Disclaimer- I don't own anything but the plotline.
Special thanks to musicfanatic982 for reviewing every chapter in a single day and for telling me I've been spelling McGonagall's name wrong this entire time. I guess I'm an idiot.
Thanks to everyone who reviewed. I was pretty worried about what kind of feedback I
was going to get about Ron being a Sentinel, but everyone has been really supportive. The whole Sentinel idea came to me while I was reading the Wheel of Time. You know, Aes Sedai and their Warders. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, pick up the Eye of the World by Robert Jordan. It will blow your hair back.
Harry, Ron and Hermione sat alone in the room that Harry and Ron shared. Ron and Hermione sat in one bed facing Harry who sat alone on the opposite bed. He had a bewildered look on his face, and he ran a hand through his untidy hair.
They had just told Harry everything that they had learned less than an hour before. Though they had decided to keep the Sentinel thing a secret, they knew they had to tell Harry. He was blown away.
"Are you sure? I mean, are you sure this Fredo guy can be trusted? He could have just been pulling your leg." Harry said.
Ron was silent for a moment. "That's exactly what I thought. But he knew everything, Harry. How I felt. How I acted. He even knew that I collapsed afterward. He said it was classic Sentinel behavior."
Harry thought on that for a minute. He thought of something and smiled. "So this bond is formed through love?" he asked mischievously.
Both Ron and Hermione blushed, but not nearly as bad as they would have the day before. "Yes." Ron said calmly.
Harry laughed. "It's a shame you had to have a complete stranger tell you that you love each other. But I guess at the rate things were going, it would have never gotten said otherwise."
They blushed further when he said this. He had to admit he was having fun teasing his friends. "Well, it's about time. You both have finally realized what the entire school has known for the last two years."
Both of their faces snapped up with a horrified expression. "What?" they both asked at the same time.
Harry only laughed harder. Once he got himself under control, he said, "What do you mean 'What?'? Of course every one knew! It was so obvious! Everyone wanted to tell you, but I wouldn't let them. I figured you needed to work it out on your own. But in the end, some one eventually told you anyway."
Hermione smiled. "Oh well. At least if everyone knows, we don't have to go through the awkwardness of telling them."
Harry smiled too. "Just don't make out around me. And no puppy-dog eyes, either. That would bee too weird."
Ron laughed. "We'll try and contain ourselves."
Harry suddenly stopped laughing. "What was it that he said about you two separating? How it would have unwanted consequences for Ron. What did he mean by that?"
"We didn't ask. We were kind of overwhelmed at the time." Hermione said with a worried look on her face. "Besides-"
Hermione stopped speaking when the door opened. Through the door came McGonagall, carrying something long, wrapped in a length of cloth. When she saw who was in the room, she said, "Good. You're all here."
"What is it, Professor?" Ron asked
McGonagall set what she had been carrying down on Harry's bed. "Just some last minute instructions for tomorrow night's banquet. You three are going to be my eyes when we get there. You watch for any trouble stirring up between your classmates and those from any other school. And try to stay out of trouble yourselves. It's going to be an important night. We need to be on our best behavior."
"What so important about it, Professor?" Harry asked.
McGonagall let out a long sigh. "We need help, Harry. Voldemort is getting stronger by the minute. Everyday he recruits more Death Eaters. And the Dementors are flocking to him in droves. The day when we stand face to face with Voldemort is drawing near. If we can recruit the help of these American schools, we'll be much better off." She turned to Harry. Which is why Dumbledore sent this over." she said, motioning to the long wrapped parcel she had carried in. "He wants you to wear it, Harry."
Harry reached over and picked up the thing on his bed. He slowly began unwrapping the length of cloth. When he saw what it was he gasped. It was a sword. It's jeweled hilt protruded from a beautiful leather scabbard. On the leather of the scabbard were embroidered lions. The sword of Gryffindor.
"Why would Dumbledore want me to wear this?" Harry asked incredulously.
"We need to be impressive, Harry. Besides it will look great with that blue robe you chose." McGonagall said "Just don't stick anyone with it. I expect it to never leave its scabbard. Oh, and another thing. You will be my student representative.."
"Your what?" Harry asked.
"Student representative. You embody everything that Gryffindor stands for. Bravery, compassion, loyalty- you have all of these traits. Beside you're the only one with enough brains to pull it off." McGonagall said with a laugh.
"What about Ron or Hermione?" Harry asked.
"I was going to choose Miss Granger for student representative, but I think she has a lot on her plate just now. What with this Sentinel deal. I wouldn't want a representative who can't take her eyes off of Mr. Weasley." she said with a smile.
Hermione blushed a very bright red.
"And Mr. Weasley already has enough to do tomorrow night." McGonagall said.
Harry still had no idea what Ron's special assignment was, but he knew that Ron wanted to keep it a secret. "What will I have to do as representative?" Harry asked
"Not much, really. You're mainly just a figurehead. You'll be sitting at a table with each school's representative. Make polite conversation, and don't cause trouble. The night will be over before you know it."
"Will I still be going with an alias?"
"Yes, unfortunately. It is still too dangerous for you to be exposing yourself. Have thought up a name?"
Harry shook his head.
McGonagall laughed and patted his shoulder. "It's not really important what name it is. As long as it's not Harry Potter." she said. She turned to Ron. "I know you and Miss Granger have decided to keep your being a Sentinel a secret for safety reasons. Dumbledore sent this over when he sent the sword." she extended her hand to Ron and Harry saw a small pin in her hand. It looked like a miniature, blue shield. "All Sentinels wear them. Dumbledore figured you should at least get one."
Ron tool the pin out of McGonagall's hand and looked at it closely.
McGonagall started speaking again. For the first time ever, Harry believed she was uncomfortable. "Dumbledore said it would help our cause greatly if you wore the pin to the banquet."
Ron's head snapped up. "But we thought we were going to keep it a secret." he protested.
McGonagall nodded sadly. "You know I wouldn't ask you to expose yourself if I didn't think it help. Not many people know what that pin means. And the ones that do know are the ones we really want to impress. My guess is that only the Headmasters of each school will have the faintest idea of what the pin means. You can imagine what the Americans will think when we walk into the banquet with one student wearing the sword of Gryffindor and another wearing the pin of a Sentinel. They'll be blown away."
Ron stared at the pin in his hand. He seemed to be thinking very hard. He glances at Hermione and she shrugged. It's up to you, her shoulders told him. Ron looked back up at McGonagall. "I'll do it. Only because I think it might help. But if someone recognizes the pin and decides to make trouble, I'm getting Hermione out of there."
Now that she had Ron's agreement, McGonagall didn't seem so sure of herself.. "Of course. Of course. But you should be warned, Ronald. The Sentinels are a territorial bunch. If they hear that a sixteen year old is wearing their pin, they'll try and find you. I don't know much about it, but I know they will try and test you. They see being a Sentinel as a thing earned over years and years of dedication and devotion. When they find out someone as young as you has become one, they will want to see if you are worthy."
"What kind of test?" Ron asked.
"No one outside the Brotherhood knows." McGonagall answered.
"What's the Brotherhood?" Hermione asked, clutching Ron's hand.
"The brotherhood is what the Sentinels, as a whole, call themselves. Though the term isn't exactly politically correct. There can be female Sentinels, but because the first Sentinels were men, it has always been known as the Brotherhood. So, once again, I must ask you to be absolutely sure you are willing to take the risk of wearing the pin."
Ron thought on it some more. He seemed on the verge of declining when he looked up and said, "If it help our cause, I'll wear the pin. I figure that the Brotherhood's going to find out about be eventually. It might as well be on my terms. If I wear the pin tomorrow night, how long until the Brotherhood comes to test me?"
"I have no idea. This test isn't to be taken lightly, Mr. Weasley. If you are found unworthy, they might not let you live."
Ron shrugged. "As far as I know, the only prerequisite for being a Sentinel is absolute love. And I have that." He tightened his grip on Hermione's hand. "What more can they ask of me?"
In the largest show of emotion Harry had ever seen from McGonagall, her eyes filled up with tears and she stood up and walked over to Ron. She put her hand on his shoulder and said, "You're going to be all right."
She began walking toward the door, rubbing the tears from her eyes. When she reached the door, she turned around. "Get plenty of sleep tonight. No sneaking out. We have a big day tomorrow." She said and left the room.
"What was that about?" Ron asked.
Harry shrugged and said, "I don't know, but I was planning on writing Sirius now. Let him know what's happened." He paused and looked at Ron and Hermione. "Should I leave the whole Sentinel thing out?"
Ron considered it for a moment and then said, "No. You can tell him everything. I know we can trust old Snuffles."
Hermione laughed and said, "Writing sounds like a good idea. I promised to write to my parents after a few days."
Ron nodded. "I suppose my parents should know. Are you going to tell yours?" he asked Hermione.
She snorted. "I don't see why I should. They wouldn't understand. If I tried to explain, my dad would probably be on the first flight over here to kick your ass." she said to Ron.
Ron smiled. "He did say to look after you. But I don't think he met indefinitely."
They were staring in to each other's eyes again, and Harry felt slightly uncomfortable. "Break it up, you two. Let's go write the letters."
Ron nodded. "Yeah, but let's do it outside. This hotel is getting a little stuffy."
"O.K." Harry agreed.
***
It wasn't long after they had been outside when Ron realized Hermione was almost always in physical danger. Walking through the first crowd had been a trying experience. Ron had almost tackled her to defend her from the mobs of passing people.
I guess the bond isn't very specific, Ron thought.
The bond flipped out whenever they passed someone and his head nearly exploded when they stepped out onto a street with a lot of traffic. Ron reasoned it was the bond's reaction to Hermione's proximity to large, speeding objects. The bond obviously saw a passing person and a car speeding by, a few feet from where they were standing as a reasonable threat.
Ron spent most of the afternoon with an angry buzz in his head. How am I going to do anything with this going on inside my head, he asked himself. Because the bond was reacting to almost everything, Ron couldn't concentrate on writing his letter.
They had settled down in a park across the street from the hotel to write their letters. Hermione was nestled into the trunk of a tree. Harry was laying with his stomach on the ground, his paper in front of him. Ron settled down next to a tree about twenty feet away from his friends. He needed to concentrate.
Ron mentally grabbed the bond and shoved it into a corner of his brain. The buzz faded slightly, and Ron was able to begin his letter.
How am I going to explain this to my parents? he asked himself.
They had brought with them ink pens instead of quills because they were less conspicuous. Ron smiled when he imagined the reaction Muggles would have to seeing three kids writing with quills.
He brought his pen to his paper and began.
Dear Mom and Dad,
A lot has happened over the last two days. A lot of it, I don't know how to begin explaining. Just this morning, something very strange happened. It turns out
Ron stopped writing when the bond, even from the corner of his mind, flared up. This was something serious. He felt the rage flow through his limbs and he looked over at Hermione, searching for the cause of the danger.
***
Harry had finished his letter to Sirius and was reading it over. He had explained to Sirius about Ron and Hermione. When he was satisfied with it, he looked over at Ron.
Ron was writing his letter with a strange look of concentration on his face. Harry had noticed something bothering Ron since they had left the hotel, but he didn't know what it was.
As Harry watched, Ron's face snapped up and he looked over at Hermione, who was writing her letter a few feet to Harry's left. Harry was about to ask Ron what was the matter when Ron stood up quickly.
With a grunt, Ron launched his pen, end over end, straight at Hermione's head! The pen whistled as it sailed through the air, and it imbedded itself into the tree Hermione had been laying against, inches from her face.
Hermione filched away from the pen and Harry stood up.
"Ron, what the hell do you think you're doing?!" he screamed.
Ron was breathing loudly as if throwing the pen had taken a lot out of him. He sank down to one knee and brought his hands to his head.
Harry was angry. Why the hell did Ron throw a pen at Hermione's head? Harry was about to sprint over to Ron when Hermione's call stopped him.
"Harry, wait! Look." she said pointing at the pen.
As Harry walked over to Hermione, the immensity of what had just happened hit him. Ron had thrown the pen with enough force to bury itself into the wood of the tree. It shouldn't have been possible. No one was that strong.
When Harry reached Hermione, he saw what she was pointing at. Impaled on the pen was a bee! The bee had been ripped in half by the pen, but it's stinger could be seen clearly.
Harry looked back at Ron to see him walking wearily over to them. He seemed extremely tired.
"Ron, why did do that?" Harry asked, his anger had subsided slightly.
Ron stumbled over to them and grabbed Hermione by the arm. He pulled her away from the tree, and pointed. Sitting there in a crook of the tree was a bee hive. Dozens of bees were swarming nervously, ready to protect their home. Neither Harry or Hermione had seen it.
Ron rubbed a hand over his tired eyes. "Sorry, Hermione, I didn't think."
"Ron, why did you do that?" Harry asked again.
Ron gestured to the bee that had been killed by his pen. "It was going to sting her."
Harry's mind reeled. "Are you saying you felt that the bee was going to sting her? Through the bond?"
Ron nodded.
"Ron, you saw the bee from all the way over there?" Harry asked, pointing to where Ron had been sitting, a good twenty feet away.
Ron nodded again. He seemed ashamed at what he had done.
"You killed the bee with a pen! From twenty feet away! That's impossible."
Ron shrugged. "I saw it. I knew I had to do something. It was going to sting her."
Harry was still trying to grasp what had happened. "Do you know how impossible what you just did is? Not only did you impale the bee with an impossible throw, you threw it hard enough to bury itself into the bark!" he said pointing at the pen.
Harry reached over and grabbed the pen. He tried to rip it out of the wood, but it was in too deep.
Hermione finally spoke up. "Ron, why did you feel the bee through the bond? I mean, it's just a bee. It's not like it would have killed me or anything."
Ron exploded. "Because I feel everything! Do you know how hard it was for me to let you walk through a crowd of people? Or cross the street, with all that traffic? The bond sees everything as a threat! I feel like my head is going to burst every time you walk by someone I don't know! I was able to push it aside, but when I felt the bee, it was like fire in my brain. I had to do something. I feel like I'm going crazy."
Harry just stared. That was what had been bothering Ron, he thought.
Harry put a hand on Ron's shoulder. "Ron, there has to be a way for you to deal with it. The Sentinels have been around for centuries, and they haven't gone crazy."
Ron nodded. "I think I have it figured out. It was like I put the bond in a corner of my head. I was able to ignore everything until the bee showed up."
Hermione slipped an arm around Ron's middle. "It's O.K., Ron. You did the right thing." She smiled brightly. "But the next time you want to save my life, don't so it in such a frightening way."
Ron looked embarrassed for a moment, but then he smiled too. "Deal." He wrapped Hermione in a hug. "But you've gotta make some allowances. This is all so new to me. Besides, that was a freaking huge bee." he said with a laugh.
Harry couldn't help but laugh too. "Yeah. Did you see the size of it's stinger? It probably would have ripped Hermione's head right off."
Ron smiled and tackled Harry. They wrestled for a while, but Ron won easily.
That's one thing we'll never be able to do again, Harry thought. Ron had become way too strong.
When they were done, Hermione laid down in between them. "Don't worry, Ron. When we get back to Hogwarts we'll do non-stop research on Sentinels. We'll find out everything there is to know about them."
Ron groaned. "Great. That's all I need. More time in the library."
The banquet is next chapter, I swear. I just felt like I had to explain more about the bond before I went on. Next chapter- Our three companions are going to be meeting students form the American schools. The good and the bad. Harry meets a girl...I think.
Special thanks to musicfanatic982 for reviewing every chapter in a single day and for telling me I've been spelling McGonagall's name wrong this entire time. I guess I'm an idiot.
Thanks to everyone who reviewed. I was pretty worried about what kind of feedback I
was going to get about Ron being a Sentinel, but everyone has been really supportive. The whole Sentinel idea came to me while I was reading the Wheel of Time. You know, Aes Sedai and their Warders. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, pick up the Eye of the World by Robert Jordan. It will blow your hair back.
Harry, Ron and Hermione sat alone in the room that Harry and Ron shared. Ron and Hermione sat in one bed facing Harry who sat alone on the opposite bed. He had a bewildered look on his face, and he ran a hand through his untidy hair.
They had just told Harry everything that they had learned less than an hour before. Though they had decided to keep the Sentinel thing a secret, they knew they had to tell Harry. He was blown away.
"Are you sure? I mean, are you sure this Fredo guy can be trusted? He could have just been pulling your leg." Harry said.
Ron was silent for a moment. "That's exactly what I thought. But he knew everything, Harry. How I felt. How I acted. He even knew that I collapsed afterward. He said it was classic Sentinel behavior."
Harry thought on that for a minute. He thought of something and smiled. "So this bond is formed through love?" he asked mischievously.
Both Ron and Hermione blushed, but not nearly as bad as they would have the day before. "Yes." Ron said calmly.
Harry laughed. "It's a shame you had to have a complete stranger tell you that you love each other. But I guess at the rate things were going, it would have never gotten said otherwise."
They blushed further when he said this. He had to admit he was having fun teasing his friends. "Well, it's about time. You both have finally realized what the entire school has known for the last two years."
Both of their faces snapped up with a horrified expression. "What?" they both asked at the same time.
Harry only laughed harder. Once he got himself under control, he said, "What do you mean 'What?'? Of course every one knew! It was so obvious! Everyone wanted to tell you, but I wouldn't let them. I figured you needed to work it out on your own. But in the end, some one eventually told you anyway."
Hermione smiled. "Oh well. At least if everyone knows, we don't have to go through the awkwardness of telling them."
Harry smiled too. "Just don't make out around me. And no puppy-dog eyes, either. That would bee too weird."
Ron laughed. "We'll try and contain ourselves."
Harry suddenly stopped laughing. "What was it that he said about you two separating? How it would have unwanted consequences for Ron. What did he mean by that?"
"We didn't ask. We were kind of overwhelmed at the time." Hermione said with a worried look on her face. "Besides-"
Hermione stopped speaking when the door opened. Through the door came McGonagall, carrying something long, wrapped in a length of cloth. When she saw who was in the room, she said, "Good. You're all here."
"What is it, Professor?" Ron asked
McGonagall set what she had been carrying down on Harry's bed. "Just some last minute instructions for tomorrow night's banquet. You three are going to be my eyes when we get there. You watch for any trouble stirring up between your classmates and those from any other school. And try to stay out of trouble yourselves. It's going to be an important night. We need to be on our best behavior."
"What so important about it, Professor?" Harry asked.
McGonagall let out a long sigh. "We need help, Harry. Voldemort is getting stronger by the minute. Everyday he recruits more Death Eaters. And the Dementors are flocking to him in droves. The day when we stand face to face with Voldemort is drawing near. If we can recruit the help of these American schools, we'll be much better off." She turned to Harry. Which is why Dumbledore sent this over." she said, motioning to the long wrapped parcel she had carried in. "He wants you to wear it, Harry."
Harry reached over and picked up the thing on his bed. He slowly began unwrapping the length of cloth. When he saw what it was he gasped. It was a sword. It's jeweled hilt protruded from a beautiful leather scabbard. On the leather of the scabbard were embroidered lions. The sword of Gryffindor.
"Why would Dumbledore want me to wear this?" Harry asked incredulously.
"We need to be impressive, Harry. Besides it will look great with that blue robe you chose." McGonagall said "Just don't stick anyone with it. I expect it to never leave its scabbard. Oh, and another thing. You will be my student representative.."
"Your what?" Harry asked.
"Student representative. You embody everything that Gryffindor stands for. Bravery, compassion, loyalty- you have all of these traits. Beside you're the only one with enough brains to pull it off." McGonagall said with a laugh.
"What about Ron or Hermione?" Harry asked.
"I was going to choose Miss Granger for student representative, but I think she has a lot on her plate just now. What with this Sentinel deal. I wouldn't want a representative who can't take her eyes off of Mr. Weasley." she said with a smile.
Hermione blushed a very bright red.
"And Mr. Weasley already has enough to do tomorrow night." McGonagall said.
Harry still had no idea what Ron's special assignment was, but he knew that Ron wanted to keep it a secret. "What will I have to do as representative?" Harry asked
"Not much, really. You're mainly just a figurehead. You'll be sitting at a table with each school's representative. Make polite conversation, and don't cause trouble. The night will be over before you know it."
"Will I still be going with an alias?"
"Yes, unfortunately. It is still too dangerous for you to be exposing yourself. Have thought up a name?"
Harry shook his head.
McGonagall laughed and patted his shoulder. "It's not really important what name it is. As long as it's not Harry Potter." she said. She turned to Ron. "I know you and Miss Granger have decided to keep your being a Sentinel a secret for safety reasons. Dumbledore sent this over when he sent the sword." she extended her hand to Ron and Harry saw a small pin in her hand. It looked like a miniature, blue shield. "All Sentinels wear them. Dumbledore figured you should at least get one."
Ron tool the pin out of McGonagall's hand and looked at it closely.
McGonagall started speaking again. For the first time ever, Harry believed she was uncomfortable. "Dumbledore said it would help our cause greatly if you wore the pin to the banquet."
Ron's head snapped up. "But we thought we were going to keep it a secret." he protested.
McGonagall nodded sadly. "You know I wouldn't ask you to expose yourself if I didn't think it help. Not many people know what that pin means. And the ones that do know are the ones we really want to impress. My guess is that only the Headmasters of each school will have the faintest idea of what the pin means. You can imagine what the Americans will think when we walk into the banquet with one student wearing the sword of Gryffindor and another wearing the pin of a Sentinel. They'll be blown away."
Ron stared at the pin in his hand. He seemed to be thinking very hard. He glances at Hermione and she shrugged. It's up to you, her shoulders told him. Ron looked back up at McGonagall. "I'll do it. Only because I think it might help. But if someone recognizes the pin and decides to make trouble, I'm getting Hermione out of there."
Now that she had Ron's agreement, McGonagall didn't seem so sure of herself.. "Of course. Of course. But you should be warned, Ronald. The Sentinels are a territorial bunch. If they hear that a sixteen year old is wearing their pin, they'll try and find you. I don't know much about it, but I know they will try and test you. They see being a Sentinel as a thing earned over years and years of dedication and devotion. When they find out someone as young as you has become one, they will want to see if you are worthy."
"What kind of test?" Ron asked.
"No one outside the Brotherhood knows." McGonagall answered.
"What's the Brotherhood?" Hermione asked, clutching Ron's hand.
"The brotherhood is what the Sentinels, as a whole, call themselves. Though the term isn't exactly politically correct. There can be female Sentinels, but because the first Sentinels were men, it has always been known as the Brotherhood. So, once again, I must ask you to be absolutely sure you are willing to take the risk of wearing the pin."
Ron thought on it some more. He seemed on the verge of declining when he looked up and said, "If it help our cause, I'll wear the pin. I figure that the Brotherhood's going to find out about be eventually. It might as well be on my terms. If I wear the pin tomorrow night, how long until the Brotherhood comes to test me?"
"I have no idea. This test isn't to be taken lightly, Mr. Weasley. If you are found unworthy, they might not let you live."
Ron shrugged. "As far as I know, the only prerequisite for being a Sentinel is absolute love. And I have that." He tightened his grip on Hermione's hand. "What more can they ask of me?"
In the largest show of emotion Harry had ever seen from McGonagall, her eyes filled up with tears and she stood up and walked over to Ron. She put her hand on his shoulder and said, "You're going to be all right."
She began walking toward the door, rubbing the tears from her eyes. When she reached the door, she turned around. "Get plenty of sleep tonight. No sneaking out. We have a big day tomorrow." She said and left the room.
"What was that about?" Ron asked.
Harry shrugged and said, "I don't know, but I was planning on writing Sirius now. Let him know what's happened." He paused and looked at Ron and Hermione. "Should I leave the whole Sentinel thing out?"
Ron considered it for a moment and then said, "No. You can tell him everything. I know we can trust old Snuffles."
Hermione laughed and said, "Writing sounds like a good idea. I promised to write to my parents after a few days."
Ron nodded. "I suppose my parents should know. Are you going to tell yours?" he asked Hermione.
She snorted. "I don't see why I should. They wouldn't understand. If I tried to explain, my dad would probably be on the first flight over here to kick your ass." she said to Ron.
Ron smiled. "He did say to look after you. But I don't think he met indefinitely."
They were staring in to each other's eyes again, and Harry felt slightly uncomfortable. "Break it up, you two. Let's go write the letters."
Ron nodded. "Yeah, but let's do it outside. This hotel is getting a little stuffy."
"O.K." Harry agreed.
***
It wasn't long after they had been outside when Ron realized Hermione was almost always in physical danger. Walking through the first crowd had been a trying experience. Ron had almost tackled her to defend her from the mobs of passing people.
I guess the bond isn't very specific, Ron thought.
The bond flipped out whenever they passed someone and his head nearly exploded when they stepped out onto a street with a lot of traffic. Ron reasoned it was the bond's reaction to Hermione's proximity to large, speeding objects. The bond obviously saw a passing person and a car speeding by, a few feet from where they were standing as a reasonable threat.
Ron spent most of the afternoon with an angry buzz in his head. How am I going to do anything with this going on inside my head, he asked himself. Because the bond was reacting to almost everything, Ron couldn't concentrate on writing his letter.
They had settled down in a park across the street from the hotel to write their letters. Hermione was nestled into the trunk of a tree. Harry was laying with his stomach on the ground, his paper in front of him. Ron settled down next to a tree about twenty feet away from his friends. He needed to concentrate.
Ron mentally grabbed the bond and shoved it into a corner of his brain. The buzz faded slightly, and Ron was able to begin his letter.
How am I going to explain this to my parents? he asked himself.
They had brought with them ink pens instead of quills because they were less conspicuous. Ron smiled when he imagined the reaction Muggles would have to seeing three kids writing with quills.
He brought his pen to his paper and began.
Dear Mom and Dad,
A lot has happened over the last two days. A lot of it, I don't know how to begin explaining. Just this morning, something very strange happened. It turns out
Ron stopped writing when the bond, even from the corner of his mind, flared up. This was something serious. He felt the rage flow through his limbs and he looked over at Hermione, searching for the cause of the danger.
***
Harry had finished his letter to Sirius and was reading it over. He had explained to Sirius about Ron and Hermione. When he was satisfied with it, he looked over at Ron.
Ron was writing his letter with a strange look of concentration on his face. Harry had noticed something bothering Ron since they had left the hotel, but he didn't know what it was.
As Harry watched, Ron's face snapped up and he looked over at Hermione, who was writing her letter a few feet to Harry's left. Harry was about to ask Ron what was the matter when Ron stood up quickly.
With a grunt, Ron launched his pen, end over end, straight at Hermione's head! The pen whistled as it sailed through the air, and it imbedded itself into the tree Hermione had been laying against, inches from her face.
Hermione filched away from the pen and Harry stood up.
"Ron, what the hell do you think you're doing?!" he screamed.
Ron was breathing loudly as if throwing the pen had taken a lot out of him. He sank down to one knee and brought his hands to his head.
Harry was angry. Why the hell did Ron throw a pen at Hermione's head? Harry was about to sprint over to Ron when Hermione's call stopped him.
"Harry, wait! Look." she said pointing at the pen.
As Harry walked over to Hermione, the immensity of what had just happened hit him. Ron had thrown the pen with enough force to bury itself into the wood of the tree. It shouldn't have been possible. No one was that strong.
When Harry reached Hermione, he saw what she was pointing at. Impaled on the pen was a bee! The bee had been ripped in half by the pen, but it's stinger could be seen clearly.
Harry looked back at Ron to see him walking wearily over to them. He seemed extremely tired.
"Ron, why did do that?" Harry asked, his anger had subsided slightly.
Ron stumbled over to them and grabbed Hermione by the arm. He pulled her away from the tree, and pointed. Sitting there in a crook of the tree was a bee hive. Dozens of bees were swarming nervously, ready to protect their home. Neither Harry or Hermione had seen it.
Ron rubbed a hand over his tired eyes. "Sorry, Hermione, I didn't think."
"Ron, why did you do that?" Harry asked again.
Ron gestured to the bee that had been killed by his pen. "It was going to sting her."
Harry's mind reeled. "Are you saying you felt that the bee was going to sting her? Through the bond?"
Ron nodded.
"Ron, you saw the bee from all the way over there?" Harry asked, pointing to where Ron had been sitting, a good twenty feet away.
Ron nodded again. He seemed ashamed at what he had done.
"You killed the bee with a pen! From twenty feet away! That's impossible."
Ron shrugged. "I saw it. I knew I had to do something. It was going to sting her."
Harry was still trying to grasp what had happened. "Do you know how impossible what you just did is? Not only did you impale the bee with an impossible throw, you threw it hard enough to bury itself into the bark!" he said pointing at the pen.
Harry reached over and grabbed the pen. He tried to rip it out of the wood, but it was in too deep.
Hermione finally spoke up. "Ron, why did you feel the bee through the bond? I mean, it's just a bee. It's not like it would have killed me or anything."
Ron exploded. "Because I feel everything! Do you know how hard it was for me to let you walk through a crowd of people? Or cross the street, with all that traffic? The bond sees everything as a threat! I feel like my head is going to burst every time you walk by someone I don't know! I was able to push it aside, but when I felt the bee, it was like fire in my brain. I had to do something. I feel like I'm going crazy."
Harry just stared. That was what had been bothering Ron, he thought.
Harry put a hand on Ron's shoulder. "Ron, there has to be a way for you to deal with it. The Sentinels have been around for centuries, and they haven't gone crazy."
Ron nodded. "I think I have it figured out. It was like I put the bond in a corner of my head. I was able to ignore everything until the bee showed up."
Hermione slipped an arm around Ron's middle. "It's O.K., Ron. You did the right thing." She smiled brightly. "But the next time you want to save my life, don't so it in such a frightening way."
Ron looked embarrassed for a moment, but then he smiled too. "Deal." He wrapped Hermione in a hug. "But you've gotta make some allowances. This is all so new to me. Besides, that was a freaking huge bee." he said with a laugh.
Harry couldn't help but laugh too. "Yeah. Did you see the size of it's stinger? It probably would have ripped Hermione's head right off."
Ron smiled and tackled Harry. They wrestled for a while, but Ron won easily.
That's one thing we'll never be able to do again, Harry thought. Ron had become way too strong.
When they were done, Hermione laid down in between them. "Don't worry, Ron. When we get back to Hogwarts we'll do non-stop research on Sentinels. We'll find out everything there is to know about them."
Ron groaned. "Great. That's all I need. More time in the library."
The banquet is next chapter, I swear. I just felt like I had to explain more about the bond before I went on. Next chapter- Our three companions are going to be meeting students form the American schools. The good and the bad. Harry meets a girl...I think.