CHAPTER THREE- Breaking the Bind (Harry's point of
view)
I glanced in the living room and saw Molly tidying up, glancing up at the clock. There had been nine hands indicating each family member, but since Ron's death, the eighth hand had disappeared.
"Hey Molly." I went into the living room.
"Yes, Harry dear?" She asked.
"Remus wants to know if Jasmine and I can come visit him and Sirius for a few days." I said.
"Okay." She said.
"All right, great." I mumbled and headed up to Ron's room, feeling the Stone in my pocket. I couldn't tell Molly the real reason we were going to Remus's. I didn't want her to get her hopes up and then it not working. no, it was better if Ron just came back alive and then we'd tell the Weasleys what had happened.
Jasmine and I weren't the only ones going to Remus's. Since Hermione was coming home that day, she was invited to come help (since she was so clever). Jasmine and I were to meet her on the Knight Bus. I went to Ron's room and sat on my bed, holding the Stone.
Soon.
***
"Think we should write to Peggy? She was upset over Ron." Jasmine said as the Knight Bus dropped us off by some trees. I spotted an opening nearby, with a path, so we walked to it.
"I don't know. I mean, I don't know if we can trust. if we can. if." I lost my train of thought as we arrived at the bottom of the path.
We kind of stood there, staring at Remus's house. Hermione dropped her duffel bag. "Well." She finally said. "that is NOT what I expected from Remus."
"None of us expected it." Jasmine mumbled.
Remus's house was set on the top of a small hill. Thick woods surrounded the it and a winding, dirt path went up to the front steps. It wasn't a big nor steep hill. The path ended at wooden steps, going up to a small wooden platform in front of the door. There were wooden handrails as well. There were two trees on either side of the door. Trees unlike any I had ever seen before. Since it was mid-August, they were completely leaved. But their leaves were not green. They were. electric blue. Black vines wrapped up the trunks of the tree. Behind his house, I could see a large lake, and a long wooden dock. Remus's actual house was a four-story tall log cabin. It looked nice and very comfortable. Whereas we were expecting something more. whacky.
"Hi guys!" The front door flew open and Remus stood there. I blinked, shocked that it was actually Remus. He was not wearing robes. He was wearing jeans and a loose, button-up gray shirt. "well are you going to stand there gawking, or are you going to come in?"
We picked up our stuff and slowly climbed up the path and went into his cabin. The door opened into a hall. On one side was a large doorway that took up most the wall, with no door. On the right side were three doors and across from the front door were steps. There was a bunch of framed photos along the wall with the doors. Most of them were of his school-days and a great deal of them held Sirius and my father as well as Wormtail, my mother, and a couple other people I didn't recognize.
Remus took us into the living room. It was huge and comfortable. The part around the fireplace was sunk into the floor and held two large sofas and three comfortable armchairs, a small table and a long coffee table.
In one of the chairs sat Sirius. He looked extremely healthy and happy. He was also soaking wet. "Hiya guys." He said cheerfully.
"Sirius you're. wet." I said.
"Yeah well SOMEBODY shoved me into the lake." Sirius said, looking hard at Remus.
"Well if YOU hadn't of made my sandwich I was eating explode, I might not of done it."
"You deserved to eat an exploding sandwich."
"And you deserved to be pushed into the lake."
"Shut up wolf-head."
"Whatever dog-breath."
I couldn't help but grin, feeling happy. There had only been one other time I felt happy since Ron's death, and that was finding out I had a chance to bring him back.
"Why don't you both shut the hell up and introduce me?" A woman appeared through a door in the living room.
"We're getting to it." Both men snapped.
I looked at the woman and stared at her in amazement. She was. extremely odd looking. She was quite small.
This is line 666 according to my computer. It is an evil line so I am not writing anything... D'oh!
She was quite small. probably just barely taller then Flitwick, with blazing red hair that went stuck straight up in the air. If it was down it would of ended at her shoulders but no, it stuck up and came to a slight point. She had a pointy face, pointy ears, slanted green eyes and was quite tan. She was extremely skinny and her limbs stuck out, making her look very bizarre and like the Muggle image of elves (tiny and pointy).
I looked back and saw she was in a few of the photos Remus had hanging up in the front hall. "Harry this is Emerin Elm." Sirius said.
"One of the members of your father's gang." Remus said.
"A-HEM!" Sirius demanded.
"Your father and Sirius's gang." Remus corrected. "better?"
"Yes."
"Harry!" Emerin Elm walked across the room and hugged me. For someone so tiny and thin, she sure was strong. "I haven't seen you since you were in diapers (Hermione giggled at this and I went red). And is this Jasmine?" She asked, turning to my sister.
"Yes ma'am." Jasmine said.
Emerin stepped back and looked at us, shaking her head. "God you two look exactly like your parents. Its freaky."
"You're freaky."
"Oh can it, Moony."
"Make me."
"I will."
It took all my might not to laugh. "So you were part of the gang, too?" I asked.
"Yep," Emerin said. "my nickname was Ember."
"How come you two haven't mentioned her before?" I asked.
"Well, after your parents were killed and I went to Azkaban." Sirius trailed off. "Emerin left to Romania."
"The whole gang broke up. Everyone lost in touch with everyone else." Remus said.
"Not one of us were still in contact with another. We just wanted to forget everyone." Emerin said, shaking her head.
"How many members of the gang were there?" Hermione asked.
"Look for yourself." Remus pointed to a huge framed photo above his mantelpiece.
It was taken outside, near the lake at Hogwarts. In the middle were Sirius and my dad. On the other side of my dad was my mother with my dad's arm around her waist. On the other side of Sirius was Remus holding up a sign that had a picture of a screw and 2 baseballs, and an arrow pointing to Sirius and my dad. Beside him was a strange wizard. Beside HIM was Pettigrew. On the other side of my mother was Emerin. And beside Emerin was a strange witch and beside her was another strange witch. I knew it had been taken in their Seventh year due to the 'Head Boy' badge on my dad's robes and 'Head Girl' badge on my mothers.
"Sapphire, Pixie and Mac, which was short for Macadamia. Which in turn was short for Macadamia Nut." Sirius explained.
"God those were the days. Blissfully unaware." Emerin said.
"I have no idea where Sapphire, Pixie and Mac are." Remus said with a shrug. "None of us do."
"Remus was the only one to stay here in England." Emerin said.
"I just wish I knew where they went. . ." Sirius said, staring up into the photo. Or rather, at the witch with the nickname 'Pixie'.
"How come I get the feeling Sirius liked her?" Jasmine whispered in my ear.
"Shh." I said.
"Anyway, I'll show you to your rooms and you can start unpacking." Remus said cheerfully.
"Oh God don't leave me here with Ember!" Sirius mock begged.
Emerin cackled an evil cackle. "I'll get you my pretty. . . and your little dog, too!" "Hey. I am my own dog!" Sirius said and we all burst into laughter.
*** (Hermione's point of view)
"Thank you Hermione."
"Yeah, thanks."
"Thanks, Hermione."
Everyone was thanking me as they ate their dinner. There had been a very large argument over who'd cook it.
"No way are you cooking it, Moony, you'll end up making a huge mess!" Emerin shrieked.
"No way are we letting YOU cook, Ember, you'll probably slip in a potion that'll turn us all to ducks." Remus snapped back.
"Guys, guys, guys. I'll cook." Sirius said. Remus and Emerin were silent a moment then both yelled,
"NO!"
"Why NOT?!" Sirius demanded rather bitterly.
"I am NOT going to have my house burned down!" Remus said.
After they argued for what must of been a quarter of an hour, I finally cut in and said since I've cooked dinner at my house before, I'd cook dinner.
After everyone finished, and Remus sent his dishes to clean themselves in the sink, we all went out back. There was a large patio with some patio furniture, a stretch of grass then it was the lake. We sat around the large, round crystal-clear table and Harry set the Stone in the middle.
We all leaned in and stared at the Stone, then all, as if on command, looked at Remus. "Oh yeah." He ran inside and brought a huge book out. "its says its difficult to break the spell binding the spirit into the Stone, but it can be done." He said, hefting the book onto the table. "okay it says for the best witch or wizard you can get, to say the words with his or her wand touching the stone. The others must point their wands at the Stone and chant this saying over and over. It has to be done at sun down."
"Okay, who's the best witch or wizard?" Everyone looked at me and Jasmine.
"Hermione can do it. She's better then I am." Jasmine said.
"Okay, here." Remus dropped the book in my lap. Almost immediately my legs started going numb under the weight.
"Everyone got their wands?" I asked nervously.
"Yep." Everyone pulled out their wands and pointed at the Stone.
"Sun going down." Emerin said, staring across the lake. The sun was dipping into the distant hills.
"Okay, you ready guys?" I asked nervously, praying this would work. If it didn't, Harry was probably going to sink into an even worse pit of depression and starve himself or something.
"Ready." Everyone said.
I looked down at the book, put the tip of my wand against the stone and cleared my throat.
"Stone of Power hear our plea, let the spirit you hold free." The others began chanting after I told what to say.
"There is a life force safe and sound, deep within you, trapped spell- bound." I began.
My wand began glowing brightly, and the others wands were glowing a bit duller then my own.
"Bleak black death you have saved, a new chance of life for this spirit paved."
With this the book began glowing and I began to get extremely nervous but cleared my throat and continued.
"When the sun goes down let the spirit rise, bring it alive as the day dies."
"Stone of Power hear our plea, let the spirit you hold free." The others continued chanting.
Black clouds began swirling overhead and I begun to feel weak but I continued. There were only two more lines for me to say anyway.
"The sky grows dark as it comes to night. For the spirit's life we shall fight.
Binding spell oh please let go, let the life from you flow!"
Then I began the chanting with the others. "Stone of Power hear our plea, let the spirit you hold free. Stone of Power hear our plea, let the spirit you hold free."
Just then there was a terrible crack of lightning, and a great gust of wind, causing the books pages to flip forward rapidly. The sun had completely gone down now and it was blacker then normal since the sky was with black clouds.
"Stone of Power hear our plea, let the spirit you hold free. Stone of Power hear our plea, let the spirit you hold free!"
There was a burst of brilliant light from the Stone which cause our chairs to fall back. We all crashed to the ground and stared at the Stone. It was glowing a brilliant blue with silver mist surrounding it. The Stone rose into the air and suddenly broke apart into four parts. It looked like a shell. In the middle of the four blue curves was a white glowing thing. The glowing thing got bigger and bigger until suddenly there was a flash of light that blinded us all.
As I covered my eyes, I heard a loud crash and the wind stopped. I could breath normally now. I slowly opened my eyes, rubbing the back of my head which pounded from where I had hit the stone patio. My eyes got wide as I saw what had made the crashing noise, and I screamed.
Remus's table was broken and lying amidst the rubble was Ron.
*** (Ron's point of view)
Somebody screamed, a girl. followed by another girl's scream. Opening my eyes, I squinted in the dusky darkness of early night.
I was laying in a pile of rubble and six people surrounded me. They all stared at me in amazement.
I blinked and tried remembering something. Anything. I couldn't remember anything.
I must of lost my memory. I didn't know what I was doing here, I didn't recognize any of the people and I didn't even know who I was.
"Ron!" One of the boys suddenly yelled.
Ron?
Was that my name?
"Ron!" He shouted again, and hugged me tightly.
Yes.
My name was Ron.
I remembered that now. Ronald.
But Ronald what?
"Uh, yeah." I said, prying his arms off. The face looked so familiar. bright green eyes stared at me from behind thick-rimmed glasses. He had incredibly messy black hair, and a scar on his forehead.
A name came to my mind.
"Eugene?" I asked.
One of the girls snorted and the guy in front of me frowned slightly. "Harry."
"Oh." I said and began rubbing my pounding head. "where am I?"
"My patio." Said a man with light brown hair which had gray in it.
I suddenly remembered he was a Professor.
An image sprang to mind of a werewolf.
"Professor Werewolf?"
"Remus Lupin." He said.
"Why can't he remember anything?" Harry asked nervously.
"Must be a side affect of death." A woman with blazing red hair said.
Red hair.
I had red hair.
Images came to my mind. 5 boys began swarming in my mind.
A tall red-headed guy with his red hair pulled back in a pony-tail, a snake fang earring and cool clothes.
A stocky but muscular red-headed guy with burn marks and blisters all over him.
A stern-looking red-headed guy with horn-rimmed glasses.
Two identical red-headed guys with an air of mischief surrounding them.
Then words and names began filling my head at a rapid rate and caused my head to hurt.
Burrow
Pigwidgeon
Scar
You-Know-Who
Books
Castles
Dumbledore
O.W.Ls
Sirius
Then images began flashing through my mind, making it hurt even more.
A great scarlet steam engine puffing smoke over a crowd.
A large ice cream parlor.
A crowded bookstore.
A huge, amazing looking castle.
A man with greasy hair and a big nose.
A giant spider.
A huge, huge snake skin.
A gitty-looking git with a pearly smile and big ego.
A giant chess set.
A big room decorated in scarlet and gold.
A huge field and people racing about in the air on brooms.
An office with a tall, thin, red-headed man sitting at the desk, talking to me.
Dad.
That was my dad.
A plump, red-headed woman appeared in my mind.
My mother.
My parents... . .
"Where's my parents?" I asked, coming back to reality.
"Back at the Burrow." Harry said.
I looked up into the night sky then back down. "What happened? Why am I here?" I asked.
"Ron you were killed." A bushy-haired girl said.
"I was what?"
"Killed. You pushed me out of the way of the Death curse. But your life force. . . your essence was trapped into the Stone and we just freed you." Harry explained.
"I think we better take him inside and try to restore his memory." A man with longish black hair suggested.
*** (Harry's point of view)
Ron stared down into his large cup of cocoa, looking incredibly bewildered and confused. His memory was pretty bad. Hermione and I had just spent over an hour telling him of our adventures together.
"I did that?!" He demanded when we got to the giant chess set. "Ah yes, I remember now. spiders are my biggest fear." He said as we got to Aragog. "Yes, yes I remember that now. . . Scabbers." He mumbled when we got to the meeting in the Shrieking Shack. Finally, we finished.
Ron sat there a moment then took a sip of hot cocoa. "I remember most the stuff now. its all pretty muddled together but I think I. yeah." He said slowly. When he set his cup of cocoa down, he missed the table entirely and it spilled over the rug. "oh I'm sorry, Remus" He said, dropping to his knees to clean it.
"Its okay, Ron." Remus said as I pulled Ron back onto the couch.
"I have a feeling there's more then just loss of memory as a side affect of dying." Emerin said, cleaning the spilt cocoa.
"Wait, let me check the book." Remus ran outside and returned with the book and the Stone. He opened the book and flipped through. "ah, here.
After being released from the Stone, the now-alive witch or wizard will find themselves subject to strange behavior, which is a side-affect of being trapped by the Stone. They will suffer from the following:
Memory Loss (which will now and then occur through the rest of his or her life)
Clumsiness
Dizziness
Loss of Appetite
Pains through the body
Strong Moods Swings (Especially Sadness, and Love)
Insomnia
Fainting Spells
Listlessness
Increase in Studious Behavior
Impatience
Most of these will eventually go away, except for the memory loss, but sometimes they'll reoccur later. Other side affects may include an increase in magical power." Remus finished reading.
"Looks like I'm. . .. I'm. . ." Ron trailed off and frowned.
"You're what?" Hermione asked gently.
"I forget what I was going to say." He took the cup of cocoa that Emerin had retrieved for him while Remus read from the book. He gripped it with two hands, firmly. "If I'm going to be all clumsy then I better hold tight." He said with a slight laugh.
"So you remember everything now?"
"There are patches here and there but I'm sure I'll be fine." He sipped his cocoa then frowned again, "okay in my memory. . . Penny appeared in the cave."
"Peggy." I corrected.
"Right. was that her?"
"Well. . . we're pretty sure it was, but she denied it." Hermione explained.
". . . she who?" Ron asked.
"Peggy."
"Oh yeah yeah yeah." He took another sip and looked at me. "do my parents know about this?"
"No." I admitted. "I didn't want to get their hopes-"
"Harry!" Hermione suddenly said.
"What?" I asked.
"The clock! The one that shows where the Weasleys are! You think Ron's hand might of appeared?"
"It might of. . . well, they might think its broken or something." Jasmine said.
"Until we get back." I added.
"Which you'll be doing tomorrow." Remus said.
"Why tomorrow?" I asked.
"Because the day after tomorrow is a full moon." He answered with a smile.
***
Ron was sleeping in my room while I slept on the floor. I didn't mind. I was just incredibly happy to have him back. However the insomnia affect kicked in that very night and he began pacing in circles around my sleeping bag.
I rolled over and peered up at him. "Ron?" I asked, stifling a yawn. He ignored me. "Ron." I said again. He stopped and looked down. "Oh sorry. I forgot for a moment that was my name."
"I hope you don't have these memory losses in class. Especially Potions." I said, putting my glasses on and sitting up.
"I read in the book that the first 24 hours are the worst, then it'll be less. uh. what was I saying?"
"Never mind. What time is it?" I asked, stretching my legs out straight.
"3:41am." He said.
"Can't get to sleep?"
"No, not tired."
"Insomnia," I said with another yawn. "one of the affects."
"Right." He mumbled and flopped onto the bed and promptly fell asleep.
*** (Ron's point of view)
With an almighty 'bang' the Knight Bus stopped in front of a tall, leaning blue house that was threatening to fall over.
We all climbed out and I stared hard at the house.
Yes. . . this was my home. The Burrow.
"Let's go." Harry said, and threw his arm out as I nearly tripped over nothing.
"Thanks, Harry." I said.
"No problem. . ." Harry mumbled. Jasmine and Harry gripped my arms (Hermione had gone home) and helped me to the front door. "get ready for an explosion of screams, fainting and shock." Harry reminded Jasmine and knocked on the door.
"Coming Harry! Jasmine!" The voice belonged to my mother. I knew it. The door opened and I was staring straight (well, actually down) into the face that filled my childhood of love, warmth and safety. "We-" She stopped.
She stared.
She screamed.
She fainted.
"Molly!! Molly!!!!" I heard dad yelling as he ran into the front hall. "Molly. . ." He looked up and went white when he saw me. "I-the-what-the." He sputtered out, eyes wider then plates.
"Arthur I can explain everything." Harry said, holding my arm up to prevent me from falling (I had just gotten a dizzy spell).
Within a few minutes we were in my living room. My mother had been revived and she was staring at me with wide eyes. "How is this possible? Is it really you?" She whispered.
"Yeah." I said faintly.
Harry then told them everything. Some parts which I didn't know. Such as. "Wait a minute. The Stone was in my STOMACH?!" I demanded and put my hand on my belly.
"It saved you." Harry said and continued. I had died but my life force had gone into the Stone. the Stone had somehow made its way out of my dead body's stomach (I wondered if my dead body was still buried at Hogwarts.). How Harry wrote to Sirius and Remus and how Remus found the book and how they had just brought me back to life. Harry finished and took a deep breath.
My mother looked at me then threw her arms tightly around me. "My baby." She whispered.
***
When I went up to my room, my owl, Pig AKA Pigwidgeon, slammed into his cage wall until it fell on the floor, and opened. Pig then flew to me and wrapped his wings around me head and sat on top of my head the rest of the day.
The rest of the morning (we had arrived back at the Burrow at about 5 in the morning) up until noon was a blur. The rest of my family had woken up and the story was retold three times. The reaction that shocked me the most was Percy.
"Ron!" He shouted when Harry finished the story. He flung himself at me and hugged me even tighter then mum. "I am so sorry I've been so strict and mean and strict to you all these years."
"Percy. . . I can't. . . breathe. . ." I somehow managed.
Dad Apparated to Egypt and Romania to inform Bill and Charlie, and they both Apparated back home (taking a day off work) and the story was told twice more.
Then since Sirius was mentioned, everyone (but mum since she knew the truth) wanted to know.
So Sirius's truth came out.
"I know it sounds too crazy to be true but it is." I said and since I had come back from the dead they believed me, after not believing Harry.
Then a letter to Hogwarts had to be sent. "I can imagine it now," I said. "Dear Professor Dumbledore, I just thought you ought to know that Ron will be returned to school for he has risen from the dead. Yours sincerely, Arthur and Molly Weasley."
Harry laughed at this. During lunch, Frederika and Georgette appeared and the story (leaving Sirius out) was told again. Then as soon as we finished Lee Jordan appeared and the story (without Sirius) was retold. Not long after lunch Grandma and Grandpa Weasley appeared and the story was told for about the millionth time (leaving Sirius out).
My grandfather was just about the oddest person I knew. His flaming red hair stuck out on either side of his head, he had a long crooked nose, small, thin-rimmed spectacles, he was tall, scrawny and bony. He hobbled on a cane though I knew he did not need it. He could do back-flips that would make your head spin, but he pretended to be all hobbling. He used his cane for smacking everyone. In fact when they were there, Grandpa delivered fourteen whacks to dad, twelve to Bill, ten to Fred and George, six to Charlie, four to Percy and one to me 'Don't you die again!' he had said and smacked me over the head
Not long after they left, Grandmother and Grandfather (Mum's parents) came. Halfway through the story, Dad's brother Charles, his wife Loretta, and their kids (nineteen year old Thomas, fourteen year old Emily, thirteen year old twins Annette and Arnold, and eleven year old Carol-Anne) came. Then more uncles and aunts and cousins came. Then Grandpa's parents came. Then Grandma Weasley's mother (her father was dead). Then Mum's two sets of grandparents. Then some of my parents cousins. And a gaggle of second cousins. Great-aunts, great-uncles, more and more cousins, more aunts, more uncles, more great-aunts, more great-uncles, some more cousins. and shockingly, even Mum's second cousin who was an accountant.
Nonetheless I was extremely tired when it was time to go to bed and I fell asleep as soon as I hit my wonderful, wonderful bed.
I glanced in the living room and saw Molly tidying up, glancing up at the clock. There had been nine hands indicating each family member, but since Ron's death, the eighth hand had disappeared.
"Hey Molly." I went into the living room.
"Yes, Harry dear?" She asked.
"Remus wants to know if Jasmine and I can come visit him and Sirius for a few days." I said.
"Okay." She said.
"All right, great." I mumbled and headed up to Ron's room, feeling the Stone in my pocket. I couldn't tell Molly the real reason we were going to Remus's. I didn't want her to get her hopes up and then it not working. no, it was better if Ron just came back alive and then we'd tell the Weasleys what had happened.
Jasmine and I weren't the only ones going to Remus's. Since Hermione was coming home that day, she was invited to come help (since she was so clever). Jasmine and I were to meet her on the Knight Bus. I went to Ron's room and sat on my bed, holding the Stone.
Soon.
***
"Think we should write to Peggy? She was upset over Ron." Jasmine said as the Knight Bus dropped us off by some trees. I spotted an opening nearby, with a path, so we walked to it.
"I don't know. I mean, I don't know if we can trust. if we can. if." I lost my train of thought as we arrived at the bottom of the path.
We kind of stood there, staring at Remus's house. Hermione dropped her duffel bag. "Well." She finally said. "that is NOT what I expected from Remus."
"None of us expected it." Jasmine mumbled.
Remus's house was set on the top of a small hill. Thick woods surrounded the it and a winding, dirt path went up to the front steps. It wasn't a big nor steep hill. The path ended at wooden steps, going up to a small wooden platform in front of the door. There were wooden handrails as well. There were two trees on either side of the door. Trees unlike any I had ever seen before. Since it was mid-August, they were completely leaved. But their leaves were not green. They were. electric blue. Black vines wrapped up the trunks of the tree. Behind his house, I could see a large lake, and a long wooden dock. Remus's actual house was a four-story tall log cabin. It looked nice and very comfortable. Whereas we were expecting something more. whacky.
"Hi guys!" The front door flew open and Remus stood there. I blinked, shocked that it was actually Remus. He was not wearing robes. He was wearing jeans and a loose, button-up gray shirt. "well are you going to stand there gawking, or are you going to come in?"
We picked up our stuff and slowly climbed up the path and went into his cabin. The door opened into a hall. On one side was a large doorway that took up most the wall, with no door. On the right side were three doors and across from the front door were steps. There was a bunch of framed photos along the wall with the doors. Most of them were of his school-days and a great deal of them held Sirius and my father as well as Wormtail, my mother, and a couple other people I didn't recognize.
Remus took us into the living room. It was huge and comfortable. The part around the fireplace was sunk into the floor and held two large sofas and three comfortable armchairs, a small table and a long coffee table.
In one of the chairs sat Sirius. He looked extremely healthy and happy. He was also soaking wet. "Hiya guys." He said cheerfully.
"Sirius you're. wet." I said.
"Yeah well SOMEBODY shoved me into the lake." Sirius said, looking hard at Remus.
"Well if YOU hadn't of made my sandwich I was eating explode, I might not of done it."
"You deserved to eat an exploding sandwich."
"And you deserved to be pushed into the lake."
"Shut up wolf-head."
"Whatever dog-breath."
I couldn't help but grin, feeling happy. There had only been one other time I felt happy since Ron's death, and that was finding out I had a chance to bring him back.
"Why don't you both shut the hell up and introduce me?" A woman appeared through a door in the living room.
"We're getting to it." Both men snapped.
I looked at the woman and stared at her in amazement. She was. extremely odd looking. She was quite small.
This is line 666 according to my computer. It is an evil line so I am not writing anything... D'oh!
She was quite small. probably just barely taller then Flitwick, with blazing red hair that went stuck straight up in the air. If it was down it would of ended at her shoulders but no, it stuck up and came to a slight point. She had a pointy face, pointy ears, slanted green eyes and was quite tan. She was extremely skinny and her limbs stuck out, making her look very bizarre and like the Muggle image of elves (tiny and pointy).
I looked back and saw she was in a few of the photos Remus had hanging up in the front hall. "Harry this is Emerin Elm." Sirius said.
"One of the members of your father's gang." Remus said.
"A-HEM!" Sirius demanded.
"Your father and Sirius's gang." Remus corrected. "better?"
"Yes."
"Harry!" Emerin Elm walked across the room and hugged me. For someone so tiny and thin, she sure was strong. "I haven't seen you since you were in diapers (Hermione giggled at this and I went red). And is this Jasmine?" She asked, turning to my sister.
"Yes ma'am." Jasmine said.
Emerin stepped back and looked at us, shaking her head. "God you two look exactly like your parents. Its freaky."
"You're freaky."
"Oh can it, Moony."
"Make me."
"I will."
It took all my might not to laugh. "So you were part of the gang, too?" I asked.
"Yep," Emerin said. "my nickname was Ember."
"How come you two haven't mentioned her before?" I asked.
"Well, after your parents were killed and I went to Azkaban." Sirius trailed off. "Emerin left to Romania."
"The whole gang broke up. Everyone lost in touch with everyone else." Remus said.
"Not one of us were still in contact with another. We just wanted to forget everyone." Emerin said, shaking her head.
"How many members of the gang were there?" Hermione asked.
"Look for yourself." Remus pointed to a huge framed photo above his mantelpiece.
It was taken outside, near the lake at Hogwarts. In the middle were Sirius and my dad. On the other side of my dad was my mother with my dad's arm around her waist. On the other side of Sirius was Remus holding up a sign that had a picture of a screw and 2 baseballs, and an arrow pointing to Sirius and my dad. Beside him was a strange wizard. Beside HIM was Pettigrew. On the other side of my mother was Emerin. And beside Emerin was a strange witch and beside her was another strange witch. I knew it had been taken in their Seventh year due to the 'Head Boy' badge on my dad's robes and 'Head Girl' badge on my mothers.
"Sapphire, Pixie and Mac, which was short for Macadamia. Which in turn was short for Macadamia Nut." Sirius explained.
"God those were the days. Blissfully unaware." Emerin said.
"I have no idea where Sapphire, Pixie and Mac are." Remus said with a shrug. "None of us do."
"Remus was the only one to stay here in England." Emerin said.
"I just wish I knew where they went. . ." Sirius said, staring up into the photo. Or rather, at the witch with the nickname 'Pixie'.
"How come I get the feeling Sirius liked her?" Jasmine whispered in my ear.
"Shh." I said.
"Anyway, I'll show you to your rooms and you can start unpacking." Remus said cheerfully.
"Oh God don't leave me here with Ember!" Sirius mock begged.
Emerin cackled an evil cackle. "I'll get you my pretty. . . and your little dog, too!" "Hey. I am my own dog!" Sirius said and we all burst into laughter.
*** (Hermione's point of view)
"Thank you Hermione."
"Yeah, thanks."
"Thanks, Hermione."
Everyone was thanking me as they ate their dinner. There had been a very large argument over who'd cook it.
"No way are you cooking it, Moony, you'll end up making a huge mess!" Emerin shrieked.
"No way are we letting YOU cook, Ember, you'll probably slip in a potion that'll turn us all to ducks." Remus snapped back.
"Guys, guys, guys. I'll cook." Sirius said. Remus and Emerin were silent a moment then both yelled,
"NO!"
"Why NOT?!" Sirius demanded rather bitterly.
"I am NOT going to have my house burned down!" Remus said.
After they argued for what must of been a quarter of an hour, I finally cut in and said since I've cooked dinner at my house before, I'd cook dinner.
After everyone finished, and Remus sent his dishes to clean themselves in the sink, we all went out back. There was a large patio with some patio furniture, a stretch of grass then it was the lake. We sat around the large, round crystal-clear table and Harry set the Stone in the middle.
We all leaned in and stared at the Stone, then all, as if on command, looked at Remus. "Oh yeah." He ran inside and brought a huge book out. "its says its difficult to break the spell binding the spirit into the Stone, but it can be done." He said, hefting the book onto the table. "okay it says for the best witch or wizard you can get, to say the words with his or her wand touching the stone. The others must point their wands at the Stone and chant this saying over and over. It has to be done at sun down."
"Okay, who's the best witch or wizard?" Everyone looked at me and Jasmine.
"Hermione can do it. She's better then I am." Jasmine said.
"Okay, here." Remus dropped the book in my lap. Almost immediately my legs started going numb under the weight.
"Everyone got their wands?" I asked nervously.
"Yep." Everyone pulled out their wands and pointed at the Stone.
"Sun going down." Emerin said, staring across the lake. The sun was dipping into the distant hills.
"Okay, you ready guys?" I asked nervously, praying this would work. If it didn't, Harry was probably going to sink into an even worse pit of depression and starve himself or something.
"Ready." Everyone said.
I looked down at the book, put the tip of my wand against the stone and cleared my throat.
"Stone of Power hear our plea, let the spirit you hold free." The others began chanting after I told what to say.
"There is a life force safe and sound, deep within you, trapped spell- bound." I began.
My wand began glowing brightly, and the others wands were glowing a bit duller then my own.
"Bleak black death you have saved, a new chance of life for this spirit paved."
With this the book began glowing and I began to get extremely nervous but cleared my throat and continued.
"When the sun goes down let the spirit rise, bring it alive as the day dies."
"Stone of Power hear our plea, let the spirit you hold free." The others continued chanting.
Black clouds began swirling overhead and I begun to feel weak but I continued. There were only two more lines for me to say anyway.
"The sky grows dark as it comes to night. For the spirit's life we shall fight.
Binding spell oh please let go, let the life from you flow!"
Then I began the chanting with the others. "Stone of Power hear our plea, let the spirit you hold free. Stone of Power hear our plea, let the spirit you hold free."
Just then there was a terrible crack of lightning, and a great gust of wind, causing the books pages to flip forward rapidly. The sun had completely gone down now and it was blacker then normal since the sky was with black clouds.
"Stone of Power hear our plea, let the spirit you hold free. Stone of Power hear our plea, let the spirit you hold free!"
There was a burst of brilliant light from the Stone which cause our chairs to fall back. We all crashed to the ground and stared at the Stone. It was glowing a brilliant blue with silver mist surrounding it. The Stone rose into the air and suddenly broke apart into four parts. It looked like a shell. In the middle of the four blue curves was a white glowing thing. The glowing thing got bigger and bigger until suddenly there was a flash of light that blinded us all.
As I covered my eyes, I heard a loud crash and the wind stopped. I could breath normally now. I slowly opened my eyes, rubbing the back of my head which pounded from where I had hit the stone patio. My eyes got wide as I saw what had made the crashing noise, and I screamed.
Remus's table was broken and lying amidst the rubble was Ron.
*** (Ron's point of view)
Somebody screamed, a girl. followed by another girl's scream. Opening my eyes, I squinted in the dusky darkness of early night.
I was laying in a pile of rubble and six people surrounded me. They all stared at me in amazement.
I blinked and tried remembering something. Anything. I couldn't remember anything.
I must of lost my memory. I didn't know what I was doing here, I didn't recognize any of the people and I didn't even know who I was.
"Ron!" One of the boys suddenly yelled.
Ron?
Was that my name?
"Ron!" He shouted again, and hugged me tightly.
Yes.
My name was Ron.
I remembered that now. Ronald.
But Ronald what?
"Uh, yeah." I said, prying his arms off. The face looked so familiar. bright green eyes stared at me from behind thick-rimmed glasses. He had incredibly messy black hair, and a scar on his forehead.
A name came to my mind.
"Eugene?" I asked.
One of the girls snorted and the guy in front of me frowned slightly. "Harry."
"Oh." I said and began rubbing my pounding head. "where am I?"
"My patio." Said a man with light brown hair which had gray in it.
I suddenly remembered he was a Professor.
An image sprang to mind of a werewolf.
"Professor Werewolf?"
"Remus Lupin." He said.
"Why can't he remember anything?" Harry asked nervously.
"Must be a side affect of death." A woman with blazing red hair said.
Red hair.
I had red hair.
Images came to my mind. 5 boys began swarming in my mind.
A tall red-headed guy with his red hair pulled back in a pony-tail, a snake fang earring and cool clothes.
A stocky but muscular red-headed guy with burn marks and blisters all over him.
A stern-looking red-headed guy with horn-rimmed glasses.
Two identical red-headed guys with an air of mischief surrounding them.
Then words and names began filling my head at a rapid rate and caused my head to hurt.
Burrow
Pigwidgeon
Scar
You-Know-Who
Books
Castles
Dumbledore
O.W.Ls
Sirius
Then images began flashing through my mind, making it hurt even more.
A great scarlet steam engine puffing smoke over a crowd.
A large ice cream parlor.
A crowded bookstore.
A huge, amazing looking castle.
A man with greasy hair and a big nose.
A giant spider.
A huge, huge snake skin.
A gitty-looking git with a pearly smile and big ego.
A giant chess set.
A big room decorated in scarlet and gold.
A huge field and people racing about in the air on brooms.
An office with a tall, thin, red-headed man sitting at the desk, talking to me.
Dad.
That was my dad.
A plump, red-headed woman appeared in my mind.
My mother.
My parents... . .
"Where's my parents?" I asked, coming back to reality.
"Back at the Burrow." Harry said.
I looked up into the night sky then back down. "What happened? Why am I here?" I asked.
"Ron you were killed." A bushy-haired girl said.
"I was what?"
"Killed. You pushed me out of the way of the Death curse. But your life force. . . your essence was trapped into the Stone and we just freed you." Harry explained.
"I think we better take him inside and try to restore his memory." A man with longish black hair suggested.
*** (Harry's point of view)
Ron stared down into his large cup of cocoa, looking incredibly bewildered and confused. His memory was pretty bad. Hermione and I had just spent over an hour telling him of our adventures together.
"I did that?!" He demanded when we got to the giant chess set. "Ah yes, I remember now. spiders are my biggest fear." He said as we got to Aragog. "Yes, yes I remember that now. . . Scabbers." He mumbled when we got to the meeting in the Shrieking Shack. Finally, we finished.
Ron sat there a moment then took a sip of hot cocoa. "I remember most the stuff now. its all pretty muddled together but I think I. yeah." He said slowly. When he set his cup of cocoa down, he missed the table entirely and it spilled over the rug. "oh I'm sorry, Remus" He said, dropping to his knees to clean it.
"Its okay, Ron." Remus said as I pulled Ron back onto the couch.
"I have a feeling there's more then just loss of memory as a side affect of dying." Emerin said, cleaning the spilt cocoa.
"Wait, let me check the book." Remus ran outside and returned with the book and the Stone. He opened the book and flipped through. "ah, here.
After being released from the Stone, the now-alive witch or wizard will find themselves subject to strange behavior, which is a side-affect of being trapped by the Stone. They will suffer from the following:
Memory Loss (which will now and then occur through the rest of his or her life)
Clumsiness
Dizziness
Loss of Appetite
Pains through the body
Strong Moods Swings (Especially Sadness, and Love)
Insomnia
Fainting Spells
Listlessness
Increase in Studious Behavior
Impatience
Most of these will eventually go away, except for the memory loss, but sometimes they'll reoccur later. Other side affects may include an increase in magical power." Remus finished reading.
"Looks like I'm. . .. I'm. . ." Ron trailed off and frowned.
"You're what?" Hermione asked gently.
"I forget what I was going to say." He took the cup of cocoa that Emerin had retrieved for him while Remus read from the book. He gripped it with two hands, firmly. "If I'm going to be all clumsy then I better hold tight." He said with a slight laugh.
"So you remember everything now?"
"There are patches here and there but I'm sure I'll be fine." He sipped his cocoa then frowned again, "okay in my memory. . . Penny appeared in the cave."
"Peggy." I corrected.
"Right. was that her?"
"Well. . . we're pretty sure it was, but she denied it." Hermione explained.
". . . she who?" Ron asked.
"Peggy."
"Oh yeah yeah yeah." He took another sip and looked at me. "do my parents know about this?"
"No." I admitted. "I didn't want to get their hopes-"
"Harry!" Hermione suddenly said.
"What?" I asked.
"The clock! The one that shows where the Weasleys are! You think Ron's hand might of appeared?"
"It might of. . . well, they might think its broken or something." Jasmine said.
"Until we get back." I added.
"Which you'll be doing tomorrow." Remus said.
"Why tomorrow?" I asked.
"Because the day after tomorrow is a full moon." He answered with a smile.
***
Ron was sleeping in my room while I slept on the floor. I didn't mind. I was just incredibly happy to have him back. However the insomnia affect kicked in that very night and he began pacing in circles around my sleeping bag.
I rolled over and peered up at him. "Ron?" I asked, stifling a yawn. He ignored me. "Ron." I said again. He stopped and looked down. "Oh sorry. I forgot for a moment that was my name."
"I hope you don't have these memory losses in class. Especially Potions." I said, putting my glasses on and sitting up.
"I read in the book that the first 24 hours are the worst, then it'll be less. uh. what was I saying?"
"Never mind. What time is it?" I asked, stretching my legs out straight.
"3:41am." He said.
"Can't get to sleep?"
"No, not tired."
"Insomnia," I said with another yawn. "one of the affects."
"Right." He mumbled and flopped onto the bed and promptly fell asleep.
*** (Ron's point of view)
With an almighty 'bang' the Knight Bus stopped in front of a tall, leaning blue house that was threatening to fall over.
We all climbed out and I stared hard at the house.
Yes. . . this was my home. The Burrow.
"Let's go." Harry said, and threw his arm out as I nearly tripped over nothing.
"Thanks, Harry." I said.
"No problem. . ." Harry mumbled. Jasmine and Harry gripped my arms (Hermione had gone home) and helped me to the front door. "get ready for an explosion of screams, fainting and shock." Harry reminded Jasmine and knocked on the door.
"Coming Harry! Jasmine!" The voice belonged to my mother. I knew it. The door opened and I was staring straight (well, actually down) into the face that filled my childhood of love, warmth and safety. "We-" She stopped.
She stared.
She screamed.
She fainted.
"Molly!! Molly!!!!" I heard dad yelling as he ran into the front hall. "Molly. . ." He looked up and went white when he saw me. "I-the-what-the." He sputtered out, eyes wider then plates.
"Arthur I can explain everything." Harry said, holding my arm up to prevent me from falling (I had just gotten a dizzy spell).
Within a few minutes we were in my living room. My mother had been revived and she was staring at me with wide eyes. "How is this possible? Is it really you?" She whispered.
"Yeah." I said faintly.
Harry then told them everything. Some parts which I didn't know. Such as. "Wait a minute. The Stone was in my STOMACH?!" I demanded and put my hand on my belly.
"It saved you." Harry said and continued. I had died but my life force had gone into the Stone. the Stone had somehow made its way out of my dead body's stomach (I wondered if my dead body was still buried at Hogwarts.). How Harry wrote to Sirius and Remus and how Remus found the book and how they had just brought me back to life. Harry finished and took a deep breath.
My mother looked at me then threw her arms tightly around me. "My baby." She whispered.
***
When I went up to my room, my owl, Pig AKA Pigwidgeon, slammed into his cage wall until it fell on the floor, and opened. Pig then flew to me and wrapped his wings around me head and sat on top of my head the rest of the day.
The rest of the morning (we had arrived back at the Burrow at about 5 in the morning) up until noon was a blur. The rest of my family had woken up and the story was retold three times. The reaction that shocked me the most was Percy.
"Ron!" He shouted when Harry finished the story. He flung himself at me and hugged me even tighter then mum. "I am so sorry I've been so strict and mean and strict to you all these years."
"Percy. . . I can't. . . breathe. . ." I somehow managed.
Dad Apparated to Egypt and Romania to inform Bill and Charlie, and they both Apparated back home (taking a day off work) and the story was told twice more.
Then since Sirius was mentioned, everyone (but mum since she knew the truth) wanted to know.
So Sirius's truth came out.
"I know it sounds too crazy to be true but it is." I said and since I had come back from the dead they believed me, after not believing Harry.
Then a letter to Hogwarts had to be sent. "I can imagine it now," I said. "Dear Professor Dumbledore, I just thought you ought to know that Ron will be returned to school for he has risen from the dead. Yours sincerely, Arthur and Molly Weasley."
Harry laughed at this. During lunch, Frederika and Georgette appeared and the story (leaving Sirius out) was told again. Then as soon as we finished Lee Jordan appeared and the story (without Sirius) was retold. Not long after lunch Grandma and Grandpa Weasley appeared and the story was told for about the millionth time (leaving Sirius out).
My grandfather was just about the oddest person I knew. His flaming red hair stuck out on either side of his head, he had a long crooked nose, small, thin-rimmed spectacles, he was tall, scrawny and bony. He hobbled on a cane though I knew he did not need it. He could do back-flips that would make your head spin, but he pretended to be all hobbling. He used his cane for smacking everyone. In fact when they were there, Grandpa delivered fourteen whacks to dad, twelve to Bill, ten to Fred and George, six to Charlie, four to Percy and one to me 'Don't you die again!' he had said and smacked me over the head
Not long after they left, Grandmother and Grandfather (Mum's parents) came. Halfway through the story, Dad's brother Charles, his wife Loretta, and their kids (nineteen year old Thomas, fourteen year old Emily, thirteen year old twins Annette and Arnold, and eleven year old Carol-Anne) came. Then more uncles and aunts and cousins came. Then Grandpa's parents came. Then Grandma Weasley's mother (her father was dead). Then Mum's two sets of grandparents. Then some of my parents cousins. And a gaggle of second cousins. Great-aunts, great-uncles, more and more cousins, more aunts, more uncles, more great-aunts, more great-uncles, some more cousins. and shockingly, even Mum's second cousin who was an accountant.
Nonetheless I was extremely tired when it was time to go to bed and I fell asleep as soon as I hit my wonderful, wonderful bed.