The Fire Within

The Fire Within

Prologue: Twilight

By: Captain Jazz

Glowing white stars littered the mid-summer's night sky. Ron Weasley lay on his back, his head resting on his hands. He was lying on top of an old wooden picnic table, staring up into the wide and never ending universe, just thinking. There was a lot to think about, ever since he and his friends had returned from the ordeal at the Ministry of Magic last June. He had taken to lying outside in the backyard of the Burrow after dark. The depth of the open sky engulfed him. Out there in the dark, he was free. Free to sort out the many thoughts going through his head. Time seemed to stop while he was outside. There were no schedules and plans when he was outside. Everything just was. And he liked it that way. Outside he felt free.

But that night he wasn't thinking of the whereabouts of Voldemort, the increasing activity of the dementors of Azkaban, or even, for that matter, Harry Potter, one of his two best friends in the world. Which was one of the more familiar topics that paced throughout his mind every night. Not without reason, though. Ever since they had returned from the Department of Mysteries at the end of the previous school year, Harry hadn't been the same. But who could blame him? He had lost Sirius, who was, to Harry, the father he never had. Even in the short time Harry and Sirius had known each other, they had become very close. No matter how deeply Harry buried his pain within himself, Ron could still the grief Harry bore as if he had it written across his forehead.

But Ron had matters that were somewhat more pressing on his mind that night. Tomorrow morning, he and his mother would be traveling by train to pick up Hermione Granger, his other best friend, from her house so that she could spend the remaining month of the summer holiday with the Weasleys. But somehow, strangely enough, the thought of this unnerved him. Not that he wasn't happy to be seeing Hermione, but there were other feelings that came with his joy. He couldn't quite put his finger on them. They seemed impossible to understand. It was like one of those logic puzzles. All the information is laid out right in front of you but you just can't make sense of it all as a whole. Logic was one of the many things that Hermione was good at. But he definitely couldn't just ask her about it. After all, the feelings he was piecing together were about her. You do not just go up to someone and ask them to help you figure out the new and strange feeling you were having for them. Well, maybe Luna Lovegood was but hell, she was crazy. There was no sense in comparing him self to Luna. He didn't have to worry about it now though. He had all of summer left to spend with Hermione and after that the entire school year.

It would be a relief to have more people in the house again. Ever since Fred and George had moved into the flat above their joke shop in Diagon Alley, the house had been quiet, almost silent most of the time. He missed all the noise. He had grown up in a house full of people and now it was just he, Ginny, his mum and his dad. It was strange. But Hermione was coming tomorrow, and Harry was coming in a week, so he guessed everything would seem a bit better then.

As big of prats as Fred and George were, he missed having them around to play Quidditch with, and to give a good whopping to in a game of wizards' chess. He did have Ginny to play Quidditch, with but there isn't much you can do when you're playing with just two people. He'd had loads of practice keeping, though, which was a good thing. Ron played Keeper on the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Ginny had filled in for Harry as Seeker when he was banned from playing Quidditch at school. But now that Umbridge had left, Harry was sure to get his spot back. But according to the rules, he would have to try-out to get back on the team. There was no way he wouldn't make it, though. Harry was an excellent Seeker. The youngest in a century, to be exact. Since the previous three Chasers had left the school, the spots were open, and Ginny wanted to give it a shot. Ron's and Ginny's positions worked well together as far as practicing was concerned. Ginny was beginning to get very good, and Ron was improving on his skills by the day. He became increasingly positive by the day that she would make the team. His thoughts always seemed to go to the safety of Quidditch, where there were no mysteries to him. Before his thoughts drew to a close.

The sound of the warm summer night hummed through the thick blanket of humidity slowly lulling him to sleep.