Hours Before
"Status report." They were seated by a round table, with a single light bulb hovering on top of them. It smelled like soil and rusted iron. Then again, the atmosphere didn't matter.
"It's going as planned. I've recently met with Bourne. He approved the claim. We'll be getting the key codes tomorrow." White stated proudly. A small smirk played on Riddle's lips.
"Well, that was easy." He stated in his usual low voice. White grinned teasingly at his fellow mates, making them scowl at him with great irritation.
"But sir, we can't just kidnap the speaker of the House of Lords!" Heads turned to face the silhouette of Gerard Barron, whose face was overshadowed by the darkness. He sat still, almost immobile as Tom Riddle stared at him with eyes of malice. Barron tried to speak, but his lips seemed to have been glued together.
"Tell me Gerard. What makes you think we're not capable of doing this?" His voice was calm and collected, but knowing Riddle, everyone saw it as a threat. White turned to Barron, who moved forward instantly in respect. He tried to hold his gasp.
With eyes a deep shade of red, Barron's face merely showed what was left of his burnt skin. Half of his face remained disproportional to the other, and his right eye bulged out abnormally. His lips were pale and cracked, and his hands were wrapped around a dirty cast that was peeling by the ends. White stared at him in horror.
"Sir, I did not comment on our capability. I just said that the idea isn't-"
"What makes you say that this plan wouldn't work, Barron?" Riddle interrupted. White glanced around and noticed the horrified looks of the other seven men that remained present. Surprisingly, these weren't directed to Gerard, but to Tom Riddle, whose eyes glistened more with malice.
"Sources, Sir! We don't have enough! We don't have backup. We don't even have a troop!" He fell silent.
Laughter started to reverberate around the small room.
But no one was laughing.
Except Riddle.
It was the kind that made the hair stand by the back of your neck. It scourged through each of their bodies, and Gerard immediately saw the awkwardness of the situation. White saw the men's looks deepen with fear, and he came to the conclusion that his face mirrored theirs as well.
"Look around you Gerard. Isn't this a troop?" Everyone shifted silently on their own seats, some with proud smiles on their faces, and some with worried ones. White was a part of the latter group.
"Gerard, don't tell me that your traumatizing past still haunts you up to this day?" Riddle quirked a boastful eyebrow, making Gerard sit meekly than he was before.
"Sir, please don't bring it up."
"Oh, no. I want to! And of course, you wouldn't want to leave your troop members in suspense, would you? So come on. Tell us what happened. Shed some light on your already putrid past."
He remained silent.
"Oh bloody fuck, Barron." Draco Malfoy stood in aggravation, facing the nine other men that suddenly shifted their attention to him.
"To those of you who don't know, Gerard here was a spy amongst the Nazis. Banter Wilson, a good friend of my father, sent him there to become an army man for the Germans. Father was a counselor as you all know, and Gerard served as a big help to this forsaken country. There were 374 other spies sent to Germany as an army man, but Gerard was the only one who knew how to update us inconspicuously. Eventually, the bastards found out. They pushed Gerard into an extermination camp. It burned down right after the day he was enrolled. The cause of the fire is still unknown, but what we know is that Gerard is the only spy to survive it."
"Lucky Bastard." Zabini mused. The table started to laugh, with Gerard as an exception. He sat low on his chair, his teeth clenched and gritting violently.
"Okay, that's enough. Now Gerard, what have you got to say?" Riddle said, half chuckling from the statement made earlier. Gerard said nothing.
"What a shame it is then, to have silence as your last words of wisdom to us." In an instant, a gunshot was fired straight towards Gerard's head.
Riddle smirked.
"There goes the last one."
---thepianist---
"What the hell was that, Seamus?" Ginny slammed the door close, just as Seamus sat sluggishly onto the couch with his hand rubbing the bruise by the tip of his jaw. The walk home was infuriating for both of them, having Ginny scream into his ear each time, and having him refusing to answer her demanding questions each time.
"Answer me, damnit!" Ginny yelled, but to no effect.
"What gives you the right to know?" Seamus retorted. Ginny gave him a huff of disbelief.
"Oh, I don't know. Maybe because I'm your bloody best mate, you idiotic pillock! Oh, and maybe because you dragged me into this whole mess!" Her sarcasm left him nonplused.
"That's not a good enough reason, Ginny."
"Oh, would you stop being so stubborn, Finnigan!" She screamed in frustration. Her cheeks were now flushed red with anger as she stood right in front of his relaxed figure, her breathing escalating every second he remained silent.
"Ginny, I have nothing else to tell you." He said, his eyes slowly being heavy lidded.
"Yes, you do!"
"Harry basically summed up my childhood and my personality. I'm a pillock and apparently, an insensitive prick. So lets just leave it like that." Seamus said stubbornly, his voice slurring at some parts. Ginny breathed a heavy sigh, her hands landing on both sides of her waists.
"Seamus, I don't know what I'm going to do with you." She mumbled. She cast a side-glance at Seamus, who merely looked away. She felt exasperated and tired, and felt lightheaded and dizzy, feeling a migraine creeping it's way up to the tips of her temples.
"Fine, have it your way. I'm tired of this. You have to figure this out by yourself, Seamus. Obviously, you don't need my help." In aggravation, Ginny stepped out of their medium sized flat, making sure to forcefully close the door as she went out.
"Bloody hell."
Ronald Weasley stood dead still on the spot, his pupils dilating as his fists clenched in anger. Seamus, amidst his companion's enraged state, tried to hide the smile that attempted to form by the corners of his lips.
"Finnigan, this isn't the time to kid around." Ron whispered violently. Seamus gave a mere shrug.
"I'm not kidding, mate. Wish I were though." Ron was seething now, his face reddening in a deep shade of crimson. With a nod to himself, he ran quickly into the hall, where Harry was seated silently by the long table. Seamus followed briskly after Ron, the grin evident on his face.
"Potter!" Ron bellowed. Harry looked up from his food, an eyebrow raised at the sudden raise Ron gave to his voice.
"Ron? What's wrong, mate?" he questioned, standing up slowly from his chair. Ron, his patience thinning, took the chance and pushed Harry forcefully by the chest. He stumbled backwards slightly, but gained balance quickly. Harry's face formed a deep scowl, his eyes blazing with aggravation.
"What the h-"
"You're a bloody piece of shit, you know that?" Ron seethed, his face flushed completely. Harry looked at him in disbelief.
"What?"
"Oh, you bloody well know what I'm talking about!" The hall fell silent in a second's time. Harry felt the stares of a thousand eyes stare at him, seeping through his very being as he stood there, helpless and unbearably clueless.
"Ron, please. Believe me. I don't know what the hell you're talking about." He pleaded sincerely, only to receive a scoff back.
"Shut up, Potter! You know what you did! Now, stand up to me like a man!" Harry's throat went dry, not out of fear, but out of speechlessness.
"R-Ron-" Harry was silenced upon feeling the stabbing pain reach his cheek. The entirety of the hall gasped, except for Seamus, who watched gleefully at the back. Ron shook his grazed knuckles slightly, feeling small shoots of pain inside.
"You shagged her, Potter!" Ron yelled. Harry looked up at him from the floor in awe and befuddlement.
"Who?" Was all Harry could muster to say.
"My girlfriend, Potter! You shagged her fucking brains out behind my back!" Harry shook his head in defense.
"Girlfriend? I didn't even know you had a girlfriend!" Harry replied honestly, before balancing himself up once again. Ron attempted to charge after him again, but the people behind him held him back.
"Oh, don't act so clueless, Potter! You know what you did!"
"Ron, trust me! I'm honestly telling you now that I don't know what you're talking about!" Harry tried to reason out, yet Ron remained firm, his eyes blazing with a rage he'd never seen before.
Ron heaved a big sigh, before facing Harry eye to eye. The tension hovered thickly in the air, and the silence buzzed loudly in their ears.
"Best mate my arse, Potter. This friendship's over." The enraged whisper made Seamus grin, before he exited the hall silently in accomplishment.
---thepianist-----
A/N: Writing this was extremely difficult, knowing how much complications it will bring in the future chapters. But then again, it is so totally worth it *snickers*. I'm sorry for the overuse of swearwords. I just really needed to add them for essentiality (and for dramatic effect xD). Questions about Ron? Feel free to ask. Yes, Ron and Harry were best mates before. It took a lot of time to think of how to portray this, and I thought this was the best opportunity to show this small underlying fact. As it was stated by Harry himself, he didn't know that Ron had a girlfriend (I'll leave you to figure out who she is *wink*). I wouldn't elaborate more on that, because it might ruin the rest. (hopefully, you don't find the story too confusing. XD!)
[PS: there are some parts in the flashback that aren't italicized. Don't mind those. They're still parts of the flashback. :D]
Good day, mates!