A/N: Okay, people, you'd better appreciate this! I had to send this to Britz to beta THREE times because she kept accidentally deleting it, and then I deleted it the first time she actually got it back to me! LOL! Anyway, have fun reading, and I'll try to get part 4 up soon!!!
A Glimpse of the Hidden
~I pledge my Loyalty to Honor, Justice, and Hogwarts~
Part Three
Ron stared down at the cold, lifeless body of Draco Malfoy. Hermione and
Ginny were crying. He only stared, a curious, foreign feeling building
inside of him. He watched, his brow furrowed, waiting for something to
happen as the girls cried behind him. And suddenly, something did happen.
The steely silver eyes of Draco Malfoy flew open.
Ron was somewhat frightened, but not at all surprised as Malfoy sat up. He
stared the blonde down determinedly. Suddenly, Ron realized that even though
Malfoy was staring at all three of them, the girls were still crying. He
whipped around, trying to tell Ginny and Hermione that Malfoy was right
there, but he couldn't talk.
"That's right, Weasley," Malfoy said, his voice devoid of emotion. "It's
just you and me." Ron felt his eyes widen with horror.
Suddenly, his surroundings gave way to a swirling gray mist. He felt himself
being pulled down, and when he looked up he saw only Malfoy, staring blankly
down at him. Ron was falling, falling, falling...
Ron sat straight up in bed, panting heavily. His head whipped around, but he
only saw the scarlet hangings around his four-poster. It was a dream, he
realized, just a dream.
He fell down onto his pillow with a 'flump.' It wasn't the first time he'd
had a dream with Malfoy in it. As a matter of fact, he had one almost every
night since school had reconvened. They gave him the creeps...every time
they were in a different setting, but somehow Malfoy would always wake from
the dead.
'What I need is a glass of cold water,' he thought, trying to shake off the
weird feeling that Malfoy was still around. He sighed and pulled himself
together. He threw back the hangings around his bed.
"Rise and shine, sleeping beauty!"
"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" Ron screamed, feeling his eyes widen in terror. There
he was, Draco Malfoy, smirking at him just the way he remembered, except
that he was slightly...transparent.
"You can see me?" Malfoy...or whatever it was said, its expression going
from delight to confusion.
"MALFOY!" Ron shrieked, his eyes wide at the sight of the apparition. "HE'S
ALIVE!"
"Weasley, keep it down, you're going to wake up the whole house," Malfoy
said calmly. This just caused Ron to yell louder.
"Jesus, mate, what's your problem?" Harry asked. Ron's breath came in ragged
gasps, and his eyes were wide as saucers. He could see the forms of the
other two boys dragging themselves from their own beds.
"MALFOY!" Ron screamed, pointing right at Draco, who had an innocent enough
expression on his face.
"Malfoy's dead," Seamus said frowning.
"He's right there!" Ron exclaimed, trembling with confusion and fear and
frustration at not being understood.
"I've got to fly, but I'll be seeing you soon, Weasley," Malfoy said, flying
away and disappearing through the closed door to the dormitory.
"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!" Ron exclaimed again, ducking under the covers.
"Is everything all right in here?" A new, high-pitched voice asked in
concern. Harry turned to see Colin Creevey frowning at the three bedraggled
boys gathered around the quivering heap of blankets. Ron peered over the top
of his sheet, his eyes wide.
"No," Harry replied. "No, not at all, Colin. Go wake Madame Pomfrey." The
younger boy scurried off as Harry and Neville helped Ron to his feet.
"Ron, Draco is dead." Neville soothed.
"No he's not!" The red-head insisted. "He was standing right there! I saw
him, he said 'Rise and shine' to me!" Ron was getting more hysterical than
he already was.
"We're going to see Madame Pomfrey." Harry said calmly.
"I'm not crazy, I tell you!" Ron screamed, a mad glint in his eye. "He was
standing RIGHT THERE!"
There were several students in the common room, awakened by Ron's shouts.
Hermione was one of them. Whispering broke out as they saw Harry Potter and
Neville Longbottom leading a trembling Ron Weasley down the steps.
"Harry, what's going on?" Hermione demanded, looking at the three with wide
eyes.
"I don't know," Harry replied gravely.
"I TOLD you!" Ron cried, half-crazed. "Draco Malfoy was standing outside my
bed!"
This brought even more whispers. Draco Malfoy? But he was dead! Ron must be
hallucinating; Malfoy was as dead as they come!
"Stay here," Neville commanded Hermione, as he and Harry led the babbling
Ron through the portrait hole. Hermione tried to follow, but she felt a
small hand hold her back. She looked down to see a wide-eyed Ginny looking
after them.
"Do you think...it's possible...?" She asked hopefully.
"No, Gin," Hermione said, giving the girl a hug. "Ron...well, I don't know
what's wrong with him, but Draco is dead, honey."
"Yeah," Ginny whispered. "I know."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Ron was laying in a hospital bed, going through it all in his mind. Yes,
Draco Malfoy had been standing outside his bed! There was nothing else to
say, because that's what had happened! However, Madame Pomfrey didn't seem
to buy his story and made him stay for the night. He was just starting to
fall asleep when he heard a familiar voice interrupt him.
"Smooth move, Weasley," It said. "Real smooth." Ron sat straight up, but he
didn't need his eyes to know who it was.
"Malfoy," Ron said, more in awe than anything else.
"You know, it's rather odd that you should see me," Draco Malfoy mused. "I
thought I was invisible."
"No one believed you were there. They think I'm crazy!" Ron hissed.
"Well, you are," Draco shrugged.
"No I'm not!" Ron objected, sounding horrified.
"Well, that's the only way you could see me...unless..." Draco studied Ron
for a moment.
"Unless what?" Ron asked, feeling more uncomfortable every minute.
"Unless you're a necromancer," Draco finished. Ron nearly fell out of his
bed.
"WHAT?!"
"Keep it down, Weasley," Draco drawled.
"I will not keep it down!" Ron said, his voice considerably lowered
nonetheless. "I woke up in the middle of the night to find my dead enemy
hovering over me, then I get dragged to the infirmary because my friends
don't believe me, and now you're back to haunt me again, and telling me I'm
a necromancer!"
"Aw, has the Weasel had a tough day?" Draco asked in a sarcastic little kid
voice.
"Shut it, Malfoy," Ron growled.
"Well, it only makes sense that you're a necromancer." Draco said,
shrugging. "How else could you see me? I'm a ghost, after all."
"Everyone can see Nearly Headless Nick!" Ron protested.
"That's because Nick killed some chic back in the thirteenth century..."
"WHAT?!" Ron cried again, quite forgetting himself.
"Oh yes," Draco replied, looking amused. "See, if you murder someone,
well...it's complicated," he finished lamely.
"Why isn't the spirit of Grindlewald running around?" Ron demanded, only half sarcastically.
"It's not that easy, Weasley."
"Well, explain it!" Ron demanded. "I've got all night, obviously."
"Fine." Draco spat back. "If you only murder once, and repent-truly
repent-then you aren't sent to Hell," Draco explained. "However, you
cannot object when the family seeks their revenge. If they don't, as in
Nick's case, then you are doomed to roam the earth as what you living beings
call a ghost until the family line dies off."
"Who'd he kill?" Ron asked curiously. Draco snorted.
"Harry Potter's great, great, great, great, great, great, great...you get
the point, grandmother," he replied.
"No way!"
"Oh yeah. So the only way Nicky can leave is if someone kills Harry and any
distant cousins before they have the chance to reproduce. The Fat Friar
killed someone related to the Pope (if you can even believe it), and The
Grey Lady kicked the bucket of some granddad of McGonagall."
"You're kidding!" Ron exclaimed, his eyes open wide. "What about the Bloody
Baron?"
"He's not going to be here much longer." Draco replied.
"Why not?" Ron asked, curiosity seeping into his words. He had almost
forgotten that Draco was his worst enemy, not to mention dead.
"Well, because my father is the only remaining Malfoy."
"He killed someone related to YOU!?"
"That's right, Weasley," Draco replied, shrugging. "I wonder who they'll get
to be the Slytherin ghost. Not many Slytherins are humble enough to repent
for anything."
"Then how are you here?" Ron asked, suddenly remembering all the things he
had almost forgotten.
"Well, I chose to stay," Draco said carefully, and rather uncomfortably, "Until
some unfinished business resolves itself. They call us 'Intangibles.'
No one can see me or hear me or feel me...except for necromancers. And you,
obviously. Which brings us to the interesting conclusion that you must be a
necromancer."
"This is too weird," Ron said, falling back into his pillow.
"Tell me about it...inaudible to all except the Weasel," Draco replied.
"Shut it Malfoy...just...leave me alone," he muttered.
"You can't fight this, you know," Draco said. "Other intangibles like me
will begin to visit you...especially in dreams."
"Who would be interested in my dreams?" Ron snapped.
"Harry's parents."
"WHAT?!" Ron sat straight up and looked around wildly, but Malfoy had
disappeared.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
A week later, the gossip about Ron Weasley's episode had died down. However,
Ron knew it wasn't over. As a matter of fact, Malfoy had taken to following
him around, just to taunt him, because he knew there was nothing Ron could
do about it. One of the weird things the dead is they all speak the same language,
which meant that necromancers (and, of course, Ron as well) could speak it
as well...much the same as with Parselmouth wizards born with the talent
didn't know it at all.
Ron was finally starting to come to grips with this new realization.
However, he wasn't sure how he was going to tell everyone else. As Malfoy
had predicted, Harry's parents and many others had come to call on him in his
dreams. All in all it had been a very tiring week.
And Hermione knew something was wrong.
"Ron?" She asked, raising her eyebrows at her boyfriend's weird behavior. He
was trying to play chess with Harry, but he kept throwing aggravated glances
over his shoulder. "Ron...?" she tried again.
"Huh?" he asked suddenly.
"It's your turn."
"So it is," he replied. He looked down at the board. Suddenly he turned
around and yelled something unintelligible at the thin air behind him. "Stupid
jerk..." He was muttering as he turned around and promptly proceeded to take
Harry's queen.
"What was that?" Harry asked, alarmed.
"Nothing, nothing..." Ron replied distractedly. It only took him a few
moments to win the game.
"No more chess!" Ron declared. "I've beaten you all twice now."
"Like you don't enjoy winning," Hermione said, flashing him a grin.
"Good point," he smiled. "Come here, 'Mione." He scooped her up in his arms
and kissed her.
"What was that for?" she asked giggling.
"We're celebrating my victory!" Ron exclaimed.
"Hmm...well, you won more than once, you know," Hermione said, kissing him
again. Harry made a face and started putting the chess pieces away. Draco
was making a face too, and several rude gestures. Everyone else in the
room was either muttering, giggling, or simply staring, but luckily for all
of them (except Ron and Hermione, who were thoroughly enjoying themselves)
five owls, each carrying a red note card, flew into the room.
"Summons...hey you guys, SUMMONS!" Harry yelled. He finally managed to pull
his best friends reluctantly apart. They took their cards, made a face, and
trooped out of the portrait hole, shortly followed by Ginny and Neville.
And Draco.
Draco had told Ron that he hadn't gone to any of the Defender meetings that
year, but was trying to work up the courage. When Ron asked him what he was
afraid of, Draco refused, point blank, to answer. Big surprise.
"Well, nice to see you all again." Luna smiled. Ron's eyes did a quick sweep
of the room, and saw Draco standing in the shadows, as if he weren't
invisible. He wasn't even trying to annoy Ron.
He was staring, wide-eyed, at Ginny.
Ron felt a surge of brotherly protection go through him, but then
reminded himself that Malfoy was dead, and he couldn't do anything to Ginny
if he tried.
"...and then we'll send Ron on a rocket to Japan and..."
"What?" Ron asked, suddenly jerking back into reality.
"Really, Ron, what are you staring at?" Hermione asked curiously, looking at
the corner where Ron had been staring.
"You don't see anything, do you?" Ron asked, already knowing what her answer
would be.
"No...am I supposed to?"
"No, Herm, not at all." He sighed.
"Ahem, as I was saying-" Luna began.
"Oh, c'mon Luna, let's just practice already!" Sirius declared. Luna through
up her hands in defeat.
"Fine, Sirius, have it your way!" She cried. Then she divided them into
partners and began the dueling. Ron, who had no control whatsoever over any
element at all, spent half the time practicing advanced dueling skills, and
then would go to Luna's quiet classroom and meditate, trying to reach into
the future. As soon as Ron switched rooms, everyone stopped dueling.
"What's wrong with him!" Hermione wailed. "It's like he's living in outer
space."
"Well, that's normal for a Divinator..." Luna tried to console.
"Not like that it isn't," Sirius interrupted. "Even Peter wasn't like that,
and Peter was a pretty powerful Divinator."
"Peter?" Harry asked curiously. "Wormtail?"
"No, my uncle," Ginny replied. "He also became a Death Eater."
"Attack of the evil Peters," Harry muttered. For unknown reasons, everyone
else in the room started giggling.
"Anyway, about Ron and his sudden disappearance into Ronnie-land," Sirius
said.
"Do you think we should ask him?" Ginny asked, biting her lip nervously.
"Tried it," Harry replied. "He won't say anything."
"And then the other night he claimed to have seen Draco..."
"He WHAT?" Luna asked, looking up at Neville sharply.
"He said he saw Draco," Neville explained. "Said he was hovering by his bed
and said 'Good morning, sunshine' or something like that."
"Oh my..." Luna said. "That's very bad."
"What does it mean?" Hermione asked.
"It could mean any number of things, none of which make any sense," Luna
said softly.
"Do you think he really saw Draco?" Cho proposed hopefully. Luna's head
turned, and her eyes seemed to bore through the door and into her classroom,
where Ron was peacefully meditating.
"I don't know," Luna whispered. "I just don't know."
Draco then glided over to tell Ron everything that had just transpired. Ron
was the only person on earth he could talk to, so Draco felt the least he
could do was tell Ron what everyone was saying about him that Draco had
caused.
Not to mention he didn't think he could stand another moment in the same
room as Ginny.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Ron, may I talk to you for a moment?" Ron looked up guiltily at Luna as she
entered. He tried to signal behind his back for Draco to go away, but he
knew Draco would never leave.
"Of course, Luna," Ron replied. She seated herself at her desk, and Ron at
the desk in front of hers.
"Ron, your powers are coming along quite nicely."
"Thank you," Ron replied automatically. His mother would've been proud.
"And well..." Luna sighed, "Professor Dumbledore wanted me to give you
this." She opened a drawer, and from within it pulled out a small, spherical
object that appeared to be a marble.
Ron closed his eyes and got a vision of Professor Cobblestone handing the
same marble to his uncle.
"This was my Uncle Peter's," Ron said, as Luna held it up.
"Yes," Luna said. "How did you...?"
"Vision," Ron replied shortly. He held out his hand and took the marble. As
the cool, rounded surface touched his skin, Ron felt power surge through
him. Unbelievable power.
"I'm not sure what it does, but it's very dangerous," Luna said, but Ron
wasn't listening. His eyes were fixed with wonder on the small marble. There
was a single drop of black liquid suspended in the center, and the substance
surrounding it kept swirling and changing colors.
"Powerful," Ron said, managing to tear his eyes away long enough to pocket
it.
"Keep it very close to you," Luna instructed. "I don't know what would
happen if it fell into the wrong hands, but my guess is it wouldn't be
good." Ron nodded, then stood.
"If that's all, Luna, I'd better get going."
"Goodbye, Ron," Luna said, walking him to the door and watching as he walked
down the hall. "And good luck...you're going to need it."
"I don't like it," Draco said, suddenly gliding next to Ron.
"Don't like what?" Ron demanded.
"That marble thing. It's got a bad aura. I wouldn't touch it if I were you."
"Don't be ridiculous," Ron scoffed. "It's only a marble."
"Yes, and I'm only an intangible," Draco replied. "What's remarkable is that
you can see me, not the fact that I exist."
"What are you talking about?" Ron asked, irritated. "You sound like a shrink
or something...Anyway, why were you staring at my sister?"
"What?" Draco asked, as if he hadn't heard.
"Don't play dumb, Malfoy. Ginny! You were staring at her as if she were a demon or something."
"Well, I've been avoiding her since I died, you know," Draco replied.
"Why? I thought you...well...loved her," Ron mumbled.
"I do," Draco replied sadly. "More than anything." Ron looked up sharply,
surprised at the sincerity he was hearing from a Malfoy. He sounded, to Ron
at least, more human than he ever had alive.
"Then why-"
"Stop giving me the third degree, all right!" Draco exploded, and Ron
flinched.
"Sorry," he snapped sarcastically. "Feeling up to your name today, are we?"
"What's you problem, Weasley?"
"You're a git."
"True," Malfoy shrugged, and Ron found himself once again speechless.
Malfoy, admitting to being a git? Well, that was unusual to say the least.
"Look, I'm getting bad vibes or something from that marble thing," he said.
And, without further explanation, he turned and flew through the nearest
wall.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
A locket. A pretty golden locket, that glinted in the sunlight.
A pretty girl. She was about eight, with long, shiny red hair and bright
blue eyes. She was happy, very, very happy.
A boy, about the same age, with jet black hair and a lopsided smile. He had
the locket, but he was giving it to her. Kara, that was the girl's name. The
boy's name was Tom.
She gave him a marble. A pretty, shiny new blue marble. He would treasure it
forever, because it came from Kara...
Ron sat straight up in bed. He realized that he was still holding onto the
marble, which he had been studying before he fell asleep. Scolding himself
and pondering the dream at the same time, he put the marble safely away. He
laid back to think about the dream, but wound up only falling into another
one.
A pair of yellow, catlike eyes. Suddenly, as if he had blinked, Ron saw
family of three. There was a man and a woman, presumably the parents, and a
girl of nine. They stood as if posed for a picture with none of the
smiles...as a matter of fact devoid of any emotion at all.
Suddenly, Ron saw a pretty little house in some unknown town with the Dark
Mark looming above it. As if he suddenly had x-ray vision, he could see the
three people inside it, all in their beds with looks of absolute terror on
their faces. The woman was clutching a rosary.
Then he was back at school, and Justin Finch-Fletchy was staring at a letter
with a look of shock and horror on his face...
Ron woke up the second time to find himself somewhat late. However, he had
nothing on his mind except finding Justin. He got dressed in record timing,
and was somewhat annoyed that no one had awoken him. The dorm was deserted,
as was the common room.
He ran down several flights of stairs and corridors before finally reaching
the Great Hall. His eyes roamed around, looking for Justin, but he couldn't
spot him anywhere in the crowd. He decided to ask Harry and Hermione.
"There you are!" Hermione cried, sounding very worried indeed. "Where have
you been?"
"I slept late...Harry, why didn't you wake me up?"
"We tried," Harry replied. "But you were out cold...Neville and I assumed
you were in the middle of a vision and couldn't wake."
"Quite right," Ron replied. "Where's Justin?"
"Justin?" Hermione repeated.
"Yes, Justin Finch-Fletchy. I can't find him any-" Ron was abruptly cut off
by the arrival of the mail. He cursed softly under his breath.
"What's going on?" Harry asked, looking worried at the look of his best
friend's face.
"Justin, I've got to find Justin!" Ron said desperately, looking through the
shower of mail toward the Hufflepuff table.
"Why?" Hermione asked. Ron opened his mouth to respond, but just then he saw
the familiar form of Justin Finch-Fletchy, staring in horror at some letter
before him.
"I'm too late..." Ron whispered. He watched as Justin stood up violently,
ignoring his friends.
"There's nothing you could've done," A now familiar voice said from behind him.
"They were already gone."
"I know, but..." Ron muttered.
"It's not your fault, Ron." Ron turned to see Draco looking at him
with....sympathy.
"I know, Draco, I know." He was interrupted by the sound of Hermione's voice.
"Ron...who are you talking to?"
A Glimpse of the Hidden
~I pledge my Loyalty to Honor, Justice, and Hogwarts~
Part Three
Ron stared down at the cold, lifeless body of Draco Malfoy. Hermione and
Ginny were crying. He only stared, a curious, foreign feeling building
inside of him. He watched, his brow furrowed, waiting for something to
happen as the girls cried behind him. And suddenly, something did happen.
The steely silver eyes of Draco Malfoy flew open.
Ron was somewhat frightened, but not at all surprised as Malfoy sat up. He
stared the blonde down determinedly. Suddenly, Ron realized that even though
Malfoy was staring at all three of them, the girls were still crying. He
whipped around, trying to tell Ginny and Hermione that Malfoy was right
there, but he couldn't talk.
"That's right, Weasley," Malfoy said, his voice devoid of emotion. "It's
just you and me." Ron felt his eyes widen with horror.
Suddenly, his surroundings gave way to a swirling gray mist. He felt himself
being pulled down, and when he looked up he saw only Malfoy, staring blankly
down at him. Ron was falling, falling, falling...
Ron sat straight up in bed, panting heavily. His head whipped around, but he
only saw the scarlet hangings around his four-poster. It was a dream, he
realized, just a dream.
He fell down onto his pillow with a 'flump.' It wasn't the first time he'd
had a dream with Malfoy in it. As a matter of fact, he had one almost every
night since school had reconvened. They gave him the creeps...every time
they were in a different setting, but somehow Malfoy would always wake from
the dead.
'What I need is a glass of cold water,' he thought, trying to shake off the
weird feeling that Malfoy was still around. He sighed and pulled himself
together. He threw back the hangings around his bed.
"Rise and shine, sleeping beauty!"
"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" Ron screamed, feeling his eyes widen in terror. There
he was, Draco Malfoy, smirking at him just the way he remembered, except
that he was slightly...transparent.
"You can see me?" Malfoy...or whatever it was said, its expression going
from delight to confusion.
"MALFOY!" Ron shrieked, his eyes wide at the sight of the apparition. "HE'S
ALIVE!"
"Weasley, keep it down, you're going to wake up the whole house," Malfoy
said calmly. This just caused Ron to yell louder.
"Jesus, mate, what's your problem?" Harry asked. Ron's breath came in ragged
gasps, and his eyes were wide as saucers. He could see the forms of the
other two boys dragging themselves from their own beds.
"MALFOY!" Ron screamed, pointing right at Draco, who had an innocent enough
expression on his face.
"Malfoy's dead," Seamus said frowning.
"He's right there!" Ron exclaimed, trembling with confusion and fear and
frustration at not being understood.
"I've got to fly, but I'll be seeing you soon, Weasley," Malfoy said, flying
away and disappearing through the closed door to the dormitory.
"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!" Ron exclaimed again, ducking under the covers.
"Is everything all right in here?" A new, high-pitched voice asked in
concern. Harry turned to see Colin Creevey frowning at the three bedraggled
boys gathered around the quivering heap of blankets. Ron peered over the top
of his sheet, his eyes wide.
"No," Harry replied. "No, not at all, Colin. Go wake Madame Pomfrey." The
younger boy scurried off as Harry and Neville helped Ron to his feet.
"Ron, Draco is dead." Neville soothed.
"No he's not!" The red-head insisted. "He was standing right there! I saw
him, he said 'Rise and shine' to me!" Ron was getting more hysterical than
he already was.
"We're going to see Madame Pomfrey." Harry said calmly.
"I'm not crazy, I tell you!" Ron screamed, a mad glint in his eye. "He was
standing RIGHT THERE!"
There were several students in the common room, awakened by Ron's shouts.
Hermione was one of them. Whispering broke out as they saw Harry Potter and
Neville Longbottom leading a trembling Ron Weasley down the steps.
"Harry, what's going on?" Hermione demanded, looking at the three with wide
eyes.
"I don't know," Harry replied gravely.
"I TOLD you!" Ron cried, half-crazed. "Draco Malfoy was standing outside my
bed!"
This brought even more whispers. Draco Malfoy? But he was dead! Ron must be
hallucinating; Malfoy was as dead as they come!
"Stay here," Neville commanded Hermione, as he and Harry led the babbling
Ron through the portrait hole. Hermione tried to follow, but she felt a
small hand hold her back. She looked down to see a wide-eyed Ginny looking
after them.
"Do you think...it's possible...?" She asked hopefully.
"No, Gin," Hermione said, giving the girl a hug. "Ron...well, I don't know
what's wrong with him, but Draco is dead, honey."
"Yeah," Ginny whispered. "I know."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Ron was laying in a hospital bed, going through it all in his mind. Yes,
Draco Malfoy had been standing outside his bed! There was nothing else to
say, because that's what had happened! However, Madame Pomfrey didn't seem
to buy his story and made him stay for the night. He was just starting to
fall asleep when he heard a familiar voice interrupt him.
"Smooth move, Weasley," It said. "Real smooth." Ron sat straight up, but he
didn't need his eyes to know who it was.
"Malfoy," Ron said, more in awe than anything else.
"You know, it's rather odd that you should see me," Draco Malfoy mused. "I
thought I was invisible."
"No one believed you were there. They think I'm crazy!" Ron hissed.
"Well, you are," Draco shrugged.
"No I'm not!" Ron objected, sounding horrified.
"Well, that's the only way you could see me...unless..." Draco studied Ron
for a moment.
"Unless what?" Ron asked, feeling more uncomfortable every minute.
"Unless you're a necromancer," Draco finished. Ron nearly fell out of his
bed.
"WHAT?!"
"Keep it down, Weasley," Draco drawled.
"I will not keep it down!" Ron said, his voice considerably lowered
nonetheless. "I woke up in the middle of the night to find my dead enemy
hovering over me, then I get dragged to the infirmary because my friends
don't believe me, and now you're back to haunt me again, and telling me I'm
a necromancer!"
"Aw, has the Weasel had a tough day?" Draco asked in a sarcastic little kid
voice.
"Shut it, Malfoy," Ron growled.
"Well, it only makes sense that you're a necromancer." Draco said,
shrugging. "How else could you see me? I'm a ghost, after all."
"Everyone can see Nearly Headless Nick!" Ron protested.
"That's because Nick killed some chic back in the thirteenth century..."
"WHAT?!" Ron cried again, quite forgetting himself.
"Oh yes," Draco replied, looking amused. "See, if you murder someone,
well...it's complicated," he finished lamely.
"Why isn't the spirit of Grindlewald running around?" Ron demanded, only half sarcastically.
"It's not that easy, Weasley."
"Well, explain it!" Ron demanded. "I've got all night, obviously."
"Fine." Draco spat back. "If you only murder once, and repent-truly
repent-then you aren't sent to Hell," Draco explained. "However, you
cannot object when the family seeks their revenge. If they don't, as in
Nick's case, then you are doomed to roam the earth as what you living beings
call a ghost until the family line dies off."
"Who'd he kill?" Ron asked curiously. Draco snorted.
"Harry Potter's great, great, great, great, great, great, great...you get
the point, grandmother," he replied.
"No way!"
"Oh yeah. So the only way Nicky can leave is if someone kills Harry and any
distant cousins before they have the chance to reproduce. The Fat Friar
killed someone related to the Pope (if you can even believe it), and The
Grey Lady kicked the bucket of some granddad of McGonagall."
"You're kidding!" Ron exclaimed, his eyes open wide. "What about the Bloody
Baron?"
"He's not going to be here much longer." Draco replied.
"Why not?" Ron asked, curiosity seeping into his words. He had almost
forgotten that Draco was his worst enemy, not to mention dead.
"Well, because my father is the only remaining Malfoy."
"He killed someone related to YOU!?"
"That's right, Weasley," Draco replied, shrugging. "I wonder who they'll get
to be the Slytherin ghost. Not many Slytherins are humble enough to repent
for anything."
"Then how are you here?" Ron asked, suddenly remembering all the things he
had almost forgotten.
"Well, I chose to stay," Draco said carefully, and rather uncomfortably, "Until
some unfinished business resolves itself. They call us 'Intangibles.'
No one can see me or hear me or feel me...except for necromancers. And you,
obviously. Which brings us to the interesting conclusion that you must be a
necromancer."
"This is too weird," Ron said, falling back into his pillow.
"Tell me about it...inaudible to all except the Weasel," Draco replied.
"Shut it Malfoy...just...leave me alone," he muttered.
"You can't fight this, you know," Draco said. "Other intangibles like me
will begin to visit you...especially in dreams."
"Who would be interested in my dreams?" Ron snapped.
"Harry's parents."
"WHAT?!" Ron sat straight up and looked around wildly, but Malfoy had
disappeared.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
A week later, the gossip about Ron Weasley's episode had died down. However,
Ron knew it wasn't over. As a matter of fact, Malfoy had taken to following
him around, just to taunt him, because he knew there was nothing Ron could
do about it. One of the weird things the dead is they all speak the same language,
which meant that necromancers (and, of course, Ron as well) could speak it
as well...much the same as with Parselmouth wizards born with the talent
didn't know it at all.
Ron was finally starting to come to grips with this new realization.
However, he wasn't sure how he was going to tell everyone else. As Malfoy
had predicted, Harry's parents and many others had come to call on him in his
dreams. All in all it had been a very tiring week.
And Hermione knew something was wrong.
"Ron?" She asked, raising her eyebrows at her boyfriend's weird behavior. He
was trying to play chess with Harry, but he kept throwing aggravated glances
over his shoulder. "Ron...?" she tried again.
"Huh?" he asked suddenly.
"It's your turn."
"So it is," he replied. He looked down at the board. Suddenly he turned
around and yelled something unintelligible at the thin air behind him. "Stupid
jerk..." He was muttering as he turned around and promptly proceeded to take
Harry's queen.
"What was that?" Harry asked, alarmed.
"Nothing, nothing..." Ron replied distractedly. It only took him a few
moments to win the game.
"No more chess!" Ron declared. "I've beaten you all twice now."
"Like you don't enjoy winning," Hermione said, flashing him a grin.
"Good point," he smiled. "Come here, 'Mione." He scooped her up in his arms
and kissed her.
"What was that for?" she asked giggling.
"We're celebrating my victory!" Ron exclaimed.
"Hmm...well, you won more than once, you know," Hermione said, kissing him
again. Harry made a face and started putting the chess pieces away. Draco
was making a face too, and several rude gestures. Everyone else in the
room was either muttering, giggling, or simply staring, but luckily for all
of them (except Ron and Hermione, who were thoroughly enjoying themselves)
five owls, each carrying a red note card, flew into the room.
"Summons...hey you guys, SUMMONS!" Harry yelled. He finally managed to pull
his best friends reluctantly apart. They took their cards, made a face, and
trooped out of the portrait hole, shortly followed by Ginny and Neville.
And Draco.
Draco had told Ron that he hadn't gone to any of the Defender meetings that
year, but was trying to work up the courage. When Ron asked him what he was
afraid of, Draco refused, point blank, to answer. Big surprise.
"Well, nice to see you all again." Luna smiled. Ron's eyes did a quick sweep
of the room, and saw Draco standing in the shadows, as if he weren't
invisible. He wasn't even trying to annoy Ron.
He was staring, wide-eyed, at Ginny.
Ron felt a surge of brotherly protection go through him, but then
reminded himself that Malfoy was dead, and he couldn't do anything to Ginny
if he tried.
"...and then we'll send Ron on a rocket to Japan and..."
"What?" Ron asked, suddenly jerking back into reality.
"Really, Ron, what are you staring at?" Hermione asked curiously, looking at
the corner where Ron had been staring.
"You don't see anything, do you?" Ron asked, already knowing what her answer
would be.
"No...am I supposed to?"
"No, Herm, not at all." He sighed.
"Ahem, as I was saying-" Luna began.
"Oh, c'mon Luna, let's just practice already!" Sirius declared. Luna through
up her hands in defeat.
"Fine, Sirius, have it your way!" She cried. Then she divided them into
partners and began the dueling. Ron, who had no control whatsoever over any
element at all, spent half the time practicing advanced dueling skills, and
then would go to Luna's quiet classroom and meditate, trying to reach into
the future. As soon as Ron switched rooms, everyone stopped dueling.
"What's wrong with him!" Hermione wailed. "It's like he's living in outer
space."
"Well, that's normal for a Divinator..." Luna tried to console.
"Not like that it isn't," Sirius interrupted. "Even Peter wasn't like that,
and Peter was a pretty powerful Divinator."
"Peter?" Harry asked curiously. "Wormtail?"
"No, my uncle," Ginny replied. "He also became a Death Eater."
"Attack of the evil Peters," Harry muttered. For unknown reasons, everyone
else in the room started giggling.
"Anyway, about Ron and his sudden disappearance into Ronnie-land," Sirius
said.
"Do you think we should ask him?" Ginny asked, biting her lip nervously.
"Tried it," Harry replied. "He won't say anything."
"And then the other night he claimed to have seen Draco..."
"He WHAT?" Luna asked, looking up at Neville sharply.
"He said he saw Draco," Neville explained. "Said he was hovering by his bed
and said 'Good morning, sunshine' or something like that."
"Oh my..." Luna said. "That's very bad."
"What does it mean?" Hermione asked.
"It could mean any number of things, none of which make any sense," Luna
said softly.
"Do you think he really saw Draco?" Cho proposed hopefully. Luna's head
turned, and her eyes seemed to bore through the door and into her classroom,
where Ron was peacefully meditating.
"I don't know," Luna whispered. "I just don't know."
Draco then glided over to tell Ron everything that had just transpired. Ron
was the only person on earth he could talk to, so Draco felt the least he
could do was tell Ron what everyone was saying about him that Draco had
caused.
Not to mention he didn't think he could stand another moment in the same
room as Ginny.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Ron, may I talk to you for a moment?" Ron looked up guiltily at Luna as she
entered. He tried to signal behind his back for Draco to go away, but he
knew Draco would never leave.
"Of course, Luna," Ron replied. She seated herself at her desk, and Ron at
the desk in front of hers.
"Ron, your powers are coming along quite nicely."
"Thank you," Ron replied automatically. His mother would've been proud.
"And well..." Luna sighed, "Professor Dumbledore wanted me to give you
this." She opened a drawer, and from within it pulled out a small, spherical
object that appeared to be a marble.
Ron closed his eyes and got a vision of Professor Cobblestone handing the
same marble to his uncle.
"This was my Uncle Peter's," Ron said, as Luna held it up.
"Yes," Luna said. "How did you...?"
"Vision," Ron replied shortly. He held out his hand and took the marble. As
the cool, rounded surface touched his skin, Ron felt power surge through
him. Unbelievable power.
"I'm not sure what it does, but it's very dangerous," Luna said, but Ron
wasn't listening. His eyes were fixed with wonder on the small marble. There
was a single drop of black liquid suspended in the center, and the substance
surrounding it kept swirling and changing colors.
"Powerful," Ron said, managing to tear his eyes away long enough to pocket
it.
"Keep it very close to you," Luna instructed. "I don't know what would
happen if it fell into the wrong hands, but my guess is it wouldn't be
good." Ron nodded, then stood.
"If that's all, Luna, I'd better get going."
"Goodbye, Ron," Luna said, walking him to the door and watching as he walked
down the hall. "And good luck...you're going to need it."
"I don't like it," Draco said, suddenly gliding next to Ron.
"Don't like what?" Ron demanded.
"That marble thing. It's got a bad aura. I wouldn't touch it if I were you."
"Don't be ridiculous," Ron scoffed. "It's only a marble."
"Yes, and I'm only an intangible," Draco replied. "What's remarkable is that
you can see me, not the fact that I exist."
"What are you talking about?" Ron asked, irritated. "You sound like a shrink
or something...Anyway, why were you staring at my sister?"
"What?" Draco asked, as if he hadn't heard.
"Don't play dumb, Malfoy. Ginny! You were staring at her as if she were a demon or something."
"Well, I've been avoiding her since I died, you know," Draco replied.
"Why? I thought you...well...loved her," Ron mumbled.
"I do," Draco replied sadly. "More than anything." Ron looked up sharply,
surprised at the sincerity he was hearing from a Malfoy. He sounded, to Ron
at least, more human than he ever had alive.
"Then why-"
"Stop giving me the third degree, all right!" Draco exploded, and Ron
flinched.
"Sorry," he snapped sarcastically. "Feeling up to your name today, are we?"
"What's you problem, Weasley?"
"You're a git."
"True," Malfoy shrugged, and Ron found himself once again speechless.
Malfoy, admitting to being a git? Well, that was unusual to say the least.
"Look, I'm getting bad vibes or something from that marble thing," he said.
And, without further explanation, he turned and flew through the nearest
wall.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
A locket. A pretty golden locket, that glinted in the sunlight.
A pretty girl. She was about eight, with long, shiny red hair and bright
blue eyes. She was happy, very, very happy.
A boy, about the same age, with jet black hair and a lopsided smile. He had
the locket, but he was giving it to her. Kara, that was the girl's name. The
boy's name was Tom.
She gave him a marble. A pretty, shiny new blue marble. He would treasure it
forever, because it came from Kara...
Ron sat straight up in bed. He realized that he was still holding onto the
marble, which he had been studying before he fell asleep. Scolding himself
and pondering the dream at the same time, he put the marble safely away. He
laid back to think about the dream, but wound up only falling into another
one.
A pair of yellow, catlike eyes. Suddenly, as if he had blinked, Ron saw
family of three. There was a man and a woman, presumably the parents, and a
girl of nine. They stood as if posed for a picture with none of the
smiles...as a matter of fact devoid of any emotion at all.
Suddenly, Ron saw a pretty little house in some unknown town with the Dark
Mark looming above it. As if he suddenly had x-ray vision, he could see the
three people inside it, all in their beds with looks of absolute terror on
their faces. The woman was clutching a rosary.
Then he was back at school, and Justin Finch-Fletchy was staring at a letter
with a look of shock and horror on his face...
Ron woke up the second time to find himself somewhat late. However, he had
nothing on his mind except finding Justin. He got dressed in record timing,
and was somewhat annoyed that no one had awoken him. The dorm was deserted,
as was the common room.
He ran down several flights of stairs and corridors before finally reaching
the Great Hall. His eyes roamed around, looking for Justin, but he couldn't
spot him anywhere in the crowd. He decided to ask Harry and Hermione.
"There you are!" Hermione cried, sounding very worried indeed. "Where have
you been?"
"I slept late...Harry, why didn't you wake me up?"
"We tried," Harry replied. "But you were out cold...Neville and I assumed
you were in the middle of a vision and couldn't wake."
"Quite right," Ron replied. "Where's Justin?"
"Justin?" Hermione repeated.
"Yes, Justin Finch-Fletchy. I can't find him any-" Ron was abruptly cut off
by the arrival of the mail. He cursed softly under his breath.
"What's going on?" Harry asked, looking worried at the look of his best
friend's face.
"Justin, I've got to find Justin!" Ron said desperately, looking through the
shower of mail toward the Hufflepuff table.
"Why?" Hermione asked. Ron opened his mouth to respond, but just then he saw
the familiar form of Justin Finch-Fletchy, staring in horror at some letter
before him.
"I'm too late..." Ron whispered. He watched as Justin stood up violently,
ignoring his friends.
"There's nothing you could've done," A now familiar voice said from behind him.
"They were already gone."
"I know, but..." Ron muttered.
"It's not your fault, Ron." Ron turned to see Draco looking at him
with....sympathy.
"I know, Draco, I know." He was interrupted by the sound of Hermione's voice.
"Ron...who are you talking to?"