Autumn 1991

Ronald Weasley

The morning came and went, Madam Pomfrey returning with Dumbledore's best wishes and in turn, asking the small group of Gryffindors to leave. It bugged Ron to sit in silence again, his thoughts running rapidly and his skin feeling as if warm troll blood still clung to him. Thankfully, as the sun rose higher in the windows, his headache faded so that by the time lunch was served he had developed an almost pleasant mood.

Trolls, he thought, were far too dangerous to be left alone inside the school. Even if he had slain a living thing, it had to have been for the greater good. He did not know of any other wizards his age who knew the exploding spell and perhaps the troll could have marauded his way through an entire group of students. Only, Ron justified, he ended it before it began. Even Hermione recognized that he had saved her life, and that had to be worth something, far more than a troll's life. After all, what would a troll accomplish? Death, destruction, something else? Far less than Hermione Granger. She was at the top of the class, she was bound to be a great witch, she would be a person who would make a great difference in the world. And to that end, Ron decided she was worth the troll's life. She was worth ten trolls or even eleven. The troll's small black beady eyes were like grains of sand, while Hermione's brown ones were entire forests.

He did not take pleasure in the murder he had committed. If it could even be called a murder. But, he did not regret it either. He was glad that Percy was proud of him.I'll make them all proud, eventually.

Just as Ron decided he might try to sleep some more, knowing all too well that he wouldn't, a small series of hushed voices passed under and over the ends of his curtain. Only for them to be pulled aside a moment later when Blaise, Daphne, Tracey, and even surprisingly Theo forced themselves inside.

"Merlin," Theo said at first with a snide grin. "They've somehow fixed you, Weasley. I haven't seen you without pits beneath your eyes since the first day. Maybe if you ask, they could make you look more like me, I'd like to imagine I'd be quite handsome as a ginger."

"I've slept for three days," Ron provided. Despite himself, he couldn't help but appreciate how normal Theo seemed. While everyone else had looked at him as if he had lost a limb, Theo regarded him as suspiciously as usual.

"Three days?" Theo raised an eyebrow. "Finally digesting the mountains of food you consume?"

"Stop being an idiot, Nott." Daphne snapped at him. "We're here to see how he's doing, not to talk about your sick delusions."

"I'm doing okay," Ron answered.

"Okay?" Blaise raised an eyebrow. "You got into a fight with a troll."

"I'm alive," Ron shrugged. "I actually can't remember it hurting that much. It got Harry pretty well, I think he broke some of his bones. I just fainted."

"The entire corridor smells like iron," Tracey said. "I probably would have fainted too, with all that blood and all. Definitely better than anything in a movie."

"It's pretty grim," Theo added. "I didn't realise your dark magic club came with such brutality."

Ron just shrugged. "I used the exploding spell to kill the troll, and I guess it made a lot of mess."

"That's an understatement," Theo said. "Filch has been scrubbing the floors for the better part of the week."

Tracey laughed. "His cat too."

"You're not supposed to learn that spell until fourth year," Daphne said softly. "It's… quite advanced."

Ron could feel his heartbeat in his ears. The last thing he wanted was for someone to learn that Salazar was the one teaching him spells.

"I read it in the library," Ron lied. "In a textbook."

"Figures," Theo shrugged. "Is there a house you couldn't belong to? First Gryffindor, then Slytherin, and now Ravenclaw? Next week you'll be baking pies."

Daphne tilted her head slightly. "Don't most fourth years have trouble with that one?"Did they?"And you did it successfully on your first try?"

Ron stared at her a moment before nodding. It wasn't even a lie, he had actually done the spell pretty successfully on the first try. Or at least, Salazar had said so. And he didn't think the founder was one to tell many lies.

Daphne pursed her lips and glanced away, almost as if she knew he was leaving something out of his story. Ron had a funny feeling that sooner or later he would need to find a real excuse for what he was doing. Maybe, he thought, he would have to ask Harry to cover for him. But then, that opened another bag of worms that he wasn't sure he was ready to deal with. If anyone, he should trust Harry, right? The boy-who-lived? He had also risked his life to save Hermione. But to trust him with Charlie's life? Ron bit the inside of his cheek. Being the Guardian was needlessly complicated. He would have to speak to Sal as soon as he could manage.

"They say," Theo added, "that dark magic corrupts the soul. Aren't you worried about turning out like us, Weasley?"

"Please," Tracey snorted. "You're the only evil one, Nott."

"I seem to recall a certain little half-blood who dropped smoke bombs on the entire school," he said back lightly.

"And I know a pompous pure-blood who's going to get his teeth kicked in if he keeps calling me a little half-blood," Tracey said back.

Ron couldn't tell if she was being serious or not. He wondered if their fight had been about something Theo had said regarding her blood status. And if so, he also wondered why Tracey had seemingly forgiven him. Ron couldn't help but think about who Theo's father might be and what he would think of 't she know?He asked himself. Grimly, he imagined how easily she would die in Charlie's shoes.

"I'm not worried about dark magic," Ron said. "I think it matters how you use a spell. As long as you use it for a good reason."

"And murdering trolls is as good a reason as any," Theo smiled. "You are becoming more likeable by the moment Weasley. Perhaps if you begged, I might let you be my potions partner again." He gave Tracey a teasing look. She only rolled her eyes in response.

"Will you teach me?" Blaise asked suddenly. "The exploding charm?" There was something unexpected, a glint of some sort, in the corner of his eye.

Ron I?

"Maybe…" Ron said cautiously.

Theo frowned. "And here we go, dark magic club meets without me. Not even a proper invite."

"You may be a better ally than I originally thought," Daphne added. "If you're open to teaching us some spells."

Ron rubbed the back of his neck. He didn't want to get dragged into teaching them everything he knew, it would take away from his time with Sal. And, he frowned, he had enough to deal with as it is. He wanted his friends to trust him and truly he would have taught them if he had more time. But, already he felt as if he could hardly breathe. Not to mention his lack of sleep.

He decided not to say anything. If Blaise asked him privately, he could spare an hour or two to teach him. But, he couldn't teach Theo. Ron still wasn't sure if he could be trusted not to use it against anyone he simply disliked. He could already imagine Theo using the spell to kill Malfoy in the middle of the night. The thought sent a cold shudder down Ron's spine.

Blaise seemed to sense his concern, his eyes shifting silently to Theo and back again.

"I'll think about it," Ron said softly. "I don't even know if I can cast it again."

"Well," Theo shrugged. "If you need another target, Crabbe looks kind of like a troll. Maybe we'd be lucky and Goyle would be standing close enough to get blown up too."

Exactly what I thought! Fucker!

"Sure," Daphne said and rolled her eyes. "Let's just kill every other Slytherin. What could possibly go wrong."

"Well, if you're offering."

"I'm not."

Theo grinned. "Well, I'm glad to see you aren't dead, Weasley. But I've got other things to do, and other people to see."

Tracey snorted. "A mirror doesn't count."

"I tend to avoid mirrors," Theo said. "It would be too easy to fall in love with myself."

Ron couldn't help himself and grimaced. He wondered if Theo ever actually listened to anything he said. The only other person who was nearly as arrogant was Malfoy, and even then Ron wasn't completely sure who was worse. At least, he thought, Malfoy didn't force himself into every single one of his conversations.

Theo took another two minutes to complete his goodbye. Half of which, Ron wasn't surprised, was entirely about himself. When he had finally stepped beyond the curtain, Daphne visibly relaxed and Ron couldn't help but feel the same way. Even the fact that Theo had treated him relatively normally only extended so far.

"I hope he does meet a vampire," Daphne said icily. She turned to Tracey and frowned. "How do you put up with him?"

Tracey shrugged. "He's not that bad, really. Just a bit full of himself. At least he's funny."

"Yeah, Trace, murdering Crabbe is hilarious."

"Well, it's not like he suggested murdering anyone we like."

"Merlin."

Certain that Theo's footsteps had fully disappeared, Ron finally spoke up. "I can't teach him the spell, he'd probably do something bad with it."

"Unfortunately he'll learn it in fourth year anyways," Daphne sighed.

"But you'll teach us?" Blaise asked. "Without him?"

Ron nodded. "Yeah, I mean, I didn't think it was that hard. I'm surprised that a lot of fourth years have trouble."

"It's exhaustive," Daphne added, "or so I've heard. Which, I guess, is why you were in here for so long?"

Ron nodded. "Madam Pomfrey also told me that I almost died. Something about the explosion peppering me with bits of brick."

Tracey frowned. "I suddenly don't want to learn the spell."

"Well, maybe don't fire it inside the girl's toilets," Ron said dryly.

"I don't know… what if I find Crabbe in there?" Tracey let her lips tug upwards again.

"That brings up a good point, where would we even practise?" Blaise asked. "It's not exactly a spell we can do in the common room."

only knew a single place in all of Hogwarts that would work. The same place that held his secrets, and he certainly wasn't willing to give that up yet. After all, while he trusted Blaise immensely, Tracey seemed a bit too friendly with Theo, and Daphne was Tracey's best friend. He couldn't let them find Salazar, not yet. The only person he would consider was Harry.

"We can do it at home," Daphne said shortly. "We don't have to do it here at Hogwarts."

Ron raised his eyebrows. He was surprised that Daphne would have such a terrible idea. They weren't supposed to do magic outside of Hogwarts, the trace would alert the ministry. And then… Ron swallowed, and they could snap his wand. A wand that he loved more than anything else.

"All the way in the summer?" Blaise frowned. "I'll be in Italy, mostly."

"That's alright, we can do it during the winter break. Are you all going home for Christmas? If you are, you can come visit. Or, you could even stay with Tracey and I if you like. Mother loves guests."

"I'd have to ask my parents," Ron said slowly. He wasn't even sure how his parents would react to the whole troll thing. Merlin, he hoped Percy was right.

"That's fine, you have lots of time to ask. Only, it would be kind of hard to learn the spell if you aren't there to teach it, Weasley."

"It will be hard to learn with the trace," he said back.

A small knowing grin spread across Daphne's face. "Oh, you don't know, do you?"

"About the trace, and getting my wand snapped?" Ron asked.

Tracey laughed at him. "Ron… nobody actually cares about the trace."

"What?" Nobody cared about the trace? But didn't that mean he could just do magic whenever he wanted? Wasn't that dangerous… or something?

Blaise shook his head. "They do care, you'll get in a lot of trouble if you get caught. It's better to tell him the truth about things, don't be vague. He could get in trouble."

"The Greengrass Estate," Daphne added, "was created before the trace even existed. Which means it exists in a loophole. The magic that was used in the foundation creates a magical barrier that prevents the ministry from seeing inside. It's like that with a lot of old buildings in Britain."

"It's the same with some of my mum's property in Europe," Blaise nodded. "It's only really useful after you start school because before you're eleven it's too dangerous to learn."

"Right, but now that we're all students… Father would let us practise magic if I asked. And, maybe he'd even like to play a game of wizarding chess with you, Weasley. He gets bored of beating me."

A million words raced through Ron's mind and he struggled to grab hold of any of them. Finally, managing a nearly silent "merlin…"

Blaise shrugged. "Crazy right?"

"That's completely mental!" he said back.

Didn't they understand what that meant? It meant his brothers, mostly Percy, had to avoid using magic all summer long while the old rich pure-blood families could do as much preparation as they wanted. Ron shifted into a deep frown, there was no wonder that pure-bloods got better positions than muggle-borns. Prejudices aside, they had a clear advantage.

"So you agree?" Daphne asked. "To the plan?"

Ron let out a heavy breath and nodded. It was just another thing to add to the long list of shite he had to fix.