Loss
By Hpfan
Chapter VII- Roughin It, and confinement
Harry knew that in the entire environs probably had more shields, charms, and other defenses then gringotts bank, but that still didn't ease his anxiety that night when he, Ron, Hermione, and Sirius headed toward the surrounding forest with their wands lit.
Camping was something that Harry just couldn't picture himself doing. He knew that most normal muggle families often did it, but still- he wasn't didn't have what would be considered a normal family, and certainly not a muggle one (anymore).
Ron looked completely bewildered, Hermione looked excited, and Sirius looked nonchalant. He could most identify with Hermione's feelings. He knew that, despite whatever it was that was making him suspicious, this would be a very interesting trip.
Earlier in the day, after Sirius had informed them that they were going camping, Harry had asked if Sirius had ever done it before. Harry couldn't detect any deceitfulness in his voice, or see any deception in his eyes, so when Sirius replied, 'loads of times', Harry didn't question it. Ron had been nervous throughout the entire day. Camping was something that was barley ever even mentioned in his house, and the closest thing that he had ever done to camping was last year's events at the world quidditch cup- albeit the fact that the same circumstances applied for Harry, he had seen enough television shows to know roughly what the idea was.
Although Sirius didn't seem to know where he was going, he had the air of someone looking for something, so, in the quickly evaporating evening twilight; Harry followed Sirius, squinting to make out his profile. Finally, Sirius set down his rucksack in a small clearing, with a stream running through it, which Harry knew would eventually lead to the waterfall he had found.
Sirius didn't bother even attempting to put the tents together the muggle way; he set them on the ground side by side, muttered a spell, and automatically, the tents were upright and perfect. Nobody would bother with firewood, because with magic, a simple spell lights a fire, and keeps it going for hours, and besides, it was still summer, and still unpleasantly hot.
Sirius conjured up some lounge chairs for them to relax in, and set up a bonfire, with a charm on it that did not give off heat, unless used to cook with. Harry, Ron and Hermione looked at each other, and shrugged, deciding just to go with the non-traditional camping style- or at least Hermione and Harry did- Ron was still totally oblivious.
The four settled down in the chairs, feeling very relaxed. Sirius broke out a bag of marshmallows, and a package of hot dogs and after a few minutes of persuading Ron to put a marshmallow on a dirty stick that had been lying on the ground, they were contently eating roasted marshmallows and hot dogs. Harry had Sirius under a scrutinizing gaze, making sure that he wasn't going to blow the entire forest up by doing something stupid, like putting the fire out with gasoline.
After eating to their pleasure, Harry, Ron and Hermione sat around the campfire. They talked about anything that came up, which was mostly quidditch, the ministry's feeble cover-up of the dark lord's return, and their plans for the year. They talked so much that they didn't even notice when Sirius went missing, but after about thirty minutes, they noticed that it was ten o'clock, and Sirius was no where to be found. They looked at each other with growing discomfort. They all nodded and agreed that they should at least try and look for him. As soon as they left the comfort area of the camp that supplied them with light to see, they lit their wands and tried calling out "Sirius", but that didn't help them.
Without their voices, the forest seemed exaggeratedly quiet. Harry looked at Ron and Hermione, who stared back with the expression that he assumed was on his face: alarm. Silence is not a good thing when dramatic tension is building; one of the most important things that you can learn in horror movies.
They heard a twig snap, and they huddled together. Suddenly, out in the distance they heard a shrill howl coming from somewhere off in the distance. They could tell that whatever had made that noise was coming their way. They heard another twig snap, now closer. Their looks of fear turned to looks of horror, and Harry looked up to make sure the moon wasn't full. Thankfully, it wasn't, but he was assured that the forest had other creatures in it that wouldn't mind killing them.
Suddenly, a blurry silhouette emerged; it walked slowly, and stealthily. Finally, when it was three meters away from them, it leapt at Harry, knocking him to the ground. He braced himself for the bitting and clawing that he knew was to come, but all he could feel was something wet on his face; then he realized.
"I'm going to kill you, Sirius." He growled, reminiscent of Padfoot. If dogs could laugh, what Sirius was doing was probably it. Finally, Sirius got off him and transformed into his human form, still hysterically laughing. Ron had joined in by now, and Hermione was turning blue, looking like she was between laughing and being compassionate.
Harry glared at all of them, and figured he would wait it out, but two minutes later, they still hadn't stopped, and Hermione had joined in. He knew he was going to crack, and laugh along with them, but he didn't want to do it. Instead, he concerned himself with wiping dog drool off his face, which made them laugh harder. Finally, he laughed a little, and they, being satisfied, stopped.
Sirius looked apologetic but said, "I'm sorry, but what would a camping trip be if I didn't scare you enough to wet yourselves?" he had on an annoying smile, but everyone decided it was best just to humor him, and not slap it off his face.
Sirius looked at his watch, and looked like he was deciding whether to let them stay up or not. He gave them an apologetic look, and ushered them off to bed with a, 'your parents would kill me if I let you stay up all night.' Excuse.
Now came the hard part; once they entered the tent, which looked similar to the tent that Mr. Weasley had borrowed from his co-worker, except it was smaller, and only had a sleeping area, Harry had to somehow get changed inconspicuously, without anyone noticing the cuts on his arm. They slept in bunk beds, and Sirius and Ron took the ones on the bottom, while Harry slept on the one on top of Ron. The summer night wasn't sticky, but it was hot, and it was uncomfortably so. The tent was somewhat crowded, but not awkwardly so. Ron and Sirius got changed before getting into bed, but Harry just climbed into the bunk. Sirius looked at him oddly, but didn't comment. The semi-darkness fell, as Sirius waved his wand, and Harry fell into a restful slumber, relishing the dreamless sleep.
___
Harry woke up early the next morning, seeing the sun shining faintly from the crack in the tent. Harry stretched in his bed, hoping that the creaking wouldn't wake up Ron. He quickly and quietly changed, hoping that no one woke up while doing so. He went outside, breathing the humid air around him, and he smiled and decided to take a trip to the place he had found a few days ago.
It was easy enough to find the waterfall, as he only had to follow the stream that was near the campsite. When he arrived, he settled down on the rock, and savored the wind and flecks of water that sprayed his sweltered form. He didn't seem to notice when the sun was almost halfway to the middle of the sky. Finally, he heard a rustling in the woods and was sent back to reality. He quickly got up and made his way toward the campsite. He was three-fourths of the way there, when he suddenly heard voices coming from somewhere toward his left. He crouched down behind the trees, and saw Sirius talking to some brunet in the distance. He couldn't make out what it was they were saying, but he saw him lean in, and they kissed for about a minute, and Harry snuck off.
So that had been the girl that Sirius had been seeing. That was definitely no innocent friendly kiss. Obviously he had been sneaking out to see whoever that was. He hadn't gotten a good look at whom he had been talking too, but he didn't recognize her. She looked around his [Sirius's] age. He was in such a daze that he didn't realize it when he was back at the campsite. Ron and Hermione were already up and making breakfast over the fire. Harry knew he needed an excuse for his absence fast. He decided just to go with the truth. He came over and sat on the chair near the fire. He answered vaguely when they asked where he had been but they didn't question further.
"So where is Sirius?" he asked, trying to act oblivious. He wasn't quite ready to tell them what he saw."
"We don't know. We woke up and you and Sirius were gone. We just assumed you went to go take a pee or something." Sirius emerged from the forest after a few minutes. He just settled down in the chair next to Hermione and no one asked anything. After breakfast had been served, Sirius explained how he planed for them to go back to the house and play Quidditch for the rest of the day. They all agreed, though Hermione didn't look happy about the Quidditch thing. They packed up the tent, and hiked back to the house.
When they unloaded all the camping gear in the house, they went outside to cool off on their brooms. It was Harry and Ron against Sirius and Hermione, which was practically like two on one, or maybe three on one, because Hermione wasn't only useless, she was counterproductive, but nobody had the heart to say anything. The days passed way too quickly for Harry, and when Ron and Hermione finally had to leave, he was almost glad that Hogwarts was only two weeks away. Although he was going to miss Sirius, he couldn't stand the thought of being away from Ron and Hermione so much.
Harry saw Ron and Hermione exit through the grate, and sighed. Sirius challenged him to a game of Chess, knowing how boring it was going to be around the house with just him and Sirius. After being slaughtered in Chess three times, it was clear that there was no fun to be had while playing chess. He went to the study to find a book to read. The previous owners of the house had an interesting collection of books. They spanned between defense books, to alchemy. One book caught his eye though. 'Advanced Transfiguration; Animagus Transformation'. It looked interesting enough, even though he knew he probably wouldn't be able to transform. It wasn't like he had any reason to.
He went to bed after finishing the book. That night, Harry had a nightmare.
___
There were three figures approaching a house that stood in the middle of a very uninhabited area that he recognized instantly as the Burrow. He didn't even have to be forced to follow, he went himself, knowing that if someone was going to be hurt, he would have at least try to do something about it. They silently unlocked the door to the houses and walked up the stairs, looking like they knew where they were going. He followed them silently, holding his breath silently as they passed the different rooms. Finally, they headed up the last staircase and arrived in front of Ron's room. Harry reached for his wand and was surprised when he actually felt it in his pocket. He pulled it out and tried to stun them, but the burst of sparks just went right through them.
Harry cursed, and tried to grab their shoulders, but his hand went right through them. He watched helplessly as they entered the room, and prayed that they didn't kill him on the spot. One of the figures pulled out his wand, and Harry breathed a sigh of relief momentarily, when he realized that he had just fired the silencing spell, but the full realization of what that meant fell on him. One of the men levitated him toward the door, and the others followed, along with Harry.
They walked out of the house with their hostage in tow, and the tallest figure pulled out a stone glowing green. One of them clutched Ron's wrist, and touched the stone along with the others. In a flash of light, they disappeared. Harry didn't know whether he would wake up, or he would follow them, but he felt a tug at stomach and suddenly, he was standing in front of some kind of fortress. He saw that the figures were headed toward the front entrance.
When they had arrived inside, the tall figure instructed the other two to take the 'captive', to the cell, and for them to guard him under tight security. "Wake him up. And make sure that he doesn't escape. I'll be in to deal wit him in about an hour." The other two took off their masks and Harry could see that one of them was Malfoy, and the other one was Avery. Harry followed them, hoping to God that Ron wouldn't be tortured.
The walked up many flights of stairs, and Harry tried to remember how they got to the cell. He would need to be able to recall this when Ron was rescued…if they didn't kill him first.
They got to a single cell. It wasn't really like a cell though. It was more of a stone cubical. The door was solid wood, and there was no window. Harry hoped that there was some kind of spell to keep some kind of ventilation for Ron to breath; or maybe that was some kind of torture. They dumped him unceremoniously on a wooden board that he assumed would be used as a bed. They removed the silencing spell they had on him, and woke him.
Before he could even get his bearings together, they had already left. Ron sat up abruptly, and began panicking. The dim lighting in the cell enlightened him to the current situation. He stood up, and started banging on the door. "Let me out! What the hell is going on! Why am I here? I didn't do anything. Where am I? Please, let me out!" He screamed, and banged on the door for a few more minutes until his fist were raw, before he collapsed against the wall in despair. Finally, he looked over to where Harry was looking at him, weakly.
"Harry? What's going on? Why are we here? Where is here?" he asked quickly.
"You- you can see me?" His eyes went wide, and suddenly, the hope that he had almost lost started to grow. If he could talk to Ron, then maybe he could somehow get him out.
"Of course I can see you. Why wouldn't I?" he looked suspiciously.
"I told you about the dreams I have that are connected to Voldemort?" He ignored it when Ron flinched. "Ron, Voldemort has taken you hostage. No one has ever been able to see me in one of these dreams yet. I'll- I'll try to get you out of here, but I don't really know how.
"I- I'm being held captive?" He tried to hold himself back from being hysterical, trying to brave it out what with Harry being there. "What is You-know-who going to do to me? I don't want to die! Is he going to kill me? What does he want me for?"
Harry hung his head in shame, knowing that Ron was probably there because Voldemort wanted him. He suddenly lifted it up; determination filled his eyes. "Ron, don't negotiate with your life. I don't know how I'm going to get you out of here, but I will. For now, you tell him whatever he wants to know. If we have to, Sirius and me can leave our house, but you're irreplaceable. Tell him whatever he wants, just don't get yourself killed." Ron looked at him like he wanted to argue, but Harry gave him a stern look.
Harry could feel the pain in his scar begin to grow, and he knew that Voldemort would soon be coming back to interrogate him- if that's what it was that he was going to do to Ron.
The door opened, and there, in all of his menacing intimidation stood Lord Voldemort. "Ah, yes, Ronald Weasley. I assume that you know who I am." Ron looked petrified with fear. Harry couldn't blame Ron for being scarred. Put in his position, it was very easy to be demoralized in Voldemort's presence.
"Ah, I see you are fear me. As you should, Weasley. I am someone who most people don't like to cross, but the few who do don't usually live to tell about it, except for your little friend, Harry Potter. But you will see; if you cooperate, I can be a fair individual. I will let you go… if you assist me. If you refuse to tell, well, we can deal with that when the time comes. All I want to know is where Harry Potter lives. As he is your best friend, I assume you know?" Voldemort's voice was silky, oily, and malicious.
"He- he never told me where he lives." Ron said.
"Ron, just tell him! You're more important then whether or not Voldemort knows where I live." Harry hissed.
"You don't know? You have never visited his house before? He never gave you his house's name?" Voldemort spoke in a tone like he was asking a small child whether his parents were home.
"I'm not telling you anything! I would never betray my friend like that!" Ron had given up the act, and Harry, despite his huge frustration that Ron hadn't collaborated, was impressed at his bravery. He had always known his friend to crack under pressure, but here he was, protecting his friend, knowing full well that it might- if not would- cost him his life. Harry couldn't get over the loyalty Ron was showing him, but was still furious at how stupid and stubborn he was being.
"Yes, well maybe you will change your mind after a few nights in this cell? Oh yes, 'Crucio!'" He yelled in annoyance.
Ron's screams rang out in the cell, and the sound of a door slamming followed. Ron gasped, and wheezed, and Harry kneeled near him, knowing the dream would be ending soon. "Ron, I'll be back with help! I promise. Next time, just tell him what he wants to know. Please! Don't be stupid!" and the dream ended.
___
Harry woke up, and without hesitation, got out of bed, and lunged out of the room, pounding on Sirius's door. He could here sounds of stumbling and things being knocked over, but within thirty seconds, Sirius was at the door looking alarmed, and frightened. "What is it? What's going on?" He looked around frantically, as if he expected there to be death eaters swarming the house.
"It's Ron, he's been taken prisoner! Sirius, I saw it, in a dream! He was taken out of his house and put in this tiny little cell, and he saw me, and Voldemort came in and asked him where I was, and he wouldn't tell him, and he put the Cruciatus curse on him, and, and…" Harry stopped to take a breath. "You have to do something. Call Dumbledore, or his parents, or the ministry or anyone!"
"Harry calm down! I can't do anything if you're frantic. I'll go alert Dumbledore. Harry, I know you're worried, but we have a good chance of getting him out. We have tons of spies working with Voldemort, and I'm sure that if Voldemort went to all of the trouble of capturing Ron, he's not going to kill him!" Sirius gave his shoulder a squeeze reassuringly. He walked down the stairs with Harry in tow, and fired Dumbledore. When he was finished, he gave Harry a half smile. "Well, Dumbledore already knows that Ron had been taken. They have already got people out trying to get Ron back."
Harry sighed in relief, but knew that he wouldn't breath easy until Ron was safe. Harry sat down on the couch and put his head in his hands. He felt horrible, knowing that his friend was out there, curled up in a cell, and he was safe in his nice cozy home, and it was all his fault.
Harry felt Sirius's presence next to him, but didn't look up. He felt Sirius's arm around his shoulder, and he leaned into the crook of his arm. He looked up at him through the same darkened eyes that he had right after reading the newspaper article about how he relatives had died. The same numbness came over him, and he briefly realized that he was shaking.
"Look Har, I know you're feeling really guilty right now, but I've got to tell you, dwelling on it isn't going to help. Try to focus on helping Ron. He wouldn't blame you Harry. Remember your dreams? Live by your own words. It wasn't your fault any of that happened, and Ron wouldn't indict you for it."
Harry looked at Sirius; he knew his dark eyes where shining with unshed tears. "I just wish that there was something I could do. I feel so helpless." He fought very hard to keep his voice steady.
"Harry, if there were something you could do, then I have no doubt that you would go right out and do it, but all you can do is talk to him during your dreams. Keep up his spirit. Make sure that he doesn't crack. That is the best and only thing that you can do for Ron; just be his friend." Harry took a shaky breath, and nodded.
Harry bit his lip, fighting to keep the tears away, but as Sirius enveloped him in a hug, he let out a wet sob, and it was like damn broke way, and all of his fears and emotions just spilled over like an avalanche, and Harry couldn't control himself. He started crying heavily, feeling grief and fear, and above all, guilt.
He felt Sirius stiffen besides him as he realized that Harry was crying, but he just tightened his embrace and buryied Harry's head in his shoulder and let the tears fall down his face and onto his pajamas. He whispered soothing words to him, and Harry suppressed the feelings that were like second nature to him to stop his crying, and not to let anyone see his emotions, as he realized that Sirius wouldn't care.
Harry lost track of the time and decided just to wait until he expelled all of his suppressed emotions, and he pulled away, hoping that Sirius would mistake the redness in his face for tears instead of embarrassment. He had really acted childishly, but he didn't care. He looked at Sirius, who rubbed his back reassuringly.
Sirius didn't try and say anything about his outburst, and Harry was happy about that. He leaned against his shoulder for a while, and in time, Harry eventually fell into restless sleep.
End Chapter VII- Roughin' It, and confinement
End notes: Bet you didn't expect that, huh? I bet you didn't think I would do that, huh? But you I'm gonna get flamed for this, huh? This whole 'Ron's been captured' thing isn't really what the plot centers around, but it will be for a couple of chapters (or maybe a few), as well as other things. So, you know, I wasn't originally going to do this, but I knew that it had to happen; it just kind of formed in the back of my mind and just started growing, and growing and growing, until I had no choice. My muse- with happens to be the voice in my head that I affectionately labeled, 'Sirius', - was telling me to do it, and when 'Sirius' speaks, you listen- because he's in my head, and he can cause a mean headache when he wants something.
Notes to the readers that I scarred: I'm not crazy; I just like to act like I am. There is nothing wrong with having a voice in your head- it's better than having nothing in your head.
Notes to the reviewers:
SarahPeach: Thanks for the review. Personally, chapter 6 was one of my favorite chapters so far (well, I think this one might be my favorite) , but re-reading it, it just seems stupid. This chapter was angsty, and their really wasn't enough fluff, but it's really laying the plot down, it's setting up the events that are going to happen.
BlackLupinFan: That's a new one; no one had ever told me that they live my story before. Just kidding. But thanks for the compliment.
Blueberrie: It good to hear from you again. I hope you liked that chapter.
Midnightkat: Now, if I told you who Sirius was kissing, you wouldn't really care right now; you have to wait until I get around to introducing the character, and all of that other stuff. Plus, if I write suspenseful, everyone will keep reading more, waiting to see what's going to happen; therefore, cliffhangers are a good thing, for the writer that is. Sorry if Hermione wasn't really having a rough time in the camp setting. I've always wanted to go camping, but of course, I'll go and have a miserable time; that's just the way things work.
Next chapter: Coping and Motorcycles. Harry helps Ron deal with his situation, and comes between an inch (or centimeter) of having his greatest secret revealed.