Funeral Pyre, Chapter One

Ron Weasley found himself awoken by water on his face. Which was strange; he had gone to sleep inside as normal.

It had been a fairly standard day. Working at the shop for his shift, hanging out with Harry, Luna, Hermione, Neville and Ginny over dinner, and then an early night. After all, he wasn't as young as he was, and he needed the hours of sleep. He had reached that stage in his twenties when he needed the rest, quite frankly.

Ron opened his eyes, and immediately knew something was off.

For one thing, he was lying on wet grass. The sky was mostly dark, but there were occasional flashes of lightning.

Sitting up, Ron surveyed the area around him. It was some sort of graveyard, judging by the headstones. The redhead quickly got to his feet. Already, he could feel his adrenalin pumping.

Somehow, he seemed to be wearing his normal clothes, despite having put on pyjamas when he had gone to bed. Ron wasn't complaining, however, and pulled his wand out of the pocket of his jeans. Judging by how he was mostly still dry, he couldn't have been lying there very long.

Lumos!

The nonverbal spell activated, and the end of his wand glowed with a strong light, illuminating the headstone directly next to him. Ron's eyes zipped over the name engraved, and his stomach seemed to fall several inches.

Ronald Bilius Weasley

1980-1998

Beloved son, brother and friend.

This couldn't be happening.

Ron swallowed. It had been years since he had been transported to a different reality, and he had expected never to have to repeat the experience. But, sure enough, here he was.

Clearly, the version of himself in this universe had been killed years ago. Except…

Ron's eyes widened.

The earth on the grave didn't match the age of the gravestone.

Which was baffling. The graveyard itself did not look new. The lettering was starting to fade; given how much rain seemed to be coming down, it had been out in all weathers for at least half a decade.

Very strange.

Deciding that maybe he should compare to the other headstones around, just in case the graveyard had been a recent creation, Ron turned to the headstone of the grave nearest and turned his wand on it to inspect the lettering.

The words on the headstone did little to calm him.

Dean Thomas

1980-2004

Trusted friend, son, and husband

~Body missing, presumed transfigured~

Dean? But… why 2004? That was years after the war had ended? Was it possible the second wizarding war had continued here for years after it had finished in Ron's own reality? And… "missing, presumed transfigured"? What was going on?

'Hello, Ron.'

Ron turned on the spot, naturally falling into a defensive position from which he could duel.

A figure was standing a few feet away, just out of reach of Ron's wand-light. They were wearing a long trench coat. Their accent was American and seemed strangely familiar.

'I see you're a little confused,' the figure said, slowly moving forward. A crack of lightning briefly illuminated a large, very run-down face. 'Very understandable, given the circumstances.'

The figure moved into Ron's wand-light, and Ron felt his anger flare. He'd recognise that face anywhere.

It was Steve.


'Ow.'

'I said I was sorry; the last time I saw that face, it's owner was trying to murder me and Harry.'

'The multiverse is a very strange thing,' said Steve, tentatively rubbing the large bruise mark already forming around his eye. 'I suppose it would make sense that some alternative versions of me would be… well, less than friendly.'

The two of them were sat on a bench under a tree. The rain had let off slightly, but the sky was still dark. Occasionally, lightning cracked above.

'That's an understatement,' muttered Ron. Without thinking, he had shot a stunning spell at Steve before punching him in the face, giving the man the large black eye that was now looking rather tender to the touch, given Steve's obvious discomfort. 'The man was a maniac.'

'Well, I'm not him,' said Steve. 'And I'm not the one who brought you here, either.'

'You're not?'

Steve shook his head.

'I did receive a… summons of sorts, though. Us in the resistance have our ways of finding out these things.'

'Wait… resistance?'

Steve didn't speak, but instead handed Ron something wrapped in a handkerchief.

Ron unfolded it, and his mouth fell open.

'Dumbledore's deluminator,' he gasped, holding the put-outer up to his eye. 'So… this exists here too?'

'Yes,' Steve said. 'It told us you would be arriving. Light poured out of it, and then we were shown your face and that you'd be in the graveyard to the war dead.'

'Wait… war dead?'

Steve's forehead crinkled, as if working out how to explain.

'When did the war finish in your reality?' he asked.

'1998, at the battle of Hogwarts,' Ron replied. 'Why? Has it continued on past that point here?'

'Oh, the war ended… for a while. The death-eaters were destroyed. It seemed to be the dawning of a new era. Only…'

'Only what?'

'Things… weird things started happening. First, the disappearances… then, the ministry elections being cancelled permanently due to "times of national security", Umbridge vanishing off the face of the earth, and then… heroes from the second war started vanishing too… you saw Dean Thomas's grave, although no-one ever found the poor man's body…'

'Who… who did all this?'

'Ron, you see…' Steve said, gently. 'This was done by the… well, no-one called her that at the time, but we now call her the Dark Lady.'

'Dark Lady?' Ron gasped. 'Bellatrix-'

'No,' Steve said, quickly. 'Not Lestrange. Ron… the Dark Lady is… well, her moniker is…

'What? Who are they?'

'…Granger.'

Ron almost dropped the deluminator. His veins seemed to turn to ice.

'You… you can't be serious? Hermione…'

'She hasn't gone by that name in a very long time,' Steve said, quietly. 'She's been the dictator of wizarding Britain for almost twenty years now.'

'And… Harry?'

'He's in Azkaban. Granger got rid of the dementors, but she still keeps the prison operational. Potter's been in there loads of times, but he often manages to escape. He's been a massive help to the resistance; Granger can't kill him because she knows how badly that would look on her, executing "the boy who lived".'

'He always hated being called that.'

'True. But he's still alive, at the very least. He almost managed to capture Granger three years into her reign, but he got caught by her guards.'

Ron sat for a moment, thinking.

'Steve… why did my counterparts grave look like it had been re-dug?'

Steve's face seemed to go white.

'It was?' he said, a look of growing horror on his face. 'You're sure? You definitely thought it was dug again?'

Ron nodded.

Steve swallowed, looking more and more worried by the minute.

'There were… rumours.'

'Rumours?' Ron repeated. 'What rumours?'

'We… we heard tales of… strange things happening. Years ago. Three years after Granger became Minister for Magic, roughly the same time Potter almost got her. Some say… some say that your counterpart's corpse was exhumed and taken away.'

'Whatever for?'

Steve stared up at Ron, his eyes lined with worry.

'No…' Ron said, stumbling backwards and sitting down. 'No… that's not possible. No spell can… can...'

'Reawaken the dead? No decent magic-user would ever do it,' Steve said, grimly. 'But… well, Granger had already done enough bad things-'

'But resurrecting the Ron who had died in 1998?' Ron exclaimed, horrified. 'That's… that's…'

Steve nodded in understanding.

'Well, it clearly didn't work, whatever she did,' Ron said. 'Because the grave was re-dug.'

'We need to check.'

The two of them headed back into the cemetery and over to the grave of Ron's counterpart. Ron put out his wand and casted a spell designed for locating corpses (you learned things like this in the aurors).

Ron saw the feedback from his wand, and tried again. And again. No… it wasn't possible.

Nothing.

No corpse.

'Empty,' he said, trying to hold back the bile in his throat. 'The body wasn't reburied; it's been moved somewhere else.'

'But why keep the headstone?' Steve wondered aloud.

'Appearances,' Ron said. 'That way, no one would ever know. Who's going to check to make sure a grave has a body underneath?'

'Where do you think the body's been taken?'

'Well, if Granger is anything like the Hermione I know, she'd put it in an obvious place, but also somewhere she could set up tracking spells, just in case someone started snooping.'

'Where, then?'

Ron sighed.

'A few places. But… probably the Burrow.'

'It's been abandoned for years, ever since the Weasleys fled to France!'

Ron nodded.

The two of them sat in silence on the ground for a moment, both of them clearly in thought. Ron didn't know quite what to think; he'd clearly be sent to a world in dire need of help. There were a lot of people who were suffering. And his mum had always told him that he had to protect people wherever he could.

He turned to Steve.

'You say you're a part of the resistance movement?'

'Yes,' Steve said. 'We're spread out across the country; we often get funding and supplies from the Weasleys and other families living in exile.'

'Right… in that case; Steve?'

'Yes?'

Ron got to his feet, and clicked the deluminator. Light burst into the sky, illuminating the entire area around them. The sun suddenly broke through the clouds over the horizon, and the redheads hair seemed to burn like a beacon. Ron's blue eyes blazed, and his mouth was set, determined.

'Where do I start?'