Through my badly screwed up eyes, I noticed that we had been taken to Malfoy Manor. Or at least, that much was obvious from context, and the place lived up to its name.

Dragged in to the the manor itself, my head was dragged upwards.

"Well… you claim this to be Potter… but his wand does not match Ollivander's description, and we can barely see his scar! If he's not Potter, and we summon the Dark Lord for nothing?" an unladylike cackle questioned. Bellatrix Lestrange.

"Bella, please calm yourself. We have the methods to assure that this is Potter. Draco is home for Easter. Maybe he may be able to affirm Potter's identity…" a woman I was unfamiliar with said.

"Very well… Draco! Come here!" Bella called downstairs. Draco hurried down.

"Now, you must tell us, my son… is this Harry Potter, scourge of the Death Eaters?" Lucius asked. Draco looked at me uncertainly. Amber had done a good job with an improvised Stinging Hex, she herself having muddled her features with Hermione.

"I don't know. I just can't tell…" Draco muttered. Bellatrix shoved him aside, and pushed her face close to mine. I spat at her.

"This is Potter. No one else would be dumb enough to spit in my face during a hostage situation. Wormtail!" Bellatrix stated, and Wormtail came up, his silver hand morphing into a needle.

"You called?" Wormtail asked, gesturing his needle.

"Yes. Pull away the Mudblood Granger, and dump the rest in the cellar," Bellatrix ordered.

"Good idea, Lestrange. But which Mudblood?" Bellatrix pointed to Hermione.

"That one." Ron roared with rage, but there was nothing he could do. Expertly, Wormtail worked the ropes so Hermione was out, but the rest of us were still secure.

"Ron… I love you," Hermione cried, before the two groups were separated.

In the cellar, Ron was doing nothing but panic. I tried to squeeze his hand, but grabbed Amber's instead. She squeezed back, smiling weakly.

"Wait, Ron?" a high voice asked.

"Luna?" I asked, curious. Luna came over to me.

"Don't worry, Harry. I can get you out of these ropes," she said, finding the point between me and Amber. With one swipe, she pulled them apart easily.

"You're good, Luna!" Darion cheered.

"I learned from the best," Luna said modestly. Darion smiled, and embraced Luna.

"Good to see you again. Your father has been worried sick," Darion told her. Luna whispered something back that had both of them giggling.

"Luna, could you not flirt with my boyfriend, please? I know you two are close and all, but?" Amber asked. Luna gave a meek apology. I started pulling random stuff from my mokeskin pouch.

"Prisoners, backs against the wall!" Draco roared. He came in, and looked at Griphook.

"Griphook, tell them no truth. Our sword is fake."

"You have it, Potter." Draco grabbed Griphook, and dragged him off. With a bang, the door closed. I looked around.

"Dobby is here to save you, Harry Potter," a squeaky voice called out.

"Really, Dobby? Would you start with me, Dean, and Mr Ollivander?" Luna asked, before anyone else could jump at the surprise.

"Luna! We need all the hands we can get!"

"Darion, I really like you, but it'll be easier if any attack you may take part in is challenged by people who know each other back to front," Luna pointed out. I scooped up my mokeskin stuff, and put it in the pouch.

"Luna… stay safe…" Darion whispered, before lightly kissing her on the cheek.

"Is this the moment?" Amber asked weakly.

"Now or never, Amber. You're guaranteed surviving this mess unless Riddle shows up. I'm not."

I massaged my temples. "He's coming now. We have to hurry!" I told them, half just to shut them up. The door opened. Wormtail came in, eye bulging.

"…You guys are so getting a fiver!" Wormtail shouted. He glided straight toward me, and pointed his needle dagger. I closed my eyes.

One down, two to go.

*SQUELCH*

I opened my eyes. The needle wasn't in my chest… it was in Ron's.

Wormtail's eyes widened, and he withdrew the needle. Ron's body rolled over, his eyes ever staring and empty.

"I missed," Wormtail said coldly.

Amber was pissed.

"Wormtail, you owe Harry a life debt. Ron just gave it a little enforcement. And I'll make sure you never try to hurt a hair on Harry's head again. Rursus Spodium!"

A jet of light shot from her wand, and Wormtail was struck straight in the chest. Flowering from the strike was a grey web of lines, crisscrossing before his entire body was the ash-grey colour, and his body dissolved into a heap of ash.

"We have to get out of here," Amber said. Turning Ron's body into a small object she tucked into her sock, she ran upstairs, me and Darion following.

We rushed upstairs to see Bellatrix holding Hermione. She had a knife drawn to Hermione's neck.

"Reverbero!" Amber roared, sending Bellatrix backwards. She grabbed Hermione's wrist and Disapparated.

"What…" everyone in the manor cried out. I looked around, and spotted a few wands in Draco's hand. I grabbed them out, and passed one to Darion.

"My apologies, Bellatrix, but we'll never see you again," I boasted, before trying to Disapparate. It didn't work.

"Wait a second… how did Amber-?" I began, but a nice thump stopped me. Bellatrix had fallen to the floor, and Amber reappeared.

"That was a Disillusionment Charm, Harry. Not a Disapparation," she told me. "Now leap into the air, as I am preparing to do now." We leaped away from Bellatrix, as the chandelier dropped onto her.

"Go Amber!"

"That wasn't me. That was Dobby," she pointed out. Dobby Apparated next to me, and allowed us all to grab him. He Disapparated, just as Narcissa had grabbed Bellatrix's knife and threw it at where we were.

"Alright, Harry. No one else is telling me a thing. What happened. You show up with a dead house-elf, an unconscious goblin… Hermione's tortured, you've found Luna and Ollivander, there's no sign of Ron… spill."

"I can't explain why we were captured, but I will tell you what we left. Wormtail is nothing but ash, Bellatrix was crushed by a chandelier, and… Ron was stabbed right in the heart by Wormtail."

Bill looked at me, shocked. "What happened to the body?"

"Amber Transfigured it," I said. Amber came along, cleared off a table, and Untransfigured Ron. He wasn't bleeding nearly as bad as I expected him to, but it didn't change the fact he was dead. Murdered by his own pet.

Hermione came downstairs, and spotted Ron laying on the table, and turned to me.

"How did this happen?"

"Ron jumped in front of Wormtail trying to kill me."

"He killed himself to save your life… I can't decide whether my tears are of pride or jealousy…" Hermione whimpered.

"Hermione, please…"

"Don't talk to me! You have no right to survive when Ron died. Just… leave me alone!" Hermione shouted, running upstairs. Amber came down, looking quite as distraught as Hermione, and looked at Ron carefully.

"Where's Ginny?"

"My entire family has been moved to Auntie Muriel's. It's under the Fidelius Charm, in which Lupin has been assigned to keep the Secret. Why?"

"Sooner she joins us, the better…"

One of the biggest chapters. Ron's death. I had this planned since I read Fall of Five, and you may notice a few parallels. Couldn't sneak in the F-strike, but now you know why Glacius is one of the most common spells in the story.

Hermione's pain is losing her closest friend. Although she has every right to be ticked, she may be overly strong expressing it...

And, if you paid attention, you saw this happening to some degree in Demented 2. The broken ring, the cross, and I intended the wolf to represent the feelings going through Ron and Hermione right now. Damn rat.

Two must fall to the hand of one.