Hero

Hero

On a perfectly normal day, in his perfectly normal fifth year...well...normal for him, anyways...Ron Weasley saw God.

I am so high, I can hear heaven

He screwed up the potion. Hermione hissed instructions at him, but it didn't do any good. God was guiding his hand, and He or She wanted to be seen.

"MUGWORT!" Hermione whispered, her last nerve threatening to snap. "Why are you putting Mugwort into it? You've already ruined it with the dram of Dragon's Blood. Now add the lacewings to neutralize all that and START OVER! Ronald Weasley! Are you listening to me! Snape is already at Neville and Harry! He's going to get to us soon! I CAN'T FAIL THIS CLASS, RON!"

Her pleas fell on deaf ears. Ron knew what he had to do. God was guiding him, at least, that's what Ginny said later. Catholicism implanted itself well on his little sister. Maybe it was God.

I am so high, I can hear heaven

Ron scrambled to finish these crazed ephemeral instructions before Professor Snape swept over to sneer at their progress. Already, he had forced Harry and Neville to feed their potion to Trevor. Trevor promptly turned into a Fizzing Whizbee. While impressive, the potion should have caused him to fly. When Harry pointed out that Trevor the Fizzing Whizbee levitated, he lost ten house points for his cheek.

Hermione astutely realized that they did not have a pet in the dungeons, so Ron's potion would probably have to be tested on her. She prepared to hurl lacewings into the brew, bottle in hand, cork on table. But something stopped her. Professor Snape's hand on her wrist.

"What have we here?" he sneered. "Taking things into your own hands, now?"

The Slytherins snickered in unison. It sounded like wind through trees, and it sickened her. Hermione dropped the bottle of lacewings and it shattered on the damp stone floor.

"Detention, Miss Granger. And fifteen points for your clumsiness."

Hermione felt a lump of ice settle into the pit of her stomach. Detention! For breaking a bottle of lacewings.

Ron was still frantically mixing ingredients. Eyebright, Damiana, Peyote, mushrooms...Expensive ingredients to waste on a potion beyond repair. He didn't care. He was close now.

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"You can't save it, it's too late," Snape simpered, dropping Hermione's wrist. "Look at that mess, class." The cauldron bubbled up a sinister red. "I wonder what it does? Who shall we test--"

"Shut up!" Ron shouted suddenly.

Snape rounded on him. "What did you say?"

"I can't hear it anymore." Ron sank onto the bench, exhausted. "And you might have made me miss the last ingredients."

"You will not speak to me--"

"This is more important than you..." Ron said absently. He stirred the cauldron as Snape puffed up with rage.

A great plume of black smoke rose above the cauldron. The liquid inside was a deep, tranquil blue. The exact color the flight potion was supposed to be. Unfortunately, the cauldron only contained one drought of it. Snape collected the blue fluid.

"We'll see how well you did. Drink this, Mr. Weasley."

Hermione breathed a deep sigh of relief. That potion, if Hermione calculated correctly, would probably act as an insanely powerful stimulant. And Ron would be a ball of energy for a day or two, before he "crashed" and slept for three. Snape counted on the same thing. Nobody knew that Ron was about to see God. Not even Ron.

Oh, but heaven, no heaven, don't hear me

Ron drank deeply. And then he felt something pull him up, very quickly. Like traveling by portkey, but without the dizzy, dizzy, woozy feeling. He smiled as his body crumpled below him and Hermione screamed. He called out to her as she pulled him into her lap. But she didn't hear him. Nobody did.

"Hermione! I'm up here, in the corner! It's great! I'm flying, Hermione! Herm--" Ron felt a powerful pull upward, and now he was soaring above the school, higher and higher. And now the school was a speck. And now it's gone. He tried to look up, but everything blurred. So he looked back down. Everything looked like smudges of green and brown cut with black lines.

But he was calm. He wasn't afraid, even though a fall from this height would spread him across Hogwart's campus like chunky peanut butter.

That thought made him laugh as he soared upward.

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Eventually, Earth fell away and all he could see were streaks of white on a black background. Ron felt a shudder and everything stopped. The stars were now bright flecks, like glitter on black construction paper. One of the glitter-stars pulsed and grew. Ron was bathed in soft white light as a gentle voice called his name.

"Ronald Weasley," the dazzling light said. "Unto you is given a vision."

And Ron Saw.

rows and rows of glistening green and brownish dragons ready to aid us in this blackened time and dark, dark skies smeared with bloodandgore dripping down on the pure green fields and hogwarts is burning oh god oh god hogwarts is burning and mcgonagall and sirius and remus all dead and oh god neville's a death eater and there is harry who's going to save us right aren't you going to save us harry

And they say that a hero can save us

I'm not gonna stand here and wait

harry harry oh god harry's dead and ginny won't stop crying and voldemort's dead too and i guess that's good oh god oh god harry please god don't take harry and there's our mounts the hippogryffs well harry's is dead but mine's not and hermione's isn't and now i guess we have to keep going and i'll just hope you got to heaven harry it's time for me to go

I hold on to the wings of the eagles

Watch as we all fly away

they're running and lucius malfoy's right there but hermione's on him so no worries and there's his bastard son and i'm right there and draco how do you like this and you thought that buckbeak hurt you oh god was that your arm tear him up tearhimup and now the next one the next one narcissa runs so goddamn fast but here comes ginny on her dragon

Someone told me, love will now save us

But how can that be

hermione no don't fall no i can save you i can make it better don't worry i can fix it don't die 'mione you're all i've got and if i can't i'll rip through them all rip them tear them you killed my hermione and you will all die and i see their fear and i do not stop and i see they're unarmed and I DO NOT STOP

Look what love gave us

A world full of killing

And blood spilling

That world never came

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they were children all children weren't they and i killed them and they killed me and i just want to fly back i want to go home i want to go home I WANT TO GO HOME IWANTTOGOHOME

but we won didn't we

And they say that a hero can save us

I'm not gonna stand here and wait

"There will be loss, Ron. But this is your future. Once Harry Potter falls, you will lead the armies of the Order of Phoenix to victory."

"Herm--one..."

"There will be loss."

"Can' lose 'Mione. I love..."

"A sacrifice...must be made."

I hold on to the wings of the eagles

Watch as we all fly away

"I want to fly away home...I want to fly..." Ron sobbed at the glitter-light. "I want to go home!"

Ron felt himself sliding backward with the words of the light floating in his head. "There will be loss. There will be loss."

Now that the world isn't ending

Ron slammed back into his body in the Potion's dungeon before he could be brought to the infirmary. With shaking hands he reached up and hugged Hermione to him.

"Why are you shaking, Ron?" she asked quietly, rocking him gently. Harry laid his hand on Ron's shoulder.

"I Saw...I SAW."

"What did you see?"

"Harry...you can't kill Voldemort!"

The class cringed at the name. Harry squinted at Ron. "You know I don't go looking for him."

"I know...but there will be a final battle. You know that. I know that. We can't let that happen. It's a trick! If he dies so do you and then I have to lead the armies into battle and  Hermione--YOU DIE!" Ron blurted out very quickly. "I can't let you die. I can't let Harry die. Everybody says that he's this great savior for us but he'll have to die to save us and that's not fair and there has to be another way! We can't wait for Voldemort to strike!"

Harry laid his hand on one of Hermione's. "I wouldn't let that happen."

Ron winced a bit at the slight show of affection. But Hermione didn't seem to notice. He hoped.

It's love that I'm sending to you

It isn't the love of a hero

And that's why I fear it won't do

"Hermione..." Ron whispered. "I was so scared because I thought that you died. And I...I guess I'm just...We won but there will be loss. And I can't let you be a loss...or a sacrifice or anything else and...I'm so glad you're not dead and I killed so many when you died. They were unarmed and we're all children and..."

His vision was clear, but he couldn't form it in words. Harry squeezed Hermione's hand. Hermione pulled away from him to wipe the tears from Ron's cheeks.

"I think we should tell Dumbledore--" she started.

"Is that your solution for everything?" Ron chided half-heartedly.

And they say that a hero can save us

I'm not gonna stand here and wait

In Ron's mind, a dragon roared--

I hold on to the wings of the eagles

Watch as we all fly away

--and a Hippogryff screamed...

And they're watching us

They're watching us

And the Dementors and Dark Beasts fall away as they rise up on the wings of eagles with talons sharp and beaks held proud.

As we all fly away

And they're watching us

They're watching us

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The other students in the potions dungeon did not move, did not speak, did not breathe. They only watched as Harry and Hermione helped Ron up.

As we all fly away

Snape scraped the sides of the empty cauldron, looking for a last drop of potion. To no avail.

They're watching us

They're watching us

As we all fly away

Student and Dark Wizard merged as they stepped across the threshold of the dungeon, headed for Dumbedore's office. It made Ron remember that they were all children. All unarmed children, leading and being lead to the blood soaked skies.

Woah oh