AUTHOR'S NOTES: So, here we are, one week before Christmas and we're expecting a major snowstorm this weekend. Seems like a good time to curl up with a nice mug of hot chocolate and enjo some fanfiction, yeah? Heh...I almost FORGOT that this was my scheduled posting week! In my defense, I've been writing my arse off; I'm currently in the midst of re-writing Chapter 19 (I did have Chapters 19 and 20 written already, but upon review, they needed a major overhaul and will be combined into one chapter, the re-written version of Chapter 19 which I am currently working on). So, since I've been so busy writing, trying to get ahead and stay ahead, the date of my next scheduled post slipped my mind...for a bit. But, here I am, posting, so no worries!
Since I won't be posting again until aftr Christmas, I want to take this opportunity to wish all of my readers (especially those among you who conside yourself my fans) a very Merry Christmas! And if you don't celebrate Christmas...well...then a very [insert appropriate adjective here] [insert name of your particular holiday here] to you all!
THANKS: Thanks, as always, to CutewithAcapital-Q for her hard work and dedication as my beta. I know it's frustrating sometimes, especially when I end on a cliffhanger, but I'm really glad to have you around, Cutie! AND a very warm thank you to everyone who has ever posted a review for my story and for any and all of you who have put me or my story on alert.
DISCLAIMER: This is all JKR's.
Chapter 16
"Comparative Reflections"
MIRROR, MIRROR
As the sounds of Hermione's footsteps disappeared up the staircase, Ron found himself unceremoniously shoved up against the wall of the sixth floor landing while his twin captors began whispering animatedly amongst themselves. He had no idea what Fred and George were up to. He'd just admitted to being the reason for them having a week's worth of detention with Snape, and he doubted that they would be grateful for the opportunity.
Ron began inching his hand towards his back pocket where his wand was stashed, just in case they decided to do something he'd need to defend himself against. Before he could reach his wand, however, the twins turned their attention back to him with unreadable expressions on their identical faces.
"You were the one who stole the dungbombs out of my trunk, weren't you?" Fred asked, folding his arms across his chest.
Ron nodded. "I didn't think you'd miss ten or twenty, since you had about a hundred of them."
"I didn't think ickle prefects were allowed to steal from other students," George replied, folding his arms just as Fred had done.
"Considering the use I put them to," Ron shot back, folding his own arms, so now all three Weasleys stood in confrontational poses, "I'd think the two of you would be glad to've contributed."
"Maybe if we'd been in on the prank in the first place," Fred said acidly, narrowing his eyes at Ron, "But instead all we got is the blame…and a week's detention with Snape!"
"You also got the fame," Ron countered, "Everyone thinks it was you two who did it, so now three-quarters of the school think of you as heroes."
"He's got a point, Fred," George said with a smile, allowing his arms to fall to his sides, "They worship us even more than before!"
"That's beside the point," Fred grumbled.
"Then what is the point?" Ron asked, resolutely setting his jaw in preparation for Fred's next point.
"I don't like the idea of being out-pranked…especially by you," Fred said, glowering at Ron.
"We're back on this again?" Ron sighed, rolling his eyes, "I get it…you hate me."
"If you get it, then why are you still here?" Fred asked bitterly, "We gave you the map so you could finish your little mission and go. So, go already!"
"It's not that simple…I wish it was," Ron said, "But it's going to take a little while longer."
Fred snorted derisively. Ron narrowed his eyes angrily.
"You think I like being here?!" Ron snapped, advancing on Fred menacingly, "Let's not forget that I was kidnapped from my home and brought here without so much as a warning! I get here only to learn that my two best friends actually hate me here, and that I have to pretend to be your dead brother because Dumbledore didn't manage to keep him alive! And if that wasn't bad enough, I've got Ginny running off whenever I enter a room, you two treating me like I'm doing this for fun, and to top it all off, I've got a bloody secret mission that I'm not allowed to talk about that has the potential to kill me about a hundred different ways!"
"If you can't talk about it," George said, "Then why are you?"
"Shut up, George!" Ron and Fred shouted in unison.
"I didn't ask to be here!" Ron continued, "You think I like bringing pain to your family? It's my family, too, you idiot! Whether I'm from here or not, I'm still a bloody Weasley! Put yourself in my shoes for a second, Fred; what if you were the one being forced to impersonate a dead version of yourself? Because that what this is, Fred…I'm being forced. I don't have a choice! I only get to go home when I've completed my mission to Dumbledore's satisfaction; until then, I'm a prisoner here."
The twins looked stunned at Ron's outburst; shocked disbelief painted their usually amused dispositions.
"Dumbledore wouldn't do that, would he?" George asked, looking to his brother.
Fred shrugged. "I don't think so, George. Dumbledore's the greatest wizard since Merlin."
"Believe what you want," Ron said, turning his back to them and making his way up the steps, "But keep this in mind: he knew your brother was in danger…that he would be the one needed to perform the mission I now have to perform…and he let Mundungus Fletcher guard him."
Without another word or bothering to look back, Ron climbed the steps to the seventh floor, making his way to the portrait of the Fat Lady and the Gryffindor common room beyond. He quickly ascended the boys' staircase to his dorm, not wanting to be in the common room when the twins or Hermione came back.
Neville, Seamus, and Dean were already asleep, so Ron made a point of being as quiet as he could. He didn't want to wake them before he went sneaking off to the library to explore the Restricted Section. After checking the Marauders' Map to see that the common room was empty and the Fred, George, and Hermione were in their respective dorms, Ron slipped on the invisibility cloak to begin his late-night journey.
Ron's invisible trek down to the library was an uneventful one, and soon enough he was safely inside the Restricted Section, browsing through the rack of spellbooks by the light on the tip of his wand.
He passed over several titles that he recognized from last year, when he and Hermione were helping Harry look for something to help him in the second task of the Triwizard Tournament. Nothing they had found in those books could help Ron with the task that he had laid before him.
Ron settled on Basic Hexes for the Busy and Vexed, Jinxes and the Jinxed, and Where There's a Wand There's a Way to begin his research. Three hours and more than a dozen books later, Ron had finally found a spell that looked promising.
The book was old and dusty and the cover was cracked and faded to the point where the title was completely unreadable. Inside its yellowed, brittle pages, however, Ron found a spell that had been regularly used to protect villages from large-scale magical creatures back in an age when dragons, giants, and trolls more freely roamed the land.
According to the book, the spell was invented by a wizard named Marelinius Magnum in the eighth century. He made his home in the village of Ort in Northumbria; a village that was routinely overrun by a tribe of giants and one particularly tenacious dragon. After seeing it take several wizards working simultaneously to subdue these large creatures with standard Stunning spells, Magnum invented a much more powerful spell that could lay out a giant or a dragon with only one wizard needed. The book went on to note that Magnum successfully employed the spell against the dragon, rendering the beast unconscious, but Magnum died of a broken neck during the encounter.
Ron copied down the spell's information on a blank sheet of parchment, figuring that Magnum's Stunner was his best bet against a Riddle-possessed Harry. If it could take down a dragon, it could surely take out Harry…no matter who possessed him.
With the information on the spell tucked safely in his pocket, Ron used the invisibility cloak and Marauders' Map to make his journey back to Gryffindor tower quick and relatively painless. The only problem he ran into was when he had to awaken the sleeping Fat Lady in order to gain entrance to the common room and she scolded him at length for being out well past curfew.
When he finally made it into the common room, it was well after two in the morning. Ron had expected the room to be empty, but instead he found Hermione sitting there. He thought she had gone to bed hours ago, but he was obviously mistaken.
He couldn't help but smile at the scene before him: Hermione was asleep at a study table with her face in her Arithmancy book. The rest of her books were spread around the table and Crookshanks sat by her head, batting playfully at Hermione's crazy, tangled nest of hair. It filled him with warmth as Ron was so completely reminded of home.
Quietly taking a seat at the table, Ron reached over and gave Crookshanks a nice long scratch behind the ears. The fat ginger cat purred contentedly in response, rubbing himself briskly against Ron's hand and forearm, causing him to chuckle lightly.
Ron surveyed the mess of books spread out across the table; all of Hermione's course textbooks were present as well as a few books Ron had never seen before. A small book, about the size of a Muggle paperback, drew Ron's attention because of its title: OWL Revision and You (How to Squeeze Even More Study Time into an Already Busy Day).
Ron clucked his tongue at the book, shaking his head as he wondered if staying up until the wee hours of the morning studying instead of getting a good night's sleep was one of the techniques suggested in the book.
"Hermione," Ron called softly, lightly shaking her shoulder, "It's time to go to bed."
Hermione stirred a bit and mumbled something unintelligible, but didn't wake. Ron persisted, however, and after a couple of minutes of shaking her and calling her name, Hermione finally woke up.
"What are you doing here?" Hermione asked crankily, rubbing the sleep from her eyes as she took in her surroundings, "How long have I been asleep?"
"I dunno," Ron said, shrugging as he got to his feet, "I've only been here a few minutes, and you were already asleep when I came in."
"Came in? Where were you?" she asked, eyeing him suspiciously, "It's after two! Don't tell me you were out sneaking around the castle again!"
"I had something to take care of," he replied, moving towards the boys' staircase.
"Let me guess," Hermione said darkly, getting to her feet and adopting a confrontational stance, "You were out playing more stupid practical jokes!"
Ron rolled his eyes and sighed. He knew his earlier slip, telling Hermione and the twins that he'd been the one to set off the dungbombs in the Slytherin common room, would come back to haunt him.
"If you must know…I was in the library."
"The library?!" Hermione laughed, "You really expect me to believe that?! I don't think you even know where the library is!"
Ron glowered at her. "I was in the library, but I'm not going to try and convince you. After all, you think I'm an idiot."
Ron turned on his heel and started to climb the stairs. He was angry and a bit hurt by her comments, but he didn't want to give her the satisfaction of seeing his reaction. He'd only managed a few steps when Hermione called after him.
"Ron, wait! I…I'm -- wait…why couldn't you go to the library when it was open? Surely you weren't embarrassed about going…were you?"
"You really are nosy, you know that?" Ron snapped, causing Hermione to huff indignantly, "Since you obviously must know, I had to sneak into the Restricted Section because Umbridge had all the spellbooks pulled from the regular stacks in the library."
"What? Why would she do that?" Hermione asked in confused indignation.
"I dunno," Ron shrugged, "Maybe because she's a meddlesome toad."
"She's a teacher, Ronald; and a Ministry official!" Hermione said, narrowing her eyes at him.
"Like that matters," Ron muttered, turning on his heel, "Good night, Hermione."
"Does this have anything to do with your meeting with Dumbledore or why Snape didn't punish you?!" she called out to his retreating back.
Ron stopped and stiffened visibly. He knew that slip of the tongue would come back to haunt him. Hermione was way too curious for anybody's good. She craved knowledge, and when she was presented with something she didn't know or couldn't understand, she studied it until she did understand it. Unfortunately, if she were to understand this particular mystery, she'd be in danger.
"Let it go, Hermione," Ron said coldly, "Believe me…it's for the best."
"Ronald…"
"Drop it!"
"Ronald Weasley!"
Ron continued on up to his dorm, knowing Hermione…this Hermione…wouldn't come up the stairs after him, no matter how angry or curious she was. A girl going up the boys' staircase was against the rules, and she didn't have the four years of rule-breaking under her belt that his Hermione had; she didn't have Ron and Harry to be bad influences on her.
Ron made his way over to his bed, stuffing the cloak, Marauders' Map, and the spell information into his trunk before getting ready for bed. He'd need to make some time to practice with the new spell before he attempted to use it on Harry, but he could worry about that in the morning. For now, he needed sleep.
The next few days passed strangely for Ron. Even though he was now on friendly terms with Neville, the round-faced boy spent a great deal of his time around Ginny and Hermione – both of whom wanted nothing to do with Ron – so Ron still wound up eating his meals alone and either sitting alone or sitting with someone from one of the other houses during class.
Saturday brought around another Quidditch practice, and once again Cormac McLaggen was absent due to a foolish bet he made with the Weasley twins. This time around, they bet him he couldn't drink a butterbeer mixed with bubotuber pus without vomiting. He couldn't, and according to Madam Pomfrey, it would be several days before he was once again released from the hospital wing.
Ron didn't perform quite as bad at the practice this time around, but he was still far from perfect. The catcalling Slytherins were absent from this practice, so instead of their constant harassment causing his nerves to get the better of him, his nerves were set off by the odd looks Fred and George kept shooting his way. He couldn't quite figure out what those looks meant, and as a result, he continued to perform sloppily.
He still had a few weeks before the first Quidditch match, so he was hopeful that he would improve enough that he could hold his own during an actual match. Then again, he still had his hopes pinned on being back home before the first Quidditch match. Of course, that didn't stop Angelina Johnson from continually imploring him to find his natural, inborn, Weasley Quidditch talent every chance she got…which just made him feel worse.
Sunday, Ron decided to test Magnum's Stunner, just to make sure he had it down-pat before he tried using it against Harry. The boys' dorm was empty and Ron took that as a sign that he should practice there. He set his pillow on Dean's bed across the room, took out his wand, and gave the parchment with the spell information one last look before casting the spell.
As soon as the spell incantation left his lips, a loud bang and a large bolt of red light burst forth from his wand, hitting the pillow dead center and causing it to explode in a shower of white feathers. Ron would have considered this a successful test, except for the fact that the force of the spell shooting from his wand threw him back several feet and he collided hard with the wall next to his bed.
It was several minutes before the ringing in his ears and the black fuzzy spots behind his eyes went away and Ron was able to pull himself to his feet rather sluggishly. He stumbled over to Dean's bed and looked at what was left of his pillow, then turned and looked at the wall he'd been thrown against.
"I think I know why Magnum broke his neck using this spell," Ron groaned, rubbing the large knot on the back of his head, "I'm going to have to be more careful when I use this against Harry."
As the next week began, Ron was starting to get frustrated. He had hoped to have heard from Dumbledore about getting a chance to see what was happening back home in his own dimension, but ever since their less-than-agreeable discussion after Ron's sojourn into the Slytherin common room, Dumbledore had been absent again from all meals. The longer he was away from home, the more desperate Ron became to see what was happening there.
He couldn't prove it, but he got the feeling Dumbledore was dragging his feet on providing Ron with a glimpse of home. The headmaster had, after all, advised against Ron wanting to check in on things back home. He wanted to ask the old wizard about it, but of course, he wasn't around; Ron was sure Dumbledore was avoiding him, as well.
He had tried to storm up to the headmaster's office to confront him, but he couldn't get past the gargoyle that guarded the spiral staircase. The password had been changed, and Ron knew there was no way one of the other staff members would give it to him. He was going to have to wait for Dumbledore to send for him. Unfortunately, Ron wasn't a very patient person…especially where this particular matter was concerned.
Tuesday, Ron had a pair of unexpected visitors at breakfast. While he sat on his own at the end of the Gryffindor table, stuffing his face with eggs, sausages, and tomatoes, Fred and George Weasley took seats on either side of him and leaned in towards him, getting uncomfortably close.
"What the bloody Hell do you want?!" Ron asked angrily after nearly choking on his eggs.
"We want to make you a proposition," Fred said, grinning mischievously.
"No, no way," Ron said, shaking his head, "I'm done testing your new products."
"That's not what we want," George replied, smiling, "Though now that you mention it…"
"We do have a couple of new Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes that haven't been tested yet," Fred continued for his brother, "Are you sure…"
"We couldn't tempt you?" George finished.
"What is it that you want?" Ron said gruffly. Considering the twins had to serve a week's worth of detention with Snap because of his prank against the Slytherins, and they knew it was his prank, Ron expected some sort of payback to be coming from Fred and George; and with those two, payback was liable to be painful, humiliating, messy, or all three.
"How did you manage to get into the Slytherin common room?" Fred asked bluntly, keeping his voice down so no one else would hear.
"I can't tell you that," Ron said, shaking his head, "It's a secret."
"You owe us," George reminded him, "Besides…with all the secrets you told us Friday night, what's one more?"
"Fine," Ron growled, "If you're looking to sneak into Slytherin's common room, you might try being invisible."
"Invisible?" Fred said with a bemused expression on his face, "You were invisible?"
"This time, yeah," Ron said, nodding as he went back to eating his breakfast.
"What do you mean, 'this time'?" George asked, looking as confused as Fred, "Are you saying you've been in the Slytherin common room more than once?"
"Second year," Ron nodded again, "Used Polyjuice Potion that time, so I looked like Crabbe. Had a conversation with Malfoy and everything; he still has no idea it wasn't the real Crabbe."
"Invisibility…Polyjuice…George, if this is the sort of stuff he's capable of, I don't think we gave our Ronnie enough attention," Fred said, looking completely stunned.
"Just think of all that wasted potential," George agreed, "All the trouble we could've got into together."
"To be honest, the Polyjuice Potion was Hermione's idea," Ron admitted shyly, "She brewed it in secret in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom."
"Hermione," Fred repeated, "Hermione Granger?"
"Your world's Granger is a rule-breaker?" George asked, stunned, "Fred, we got gypped!"
Ron gave a soft chuckle as he finished his breakfast and stood to leave the table for his first-period Charms class.
"Just remember to keep this stuff between us."
He didn't know if sharing some of his secrets with Fred and George was a good idea or not; he wasn't sure if they could be trusted. Still, Ron felt a bit lighter after being able to talk about his own life instead of constantly being forced to emulate the life of this world's Ron. He did know that Dumbledore wouldn't be happy about it, but since he wasn't very happy with Dumbledore at the present time, Ron didn't lose any sleep over it.
Wednesday afternoon, as Ron stuffed his face with Shepherd's pie, he was once again joined by the twins; this time sitting across the table from him. He looked back-and-forth at his "lunch guests" and grew worried by their deviously smiling faces.
"You never did hear our proposal yesterday," Fred said.
"Terribly rude of you to just wander off," George added.
"Quite right, George, terribly rude," Fred grinned.
"I thought you just wanted to know how I got into the Slytherin dungeon," Ron replied.
"Well, we did want to know that," Fred admitted.
"But we also wanted to make you an offer," George added.
"An offer you can't possibly refuse," the twins said in unison.
"Why do I have a bad feeling about this?" Ron asked, narrowing his eyes at the twins.
"Maybe you have a guilty conscience?" Fred smirked.
"Or maybe you just know us too well," George grinned broadly.
"Enough already," Ron grumbled, "Tell me what you want."
"We want to help you," Fred said.
"Pull the other one!" Ron snorted, not believing for a second that the twins wanted to be helpful to him.
"He doesn't believe us, Fred," George said.
"Can't say as I blame him, George," Fred replied.
"We'll just have to convince him," the twins said together.
"Just get on with it already," Ron said, growing tired of their back-and-forth chatter.
"We had some time to think about what you said Friday night," Fred began, looking serious for once.
"And you're right: none of this is your fault," George continued, also looking serious.
"So, we're going to cut you some slack," Fed said, "You might not be our brother, but you are a Weasley."
"And we can't have you mucking up the name of Weasley with a shoddy performance on the Quidditch pitch," George added.
"To that end, we're going to help you improve," Fred said, "We'll practice with you to help you hone your Keeper skills."
"And what's this going to cost me?" Ron asked, arching an eyebrow at them.
"Hardly anything," George said with a smile.
"Just a little quid-pro-quo," Fred continued, smiling the same as George.
"Since we're cutting you some slack," George went on, leaning in conspiratorially.
"We want you to look the other way from time-to-time," Fred said, leaning in as well.
"Should we run afoul of you during your prefectly duties," George finished.
"I'll think about it," he said, turning his head to look up the table where Neville, Ginny, and Hermione sat together eating their own lunch, "Of course, you're on your own as far as Hermione's concerned. If she catches you, me looking the other way won't matter."
"We can handle Granger," Fred said confidently.
"No pranking her," Ron said sternly, turning to look back at Fred, "You leave her alone when you're looking for a new target to pick on."
"Fine," George sighed resignedly, "It's a shame, too; we had a doozy picked out for her."
"One last thing," Fred said, turning serious once again.
"What is it?" Ron asked, unnerved by the way these twins could actually seem serious; his own Fred and George had never been serious once in all their lives.
"Ginny," George said, looking up the table as Ron had done a few moments ago.
Ron copied the action, as did Fred, and all three were watching their younger sister. Every so often she would shoot a confused glance down the table at them before turning quickly away.
"You're presence is killing her," Fred said grimly, "She was hit harder than us by Ronnie's death, and even we were…well…"
"Devastated," George finished for his brother.
Ron nodded, looking back at the twins. "What do you suggest I do?"
"Talk to her," Fred said, "Tell her what you told us."
"Just don't be as harsh about it," George suggested, "Gin's much more delicate than us."
"And we were floored by what you said," Fred admitted.
"Fine," Ron said, nodding, "I'll find a way to talk to her, but there's no guarantee it'll help."
The twins got up and left Ron to his lunch and his thoughts. He'd been meaning to clear the air with Ginny ever since his chat with Luna Lovegood back when she thought he was looking for some sort of bat up on the seventh floor. Of course, he had no idea how to approach Ginny that wouldn't have her running for the hills as soon as she spotted him. He sighed, feeling yet one more thing piled up on his shoulders.
Thursday, Ron was distracted by thoughts of how he was going to approach Ginny, so he didn't notice, at first, when someone sat across from him at the table during breakfast. He was looking down at his food, distractedly pushing his bacon around his plate when something was slid into his line of sight.
He looked up to see a small plush otter sitting on the table. Upon seeing and recognizing the stuffed animal, Ron looked up into the soft brown eyes of Hermione Granger, finally noticing her presence across the table from him.
"Hermione…!"
"How did you know?" she asked, looking at him with awe, "I never told you…I never told anybody here at Hogwarts about the otters."
"Oh…err…" Ron wanted to tell her the truth, but he knew it would be too difficult for her to believe. The Weasleys at least knew most of the truth already, so anything he told them wasn't that difficult to explain, but Hermione…she knew none of it. How could explain that she, herself, had told him? His mind drifted back to that day during the summer before Third Year…
Ron and Hermione had been walking around Diagon Alley for about half-an-hour on their own. They'd been hoping to run into Harry as they did so, but it looked as though they would have to start their shopping without him. Not that Ron was too upset at the prospect; he'd been looking forward to being alone with Hermione for sometime…ever since her petrification had been reversed back in June.
He couldn't quite explain the feelings he was having lately, but he did know that being the sole object of Hermione's attention made him feel good. Even if her first thoughts still seemed to lie with Harry, when she was with him, Ron could see a different side of her. Hermione could laugh and joke and cut loose when it was just the two of them, and he liked it a lot. He liked being the one she could relax around.
That didn't mean he didn't like being around Harry. Harry was still his best friend…their best friend. But when Harry was around, whether he meant for it to happen or not, everything became about Harry. Even today had started off being about Harry.
"Let's see if we can find Harry," Hermione had said as soon as they left the Leaky Cauldron, "And then we can all buy our books and things together."
"Yeah, alright," Ron had agreed, hiding the disappointment in his voice.
However, they hadn't come across Harry right away and soon Ron had begun joking around and making Hermione laugh and enjoy herself, and their other best friend seemed to have been forgotten…temporarily, of course.
Hermione had wanted to rush right out to Flourish and Blott's in order to pick up their schoolbooks, but Ron had convinced her to wait. It was a beautiful summer day, they were free to wander Diagon Alley without adult supervision for the first time in their lives, and school shopping seemed to be a horrible waste. Ron was surprised when Hermione agreed with his reasons.
They spent the next two hours walking up and down Diagon Alley, looking in shop windows and talking with each other like they seldom had a chance to do at school. Ron, of course, told her all about his family's trip to Egypt, and Hermione told him about her family's latest holiday in France.
As they continued to walk, talk, and window shop, Hermione stopped and looked excitedly in the window of one particular store. It was toy shop, and at first Ron thought Hermione had gone barmy until he drew his attention to what she was looking at.
"Look at the otter, Ron, isn't it cute?" Hermione said, pointing at a small brown plush otter sitting amidst a veritable zoo of other stuffed animals, "Oh, I love otters!"
Ron laughed at the excitement she was showing over a toy of all things. He'd never seen her act this way before…childlike and girly. He had to admit, he liked being the one who got to see it…who got to see her as more than just concerned about schoolwork and books and grades.
"Before he passed away," Hermione began speaking in a faraway voice he'd never heard her use before, "My grandfather lived in a cottage near the Scottish border; it was out in the middle of nowhere, but it was beautiful, and I used to love visiting because of all the wild animals I would get to see. There was a river nearby, and a family of otters lived there; we had to be very quiet, but my grandfather and I would go and watch the otters…they were so amazing. Otters are very smart creatures, you know?"
Ron smiled as she talked, never hearing her talk so excitedly about something so seemingly mundane. "When's the last time you went to your grandfather's cottage?"
Hermione frowned, and he noticed a tear in the corner of her eye. He suddenly regretted asking her the question. "Two summers ago; he died a few days before our first year at Hogwarts ended. My father went to clear out the cottage, but I couldn't bear to go with him. It would be too hard without my grandfather there."
"I'm sorry, Hermione," Ron said, feeling awkward. Should he hug her? Should he pat her on the back? He settled for putting his hand on her shoulder. She smiled up at him and wiped her tears.
"Come on, Ron, let's go get our books."
Ron took one last look at the otter, determined to come back and buy it once he was finished buying his books for the school year. Unfortunately, even after buying used copies of almost all his books, he didn't have enough for the otter once he was done. The otter would have to wait.
And wait, it did. Third Year went by, and Ron forgot about the little stuffed otter as they were swept up in the whole business with Sirius Black and overwhelmed by new shopping opportunities at Hogsmeade Village near school. Fourth Year was much the same, though it was the Triwizard Tournament and Harry's unfortunate inclusion that drew their attention this time.
However, on a trip to Diagon Alley with his mum prior to moving into Grimauld Place last summer, Ron had caught sight of the otter again in the toy shop window. The fact that it was still there after two years told Ron it was meant for him to buy it for Hermione. Which he did…twice; he just hoped he'd get a chance to give his Hermione back home the otter someday soon.
"Ron? Hello?" Hermione waved her hand in front of Ron's face, drawing him out of his thoughts.
"Huh? Oh…err…sorry, Hermione," Ron said, blushing, "What were we talking about?"
"I asked how you knew that I loved otters, Ron," Hermione said, smiling bemusedly at him.
"Oh…well…I didn't," he lied, "I mean, how could I, right? I just figured…otters are smart…you're smart…you kind of go together."
She arched her eyebrow at him, and he got the funny feeling she didn't believe him. "Well, whatever the reason you did it, it was very sweet…thank you."
"You're welcome," Ron said, nodding, "Happy Birthday, Hermione."
Hermione smiled brightly as she got up and made her way over to Neville and Ginny. Ron chanced a look over at the other Gryffindors and found Neville giving him a knowing smile. Ron waved him off and went back to his breakfast. He still had a lot to think about…not the least of which was finding out if Harry was carrying Riddle's diary with him.
If he was going to do it, today would be the best day to follow Harry and Stun him. A double period of Potions fell right before lunch, so Ron knew that as soon as class was over, Harry would be heading for the Chamber of Secrets, and Ron would have his best chance to follow him. He could miss a few minutes of lunch without drawing attention, after all.
Ron was concerned about the power behind the spell, however. It had enough kick to throw him across the room as he cast it, and when it hit the pillow he was using for a target, nothing was left but feathers and a few bits of cloth. Nothing in the book had said anything about Magnum's spell killing the monsters it was used on…the text said the spell knocked them out. Of course, Harry was a lot smaller than a dragon or a giant…the last thing he wanted to do was to kill the very person he was trying to save.
Ron's options were limited, however. With Harry possessed by Tom Riddle's diary, he was certain that a normal spell wouldn't work; something obscure and powerful was what was called for. Yes, Ron was concerned that it was too powerful…but it wasn't as though his testing of the spell was a fair representation of the spell's power. Harry wasn't nearly as flimsy as a pillow, after all.
"It'll be fine," Ron kept telling himself, as he went through the motions of his morning classes, "This spell isn't going to kill him…he's not a pillow."
When Potions was over, Ron practically ran from the dungeon to the second floor girls' lavatory. He had used various hidden passageways and the invisibility cloak to make it there quickly and unseen.
Once inside Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, Ron checked the Marauders' Map to confirm that he had arrived before Harry. Sure enough, the scrambled nametag above the dot that Ron knew represented Harry was currently moving down the second floor corridor towards Ron's current position on the map at a slow, measured pace.
That was one of many strange things that Ron noticed about this Harry: he didn't rush anywhere. The Harry that Ron knew was always running around for some reason or another; whether it was because he was late for class or just speeding headlong into danger, his Harry was always in a hurry.
This Harry, however, never ran…never rushed around anywhere. He always moved at a steady gait that implied that he was above such petty things as running. It was as if he felt that the world should wait for him, and God help the world if it didn't.
Ron figured that was Riddle's influence; just like quitting Quidditch. Ron couldn't imagine a world where Harry would voluntarily give up one of the few things in life that brought him joy. On the flip-side, he couldn't imagine You-Know-who doing anything enjoyable…especially Quidditch.
Of course, Ron didn't usually imagine He-Who-Should-Not-Be-Named doing anything. He spent his entire lie trying not to imagine You-Know-Who; most wizarding children did…it was ingrained in them from an early age. You-Know-Who ranked right at the top of the list alongside giant, man-eating spiders – thanks to Hagrid – of nightmare creatures that Ron Weasley did his best not to think about. He'd faced down acromantulas in second year, and now, here he was, trying to wrest control of Harry Potter from You-Know-Who's grasp.
"I must be effing mental!" Ron thought as he watched Harry's dot grow steadily closer.
Ron folded the map closed and tucked it inside his robe. Taking a deep breath, Ron braced himself against the bathroom wall, wand at the ready, and went over the spell incantation in his head.
"I can do this," Ron silently repeated over and over in his head, trying to psych himself up.
The door to the bathroom opened and Ron held his breath, his heart hammering so loudly in his chest that he feared Harry might hear it. Harry entered the lavatory and strode over to the sinks that concealed the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets.
Ron released the breath he'd been holding slowly and raised his wand, aiming at Harry's back. He was just about to wave his wand and call out the spell incantation when a voice rang out, sending a chill down Ron's spine.
"You, again?"
AUTHOR'S END NOTES: Yep. Another cliffhanger. I'll post the next update in two weeks, so have a safe and happy holiday and check back then!