"Harry?" Ron asked.

Harry didn't move.

"Harry?" Ron repeated. "Really, come on, now."

Harry still didn't move.

Ron started to panic. He couldn't be dead, he'd just watched him swallow the gillyweed. "H-Harry? R-really, get… get up, okay?"

Harry remained motionless.

"Harry, please!" Ron pleaded.

"He won't get up, you gibbering wreck," someone said just in front of him. "Oh, and let me go. I want to go see if Potter's dead. Life would be so much easier…."

Kelly staggered out of his arms and headed toward Harry.

"Oh, darn! I was rather hoping never to have to say good-bye. Ah, well, all hope is not lost, I presume?" Kelly said a malicious glint in her eye.

"V… Voldemort?" Ron whispered. He couldn't be facing Voldemort by himself. Not all by himself! He wasn't ready for this. The D.A. hadn't prepared him enough yet!

"Yes… I see you are not as dull-witted as Lucius likes to presume…. Hm… he is not quite wrong, though…." Voldemort replied, eyeing Ron and he circled him.

"What?" Ron dared ask. Ron's real temper didn't come up too much, but when it did, it flared.

"Well, you are poorer than Lucius complains… no wonder your mother is so poor… my, my, Lucius underestimates your financial problems…." Voldemort remarked.

"Excuse you?" Ron asked incredulously. He could not believe the Dark Lord was talking to him like this! What would his mother say?

And her voice rang in his mind. He'd been around her all his life, after all; he ought to know what she would say (he'd been in trouble enough with her, too).

Oh, Ron, are you sure you're all right? You-Know-Who didn't hurt you, did he? Oh, my poor, poor baby…

"I AM NOT A POOR BABY!" Ron suddenly found himself yelling.

Voldemort looked at him in mild surprise. "I didn't say you were a baby, though if that is what you wish, I will by no means disillusion you that you are not."

"SHUT UP!" Ron yelled. "SHUT UP, SHUT UP, SHUT UP! I AM NOT A POOR BABY, SO DON'T YOU CALL ME ONE! IF YOU WANT TO SEE A POOR BABY, GO TALK TO NEVILLE LONGBOTTOM, BUT IF YOU MAKE ONE MORE CRACK ABOUT ME OR MY FAMILY, I PROMISE YOU--I PROMISE YOU--YOU WILL NOT LIVE TO REGRET IT!"

Ron breathed very heavily. Voldemort just looked at him, as thought sizing him up.

"You have a lot of anger in you," Voldemort finally said. "Why not use it for us? Play spy for us, and I could give you power you never dreamed of… beyond your wildest dreams… I could make you better than all your brothers…."

He'd touched a nerve. The image Ron had seen in the Mirror of Erised came back to him, but much better than before. Not only was he holding the Quidditch Cup and the House Cup, and hold team captaincy, as well as being Head Boy, but he had an Order of Merlin, first class, and he was Minister of Magic; he'd replaced that ugly git, Fudge! And he was an Auror! He was Minister of Magic and an Auror! And all he had to do was follow Voldemort….

But then there's Harry… said a small voice in his head.

Oh, who needs him! Look what he's done! He's almost gotten you killed multiple times! another voice argued.

Yes… but not on purpose. Voldemort murders for the fun of it.

Eh, who knows? Maybe killing is fun….

"I'm sorry," Ron said finally, shoving the evil voice in his head aside. "I'm not going to betray Harry. I'm not going to murder innocent people for the sake of that reason alone. The fact that they are innocent."

"As you wish," Voldemort said, raising Kelly's wand. "Goodbye. Avada Ked--"

"EXPELLIARMUS!" someone shouted from below.

Voldemort was thrown backwards with a jolt. Ron looked down--Harry was up! He was smiling at Ron; Ron returned the smile. Harry had heard his decision.

Harry looked up at Voldemort, leaving Ron's face. His eyes changed from compassion to a burning hatred in the blink of an eye. He had a fire in them Ron had never seen before, like now he had a purpose for destroying Voldemort, a true purpose.

But Voldemort started laughing. Ron looked at him. "Can you hear that, Potter?" Voldemort cackled. "Can you hear her screaming? You haven't hurt me, you've hurt her! And now she's screaming in agony, in even more than I put her through when I take over…."

"Where's Hermione?" Harry asked, pointing his wand directly where Voldemort's heart would be, if he had one.

"You'll never find her," Voldemort said merrily.

"Oh, you wait and see," Harry said venomously. "You watch, you wait… we'll find her…."

Voldemort laughed. "First, you must get out of this lake alive!"

Kelly went into a daze. Harry lowered his wand and put it back in his robes. Ron reached in to make sure his was still there; it was.

Kelly didn't open her eyes, but went right back to unconscious sleep when Voldemort left her.

"Are you okay, Ron?" Harry asked seriously, amazingly ignoring Kelly and turning his attention on Ron.

"Y-yeah, I'm… I'm fine…." Ron stuttered.

Harry nodded and just smiled thankfully. "That meant a lot, Ron. I know what he said must have hit home."

"It did, so I better get a special reward now," Ron said, swimming next to Harry as they started to go get Kelly from where she had landed after being possessed. "You have no idea what kind of dream I gave up, and all for a lousy kid with messy black hair."

Harry grinned. "Git…"

Ron picked Kelly up and smiled at his friend.

"Here, give her to me," Harry said.

"Harry, you're hurt. I'm not going to give her to you!" Ron said.

"Ron, don't argue," Harry said. "I can--"

Kelly made an odd sputtering noise.

"What was that?" Harry asked.

"I dunno," Ron said, looking down at her.

She made it again, her face turning more and more pale by the moment.

"Ron, she can't breathe!" Harry exclaimed, seeing her webbed hands and feet starting to turn back to normal. "Give her some gillyweed!"

Ron quickly rummaged through her pockets again. "Uh… here!" He handed it to Harry. "Now what?"

Harry quickly forced the gillyweed into her mouth. "There."

She was still growing paler and paler by the moment. Harry opened her mouth to look inside. She almost choked, but in the few short seconds he got, he saw that she had not yet swallowed the gillyweed.

Harry relayed this to Ron. "Well… um… hit her."

"What?" Harry asked, sure he misheard Ron.

"Hit her," Ron repeated. "Like this…" He quickly hit Kelly upside the head.

Slowly but surely, she started to reproduce her gills and webbed hands and feet. Harry and Ron breathed a sigh of relief.

"That was close," Ron said.

"Agreeable," Harry replied.

They were quiet for several moments before Harry spoke up again.

"So… what all happened while I was unconscious? I came back when I heard Voldemort ask if you wanted to join him."

Ron told Harry all that had happened. He grinned. "And I didn't go over to the dark side. I am so good."

"'Course, Ron," Harry said, grinning.

They looked at each other for a moment, then Ron said, "Shall we be off then?"

Harry nodded and together they swam off, deeply hoping no other dangers would come their way.

But this was Harry Potter, and danger followed him like Colin Creevey.