Alesco
Chapter Seventeen---Inside and Out
*
"Come in, Ron."
He pushed open the heavy door leading to Professor Forester's quarters. She was sitting behind her desk, and the room was decidedly neater than it had been the last time he had been there. The table and desk was relatively empty now, except for some sheets of parchment and quills.
Ron walked in and shut the door behind him slowly. When he turned, he was startled to see Professor Forester standing right behind him, holding open a box. He gasped and took a step back.
"Sugar quill?" She asked neutrally, pushing the open box toward him. She was staring penetratingly into his eyes. Ron felt himself move to take a black quill, even though he didn't really want one. He put it into his pocket. Why was she offering him sweets at a time like this?
Apparently, the look on his face told her of his concern.
"I saw you walk up my stairs a moment ago, and come into the room. While I was sitting behind my desk, seeing your future, I realized how tired you looked. I thought you might enjoy a treat." She shut the box abruptly, and placed it on the table near her.
Ron stood still and looked at her for a moment. He suddenly realized she was nearly the same height he was. That was why, every time she looked into his eyes, he viewed her eyes as very striking. Even though he was only 16, not many women were as tall as Ron was.
"So, it's true." Ron muttered, "Sirens really can see the future."
"As can you." Professor Forester nodded, and then turned as if to walk back to her desk. Instead, she took out her wand and levitated two heavy, large cushions to the front of her fireplace.
"And you already knew I didn't have a quill to write with that first day." Ron continued, looking around numbly. He was biding his time before he would start asking her about Bill.
"Yes." She turned around, and then gestured toward the cushions. "We might as well begin. Please take a seat."
Ron moved toward the cushions and sat on one. As the professor sat on the other cushion close to him, Ron said loudly, "I don't think we're going to begin yet."
She looked up abruptly and raised an eyebrow. Her voice was harsh when she asked, "And why is that?"
Ron's voice was louder than he expected when he said, "You've been avoiding me ever since mum and Bill were here. I already know something bad happened between you and Bill. I want you to tell me what happened, otherwise I'm going to Professor Dumbledore and tell him I've changed my mind!" He felt his face heat, but he didn't care.
The professor burst out laughing. Ron cringed. Every time he heard that laugh, he got a sick feeling inside. Ron started to get up, but then the professor's hand encircled his upper arm. He couldn't get away.
"Settle back down, Ron." Her voice was crisp and exacting. "Do you really want to spend the rest of your life with nightmares? Because you will, Ron, if you don't go through with this."
"You did something to me before that stopped the nightmares." Ron said heavily and scowled. "You're also changing the topic."
The professor looked at him narrowly for a long time. Then she said, "I don't need to tell you anything about Bill you won't find out about eventually." With this said, she reached out without warning and grasped his face with both hands. She started to pull Ron toward her.
"What are you doing?" He shouted, desperately trying to pull away. He couldn't get a good enough grip on the plush cushions to get away from her.
"Trying to get you closer to me." The professor said emotionlessly. She pulled her hands away from him, and he found himself practically sitting in her lap.
"I don't like this." Ron felt himself tremble, and tried to push away again. He dare not look at her when she was so close to him.
"Stay." The single syllable fell from her mouth, and by the sound of it she expected him to obey. "You'll find, Ron, that you won't be enjoying much of what you'll experience this first day."
At that, Ron felt the all-to familiar "floaty" probing of his mind. He was surprised, because this time he wasn't looking into the professor's eyes.
Her hot breath brushed his face, and he knew if he opened his eyes, her lips would be right in front of him. He closed his eyes tightly, when he heard her say loudly, "Concentrate on me, Ron. Try to enter my mind."
Enter her mind? How the hell did she expect him to do that?
Just as he was beginning to think it was impossible, he felt as if his body was floating in the air. He choked back a scream, still afraid to open his eyes. "Think, Ron, think! Push at me with your power. Try to hurt me."
He didn't want to do this anymore, but the floaty feeling increased and his body was rising off the floor. "Why aren't you pushing me harder, Ron?" The professor's voice seemed louder still...and he realized that he was hearing it both in his ears and in his mind.
He opened his eyes, and when he looked straight ahead, he wasn't looking at the professor's mouth. He was looking down at himself and the professor, and he could see himself trembling where he sat on the cushion. The professor was sitting right up against him, her face near his, and he screamed.
He looked down, and watched himself screaming as the professor grabbed his arms. "Close your mind to the here and now. Think about your power, Ron, and what it can do. Think about me, think about the power I hold inside me. Long to have that power, too, Ron. You know you want it." She was now closing her eyes, too, and he could feel intense heat passing over him.
He didn't want this power...but he had no choice but to proceed. The scene below him faded, as he floated to nowhere, floated to the darkness.
He felt as though he was passed along a tightened cord, that was stretched to the breaking point. He was on the verge of oblivion....maybe he was dying? His body was on fire; it was funny that he could still feel the professor breathing on him.
Without warning, dozens of visions began to pass over the darkness of his mind. He had felt the same sensation when he looked into the Invalesco Mirror, as if he was participating in the events he saw, but a third-party as well. The images passed very quickly, and he couldn't focus on any of them.
Time seemed to slow down, and Ron wondered how long he had been floating in this miserable place. He could feel the sweat pouring between the shoulderblades of his back, and his clothes clung to him uncomfortably. No matter how wide he opened his eyes, he could still only see the detached images. Until one in particular image made him gasp, and he wanted to look closer.
The image came into focus before him, and he heard himself and felt himself talking. But this wasn't him. It was Professor Forester. He saw a reflection of himself in glass window he was standing by, and he was a teenage girl, a teenage Professor Forester. He tried to focus on what he was saying. A group of girls were standing by him, and they were laughing, and looking at the ground.
And then he felt it. He felt his mind giving instructions.
He was now looking at the ground, and a burly-looking teenage boy was crouched there, barking and panting. Ron felt his mind call to the boy, "Roll over." The boy rolled over immediately.
One part of Ron was laughing as if it was the most hilarious thing he had ever seen. The other part of him was sick.
"Beg." The boy sat up straight away and put up his hands, like a dog asking for a bone. Drool started to ooze down his chin.
The young girls laughed louder now then they ever had before.......
....and then, the image was gone. He was passing over a sea of visions....a sea of memories.
Bill....I want to know about Bill....Ron thought desperately.
But the image didn't come. He felt himself focusing on another. This one was entirely different.
A woman's large face was glaring at him with intense anger, intense hatred, and she was shouting. She had green eyes and curly dark hair.
"Shut the fuck up, you rotten brat!" The woman said, in a strange American accent. There was a faint thud, and his body fell to the floor. He realised the woman had hit him. Fear rose within him, and hatred. He felt himself being dragged into someplace cold and dark, but he felt no pain as the woman beat him with a belt. Even though it was dark, he knew that was what was happening. He knew that he was crying. He clasped his very small hands together and hoped it would be over soon......
....it was over, and he was floating again. This time, he fell into an image he recognized.
The tiny stuffed bear was clasped in his arms, and Fred and George were teasing him. Ron wanted some of the candy floss they were supposed to be sharing with him. They refused to give him any. He kept bugging, and then he saw Fred reach into their mother's handbag. He didn't know Fred had his mum's wand until it was too late.
The huge spider was crawling over his head, through his tightened arms. He screamed.....
.....and thankfully, it was gone.......
He could feel himself panting as hot sweat poured down his face. How much more of this was he supposed to endure?
The images passed much more slowly underneath him, and another one came into focus. This time, he was walking through a door to the infirmary at Hogwarts, and there was Hermione....lying on the bed, petrified. "Hermione!" Ron heard himself say, with as much desperation as he'd felt that day.....
....time slowed as the visions crawled by him. In fact, if he reached out, he might even be able to touch one of them.....
Then there was a young red-haired version of himself, grinning attractively. But Ron knew it wasn't him.
He looked past the boy and saw himself in a full-length mirror. Of course it wasn't him. He was....Professor Forester. A young Professor Forester..and he...no, she, was smiling at the red-haired boy.
He reached out and touched the boy's cheek. The boy smiled as well, and reached down to kiss him.
No, this is wrong. No, I don't want this....Ron thought insistently. But the feeling he had deep inside, the feeling that the professor must have had, was desire.
Sweat poured off Ron in waves. No....I don't want to see this....I don't want to do this.
But apparently the professor did. In fact, he could hear her voice now. "Yes, Ron. Look at your brother. This is what you wanted to know." Her hot breath on his face intensified.
Bill continued to kiss him, then Ron felt himself giving mental instructions. "No, not like that. Like this." A vivid, sensual image passed briefly across Ron's mind, and Bill changed his tact. He became more aggressive. He pushed him onto a bed.
No, stop it....please, I don't want to see any more.....just let me go....
~*~
"No...stop." Ron whispered desperately. "Please, no more."
He was lying on his back. When he opened his eyes, he was no longer floating, no longer in that terrible room with Bill. He was back on solid ground, with one of the professor's cushions underneath him. He could feel the coolness of the air rushing over his sweaty body. His clothes were drenched in it. He sat up, and his body was aching.
Professor Forester was sitting there across from him, looking steadily on. Her face and hair were wet, and it appeared she'd experienced everything he had.
"You're despicable." Ron said hoarsely. It was the first thing that came into Ron's mind.
The professor gave a little chuckle. "I can't deny that." Then her expression grew dark. "It was one of the worst things I've ever done, Ron. I hated myself for doing that to him. The only problem is, I wanted it so badly. My mind took over."
She took out her wand, pointed it toward Ron, and muttered a drying spell. Ron felt a familiar rush of air pass over him, and then she used the charm on herself. Standing up, she reached down to pull him to his feet. He didn't take her hand, and got up on his own.
At that, the professor crossed her arms. She stared at Ron, and he stared back.
"There's more, Ron. Oh, so much more. You will see it all, I am certain of that. Bill wanted me, too, in the beginning." She laughed under her breath. "I ruined everything with my insane desire."
Ron could only gape at her, as she took up her wand and magicked the cushions into their former position near her desk.
As she walked about the room, she continued to talk. "I thought I was an orphan when I turned 12. Thankfully, the father I never knew existed saved me from a life of treachery, and made me go to school. It was apparent at that time that I had both his magical abilities, and the abilities passed down by my mother's bloodline."
The professor leaned against her desk and turned to look at Ron again. "I'm only telling you this so that you can understand what you may see in the coming days. If I had explained it to you this afternoon, you would not have understood what I meant--not until you saw what mind-bonding was.
"I met your brother while doing an internship through GIML...the Guthrie Institute for Magical Learning. They were offering part-time positions at the Ministry of Magic in London, and of course I took up the opportunity. I desperately wanted to get away from Boston, and the memories that plagued me there.
"I desired Bill right away--" The professor began, but Ron couldn't stand it any more.
"Stop. Don't say anything. I can't bear lightening to you talk." Ron choked on his own spittle, and swallowed quickly. He turned around, and headed for the door.
"Oh, Ron..." The professor called to him huskily.
He swiveled in place and glared at her.
"Take care not to think too much about what you want people to do. You are coming into your powers, whether you like it or not." The professor said very quietly. "I fear you are more powerful than you can ever imagine."
Ron backed to the door, and opened it as the professor continued. "I'll see you tomorrow afternoon, Ron." She nodded as if to dismiss him. Then she stopped leaning on her desk and went around to sit behind it.
Ron felt like he had to say something, to have the last word. What he said surprised him; but it also made total sense.
"Your mother was a bitch."
The professor had a pleased look on her face when she looked at him. She called to him across the room as she sat down.
"I fear the other side-effect of mind-bonding is now making its appearance."
"And what is that?"
"Remember when I told you that you would feel what I felt, and I would feel what you felt, while in close proximity?"
He did now. It seemed as if that conversation had been so long ago.
"I was feeling the very same thing about my mother at that moment." She said it matter-of-factly, before shuffling papers before her.
Ron just stared for a moment longer, a great feeling of irritation washing over him.
"You can go now, before you start shouting at me."
~*~
Ron's body guided him to the Gryffindor common room of its own volition.
While he was climbing the stairs to get to the portrait hole, he thought he heard a sound to his right. It sounded like something scuffling in the shadows.
He walked toward the noise, and when he pointed his lit wand to the shadowed hall, nothing was there. It was probably his imagination playing tricks on him. Of course it was, with all he'd seen in the last couple of hours.
Muttering the new password, "Domina domna" to the Fat Lady, he stumbled through the portrait hole.
It was a revelation when Hermione rushed to him and gave him a gentle hug. He felt clean all of the sudden; he felt like he could breathe. Taking her hand in his, he caressed it with his thumb, and pulled her out the hole.
Something large and fuzzy dashed between their feet, just in time, before the Fat Lady closed the entryway.
"Crookshanks!" Hermione shouted desperately, as the bandy-legged cat ran down the hall.
"What the devil got into him?" Ron said hoarsely. He cleared his throat.
"Feline hormones. He'll be okay." Hermione said under her breath. "Are you okay, Ron?"
"I'm fine." Ron said steadily. "Let's go down to dinner. I'll tell you everything....late tonight." He gave her a pointed look. She noticed, blushed, and nodded.
They walked to the Great Hall in companionable silence.
Chapter Seventeen---Inside and Out
*
"Come in, Ron."
He pushed open the heavy door leading to Professor Forester's quarters. She was sitting behind her desk, and the room was decidedly neater than it had been the last time he had been there. The table and desk was relatively empty now, except for some sheets of parchment and quills.
Ron walked in and shut the door behind him slowly. When he turned, he was startled to see Professor Forester standing right behind him, holding open a box. He gasped and took a step back.
"Sugar quill?" She asked neutrally, pushing the open box toward him. She was staring penetratingly into his eyes. Ron felt himself move to take a black quill, even though he didn't really want one. He put it into his pocket. Why was she offering him sweets at a time like this?
Apparently, the look on his face told her of his concern.
"I saw you walk up my stairs a moment ago, and come into the room. While I was sitting behind my desk, seeing your future, I realized how tired you looked. I thought you might enjoy a treat." She shut the box abruptly, and placed it on the table near her.
Ron stood still and looked at her for a moment. He suddenly realized she was nearly the same height he was. That was why, every time she looked into his eyes, he viewed her eyes as very striking. Even though he was only 16, not many women were as tall as Ron was.
"So, it's true." Ron muttered, "Sirens really can see the future."
"As can you." Professor Forester nodded, and then turned as if to walk back to her desk. Instead, she took out her wand and levitated two heavy, large cushions to the front of her fireplace.
"And you already knew I didn't have a quill to write with that first day." Ron continued, looking around numbly. He was biding his time before he would start asking her about Bill.
"Yes." She turned around, and then gestured toward the cushions. "We might as well begin. Please take a seat."
Ron moved toward the cushions and sat on one. As the professor sat on the other cushion close to him, Ron said loudly, "I don't think we're going to begin yet."
She looked up abruptly and raised an eyebrow. Her voice was harsh when she asked, "And why is that?"
Ron's voice was louder than he expected when he said, "You've been avoiding me ever since mum and Bill were here. I already know something bad happened between you and Bill. I want you to tell me what happened, otherwise I'm going to Professor Dumbledore and tell him I've changed my mind!" He felt his face heat, but he didn't care.
The professor burst out laughing. Ron cringed. Every time he heard that laugh, he got a sick feeling inside. Ron started to get up, but then the professor's hand encircled his upper arm. He couldn't get away.
"Settle back down, Ron." Her voice was crisp and exacting. "Do you really want to spend the rest of your life with nightmares? Because you will, Ron, if you don't go through with this."
"You did something to me before that stopped the nightmares." Ron said heavily and scowled. "You're also changing the topic."
The professor looked at him narrowly for a long time. Then she said, "I don't need to tell you anything about Bill you won't find out about eventually." With this said, she reached out without warning and grasped his face with both hands. She started to pull Ron toward her.
"What are you doing?" He shouted, desperately trying to pull away. He couldn't get a good enough grip on the plush cushions to get away from her.
"Trying to get you closer to me." The professor said emotionlessly. She pulled her hands away from him, and he found himself practically sitting in her lap.
"I don't like this." Ron felt himself tremble, and tried to push away again. He dare not look at her when she was so close to him.
"Stay." The single syllable fell from her mouth, and by the sound of it she expected him to obey. "You'll find, Ron, that you won't be enjoying much of what you'll experience this first day."
At that, Ron felt the all-to familiar "floaty" probing of his mind. He was surprised, because this time he wasn't looking into the professor's eyes.
Her hot breath brushed his face, and he knew if he opened his eyes, her lips would be right in front of him. He closed his eyes tightly, when he heard her say loudly, "Concentrate on me, Ron. Try to enter my mind."
Enter her mind? How the hell did she expect him to do that?
Just as he was beginning to think it was impossible, he felt as if his body was floating in the air. He choked back a scream, still afraid to open his eyes. "Think, Ron, think! Push at me with your power. Try to hurt me."
He didn't want to do this anymore, but the floaty feeling increased and his body was rising off the floor. "Why aren't you pushing me harder, Ron?" The professor's voice seemed louder still...and he realized that he was hearing it both in his ears and in his mind.
He opened his eyes, and when he looked straight ahead, he wasn't looking at the professor's mouth. He was looking down at himself and the professor, and he could see himself trembling where he sat on the cushion. The professor was sitting right up against him, her face near his, and he screamed.
He looked down, and watched himself screaming as the professor grabbed his arms. "Close your mind to the here and now. Think about your power, Ron, and what it can do. Think about me, think about the power I hold inside me. Long to have that power, too, Ron. You know you want it." She was now closing her eyes, too, and he could feel intense heat passing over him.
He didn't want this power...but he had no choice but to proceed. The scene below him faded, as he floated to nowhere, floated to the darkness.
He felt as though he was passed along a tightened cord, that was stretched to the breaking point. He was on the verge of oblivion....maybe he was dying? His body was on fire; it was funny that he could still feel the professor breathing on him.
Without warning, dozens of visions began to pass over the darkness of his mind. He had felt the same sensation when he looked into the Invalesco Mirror, as if he was participating in the events he saw, but a third-party as well. The images passed very quickly, and he couldn't focus on any of them.
Time seemed to slow down, and Ron wondered how long he had been floating in this miserable place. He could feel the sweat pouring between the shoulderblades of his back, and his clothes clung to him uncomfortably. No matter how wide he opened his eyes, he could still only see the detached images. Until one in particular image made him gasp, and he wanted to look closer.
The image came into focus before him, and he heard himself and felt himself talking. But this wasn't him. It was Professor Forester. He saw a reflection of himself in glass window he was standing by, and he was a teenage girl, a teenage Professor Forester. He tried to focus on what he was saying. A group of girls were standing by him, and they were laughing, and looking at the ground.
And then he felt it. He felt his mind giving instructions.
He was now looking at the ground, and a burly-looking teenage boy was crouched there, barking and panting. Ron felt his mind call to the boy, "Roll over." The boy rolled over immediately.
One part of Ron was laughing as if it was the most hilarious thing he had ever seen. The other part of him was sick.
"Beg." The boy sat up straight away and put up his hands, like a dog asking for a bone. Drool started to ooze down his chin.
The young girls laughed louder now then they ever had before.......
....and then, the image was gone. He was passing over a sea of visions....a sea of memories.
Bill....I want to know about Bill....Ron thought desperately.
But the image didn't come. He felt himself focusing on another. This one was entirely different.
A woman's large face was glaring at him with intense anger, intense hatred, and she was shouting. She had green eyes and curly dark hair.
"Shut the fuck up, you rotten brat!" The woman said, in a strange American accent. There was a faint thud, and his body fell to the floor. He realised the woman had hit him. Fear rose within him, and hatred. He felt himself being dragged into someplace cold and dark, but he felt no pain as the woman beat him with a belt. Even though it was dark, he knew that was what was happening. He knew that he was crying. He clasped his very small hands together and hoped it would be over soon......
....it was over, and he was floating again. This time, he fell into an image he recognized.
The tiny stuffed bear was clasped in his arms, and Fred and George were teasing him. Ron wanted some of the candy floss they were supposed to be sharing with him. They refused to give him any. He kept bugging, and then he saw Fred reach into their mother's handbag. He didn't know Fred had his mum's wand until it was too late.
The huge spider was crawling over his head, through his tightened arms. He screamed.....
.....and thankfully, it was gone.......
He could feel himself panting as hot sweat poured down his face. How much more of this was he supposed to endure?
The images passed much more slowly underneath him, and another one came into focus. This time, he was walking through a door to the infirmary at Hogwarts, and there was Hermione....lying on the bed, petrified. "Hermione!" Ron heard himself say, with as much desperation as he'd felt that day.....
....time slowed as the visions crawled by him. In fact, if he reached out, he might even be able to touch one of them.....
Then there was a young red-haired version of himself, grinning attractively. But Ron knew it wasn't him.
He looked past the boy and saw himself in a full-length mirror. Of course it wasn't him. He was....Professor Forester. A young Professor Forester..and he...no, she, was smiling at the red-haired boy.
He reached out and touched the boy's cheek. The boy smiled as well, and reached down to kiss him.
No, this is wrong. No, I don't want this....Ron thought insistently. But the feeling he had deep inside, the feeling that the professor must have had, was desire.
Sweat poured off Ron in waves. No....I don't want to see this....I don't want to do this.
But apparently the professor did. In fact, he could hear her voice now. "Yes, Ron. Look at your brother. This is what you wanted to know." Her hot breath on his face intensified.
Bill continued to kiss him, then Ron felt himself giving mental instructions. "No, not like that. Like this." A vivid, sensual image passed briefly across Ron's mind, and Bill changed his tact. He became more aggressive. He pushed him onto a bed.
No, stop it....please, I don't want to see any more.....just let me go....
~*~
"No...stop." Ron whispered desperately. "Please, no more."
He was lying on his back. When he opened his eyes, he was no longer floating, no longer in that terrible room with Bill. He was back on solid ground, with one of the professor's cushions underneath him. He could feel the coolness of the air rushing over his sweaty body. His clothes were drenched in it. He sat up, and his body was aching.
Professor Forester was sitting there across from him, looking steadily on. Her face and hair were wet, and it appeared she'd experienced everything he had.
"You're despicable." Ron said hoarsely. It was the first thing that came into Ron's mind.
The professor gave a little chuckle. "I can't deny that." Then her expression grew dark. "It was one of the worst things I've ever done, Ron. I hated myself for doing that to him. The only problem is, I wanted it so badly. My mind took over."
She took out her wand, pointed it toward Ron, and muttered a drying spell. Ron felt a familiar rush of air pass over him, and then she used the charm on herself. Standing up, she reached down to pull him to his feet. He didn't take her hand, and got up on his own.
At that, the professor crossed her arms. She stared at Ron, and he stared back.
"There's more, Ron. Oh, so much more. You will see it all, I am certain of that. Bill wanted me, too, in the beginning." She laughed under her breath. "I ruined everything with my insane desire."
Ron could only gape at her, as she took up her wand and magicked the cushions into their former position near her desk.
As she walked about the room, she continued to talk. "I thought I was an orphan when I turned 12. Thankfully, the father I never knew existed saved me from a life of treachery, and made me go to school. It was apparent at that time that I had both his magical abilities, and the abilities passed down by my mother's bloodline."
The professor leaned against her desk and turned to look at Ron again. "I'm only telling you this so that you can understand what you may see in the coming days. If I had explained it to you this afternoon, you would not have understood what I meant--not until you saw what mind-bonding was.
"I met your brother while doing an internship through GIML...the Guthrie Institute for Magical Learning. They were offering part-time positions at the Ministry of Magic in London, and of course I took up the opportunity. I desperately wanted to get away from Boston, and the memories that plagued me there.
"I desired Bill right away--" The professor began, but Ron couldn't stand it any more.
"Stop. Don't say anything. I can't bear lightening to you talk." Ron choked on his own spittle, and swallowed quickly. He turned around, and headed for the door.
"Oh, Ron..." The professor called to him huskily.
He swiveled in place and glared at her.
"Take care not to think too much about what you want people to do. You are coming into your powers, whether you like it or not." The professor said very quietly. "I fear you are more powerful than you can ever imagine."
Ron backed to the door, and opened it as the professor continued. "I'll see you tomorrow afternoon, Ron." She nodded as if to dismiss him. Then she stopped leaning on her desk and went around to sit behind it.
Ron felt like he had to say something, to have the last word. What he said surprised him; but it also made total sense.
"Your mother was a bitch."
The professor had a pleased look on her face when she looked at him. She called to him across the room as she sat down.
"I fear the other side-effect of mind-bonding is now making its appearance."
"And what is that?"
"Remember when I told you that you would feel what I felt, and I would feel what you felt, while in close proximity?"
He did now. It seemed as if that conversation had been so long ago.
"I was feeling the very same thing about my mother at that moment." She said it matter-of-factly, before shuffling papers before her.
Ron just stared for a moment longer, a great feeling of irritation washing over him.
"You can go now, before you start shouting at me."
~*~
Ron's body guided him to the Gryffindor common room of its own volition.
While he was climbing the stairs to get to the portrait hole, he thought he heard a sound to his right. It sounded like something scuffling in the shadows.
He walked toward the noise, and when he pointed his lit wand to the shadowed hall, nothing was there. It was probably his imagination playing tricks on him. Of course it was, with all he'd seen in the last couple of hours.
Muttering the new password, "Domina domna" to the Fat Lady, he stumbled through the portrait hole.
It was a revelation when Hermione rushed to him and gave him a gentle hug. He felt clean all of the sudden; he felt like he could breathe. Taking her hand in his, he caressed it with his thumb, and pulled her out the hole.
Something large and fuzzy dashed between their feet, just in time, before the Fat Lady closed the entryway.
"Crookshanks!" Hermione shouted desperately, as the bandy-legged cat ran down the hall.
"What the devil got into him?" Ron said hoarsely. He cleared his throat.
"Feline hormones. He'll be okay." Hermione said under her breath. "Are you okay, Ron?"
"I'm fine." Ron said steadily. "Let's go down to dinner. I'll tell you everything....late tonight." He gave her a pointed look. She noticed, blushed, and nodded.
They walked to the Great Hall in companionable silence.