Just a beginning note: I am not going to be writing out accents.
The next day younger-Ron took over for the majority, being the first day of classes and all.
That didn't mean things happened the same as Ron's memories, though. First, Ron had underestimated how much the knowledge of Crouch's plot would affect younger-Ron. Honestly, he seemed a bit on edge. He was making a valiant effort to focus on his conversation with Harry, though, which Ron had to give him credit for; Harry going over their schedules with younger-Ron was... not exactly the most engaging issue to talk about right now.
"We've got Herbology first," Younger-Ron said, barely looking at the schedule (and really thinking thank Merlin we at least don't have fake-Moody-really-Crouch-Jr until Thursday), "Herbology with the Hufflepuffs... then..."
"Care of Magical Creatures," Harry burst out, "and damn, we're still stuck with the Slytherins... and then Double Divination in the afternoon." Harry groaned.
Ron could only think of two things: Care of Magical Creatures with the Slytherins meant Malfoy would be there (Oh, great, how could we be so lucky, younger-Ron sent, a message dripping with sarcasm), and as for Double Divination...
Ron had once thought that Trelawney was a fraud. But Harry had told him about how she'd made a real prophecy, the Prophecy, in fact...
I'm not really looking forward to what Trelawney has to say when she sees a student with two minds in one body, Ron sent.
Right, and the fact that you're from the future... that can't be good.
Exactly, Ron sent back. Honestly, he was a little impressed that younger-Ron was taking this so seriously. But then, he supposed, when you knew for a fact exactly what dark plots were going on, you had to pay attention.
Herbology turned out to be oddly relaxing. Bubotubers may have looked revolting, but there was something about squeezing them and collecting the pus that, while disgusting, was... stress-relieving. It was busy work, good for the hands, and good for shaking out all that pent-up nervousness. Younger-Ron seemed to feel the same way.
Eventually, though, Herbology would end, and up next was... Care of Magical Creatures. Ron shuddered. Wasn't this the year of those horrible Blast-Ended Skrewts?
Wait, WHAT-
Just in time, the bell boomed, and it was off to Hagrid's cabin.
When they arrived, younger-Ron's panicking only got worse when they spotted the several mysterious wooden crates on the ground next to Hagrid and Fang. What the bloody hell are in those things-
"Morning!" Hagrid said, grinning at the three (or, really, four?) of them. "Better wait for the Slytherins, they won't want to miss this - Blast-Ended Skrewts!"
Younger-Ron burst out, terrified, "Blast-Ended WHAT?!"
Hagrid, instead of answering, simply pointed down into the crates.
"Eurgh!" Lavender squealed, jumping backward. Ron couldn't blame her, really. Younger-Ron, after finally cautiously going over to the crates and peeking in, felt the same way as Lavender, only worse.
They look like deformed, shell-less lobsters! They don't even have heads, and... oh, Merlin, what is that smell, it's like rotting fish... and does Hagrid have hundreds of these beasts?
"Only just hatched," said Hagrid proudly, apparently not noticing everyone's reactions, "so you'll be able to raise 'em yourselves! Thought we'd make a bit a of a project of it!"
"And why are we raising them?" said a cold voice. It was Malfoy. Oh, Merlin.
Poor Hagrid just looked stumped at the question.
"What do they even do?" Malfoy asked. "Because if they don't have any point, then I don't see the point in wasting our time endangering ourselves trying to raise them."
Both Rons stared at him in disbelief. Ron just couldn't help thinking, Seriously? Sure, the Skrewts are obnoxious, but really? THIS is the hill you want to die on?
Malfoy, who had clearly noticed their reaction and was now ignoring them, the bastard, continued, "They don't seem very safe. Are they safe?" He paused. "Are they even legal?"
Oh, fuck, what is he going to say NOW, younger-Ron sent in dismay, and Ron couldn't help but agree. Harry and Hermione already looked furious, and it was only going to get worse, he was sure of it.
"I mean, I don't know about you," Malfoy said, leaning over one of the crates, "but these look like violations of the Ban on Experimental Breeding to me. That law exists to regulate dangerous magical creatures. I can't believe you're breaking it and putting us all in danger just to-"
"Oh, shut up Malfoy, what proof do you even have?! You're just trying to get Hagrid sacked again!" It was Harry, who looked like he was just a few seconds away from a wand fight.
Malfoy glanced over, and then shrugged wordlessly, looking bored. Awkward silence followed. Then Hagrid coughed loudly, and then said, "Well, this lesson you're just feeding them. Now, you'll want to try 'em on a few different things - I've never had 'em before, not sure what they'll go for - I got ant eggs and frog livers and a bit of grass snake - just try them out with a bit of each."
"First pus and now this," muttered Seamus. Both Rons agreed. Younger-Ron actually begged to switch, and Ron miserably agreed. This is going to be terrible, but fine, I'll do it, he sent. He could sense great relief coming from his younger self.
Reminding himself over and over again about how Hagrid was his friend and how he needed to get through this for both Hagrid and younger-Ron, Ron, wincing, forced himself to pick up disgusting, squelchy handfuls of frog liver and lower those handfuls into the crates. He didn't need to look up to see that Harry and Hermione were enjoying this as much as he was.
Poor Dean Thomas got burned by one after ten minutes. And then Lavender noticed the stings. And then Hagrid mentioned the females might be blood-suckers.
"Like I said," Malfoy muttered, "dangerous."
"Oh, shut it, Malfoy," Ron snapped back. He definitely didn't have the energy to put up with this right now. Why did he have to cause such a scene earlier? Oh, right, because he's Malfoy. Honestly, Ron should have seen this coming.
Wow, this new "partnership" is working out great, I can't wait for our next meeting, I wonder what amazingly helpful things Malfoy will have to say then, his younger self sent, and Ron thought he could actually feel the sarcasm now.
Angrily, Ron sent back, Shove off, I don't need this from you too. Remember, I'm doing the handling of the skrewts that you're actually supposed to be doing? Nothing was sent back, not in words, but Ron could swear he could feel his younger self's mockery singing back. And if he remembered correctly, this delightful feeding of the skrewts was going to go on for at least an hour longer. Bloody. Fucking. Hell.
Sure enough, it was an hour later that they were able to make their way back to the castle for lunch. While they were walking in, Harry said, "Well, at least the skrewts are small."
"They are now," said Hermione, sounding exasperated, "but once Hagrid's found out what they eat, they'll probably be six feet long."
"Say, wasn't it odd how Malfoy just shut up like that?" Harry, looking thoughtful, said, "I wonder if he's up to something..."
Oh, great, this was sixth year, but two years early. Yes, Malfoy actually was up to something, but Ron wasn't ready to tell 14-year-old Harry everything yet. But he also didn't want to lie to Harry...
Fortunately Ron was saved from having to make a decision, when they sat down at the Gryffindor table, and Hermione began to eat so fast that Harry started to stare...and so was younger-Ron.
"Er- Hermione, are you sure you want to eat that quickly? You might choke," Harry said, awkwardly.
"No," said Hermione, sounding surprisingly dignified for someone talking with their mouth bulging full of sprouts. "I just want to get to the library - soon."
Oh, right...Hermione wants to study in the library for anything on elf rights, Ron sent.
Oh, it's your turn now, I'm not taking this - remember, I told you it's your job to handle her obsession with elves? Ron sighed, but his younger-self was right. He had been the one to promise Hermione to talk to her about the topic after dinner, today. He did need to handle this. It was time to switch.
"Hermione," Ron said, "can I join you in the library?"
Hermione looked at him in surprise. "You actually want to come?"
Well, Ron thought, he was going to go there after dinner anyways for their meeting... he could use the time now to start preparing his statement for that meeting, this needed strategy and planning... What Ron said out loud was, "Sure, why not?"
That was how they ended up both shoveling food down to get to the library as possible. At the library, while Hermione read relentlessly from a pile of books and occasionally scribbled down things, Ron was trying to strategise and write down good points for what to say for the after-dinner meeting, to get Hermione to do this in a way that didn't lead to disaster.
So far, he had, on a piece of parchment:
1. Maybe they do accept their situation because they're uneducated and brainwashed, but if you ignore what they say because of that, it's still insulting, right?
2. If you want to help house elves, then shouldn't you ask house elves what they want?
3. Wouldn't it be better to focus on the house elves that want to be free, like Dobby, first?
There were other statements he knew he needed to write down as well, but they were stuck on the tip of his tongue. He slammed his quill down in frustration. He knew how important this was, why he needed to get it right... so why was he drawing a blank? Think, he told himself, what set Hermione off on this originally? That's important, I need to remember that... but it's been years since that all happened, I can't remember the exact events...
With hesitation, came, I remember what happened.
What? Ron was surprised. I thought you said you wanted me to handle all of this.
Yeah... just... I guess you weren't paying attention, since for you, it already happened, but... I was there. Maybe I could just help by telling you what I remember happening.
Oh... thanks.
And tell what he remembered happening, younger-Ron did indeed. Younger-Ron spoke on how Hermione was horrified by how unkindly Crouch Sr. treated Winky, on her anger with Percy for supporting Crouch Sr., then anger that Winky was his slave (and Crouch Sr. could do whatever he wanted to her)... and then of course Hermione's reaction when Nearly-Headless Nick told her about the Hogwarts elves...
By the end Ron was actually impressed by how well younger-Ron was able to recollect those events. Ron ended up getting much more written down after that. Time flew by so fast that he was surprised when the bell rang for afternoon classes. Great, double Divination here we come.
While walking up the spiraling staircase in the North Tower, Ron convinced younger-Ron to take over, and then they discussed how to act natural, and what he might say if Trelawney said something strangely correct.
Ron was prepared when Trelawney startled Harry. She started talking to Harry with a tragic expression, saying something Ron assumed they hadn't paid attention to back then.
Do you think she's right? I mean, she's talking about difficult times ahead of Harry... and, based on what you said about the future, it... sounds like that's what's going to happen?
The thing about Trelawney... somehow she's both a fraud and the real deal... look, just try to not react if she says anything to you, okay? We can talk later, Ron sent back, hoping that would be enough.
"And you, my dear," Trelawney said, mournfully, facing them now, "My inner eye sees the troubled soul energies within... you, and your future are clouded, undecided... many different paths... most of them with tragic losses and dreaded deeds... there is something strange, hidden, about your spirit? Oh, I don't think I've seen this before... troubling, most troubling..." She gave younger-Ron - or maybe both of them - a look of tragic pity.
Ron had expected something like this, but... "many different paths... most of them with tragic losses and dreaded deeds", wasn't that horribly ominous? He could try to reassure himself that she made tragic predictions to many people... but "there is something strange, hidden, about your spirit?" And recognizing multiple futures? That was chillingly accurate...
Fortunately, younger-Ron, sticking to the plan, didn't say anything back, and Trelawney switched back to talking to Harry about Harry's tragic circumstances.
"...You were clearly born under the baleful influence of Saturn, my dear," Trelawney was saying, with an air of great importance and mystery. "Saturn was surely in a position of power in the heavens at the moment of your birth... Your dark hair... your mean stature... tragic losses so young in life... I think I am right in saying, my dear, that you were born in midwinter?"
"No, I was born in July," Harry said.
Ron heard someone laugh, but he couldn't find it funny, not like he had before. Hadn't Voldemort been born in December? (Midwinter, indeed.) Was Trelawney accidentally seeing Harry's condition as a horcrux without knowing what it meant? Suddenly Ron felt deeply disturbed.
Not long after that, they were given circular charts where they each were supposed to fill in the planets' positions at the time of their birth. Ron had offered to work on the chart for younger-Ron, and so they'd switched. It wasn't like he loved reading timetables and calculating angles either, but he needed to work on something, anything, to take his mind off the unsettling thoughts stirred up by Trelawney's statements to him and Harry. So far, it seemed to be doing the trick.
"I've got two Neptunes here," said Harry, frowning at his piece of parchment, "that can't be right, can it?"
"No, it's not." Ron, looking over at Harry's chart, frowned, and said, "Here - I think you made a mistake there." He pointed to some scratchings of arithmetic Harry had done on the corners.
"Oh. Thanks." Harry looked surprised, but Ron really couldn't remember what had happened originally, and anyways there wasn't any harm in helping Harry with his chart, was there?
Then Lavender excitedly said, "Oh Professor, look! I think I've got an unaspected planet! Oooh, which one's that, Professor?"
"It is Uranus, my dear," said Trelawney, looking down at her chart.
Oh. Ron remembered what had happened next. He felt his face go hot. Well, he definitely wasn't repeating that part. For...plenty of reasons.
Unsurprisingly, at the end of the class, Trelawney was far pleasanter than last time. She didn't assign any extra homework at all, but just said that everyone who had finished their charts should hand it in, and that anyone who didn't finish their charts given to them should turn them in next Monday, then. Ron had managed to help Harry finish his chart, and was nearly done with younger-Ron's chart.
Which was a very good thing, because when Hermione caught up with them, that reminded Ron that he would be busy for at least all of after dinner today, in the library. Oh, joy.
They joined the end of the line in the entrance hall to get dinner. Ron had just started arguing with younger-Ron about who should get to eat, when an annoying voice rang out behind them.
"Weasley! Hey, Weasley!"
All three of them turned. Malfoy was standing here, with a smug look Ron wanted to smack right off his face.
Grinding his teeth, Ron said, "What." This had better be good.
Are you kidding? When is anything Malfoy has to say good?
In spite of himself, Ron had to choke down a laugh.
"Look at this article," Malfoy quietly said, smirking and showing off a copy of the Daily Prophet, "they couldn't even get your dad's name right, check the second page yourself." Then he walked away, but not before tossing the paper at Ron. Ron, out of sheer reflex, caught it.
Disgustedly, he shook the paper out, while Harry and Hermione peered over. What is wrong with him? We're literally stuck in an alternate universe, in our younger counterparts' bodies, with no idea of how to get back home yet, and this is what he's wasting time on - whining about Skrewts and looking for spelling mistakes in the newspaper?!
"This article is rubbish," Hermione said, "It's saying that your dad embarrassed the Ministry, but based on what I'm reading, the only people creating an embarrassment are Mr. Moody, Rita Skeeter, and the editor of the Daily Prophet."
"Thanks," Ron said, but he couldn't pay attention that right now. No, right now he was too focused on the fact that there was some strange writing in light pencil on the second page. He was making sure to cover it with his hand right now, in case it was important and shouldn't be seen, but he needed to make sure to look at it later. In fact...
"Harry, Hermione, can you save my place in the queue? I need to- use the loo, quickly."
Of course they said yes, and so Ron found himself, sitting in a stall, squinting at the newspaper. There was something wrong with the writing... but what was it... he couldn't quite put his finger on it...
It's backwards. Also sent was a feeling of irritation. The writing is backwards, you probably need a mirror.
Well, good thing we're in a lavatory, then.
After quickly checking to make sure no one else was there, Ron held the paper up to the mirror, and... sure enough, the reflection made the words readable. It read:
Found some things that could be helpful - for getting back.
Meet me in the Room of Hidden Things, after Defense Against the Dark Arts. Don't be late.
Ron felt annoyed. What was with this obsession about being on time? Did he think Ron was an idiot who had to reminded every single time not to be late or else Ron would forget - you know what, of course he would, he's Malfoy. Great, a new reason to dread DADA on Thursday. Like I don't have enough already. But then, it did say, helpful for getting back...
Something in Ron ached. Maybe he'd been working hard to avoid it, but now he had to admit: he was missing home. And Rose's birthday was coming up soon...
Okay, so Ron was afraid he'd miss it. Ron was afraid he'd miss all of it. He was afraid that he'd be stuck here forever, stuck in a body that was and wasn't his own, sharing it with someone else who also deserved to live their own life. What if he'd never be able to return, and everyone there would be stuck wondering what happened to him?
Well, standing around here wasn't going to help. He should go back to 14-year-old Harry and Hermione now, they'd probably be... wondering...
Listen, can we switch? I just, I can't stand around and pretend to be their friend, not right now... you can even eat your dinner, I don't care anymore...
Um, sure. Are you okay? I mean, I know you're not okay, but is there anything I can do...
Right now I think the best thing you can do for me is just to take over so I can slip away in the back of this mind for now.
Younger-Ron went along with it, and sure enough, Ron ended up spending all the time in the queue, and in the Great Hall, drifting away, further than he'd ever done before. It felt nothing he'd ever experienced before. The best way he could describe it, was that it was like he was exactly in between staying awake and falling asleep. It was like the light sleep he hadn't been getting. He was almost, not quite, dreaming, when a jolt startled him.
Hey, wake up. We're going to the library now. You remember why, right?
Yeah, I have to have a nice, long, talk with Hermione on the complexity of house elf rights. I heard the hint, we'll switch back.
...Ten minutes later, Ron found himself thinking that it was fortunate that he had used Muffliato at the beginning, or else Madam Pince would have thrown them out by now, because their "discussion" was getting louder and louder.
"House elves like Winky only accept their horrible, horrible conditions, because they've been brainwashed and conditioned to accept them!"
Ron suppressed a sigh. This conversation was not going well. "I know, and I'm not disagreeing, I'm just saying, if you tell them that, they'll just feel insulted. And starting the liberation of house elves by ignoring what house elves tell you, seems like a bad idea, doesn't it?"
"So what, we're just supposed to accept that this country has slavery, because 'the slaves like it'?" Hermione, only further raising her voice, said, "That's the same kind of argument that slave owners used in the past, before Britain - only Muggle Britain, apparently - outlawed slavery!"
"That's not - that's not what I'm saying-"
"Besides we already KNOW it's not true - Dobby wanted to become free!"
Yes! Dobby! That was the #3 he had been forgetting. "Then maybe that's where you should start!"
"What? What do you mean by that?"
"What I mean," Ron said, getting excited that he could remember what to say, "is that, you're right, Dobby wanted to become free - and surely Dobby can't be the only elf in the entire country that feels the same way?"
Hermione narrowed her eyes. "Go on..."
"So what I'm saying is... try and find other elves like Dobby, who want to be free. Ask Dobby what he thinks - even get Dobby's help to find those other elves, maybe - and then ask those elves you find, what they want, and try to help them get that first!"
"That's... not actually a bad idea." Hermione narrowed her eyes. "When did you care so much about house-elves, anyway?"
"Um... some of the things you said, convinced me?" It's not technically a lie... just in a different place and time...
Fortunately, Hermione believed it. Actually, she seemed excited that someone cared as well. Then they ended up spending some more time at the library to detail out plans for what to do next. By the time they had finished, Ron was worn out, but in a good way. It had been hard work, but not so bad. Maybe this would be the first thing, other than those dress robes, that Ron could make better by being here.
Maybe even his planning about Crouch and all of that wouldn't turn out so bad. And on Thursday, he might even be a step closer to getting back home...
The thoughts made him feel warm. By the time they got back to the dorms, Ron was ready to sink into his bed. Then his younger self spoke up.
I know you want to sleep, so I can make this short, but... can I ask you something about - the house elves stuff, and, what you said?
Sure. What is it?
That stuff you said about house elves to Hermione in the library... I didn't have anything else to do, so I overheard, and... it's making me - I'm not sure what to think.
It's okay not to know what to think, Ron sent back, trying to send back some feelings of encouragement as well. It can actually be a good thing. What you're used to might not be right. I should know.
Older-Me? What do you - how many house elves, do you think, want to be free?
I... don't know. But that's kind of the point, isn't it? We wixen haven't exactly paid a lot of attention to what house elves think. We mostly just take them for granted. When it originally happened for me - the only person who spoke up when Crouch fired Winky, was Hermione herself. That's... part of why I'm trying to fix this, for the better.
Oh. That makes sense.
Anything else?
...No. Not now, anyway. You can go to sleep now. Sorry for keeping you up.
It's okay. Then Ron shut his eyes, and dreamed about flying.
Chapter 6 is finally out.
Okay, wow. That ended up being my longest chapter, EVER. Some of it was pretty challenging to write, actually. But it was engaging, as well.
Again: It may take some time for Chapter 7 to come up. Next week I'll be starting a job. I'm going to be busy. Just a heads up.
As always: Please review if you can, and let me know what you think. If you have any questions, feel free to ask (though of course, among other things, I won't answer anything spoiler-y).