Memory Madness

Memory Madness

Chapter 2:

Ron Weasley gazed out of the window as the Hogwarts Express left Hogsmeade station. It had been a long time since he'd spent Christmas at home with all his family. Since he started at Hogwarts, he'd usually stayed in the holidays with Harr- He cut off his thought abruptly. Rather than think about things he would really rather forget, he turned his attention to someone else in the compartment with him.

Hermione Granger, his very good friend, was - to no one's surprise - reading a book. She seemed to do little else. But then - everyone had changed. Even Ron had. Ron was quieter than he used to be. Even Fred and George were different. They were also far more subdued at times. Other times, you'd be lucky to be in the same room with them and not have to yell to make someone across the room hear you. They could be just as loud and outrageous as they used to be.

Ron hadn't spoken a word in the first four weeks after the wretched Third Task. Hermione had been broken up and if she did anything but cry it was to go to the library and try to find out what had happened through useless research. Everyone else had been in utter shock and disbelief.

When the summer had started and Ron still hadn't spoken to anyone, Mrs Weasley was beside herself with worry. Ron would look supremely irritated and would go to his room to be alone.

Hermione had come to stay at the Burrow barely halfway through the holidays. Her parent's just couldn't help her with what she was going through. She had to be around Wizards and Witches and her parents had been very understanding and had let her go in the hope she would sort herself out.

It was a few days after she arrived that Ron broke his silence and Ron had to admit, he didn't think he had ever seen his mum or dad look quite so relieved. Maybe they thought he was cracking. He'd thought he was cracking. But - no, he just hadn't felt like he had the energy to talk. He felt like he was utterly drained of everything. He found it hard to believe he was gone. Zip. Just like that.

Cedric Diggory had been almost absolutely fine. Just Stunned and had a bit of a cut on one arm. Why did he get so lucky? Why wasn't Harry lucky? But the answer was simple, and bitter in its truth... Harry was never lucky. He always got the short end of the stick but Ron doubted his best friend had ever thought so himself. Everyone else saw that he did - but Harry just accepted what was hurled his way. Ron didn't think he had once complained of anything in his whole life. But why couldn't he have been lucky that last time?

No one even knew what happened. Death Eaters, mostly ones who had been captured and taken in to custody the following summer, said their 'master' had risen again. Then the evil git had played his rotten game with Harry. The cat had the mouse but was going to play with it before it was killed. Then Death Eaters were unsure of what followed. Both their 'master' and Harry had disappeared in a flash. No one had heard from either since. People weren't even sure if You-Know-Who had been defeated again. Most assumed so. Ron didn't know; he didn't really care. All he wanted was for Harry to come back. For him to wake up one morning and find Harry asleep in the next bed. That he would find that the past months had all been a dream.

Someone shifting brought Ron's attention back to the present and out of his thoughts. Ginny had moved in to a more comfortable position next to him. She was sleeping peacefully. That was actually something Ron envied her for. He hadn't told anyone, not even Hermione, but he was having nightmares. He felt like he hadn't had a good night sleep in months - which was probably true.

Ron looked forward to the holidays though. Maybe he could forget things for a while. He was almost certain that everyone else held the same hope. They all wanted to forget. They wanted to get themselves so wrapped up in Christmas and the decorations and presents, so busy with all the preparation that they didn't have to remember who wasn't there.

As he stared out of the window, watching the fields and trees turn in to green blurs, Ron felt his eyes droop and was soon asleep.

His first thought was that he was in another nightmare, but the place didn't look all that scary. In fact, the place looked like one of the Charms corridors at Hogwarts. With a shrug, he started to walk around. He figured that he was getting some good sleep-time as this wasn't a nightmare and he wasn't about to cut it short unnecessarily.

The place was certainly a lot like Hogwarts, but it was warped and unfamiliar in places. He passed a room that held very little besides a large collection of chamber pots. Frowning and shaking his head slightly, he carried on, glancing in rooms as he passed them by, and always on the look out for anyone else.

It was just when he was starting to get bored with the odd dream, when he heard something. He turned the next corner and froze in shock.

None other than Harry Potter sat on the stone banister of the next flight of stairs, aimlessly swinging his legs, and holding a book in his lap.

Ron eventually found the will-power to close his mouth. Tilting his head slightly, he saw that the book was Quidditch Through the Ages.

At this moment, Harry looked up. "Ah, hello, Ron," he said pleasantly. "Why do you look about as shocked as if Hermione had announced she was eloping with Snape?" he asked, laughing lightly.

Ron could just not believe it. He didn't actually trust himself to speak. This was an entirely new experience for him. He'd had nightmares, sure, lots of them, and most of which featured Harry at some point - but this wasn't like them. Harry wasn't tied up or being killed in a flash of green light. He was just - Harry.

"Come on," Harry jumped down from the banister and put an arm around Ron's shoulders companionably. "I'll give you a tour. This is a weird place - but it's very useful. Something about 'dreams of wisdom' and 'a place for the troubled person to rest for a while'... It's all very complicated, not very interesting either."

Only barely listening to Harry through his numbness, Ron let himself be led through the warped hallways and passages again.

"So - how've you been?" Harry then asked after concluding a tour that Ron could not honestly say he'd paid much attention to - he'd been more fascinated with the guide than the tour.

Ron snapped out of his daze to reply. "Um - well - err..." His reply was less than articulate. Harry looked a little uncertain and bit his lip.

"And how is Hermione?"

"She's - alright, I suppose," Ron answered warily. Harry nodded a little. "She misses you," Ron added. "We all do." Ron looked at his feet hard.

Harry sighed and then bit his lip again as he quietly announced, "You have to go now."

Ron looked up sharply. He knew he was being silly - he knew that this was only a figment of his imagination - but he didn't want to go yet. He wanted to spend more time with Harry - he didn't want to go at all. "No - wait! I want to stay longer!" But Harry was sadly shaking his head at him. He took Ron by a shoulder and gave him a quick hug, which Ron was too stunned to react to, then everything seemed to melt away. He frantically reached for Harry's hand but his fist closed on nothing and he found himself waking up just as the train stopped with a hiss.

As Ron jumped on to Platform Nine and Three Quarters, taking in the happy buzz in the air as students met their parents and went away laughing and talking for their Christmas Holidays.

"There's Mum!" Ginny said smiling. Ron, who hadn't noticed her sneaking up next to him, jumped.

"Goodness sake, Gin, do you have to creep up like that - could've given me a heart attack!" He didn't mean it all that much though, it was just habit to say things like that to his little sister. Ginny, in the habit of hearing such comments, stuck her tongue out at her brother and giggled as she ran off ahead of him to meet Mrs Weasley.

"At least someone is awake," Hermione's voice sounded just behind Ron a moment later. Hermione did look rather tired and she was obviously speaking of Ginny from the way she had tilted her head in the younger redhead's direction.

"Yeah, she did sleep the entire time though," Ron replied, making his way over to where Mrs Weasley was now grilling Ginny for information on the Twin's behaviour over the last couple of months.

"You fell asleep reasonably fast as well," Hermione remarked, as she pulled her trunk along behind her. "You were muttering to yourself too," Hermione added, concealing a smile. Ron stopped dead and turned to face her quickly.

"W-what did I say?" he spluttered. He can't have said Harry's name could he? If he had she wouldn't look amused would she? No -but what if he did, what had he said!?

Hermione looked very surprised and shrugged slightly. "You - didn't say anything clearly enough for me to know," she admitted, giving him an odd look. Ron relaxed and turned back to heaving his trunk.

"Oh, Ron, dear! Hermione! How are you both?" Mrs Weasley cooed when they came to a stop in front of her. Ron ducked out of her way when she tried to smother him with a hug. He was too old for that, he thought irritated. Hermione wasn't so lucky though, and was given a tight hug and a kiss on her cheek.

"Hello, mother dearest!" a voice called out. Ron rolled his eyes slightly. That voice was announcing the arrival of the Terrible Twins.

"Fred! What on earth did you do to your hair!?" Mrs Weasley looked scandalized. Ron almost smiled amusedly as he thought of how Fred's hair came to be that most interesting shade of green. It was a simple mistake on their part when they were making a swelling solution for one of their joke items. George gave Fred too much of the newt brains to add to the concoction and the end result was a bit of a fiasco. It blew up and caused Fred's hair to go dark green. Professor McGonagall said it would wear off soon though.

"Uh, well you see Mum," George started, looking all too casual and innocent, "We were doing this thing, and well - we put too much of something in it - and - Fred's hair - Umm - It'll be back to normal in no time though."

Mrs Weasley looked at them suspiciously, but Fred and George both wore their most earnest expressions and with a slight roll of her eyes, Mrs Weasley dropped the matter and the party set off to the Burrow.

*~*~*

Two days later, Ron was settled back in comfortably. There had been a slight hiccup in the settling in though. The evening they arrived, Ron had gone to unpack his trunk. Hermione had offered to help as she (being the organised person she was) had already taken out what she needed and set it up in Ginny's room where she was staying.

The room was just as Ron had left it - orange and untidy. He liked it that way. He still cringed slightly when he went in though - he had spent quite a lot of time in there with Harry - and then on his own after what had happened. With a shake of his head, Ron had set about taking things out of his trunk.

"What's in there?" Hermione asked curiously, referring to a door, almost hidden, behind a pile of magazines.

"Just a spare cupboard," Ron had shrugged. And then Hermione had opened it. Ron knew it had been collecting odd items for ages, but also that it held some clothes - most of the ones he didn't take to Hogwarts and had used when he was younger. What he didn't know was that one of the last items bunged in there had been one of Harry's Weasley jumpers.

When Hermione opened the cupboard it fell on her head and when she realised what it was she had ended up having a big crying fit. Ron had tried to calm her down, and Ginny had also done her best.

Seeing Hermione like that made Ron feel awful. It made him feel like crying and screaming. But he never did of course. He was far too manly to cry, and he had to comfort Hermione. He was very grateful to Ginny when she took over though, he couldn't have stood seeing Hermione so upset much longer. She cried and cried, hugging the jumper to her as though it were her child.

She did calm down eventually though. The Twins had asked Ron what was happening when he'd left the room for Ginny to handle a much less hysterical Hermione. When he'd explained, the Twins had worn those serious faces that just didn't suit them at all. Ron had gone for a walk. It wasn't what he had hoped the first day of the holidays would turn out to be like.

Hermione used to seem so confident and strong to Ron. She was a fountain of knowledge, a diamond in the rough, a wonderful strong-minded person, and Ron didn't think anything could change her as much as Harry's disappearance had. She had kept a brave face for the first few days, of course. There was still plenty of hope for a safe return then. But as time wore on - Hermione had been run down and eventually she let go and sobbed for hours in to a silent Ron's lap.

Ron sometimes wondered how they had got through those days. It was only a matter of about a week or so before school ended, and by that time the wizarding world was in complete disarray. No one knew what was happening and everyone was in a tizzy about what had become of The Boy Who Lived.

It made Ron scowl to think of that though, it wasn't as though any of them cared about Harry - or even knew him as more than an icon of good in the face of evil. And what did they expect him to do? Keep saving the world again and again for them? All the gratitude they ever seemed to have shown him was to say that he was probably mentally unstable after reading Rita Skeeter's gossip-mongering articles in the Daily Prophet. Still, she'd got her come-uppance in the end - she had turned herself into a beetle (she was an illegal animagus) and Hermione had caught her and imprisoned her in a jar. Served her right, Ron thought.

Hermione had still not let Rita go, or at least she told Ron she hadn't. He hadn't asked why.

So now Hermione was her usual self on the whole, apart from being a lot quieter and less confident. To Ron, this was not her being like her usual self at all. He felt she really had changed, and he wished she hadn't had to.

It had affected everyone so much. He wondered what Harry would say if he realised what happened when he went. Ron supposed he would feel guilty and uncomfortable.

Ron had made a promise to himself in the summer. He'd promised to look after Hermione and make sure she was okay. He felt like she should have some one watching out for her - and he was her best friend - and he knew he couldn't bear to see her get hurt again.

Ron remembered how much he and Hermione used to bicker and argue, especially in the last year. Harry had stopped things from getting too far on many occasions. Now - the small things they used to bicker and fight about were just not important anymore. Not important at all. Looking back, Ron couldn't even see why they were at the time. Without the arguing and occasional joke at each other's expense, Ron and Hermione had most definitely become closer.

Ron thought it a good thing in many ways. He liked being close with Hermione. They could get on very well. But - it made Ron's stomach churn to realise that it was only because of Harry's absence that this had happened. They would probably still have been fighting over things as insignificant as Divination if Harry were still around. Ron had to be honest though, he would rather it were that way. At least Harry would be there, and he was sure Hermione would be happier on the whole. He knew he himself would be too.

And although everyone had dealt with it in their different ways and in their different time-spans, they all seemed to be doing better now. Hermione did have that little lapse on the first day though...

Still, everyone was back to normal now, and as Ron watched Fred and George try to beat each other's gnome-throwing record, he felt that things were maybe too normal.

He had an odd feeling that maybe everything was just a little too ordinary to actually be truly ordinary. It sounded stupid even in his own head. And it wasn't like he was a very intuitive person. Ron knew he wasn't. He was even rather insensitive at times, though he hoped it wasn't all that often. He realised that he had been talking to himself for a disturbingly long amount of time and trailed off in this thoughts. He was being silly anyway. He doubted anything was really wrong, or about to change drastically. Ron would laugh later when he realised how wrong he was.