A/N: So, here we are: a duel! YAY! As much as I love my usual cavity-inducing fluff, I like to make the occasional foray into action scenes, and so this chapter was born. The origin of the title will become evident once you've read the whole thing! ;)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Well," said Remus, clearing his throat as he took charge of the situation once again, "now that we've cleared that up, I believe it's time for us to figure out a way to settle this little dispute."
Harry was surprised. He had just thought that he would break the news to his friends, get their reactions and apologize if necessary, and then all would be well. He hadn't expected to be asked to come to some sort of compromise. What was he expected to do? Share Hermione with Ron? Switch her relationship status from 'Harry's girlfriend' to 'Ron's girlfriend' every other week? Spend Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays with Ginny, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays with Hermione, and then spend Sundays living the single life?
Even as crazier and more unlikely thoughts started to run through Harry's head, he got an even bigger shock as a voice spoke up in the silence.
"I want a duel."
~*~
The temperature in the dining room seemed to drop ten degrees and the total shock became almost tangible as Ron stated his request, his tone crisp and clear and his expression set.
"A duel?" Remus repeated.
"Yes," said Ron. "A duel. A proper wizard's duel. Me against Harry. Any curse allowed except Unforgivables." He paused for a moment, thinking, before he added, "Or any curse that would be more than likely to be fatal, like Sectumsempra or the Reductor. Causing bodily harm would be allowed, as long as it wasn't intended to be fatal."
"Done," said Harry, before Remus could even try to intervene. This was between Ron and Harry, and nobody was going to get in their way, not even the last of the Marauders. "What do you want if you win, if you're not after my life?"
Hermione seemed to cotton on to the possible outcome of this battle between Ron and Harry. "I will not be won in a duel!" she exclaimed angrily, her cheeks flushed in indignation. "I'm not a trophy, for Merlin's sake!"
"I don't intend to wager you, love," said Harry, taking Hermione's hand in his and purposely using the word 'love' to aggravate Ron. If Ron wanted a fight, he'd give him a fight, and all the trash-talk and taunting that came with it.
If Ron was angered by Harry's use of the word 'love' in reference to Hermione, or the fact that the two were holding hands in front of him yet again, he didn't show it. "I have no intention of 'winning' Hermione," he said coolly. "After all, she isn't anyone's property."
"About time you caught on," Harry retorted. "All right, what do you want, then, if you're not after Hermione?"
Ron looked thoughtful. "Your wand," he said after a few moments. "For a month. Thirty-one days, to be exact."
Harry looked at Arthur. "Is that legal, Mr. Weasley?"
Arthur looked a little shaken by what was going on between his youngest son and the boy who he had always cared for like a son. "As far as I know."
"It's perfectly legal as long as he doesn't intentionally destroy your wand or do anything to it that will damage it irreparably," Tonks piped up. "Only the Ministry has the right to do that. If he just has it in his possession for a month, that's perfectly fine."
"All right, deal," Harry told Ron.
"Deal," said the redhead. "Now, what do you want from me, if you win?"
Harry was determined to go for the kill. "Your wand and your broomstick," he said calmly. "For two months."
Ron, like Harry, turned to his father. "Is that legal, Dad?"
"It should be," said Arthur.
"Again, as long as Ron consents to wagering those possessions and Harry doesn't intentionally destroy or damage either of them, it'll be perfectly legal," said Remus.
"All right, deal," said Ron. Harry could tell that he was speaking through clenched teeth. He didn't really want to make that deal, which put his use of both magic and his beloved broomstick on the line, but he didn't want to look like a coward, either. This was a battle for alpha male status, and therefore definitely not the time to chicken out.
"Deal," said Harry.
"So," said Ron, "where are we holding this thing? We can't duel here, obviously."
"Yes, I'd prefer to avoid blowing up my house," said Harry.
"Well, I was talking about there not being enough room, but now that you mention it, I suppose that it would be a bit of a shame," said Ron, a maddening smirk tugging at the corners of his lips.
Harry slipped his hand out of Hermione's as he was suddenly seized by a mad urge to just skip the duel altogether and knock Ron's teeth out with his bare fists (how dare that redheaded jerk talk about the house that had once been owned by Sirius like that, like he didn't even care about what it meant to Harry?), but he restrained himself, ordering himself to calm down (then again, Ron probably didn't care, and Harry didn't care what Ron cared about anyway).
He's trying to wind you up; it's what he wants, he reminded himself. He wants to get you angry so you won't think during the duel, and then you'll be easy to beat. It's just like chess, he reminded himself. You need to fluster your opponent so they'll make stupid moves.
"What about Hogwarts?" he suggested. If Ron wanted room, he'd get plenty of it on the sprawling grounds of Harry's cherished second home.
Ron shook his head. "Closed, and no one's really supposed to be on the grounds in the summer."
"Well, what's your brilliant idea, then?" Harry retorted. That's what you get for trying to be considerate to your opponent, he thought, with a mental roll of his eyes.
Ron paused for a moment, thinking. "My place," he suggested. "We've got a sort of forest with a good-sized clearing a little way away from the house that would be fine."
"Fine," said Harry. "When is this going to happen?"
Ron smirked again. "How about now?"
Harry smirked back. "No time like the present. Assuming that you're all willing to put this visit on hold so that Ron and I can settle this little fight once and for all," he added to the people around the table. No one said anything.
"Well, that's settled, then," said Ron. "To The Burrow?"
"To The Burrow," Harry agreed. Not waiting for any other sort of confirmation, Ron disappeared with a pop. Once he was gone, Harry let his expression soften.
"I'm really sorry about this," he said apologetically to the room at large. "But Ron and I need to settle this, and if he wants to resort to a duel in order to do that, then I'm willing to consent to one."
"Ah, it's no problem, Harry," said Hagrid, shrugging. "Bu' I won' be able ter come, though. Can't Apparate, yeh know…"
"Right," said Harry, feeling quite guilty. He should have considered his guests before agreeing to Apparate to The Burrow without hesitation. "Sorry, Hagrid, I didn't-"
"I'll stay here with Hagrid," said Professor McGonagall, stemming the impending flow of apologies before it could get out of hand. "I think I'd prefer to stay out of range of a duel, after what happened the last time I put myself in the middle of one."
Everyone nodded, remembering when Umbridge and her cronies had tried to get rid of Hagrid and had ended up putting Professor McGonagall in St. Mungo's for a while.
"Cheers, Minerva," said Hagrid.
"Thanks, Professor," Harry said gratefully. "Now, shall we catch up with Ron, then?" he asked, taking Hermione hand (both because he wanted to and because they still needed to pretend that Harry needed her to Apparate him). The rest of the people who were going to accompany them to the duel at The Burrow all nodded and the number of people in the room dwindled as the Weasleys started to Disapparate (Ginny hitching a ride with Fred, since Ron had forgotten about her), followed by the Lupins. Harry turned to Professor McGonagall and Hagrid.
"You can make yourselves comfortable in the living room," he told them, "though you'll have to bring that chair with you, Hagrid," he added, gesturing to the magically reinforced chair that Hagrid was seated on. "You can ask Kreacher for anything you need."
He received nods from the two, and with that, he and Hermione Disapparated off towards The Burrow and a duel.
~*~
Harry and Hermione were the last people to appear in The Burrow's back yard, finding everyone else standing around and shuffling their feet awkwardly as they waited. Except for Ron, of course, who stood perfectly calmly, as though he couldn't care less about the fact that he was about to duel the boy who had been his best friend for over six years.
"All right," he said. "Come on, let's get this show on the road."
He started off toward the trees behind The Burrow, and the small group of people followed him, forming a sort of procession. Nobody spoke; it seemed that everyone was too shocked by the impending duel to say anything. Not even Remus, who had done such a good job of taking control of the situation before, could seem to find some way to lighten the group up a bit.
Ron led the group to a clearing not far from The Burrow, and then turned to Harry, who let go of Hermione's hand, letting her back off into the group that surrounded him and Ron.
"Well, shall we get this over with, then?" Ron asked coolly.
"Whenever you're ready," Harry replied.
"Hang on," said Tonks, hurrying over to the two. "You have to take a sort of vow first, if you two really want to do this properly."
"A vow?" the two boys repeated, both so surprised that they forgot to speak in icy tones.
"Yes," said Tonks. "If you two are really looking for a proper wizard's duel, you have to perform a sort of ritual before you can start. It's very simple, though, it won't take much time, so you won't have to wait long before you can duel."
"Fine," said Harry, remembering to do his best Voldemort imitation. "I'll take part, if Ron wants to do this so very properly."
"Harry, no!" Hermione suddenly cried, making Harry jump a little. "You don't know what you're getting yourself into!"
"Hermione, I know how to duel, I'm not eleven-" he started to protest. He loved Hermione to bits, but she still seemed to forget, occasionally, that he knew a bit more than he seemed to.
"No, you don't understand!" she said, cutting him off. "The ritual that Tonks is talking about can get you sent to Azkaban!"
Harry blinked in surprise and turned to face Tonks. "It's not against the law, is it?"
"Of course not," Tonks replied, in an 'obviously!' sort of tone. "Do you really think that I would suggest that you do something illegal, when I work for the Ministry?"
"Well, no, not really…" Harry admitted, looking at his feet for a moment, a little embarrassed by his stupid question. Tonks upheld the law; why on Earth would she suggest that he break it?
"Exactly," said Tonks. "Now, Hermione's right when she says that the ritual can get you sent to Azkaban, but you won't get locked up just for performing it, as it's a perfectly legal agreement between two wizards. I'll tell you how people sometimes wind up getting sent to prison in just a moment. Now, the way the ritual is performed is simple: the wizards who are duelling link hands, their seconds do the same, and someone who isn't going to take part in the duel recites the terms of the fight and asks the two wizards if they both understand and agree on those terms."
"Kind of like making an Unbreakable Vow," said Ron.
"Exactly," said Tonks. "Except if you break the terms of a wizard's duel, you won't die, but your opponent is legally permitted to press charges and you can be fined or thrown in Azkaban, depending on how serious the offence was. As soon as you agree to the terms of the duel, you are immediately locked in a magical contract with your opponent, and breaking that contract constitutes punishment from the Ministry."
Harry, who had already had experience with magical contracts, realized exactly how serious this ritual really was. If he broke any of the rules during this duel against Ron, he could end up in jail! He really had to start listening to Hermione when she told him that he didn't know what he was getting himself into, he thought. But… Well, this was really no time to chicken out. If he backed out now, he would forever have to live with the fact that he had given Ron the satisfaction of making the Boy-Who-Lived weasel out (pun intended) of a duel. He swallowed, thought hard for a moment, and decided that he was in this until the end.
"I'll do it," he said, forcing himself not to notice when Hermione sighed her trademark 'boys-are-a-bunch-of-overly-proud-idiots' sigh. "If Ron will, of course," he added.
By the looks of it, Ron was having the same sort of thoughts that Harry had been having just moments before, wondering exactly what he would be getting himself into if he said yes to this ritual. But he had been the one who had emphasized that he wanted a 'proper' wizard's duel, and if this was a part of making it official…
"I'll do it," he said. "Just tell us what to do, Tonks."
"All right, well, you have to pick your seconds before we can get started," said Tonks, looking a little surprised by the two boys' agreement to the procedure. Maybe she had thought that proposing something so serious would discourage the boys from going through with the duel.
"Hang on," said Harry, "why do we need seconds, if we can't die in this duel? Doesn't a second only take over if the person who chose them is killed?"
Tonks shrugged. "You're allowed to cause as much bodily harm as you want, so maybe one of you will be too badly injured to continue the duel, and your second will have to take over and finish the duel for you. And, of course - and this isn't to encourage either of you to go against the terms of the duel and get locked up in Azkaban for a good long time - one of you could always break the rules and kill the other, at which time your second would, obviously, take over for you."
Harry nodded. That made sense, after all. If Ron found a way to break both of his legs, or maybe his wand arm (and Harry wouldn't put it past him), he would need his second to finish the redhead off for him.
"All right, now that that's cleared up, who do you pick as your seconds? Ron?" Tonks prompted.
Ron looked thoughtful, and a little nervous. He seemed to have just come to the realization that none of his family members, nor Remus or Tonks, were going to be very willing to fight for him, after learning that he had been lying to them ever since he had abandoned his friends. He had only told Fred and George the real reason for his departure after they had wheedled it out of him, and that had probably just made them even angrier, so he was left to make a very desperate decision.
"Percy," he said. Percy was the only Weasley who hadn't been around to endure his lies, having only gotten back in the good books with the family the previous day.
"Do you agree, Percy?" asked Tonks.
"I suppose," said Percy, even though he didn't really look like he wanted to do anything for his two-faced brother at the moment. "Reluctantly, of course," he added frostily, giving Ron a pointed look that made the younger redhead gulp (his family must really hate him, if even Percy, who had abandoned the family for years, could look down his nose at him and not get told off for it), "but we have to follow the rules, if my brother wants this done right."
Tonks nodded. "Harry?"
Harry smirked at Ron. "Hermione," he said, going for the throat. "If she consents, of course." After all, he had plenty of other people who would be happy to duel Ron for him right now, considering the entire Weasley family's current indignation.
"Hermione?" asked Tonks. "Do you agree?"
The look that Hermione gave Harry told him that he could probably expect to get a talking-to for volunteering her for this just so he could taunt Ron, but it seemed that she wanted to fight for him, as she always had, and she nodded. "I'll do it."
"All right, so, Ron and Harry need to join hands, and Hermione and Percy need to do the same," said Tonks. "Hermione, Percy, if you could come and stand next to these two, just to make things easier…"
Hermione and Percy obeyed, standing beside the two boys who had chosen them as their seconds and grasping hands as though performing a handshake. Harry and Ron did the same.
"So, the sole term of the duel is as follows," Tonks began. "No one participating in the duel may perform an Unforgivable curse or any curse intended to be or more than likely to be fatal to their opponent. Opponents may cause each other bodily harm, on condition that they are not intending to - or more than likely to - kill their adversary. Agreed?"
"Agreed," Harry, Ron, Hermione and Percy all said in unison. Tonks pulled out her wand and tapped each pair of joined hands, making both the duellers and their seconds jump a little as translucent blue flames enveloped their hands, then relax as they realized that the flames didn't burn them.
"As no one may lose their life during this duel - well, they shouldn't, at least, if everybody keeps this thing legal - we will now agree upon the wagers," Tonks continued. "Harry, in the event that Ron is the victor, do you agree to give him the right to keep your wand in his possession for thirty-one days, on condition that he does not intentionally destroy or irreparably damage said wand?"
"Yes, I agree," said Harry.
"Ron, do you agree to those terms as well?" asked Tonks.
"I agree," said Ron.
Tonks tapped both sets of hands again and the blue flames flared for a moment before she continued.
"Now, Ron, in the event that Harry is the victor, do you agree to give him the rights to both your wand and your broomstick for-… By 'two months', you meant sixty-two days, right, Harry?" she asked abruptly.
"Yeah, that's what I meant," said Harry.
"All right. So, Ron, do you agree to revoke the rights to your wand and broomstick for sixty-two days, on condition that Harry does not intentionally destroy or irreparably damage those objects while they are in his possession?"
"I agree," said Ron.
"Harry, do you agree as well?"
"I ag-" Harry started, before he suddenly thought of a loophole that he had left in his terms. "Hang on," he said, surprising everyone. "Before I agree, I want to specify that when I said that I wanted the rights to 'Ron's broomstick', I meant the Cleansweep that he received in fifth year for being made prefect," he said, realizing that Ron could technically hand over his old broom and still be following the terms of their agreement, if he didn't specify which broomstick he expected Ron to wager. By the small frown that stretched across Ron's lips and the way his grip on Harry's hand tightened a little after Harry had finished speaking, it seemed that Harry had realized his mistake just in time. Ron had thought of that loophole as well, intending to give up his useless bunch of twigs instead of his Cleansweep.
Tonks turned to Ron. "Ron, do you agree to that change in the terms?"
Ron scowled a little, but replied, "I agree." His tone was expressionless, perhaps bordering on a growl. Harry both smirked and cringed inwardly. He could tell that Ron had been counting on using that loophole if Harry won, and he was glad to have thwarted him before he could try to give up his old, useless broomstick instead of his Cleansweep, but he also realized that forcing Ron to relinquish his beloved new(er) broom was going to make this duel twice as brutal.
"Harry, do you agree to those terms?" asked Tonks.
"Yes, I agree," said Harry.
"Hermione, Percy, do you both agree to the wagers?" asked Tonks.
"I agree," the two replied in unison.
Tonks tapped both sets of hands once more, and the blue flames flared one final time before Tonks stepped back, shepherding the rest of the group to a spot a good five metres away from the middle of the clearing, while the two opponents and their seconds dropped their hands back to their sides and Ron and Harry both held their wands at the ready.
"Hermione, Percy, you can step back with the rest of us now," said Tonks, and the two gladly obeyed, hurrying to stand with the rest of the group. They, too, seemed to know that this duel was going to get pretty heated.
"All right," said Tonks, with a single clap of her hands, "I assume that you two know how to start a duel, so… Off you go, then."
Harry and Ron didn't respond, too engaged in having a momentary stare-down. Harry watched as Ron's lips moved soundlessly, mouthing the word "Scared?"
Harry smirked, fond memories of cursing a certain blond ferret senseless returning to him all of a sudden, and mouthed back. "You wish."
Ron mirrored Harry's smirked and bowed, followed by Harry a second later. They both straightened up and turned around, walking forwards three steps. For the first time since they had begun the pre-duel proceedings, Harry's stomach flipped over nervously. He focused his gaze on a tree a few metres away, concentrating on it as though he had been asked to memorize the exact pattern on the bark, and fighting down his mad urge to cast a Shield Charm behind himself. He would rather get cursed than look like a coward in front of all the people he cared about. This, to Harry, was a matter of pride. Deep down, he wanted to expose Ron for what he felt his ex-friend was: a pathetic, disloyal coward. The Peter Pettigrew of his time. He didn't just want to beat Ron, he wanted to beat him to a bloody pulp and kick his arse to Kansas. And if he let his nervousness get the best of him and cast a Shield Charm before Ron even cast a spell, it would definitely put a bit of a damper on his glory if he won. So he focused on the tree in front of him and forced himself to wait, listening hard for any sound of movement behind him.
A few moments later, it finally came, and Harry decided, during the millisecond in which the sound reached his ears, that he would be forever grateful for twigs. One had cracked under Ron's heel as he turned, giving Harry a fraction of a second in which to react. But that fraction was all the time he needed to whirl around and shout "Protego!", watching as the unmistakable red light of a Stunning Spell bounced off of the magical shield. This made him angry. This was supposed to be a matter of pride, and yet Ron had (predictably) tried to take the coward's way out by Stunning Harry right off.
Well, Harry could play dirty too. He wasn't going to win by Stunning Ron, oh no, that would be too easy. And too quick to sufficiently humiliate the cowardly redhead. He would much rather just trap Ron, make it impossible for him to fight back, so he could watch his ex-best mate suffer as he realized that Harry had won.
"Incarcerous!" Harry shouted, and Ron found his arms bound to his sides by thick ropes. The redhead growled, flipped his wand in his fingers so that it pointed at the ropes and said "Finite!", but Harry wasn't about to wait his turn to continue his side of the duel, and Ron found himself blasted backwards by a fire hose-grade blast of ice-cold water - a powerfully cast Aguamenti from Harry, who was inwardly cursing himself for being stupid enough to try an Incarcerous when Ron still had his wand and was perfectly capable of freeing himself. Ron was back on his feet in seconds, shivering a little, sopping wet and scarlet in the face, shouting "Levicorpus!"
Harry instantly found himself hanging upside-down about eight or nine feet off the ground, dangling by his ankle.
Damn it, I taught him that!
"Liberacorpus!" he cried, knowing the consequences of his actions before he even said the word, but left with no alternative. He wouldn't even have enough time to cast a Cushioning Charm on the ground before he hit it. As a result, he fell like a stone and landed flat on his back, effectively winded. Gasping for breath and desperate to give himself time to pick himself up off the ground, he took aim at Ron's pant leg and gasped, "Lacarnum Inflamarae!", effectively distracting Ron by setting his jeans on fire. Ron, startled as he suddenly switched from being freezing cold to being aflame, didn't think to use an Aguamenti right away and left Harry with enough time to draw a few more shuddering breaths and struggle to his feet before his opponent put out the blaze on his pant leg. Harry, still feeling a little bit dizzy from lack of oxygen, fell back on his trademark spell.
"Expelliarmus!" he cried, and was surprised to see that Ron didn't react with a Shield Charm before the spell hit him, effectively tearing his wand from his hand and projecting it to a spot a few metres away. Ron, Disarmed and very vulnerable to attack, immediately bolted for his wand, but not before Harry had caught both his breath and, for a fraction of an instant, Hermione's eye, which gave him an idea.
"Avis!" he shouted, causing a flock of sparrows (the first type of bird he could think of) to appear in front of him. Ron, still sprinting for his wand, glanced back at the sound of the incantation, which turned out to be a bad idea, as it caused him to trip and fall spectacularly, skidding a few feet before he came to a halt. Harry was tempted to show his fallen ex-friend a shred of mercy, but he remembered Ron's plans to cheat on their deal and pressed on with what he had meant to do.
"Oppugno!" he cried, and the flock of sparrows, like Hermione's canaries back in sixth year, flew at Ron like small, feathery comets, making him cry out and try to shield his face, obviously remembering the effects of this particular spell. The small birds attacked, biting and scratching at any exposed flesh that they could reach, which was quite a bit, as Ron's pant legs had been pulled up a few inches during his fall, not to mention that he had the misfortune of wearing a T-shirt at the time.
Harry, relentless, tried something new, giving his wand a flick towards the flock of avian assailants and focusing hard on what he hoped would happen. His idea worked perfectly; one of the sparrows stopped attacking Ron's face and flew the few feet that separated Ron from his only weapon, before grasping the wand in its little claws and obediently flying back to Harry, dropping the wand as it performed a wide, graceful turn high over Harry's head, heading back towards Ron so that it could continue its assault. Harry reached out and caught the wand before turning his attention back to Ron, who was rolling around on the ground and trying to beat his attackers away.
With a flick of his wand, Harry cast a Finite on the birds, making them disappear and leaving the sopping wet Ron laying on the ground, his face and legs scratched and a little bloody. Determined to have the last laugh, the redhead picked himself up and walked the few metres back to his original spot in the clearing; his gaze locked with Harry's, his look challenging and his message clear. He was a sorry sight, with his sopping wet hair plastered to his head, his scratched and bitten face, arms and legs, and, to top it all off, a thoroughly singed pant leg, and yet, in some weird way, he still managed to look somewhat intimidating. He had nothing on Voldemort, that was for certain, but he managed to look a bit scary in his own way just the same.
All right, you've got my wand. But do you really just want to win by default, or are we going to finish this duel properly?
Harry paused, thinking. His heart's desire was to beat Ron so badly that the redhead would slink away like a dog with its tail between its legs, too ashamed to show his face for weeks afterwards, but if he stopped now, he guaranteed his victory. Then again, Ron's challenging look and the small smirk adorning his lips were driving him crazy. Harry knew that if he ended this now, Ron would never let him live it down, always reminding everyone of the fact that Harry had only won by Disarming him.
Harry took a breath and let it out slowly, before plastering a smirk identical to Ron's on his lips, giving the redhead a small bow, and tossing Ron's wand back to him. There was a millisecond's pause as Ron caught the wand round the middle and, in one smooth motion, flipped it right side up in his hand and fired a Reductor at the ground at Harry's feet. Harry, caught off-guard, was catapulted upwards and backwards with enough force to drive him back a good distance, far enough to smash him into the tree that he had been so focused on earlier, effectively winding him once again before dropping him flat on his face from at least five feet in the air. Harry couldn't stifle the groan that escaped him as he mustered enough energy to roll over onto his back, feeling as though he had broken a few ribs.
He broke the rules! he thought, as gleefully as he could while trying to keep himself from writhing in agony. He said no Reductors!
But wait, he thought, his glee fading, he said that we were allowed to cause each other bodily harm, as long as the curse wasn't likely to be fatal. He cast that Reductor at my feet, so it wasn't likely to kill me. Damn it! I really have to learn to stop and think about the loopholes…
"Harry!" cried Hermione, shocking him from his thoughts. He instinctively turned towards the sound and saw his horrified-looking girlfriend break away from the group at the edge of the clearing, Remus and Tonks trying to catch her by the arms to keep her from getting any closer to the duel but failing by inches. As much as most of Harry wanted to just lay there and let her help him up, the part of his mind that was still focused on the duel knew that if his second got too close, she would, technically, replace him in the fight. Desperate to keep her back, he felt around on the ground to his right, trying to find his wand, which had been knocked from his grip as he hit the ground, so that he could do something, anything, to make her stay back. Mere seconds before Hermione would have replaced him in the duel, Harry's fingers made contact with the handle of his wand and he watched in great surprise as a nearly-transparent barrier expanded in front of Hermione, knocking her backwards a few steps before she was caught by Remus and Tonks. Harry watched in amazement as the barrier expanded to cover the whole group of people at the edge of the clearing, keeping everyone where they were, just in case someone else got the urge to save him. Shocked, Harry barely heard Ron when the redhead spoke again.
"Had enough, Harry?" he asked coolly.
Harry forced his aching body to move, pushing himself into a sitting position and gritting his teeth to bite back the groan of pain that jumped to the tip of his tongue as he faced his opponent once more. Ron was smirking expectantly at him, waiting for his answer.
Well, Harry had no intention of answering. He remembered how Dumbledore had never limited himself to firing spells directly at his opponent, and with that thought, a plan of action formed in his head. There was a small boulder and a tree behind Ron, and Harry's mind quickly formulated a plan that would finish Ron off once and for all.
"Bombarda!" he gasped, wincing and clenching his left fist hard as a spasm of pain exploded in his chest. The boulder blew up, effectively distracting Ron. Harry, just wanting this duel to be over, forced himself to speak again, even through the pain in his chest.
"Expelliarmus!" he panted, Disarming Ron yet again while the exploding boulder distracted the redhead. Ron's wand was torn from his grip once more, making him let out a shout of surprise. Harry knew that he had to act fast, before Ron took off and retrieved his wand.
"Incarcerous!" he said for the second time, and he let out a small sigh of relief as thick, heavy ropes flew from his wand with enough force to push Ron back against the tree as they wrapped themselves around him, binding his arms and legs to the trunk. Ron struggled hard for a moment or two, glaring at Harry, before the fight finally seemed to leave him and his head slumped to his chest in a gesture of defeat. Harry, in turn, slumped back to the ground and watched the mysterious barrier disappear from over the group of onlookers, finally allowing Hermione to rush over and kneel at his side. There were tears on her cheeks when her face appeared above him, and she looked torn between wanting to kiss him and wanting to beat him up for giving her such a scare.
"Oh, Harry, you arse!" she said tearfully. "Were you trying to give me a heart attack?"
Harry shook his head weakly, not wanting to move at all.
"Oh, Harry…" she said again, wiping her eyes and leaning down to give him a very quick kiss on the lips. "Where does it hurt?" she asked.
"Think I broke some ribs," Harry replied through clenched teeth, feeling another white-hot stab of pain in his chest as he spoke.
"Let me see," she said, pulling her wand from her pocket and gently resting it on his chest.
"Deprinuria," she murmured, and Harry felt a chill in his ribs, which was very soothing, as multiple dim blue lights glowed from his chest.
"No breaks," Hermione told him, her voice calm and reassuring, as Fred, George and Ginny also appeared above him. "Just a couple of cracks. Stay still for a sec and I'll fix you up, OK?"
Harry, who had absolutely no intention of moving anytime in the next decade or so, nodded.
Hermione slipped her hand into his and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "This is going to hurt a little bit, love," she said apologetically as she rested the tip of her wand on his chest, right in the center of one of the blue glows, and murmured "Episkey."
Harry jumped a little as that particular spot on his chest suddenly felt like it was on fire, making him grit his teeth and squeeze Hermione's hand, and then felt like someone had dunked his bones in ice water, which relaxed him. Hermione repeated the spell on each of the spots on his chest that glowed blue, and Harry was eventually left with nothing more than a nagging ache in his chest and back.
"There," Hermione said when she had finished, "how does that feel?"
Harry smiled up at her. "Loads better," he said gratefully. "Merlin, I love you, Hermione."
Hermione turned pink as the twins chorused "Awww…" and Ginny told them both to shut up, lest she demonstrate her prowess at casting the Bat-Bogey Hex once more. Just then, Tonks appeared above Harry as well, Ron's wand in her hand. Harry pushed himself into a sitting position again and she held it out to him.
"There you go," she said, trying and failing to hide the small smile that was trying to creep onto her lips. "Won fair and square. That trick with the birds was pretty awesome, by the way," she added approvingly, giving up and letting the smile spread across her lips.
Harry reached up and took the wand from her, also smiling. "Thanks, Tonks."
Tonks grinned at him while Hermione stood up and held out a hand to help Harry do the same. He took it gratefully and got to his feet, ignoring the protests from his aching back, brushing the loose dirt and bits of grass from the front of his T-shirt.
"Hey, Harry?" Percy called from a little way away. "Can you come and get these ropes off of Ron? None of us can get rid of them and they're too thick to cut."
Harry and his small entourage joined Percy, Remus, Arthur and Molly at Ron's side, all of them being careful to manoeuvre around the jagged pieces of rock from the shattered boulder, Harry wincing a little as he walked. He could see multiple small cuts in the ropes at Ron's side, probably failed Severing Charms. He couldn't help but wonder why somebody hadn't tried just used Finite Incantatem to get rid of them, which was what he did a moment later. The instant the ropes had disappeared, he took a quick step back, afraid that Ron might attack him with his bare hands. The redhead, however, did no such thing, and he joined the rest of his family, slinking away like a very wet, red-haired dog with its tail between its legs (Harry was highly satisfied). He noticed the Weasleys looking at him strangely and looked at them questioningly, prompting them to explain.
"That was definitely strange," said Percy. "We all tried Finite Incantatem and it didn't work, but that's what you used…"
Harry blinked. "Definitely strange," he agreed.
"Not as strange as that weird barrier thing that Harry cast before," Ginny piped up. "What spell was that, Harry?"
Harry was just as bewildered as everyone else. "I don't know. I didn't even try to cast anything!"
"Wandless magic?" Percy suggested.
"Not really," said Harry. "It only happened when I managed to get my wand back. I dropped it when I fell," he explained. "But I didn't even think of casting anything."
"OK…" said Hermione. "Accidental magic, then?"
Harry shrugged. "It wasn't quite accidental, because I did want to keep you away from the duel, but I have no clue how I cast that barrier or what on Earth it was. So I guess it was accidental magic, sort of."
"Yes, well, next time you end up performing accidental magic, try not to knock me over," said Hermione.
"Sorry," Harry said sheepishly. "I wasn't trying to knock you over, but you had to stay away from the duel or you would replace me," he reminded her. "And you were awfully close to doing just that."
It was Hermione's turn to look sheepish. "Sorry," she said. "Wasn't thinking."
Harry gave her an understanding look. If he had seen her thrown through the air, smashed into a tree and then dropped flat on her face, he probably would have forgotten about the distance rules as well.
"But what about the ropes?" asked Fred. "How come we couldn't Finite them? Ron did it before…"
"I think I can explain that," said Remus, causing everyone to look at him expectantly. "When two wizards have a duel that is this official, with the pre-duel agreement ceremony and everything, others don't usually tend to intervene, because no one but extremely powerful and experienced wizards tend to agree to such serious proceedings, but it seems that there's a sort of magical rule that says that if someone does try to intervene, they can't do it. No one but the two opponents can cancel spells and enchantments that were cast during the duel, hit either opponent with a spell, or protect either opponent from attacks," he explained. "That way, if one party is favoured by the spectators, no one can try to help that person out, and the duel is fair for both opponents."
Harry nodded. That made sense. With that magical rule in play, no one would have been able to help him from the sidelines by protecting him from Ron's attacks or cushioning his multiple impacts with the ground.
"Huh," he said. "Interesting."
"Now," said Remus, "Harry, you've already got Ron's wand, so you just need his broomstick."
Ron scowled at that. Apparently, he didn't mind giving up magic for two months as much as he minded giving up Quidditch. Quidditch on a relatively decent broomstick, that is.
"I'll go get it," said Molly, who hadn't spoken since the boys had decided to have a duel. Harry noticed that she didn't seem to feel much sympathy for her son, which was surprising, but understandable as well. Apparently, she hadn't taken the news of Ron's lies very well, almost as badly as Bill and Fleur had.
Molly hurried off to fetch Ron's Cleansweep, leaving the others standing around in the small clearing, shuffling their feet amidst the pieces of shattered stone from Harry's Bombarda and the clumps of dirt that had scattered throughout the clearing when Ron had blown up the ground at Harry's feet. Everyone felt a little awkward, wanting to congratulate Harry for winning but not wanting to incur Ron's wrath, not after the fiery-tempered redhead had just been stripped of his wand and was now having his broomstick taken as well. As a result, a few minutes of awkward silence followed Molly's departure, and everyone was thoroughly relieved when she returned, Ron's beloved Cleansweep in her hands.
"Well, there you go, then, dear," she said to Harry as she handed the broom to him. "You'll take good care of that, now, won't you?"
"Of course, Mrs. Weasley," said Harry. He had no intention of destroying Ron's broom; he just wanted the satisfaction of knowing that the redhead couldn't have it for the next two months. He was perfectly aware of the Weasleys' financial situation and knew that they couldn't afford to buy Ron another broom. And besides, if he purposely destroyed the Cleansweep, Ron had the legal right to press charges. He didn't want to go to Azkaban over nothing but a broomstick. Ron might think that brooms were the most important things in the world, but Harry liked to think that he wasn't that shallow.
"All right, well…" said Molly, looking like she didn't quite know what to do. "We'd better get Ron inside. He'll need to have those scratches healed up - we wouldn't want them getting infected - and I want to take a look at his leg, just in case he's gotten a burn…"
"We'll take him, Mum," said the twins, who went over and took their brother by the arms before frog-marching him away.
"Well done, Harry," they murmured to Harry, winking at him as they passed and making Ron squirm a little in their grip, scowling at Harry, who couldn't help but smile, both at the twins' compliment and Ron's indignation. When Ron was safely out of earshot, he turned to his friends once more.
"Look, I never meant to have to duel Ron today, and I'm sorry for making all of you stand around and wait while we took all of our pent-up resentment out on each other, but if a duel was the only way to make Ron accept the fact that Hermione and I are together now," and here he took Hermione's hand in his again, "then I had to go through with it."
"Oh, it's no problem, dear," said Mrs. Weasley. "I have to admit that it was pretty satisfying to watch this duel," she admitted, with a small, guilty grin on her face, "considering the things that we've all found out today. That exploding boulder was an interesting idea," she added approvingly. "I would never have thought of that."
Harry smiled. "Thanks, Mrs. Weasley."
"That Shield Charm was amazing, Harry," said Remus. "Ron had barely finished casting that Stunner before you blocked it! Your reflexes could rival your father's, I'm sure."
Harry blushed a little at the praise and decided not to mention that he had gotten a bit of help from one of Mother Nature's little gifts: a seemingly unimportant twig. "Thanks, Remus."
"The attacking birds were my idea," Hermione protested jokingly, poking Harry's arm. "You stole it."
"I didn't steal it, I learned it from you and then applied it," Harry corrected her. "Isn't that what you're supposed to do when you learn something new, 'Mione?"
"I suppose," she admitted, mock-resignedly.
Harry grinned before turning back to the rest of the group. "So," he said, "is anybody interested in coming back to Number Twelve? I'm sure most of the Weasleys want to get the full story out of Ron, now that they know that he's been lying to them all this time," (Bill and Fleur nodded, frowning), "but you're all welcome to come back, if you like."
The Weasleys and Lupins all shook their heads.
"You should rest up, Harry," said Tonks. "After all, you cracked a few ribs with that tumble you took."
Harry nodded. "Lucky I've got Hermione to patch me up, eh?" he asked, giving his girlfriend an appreciative look. The rest of the group chuckled softly.
"It was nice of you to have us over, Harry, but Tonks is right," said Remus. "You should rest for a bit."
"And we have to go and beat our dear Ronniekins senseless, anyway," said Ginny, looking fierce.
Harry nodded again, hiding the grin that threatened to creep onto his lips when he saw Ginny's determination to turn her brother into pulp. "Well, all right," he said, "I suppose we'll be going back to Grimmauld Place, then. It's been nice seeing all of you. Thanks for being so understanding about the duel," he said gratefully.
A chorus of "No problem"-s and "Nice seeing you too"-s rang out through the clearing, before Harry and Hermione both waved to their friends and Disapparated back to Grimmauld Place, Harry smirking to himself as he tightened his grip on his two prizes and the girl who he had just fought for.