Effects of Life and Death

Notes: I completely forgot to mention, the name Moria was taken from the word "memoria", which means "memory" in Spanish. Enjoy this chapter!

Chapter Three - Death

Every little action has its consequences. For every little change, there's a completely different outcome. How would someone know if what they "remembered" was not changed by another person's actions? The memories, at some point, would become invalid and unreliable.

June, 1993...

Luna, Ginny, and Ron were on the train back to their homes. The school year had proved to be quite chaotic. Salazar Slytherin's pet Basilisk had been the one that had petrified a lot of Muggle-born students, plus a cat and a ghost, and Harry Potter had saved the day, once again.

What few people knew, though, was that Ginny Weasley had been the one to open the Chamber of Secrets. She had been controlled by a sinister diary that belonged to an former Slytherin student, Tom Marvolo Riddle. Luna didn't know many details about it, but from what Ron had told her, the man was supposed to be He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. The evil wizard that Harry Potter supposedly defeated when he was one year old.

Harry and Neville had gone to save Ginny, before the diary's "spirit" could finish draining her life energy. Hermione had been petrified a couple of weeks before, so Harry had seemed to take all the matters rather personally.

Ron also had his moment to shine when he stopped Professor Lockhart from wiping Harry and Neville's memories, when they went to ask the man for help. He had probably been under the influence of another flashback, since he didn't seem to know why he had attacked the fake hero.

His relationship with Harry had changed since then. They weren't friends, according to Ron. But they got along better, and he was welcome to eat with the quiet trio whenever he wanted to.

The youngest Weasley had changed too, Luna noted. Even if she didn't know Ginny that much before, she noticed that her energetic self had been put aside, after being possessed by an evil spirit. She was quiet, but more open to her Ravenclaw friend. It was as if she was ashamed of what had happened.

As they got off the train, they promised to write each other often during the summer, Ron included. Ginny slyly told her friend that she would make sure her brother wrote. Luna's way of showing her embarrassment was quite funny. Instead of blushing, she ran face-first into a wall.

Needless to say, Ginny found it extremely hilarious. And Ron, who wasn't too far from them, but far enough not to know what had been said, chuckled and shook his head. His sister's best friend was very strange. A good friend and quite smart, but very strange.

But he was strange too, and knew better than to make fun of her. If he had been in another position, he would have probably laughed at her the first time he met her. Ron knew how that felt. He got that whenever he had those annoying memory gaps. People said he said and did strange things during those moments. They all thought he was completely crazy. It had made him careful, though he still could be quite insensitive. He tried, and he thought that was good enough.

"Hey, Weasley!" he heard someone calling him. He turned around and saw that Harry Potter was walking towards him. He seemed serious but not unfriendly. "May I have a word with you?" the shorter boy asked. Ron nodded, wordlessly, and follow Harry to a corner. "Listen, I want to thank you for what you did for us this year."

The redhead blinked. "Um, no problem, Potter," he said, not used to being thanked for anything.

"I still don't know why you were so rude to me that first day on the train," Harry continued, frowning up at him. "But from what I've seen and heard about you, it could have been one of those... moments... of yours," he finished awkwardly. "Or do you really think I'm a pathetic and stupid orphan?"

Ron's eyebrows shot up, his eyes wide in shock. "I said that?" Harry nodded, his face unreadable. "Listen, I don't think that way about you. I think you're..." Everything turned black for him. And when his vision came back, the first thing he saw was a fist coming in his direction. "Ow!" he hissed, falling backwards and holding the left side of his face. A very angry Harry Potter stood above him, fuming. "What the bloody hell was that for? I was trying to apologize!"

"Right! First you call me a stupid orphan, then you want to apologize, then you call me names and now this!" Potter exclaimed, and some students started crowding around them, with morbid fascination. "They might think you're insane, but I think it's just an easy way for you to annoy people," he spat, turning around and walking away.

The idiotic students around him clapped at the retreating Gryffindor, cheering as if he had done something glorious. "Wacko got what he deserved," someone muttered.

Ron slowly got up as the crowd quickly got bored and dissipated. His cheek still hurt, and he could feel it already swelling. He felt like crying in frustration. But he was too proud to make a scene in the middle of the train station. Ginny slowly walked up to him, looking quite sad. "What happened this time?"

"I don't know. And I don't want to talk about it," he replied in an equally quiet tone. He just didn't care anymore. Whatever he did to Potter, whatever he did to anyone, he didn't care. They all were idiots, anyway. Ron kept thinking that, trying to feel better about the whole situation.

Ginny felt too tired and guilty to stand up for her brother. She felt as if everyone knew it was her fault that Muggle-borns had been petrified because of her. It was better if she kept a low profile and avoided public confrontations.

She and her brother crossed the barrier to the Muggle world, and met their family. The twins and Percy were already there, greeting their mother. "Ronald! Ginevra!" Molly exclaimed, glad to see them well. With a sigh and a cringe, both youngest Weasleys went to greet their mother.

July 21, 1993...

It was unusual, Cornelius Fudge thought as he stared at the closed envelope in his hands. But not impossible. Some prisoners did get letters. However, most of the residents of Azkaban were insane, as they were forced to relive their worst fears and moments.

He entered the old and musky conference room of the prison and nearly gasped at what he saw. Sirius Black, chained to the chair, was looking in his direction, as if expecting him. He didn't look insane, but he was thin, dirty and worn out. "Hello, Minister," the dark haired man said politely.

Fudge gulped quietly and walked up to the table, sitting on the chair across from the prisoner. "Hello, Mister Black," he greeted diplomatically. "I have something for you. An anonymous letter, actually. We have looked for anything that might be a risk to you or others, but we found nothing."

Sirius stared at the envelope in the Minister's hands with surprise. "May I read it?" he asked, almost sounding like a child who wanted to inspect something. The Minister nodded and handed it to him. Sirius quickly opened the envelope and read the letter to himself.

I saw the tail of a worm, near your last link. Be warned, Grim.

"Does it mean anything to you?" Fudge asked, as the prisoner stared at the letter blankly. "To be honest, I wasn't going to give it to you. But the new legislation clearly states that all inmates must get their mail. And we are fair," the Minister said, almost proudly.

Sirius smiled politely, though he felt like punching the old idiot. "It's probably a prank of an idiot who had no better thing to do," he said, tearing the letter apart. "Complete waste of my time."

The Minister seemed satisfied. "Good, then. I must go, Mister Black. May Merlin forgive you one day, for your horrible crimes," he added as he left.

"Hypocrite," Sirius muttered to himself, as two Aurors approached him to take him back to his cell.

July 29, 1993...

A large black dog managed to get out of the sea, exhausted. It struggled to get on all fours, and then hid near some bushes. It would sleep for an hour or two before starting its long journey.

September 1, 1993...

Ron sighed as he entered the train. Ginny was right behind him. The twins had already gone to look for their friend, and Percy was instructing everyone, making sure they all knew he was the Head Boy that year. As he and his sister searched for an empty compartment, they crossed paths with Harry Potter and his two friends, Hermione and Neville. The chubby boy looked over at Ginny and blushed, quickly looking at his friends, as if afraid they saw him.

Harry glared at Ron, and shoved past him, Hermione doing the same, while Neville quietly asked Ron to let him through. "Go ahead," the redhead said, moving aside. He already could feel his anger raising, but he didn't turn around to look at Potter. He moved forward, instead. Ginny followed him silently.

Everyone was talking about the latest major event in the wizarding world: the escape of Sirius Black, a man who had murdered twelve Muggles and one wizard with one curse.

Ron's parents had reacted quite oddly at the news. While most people would talk about what an awful person that Sirius Black was, his parents said that he was never taken to trial and that he might not be that bad. But they didn't voice it. In fact, Ron had simply overheard the conversation one night.

His parents mentioned him, and also mentioned Harry Potter. But he wasn't sure what he and Harry Potter had to do with a murderer.

Ron blinked when his sister nudged him. "There's Luna," Ginny said, as she waved at a blonde girl who was entering a compartment. "Hello, Luna," she said as they approached her.

The young Ravenclaw smiled at them, a copy of The Quibbler rolled up in her hand. "Hello, Ginny, Ronald," she said, as the three of them entered the empty compartment. Luna had already put her trunk there. "How was your summer in Egypt?" Ron's family had won a drawing by the Daily Prophet and were able to go to Egypt, to visit the oldest son of Arthur and Molly.

Ginny started talking about the amazing things she saw in her vacations, and Luna would comment about something or other from time to time. They sat across from Ron, who tuned them out, and eventually fell asleep.

"We've lost, they're dead! There's nothing you can do!" a man exclaimed. "Let's go, Ronald!"

Ron looked around, he couldn't quite see what was going on, but he felt it. Death, all around him. People dead on the ground. Everything around him was dark and foggy. But several feet away, people, dressed in black robes, some with white masks. A horrible man, who couldn't be human at all, was smirking in his direction. His red eyes filled with amusement.

"AAAHHH!!!" Ron felt himself screaming. Not in fear or pain. It was a scream of madness and rage. He felt lost, dead. His legs, incredibly strong and much longer than he remembered, moved at great speeds. He ran, over a field of dead bodies or darkness - he couldn't quite retain the images around him - only seeing the non-human wizard.

"Avada Kedavra!"

"Reducto!"

"RON!!!"

Ron sat up, panting and screaming. He felt incredibly cold and weak. Ginny and Luna looked alarmed, pale, and shaken. "What's going on?" he asked, his voice hoarse and his throat dry. He could feel that the train wasn't moving, and noticed that the lights were out.

"Something got in the train," Ginny said shakily. "I heard other students screaming outside."

"Whatever it was, it's gone," Luna stated calmly, though her eyes seemed to betray her confidence.

They saw a man walk by their compartment. A few minutes later, he passed by again, but stopped there and opened the door. "Does any of you need some chocolate?" he asked.

Something told Ron to nod, and so he did. "Yeah, Professor," he said weakly. "We could use some chocolate."

The man frowned for a few seconds and then shook his head, reaching to his pocket and taking out a large piece of chocolate. He broke three pieces of it, and gave one to each of them. "It'll make you feel good. If any of you needs to see a healer, go straight to the Infirmary Wing once we arrive to Hogwarts, which won't be too long from now."

The three students nodded, and the man left their compartment, closing the door behind him. Ron, Ginny, and Luna ate the chocolate in silence, as the lights of the train went on again, and the machine started moving.

Notes: I know, I know. More questions, no answers.