Shadows

Rating: PG-13

Summery: "He painted a pretty picture for you, didn't he Ron, what with all of his colorful lies and empty promises, how could I possibly compete with that?" A series of events leads Ron to the dark side, can anyone bring him back?

Disclaimer: Anything that you recognize, I don't own.

A/N Hmm, I suppose that I should be hanging my head in shame as it has taken me a good while to update this. Oh well, I'll hang my head later when I have time. I felt like the last chapter kind of a beginning to a new chapter in Ron's life so to signify that the chapter titles are taking on a new theme. I'm sure that you noticed how each chapter, one through ten had the word "day" in it, which had an underlying purpose as Ron took his life one day at a time…and now I'm getting too far into meanings that people don't care about, so I'll just get to the point…every ten chapters the chapter titles will change as well as the theme of the story. So there's a little insight into the story for you.

Also, I posted a story called Mend My Shattered Soul. If you read that then this chapter should definitely click for you. But it's not essential or anything. Just if you are going to read it, I would read it before this chapter.

Chapter Eleven

Gathering Up the Pieces

I sat glaring at my coffee in deep thought. Though, perhaps it is unjustified to label my thoughts as deep, as my most serious one was that I don't really like coffee. I would prefer tea.

It had been a week since I used the portkey. It had taken me to a house that was empty of any occupants. Since that time it had only contained one; myself. There was plenty of food and supplies here, just no people. I assumed that Mark wanted me here for some reason or another, so here I stayed, wallowing in pity.

I was beginning to wish that Mark would just come collect me, I was turning pathetic. All I did was sit, listening to the echoes of my past wondering if anyone even noticed that I was gone. I certainly hoped that they had noticed by now, it would just be sad if they hadn't.

With a sigh I leaned my heavy head against my hand and zoned out for a few minutes; wanting for once to feel as though I wasn't trapped in my own mind. However, my moment of inner peace ended abruptly as I heard a loud rapping at the window.

I lazily turned my head over and saw an owl awaiting entrance. I walked over to the window, let the owl in, and was surprised as it allowed me to take the letter but then quickly flew off, leaving no time for a reply.

With a suspicious glance at the letter, I opened it and saw only the words:

Open the front door!

The first thing that popped into my mind was Mark, so with a shrug I went over to the front door of the house and pulled it open. To my expectancy Mark was standing on the other side with a somewhat smug look on his face.

"Just what I thought," he said decisively, "you're still too trusting. Why would you just go open the door because a note told you too?"

I flashed him an arrogant smile in return, "because I knew that it was you. Anyone ever tell you that you that chicken scratch that you have the nerve to call English looks like shit?"

He waved a dismissive hand and entered the house, "writing is easily imitated, don't put faith in it."

I rolled my eyes and shut the door. "So why have you left me here to fend for myself for the past week?"

Mark strolled into the kitchen and helped himself to some food that I had left lying out. "I figured that you could use some adjustment time. Now that you've had that, time to work kid."

With an irritated sigh I meet his gaze, "more training?"

"I suppose you could see it that way. I have an assignment for you."

"An assignment," I said, unable to keep the surprise out of my voice, "all ready?"

He narrowed his eyes, trying to figure out if this frightened me or not. "That's how we do things. Jump in Ron, don't bullshit around the shallow end of the pool."

I nodded, slightly in shock. I hadn't expected any sort of assignment for at least a few months. Mark constantly corrected me on things, why would he think that I was ready for anything on my own?

He pulled a folder out of his robes, opened it and threw a large picture down on the table. "This is your target," he gestured at the picture of an attractive girl around that appeared to be in her mid to late twenties. "She's in with Voldemort, one of the few females allowed in his inner circle. Do whatever you have to do to get close with her, she has vital information. Get that information from her by any means necessary. Got it?"

"Any means necessary," I repeated slowly, "what do you want me to do, kill her or seduce her?" I had said it in an incredulous tone, but Mark obviously regarded it as a serious one.

"Whatever you have to do kid."

I nodded and looked down at the picture of someone that I was about to become very close to. It was eerie to look at a photo-and a muggle photo at that-of a stranger whom you knew that you could possibly kill.

I had never killed anyone. I wasn't even sure if I could.

But I wasn't about to tell Mark that. "I understand. Where can I find her?"

"She goes to a club/bar every Thursday night called 'The Magic Stick' you can find her there." I nodded, thinking that it was slightly strange that this seemingly wholesome looking girl would go to The Magic Stick, it wasn't exactly known for it's family style entertainment.

Mark sat down the rest of the folder, "here's everything you need for briefing, I'll be back on Saturday to see how you faired. Later kid, and good luck." With that Mark pulled out his wand and disappeared leaving me to mull over my first assignment.

I picked up the picture again and stared at the girl that was smiling back at me. She had long blond hair and a striking set of blue eyes, she looked more like a teacher than a death eater…which is probably why you-know-who uses her, she looks innocent.

With a final glance at her I sat the photo down and picked up the folder as I took a seat. The contents were two sheets of paper containing all the information that whoever gathered the information had on her.

Her name was Melissa Thompson and she was twenty-three years old. Feeling strange I closed the folder again. Now I knew her name. I wished that I hadn't looked, names were too personal, she couldn't be a person to me, she could only be a source of information. Don't get involved.

I closed my eyes and tried to rid myself of images of her playing with her children. Chances were that she didn't have any, but she was a woman and she had a nurturing look about her…what if she was a mother and I killed her? I would be responsible for children losing their mother.

My heart rate picked up as guilt for something that I hadn't even done swept over me. Knowing that I had to put it out of my mind and calm down I dragged myself to my bedroom and decided to go to sleep.

Dreams of a small child crying out for Melissa crowded my sleep.

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Thursday came and I spent the daylight hours of it waiting with anxiety in the living room of the house, watching the clock.

No one went to The Magic Stick before nightfall, that was just commonsense. So I waited for the time that was passing both too slowly and too quickly. Finally, the sun began to descend and I knew that it was time for me to make my move. Now or never.

With shaking hands I grabbed the portkey that had been in the folder and closed my eyes tightly as it transported me to an alleyway near the infamous club. Trying desperately to get my breathing under control I made my way to the front of the club and stood in the line that was beginning to form outside.

I waited in line hoping that I looked cool and aloof, not the out of placeness that I felt. My eyes darted around towards the other occupants of the line, she wasn't here. Perhaps she was all ready inside?

Finally I found myself in front of the bouncer feeling rather foolish and more awkward than I have ever felt before. Only alcoholics and perverts come to bars alone, I knew that's what he must be thinking.

"How old are you kid?" He said suspiciously.

I immediately became defensive, "eighteen, how old are you?" Smooth Ron, be sarcastic to the extremely large and muscular bouncer, and why don't you lie on top of that? Well, it wasn't technically a lie; I was eighteen…in a few months. But he didn't need to know that.

His eyes narrowed, "don't lie to me, it insults my intelligence."

Well, what do you know, a bouncer who wasn't a meaty moron. Figures that it would happen to me. "Sorry," I mumbled, "I just…had a rough day." Again, not technically a lie, I had had a rough day.

"Girl problems," he asked with something that sounded suspiciously like sympathy.

"More than you know."

"You know, drinking isn't going to solve anything." Great, I was receiving a heartfelt lecture from a bouncer. Why must these things always happen to me? "But," he continued in his strange father-like manner, "I can relate." With that he let me in.

I flashed him a surprised, but grateful look and quickly entered the club before he changed his mind. I cursed Mark as I walked through the crowd of people, he knew that I wasn't old enough, and didn't even look old enough to be in one of these places.

The loud music annoyed me as I took a seat at the bar, I never had been one for 'club' music, all it was to me was a deafening thumping that you couldn't even make any words or sense out of. These thoughts, I had learned after one club experience about a year ago, apparently made me a loser. Well, so be it then.

"You look about as depressed as I feel," snapped me out my thoughts on the reasons why they should turn down the music.

I turned my head in the direction of the voice and to my utter shock saw Melissa Thompson staring back at me with an amused look on her face. "Yeah," I said trying to sound casual, "nice of you to observe it."

She smiled prettily, "just thought you would like to know."

I licked my dry lips and felt my mind go blank conservation wise. "So," I said lamely, "what do you think about the music?"

Her nose crinkled up in distaste, "personally, I hate it. I remember when this place used to be a bar, an actual bar, and the only music they had was a muggle jukebox. A few years ago they decided to 'keep up with the times' and change it into a club…probably before your time though."

I hated it that just because I was young, everyone assumed that I was like five. I simply nodded and tried to suppress my irritation at her presumption that I was a child. "Can I buy you a drink?"

"Whiskey."

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A/N Well, if you read the companion story you should have some idea on how this is going to go…if not, then you'll just have to wait and see! I know that a lot of you were probably expecting Ron to be really depressed, but it's been a week, and he doesn't seem like the type to me to be like suicidal. I don't know, I just was going for repressive denial or something like that, so hopefully it's making sense! Please review!!!!!

Oh, and as for naming the club "The Magic Stick"….what can I say, I couldn't resist!

Thanks to:

Stompy-Sanjii (One of the bad parts of first person point-of-view, we won't know if Hermione is pregnant or not until Ron knows…so I guess you'll just have to wait, lol. Sorry to make him split right after, but had to be done.), Talia Moon (Glad that you're liking the story! Sorry about the slow update, I'll try to update faster next chapter!), Kinky Kiwi (Lol, of course he didn't bother to find out where the portkey went to…typical male. Sorry that he was a jerk last chapter, hopefully he'll be making up for it in the future.), Gen Eveningstar (Glad to know that you thought Ron was cool last chapter, hope that he keeps it up! Sorry about the slow update!), F75 (I'm glad that you are liking the story so far, hope that you continue to do so!), RonandHerm4eva (Aw don't cry, lol, I'm sure that they'll get together and be happy…eventually. Glad that you're loving the story and I hope that we are online at the same time sometime soon, I haven't talked to you in a while!), Orli-enthusiast (I'm so happy that you are liking this story so much! I loved reading your review, it made me feel really good! And, I know, poor Hermione…but things should get better for her by the end of the story *wink wink*), KeeperOfTheMoon (Glad that you're still liking it, and I read one of your notes on your stories and I just wanted to tell you to not feel pressured to finish all your stories. Believe me, I know how daunting it can be to have four or five stories going on at once and you just want to scream.), Hplova4eva (Lol, love your little math equation in you review, and as always, great to hear from you!), Arynnl (Lol, glad that you liked the last chapter and thanks so much for your review! I'll try to update sooner next time!), Trempush (Haha, good thing that you love thickness because lord knows that this story is going to be full of it! Thanks for reviewing!), Me (Here's your update, hope that it didn't occupy your mind too much as it took a while to get here. Glad to know that you're liking the story and I'll try to update soon!), gpotter (Well, I can't tell you if she's going to get pregnant or not…but I can tell you that I don't like for people to be able to guess my plot lines and several people have guessed that one so you can probably cross it out. Feel better for Hermione now? Lol, thanks for reviewing!), FantasyAngel-Writer (Don't worry about not reviewing because you were busy, I completely understand. Also, I'm really happy that you picked up on that "no regrets" was the last line of the tenth chapter, I meant for that to sound, you know, closing or whatever.), Silent Bob 546 (I'm so excited that you think the story is dark and cool! That's what I was going for, but I figured that people would describe as weird and gay, lol. Hope that you continue to enjoy it!), Shakespeare's Muse (Thanks so much for saying that you thought the sex scene was tactful and well done, I really appreciate it as I actually put a lot of thought into that. I didn't want it to be smutty sounding, but then I didn't want it to be corny, so it means a lot to me. Glad that you're enjoying the story!), Angl (As always, I took a large amount of amusement out of your ongoing fight with Bob. Lol, seriously it cracks me up, especially with the imaginary dog added in. Also for your 'scheme' to get out of chores, I've been there too!)