Alright! Castaway!

Ron's a castaway!

Ahoy there, Ahoy!

Oh fuck a spider!

I love the backyardagains, so does my toddler. Only one episone on Fridays tho… otherwise we be in our own back yard.

So anyways, lets continue. As I said, Ron is alone! Let's make sure he stays alive, shall we?

—0—

Ron's eyes fluttered open to the sound of rain. Thankfully, he had found a barn to rest in as he made his way to London.

After making his way out of the woods that he had landed in a few days prior. He had managed to make his robes look muggle enough to pass as a boy from a family passing through, and was given directions to London.

"So handsome, I bet your parents are very happy that you cn help with their travel plans!"

Ron grunted as he pushed himself to his feet. He figured that the barn was abandoned, thanks to its shabby exterior and practically bare interior. It was quite depressing if he was being honest, but it was better than one of his shabby shelters.

"Alright Nib… Time to move."

The spider lazily crawled up to his shoulder as he swung his transfigured duffel bag over one shoulder. He really needed a bath soon. Maybe he could find a stream as he followed the muggle road…

"Will we find food soon whisperer? You haven't eaten since that night."

Ron blushed as his stomach growled. "That would probably be a good idea…"

Looking over at the nearby country road, Ron shook his head. "We can probably find something close…"

"I suggest hunting with your powers… my kin can find you prey to feast upon."

Ron sighed. "I don't… this power is why I'm alone now, Nib. I can't do that…"

"You must survive whisperer. And in order to do that, you must use everything at your disposal."

Ron shook his head. "I just… don't know."

Nib let out what sounded like a sigh, curling herself up on her wizards shoulder. With a shrug, Ron continued on his way, following the country road back to the highway.

—0—

Charlie made sure that Bill was settled in the Dragonlodge, before zipping back to the Burrow as fast as he could. He shouldn't have left Ron, but he couldn't afford to splinch Bill in his state, and god forbid he did something to Ronald after that either.

He arrived to the sound of shouting and banging, which warmed his heart a bit until he realized that he had left the house in dead quiet. Running up the stairs, he found his mother screaming at his twin brothers, who were straight up arguing back at her.

No one ever spoke to mum like that.

"OI! SHUT THE HELL UP!"

The twins mouths snapped shut, and they stared up at Charlie. Something glimmered in their eyes. Rage… anger. But why?

Molly seemed triumphant as the twins went quiet, her face gaining a haughty smirk as she turned away. She was about to go up the stairs, but was stopped by a voice.

"What did you do…"

Charlie stared at her, with both twins at either side of him. Teenagers they were, but they held him close in a double hug, just as they did when they were kids. They hadn't done that in years.

Charlies eyes burned with fury as he watched his mother, who pursed her lips and shook her head. "Well did you really expect anything less?"

Charlie looked up the stairs, finding the door to Rons room was open at the top, yet no lights came from it. "No…"

He was about to move when Fred stopped him. "She expelled him from the family…"

George let go and stepped back into their room. "Tossed him out of the ward line and everything… there isn't even magic to trace because it was the old magic that did it."

Charlie cursed and drew his wand. "How dare you-"

"You would level your wand at your own mother?" Molly gasped.

"No mother of mine would betray her own child! For what, because he healed Bill?"

"That wretched thing took Billas arm! We could have saved it!" Molly shouted. "But no, Ron had to be all dramatic and use his dark magic. That bloody magic from the Black family!"

Charlie grit his teeth. "Bill and Dad were searching for something. Something that belonged to He Who Must Not Be Named. They found it, and you think that Saint Mungos could lift the curse that it gave him? DAD DIDN'T COME BACK!"

Molly flicked her wand, causing Charlies head to snap back, as if he was slapped. "YOU THINK I DON'T KNOW THAT?"

Charlie clutched his face, feeling the skin well up and become warm from the charm she had just used. "How could you…"

"MY HUSBAND IS GONE!" Molly screamed. "MY ELDEST IS HURT! AND MY YOUNGEST IS NO LONGER MINE…"

"DON'T!" Charlie roared, spinning back into the conversation with a vengeance. "DON'T GUILT TRIP ME OFF OF YOUR DECISIONS! DAD LEFT TO MAKE LIFE BETTER AND YOU HAVE GONE JUST TO SCREW IT UP TWICE AS BAD!"

He shook his head and pointed to Fred. "Pack your things. Percy will be fine. Ginny will be loved because she's the only daughter. I won't have her kicking you out like she did to Ron.

Fred nodded and he and George ran into their room. Molly hissed. "So you'll just take my children?"

Charlie lashed out, slapping his mother across the cheek. In his anger and grief he held no remorse. "You abandoned my brother and sent him where we couldn't help. You used magic on your children. I will not leave them to a mother with no love left."

Molly clutched her cheek, tears gathering in her eyes. "Y-you hit me-"

"Charlie, we're ready."

The young man nodded. "Come on then. You two go to the fireplace."

"I forbid you to use the floo-"

"Bugger of Mum." Charlie spat. "I'm cutting the connection after this anyway. You won't hurt any of us anymore."

He his brothers down to the fireplace and grabbed a pinch of floo powder.

"I'll expel you from the family for this. All of you!" Molly spoke, still clutching her cheek.

"Never thought I'd see the day." Charlie shook his head. "Where you seem more like old Walburga Black than my own mother. Go on, toss me out. I don't need you, and neither will they."

"Please stop this!"

"SCORTWITS LODGE!"

The green flames roared up and consumed the three Weaseys, leaving molly alone in the Burrow.

"Please… come back…"

—0—

Ron steadied his breath as he looked at the duck that swam alone on the side of the river. Not yet completely full grown, he knew because he had seen bigger. Still, it had its adult markings and a full coat of feathers.

"Nib's gonna love this… Stupefy."

The duck was hurled back out of the water with a loud quack and splash, landing and waddling up through the grassy reeds on the other side of the water with a frantic pace.

"Accio Duck!"

The duck let out a longer quack as it was pulled into Rons free hand. With a wince, the boy apologized to the struggling creature. "D-diffindo."

The splatter of blood was better and wrse than he expected. For one, it was smaller than he thought. But, it had the not so wonderful effect of flying all over his face.

"Pteh! Pteh! Aw bloody hell!"

Ron dropped the duck carcass and wiped at his face. "Urg that's… aw no."

The boy shook his head and then rapidly threw up in the river. He retched and retched until he couldn't anymore, and then he collapsed on the ground.

"Urg… Scourgify… Scourgify scourgify."

The blood dissappeared, thankfully very quickly. With a grunt Ron got to his feet and brushed off his legs. He gingerly picked up the beheaded duck carcass and began walking back to where he had made camp for the day.

—0—

Merlot blinked as she wke up to see guests in the sitting room. Charlie sat by the fire, passing out porridge to twin red heads with bad bedhead. A third older redhead was sitting in Charlie's chair, rubbing his shoulder, which seemed to have no arm attached to it.

"Charlie?"

The young man turned, his gaze softening. She hadn't even noticed the tension in the room until she saw his face shift. "Merlot…"

Rubbing her eyes, the girl walked over to the young man. "Why are the twins here?"

Charlie brought Merlot into a hug and rubbed her shoulders. "Just some stuff going on at home is all."

Fred and George looked despondent as they ate their breakfast. Merlot looked at both of them. "Is Ron okay?"

Bill looked up, his eyes meeting Charlie's. Merlot knew something was wrong. "Why is Ron not here?"

Fred winced. "Mum… she tossed him out."

"Charlie spent most of the morning apparating around the wards, looking for him. He's gone…" George held his head.

Merlot shook her head. "No… Charlie. Charlie you have to find him!"

"The ministry has unfortunately been notified." Charlie nodded. "But that means that there are people looking. I went over Mum's head and contacted Dumbledore, he's the only one that she respects more than Dad."

"You wrote Dumbledore?" Bill's eyes widened.

"She expelled Ron from the family, Bill. He'll need to be found by Dumbledore if he hs a chance of keeping his wand, you know how the ministry has been!"

Bill winced and nodded, returning to looking at the fire. "If only I hadn't froze up so bad…"

Fred and George looked over at their eldest brother. "What happened Bill? What were you and dad doing out there anyway?"

Bill sighed, looking up at Charlie and tilting his head at Merlot. Charlie shook his head and motioned for him to explain.

"I had gottem word from Gringotts that they located a tainted artifact in their vaults. The cup of Helga Hufflepuff."

Merlots eyes snapped to bill. The cup sounded familiar.

"It was uncovered during a cave in. While relocating the assets of the Lestrange vault, one goblin detected the dark signature of a split soul."

"It was a horcrux…" Merlot whispered. 'I'm not the only one…'

Bill nodded. "How do you know about Horcruxes? You are quite young, no offense."

Merlot shifted. "None taken… I have… experience with a horcrux. It's gone now."

Bill nodded. "I am sorry that you know of them then… For those who don't know, a horcrux is a dark object that can be made by storing a part of the soul within a container. In order to do so, you must rip your own soul in two by committing an atrocious act, such as murder… During the last war, dad was a ministry cursebreaker that led a taskforce to find horcruxes that Voldemort may have created. It was shut down when the dark lord fell in Godrics Hollow."

Charlie nodded. "But Gringotts found one, and in studying its magic, learned of more."

Bill nodded. "They contacted dad after learning of an olde artifct being found. One belonging to another of the founders. It had made its way into the muggle world, and believing the worst, they put me and dad together in order to capture it."

Bill held up a pitch black crystal. "They used a ritual to place the soul that was in the cup, into this crystal… We could use it to locate other horcruxes, and it led us to a house in London."

Fred shook his head. "So… the dark lord? He who must not be named?"

"You saw him." George blinked.

"He possessed the body of a girl. Muggleborn, from the fact that she had a wand. Dad began dueling her but was outmatched, and once she turned the tables on him, she focused on me."

"That's how your arm was lost." Fred shook his head.

"A curse that would have killed me in mere minutes, despite what the dark lord said… it was so painful… so wrong."

Charlie nodded. "Bill was sent back to the burrow, and then everything went down from there."

The elder Weasley nodded, before holding his head. "I shouldn't have pushed him!"

"We can't do anything about it now." Charlie shook his head. "Its better that only the family found out. What if the healers saw him and reported it to the ministry? He would be tried for the use of dark magic."

Bill shook his head. "But still… she threw him out Charlie!"

"And he could be dead by Mum's hand if it was worse!" Charlie returned. "Ron's got a good head on his shoulders. He'll find his way to safety, even if it takes him weeks, or even years."

Fred and George looked at each other, before looking back. "He's pretty cunning for a Gryffindor."

"Yeah, he's been helping us with our pranks, and hasn't been caught once!"

Charlie smiled. "And he's got heart. He gave himself up so that Merlot could get an illegal dragon out of the castle and into the preserve."

Bill looked between his siblings. "For his sakes, I hope your right, and those qualities will help him survive."

—0—

Ron sighed as he finished off the cooked duck drumstick he had roasted over a fire. Nib was right, he needed food.

"Meat is good… i love meat…"

Ron chuckled as the spider ate tiny pieces of the cooked bird that he had pulled from his serving. "We'll eat our fill, and then be on our way."

"Can we take some with us?"

Ron looked at the roasted bird, before shaking his head. "No… it will spoil to quickly. We'll leave it as a meal for the spiders here."

Nib bobbed in her spidery nod. "They will be quite happy."

"Well they are your brothers and sisters." Ron chuckled, finishing off his drumstick. "Alright… a few more bites then we'll be on our way."

"It is getting to be darktime." Nib rasped.

"Lumos." Ron lit his wand. "I can navigate just as well, especially on a full stomach. Now come on."

The young wizard allowed his friend to finish her meal, before taking their supplies and heading for the road. Smoke rose from the burnt out wood of the fire, washing across the duck as he walked.

He never noticed the two large spindly legs that took the carcass for themselves.

—0—

Ooooooo what's up with the duck?

With this conversation from the Weasleys, we'll have far more about the dragon lodge. Any search efforts will be through Dumbledore in their chapters, as I had put in the teaser in the last book.

As always, leave a review. I've got a bit of time which is why I've published a few chapters these past few days. For all of you that point out typos and grammar errors, thank you. I have your comments archived so that I can go back and fix everything later, but for now I just want to write the story. Please, keep telling me when you find slips like that, and I will correct them when everything has been completed.

Until next time, Adios