Disclaimer: All characters seen in J.K Rowling's Harry Potter series belong to her. All other characters and the plot belong to my twisted mind
Author's note: R.K – you are my favorite person in the world, honestly! Your praise is awesome and I'm so glad that you read my stories, I hope you continue to like fearing simple. "Not Tellin" even if you didn't leave your name or anything, I just want you to know that I'm very glad that you've given my story a chance and I can't tell you how much it means to me to know that you like it. I hope you continue to read it.
I'm sorry it's taken me so long to update, but I've just started a new job. I work at a golf course, I'm there from 6:30 am to 4:00 pm, and it's about a 30-minute drive to get there and back. So I'm up early and I just don't have energy to do anything but sleep after work (I'm doing manual labor – I'm just a wee little girl!) but I have been trying to get the chapter done, and I've fallen asleep many a day with the pen in my hand and an unfinished sentence on the page. Regardless, I've finished the chapter and I'm spending my day typing it up and hopefully getting a good start on the next chapter, so I'll try and be quicker next time. I hope you like the chapter.
Fearing Simple chapter 2
Ron rubbed his eyes in shock and took another look at his visitor, blinking to clear his vision. Harry Potter stood in front of him; wearing black trousers, a button up shirt, trademark messy hair and a silly grin. Ron flung himself at his best friend with tears in his eyes, catching Harry around the neck and dragging him across the gap between them. Harry wrapped his arms around Ron in return without any hesitation, tears welling up in his own eyes. The fierce hug lasted a long moment before Ron pulled back and dragged Harry into the house.
Harry's eyes surveyed the entrance and surrounding rooms, the he whistled lowly, "Wow Ron, you've really turned this place into a home."
A brief shadow past across Ron's face. The last time he had seen Harry, Hermione and him had only just moved in, and there had been boxes everywhere. "I can't wait to see this place when you're settled in. With Hermione's tastes, this place is going to be fabulous!" Harry breathed, spinning in circles.
"Yeah Hermione's really excited to start decorating," Ron smiled changing his voice to mimic his girlfriend's, "'I've done loads of research, and I've finally fount the perfect color scheme.'"
"I heard that Ronald Weasley!" Hermione called in a playfully angry tone from within the house. "Don't make me replace you with Draco."
"I can love her better, Weasley." Draco's amused voice floated from the direction of Hermione's voice.
"Now Hermione, don't be hasty! You wouldn't want Draco – he's a slob and very opinionated; totally not your type." Harry called in a falsely panicked voice; tossing Ron a laughing look, he raced off to save his boyfriend from his best friend. Ron sighed and closed the door with a smirk.
Ron shook his head, pressing back the memories of the emotional time following his present thoughts. Harry had never gotten to see the finished product; he had been taken one week later. 'Never got to see it until now,' a voice in the back of Ron's head whispered excitedly. Ron's head snapped up, remembering that it was Harry himself who had triggered that memory; Harry, who was now giving him an odd look.
"Sorry, lost myself in the memory of the day Herm and I moved in." Ron blushed, wondering why he felt nervous in Harry's presence.
A ghost of a smile flittered across Harry's face as he too seemed to go back in time. As quickly as it had appeared, the faraway look left his eyes and his voice was cautious as he spoke. "Is Hermione here Ron?"
"No, Hermione's in the field she's…" Ron trailed off suddenly, his eyes growing wide. "Hermione! I've got to owl her, and Draco! They're not going to believe me – Harry's come back to us!"
"No!" Harry shouted abruptly. Ron leveled him with a stare of disbelief and suspicion. "It's just… I'm not ready to be smothered, it's too soon – I can't deal with that sort of emotion yet. God knows how much I love Draco and Hermione, but you know how they'll get." Harry continued quickly, fidgeting nervously.
Ron was still skeptical and his training began to penetrate the euphoria that had clouded his brain upon seeing Harry on his porch. He eyed Harry critically, taking in his unmarred skin and rigid posture; Ron had to be careful, Harry could be working for Voldemort now. One-half of his brain screamed at him how illogical that idea sounded. 'Harry would never join Voldemort!' The other half of his brain stood firm, taught by years of training to know that anything was possible. 'Torture changes a person, or it could be a polyjuice potion.' "What happened to you Harry?" Ron finally asked, forcing his voice to sound casual.
Harry's face darkened and his eyes hardened as he glared at something on the wall that Ron couldn't see. "Creevey set me up. That bastard – he was working for Voldemort. I went to the meeting place, to talk with Dean; Creevey asked to see my wand. He took it from me and I was attacked by a group of Death Eaters; they knocked me unconscious. When I woke up, I was chained in a dark room in Voldemort's stronghold. It took me two years and four months to find an opportunity to escape the torture." Harry recounted with a bitter edge in his voice.
"You don't look injured." Ron said shortly, internally wincing at how accusing his voice had sounded.
"I've healed," Harry replied, a hurt look creeping onto his features, "I've been in hiding for six months or so; laying low to keep Voldemort from finding me. I'm not a spy Ron, you can trust me."
"I can't trust anyone but Herm and Draco these days, and that's just what a spy would say," Ron countered Harry's protest.
"I'm not lying to you Ron." Harry whispered faintly.
"How can I believe you? The Harry I knew would have contacted us; he wouldn't have let us continue to believe he was dead! Don't you understand? This is too good to be true – at the height of the war, the golden boy returns to us. Would you believe it Harry?" Ron was yelling now, pouring his hurt, his anger and his fear into the words.
"It was too risky Ron! The first thing Voldemort would have done when he discovered I was missing would be to monitor you, Herm and Dray; to use you to find me and then kill you."
"How did you know he wouldn't just kill us to get you out of hiding? Why is it safe now? Voldemort is gaining more strength now than ever before." Ron searched Harry's face intently for a clue about his honesty.
"That's exactly why I had to come now! It was risky but I had to get information to you. Ron there is little time, Voldemort must be destroyed." Harry's voice became rushed.
"I want to believe you Harry, but it's been three years; we've thought you were dead. We buried you! There is no logical basis for Voldemort keeping you alive for three years Harry! How can I believe you? You could have been turned into a spy; you could be a spy in disguise pretending to be Harry. I need proof, something only Harry could possibly know." Ron's voice had become desperate, pleading for something that could give him reassurance.
"He's a sick man, Ron; he would have kept me alive longer than these last three years if he hadn't slipped up and made a mistake." Harry stated, looking into Ron's pleading eyes. Harry took a deep breath, "Do you remember the late night picnic of our seventh year…"
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"Ron, Ron wake up!" Harry hissed, roughly shaking his friend from side to side. "Ron, I'm serious, this was your idea – if you don't wake up, Hermione will kill us both."
"Wha – Harry? What's going on?" Ron asked, blinking sleepily.
"What's going on? Oh nothing much Ron, except that you're sleeping through the midnight picnic that YOU planned. That's all really," Harry whispered sarcastically, glaring pointedly at Ron.
"Oh no!" Ron gasped. His eyes widened comically as he sprung from his bed and scrambled to collect his clothes. "Why did you let me fall asleep?"
"Let you fall asleep? As if I could stop you, you fell asleep before I had even said goodnight to Seamus. So, I decided to let you sleep until we had to leave – but you wouldn't wake up!" Harry turned from Ron's bed and listened in the darkness. "I think everyone's asleep, let's go."
Ron and Harry tiptoed down to the common room where a very annoyed Hermione and a very annoyed Draco were waiting for them. Draco was sitting in a chair, staring moodily into the fire's flames; Hermione was pacing back and forth muttering angrily under her breath.
"Ronald Weasley, you're late!" Hermione hissed when she noticed the two new occupants in the room.
"Uh, right, sorry 'Mione – Harry was looking for something and I didn't want to leave him to be late alone." Ron smiled innocently at Harry, who couldn't do anything more than gape at him.
"We'd better hurry up if we want to make it in time to avoid Filch's rounds," Draco interrupted smoothly, rising from his chair. He sidled up to Harry's side; lowering his voice, he leaned over to whisper in Harry's ear. "Next time, dump a cup of water on his head, that'll get the Weasel up in no time." Clearing his throat he raised his voice slightly to include the other members of the entourage, "You Gryffindors really should think of redecorating your common room; it is positively tacky."
"Really?" Ron asked surprised, "Your mother was our interior decorator."
Draco cast Ron a cold glare, which Ron readily returned. Harry and Hermione shared a glance before rolling their eyes and dragging their respective loved ones from the common room. The Fat Lady was snoring loudly as the group slipped through the portrait hole; she didn't rouse herself when Ron accidentally slammed her frame against the stone, so the group continued unhindered. Once in the hall, they all huddled under Harry's invisibility cloak; Hermione and Harry in the middle to separate Draco and Ron. Quite cramped, they waddled awkwardly through the halls until they reached a gargoyle statue, in a hallway just off the entranceway.
Harry reached out and tapped the statue's right wing with his wand. The gargoyle's mouth twisted into a fierce grin and it swung forward silently, revealing a passage. Starting forward, Harry let the invisibility cloak drop; when Ron walked through last, the statue swung closed behind them. Harry let out a sigh of relief, "Man it was hot under there!"
"Yes well, I can't help that people's temperatures rise by being in close proximity to me," Draco chuckled to himself, lighting his wand.
"At least you can amuse yourself with those comments." Harry said casting a dry look at his boyfriend.
Draco just continued chuckling and started down the tunnel; Harry shook his head and followed. Ron huffed and Hermione looked over at him cocking her eyebrow in an unspoken question.
"Why did he have to come?" Ron asked grumpily refusing to say Draco's name.
"Because you wanted Harry to come," Hermione said shortly.
"So?" Ron asked screwing his face up in confusion.
Hermione threw her hands into the air, sighing in exasperation, "Honestly Ron – is Harry supposed to come to a romantic midnight picnic with just you and I?"
"The three of us do things together all the time!" Ron argued clueless.
Hermione rolled her eyes and stomped off; she smacked into a sheepish Harry. "Have you been there the whole time?" Hermione asked, rubbing her forehead where it had collided with Harry's shoulder.
"Yeah, sorry but I didn't want the group to get separated; don't want to waste valuable picnic time." Harry said in a falsely cheerful voice.
"He'll come around eventually Harry," Hermione reassured him, casting a cold glare at her boyfriend.
"I'm standing right here 'Mione!" Ron pouted, "Besides, I didn't do anything, he started it."
"Ron, He was only joking!" Hermione admonished, "Honestly, if I didn't love you so…"
"Wasting valuable picnic time," Harry broke in, interrupting Hermione's rant, "It's not going to stay midnight forever."
Hermione and Ron stopped their bickering and the group finally exited the passage right next to the forbidden forest. Hermione glanced at the trees in delight. "Look at how the dew shimmers in the low lights! It is like crystal. Oh, and look at how black the leaves look against the moon. This is so beautiful – the perfect romantic setting."
"Yeah, until one of the creatures comes and chews our arms off," Ron snorted.
"This was your idea! Stop being pessimistic Ron, or I'll take my next romantic picnic with Dean." Hermione growled in a clipped tone.
Harry hid a smile behind his hand as Ron's face immediately twisted into a scowl. Dean had been showing a lot of interest in Herm lately, even though everyone knew she was with Ron. The attention had become Hermione's bargaining tool and Ron always fell for it; Ron was terrified of losing Hermione – he had told Harry as such the other day. Ron grumbled under his breath, but quickly straightened his back, squared his shoulder, and slapped on a pleasant smile. His smile faltered briefly when Draco snorted at him, but transformed into genuine delight when Harry elbowed Draco to silence him.
The trip into the forest continued without a hitch; soon the couples were happily sprawled across a thick blanket, surrounded by protective spells and wards. "So we all leave with the limbs we came with," Hermione had said. Hermione pulled the picnic basket out of her pocket and returned it to it's original size. As they all pigged out on the delectable items made for them by the house elves, he conversation drifted to the future.
"What are you going to do after this year Draco?" Hermione asked between bites of trifle.
"Something near Harry – maybe an auror," Draco responded after a moment of thoughtful silence. "What about you?"
"Aw, that's so sweet!" Hermione cooed, slapping her hand over Ron's mouth before he could say anything nasty. "Well, I know Harry and Ron will end up either as Aurors or Hit-Wizards; or maybe they'll join the Order and fight with Dumbledore. However, I think I'd like to pursue magical medicine and curse treatment; there would be loads of interesting situations in that field!"
"Enough serious talk," Harry stated, "We're not in the real world yet!" With that, he threw a bit of pumpkin pastry at Hermione, starting an all out food fight…
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Ron was silent for a moment, soaking in the memory that only the four who had been there could know about. They had later placed a charm on that particular memory so that only the true person could speak it aloud; preventing impersonators from trying to fool the other three. When Ron finally spoke, it shattered the tense silence, "Well Hermione was bang on with her estimation of our future careers eh? All four of us became members of the order, three warriors and one medi-witch – not a bad turnout."
Harry smiled sadly back at Ron, "How are they?"
"Draco and Hermione?" Ron asked, Harry nodded, "Well you could find out for yourself if you'd let me owl them!"
"Ron, I can't – I would love to but, I just can't." Harry's eyes begged for understanding.
"Fine," Ron relented, "For now – but when we defeat Voldemort, I'm telling them. No arguments either!" Ron disappeared from the room before Harry could respond. The slamming of a door down the hall told Harry that Ron was in the basement. Harry rose to help him carry whatever he had gone to retrieve and opened the basement door.
"Ron, I really need to discuss the plan with you. There isn't much time!" Harry called down into the darkness anxiously.
"Alright mate, we'll talk over lunch; I'm starving." Ron called from the bottom of the steps, grunting as he tripped over the last stair in the low light.
"Ron…"
"Harry, just go into the dining room; I'll make a quick lunch and then we'll talk bloodshed," Ron assured him amiably, then his voice lowered a few octaves, "Give me a chance to be happy that you're back before I have to remember the bad."
Harry sighed but gave no reply and slowly shuffled into the dining area. Ron threw a sack of potatoes over his shoulder and ascended the stairs, gliding into the kitchen. After clanging together countless pots and pans Ron's concoction was cooking away happily in the oven. Raising his voice over the sounds of the running water, Ron called out to Harry, "I'm making Shepard's Pie, I hope that's alright – I know you used to like it." Harry was silent; Ron's brow furrowed. Ron heard a door creak open and then click shut; he grabbed for his wand. "Harry? What are you doing?" Ron called loudly.
"Who are you talking to Ron?"
Ron whirled around, wand at ready, to see Hermione looking at him strangely. "'Mione?"
"Are you alright Ron, have you been feeling ill?" Hermione asked concerned, raising her hand to his forehead as she stepped closer to him. "Is that Shepard's Pie?"
"I'm fine, you startled me is all," Ron chuckled nervously.
Hermione frowned but relented, "Alright, but you never answered me, who were you talking to?" Hermione threw her cloak on the counter and moved towards the dining room.
TBC