The Snow Will Burn My Heart

A.N.: The title is from the English translation of Pablo Neruda's The Dead Woman. Ko-chan highly advises y'all to read the poem, she claims it's beautiful. It totally fits this chapter though, as you will see. We are sorry that the updates are so slow, but with two of us in college on two different coasts and the other one in the Air Force, we have a hard time coordinating chapters. We are still working on it though, so don't worry.

Disclaimer: Disclaimer from previous chapters apply. We are not making a profit, if we were, we would be named J.K. Rowling, Warner Brothers, and all the other companies that own Harry Potter and Co.

Ron emerged from the closet and looked both directions to see if Filch was anywhere in the hall. Ron had barely stepped through the portrait to head for the hospital wing before he ran into Filch and had to jump into a closet. So much for Harry's warning. He held his breath and lost track of the time as he waited until Filch and Mrs. Norris left before he dared to venture to the hospital wing again.

Ron heard the clock chime six as he raced through the winding halls toward the hospital wing. For the life of him, he couldn't imagine what had happened in the past six hours that could have caused the girls to end up in the hospital wing. They were fine when he last saw them.

"And where the hell is Robin?" He muttered to himself as he neared his destination. She would have told them if the other two had gotten hurt, wouldn't she? As he carefully approached the slightly opened doors, wary of running into the formidable Madame Pomfrey, he heard the low voice of a male coming from the room.

'Who would be in here this early? The map didn't show anyone else in the room with the girls, earlier,' he thought as he quietly crept to the ajar door.

"Don't worry Nicole, I'm here now. I told you before I love you. I always will. I don't care what my father or anybody else thinks. I love you just as much as you love me."

Ron crept closer to the door and peered inside. Malfoy was sitting on Nicole's bed, stoking her hair. He leaned in close and kissed her sweetly on the lips.

Ron had images of busting in to the room and beating Malfoy to a pulp, but they were dashed when he saw a slight smile appear on Nicole's face. His heart broke into a thousand pieces. He turned away and stormed off, running headlong into Harry.

"Where you going, Ron?"

"Huh?"

"Where are you going?"

"Oh, Harry. I was, uh, going to find you."

"Well Lupin's office is that way." Harry said with a smile, pointing in the opposite direction.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry, it's a bit early."

"So how are the girls?"

"Huh?"

"Riley and Nicole? How are they doing?"

"Oh, Madam Pomfrey said they couldn't have visitors yet. Said they were still sleeping."

"Well we can sneak in to see them. I have the Invisibility Cloak."

"Oh, no, that's alright."

"Come on Ron, its Riley and Nicole. I would think you'd risk a little trouble for Nicole."

"I don't care what happens to Nicole!" Ron shouted. "I'm going back to bed."

He turned towards the staircase that would take him to the Gryffindor Tower and ran off, leaving a confused Harry alone.

Voldemort smiled. His puppet was perfect. And the plan was perfect. Isolate the tenshi, one by one. Let them do the work for you. Of course the blood traitor would fall for it. The pathetic boy. Some pure-bloods just weren't fit to be wizards. He closed his eyes again and took over his little marionette.

Draco stepped out of the Hospital Wing and smirked before setting off for the dungeons. "You're such a fool, Weasley. If only you knew that she was dreaming of you." On the way he prided himself on his self-control. Potter had been standing in the hallway, looking lost and confused, almost begging to be attacked. But he could wait. Lord Voldemort had time.

Nicole felt warm. The room was warm and she was being bathed in love. Nicole smiled and turned towards the source of the emotion, thinking it was Ron. She opened her eyes and saw Dumbledore instead.

"I see you are awake now, Ms. Eversly."

"Good morning Headmaster. How's Riley…" She said turning towards to Riley's bed. "Where's Riley? And Robin? What happened to them?"

"Relax. Miss Goodfellow is safe in the hands of Professor Lupin and I believe Miss Devon decided to take a walk outside."

"Oh." She sighed, relieved. "Do you know where…" she stopped and blushed.

"Mr. Weasley went with Mr. Potter and Miss Granger to Hogsmeade. Everyone eligible to go left two hours ago."

"Oh, he didn't wait for me?"

"I'm afraid not."

"Ron, what's wrong? You haven't been yourself today."

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Talking might help, Ron."

"Just drop it Hermione. See this is what I hate about women, they always try to butt into everybody's business." Ron yelled. He threw some Sickles onto the table and stormed out of the Three Broomsticks.

Hermione looked at Harry. "What happened?"

"I don't know. He went to check on Riley and them this morning and came back upset. He'll tell us when he's ready." He sighed and began to follow Ron out.

"Are you coming, Hermione?"

She sighed and stood up. "Yeah. I'm coming." She put her money down on the table and followed Harry and together they prepared to try and find Ron.

They didn't have to search long. They had just exited the building when they bumped into Ron.

"Ron, what are you staring at?" Hermione asked.

He didn't answer. He was staring off towards Zonkos where Draco was talking with Crabbe and Goyle.

"Ron. Let's just go in the opposite direction. We don't have to even get near him." Hermione said. She was frightened by the look on Ron's face. She had never seen him this angry before, not even when Malfoy had called her a "mudblood" their second year.

It was too late. Draco was walking in their direction. "See something you like, Weasel? Apparently your girlfriend does."

The images from that morning appeared: Draco bending down and kissing Nicole. Nicole smiling. Ron snapped. He launched himself at Draco and tackled him to the ground. His hands circled around Draco's neck and he began to choke him. Harry and Hermione tried to lift him off of Draco, but nothing was working. Crabbe and Goyle stood there a few seconds until Draco's face began to change colors.

"Hermione, go get help!" Harry cried as he, Crabbe, and Goyle began lifting Ron away from Draco.

The light dancing on the surface of the lake had mesmerized Riley. She didn't know how long she had been staring at it, thinking of nothing. She was dimly aware of the fact that she had come to this spot with the intention of sorting out what was up with her and her friends since they had arrived at Hogworts. However, she knew without a doubt that there was nothing she could do to alter her current hypnosis. There was something warm and comforting about the meditative trance that had commandeered her mind. She was so relaxed that she felt sure that had she wanted to practice astral projection her mind and body were prepped.

Suddenly, Riley found herself in what looked like some sort of Egyptian throne room, standing over Robin and Nicole. As she focused on them, she knew without a doubt that they were dead and, more disturbingly, that she had caused it. What she couldn't understand was how or why?

"Riles. RILES!"

The room was gone and in its place was a confused looking Nicole standing next to the lake's edge. Riley blinked away her daydream and focused on her friend. "Sorry, Nic. I guess I drifted away. I'm glad to see that you are okay, though. I was having some creepy daydreams. Anyway," she said, putting out her hand so that Nicole could pull her up off the ground. "Do you want to head to Hogsmeade?"

"Don't you think that we should talk about what happened this morning, first?" Nicole asked incredulously.

"No." Riley replied simply.

"No? Do you mind explaining why? I mean, that was freaky." Nicole said with an uncomfortable laugh.

"I know, but there's no use in talking through it until we can talk to Robin. I don't like talking behind her back. There's enough of that going on with the 'adults' around here."

Nicole noted the bitterness and slight anger that accompanied Riley's last sentence and said, "Well, shouldn't we at least go find Robin so we can talk to her before we go gallivanting around Hogsmeade?"

"Nope. Think about it, Nic. If you had…well, whatever it is that Robin did this morning…and had almost killed us, would you want us to come find you as soon as we were awake to grill you about it?"

Nicole blanched. "No. I see your point. She probably hasn't even figured it out herself yet."

"Exactly," Riley replied patting her on the back, and she began walking toward the Hogwarts front gate. "I'm sure that she needs her space."

"I don't know about that," Nicole said with a smirk.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Riley said without slowing. "Oh, really, now, Nicole. Just because Dumbledore said Lupin was taking care of her, doesn't mean they're off having a sordid tryst. This –is- Robin we're talking about." She laughed, sticking her tongue out at her. "Get your mind out of the gutter."

"Riley. What did I tell you about reading my thoughts?" Nicole said, catching her sister around the neck with her arm.

"Sorry. I forget," Riley said with a grin as she slipped out of Nicole's grip.

"Yeah. Right."

"Either way," Riley said stepping through the impressive gates of her new home, "she's in good hands. I think that we need to go see what your boyfriend and his friends are up to in town."

Nicole blushed but couldn't stop a huge grin from spreading across her face.

"See, I knew it. See ya there," Riley said before apparating.

"Riley, can't you ever follow the rules?" Nicole chided as she followed suit.

When they arrived, the first thing they noticed was a crowd around the Three Broomsticks. Immediately both were bombarded by the sudden onslaught of thoughts and feelings. Riley took a moment to control her mind and blocked everything out.

"I wonder what's going on there." Riley mused.

"Whatever it is, someone is majorly pissed off," Nicole commented to Riley before running towards the yelling crowd.

Riley followed Nicole, and they elbowed their way to the middle of the crowd. When they arrived they saw Harry, Crabbe, and Goyle trying to lift Ron off of Draco and keep him off.

"Ron. Let him go! Get off of him!" Nicole cried as she ran to the front of the crowd.

Ron stopped fighting Draco and looked at Nicole. He let go of Draco, who fell to the ground, and lay there coughing and massaging his throat. He looked back at Nicole and his eyes were cold, then he turned away and began walking up to Hogwarts.

"Ron! Wait up!" Nicole cried as she ran after him.

Riley fought the urge to eavesdrop as Nicole caught up to Ron and a serious lovers' spat ensued. She and Harry tried in vain to get the nosey onlookers to disperse, but they ignored their pleas and watched as Ron and Nicole stood on the path arguing for a bit and gasped as Ron pushed Nicole away from him and stormed in the direction of Hogwarts.

Riley's heart broke as she watched Nicole stare after him for a few seconds and then run towards the empty fields that lay behind Hogsmeade, undoubtedly crying hysterically.

"Apparently, the Weasel has -some- sense, after all. That mudblood's not good enough for even a loser like him," Draco choked as he struggled to catch his breath.

"Draco," Riley snapped and stormed over to him, dangerously on the verge of doing something she knew she would regret someday, maybe. "You had better watch what you say about my sister, or I assure you that I will finish what Ron started."

"You and your pathetic friends have no idea who you are messing with," Draco growled. "Now get out of my face, you bitch."

Riley didn't even have time to react before Draco was back on the ground with blood gushing from his nose. She looked over at Harry and was surprised to see such indignation and rage on his face.

"Go." Harry ordered in a voice that Riley admired yet feared a bit. She had never before heard him sound so…commanding and strong.

Draco muttered something about the Dark Lord and his father while he scampered away with Crabbe and Goyle close behind.

After the crowd cleared off, giving wary looks to both Riley and Harry, Riley turned and asked, "What was that about?"

"I don't know," Harry answered slowly. " He's been out of it since this—" Harry stopped and looked at Riley as if he was seeing her for the first time. The old Harry was back, it seemed. "Hey, what were you doing in the hospital wing this morning?"

She wanted desperately to share her life with someone other than Nicole and Robin—'anyone really,' she told herself, 'Harry just happens to be standing here.' She shook her head, ridding it of the thought. 'It has nothing to do with him and me…not that there is a him and me'— She replied dully, "Oh, I can't tell you right now. I think I had better go check on Nicole. I'll see you at dinner tonight."

Riley could feel Harry staring after her as she ran in the direction in which she had seen Nicole head. She felt herself start to blush at the thought, but just as quickly, she crushed the thought and focused on finding Nicole.

"Nic?" She called as she walked through the knee-high grass. "Nicole? Where are you?" She heard nothing. Sighing, she tried to clear her mind and focus on Nicole. She heard sobbing and several thoughts about wondering why Ron would break up with her.

"Nicole! We should talk about what just happened." Riley called. She would keep trying until Nicole answered. Luckily that wasn't necessary; she actually tripped over Nicole.

"What happened?" She asked softly as she sat beside her longtime friend and sister.

"He broke up with me. He said he didn't want to be with me anymore. Then he left. He wouldn't tell me why." Nicole choked out before bowing her head on her knees again.

Riley sat there and rubbed Nicole's back. After awhile Nicole stopped crying and her sobs became hiccups.

"Let's go back to Hogwarts and eat dinner. Then we'll sit down and discuss everything. Does that sound like a plan?"

Nicole nodded, but a second later shook her head. "Dinner means I have to see him. I don't know how I can do that."

"We won't sit near him, ok? We'll sit with Robin at the Slytherin table for tonight." Riley said. Then thought… 'If Robin even shows up.'

"Do you wanna try and walk back to school?"

Nicole nodded slightly. "Sorry. I'm probably just being silly. I shouldn't get this upset over a guy." She gave a wan smile. "Let's go back."