Trapped

The room was definitely something to look at.

The stone walls were covered by red carpets. Ron felt the soft, green carpet as his legs sank into it. In the far end of the room, there was a magnificent, huge library that covered the whole wall- in width and in height.

In the middle of the room stood a long table made of fine oak. Lots of ancient wooden chairs with blood red cushions surrounded the table.

Ron looked up to meet the astonished faces of the people who sat around the table.

There were only a mere few, and although he hadn't seen them for some time, he didn't fail to recognize them.

At the top of the table sat Dumbledore, still sporting his famous long and silvery beard, a few more wrinkles and lines covering his old face.

Sirius Black, now clean and shaved, his hair only at shoulder length.

Lupin, looking less shabby and healthier.

Hagrid, who didn't change a bit, except of the fact that he had gone very red in the face. There were also two more people he didn't know- a man that was about his father's age, and an old lady, looking like she had lived over a century.

Harry stood at the door, beaming at everyone.

"Look who I've found!" he said happily, looking across the room.

"Ronald Weasley..." Dumbledore said, rather to himself, "what a surprise!"

Ron noticed that he and Sirius exchanged worried looks.

"Ron!" Hagrid boomed, getting up from his chair and almost galloping in order to give Ron a hug that nearly choked him. "How long has it been? 3 years? 4? What 'ave you been up to?"

"You know...just, hanging around...can you please not squeeze me?"

"Oh. Sorry 'bout that." Hagrid loosened his grip on Ron and stepped back, looking rather embarrassed.

"Why don't you take a seat?" Dumbledore said to break the uneasy silence that filled the room.

"Right, sir." Hagrid said, blushing.

Harry sat in a chair near Lupin, Hedwig seating herself on the top of the chair. He indicated Ron to come and sit next to him. After another uneasy silence, where everyone seemed to stare at Ron, Dumbledore spoke up.

"About the reason why we summoned this meeting..." he said, all attention turning to him.

"Yes," Lupin said, his face becoming serious. "We think that the Death Eaters suspect one of our spies."

Harry, who was smiling until now, became serious. "Who?" He thought for a while and his eyes widened. "You mean..."

"Yes," Sirius said gravely, "One of our other spies said that he heard Death Eaters talking about him."

"If they discover him, the whole network will be exposed!" Harry said in bewilderment.

The man Ron didn't know looked around the table and said slowly "You know what we have to do, don't you?"

Tension seemed to fill the air.

"No!" Harry yelled, "we said that we wouldn't get to that level!"

"Harry, there's nothing we can do," the woman Ron didn't know answered.

"But Mrs. Figg..."

"She's right," Lupin said quietly, "the spy has to go to the next level. It's too much of a risk."

"Professor Dumbledore..." Harry looked pleadingly at Dumbledore, "you wouldn't let that happen, right?"

Dumbledore sighed gravely. "At this point, we have nothing to worry about. If the thing we dread happens, we'll have to think into it."

Harry looked like he wanted to say something, but he decided against it.

"Alright," he said and added warningly, "for now."

Ron shifted uneasily in his seat. What will happen now? Who are they talking about? What are they talking about?

Dumbledore seemed to notice Ron's embarrassment.

"If no one has any objection, I suggest that Mr. Weasley join our humble organization. If I remember correctly, he was quite handy with his wand. That is, of course, if Mr. Weasley wants to."

Ron nodded numbly and everyone around the table nodded in agreement.

Harry smiled widely. "The two of us, like always!" he furrowed his eyebrows. "I have a headache, can we please shorten this meeting?"

"It was ending anyway." Lupin said. "Please show Ron to a room. Tomorrow he can pick up his belongings from his old house." He turned to Ron, "You know that a membership in this organization is a very hard and dedicating task."

"Of course, I'm aware of that, and I will do my best."

Hagrid beamed at him. "I know yer will!"

"So..." Dumbledore cleared his throat and flashed a smile to Ron. "This meeting is finished. We will not act for now. Thank you all, and good night."

Sounds of chair scraping and muffled steps filled the room. The door creaked open and everybody stepped into the long stone corridor, which seemed much colder. Only Dumbledore stayed behind.

"He sleeps there," Harry whispered to Ron, "in some secret room."

Ron noticed that Sirius lingered in the room, looking perplexed. Lupin noticed the same fact, and stepped back into the room. Sirius said something inaudible. Lupin shot them a strained look and headed with the rest of them to their rooms.

While walking to the rooms, Harry explained things about the Order- when it was established, why, when and why he joined, etc. Finally, they came to a halt.

Ron blinked. "It's a wall."

Hagrid laughed. "Not when Dumbledore designed it!"

Harry turned to a picture to his right, on which a beautiful girl in a big, pink dress sat.

He winked at her and she giggled.

"I know you need a girl, but don't start flirting with paintings," Ron grumbled. He suddenly felt very tired.

Harry laughed and pointed to the place where the picture was. That part of the wall sprung open, revealing the entrance to a room.

"Erm, thanks." Ron said awkwardly.

He bid everybody a good night and entered his room. Immediately, the door behind him closed.

Ron looked at the room. It looked a lot like his old dorm, except that the room had only one bed. That fact brought a brand new painful flush of memories.

He collapsed on the bed, feeling strangely tired.

Ron peeled off his clothes, and crawled under the warm blanket with nothing but boxers. He fell asleep almost instantly, giving in to the haunting images.

Ron woke up suddenly. He looked around, frightened and hopeful, puzzled about his whereabouts.

The last image he saw was of Hermione, buried in her books, sitting in the Common Room and scribbling notes.

He remembered watching her for hours, her face set in concentration, and her hair falling on her face, her lips whispering words...she looked perfect to him.

Ron looked at his bed. Was it his old dorm room? Is everything back to normal? How old was he? Was everything nothing but a nightmare?

"Harry?" Ron called in the dark, "Harry? Dean? Seamus? Neville? Are you asleep?"

Nobody answered.

Ron stumbled around in the dark, trying to find his wand. He found it in the pocket of his pants and muttered 'Lumos'.

Ron peered at the room; his heart sank lower and lower every second. He remembered now where he was, and he wanted to get back to this exceptionally good dream he was having. If he closed his eyes, he could see her again, maybe even touch her...No. He couldn't. Ron shut his eyes tight, but the dream was evaporating too fast.

All that was left was the darkness.

Ron stumbled into the hallway, feeling suddenly very lonely. He needed to talk to Harry, ask him once and for all why he was acting weird, not mentioning Hermione.

Several torches were lit in the dark passage, allowing Ron to see the dark silhouettes of the walls.

After a few minutes of walking drowsily, he remembered- he didn't know where, or what was the entrance to Harry's room.

Ron looked around-now fully awake-with a hint of panic, for he was lost.

He started walking to the direction he had come from earlier, when Harry first led him to his room, trying to remember what path he had taken on the crossroad that was before his eyes.

After about 5 more minutes of walking, Ron heard faint voices coming from behind a passage to his left. He hid behind the corner, listening intently.

"He knows," A voice Ron recognized as Sirius's said definitely.

"How can he know?" A voice that sounded like Lupin's answered urgently.

"I saw the look in his eyes. There was fire in them. You know how much the whole ordeal means to him."

"We should tell him."

"But we can't let him confront Harry. Who knows what it'll do to Harry!" Sirius answered.

"I know, I know. But..." Lupin said tentatively.

"He was just getting better. He is so happy right now!" Sirius exclaimed.

Lupin sighed heavily. "I know. I want to keep him happy and stable as much as we can. But it wouldn't be fair to Ron. What will we tell him?"

Ron tensed. What did it had to do with him? And with Harry?

A brief silence ensued.

"I don't know, Remus. I think that we'll just have to watch them for some time, try not to mention it."

Lupin sighed again. "Alright. But we'll tell him as soon as we can."

Ron felt that it was the right moment to come out and stepped into the two friends' view.

Ron could see the panicked looks on their faces. He decided that he was going to pretend for now, play along.

Ron stretched his arms and yawned, "I'm afraid I'm a bit lost. Can you please tell me where my room is?"

Lupin was the first to speak. "Yes, yes," he answered shakily, "of course. Your entrance was near the portrait of that girl in pink...just go to the left and at the next crossroad turn right. After about 10 meters you'll see the picture."

"Left and right, left and right." Ron chanted to himself. "Thank you, Professor."

He bid them goodbye and started walking to his room, his mind full of thoughts.