Once, when he was eight, his mum asked him to dump a pail of water over her flowerbed. It was a simple enough task, but somehow Ron had ended up tripping over the porch railing, landing flat on his back with the entire contents of the pail splashed over him. Ron was the only thing that got watered that day.

He was remembering that story now as he peered over the edge of the floating rock he stood upon. By his estimation, there were more than a dozen different ways this could end badly.

"Look," Roberto said, pointing to the other side of the space they were in. At the end of four long paths of floating rocks was a bridge that led to a door. In between each path and the bridge was a floating key on a necklace. Above each key a letter was drawn out in glittering stars. There was one O, one A, one L and one H.

Upon seeing the keys, Ron and Viktor shared a quick glare, each man eyeing the other up. Then, with no warning, they both bolted forward at the same time.

Viktor was on the beginning stone down Hermione's path first. Ron hurled himself onto the rock as well. He landed on the back of Krum's leg and the rock turned with the force. The stone slid sideways so that the flat surface was now vertical and both Ron and Krum held onto the side, as if clinging to a sinking ship.

"Are you mad?" Harry bellowed. He jumped onto the rock next to the two men, the first stone down Lavender's path. "Have you lost your bloody mind?"

"Um, guys?" Neville called from the third path. "I'm just gonna head down this way. Take my chances with this 'A' key."

Keeping out of the way, Neville began down his own path, directly to the left of where Ron and Viktor were still struggling to right themselves. Finally, the rock tipped back, returning to a flat position. Ron took the opportunity to push Krum's face down and leapt over his body, landing on the second rock. Viktor, not to be outdone, pounced onto the second rock as well, landing flat on Ron's back. The redhead let out a yowl of pain at the action.

"This is really wonderful, Ron!" Harry yelled, now on the second rock down the 'L' path. "Looks like you've got this all sorted then! Excellent, excellent plan."

"Will you stop shouting and do something?" Ron gasped out. His head was firmly pressed between the rock and Krum's palm and the stone wobbled in protest at the fight it was supporting.

"You haff no business here!' Viktor shouted as he pushed Ron to the side, jumping ahead to the third rock. Ron pulled himself up to a crouch position, glaring at the other man in fury.

"I have no business?" he screamed. "Try looking in the mirror when you say that, you pumpkin-headed git!"

"Who do you think you are?" Krum sneered, turning fully to look at Ron. "You are nothing but a poor, lovesick boy! You haff nothing to offer Her-my-own."

"Her name," Ron bellowed, "is Her-mi-o-ne!" At that, Ron threw himself at Krum, roaring as he flew to the rock ahead. He grabbed Viktor by the shoulders, hurling the both of them to the next rock. The fourth rock slid through the air at the contact, bumping the fifth rock. The stones shifted for a moment until they returned to their original spots. As the rocks moved, Krum and Ron remained in a tight grip, each trying to wrestle the other to the floor.

Fed up, Harry jumped from Lavender's row to Hermione's. He carefully hopped one rock ahead until he was behind the fighting duo. He reached out toward the pair, waiting for the right moment until Ron's foot was in his grasp. Harry held onto the foot, pulling so that the rock and the two men were forcibly tugged toward him.

"Will you…cut it…out," Harry said through gritted teeth.

"Geroffome," Ron protested, trying to shake Harry off.

Finally, with Harry holding him in place, Krum was able to push Ron off and jump to the next spot. Harry wasted no time jumping to land on top of Ron, taking the spot Viktor had just vacated. The two friends wrestled for a minute, Harry yelling pleas of "Stop!" and "Calm down!" at his mate.

"Let him go. Let him go!" Harry demanded, holding Ron down by the shoulders. "You're going to get yourself killed and then what use will you be?"

Ron finally stilled, looking ahead to see Krum was just three stones away from claiming Hermione's key. Ron let his head fall, suppressing a sob inside.

"It was never meant to be me, was it Harry?" Ron asked sadly.

"The important thing is that someone gets to her," Harry replied quietly, also watching Krum. "Does it matter who, as long as she's safe?"

Ron hung his head for a moment then took a deep breath. Harry was right. Ron cared enough about Hermione to know he would do anything for her, even give her up if that's what was best.

That was it then. He had been right all along; he wasn't Hermione's knight in shining armor. He wasn't her anything. Resigned, he stood up and followed Harry's lead as his mate jumped back to Lavender's row. Ron jumped across as well, landing on the stone in front of Harry, and slowly began making his way down the path.

"Hey Ron!" Neville yelled. The young man was now two stones away from capturing the 'A' key. "That was a fun show!"

Ron shot a rude gesture at Neville and continued on. He at least needed to get out of this place, if nothing else. Ron saw Roberto snatch the key labeled 'O' then jump skillfully onto the bridge. Upon landing safely, Roberto turned and urged with his hands for the other men to hurry up.

Just then, Krum came to his final stone. Ron watched as the prat reached greedily for Hermione's key. He scowled as Viktor held it up in victory. Almost as soon as the key had been won, however, a grimace came over Viktor's face. Krum's upheld arms threw him off balance and he quickly thrust his arms out to the side to steady himself. The movement made his feet slip out from under him and Ron watched for one horrific moment as Viktor seemed to be suspended in the air, no part of his body still touching the rock. Krum fumbled with his hands, trying to grasp at something, but it was no use.

In slow motion, Ron hurled himself across the open space between the paths. As Krum went over the side, Ron snatched his hands at Viktor, trying to grab on to something. As Krum fell down below the rock, Ron feebly noticed something golden fall as well. In one last ditch effort, Ron held his sword out as far as he could, trying to catch at anything he could.

Krum was gone, the only thing left of him the last sounds of his scream as he fell further and further down. Ron stood, breathing heavily and looking down below in disbelief.

"Bloody hell," he said, his voice filled with fear.

"Ron," Harry said steadily after a few moments of silence. "Look at your sword."

Ron drew his sword up and was shocked by what he saw. There, hanging delicately from the blade, was a thin gold chain attached to an ornate key. Hermione's key.

"Bloody hell," Ron said again, this time in awe. He looked around, wondering if anyone else could see what he saw. Perhaps it was his imagination? Searching for confirmation, Ron noticed something was wrong. They were missing someone.

"Where's Neville?" Harry shouted, just realizing their absent friend as well.

"I'm over here!" Neville yelled in response. Ron scanned the area for his friend, but all he could see was a lone arm propped up on one of the rocks behind him. "A little help?"

"What happened?" Harry asked, taking the initiative and jumping toward where Neville now hung.

"His row of rocks disappeared," Roberto called out from the bridge. "As soon as Viktor fell, the row of rocks Neville was on vanished!"

Ron looked to where Neville had been making his progress to discover that, indeed, the path of 'A' rocks was gone. The key at the end of that row had also mysteriously disappeared.

"What's it mean?" Ron asked numbly. He watched as Harry helped pull Neville up.

"Dunno," Neville said, standing up. "As soon as I felt it going, I threw myself at the nearest solid thing."

Ron nodded, trying to make sense of it all. The only thing he could seem to focus on was Viktor's face as he fell. It was too awful. Ron closed his eyes against the image, opening them again to look back at his friends.

"What now?"

"Neville needs a key," Harry responded.

Neville looked around as a reply, his gaze landing on the last key still suspended in the air.

"Cool!" he called. "I get Lav?"

Ron nodded his head absentmindedly, the puzzle slowly beginning to make sense.

"You caught Hermione's key," Neville said as he began to jump toward Lavender's path. "Well done."

"Yeah," Ron said, his voice still sounding shocked. "Pretty lucky, huh?"

The three young men still out on the rocks turned their attention to the bridge then, each making their way to solid ground. Neville grabbed Lavender's key as soon as he finished on his path then hopped onto the bridge. Just seconds later, Ron and Harry sailed over as well, both grateful to feel the firm bridge under their feet.

"Let's go," Roberto said, opening the small door and moving forward without hesitation. Ron started toward the door himself, breathing heavily but still in one piece. As he moved through the doorway, he could have sworn he heard Harry whisper behind him, "It wasn't luck, mate."