The Simplest of Emotions

The Simplest of Emotions

By: Lance Walker

Chapter 7

Wonderwall

March 10

Evening

"Get out! I need no testosterone vibes messing with my creative style." Ginny was shooing my father and I out of my house. We had been working for the majority of the afternoon. Finally, everything had been unpacked and the apartment in Notting Hill was beginning to take on an almost homey atmosphere.

As we were pushed out of the door, I turned to face my gorgeous sister. "And how long am I going to be kicked out of my new house?"

She turned around dramatically as if to say, "this could take awhile" and finally answered. "Give me a couple hours...at least."

Just as the door was slamming, I hollered. "Remember, this is a GUY's house!" But I was quite afraid she didn't hear me.

So Dad and I were standing on Portobello Road at a slightly busy hour. Residents of London rarely came here for a good night life, most traversing the roads of Lancaster in the more pub drenched areas, but tourists found their way to the glamorized (mainly in American Hollywood films) road.

Just as we were stepping out onto the road, which was closed to all but pedestrian traffic and would, in roughly twelve hours house one of the more famous street vendor markets, a group of four Japanese tourists walked by, each with three cameras around each of their necks, snapping pictures of everything. Seeing Dad in his less-than-Muggle attire attracted their attention. The boldest of the group walked over to ask in broken English, "Could take peekture?"

Dad immediately brightened. Not only were these people wanting to take his, a genuine Englishman's picture, they were Muggles with Muggle cameras and thus were immediately a source of interest for a man who devoted his entire life to the study of Muggle technology. With his cheeriest smile on, Arthur was immediately surrounded by all but one of the group, who yelled, "Cheese!" and took about ten pictures. After much bowing and arigato's, they walked on, the flash of their camera illuminating the night with each picture taken.

Dad was smiling from ear to ear, and our journey down the road finally commenced. As we got closer to the Portobello Gate, which was the entrance to Portobello that kept traffic from the road, a few Muggle stores began to catch Dad's attention. As I was looking in another direction, his hand grasped my arm firmly and he began dragging me towards a Starbucks. "I've always wanted to try this place. It's so popular in America. And getting popular here, too."

Moments later, and several pounds lighter (in our wallets that is), we walked out of the American store and continued walking down the road. The sun was still fighting to set over the horizon, below the skyline. We could not see it because of the buildings, but its flame was bright in the west, soaring across the sky in bright reds and oranges. The sky to our east was a deep, cool purple and was encroaching on the warm colors to eat the light of the sun. The moon was peeking over the roof tops, growing in intensity by the moment.

"Are you okay?"

I hadn't realized I had stopped in the middle of the street, pedestrians walking around me. I shook my head and nodded to show my dad I was alive. He looked worried.

"It's nothing...really. I'm just overwhelmed at all you have done for me. You show so much love, and are such a great dad."

He looked away, his eyes falling on the moon. "Sometimes, I wonder how good I was. The way some of your brothers turned out, I'm concerned that my parenting wasn't up to par. Perhaps if we had had more money..."

"It wouldn't have changed a thing Dad. We had love, and didn't need money. Would you rather we were like the Malfoys?" Knowing I shouldn't have brought up the name, I regretted it immediately as my dad's face turned grim with hidden anger.

Lucius, who was rotting in Azkaban, had tormented Arthur at every chance over his lack of money. "Again, Dad. They had money, but we had love...and each other."

His gaze softened and he then smiled meekly. "That we did."

We continued our walk, and we were nearing the end of the road. As we crossed the street to walk up the other side of the road, a flash of curly brown hair in the corner of my eye grabbed my attention. Turning, I saw Hermione walking through the gate towards us. I stopped, staring at the gorgeous illusion before me. As she got closer, I realized it wasn't Hermione at all, but a terrible look alike. Shaking my head, I released the breath I hadn't even known I'd been holding.

Arthur had walked on ahead, not realizing that I had stopped. I quickly caught up, and hurried the pace. "I think she must be finished by now."

He agreed, but I could tell that he saw something in my gait that alerted him to my turmoil. The Ides were getting closer and closer. As the sun set, it marked the end of the tenth of March. In five days, the mystery would come to a close, or at least I hoped that it would.

Our walking had brought us back to the door of my apartment. Reaching out, I grabbed the knob and turned it. As I pushed it open, the cold draft from the air conditioning met with the warm night air in a swirl. Although a cooling charm had been developed years ago to combat the sometimes muggy English summers, many Wizards and Witches in England still felt that good old Muggle air conditioning was a better (and safer) alternative. The first few families to actually switch over to all charms were later found frozen in solid sheets of ice when they failed to come to work or school for a few weeks. Due to the nature of the charms, the people were all right, just a little cold. My ponytail lightly lifted off my shoulders, and then the gust faded as we walked in.

*

Ginny had been busy. In a little over an hour, she had magically painted the walls, added designs to the walls in the kitchen, and conjured plants and furniture to fill the space.

The biggest change was the amount of space. From the outside, the apartment appeared thin and cramped, but from the inside it was a huge mansion. Paintings from classics to abstract hung alongside family portraits on the walls. We walked back through the immense space that had once just been meters and finally found ourselves in the kitchen. Ginny was sitting at the bar in the kitchen over a box of Chinese take out. She had two other boxes with her, and the moment she saw us she pointed at them with her chopsticks, her mouth full. When she swallowed she said, "Where have you been? I've been waiting for over an hour."

Dad and I exchanged glances and I muttered, "We've only been gone for an hour and a half. Apparently it didn't take you very long."

Ginny smiled. "I'm just good like that."

"Um...This place it's--."

She interrupted, "Huge, I know."

I stared at her, but she seemed engrossed with her meal. "Don't you think that could be a problem if a Muggle ever comes in here?"

She looked up, but didn't seem concerned. Her shoulders shrugged as she took a bite of her meal and spoke around it. "That's your problem,"

Dad and I laughed and after we had eaten our meal, he and Ginny apparated home.

When they were gone, I walked into my living room and sat down on the couch. Lying back, I smiled at the ceiling as I realized that March 10^th had been a day without trouble. No bombs in the distance, no warning owls, no worrying about the fate of friends. Sighing contentedly, I fell asleep with a smile creeping to the corners of my mouth.

March 11

Morning

My eyes slowly opened as a shaft of light pierced through the slit in my blinds and landed across my furrowed brow. The sun had risen to a point perfect to accost me through my window... My window. Rolling over, I pulled the covers over my head and tried to garner some more sleep out of the morning. Failing at this, I rose from my bed and looked around the bedroom. Although I had fallen asleep on the couch, I had woken sometime in the night and moved to the surprisingly comfortable bed.

Getting out of bed, I pulled on a pair of jeans and a shirt, freshened up in the adjacent bathroom, and then walked out of my home and onto the busy Portobello Road. A yawn escaped my lips as I made my way along the pavement towards a café I had spied the night before with Dad. It was just down the street from the local Starbucks, but the morning crowd chose it over the chain. I stood waiting in a queue, for half an hour before finally ordering a cup of tea. I then went to sit in a booth. Breathing in the calming aroma of Chai tea, I took a drink and glanced out the window. Muggles, or at least people who looked like Muggles, walked past the window in the morning light. Each was destined to travel their own paths. Each path riddled with dangers, hills, valleys, and joy. One man walked by carrying the morning edition of some local Muggle paper, and I was immediately reminded of the Daily Prophet paper that was probably already sitting on my table at home. Thanks to Wizards finally embracing the idea of credit, the price for the Daily Prophet was automatically withdrawn from my vault at Gringotts daily. It had been cut back to a bare minimum, but just the image of the Prophet in my mind brought about images of Quidditch players and sports writing... a job that was set to begin in less than a month. Smiling, I enjoyed the thought of working and finally being a productive member of the world.

I caught a reflection in the window and my smile grew. When I turned to look at the once empty seat across from mine, Harry was sitting enjoying a steaming cup of tea. He was wearing a Muggle business suit, a pastel pink shirt underneath the black coat. I shook my head at his utter ability to keep up with the new Muggle fashions. Perhaps it was that part of him that was still, and would always be, completely Muggle. When you live almost the entire first half of your life in Muggle care, that mindset begins to rub off on you.

We were soon joined by Cho, who had weaved her way through the crowd to take a seat next to Harry. She was sipping coffee and seemed surprised that I wasn't doing the same. I took another sip of my Chai tea and smiled. "Sometimes change is good." It sounded cliché, but I found it was ever so true.

"We went by your house this morning to see you, but when we found it empty we went for a small tour of the area. We walked in here by chance." Harry took a drink of his tea, but his attitude, and Cho's furtive glance, told me that it wasn't chance that they had found me.

"Anything the matter?" I asked, hoping once and for all that they would clear the air of whatever it was they had wanted to tell me since the party.

"Nope. Everything is in a lull. The terrowizards are apparently waiting for something, a signal perhaps, to begin their attack. Apparently they aren't as unified as we thought they were. There seems to be some fighting on the inside of their ranks that is slowing their operations down." Harry wasn't looking at me.

"That isn't really what I was asking about."

Cho smiled, knowing exactly what I meant.

"So, are you going to finally tell me that Cho is pregnant, or are you going to leave me guessing?"

Harry looked up at me with pure astonishment. He stuttered out a gurgled reply. After taking a sip of his tea he could finally speak intelligibly. "You've hit the old nail on the head there." After a pause he added, almost as an afterthought, "Cho's pregnant."

Cho was smiling, but her eyes seemed sad. When I opened my mouth to voice this thought, a slight rise of her finger from the tabletop alerted me to the fact that she didn't want her melancholy pointed out.

Harry, after a long, awkward pause, began to ramble. "We hope you won't tell anyone about this. In fact, we request that you don't. We do plan to let everyone know...eventually. At this point we think that we aren't ready to tell everyone. Just....you. Um." He looked to Cho for affirmations, but she offered none. She was not in agreement, but she wasn't contradicting. She wanted to tell everyone, I could tell.

I saved Harry from what I thought would be a public disagreement by suggesting that we all head back to my house. They agreed, and we soon found ourselves inside my front door.

Harry turned to Cho. "I...um...need to talk to Ron. Can I ask you to go home? I'll be there soon."

Cho looked hurt. "Whatever you can tell him you can tell me, can't you?"

Harry didn't reply, but the look in his eyes told Cho his answer. "Fine." She was seething, and as she turned around and left, the door slammed vehemently behind her. This doesn't read well. Harry flinched, as the sound of the door being slammed hit his ears, he immediately lowered his gaze. I wasn't happy that he had asked Cho to leave, but I led him into my living room and sat down at a chair across from him anyway.

"What's so important that you can't tell Cho?" I asked, digging directly to the point.

Harry had become far more reclusive since the day he announced he was the head of a secret Department in the Ministry of Magic. I had the distinct impression that he never wanted to tell Cho or I anything anymore. He feared something... Perhaps he feared losing us? Getting us too near the danger by telling us, only to lose us? "You have to let us make our own decisions of whether or not to get involved in this war, Harry. We are adul--." He cut me off.

"That isn't what this is about." He paused, looked away, scratched his chin, and then said, "I plan to ask Cho to marry me." He looked at his feet again, and added as a long afterthought, "It's the right thing to do."

The last addendum to his statement had me questioning Harry's motives in my head. We sat in silence, and only once did I almost break it. I leaned forward in my chair, preparing myself to ask the pivotal question, but then decided to stay out of it.

The question, however, would not let me alone. Do you still love Cho?

After more silence, I suddenly found myself changing the silent subject. "So...um. Quidditch begins soon, eh?"

Harry looked up suddenly, obviously stunned by my change of subject, but decides to go with it. "Yeah. You'll be covering the game on April 8^th. Chuddley is taking on Puddlemere United, who obviously doesn't stand a chance. Cho is the greatest seeker that Quidditch has ever seen, and she's backed by the three greatest chasers in the game today."

Upon mentioning Cho's name, the silent elephant in the room reasserted his place in the conversation. My thoughts drifted to how the baby would affect Cho's Quidditch career. "Has Cho let her coach know yet?"

Harry scoffed. "The moment she tells that she'll be taking off for a baby is the day that every paper from here to Bangladesh is baring front page images of me and my unwed lover. And the entire Chuddley fan base will be in a bloody uproar over it. The Cannons are a favorite to win the Cup this year, but with Cho back, they aren't a perfect bet."

I took a deep breath and tried to add something comforting. "At least their second string Seeker is good." It was a very feeble attempt indeed, and silence finally took control of the room.

Harry suddenly stood, making some excuse about needing to go to the Prophet offices for a meeting and left, but he did not take the elephant with him.

I sat back in my chair and let out the greatest sigh I had ever breathed. Looking towards the coffee table in front of the chair, I saw the Prophet lying there. I leaned forward, picked it up, but immediately saw the word "Camelotopolis" on the front cover and threw it back down. My day had been so simple yesterday, but now, with the mounting secrets placed upon me as their guardian, I felt that the dam of my soul beginning to break.

I didn't know how long I could hold it all in.

March 12

The foreboding of the day before had only belied that the peace could not last. After a quiet afternoon and evening, I fell asleep with hopes that I would have peaceful days until the Ides, but that was shattered as I awoke the next morning to the sounds of emergency owls hovering over my head.

A creation of the Dragon Corps, the emergency owl was the fastest at delivering its messages, and if the message was of grave importance, the owl let out incessant, high pitched screeching hoots whenever they reached their destination. They weren't used very often, mainly due to their cost, but when they were put to use something definitely grave was about to happen.

When the owl saw that I had woken, it landed on my chest and immediately tapped its beak on a button on the canister strapped to its leg. The message contained within fell out, and the owl took off, back to its roost.

I slowly unrolled the piece of parchment and read the words aloud. "Get to the Department immediately. Use this code." And then, at the bottom of the paper, a warning alerted me: "This message will self destruct in five seconds."

I quickly logged the code away to memory and put the parchment down on my bedside table where it promptly burst into flames. I cursed mildly at the flame, as it left a scorch mark across the brand new table. I got dressed, and headed towards the closet that housed my tele-floo access. I had been hooked up to the system the day before, and was slightly afraid of trying it out for the first time alone. I took a can of floo powder out of my dresser, put a pinch in the tube next to the entrance to the contraption, and stepped in.

The moment I said the codeword out loud, I was immediately transferred (the same elastic feeling as before unnervingly racked my body) to the Department of Counter Terrorism's secret underground headquarters. Only accessible through the tele-floo network using a secret code word that changes daily, the Department was so secretive, only five people who worked in the Ministry (almost fifty feet above the Department's main structure) knew of its existence.

As I stepped out of the tele-floo terminal, I was immediately waylaid by a guard who passed his wand over me. When he'd decided that I wasn't carrying any magical devices other than my wand, he allowed me to pass. Over his shoulder I spied a clock and calendar, and the pangs of the approaching Ides rushed through my body. If I had allowed myself to stop and ponder the fact that it was only three days away, I would have never moved again.

Brushing all thoughts out of my head, I walked down a corridor in search of Harry's office. It didn't take long, I heard him hollering at someone through a solid oak door at the end of the hallway. I knocked lightly on the door, and I felt a tingle run through my body. I recognized it as a DNA checker, which I had gone through to get into the Moony and Padfoot foundation building. The moment the tingle ceased, the door opened, and Harry lifted his eyes to me in acknowledgement.

He was talking to Minister Snape, who was calmly explaining whatever Harry was looking at. Snape was not in the room, but rather in a mirror hanging on the wall next to Harry's desk. I had heard of such a device, another invention of the Dragon's Corp. They called it a mirror-conference, and it was similar to the fire-chats, but no bulky fireplace was needed, just two mirrors (specially designed and sold by the Corp.), one owned by each of the communicators.

When you switched them on, it was similar to a Muggle videoconference, just void of any glitches or technical difficulties. I looked up at Snape and waved hello. He halted his explanation and greeted me. "Good to see you, Mr. Weasley."

"What did you need me for?" I posed the question to both of them.

Harry looked up from what he was holding in his hand and answered. "Do you remember when Sirius and I were talking and we figured that the terrowizards knew something that we didn't? We thought for sure that, with all our operatives now inside the various organizations, we would have learned whatever it was, but apparently we didn't. We sure as hell didn't know this." He raised the hand holding what looked like pictures and gave them to me.

I flipped through them, and recognized one; the picture from the Flyway attack that Colin took of the SUB that had the weird symbol on it. The next picture showed another SUB exactly like it, mangled somewhere on the streets of London.

"It's been hell trying to keep this from the Muggles. It's the work of the Reapers of Light. They left a message at the scene of the crime saying that, 'We own England.'"

Looking at the two pictures, I asked, "When was the second one taken?"

Harry looked at Snape, who answered. "Yesterday. A report has gone out from our operative within the Reapers that says there was a celebration last night. Apparently, the entire reason for the Flyway assault was to kill the leader of the Brothers of Stygia, but their information was wrong. They only killed a high-ranking officer. Still, they achieved their objective yesterday, and have now claimed the Brothers of Stygia as a part of their organization."

"What does this mean for us?" I asked.

Harry looked grim. "This doesn't bode well at all. The Death Eaters are afraid of the Reapers. Apparently, with the backing of the Bloodied Scimitar and the Fallen Angels, the Reapers of Light are looking to become the sole terrowizard group in Europe."

Harry moved around his desk and began to wear a path in his carpet as he walked back and forth in front of Snape's face. "They are prepared to go to war against the Death Eaters unless they succumb and merge with the Reapers. The Death Eaters are angels compared to the Reapers, and if they gain full control over the vice in England... We could expect far more troubles out of terrorism in the future, and until then, we are caught in the middle of a power struggle."

"Is there anything I can do?" My role in the Order hadn't been defined yet, but I was offering my services in anyway possible.

"I asked you to come here so that you could tell Cho, in person, that I would be out of town for the next few days." Harry saw the look on my face and reassured me, "Don't worry, I'll be back before the Ides, I swear. Sirius and I are going to Japan with Char to visit with leaders from the Jade Dragon. The Frozen Phoenix is growing too quickly, so the Order has decided to step in and help the Dragon win that battle." Harry stood, gathering some papers together, and then intoned. "I've got to get to a meeting. You can find your way out?"

I nodded, and he left the office quickly. Snape was still standing in the mirror. "He'll be okay." He assured me, apparently reading my mind.

"Yeah. But one day, he might not be okay. And now I get to be the bearer of bad news." I sighed, stood and said my good-byes. The mirror shimmered over solid silver, and then cleared away like fog on a window, and Snape was gone.

*

I made my way cautiously out onto the bleachers surrounding the Chudley Cannon's pitch. Above my head, the team was in full practice mode. Chasers were swooping and diving after dozens of Quaffles; the Keeper was guarding the goal against onslaught after onslaught from the Chasers; and Cho was giving the back up Seeker some pointers to the fine art of Snitch catching.

Sitting on a bench on the ground of the pitch, Angelina Johnson-Wood was trying to catch my attention. I couldn't hear her from my seat in the stands, but she was waving me down, so I walked down to the ground floor of the bleachers and then out onto the pitch itself.

"Hello, Ron! How are you?" She had a large grin on her face as I sat next to her.

"I'm doing very well...in fact...I don't think I've been better." Since her death. "What about you? How are you holding up being a mother and a world famous Chaser?"

She smiled, as if to say it was nothing. "Well, I'm handling it fine. The first one is always the hardest...being out of commission for more than a year is hard on anyone."

Angelina paused for a moment. "Especially for the best Seeker in the world." Without giving me a moment to respond, she asked, "Do you know what they are naming the baby?"

My mouth fell open. "Did...h-how did you know?"

She laughed heartily. "I'm a woman, Ron. And although it may be slightly less obvious to the estrogen challenged among the human race, we women can tell when there is a bun in the oven."

"Well, I don't know what it's name will be. I do know, however, that it's already causing grief with the two and they aren't even married."

Angelina sighed. "Babies do that. In fact, I think everything does that. Relationships are constantly being stressed and tested...it's the natural flow of things."

I grew silent. Unless of course your only relationship ended before it really began.

Angelina must have been thinking the same thing as I, because she sat in silence until practice ended a few moments later. Cho flew down from her high vantage point in the clouds and pulled out of a fast dive to a perfect stop directly in front of the bench. She was sitting atop the newest and greatest broom, the Firebolt III. "Wow, Ron! I didn't know you would be stopping by today. We're looking good aren't we? I can see the glint of gold now." She was, of course, referring to the England Cup that they were the favorite to win.

A moment later, Katie Bell and Alicia Spinnet joined us, and my mission was stalled.

The two chasers, unlike their compatriot Angelina, weren't members of the Order. Although it was a plan to invite them as quick flyers, they weren't even aware of its existence. Angelina was holding a Quaffle in her hand when she proposed a quick game. "You used to play Keeper for Gryffindor, Ron, so let's see if you've retained any of that greatness."

Cho flew off to get an extra Firebolt out of a broom closet near the locker rooms, and when she returned I found myself flying high above the immaculate pitch. I was getting used to being in the air again, circling around the three goals I was to protect from the three greatest Chasers in the game today, when I realized that Cho was holding the Quaffle Angelina had been using a moment before.

"Hey, that seems a little unfair!" I shouted across the field, but I was laughing.

"We think you can handle three Chasers and Seeker playing at it." Cho said as she flew straight at me with the Quaffle.

I quickly brought myself to a stand still in front of the middle goal, watching Cho's movements. Just as she reared back with her arm, as if to toss the Quaffle towards one of the goals, she lightly tossed it up where Alicia was waiting to grab the red ball. Instead of flying directly towards the goals, she dived almost straight down, coming up behind the goal and circling upwards as she flew at unimaginable speeds. Before I could see what she was doing, the ball had been passed off three times and now was in the hands of Angelina, who had suddenly dropped out of the sky right in front of the left hand goal. The Quaffle flew cleanly in and a magical ringing sounded throughout the stadium.

Katie was behind the goal to catch the Quaffle, and she quickly tossed it back towards the center of the field for another run, giving me another chance to block their advances. In the world renowned Arrowhead formation (with Cho trailing behind in a safety position) flew directly towards me, the Quaffle passing quickly from one deft hand to the next. About thirty feet in front of the goals, the three went in three separate directions (up, left, and right) but the Quaffle seemed to hover in mid-air for a moment until Cho flew through that space and directly towards the right hand goal.

My circuit had just brought me around the far left hand side of the left goal. Seeing my only opportunity to block the ball, I leaned forward, putting all my speed behind a boost that carried me through the right goal, then the center goal, and directly in front of the left goal just as Cho was releasing her throw. I stood up on my broom and dove outwards, catching the Quaffle neatly. As I began to fall, I reached out with my other hand and grasped my broom handle, then kicked up and over and found myself sitting back on the broom. I was quickly surrounded by the Chasers and Cho.

"Amazing save, Ron! That was almost professional, especially against four Chasers." Angelina was raining compliments; I received pats on the back from the other pro players.

"Really, Ron. That was spectacular. Have you ever thought seriously about playing Quidditch? You should come out to the tryouts next year and show the managers here your stuff! You would make an amazing Keeper after working out your insecurities from not playing in so long." Cho was beaming as she delivered her assessment.

I was slightly stunned at the sincerity of all the players' confidence in my abilities. But I actually found myself logging away this advice for possible later use. Moments later, however, I found myself alone with Cho as the others drifted off towards the locker rooms, and then to their respective lives. Cho and I circled around the pitch in large, elliptical paths as I finally found time to talk with her.

"So, Ron. What brings you out today?" She always got right to the point.

"Well, I haven't seen you play since the first year you signed with the Cannons, and I thought it would be awesome to see you in practice."

"And the real reason?"

I cleared my throat. "Harry is on a mission for the Order and the DCT...and he won't be back for a few days at least."

Cho shook her head, but continued to fly next to me. After a long moment of silence, the sun setting in the distance illuminating the air in bright oranges, Cho finally said, "I don't know how I can marry a man who could die any day. His job is too dangerous."

I was thinking internally of the all the problems the two would face in the future, and realizing how much a baby complicated things. Harry was my best friend, and because of that I wasn't sure whether or not he should stay with Cho...but he had said he was going to do the "right thing" and marry her. No matter what issues the two had with each other, the love was there. But it sadly wasn't the main thing in their lives. They were too caught up in all the world's turmoil and their own personal strife. They had forgotten what had made them happy to begin with: being loved and giving love.

I stammered out the worst possible line, but the only comfort I could provide with certainty. "Everything'll be fine...it all works out in the end."

She looked at me for a long moment, and nodded in agreement. We flew down to the broom closet where we stashed the Firebolt IIIs; we then went, retrieved our own brooms and headed home.

After dropping her off at her house, I flew invisibly over the skies of London peering down at the lights. The large Ferris wheel in the distance was turning and the streets below were packed with traffic. It was very close to my day of reckoning, but the world was moving along as normal. Perhaps I should've taken that as a sign, but instead, I descended down into an alley off Notting Hill and apparated into my living room.

I fell asleep that night on my couch, hoping that the respite I had felt only a few days ago would return and carry me through to the day when everything would finally be answered.

March 15

The Ides

A cloud settled over me sometime between the night before the 15^th and the day itself. When I awoke on that fateful Ides, it had descended into a bank of fog shutting off all pathways and blinding me to the world. In that fog, all I could do was think about the letter and the mystery that would finally be solved.

It felt like years since my birthday when the letter from Hermione had arrived. It also felt like years since the first meeting with Charlotte, when Pigwidgeon had carried the news from the mysterious writer about Holland Park and secrets being revealed. Finally, however, those moments had all crested and washed onto the shore of the morning, washing away the fog and opening up a pathway towards the fateful hour. 9:00 p.m.

The past few days had been spent in my own world. I hadn't spoken with Cho since I left her home on the 12^th, and none of my family had stopped by since early on the 13^th. Ginny was on her monthly shopping trip to London and wanted to have breakfast with me.

She was pleased to hear that my life had been quiet, but she didn't exactly know the full story behind my present condition. And thus she didn't understand that the quiet was almost torture. It allowed me limitless amounts of time to think, and thinking, at least in this state, was bad.

After my meeting with her, I returned home to find the Prophet lying on top of my kitchen table. It was still a smaller paper than normal. Harry was running his skeleton crew, and would until early April when the new Prophet headquarters will be completed. Reading through the paper allowed me a brief respite from the storm of thought in my head, but it was short lived. Harry only had one article in the paper, one he had obviously written days before he had departed for Japan. Thinking of Harry began to make me worry about his safety.

The Japanese gangsters were always rumored as being terribly ruthless, and there was no telling how much the Order could truly trust the Jade Dragon. The only word we had was Char's and that of the two martial-wizards. A feeling I had had perplexed me in their presence, but it wasn't until days after meeting them that I realized it was a pocket of fear burning in the pit of my stomach. They were to be watched closely; otherwise they could bring about great tragedy.

After drinking my morning coffee on the morning of the 15^th, I decided, on a whim, to dress in my running gear and go for a jog. I hadn't truly been out jogging since my Hogwarts days, when I would jog early in the mornings to try and clear my head of the horrible nightmares I had every night. They had eventually gone away, but I had continued my running exercise all the way until I matriculated out of Hogwarts and into the Burrow.

I locked my door behind me, and set off down through the early morning crowd of Notting Hill. I didn't know where my feet were carrying me, but my side was in pain before I stopped. I bent over, my hands on my knees, and was taking in great gouts of air. When I looked up, I realized I was outside Harry and Cho's house. Feeling that it was not just a coincidence that I was there, I went ahead and rang the doorbell.

Although it was only nearly 8:00 a.m., Cho answered the door quickly, dressed in blue jeans and a casual hoodie. As she motioned for me to come in, she answered my questioning gaze. "I haven't slept very well since Harry left. I have fitful dreams and I wake up before the sun every morning." She looked very pale. "On top of that, I've been experiencing terrible morning sickness. So forgive me if I'm not the radiant beauty I normally am."

I smiled, hoping that would reassure her that it was okay. "Yeah, I'm worried about him, too. But my mind is preoccupied at the moment."

She gave me a comforting gaze. "Tonight's the night, isn't it? I guess Harry should be back today. At least...he said he would be."

Before she could break into a worrying mode, I said, "Don't worry, Cho. He'll be back. Harry has survived all this time. If Voldemort couldn't kill him, then some Japanese wizards sure as hell won't."

She flinched at the name. I found it worrisome that the wizarding world was still afraid of that name, even though, given all of Harry's indications, he was gone. Suddenly, however, a chill ran across my body, my sweat suddenly feeling like ice. I remembered the dream I'd had several nights...of a winged, demon-like woman. I shuddered, but Cho didn't notice.

"Would you like some tea?"

I nodded. "Yeah, can I use your shower while you prepare it?"

She headed into the kitchen as I went down the hall to a small bathroom with a shower.

After washing thoroughly, I got out of the shower, a towel around my waist, and stared at my reflection in the slightly fogged over mirror. I was much older since Hogwarts. My muscles had filled in, and I was looking older and older with each passing year. A part of me still felt like the sixth year who'd watched his girlfriend, one of his best friends, die. The pain was there in my eyes, clearly seen even by me, who so wanted to hide that in my reflection.

Shaking my head, I let go of that pain and that self-doubt and hoped that today, all of that would end. I would finally be able to move on with my life and let the memory of Hermione rest.

Once I was out of the bathroom, clothed in something that I had left since my last stay at their house, Cho surprised me with a small breakfast of bacon, eggs, toast, and tea. We sat down to a silent meal, and when it was through I stood to leave. I was just about to apparate home when Cho caught my eye. "Don't worry, Cho. Harry will be home tonight." He promised. She smiled, and I closed my eyes. When I opened them, I was in my living room, Pigwidgeon flying around my head, a message attached to his tiny leg.

I hadn't noticed him missing this morning, but then I hadn't fed the small owl and his larger counterpart, Astarael yet. He had apparently escaped from his cage in the night. When I took the message off his leg and gave him an owl treat, he immediately flew to his cage and collapsed onto the floor of it, asleep. He had been up all night, and with the way he burnt energy, he was dead tired.

My fingers were trembling as I unrolled the parchment. I wasn't, however, surprised to see the same neat scrawl as before:

It's time once again

I tell you my friend

Tonight is the night

When your hopes take flight

I know the answers you seek

When your outlook is bleak

But I tell you you'll see

All of your dreams

A meeting at night

You'll see I was right

Come to Holland Park

At the bench after dark

If you've forgiven my sins

I will let you in

I'll show you the flight

Of angels at night.

~Remember son of Weasley. 9:00 p.m. Tonight

After reading the note for the twentieth time, I exhaled the breath I had been holding since I had unrolled the parchment. My questions would finally be answered.

*

I had been ready to leave for over three hours. When I finally looked up at the clock from my seat on the couch, I was surprised to see "8:30" blaring in the LCD. I stood up, pulled a jacket on, and was ready to head out the door when a voice behind me stopped me.

"You aren't leaving without me are you?" I couldn't believe it.

I turned around, and Harry, in perfect condition, was smiling at me. "You old dog." It was all I could muster.

He patted my shoulder. "I told you I'd be back in time. Tonight's the night!" The line from the newest poem haunted me, but I smiled anyway.

"Does Cho know you're back?"

He shook his head, "She should know any time now, though, I sent an owl ahead of me to let he know. She should be meeting us at the park."

I began to head out the front door, when Harry stopped me. "Why don't we just apparate? No on is going to be in the park this late."

I agreed, and it appeared as if his prediction was correct. We apparated behind a line of bushes that ran alongside the main path running through the park. A set of park benches in front of us was empty, and the only sounds were the far off noises from a public football field where a little league game was going on.

"This mysterious person could be anywhere." I sigh as I glance down at my wristwatch to find that 15 minutes had passed.

"Maybe if we split up we'll fin--."

I interrupted him. "No, Harry. This is my battle...and it's time I fight it alone."

He nodded in agreement as I stepped out onto the path and began to walk along it towards the next set of benches. Before I got out of earshot, I heard Cho's voice coming from the bushes. Even though I was alone in the endeavor, I felt their support.

Small, gaudy lamps lit the pathway intermittently, but as I was leaving the soft glow of one lamp and entering into the darkness between it and the next, I saw a bench in relative darkness with its back to me. Sitting on it was a man.

Before I could approach any closer, a voice came from the darkness. "Welcome, Mr. Weasley. I've been expecting you." The man stood up, his back still to me, and slowly turned around.

I stared at him. "You don't know me, Mr. Weasley. I'm just a representative of the writer of that note, someone you do know." He held up a copy of both the first and second letters, and then said, "You must come with me, alone. Mr. Potter and Miss Chang cannot accompany us." He smiled at the startled look on my face. "You'll just have to trust me, Mr. Weasley."

After a moment of silence, I nodded. He took my hand, and I immediately felt a tugging sensation, as I was apparated away from the park and the relative safety that having my friends offered.

I opened my eyes, finally realizing I had closed them during the apparition, and found myself staring at the base of an enormous building. I looked up and it stretched into the sky where it ended in a faux-Dragon head that seemed miles away. I was standing in front of the Dragon's Corp. building.

The mysterious man led me inside and to a bank of wizarding elevators against the far wall. Unlike Muggle elevators, like the Ministry uses, the wizarding elevator, a development of the Dragon's Corp., uses a relative levitation spell that lifts the passenger to the desired height, and then gently places them on the ground outside the elevator tube. The feeling of flying up hundreds of stories at very high speeds was exhilarating, if a bit frightening. When I stepped out of the spell's zone, I found myself in an enormous office, alone.

The mysterious man had apparently stopped at a lower floor. In front of me an enormous mahogany desk sat in front of a wall of windows that looked out over Camelotopolis. I was in the eyes of the dragon, the highest floor of the tallest building in the entire wizarding world.

A chair behind the desk had its high back to me. From behind it, a voice that sounded somewhat familiar called. "Welcome, Ron Weasley." The chair slowly turned around, and I couldn't contain my surprise.

"DRACO MALFOY!" My wand was suddenly in my hand, by instinct, and a scowl had crept across my face.

A smile flowed across Malfoy's face as smooth as honey, and a tut escaped his lips. "There's no need for that, Weasley. You were supposed to 'forgive me my sins,' remember? I have obviously forgiven you; otherwise you would not be here."

I muttered under my breath about having no sins towards Draco, but he obviously heard me.

He laughed. "No sins, Weasley? Pride, arrogance, hatred...all of these are sins, at least if you believe in such things. I, myself, have never been a practitioner of the religions of the world. My spiritual transcendence in the past few years has come from two things: money and seclusion." Silence suddenly drifted over the giant office. Malfoy looked very different from how I had remembered of him at Hogwarts. He was tall, almost as tall as me, and his long, platinum blonde hair was in a low ponytail at his back. He was dressed in expensive, designer Muggle style clothing, but the most surprising and ensnaring part of his appearance was his eyes. They were still a piercing gray, but the intelligence and...wisdom that bled from them was far beyond his years. Suddenly the truth hit me: Malfoy is the owner of the Dragon's Corp. and thus, the richest man alive.

Today is gonna be the day that they're gonna throw it back to you.

After the silence had had a chance to ferment, Malfoy allowed his voice to ply through it like a snake swimming through a river. "I have been running from the curse of the Malfoy name for the last three years. After hiding out for nearly six months, I immerged here in Camelot with my eyes on grandeur. I used my talent for cunning and quickly befriended a high-powered merchant, who I used to gain money and power in the business world." Malfoy paused for a moment, and I couldn't help but think it was all for effect.

"After almost a year, the Dragon's Corp. was born, and I was making my mark on the world." He walked around the room, looking out the giant glass windows at the world he had practically built.

By now, you shoulda somehow realized what you gotta do.

"Does this have a point, Malfoy?" I was doing my best to be nice, as Malfoy obviously knew something that I needed to know.

He smiled at me, and I realized that all traces of the old Draco Malfoy were seemingly gone. There was actually caring in his eyes. "Yes, Mr. Weasley, it does. I know you have been dragged across the country tonight, but I must ask you to come with me to one more place where everything will finally be revealed. Your journey of three years will come to an end."

Draco pressed a button on his desk and a panel to the side of the room slid open to reveal a tele-floo terminal. After performing all the necessary actions, he and I step inside and were suddenly teleported into what I imagined was a huge, dark warehouse. Suddenly, the lights overhead came on and I realized I was indeed in an industrial warehouse.

I don't believe that anybody feels the way I do, about you now.

In front of me rested an enormous...something. It was the size of a city block and looked almost like a city block in the top half, but the bottom half tapered down into what looked like... "Spell enhancers?" I was awed. I had heard that the Dragon's Corp. was trying to build a special mechanism that would make the spells that every day wizards used much more powerful. A single spell enhancer would be strong enough to take a single bubble spell and make it powerful enough for one globule of the underwater city of Atlantis. The power it took to keep the globules of Atlantis from collapsing was astronomical, but with spell enhancers, the power needed would be enormously reduced...by nearly 98%.

"You are very perceptive, Weasley. Those are the Dragon's Corp. latest invention...and they work amazingly. Atlantis has already purchased one for every globule." He walked towards the behemoth before them, and in a flare, announced. "This...is Aenir. Or rather, 1/1000^th of Aenir." After a small pause, he continued. "It will be the Dragon's Corporation's grandest achievement. A flying city of 1000 blocks...the first flying city. The perfect place for Muggles and wizards to begin their cohabitation."

Back beat the word is on the street that the fire in your heart is out.

My silence apparently told him how stunned I was. He explained, "I spent the last three years running from my father's legacy, and now, I see just how wrong he was. I've gotten over my petty hatred of Muggles and Muggle-borns. Now, I'm looking towards the future. The Muggles aren't dumb, and it won't be long until they discover us once and for all. I think it's time that our integration begins." After a brief silence, he finished. "Aenir is almost complete."

I'm sure you've heard it all before but you've never really had a doubt.

I was only able to stutter out an "it's amazing." Before my mind was drowned in awe. Wizards had been trying to make floating cities for thousands of years, but never succeeded.

.

Malfoy went on to explain that the 1000 flying "blocks" would attach through walkways and look like one, massive, flying city, but in the event of a terrorist attack, which would be likely in today's uncertainties the city could easily come apart. Each module was armed with its own Muggle weaponry, and could repel almost any attack.

"The person attacking thinks they are hitting a helpless city, when they find 1000 missiles flying at them as 1000 machine guns chase them away. The city will be untouchable."

"Isn't it illegal to use Muggle weaponry in tandem with wizardry?"

Malfoy nodded. "Yes, but we have received special permission from every Ministry and Muggle government. All are in support of what we are doing here, but know that the city would have to be able to protect itself in the terrorist world we live."

After a long, awed silence, I finally came to my senses. "Is this all you wanted? Why would you choose to show me this?"

An unexpected smile crossed Draco's face. "We have much in common, Weasley. We were both hermits, but you have managed to escape those bonds. I need your help in doing that."

Thoughtful silence followed, but I was getting anxious about something. How Draco had said it, I knew there was something...more I was getting out of the deal.

"I want to come back to the world and let them see that Malfoy is a good name. They trust me in almost every aspect of their life now, and I feel ready to show them who has made their lives so much simpler."

I don't believe that anybody feels the way I do, about you now.

Another long silence followed, and my heart was beating fast, but I couldn't explain why.

"As I said, I need your help, Weasley, and once I present you with your gift, that is all I ask in return."

"Gift?" I was beyond confused.

And all the roads we have to walk are winding

His smile was warm and inviting. "Yes. It arrived on my doorstep almost three months ago...and she is very keen to see you. She thought I would have the means to that end, as it were."

And all the lights that lead us there are blinding.

I didn't know what to say or do. I couldn't even move.

Malfoy just smiled wider and pointed over my shoulder.

I found it in me to turn my body around, but my eyes closed against my will.

And there are many things that I, would like to say to you but I don't know how.

After a long moment, I heard a voice creep into my head. After another moment, it repeated...it was saying my name.

"Ron. I've missed you so much." Arms embraced me, but my eyes were still closed, tears somehow escaping them and flowing down my cheeks.

And Maybe...

It couldn't be true.

...You're gonna be the one that saves me.

Finally, my eyes slowly opened, and the most beautiful sight in the entire world was before me.

And after all...

I lunged forward, took her in my arms, and gave her the biggest hug I could without breaking her. "You're here! You're back! My love..."

...You're my Wonderwall.

"...My Hermione."

...to be continued in Chapter 8

The Prophecy of Zeus

Coming next chapter: In chapter 9, The Prophecy of Zeus, the wizarding world has been experiencing nearly an entire quiet month, giving Ron, Hermione, Harry, and Cho plenty of time to catch up on lost time. Hermione explains some of where she's been the past few years, and although she and Ron are together again, rocky waters lie ahead. Ron covers the first Quidditch game of the season where a small tragedy strikes and a silent secret is unknowingly released. Also, follow the Order as they jet off to Ganymede for the April 9^th unveiling of the Prophecy of Zeus, a prophecy which could shake the very foundations of the Order and the entire wizarding world.