Disclaimer: I own nothing besides the plot.
Seven more chapters…
Chapter 13: Surprise!
Ron stepped back from the wall, grinning. Harry felt his jaw drop to the floor as he stared at the man he thought dead until approximately thirty seconds ago. Yes, it was Ron. He was dirty and much, much thinner than when Harry had last seen him, and Harry was honestly surprised that Ron was able to keep himself standing upright, he looked so weak. But he was still the tall, freckled red head that he had been months ago.
"Ron?" Harry asked again, unable to think of anything else to say. His brain seemed to have gone on lockdown. Ron grinned wider and spread his arms.
"In the flesh," he said. "Rather dirty, disgusting, starved flesh, mind you, but who's complaining?"
Harry let out a weak chuckled before embracing Ron tightly. He pulled away, wrinkling his nose.
"You reek," he said simply. Ron burst out laughing and clapped Harry on the shoulder.
"Thanks, mate, I missed you too," he said amusedly.
"Merlin, Ron, where have you been?" Harry demanded.
Ron opened his mouth as if to speak, but paused and glanced down at himself.
"Now that you mention it, I do reek. A little help?" he asked, looking pointedly at the wand in Harry's hand.
"You bet," Harry said, grinning. "Scourgify." Ron's hair and skin immediately became clean and his torn clothes repaired.
"Thanks," Ron said, shaking his now shoulder length red hair off his face. He reached into his pocket and pulled out two pieces of wood. "Now, can you fix my wand? I feel sorta vulnerable without it." Harry repaired the wand and Ron shot several sparks out of it. "Okay, I lied, I don't feel vulnerable," he said, grinning. "I just missed this good old thing. Not that I need it, but still."
"What are you rambling about now?" Harry asked. Ron chuckled.
"Oops, forgot. I can do wandless magic now," Ron explained. "Taught myself," he said, seeing the confused look on Harry's face. "Are there people in there?" Ron asked, motioning to the Great Hall. Harry nodded. "Do you mind if we go in there first? I'd rather not tell more than I have to. Plus, I'm starved."
Harry wordlessly turned and headed towards the great hall, Ron on his heels. Harry pushed on the doors and they swung open, knocking several people to the floor. Harry looked down at Colin Creevy at his feet with raised eyebrows. Colin grinned sheepishly and scrambled up.
"Sorry, Harry," he said. "You disappeared through the doors and then Malfoy tried to go after you, but we couldn't get the door open."
"Whoops," Ron said, stepping into view. "My bad. Didn't mean to put a locking charm on it when I closed it." He grinned at the now silent room.
Suddenly, a squeal rose from the back of the room and Ron was tackled to the ground in a flurry of red. He suddenly found himself flat on his back with his sister wrapped around his torso, hugging him tightly. She pulled back suddenly, positioning herself on his chest, and crossed her arms. Ron grinned.
"Gin, you would never have been able to do that if I were properly nourished," he said playfully. Ginny wasn't amused.
"Talk," she demanded.
"I can't talk with you sitting on my chest," Ron said lightly. Ginny shook her head.
"No way, Ronald. If I get up, you'll probably fall through a hole in the floor, or get sucked into a UFO or something. I'm not moving."
Colin walked over to her and scooped her up in his arms, depositing her in a chair against the wall. Harry helped Ron up. Ron sat down on one of the tables. Harry took a chair at his feet, and the rest of the DA did the same. Luna sat on Harry's lap and Hermione sat on Draco's. Everyone looked expectantly at Ron, who cleared his throat.
"Well," he began, looking rather nervous about speaking in front of all the people. "Where should I start?"
"How about the beginning?" Harry suggested. Ron grinned.
"Oh, yeah," he said. "I was born in a log cabin in the woods…"
"Ronald!" Hermione exclaimed, hitting him on the leg. Everyone laughed. Harry was relieved that Ron had not lost his sense of humor. The tension about the battle had disappeared, and Harry hoped it would stay that way.
"Sorry, sorry," Ron said, chuckling. Draco rolled his eyes.
"Just get on with it, Weasley," he said, acting impatient. Ron looked Draco over for a moment, as if he wanted to say something, but thankfully kept his comments to himself.
"Well, I'll start with the summer, I guess. It was about a month into the holidays, I think, and my mum had been bugging me to go to bed, because it was around eleven or eleven thirty. She finally got fed up and went to bed herself. She told me that if I didn't get some sleep she would make me degnome the garden by myself for the next three weeks. I don't think I went to bed until well past one. I went up to my room, and when I got there, there were Death Eaters waiting for me.
"They grabbed me and held me down. There was one really scrawny one that looked rather nervous. They nodded to him and he kind of looked me over really carefully. He scrunched his face all up like he was concentrating hard on something, and then all of a sudden I was looking at myself."
"Metamorphmagi," Draco interrupted. "They've got a whole group of them. They're not very strong, but they all know the Killing Curse. They mean nothing to the Death Eaters. They're just there as props. They turn themselves into a person that would be you ally, so you trust them, and then they kill you."
"Yeah," Ron said, nodding. "I heard them talking about that."
"They have other reasons, too, but I don't know what they are," Draco said. "I've never actually see one of them used before. I'm guessing, though, that they used him to take your place?"
"Yeah. Anyways, this guy made himself identical to me, and then they killed him. Since he died in that form, there's no way to turn him back."
"So that's how your family had a body for the funeral," Hermione thought aloud.
Again, Ron nodded. "Then they shot the Dark Mark out the window and took me to their…hideout, I guess you could call it.
"They kept me locked in the dungeons for the last eight months or so. They had these rituals were every day they would come down and torture me for a little while. A few times they used the Cruciatus Curse, but mostly they used Muggle methods. I guess they thought those were more effective, and they were right."
Ron lifted his shirt up to reveal a mass jumble of scars across his chest. He turned around and showed the same thing on him back. Everyone gasped, and Harry saw tears fill the girls' eyes. Ron pulled his shirt back down and continued speaking.
"Then a few days ago, everyone stated freaking out. They were running everywhere, talking about getting things ready. I assumed they were talking about the war. They even forgot to come check on me. Then they all took of tonight, and they were in such a rush that they forgot to re-lock my cell. Morons. I escaped, stole back my wand—or what was left of it—and came here."
When he finished speaking, everyone was staring at him in a horrified silence. Harry was in awe that Ron could talk about his ordeal so easily, even though it obviously pained him to think about it.
"Not sure if that was such a good idea," Draco said finally. "They're all here now."
"Really?" Ron asked, looking surprised. "I used a passage from Hogsmeade to get in, so I haven't seen anything."
Then tension was back. Harry felt increasingly nervous about the part he had yet to play. Suddenly, as if on cue, the doors to the Great Hall opened and Dumbledore appeared.
"Harry," he said gravely. "It's time."
A/N: Tada! Here is the chapter I promised. See, I told you I would have it up before the weekend was over. Have I ever let you guys down before?...Don't answer that, please. LOL!
This story is almost over. I have finished writing it, like I said before, but it's not all posted. But next week is our spring break, so I will have all week to finish posting. The story should be done by the end of next week. BTW, that's the week of March 18 (this coming Friday) to March 27 (two Sundays from now). Once again, it should be done by the end of that week.
Okay, I have a question. I feel really dumb asking this, but I really want to know. What in the name of Merlin is a beta reader? I have absolutely no idea what one is, and my best friend didn't know, so I'm asking you all. Email me and let me know.
Review responses:
Fleury: I LOVE BROWNIES! LOL! Thanks, I'm glad I'm keeping people in suspense.
SilverTrinity: laughs No, he's not a creepy zombie guy. He's alive and kicking, and he's definitely a good guy.
Danu3: Yeah, people are really bizarre sometimes. But I do have a new crush, and I'm moving in for the kill. LOL! PLEASE DON'T CRUCIO ME! I HAVE A GUY TO GET! I'M SOOOOOOORRRRRRRRRRRRRRYYYYYYYYYYY! But here is the update, so please don't kill me. Please?
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