lighting the floating candles in the closet with a flick of his wand. He searched through the pockets of the cloaks hanging on the door.
"This afternoon."
"Oh! That was you? I thought it was Ginny. That door only recognizes last names. I've been meaning to get it updated. Aha!" he said suddenly, pulling out a small wrapped package from the last cloak. "I didn't want Ginny to come in because I was wrapping this. It's for her birthday. I'm going to ask her to marry me. What'd you get her?"
"Um…" Ron had forgotten about Ginny's birthday. "That's not important. I have some questions for you, Malfoy."
"Fine, go ahead." He motioned over to the desk, and they sat down.
"I've been checking out anything suspicious since the Minister's disappearance. Do you know anything about it? Your office is right next door."
"I don't know anything except what I've read in the newspapers. Potter disappeared after work one day and no one's heard from him."
"Well then I have some other questions for you. What were you doing when you got out of school if you weren't working here?"
"I was playing Quidditch for England. We didn't make it to the cup that year, but we were close. I was a Seeker."
"Why'd you quit playing?"
"I got injured; hit by a Bludger in the wrist. It's too hard for me to catch the Snitch now. But what's that got to do with anything?"
"Just information. One more. Why is your picture 'unavailable' in the Ministry record?"
"It used to be in there, but there was this Auror who kept on following me. She was a huge Quidditch fan. She had the records and she used them to find out where I lived and what I was doing. She was stalking me! So I asked for it to be removed. And by the way, she was fired."
Ron was disappointed. Malfoy was clean.
"Is that all, because I want to get home and sleep."
"Why did you come here in the middle of the night?"
"To get Ginny's present. When I left earlier, I forgot that I was going to take tomorrow off to be with her."
"Oh."
"Well, I'm sure I'll see you again soon. And go ahead and take a look around if it makes you feel better." Malfoy walked out of the office and out of sight. After a few more minutes of searching, Ron did, too.
* * *
"If only I had just looked on the next page, I wouldn't have wasted my time!" Ron cursed at himself.
"What?" Hermione asked.
"Look," Ron said, pointing at the Ministry information record.
Background: Played Quidditch for England, Seeker, ages 17-19
Quit at age 19 due to injury
"Wow, the book really does tell you a lot about the person."
"Yeah, if I had looked."
"So Malfoy didn't do it?"
"Nope, he's innocent and I've got a bigger problem."
"What?"
"Ginny's birthday! Malfoy's proposing and I didn't even get her a present yet!"
"Don't worry, Ron. I took care of it." She pointed to a wrapped box on the bed.
"Thanks, Hermione. You think of everything!"
"But if Malfoy didn't do it, who did?"
"I don't know, but I plan to find out." Ron thumbed through the records. "What I need to do is find anyone who might have been a Death Eater. Chances are, if they were in Voldemort's inner circle, they're in the Dark Lord's circle now."
"Does the book tell you that?"
"No, only if they were arrested. But unexplained absences are almost sure signs of Dark activities. Help me look?"
"Sure. Let me just put Haley to bed first."
* * *
Ron and Hermione spent most of the night searching, with many false alarms.
"This guy was arrested thirteen years ago. Oh, no, wait, that's Ludo Bagman. Nevermind."
"How about- oh no, he died last year. I thought this was the current section!"
"Well, even update books are a little slow at reorganization. But at least we know the knowledge is accurate."
"Ron, this is getting hopeless. I'm tired. Let's just-"
"Wait! I found something!" Hermione peered over his shoulder. "Take a look at this!"
Daniel Clancey, jr., Department of Magical Law Enforcement
(picture not available)
Position: Head assistant
Age: 49 years
Education: Durmstrang Institution
Work: Flourish and Blotts, part-time assistant, ages 17-22
Durmstrang Institution, professor of Dueling Spells class, ages 22-30
Department of International Magical Cooperation, assistant, ages 30-35
Department of Magical Law Enforcement, head assistant, ages 35-49
Background: arrested for Dark activities at age 29
has not been to work for two months
"He worked at Durmstrang. We all know that's a school of the Dark Arts!"
"And that's not all. He hasn't been seen in two months. Maybe he's been planning revenge."
"Well if no one has seen him, how are you going to question him?"
"First, I can search his office."
* * *
Ron was getting a bit tired of the Ministry, having been there four times in three days. Even the receptionist was a bit annoyed to see him again, although maybe that was because he had yelled at her yesterday.
"Oh, you again," she said sarcastically as he asked her where the Department of Magical Law Enforcement was, but she pointed him in the right direction.
When Ron arrived at the department lobby, it was crowded full of strange people, all of whom had been arrested that morning or the night before. He flashed his Auror badge at the secretary and the room quieted.
"Don't worry. I'm not here for any of you; except if you can tell me where Mr. Potter is being held?"
The brave ones shook their heads; the rest just stared at him. "Who I'm really after," he explained to the secretary, "is Daniel Clancey. You seen him lately?"
She, too, shook her head. "Hasn't been heard from in weeks. He just left one night and never came back. His wife and kids haven't heard from him either."
"What can you tell me about his experience in the Dark Arts?"
The woman drew a shaky breath. "He got arrested once, I know that. I had just started working here when it happened. He was charged with torturing Muggles, but he wasn't convicted. He was in Lord Voldemort's group, but he quit that and turned over to our side after he was arrested. He was even a spy for Fudge when Voldemort came to power the second time."
"Thanks for your help," Ron said, as he left the office. There was no point in searching the office. He knew Clancey was innocent, but the question was, where was he?
* * *
Ron spent the rest of the day searching the records at the library, but there were no more obvious leads, and he was running out of places to look.
At least there was something to take his mind off it. Ginny's birthday party was that night. Ron was sort of looking forward to it. He knew Malfoy was proposing today, that would be strange, but he could get over it. So he, Hermione, and Haley set out for his parents' house, which was where the party was being held.
The party went well; Ginny loved all her presents, especially Malfoy's, which he had already given her earlier that afternoon. There was plenty to eat and plenty of stories and jokes to go around. Malfoy ducked out early because he got an urgent call back to his office. Haley was starting to fall asleep - it was way past her bedtime - so they got ready to leave, too.
"Oh, no!" Ginny sighed.
"What is it?" Hermione asked.
"Draco left his cloak."
"Ron will bring it to him tomorrow."
"I will?"
Hermione gave him a stern look. "Don't you have to go back there anyway to check more leads?"
"I don't have anymore leads. But I guess I'll take it to him."
"Thanks, Ron," Ginny said. "And thanks for coming. See you soon!"
Ron took the cloak, Hermione took Haley and they headed home.
* * *
The next morning, Ron grabbed the cloak and Apparated into the front lobby of the Ministry, as he had been doing for four days now. When he appeared inside, he met total chaos.
"What's going on here?" he asked the doorman.
"They've found Daniel Clancey, sir," the doorman replied.
"Oh, good. I wanted to question him."
"I don't think you can do that."
"And why not?"
"He was found dead."
Ron pushed his way to the front of the crowd and the reporters and down the hallway to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Malfoy and the rest of the Department of Dark Arts Detection employees were there.
Ron handed Malfoy his cloak. "What happened to him?" Ron asked.
"He's been killed, obviously by the 'Avada Kedavra' curse. Only a powerful Dark Wizard would do this."
"You don't think…Lord Fytaero?"
"It's got to be. One of his Death Eaters wouldn't have the strength to do this, and no good wizard would."
"But why kill Clancey?"
"Not sure yet. Didn't you search his office?"
"No - who told you that?"
"His secretary said you asked about him yesterday."
"I did, but he sounded clean so I didn't search it. But I think I'm going to now."
Malfoy nodded, and Ron got the keys to Clancey's office. He unlocked the door and went inside. His office looked like most of the others Ron had recently searched, but a folder lying open on his desk caught Ron's eye. He scooped up its contents and went back outside.
"Was Clancey working on Lord Fytaero?"
"I don't know; he's not in my department. Although, that case is. Why would he have that?"
"He's got to be breaking Magical Laws, doesn't he?"
"Yeah, I guess."
"I'm taking this back to my office to work it out," Ron said, showing Malfoy the folder and walking back out to the lobby. He quickly Disapparated from the lobby and into the lobby of the Aurors' Building. He walked up a flight of stairs to his office, where he spread the papers over his desk and began to read them.
Most of the papers contained information that Ron already knew. He had worked on trying to find Lord Fytaero, too. But it was a picture that caught his eye. It appeared to be a picture of the abandoned fort where the final battle against Lord Grindelwald had occurred. And hadn't Lord Voldemort learned everything he knew from Grindelwald? Maybe Fytaero had learned everything he knew from Voldemort. At this point, it was worth a shot. He had to find Harry quickly, before it was too late. If Clancey had this information and he was killed, Fytaero would be looking for him next.
* * *
Ron spent late morning and early afternoon in his office preparing for his rescue mission. He packed his robe pockets with magical items he thought might be helpful, and of course, his wand. Then he went down to the Auror's library downstairs and made sure that the picture was what he thought it was. It wasn't too far. He could Apparate there from the lobby. Lastly, he wrote a note to Hermione, just in case, and stuck it in his desk drawer. Then he was off.
* * *
Ron didn't like the look of the fort. It was old and crumbling. When he went inside, everything was dark and damp. It was creepy. But he wasn't one of the world's best Aurors for nothing. He was used to this. He pressed on, deeper into the underground section of the fort.
Suddenly, he heard footsteps. He stopped walking for a minute, hardly daring to breathe. Someone - or something - was coming towards him; he knew that Fytaero, like most of the other Dark Lords before him, was probably a Parselmouth. Ron didn't want a run in with a giant snake unless he had found Harry first.
Control yourself, Ron, he told himself. Snakes didn't make those kinds of noises. He reached into his robes for his wand and pulled it out, ready to defend himself if necessary. But to his surprise, Harry was the person who came out of the shadows.
"Harry!"
"Ron, I've been expecting you, although I didn't think you'd take this long to find me."
"What are you talking about? Why were you just waiting for me when you've obviously rescued yourself!?"
Harry laughed coldly. "I was never kidnapped; I was just luring you here. I knew you'd look for me if the newspaper said I had been kidnapped by Fytaero."
"So you weren't kidnapped? Then why are you here? Are you working for Fytaero!?"
He laughed again. "I'm not working for Fytaero, Ron."
Ron breathed a sigh of relief.
"I am Fytaero!"
"You? How can you be?"
"Let me show you a little trick I learned from the master." He took his wand and began to write words in the air, the wand creating glowing ribbons forming the letters
Harry Potter
He flicked his wand and the letters rearranged themselves into one sickening name
Phyttaerro
"It's missing an R, I know. I changed the spelling of the name a bit so it wouldn't be so obvious, but there it is. The letters in 'Tom Marvolo Riddle' form 'I am Lord Voldemort,' so why couldn't I do the same?"
Ron stared at his former friend, horrified. "You can't be a Dark Lord! If you are, why did you kill Lord Voldemort?"
"So you're not scared to say the name anymore."
"I'm not scared of anything."
"Not even spiders?" Harry taunted. He raised his wand and a gigantic black spider thumped to the stone floor and crawled towards Ron.
"Finite Incantatem!" The spider disappeared. "Not even spiders."
Harry laughed again. "I killed Lord Voldemort for the same reason he wanted to kill me when I was a baby: competition."
Ron gasped.
"However, there is a different reason for your death. You're good, Ron. I can't deny it. I can't have Aurors running around and ruining my plans; you have to go. We shall have a duel, and I shall win."
"I don't think so."
"Expelliarmus!" Harry shouted. Ron's wand wiggled from his hand and flew to Harry.
"That's cheating! We haven't even started yet!"
"Poor naive Ron. Do you think Dark Wizards ever play fair? However, to even it up a bit more…." Harry threw both wands across the room.
"I can still do a few curses without my wand," Ron said.
"Of course you can, as can I. I would be surprised if you couldn't. But that's not how we're going to duel."
"Then how?"
Harry bent down and picked two swords. "A sword fight."
"Sword fight?" Ron repeated.
Harry threw him a sword. "You can use that one. I feel it doesn't quite suit me anymore." Ron looked at the sword and realized it was Godric Gryffindor's sword, the one Harry had pulled from the Sorting Hat.
"Really, Harry. Swords? Is that because you're worried that I might know more curses than you do?"
Harry glared at him menacingly. "I happen to favor bloody deaths than magical ones. Except when I do them in a hurry."
"Like Daniel Clancey?"
"Exactly like Daniel Clancey. I only put his body back in the Ministry so that you were sure to hear about it. It must have worked."
"There's something I don't understand, Harry," Ron said. "Why did you work so hard to become Minister of Magic?"
"That is one of my more brilliant schemes. I had to put the wizarding world into a state so that they wouldn't expect a new Dark Lord to rise, like when Voldemort came to power the second time. We weren't prepared, and that made his short reign even more terrible than it would have been if Fudge had been ready. And since you won't be around long enough to tell anyone, I'll tell you this one secret. I killed Cornelius Fudge. It was so easy to make everyone think he was killed by Voldemort. But he took all his orders from Dumbledore, so I needed someone who would do whatever I wanted them to. I thought of you, but you were too far gone. And so, I picked myself."
Ron was shocked. How could the Harry he had known in school become Lord Fytaero? Harry, the Gryffindor. Harry, the Quidditch captain. Harry, the Head Boy. Harry, the downfall of Lord Voldemort not once, but twice. And Harry, his best friend.
"Enough of this," Harry said. "Let's get down to business." He pointed his sword at Ron. "One of us will die here and now." He charged.
The battle went on for hours. Harry was good with the sword, but Ron was doing well enough to stop Harry from killing him. But Harry had nicked him a few times. There was a horrible gash in his left upper arm. He was bleeding, and it was starting to get dark. If he passed out, Harry wouldn't spare him. Harry backed Ron into the wall and slashed at him. Ron barely felt the pain anymore. He slid down to the floor. His wand! He reached it just as Harry sliced his stomach.
"Avada Kedavra!" Ron shouted. Harry fell to the floor, dead, the sword clanking down next to him.
"I've won," Ron whispered, as he passed out.
* * *
He came to only a few minutes later. He was losing blood fast, and no one would find him here. He struggled to his feet, using the wall to support him. Then he tapped himself with his wand and Apparated back to his house.
He couldn't bear to stand up any longer. He fell to the floor.
"Ron," Hermione called. "Is that you?" She entered the front hall and saw Ron lying on the floor.
"My God, Ron!" she cried, crouching down beside him.
"If you think this is bad, you should see the other guy," Ron whispered.
"Who did this to you?" Hermione demanded.
"Fytaero, but he's gone now. I-" Ron blacked out, and Hermione ran to get help.