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HARRY POTTER AND THE FOUNDERS' GIFTS
by
Narnian Dreams
Disclaimer: This is a work of fan fiction using characters from the Harry Potter world, which is trademarked by J. K. Rowling.
4. The Acceptance
"For after all, the best thing one can do when it is raining is let it rain."
-Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
24th June 1995
It was a torture. An absolute torture to wait to hear any news of his best mate. The moment he saw Harry disappear through the maze, Ron Weasley feared for his friend's life. It was a feeling that he had been trying to deny since the beginning of this cursed tournament. The third task was lasting longer than the first two tasks, which didn't made him feel any better at all. The other two, while being extremely dangerous there were people observing from the sidelines,ready to butt in if the things got out of hands. This one though, sending off red sparks is not the real way to call help and be there on time.
Most people would call him dumb, or insensitive, but Ron knew where his loyalties lie. He once lost his best friend in another life because of sheer misunderstanding in both of their parts, and he was not going to loose Harry this time. his best friend, his brother. Only one other person has claimed that title from him, a lifetime ago.
When an enervated Fleur Delacour appeared out of the maze, followed by a stunned Viktor Krum, that feeling of dread Ron felt at the pit of his stomach felt heavier than ever. Whose idea was this tournament anyway? This shouldn't be completed by seventeen year old kids, yet alone a fourteen year old! granted, a teenage kid shouldn't face a shade of a Dark Lord twice in two years along with a basilisk and a herd of dementors, but this was completely out of his fault, wasn't it? Ron remembered how he acted at the beginning of the school year and he inwardly shuddered.
A sudden crack of sound and someone appearing out of thin air at the entrance of the maze brought Ron out of his musing thoughts, along with his feeling of dread. There was heavy commotion, he could see nothing from where he was sitting at the stands. Someone screamed and Ron's heart dropped to his stomach.
Grabbing Hermione's hand, he ran down the stands and finally made to the open area of the pitch, trying to figure out what exactly happened to his friend.
"He is dead!"
The words stopped Ron dead on his tracks. All blood drained from his face. he could feel his tight grip around Hermione's wrist as he heard someone mumble those words. 'No! Not Harry! Please not him!' Harry, his best mate, his brother couldn't be- cannot be dead. he refused to believe those words. He had lost his friend once, it's never going to happen anytime soon. He felt Hermione squeeze his hand back as if it was the last thing she was holding.
Tears pickled his eyes but he refused to let them fall until he knew what was happening.
A crowd of students were gathered around the pitch with most of the professors. "Move" The redhead snapped at the boy standing in front of him, barely managing to keep his rage and despair under control. He wanted to see what was going on. Where was Harry?
"Diggory" Ron heard someone say. "Diggory is dead. Potter brought his body"
Despite being at the worst of a situation, Ron couldn't help but to release the breath he was holding. 'Not Harry! Harry is alive.' His brother is alive!
.
Then, it happened. for a moment, Ron wasn't in the Quidditch pitch anymore.
He was standing- no, he was drowning- water surrounded every inch of his skin- his vision filled with blue- blue, blue of the water, his hands felt like lead- his lungs burned- he couldn't breathe, and Ron was scared!
No no no!
Where was he? He couldn't give up, there was something wrong- he was drowning- but he looked up and there was light- Sunlight - he assumed, the surface-
So he kicked his feet,- it felt like lead- but no no no he can't give up now- there is something he should do - he just don't know what-
His lungs burned. Can't- Can't breathe. But he's so close, the light-
Finally, Finally, he broke surface, kicking his legs, got a lung full of air, and looked.
He had no idea where he was.
That said, there was something in his mind, nagging at the back of his head, something -something- he should be doing, what? Why?
And it hit him like a rock, what he should do, what he is supposed to do.
Protect, Protect, Protect.
He- The Protector-
He should protect!
The thoughts left a warm fire in his chest, as if a missing piece of a puzzle has finally clicked into place.
But then he heard someone- screaming- screaming for Help, and he would, for sure, but he had no idea where he was or where he needed to go,- he was wet, surrounded by water, his boots- (boots?)- felt like lead.
And then, there- he saw, a head of dark hair, bobbing in and out through the surface- screaming- begging for help.
But- is that-
Sweet Merlin, is that-
"Sal'" eyes wide, he uttered -screamed- his friend's name, trying to get to him, to help, to protect-
But he was drowning again, his muscles ached, he needed to get to him, his friend, his brother-
.
There was a death grip on his wrist, he tried to shake it off to no avail. He blinked slowly, only to realize that he was back in the Quidditch field, Hermione calling out his name.
"Ron- Ron! Are you okay?" her voice seemed distant, as if she was talking in a tunnel. Ron blinked again, his mind acking to think about what happened to him. But- Harry! Merlin, his brother, he need to get to him. Soon!
"Yeah" Ron replied, his voice hazy, "Yeah. We,- We should find him-"
"Where is he?" Hermione voiced out the question that plagued his mind. Where was he? He- should be here- but-, Ron's eyes wandered through the crowd, something was of-
"Hospital Wing" probably - hopefully, Ron voiced out, he thinking of the only possible place where Harry could be. Looking back at the stands, Ron saw his mother was ushering his siblings away from the commotion probably towards the Hospital Wing. Nodding to Hermione, and taking her hand, he followed his family, towards the Hospital Wing.
Harry is okay, Harry is okay.
The Hospital Wing was- in one word Chaos. Ron's mother was fretting over what happened to Harry. Yet there was no sign of him coming to the hospital wing. For Ron, waiting and wondering what happened to his best mate was one of the worst things he did with the exception of leaving Harry on his own at the beginning of the tournament.
The feeling of guilt that had rooted at the depth of his mind had started to grow. Why did he doubt his best mate? Why did he let his best mate deal with the worst moments of his life when he could have been there to support him? It has always come to this. Always Harry had to deal with everything on his own and barely survive.
Ron took a seat near to the door next to Hermione, waiting -waiting for his friend. Ron left his friend when he needed him the most.
No more Ron swore to himself. He would not be alone anymore. He silently looked over at Hermione who was sitting next to him, tears streaming from her eyes.
The door to the Hospital Wing busted open and in came his best friend looking so fragile and vulnerable but alive, alive, alive supported by Dumbledore and Sirius Black in his animagus form.
"Harry! Oh, Harry!" Molly Weasley's muffled scream brought Ron back to the present, wanting nothing more than to hug his little brother. The boy- for he looked so small that moment, looked up and met Ron's eyes, and the red headed boy felt all blood drain from his face. Harry looked -haunted, like death. His eyes were dull green- not the bright green which Ron saw before the Third Task. And he doubted that Harry would ever look the same again.
The boy looked away again, fixing his eyes on the floor, and it took all of Ron's will to not to run and hug him- to tell him he's not alone.
He heard Hermione gasping next to him when Dumbledore explained the situation to his family. He spared another glance at Harry, who looked dead on his feet, glassy eyes that was filled with unshed tears.
"Molly," Dumbledore started, "Please listen to me for a moment. Harry has been through a terrible ordeal tonight. He has just had to relive it for me. What he needs now is sleep, and peace-"
The Headmaster was interrupted when Harry silently limped away from the Professor and walked towards Ron's Mother. It was a good thing that Molly knew what he wanted just by her motherly instincts and grabbed hold of the fragile boy just before his legs gave out.
And there, The the young boy of Fourteen years, who had never had a touch of a real mother , broke down on Molly Weasley 's arms reaching for a small resemblance of a mother's love.
Next to him, Ron felt Hermione grab his arm as if it was her lifeline. For him her grip on him was the only thing that kept him from breaking down, questioning why the hell the whole world being cruel to his little brother.
I let go of him one lifetime, I will never do it again!- Ron didn't know how that thought came to him, but all he knew was that he will keep his word.
Next chapter will be up soon, hopefully.