At the Edge

Chapter 2

Strange Dreams and Shopping for Friends

Ron was running. His legs were aching, and his breathing was uneven and labored. The corridor he was running through was only illuminated by the torch, which was blazing in his hand. The drawings that covered the walls of the corridor triggered something in Ron's brain but he could not remember where he had seen them before.

The corridor suddenly ended and he found himself standing in a doorway to a room. His pulse quickened and he tried to go back the way he came. However, his body did not obey. His feet took a few steps into the room, and suddenly the doorway behind him closed with a loud crash. Ron wanted to run, to hide. But he could not move - it was as if his body had a mind of its own.

The light from the torch illuminated only a small area around him. The rest of the room was lost in complete darkness.

'You are late,' growled a deep voice through the darkness.

Even though Ron understood every single word, he still knew that the voice had not spoken in English.

'Yet I am here,' Ron heard himself reply in the same tongue.

But how was that possible?

'We are ready.' The voice was moving closer to Ron.

Out of nowhere, the person talking to him moved into the light slowly. Ron was surprised to see that the man was clad in some sort of flashy skirt and not much else. He raised his eyes to look into the eyes of the person in front of him.

And then a scream of absolute terror ripped through his throat.

*

'Ron, RON! Wake up!'

He bolted upright on his bed feeling very disoriented. He blinked his eyes a couple of times and then focused on the red blur sitting on his bed.

'Ginny?' whispered Ron.

'Are you OK?' asked Ginny anxiously and then without waiting for an answer continued. 'That must have been a hell of a nightmare, haven't heard you scream like that since the time your teddy got turned into a spider.'

Ron had not heard anything Ginny had said, as he was too deep in thought.

Why the hell am I having this bloody nightmare over and over again? Ron wondered, his heart pounding rapidly as he remembered the overwhelming fear he had just felt.

He had been having the nightmare for a week now, and every single night it was the same thing. He was always running down the corridor and into the room, but this time the dream had extended a bit. It was the first time that he had actually encountered another person. The fact that Ron had managed to understand and speak an odd language in the dream was very disturbing. But what Ron really wanted to recall was the man's face. Though, no matter how hard he strained his brain, he still could not remember what it was that had terrified him so much.

'Ron! Are you even listening to me?' snapped Ginny irritably.

'Huh? Er - Ginny, what are you doing in my room?' muttered Ron, now that he was fully awake.

Yet, he still couldn't concentrate on her answer. His mind was in disarray. And his left cheek was stinging. Odd!

'Ron!'

'W-What?' Ron stammered.

Ginny glared at him for a while.

'Ronald Weasley. I just saved you from a horrible nightmare, and you can't even be grateful,' muttered Ginny. 'I came up here to wake you up as a matter of fact. I wish you would tell me about this nightmare, because I can see that it's really bugging you. Maybe I could help you,'

'You saved me ...? Wait a minute, how did you wake me up?' asked Ron suspiciously, stopping her rant.

All of a sudden, the stinging of his left cheek did not seem that odd at all, as Ginny looked very guilty.

'Er ... I actually ... um - well, that's not important anyway,' she stammered quickly and got off his bed to escape.

'You slapped me, didn't you? Why you ...' Ron growled, keeping a firm hold on Ginny's robes as she struggled to break free.

He tried to tickle her, but she elbowed him in the stomach leaving him gasping for breath.

'Really, stop acting like a loon. And hurry up and get ready. We have to leave very soon. If I am not mistaken, aren't you meeting Harry and Hermione at Diagon Alley?' asked Ginny, going over to his window and yanking open the curtains.

Ron's mood brightened up instantly. He had been looking forward to this day ever since he had received Harry's owl a couple of days ago. Neither Harry nor Hermione had been able to visit him over the summer. Moreover, they also had not been able to Grimmauld Place this summer. Ron missed them terribly. Hence, the summer turned out to be very boring for him.

The only company he had around the house was Ginny and his mom. It was not that he did not like spending time with Ginny; they had enjoyed practicing Quidditch moves during most of the summer. However, it just was not very much fun with only two of them.

Ron would never admit it, but he actually missed the twins. Since they now lived in London - handling their business, which turned out to be very successful - the house was very quiet. Though, they did drop by to test some of their inventions on Ron, Ginny and sometimes even on Molly Weasley.

Bill was always very busy with his work and the odd jobs he had to do for the Order. He had visited home a week ago as soon as he had gotten back from Egypt, but then had to leave almost immediately on Dumbledore's request. And as for Charlie, he was still away in Romania, recruiting new members for the Order and taming dragons. Percy was still being an insufferable prat and was avoiding the family, probably in fear of rejection if he came back. How right he is, Ron thought heatedly.

Arthur Weasley usually stayed out until late, doing work for the Order and trying to sort out the problems at Ministry. None of his parents would tell him what was happening with You-Know-Who, which really irritated him. He felt that he had a right to know after what had happened at the Ministry earlier that year. At least Harry had a right to know. Nevertheless, he could tell from Harry's letters that he knew just as much as Ron did: in other words, nothing.

Ron was very concerned about Harry. Even though they never discussed Sirius in any of the letters, Ron knew that Harry was still beating himself up for what happened to him. But Ron just did not know what to say to make Harry feel better. Whenever he tried to express his concern in letters, he just came out sounding more like an idiot, so he always scribbled it out before sending the letters. Hermione was better at all the "feelings" stuff, so he had finally decided to leave it to her to console Harry. However, according to her, she had not had much luck either.

'Hello? Ron? Ron! - Ronald Bilius Weasley!' shrieked Ginny while shaking her hands in front of his face wildly. 'Snap out of any day dream you are having about Hermione and start getting ready.'

That got his attention.

Ron gawked at Ginny. She just smiled cheekily at him and started to stroll out of the room.

'I-I wasn't d-day dreaming about h-her!' Ron stuttered turning almost as red as his hair.

Honestly, Ginny can be so stupid sometimes. Doesn't she realize that Hermione and I are just friends? Ron fumed incredulously.

'Yeah, yeah. Anyway, get dressed. Otherwise I'll tell mom and she would be up here before you could say "Wait".'

With that, she left.

Ron was out of bed and dressed in a flash.

And the nightmare was forgotten as usual.

*

'Wakey wakey little lady! It's morning dearie! It's time to get that lazy bum out of the bed ...Wakey!'

'Ugh!' Rheah cracked open one eye sleepily and looked around the dark room feeling very grumpy.

Why the hell is this stupid clock waking me up this early in the morning? The nerve of this thing!! Rheah wondered feeling extremely aggravated.

'Morning has brokeeeeennnn,

Like the first moooorninnng!

Blackbird has spokeeeeeeeen,

Like the first biiiiiiiiird ...'

Oh Merlin's beard! Not the singing again ... did it really have to sing every single morning?

'Bloody hell! Would you shut up?'

Feeling greatly annoyed, Rheah stuck her hand out and felt around for the damned alarm clock on her night table. But her hand touched thin air and nothing else. Bewildered, she looked up and realized that the night table was on the left side of the bed, unlike in her old room in France. As her eyes adjusted to the darkness of the room, Rheah took in her surroundings and felt a pang of sadness knowing that she would never see her lovely old room ever again.

'... Praise for the sinngiiiiiinnng,

Praise for the moooorniiinnng ...'

'Aargh!' Finally, Rheah managed to locate the clock, and then she threw the thing across her room as hard as she could.

'OUCH! HOW DARE YOU THROW ME SO DISRESPECTFULLY LIKE THAT!!! MANNERS, YOU NEED TO LEARN SOME MANNERS, YOUNG LADY!'

Rheah chuckled to herself with satisfaction and replied, 'Well, I will learn my manners as soon as you stop singing in that horrid nasal voice every single morning. Honestly! It drives me insane!'

'How dare you insult my beautiful singing when it is I after all who have to do the tiring job of waking ...'

Without waiting to listen to the rest of its ranting, Rheah made her way into the bathroom to get ready now that she was fully awake. Why her father would get her such an annoying piece of trash for an alarm clock, she honestly did not know

Inside the bathroom, Rheah focused her attention on her reflection in the mirror. A girl with dark skin, slanted brown eyes and curly black hair that stuck out in every possible direction stared back at her. She resembled her father, and this according to her mother was a very good thing. Though, Rheah did not fully agree, as she had unfortunately inherited her father's unruly hair, which frizzed up if she ever tried to comb it. In fact, if it were not for her various hair potions, Rheah would have strongly resembled a bushy tree. In addition to her wild hair, Rheah also complained about her nose that - in her opinion - was a bit too pointed. But of course, her mother could never understand Rheah's discontent with her looks, as she found her flawless. Then again, all mothers do think their kids are perfect.

'Aw! Why such a dismal look, so early in the morning?' wheezed the mirror.

'Never you mind,' Rheah muttered as she started to brush her teeth unenthusiastically. After half an hour, she was putting on her clothes while trying to tune out the sound of the alarm clock drone on about youngsters and their nasty manners of late, when Sara burst into the room.

'Sister dear ... Whoa! You are actually up for a change,'

Making a face at her Rheah said, 'Very funny Sara, will you ever learn to knock? It's very impolite to just barge in like that, you know,'

'I know, that's why I never knock on your bedroom door,' Sara replied smiling mischievously. In return, Rheah just stuck out her tongue.

'Clever comeback, Rheah. Very mature!'

They were still laughing when their mother walked through the open door smiling pleasantly.

'Well, well! Aren't we a happy bunch? Good morning girls ... breakfast is ready.' then she looked at Rheah's outfit and frowned slightly.

'Honestly Rheah, I can't understand why you would want to be dressed like that,' She walked over to Rheah's closet still frowning and took out a pretty yellow top with a matching skirt as Rheah looked on horrified, ' when you have such nice outfits. Come on, change into this.'

'No way. Mom, I'm not wearing such a bright colour! I'll look like a giant lemon if I do,'

Sara snickered but quickly shut up when mom shot her a look.

'And anyway, what's wrong with what I'm wearing?' Rheah asked her mom defiantly.

There was a pause where all of them looked at her loose black t-shirt and baggy jeans.

'Isn't that what you wore yesterday?' her sister piped up after a millennium.

Damn!

*

'Goodness gracious! Rheah, would you stop fidgeting around? You look just fine,' said her mother's irritated voice as Rheah pulled on her tight yellow top for the fifteenth time. Sara just giggled beside her as she frowned deeply at their mother. Rheah finally had to change into the horrid top at her mother's insistence, but she had fought bravely against wearing the skirt. So she was clad in a pair of jeans instead.

After breakfast their father had left to the Ministry of Magic while they flooed into Diagon Alley with their mother. Rheah had to admit that Diagon Alley was one of the most interesting places she had ever been to. There was just so much activity and excitement in the atmosphere - it was exhilarating. Witches were bustling around busy with their shopping, small kids were running in and out of the shops and wizards were reading the newspaper while having tea. For the first time since they moved to England, she felt genuinely happy. It always felt good to be in a magical place.

'Ok girls, I need to stop at Gringotts to settle our bank account details and to get some money. Why don't you two just look around for a while? We can all meet up in front of the bank in 30 minutes,' their mom said while craning her head to look over the crowd at a white building.

'That's the bank?' her sister asked pointing at it. Mom just nodded and started to make her way towards it.

'See you in 30 minutes!' she called back at them, and they waved at her in agreement.

When she finally disappeared into the bank Sara turned to her and said, 'So, what shop should we check out first?' and without waiting for her reply she went on, 'Hmm ... how about that shop with the robes ... Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions?'

'Er ... I'm not sure, I think I want to check out the bookshop first,' Rheah replied thinking about the shop called Flourish and Blotts that they had seen a few moments ago, but when Rheah saw the look on Sara's face she quickly said, 'And so apparently we want to do different things. Well, why don't we just split up? We can meet up with mom later, ok?'

'Ok, I'll see you then.' Sara ran off before she could reply.

Sighing, Rheah made her way towards the bookshop, but before she reached it, someone ran into her hard enough to knock her off balance. Luckily, a pair of strong hands grabbed her arms in time to save Rheah from snogging the ground.

*

Ron was in a hurry - to get away from his mother. Molly Weasley had wanted to tag along with Ron when he went to meet his best friends. But Ron did not think it was a great idea. Sure, both Harry and Hermione liked her well enough, but they did not need a chaperone figure fussing over them all the time.

His parents were getting on his nerves; they did not let him out of their sight anymore. It was as if they feared that some nasty Death Eater would come around and snatch him away any minute. While Ron could understand their concern for both Ginny and him after the Ministry incident, he still was not happy about their over protectiveness. So Ron had Ginny had run off when an opportunity arrived in the form of one of their mother's old friends. Yet, they had to promise to be back within an hour.

Unfortunately, in his hurry he did not bother to look around and hence crashed into someone before he could reach Gringotts - which was where he was supposed to meet Harry and Hermione.

'Oh Bugger! I'm so sorry - er - I wasn't watching where I was going. Are you alright?' he cried out, quickly grabbing onto the person to save her from falling flat on her face.

He chewed at his lower lip nervously while the girl straightened up, squared her shoulders and whirled around to face him with an angry scowl on her face. She barely reached his shoulder, but her anger made her seem much taller and scarier. However, the anger seemed to drain away from her and instead of berating him, she just stared up at his face with her mouth slightly open. It seemed like she had gone into shock, but Ron could not figure out why. After all, he had only just bumped into her, right? It was not that big a deal.

'Excuse me? Hello?' he asked a bit anxiously.

He was getting late - he was sure both of his best friends were waiting for him by that time, but the girl was still standing in his way.

Finally, he asked impatiently, 'Can you step out of my way, please? You are blocking my path,'

Excuser moi! If I'm not mistaken, it was you who ran into me nearly trampling me during the process! So I will step aside whenever I feel like it, you don't own the street do you?' glowered the girl.

She seemed to have finally regained her wits. Sadly, she also seemed to think that it was time to tell him off.

Though, Ron could not understand why she would want to make such a scene out of such a trivial thing. He had apologized after all. On top of that, he was also being polite. So what was the bloody problem?

'W-What? B-but I just ...' he stuttered feeling perplexed.

She did not wait for him to finish, but charged on with her rant.

'Honestly! People are walking around here. Shouldn't you have enough sense to watch where you are going? You don't see other people running over each other do you? I mean, What if I had fallen and broken my back? Or worse, my neck? After nearly crushing me, you don't even have enough courtesy to see whether I'm ok. No, no - you just want to go on running into more people! "You are blocking my path", really ...'

Ron started getting frustrated himself. Where did she get off, yelling at him in front of so many people? Of all the people to run into, why did he have to bump into someone who was so obviously snobbish?

"Look here, Missy! I have already apologized - I even saved you from falling flat on your face. Now I just want to get through, so what's your sodding problem?" he suddenly burst out angrily, preparing himself for an argument.

This is exactly what I need to vent out my frustration, he thought grimly.

However, before either of them could utter another word, Ginny intervened.

"Ron! What exactly do you think you are doing? Getting into a squabble in the middle of the street like this ... people are looking! Come on, just leave it alone will you?" she whispered at him urgently tugging at his arm. Then she turned to the girl and smiled apologetically, "I'm sorry about my prat of a brother. He forgets his manners most of the time."

Excuse me? Why is Ginny on her side? I am the victim here, he thought sullenly.

The other girl had run off without a word, and Ginny stared after her for a while before turning back to Ron. However, he was already storming off towards Gringotts.

*

Rheah felt really bad about making such a big deal out of the whole situation. After all, it was not those people's fault that she was in such a sour mood for looking like a bright ray of sunshine with the stupid yellow top; they didn't take her out of her happy life in France.

To make matters worse, the red-haired girl who appeared to be the boy's sister had apologized to her on his behalf. Mortified, Rheah ran off into the bookstore to take cover from the boy's angry glower and the girl's apologetic look, hoping that she would never ever meet them again. However, as soon as she entered the shop Rheah forgot about the incident. The place was full of books, stacked onto shelves that were as high as the ceiling. Brilliant!

The shopkeeper called out a greeting as she walked over to one of the rows of shelves.

'Hogwarts?' he asked and Rheah nodded. 'Which books do you need then?'

'I'm afraid my mother has the booklist, so we will come back later to buy the books,' she said. 'Thank you anyway.'

Before she could finish her sentence, he turned his attention to a couple of kids who had just entered the store, 'Hogwarts?'

Rheah did not wait to hear their reply, but went on to look at the books. After a while of searching, she finally located the books about Defense against the Dark Arts. It was a hobby of hers to go through her father's workbooks that mainly centered on DADA; Rheah was also hoping to become an auror when she grew up. There were thousands of books on the subject; she could have lived in front of these shelves, going through one book after the other. Lost in wonder, Rheah had not paid attention to where she was going until it was a bit too late.

'Oomph!'

'Ouch! Shit, not again,' muttering to herself, she bent over to pick up the book that had fallen out of the other person's hand, but unfortunately, he had also had the same idea. Therefore, they ended up bumping their heads instead.

'Ow!'

'Oh dear, I'm so sorry!'

'No that's ok, I'll get it,' the boy said as he snatched the book up from the floor quickly.

'I'm really sorry, it was my fault. I have been running into people all day,' Rheah apologized again, feeling very irritated with herself.

The boy just tucked the book in-between his arm and waved his free hand as if to push aside her apology.

'It's ok. I should have paid attention to where I was going as well,' he said quietly. He looked about the same age as her, and he was about a head taller than Rheah with dark hair and brown eyes. He had a shy but friendly look about him.

'Er - do you go to Hogwarts?' she asked him curiously.

'Umm ... yeah.' The reply was short and hesitant.

'Oh brilliant! I am going to attend Hogwarts this year too,' Rheah said smiling brightly at him, hoping that he would not notice how nervous she actually was. Talking to a complete stranger on her own was a new experience for Rheah. The boy looked confused at her statement, so she went on.

'Hi, I'm Rheah Ali,' She stuck out her hand at him and smiled again. 'I am a transfer student from Beauxbatons.'

'A transfer? Really?' he asked in surprise and she nodded. Then he seemed to realize that he had not introduced himself.

'Well, hi. I'm Neville Longbottom,' he told her while shaking her hand. 'Well, this ... uh ... is kind of new, I mean we don't usually get transfers from other schools in Hogwarts.'

'Neither did we at Beauxbatons, but my parent's work got transferred to England. So here we are,' Rheah shrugged.

'Oh! Which year will you be joining?'

'I'll be in sixth year,'

'Oh, yeah? Me too. What about your sorting?' he asked.

'I have already been sorted, yesterday,' she continued. 'I will be...'

However, before Rheah could finish, a formidable looking lady, who wore the most peculiar hat she had ever seen, interrupted them. A hat with a stuffed...vulture?

'Neville, hurry up boy, we do not have all day. Come on, we need to get going,' she called over.

'Coming, Gran,' Neville called back and then he let out a small sigh as he turned to her. 'It was nice meeting you, Rheah.'

'Yeah, you too.'

'I guess I'll - uh - see you on the train tomorrow, right?' he said.

'Yeah - I'll look for you,' she said hopefully.

'Ok, cool. See you then. Bye.'

Then he walked away waving back at her, over to his grandmother who immediately dragged him off somewhere. When he left, Rheah smiled feeling very proud of herself for making a new friend before she had even arrived at school.

*

It did not take Ron long to spot Hermione's bushy hair, and there right next to her stood Harry. As he neared the white building, Harry spotted him and waved. The next minute, Ron was nearly suffocated by a mass of brown hair. Hermione had thrown herself at him and was currently squeezing him to death.

'Oh, Ron! I'm so glad to see you. I missed you so much,' whispered Hermione, still with a death-grip around his neck.

'Calm down, Hermione. Let the poor chap breathe,' said Harry laughingly.

Harry surprised him. Ron had expected Harry to appear very depressed and solemn, as he had when all of them had set off separately for summer holidays. Yet, even though Harry looked a bit peaky, he seemed cheerful enough. Eventually Ron surmised that Harry was just happy to see them after so long. He had also grown taller over the summer, but still not nearly as tall as Ron.

Hermione let go of him as abruptly as she had hugged him. He noticed that she had changed a bit over the summer as well. Her hair still was bushy, but seemed a bit tamer than before. It also looked a bit shorter than usual. She had not grown taller, but instead had filled out a bit.

Blimey, where did that come from? Ron thought blushingly.

Embarrassed, he glanced at her face to check whether she had noticed him gawking at her and to his great astonishment, she looked a bit red in the face. But before he could contemplate her odd behavior any further, Harry had walked over to him and slapped him on the back in some sort of manly hug.

'It's great to see you, mate,' said Harry, smiling.

'Yeah, I missed your ugly face, too,' said Ron while giving Harry a good slap on his back as well.

Harry laughed, and Ron still could not understand why he was so relaxed and ... happy. Wondering if Hermione noticed it as well, he looked over at her curiously. She stared right back at him and for some reason her eyes looked a bit teary.

'Is everything OK, Hermione?' asked Ron feeling concerned. Harry was also looking at her apprehensively.

She sniffed a bit, and then mumbled, 'Oh, I'm just happy to be with you two again. I've been so worried about everything ...'

Harry was looking somber now; all signs of any sort of false or real happiness had washed off his face. Trust Hermione to get all emotional and teary. Honestly, women were so hopeless sometimes.

Before their meeting turned into a sorrowful event, Ron quickly changed the subject. And the first thing that came to his mind was ....

'So, do you guys wanna go check out Fred and George's place?' he asked with forced cheeriness.

Harry immediately brightened up and said, 'Have they invented any new stuff?'

Ron rolled his eyes at that and replied, 'Of course, do you think that they can sit still for longer than two minutes?'

Hermione sniffed again, but this time it was more out of disapproval.

'What?' he asked defensively.

'Honestly, I really would think that they can use their intelligence for something a bit more useful, instead of being such silly rubbish,'

'Oh, don't be such a wet blanket, 'Mione. You sound too much like Percy the Pompous Prat, you know,' said Ron with disgust.

'I do not sound like Percy! I am just merely stating my opinion,' scowled Hermione.

'Yeah, yeah. Then save your opinions for people who actually are interested,' Ron shot back feeling annoyed at her haughty behavior.

'Of course, my opinions are only for people who actually posses a brain. Mindless oafs like you have such trivial thinking. It's very sad - really - to think what would become of you in the future,' she replied, bristling.

'What? Hey! Did you just call me ...?

'Oh, hell. Cut it out, you two. We have only been together for five minutes, and you guys are already at each other's throats. Give me a break, will you?' Harry broke in looking annoyed.

Both Ron and Hermione looked at him guiltily and a bit apprehensively, remembering his outburst from last year. Harry glared at them for a while and then suddenly burst out laughing. Ron gaped at him, confused for a while, but then joined Harry in relief. Hermione just frowned at them. And then the bank door opened and Remus Lupin walked out. He looked exhausted and seemed to have aged a few more years since the last time Ron saw him. When he saw Ron, he paused in surprise and then a broad grin broke out on his face.

'Hey Ron - when did you get here?' he asked pleasantly.

'A couple of minutes ago. How are you Prof - er ... Lupin?' he asked uncertainly. It still felt weird to call their one-time professor by his name.

'I'm very well, thank you. You look great, Ron,' he said and then turned to Harry. 'Well, Harry. Here's the money I withdrew for you. You can hang out at Diagon Alley until two hours time. But make sure you are always in the company of Ron and Hermione. I'll keep an eye on you as well, ok?'

Harry nodded seriously and said, 'Thanks Remus,'

Ron felt a sense of foreboding fill him at Lupin's words. He had forgotten for a while that Harry was always in constant danger from You-Know-Who.

Remus smiled tiredly at all of them and said, 'I'll see you all later, then. Bye guys.'

Then he walked off leaving them alone. Harry kept gazing after him with a sad look on his face. Ron shifted his feet awkwardly, staring at the ground as if it had suddenly become very interesting. He knew that Harry was remembering Sirius, but he did not know what to say to Harry to make him feel any better.

Bloody brilliant!

After a while, Hermione cleared her throat uncomfortably and then said, 'Well ... What are we waiting for? Let's go and check out the Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes,'

Ron was so stunned that he felt his jaw almost hit the floor, and even Harry snapped out of his somber mood to give Hermione an impressed look.

'Well, well ... wonders never cease,' said Harry with a huge grin.

Hermione just smiled sheepishly at them as they set off to find the twins' store.

*