Ron's team gathered with their backs against each other, wands out and pointed anywhere in front of them. There were boggarts roaming around. Taking the form of the team's most terrifying and most prominent fears.

Each Auror has been trained to deal with this situation, each knew the spell and the methods necessary to dispatch one. But what they do not know is how to identify one. As Ron had just experienced his ongoing fear of failure, he urged the team to focus, concentrate on their fears and separate them from their reality.

Easier said than done, Ron's mind countered.

'Keep a levelled head, men— don't let your fears shape you…in fact see if you can't shape your fears.'

They all looked at him in confusion; they knew what their leader was asking of them. Ron wanted them to help the boggarts choose a fear to mimic?

'Trust me, when they see your fears, you will all see them.'

-SEEING-

RIIIING, RIIIING! Came the chiming sounds of Roger's mobile phone. They all looked at him with annoyed grunts and rolling of the eyes.

Roger quickly apologised and took out his phone from his right pocket to answer the call, all the while Ron watched closely. He then saw something peculiar, a small slim rectangular shape in Roger's left pocket.

The team watched as Roger's face fell. 'What?!...What do you mean?!... But…but last night you said she was recovering well!'

When Simon gestured for him to quiet down, Rogers dismissed him and continued what looked like a struggle against bad news. His eyes were tearing up.

'No, you said she would survive the procedure…in fact she was more than okay last I visited—'

'Rex, throw the device to the ground!' Ron shouted and with Roger's spontaneous reaction, the phone fell to the ground, Ron incanted 'Riddikulus!' and the phone transformed into an old 70s radio broadcasting a commercial of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. 'BOGGART!' Ron roared out as from the ceiling burst in over ten or so figures— figures in the form of nasty creatures, a version of which were far more disturbing or even exaggerated. One even took the form of Lord Voldemort.

Barge got Voldemort seeing as he himself witnessed his own Muggleborn Mother killed by the Dark Lord. A great honour, Lord Voldemort had told a screaming five year-old, crouched in the corner, bloodied and shaken. As he gazed upon the eyes of the greatest dark wizard in history, his blood went cold, his eyes became moist and his muscles softened. Then another thought came to mind.

The worst part about the night his mother died would be the fact that the man standing by Voldemort when his killing curse struck the loving woman was Barge's own father.

Barge's eyebrows furrowed, 'Riddikulus!' he cried. In an instant the boggart-Voldemort was dragged backwards and then…a noose appeared around his neck and there next to the wall, the Dark Lord dangled seemingly lifeless.

This put a smile on the young Auror's face.

-=O=-

Back to back Aaron and Simon fought but to them it seemed endless. With every fear faced the same came creeping up again. Next to them was Roger whom despite his better judgements could not hold back his sniggers and laughter at all the humorous activity before him.

Roger did not know why this scene was not having much of an effect on his colleagues— 'Oh, right…boggarts and werewolves…' he said embarrassed. 'Riddikulus!' he pointed his wand at a Freddy Kruger-boggart coming at him with his clawed fingers. The nightmare from Elm Street transformed now into Michelangelo the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, not the Renaissance master sculptor that the TMNT was named after.

Oh how Roger Rex burst out laughing, he almost wet his pants in laughter.

Simon shouted out at him, 'Aye, quit it, Rex, remember— head in the game!'

'Isn't the whole point of Riddikulus? Using laughter to defeat these guys?!'

Ron had just finished up dispatching a trio of boggarts in the form of his mother, Hermione and Harry. Each one coercing him to submission with blurting out the words he'd feared coming out of these three important opinions. Too bad the boggarts chose a fear that he could so easily ignore.

He turned to Simon, 'Roger's correct, laughter is what we need to defeat them.' Great now he just needed a next step in his plan…

Ron looked around the room, among the unconscious werewolves on the floor, then to the ceiling— a hole in the corner. No shattered splinters on the ground below it thus it was not caused by the boggarts—meaning a higher probability that they could not break through.

Now though no one really sees a boggart in its pure form, Ron was certain that theses boggarts were capable of fitting through the hole.

Step #2—find source…incapacitate it. There was a smirk now on Ron's face, his trademark lopsided grin.

All he needed was a blockage…

Eureka.

Ron quickly aimed his wand at one of the unconscious werewolves one he thought was alive. With the simplest spell of wingardium leviosa and lifted it facing the hole the werewolf entered. It was a bit of a squeeze but Ron managed to block off the hole and now the boggarts had something to keep them all busy and away from them for a while. They all sighed as soon the room became quite…or at least for a while longer.

Though, after they had all left the room after incapacitating the other remaining werewolves, some of the Aurors especially Ron felt a twinge of guilt as they heard the loud screams of the werewolf Ron used as a plug. It was the sound of a man facing all of his fears head on and unable to escape them even if he tried.

'He's gonna need therapy after this,' Aaron remarked as they continued their venture deeper into the Chamber of Secrets.

Ron nodded at his ward's attempt to lighten the mood, 'I'll try to arrange it.'

-=O=-

'Grrrrr…Come on!' Hermione was now slamming the device around, waving it, hitting it but to no effect. The Deluminator would not activate for her. It just sat there in her hand. She banged it against her other hand shouting 'Son of a bitch, work!'

This was really a head scratching riddle she had. She'd have to abandon it soon and continue her escape but so far it looked like she was going further in, and she was now too scared to turn back…what was she to do—

'ARGH!' she screamed as she felt a sharp and loud pain in her right shoulder. Immediately she dropped the Deluminator and her now free hands went to her shoulder where now she could feel a cold cylindrical object poking out of her flesh. Unable to feel her legs, Hermione collapsed onto the cold stone brick wall. Her hands were shaking as she instinctively pulled the object out.

A slight pinch as it was finally detached. Her breathing was frantic, not finding it particularly hard but her lungs were just pumping. She held the object closer to her eyes, only a blur. Then after some focus, she could see it. It was the syringe…it was empty. Hermione's fears were running amuck as her highly logical brain was subconsciously coming up with every possible scenario. One stood out as most likely.

What she saw next confirmed what she dreaded. Out of the blur appeared Lavender Brown. She was in a raging, crazed state, the look in her eyes told her she was desperate. Her eyes were in tears yet she had a wide smile on her face. Hermione's own face grew in terror as the realisation of what Lavender had just done hit her like a brick pushing her off a cliff. What had she done?!

Hermione tried to get herself up, leaning on her left shoulder but she was stopped in her tracks by a kick to the stomach by Brown. The pain was searing through like she was being butchered, far worse than the Cruciatus Curse. 'You know, Granger—you have been a real pain in the neck ever since I first met you at Hogwarts. Ooh, look at me, I'm Hermione Granger, the smartest fucking witch in the fucking world!' she said in a mocking tone. 'You always need to have everything don't you.'

Lavender circled her. Hermione looked around, hands clutching her stomach. Argh it was in so much pain. She saw Brown's wand a few centimetres away, next to the Deluminator. She made a mental note to discreetly grab for the wand.

'You need to have all the fucking attention, all the fucking opportunities—and Ron?' she made a face of mock disgust before stepping over her wand and picking it up. She returned it into her robe sleeves. 'Why couldn't you just go for Potter?'

Hermione just couldn't move, every joint she did was followed by immense pain. 'YOUMOTHERFUCKINGBITCH!' she cursed out loud still applying pressure onto her abdomen to dull out the pain.

To this Lavender merely chuckled. Again she mocked surprise 'Ooh, Hermione, you shouldn't swear, it's bad manners and we can't tarnish your reputation now can we?' she moved to the front of the wounded woman so Hermione could see her. She then presented a vial of clear liquid. 'Perhaps I best wash out that dirty mouth of yours.' She then consumed the liquid. Well at least kept it in her mouth.

After that she leapt on top of her defeated witch, each hand now holding Hermione down by the wrist. Hermione stared terrifyingly at her former friend's very different eyes and could see her own fear reflected in them. What was she going to do now? She thought.

Then Lavender reached down and captured Hermione's mouth with her own. To say Hermione was taken aback was an understatement. She was kissing another person and it was a woman…then she felt something enter her mouth beyond her tongue. The liquid she presumed.

Lavender held her mouth on hers for another minute or so before rising up. Hermione wanted to spit the taste of her lips out or retort in disgust but she could not move. That was before she felt dizzier and her vision darkening. All of a sudden Lavender came in twos. Lav had given me a sedative. She was going to be even more powerless and she would not know what's happening.

Lavender rose up, still straddling her captive with an evil grin on her scarred face. 'I gotta admit…that was kinda hot, wouldn't you say, Granger?' she looked down at her with a new aura of authority and dominance. 'Nighty night, Know-it-all,' where the last things Hermione heard before everything went black and she entered the void.

Oh come on, Ron, where are you?

-=W=-

Author's Note: This one might seem a little darker. Once again, any feedback will help. Just tell me if there is something I'm doing wrong. Maybe it's characters, maybe it's the story, maybe the writing? Whatever it is do not be afraid or lazy to remark.