The Project

Chapter Two: Darkness

Harry ran out of the compartment as soon as he heard Hermione scream, leaving Ron alone in the dark.

Ron did not follow his friends out right away. He knew that something was wrong, terribly wrong. After the scream, there was no sound. Not even the normal sounds of a train. It was unnatural for a train to be completely silent, especially since it was slowing down. Slowing down, another sign that something was wrong. The Hogwarts Express never slowed down until just a few minutes before arriving at Hogsmeadee Station. Ron knew that there was no way that they were that close. No, something was defiantly wrong.

Ron was just standing up to, like Harry, see why Hermione screamed, when the train suddenly stopped. Ron was thrown across the compartment. As he hit the wall, he realized that a train suddenly stopping makes a good deal of noise, but didn't; neither did he hear the crack of his shoulder breaking as it hit the wall. Magic. His last thought before loosing consciousness was that it was because of magic.

The sun was high in the sky when Ron awoke. He had to shield his eyes from the sun. Only then did it come to him. He was outside. What happened? Why wasn't he on the train, or maybe in the hospital wing at Hogwarts?

"So you finally woke up."

Ron tried turning his head to see who had said that, but couldn't. It hurt too much.

"Don't try to move, we immobilized you so that we could examine you without worrying about you waking and doing something that might hurt yourself. What is your name? Do you know what happened?"

"Ron Weasley, I . . . "

Ron had to think for a moment. He was so confused. For some reason, he just couldn't remember. Then he remembered his last thought before waking. Magic. His parents had taught him that if you could remember anything that was blocked by a memory charm, you could destroy it and remember it all, with a little work.

He concentrated on his last though, Magic. What about Magic? Darkness. Soundlessness. What should he have seen? His friends and the inside of the compartment. What should he have heard? The sound of a train suddenly stopping. The sound of his shoulder breaking. Was there anything that he did see or hear? Hermione's scream!

Suddenly, all his memories came back to him.

"What happened?" the voice asked. "You looked like you were concentrating pretty hard."

Ron still wondered who this person was. She seemed to be truly concerned. He decided to trust her.

"I had to break a poorly placed memory charm."

"Always good to see an underage wizard who has proper skills such as that. Do you now remember what happened?"

Ron took a breath, coughed in pain, took another breath, and began.

"First the lights went out. Hermione left the compartment to see what happened. She had been out of the compartment for only a moment when we heard a scream. It was her who screamed. Harry went out after her, but as I was about to follow I realized that it was too quiet. It was then that I figured out that magic was causing the lack of sound. I stood up and was thrown against the wall when the train suddenly stopped. What happened since then?"

Finally the woman came into view. Ron knew immediately that she was ministry. She was probably from the transportation department, as they would be involved if the train didn't arrive in Hogsmeade on time.

"And who would Hermione and Harry be?"

Ron was getting a little nervous now. What wasn't she telling him?

"My best friends, Hermione Granger and Harry Potter. Do you know what happened?"

The woman looked like she was going to avoid answering again, but he gave her a look that said he would not play games. Finally, she sighed and told him.

"We were hopping that you could tell us. You are the first of the survivors to wake."

"Survivors?"

"Yes, you all were very lucky. The train completely de-railed. Only three people died. Not to make light of their deaths, of course, but most of you were very lucky. We just put you all under so that we could check all of you for injuries."

Ron was panicking now. What if Hermione had been one of those who had died? Or Ginny? Or Harry?

"Virginia - Ginny - Weasley, Harry Potter, and Hermione Granger; my sister and best friends. Can you tell me if they are ok?"

Ron was even more nervous when the ministry official left his sight for a few minutes. Finally, she returned, with a look on her face that told him that she did not come with good news.

"Well, none of them were those who died. However," she paused, "there are several people that are not accounted for. All three of them are among this group."

Ron promptly lost consciousness again.

** Three Days Later **

Ron sat in the same window that Harry had so many times, now understanding why his friend did it. It was the perfect place to think. From it one could see the forest, the quiditch pitch, the lake, and on a clear day one could see Hogsmeade. Ron had never been much of a thinker. He was much more an action person. But there was nothing to do about this, so all he was left with was thinking.

And that was almost all he had done since the accident. He knew that the memory charm that he had broken was still holding on to something; almost like him forgetting the other things was an unintended side effect. Maybe if he remembered, he could act. Or at least have another thing to think about. Thinking about the possible future of thinking about something. That was what Ron was reduced to.

Of course, it wasn't the only thing that there was to think about. There was the fact that his roommate Neville Longbottom was one of the three who died. Another of the three dead children was a to be first year. Miriam Callahan, if he remembered the one time he had heard her name. The third was, in some ways, more shocking than the others. Draco Malfoy was the third victim.

Everyone had always assumed him to be his father's son, a loyal Death Eater. Or for those who didn't believe in Voldermort's return, he was a rich sadistic snob, who would be a death eater if they still existed.

And then there were those who had disappeared. Fifteen students and two teachers disappeared that day. Four of them were Gryfindor students, all fourth year or above. They were: Ginny, Harry, Hermione, and John (a sixth year). Four Ravenclaw students disappeared as well. Cho Chang was the only one that he had even heard of before. From Hufflepuf, five students disappeared. Ron knew none of them. Two Slytherin students disappeared, Crabbe and Goyle. The two teachers who disappeared were Professor Alicia Karuso, the new DADA teacher, and Mr. Jonas Huntington, who was going to be the temporary Potions teacher until Snape's return.

He also knew that he wasn't the only one thinking of them. Every person seemed to have his own idea of where they were. He was keeping a sort of journal to keep track of his thoughts, and those that he heard of others.

"What else could it be? The Dark Lord has them. He is torturing them right now. Their screams are echoing down dark corridors, heard only by those that enjoy hearing people scream. Harry is being made to watch while He Who Shall Not Be Named, or his Death Eaters, torture, rape, and murder the others."

-Royce Jones, Hufflepuf

"We are all idiots for believing one word that comes out of Dumbledore's mouth. You Know Who has not returned. He did not kill Miriam, Neville, or Draco. He did not kidnap any students or teachers. It was all Sirius Black. It must be. He is the new Dark Lord."

-Amanda Wormwood, Ravenclaw

"They are off training to be war mages."

-Mark Hunter, Hufflepuf

"They were all part of a secret group. They had to be. They must have made it seem they had been captured. They will bring down You Know Who. They have to!" (Spoken between crying fits.)

-Rupert Longbottom (Neville's Cousin) First Year Gryfindor

"Abducted by aliens who are performing experiments on them. Each of the women will come back pregnant with a human alien hybrid child. All the guys will have their eyes and balls cut out."

-Anonymous (dirty minded muggle born) first year

"Harry Potter is the new Dark Lord. He killed Cedric last year and killed Neville, Miriam, and Draco this year. It won't be long before he strikes again."

-Slytherin first year

"All dead. All dead. They-ey are all dead!"

-Peeve's chant

Ron himself wasn't sure of what he thought. He certainly knew that Harry wasn't the new Dark Lord, and neither was Sirius. He seriously doubted that aliens had abducted them. And he really hoped that they weren't being tortured, raped, or murdered. He hoped that they weren't dead.

His mother's words filtered into his mind. The summer before his third year was when his father and mother started teaching him extra magic. As the words played again and again in his mind, he slowly began to concentrate.

"Concentrate. You should be able to feel those that you are bonded to. Simple bonds like those between family members, friendship bonds, and love bonds, life debt bonds, all of them. You can feel those you are bonded too. Just concentrate on them. If you feel nothing, after days and days of trying, there is either no bond or they are dead. If you feel them and suddenly stop feeling them, they are dead. If it is faint, they are unconscious, and not just sleeping. If you do this enough, you may feel more than just their lives. You may feel their emotions. Ultimately, you may even be able to communicate with them."

Ron looked up suddenly. He knew they were alive. His sister and his best friends at least. They were alive. But not only that, they were close too.

* * Next morning * *

He barely felt it when the school shook. No, instead he was concentrating on the figures that had just busted the doors of the great hall so open so fast that they caused the shake. They had ripped, torn clothing. All of them looked like they had walked through hell itself, but had somehow made it back. They all were leaning against each other for support. All accept two, who everyone noticed were bound with both magic and rope.

Ron understood first. Harry, Hermione, Ginny, and the others were back, and with them were prisoners. Lucius Malfoy . . . and Wormtail.