Funeral Pyre, Chapter Three- Private Hell

The broken cobbles of Hogwarts great hall cracked under Granger's feet as she made her made through it. Most of the castle was a ruin; for most of the past twenty years, the children of wizarding Britain had been taught in central locations. Better to keep an eye on what they were learning.

All for their own benefit, of course.

At least, that's what Granger told herself. She might be a monster, but everyone told themselves lies to feel better.

In such a short space of time, her regime had fallen apart. Barely a week ago, it had seemed secure, utterly secure. But now? The remnants of the ministry had gone over to the rebels, exiled families had returned from France and Ireland to join the rebellion as it swept through the country. Finally, earlier that day, her own headquarters had been overrun. It had been sheer dumb luck that she apparated away before the rebels had arrived.

All the work of this mysterious figure, somehow able to completely outthink her. But… it wasn't possible. The only person who could ever do that was dead. Very dead. She'd made sure he was dead.

'You never were very good at chess.'

Granger whirled around. Her mouth fell open in shock. Her heart seemed to fail.

Ron Weasley was stood a few feet away. But… he wasn't the Ron she knew. He was younger, for one thing; barely in his mid-twenties. He was also taller, and his eyes were bright. Shining with a fierce intensity.

'Ron? How…'

'The multiverse brought me here,' he replied, his tone steady, but with an underlying anger. 'From another reality. A reality where you still have morals.'

'You dare speak to me of morals?'

'This coming from a dictator like you,' Ron replied, grimly. 'Why did you do all this? Turning wizarding Britain into a police state, making everyone live in fear, having people disappear if they crossed you? Was it even worth it?'

'Worth it? Of course it was worth it! I did this so no-one would ever have to go through what I went through!' Granger bellowed. 'So no-one would die like Ron did!'

'And yet…' Ron said, his blue eyes now burning with anger. '…you brought him back from the dead. Harry told me. Judging from the fact you re-buried Ron, I'm guessing he didn't like what you'd become: a monster.'

Granger looked like he'd slapped her.

'I shouldn't have brought Ron back,' she said, slowly. 'It was… a mistake. A mistake I corrected.'

'You mean you killed him again?'

'I didn't kill him!'

'"Can't kill what was dead already", right?' Ron replied, sarcastically. 'Load of bollocks and you know it; you just couldn't stand the fact that any version of Ron would never accept the world you created in his name. A dictatorship born out of a twisted love for a dead man? A dead man that you killed again once you saw how horrified he was by you? The Hermione I know would never be this ruthless.'

'The Hermione you knew likely never had to go through losing the man she loved-'

The castle shook around them. Bricks started crumbling, and bits of plaster began to fall from the ceiling. The Great Hall shuddered, and a huge supporting beam crashed to the floor. It was as if Hogwarts itself was horrified by what Granger had done.

'The castle is coming down around us!' Ron yelled. 'We need to get out of here!'

Granger didn't respond.

'Didn't you hear me?' Ron yelled, striding forward. 'If we don't get out, we'll be crushed-'

Granger thrust out an arm, and Ron winced. But there was no spell. She was simply holding out a hand, as if to push him away.

'You go,' Granger said, softly. 'Get out while you can.'

'Are you mad?' Ron yelled. 'You'll be killed-'

'Go!'

There was another crash, and a second beam crashed to the floor. Ron gave one last look at Granger, but she was now staring up at the faded and torn banner of Godric Gryffindor hanging on the high wall.

Ron turned and ran, the walls of the great hall beginning to crumble and fall around him. The redhead jumped over a pile of rubble, and into the entrance hall. The huge oak doors had long since fallen off their hinges, and Ron charged outside onto the front lawn. The ground was shaking with the amount of rubble crashing down. Gasping, Ron came to a halt on the front drive, a good distance away.

He turned.

What faced him was an enormous pile of rubble. Hogwarts Castle had disintegrated. Every tower and building of the school had collapsed.

Ron stood for a while, as the ground slowly stopped shaking.

He let out a sigh, and walked back through the rubble of what used to be the great hall. He didn't want to rush. Partially because the rubble wasn't easy to manoeuvre through, but mainly because of what he was afraid he'd find. The landscape looked so different without Hogwarts castle being the permanent fixture that it had always previously been.

Up against what had previously been the far wall, where the banners of the four Hogwarts houses had once been placed, was a wand, broken in two, lying on top of a huge pile of rubble.

Granger's wand.

'I hope you're finally at peace,' Ron whispered.

He turned, and walked away.


Upon reaching the front drive, Ron discovered Harry, along with Steve and the other resistance fighters. Well, they weren't just a resistance anymore, really. The sun shone and the faces shone brighter.

'Thank you,' Steve said, smiling and shaking Ron's hand as he joined them. 'Word had just come from London; the vestiges of Granger's forces have officially surrendered.'

A great cheer went up from the assembled resistance fighters. Including one group of redheads.

'Everyone,' Harry said, leading Ron over to them. 'This is Ron, but from a different reality. A… well, certainly a kinder reality than the one ours turned into.'

The Molly Weasley of this reality smiled, her eyes glistening with tears.

'Sorry,' Ron said. 'I understand this must be difficult for you all, seeing me.'

The Ginny of this world shook her head.

'It's fine, really. It's… it's good to know that things didn't go so badly in other realities.'

'Yes, but now you have the opportunity to make this reality a good one,' Ron replied, looking round at them all. 'Granger is gone, her regime destroyed. You can now build something better.'

'Do you think we'll be able to?' Harry asked. 'I mean, it's been so long since our world has known any semblance of peace.'

'I hope so,' Ron said. 'And hope for a better future is the best tool you can have.'

Ginny, and that world's version of Luna, joined Harry and they hugged Ron.

'Thank you,' Ginny said. 'Truly. You've done so much for us.'

'You would have all done the same for my reality if the shoe was on the other foot. I got your back, Gin.'

Ginny nodded, smiling as she pulled away.

'That's true. Although…' she looked over at the rubble of what used to be Hogwarts School. 'What are we going to do about schools, then?'

'Don't start up Hogwarts again,' replied Ron, thinking aloud. 'It should be laid to rest. Besides, all that house nonsense was what started off all this harm in the first place. I know Granger got rid of the houses, but that was for her own purposes. You need a proper wizarding school. A way to teach future generations how to get along, and not just divide them up into comfort zones where they can only develop ingrained habits. Hufflepuff seemed to have been the only Hogwarts founder who had the right idea, and her house barely got any say in anything. Even other European wizarding schools seem to just enjoy pointless competition to settle old scores. The whole system needs to be rebuilt from the ground up. The Luna from my reality really liked Discworld; maybe try something like that instead of… well, what we've had.'

'I think that's a good idea,' said Ginny. 'I-what? What's happening?'

She was pointing in shock at Ron's body. He looked down, and chuckled.

'Don't worry,' he said, watching his body becoming increasingly transparent. 'That's just the multiverse telling me it's almost time for me to go home.'

'So… the multiverse's champion, then?' Harry said, chuckling. 'You go where you're needed?'

'Hopefully, this will be it for me,' Ron said. 'It doesn't make for an easy life, constantly being thrown around the multiverse to clean things up. I could use a permanent holiday.'

'Well, when you have the best…' Ginny said, chuckling. 'I suppose the multiverse could use a champion. There's probably a lot of realities that need some TLC.'

'In future, it can choose a different champion,' Ron replied. 'Bloody nightmare. I've sick of being thrown into random realities without so much as a how'd-you-do. Being unstuck in space-time isn't much fun.'

'Nonetheless, thank you,' Harry said, smiling. 'Although… I just wish we still had our Ron. We all miss him.'

'I know,' Ron replied, as the rainbow vortex slowly came more and more into view before him. 'But… I think he would be glad that things eventually worked out. Even if he couldn't see it for himself.'

He shared one last smile with everyone, before the world disappeared completely around him and, for the very last time, Ron Weasley found himself flying along the rainbow vortex back to his own reality.