Ginny wandered around the inside of their tent, aimlessly trying to pass some time. For the last few days they had been stuck inside, waiting for Kreacher to return with Mundungus Fletcher. Fletcher, one of the Order's most disreputable members, had apparently nicked the real Horcrux locket from Grimmauld Place in the aftermath of Sirius' death.
When the elf had described the locket, Ginny had realised with horror that it was the very same locket that she had held in her hand when they were cleaning number twelve the summer Adam had been kidnapped. If only she'd known!
Adam and Ginny — well, mainly Adam — had been able to win Kreacher over to their side somewhat, by kindly listening to his story about the locket and telling him that they were going to finish Regulus' mission. What had completely won his loyalty, however, was when Adam had offered to give him the fake locket from the cave. The elf had promptly burst out in tears and had only been too happy to go and find Fletcher for them.
Ginny completed her circuit of the tent and cast a critical glance at its overall cleanliness. Satisfied, she walked to the flap and peered out into the old warehouse. The building looked dismal and she could feel the temperature difference, even just poking her head out of the flap. At least she had a nice warm tent to sleep in, since she wouldn't like to sleep out there!
Oh…
Ginny shook-herself, keeping herself firmly in the here and now, and began to securely refasten the flap. Neither she nor Adam would be going out today.
As she was doing up the middle buckle, a crash from behind her startled her and she spun around. A man was on the floor, struggling with a much smaller creature. Almost immediately, the man's larger size prevailed; he threw the creature away and shot to his feet, wand in hand.
"Expelliarmus!" Ginny cried, reacting instinctively and disarming the man.
The man gazed frantically around the tent, and his eyes locked with hers. Ginny recognised him; it was Fletcher, and that meant that the thing that he had thrown across the tent was Kreacher!
As the man eyed her, Ginny felt immediately uncomfortable. She didn't like the way he was looking at her, plus, he was much,much bigger than she. If he decided to charge her, she would have be quick and Stun him.
"Adam!" Ginny called out, keeping her wand pointed at the man. "Don't move, Fletcher!" she ordered.
The man took a step forward and suddenly Adam's voice roared out from across the tent. "SHE SAID, DON'T MOVE!"
Adam rapidly crossed the tent to where Fletcher was standing, keeping his wand pointed at the man the whole time.
"Potter!" he exclaimed.
"Yes," Adam replied, gesturing with his wand for Fletcher to move towards one of the chairs.
Now that Adam had Fletcher at wand point, Ginny crossed the room, still keeping her wand pointing in his direction, to check on Kreacher. The elf was sitting up where he had been thrown, looking slightly dazed.
"Are you okay, Kreacher?" Ginny asked kindly.
"Kreacher caught the thief, Miss," the elf replied, bowing slightly. He seemed to be taking Adam's previous order to obey her seriously now.
"Well done, Kreacher," she replied, glancing over at Adam, who now had Fletcher sitting, tied up in the chair. "But, are you okay?"
"Kreacher is fine, Miss," the elf replied simply.
Now satisfied that elf wasn't hurt, Ginny scrambled to her feet and crossed the tent to stand next to Adam.
"Ginny," he said, turning away from Fletcher, "Mundungus here was about to tell us about the locket he took from Sirius' house."
"I am?" Fletcher deadpanned.
Adam scowled at him. "Yeah, you are."
"Why d'ya want to know?" he spat. "Is it valuable?"
"Does he still have it?" Ginny asked, feeling a surge of excitement.
"No," Adam answered. "I've searched him."
Putting her hands on her hips, Ginny demanded, "So, where is it, then?"
"I sold it, didn't I?" Fletcher answered.
"Who did you sell it to?" Adam demanded.
"I…" the man hesitated. "I tried to sell it on Diagon Alley, but no one was buying."
"So," Adam interrupted, "what did you do with it?"
"I was just getting to that, wasn't I?" Fletcher snapped back, looking uneasily at Adam's wand. "As I couldn't shift it, I had to sell it to Borgin and Burkes. Gave me a pittance for it, but," he shrugged, "what else could I do?"
Adam and Ginny stared at each other, completely ignoring Fletcher. Borgin and Burkes! At last they had a new lead. Now all they had to do was persuade Kreacher to take Fletcher back to where he had found him and start planning.
Adam September 15th 1997
After a day of planning, during which time Kreacher had returned to Grimmauld Place to make sure that it was secure, Adam and Ginny — with Ginny disguised and Adam under the Invisibility Cloak — ventured back into Diagon Alley.
Adam had only reluctantly agreed to use the Cloak instead of a disguise. In his opinion, with Ginny seemingly left on her own, she was exposed, but all of his disguises had one major weakness: his glasses. He was useless without them, but he only had two sets of frames: Harry's and Adam's, and both of those would cause people to give him a second look, which would be bad. Very bad.
The two of them moved into Diagon Alley and, as soon as they were through the Leaky Cauldron, Ginny made beeline towards the nearest place where they could buy the Daily Prophet.
Ginny paid for the newspaper, and then, leaning against a nearby wall, she began reading it. Adam crept up behind her, touching her side briefly just so she knew he was there, and began reading over her shoulder.
They skimmed through the paper, looking for any relevant articles. There were still pictures of Adam and Ginny located on the back pages, but, much to their relief, there seemed to be no new information on either of them.
However, one article did attract their attention. It was an article about Snape and a load of rubbish about a grand new vision for Hogwarts.
"Reading through this," Ginny whispered, "I'm glad I'm not at Hogwarts." She paused. "I hope Ron's okay."
Adam nodded in response, before suddenly realising that Ginny wouldn't be able to see it.
"Look," he whispered, suddenly spotting a list at the bottom of the page. "A list of missing Muggle-borns."
Adam scanned the list, and heaved a sigh of relief when he saw Hermione's name.
Ginny must have seen it as well, as she too seemed to relax. "She got away," Ginny whispered to him. "But she's wanted for questioning—" her face twisted, "—for stealing her magic."
"She's smart," Adam reassured Ginny, and himself. "She won't get caught."
After they had finished scanning through the rest of the paper, Ginny casually folded it up and placed it in a nearby bin.
With the first job of the day done, it was time to head to Knockturn Alley.
Knockturn Alley was surprisingly busy, and Adam watched as Ginny had to push past several people to make progress down the narrow alleyway.
Eventually, after a laborious walk down the dark passage, they caught sight of Borgin and Burkes. The only way to identify the shop was by the dusty and faded sign hanging above it.
Once she caught sight of the shop, Ginny immediately wound her way towards it. Adam followed her, having to stifle a laugh when a man bumped into her, only to back away when she glared at him.
Ginny, with Adam hot on her heels, pushed open the shop's door and stepped inside, holding the door open just long enough for Adam to enter.
Once inside, Adam looked around. The room was filled to overflowing with cabinets, shelves and tables, all of which were covered in what looked like innocent trinkets. The place had a neglected feeling to it and Adam could see that everything on display was covered in a layer of dust.
"Welcome," a voice seemed to echo around the shop. "What is a delicate young lady doing in a place like this?"
Adam saw that the voice had come from the man standing behind the counter. Upon seeing the man, Adam stood completely still; if the man detected him, then the whole plan would be blown.
Adam watched carefully, keeping a firm grip on his wand, as Ginny walked towards the counter. They had thought up what would, hopefully, be a good enough plan as, from what he knew about Borgin and Burkes, Adam suspected that the owner would be reluctant to sell a Dark artefact to a sixteen-year-old girl.
"You think I'm really a delicate young lady?" Ginny sneered at him.
Adam silently applauded his girlfriend's acting ability, she was awesome!
The man behind the counter looked baffled for a second.
"Even in these times, some of us can't move openly," Ginny continued. "I have a request for you."
"What do you require?" the man said cautiously; it didn't appear as if he was fully convinced by Ginny's act.
"I'm looking for a locket," Ginny replied. "A golden locket with an S on it."
The man's eyes narrowed and he paused, staring at Ginny. "I don't know what you're talking about."
Adam's greatest fear was that the shop owner may have already sold the locket or, even worse, have recognised it for what it was and given it to Voldemort.
Stick to the plan, Ginny! Adam encouraged her silently.
Ginny casually reached into one of her pockets and withdrew a small bag, which she idly placed on the counter and commented, "Think back, Borgin."
The man fixed Ginny with a stare, before grabbing the bag and looking inside. When he did, his eyes widened.
"I'm serious about the locket, Borgin," Ginny continued, now sounding angry.
Borgin paused, then, finally, he shuffled off to a chest of drawers behind the counter and began rummaging inside.
Adam watched as Ginny turned and looked around the shop. As she scanned the room, her eyes paused as her gaze passed near him. Did she know where he was? It was possible, Adam thought, but then, she could have been simply looking out of the window behind him. He couldn't give any sign to her, though. Any strange noises might give them away.
A few minutes later, Borgin had returned with a wooden box, which he preceded to place on the counter in front of Ginny.
Ginny, who was now looking nervous and slightly pale, snapped, "Is that it, Borgin?"
Then, before Borgin had even had a chance to reply, Adam felt the shop shake. He felt a surge of panic, and then, before he could figure out what was going on, he was thrown to the floor by what felt like hundreds of tiny knives, many of which had lodged themselves into his back.
By the time he came back to his senses, everything had changed. Huh, he thought to himself, I must have been knocked out!
The shop itself had been devastated, many of the shelves and cabinets had been upended, and there were shards of glass and other debris scattered across the floor.
Standing near where the counter had been were two figures wearing long black cloaks. One of them was holding Ginny, whose face was streaked with blood, around the throat. She was currently being pressed up against one of the shop's walls, with what looked like considerable force. The other man was standing next to her, pointing his wand right at her face.
From where he was lying, Adam could see the terrified look on Ginny's face. Her mouth was moving soundlessly, as if she was struggling to breathe.
Adam felt a rush of anger. He knew he had to act. Both men currently had their backs to him and, with a surge of hope, Adam realised that they somehow didn't seem to have noticed him.
The Cloak! Adam realised with a start. I'm still covered by the Cloak!
Adam gripped his wand, lifted up the Cloak slightly, and pointed it at the man who had his wand pointed at Ginny. Whispering the spell under his breath, he sent a Stunner in the man's direction.
The red light hit the man in the back and he crumpled to the ground. Adam immediately leapt up, threw off the Cloak and charged forward, intending to deal with the other man.
Ginny, however, was just as quick as he. By the time Adam had jumped to his feet, she had already kicked her captor, making his face twist in agony, and they both collapsed to the floor.
Quickly climbing back to her feet, Ginny grinned gratefully at Adam and then scrabbled around inside the Death Eater's robes, soon retrieving her wand.
"Thanks!" she gasped breathlessly. "When they blew the window in, I didn't know what happened to you. Are you alright?"
"I'm fine," Adam answered. "But we need to get out of here!" he continued tensely. "There may be more on the way. I'll keep watch. Can you try to find Borgin or the locket?"
Ginny grinned at him, and reached inside her top and pulled out a golden locket with a large S engraved on it.
"Borgin did a runner after the explosion and I grabbed it from the box," she replied with a grin.
"You're fantastic," Adam exclaimed, then took her hand. "Okay, let's go."
As he began moving, he felt Ginny holding him back.
"What?" he asked.
"Can't we just go from here?" Ginny replied.
Could they Apparate directly from here? He'd never thought about it, but it was worth a try. If it worked, it would save them an awful lot of trouble.
Nodding his understanding, Adam quickly retrieved the Cloak, grabbed hold of Ginny and, focusing on their destination, he turned on the spot.
As he turned, he felt a pull on his ankle, but before he could try to figure out what it was, he felt the familiar pull of Apparition.
The moment he and Ginny arrived just outside the industrial building that had been their home for the past weeks, Adam felt a sudden force against his legs, sending him flying to the ground.
He landed on his back and his entire body suddenly erupted in tremendous pain as a series of sharp objects suddenly began to press further into his back. He lay there for second, trying to fight back the pain, then he heard Ginny scream. Fighting through the pain, Adam forced himself back to his feet, just in time to see Ginny fall to the ground.
Rushing to defend Ginny, Adam fired a series of Stunning spells towards the cloaked man who had somehow managed to follow them.
"Leave her alone!" he shouted.
The man deflected Adam's volley of spells with a strong shield, and, with an evil smirk, he waved his wand towards Ginny and Adam felt his blood boil as she screamed again.
"Expulso!" Adam screamed and fired the spell at the man.
The spell itself was far too powerful for the Death Eater to absorb with a shield. Instead, he managed to barely deflect the spell into the ground. Even so, the deflected spell still had more than enough force to send the man flying into a nearby fence.
Adam sent another volley of Stunners at the man, which he was able to frantically deflect as he regained his footing. Then, before Adam was able to launch another set of spells at him, the man spun on the spot and disappeared with a loud pop.
Adam stared, dumbfounded, at the empty space where the man had been. He'd run away! That wasn't fair!
Then Adam realised with horror that they were only metres from their hideout. The man must have run to tell Voldemort where they were! The place would be swarming with Death Eaters in no time!
Adam dashed over to where Ginny was still lying on the floor, moaning softly.
"Ginny," Adam said softly, pulling her into his arms. "Oh… Ginny."
"I'm…" she began weakly, "I'm alright… it just hurt so much…"
"I'm sorry," Adam replied softly, as he held her, "but I need to get you up. We need to get moving."
"Okay, let me up then," Ginny replied, her voice sounding firmer. "I'm fine!"
Ginny struggled to her feet, shaking off Adam's attempts at help.
"What happened to the Death Eater?" she asked, still standing slightly unsteadily.
"He escaped," Adam said dismally.
"Oh," Ginny replied, her face falling. "Does that mean…"
"Yes," Adam replied. "We need to get moving, pack up, and get out of here."
"Right," Ginny responded, scanning their surroundings. "We can just leave the majority of the stuff in the tent though, the charms should take care of it, but where can we go?"
"I have a couple of ideas, but none are as safe as here," Adam answered, moving to help her so they could move more quickly. "Let's get going, we don't have much time."
"I'm fine!" Ginny snapped, pushing Adam away so she could stand on her own. "But we need to be much more careful next time. I don't think we can be seen in the Wizarding world for a while."
Adam nodded, and they set off at as fast they could manage back towards their camp. He knew they had very little time before the place would be swarming with Death Eaters.
Ron September 18th 1997
As Ron trudged down to breakfast with Neville, he saw a large crowd clustered on one side of Entrance Hall. They all seemed to be looking at something that had been stuck up on the wall.
"Ron!" Seamus called to him from across the room. "You have to see this!"
Ron quickly crossed the room and stared up at the poster that seemed to have grabbed the attention of most of the school.
As he looked, his mouth dropped open. On a poster was a picture of two people: One was unmistakably Harry Potter, the other was a young woman, with long blonde hair.
WANTED FOR BRUTAL ASSAULT ON MINISTRY AURORS: Weasley, Potter and Winters
A heavily-disguised Ginevra Weasley, Harry Potter and Adam Winters were spotted yesterday during a shock raid on Diagon Alley. These three terrorists brutally attacked an innocent merchant, seriously injuring him. They then proceeded to assault and seriously injure the squad of Ministry Aurors dispatched to deal with the situation. The above photograph pictures Potter and Weasley, in the disguise that she is currently believed to be using. The Ministry require that anyone with information on these criminals immediately contact the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.
Ron stared, dumbfounded, at the poster. That woman with blonde hair was Ginny. What had she herself involved in? He'd hoped she would just lie low until they could clear her name but, even so, he didn't believe for one second that any of the three would be involved in brutally assaulting Aurors.
Ron was pretty sure he knew what had happened: the Aurors had probably tried to arrest either Adam or Ginny for the stupid crimes that they had been accused of, and Harry had appeared to help them.
Suddenly, Ron became aware of whispering around him. The other students were whispering about Ginny, Adam and Harry. Ron shook his head and turned away, he wasn't going to stand here and listen to them accuse his sister and friends of being terrorists and criminals.
"Ron!" Neville called to him, as he began to make his way into the Great Hall for breakfast. "Take a look at this."
Ron looked over towards Neville, and saw him pointing to a smaller poster next to the one about Ginny. Ron crossed back across the room, and looked at the list that Neville was pointing to.
"This is a list of all Muggle-borns wanted for—" Neville grimaced. "—stealing magic."
"There's Hermione's name!" Ron exclaimed, then suddenly lowered his voice. "That means they haven't caught her."
"I know!" Neville replied, with a grin on his face. "She's okay!"
"I think," a voice drawled from behind them, causing the whispering students to immediately quiet, "that you should all get to breakfast."
Ron turned and glared at Snape, who was standing in the middle of the Entrance Hall watching the students, with a sneer plastered on his face.
Sighing at what Hogwarts had become with him as Headmaster, Ron turned and began walking to the Great Hall.
"Weasley," Snape drawled, "get over here."
Ron and Neville froze.
"Go on," Ron whispered to Neville. "You'll only get in trouble for trying to stick around." He hesitated. "Wait for me in the Great Hall."
Ron, trying to look as confident as possible, walked reluctantly over to Snape.
"Yes, sir," he spat out.
"Well, Weasley," Snape responded, "I see that your sister is making a name for herself."
"Yes, sir," Ron responded again, biting back his anger.
"I don't suppose you'd know where she is?" Snape asked silkily.
"No," Ron replied, unable to stop his anger showing. "It's the Ministry's fault she ran away, anyway!"
"Well, Weasley," Snape continued, seemingly ignoring what he had said, "if you do hear anything, then I assume you will do your duty and report it. I needn't remind you of the perils that someone who assisted a wanted criminal would be in, do I?"
"No, sir," Ron replied sarcastically. "I would definitely turn in my only sister."
"Very good, Weasley," Snape replied, seemingly to completely miss Ron's sarcasm. "Now off you go, I would hate to have to give you a detention for being late."
Ron glared at Snape before turning on his heel and dashing into the Great Hall. If he was quick, he would have chance to grab some breakfast before his first lesson. As he walked to the Gryffindor table, he fingered the fake Galleon in his pocket. Perhaps it was time to call another DA meeting.
September 21st 1997
"Right!" Ron projected his voice so that he attracted the attention of the assembled DA members. "I just want to make this absolutely clear before we start. Ginny, Adam, and Harry are not the criminals they are being made out to be. We all know the Ministry and Snape are rotten to the core and anything they make up is a load of dragon droppings!"
The room was silent. No one seemed to want to respond.
"How many of you saw the list of Muggle-borns?" Neville added, sounding slightly angry. "Do any of you think they actually stole magic?"
"Of course not!" someone shouted out.
"I know most of you probably didn't know Adam or Ginny," Ron continued, "but I know that those in Gryffindor know that they aren't criminals!"
"Hear! Hear!" a few voices shouted.
"And Harry, we all learnt from Harry last year," Ron said, speaking over the voices. "He was trained by Dumbledore. If they're all working together, then they're doing something to stop You-Know-Who, and we need to do our part to help them."
"But what?" one of the Hufflepuffs exclaimed.
"Spread the word," Ron responded. "Don't tell anyone about the DA without asking me, but get your Houses organised. Make sure your housemates stay in your common rooms after lessons, make sure they go everywhere in groups. DA members, especially, need to watch over the younger ones, but try to get others involved as well."
This plan seemed to be met with enthusiasm. It was something the DA could do and it wasn't too dangerous.
"But whatever you do," Ron cautioned, "don't tell anyone, or mention anything when you write home. Snape's already threatened me with what he'll do if he catches me trying to communicate with Ginny and McGonagall told all the Gryffindors that they are checking our mail. You must not tell anyone about the DA, or we'll all be in for it!"
Ron noticed that a few paled at this announcement, he hoped that no one had already written home about the DA. If they had, then they were in big trouble.
Ginny September 22nd 1997
Ginny sighed with frustration as, once again, she was awoken at an unnaturally early hour of the morning by a Muggle train passing close by.
In the days since their narrow escape from Borgin and Burkes, they had been forced to move camp twice. The first place Adam had taken them to was inside a small wood in what appeared to be a big park. They had stayed there for three days, but the wood seemed to be frequented by Muggles and when one had nearly stumbled upon them, they'd been forced to move.
Once they had left the wood, Adam had taken them to a large yard that seemed to house many Muggle trains. They had set up their tent just outside of the fence under the cover of some trees. So far they had gone unnoticed, but the trains had woken Ginny very early every morning.
Since they had moved, Adam was insistent that they kept guard. He obviously no longer trusted that the location they were in was safe. The arrangement they had come to was that Adam would go to sleep in the early evening, and the two of them would swap over just after midnight. This meant that one of them was awake at all times.
Ginny knew that Adam had the raw end of the deal, as she normally ended up getting far more sleep than he did, but despite her protests he stubbornly refused to change the arrangements. Another problem was that Adam was insistent that they never left the tent empty. Apparently, while he had been living on the streets he'd learnt the hard way to never leave his things behind. It was for this reason, that, even though they had now settled down here and the area seemed secure, they still hadn't done anything.
Finally deciding that she wasn't going to bother trying to get back to sleep, Ginny dragged herself out of her bed, dressed, and wandered into the living area of the tent.
"Morning," Adam greeted her as she lifted the flap that led to her room.
"Good morning," Ginny replied, crossing the tent to where Adam was standing at the stove and giving him a kiss.
"Trains wake you again?" Adam questioned her as he added more bacon to the frying pan.
"Yeah," Ginny replied with a sigh, as she moved to the cupboard to get out more breakfast things.
"Sorry," Adam replied in a soft voice. "I'll have to think about where else we could go so you—"
"Adam!" Ginny cut him off. "We're safe here. We don't need to move just because the trains wake me up early. They are just as bad in the evenings when you're sleeping!"
Adam didn't respond, instead turning his full attention back to cooking breakfast.
Once the bacon was cooked, Adam carried two plates over to the table and placed one down in front of her.
"Thanks," Ginny replied with a grin. "Looks delicious as usual."
Adam smiled slightly in response and took his seat next to her.
"You still have the locket on?" she questioned, seeing the slight bulge beneath his t-shirt.
"Yeah…" Adam replied, with a shrug. "I didn't really want to take it off."
Once they had returned from Borgin and Burkes, they had both decided that they should always keep the locket on one of their persons. Adam had immediately volunteered to wear it and Ginny had agreed without argument. In reality, she agreed for purely selfish reasons; the Horcrux locket was too big and would have been very uncomfortable for her to wear. It would also have been constantly banging against the locket that Adam had bought for her birthday two years ago, which she always wore. However, the main reason she didn't want the Horcrux near her was very simple: in her first year, she had been so easily sucked in by Riddle's diary, she would never be able to live with herself if a similar thing happened now and she ended up hurting Adam.
"Adam…" Ginny ventured once she was nearly finished with her breakfast. "Is…" She hesitated. "Is the Horcrux okay? It's not affecting you, is it?"
Adam paused with his fork halfway to his mouth and turned to her. "Um…" he hesitated, rubbing his scar briefly. "It's fine, I think."
"Good," Ginny replied with a smile. "It's… it's just that we haven't done anything since we found the locket and, well…"
"I…" Adam replied hesitantly, suddenly looking flustered.
"Adam…" Ginny continued, "we need to get out and search for the next Horcrux and try to find a way to destroy the one we have. We've eliminated all the places on the list now other than Godric's Hollow or—"
"No!" Adam exclaimed suddenly, interrupting her. "I…" he hesitated. "Can we just lay low for a while?"
"Why?"
Adam worked his mouth soundlessly but didn't respond.
"Well?" Ginny asked again, feeling slightly irritated by his inability to answer.
"What happened at Borgin and Burkes scared me, okay?" he snapped. "I don't want anything to happen to you, alright?"
"Oh, Adam," Ginny said, her voice softening. "Nothing's going to happen to me, we'll stick together."
Adam shook his head from side to side. "I don't think there's anything at Godric's Hollow, anyway. We need to figure out how to destroy the Horcrux before we go looking for another."
"We need to…" Ginny began and shuddered, "get into the Chamber and get a fang. We'll destroy the locket just like the ring."
"No!" Adam exclaimed again. "Hogwarts is far too dangerous."
"So we just sit here, then?" Ginny snapped back. "Everything is too dangerous, is it?"
"It's not that…" Adam began, beginning to wave his arms in a strange gesture. "I just think…" He trailed off.
They sat there in uncomfortable silence, Adam stubbornly refusing to continue with his explanation as to why it was too dangerous to do anything.
"Right," Ginny said, putting her hands on her hips. "We are running out of food. I'm going to sneak down to that Muggle shop we saw the other day. You need to have a think about whether you actually want to win this or just hide!"
"No!" Adam shouted at her, suddenly looking angry. "You're not going!"
Ginny glared back at him, as she walked over and threw on her coat angrily. "Don't try to tell me what I can and can't do! I'm going and I suggest you think about this stupid argument!"
As she pulled aside the tent flap, Ginny saw the expression on Adam's face rapidly change from anger, to terror, to sorrow.
She didn't know what was wrong with him, but she hoped he sorted himself out before she returned.
Ron September 25th 1997
Once Herbology had finished, Ron left the greenhouses and, after a brief conversation with Hagrid, headed straight to Gryffindor Tower.
One of the nice things about being in his NEWT year was that he had free lessons. Ron generally spent his free time in Gryffindor Tower. There, he could use his time to either plan for the DA or do school work.
Not that they had been able to come up with any idea of anything real the DA could do to help.
On the way up the staircase, he suddenly heard a shrill shriek coming from one of the corridors. Ron tensed, and, without really thinking about it, he charged down the corridor, determined to investigate the cause of the sound.
What he found sickened him: Crabbe and Goyle, the two huge Slytherins who had recently been made Prefects by Snape, were standing over a small Ravenclaw girl who was huddled in terror against the door to a girls' toilet.
"Why aren't you in class?" Crabbe demanded, pressing his wand into the girl's forehead.
"Pro—" she stuttered. "Prof-Professor Mc—McGonagall…"
"You can't answer!" Goyle added, with an almost gleeful voice. "I'll take that to mean you have no reason! You were skiving!"
"No…" the girl whimpered. "Please…"
Ron didn't like that way that Crabbe and Goyle suddenly began looking at each other eagerly. When they raised their wands, he realised he had to do something.
"Oi!" Ron shouted. "She said Professor McGonagall gave her permission!"
"Weasley!" the two shouted, immediately turning to face him. "Leave now! Or we'll put you in detention!"
Ron paused for a second, before answering, "You can't!"
"I'm a Prefect!" Ron replied coolly, feeling, for the first time, thankful that he was a Prefect. "You can't punish another Prefect."
Crabbe and Goyle froze, both of their mouths falling open in confusion. Thank Merlin they're both as thick as two short planks! Deciding to take advantage of the two Slytherins' confusion, Ron gestured to the girl to run.
"Hey!" Crabbe exclaimed. "What are you doing?"
Ron couldn't help grinning as the girl understood the message and quickly scampered off down the corridor.
"Hey!" Goyle added, suddenly realising that the girl had gone.
"She had permission to be out of class from Professor McGonagall, anyway!" Ron added, with an arrogant shrug.
"Well…" Goyle replied, with an evil looking smirk forming on his face, "we'll just take this to Carrow."
Ron froze, suddenly realising that he may have got in over his head. He suddenly had two wands pointing at him. He eyed the Slytherins; he could probably Stun one, but then the other would get him and these two, in all likeliness, wouldn't object to using a Dark curse against him.
So, not seeing any other option, Ron agreed to go along with them and allowed himself to be led to Amycus Carrow's office.
"Well…" Carrow exclaimed with a sly grin as Ron was pushed into the room, "a Weasley…"
"He stopped us from punishing a student," Crabbe whined, from behind him. "He…"
Carrow raised his hand, and Crabbe immediately stopped talking. "I've heard all I need to hear," Carrow replied, his grin now widening.
Ron suddenly felt himself being pushed further into the room and he heard the door click shut behind him. He watched in horror as Carrow pulled out his wand. What had he got himself into… this was going to be bad.
Carrow sauntered across the room towards him, and ran his wand over Ron's cheek, causing Ron to shudder.
"Let me…" Carrow began silkily. "Let me show you what happens to those who oppose the rightful authority in this school."
Ron braced himself for the inevitable. They might be able to hurt him, but they couldn't seriously injure or kill him. Could they?
"Amycus," a voice drawled from behind him, "I think that…" the voice paused, "…that, based on who this student is, it would be wise for me to deal with him personally."
"Headmaster!" Carrow exclaimed. "I had it under control."
Ron felt his jaw drop; had Snape just appeared from nowhere and saved him? Or did he have something much worse in mind for him?
"Professor Carrow," Snape replied, "I don't doubt your abilities, but remember who is in charge here. Now leave us."
Ron watched as Carrow, who still seemed to be grumbling under his breath, left the room with Crabbe and Goyle. Once he heard the door close, there was silence in the room. Had Snape left too? Ron turned on the spot and came face to face with Snape, who was standing less than a foot from him.
"Well, Weasley," Snape sneered, "in trouble again… don't think I've forgotten about your treacherous sister and her friend. Your precious pure blood won't save you if you follow their path."
Ron stood there, dumbfounded. Snape had stopped Carrow from punishing him because he was a pureblood?
"Still," Snape continued, "such behaviour cannot go without punishment and I have exactly the thing in mind for you. Follow me."
With that, Snape swept out of the room and Ron stood frozen to the spot. Should he follow Snape or make a run for it?
"Weasley," Snape shouted from the corridor, "move!"
Reluctantly, not seeing any other option at this point, Ron followed Snape through the castle and out into the grounds. Where were they going?
By the time Snape led Ron down the path towards Hagrid's hut, Ron was feeling incredibly confused. What could Snape be planning by taking him to Hagrid's?
"Headmaster!" Hagrid exclaimed as he strode out of his hut towards Snape, apparently having seem them approach. "What are you doing with Ron?"
"Hagrid," Snape sneered, "I have a volunteer for that expedition into the forest that I ordered earlier."
"He's a student!" Hagrid roared in response. "It's too dangerous!"
Ron gulped. He wondered what exactly Snape wanted Hagrid to do in the forest. Shuddering, he remembered clearly Adam and Ginny's adventure in the forest and their stories about the giant spiders that lived there.
"The danger doesn't matter to me," Snape sneered back. "His punishment will stand." Snape paused. "I'll leave him in your care and I'll expect your report in the morning."
Then, without waiting for Hagrid to even reply, Snape turned on the spot and strode back towards the school.
"Hagrid," Ron began hesitantly as he watched Snape stride back towards the school, his cloak swirling behind him. "What's going on?"
"Ron," Hagrid said with a sigh. "What did you do to get yourself in trouble?"
"I stuck up for one of the younger kids," Ron replied defiantly. "I wasn't going to let the Slytherins curse her!"
"I know! I know!" Hagrid responded. "But now I have to take you into forest." Then suddenly, Hagrid's expression changed, and it turned to almost to a look of excitement.
"Hagrid?" Ron asked again. "Why are we going into the forest?"
"Oh," Hagrid said in a distracted voice. "Snape wants me to check on the centaurs, he suspects they are plotting against him." Hagrid then began rubbing his huge hands together. "But I've a better idea… how'd you like to meet my brother?"
"Your brother!" Ron exclaimed.
How had Hagrid, who had an incredibly big mouth, managed to hide his brother secretly at Hogwarts?