The Prince

Chapter 5

The Betrayal

The Prince went to see Ronald Weasley after half an hour of sitting under a tree. He had thought over what ha had said to Draco Malfoy, and he had made up his mind on how to deal with the situation. He could imagine Remus' reaction to his deed. A smirk crossed his lips.

The prisoner stood up when he entered the room.

"Hello, Ron."

Ron spit on his face, which he waved off casually.

"No need to get abusive, Ron. The Prince does not like it."

"Eat slugs, you slimy git!"

Harry ran a finger through his hair and said calmly, "Were you referring to me, by any chance? You're gravely mistaken. I fail to see any slime on my person. You, on the other hand, seem rather filthy. Let me clean up for you. Scrougify."

Ron Weasley's dirty robes cleaned up immediately. However he merely scowled at his one time best friend and present enemy.

"I have an offer, Ron."

"I don't want to hear it, Potter."

"You will, for sure. Draco is considering it right now. I will instruct the guards to let all of you meet for an hour. You can take a decision. I shall come back for it tomorrow."

"Go to hell, Potter. I have seen enough of your manipulations. You manipulated me my entire life. Pretending to be my friend and hogging the limelight all the time. Always keen on reducing me to a mere sidekick. Always making me feel inferior. Using me to defeat You-Know-Who and then betraying me and becoming a monarch. You don't deserve to live, Harry Potter! Give me the chance to take you on in a one-to-one wizard's duel, and I'll be glad to rid the world of you!"

Shocked, Harry took a step back. He went pale, not having expected such venom from his old friend. He stared at Ron for a second before turning to leave, when Ron's voice stopped him. He turned around slowly, taking in each word, which fell like hammers on his soul.

"Can't face the truth, can you, you tyrant? You weakling! The Sorting Hat should have placed you in Slytherin; you are a snake, one much worse than any Dark Lord we have ever seen. I am glad I was the one who went to Dumbledore with all your megalomaniac ideas. I told him what you were planning. You didn't tell us all of it, but I knew what you were up to, so I told him that too. Your future actions proved me right. Dumbledore didn't want to believe that his golden boy could be a slave to Darkness, but I convinced him. It cost me a good deal, but it worked! We built the Resistance! We'll free the world of you!"

The prisoner burst out laughing. Harry walked back to him and hissed, "So it was you who said all those lies to Dumbledore?"

He turned away without waiting for a reply. At the door, without even looking back, he murmured, "I wish we had never been friends, Ron."