(Y/N)'s POV

"-And that's the story of how I saved Christmas" I finished my amazing tale of everything he missed. "Blimey" Ron said in response, then he answered Harry's earlier question.

"I've been looking for you for hours, it's a big forest, isn't it? And I was just thinking I'd have to kip under a tree and wait for morning when I saw that deer coming and you following." "You didn't see anyone else?"

"No," said Ron. "I —" But he hesitated, glancing at two trees growing close together some yards away. "I did think I saw something move over there, but I was running to the pool at the time, because you'd gone in and you hadn't come up, so I wasn't going to make a detour to — hey!"

Harry was already hurrying to the place Ron had indicated. The two oaks grew close together; there was a gap of only a few inches between the trunks at eye level, an ideal place to see but not be seen.

"Light it up!" He called, I was confused for a second, then I realised what he meant "Lumos Maxima" and the corner of the forest was illuminated as if by sunlight.

The ground around the roots, however, was free of snow, and we could see no sign of footprints. He walked back to where Ron stood waiting, still holding the sword and the Horcrux. "Anything there?" Ron asked. "No," said Harry.

"So how did the sword get in that pool?" "Whoever cast the Patronus must have put it there." They both looked at the ornate silver sword, its rubied hilt glinting a little in the light from my wand. "You reckon this is the real one?" asked Ron.

"One way to find out, isn't there?" said Harry. The Horcrux was still swinging from Ron's hand. The locket was twitching slightly

"Come here," he said, and he led the way, brushed snow from the rock's surface, and held out his hand for the Horcrux. When Ron offered the sword, however, Harry shook his head. "No, you should do it."

"Me?" said Ron, looking shocked. "Why?" "Because you got the sword out of the pool. I think it's supposed to be you." I nodded, "I'm going to open it," said Harry, "and you stab it. Straightaway, okay? Because whatever's in there will put up a fight. The bit of Riddle in the diary tried to kill me."

"Us, it's like I'm not here sometimes I swear, but yeah, I've got a good feeling about you doing it." "How are you going to open it?" asked Ron. He looked terrified. "I'm going to ask it to open, using Parseltongue," said Harry. "Smart, like the sinking sink" I nodded.

"So, you open it, I guard against any curses or stuff that attacks and Ron stabs the bugger. Then we all go back and have breakfast. Simple" I said hopefully, knowing full well it wasn't going to be that easy.

"No!" said Ron. "No, don't open it! I'm serious!" "Why not?" asked Harry. "Let's get rid of the damn thing, it's been months —" "I can't, Harry, I'm serious — you do it —" "But why?" "Because that thing's bad for me!" said Ron, backing away from the locket on the rock.

"I can't handle it! I'm not making excuses, Harry, for what I was like, but it affects me worse than it affected you and Hermione, it made me think stuff-" "Thinking of stuff? I understand why that must have been a burden on you" I smirked, he scowled at me.

"Stuff I was thinking anyway, but it made everything worse, I can't explain it, and then I'd take it off and I'd get my head on straight again, and then I'd have to put the thing back on — I can't do it, Harry!"

"Mate, take a breath...trust me, you aren't the only one, the thing messed me up and I want to be rid of it, but It has to be you." He looked to me; his eyes filled with uncertainty.

"C'mon, if you can fight a mountain troll, Death Eaters and an army of spiders, you can take on some jewellery." I said, trying to downplay it for him. He had backed away, the sword dragging at his side, shaking his head.

"You can do it," said Harry, "you can! You've just got the sword; I know it's supposed to be you who uses it. Please, just get rid of it, Ron." The sound of his name seemed to act like a stimulant.

Ron swallowed, then, still breathing hard through his long nose, moved back toward the rock. "Tell me when," he croaked. "On three," said Harry, looking back down at the locket and narrowing his eyes. "One . . . two . . . three . . ."

Harry's POV

"Open." The last word came as a hiss and a snarl and the golden doors of the locket swung wide with a little click. Behind both glass windows within blinked a living eye, dark and handsome as Tom Riddle's eyes had been before he turned them scarlet and slit-pupiled.

"Stab," I said, holding the locket steady on the rock. Ron raised the sword in his shaking hands: The point dangled over the frantically swivelling eyes, then a voice hissed from out of the Horcrux.

"I have seen your heart, and it is mine." "Don't listen to it!" Harry said harshly. "Ron! That's your cue" (Y/N) called out. "Stab it!"

"I have seen your dreams, Ronald Weasley, and I have seen your fears. All you desire is possible, but all that you dread is also possible. . . ." "Stab!" I shouted, but the sword points trembled, and Ron gazed down into Riddle's eyes.

"Least loved, always, by the mother who craved a daughter . . . Least loved, now, by the girl who prefers your friend . . . Second best, always, eternally overshadowed . . ." "Ron, stab it now!" I cried: I could feel the locket quivering in my grip and feared what was coming.

"DO IT!" (Y/N) bellowed, summoning some sparks from his wand in the process. Ron raised the sword still higher, and as he did so, Riddle's eyes gleamed scarlet. Out of the locket's two windows, out of the eyes, there bloomed, like two grotesque bubbles, the heads of Hermione and I, weirdly distorted.

"What the..." (Y/N) trailed off. Ron yelled in shock and backed away as the figures blossomed out of the locket, first chests, then waists, then legs, until they stood in the locket, side by side like trees with a common root, swaying over Ron.

I had snatch my fingers away from the locket as it burned, suddenly, white-hot. "Ron!" I shouted, but the Riddle-Harry was now speaking with Voldemort's voice and Ron was gazing, mesmerised, into its face.

"Why return? We were better without you, happier without you, glad of your absence. . . . We laughed at your stupidity, your cowardice, your presumption —" "Presumption!" echoed the Riddle-Hermione, who was more beautiful and yet more terrible than the real Hermione.

She swayed, cackling, before Ron, who looked horrified yet transfixed, the sword hanging pointlessly at his side. "Who could look at you, who would ever look at you, beside Harry Potter? What have you ever done, compared with the Chosen One? What are you, compared with the Boy Who Lived?"

"Ron, stab it, STAB IT!" I yelled, but Ron did not move. "Fine! Harry move, I'm burning it!" (Y/N) screamed over the voices of the fakes. Looking absolutely enraged. At these words they seemed to shriek, divided between Ron and (Y/N).

"And you (Y/N) (L/N), I have seen into your dreams and into your mind" a new voice said as the image shifted and twisted into something new. The figure changed, into someone I had never met, but recognised immediately, the family resemblance was uncanny.

"Overshadowed by a death that tore apart a family" a firm commanding voice addressed (Y/N) who immediately paled, and started to back away, shaken just as much as Ron. "You have been trying to escape it all your life. But you never could. Chasing attention, chasing approval from a family that longed for their firstborn"

"Shut up!" (Y/N) spat, sounding as if he was on the verge of tears already, flames spilling out of his wand. "But even now, you are overshadowed by your betters, tossed aside for those more important then you" the figure said, with an odd flair towards me.

"SHUT UP, YOU'RE NOT REAL, HE'S DEAD!" He pointed to his brothers' image, "You were happy, happy to finally step out of his shadow, but even at Hogwarts, you were nothing." (Y/N) paused, not moving like a deer in headlights. "So you make everything  joke, a pathetic mask."

"Always making yourself the fool so nobody can see how much it hurts. To always be overlooked, to always be a shield, defending those more valuable than yourself to make sure nobody forgets you're here, make sure nobody leaves you in their shadow ever again"

"You strive for power and recognition, hoping to impress the people you respect, but you are less than nothing to them. Because you were never good enough, never strong enough to beat him"

Its entire aspect changed, becoming darker, it morphed again, this time to (Y/N)'s parents, "They wished it was you, every time they looked at you, they thought of him, how they would have given you up in a heartbeat to have him back, you were always a disappointment."

Then it was enveloped by the figure of his mother, looking at him piercingly, the same odd serenity in her voice as the other fakes had. "It was your fault, you let her die. You left her alone to go chasing after attention. You let her down when she needed you"

"No...I..." he stuttered out. "Her last breath was spent cursing you, wishing that you had been the one to die. You were always too weak when it mattered most. You always were" "It's lying (Y/N)" I tried to say, but it drowned me out.

He stared at her face for a second, before looking down sadly, "I know. But I'm trying to be better, to be stronger, like I promised." He took a deep breath and turned to Ron, oddly calm and composed.

"Are you going to kill this thing, or do I have to do it for you?" But Ron was still frozen in horror. The figure shifted back. His eyes were wide, and the Riddle-Harry and the Riddle-Hermione were reflected in them, their hair swirling like flames, their eyes shining red.

Their voices lifted in an evil duet. "Your mother confessed," sneered Riddle-Harry, while Riddle Hermione jeered, "that she would have preferred me as a son, would be glad to exchange . . ."

"Who wouldn't prefer him, what woman would take you, you are nothing, nothing, nothing to him," crooned Riddle-Hermione, and she stretched like a snake and entwined herself around Riddle Harry, wrapping him in a close embrace: Their lips met.

"Awww man, c'mon I don't want to see that!" (Y/N) shielded his eyes from the image, but Ron stared at it blankly. On the ground in front of them, Ron's face filled with anguish. He raised the sword high, his arms shaking.

"Do it, Ron!" I yelled. Ron looked toward me, and for a second I thought he saw a trace of scarlet in his eyes. "Ron — ?" He began stepping towards me.

The sword flashed, plunged: I threw myself out of the way, there was a clang of metal and a long, drawn-out scream. I whirled around, slipping in the snow, holding my hands up in a weak defence: but there was nothing to fight.

The monstrous versions of Hermione and I were gone: There was only Ron, standing there with the sword held slackly in his hand, looking down at the shattered remains of the locket on the flat rock.

"Great, now that image is in my mind forever" (Y/N) sighed. He kicked the locket across the forest, and it hit a nearby tree. "Showing me that rubbish. Stupid piece of..." He trailed off, instead using all his energy to repeatedly stomp on the locket, it didn't do much, but he seemed calmer.

"We never speak of this. Ever!" he pointed to the two of us. "And as for you!" he said, pointing his wand at Ron's face and storming towards him, then using his metal hand to slap Ron across the face, Ron spat out teeth, blood streaming out of his mouth.

Before I could even react (Y/N) sighed and the tip of his wand went a dazzling white and Ron looked as if it never happened, (Y/N) glared at him "I warned you!" Ron didn't reply and just held his cheek in shock.

"You promised me this was over, that I wouldn't have to worry!" (Y/N) let out a low growl, putting his wand eye level with Ron, neither spoke, but I was too shocked to stop him. "I should bury you in this bloody forest!" he said, cursing under his breath.

Suddenly (Y/N) burst out with a primal scream and turned on the spot his wand still extended; a lash of sudden destructive magic felled some trees across the lake. As the dull thud of the trees hitting the ground echoed in the forest.

He was shaking with anger, his eyes piercing Ron, who cowered from the gaze. "Is that what you wanted then? Wanted to get back before I did so you could swoop in and play the returning hero? You thought you'd sweep her off her feet while I was away?"

"No!" Ron rushed to apologise. "I'm sorry, I thought I was over it, I didn't mean-" "You bloody well should be sorry, that was disgusting." (Y/N) said, "No offence" he added to me and I shrugged.

"And why Harry? it'd make more sense to be me." Ron was clearly unsure if he was meant to reply until (Y/N) pressed him. "I don't know, I just thought of them in the tent." he said softly, I didn't know how to feel about that. It would never happen.

"Ron, I'd be lying if I said I'm not considering sending you to meet Yaxley." (Y/N) continued and as Ron went to open his mouth for another apology (Y/N) held up a hand to stop him, causing Ron to flinch, expecting a punch.

"Listen Weasley, I feel like we've had this conversation a thousand times before, so, I'm not going to repeat what's already been said, there is no point threatening you because you don't listen, I'm just going to put it bluntly."

"This fantasy that you have, it's not happening, ever, not while I'm still here" He began pacing in front of a stunned Ron, the behaviour oddly mirrored Hermione as he kept talking. "You just need to accept it and move on."

"It's been years, I know it's easier said then done, but just Let. It. Go!" he said, pressing the tip of his wand into Ron's chest angrily with the last few words "I thought I had, I thought-" Ron said quietly, so quietly I barely heard him.

"I thought after Lavender, I just tried to push it out of my head" "I'll push it out of your head in a minute!" (Y/N) shouted. "See, that's the worst part Ron, you already have a girlfriend, you already have someone who loves you and you seem to be throwing it aside to chase a fantasy."

Ron began wiping tears from his eyes and he nodded. So (Y/N)'s tone shifted into something slightly softer for a second. "This isn't healthy Ron, for any of us, but I thought we were done with this man."

"I know those thoughts come sometimes. I'd be lying if I said I hadn't had the exact same thoughts at one point or another," he sighed heavily whilst looking at me. "Why do you think I was in such a hurry to get back to them, those weeks alone were some of the toughest in my life."

"But that's the thing, she's my girlfriend. I have every right to. You? Not so much" Taking another deep breath, he continued to talk as Ron stood there frozen, just listening. "Listen, let's put it past us and just chalk it up as...I don't know, it trying to taunt us both. And we can leave it at that."

"But my promise still stands, and this is the last chance you're getting because of everything we've been through to get here, next time. Not that there will be one. We won't have this conversation, so I'll say it again"

"I will murder you if it goes further." "And that goes for you too golden boy" He pointed to me harshly, then sighed. "Just wait until Lavender hears about this" he half sighed half chuckled.

Ron looked towards (Y/N) somewhat shocked, I think he expected a lot worse. "And just to reiterate again. This." He gestured to the rock the locket was on, "Never. Happened!" He looked to Ron, who nodded quickly, then to me and I did the same.

There was a beat, and suddenly (Y/N)'s face shifted into its normal carefree expression. "We should head back, I'm starving, and I haven't slept" He added, but made no motion to leave until Ron and I did.

Ron went oddly limp collapsing to his knees as (Y/N) walked past and pat him on the back harder than necessary, almost knocking him over further. "Nice swing" Slowly, I walked back to Ron, hardly knowing what to say or do.

He was breathing heavily: His eyes were no longer red at all, but their normal blue; they were also wet. I stooped, pretending I had not seen, and picked up the broken Horcrux. Ron had pierced the glass in both windows.

Riddle's eyes were gone, and the stained silk lining of the locket was smoking slightly. The thing that had lived in the Horcrux had vanished; torturing Ron had been its final act. The sword clanged as Ron dropped it. He was shaking, but not from cold.

I crammed the broken locket into my pocket, knelt beside Ron, and placed a hand cautiously on his shoulder. I looked to (Y/N) first then back to him, making sure they both heard. "She's like my sister," I went on. "I love her like a sister, and I reckon she feels the same way about me. It's always been like that."

"We didn't...I would never...y'know." I clarified. Ron did not respond but turned his face away from me and wiped his nose noisily on his sleeve. (Y/N) nodded and raked his hands across his face while looking towards the sky.

"Yeah, I know..." He said quietly as I got to my feet again and walked to where Ron's enormous rucksack lay yards away, discarded as Ron had run toward the pool to save me from drowning. I heard the creaking of wood and saw (Y/N) across the lake, repairing the trees he had damaged.

Then he was beside me with a sharp 'Pop' noise. I hoisted the bag onto my back and walked back to Ron, who clambered to his feet as I approached, eyes bloodshot but otherwise composed. "I'm sorry," he said in a thick voice. "I'm sorry I left. I know I was a — a —"

He looked around at the darkness, as if hoping a bad enough word would swoop down upon him and claim him. "You've sort of made up for it tonight," I said. "Getting the sword. Finishing off the Horcrux. Saving my life."

"That makes me sound a lot cooler than I was," Ron mumbled. "Stuff like that always sounds cooler than it really was," I half chuckled. "I've been trying to tell you that for years." Simultaneously we walked forward and hugged.

"And now," I said as they broke apart, "all we've got to do is find the tent again." "What would you do without me eh?" said (Y/N), chucking me his compass.

(Y/N) was still shaken, he was quiet the whole walk back, barely making eye contact with us, he kept tripping over things, as if he wasn't focused on anything around him. I walked up to him.

"You ok?" I asked, he nodded, "Just odd to see them again, hear their voices y'know. Threw me for a bit but I'm all good now" he assured me. "His was deeper than I remember" he smiled. "What happened to you back there?"

He shrugged. "It just occurred to me, if it was really them, there would probably be a lot more jokes" he winked, but I could tell it wasn't the truth. "And are you ok with-" I looked to Ron, silently asking about his return.

He didn't let me finish, I know it must have been hard for him to see that stuff with Hermione regardless, then adding on top of that Ron's reaction. "Do you want me to be honest?" I nodded. "Not really."

As he said this, I noticed his hands were shaking and his wand was constantly spitting out sparks of light as it did before. There was a hidden anger to his voice that I only just noticed. Before I could ask anything more, he halted on the spot and passed me his wand.

"Think it's best if I head in first, I'll try to get her in a good mood" he said as he headed inside the tent that had just appeared in front of us, Ron and I shared a glance. He nodded, as if to tell me he was ready to come back.

(Y/N)'s POV

Hermione was fast asleep, curled up under her blankets, yet again I just couldn't bring myself to wake her, I was still quite upset, which put me in a bad mood, but seeing her calmed me down a bit.

I heard the shuffling of feet from outside the tent I remembered what I came here to do and sighed, getting rid of the note I left her and gently shaking her awake.

As soon as her eyes were open, she smiled at me sleepily and lifted her head up at me, instinctively I smiled back, "Morning beautiful" I said quietly, she raised an eyebrow, suspicious already. "What's happened?"

How? How does she know from two seconds of consciousness that something has happened, she's so smart it scares me sometimes. I say that to her almost every morning we are together, what was so different about this time.

I laughed at the simplicity of the question. When I couldn't think of how to answer her eyes filled with panic. "What's wrong?" I shrugged, "Nothing, can I borrow your wand?" She furrowed her brow and passed me hers from under her pillow.

"If it were nothing, I'd still be asleep" She pressed on, expecting bad news. "Well, Harry went for a swim and we found something great. Well, two things actually. One you will like, one not so much."

She was clearly too tired for word games "What are you talking about?" I sighed and stopped trying to be vague, "Just come outside, we got you a present, feel free to return it though." She quickly pushed her hair out of her face.

I told her to come outside when she was ready, I thought it was best to do it out there, less stuff to break. "Don't say I never get you anything nice" I laughed as I strolled out of the tent. She quickly got dressed and folded her pyjamas and I stepped back outside into the bracing cold.

I gave Harry and Ron a quick double thumbs up and hoped for the best. "Brace yourselves, she hates getting woken up early." I joked, taking a seat on a nearby tree stump. A few seconds later she followed behind me.

Before she even looked around, she was asking more questions. "What's wrong? Harry? Are you all right?" "It's okay, everything's fine. More than fine. I'm great. There's someone here." "What do you mean? Who — ?"

She saw Ron, who stood there holding the sword. Harry backed into a shadowy corner, slipped off Ron's rucksack, and stood beside me, we shared a glance, waiting for her reaction. I whispered, "Five galleons on 'Mione."

She stopped right in front of him, her lips slightly parted, her eyes wide. Ron gave a weak, hopeful smile and Hermione launched herself forward and started punching every inch of him that she could reach.

I tried not to laugh, but that took even less time than I expected, fists were flying, and her hair was blowing in the wind wildly. I was slightly annoyed I'd confiscated her wand, I'm sure what she'd have done to him would have been a sight to behold.

Watching Ron get cursed into a fine paste would have my day better immeasurably and make me feel a lot better about the locket, but it would be a pain to explain to Mrs. Weasley if we live through this and I have to go and collect Bones.

"Oh, sorry your youngest son is now a pile of goo, Hermione got upset, thanks for looking after my cat. Do you have anywhere you'd like me to put this ginger rug I just made?" I imagined it in my head as Hermione slapped and punched Ron.

"Ouch — ow — gerroff! What the — ? Hermione — OW!" "You — complete — arse — Ronald — Weasley!" She punctuated every word with a blow: Ron backed away, shielding his head as Hermione advanced.

"You — crawl — back — here — after — weeks — and — weeks — oh, where's my wand?" she turned to me and I couldn't resist feigning an innocent smile at her. She looked as though ready to wrestle it out of my hands.

"So much for a hero's welcome," I thought, greatly amusing myself. Even as Hermione tried to shuffle around me to grab her wand, I couldn't help but smile. This was hopefully the reality check he needed.

I think Ron was expecting her to be happy like she was when I found the two of them at Godric's Hollow, minus the kissing, perhaps a friendly hug at best, I bet he thought at most she'd be a little miffed at seeing him, not this.

But thinking it over Ron left of his own volition and turned his back on Harry and her whereas I was pulled away from the three of them by circumstance, so our returns were as different as night and day.

Even still, despite how much joy it would bring me in the moment, I thought it would be best to deny her a weapon, because as much as he would deserve anything that she did to him, I knew that we all missed him, so having him injured would just complicate things.

"Hermione calm down, he's been looking-" "Don't tell me to calm down!" she said in a tone that felt like she was going to add 'young man' to the end of that sentence. She held out her hand. "My wand!"

"Haven't seen it." I barely held in a smirk, but she saw through my façade regardless. "Now!" she bellowed. Never had I seen her lose control like this; she looked quite demented, I was both impressed and terrified, maybe a little bit of something else too.

"Give me back my wand! Give it back to me!" she began to try and search around me as if I had it tucked into my back pocket. How foolish did she think I was? It was up my sleeve.

"Hermione!" said Harry. "Calm —" "I will not calm down!" she screamed "Hermione, will you please —" "Don't you tell me what to do, Harry Potter!" she screeched. "Don't you dare! Give it back now! And YOU!"

She was pointing at Ron in dire accusation: It was like a malediction, and I could not blame Ron for retreating several steps. "I came running after you! I called you! I begged you to come back!" "You knew it wasn't how you really felt, we knew it was the locket!"

"I know," Ron said, "Hermione, I'm sorry, I'm really —" "Oh, you're sorry!" She laughed, a high-pitched, out-of-control sound; Ron looked at Harry for help, but Harry merely grimaced, he looked pleadingly to me next, like I would help him after everything he just put me through.

He's lucky I still cared about him enough that I wasn't passing Hermione her wand and telling her to have fun. But after my outburst, I'd say he's bled enough today, plus I was calming down and was quite happy to see him now.

"You come back after weeks — weeks — and you think it's all going to be all right if you just say sorry?" "Well, what else can I say?" Ron shouted, and Harry was glad that Ron was fighting back. "Oh, I don't know!" yelled Hermione with awful sarcasm.

"Rack your brains, Ron, that should only take a couple of seconds —" I burst into laughter and she turned and sharply glared at me, shutting me up promptly "Hermione," interjected Harry, who considered this a low blow, "he just saved my —"

"I don't care!" she screamed. "I don't care what he's done! Weeks and weeks, we could have been dead for all he knew —" "I knew you weren't dead!" bellowed Ron, drowning her voice for the first time.

"Harry and (Y/N) are both all over the Prophet, all over the radio, they're looking for you everywhere, all these rumours and mental stories, I knew I'd hear straight off if you were dead, you don't know what it's been like —"

"What it's been like for you?" Her voice was now so shrill only bats would be able to hear it soon, but she had reached a level of indignation that rendered her temporarily speechless, and Ron seized his opportunity.

"I wanted to come back the minute I'd Disapparated, but I walked straight into a gang of Snatchers, Hermione, and I couldn't go anywhere!" Hermione was not listening and had started striding back into the tent.

"A gang of what?" asked Harry, as Hermione threw herself down into a chair with her arms and legs crossed so tightly it seemed unlikely that she would unravel them for several years.

"Snatchers," said Ron. "They're everywhere — gangs trying to earn gold by rounding up Muggle-borns and blood traitors, there's a reward from the Ministry for everyone captured."

I gasped, "Matchers..." I said, everything making sense now. "No, Snatchers they're called." I nodded. I just thought I had bad enough luck that I ran into some ne'er-do-wells on my first try, guess it's more common then I imagined.

"Yeah, yeah, I know, I heard you. On an unrelated note...Hermione, how much do bars cost?" Her demeanour changed quickly, there was still a bit sulky, but was simply confused.

She looked at me puzzled, "Bars, what do you need bars for? Just use Incarcerous if you want to stop someone from-" she began, not exactly understanding "-Never mind, that's a problem for future me to deal with." I waved it off.

"Oh, did you see this? Cool eh?" I pulled out my wanted poster to show Ron, "Of course you would just have that" he smiled and rolled his eyes, "Yeah, there are tonnes of them now. Snatchers carry them around."

"After I apparated, I went to a pub, I was on my own and I look like I might be school age; they got really excited, thought I was a Muggle-born in hiding. I had to talk fast to get out of being dragged to the Ministry." "What did you say to them?"

"Told them I was Stan Shunpike. First person I could think of." "And they believed that?" "They weren't the brightest. One of them was definitely part troll, the smell off him. . . ."

"Anyway, they had a row about whether I was Stan or not. It was a bit pathetic to be honest, but there were still five of them and only one of me and they'd taken my wand."

"Then two of them got into a fight and while the others were distracted, I managed to hit the one holding me in the stomach, grabbed his wand, Disarmed the bloke holding mine, and Disapparated. I didn't do it so well, Splinched myself again"

Ron held up his right hand to show two missing fingernails; Hermione raised her eyebrows coldly — "and I came out miles from where you were. By the time I got back to that bit of riverbank where we'd been . . . you'd gone."

"Gosh, what a gripping story," Hermione said in the lofty voice she adopted when wishing to wound. It was a tone I was familiar with; she had perfected it over the years, I almost flinch every time I hear it.

"You must have been simply terrified. Meanwhile we went to Godric's Hollow and let's think, what happened there, (Y/N)?" she turned her eyes to me. "Um. You found me?" "No, you found us big difference" she said, glaring at Ron.

I suppose it was her being angry, but that wasn't the most well thought out barb, I mean, Ron just found us hadn't he, just took him a bit longer. "And then what? Oh yes, You-Know-Who's snake turned up, it nearly killed all of us, poisoned (Y/N) and then You-Know-Who himself arrived and missed us by about a second."

"Yeah, (Y/N) told me, mental isn't it" Ron said, she looked to me angrily, "Sorry, I know I ruined your sass, but I was excited" she tutted at the both of us. "Imagine losing fingernails, Harry! That really puts our sufferings into perspective, doesn't it?"

"Hermione," said Harry quietly, "Ron just saved my life." She appeared not to have heard him. "One thing I would like to know, though," she said, fixing her eyes on a spot a foot over Ron's head.

"How exactly did you find us tonight? That's important. Once we know, we'll be able to make sure we're not visited by anyone else we don't want to see." Ron glared at her, then pulled a small silver object from his jeans pocket.

"This." She had to look at Ron to see what he was showing them. "The Deluminator?" she asked, so surprised she forgot to look cold and fierce. "It doesn't just turn the lights on and off," said Ron.

"I don't know how it works or why it happened then and not any other time, because I've been wanting to come back ever since I left. But I was listening to the radio really early on Christmas morning and I heard . . . I heard you." He was looking at Hermione.

The pit of my stomach opened again, and a scalding hot rage was lying just beneath the surface waiting to replace the hole in my chest, I tried to take a deep breath as he explained."You heard me on the radio?" she asked incredulously.

"No, I heard you coming out of my pocket. Your voice," he held up the Deluminator again, "came out of this." "And what exactly did I say?" asked Hermione, her tone somewhere between scepticism and curiosity. "My name. 'Ron.' And you said . . . something about a wand. . . ." Hermione turned a fiery shade of scarlet.

Harry remembered this conversation and recalled it for us: It had been the first time Ron's name had been said aloud by either of them since the day he had left; Hermione had mentioned it when talking about repairing Harry's wand.

I made a noise between a scoff and a growl before I could stop myself. "Correction, the Deluminator worked the first time Hermione said your name. Why is that I wonder?" Ron coughed a bit and averted his eyes, only to continue his heart-warming story.

"So, I took it out," Ron went on, looking at the Deluminator, "and it didn't seem different or anything, but I was sure I'd heard you. So, I clicked it. And the light went out in my room, but another light appeared right outside the window."

Ron raised his empty hand and pointed in front of him, his eyes focused on something neither Harry nor Hermione could see. "It was a ball of light, kind of pulsing, and bluish, like that light you get around a Portkey, you know?"

"Yeah," said Harry and Hermione together automatically. "I knew this was it," said Ron. "I grabbed my stuff and packed it, then I put on my rucksack and went out into the garden.

"The little ball of light was hovering there, waiting for me, and when I came out it bobbed along a bit and I followed it behind the shed and then it . . . well, it went inside me."

"Sorry?" said Harry, sure he had not heard correctly. "It sort of floated toward me," said Ron, illustrating the movement with his free index finger, "right to my chest, and then — it just went straight through. It was here,"

He touched a point close to his heart, "I could feel it, it was hot. And once it was inside me, I knew what I was supposed to do, I knew it would take me where I needed to go. So, I Disapparated and came out on the side of a hill. There was snow everywhere. . . ."

"We were there," said Harry. "We spent two nights there, and the second night I kept thinking I could hear someone moving around in the dark and calling out!" "Yeah, well, that would've been me," said Ron.

"Your protective spells work, anyway, because I couldn't see you and I couldn't hear you. I was sure you were around, though, so in the end I got in my sleeping bag and waited for one of you to appear. I thought you'd have to show yourselves when you packed up the tent."

"No, actually," said Hermione. "We've been Disapparating under the Invisibility Cloak as an extra precaution. And we left really early, because, as Harry says, we'd heard somebody blundering around."

"Well, I stayed on that hill all day," said Ron. "I kept hoping you'd appear. But when it started to get dark I knew I must have missed you, so I clicked the Deluminator again, the blue light came out and went inside me, and I Disapparated and arrived here in these woods."

"I still couldn't see you, so I just had to hope one of you would show yourselves in the end — and Harry did. Well, I saw the doe first, obviously." "You saw the what?" said Hermione sharply.

We explained what had happened, and as the story of the silver doe and the sword in the pool unfolded, Hermione seemed to take my word over Ron's despite me getting there late, but when the full story was explained, she jumped up excitedly.

"But it must have been a Patronus!" she said. "Nah, it was one of them ghost deer you hear about" I said dryly, she ignored me. "Couldn't you see who was casting it? Didn't you see anyone? And it led you to the sword! I can't believe this! Then what happened?"

Ron explained how he had watched Harry jump into the pool and had waited for him to resurface; how he had realised that something was wrong, dived in, and saved Harry, then returned for the sword. He got as far as the opening of the locket, then hesitated, and Harry cut in.

"— and Ron stabbed it with the sword." "And . . . and it went? Just like that?" she whispered. "Well, it — it screamed," said Harry with half a glance at Ron. "I know, I wasn't very pleased either" I said with some side eye to Ron.

"Didn't put up a fight really, one hit and it was done" I continued. "Here." He threw the locket into her lap; gingerly she picked it up and examined its punctured windows.

Deciding that it was at last safe to do so, Harry stood up from his perch and turned to Ron. "Did you just say you got away from the Snatchers with a spare wand?"

"What?" said Ron, who had been watching Hermione examining the locket. "Oh — oh yeah." He tugged open a buckle on his rucksack and pulled a short, dark wand out of its pocket.

"Here. I figured it's always handy to have a backup." "You were right," said Harry, holding out his hand. "Mine's broken." "You're kidding?" Ron said, but at that moment Hermione got to her feet, and he looked apprehensive again.

Hermione put the vanquished Horcrux into the beaded bag, then climbed back into her bed and settled down without another word. Ron passed Harry the new wand. "About the best you could hope for, I think," murmured Harry. I nodded, "I was expecting more blood."

"Yeah," said Ron. "Could've been worse. Remember those birds she set on me?" "I still haven't ruled it out," came Hermione's muffled voice from beneath her blankets, but I saw Ron smiling slightly as he pulled his maroon pyjamas out of his rucksack.

I pat Ron on the back, "Welcome to the doghouse mate, we're both going to be here a while." I said, putting on my Weasley sweater and finding it even more comfortable then I remembered.

With the extra comfort it provided me, I was drifting off to sleep even while I was standing up, but the thoughts of what I had seen as the locket had opened was still forcing me to stay awake.

Ron seemed to want to take watch, most likely as some sort of odd punishment. Harry went with him, so I had nothing else to do, rather tentatively, I fell into bed beside Hermione. She didn't protest which I thought was a good sign.

But no matter how long I closed my eyes I saw the horrible and twisted firms of my family, all sneering at me and judging me, or the horrific sight of fake Harry snogging my girlfriend, so I felt a little uneasy. I debated taking my second potion, but it turns out I didn't need to.

As I said, Hermione was so smart she could just tell something was wrong, and as I tried to suffer through the images that cropped up in the darkness, I felt her arms wrap around my waist quietly.

She didn't say anything, she didn't need to I suppose, and just feeling the connection to her made me feel at ease. I soon found myself able to sleep, and with a new set of eyes to keep watch, I slept deeper and felt more well rested then I had been in weeks.