Chapter Thirty Eight

Friendship and Freedom

Ron had never felt more miserable in his entire life as he watched the tears fall silently on Hermione's cheeks.

This is all my fault. If I didn't say what I did this morning, she wouldn't have gone to her parents'. She wouldn't be here now.

He wished with all his might of whatever magic there was out there that she could hear his mind as well as Harry's. He would give anything to take back what he said this morning to her. It hardened his resolve to get out of this situation, but he just couldn't figure out how. They were completely in the mercy of another Dark Lord in the making but this time there appeared to be no way out.

"Harry, we can't die like this!" he said desperately. "I can't let her die like this!"

"I know. I've tried breaking this bind, but even my wandless magic won't do. It's not powerful enough. Maybe if we tried together?"

"You know I don't know how."

"Try. Help me. Focus your energies on breaking it with me."

For the first time since yesterday morning, Ron was grateful Harry was with him. Together they concentrated on breaking the spell, but somehow it did not loosen in any way.

De Lancre noticed their expression and began to laugh. "Are you under the impression that you can break that bind without wands? Save your energies. It will not happen. I had an elf bind you. It will take more than two wandless wizards to break that."

"I tell you what," de Lancre smiled cruelly. "I will give you and Dolohov a treat. He can have powers first and you can watch the entire process of turning Hermione into a muggle. Would not that be nice?"

"As nice as I want to see the insides of your head split into a thousand pieces and use the shell for bludger practice!" growled Ron.

"Quite creative set of insults, Weasley, but it will only happen in your dreams. Which will cease of course after I have Potter's powers and feed your souls to the dementor."

He called for Balder and several other elves to bring the dementor in.

"Atalanta's prejudice with you has worked to my favor. Since she has never assigned you on dementor guard duty I am always alone on my watch. Alone and free to take a dementor out to serve my purposes."

De Lancre continued to gloat but Ron was no longer paying attention. He was looking at Hermione. Her eyes were focused on them, her lips moving silently as if she was speaking. But it was her gaze that called to him and made him calm. It was as if she was begging him not to break eye contact with her and so he didn't. He stared at her for what seemed like hours though hardly a few seconds had passed. He felt completely mesmerized with her and suddenly there was nothing else in the world that mattered. Keeping her gaze was all that was important.

He could feel something changing inside him. He couldn't understand it but he felt as if she was so much nearer to him and that she understood his need to break free so greatly.

Hermione, I love you, Ron whispered silently and surprisingly he felt as if she responded the same way. At the same time he felt something from her that made every inch of his entire body down to his bones tingle with renewed energy. Something in his head appeared to be saying to him: Try again. Break the bind, break the bind.

He channeled this new energy into the bind again and he felt Harry do the same and where surprised when they realized they could move their fingers. It was subtle but it was there. Ron was ecstatic, a tiny surge of hope crept up his heart, but it plummeted again when he saw Hermione break eye contact with him and closed her eyes. The spell that caught him was gone, but he still felt the energy swirling in his body. Hermione however, looked exactly the opposite. She looked so pale and exhausted, as if she aged ten years in a span of seconds.

"Harry do you feel that?"

"Yes," gasped Harry fearfully. "But Hermione… she looks so tired. It's like she just lost half her life… Oh no!"

"What?" Ron gasped. He could feel Harry's sense of dread.

"Ron, I think she's lost her magic!"

"What! What are you talking about? Lancry hasn't taken it out yet."

"She gave it away. Ron I think she gave it to us. Remember what she said? There was a way to transfer powers but only if the giver was willing. Ron, she sacrificed her magic to us, so we can be stronger and be able to break free!"

"Merlin…"

"We have to get out somehow. Come on Ron, work with me, it's our only chance."

They tried again, this time they had more success, they were able to move their hands more but the rest of their body was still frozen.

Their concentration was interrupted by a sudden feeling of cold and hopelessness that announced the arrival of the dementor controlled by two of the elves.

De Lancre was looking pleased. "No need to worry," he assured them. "It is perfectly safe as long as you have elves to control them. As you can see, I can make it do whatever I wish. Let me demonstrate." He turned to Balder. "Balder, order that dementor to come near Potter and Weasley."

Balder made a movement with his hand at the dementor and it moved as ordered. Ron felt his own self-doubt trigger. What was he thinking? He could never get out of this situation even with Hermione's magic. All of them were going to die and he will watch Hermione die before him with her thinking that he spurned her for another girl.

"Ron, don't give in…" Harry gasped. "Think happy thoughts. We can get out, we can get out."

Ron struggled to snap out of it. With every inch of his willpower he resolved to follow Harry's advice.

"You're right, Harry. Happy thoughts. Happy thoughts. We will get out. We have Hermione's magic, that's more than enough to get us out of a fix."

"We have each other. It's always that and we can always pull through together. Remember all those years at Hogwarts when we used to work together as a team. We defeated Voldemort back then and we can do it again!" Harry added with as much triumph as he could muster. Ron could feel the coldness weaken.

"Yes, Harry. You're right. We destroyed that scum. And we can stand against any dark lord wannabe that comes along."

"Yeah!" Harry screamed. "Lancry's going down!"

"And we're going to do it, together! Glad to have you with me, Harry—my sixth brother!"

That last thought was just so inspiring, it filled Ron with a happiness that made the dementor back off a bit. Ron and Harry would have continued in that vein but the de Lancre had already ordered the dementor away from them and towards Hermione.

"No evil creature comes near my Hermione!" Ron shouted. He could hear Harry screaming a similar battlecry. Together they concentrated on their bind and they could feel the spell give way completely.

The dementor was already on top of Hermione who looked absolutely terrified but was helpless to move.

"Ready Harry? What's your happy thought?"

"You! The best friend I have ever had."

"Thanks, mate. You're my happy thought too. Shall we do it together?"

Harry nodded their head and they both screamed: "Expecto Patronum!"

To their surprise, three Patronuses, not two, appeared: Harry's stag, Ron's knight and Hermione's otter. The spells were so powerful they completely blew away the dementor. It retreated to a small chamber at the end of room where some of the smaller torture devices where kept.

"What the—" de Lancre was flabbergasted but he wasn't shocked for long. He had his wand out in a split second. "Avada Kedavra!"

Harry and Ron dodged.

"Balder, Odin, Frigga, I want them captured!"

The three elves hesitated but attacked all the same. Harry managed to deflect two curses with simple Expelliarmus charms before the three Patronuses closed in and made the cellar so thick with mist that it effectively hid them.

"Ron, my wandless magic is limited. I can't do stronger charms and hexes. You have to do something."

"Don't ask me! I can't do wandless magic at all!"

"You just did now."

"The Patronus is different. You helped."

They heard a shout from de Lancre and the Patronuses vanished leaving them clear targets. De Lancre launched another Unforgivable while the three elves shot out their own spells. There was nothing Harry and Ron could do but dodge. Two more elves had appeared and joined in the attack.

Harry set up a Protego charm around them just as they rolled out of the way of another spell. They were cornered near the wall and the elves' magic was beginning to break through.

"Ron! I can't hold it! Do something!"

"What?"

"Anything!"

A sense of de ja vu hit him. He saw something large, heavy and metallic near two of the elves. He focused his energies on his free right hand and shouted: "Wingardium Leviosa!"

The metal object levitated near two of the elves's heads then he suddenly released the spell. It knocked off the two elves. Triumph surged into Ron at this first time achievement. But more elves were appearing so there was no time to celebrate.

Their protego charm gave way with a blast from de Lancre's direction. They felt two cuts on their healing shoulder but they ignored the pain and spill of blood and continued to dodge. Harry threw an occasional simple Stupefy or Impedimenta that only managed to deflect the spells.

"Ron, I could use some help!"

"Relashio!" Ron shouted towards de Lancre but nothing happened.

"Maybe a little less ambitious!" Harry admonished as he sent another disarming charm.

"Well I can't knock all of them over the head!" But an idea struck him. It sounded silly but he didn't have time to think of that. They were backed against a pile of old stuff, some he figured were rusted and fallen off parts of the torture devices. He grabbed whatever item he could carry and tossed it to the attacking elves as hard as he could. He missed but he didn't stop to think. He felt something round by his feet and kicked it as hard as he could.

"Why the hell are you doing football—"

But Harry didn't finish his comment. The second item managed to knock down an elf. Ron continued to toss whatever he could find while Harry continued to hurl simple hexes.

"We can't go on like this," said Harry. "Ron, do magic!"

"I can't!"

"We have Hermione's. Use it!"

Ron thought quickly. Hermione knew so many spells, surely there was at least some she could do easily. Then it struck him. He tried to think of how Hermione had appeared when she had used wandless spells and he focused on channeling one spell he remembered and channeled them to his right hand.

"Inflamari!" he shouted.

Hermione's favorite flaming spell knocked off a few elves. With a sudden burst of confidence, Ron repeated it and it had the same effect. He decided to try a simpler spell: "Petrificulus Totalus!"

He managed to knock unconscious another elf. He continued shouting out what he remembered were Hermione's favored simple hexes and he managed to succeed half the time in making them come out, while Harry worked on defense.

But as he went on he felt he was getting tired. Wandless magic required twice the energy and right now he and Harry had nearly expelled all of theirs. A trip jinx finally did them in and they collapsed to the floor and were not able to dodge de Lancre's partial body bind in time.

De Lancre calmly walked over to them and made a slashing motion with his wand several times. Dozens of small but ugly slashes appeared on different parts of their body one after another. Each one felt more painful than the next.

"Do not worry, that will not be enough for you to bleed to dead," he said cruelly. "I need you alive a little longer to have Potter's powers, but looking healthy is not a requirement."

He gave them one final cut on the left cheek. "There, something to match your scar before I take your magic." He ordered Balder to bid the dementor to approach.

Ron's heart sank. It was over. They were broken and bleeding on that cold floor where they would die. As the dementor approached he felt all sense of hope lost. Not even Harry could muster anything to say to him.

Ron watched in horror as the dementor above him lower its hood. He could smell its horrible breath and feel its clammy hands grasp him by the shoulders. He shut his eyes, knowing any minute he would be unconscious.

Suddenly he felt the fog slip away and he realized the dementor had moved away from him. He struggled to make sense of his surroundings and he heard shouting.

"I am your Master, I order you to kill them!"

"No, stay back!"

"What's happening?" gasped Harry wearily.

They fought to look up but their vision was blurred from all the blood seeping through a cut from their temple that was falling over their eyes. Ron tried to use his hand to wipe it away when suddenly he realized there was nothing to wipe and their wounds were no longer bleeding or hurting as much.

"Master Harry! Oh my poor Master Harry!"

"Mickey, Bless You!" Harry said in relief. Suddenly they realized they could move again though they still felt sore and weak. Mickey helped them to sit up.

A dozen Black elves were in the room in front of De Lancre. Across from him was a frail-looking Tonks half-supported by Lupin. Tonks and de Lancre were shouting orders at the elves, who appeared to be confused as to which Black heir they would obey.

"I order you not to listen to my cousin!" de Lancre shouted. He pointed at Lupin. "Stun him!"

"I order you not to!" Tonks quickly replied.

But Balder stunned Lupin just the same and Tonks was forced to lean on the wall. De Lancre grinned triumphantly. "It will not work anymore Tonks. I have won."

A worried look passed into Tonks face, but it lasted only a second. Suddenly she was tugging at her robes.

"Here!" she tossed it to the nearest elf who happened to be Balder. She removed her shirt and half ripped up her trousers in a hurry to remove them.

Ron and Harry were shocked. Why in the world was Tonks disrobing in front of them?

"What are you doing?" de Lancre looked just as shocked. But then realization came to his face. "Stop her!" he ordered Balder.

"No!" yelled Tonks. "You're free! And you, and you," she tossed two more elves her shirt and trousers. She was tugging off her boots at the same time. "You have a choice now! You don't have to obey him anymore!" She tossed her boots and pair of socks to four more elves. All in all, there were seven elves that had articles of Tonk's clothing, but there were five more without.

"You!" de Lancre barked to an elf without clothes. "Kill her!"

The elf moved to strike but before it could, Balder blasted it with away. The other seven elves closed in on the remaining four to protect Tonks.

De Lancre laughed. "You may have seven elves Tonks, but I have more and you are running out of clothes." He summoned more elves and he shouted the command not to listen to Tonks almost immediately as they appeared so Tonks could not command them otherwise.

"Mickey!" Harry shouted. "Do something, don't let him speak."

"My pleasure, Master Harry!" cried the little elf excitedly. And before de Lancre could utter another command, Mickey had hit him with her own spell that rendered him speechless. It gave the opportunity for Tonks to retaliate.

"Go upstairs," she said to two of the freed elves. "Inform the rest of the elves fighting the Aurors to cease and stay there until I command them to,' she said.

The two elves disappeared and Tonks signaled the rest of the elves non-verbally to step aside and they did. Tonks slowly advanced on de Lancre along with the remaining newly freed elves. De Lancre silently shot several random spells at Tonks but the elves were quick to shield her. When the air cleared, they found de Lancre had disappeared.

"He can't have apparated," said Harry to Tonks. "The place is unplottable."

"And upstairs, the place is crawling with Aurors," explained Tonks who looked relieved at seeing them up. "Ginny got in touch with Maddy and brought them. Remus rescued me from one of the rooms upstairs and got me here in time."

There was a piercing scream and Ron and Harry both realized what it meant. De Lancre had retreated to the smaller chamber in the cellar… where the Mickey had sent the dementor earlier when she commanded it away from Harry and Ron.

Ignoring their own aching body, Ron and Harry quickly got up and pushed past the knocked out elves and Dolohov who was hit by a stray spell. "Mickey!" shouted Harry. "Immobilize the dementor, now!"

But it was too late. By the time they reached the room and Mickey had kept the dementor at bay, all Ron and Harry found was de Lancre sitting on the floor staring blindly into space.

A/N: Finally, it me so long to work towards that end, but I finally made it. There will be three more chapters to go, plus an epilogue before I finally close this story.

By the way, to FredandGeorgeWeasleyareMYKings, I forgot to answer your question. The reason why they suspected Tonks is because Bellatrix is dead. Remember in the first chapter she was killed by Neville? I forgot to mention Narcissa, but she also died during the war. That leaves Tonks and Draco as the only known Blacks.