So, to all of you reading this, I'm so sorry it took me this long to put this up. Major writer's block and school and just life. Anyway, I hope you like this one. I have the rest of sixth year outlined and will do my best to write it as soon as possible. But life is still busy busy and I have another story I'm writing at the same time. Crazy.

Also, this is a birthday present for HeRonLove. Thanks for all your support. You're so great and this one is for you. :)

Consequences

This was not good. How did Marietta find out about that room anyway? Harry got why she would tell Anna. She wanted revenge, but still how did she find out? Harry looked at the map and noticed Anna kept getting closer. At least she didn't know the password, so he should get there in time to distract her. He hoped that Ron and Hermione had imperturbed the place too, just in case. But, they had been so crazy lately he wouldn't be surprised if they forgot to do that. For the love of Merlin, don't let her get in there. Worse of all was that the room wasn't in the map so all he had to go by was the fact that she was in that area of the dungeons. Then he saw her down the hallway and heard her speak and the statue moved. Shit! Shit! Shit! She's in!

Harry ran and called her name, but by the time he caught up with her it was too late. He heard her call Ron's name and saw her shocked face as well as Ron's horrified one. Him and Hermione were in a bed in a way he wished to never see.

"Shit!" Harry exclaimed.

Thank Merlin Hermione finally covered herself! She was looking like her blood was running cold and like for once she couldn't form a thought as Ron softly murmured, "Ana."

The young girl stood horrified and then tears leaked out of her eyes. "She was right. You… you're a traitor."

"Anna… I…" Ron stammered as he covered himself and put his body in front of Hermione in a protective manner.

"You two… you… liars…"

"Let's try to calm down," Harry suggested, completely unsure of himself.

"You helped them. You and Estella and… the YPS… you all tricked me... " she said in tears. Then she looked at Ron, "You never loved me… that's why…" Then she ran towards the exit.

Harry looked at Ron and Hermione and then to the exit of the room. No one said anything, but he couldn't stay there. "Get dressed," he said. "I'll try to talk to her." Then he again ran after Anna Davey.

Estella wanted to kill the bloody cow right in the middle of the hallway. "They didn't do anything to you!" she argued.

"No, you did!" Marietta answered. "And if you thought that you and Weasley just got to live happily ever after, you were bloody wrong!"

"So you would hurt innocent people just to get back at me and George?"

"Innocent! If they were that they wouldn't be in the position they are now, would they? All I did was wait until I was able to get evidence that the Weasleys break some of the oldest wizarding traditions and vows and believe they can get away with it over and over. I just kept track of them and you. They had this coming and I swear you are next. If you hadn't ensnared Weasley he would have been there. He would have -"

"He would have nothing! He would not have been able to save your cousin!"

"You don't know that!"

"I know that the hands of terror wanted him to get to me. If he had gone with her they would have still killed her and brought him to me as a bargaining chip. That's what happened after he followed me. George leaving Chloe did not cause her death!"

"You lie! You and the Weasleys are nothing but liars that ruin everything around you. Chloe is dead, Anna is destroyed and you all deserve to lose everything!"

"Anna is destroyed because of you! Why couldn't you understand? George had every intention of marrying Chloe. He never meant for anything to happen to her. Everyone that was in that area died. George didn't make her go there! George didn't lead them to her! We were attacked as well and she didn't die because of us! She died because the hands of terror are killers! They are evil! They killed your cousin and mine that day! We need to fight them not each other!"

"Easy for you to say, Mrs. Weasley."

"Sweet Merlin! Can't you be more than a hateful bitch that doesn't see the truth that is right in front of you!"

"You know what I see? I see a bloody Slytherin orphan that got everything she set her sights upon. Our cousins died and you ended up married to my cousin's fiance and with the largest fortune in England. Very convenient to get the last real Swanson and my cousin out of the way in one day."

The gossip at Hogwarts and in the rest of the wizarding world had not travelled at this speed since the Weasley-Swanson wedding. The news of Anna Davey finding Ron Weasley and muggle-born Hermione Granger, now legal daughter of the war-heroes Snapes, shagging and professing their love for each other had shaken everyone. To top it off, the event was immediately followed by an out of control duel between two heirs of ancient families. Though in the end Estella Swanson-Weasley had forever scared Marietta Edgecombe and put her in the hospital wing. And Estella herself needed hospital care though not as extensive. People wondered what would have happened had professor McGonagall not found them and intervened. The Wizengamot was in full session discussing their next steps and setting-up paperwork for imprisonments and trials and the ancient families had been called for a meeting to fully review marriage laws and enforcement levels.

Ron and Hermione felt like the only people they could count on were Harry, Ginny and Neville. In Gryffindor, everyone else stared at them with either anger, disapproval or simply disbelief. The other houses responded similarly and for once the Hufflepuffs did not show friendliness. They had hurt one of their own and they were loyal to Anna Davey who everyone saw as the innocent victim in this mess. Ron tried to talk to her only to get chased away from their house quickly. Worse was of course the Slytherins who openly called Hermione a whore and Ron a traitor.

It had only been three days and Hermione felt like the world was completely against them. She sat in her room with the curtains of her four-poster closed and tears leaking out. How could they have gotten so careless? They didn't even imperturb the place. That was not like her. She had been acting so stupid, so caught up in Ron that she had forgotten the reality they lived in. And now… now everyone knew and they all judged them. The YPS was in complete disarray. The Houses were all arguing. Marietta had half of Ravenclaw believing that George and Estella had purposely gotten Chloe Edgecombe and even Ely Swanson killed. Most of Hufflepuff was loyal to Anna and hated them. And the Slytherins were making Draco and Estella's lives miserable and completely backing up Marietta's stories. There was a petition to review the Swanson's will, take Estella off the ancient family council and divide the Swanson fortune among the rest of the ancient families. Then there were the owls from the Ministry that set a date for a trial. Lily and the Headmaster had been able to get a temporary exemption from going to Azkaban at least until the trial, but there was already a petition to end the exemption and get them moved to the prison immediately. What have we done?

Then she felt it. The kyklos proctais was glowing and telling her that Ron was in danger. She felt desperate but managed to send a patronus to Harry before she ran out of there. "Point me," she said, holding her wand up and knowing it would lead her to where she was needed. She ran and then found him. He was on the floor in a pool of blood and surrounded by at least ten masked figures. They wore Hogwarts robes but their house crests had been either removed or simply hidden by magic and the masks were clearly Black Hand made.

"Expelliarmus!" she screamed. But her shot was blocked.

"What do we have here? The mudblood whore herself," one of the figured sneered.

"Hermione," Ron choked from the floor.

"You cowards!"

"Crucio!" called two of the figures. She casted a protective charm. It held but then she was hit from behind by another one of the masked students. She screamed in pain and tried to fight back, but more of them came at her.

"No!" Ron said from the ground. His wand was far from him, but somehow the room began to shake. Hermione took advantage of the distraction and reached for her wand. She crawled closer to Ron and again casted a protective charm.

"Idiots," the one that seemed to be the leader of the cloaked students said and then again used the cruciatus. Suddenly, the kyklos proctais amulets both glowed together and bright golden rays took over the entire room. A gust of wind knocked all their attackers back. They stood back up and had wands at the ready. Luckily, Harry, Ginny, and Neville arrived. They were soon followed by Estella, Draco, Luna and a few others from the YPS. The cloaked figures ran away.

"Ron!," Hermione said, holding his head on her lap. "Ron answer me!" He looked up at her and tried to speak, but his eyes closed as he screamed in pain. "Ronald!"

"Get out of the way!" Estella screamed at her. Harry had to physically drag her away so Estella could try some healing charms. "Shit," Estella muttered as she failed to stop the bleeding or the pain. "I think it's Iniuria Constante. We need Severus' potion," she said.

In the hospital, Madame Pomfrey worked without hesitation or breaks. She needed to keep the blood replenishing draught flowing or Mr. Weasley would die on this bed before anything else could be done. They needed to actually heal him and soon.

"Where is that potion?" she yelled.

"Lily said she had to take it off stasis and manage the addition of the last ingredient. It's going to take at least one or two days," Dumbledore answered.

"Albus," she uttered, sounding so worried it was unnerving. "These cuts are cursed. I'm not Severus. I cannot keep someone with these alive for days. We need people who know dark magic and have at least some practice with this kind of thing." Estella approached them and pulled out her wand. "No. You're still recovering from that mess with Miss Edgecombe."

Hermione, who had not let go of Ron's hand since she found him, yelled at them. "Let her help!"

"Miss Granger, do not make me kick you out," said Madame Pomfrey.

"Forgive me Madame, but Hermione and their bond from the proctais is what is keeping Ron going as well as he is. You can't kick her out. As you said without Severus' magic he could die before the potion is ready. Severus taught me, let me use dark magic. I can do it," Estella argued.

"I might have considered it if you were healthy, but you are not. Like Miss Granger you should not be in this room. I'm only allowing it because of your healer training and the fact that you are now his oldest family member at the school. Do not make me change my mind, both of you."

They stood quietly, looking at Ron's colourless face and pain filled expression. He started screaming again and it was frightening and filled the room with misery. Hermione got closer and held him and told him it would be okay and that she was so sorry.

Estella knew exactly what they were going through. She remembered being in Ron's position and feeling that George's words and his touch were the only reasons left in the world to hold on. She wouldn't wish this pain on her worst enemies and seeing her new brother like this was not acceptable. Something had to be done until the potion came. He had to hold on until the potion came. She would make sure of it. "Draco! Draco is good with dark magic. Him or Aunt Cissa or I are your best options without Severus. Please Madam Pomfrey, let Draco try the dark magic needed to help with this. Severus and Aunt Cissa taught us. He will be able to do it. Please."

Pomfrey looked at Dumbledore, McGonagall and Professor Flitwick who were in the room. "We could just call Mrs. Malfoy."

"Do that! But it may take a while to find her. Draco is right next door with everyone else. Please let him try. I will make sure he does it just right."

"Please," Hermione begs in tears, seeing Ron in this much pain was worse than any curse could imagine.

"Students practicing dark magic at Hogwarts, under our very eyes?" Flitwick said.

"What other options do we have?" Madame Pomfrey said.

"Filius, find Horace and send him to help Lily. Minerva, send a patronus to Narcissa immediately and then you are in charge of the school. You must find out who were the students involved in this. I will stay here supervising Mr. Malfoy and Miss Swanson until Narcissa takes over keeping Mr. Weasley alive," Dumbledore answered."

Ginny could not believe this. Her brother, her favourite one, not that she would ever admit that, was under the worse torture curse. She didn't know if she wanted to scream and hit something or just sit on the floor and bawl. So she paced and cried quietly and paced again. Why? Why did this have to happen?

Estella came out of the infirmary. "How is he?" Harry asked.

"Same. We have to wait for the potion. Draco you need to come with me."

"What! Why does he get to go in? He's my brother!" Ginny argued.

"Ron needs someone who knows dark magic to tame the effects of Sectumsempra and the Cruciatus. Can you do that?" Ginny stayed quiet.

"I've never really practiced healing," Draco said.

"It's not healing really. It's containing dark magic. You can do this Draco, I'll help."

"Why can't you do it then?"

"Pomfrey won't let me because of my injuries."

"Bloody Edgecombe. Fine, but if I mess up no one can blame me for Weasley."

"Off course not. Just come with me."

Ginny sat in a chair in the waiting room and started crying.

"Gin," Harry says, trying to comfort his friend.

Neville and Luna shared worried looks. Then he approached Ginny. "I'm sorry. This is..."

She looked at Neville and then began to cry harder. She cried because Nev is good and he's her friend and she cares about him, but she doesn't want to marry him. She cried because Ron is hurt and doesn't deserve this and will probably go to Azkaban when he's healed. Her brother was in so much trouble. She cried because Draco was inside the hospital, helping Ron, and that's who she wished to have around instead of her fiancé, but Draco is marrying Parkinson. She cried because the world was a mess and so unfair and Ron being this hurt was not okay. Then she saw her and her desperation turned to fury.

"What in the bloody hell are you doing here?"

"I… I just…"

"Ginny, please. Anna, do you need anything?" Harry asked, trying to contain the situation.

"Don't you Ginny me!" the redhead yelled. "How dare you? Are you happy now? My brother is getting tortured and could die! Is that what you wanted?"

Anna looked like she might cry. "I… I wanted to check if he's okay."

"Off course he's not okay! You got the entire school to hate him. Now a bunch of arses tried to kill him! You stupid cow!"

"Ginevra!" Molly admonished, as her and Arthur walked into the waiting area with Bill.

"What?"

"Have some respect. She has done nothing wrong."

"Nothing wrong! Mom, she's the reason this happened. If she hadn't freaked out because Ron doesn't love her, this would not have happened."

Anna started to cry. Harry approached her and sort of patted her shoulder.

"Ginevra, for Merlin's sake!" her mother said. "This is not the time. Your father and I are going to see Ronald and you better stop screaming. You make sure she quiets down," she orders, looking at Bill.

"I'm only saying the truth. This is her fault! And yours! You engaged us! You did this!"

Molly looked like she could kill her own daughter on the spot. But she took a breath and walked away. "Ginny, stop," her dad ordered, looking more stern than anyone in the room had ever seen.

Bill, looked at her and opened his arms. She ran to her big brother and just held on.

"It'll be okay."

"No it won't. You didn't see him. They… it was like Estella… and they'll take him… they'll take him to Azkaban," Ginny sobbed, completely breaking down.

"No, they won't. Gin, we won't let it happen. There will be a trial and we have to win."

"How?"

"I don't know Gin, but we will. The twins, Percy, Charlie and I are pulling all our money together to pay for help with this. Estella will help too, so money is really not an issue. We'll fight Gin. We won't let them take our brother."

The potion was completed two days later and once administered, Ron lost consciousness. The Weasleys and Hermione were all sitting in watch.

"He's recovering now. You can leave," Molly said to Hermione.

"But -"

"But nothing. I only allowed you in here because you could help him with that amulet. You two should have never put those on. You should have never started this. Look what has happened."

"I'm sorry… I never meant…"

"I don't care. My son could have died."

"Mum don't do this," George said. Molly looked at him horrified. "You did this to my wife not too long ago. You made her feel like being with me was somehow this wrong and foul thing that would hurt me… and the way things happened might have been against everything you wanted, but our love was never wrong. It is real and strong and… everything, and you realized that. So, if you can accept that Ella and I love each other and deserved to be together and even married, then do the same for Ron and Hermione."

Estella smiled at her husband. "He's right. Ron and Hermione love each other and they need our support. Ron will recover, but they will have to face the Ministry and the ancient council. They need their family. But if you need to take the time to blame anyone, blame me. I gave them the amulets so maybe this is my fault. But know that I believe they have a bond that is meant to be. One that allows them to use the amulets of the lovers."

"Enough, all of you," Arthur said calmly. "I've lived my life trying to do what's best for my family. Molly and I thought following the traditions of our world and the rules was the way. Perhaps we've made mistakes and perhaps you have as well. But now it doesn't matter. We will not cry over spilled milk. Molly, enough." His wife looks at him and nods. "George, Estella, we never meant to hurt either of you and I'm sorry that we did. But now I say we forgive each other. Really and truly forgive each other and let go of the past. Alright?"

"Alright, dad," George answers.

"Okay, Mr. Weasley."

"Dad. You are my daughter now."

"Okay, dad."

"Now, Hermione, do you love my son? Truly love him?"

"Yes. I never meant for any of this to happen. I'm so sorry. I just… we had agreed that he was going to marry Anna. We just wanted to have a chance to be together and in love, even if it was only for a bit. I swear, I never thought this would happen," she says crying.

"I believe you, child. So, now we fight. We find a way to save both of you."

"But how? What can we do against the Ministry and everyone else?" Percy asked.

"I don't know yet."

They hear someone coming in and soon see Harry and Anna.

"Anna," Mrs. Weasley says kindly.

"Hi."

Ginny seems ready to start hexing. "Gin, please listen," Harry pleads.

"Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, I… I came to say I'm sorry for what happened. I… I never meant for Ron to get hurt this way. Seeing him like this... he… he hurt me with what he did and the lies, but he didn't deserve this, no one does. Harry talked to me and I... I think I'm beginning to understand. I thought I loved Ron, but maybe I… I guess I always knew about the engagement. My entire life I thought he was the one. I didn't even dare look at other boys. But, he didn't know about me and the contract. He didn't know until I got here, right?"

"Yes. He didn't know. I… my mother… she chose to tell us about our engagements when we were fourteen and had meet our fiancés, so that the transition would be easier and we could get to know our loves and move into the contract smoothly. I thought I would do the same for my children. But you were not in England… I waited too long with Ron and Ginny," Molly answered.

"We can't change the past, Mols," Arthur says.

Hermione looks at Anna. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry we hurt you and… that you saw what you did. But… I love him and he loves me and we weren't thinking. I'm sorry."

"Okay. I… I still hate your guts, but I don't want anyone to get hurt anymore. I just… I just want this to stop, all of it. I don't want anymore fighting or accusing or cursing. I wish I could do something to make it stop. Is there anything I can do to make it stop?" Anna asked.

"There is," Estella says. "Anna, look, I'm sorry too. I… I took you under my wing and mentored you and deceived you and… well I played all my Slytherin tricks for these two and… I'm sorry you got hurt. But if you really want to end this, then talk to your parents. Ask them to stop any petitions for restitution against the Weasleys and request the contract to be broken by mutual agreement."

"It won't work. Mutual agreement to end the contract and payment of fines has to be done within the right time frame," Percy says.

"I know," Estella answers. "Which is why Ron's family will pay a fine that should more than make up for not being within the allowed time. The kind of fine that the Ministry cannot refuse."

"What could we possibly offer the Ministry to make the Wizengamot ignore the law?" Percy argued.

"Half of the largest fortune in England," Estella answered. "They can have it as long as I can keep the Mansion and some other particular things. I'll give them half the vaults I own."

And there it is. I hope it's good enough to make up for the long wait.