Starring: Ron

He stared into Bill's crowded flat and sighed. "Do you think you could have gotten one smaller?" Bill just smiled at him, his laughter evident in his eyes. Ron sighed again and set his trunk down among assorted articles of...clothing? Or rather he HOPED it was clothing.

After his two-year reign as star Quidditch Chaser for his favourite team, the Chudley Cannons, Ron had finally decided to try a different way of life. He loved Quidditch. He probably knew more about the game than any other wizard. For some reason, however, Ron grew more and more disgruntled at his lack of future. The thought of playing with the Cannons until he became too old for the sport and had no promising prospects remaining open to him, left Ron despondent.

It was with these apathetic thoughts in mind that Ron had accepted his brother's advice to apply to Gringott's for their vacant Strategist position. He would work closely with his brother and a few other witches and wizards to recover treasures for the bank. The reason he had been offered the job at all was that his brother had vouched for him and offered examples of his merit. He was in a 'short-term probationary period' at the moment.

Ron sighed again and finally let a smile hitch up the corner of his mouth as he glanced around his brother's chaotic abode. "I suppose," he said, his mouth slowly growing into a grin, "that it's the bachelor's life for me now, eh?"

"Oh yes," replied Bill, with a grin mirroring his brother's.

~o~

Ron looked around at the impressive grey stone room with its single marble desk. An ancient goblin sat behind the desk, arms resting comfortably along the top. He read a nameplate at the edge of the desk, 'Giminy'.

The goblin startled him, "We have been informed of a possible profitable interest over by the ancient ruins of Akhet-Aten. Researchers found an unidentified tomb that struck our interest. We would like you to take care of this, Bill. You will take Ronald and Bridgette."

After handing Bill a folder with all the details he picked up a quill and began scratching away on the piles of parchment around him. Evidently this was a discharge as Bill silently stood up and left, beckoning Ron to follow.

"So," Ron started, "do we have an office or anything?"

Bill laughed, "Hardly. They owl us when they need us. The rest of the time is ours to do with as we wish. Of course, we usually spend a lot of time researching possible treasure sources or for more information that may help us later. You never know what you may need."

Ron digested the new information and tried to re-align his vision of what the job would actually entail. Bill interrupted his thoughts by declaring that they needed to go to see Bridgette and let her know what was going on. They Apparated from Gringott's Bank, Egypt, to outside Bill's place in Cairo and walked about a mile to Bridgett's flat and knocked on the door.

A slightly dishevelled, but pretty young woman opened the door. "No! I don't...oh...Bill. How nice, come in." She looked slightly sheepish as she opened the door wider for him to come in. "I'm so sorry; some salesperson keeps coming over and trying to get me to buy some gadget to cut watermelon. You never know..." she trailed off. "You must be Ron. Bill told me you would be starting soon."

Ron smiled at her distracted conversation. "Yes."

She smiled and nodded to Bill, "Likes to talk a lot, this one," and winked at Ron. "Please sit, would you like a drink?" Both Bill and Ron declined and Bill set to telling Bridgett the scant details on their new assignment. He handed her the folder and sat back as she perused it.

"So what's the deal on this Pharaoh Akiaki or whatever," Ron asked.

"Erm..." Bridgette hummed distractedly, "hmm? Oh yes, Akhenaten," she corrected. "Well he reigned as Pharaoh in Egypt from 1353 to 1335 B.C. He was important in the development of Egyptian art in his times. But he was somewhat of a dictator. I'm sure you know that Egypt had many deities. However, Akhenaten believed the deity Aten to be the only god. He extinguished all other cults throughout Egypt and forced the people to worship only Aten. He even caused all mentions of one of the gods, Amun-Re, to be completely scratched out wherever they were. Of course, there were hundreds of years of tradition behind all these gods, the people of Egypt were furious. You don't SAY any of this to the Pharaoh though...you'd be killed. So they went along with it. But when he died they obliterated the city and tomb he created. They practically erased all memory of him and brought back their old gods. To this day no one has found his body."

"Wow," Ron breathed. "Does she always know stuff off the top of her head like this?" he whispered to Bill.

He nodded. "I told you we read a lot," he said grinning.

There was a pause. Then, "Perfect," she announced as she handed the folder back to Bill, "we'll meet tomorrow morning then, your place?" Bill agreed and he and Ron Apparated home.

~o~

"India?" Ron was confused. "I thought you did all of your treasure hunting in Egypt."

"Well, Egypt has a lot of hidden treasures...probably a lot more than we even know. But Egypt doesn't have the monopoly. Just think of the Imperial Palace and Forbidden City in China. These people were rich! The Taj Mahal in India was elaborate. We've even been to the old Benin kingdom in Africa. The bronze sculptures we found are valuable in only a historic and artistic sense, true. But we sold some of them to Muggles for extremely high prices. The rest are with the Ministry of Magic in the Department of Muggle Affairs or at various wizard schools for Muggle History lessons. Valuables are everywhere." Bill continued to expound on other places that he had been but Ron's thoughts were elsewhere.

Why was he always out of the loop? He never knew anything other than Quidditch and Hogwarts. "But then," he reflected silently, "at least I'm learning. I could still be playing Quidditch, in my own little world, oblivious to all other things." He finally came back when Bill asked him if he thought he was ready for the next day.

"I suppose so. I mean, I don't know really what it's going to be like. But then, I usually don't." He picked at a loose thread on the worn chair he was sitting in.

"You'll do fine. Every venture is different. Some involve a lot of activity while other can be completely boring. But Bridgett and I are going to be with you. You won't ever be alone and this will give you a chance to get yourself used to everything. We always work in teams of two or more...just in case."

"Oh great...that makes me feel sooo much better," Ron complained but then smiled broadly at his brother. His feet tapped the floor twice in succession and belied his almost childlike enthusiasm for his adventure the next day.

~o~

Despite what Bill had said the previous day about treasure hunting in other places, they were, indeed, still in Egypt. Some wizarding researchers had discovered an underground, unmarked tomb about fifty miles from ancient Pharaoh Akhenaten's city Akhet-Aten. Unable to pass the outer room they had informed Gringott's, whose reputation for such things was legend.

Ron stared out at the desolation of the desert. The heat was stifling and dry. Even though it was December it was eighty degrees, very much unlike Britain. A slight wind eddied the sands into swirling shapes barely discernible to the naked eye. He felt the hem of his robes moving slightly in the small breeze. He shielded his eyes against the harsh sunlight and looked over the grounds. There was no hint that there was a tomb but they knew the entrance was there. The opening to the tomb had been covered during the night by the ever-present sand.

Bill approached the spot where they knew the entrance to be and uttered a few words to clear the sand from the opening. "Alohomora," he said, unlocking the door. He reached down and tugged the door open. Bridgett went down first casting 'Lumos' so they could see, Ron went second and Bill followed lastly. Ron shortly cast 'Lumos' to leave Bridgett's wand free.

Ron ran his left hand along the wall beside him, while his right hand held his wand upright. He felt the lines along the wall where the bricks had been placed together and carvings had been chiselled out. As they went lower, the air got cooler yet staler. Bridgett used 'Incendio' to burn away the cobwebs and dust before her, but could do nothing about the sand that covered every part. Ron looked at his fingers and rubbed them together feeling the grainy substance grating between his fingertips.

The trio had descended the stairs and now stood in an open room filled with columns to support the roof. True to early Egyptian architecture, there was little space between the large columns, as compared to Roman architecture, and the room seemed small and oppressive.

They wandered the room looking at the carvings and trying to find the next step. Finally Bridgett made a noise ("oh!"). She cast a complex spell and the entire wall opened in a burst of light before them.

All that was revealed was a stone slab only three by three feet atop a flat rock four feet off the ground. On the slab there were several small holes that wound around the board sectioned into two halves. The stone was not quite flat and was painted to represent a mountain, an oasis, several palms trees were scattered over the board and sand. Everywhere, everything was sand. Around the mountain were positioned 10 pegs. Five were topped with miniature representations of the heads of jackals and the other five with the heads of hounds. In the very centre were two knucklebones. (A/N: Ancient form of dice) Ron looked down at the front of the rock and saw writing there. "Can anyone read this?"

Bill looked at the space Ron indicated. "It's simple really." He performed a small charm making the writing reassemble itself into English. He informed Ron that it only worked on that particular language and that, later, he would teach Ron some others.

Ron read the inscription:

You have found my ancient grounds

By no small or simple feat

But no large skill will help you now

But only capricious luck indeed

If the fate you suffer now

Is defeat and not success

Choose wisely which you do

Play and risk or leave and live

For you will receive just punishment

He groaned.

"What is it?" asked Bill.

"Hounds and Jackals. Lovely, ancient game, quite like Snakes and Ladders," Ron replied sarcastically. "You have to roll the knucklebones to move your pieces. Only a six or one will get your pieces out onto the board. Two spaces for each player are 'roll again'. If you land on certain spots," he pointed out a peg hole six places in and another eight places in, "you are moved forward to their counter-holes." He ran his finger down the river like groove to the counter-hole of the first. "And in reverse if you land on these counter-holes you are moved backwards. You have to make it to the last peg hole by an exact number and the piece will move into the oasis. So in a way the game is part strategy and," he pointed at the knucklebones, "part luck."

"There aren't any numbers," Bridgett pointed out.

"It's okay, I know what they are. I read a book on ancient games Hermione sent me one summer when I was particularly bored," he replied flashing brief, yet bright, grin in her direction. "What do you think the punishment will be?"

Bill cleared his throat. "Well, you see, this is why we get paid so much...we're not really sure." Ron gave him a slightly shocked look. "Look, now is the time to back out if it's too much Ron. This is only your trial time. But Bridgette and I are very knowledgeable on counter curses and what to do in sticky situations. The choice is yours."

Ron swallowed uncomfortably and looked into his brother's understanding face. "Well...I haven't really got much to lose," he forced a rather grim smile and moved to the board. His left hand hovered over the knucklebones, his right clutched his wand, and with a sudden move he caught the dice up into his hand. He felt a small tingle and rightly assumed that he was being bound into the game. He sighed resignedly and tossed the dice into the centre of the board. "Six, wow. First shot," he told them, his voice trembling slightly. He touched the first jackal in the row and it moved six spaces and, following the rules, proceeded onward to its counter-hole fourteen spaces forward. The dice rolled themselves and showed three. His turn again. They went on for five minutes varying between who was winning. Ron was sweating and the hounds were winning. They were exactly tied after eight minutes, both having a piece one hole away from the end. They were both rolling for one and at a stalemate almost. Ron threw the knucklebones and gave an exultant yell! His last jackal moved to the last peg hole and retired in the oasis.

Suddenly the left wall of the small room opened up to reveal yet another room. This one was filled with...pixies?

Hundreds of stone statuettes filled the brown brick room. The statues looked like pixies, but like none that Ron had ever seen. The bodies were small, no more than seven inches high, and the heads were large. They had pointy ears and tiny fingers. Their eyes were like saucers filling up half their faces and Ron swore he could see small, pointy teeth poling out of their closed mouths. Ron looked confusedly at the pixies at glanced at Bill.

"Egyptian Piranha Pixies. Most likely extinct nowadays, no one has seen one in over a hundred years. But there must be four hundred here!" Bill shook his head in wonder at the sight.

"But what do we DO with them?" Ron asked.

Bill shook his head and the three of them walked forward into the room. They stopped about two feet into the room and peered about. Bridgette took a few cautious steps forward and suddenly the entire room came to life! Ron felt sharp teeth sink into his body in a hundred different places and screamed in pain. He did the only thing he could think of; he used the same freezing charm Hermione had used seven years ago in their Defense Against the Dark Arts class with Lockhart.

In an instant his entire body stopped motion. His wand arm was still hovering in mid-air, his mouth open. Bill and Bridgette had just gotten out of the room when they looked back to find Ron dead-still in the middle of the room.

"RON!!! Get out!" Bridgette screamed. They watched the pixies tearing at his skin. She and Bill turned around and shoved back into the room grabbing Ron's arms and hauling him out of the room. As soon as they had left the statues fell to the ground, stone once again.

"Why the HELL didn't you move?!" Bill asked, outraged. Ron simply stared at them, his eyes conveying confusion.

Curious, Bridgette pointed her wand at Ron, "Finite Incantatum." Ron's arms fell to his sides and he looked in bewilderment at them. "What did you do, Ron?" she asked.

"It was just a Freezing Charm," he replied. "But it backfired I think." He scratched his head in confusion and winced. Looking at his arms he saw blood flowing from innumerable punctures in his body. "Ohhh," he moaned, just before fainting.

~o~

Ron awoke in a strange room with a sheet straining tightly over his body. He tried to sit up and the world became a spinning mass of color. He slumped back down onto the pillow with a groan. His movement had alerted Bridgette, however, and she came to the bed and placed a hand concernedly on his arm.

"Thank God, you're awake. Oh, how silly of me. We were just so worried. Bill assured me you would be okay. 'Grew up with Fred and George after all didn't he?'" she finished with a perfect imitation of Bill, goofy smile and all. She bit her lip and a nervous look entered her eye.

Ron looked at her in disbelief. "Does this girl ever make sense?" he thought to himself. "What happened?" he asked aloud.

"You don't remember the pixies?" she asked incredulously looking even more worried.

"No, I remember the pixies, I just don't remember why I'm HERE," he replied irritably.

"Oh." Looking relieved she went on, "Well, the pixies had ripped you up pretty badly. You fainted from loss of blood. We brought you to the hospital. They patched you up and gave you blood." At this point Ron reached up and touched his face with his gauze-covered arms and felt patches of something all over his face, apparently covering wounds.

"Was it really that bad?" he asked. She arched her eyebrow and did not reply. He sighed. "Where's Bill?"

"He just stepped out to get some lunch. He should be back any minute." She looked over his body and back up to his face and shook her head.

"I guess I was pretty stupid, yeah? Just letting loose a spell without knowing anything," he let out. He looked like a child who had just tried to ride a broom for the first time and fallen off.

Bridgette laughed, "Not really, it was a good charm at least...It could have worked. You really never know what's going to happen, but now you know to think first." She paused for a moment, lost in thought, and then went on, "On my second assignment I dropped my wand in a pool and dove into get it. Just like that I just jumped in. I came out all purple, itchy and madly in love with the first person I saw. That just happened to be my partner and best friend Victoria." She blushed. "Let's just say that was an...interesting situation." She and Ron both laughed and suddenly he felt a bit better.

Just then Bill walked in, bag in hand. He looked concernedly into his brother's face and, supposedly, seeing what he wanted focused on Ron's expression of embarrassment and Bridgette's flaming cheeks. Both his eyebrows shot up. "I-it's...stop looking at me like that, Bill! It's not like that!" Ron stuttered. Bill laughed at his brother's now fiery face and sat down.

He pulled some sandwiches out of the bag and handed them out. They all settled back, chewing. Ron asked, "So what do we do about the pixies?"

Bridgette and Bill exchanged looks. "Well," Bill began, "we took care of it. It was incredibly tedious. Bridgette and I, along with a few others simply tossed in muggle ropes and dragged them out one by one. They only became alive if someone stepped into the room. Nothing happened when we hauled them out. This was, of course, AFTER we spent days trying to figure out HOW we would get it under control."

Ron sniggered. "Almost makes me glad I was attacked and shredded by pixies," was his sarcastic reply. Bridgette whipped her head up and looked with shock at Ron. After a moment she relaxed slightly and grinned at him, pinched his toe and resumed eating.

Ron was quiet for a moment. "Just how long was I out? I didn't miss all of it did I?" he asked. His eyes were on Bill, practically pleading.

"Three weeks and of course not," he replied. "This is not an open and shut case. We're going back tomorrow; you should be perfectly fine by then." Ron nodded. Bill reached into the bag and pulled out a book. "In the meantime I brought you a little something to pass the time."

Ron looked at the cover and read, Ancient and Modern Creatures of Magical Africa. He raised his eyebrow and looked at Bill. Bill shrugged, "I told you we read a lot." He winked at Ron and Apparated.

Bridgette stood up slowly, stretching. Ron watched her arms stretch toward the sky as she lithely leaned back. "Well, I'm going to head off now. I'll stop by later tonight. Happy reading." With that she Apparated as well and left Ron with his book.

He opened to the index and began reading through the creatures listed. "This reminds me of Hermione," he mused. "I'm going to be just like her...oh no," he groaned to no one at all. He paused to recall his days at Hogwarts involving Hermione and books and blushed violently. Quickly he turned his attention back to the book and his finger paused on "Egyptian Piranha Pixies...pg 289." Flipping to the page he began to read:

"This species of pixie became endangered in the late 500s AD. The poisonous breed of pixie was hunted down and methodically extinguished after a particularly heavy breeding season that resulted in a one hundred percent increase in their population. Their poisonous venom, which is transferred to the victim with its bite, was, until 912 AD, incurable and deadly. Wizard Jonin Hienes discovered the anti-venom in 912 AD after thousands of laborious hours, during which time his daughter, who had been infected, died uncured.

Even after the discovery, treatment is difficult as it involves the brewing of a complicated potion, which takes thirteen days to complete and has to be made fresh. As the victim only has two weeks until the venom will completely stop the bodily functions of the body, he must find a capable potions maker within the first hour of being bitten. Even after treatment has been administered the patient has only a seventy-five percent chance of surviving and the percentage drops considerably for every bite received over three. As the pixies did not usually live together this was never really considered a difficulty..."

At this point Ron stopped reading, horrified. He thought back to the incident and recalled looking down at his arms which had been covered by bites. He touched his arms and face feeling the many patches and paled. No wonder Bill and Bridgett had looked so concerned. "I'm pretty concerned too!!!" he thought vehemently. "Why didn't anyone tell me?" Then he recalled that Bill HAD given him the book. Looking back at the book and thinking on how long Bill had said he was out, he assumed that all was fairly well now. But why hadn't his mum come? Ron was suddenly tired. He laid the book down on the table beside his bed and succumbed to dream-filled sleep.