Notes: (1) I feel like I owe some readers an explanation on account of some comments I have been seeing on AO3.

How does the locket work?

In similar fashion to the canon of Deathly Hallows, the locket does not exactly possess people, unlike the diary of Tom Riddle. Instead, it influences, manipulates and seduces people through their existing negative emotions to act in an impulsive and aggressive manner. Ron himself mentioned that when he wore the locket his existent negative thoughts and emotions about himself only worsened. This means that the locket did not implant any form of thought on his mind, but instead only used whatever insecurities Ron already had to worsen his mental state, behavior and overall mood. I tried replicating that, while also adding the paranoia he felt when it came to Harry and Hermione possibly having a relationship. This, again, stemmed more from his own insecurities about his place and worth amongst his best friends than an actual worry over who Hermione would end up with.

However, we do see that locket is perhaps capable of some form of possession or control over whoever wears it. When Ron raises the sword of Gryffindor to destroy the locket in Deathly Hallows, Harry describes his eyes as going red. This at the very least implies that it is somewhat capable of controlling whoever the locket torments. Or at the very least that is how Harry interprets it, and so will I. As such, I decided to make his behavior progressively worse, until he no longer acted like the typical Ron we all know and love. If some of you question why he did not return to normal after Daphne took the locket back, take into account the fact that Ron has been wearing the locket for 4 days straight, and in canon when Ron left the tent he had been wearing the locket for a few hours at the very least. When Ron took off the locket he still felt somewhat of a residue that made him leave, but to his own words "He wanted to come back as soon as he left" this tells us that with proper distance, and time away from the locket his behavior and mood improved. As such, when Ron ran away from them he did not make this decision in a "sane" state of mind. Which is why when he was alone in the forbidden forest he finally realized what he had done.

And how is the locket going to affect Daphne now? Take into account the fact that she is pretty much being blackmailed by Voldemort's soul into doing whatever he wants if you couldn't realize in the last chapter.

I tried to show how it worked instead of writing a bunch of exposition that may have been tiring or useless since I would show it in the end. I do apologize if perhaps my writing wasn't as clear as I may have wanted it to be. If you have some advice feel free to give it in the comments.

The world of Harry Potter and its characters belong to JKR. I do not support JKR. Trans women are women. Trans men are men. Trans people are people.

Chapter 22: Knight's Return

Bill looked at his brother. His eyes were dark, and he had just mentioned… killing someone? That did not sound like him. When he had called out his name, he had expected him to throw one of his sarcastic comments or perhaps some form of joke. Instead, in the split second he had turned to look at their family he saw his brother's features twisted into an angry, insane and murderous expression he had never seen on his face.

It felt a bit out of place at the moment to tell them about his new girlfriend Fleur Delacour coming to Hogwarts since Bill had invited her. It felt even worse to tell them that he was planning to marry her, and had a wedding ring already inside his pocket. Instead, he watched the hall where his brother had disappeared to and wondered where he was headed. He watched Salazar Slytherin –Merlin was that weird– along with McGonagall, and Dumbledore escort the young Slytherin girl that Ron had nearly… killed to another room in the castle. Thinking that felt even weirder, and completely wrong. His baby brother killing someone… Bill couldn't not believe it. In fact, he refused to believe it.

However, he had seen it. They had all seen it. The effects of Ron's curse as he fired it at a girl his age without hesitation. Yes, the girl also seemed to have thrown a curse back that looked to be pretty damaging, but Bill could feel the fire from Ron's spell, even while being a few yards away.

There must be some form of explanation. Surely his own brother had a good reason to incinerate a girl? Alright, that sounded pretty bad even with the worst of standards. However, he refused to believe that Ron had just decided to murder a Hogwarts student. Godric Gryffindor –again, it really was weird to be talking to an ancient wizard– had prepared rooms for them inside the castle. As he followed his family to the Great Hall for lunch, he thought of the way the day started. It had started quite well actually. He had come to the Burrow to screeches and cheers from his mother, after all it was not every day that Charlie would come home. When they had arrived at Hogwarts they had been welcomed by Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Godric Gryffindor himself inside the Headmaster's office. Afterwards, they greeted the twins, and Ginny along with Harry and Hermione.

Molly Weasley had been so excited to see Ron, and had been asking Harry and Hermione about how he was doing. Harry responded awkwardly, not really giving her an answer. Hermione for her part looked hurt, and her voice waned as she struggled to properly explain how Ron had been. Bill was perplexed by her reaction, clearly something had happened between his baby brother and Hermione.

After that, McLaggen had entered the room, crashing the door against the wall. His face was bruised and beaten badly. There was blood pouring from his nose, lip and brow. His nose was also clearly broken, and bent weirdly. His eye had sunken behind a purple swollen bruise, and his cheekbone was looking quite the same with a cut that spilled blood down the side of his face. He looked like an absolute wreck. He was panting, and whining as he pointed at his face and inside the castle.

"Mr. McLaggen?!" McGonagall gasped at the young man's predicament. She approached him, and waved her wand over his face. "Who did this to you?"

McLaggen's injuries began to heal over. Soon enough his face looked to come back to normal, although Bill was not really sure. There was still a lot of snot, and tears that ran down his face. And he looked smarmy and reminded Bill of the Malfoy family for some reason.

"Weasley!" McLaggen roared. Nearly all members of the Weasley family present looked at one another, wondering who he could be possibly referring to. Soon enough, Gryffindor approached McLaggen who cowered beneath his presence. "A-and Greengrass!"

His eyes widened briefly, before he walked out rapidly in the direction McLaggen had pointed to. The Weasley family followed suit, on the way Bill saw Gryffindor conjure a Patronus and send it to Salazar Slytherin. The latter would join them, and when they turned a corner on the 1st floor they saw Ron engaging in a duel with Daphne Greengrass.

And that was how Bill had spent the early part of his day. Right now, he was eating lunch with his family in the Great Hall. On the other tables the Greengrass family was eating together, Bill had heard of them. They were a neutral pureblood family, they did not stick to the certain traditions like others and took no sides during social conflicts like in the last war. Bill thought they were far too worried about their image. The youngest daughter looked to be excitedly telling her parents all about her days at Hogwarts. The two contrasting parents looked to be hanging on to every word that she spilled from her thrilled mouth. However, Daphne Greengrass looked weird. She looked completely still, and even mechanical in her movements.

On another table, Cedric was talking with his parents and was seemingly introducing them to a very nervous Hufflepuff girl. The four sat down, and ate together, although Bill did notice that both Mr. and Mrs. Diggory looked to be positively obsessing over Cedric. They were checking if he was properly eating his food, and acting even a bit overprotective. He noticed that Cedric looked a bit overwhelmed by it all and just kept eating his food as he chatted as amicably as possible with his parents.

On the Ravenclaw table, Luna was excitedly talking with Rowena Ravenclaw and her father. He looked to be asking Ravenclaw a myriad of endless insistent questions. They looked quite happy together, and even the most normal of the bunch. Unlike the other tables there seemed to be no notable tension between the Lovegoods, although that may have just been their own eccentric nature that Bill simply did not understand.

His own family ate somewhat normally. Although, there was a lot less talking. Charlie was the one mainly keeping the conversation alive as he asked the twins and Ginny how they were doing. Much to their mother's dismay, the twins openly discussed their defiance of N.E.W.T.s and that they had done absolutely zero research on any jobs for when they would leave Hogwarts. They declared that the only reason they had not left the schools in brooms after leaving behind some big show of fireworks, or other prank items was because of the Tournament. At the mention of the event that was to take place tomorrow, Bill asked the twins how Ron was doing.

"I don't know," Fred said honestly, and almost uninterested. Bill looked at George.

"Me neither, Bill," he answered as he ate his Yorkshire pudding.

"What do you mean?" Bill questioned. "Haven't you talked with him?"

"No," George immediately dismissed as if it were a joke. "I mean, he's Ron. He's fine."

"He nearly burned another student alive," Bill clarified.

"Ginny said he's been acting like a git," Fred defended George and him.

The three looked at Ginny who nodded, and rolled her eyes before continuing to talk with Charlie.

"So," Bill began, looking at his siblings in an interrogating manner. "Our youngest brother is about to enter a possibly dangerous deadly Tournament of which we know nothing of how he will participate, and you don't talk to him?"

Fred and George looked at each other with food in their mouths and neutral expressions. They shrugged their shoulders almost at the exact time. Merlin, he hated when they synced up like that. Bill looked at Charlie, he subtly flicked his head towards the door of the Great Hall, and Charlie nodded. Both of the eldest Weasley brothers stood up and excused themselves from the table.

"Where are you two going?" their father asked. Bill turned around and kept walking towards the entrance.

"We're just… having a look around, Dad."

"Yeah," Charlie said. "Going to check the old castle."

Soon after they walked out of the Great Hall, Charlie questioned Bill on where they were going.

"We're going to see our other little brother," at Charlie's confused look, Bill clarified. "Our pompous little brother."

Charlie groaned, but followed Bill nonetheless. From the letters they had received from their brothers at Hogwarts they knew that Percy had been auditing Defence Against the Dark Arts classes for the since the last semester. As such, they headed for the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom. Bill was aware that Kingsley Shacklebolt was the acting professor, but he knew that the auror was staying at Hogsmeade so naturally Bill and Charlie looked in the office behind the classroom.

Bill knocked on the door three times, and felt dread course through him. He had not seen his brother since Christmas, when his father had been attacked in the Ministry. That time he had not even talked to him properly, only announced his presence by calling his name. As his mind began to race with possibilities of how their encounter would go, Charlie began to pound on the door furiously. His fist hit the wood repeatedly, until he finally retracted his hand and put it into his pocket. Bill looked at Charlie with an annoyed expression, the younger Weasley only smiled and shrugged his shoulders as if daring him to defy him. What a brutish arsehole.

The door opened, and Bill took a deep breath on instinct. The door revealed Percy, his hair was unkempt and stuck out on all sides, his glasses were skewed and his eyes had deep bags. Never in his entire life, had Bill ever looked at Percy in such a messy state. From the corner of his eye, Bill noticed how Charlie threw a quick look at him, before settling his eyes on Percy again.

"Bill?" he questioned as he looked at his oldest brother. He then looked at the side, and his eyes widened. "Charlie?!"

"Hello, Perc–" Bill started, but was quickly interrupted.

"Hey, Perce," he said and stepped through the doorway. "Mind if we come in?"

Bill and Percy looked at Charlie. Although this was typical of him, Bill was surprised at his soft tone. Yes, Charlie had not been there when Percy had fought with their father and effectively cut all ties with his family except for his last name, but he knew he was also mad at him. Since Bill had needed to apply for a desk job in Gringotts, he had only seen the aftermath of Percy's departure. He remembered seeing his father absolutely furious, his mother inconsolable, his brothers mad, angry and sad all at once. It had been hard, and Charlie had felt horrible for not being there to knock some sense into his younger pompous brother, he had told this to Bill himself.

"Has Ron been around here?" Charlie questioned him in a calm manner.

"No?" Percy slowly answered. "I mean, no. He has not."

"Do you know where he might have gone?"

"No, Charlie," Percy said. "I don't. What's going on?"

"Well," Charlie quipped, and made to leave through the door. "He's not here."

"Charlie, stop," Bill ordered, and rolled his eyes at his brother's antics. "Percy, how has Ron been doing?"

At the mention of their youngest brother, Percy looked more sad than anything. It genuinely surprised Bill, since his brother was not really known for showing much emotion anyway.

"He uh…" Percy began, but seemed incapable of finding the right words."I-I don't really know, Bill..."

When Percy seemed like he had more to say, Bill raised his eyebrows, silently urging him to continue.

"He's been stressed," Percy went on to elaborate. "I think. I mean we have barely talked to one another. Usually he, the twins and Ginny all try their best to avoid me, so… I avoid them, but… The last time we talked, I-I… I was…"

"Spill it," Charlie urged.

"I was drunk," he confessed. Both of the eldest Weasley brothers did little to hide their surprise. Never, in a million years, would they have ever expected their pompous goody two-shoes brother Percy to get drunk, at Hogwarts nonetheless. "I was going through something, and… I got Ron in a vulnerable position. He caught me drinking with a House-Elf during his Prefect rounds, and basically told me how much of a failure I was. I don't know how the rumours did not spread, after all, he was with a Slytherin girl from his year. I sort of remember her and Ron not being the best of friends. I guess he must have convinced her not to."

"Greengrass?" Bill questioned. Percy only shook his head.

"Parkinson," he clarified. "Pansy Parkinson."

Bill nodded and remained in silence trying to make sense of it all.

"With a House-Elf?" Charlie queried. Percy's nose and cheeks redden as he nodded again.

The three stood in silence as they took in what had been told. This had been the first time in a long while that they had really talked about something, Bill would have thought it nice if he did not sense the great tension regarding Percy's abandonment.

"Well, alright," Charlie said.

Bill and Charlie turned towards the door, and were about to leave when Percy stopped them.

"Wait!" Percy proclaimed. "What happened to Ron?"

Bill and Charlie looked at one another.

"I think you should ask one of the teachers, Percy," Bill answered. Percy looked dejected, but nodded his head.

"Charlie?" Percy called softly, like when he would get nightmares and come into their room. Bill remembered it like it was yesterday, and he made an effort to bury the memory for the moment. "Why haven't you said anything?"

Bill knew what he was referring to. Charlie had not said one word to Percy about leaving their family after fighting with his father. Neither had Bill, after all the first time he had seen Percy was during Christmas, but still even now he tried to maintain as much distance between Percy and himself. Charlie looked at his younger brother, his eyebrows raised. His hands had been in his pockets, and he pulled them out and began to walk towards Percy. Although he could not see his face, Bill was almost sure that Charlie was about to give Percy the beating of a lifetime, and according to Percy's own scared expression he had deduced the same thing.

"Charlie wait–" he warned, but at the next moment he quieted down as Charlie engulfed Percy in a soft and warm hug. Percy also seemed absolutely surprised for a moment, but the next he had raised his arms and hugged his brother back in a tight manner. His chin rested on Charlie's shoulder, and Bill felt his heart warm at the sight before him. After a moment, Charlie detached from Percy, who Bill heard sniff, and held him by his shoulders.

"You're my brother, Perce," Charlie stated quite simply. "And I haven't seen you in over a year."

Percy smiled at his brother, before it was quickly replaced by a grimace as Charlie slapped the back of his nape so hard Bill was sure it would be left red and marked for a long time.

"Oh blimey!" Percy nearly swore.

"But you're also a huge idiot," Charlie lectured. "And you were an absolute prat to Mum and Dad. Apologise and come home."

Bill looked at his brother, Percy was rubbing his nape and grumbling while Charlie looked at him as if he were a stern parent. He rolled his eyes, and told Charlie they were going. His younger brother nodded, before looking back at Percy.

"Stop being an idiot," Charlie stressed.

Percy only looked at his brother and then at the ground. Bill and Charlie soon left Percy's office and went back to the Great Hall.

"What should we do?" Charlie asked.

"About?" Bill inquired.

"Ron."

"Well, wherever he may be he'll show up eventually. And we may actually figure out what is going on with him."

"Do you really think so?" Charlie prompted.

"I hope so," Bill responded honestly. "Why?"

"Well, right now, Ron is… Wherever he may be. And no one is looking for him, except for us. Harry and Hermione are mad with him, and they won't tell us why. None of his friends have spoken to him since Sunday, and even our siblings don't know what's wrong with him. Do you really think that we should stop looking for him right now?"

Bill stopped in the hallway. He turned to look at Charlie ready to retort, when his younger brother raised his eyebrows as if to challenge what he'd just said. Bill rigged and rubbed his stubble.

"Ron told me in one of his letters that he got a private dorm or something," Bill began as Charlie listened intently. "Try and check with McGonagall, Dumbledore, Gryffindor, anyone who could tell you where it is. I'll look for him at the Quidditch Pitch and I'll check with Hagrid in case he saw Ron."

Charlie was about to open his mouth, when Bill stopped him.

" I'll check with Hagrid, because I won't spend the next two hours getting drunk."

Charlie rolled his eyes, but nodded all the same. The two went their own ways, Bill went to the Quidditch Pitch and looked in the locker rooms as well as in every broom, and storage closet. He only saw a couple of Slytherin students practising on their brooms playing with some Ravenclaw students. There were also a few girls from different houses huddled together, talking animatedly and excitedly. Most likely about the Tournament tomorrow. Bill was sure he had never seen Hogwarts students from other houses -especially Slytherin- acting so… friendly. Sure, no one could fight like Gryffindor and Slytherin, but even then most people kept to their own house. Now, it seemed as though the very notion of it was ridiculous.

With the Quidditch Pitch lacking any form of results, Bill went to the grounds of Hogwarts, and walked towards Hagrid's Hut. The friendly Groundskeeper was tending to his flowers, and giving his dog Fang some snacks that looked to be the size of a full meal.

"Hagrid," Bill greeted from behind him. Hagrid turned around, his expression breaking into a smile as he met Bill on his way over.

"Bill!" Hagrid raised his arms slightly and hugged the eldest Weasley sibling. Hagrid's long and bushy beard brushed against Bill's face, but he hugged the half-giant nonetheless. " 'Ow are ya? 'Ow come you're 'ere?"

Bill explained as briefly as possible his family's invitation, to which Hagrid responded quite eagerly by inviting him, his father and Charlie to his hut for some drinks. Bill laughed and said he would think about it, before going back to what he was supposed to do. Hagrid told him that Ron and he had talked almost two weeks ago. Ron had come to Hagrid for his Demonstration at the Hogwarts Ball, the young Weasley brother had guessed correctly when he theorised that Hagrid would know how to get near a Chimaera.

By the way Hagrid talked about their time spent together, Ron had been fine and even excited about the ball. So what has changed? After Hagrid had offered Bill some tea, he had decided to stay and chat for a bit. As Hagrid explained what had happened when he had visited the giants Charlie opened the door to the hut.

"Charlie!" Hagrid greeted excitedly. "It's so good ter see ya."

"Thanks, Hagrid," he said honestly, but then he looked at Bill with a serious expression.

"What happened?" Bill asked.

"Ron is not in the castle," Charlie explained. "Gryffindor said he is not in his private room and no one else can find him."

Bill, and Hagrid stood up at once.

"Are you sure?" Bill pressed.

"Yes," Charlie sighed. "He's gone. We need to find him, Bill."

The three men went outside of the hut to find a group of people with their wands in hand. His family, Harry, Hermione, along with other friends of Ron were talking with teachers and Gryffindor.

"Bill," his father said. "We don't know where he is. We can't even find his owl. We think he may have gone to the Forbidden Forest."

"On his own?" Hagrid inquired.

"We think so. We have set up some small groups to look for him. Harry, Ginny, and you will go together. Take care of them."

Bill nodded and joined them.

The groups set out into the Forbidden Forest, the tall trees hid many things, and Bill's experience as a Curse Breaker told him how best to look. Harry and Ginny were right behind him, their wands were lit up and they were careful to see where they stepped. Harry muttered something about spiders and unicorns to Ginny who laughed. For some reason, Bill was quite annoyed by it. Not because of Harry mingling with his baby sister, but because his little sister and his youngest brother's best friend seemed more interested in each other than the person they were looking for.

As they passed one set of trees, Bill began to notice a couple of things, there were trees that had been broken as if they were twigs. There were heaps of trunks that seemed to act like a barricade or a fence of some sort. Bill silenced his two companions whose wands were raised in a quiet alarm. With his wand aimed at one of the trees, Bill moved the giant log just slightly for him and the others to pass through. When they stepped inside, there were grounds that looked to have been laid flat by something big. The three noticed a large mound of earth in front of them, it must have been as tall as Hagrid, maybe even a tad bigger.

"What is that?" Harry asked in a whisper.

Bill immediately waved his wand at his sister, silencing her. She looked alarmed by it, but decided to shut her mouth. Bill knew that they needed to leave immediately, when he noticed that the large mound seemed to be breathing. He turned back as carefully as possible, and mouthed an order to Harry and Hermione.

"We need to go now," he commanded in absolute silence. "Walk out as quietly as possible."

Both of the teenagers nodded and began to walk backwards as silently as possible. Bill took one step, careful not to step on any branches or sticks on his way out. He heard his own heartbeat near his ears, his boots stepping on the rough dirt and flattened grass as slowly as he could. The silence of the forest was only interrupted by what he now recognised as soft snores. Large lungs that breathed more air than Bill was sure he got in a year, sounded like persistent winds of autumn. Just when they were about to walk out.

Snap!

He turned, Ginny had stepped on a small branch with leaves and berries. Bill closed his eyes for a moment and let out a soft breath as he looked back. The mound of earth that he could now recognise as a giant round head, began to rise. It was a giant. Its large head had curly, dirt-covered short strands of hair, and it was too big for his own body. It must have been at the very least 16 feet tall.

To be quite honest, he looked like a giant dwarf, and Bill would have laughed if he was not standing in front of him. Its skin was grey, and it had very muscled arms and calves. Its body was tied by large and thick ropes, and it wore animal skins and hides that seemed to have been stitched together. It had small green eyes, even for a giant. It looked at the trio in front of it curiously, and stretched out its arm as if to grab them. Unfortunately for it, and fortunately for them, the ropes that tied its body prevented it from doing so.

"Harry," Bill said softly and as composed as possible. The black-haired boy listened attentively to Bill. "Grab Ginny, and go get Hagrid."

"What?" Ginny hissed. "Bill we're not leaving y–"

"Shut up, Ginny," Bill snapped. "Listen to me, and just go!"

Harry did not waste a second, he nodded at Bill, grabbed Ginny's hand and left hurriedly out of the hide-out of the giant. Bill for his part, noticed the way the giant's face screwed up in confusion, and almost sadness. It once more tried grabbing at Harry and Ginny, only this time it grabbed a large branch and stuck it out to them.

"No!" Bill slashed his wand, a spell shooting from him and cutting the large wood in two. The giant looked at the broken piece of wood in his hand, and almost like a child whose toy had been taken from them his face broke into an angry grimace. It stood up fully, and walked towards Bill, pulling on the ropes until Bill realised, they began to snap. "Shit!"

Bill ran out of the grounds, and saw Harry and Ginny at far running back towards the castle. The two of them stopped in their tracks and looked back, relieved to see Bill.

"Run!" Bill shouted, and the barricade of logs and trunks broke behind him. Bill threw a spell behind him, shooting it at one of the trees and trying to get it to fall on the giant. Instead, he looked back just in time to duck and dodge a large tree trunk that had been throwing at him. Bill pointed his wand at the air and sent the Red Sparks Charm, he then pointed his wand at his throat and used the Amplifying Charm. "We need some help here!"

His voice echoed across the woods, and Bill just hoped that whoever was out here was listening. He saw Harry and Ginny stop, for whatever reason he decided it could not have been more important than a giant chasing them through the woods. He caught up to them, but as he did he heard the sound of galloping, as if several horses were riding on the grounds of the forest. Just as he was about to pull on Harry and Ginny, he saw the reason they had stopped. A group of centaurs were aiming their bows at them, Bill stopped in his tracks, and looked at Harry and Ginny. The three of them looked behind, and saw the giant stomping its way towards them, the centaurs heard it too.

Their bows were aimed at the large growing figure of the giant. They shot arrows at it, as he tried to cover its face with its arm. Bill pulled Harry and Ginny behind a tree trunk where they could avoid any damage, when suddenly spells shout out at the centaurs. One arrow bolt hit the elbow of a particularly angry centaur, who fled. Soon the rest followed, until only the giant, Bill, Harry and Ginny remained. From behind the woods Gryffindor, along with Hagrid, McGonagall and Professor Sinistra appeared. Hagrid, crossbow in hand, looked positively terrified.

"O' no," he professed, in absolute guilt. He approached the still hidden group of three and helped them get up. "I'm sorry, I really am ya kno'. I mean' ter introduce 'im to ya'. I really did."

"What the hell are you talking about, Hagrid?!" Bill demanded.

"This is Grawp," he explained as he walked towards the giant, who was now picking his nose. "He's my brother."

An absolute silence followed that statement, only interrupted by Ginny who voiced what all of them were probably thinking.

"WHAT?!"

After a thorough explanation and apology from Hagrid, Harry and Ginny were sent back to the castle, despite Harry's protests. After being given a somewhat proper examination by McGonagall, Bill was ready to keep looking for Ron. They explained that they had sent all of the students back home, his parents wanted to continue the search, but Dumbledore feared for his father's health and sent him back with Bill's mother and Charlie. For the next few hours Bill, along with the rest, looked for Ron. Of course, after they helped Hagrid put Grawp back into his hide-out. McGonagall had given him a very stern lecture afterwards.

They encountered some mild inconveniences, nothing too dangerous like Grawp or the centaurs had been. His feet were tired and aching, but with no sign of Ron he paid his fatigue no mind. As they walked many of them had some vague ideas of where he could have possibly gone. They thought of a clearing, somewhere near the Black Lake, but the Forbidden Forest was huge, and five people could only check so much ground. McGonagall thought it possible that centaurs may have taken Ron, but Hagrid dismissed the notion. Centaurs did dislike humans, but they did not kidnap the young, and Ron was only 16 years old.

Bill and Charlie had started their search at almost 4 o'clock in the afternoon. It had been a little over 4 hours since then. Bill was now definitely tired, and to his dismay it seemed as though his company was also feeling fatigued.

"This is quite enough," said Gryffindor in his deep voice, defeat and resignation clear in his tone. "He is nowhere to be seen. He may have gone to Hogsmeade, or perhaps used one of the fireplaces to go someplace else. But we can not do this anymore."

"What?!" exclaimed Bill. "What are you talking about?!"

"I am saying," continued Gryffindor. "That the Tournament must go on. Gryffindor's Champion will not participate, and we shall continue as planned. I will continue looking for Mr. Weasley by myself. The rest of you should go back to the castle."

"Fuck that!"

"Mr. Weasley," McGonagall admonished.

"I'm sorry, Professor," Bill corrected. "But I'm not a student anymore, and there is no way I am going back to that castle without my brother."

The professors looked at one another, and they seemed to talk in absolute silence. They nodded at one another and soon Hagrid, McGonagall, and Sinistra left for the castle. Gryffindor and Bill walked in silence, they did their best to focus on the task at hand, but it became a bit disturbing when Bill could hear wolves and the many beasts that inhabited the Forbidden Forest howling, screeching and gnashing all around them. They walked to the more dangerous parts of the forest, like the outsides of the Centaur Reservation. They spent two more hours looking for Ron without any leads. Bill kept walking, he was tired, and hungry, but he refused to give up.

"William," Gryffindor suddenly called. Bill turned and saw a Patronus approaching them, it was a large eagle that flew right in front of the pair.

"Godric," the voice of Rowena Ravenclaw spoke. "You need to come back, we need your help preparing the students from your house."

As the Patronus dispersed Gryffindor looked at Bill solemnly.

"Fine," Bill agreed to Gryffindor's silent apology, hiding his annoyance.

"I can stay–"

"I'll keep looking," Bill interrupted. "You go back and do whatever you need to do."

"The Tournament starts at noon," Gryffindor stated. "Try and get him back before then."

Gryffindor looked at Bill once more before sighing and walking back towards the castle. Bill silently cursed as he continued his search for Ron.

Half an hour had passed when suddenly Bill was grabbed by his heel, something had grabbed him and he could not see what it was. He was dragged through the ground trying to see what had taken him, his wand was aimed at his front, and he could only catch a glimpse of some form of pincers or maybe giant legs of some sort. He threw a mild curse at his supposed attacker, which hissed and screeched pointing to a non-human attacker. Bill got up, and aimed his lit wand revealing a set of 8 black and shiny eyes, and 4 pairs of hairy long legs.

An Acromantula the size of a bear stared at Bill. He stood still, before raising his wand and casting an attack.

"Arania Exumai!" he shouted, sending the spider flying back. That was when he noticed webs strewn across the tall trees in his surroundings, along with hundreds of other giant spiders crawling across them. Their eyes staring down at him, as he looked around him. Fuck, what a day. And he had not even been able to receive Fleur. Quickly, he ran away with all his might, their 8 limbs made them faster, but his wand was quicker. Bill cursed one after the other as he ran, until a lucky beast managed to catch him in its web.

Bill cut down the spider-web keeping him trapped, his wand slashed through the thick webbings, and managed to aid in his escape. But the lucky spider had grabbed his leg, trying to bite at him. Bill planted his boot against its face repeatedly trying to get him off him, when suddenly it went flying against something large. Bill crawled back, and saw a blue car having crashed against the Acromantula. With how dark the night was, and the way the tall trees blocked the moonlight Bill was not able to see if he was actually right, when suddenly a familiar head of red hair came out of the driver's window.

"Bill get in!" Ron shouted, ignoring his surprise Bill got inside the car, and held on as Ron drove them both out of there. They ran through some more Acromantulas until they were at the edge of the Black Lake.

"Merlin, Ron!" Bill exclaimed in almost exhaustion, he could not believe his little brother had gotten them both out of there in time. "Thank Merlin you were the–"

Ron had gotten out of the car, and had begun to throw up. Bill scrunched up his face in slight disgust and got out of the car as well. Now with a clearer view, Bill realised that it was the Ford Anglia that Ron had stolen three years ago. He was surprised with its condition, and the fact that it was even here. He had been told that Ron had crashed it into the Whomping Willow, and they had lost it afterwards in the Forbidden Forest.

Bill came behind Ron and patted him on the back. He held onto the car, as he continued to spew more sickness onto the grass.

"There, there," Bill said, in a comforting manner as he rubbed circles on his back. "Get it all out."

"Oh Merlin," he groaned, cleaning off the remaining puke on his mouth. "I fucking hate spiders."

They both stood up, Bill leaned against the car with Ron doing the same. They were both quiet, and Bill noticed that Ron looked particularly ashamed. Bill sighed and took out a pack of cherry-flavoured Gummy Birds, which Bill held out in his hand, before they flew into his mouth. He chewed on them and offered some to Ron. He looked at them, before silently taking them and eating some.

"Thank you," Ron said silently.

"Thank Harry," Bill said, and looked at Ron mischievously. "I stole them from his pocket."

The two smiled before laughing slightly. A silence overtook them, and shame seemed to take over Ron once more.

"So," Bill began. "Want to tell me what happened?"

Ron looked at the ground, his Gummy Birds now finished. He sniffed and looked out into the Black Lake.

"I haven't seen my little brother since Christmas," he continued. "And next time I see him, he is blowing a hole in a wall where another student was supposed to be."

Ron still said nothing, and Bill was not willing to press on until his baby brother was ready. He sighed and went around the car, getting into the passenger seat once more.

"What are you doing?" Ron asked.

"Ron, it's…" Bill checked his watch. "It's already 11:43. I'm tired and hungry, and I could guess that so are you. I have no energy to take you back to the castle so let's get some sleep."

Ron looked at his brother for a moment before nodding. With both of them in the car, sleep overtook them after a few minutes, the only sound inside the car was of their soft snores.

Gryffindor was looking out into the window. He felt like he had let Ron Weasley down. He stared out into the forest and hoped that perhaps his eldest brother would do a better job at finding him than he would. He had made the proper preparations for the challenges that the four – three Champions would face tomorrow. He really hoped that Ron would show up. He needed to desperately talk to him, he just wanted a reason for his behaviour, any would do as a reason, maybe not a valid one, but a reason nonetheless.

As he contemplated inside his private chamber, he could feel someone's presence enter his room. No one had knocked on the door or opened it, otherwise he would have heard. He had not been doused with a foul smelling substance or paint so it could not have been Peeves the Poltergeist. That meant that a ghost had just entered his room, and he hoped to God that it was not who he thought it was.

"Father."

Why did the world hate him so much?

"Father," Helena's voice called one more. "I have come to talk."

Gryffindor did the chivalrous thing, and turned around ready to face his daughter's anger like the house he founded. He noticed she looked absolutely lost. It broke his heart to see her like that. Not only like her emotional state, but to see her fate as a ghost eternally condemned to be tied to earth and wallow in her despair only reminded him of his own failure as a father. God, why was this so hard? Why could he not have been a better father? A better mentor. Why could he not be as brave as people thought of him?

"Very well, Helena," he said and stood upright. She took a deep breath.

"I have spent almost a thousand years with all of this… anger towards you," she began. He nodded, his heart hurting in his chest. "There were years of my life where I did nothing but cry at night, then during the summers all I would do was scream and curse your name. I devoted a lot of the time I spent in this castle resenting you… Hurting because of you."

"I know," said Gryffindor.

"And until just a week ago I thought I knew the reason," she continued. "I thought that all of my life, you hated me. I thought that you saw me as weak, and disappointing. And I held on to that idea because it was the only thing that got me through the bad times. I spent most of my life, and all of my afterlife hating you, Father."

She floated up to him, and he thought that if she were physically there she would slap him. Her eyes brimmed with tears, and she looked exhausted beyond relief.

"But I can no longer do so, Father," his heart seemed to stop. "I don't think I can spend a single more moment hating you. So… I forgive you, and I forgive myself for taking so long to do so… And I'm sorry for being such a problematic daughter. I'm sorry for leaving with Mother's diadem, and I'm sorry that I wasn't there for you or Alastair when she died. I want you to know… That I love you. I love you too much to hate you for a second longer."

She stood before him. His little girl, all grown up, except he had not seen her grow into the woman before him. So many years wasted, so much time thrown away. Silver tears fell down her face, and his heart ached when he realised he could not wipe them. His face was wet from his own tears.

"I really missed you, ashy cub," said Gryffindor, his voice waning with emotion. "I love you too, so much."

The two were crying, and smiling for the first time in almost a milenia. Both wished they could hug the other, but knew it was pointless. Perhaps, this was better. Gryffindor did not know how he would have handled having his ashy cub in his arms again. Gryffindor called for a House-Elf for some food, and then spoiled it with a spell so that Helena could have some form of comfort taste as the two sat, and talked.

When Bill woke up Ron was resting his head against the window. He yawned loudly enough to announce his woken state, but Ron continued to stare out into the waters of the Black Lake.

"Mornin', Ron," said Bill groggily. "Had a good rest?"

"I hurt them, Bill," said Ron suddenly, regret, guilt and shame clear in his voice. "My friends, Ginny, all of them. They tried to help me, and all I did was screw up and push them away. And I don't even know why. And I…"

"You what?" urged Bill. Ron sighed, still not meeting his brother's gaze. He grabbed something from the inside of his robes, inside Pigwidgeon, Ron's small and jumpy owl, had a clear broken wing. It looked at Bill curiously, and he noticed that Pigwidgeon was surrounded by small seeds and eaten treats.

"He came to me," said Ron, his voice filled with sadness, and his eyes shining with unshed tears. "When I pushed everyone away he came to me, and I was so frustrated that I pushed him, and now… The only reason he hasn't left me is because he can't… I'm such a fucking failure."

Ron cried, for the first time since Bill had left for Egypt, he cried. His tears ran down his freckled face. It hurt Bill to see his brother like that.

"That's because Pig loves you," explained Bill, his voice soft. "We all do, Ron. Do you really think a small fight is going to make us hate you instantly?"

When Ron only sniffed and looked away, Bill sighed. He needed to show it to him somehow, so he looked at Pig, who was flapping its one healthy wing in Ron's hands. Bill noticed the way his brother held onto his pet owl in a tender way, almost like a parent would to his child. It felt him feel a bit proud, for how caring his brother was. Bill gently took Pigwideon out of Ron's hands, he looked at his eldest brother in curiosity.

"Want to test if he really hates you?" without expecting an answer from Ron, Bill brandished his wand, and waved it at the small bird. "Episkey."

Pigwidgeon's wing straightened. The small owl tested as if to check if he was still hurt, when it began to jump excitedly and fly. Ron stared at him, as he flew and landed on his shoulders pecking on Ron's ear affectionately. His younger brother released a breath that seemed to lighten his shoulders heavily.

"Sometimes people who hurt us," Bill began. "Hurt us," at Ron's grimace, Bill continued. "But, the fact that they do hurt us shows us just how much we care about them. What's important is making things right."

Ron nodded, and petted Pigwidgeon.

"Thank you, Bill," he said. Bill patted him, and smiled.

"Great," he said, and looked at his watch. "Because I have about an hour to get you back at school for the Tournament. Does this thing still fly?"

"Yeah," said Ron. "But it's lost some of its magic. It has been stuck in the Forbidden Forest for three years so some of its charms have worn off. It can not become invisible, and the Undetectable Extension Charm seems to have been reduced."

"Alright," said Bill and took a breath. "Come on, get out."

"What?"

"You're the youngest," explained Bill as if it was obvious. "You don't get to drive the car, I do."

Ron rolled his eyes, and grumbled as he got out of the car and switched seats with Bill. The pair drove back to the castle, while in the air, Bill patted Ron.

"Oi," he started. "I want to give you this."

Bill took off his fang earring and gave it to Ron.

"Your earring," said Ron, in surprise.

"Yup," responded Bill. "I know that you wanted one like mine, don't worry I can get another one. And if Mum asks, you got it from someplace else."

Ron nodded then looked at it.

"How am I going to…?"

"Don't worry about it," dismissed Bill. He then pointed at something out of the car. "Hey, what's that?"

"What?" Bill pierced Ron's ear. "Ow!"

(2) Just so none of us are confused. Pig went to Ron during the last scene in the previous chapter. I went back and changed it, because I totally missed it on my notes, and drafts. I really just screwed up that one. So, you can check it for yourselves. Sorry for the confusion.