Author's Note: We're nearing the end…enjoy.
And PLEASE review…this chapter was a killer to write…took forever!
(No song this chappy…that's how anxious we were to post!)
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"Ron?" Harry repeated, skepticism evident both on his face and in his voice. "You mean Ronald Weasley, your brother and my best friend?"
"Yes," said Ginny, eyes twinkling anxiously to clarify the situation to him. "Let me explain."
Harry, still doubtful, nodded and leaned forward in his chair, eyeing her intently.
Ginny cleared her throat. "Last night before your party, Ron was attacked by Bellatrix and Dolohov. They captured him at his own apartment and placed him under Imperious." She sighed. "He's been under Bellatrix's control for nearly 24 hours."
"And you know all this how, exactly?"
"I've been undercover," she said plainly, as if it were the simplest thing in the world.
"As what? A Death Eater?" he questioned. "That's some pretty good detective work, Gin."
"Harry," Ginny responded quietly leaning forward so that they were only inches apart. "I'm an animagus- a fox."
Harry blinked. "Really?"
She nodded. "I was hiding outside Ron's flat when they got him. I couldn't stop them because I was discovered a few minutes before the attack."
Comprehension suddenly dawned on Harry. "You followed me this morning, didn't you? Right outside Hermione's flat?"
Ginny grinned. "Yeah. Guess I need to work on my concealment skills." She looked down. Her smile abruptly faded into a frown. "I'm so sorry I couldn't stop Ron, Harry. I wasn't there when he took Hermione."
"Don't you dare blame yourself," Harry said instantly, giving her a reassuring look. "This is all because of Bellatrix Lestrange and her cronies, no one else."
Ginny shot him appreciative glance from across the desk and began to rifle through the parchments in her lap. Harry's mind automatically began drifting toward Ron. Was he really under Imperious during the party last night? Was he really Bellatrix's right hand man? Did he really kidnap Hermione that very morning? Too many things just seemed unclear…
"Are you sure Ginny?" Harry asked suddenly, secretly hoping that somehow she'd made a mistake in her investigation.
Ginny looked up from her task. "Positive," she answered with sad eyes, standing firmly behind her discovery.
* * * * *
Harry shifted in his seat. "We've got to get to Hermione."
"I agree. I've got a plan…somewhere…" Ginny murmured, once again shifting through the papers from her bag.
Those were the last words of Harry and Ginny's conversation that Ron heard. Stepping out carefully from the shadows of an old brown refrigerator, he silently crept back toward the entrance of the shed. Taking time to insure that neither pair noticed his presence in the room, Ron stood painfully still at the door, watching and waiting for his window of opportunity to depart. If he were exposed, it could mean the end of Bellatrix's plan. After a few moments, he quietly inched opened the still ajar door and made his escape.
The early morning fog had given way to a sudden squall. Dollops of rain doused Ron as he anti-Disillusioned himself and ran toward the Apparation site. Though the true Ronald was fighting strongly within, he could still not free himself of Bellatrix's grip.
* * * * *
A rain-drenched Ron nearly crashed into Dolohov upon his arrival to his own flat. "Where…is….Bellatrix?" he uttered breathlessly after his quick sprint in the downpour. "I… must speak…. with her….immediately."
Dolohov eyed the shabby looking Blood Traitor with contempt. "She is down with the Mudblood," he said coldly.
Ron made way toward the door that led to the basement. "I wouldn't disturb her, Weasel," Dolohov called after him. "She'll hex you good if you interrupt her fun with the Mudblood."
"She'll want to be interrupted for this," Ron muttered and descended the steps to Hermione's imprisonment below.
He hurriedly reached the thick door blocking the entrance to the chamber. He could already hear his master's muffled laughter from the opposite side. With much effort, Ron pushed the door open, discharging a thumping sound down into the chamber.
Bellatrix whirled around quickly and turned her attention from the limp and bruised Hermione on the cobblestone floor to the red-headed figure making his way toward her down the massive stairs.
Bellatrix sneered. "How dare you disturb-"
"Forgive the intrusion, My Lady," Ron garbled as he sunk into a ridiculous bow at the foot of the staircase.
Curiosity swept Bellatrix as alarm became apparent on the Weasel's freckled face.
"Well?" she said impatiently. "Get on with it! I would like to get back to my entertainment…" A brief look of amusement swept over her pale face as she glanced at an unconscious Hermione.
"They know," he said simply.
The Death Eater rolled her eyes. "They know what, exactly?"
"Everything."
"Impossible!" Bellatrix laughed. "How could they?"
"They-"
"I planned everything perfectly," she barreled on.
"My Lady, they-"
"There is possibly no way that they could have…"
"But they-"
She finally looked at Ron in annoyance. "Who are they, exactly?"
"They-" Ron said cautiously, "-are Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley."
She peered at his cloudy-blue eyes in disbelief for several seconds. "You're quite sure?" she asked through clenched teeth.
Ron shuffled uncomfortably under her intense stare. "Yes."
Bellatrix then turned and gave a monstrous shriek of frustration that forced Ron to cringe and Hermione awaken. She stirred on the cold floor, trying to register what she thought she had just heard in her unconscious state.
Bellatrix began to pace the room feverishly, looking more and more livid at every step. The black folds of her cloak billowed out behind her, giving her the appearance of an overgrown bat.
Ron stood motionless, ready and waiting for instructions from his mistress.
* * * * *
"Harry, we have to be logical!" Ginny said exasperatedly. "We can't afford to be so rash in this delicate a situation."
Harry folded his arms across his chest. "Then let's do the plan that you suggested…"
Ginny looked at him questionably.
"…but with my modifications," he finished with a twinkle in his eye.
"Figures," she said with a sigh. "I guess we'll have to compromise."
The two brainstormed for a while longer until they were satisfied with their plan of action. Upon deciding some last minute details sketching out the plan's course, they determined it best to exit their current location and inform the rest of the Weasley's on what was happening.
Harry and Ginny left the shed, forced to walk in the fresh mud that laced the trail back to the Burrow.
"Must have rained," remarked Ginny as the two sauntered up the trail.
"Mmhmm…" Harry murmured in agreement, his attention elsewhere.
Ginny pulled her jacket closer around herself and peered at her pre-occupied friend. "What's wrong?" she asked curiously.
"These tracks look a bit suspicious…" Harry said, gesturing to a trail of footsteps in the mud that led from the shed to further up the hill than the two could see.
Ginny looked thoughtful. "Maybe mum or dad came looking for us?" She glanced at her watch. "We where in there for a good while…"
Harry suddenly stopped in the middle of the path.
"What now?" Ginny questioned.
"Ron was suppose to come this morning for Sunday breakfast," Harry said heavily.
Ginny's eyes grew wide.
"Do you think that…?"
"Dunno."
And with that, Ginny took off up the hill, darting as fast a fox through the mud until she reached the Burrow. Harry raced after her, arriving only seconds later.
Chimes of, "Molly!" and "Mum!" rang through the house, as a frazzled Harry and Ginny stumbled into the house. The pair were instantly relieved to discover a knitting Molly in the living room.
"What in Merlin's name is wrong with the pair of you?" she said quickly, eyeing the two curiously. "Nearly gave me a heart-attack with your ranting!"
"Sorry Mum," Ginny said breathlessly. "We were just so worried that something had happened..."
"Any news from Hermione?" Harry asked habitually.
Molly's face softened. "No, I'm sorry dear. But Arthur went into work a few minutes ago. He said he would alert the Auror's immediately of her disappearance." She smiled reassuringly and returned to her knitting. "Oh, did you run into Ron by the way?"
Ginny's eyebrows flew up. "Ron, Mum?"
"Yes. He arrived here a few minutes after you and Harry went for your walk. I sent him to the back yard to say hello to you Ginny, since you so rarely see your family these days," Molly Weasley answered as Harry and Ginny exchanged meaningful glances filled with angst.
A loud ringing from the kitchen interrupted the scene. Molly rose from her rocking chair. "Excuse me dears. My pies are ready." She disappeared into the kitchen.
Ginny turned to Harry, alarm visible in here eyes.
"We need to leave, now," whispered Harry.
Ginny nodded. "Harry and I will be leaving now Mum!" she called to Molly as the pair hurried past the kitchen toward the front door.
The bustling of pots and pans came to a halt. "What? Wouldn't you and Harry like some pie before you go?!" Molly shouted to the duo.
Ginny gave Harry a reproachful stare. "No thank you, Molly!" Harry called this time. "We've really got to be going!"
"What dears?!"
Ginny pushed Harry out the front door and called back with a bit of a smile, "Bye Mum!"
* * * * *
"Very well," Bellatrix said feebly to herself after a few minutes. "My plan can still be salvaged." She turned to Ron. "Go fetch Dolohov and Rookwood immediately."
Ron simply nodded and disappeared up the staircase.
"What's the matter, Bella?" Hermione said weakly from the floor of the dungeon. Bruising was visible along her arms and neck as well as several small gashes located sporadically along her body. "Is your precious plan falling though?"
Bellatrix stopped pacing directly in front of Hermione's cell.
"You insolent little fool," her eyes danced with hatred. "You'll learn to hold your tongue soon enough, or I swear I'll rip it from your filthy Mudblood mouth!"
Hermione stood shakily, hanging onto the wall of her cell for support. "You're worried, aren't you?"
Bellatrix's eyebrows furrowed and she removed her wand from her cloak and pointed it threateningly at her prisoner.
Hermione looked from the wand to Bellatrix, comprehension dawning on her tired mind. "Harry's coming," she said slowly. "That's why your scared…because he's coming before you anticipated him."
The Death Eater blinked hard, then retracted her wand. In the cell, Hermione looked on, confused as a genuine smile seemed to play at Bellatrix's thin lips.
"Now why would Potter come for you?"
"Because he-"
"Loves you?" Bellatrix supplied sweetly.
Hermione fixed her a stern glare. "Yes."
"My dear, filthy little Mudblood," she drawled menacingly. "How soon you forget your actions of the previous night."
Hermione visibly flinched at the though of the incident at the Burrow.
"You are in the wizarding world my pet. It's time you learned that things aren't always what they seem," the Death Eater sniggered cruelly.
"You wanted us?" called the voice of Augustus Rookwood as he, Dolohov, and Ron arrived in the dungeon.
Bellatrix turned her attention to her servants and rubbed her hands together anxiously. "Change of plans, gentlemen. It looks as though we might be having a bit of company tonight," she said jovially. "Disillusion yourselves and patrol the grounds."
The men nodded in acceptance and shuffled up the steps and out of the room.
"I, on the other hand," Bellatrix said deviously turning to Hermione, "will take care of the Mudblood."
Hermione felt a pang of fear rush through her body ─ she was going to kill her. "Dear, God…" she whispered. "Ron!" she cried out suddenly to her friend. "Ron please! Snap out of it! You've got to help me!"
Ron blinked at looked directly into the cell at Hermione, as if seeing her clearly for the first time in years. His head tilted to the side and his brow crumpled, as if in thought.
"Save it!" Bellatrix said harshly. "The Blood Traitor can't help you now."
But Hermione only increased her pleading. "Ron please! You're stronger than her! I know it! Don't let her win! Break the curse Ron!"
Bellatrix's lip curled in disgust at Hermione's incessant pleas as she grabbed Ron by the back of his shirt and shoved him up the stairs. "Let's go! We need to speed this up and take action! You," she barked at him once they were at the top of the stairs. "You keep watch outside the door and let no one in! I don't care if it's even Dolohov or Rookwood!"
Ron, now sweating, numbly nodded as Bellatrix shoved him entirely into the corridor and slammed the heavy door shut and placed a locking spell on the massive barrier.
Hermione's pleas, now slightly muffled, could still be heard through the grand door. "…Please Ron!...You've got to help me!...Hurry!..."
There began a change in Ron's eyes as he slipped out of the curse for a few moments. The blank look vanished from his expression, only to return moments later. He shook his head vehemently, a meager attempt to rid his contradicting thoughts.
"…Remember Ron!...Please remember!...You can fight this…"
"Shut-up, idiot girl!" he heard Bellatrix snarl.
Hermione's scream then pierced through the air and rose from the chamber.
Ron covered his ears and doubled over. His head felt like it was splitting in two.
"Oh, are you doing magic? Let's see it, then."
"What?!" Ron shouted aloud, spinning around to see who was talking.
"Are you sure that's a real spell? Well, it's not very good, is it?
"Her-mione?" he said aloud again.
"Well, if you don't like it, you know what the solution is, don't you?"
"Wha-?"
"Next time there's a ball, ask me before someone else does, and not as a last resort!"
Hermione's screams echoed again from the other side of the door.
"HERMIONE!" Ron roared, finally breaking free from the curse. "HERMIONE!"
"How did I let this happen?" he murmured to himself while trying to break down the door by force. Ron swiftly reached for the knob of the door and pushed with all of the might he could muster, yet it did not budge. Again and again he tried and failed each time, but he would not give up…it was Hermione in there.
He began pounding his fists on the door and screaming down to his friend in need.
"Oh God, Hermione, hold on! It's me it really is!" Relentlessly he repeated this over and over, eager to give some sort of hope to the tortured figure down below.
Ron was back. He just hoped his return wasn't in vain.
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