~*Chapter 1*~
The sky was bleak, and Harry was not back yet. Ron and Hermione were stuck outside of a large building, trying many different spells to get inside. Unsuccessfully they cast spell after spell, wanting to get in and help Harry. Harry had opened the door and it had closed behind him before Ron and Hermione could stop it. The three had gone to this building, knowing that Lord Voldemort was inside and holding Ginny Weasley captive. Harry had been too scared to get close to anyone after their 5th year when Sirius had died and blamed himself for what had happened. But gradually into their 7th year, he and Ginny had gotten very close; and Voldemort knew this. He was using Ginny as a way to get Harry to come to him so that the prophesy could finally be fulfilled.
"Arhh!" Ron screamed in frustration. "This is impossible Hermione. We can't get in!"
"There has got to be one spell that we haven't tried which will let us in here," Hermione argued.
"Well I'm all out. I've done every spell that I can think of! I even tried conjuring a sandwich and throwing that at the door, which obviously didn't work."
Hermione laughed despite their situation and rolled her eyes. Ron acted so ridiculous sometimes, but she was glad for the comic relief in their desperate situation. She sat down on the ground to think and put her head in her hands, discouraged. "Listen, Ron, we can't give up. That's our best friend in there and we've got to help him."
A new look of determination came upon Ron's face. "Yeah, I know. There has got to be something that we haven't thought of."
They both sat there for a moment before Hermione's face lit up and she jumped to her feet. "Ron! We are dealing with Voldemort here right?"
"Well, duh Hermione. You just noticed that?"
She waved her hand impatiently and started pacing, "Well what is the one thing that we know Voldemort is?"
Ron's face was scrunched up in confusion as he thought, "Umm…- a stupid git?"
"No Ron! Try to be serious here!"
"Oh c'mon Hermione. Just tell me what you are thinking so we don't have to waste time with me taking half an hour to guess."
Hermione looked at him as if it was the most obvious thing and cried out, "He's a parselmouth! You said that Harry had to speak parseltounge to get into the Chamber of Secrets right? Well it is probably the same instance for this building. The problem is that neither of us can speak it."
"So what are we going to do?" Ron asked.
Exasperated, Hermione sat down on the ground again. "I don't know yet. Give me a minute."
Ron just stared at her, wondering how she was going to figure this one out. Knowing her, though, they would be in the building within minutes. He was lost in his own thoughts when Hermione suddenly grabbed his arm and flung him behind a bush by the door.
"Hey! What are-" Ron started, but she put her hand over his mouth before he could finish.
"Someone is coming!" she whispered. And soon enough, about six death eaters came into view, running at full speed.
"The Potter boy is in there," Lucius Malfoy yelled to the others. "We cannot let him escape from the Dark Lord this time. Do you all want to get punished again like the last time we let him get away?" The other death eaters shook their heads furiously as they followed Malfoy to the front door.
"Open it Destrat," Malfoy commanded. A very tall wizard with dark eyes stepped forward and spoke in parseltounge. The door magically opened and the death eaters quickly filed into the building.
"Quick!" Hermione said frantically. "Run before the door closes!"
The two jumped from behind their hiding spot and ran in just before the door had shut. There was a ripping noise and Hermione looked behind her.
"Aww man!" Ron whined. "My robe got caught in the door when it closed and tore right in half!"
"Forget about it Ron. Let's go!" Hermione plead.
Ron shed off the rest of his ruined robes, showing his muggle clothes which were underneath.
They snuck through a long hallway and up two flights of stairs. Screaming and yelling could be heard from not far off, along with big crashes and such.
"Run faster Hermione! We need to get there!" Ron yelled behind him. His long legs were much to fast for Hermione's much shorter ones.
"I'm-going-as-fast-as-I-can!" she said between breaths.
"Here," Ron stopped and held out his hand. "I'll pull you faster."
Hermione blushed and took his hand. Ron took off much faster than Hermione had imagined. She felt herself being pulled about twice her running speed. They turned corner after corner, hearing the crashes getting louder.
"This building doesn't look this big from outside. There are so many freaking hallways in here!" Ron yelled to Hermione.
Hermione was so out of breath that she just nodded her head in agreement, though she knew he couldn't see her do this since she behind him. They finally came to a long hallway that looked as if it was the last one, but stretched for miles. Ron took a deep breath and started running at top speed, holding onto Hermione after him.
Abruptly, Ron stopped running and had to yank Hermione back to him to stop her momentum.
"What are we stopping for??" she asked.
"Look ahead! Don't you see that? And listen!"
Hermione was puzzled but looked ahead of them and listened hard. The screaming and banging had stopped and a flash of light was coming towards them quickly. The walls and ceiling of the long hallway suddenly started crumbling and falling to the ground as soon as the light touched it.
"Crap!" Ron bellowed. "Turn around Hermione!"
They quickly started running the other direction, trying to escape from the fast, on-coming light. Ron looked behind him and saw that the light was gaining on them. They turned corner after corner, trying to find the front door again. They found the first flight of stairs to go down. Ron picked Hermione up and jumped down about six stairs at a time.
On the second flight of stairs, pieces of the building starting coming down upon their heads from the upper stairs. Ron dodged the big chunks of ceiling, but little pieces of concrete cut across his face. He ran as fast as he could while holding Hermione in his arms, trying to protect her from the falling pieces. A sharp pain suddenly came to his back, and before he realized it he saw the light engulfing the two in its destruction. They fell over onto the ground and were both knocked unconscious. Soon after, the building collapsed all together.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Ron opened his eyes and realized that he was lying in a hospital bed at St. Mungo's. He felt pain all through his body and he couldn't feel his left arm and leg.
'Great', he thought. 'I've broken both of them.' He turned his head to the right and saw Hermione lying next to him. She was heavily bandaged, especially her head. Ron's throat closed and he wanted to rush to her side to make sure she was still alive. He tried to get up, but soon felt pairs of hands pushing him back into his bed.
"Let me go!" he yelled angrily.
"You better stop moving before I hurt you even more myself!"
Ron looked to see who the speaker was and saw his twin brothers, Fred and George.
"Stop fussing ikle Ronnykins." Fred teased. "Your girlfriend is alive."
Ron blushed furiously and punched Fred in the shoulder with his good arm. "She's not my girlfriend you git."
George smiled, "Yeah whatever little bro." His smile then vanished as soon as it had come, being replaced by a look of sadness. "She is alive, but not exactly doing well."
"Wha-what do you mean?" Ron asked, starting to feel sick to his stomach.
"Well," Fred said quietly. But then Mrs. Weasley came running into the hospital room and rushed to the side of her son's bed.
"Oh Ron! They told me--thought you were dead--told your father to come here straight from work--rushed here as fast as I could before even putting myself together!" Mrs. Weasley said all very fast. And indeed, she had come before she had gotten herself ready for the day with her hair not even brushed through and still in her night gown; for the three friends had gone to the building during the late night and it was now the early morning.
Mrs. Weasley grabbed her son into a big hug, crushing his broken arm. "Ouch mum! You're crushing my arm!" Ron yelped in pain.
"Oh, sorry dear," she apologized.
Ron then remembered what he and his brothers were talking about before his mom had busted into the room. "So what is wrong with Hermione??"
George and Fred lowered their heads; their usual mischievous grins were not there. "While the building that you guys were in was caving in, Hermione somehow hit her head pretty hard. She severely damaged a part of her brain, causing her to have amnesia. And it's not just a temporary situation of memory loss," Fred paused, "it's permanent."
Ron's mouth fell open as he thought about what he just heard. 'How could I have let this happen?' he thought. 'How could I let Hermione get hurt so badly?' Ron felt disgusted with himself and punched his hand into his fist angrily, hurting his broken arm in the process.
"Now don't go blaming yourself, dear." Mrs. Weasley brushed back hair from her youngest son's face. "It was not your fault with what happened to her. She didn't break anything, only bruised some of her ribs and, of course, the amnesia. So she will be fine after a while, with the exception of her memory. But we can help Hermione out with that to make everything easier for her to adjust to this new…-handicap."
"Handicap?" Ron whispered warily. He tried to say more, but the words just wouldn't come out.
Three people then entered the hospital room; Hermione's parents and the healer that had cared for Ron and Hermione. Her parent's rushed over to her side and looked at her bandaged body. Her mom started crying and buried her face in her husband's chest. They then left the room swiftly, calling for the healer to follow them.
A few minutes later the healer came back with a solemn look on her face and said, "The Grangers wish that you all do not associate with their daughter. They want her moved to a private room and are having her pulled away from the magical community as soon as she is better. They do not want her to be part of our world any longer since this permanent damage has happened…."
Soon enough, a couple of people came in and wheeled Hermione's bed out of the room. Ron looked at Hermione as she was being led away, wondering when he would see her again. And she would never remember him.
The sky was bleak, and Harry was not back yet. Ron and Hermione were stuck outside of a large building, trying many different spells to get inside. Unsuccessfully they cast spell after spell, wanting to get in and help Harry. Harry had opened the door and it had closed behind him before Ron and Hermione could stop it. The three had gone to this building, knowing that Lord Voldemort was inside and holding Ginny Weasley captive. Harry had been too scared to get close to anyone after their 5th year when Sirius had died and blamed himself for what had happened. But gradually into their 7th year, he and Ginny had gotten very close; and Voldemort knew this. He was using Ginny as a way to get Harry to come to him so that the prophesy could finally be fulfilled.
"Arhh!" Ron screamed in frustration. "This is impossible Hermione. We can't get in!"
"There has got to be one spell that we haven't tried which will let us in here," Hermione argued.
"Well I'm all out. I've done every spell that I can think of! I even tried conjuring a sandwich and throwing that at the door, which obviously didn't work."
Hermione laughed despite their situation and rolled her eyes. Ron acted so ridiculous sometimes, but she was glad for the comic relief in their desperate situation. She sat down on the ground to think and put her head in her hands, discouraged. "Listen, Ron, we can't give up. That's our best friend in there and we've got to help him."
A new look of determination came upon Ron's face. "Yeah, I know. There has got to be something that we haven't thought of."
They both sat there for a moment before Hermione's face lit up and she jumped to her feet. "Ron! We are dealing with Voldemort here right?"
"Well, duh Hermione. You just noticed that?"
She waved her hand impatiently and started pacing, "Well what is the one thing that we know Voldemort is?"
Ron's face was scrunched up in confusion as he thought, "Umm…- a stupid git?"
"No Ron! Try to be serious here!"
"Oh c'mon Hermione. Just tell me what you are thinking so we don't have to waste time with me taking half an hour to guess."
Hermione looked at him as if it was the most obvious thing and cried out, "He's a parselmouth! You said that Harry had to speak parseltounge to get into the Chamber of Secrets right? Well it is probably the same instance for this building. The problem is that neither of us can speak it."
"So what are we going to do?" Ron asked.
Exasperated, Hermione sat down on the ground again. "I don't know yet. Give me a minute."
Ron just stared at her, wondering how she was going to figure this one out. Knowing her, though, they would be in the building within minutes. He was lost in his own thoughts when Hermione suddenly grabbed his arm and flung him behind a bush by the door.
"Hey! What are-" Ron started, but she put her hand over his mouth before he could finish.
"Someone is coming!" she whispered. And soon enough, about six death eaters came into view, running at full speed.
"The Potter boy is in there," Lucius Malfoy yelled to the others. "We cannot let him escape from the Dark Lord this time. Do you all want to get punished again like the last time we let him get away?" The other death eaters shook their heads furiously as they followed Malfoy to the front door.
"Open it Destrat," Malfoy commanded. A very tall wizard with dark eyes stepped forward and spoke in parseltounge. The door magically opened and the death eaters quickly filed into the building.
"Quick!" Hermione said frantically. "Run before the door closes!"
The two jumped from behind their hiding spot and ran in just before the door had shut. There was a ripping noise and Hermione looked behind her.
"Aww man!" Ron whined. "My robe got caught in the door when it closed and tore right in half!"
"Forget about it Ron. Let's go!" Hermione plead.
Ron shed off the rest of his ruined robes, showing his muggle clothes which were underneath.
They snuck through a long hallway and up two flights of stairs. Screaming and yelling could be heard from not far off, along with big crashes and such.
"Run faster Hermione! We need to get there!" Ron yelled behind him. His long legs were much to fast for Hermione's much shorter ones.
"I'm-going-as-fast-as-I-can!" she said between breaths.
"Here," Ron stopped and held out his hand. "I'll pull you faster."
Hermione blushed and took his hand. Ron took off much faster than Hermione had imagined. She felt herself being pulled about twice her running speed. They turned corner after corner, hearing the crashes getting louder.
"This building doesn't look this big from outside. There are so many freaking hallways in here!" Ron yelled to Hermione.
Hermione was so out of breath that she just nodded her head in agreement, though she knew he couldn't see her do this since she behind him. They finally came to a long hallway that looked as if it was the last one, but stretched for miles. Ron took a deep breath and started running at top speed, holding onto Hermione after him.
Abruptly, Ron stopped running and had to yank Hermione back to him to stop her momentum.
"What are we stopping for??" she asked.
"Look ahead! Don't you see that? And listen!"
Hermione was puzzled but looked ahead of them and listened hard. The screaming and banging had stopped and a flash of light was coming towards them quickly. The walls and ceiling of the long hallway suddenly started crumbling and falling to the ground as soon as the light touched it.
"Crap!" Ron bellowed. "Turn around Hermione!"
They quickly started running the other direction, trying to escape from the fast, on-coming light. Ron looked behind him and saw that the light was gaining on them. They turned corner after corner, trying to find the front door again. They found the first flight of stairs to go down. Ron picked Hermione up and jumped down about six stairs at a time.
On the second flight of stairs, pieces of the building starting coming down upon their heads from the upper stairs. Ron dodged the big chunks of ceiling, but little pieces of concrete cut across his face. He ran as fast as he could while holding Hermione in his arms, trying to protect her from the falling pieces. A sharp pain suddenly came to his back, and before he realized it he saw the light engulfing the two in its destruction. They fell over onto the ground and were both knocked unconscious. Soon after, the building collapsed all together.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Ron opened his eyes and realized that he was lying in a hospital bed at St. Mungo's. He felt pain all through his body and he couldn't feel his left arm and leg.
'Great', he thought. 'I've broken both of them.' He turned his head to the right and saw Hermione lying next to him. She was heavily bandaged, especially her head. Ron's throat closed and he wanted to rush to her side to make sure she was still alive. He tried to get up, but soon felt pairs of hands pushing him back into his bed.
"Let me go!" he yelled angrily.
"You better stop moving before I hurt you even more myself!"
Ron looked to see who the speaker was and saw his twin brothers, Fred and George.
"Stop fussing ikle Ronnykins." Fred teased. "Your girlfriend is alive."
Ron blushed furiously and punched Fred in the shoulder with his good arm. "She's not my girlfriend you git."
George smiled, "Yeah whatever little bro." His smile then vanished as soon as it had come, being replaced by a look of sadness. "She is alive, but not exactly doing well."
"Wha-what do you mean?" Ron asked, starting to feel sick to his stomach.
"Well," Fred said quietly. But then Mrs. Weasley came running into the hospital room and rushed to the side of her son's bed.
"Oh Ron! They told me--thought you were dead--told your father to come here straight from work--rushed here as fast as I could before even putting myself together!" Mrs. Weasley said all very fast. And indeed, she had come before she had gotten herself ready for the day with her hair not even brushed through and still in her night gown; for the three friends had gone to the building during the late night and it was now the early morning.
Mrs. Weasley grabbed her son into a big hug, crushing his broken arm. "Ouch mum! You're crushing my arm!" Ron yelped in pain.
"Oh, sorry dear," she apologized.
Ron then remembered what he and his brothers were talking about before his mom had busted into the room. "So what is wrong with Hermione??"
George and Fred lowered their heads; their usual mischievous grins were not there. "While the building that you guys were in was caving in, Hermione somehow hit her head pretty hard. She severely damaged a part of her brain, causing her to have amnesia. And it's not just a temporary situation of memory loss," Fred paused, "it's permanent."
Ron's mouth fell open as he thought about what he just heard. 'How could I have let this happen?' he thought. 'How could I let Hermione get hurt so badly?' Ron felt disgusted with himself and punched his hand into his fist angrily, hurting his broken arm in the process.
"Now don't go blaming yourself, dear." Mrs. Weasley brushed back hair from her youngest son's face. "It was not your fault with what happened to her. She didn't break anything, only bruised some of her ribs and, of course, the amnesia. So she will be fine after a while, with the exception of her memory. But we can help Hermione out with that to make everything easier for her to adjust to this new…-handicap."
"Handicap?" Ron whispered warily. He tried to say more, but the words just wouldn't come out.
Three people then entered the hospital room; Hermione's parents and the healer that had cared for Ron and Hermione. Her parent's rushed over to her side and looked at her bandaged body. Her mom started crying and buried her face in her husband's chest. They then left the room swiftly, calling for the healer to follow them.
A few minutes later the healer came back with a solemn look on her face and said, "The Grangers wish that you all do not associate with their daughter. They want her moved to a private room and are having her pulled away from the magical community as soon as she is better. They do not want her to be part of our world any longer since this permanent damage has happened…."
Soon enough, a couple of people came in and wheeled Hermione's bed out of the room. Ron looked at Hermione as she was being led away, wondering when he would see her again. And she would never remember him.