"For I have sworn thee fair, and thought thee bright, who art as black as hell, as dark as night."
William Shakespeare
¤
Tom grudgingly agreed to Harry's plan, though not without a few conditions. Ron, on the other hand, was much hard to convince. Even with his 'problem' only fixed temporarily, his friend was still reluctant.
"What…what about my family?"
"…When everything is over - soon, I promise, Ron."
"…All right."
And that was the end of things.
¤
In Harry's panic for Ron's health, he'd wasted precious time looking around for Letalis. The young man had forgotten the snake's desire to stay at Tom's manor and explore, curious thing that she was. She'd done the same at the Potter manor in their first days there.
Just as planning was winding down, Letalis slithered into the room, hissing irritably.
-What's wrong?- Harry asked, checking her over. She didn't appear injured, so he couldn't see the cause of her tetchiness.
-You!- the albino reptile glared at Voldemort, -Your ssstupid little boa jussst tried to kill me, Tom. Ssshe ambussshed me in the hall and tried to ssstrangle me…ssshe didn't know I can change sssize, the jealousss little bitch.- The last was muttered softly, but everyone heard clearly.
Harry snickered. Tom grimaced and mimed banging his head into the wall in frustration. Ron was just confused.
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Hogwarts had no linear way of thinking - for her every moment was an endless circle of consciousness. The day Salazar left her halls in disgust forever was but seconds ago - the minute of the exodus of the last child from her fading halls was a sighing breath away. No memory was dimmed or forgotten, no future unknown. The magic within her walls was as ageless as the ground she was built upon.
Her children would all age and die someday, but the mother would not mourn; they would live in her memory forever, feeding the growth and comfort of new children.
She was not sad to never see a descendant of sweet Helga again, but Godric's children were with her and Rowena's not far away. Hogwarts looked forward to the day - remembered the day - that Salazar's child would finally come back to her.
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Ron hadn't been sure of this plan at first. After all, he'd be putting his life in the hands of Lord Voldemort, evil extraordinaire. He'd been raised with tales of the terrifying things the Dark Lord had done, and Ron admitted to being a bit scared of remaining in close quarters with the man.
But now that Ron had actually met him, he didn't seem nearly so frightening. Yes, he could see Voldemort for what he was, powerful and insane.
But he was also bloody soft on Harry.
Ron supposed he could understand that, with the whole 'lost love showing up miraculously alive' thing going on. He promised from the beginning to trust Harry, and if that included the man he…was in love with, then Ron supposed that he'd have to trust him as well.
Though Ron sincerely hoped the Dark Lord had been a handsome bloke; he couldn't imagine Harry's taste for falling in love with someone so butt ugly.
¤
Classes were all right. Harry's reputation in the school kept others from coming to close, something that helped greatly in maintaining Ron's control. Other times it almost became too much for the redhead, the brain's insane paranoid influence chipping away at the boy's restraint. It was in times like these that Harry would be late for class, having spent time helping Ron calm down. He was no longer hearing voices, but the brain had succeeded in breaking Harry's friend so well that he couldn't relax even for a moment. Harry spent nights losing the battle not to fall asleep before Ron did.
"Just a bit longer, Ron," Harry touched the sickly boy's shoulder gently. Ron just nodded.
¤
Professor McGonagall stared down he nose gravely, and Harry had to fight the urge to shrink in his chair. The eager-to-learn seventh year that had reminded him so much of the old Hermione was hardly there. Harry had hardly known her younger self, but he'd counted on some bit of familiarity beneath his Head's stony countenance to assure him during this meeting. There was none.
"I want to say how surprised I was when you rejected the Quidditch Captaincy this year, Mr. Potter; I had to give it to McLaggen," the deputy headmistress shook her head, "And to quit Quidditch altogether! I was deeply shocked."
Harry shrugged. After the freedom of being able to fly where and whenever he wanted at the manor this summer, Harry'd come to realize how much he enjoyed just being on a broom. He didn't need to play Quidditch to fly. Adding that to his realization of just how much stress he was going to be under this year, rejecting the captaincy had been surprisingly painless. Harry didn't even miss the game all that much, just the chance to get out on a broom.
"You understand what you were called here for, I trust?" McGonagall asked.
Harry nodded, "I've been late to several classes and I skipped detentions."
"Not only that, but your dorm mates report that many nights you're not in bed, after curfew. With all the rumors flying about and the rubbish the Prophet is spewing, this is a cause for concern," McGonagall looked over her desk at where he sat in hard wooden chair. For a moment Harry thought he saw her eyes soften behind her glasses, "I want to help you, Harry. If you tell me what's wrong I will try my best to fix it." The look on her face told him she was completely serious.
Feeling a stab of panic at what questions might come if he didn't answer her, Harry thought fast for an excuse, grasping the first thing that came to mind. "Draco!" inwardly, he was cursing himself for being so stupid, but McGongall's eyes lit up as she latched into it.
"Yes, Mr. Potter?"
"Erm, well..." Harry was amazed at his own storytelling abilities as he launched into a purely fictional telling of his 'relationship' with Malfoy. He told of how the boy wanted to be safe from Voldemort and had approached him and the friendship they had forged. He left enough ambiguous comment to suggest something more, hoping he wouldn't have to outright say anything. Merlin, Tom was going to have his head for this.
¤
Voldemort stood tall, looking down on his mass of black-robed followers. A slow smirk crawled onto his face, looking so eerie that several of the Death Eaters shivered slightly.
"Tomorrow, there is to be an attack on Hogsmeade."
A low buzz of muttering met his statement, as many knew that tomorrow was a Hogsmeade weekend for the students of Hogwarts. Several Death Eaters had children there, and the possibility of harming them made many distinctly uncomfortable. He assured them concisely.
"There shall be no fatalities! This is a terror strike. Convene tomorrow after sunrise…Go," Voldemort swept his hand in dismissal, causing the Death Eaters to Disapparate to the locations from which they'd come. Voldemort grinned stiffly; there were few things he enjoyed more than a plan well-laid.
¤
Harry took in a breath of fresh October air as he walked down the path to Hogsmeade. Ron was beside him, looking distinctly better than he had all week with the voices temporarily locked away. Ron was making some light-hearted conversation about the Halloween Feast, wondering if any of his favorite dishes would be served and whether or not there would be that new flavor of treacle tart his mum was going nuts about in her letters.
Harry listened to his chatter good naturedly. With his friend so energetic Harry was feeling better about the occasion. Perhaps everything would go well today after all, despite the fact that something bad always seemed to happen to him on All Hallow Eve. Harry sighed slightly at the thought, trying to focus on what Ron was saying.
They reached the outskirts of the village where they could see many shops already coming alive with people.
"First stop, Honeydukes!" Ron suddenly cheered. Harry smiled and followed, eager to grab a few Blood Pops and some Ice Mice for Tom while he was there; he hoped the Dark Lord still liked them.
¤
On his outward façade, Albus Dumbledore remained perfectly calm and collected as his deputy told him of the meeting she'd held with Harry Potter last evening, but as each word passed her lips he felt himself grow more and more alarmed.
True, the Daily Prophet had already hinted at this, but Albus simply dismissed it as more of the Ministry's garbage, trying to make Harry and Dumbledore himself look bad. But now that Minerva was repeating word from Harry's own mouth, Albus couldn't help but fear a little.
He'd known that Harry temper was growing out of control, especially after the blowup the boy had in his office - thankfully none of his instruments had been irreparably damaged. He'd worried about the young wizard for a while, but his anxiety had been temporarily assuaged by his renewed friendship with the Weasley boy. Weasleys were notorious for being firmly on the Light side and never befriending Dark wizards. It had been worth the effort to put the Weasley family in the perfect position to meet Harry in his first year.
Even with the Granger girl voicing doubts, Dumbledore believed the best in Harry.
But evidence was piling up against his case - Harry was associating with Lucius Malfoy's son. Albus knew Harry had a great capacity to love and if he somehow fell in love with Draco Malfoy, the blond boy would be able to lead him astray to the Dark side easily. The headmaster felt a pang of familiarity at the situation but he shook it away, not wanting to sink into memories of the long-ago past.
Dismissing Minerva with several vague reassurances, Albus sat down to plan. He would have to watch the boy for a while and look for suspicious behavior. The changes in Harry were easily seen, but Dumbledore wanted to be sure. Albus withdrew a vial from one multihued sleeve and held it up to the light, examining the liquid inside as it glinted and cast rainbows in the late October sunlight.
Albus smiled wearily, truly hoping it wouldn't come to this.
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It didn't take long for Harry to notice they were being shadowed. Whether invisible or not, Mad-Eye Moody stood out in a crowd and it was impossible to dismiss him once Harry sensed his presence.
Hurriedly Harry distracted Ron by pointing out an interesting display in the window of Zonko's. It wouldn't do to have his friend notice Moody, or Ron's paranoia would start acting up and he'd get twitchy enough for Moody to notice. Harry scowled slightly as his ears picked up the steady thunk thunk of Mad-Eye's foot and the man's distractingly irregular heartbeat that leapt at every little motion the milling children of Hogsmeade made. Having an Auror trailing them was the last thing Harry needed at this point.
He scanned the area around them, looking for a good place to lose the man. As Harry searched he noticed a small group of Slytherins hurry out of his path as Harry followed his friend around. He smirked at their behavior, knowing exactly why the Slytherins were sending those wary looks his way. Although Harry hadn't gotten the chance to talk to Draco all week, he'd heard from Tom exactly what had been done to ensure Malfoy's safety. Tom put a ward on Theodore that allowed Nott to inform the other Death eater children that Malfoy was off limits and, as a bonus, to be wary of Harry at all costs. Harry didn't know how Tom had constructed such an elaborate ward in so little time, but the spell also ensured that that any information Nott shared could not be passed on any farther. He really had to admire the power and skill that Tom acquired over the years since Harry had known him.
On the other hand the rest of the school was still avoiding him, but they'd taken to whispering loudly as he passed in light of the new gossip that rag called a newspaper was spilling out. Harry made no comment on the continued speculation on his sexual preferences and his relationship with Draco. He'd taken to eating in the kitchens, much to Dobby's delight.
However, when the Great Hall couldn't be avoided he endured the stares and ate quietly in the company of a once-again animated Ron and occasionally Neville. The pudgy boy was growing up a bit and Harry found that he really did enjoy talking with Neville because he didn't care what others said about Harry and was willing to find out for himself. It warmed Harry greatly that someone he'd paid so little attention to in past could turn out to be such a great friend.
Harry unwrapped a Blood Pop and stuck it in his mouth, smiling as a salty copper flavor flowed over his tongue. The candy was a little off from the flavor of real human blood, being too sweet, but the pops were apparently made with the thought of a treat for vampires and wizards with strange tastes in mind. Harry thought it nice that Honeydukes was willing to subtly cater to the non-human population, even after all this time.
A familiar feeling of anti-apparation wards rising gave Harry pause, his body freezing in the middle of the road. An explosion shuddered through the air with a loud BOOM, and suddenly the street was filled with hooded and masked forms. People realized what was happening began to panic, screeching and yelling as everyone tried to get away but realized they could not Apparate. Hexes began to speed through the air as Harry swiftly drew his wand, but froze. Ron was nowhere to be seen.
"Bugger!" Harry dropped his sweet in the dirt as he sensed Moody move toward him, probably aiming to stick a portkey on him that lead to Headquarters or some such place. Harry growled, pushing through a crowd of wizards who had not yet recognized him, or no doubt they would be pushing him to the front lines to fight the Death Eaters. He had to find Ron.
Then Harry heard one particularly familiar yell among the other screams and explosions; he rushed forward, ignoring a stunning spell sent his way and disregarding Moody's pursuing presence.
'Ron!'
The terrified crowd parted just for a moment, and Harry finally caught a glimpse of his friend. There was Ron, eyes like chips of ice, lying in a pool of blood. Harry froze at the sight, feeling his heart stop too. It was then that Moody caught up to him, trying to wrench the boy from the scene.
"No! Let me go to him!" Harry struggled in the scarred man's grip.
Moody snarled, "Stupid boy! There's nothing you can do for him. We have to leave!" Still Harry fought his grasp, reaching for his wand - then he heard a muttered, "Stupefy," and the world went red before falling into black.
A/N: It's late, I'm tired, and all you Ron haters probably love me right now. That will change. On the other hand, early chapter! Hope you appreciate it. Thanks for all the input on 'A Blank Soul' and 'Right Where It Belongs' guys! So far voting seems to be in favor of ABS, but I'd still like to hear your opinions.
Please review!