Chapter Two: The gift

"Harry! Harry!" yelled Ron. After reading the note from his friend, he had wasted no time in going to the Ministry. It could be truly dangerous to Apparate during those weather conditions -misplaced limbs had been known to occur. However Ron had done it without thinking it twice. He had been looking for Harry in his office, but he couldn't find him or anyone else. The building seemed to be empty. His heart was pounding rapidly. "Where the hell is everyone? God please, let them be okay!" he thought. He ran desperately across the long corridors calling out for Harry. And then, just as he stopped to catch some breath, he saw someone he'd thought he would never see again.

"Ginny? Is that you?" Ron said in shock. A few meters away, in front of him, was a young woman with long red hair, wearing a torn black cloak. She was staring at him, but her eyes were vague and distant. "Ginny? Er…er…Is--Who are you? Answer me", Ron demanded but he got no response. And suddenly he felt a burning pain in his eyes, and fell on his knees fainting.

"Ron? Ron, my son, are you alright?" said a voice that came from one of the corridors. Ron started to wake up, his whole body seemed to be in pain. With all the strength he could muster, he got up clinging on the walls.

"Dad! I'm…he-re…Dad…" Ron's voice was trembling. A few moments later, a tall red headed man came running towards him. It was his father, Mr. Arthur Weasley.

"Oh…for the life of--Ron, son, what happened to you?" asked Mr. Weasley. He had been a handsome man once, but a few years ago his face started to look like that of an older man that's suffered a terrible pain. He was now holding Ron, who was having difficulty in standing.

"Dad…Did you find Harry…I…I got an owl from him…Hermione she…er…he said she wasn't safe" said Ron who was beginning to regain full consciousness.

"Ron, she's fine, really…don't worry. C'mon sit, sit, you don't look well. What happened?" said Mr. Weasley concerned. For a moment, Ron, wished he was having a bad dream. He did not dare to mention what he had seen or what he thought he had seen. He wasn't sure anymore.

"I came looking for Harry, and then I saw a woman…she…I asked for her name, but she wouldn't say it and next thing I knew I was lying on the floor. How did you know I was here?" asked Ron.

"Oh, well, I went downstairs because I wanted to eat something, just a bite, you know your Mom doesn't approve of eating in the middle of the night…Anyway, when I was in the kitchen I read the piece of parchment that was on the floor. I assumed you were here, however I tried to locate Harry. I used Floo Powder, you know just the head, to see if he was in his flat, and there he was. But Ron, he said he didn't send anything tonight…I told him about the note, and he said he'd meet me here…"

"Ron! I had been looking for you all over the place" shouted Harry, who had arrived and seemed just as concerned as Mr. Weasley. His hair was just as untidy as ever and he appeared to have put on the first clothes he could find. "How are you?" he asked visibly nervous.

"It appears as though some woman attacked him. He doesn't know who she was" answered Mr. Weasley who looked slightly less worried for the first time since he had arrived.

"Are you sure? But the security in the Ministry is immense she couldn't have passed through if she was up to no good. We made sure of that, I thought we had. I reckon, maybe if she sent you the fake note. Did you fight back?" said Harry.

"Well, no, I mean, I didn't think she'd harm me. And she wasn't holding a wand, so I didn't see her as a threat, you know" Ron excused himself. The truth was that he had apparently seen his sister. He could not tell Harry about that, because of the way Harry felt for Ginny. Ron desperately wanted to talk to Hermione, to know she was well and to discuss what he'd just seen. A deep hole in his chest had formed when he read that note. He was relieved she was okay, but all he wanted to do was to hold her in his arms and protect her. He wanted her to know that she was the one for him, and that he would always be there for her. No matter what.

"It's okay, Ron. We better get you to a Healer, you seem to be in a lot of pain" said Mr. Weasley. He helped his son to stand up.

Suddenly a thought occurred to Ron. "Wait a moment, it was Hedwig! It was your owl who delivered the note to me. That's why I believed it. If you didn't send it, as I know you didn't…who could have done it?" he asked.

"Dunno, Hedwig hasn't come home in three days. Now, I fear something's happened to her. Let me notify the Phoenix Squadron, so they can come and secure the area", said Harry. He took a piece of what looked like old rock from his pocket and scribbled something on it with the tip of his wand.

"It's done. Come on, let's go", replied Harry as he seized Ron's arm and helped him to walk.

The three of them left the building. Ron was in pain so there was no time to be wasted. They walked down the street toward the nearest Healer, who was just a couple of blocks away. It was dark but at least it wasn't raining as heavy anymore. The streets were wet and slippery, so they had to be careful.

When they arrived, the Healer gave Ron a Restoring-Health Potion she'd made after examining for a while. Ron felt a lot better, given that the pain was going away.

"So, could you tell what originated the pain, Ms. Farjat?" asked Harry who looked relieved and even managed to smile. The Healer, Ann Farjat, was a middle-aged woman with blonde hair and delicate countenance.

"I'm not a specialist in this sort of wound, Mr. Potter. It's very rare, rare indeed, I'll say. It doesn't leave any traces behind, just pain. But not any kind of pain, it feels like burning, right Mr. Weasley?" she asked tentatively to Ron.

Harry and Mr. Weasley exchanged worried looks. Ron had not told them he had felt that bad. However, Ron remained indifferent and just nodded.

"Well, yes. I fear Mr. Potter, that this is an attack of dark magic. Not ordinary dark magic, no. And I believe I haven't seen a case like this in years. Now, Mr. Weasley we don't know the effects of this magic just yet. They could present themselves or not at all, however I would strongly recommend you to…"

"What does than mean?" snapped Mr. Weasley. "Isn't my son safe?" he demanded.

"Sir, please. Although I don't consider myself an expert I can tell you that your son is healthy. This attack or spell, whatever the origin, doesn't harm in that way. Believe me, if the person who did this had that intention your son wouldn't be here. I just want to advise you to check your son's behavior, if he acts differently. If the symptoms show up, then he'd be treated and I can recommend you the best Healer. That's all, you really shouldn't worry too much" said Ms. Farjat.

When they were outside, Ron, who looked almost recovered, was very silent.

"Don't worry Ron, I'm sure you'll be fine. You heard her, if anything happens you can be cured. But I'm sure it's nothing" said Harry trying to cheer him up.

"Harry, she said it was dark magic. And I'm convinced that nothing good ever came from the dark arts…Anyway, right now all I want to do is talk to Hermione, can you arrange it?" he said.

"Sure, mate, sure" answered Harry. He felt scared for his friend. He knew what it felt like to wait for something bad to happen. He waited for Voldemort almost all of his seventh year in Hogwarts to attack him. He had felt miserable and was determined to keep Ron from feeling the same.