Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter; it all belongs to JK Rowling. I suppose I own the plot, in a way. And I definitely own the two prophecies!
Summary: In dark times, prophecies predicted the rising of five who would have the power alone to defeat evil. They were the Pack.
**
*
~ The Pack ~
Chapter Ten: The Arms of Morpheus
*
**
Back in Grimmauld Place, Remus allowed Harry and Ron their hour of euphoria, which was duly spent in shouts of triumph and excitement, high-fives and playful hexes, laughter and basically non-stop jumping that threatened to wear the stuffing out of Remus's couch.
"We wiped the pitch with those Slytherin scum!" Ron yelled, seizing Hermione's wrists and forcing her to dance around the room with him. She couldn't help but laugh, and managed to disentangle herself with Harry's help.
Harry grinned broadly. "Yeah, I have to admit that was an incredible face-off," he enthused. "Ron, I've never seen you Keep like that in my life!"
"Don't forget your dive, mate, Malfoy didn't have a chance at keeping up!"
"I have to admit, that really was excellent playing and you both were admirably sportsman-like," Remus agreed, smiling. "But another match like that may just cause a heart attack for all spectators, in all honesty."
There was a lot of laughter at this, and Sirius slapped Ron on the back and then smiled at Harry. "James would have been proud, Harry, he really, really would have."
"That's good to know." Harry grinned, a spark of pride in his and Ron's eyes that made Hermione smile. It was good to see them on such a high.
This went on for some time, and it was only when Remus announced that lunch had arrived on a series of trays, via Floo Powder in the fireplace, from the Burrow with a note: "Congratulations - love, Molly, Arthur, Bill, Charlie, Fred and George", that Harry and Ron could be calmed down somewhat (although very minimally).
Hermione rather reluctantly spoke up now: "We know where Voldemort is."
That certainly stopped them from leaping around the room, and they turned to her in surprise. "Really?" Ron asked in a hushed voice. "You're sure?"
"It came out of Lucius Malfoy's mouth." Sirius said gruffly. Hermione stared fixedly out of the window, unwilling to turn towards him. They hadn't spoken since coming back after the match, and she wasn't about to begin - he was the one who hadn't trusted her, after all.
Harry looked a little skeptical. "Malfoy? How can we be sure it's not a trap?"
"Because 'Pansy Parkinson' was the one to overhear him talking to Adrian Crabbe in the Slytherin stands."
Ron's jaw dropped and Harry snorted with laughter. "Yeah, right, and you're believing what a Slytherin has to say? Honestly, Sirius, as a Marauder and a Warrior, haven't you learned anything?"
Remus smiled at Hermione, who looked at him then. "Well, normally none of us would have taken the word of Parkinson, but as it turned out, it wasn't the real Parkinson who overheard the conversation but a Metamorphagus by the name of Nymphadora Tonks."
"Merlin's beard!" Ron gasped. "Tonks took Parkinson's place? Wow. How'd she manage that?"
"It was Hermione's idea." Sirius growled out.
"I should have known." Harry grinned and Ron laughed appreciatively and they both asked: "So how'd you do it?"
Hermione shrugged, looking at them. "Took Tonks down to the refreshment stand where that cow was. Stunned her and turned her invisible and pushed her between two beams, where I found her later and performed the counter-curses. Asked Tonks to take her place; Tonks was only too happy to. I guess it paid off."
"Brilliant!" Ron gawked.
"You don't sound too happy about it," Harry commented shrewdly. "I understand apprehension because a battle seems only three days away now, but you look a little - well - sad. What's wrong, 'Mione?"
"Nothing." Hermione said quickly, clenching her teeth and avoiding Sirius's gaze. "Absolutely nothing."
"Perhaps we should get down to some details to do with Glenwood moor, which is the location, by the way," Remus interposed quickly because Ron looked like he might ask something more, and he glanced between Hermione and Sirius with a gentle, sympathetic look in his eyes. "I've never been there. Anyone here know the place?"
Heads were shaken all around, and Hermione shrugged. "Okay then, two of us should probably Apparate there and scout the area's periphery to give us some idea of hiding places and traps, keeping out of Voldemort's change, for Merlin's sake. Harry, you and Ron?" She asked. "If you're not too tired."
"Give us an hour after lunch and we'll get over there." Harry promised.
Ron grinned, obviously eager to get into action despite his obvious worries. "And we'll be careful," he said to Hermione, before she could say it. She smiled.
"Good. Then another two of us should go to Dumbledore now and explain what we know to him and the Order and discuss strategies, also so that they can be prepared to station themselves at the periphery of the moor and back us up if we need it. Remus?"
He nodded. "Sirius and I will Apparate back to Hogwarts after lunch." He said.
Sirius frowned, and Hermione could feel his gaze on her. "I'd rather - " he began, but Remus cut him off.
"We're going, Sirius. Trust me on this. I think I need to talk to you in any case."
Harry and Ron glanced at each other and then at Hermione and she gave them a quick look which she knew explained the gist of the situation. Harry nodded and she knew they'd understood and knew not to say anything about it.
"What're you going to do?" Ron asked her.
"My job - provide the weapons," She said quietly, stepping away from the window and going towards her cauldron and ingredients behind the counter. "I have spells to find and certain potions to brew."
***
Glenwood moor turned out to be a marshy, dark area shadowed by sparsely-scattered trees and caves set in a cliff of rock. Harry and Ron Apparated by the fence separating the miles of rolling moor from the deserted farms beyond, and they instantly felt the chill that Voldemort seemed to project for a radius of miles around him.
"Where are we?" Ron asked. "Somewhere in Scotland?"
Harry shrugged. "Dunno. Come on, let's check this place out." In the far distance, they could see the cliffside, and neither of them had any doubt that that was where Voldemort 'lived', and despite the flood of anger that Harry felt, he knew they had to stay a safe distance from the cliffside - they needed the entire Pack to end this battle, and rushing recklessly in would only get them killed.
They walked slowly through the moor, and as they walked past a cluster of trees which cast dark shadows around and within their group, Harry observed a sort of uneven patch in front of them.
"Hang on." He held out an arm to stop Ron from walking. "Is there a rock around here?"
Ron picked up a large pebble. "This do?" he asked, frowning.
Harry took the pebble and tossed it at the patch. It hit with a squishy sound and then there was a disgusting squelching sound as the rock was sucked below the surface of the patch. Ron looked absolutely repulsed. "Quicksand." he grunted. "The perfect trap." He pulled out the piece of parchment and quill Hermione had given them and began to sketch the area roughly, marking the cluster of trees and the cliffside and the quicksand. Harry stood beside him, wand out, alert and ready in case some Death Eater was to find them and attack.
A crunching sound across the quicksand made him turn in that direction, eyes narrowing. It was a ferret. Ron looked up, tucking the parchment and quill safely away. "What - " he began, but never finished.
"Telekinetus!" A voice yelled from the cluster of trees behind them. Harry dived out of the way, but Ron, still on his knees, was hit by the blast of purple light and lifted up into the air, and flung, much to Harry's horror, into the quicksand.
"RON!" Harry yelled in alarm.
The Death Eater, alone, stepped out of the trees. It was Nott, and he was smiling evilly. "Alone and vulnerable, Potter?" he drawled in his slimy voice. "How the Dark Lord will reward me for this . . ."
"Impedimenta!" Harry bellowed, and the Death Eater's movements slowed down, his face screwing up in anger. Harry turned quickly to the quicksand and pointed his wand at Ron, yelling urgently: "Wingardium Leviosa!"
Mercifully, the spell worked on a human. Ron was lifted, with that squelching sound and flailing, out of the quicksand and he fell to solid ground, gasping for breath, pale and shaking, and trying to straighten up.
"Crucio!"
Harry just managed to duck the terrible Cruciatus Curse from Nott, who had obviously broken free of the spell (Harry hadn't been pointing the wand at him earlier anyway) and regained his control over his movements. "Very clever, Potter," he sneered, "Using the flying charm to save your friend. A pity. Avada - "
"Silencio!" Harry blurted, screaming the first words he could think of, which weren't necessarily the best choice. This proved correct as Nott's voice was cut off, but the curse flew straight at Ron and hit him in the chest. Ron, staggering to his feet, fell over backwards, his body bruising. He lay still.
He's not dead, Not didn't utter the incantation, he's in danger, but he's not dead, Harry! Merlin's beard, Ron, don't be dead! Oh God!
Panic was beginning to overtake him, but then something else, something more powerful rose from his core as he realized the possibility that Nott had killed his best friend.
Rage.
Harry pointed his wand at the Death Eater with angry and urgent precision and yelled: "Telekinetus!"
Two people could use that spell, he thought viciously as the Death Eater flew up into the air, shrieking inhumanly, and Harry jerked his wand in the direction of the quicksand. Nott fell in with a squish and began to flail, screaming wildly and desperately. But Harry was past mercy and Nott was not his concern at that moment.
He raced around the patch of gooey death and grabbed Ron, limp, cold and motionless. "Time to leave." He muttered, looking down at Ron in panic. Don't die on me, Ron, please, please, don't be dead!
Before he Apparated both himself and Ron away from the moor, he managed to get one last glimpse of Nott in the quicksand.
The Death Eater sunk to his death.
***
"Collorputus magically locks doors," Hermione muttered aloud as she searched the books in front of her for useful hexes and curses that they already didn't know. She was standing at the kitchen counter, her cauldron brewing a few feet away. "What's the incantation for warding off vampires . . . no, why would we need that? Maybe the Pro - " she broke off hurriedly and turned towards the potion in her cauldron, which was beginning to froth. "Time for the six stirs anti-clockwise," she muttered with a hint of bitterness in her tone.
Sirius and Remus were with Dumbledore and the Order, and wouldn't be back for a while now. Harry and Ron would probably be a little while longer as well, although something uneasy and worrying was nagging at her. She sighed as her thoughts drifted to Sirius . . . what do we do now? If he can't trust me . . . but was it all his fault? Maybe I provoked him a little . . . and I could have told him where I'd gone, he was only asking . . . She groaned.
Crack!
Hermione whirled around. The noise had come from outside the window and before she could hurry over to it, the door burst open and slammed shut. Mrs. Black began shrieking, but before Hermione could do anything, Harry stumbled into the room. His face was pale and sheened in panicked sweat, his body trembling. He was half-dragging, half-carrying a limp, bluish-white body with him.
Dear God, no . . .
It was Ron.
"'Mione!" Harry croaked out, tears visible in his eyes as he collapsed onto the couch in the corner of the table, Ron's body falling across his. "I tried - I couldn't - "
"Shhh . . . Harry, it wasn't your fault!" Hermione's voice shook, but she maintained her calm with all the effort she could muster; she had to stay calm for Harry, who was on the verge of a breakdown. She hurried over to them and gently heaved Ron off Harry and maneuvred him into a lying position across the couch. Harry got off and sank to the floor next to the couch, his eyes glazed and his body shaking hard.
Hermione knelt down beside the couch, her heart thudding so loudly that she was certain it would explode, but she swallowed the panic and pain and lifted Ron's eyelids. His eyes were motionless and still and his eyelids flopped back limply. His skin was cold.
"It - it was Nott," Harry croaked numbly, his voice sounding strangled and distant. "He's dead now . . . didn't get a chance to tell Voldemort we were here. He tried to use Avada Kadavra, I silenced him, but the spell hit Ron still . . . I screwed up . . ."
"No, Harry!" Hermione said sharply. "You did not screw up!"
"Ron . . ."
Hermione reached out and hugged Harry, and felt something wet on her shoulder. She tightened her arms around him, fighting back her own tears, and then pulled away gently to desperately check Ron's chest, neck and wrists.
There. A pulse beat. A fading, fading pulse beat.
"Harry." She said quietly, a flood of relief and fear filling her. "Ron's alive."
Harry's eyes flew open and he turned to her and then looked at Ron. "He's okay?" he asked, sounding as desperate as she felt.
She shook her head. "He's alive now, Harry, but he won't be for long. He's dying."
"But - there has to be something - something we can do!" Harry yelled, the tears filling his emerald eyes again. "'Mione, there has to be something! We can't - can't let him - "
Hermione stared down at Ron's cold, still face and her mind drifted back through seven years of friendship, loyalty, laughter and memories. She remembered the incident with the troll, when they'd first become friends, Ron sacrificing himself during McGonagall's chess game, their millions of arguments and fights, Ron and Harry plunging into the Chamber of Secrets and their elation to see her moving and well again, Ron breaking his leg in his race after Scabbers . . . loyalty towards his pets too.
"No, Harry," she said softly. "We're not going to let him die."
"So what can we do?" He asked urgently. He sounded less afraid now, and Hermione wryly realized he was certain she could perform some miracle now. She wasn't so sure . . .
She looked at him. "Go to Hogwarts and find Sirius and Remus, Dumbledore and the rest of the Order. Tell them what happened and explain to Dumbledore exactly what happened to Ron. He'll be able to find a cure for a silenced Avada Kadavra curse, I'm sure he will, within a few hours if we're lucky."
"A few hours, if we're lucky!" Harry's voice became strained. "'Mione, you said he's dying! A few minutes may be enough to push him into death!"
"I know that, Harry." Hermione swallowed. "Just go, and do what I said, please. After you've spoken to Dumbledore, come back, and bring Remus and Sirius if they haven't already returned."
Harry stared at her for a long moment, and trust swallowed up the doubt in his eyes. He nodded, and looked at Ron for a moment. "I'll be back soon." He promised, and headed for the front door, through which he could Disapparate.
Hermione waited until she heard the Crack and then checked Ron's pulse again. It was there, just faintly, just enough for her to know he was still alive. But Harry was right. It wouldn't last another few minutes, let alone hours.
Oh Ron, how did this happen to you? Why you?
She stood up abruptly and went to her cauldron. It was simmering and only the lacewigs needed to be added. She powdered them and sprinkled them into the potion, thanking Merlin that she'd had to the forethought to prepare for something like this . . . although nothing had really prepared her for the possibility of losing one of the Pack . . .
"Come on, hurry up." She cursed at the potion.
A moment later, it was ready. Hermione corked a vial full of the Stopper Death Brew and ran back to Ron's side. His pulse still beat, but almost imperceptibly now. Hermione closed her eyes, praying she hadn't made a mistake with the potion, and gently forced Ron's lip mouth open. She poured the contents of the vial down his throat and gently heaved his shoulders and head upwards to make sure it was swallowed and slid fully into his insides.
She stared at Ron as his head dropped back against the cushions limply. His body froze, almost like it was on ice. It was warmer now, warmer than it had been, but there was no heartbeat, no pulse, and no blood flow. His body was pale as death itself, but warm, proving to her infinite relief that he wasn't dead, but merely - frozen.
Merely locked into sleep until they released him.
Hermione sank down onto the carpet in front of the couch and leaned back against it, her head touching Ron's arm. She was alone now . . . there was no one here to witness the falling of the Angel . . . and she finally let her tears flow.
The Cracks outside alerted her to arrival of the rest of the Pack, and she brushed tears hurriedly away from her face and eyes and swallowed hard in an attempt to compose herself as best she could.
So when Sirius burst into the room with Harry and Remus close behind him, they found Ron lying motionless and unnaturally pale across the battered couch with Hermione sitting silently on the carpet in front of the couch, her knees tucked under her chin, her eyes swollen.
"'Mione . . ." Sirius said hoarsely, coming towards her. He knelt down and slid his arms around her. She hugged him, and his arm tightened securely around her. She could feel his own pain, and his own fear, but she also felt the emotion he was feeling for her. "I'm sorry." he choked out quietly.
She looked up at him, into his eyes that burned with something she couldn't read and found that she there was nothing to forgive. There was trust there, powerful trust that had been briefly overcome by jealousy earlier. She managed a smile, and then looked at Harry and Remus.
Harry hurried over to Ron. "What happened to him?" he asked. "What's wrong with him? He's warm but he's so pale, he's not moving, and there's no pulse!"
"I believe he's in stasis," Remus said with the same calm Hermione had used earlier, looking down at Hermione with an oddly proud, comforting expression in his eyes. "He's not dead, he's merely frozen in a state of being, until a cure can be found to revive him from the curse's effect. You used the Stopper Death Brew Snape taught you this year?"
Hermione nodded.
"Well done," both Sirius and Remus said together, relieved smiled lightening the shadows on their faces.
"So Ron won't die?" Harry asked, his shoulders sagging with weak relief as he sat down next to her and squeezed her hand.
She shook her head. "He's asleep, Harry. I locked him into a sleep that will keep him alive until we know how to save him."
**
TBC.
*
To anyone who was confused about the chapter title, Morpheus is the God of Sleep, which is why I thought it was a suitable and interesting name to use here.
A/N: I hope this chapter matched up to the rest of the story. Please keep reviewing, and thanks for the feedback so far! Enjoy! -->