Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

ILoveRonniekins07 – Thanks a lot, it's great that you like the merits of my fanfiction, whatever they may be.

Tria Marie Val – Well the battle might be soon, and then again it might not be…(I want to tell you if Ron gets hurt or not, but that would just ruin it, wouldn't it?)

Dancerrdw – cool chapter

Well guys…here you go….

Chapter 41 – The Chase

Ron decided to just scrap using the wand. In a duel, wandless magic would be better for him anyway. However, what he was confused about was how Riddle got in anyway. Dumbledore had set up protective barriers around the entire site, no one could get through without his explicit allowance.

There was no time to think about it for the time being. Ron glanced back. He was too far away from the house to run away to it, he would have to fight. And win, as the alternative was dying. Or being captured, an experience he would prefer not to relive.

Riddle abruptly lunged with his wand, quick as lightning.

"Crucio!"

Ron tried to dodge but at the last second held out his hand, feeling the spell shockwave through him…

Just about four weeks earlier, a week after Ginny's incident with Crabbe and Malfoy…

"Ginny? Can I talk to you? Privately?"

Ginny glanced up, surprised, at her slightly ashen and obviously nervous boyfriend, Dean. Odd. He's usually so composed.

"Yeah." Ginny nodded at Harry as she rose up as a means of goodbye. Harry slowly nodded back as well. The two of them both had a sneaking suspicion that they knew what this is about.

You're not gonna cry. You're not gonna cry.

"Look, Ginny," Dean started after leading her away. "I really like you and all, but lately…it's just, I'm sorry, but I really think it's better if we're not dating, but are just friends instead."

Ginny choked. Jesus Christ, what are you, a wimp! You had known this was coming, you've been acting so distant with him.

Ginny gulped as she saw him staring at her, looking for some kind of approval or agreement. He's so sweet. Tell him you like him! Get him back!

Ginny sighed inwardly. "Yeah, I think so too." The two of them managed to get weak smiles.

"Well – see you later, then."

"Yeah," Ginny said, her voice cracking slightly as she said her farewell to Dean. Noticing that she was hovering uncertainly on the verge of tears, she walked briskly outdoors, her breath catching as the bitter-cold air swept through her. Ginny shivered and wrapped her arms around herself as she walked around quickly to warm herself up (she was dressed for indoors Hogwarts weather and so was wearing a long-sleeved shirt and a light jacket as well as some jeans). Oh well. At least I'm not crying anymore. Ginny stepped around, walking quicker and quicker, angry she had lost someone important to her. Why did you do it? Why didn't you tell him what you were telling yourself? Ginny asked herself. And she suddenly stopped dead, back by the same tree she was at a week before.

Because it wasn't – isn't – true.

Ginny collapsed against the tree, sobbing. What happened? Weeks ago I was so happy with Dean…

"Crying, Weasley? We'll give you something to cry about." It was Goyle's voice this time. Ginny looked up to see a gang of five, six, Slytherins, including Crabbe, hovering about her. Jesus, don't they have anything better to do?

Ginny didn't even think about it this time. Malfoy certainly wouldn't be able to save her this time, and even with her wand she wouldn't be able to take all of them. Springing up with lightning fast agility, she started to sprint away. Unfortunately, the Slytherins gave chase.

You can outlast them. Crabbe and Goyle are no star athletes (even though they did play Quidditch). Unfortunately, as Ginny found out, some of these guys were both taller than and as fast as her, which would mean they would eventually catch up. Unless she intervened.

"Impedimenta!" Ginny yelled with her head thrown back, nearly tripping at having to sprint forward at top speed while looking back, aiming it haphazardly at the guy who was leading the pack. The guy dodged quickly but it did hit Crabbe, who subsequently got run into by the guy behind him. Two down. Ginny knew that wouldn't be enough to shake all of them, though. These were Slytherins older than her, they were smart enough to just use a Shield Charm and it was stupid to expend her energy on curses on all of them.

I'll have to beat them on maneuverability instead of pure speed, then. Ginny knew that if she reached the Great Hall she would have no problem – they couldn't really attack her with everyone there. However, a straight sprint to the Great Hall without any twists or turns would mean they would not only overtake her but likely hit her with quite a few spells before doing so, small target though she was. Case in point, Ginny thought, worried, as a Stunning Spell whizzed past her ear.

Seeking cover, and not thinking about the ramifications of her actions, Ginny slid quickly to the right, turning directly into a furious snowball fight between two groups of small Ravenclaws. At least it will be harder for them to spot me. If she had been cold before, though, it was nothing compared to the feeling she had now, as a number of cold, wet, and icy snowballs crashed straight into her, soaking her with the most numbingly freezing water. Which would have been fine if she had been a participant in the snowball fight, but was particularly unfortunate as she was not dressed appropriately for the occasion. Ginny, teeth chattering, kept sprinting through as fast as her numbed state allowed her, dodging as many snowballs as possible while she did. She slid again to the right, narrowly avoiding some Slytherin while doing it, deciding that although it may not be prudent, she didn't have the energy for anything more than an all-out sprint towards the gate. Luckily she had lost all but three of the Slytherins in the confusion of the snowball fight, as they had mistook some of the girl Ravenclaws for her and were proceeding to chase the little girls desperately around before realizing that the girl wasn't Ginny, and two of them were a good distance behind. The only real threat was a very tall, long-legged Slytherin that had been smart enough to just circumvent the snowball fight since he knew that she would be going to the gate.

He was gaining, ever-gaining. Ginny's small frame wouldn't be able to out-run him. Ginny, in desperation, tried a Stunning Spell, but he just used a Shield Charm to block it. Now he was gaining even more on a perennially-exhausted Ginny. Ginny started to stumble when she suddenly heard a stern voice speak a spell quietly. Looking back, she saw the tall Slytherin suddenly be blown back by a huge force, knocking down the two behind him violently. Facing forward again, she looked around, but couldn't see anybody, other than one tallish Slytherin a good distance off and the first-year Ravenclaws, none of whom would have been near good enough to use a spell so powerful. In fact, Ginny thought personally that only the best seventh-years could pull off a spell so powerful. Ginny clambered herself up slowly, before feeling a strong hand grip her arm and pull her up.

"Harry!"

Harry was fuming. "Ginny, why did they try to beat you up? And what did you do to them, anyway?" He added as an afterthought, upon surveying of the three Slytherins that were still tangled around each other.

"What, you mean it wasn't you that did that?" Ginny asked, surprised. Upon Harry's arrival she had assumed that he had been her savior. Obviously this wasn't so.

"No," Harry said slowly. "But now I think I know who it was." Harry looked pensive for a moment, his eyes off somewhere in the distance, before turning his gaze inquisitively back on Ginny. "There must've been a reason Ginny. Why?" Harry said, starting to lead her with him inside Hogwarts.

Ginny knew the reason why very well, but didn't feel inclined to tell it to Harry. She had the impression that Harry wouldn't be very impressed upon her association with Malfoy, however accidental, even if he had turned over a new leaf as it seemed.

"I, uh, don't know. Probably just because of the war, Harry – where are we going?"

Harry glanced at her (with his fresh-pickled toad's eyes, of course, although those no longer induced the same reaction as previously), obviously not believing her. "Well, in any case, we have to take it to Dumbledore, don't we?"

Ginny started struggling as she noticed where Harry was leading her – the gargoyle. Harry's iron-firm grip on her arm didn't relent, however, as he dragged her along through the halls. "Harry – it really isn't necessary – I can take care of myself, you know."

"It's not about that. I know perfectly well you can take care of yourself, but so could Malfoy, and look what happened to him. I'm not going to have that happen to you. Ginny, stop! – Ron would want it." Ginny finally relented at the mention of her (secretly favorite, although she liked to say it was Bill) brother and went along with Harry up the swiveling gargoyle staircase and to Dumbledore. Harry didn't even bother to knock (he was, by now, an expected occupant of Dumbledore's office from time to time with the frequency he went to it) as he entered to Dumbledore.

"Professor Dumbledore? A Slytherin gang just tried to beat Ginny up. Again. They nearly got her this time, except someone, who Ginny apparently didn't see, saved her from the last person. I have a guess who it is, for what it's worth."

Dumbledore looked contemplative as Ginny looked him over. He's aged years in days. The never-ending strain of the war had only multiplied since the battle. In fact, Ginny couldn't help but feel a sense of some fantastic morbid foreboding as she looked him over. She feared he would die soon, and that would mean that the Order would be leaderless. Harry wasn't ready to lead the Order yet, not quite yet. Who would take over – Lupin? McGonagall? None of them would be able to orchestrate the war with as much adeptness solely due to Dumbledore's position – his position as Head of Hogwarts, as the most respected and likely most powerful wizard in the world, and his countless years of experience. He couldn't die. He wouldn't. Not just yet, Ginny hoped. But the sense was still there.

"Well, I'm afraid we'll have to put you under security measures as well."

"What?" Ginny exploded. "You're not going to send me to–"

"Oh no," Dumbledore interrupted. "You'll just have to have a companion."

"But who?" Ginny asked. "Harry doesn't have the time and I don't think anybody else would see the need to…"

"Oh, I've got a fair idea," Dumbledore murmured under his breath. He swiveled and fixed his piercingly blue eyes directly onto Harry. "Harry, you said you thought you knew who saved Ginny. Why don't you go retrieve him for us?"

Draco Malfoy woke up thinking it would be a perfectly normal Sunday. However, unfortunately for him, those tended to be in extremely scarce abundance these days. He had just checked with Madam Pomfrey and she had cleared him, he could be free to fly now.

Draco woke up slowly, as was usual now. It was still strange for him not to live in the Slytherin House. Dumbledore had decided rightly that it wouldn't be safe for him in Slytherin anymore, but he wasn't exactly popular in any other house either. So Draco was transferred to an out-of-the-way room in a rather obscure place that was bloody hard to locate. Although Draco had previously thought he had had a fairly good idea of Hogwarts' basic layout, he was now looking more carefully, and discovering that Hogwarts was considerably denser than he had previously thought. Secret passages, rooms with magical capabilities, special hallways were in abundance but often required some spell to activate. Draco had considerable experience in that thanks to the similarly confusing (although to a lesser extent) Malfoy Mansion and had unveiled numerous secret passages that had been under his very nose since age 11. That's what he had been doing in his spare time, alone, of course, for the past week, unable to indulge in his Quidditch practice, other than overseeing it and planning it. And, to his confusion, he often seemed to be running into the smallest Weasley. In the corridors, outdoors, in the hallway. These encounters were somewhat awkward, considering the circumstances of their previous ones. Usually they would nod to each other in greeting, as she was typically accompanied by a couple of her friends. A couple times, though, they had even had an exchange (albeit short). Draco had decided to take her advice permanently and just wear his hair free, however much that might chagrin his father once he meets him again.

Draco left the extremely secluded room and started the long trek towards the Great Hall for breakfast. He ate well, filling himself up sufficiently but not too much – he wouldn't want to get cramps when flying. Finally, he trekked out to the outdoors, noticing that there appeared to be a furious snowball fight occurring. He frowned when he saw some larger silhouettes involved in the action, however, and went forward to get a closer look. They were Slytherin's, two of them were Crabbe and Goyle. However, Draco didn't have long to contemplate this, as Ginny nearly crashed into him and barely noticed as she sprinted off, a seventh-year Slytherin hot on her tail and gaining, with two others plodding behind him. Draco looked closely, judging whether she would make it. In a split-second decision, he stole along the side of the Hogwarts wall, sprinting and keeping his head down to get closer. Pulling his wand out, he selected one of the curses from his massive repertoire of them, although this one was particularly advanced. To his satisfaction, it worked very well, sending the Slytherin flying into the two other ones. Ginny, confused, stopped as she heard the sound, and looked around. Draco quickly turned around and started walking away briskly so that they weren't aware it was him. He had seen Potter running towards her anyway; he could probably get her inside and bring her to Dumbledore. Brandishing his broom with relish, satisfied that this particular instance had worked out well, he took one last look at her to make sure Potter had reached her.

Crap! Potter locked eyes with him, and Draco knew that Potter knew it was him. Oh well. What can he do to me anyway? I had to do it. Draco turned away as Potter started helping Ginny in, intending fully to fly to his heart's content on the Quidditch pitch. Unfortunately, that wouldn't be how it would turn out…

Back to Ron and Riddle, four weeks later…

Ron felt the spell hit his hand, shatter his glove to reveal the glistening silver hand that was still a mystery even to him. He felt the spell shockwave through him, felt the spell ripple through his muscles and skin and hair.

Then why wasn't it hurting?

Ron stood up, still unnerved at how the hand had somehow blocked the Cruciatus Curse. It was impossible, but he didn't have time to think about that. Riddle appeared to be somehow infuriated by the silver hand. Riddle started waving the wand around again. The spell was never completed.

Ron lunged, gathering all his strength to his unnaturally strong silver hand. While he hadn't known about the silver hand's apparent ability to absorb spells, he did know that the hand was strong enough to crush anything to dust (he had had some great fun with this ability upon discovering it) and knew that if he hit Riddle with all the magical force he had with the hand, it would hurt.

Riddle saw what was happening. He quickly started waving his wand around and quickly brought up some kind of magical, shimmering shield. Ron's hand crashed through it, albeit considerably slower after he hit through it, and collided with Riddle's jaw, and sent Riddle flying feet away. Riddle crashed into the house behind him. Ron knew he had broken Riddle's jaw.

Riddle slowly got up, grimacing. Ron started to sprint after him, but Riddle suddenly started to wisp away, smiling, a maniacal glint in his eye. Ron sent his hand straight through the shimmering remains of Riddle, but there was nothing there anymore but a thin mist that was quickly blown away by the wind.

Ron collapsed exhausted. What had just happened?

So guys, what do YOU think did just happen? This chapter actually turned out surprisingly long for reference, I didn't intend it to be this long.