A/N: Alright, so I really really really messed up my schedule. I am really sorry to those who were waiting for the next update. I really hope you haven't given up. Engineering entrance examinations are fucking irritating and that has thrown me off. I'm studying like crazy, and when I burn out, I write this. Believe it or not, I have written quite ahead, but I was stuck on some connecting scenes. That's why this is a bit on the smaller side, but the next chapter is huge. It will be a Halloween chapter!.

Also, esspressowho, you are officially my favorite reader you for your reviews.

Disclaimer: I don't own HP, I only love it.

Chapter 6: Counsel & Charades

"Right, so what do we owe the pleasure of this meeting?" , Harry asked, directing his question to Draco as he sat on the couch. The room had transformed to resemble the Gryffindor common room, both to present a home feature to the duo, and also to not let Malfoy guess the true purpose of the room of requirement.

Draco looked nervous. He was nervous he thought as he wiped his sweaty hands on his robes and sat down, failing to look infallible. Daphne took the seat next to him while Tracy accompanied Ron to a settee.

Thankfully, Daphne took temporary command. " We have to tell you both somethings but first you must vow not to interrupt at all. It is...difficult for us to articulate, and we don't want to be hindered by first reactions and exclamations.

Harry understood that as a reference to Ron's famous temper and he exchanged a look with the latter as they nodded, giving their assent to her conditions.

"Right," Draco said as he cleared his throat. He turned away from Weasley because he knew his reaction would be much more extreme than that of Potter. " I have written down everything regarding it here" ,he indicated to a parchment that he took out of his robes. He tossed it to Ron.

Taking the plunge, he started. " Nott approached me nearly a month ago, some days after you saved me from that wild hippogriff" He stopped to gauge his reaction to his claim. Seeing none, he continued, " He started rambling about how we should start taking our legacies back and show some people their place in the school. He was particularly irritated with the new staff employments and wanted us to teach some students some lessons of wizarding history."

" I played along for a start, but his plans were….not good. He started talking about mu-granger-" Ron gave a start as he sat upright."- and started saying we should probably teach her her place. I tried to stay away from it, but Zabini, Crabbe and Goyle joined him, and I followed."

Harry and Ron gave him glares at this and he hastened to correctly portray the situation, " I owe you, Potter. I don't like Granger but I have been brought up in a proper household. The only reason I joined was to get information regarding what was happening, plus it would have been highly suspicious if I had not joined them. Nevertheless, they could see I was not that interested and kept me away from the planning phase. To be blunt, I didn't think that the idiots would be able to make a coherent plan at all. But then"-He looked determined to Harry-"Jugson and Rosier joined them."

"Jugson, the sixth year?" Ron asked, deep in thought.

"Yes, and Rosier is in the seventh. I guess a couple of more people are involved and it is written in that parchment. These five are the people actually implementing the plan while me and another sixth year are the alibis or distraction. Some more people like Pansy and Eleanor also showed interest and volunteered but they do not know the exact plan. They do however know the principle and propound it"

Malfoy was blanching more and more as he neared the 'punch-line', Ron thought and suddenly he didn't want to know what the aim was or rather he didn't want it to be true because if it made the ferret sick, he was scared how much damage it was going to do.

Malfoy took a deep breath and closed his eyes as though it would give him the strength required. It didn't but he continued in a rush, desperate to get it over with, because for the first time in his life he was scared of a Weasley.

" Rosier knows of a curse, a curse which binds the casters' will upon the person casted upon. In this case, it simulates a permanent dementor experience. He doesn't have the skill to actually perform it but he is using blood magic to place a weaker but...permanent version of it. Jugson plans to use a scalding maid curs-"

Here he broke off, not because Ron had gone very pale, as Malfoy had his eyes closed but because the table in the room exploded outwards, its dagger-like splinters very sharp and they were saved by a strong protego from Harry. The bout of accidental magic was the proof of a coming storm.

" I'm going to kill them." Ron's voice was hoarse and not like his at all, which perhaps made it much more frightening.

"Ron-" Harry began but Ron wasn't in any mood to act selfless.

" Is that all of it, Draco?" Ron asked coldly, enunciating every syllable clearly.

He couldn't lie, even if all he wanted to do at this moment was run because every part of soul screamed at him to do so. He settled for a less brave method. "It's written on the parchment. The exact plan."

"The cruciatus curse!" Ron spat as his eyes followed the words " bloody death eater bastards, stupid and unoriginal. They just made their torture prolonge- ". Suddenly, he gasped and got up. Harry, who assessed it from his body language, asked a room for a bucket, which marvelously, landed right in trajectory of his retching.

Harry patted his back while Daphne maintained a stoic figure, such as one sees at funerals likes of colleagues and third cousins. Tracy actually looked sympathetic but rigid, her half blood antecedents clashing, Draco thought mirthlessly as he tried-and failed again- to steady his nerves.

Ron was nearly breaking down as he realized just how early the rot had settled. Harry always tried to tell him off, that he shouldn't just think that Slytherins are bad people but didn't this prove that they were. They were going to break her and they were treating it as some sort of triumph over miscarriage of justice while people like Malfoy acted a- Malfoy, he thought as he wiped his face with his sleeve.

And then he jumped and in a fluid motion, almost looking like it was practiced thousands of times, pinned Malfoy to the wall, with his wand at his throat.

Snarling, looking like a jack Russell terrier, Ron looked into his grey eyes and grinned, seeing the the fear dilating his pupils.

"You are a blight to humanity, Malfoy. These 'pals' of yours are doing this and you don't even have the balls to do something about it"

"What ca-can I d-do about it?" He replied, his voice shaking but facing Ron with a defiant expression.

"I don't know, use your bloody name and honor of the most shit house of Malfoy" Ron replied with a mocking bow.

"Bugger off, Weasel. I told you heroes, didn't I?"

Ron made a motion to punch him but Harry caught his arm with hasty 'Ron!' and Ron pushed him away, in the resulting clash Malfoy moved away from Ron's grasp.

Ron cried 'Depulso' and Harry was thrown away from him. Harry quickly replied with a disarming jinx which Ron deflected with a quick shield charm.

Perhaps, it was fortuitous that Tracey Davis used a sonorus charm to tell them to stop, because it looked like the duo were one move away from a holiday duel.

"Would you guys stop acting like prats?", Tracy growled. Harry sobered up immediately but Ron just shrugged and glared at her instead. Tracy, to her credit, didn't fluster too much when she saw Ron's look and instead addressed to Harry. "Calm down. We didn't tell you for you to … muck this up."

Harry visibly relaxed but Ron tensed instead. " So, who are we telling? Dumbledore or McGonagall?"

Harry replied sternly, "Neither."

"Don't tell me we are telling your precious snivellus then?", Ron sneered at him, and Harry was somewhat surprised at the coldness in his voice.

Harry took a deep breath because there wasn't a stone's chance in hell that Ron was going to agree with what he proposed, but he had to do it as it was the best thing to do."We...wait for them to do what they planned, and we catch them in the act...and then deal with them"

He finished rather lamely in Ron's opinion but he still couldn't control his anger. How dare he? How can he do this? Using her as bait? After hearing all of their plans, how could he even think of risking this? Risking her?

Maybe his look was clear enough to project all his thoughts because Harry raised his hands in half-surrender while Tracy tentatively placed her hand on his shoulder.

"Harry?" Ron whispered, searching his face, looking very vulnerable for a moment.

Harry didn't respond but Ron understood and his gaze hardened. He shook off Tracy's hand and started walking towards the exit of the room.

"Ron, don't tell her."

"I won't lie to her, Harry"

"No, you have to!"

"I rephrase, I can't lie to her"

Harry groaned. This was getting stupid. "Ron.."

"I won't hear your plan so that I won't have to lie to her, Potter." Harry flinched at the blatant show of disdain in his name. "But you are this close to breaking everything…I will see you tomorrow" He walked out without a backward glance as Harry let out the breath he was holding.

"Alright, so here's the plan and I need you guys to….."


Ron ran off to Gryffindor Tower, trying to calm himself down by dissipating his nervous energy in the form of running till his lungs gave out. After muttering the password, "pumpkins", he entered the common room holding a stitch in his side and surveyed the scene.

A group of second years were playing exploding snap in front of the fireplaces while some girls including ,to Ron's extreme irritation, Lily Moon were talking behind the card players. He saw Neville and Seamus exchanging Chocolate frog cards and for a moment was reminded of his future collection, one which was completed after the war. The memory was gone in a flash and he staggered through its impact.

That caught the attention of Lily and her group, who looked at Ron and giggled furiously while Lily winked at him. Feeling very red and mad, he walked over to his favorite squishy armchair, besides which Hermione was finishing her potions essay.

She looked really...prim, Ron thought as he pushed crookshanks out of the armchair and took off his bag.

"Ron!" she exclaimed without looking up from her essay as crookshanks screeched in retaliation.

"What, it's a bloody-ron!-cat, innit? I was tired, alright. And so are you"

"No, I am not. I only need to write a couple of inches about bezoars and I'm done with this. What are you doing?"

"I think I am resting"

"Pathetic! Look at you lounging around" He only grinned in response." Have you done all of your work?"

"Yup" He said, stretching out the p.

" Where's your transfiguration essay? I can check it"

"Not done it yet" He replied, trying very hard not to grin. That's exactly what he needed to feel normal. Their bickering, the ritual of normalcy. Maybe, just maybe, it could make him forget what was going to happen tomorrow.

"And what, may I ask, do you plan to do if you can't complete it?"

"Copy off you?" Ron asked with a mocking sanctimonious nod of his head.

"NO, YOU WON'T" She furiously whispered. "Besides, I can't have you copy my essay word for word"

"That's insulting!" He said, still enjoying it very much and having built an appetite. "Its as if you don't trust me"

Hermione flushed in return, "No, of course no-"

"I'm kidding. I'm done with the essay. Here"

"You are-incorrigible, Ronald" Hermione exclaimed." Do you really need me to check this, I mean, you are from the futur-"

"Hermione, you are always smarter." He grinned. He rose up as he continued, "I'm going to the kitchens to get some food to nick. Don't stay up late and get some rest, we are going to hogsmeade tomorrow!" He kissed her forehead and walked off, whistling.

Only when he was halfway to the kitchens, did he realize what he had done. With a giddy feeling of horrible recklessness, he continued to the kitchens.


"Goodnight" She squeaked at his retreating figure.

He kissed me! On the forehead, mind you, but still. No one ever kisses me. Except Mum. And sometimes Dad. Wow. I think I know what the future would have been with me and Ron and that is quite...comforting and motivating! This also begs the question that will any potential relationship actually be a product of my free will or is it some sort of destiny? Surely, there ar-

Her internal struggles were intermixed with repeated scratching of her quill. That was a good thing because when she packed up and got up to go to her dormitory she heard snatches of conversation of her dorm mates, who weren't trying that hard to make sure the subject of their muttering did not hear them.

"-puh-lease, its obvious, isn't i-"

"-n the forehead, mind you, What does that make her, her little siste-"

"-only using her for completing his homework, mind y-"

"-es, look at her and then look at him, Ugh-"

"-ugly, buckteet-"

"-going to take my chance tomorrow-"

"-show him what it me-"

She ran up to her dormitory. Ron was not like that at all. They chatted outside of homework too. He invited her to his house this summer. He was going to Hogsmeade with her.

She hated Lily Moon and her posse. She hated them.


A/N

Aah, its moving forward. Stay on with the story and share it too.

I hope you liked this chapter!

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