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Professor Umbridge

The pathway he trod was so familiar and the sights and sounds so much the same that Ron found it very easy not to remember which world he was in. Harry had merely answered his question with a confused look and it had been all too easy to forget that he wasn't home during the rush to class, that was until Harry opened the door to the Charms room.

At sight of the horror before him Ron was certain that a boggart had escaped from its wardrobe, for there behind the desk it sat.

"What the hell?" Ron gaped open mouthed at the nightmare in a fluffy pink cardigan with a black bow upon its head- Delores Umbridge.

An elbow in the stomach interrupted him. "Shut up!" Harry hissed and pushed Ron down into a spare seat at a table that the third member of the newly reconstructed trio had saved for them at the back of the classroom. Hermione gave a slight huff at their lateness as Harry sat next to her acting as a clear barrier between herself and Ron preventing him from making eye contact. His thoughts began to wander back to the photo in his pocket, however these pleasant thoughts were quickly disrupted when the spawn of evil spoke.

"Good afternoon!" the toad croaked enthusiastically.

"Good afternoon Professor Umbridge," the class reverberated around the room.

"Wands away and quills out please. Today we will be learning about the Expanding Charm..."

Ron listened to every carefully chosen word she said but that didn't mean that he actually heard any of it. Where was Flitwick? And worse, where was the indignation? Yes, he hadn't particularly enjoyed Harry losing house points and gaining detention every lesson of the week last year but even that was better than sitting in this class. No one spoke, no one questioned and believe it or not Umbridge actually seemed to be doing the slightest bit of teaching.

"Can anyone tell me why these charms are dangerous to use around muggles? How about you Mr... Millings?" she said her gaze falling on Ron.

Ron was brought to the surface of his thoughts by a kick in the shin from Harry. It was then he realised that the awful teacher was talking to him and also that his pause had unintentionally brought the attention of the whole class. Sitting at the back of a room does work well for those wishing avoiding notice but not when you're the new boy, suddenly he wished he were at the front of the classroom where he could only see the blackboard stare at him.

"Well, Mr Millings?"

"Err," Ron could only stutter.

"I don't know what it was like at your last school young man but here when I speak I expect to be listened to."

"Sorry," he grunted.

"What was that, I didn't quite hear," she glared.

"Sorry, Professor Umbridge."

"Good boy." Her patronising voice addressed the rest of the room, "Can anyone answer my question?"

Seamus' hand wavered grudgingly but Ron had already returned to his ponderings. The last words he heard before zoning out mentioned something about muggles being frightened of magic and how even a suitcase seeming larger on the inside than it was meant to be was a serious danger to wizarding life.

Ten minutes of shocked wonderings later he realised that the rest of the class were frantically writing notes. Ron glanced to Harry beside him and tried to take in what they were meant to be doing. Grudgingly he opened his own borrowed charms book to chapter seventeen and started to copy the words down mechanically. Eventually when Umbridge became bored of smiling sweetly at the students and began her own work Ron scribbled a quick note to Harry.

Since when has Umbridge taught charms?

Surreptitiously he slid the paper over to his friend only to have Harry glance at it and then carry on working.

Harry, why are you ignoring me?

Ron tried again, though this time he unwittingly caught Hermione's attention at the same time. She looked over to see what was distracting Harry and glared when she saw the small slips covered with Ron's untidy scrawl. Carefully she reached into her bag whilst keeping her eyes on the professor, who it seemed hadn't noticed the lack of work being done on the back table. Quietly she retrieved her wand and, with the tiniest of movements, waved it muttering the incantation "incendio" under her breath. Ron shrank from her glare as his one-sided conversational notes to Harry were burnt to a crisp with a fine puff of smoke. Hermione gave him one final accusing look and, with a shake of her slightly frizzy, loose hair, returned to her work. Harry showed him a half-hearted consolatory smile before restarting his own class work. Utterly lost, confused and frankly disheartened, Ron turned back to the book in front of him and unsuccessfully tried to regain any sense of concentration.


"What were you thinking!?" Hermione hissed as they left the classroom at the end of the lesson, "I thought you said that you'd passed your owls- or were you deliberately acting stupid in there!"

"She's right Ron," Harry added, much to Ron's annoyance, "You really didn't want to attract Umbrigde's attention.

Ron's eyes were wide with indignation, "Oh, and how well would you be able to concentrate when the banshee you got rid of last year is standing in front of you because you're in another world."

"Probably about as well as you could concentrate with your dead best friend sitting next to you!" Harry spat back. "Ron you have no idea of how much danger you could have just put us in."

"Then tell me!"

"Fine," Hermione whispered harshly, "but not here."

All three realised that they were arguing in a very public corridor, Harry lowered his eyes in shame and Ron's ear's twinged red with embarrassment.

"Where then?" Ron asked not willing to let this go.

"The Room of Requirement?" Hermione asked looking at Harry for agreement.

"Yeah, that should do," he replied, "we've got an free lesson now which gives us a clear hour till lunch."

"Are you sure? I thought they were double checking registration." Her voice carried a conspiratorial edge; Ron was completely lost by the conversation.

"No, we're fine." Harry reassured her, "It's Lupin's job today, he'll cover us."

Hermione nodded in agreement and led the group towards the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy. Ron followed demurely behind silently wishing that he had a note pad and paper with him to log down the hundreds of questions that were constantly flitting around his mind.

Luckily the corridors were clear and the three students reached the unobtrusive room with little difficulty. Inside there stood a harsh wooden table with two chairs on one side and one on the other.

"Okay who was it that wanted an interrogation?" Ron asked, surprised as he'd expected a cosier place to talk.

"What were you expecting? An informal chat?" Hermione wasn't unkind in her explanation, "Ron we can't afford to lose track of time."

With that reminder they sat down: Ron on one side, his otherworldly counterparts on the other.

"Go on then Ron, first question." Harry asked.

"How did I die?"

Short and to the point. The two shifted uneasily glancing at each other in silent words and passing the buck in a soundless 'you do it, no you do it' conversation. Finally Hermione cleared her throat and answered disjointedly, "You were murdered in the dormitories, advada, no one could do anything. Harry was there."

"It was my fault,"

"Harry!" she interrupted harshly, "We have discussed this; it was not your fault."

"It was about three in the morning," Harry continued after nodding to Hermione in non-verbal half acceptance of what she'd said, "A man appeared out of nowhere but he wasn't very quiet- tripped over a trunk. You, our Ron, woke up when he heard the noise, shouted the alarm. It worked and others came but not before... not before the attacker had sent a killing curse my way. I moved but I wasn't quick enough- got wrapped up in the bloody sheets- but you were there and... you took it."

The room seemed to grow darker with the telling of the morbid story and all of the questions that had been running through Ron's mind stopped. It was as if his brain was full to the brim with so many that it had collapsed in on itself allowing one final thought to circle,

Ron spoke the thought out loud, "That's good to know. I'm glad it was like that." The other two stared at him seeming to will him into expounding. "I've always wondered," Ron continued, "what I'd do. Would I do what I hoped I would- be willing to sacrifice myself?" He looked directly at Harry, "Or would I run away, would I let you down? I'm glad I know now that I'd do the right thing. This world isn't that different from my own, I can only hope that I live up to the standards set when I get home."

"Don't you dare be a martyr." Hermione hissed, an edge of begging in her voice.

Feeling the change in mood to something more personal between Ron and Hermione Harry changed the subject, "Shall we work out what the difference is then- what caused the split."

The other two nodded though Ron made a mental note to have a talk with Hermione later about the picture now burning by his leg.

"Okay, so first year," Hermione began, "we all meet, become friends over a troll and I show off my brilliant logical skills." She gave a thin smile to the weak injection of humour in an attempt to lighten the room and the torches giving light seemed to burn brighter.

Harry picked up the checklist speaking style, "Second year Chamber of secrets, idiot Lockheart."

The speed picked up as familiar memories were shared, "Third year save your Godfather," Ron smiled.

"What?" both questioned in surprise. Instantly there was another mood shift.

"Third year," Ron continued with a sinking feeling in his stomach, "You two use Hermione's time turner to save Buckbeak and Black, who then sail off into the sunset."

"How did you know that I had a time turner?" Hermione asked shocked, "I never told anyone."

"What the hell is a time turner?" Harry asked glancing between the two in confusion. "And why exactly would you save that murdering bastard," suspicion filled his voice.

"Sirius was not a murderer!"

"Okay boys calm down we've found our split now we just have to corner it. Ron why don't you take us through your third year step by step." Hermione's diplomacy worked and the boys calmed their heated breaths.

"Well, you got the time turner at the start of the year, by the way that was very, very confusing. Buckbeak grazed Malfoy and was put on death row, oh yeah, you went and got that bloody awful cat and that coupled with the firebolt fiasco meant relations were a little strained. But everything was back to normal for Hagrid's trial, which we never actually saw and then Sirius grabbed me to get Wormtail. We got the real story but Snape arrived and Lupin turned wild- it all went wrong. I was out of it after that but my Hermione and Harry used the time turner to get Buckbeak to Sirius and save both of their lives as they flew into the sunset."

The two opposite sat in shock and for a moment Harry seemed to be fighting an inner struggle, "You're lying," he argued," Black died, kissed! And good riddance!"

"No!" Ron stood up with force knocking the chair back.

"Ron please try to understand," Hermione cut in, "That didn't happen here, when the dog took you a branch of the Willow got Black from behind. It knocked him out and as soon as his animagus form changed back to human the dementors were released by Fudge and the kiss was administered."

"I don't believe it," Ron muttered, leaning heavily on the table for support, "Every change, every difference, caused by a bloody branch deciding to go in a different direction. Sirius." He gasped the final word feeling the pain of Padfoot's death all over again.

"You better believe it," Harry's fervour was almost frightening, "Black was a murderer, a traitor and the deatheater that brought back Voldemort!"

"Harry you're wrong, so wrong," Ron whispered torn between rage and depression, "he could no more support V- that monster- any more than you could." Seeing the hard dark pupils of Harry's eyes of true denial Ron gave up hope of restoring Sirius' name, at least for now. "I can't listen to this anymore," he muttered and left the room.

Hermione followed close behind leaving Harry alone in the shadowsfilling the Room of Requirement.

AN: I hope this answered some questions- but I'm not about to tell you everything yet am I :-)

Thank you my wonderful reviewers, especially those who are there for every chapter, I love your opinions. And a special thank you to nattieb who is the reason that this makes as much sense as it can does, though I know that that isn't much at the moment..