To those who reviewed:
kellydofc - I know it is a bit confusing at this point. First person narratives are a bit tunnel vision, which is why I'll be presenting the other POVs. Of course, I did write most of the important stuff at the same time so hopefuly there won't be any gaps by the time I'm done.
eckles - RW/HG is meant to be. You'll be seeing some of that for sure :-).
Alie26 - Thank you! I'll be updating this story every few days. I hope the finish soon.
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Disclaimer - I still don't own a thing and my assistant to take over the world pulled the plug too soon and I have to start over on that issue.
Reminder - Each section written in first person point of view changing with each chapter. The timeline is overlapping, but each character will take you a bit further into the story.
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Chapter 2 - Ron
I couldn't possibly describe the feeling of sudden loss. The abrupt empty space of where he was and now isn't. A void in my mind. I'm in the Great Hall waiting for him to show up for dinner when I feel a yank, almost like being portkeyed without the actual travel. I know something is wrong. Concentrate as much as I can, I cannot tell where he is anymore.
I blurt out. "Harry is in trouble."
Hermione looks at me as if I've lost my mind. I haven't. I only lost my best friend. I stand up, abandoning my dinner and get out of the Hall in a hurry.
I run through the hallways looking for him. Hermione follows me, probably more out of habit than anything else. I don't think she believed I knew anything, but then again when hasn't Harry been in trouble? It's like he has a bull's eye painted on his back. Maybe it's the scar. I'm sprinting now and I've left her behind in my urgency until I reach a corridor midway to our common room. There are no portraits here that I can ask if they saw him.
I close my eyes for a moment trying to focus where I last felt him. I'm sure he was striding right along this way towards us. A sudden flash of inspiration grips me, like seeing a completely different move on a chessboard when the way seems blocked. I raise my wand and call out.
"Accio Marauder's Map." In a few moments the parchment is in my hand and I give it the password. Hermione just joined me and is looking at me while I try to scan the parchment looking for Harry's dot to show up. It's not there. My stomach plunges several floors below me.
"Ron, what is going on?"
"Harry is gone."
"What are you talking about?" She asks in confusion.
"He's not at Hogwarts anymore. Check for yourself."
She takes the parchment from me and searches it with a concentrated expression identical to the one she wears when she's working on a difficult arithmacy problem. Getting frustrated with all the moving dots on the sheet she pulls out her wand and waves it over the map.
"Show me Harry Potter." The dots freeze for a moment and they vanish. The map is now showing only the walls and passages of Hogwarts, but Harry's dot is still nowhere on the parchment. As the dots reappear, her face drains of all color.
"We have to tell Dumbledore. Right now." An edge of panic in her voice.
I nod and grab her hand to start towards the headmaster's office. We're practically running and I can feel Hermione struggling to keep up with me muttering under her breath something about 'long legs' but does not ask me to stop. We pass startled students and even some disapproving staff, but I refuse to slow down.
When we reach the gargoyle guarding the entrance I gasp out this month's password. "Licorice wands."
ooooo
Dumbledore's face as we explain goes from worry to a flicker of despair. He asks the portraits in his office to search the castle and question every one of the others. I can't explain how I knew he was gone. I make up a story that we'd agreed to meet at a certain time and he had not shown up. It's even true from a certain point of view.
When we show him the map he reaches for it with curiosity. I think he would have liked to ask more about it, but the situation does not permit it. Hermione and I just sit there while the portraits report in. Harry had been seen heading towards the Great Hall, but nobody saw him beyond the third floor corridor where I ended up.
"How did you know something was wrong, Mr. Weasley?" Those icy blue eyes hold none of their customary twinkle as they regard me.
"I don't know sir. I just did." I say.
I can't tell Dumbledore about the bond. We made an oath and we literally can't say a thing about it until somebody figures it out and asks. Some of the odd looks we've seen on some people told us we were acting a bit weird. Well, weirder than usual for wizards. Even by Harry's standards.
Hermione is looking oddly at me, but does not speak. Her face is so pale and her eyes seem darker with worry, dull with despair. I feel like reaching out to her but I don't dare under the headmaster's stare. After all, prefects are supposed to be well behaved at all times. I could chuck the badge for all I care about that at this moment.
ooooo
Heads of Houses are summoned up and the situation explained. In what seems like a flash back to third year, all students are to settle down in the Great Hall while the staff searches the castle and grounds. Just like we did when Sirius broke into the castle in what now feels like decades ago.
With everyone together, Harry's absence is quickly noticed by most of the school. The whispers and gossip running like wildfire among the purple sleeping bags. Gryffindors and DA members question us but there is nothing to be said. All we know is that Harry is gone. Most everyone thinks he ran off on his own on some reckless adventure. I suspect that even Dumbledore is considering that. Harry certainly does not abide by the rules, but he knows his limits. Now, if Harry, Hermione and I were missing at the same time, you could bet we were up to something.
Harry promised he would not run off without me. That is why I came up with the bonding issue. He balked at it and it was not until I threatened to make a life bond without his consent (I wouldn't need it) that I finally convinced him to do a less serious one. One that we could break if it backfired on us.
We made the bond just a few weeks ago and we're still trying to figure out the extent of it. Like the book had promised, we are aware of the other's presence. Almost as if we could have reached out and touched all the time. We had been experimenting with tracking each other all over Hogwarts. He's good at finding unlikely places to sit still, but for some reason, I was always able to locate him easily. Most of the time he didn't know I was that close.
What surprised me the most when we first bonded was the fact that he actually controls his temper better than any Gryffindor would ever credit him with. Sometimes his anger is bubbling barely under the surface and he still does not lash out. When he practices his meditation it's just the opposite. He is so calm inside nothing could rattle him. The worst was finding out about the pain. He wouldn't admit it, but he's mostly in pain these days. He actually claimed that it was muted now that he was bonded to me and not just to the raging lunatic after him. Like I balanced things in his mind.
I can't feel where he is. I looked over the charm's properties and that would mean that he is further away that our current abilities to use it. But I can still feel him out there. He's still alive.
I lay on the floor looking at magical ceiling in the Hall and listening to my fellow students fidget or sleep around me. Even Hermione has given in to fatigue. I can't sleep. I keep picturing Harry, cold and alone. Hurting. I'm not sure if its because of the bond or just because that is the more likely scenario. Voldemort is too cruel to just kill him off. He'll make it last.
ooooo
Professor Flitwick found Harry's wand lying in an empty classroom floor. The sight of it clenched my insides. Harry would never have gone off willingly without his wand.
Dumbledore asked me to keep it safe.
ooooo
The hours pass like an eternity, but the days seem to end too quickly. The longer he is missing the more unlikely it is we'll ever see him again. All of Gryffindor tower seems to be under a cloud. The others treat Hermione and I as if we were made of glass. Hermione's eyes look so sad all the time now. She's full of despair and I can't reassure her. Harry and I swore we would not tell anyone about the bond unless they figured it out on their own first. Knowing Hermione, we both thought it would be about month in her case. The others would take longer. Now the restraint chafes me and I can't do much about it except insist that he is alive.
I wish I could tell everyone what I know. I can't. I see Hermione's pale face. Dumbledore's worried frown. McGonagall's brave front. Neville's nervous stumbling. Ginny's bit lip. Sitting down at the Gryffindor table without Harry there, is torture. We unconsciously leave a space for him to join us, even though we know he won't. The same thing happens in the common room, his favorite chair is always empty. As if we're all hoping it will entice him back.
The DA still met last night, but we are without our leader. Without it's heart, the team just stumbled along practicing what he taught us. Cho broke down in tears in the middle of a simple expeliarmus. Ernie's usual pompous airs were gone as he set his face for the next spell. Even Zachariah's comments were subdued.
For which we are all thankful, of course.
But we still need you back, mate.
I will go mad not being able to do anything. I can feel the bond mark on my arm throbbing as Harry's mind struggles with something in whatever hellhole he is. I'm fairly sure he's with him. Old Tom. He's doing something to Harry. I can feel it.
Harry is terrified.
It's a shock to find out that the bravest person you know is afraid.
And he is brave. I remember that first meeting in the Hogwarts Express. He was alone. He had no real idea of what the wizarding world was like. He knew about Voldemort and was still un-afraid to say his name. Him, of all people. Even Herm, being a Muggle-born, picked up the You-Know-Who thing quickly. He had no idea of what he was getting into and he still boarded up the train and left.
After I met the Dursleys the first time I figured out he wanted to escape, but putting up with them for so long was a test of courage if I ever saw one.
I saw his determination when we were going after the Philosopher's stone. That is how I knew he was the one that had to go on. And all of that Chamber of Secrets business, when I heard his voice telling me he would go ahead and look for Ginny when the passageway was blocked, I was sure I would never see him or Gin again. But I did.
Then the Triwizard, I was such an idiot when it started. As if Harry had ever sought out more of the spotlight than he already has. But I was jealous. I would have entered my name if I could have. And I would have been toast in front of that dragon and that would have been the last of me.
Seeing him seethe under Dumbledore's silence and Umbridge's tortures was bad. Waking him up from one of his nightmares or visions is worse. The worst was seeing him after Sirius died. I know now everybody believes him now, but I'm sure Harry would prefer to continue his cutting quill detentions if that would bring Sirius back.
I would join him.
ooooo
I can't believe that Hermione has still not figured it out. I'm acting like I'm having bloody out of body experiences, but she still has not noticed anything.
I know she's worried about him. Who wouldn't be? Maybe there's something else there? Maybe she likes Harry. Well why not? Harry is the best. He's a hero in every sense of the word. Not a storybook hero, a real one. Who actually has to struggle for what he achieves and most of the time he didn't even want to do it. He just does it. If anyone deserves the attentions of someone like Hermione, it's Harry.
So why do I feel so bad?
Like I don't know.
Contrary to popular opinion, I'm not stupid. I know how I feel about her. She's the first person that comes to mind in the mornings and the last person I think about when I fall asleep. She's twice as likely to show up on my dreams.
Don't get me wrong. I'm a bloke. Of course I think about girls that way. But she's different. Believe it or not, in more than half the fantasies I have about Hermione, she's fully clothed and all of our feet are in the floor (like Mum always says when a hint of a snog is mentioned). It's mostly tame stuff. Yet so important. Spending time with her. Seeing each other off to our respective jobs. Sharing a houseful of children together.
Yes, children. I happen to know what our children would look like. I would have named them, but I know she'll override whatever I decide. And I wouldn't have it any other way. She'll fill our home with books and hex me when we quarrel. And I'm betting we'll have some major ones.
I know, I know. Harry is the hero. I'm the sidekick. The hero always gets the girl. The sidekick is the comic relief. But this isn't a story; life doesn't always work that way.
Hey, I have to keep my hopes up some way.
ooooo
Gin looks like hell lately. I thought that she had given up on Harry that way. Maybe I'm just seeing too much. Of all my siblings, Ginny is the one closest to me. For a long time, it was just she and I and we gave the twins a fair run for their money on the prank situation at home. Gin would get away with murder as Mum never believed her 'little girl' would do anything quite like that.
I let her down that first year here. I left her alone. Maybe if I had paid more attention I would have seen what was happening sooner. Prevented her from going down to the Chamber that day.
She has grown up. After the Chamber of Secrets she had to. I'm glad she did put that obsession of hers regarding Harry behind her. Don't misunderstand me. Harry getting together with Ginny would be great. No one but my best mate would be good enough for her. Not like that idiot Michael, or even Dean.
Of course, as her brother I'd much rather she joins up a nunnery somewhere, but I think that Gin would object. So would the other nuns. The only other option is finding some bloke good enough for her.
Enter Harry.
It's no secret she had a major crush on him, or rather on her made up version of him. To Gin-gin, Harry was always the story prince that came to rescue her. Which he did in her first year, but that doesn't make it true. The real Harry is a lot more complicated and interesting than her hero Harry.
I have to say this for Harry. He never teased or made much ado about her crush. Never took advantage of the fact that she would have willingly snogged him out of his mind. I know a lot of blokes who would have used her in that same situation. I'm glad that didn't happen.
Maybe now that she has the blinders off regarding who Harry really is, there's a chance for something there. If he can get past the fact that she is my sister. With all my ranting regarding Michael and Dean, I may have spooked him off.
Note to self: Tell them both that I wouldn't mind.
ooooo
Remus dropped by today. He looks like something the cat dragged in, or a wolf in his case. You'd think that being this close to the new moon would let him look a bit better. Harry turning up missing has devastated him. Harry is his last connection to his friends. The legendary Marauders. I remember Gred and Forge's faces when they found that that their teacher was Moony. They suddenly understood why he'd been able to catch them in their usual antics in the classrooms.
He assured us that everything possible is being done to locate Harry.
For some reason I do not feel comforted.
Things are bad all over. Death Eater activity had grown bolder these last couple of days and the Dark Mark has been turning up everywhere. Whole families have gone missing, several of them with Muggle relations. The Order and the Ministry are trying to get a handle on it and they do not have a lot of time for one missing orphan kid. Even one as famous as The-Boy-Who-Lived.
Bollocks, I say. Harry is the key to everything. If anyone does not see that, they have not been paying attention. I think that without Harry the war is lost. I know Dumbledore knows this yet the poor man is split in all directions and can't make the Ministry help him find one missing student when there are so many in danger.
ooooo
Ten days. Ten bloody days missing. Dumbledore looks worn down. He told us today that the Order has not been able to locate or even get a hint of Harry's possible whereabouts. If it were up to me I'd give some veritaserum to Snape and get him to tell all of the DE secrets. Something is bound to be helpful there.
But even Snape looks worried when he thinks nobody notices him. I even managed an E on my latest potions term paper. A sure sign that the world is coming to an end. On the whole, the school is normal. More than the average number of students is staying over the holidays. Their parents must think they are safer here.
The Prophet carried an article a few days ago informing the wizarding community of the Boy-Who-Lived's disappearance, along with some snide comments regarding his past behavior. Hinting that he'd taken off on his own as he was off his rocker. How quickly they changed their tune. Again.
I insisted on staying at Hogwarts, Ginny was invited to Luna's and after some convincing she agreed to go for a few days at least. Hermione stayed over at the school too. It's useless. No matter where we actually are, we can't help. We can only worry, we can do that anywhere. I know Mum was disappointed, but I'd rather be here and do homework than be at the Burrow with her mollycoddling all of us.
It's midnight again and I can't sleep. The fire in the common room is more entertaining than the canopy on my bed so that is where I am. Pacing in front of the fire. Half expecting Harry to show up and drag me back to bed as he did more than once, like I did for him.
Something is different tonight. My connection to Harry over these past few days has varied. Sometimes I'm sure he's being hurt. Sometimes I'd guess he was OK. Most of the time it's just a feeling of loneliness. Tonight there's restlessness. I'm pretty sure he's up to something. I hope so. Merlin, I hope so.
Find your way back my friend. I miss you. We all do.
ooooo
Charlie once asked my why I became Harry's friend. Back then I couldn't give a satisfactory answer, but I've thought about it a lot these last few days that he's been gone.
By all rights I should have walked away from it. The mere thought of being the Boy-Who-Lived's friend should have been enough to steer me away from him. Like Gin, I had my own ideas of what he would be like. I think the fact that I turned out completely wrong made me stick around at first.
The-Boy-Who-Lived. Harry hates that title. Hearing the story of how he survived makes him larger than life. You almost expect someone ten-foot tall, shooting energy bolts out of his hands. I had realized ages before that he'd be in my year if he went to Hogwarts. That day on the train I was hoping to catch a glimpse of our world's hero.
Instead I found myself sharing the compartment with a skinny dark-haired kid with clothes even more worn out and ill fitting than my own. Mine were used, his were ragged. A kid with a pocketful of money who treated it like he'd like nothing more than share it with someone. How can you not be interested in someone like that?
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A soft noise behind me jolts me out of my brooding. I turn and I see Hermione standing there with an unfocused look in her eyes and her arms wrapped around herself. She looks so small and vulnerable. Even her hair, usually so wild and alive, looks limp and sad.
"Did I wake you?" I ask. With less people around even small noises can disturb. I'm pretty sure I was stamping around and muttering curses.
She shakes her head "No. I couldn't sleep either." She says as she walks towards the hearth, towards me. She makes as if to sit down in her usual spot when her eyes find Harry's favorite chair and stops. Her eyes are filling with tears, but she's not making a sound.
Without a thought I move to her and put my arms around me. I can feel her surprise but she immediately melts against me, her tears are running down her faces and onto my chest, her arms hold on to me for support as she cries. I rest my face against the top of her head. I'm pretty sure I'm murmuring stuff, the kind that Mum did when we were little and scared. It doesn't really matter what it is it's just the sound of a comforting voice.
"I'm so afraid Ron. What's going to happen now?"
"We'll get him back, Hermione."
"How can you still believe that? We've lost. Harry was the key and now we're all doomed."
"No. There's always hope."
I don't think she heard me. "I'm so scared. I'm just a muggleborn. How can my family survive this? Maybe they are right, I don't belong here. I wish..."
Shocked, I put my hands on her shoulders to push her back and look at her face. "Don't talk like that. I know you're worried about your family, but don't ever think you're not good enough or that you don't belong. Hogwarts was created for those like you. If magic just stayed in the same families there would be no real need for schools, a Ministry or anything like that. We'd have died out centuries ago. But magic does not make distinctions, it chooses at random to make sure it survives."
She's looking with surprise at me. I don't think I've ever said anything as eloquent as I just did.
"But Harry is dead and we're going to lose. Magic will die in the end."
"Harry is not dead. I will not give up on him and I won't let you." I'm almost shaking her.
"Ron, you're being stubborn. Of course he's dead. Voldemort will have killed him by now." She says starting to cry again.
"Voldemort can't kill Harry. He's too afraid to try." In my anger I just said his name and didn't even flinch. She's the one that is shocked now. She looks at me like she doesn't know me. "Harry is alive. I know it. He's hanging by a thread, but I won't let him give up." I insist.
"How do you know? How can you know? Not even..." She grows quiet as she regards me for a moment. "What did you and Harry do?"
I let her go and my hand runs through my hair as I consider her question. Will it be enough for me to finally tell her?
"You've been acting strange. You've been brooding about something even more than Harry. You two did something. That is why you both were acting so odd. That is how you knew he'd been taken."
"Yes."
"What?"
I pull out my wand and push my left sleeve to show my wrist. I murmur the charm and the glamour falls away revealing a shining white mark there. It almost seems to glow, like it was made of light itself. Her eyes go wide as she looks at it, her hand reaching out and touching it.
"A magic bond?"
"Yes."
ooooo
"Why didn't you tell me?"
We're sitting down facing the fire. I explained what I had insisted on doing and Harry's reluctance. How only the threat of a full-fledged life bond made him accept. Her brown eyes are hurt and accusing.
"I couldn't tell you until you figured it out. Harry made me swear on it."
"Why? Am I not his friend too?"
"He knew you'd want to do it too. He didn't want to place you in danger. I had already committed to it. I swore I would be with him not matter what."
"Who chose the mark?"
"It chooses itself. We were a bit surprised when it showed up. I said it was appropriate." I say as I look at the lighting shaped mark., a mirror shape of the one in Harry's forehead.
"Can you really feel him?"
"Yeah. Faint, but he's there." I concentrate on the feeling. "He... He feels so alone."
"Remind him he's not." She says as she places her hand over the mark. I can feel her magic mixing with my own, with his, as we sit by the fire waiting for dawn. I fall half asleep and dream of locked doors and snow storms. Of choosing wands.
ooooo
He's close. I snap awake, feeling a tingling sensation on my arm. Hermione is curled up beside me and I hate to disturb her, but I feel the need to move. To do something. Harry's closer.
Not in Hogwarts, but very close. Hogsmeade probably. I concentrate on the feeling and it comes clearer. Hogsmeade definitely, near the Shrieking Shack. Cold and exhaustion pours over to me.
Hermione stirs and looks at my face.
"You can feel him?" She asks excitedly.
"He's back. He's in Hogsmeade. Find Madam Pomfrey and Dumbledore." I say. In a burst of excitement I grab her face and kiss her, without a further word I jump away from the sofa and run up the dorm. I pull a coat over my pajamas and making a snap decision, I grab Harry's Firebolt and fly out the window with it. I need to hurry. He's cold and hurt and I need to hurry. I catch a glimpse of Hermione peering out the common room window her fingers brushing her lips.
Her lips. Why did I just kiss her? Talk about your unromantic moments. She's going to kill me when I get back.
It was worth it. In spite of everything, a grin keeps sneaking up to my face as the cold washes over my hair.
ooooo
I reach Hogwarts' main gate in what seems an eternity in spite of the Firebolt's speed. The cold wind is biting into my skin but I pay it no mind. I spot a walking figure being followed by something. I fly closer and land a few yards ahead.
It's Professor Snape. His custumary sneer has taken a vacation as he concentrates on the floating shape beside him. A gurney floating in the air and a crumpled shape laying on it. Harry. I almost lose it when I see the shape he's in, but I need to hold on until I get him help. It won't help if I pass out.
The potions master's eyes snap to attention at my approach. I can see the momentary flicker of annoyance at my presence to be replaced by what on anyone else I would call relief. He doesn't know or care how I got here, just to make the most of it. Detention and point taking can wait, I guess.
"Come on Weasley. You can take him to Madam Pomfrey faster on that thing than I can. I'll get the headmaster."
We bind the gurney to the broom and he bids me to hurry. His eyes show some curiosity, but he does not question me. The very real concern of Harry's condition makes every explanation secondary.
I fly carefully on the way back. Not the breakneck speed that this thing can achieve for fear of dumping Harry to the ground. He looks like he would not survive it.
Hold on, my friend.
ooooo
My brain seems frozen at the state he's in. I can't believe anyone could be hurt this much and still manage to walk out of whatever hellhole he was.
The fact that he's my best mate makes it worse. A brother by choice if not by blood.
I help Madam Pomfrey mechanically. Letting my anger simmer on the side. And it is anger. Rage. Cold murderous rage at whoever dared to do this to him. I don't care who it was. I won't let this happen again. I feel quite capable of killing as I see how his skin is bruised and burnt.
ooooo
He's slipping away and I can feel it. He's right on the brink of life. My legs feel like butter and if it wasn't for Hermione's hand on my arm I'm sure I'd be on the floor. I can see what the restoring spell that the nurse and headmaster are doing. I can feel how they're attempting to revive him.
Problem is, part of him doesn't want to come back.
It feels like he'd much rather move on.
Can I blame him?
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A/N - I did not get the 5 reviews I wanted, but there werea number of hits. Maybe for this chapter.