In Darkness Secrets Lie

Chapter Five - Betrayal

Ron blinked once - twice - and tried to see through the annoying blur in his eyes.

Where was he? What just happened?

'Oh, that's right....'

He was curled up on the floor in the secret room and he was acutely aware that every single muscle and joint in his body was aching. Worse than all of that, however, was the throbbing in his head. The pain was worse than any other headache he'd ever had and when he tried to stand, he staggered before regaining his balance.

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhh," he moaned, reaching up to rub his temple. "Why...."

Something nagged at him, like he should have been doing something important, but all he wanted to do was find a bed and sleep for the next few weeks - however long it took for him to feel better. He stumbled over to the oak wood door and pushed. It didn't open.

"No," he breathed, pushing it with more force.

"You can't leave yet, Ronald."

He twisted his neck around to see Hermione standing in the corner. She was staring at him with an intense fire in her eyes that he'd seen her use only when studying something very intriguing. When she spoke next, he was surprised to hear a hint of uncertainty in her voice.

"What just happened?"

Her wand was aimed directly at him, very business-like, but he knew she wouldn't do anything to him. At least nothing seriously life-threatening. Besides, he could tell that she was more curious than vengeful simply by hearing her speak.

"Wh...what do you mean, 'what just happened'?" He groaned and slumped down on the floor. "You tell me."

"You were standing still and then you passed out."

"Oh. Um -"

"For your information, Ron, that wasn't supposed to happen."

"Ah...."

She stalked over to him, grabbed him by the collar, and placed the tip of her wand on his Adam's apple. "I need to know. So tell me."

"Tell you what?" he shot back. "I already told you what happened!"

"Not that," she countered, shaking her head. Hermione squinted, staring into his eyes. After a moment of deliberation, she muttered, "Damn it. Damn it!"

Abruptly, she let go of him and began pacing furiously around the room. Ron blinked again. He began to wonder why Hermione was acting so strangely - or at least more strangely than she had been when she'd attacked him - but his skull was still pulsing and thoughts came to him painfully and slowly.

"H-Hermione?" he ventured, taking a step closer to her.

"What?!" she snarled, jabbing her wand at him.

Ron backed away, hands in the air. "I just wanted to ask you if you're all right. You're looking a bit peaky."

"Don't make me hex you."

"Fine." Ron walked over to the door, intent on leaving, but it was still locked. "Can you let me out?"

He glanced over at her and saw her lips were parted, as if she had been about to say, "No, of course not," but instead she remained silent, watching him. If Ron's head wasn't spinning so wildly, he might have been able to hear the gears spinning in Hermione's.

Her face lit up and she waved her wand at the door. A latch clicked and it creaked open a few inches.

"You know what, Ron?" She smiled slyly. "Why don't you leave now?"

He stared back at her, wondering if he'd heard her right.

"Go on," she urged, pushing him towards the door.

"B-but how do I leave?"

Hermione tsked, more at herself than at Ron. How could she have forgotten he didn't have a way to leave World's End? Her gaze traveled around the room and settled on a silver goblet on a shelf. She summoned it over to her and then murmured, "Portus."

Ignoring the gasp of disbelief coming from Ron, she hastily pressed it into his hands and gave him a good shove out of the secret room. He looked at her questioningly.

"It'll activate on its own in only a few seconds," she said.

"But -"

With a flash of light and a magical gust of wind, Ron disappeared before he could ask his question.

Hermione sighed and anxiously tapped her foot on the ground.

"Harry's not going to be very happy when he finds out I've just released Ron," she whispered to herself. "And he's going to be downright angry when he finds out that he's gone missing...."

She continued to pace around the bland room, her brain running at full speed. The Speaker had been supposed to convert Ron into one of them, but for some reason the process had failed and Ron was still Ron. Worse than that, though, was the fact that Ron had managed to fight the Speaker...and now the Speaker was gone. It was a frightening prospect to know that an entity as powerful as the Speaker was missing, banished, or even dead, but it wasn't nearly as frightening as what Harry would do when he heard the news that his plan was falling to pieces.

Hermione chewed on her lip. Ron's Portkey had brought him to a part of Muggle London, which was something he'd have discovered by now, no doubt. Maybe he was already on his way to the Leaky Cauldron, and from there he could Floo back to the Burrow.... She figured that he'd be back to the rest of the Weasleys and the Order in no more than an hour.

So she had an hour to come up with a plan to save herself from the Order...and from Harry.

But no, that wasn't right either.

'The Order probably already knows I'm up to something. After all, Ginny saw me Disapparate from St. Mungo's....'

Hermione cursed, wishing she knew what time it was.

"Okay," she said out loud, breathing deeply, trying to calm herself. It was time to think about things logically. "The Order knows about me. If the Order knows my secret, then Harry knows that they know. But...."

She trailed off. It was all so confusing, and yet...she could feel that she was close to coming up with a brilliant plan, but what was it?

The distinct crack of Apparation sounded in the distance, echoing along the halls until it reached Hermione's ears. She gulped and drew her wand.

She wasn't going down without a fight.

OoOoO

"Hermione? A spy?" Ginny blurted out. The disbelief was apparent in her voice and in the way she was now gawking at the four wizards standing in front of her.

Remus cleared his throat. "There's no other answer...she fits the role. If you'll pardon me saying this, but Hermione's the only one of you clever enough to know how to create a Portkey."

"And you knew this how?"

"The first night the boys went missing," said Moody, scowling. "There was no way that Harry and Ron could have been magicked past my watch unless it was by Portkey. Miss Granger must have sneaked into their room and Portkey'd them both away, one by one. Harry must have been first...and then your brother must have realized what was going on and tried to stop her."

"Which would explain why we found his broken wand," added Ginny reluctantly, not wanting to believe this new information.

"Precisely," remarked Remus.

"B...but it just can't be Hermione...."

"I'm sorry, Ginny, but all of the evidence points to her."

Sensing that she wanted to be left alone, the four wizards walked away and left her standing at the foot of the stairs, feeling very lost and alone. She looked up and saw the kitchen door up ahead was open; beyond she could see it was full of Order members. The meeting hadn't begun yet, judging by the din of conversation. Ginny crept up and paused just before the threshold.

'I don't care if I'm too young,' she thought bitterly to herself. 'I'm certainly old enough to find out that my best friend is a Death Eater.'

Across the room, she saw her mother sitting next to the twins. They made eye contact, and in that instant an understanding passed between the two Weasley women. Mrs. Weasley beckoned to Ginny and she hurried over.

It was just in time as well, since Albus Dumbledore stood up at the head of the table, gesturing for silence.

"I am glad to see that all of you were able to make it here on such short notice," he began, a satisfied expression on his face. "I'm sure many of you are already aware of what I am about to say, but for those of you who haven't heard yet...." He sighed and Ginny thought she saw his shoulders slump a bare fraction of an inch. "We've found our spy. It is Hermione Granger."

Ginny's eyes found Remus, whose face was set into a grim look of determination. Next to him, Shacklebolt was nodding, Moody was still scowling, and Gérard sat in his seat peering intently at Dumbledore. A quick look around the table told her that many of those in the Order appeared shocked, but there were even more witches and wizards who bore expressions of disgust and anger. The betrayal at Grimmauld Place was still fresh in the minds of all who were assembled. A second traitor was absolutely intolerable.

She shifted uncomfortably in her chair. The Order would be out for blood this time.

Shacklebolt stood at the behest of Dumbledore, and the attention in the room shifted to the intense Auror.

"By means which I do not wish to disclose at this time, I have been able to track Miss Granger's movement for the last few weeks."

Ginny frowned. 'He suspected her from the start of his investigation? And how did he track her?'

She listened closely as he continued.

"Every few days, Miss Granger was able to drop completely out of sight of my surveillance, and up until recently, I was unable to determine her whereabouts at these times. But now, with the help of a new informant...."

Shacklebolt stepped aside to reveal Ron, who rose to his feet, flashed everybody a weak grin, and then sat back down again.

Ginny gasped; beside her Mrs. Weasley cried out, and the twins jumped up in their seats and began whispering animatedly between one another.

"I've assembled a team," Shacklebolt went on. "We will be heading to Ron's place of imprisonment, a place known as World's End, in search of Miss Granger. That is all."

The rest of the meeting sped by in the blink of an eye, and soon enough, the Weasleys were reunited with Ron.

"Ron! I'm so...so relieved..."

"I was worried sick for days...."

"We had a bet that you'd come back with a missing eye like Moody..."

"...and now you owe us three Sickles, Ron."

The twins slapped him on the back as Mrs. Weasley enveloped him in a bone-crushing hug. Ginny smiled. He was finally back! Both of them were, both Harry and Ron! She should have been ecstatic, she should have been jumping up and down, overjoyed by their return....

But she wasn't.

The betrayal of Hermione loomed over her and prevented her from celebrating as fully as she wanted to.

The two of them had shared a room for the last few weeks, spent hours together wondering when Ron was going to come back...and now to discover that it had all been a lie....

It was all too much to take in at once, and she began to weep; she cried out with both joy and sorrow. In the commotion of the dispersing meeting and her elated family members, no one noticed her brush the tears away from her eyes.

OoOoO

"Is everybody ready?"

When it remained silent, Shacklebolt nodded and produced an old hat.

"A Portkey?" asked Gérard.

"Albus," replied Moody.

"Ah, oui, but where is it going to take us?"

"Ron showed up with a used Portkey. Albus took it and was able to figure out where it came from - don't ask me how - and now we're going to be on our way. Please," Shacklebolt pointed to the hat. "Everybody hold on tight and keep your wands ready. We don't know what's going to be waiting for us on the other side."

Nobody else spoke up.

"Right, then. On three. One...two...three!"

OoOoO

Dozens of mediwizards and mediwitches hustled along the ever-busy hallways of St. Mungo's, but there was a nervous feeling in the air that was unusual. Dilys walked from frame to frame, watching them curiously. Confused, she turned to ask the occupant of the current frame she was in - a knight in armor - what was going on.

"E-excuse me...sir?"

"Sir Corwin," the knight replied courteously. "How may I be of service, milady?"

"Could you tell me what's got all of them -" she nodded her head out at the bustling hallway "- riled up? I've been wandering around for twenty minutes and I still have no clue what they're all going on about."

"Ah!" Sir Corwin gasped. He leaned in closer to Dilys and asked in a whisper, "No one has told you yet?"

She shook her head.

"It's the Potter boy," he explained.

"Has his condition worsened?" Dilys questioned, feeling worry rising in her chest.

"No, milady. He's gone missing."

OoOoO

Hermione hurried from room to room, searching for a good place for an ambush, but Ron's earlier words came back to her and she heard him saying, "They're all the bloody same, Hermione!"

The Order would be here in minutes. She had only that much time to act.

It wouldn't be possible for her to make another Portkey in such a short amount of time - she'd spent too much of her energy on the first one and she could feel the fatigue spreading in her limbs as she sprinted down the long corridors of World's End. Ditto for Disapparating...she didn't feel like Splinching herself trying to make her getaway. Hermione was left with only one option, and that was to hide or fight. Since there were no decent hiding spots at World's End (the secret room wouldn't keep out a determined wizard with a wand), her only option was to fight.

She ducked inside a bedroom and pressed herself as close to the wall as she could. Maybe if someone was careless they would walk right by her....

Her heartbeat quickened as she heard footsteps. Closing her eyes, she concentrated on the sound, trying to pinpoint the relative direction her opponent was coming from....

"Wait...only one person...?" she muttered to herself.

Cautiously, she poked her head around the corner, expecting to see Albus Dumbledore himself striding toward her, his brilliant violet robes flowing behind him like water. Instead, she saw someone far more intimidating than he.

Harry Potter smiled as he saw Hermione staring at him in fear.

"Hello, Hermione," he drawled. "Fancy seeing you here."

"H-Harry...I...I...."

He pointed his wand at her. "Enough of that, now. Stupefy."

Author's Note:

Another chapter finished! Good? Bad? Reviews are appreciated :)

On an unrelated note, you can surely imagine my complete and abject horror at discovering that the third Pirates of the Caribbean movie is entitled "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End."

I swear I came up with World's End on my own...but since that movie is going to end up being much more popular than this story.... Oh well.

VacantSkies

Ryan

5/1/07