A/N: Thanks so much for following and leaving reviews! I'm way ahead with this piece so I should be updating fairly frequently the next few weeks.

T/W: Emotional manipulation and abuse from here till *checks notes* the rest of the entire fic

Chapter Five: The Scar

Ron felt himself slowly start to come too, he was laying on a medical cot, overhead he could hear spells crashing into each other. They must've been in the dungeon, there was stone on the walls and ceiling, and something dripping overhead. His wrists and ankles pinched as he sat up, yanking on the manacles around both of them. A bored looking Death Eater stood next to him, pointing her wand at Ron as he sat up. He was completely alone, Ron felt like he was about to throw up.

On the other side of the room the others were preparing their equipment, there was a privacy screen on the other end of the room blocking Ron's view from the rest of them. Their leader, Crouch, sat on a table patiently holding a small parcel. He looked up at Ron, grinning. In that moment, Ron lost any sense of where he was or what he was doing. He launched himself at the man, tripping over his own shackled ankles, the Death Eater behind him seized him by the collar of his shirt and forced him to sit back down.

"You bastard, I know you've got him!" Ron screamed, letting loose a stream of obscenities that would make his mother ashamed. Around the room he could hear several of the Death Eaters laughing.

"Isn't that sweet?" Crouch leered down at him, before calling over the privacy screen. "I didn't know you made a friend, Harry."

The Death Eaters roared with laughter, Ron felt a lump burning in his throat. He looked around wildly, searching for anything he could use help them escape …

"Leave him be," another voice sounded, helping Ron calm down slightly. "You're just upset Bella got a better assignment than you for once." He sounded alright, but there was a sharpness to Harry's words that Ron rarely heard. But if Crouch was bothered by it, it didn't show. Something was wrong …

"Oh, but I wouldn't miss this for the world." Crouch said tonelessly, as the privacy screen snapped back.

In all his life, Ron couldn't remember feeling as awful as he did in that moment. In one hand, Harry twisted the same amulet that Ron saw earlier. It was like a disillusionment charm cracking over Harry's head, as Ron watched his hair slowly turn jet-black again and a jagged lightning scar dragged itself across his forehead. Bored green eyes drilled holes into Ron's skull, as the spell finished dissipating, he didn't seem to need his glasses. Ron couldn't help but notice how tired Harry looked now, he'd changed into all black while Ron'd been unconscious.

"What are you doing—" Ron's voice cracked. Harry ignored him and turned his attention to Crouch.

"Did you bring the equipment I asked?"

"Even better." Crouch replied, tossing over the parcel. "Your father wanted to give you something special for the occasion. Asked me to deliver it himself." Harry's hands shook as he opened the package, inside the box was a gleaming crescent shaped dagger.

"Is that—"

"100% goblin silver," Crouch said proudly. "It'll absorb any spell that hits it—"

"What are you doing?!" Ron shouted again, panic seeping into him. Harry's eyes narrowed as he looked up to Ron. He sheathed the dagger.

"I really thought you were going to ruin everything." Harry said calmly, taking a step towards Ron. "I panicked, how was I going to explain how you ended up dead in that interrogation room that first night? But you just wouldn't shut up." Harry put on a high-pitched voice, mimicking Ron, "but we're supposed to be friends."

The Death Eaters in the room laughed, and Ron suddenly felt even more alone. Harry was looking down at Ron like he was something unpleasant stuck to the bottom of his shoe.

"My father steadied my hand, of course. Months of planning can't just go down the drain because of some inbred blood traitor. But really, you're the person I have to thank for this, Ron."

"What are you talking about?"

"I had a perfect disguise, no one would recognize me, but I could still use my first name, and there's plenty of people who've ended up worse than blind crossing the aurors so no one would even think to look twice at me."

"All that was left was the barrier, I was the only person that could get in. No one else had the blood protection, but I couldn't figure out how to disrupt the spell itself …" Harry drew a thin white blade from his jacket pocket, it looked like a fish bone to Ron at first.

"Do you like it?" He asked. "I would never have guessed that that damn snake was still alive. It took some convincing before she let me collect one of her fangs, but basilisk venom is nearly impossible to cure in time, and even harder to recognize … I couldn't do anything until the barrier was down, I was told to wait. But I wonder how long the Order can still hold on once James is dead …"

"You wouldn't do this—you wouldn't," Ron tried to fight off the Death Eater holding him back. "I trusted you—" The Death Eaters erupted into laughter, it rang throughout the room making Ron feel like he was about to vomit.

"I don't know you," Harry hissed slowly, taking another step towards Ron. "You're the one that crossed into our world and immediately joined a group of terrorists. If I'm being honest, you're probably better off in the Department of Mysteries. They once kept a severed head alive for 40 days before they finally let it die, how long do you think you could make it?"

"You're a fucking coward—" Ron screamed, the Death Eater behind him placed a knife against his throat before conjuring a gag in his mouth. The Death Eaters in the back were no longer laughing, Crouch drew his wand. But Harry held out a hand to stop him. Ron was thankful at least to see that his left arm was still bare of the dark mark.

"Look, at this point there's no way you're going to figure out how to get home on your own. So do you really want my advice on how to survive here, Weasley?" Harry leaned in close. "Here it is: no one is going to save you. The sooner you accept that, the happier you'll be."

He backed away from Ron, taking a pair of bracers out of Crouch's hand. He sheathed the basilisk fang in the left bracer. Far above their heads, Ron heard the gong of the school bell eleven times … For the first time Harry looked genuinely afraid. Crouch let out his breath in a low whistle as he looked up.

"We're cutting this close then, aren't we?" Crouch asked, feigning innocence.

Harry looked Ron dead in the eyes again, and Ron felt like he was being submerged into ice water.

"Where did James go?" The voice in his head somehow simultaneously screamed and whispered at the same time. Ron felt like an iron-hot poker was digging into his eye until—

"Astronomy tower," Harry said, and the pressure lifted from Ron's head. He'd just read Ron's mind. Crouch laughed.

"Look at that! His head didn't explode!" He pointed out, "but you'd better hurry, my job is to get you out, not to help you …"

Harry paled, his eyes darted back to Ron for a second before he bolted out of the door. From outside, Ron could see even more Death Eaters waiting. Crouch laughed again, looking back towards his raiding party.

"Right, you three are coming with me." Crouch slapped his hand on his knee, nodding to the three closest to the door. "Crabbe's an idiot who can't listen, so he can sit back and babysit the blood traitor." A Death Eater in the corner got dumbly to his feet, pointing his wand directly at Ron. "The rest of you report back to Lestrange for new assignments." Crouch got casually up to his feet.

"Oh, and by the way," Crouch said sarcastically, pausing for a moment by the door as he looked back at Ron. "It was wonderful to finally meet you."