Dark Pasts { A Harry Potter Story }

Chapter 93 - Ron's Tale

"Ron, is that you?" I said hesitantly.

He froze.

"Elizabeth?" he said. "Bloody hell, is that really you?"

I let out a sound between a giggle and a sob. "Yes, it's me."

He ran the rest of the way and I threw myself in his arms. Both of us laughed and cried as we held each other. When he pulled away my smile vanished and I stared at him.

"Did you have anything to do with it?" I asked angrily.

"What?" he said before his eyes widened in realization. "No! No, of course not!"

"Ronald Weasley," I said, "you'd better be telling the damn truth!"

"I didn't know, I swear!" he said loudly.

"What in Merlin's beard are you doing here?" I asked, then a sudden, horrifying thought occurred to me. "Where are Harry and Hermione?"

"Don't worry, they're alright," he said as he noted my trembling voice.

I nodded slowly and he moved in to hug me once more.

"I missed you," he said.

"I missed you too."

I lead him back toward the cottage, where Bill, Fleur and Remus were still chatting in the sitting room.

"Look who I found outside," I said.

"Ron?" Bill said before jumping up to hug his brother. "What on earth are you doing here?"

"It's a long story," he said.

"You muzt be exhauzted," Fleur said. "Come, I will show you to za guestroom."

I followed them up to the stairs and into the guestroom. Once Fleur had left and shut the door I turned to Ron.

"Well?" I said. "Are you going to tell me what you're doing here?"

"Right," he said. "Well, we got into a bit of a fight."

"You and Harry?" I said incredulously.

"Yeah," he said in a low voice. "But I didn't mean anything I said! It was the Horcrux. . . ."

"Huh?"

"Oh, right," he said. "I mean the locket. I was wearing the locket and — "

"Hold on," I said. "You found the real one?"

"Yeah!" He said. "You won't believe it, Mundungus stole it!"

"Really?"

He nodded. "And turned out he sold it to Umbridge!"

"You're not serious!" I said as I stared at him in shock.

"No, it's true," he said. "So then we had to steal it back. So —"

"That's why you guys went to the Ministry!" I said, finally understanding.

"Yeah," Ron said. "So, anyway, we took turns wearing the locket to keep it safe. But when you wear it it's like. . . . I don't know it sort of changes you. It's like that bit of Vo—"

I felt my heart leap inside my chest. "NO!" I shouted, causing him to stare at me in bewilderment. "Sorry," I said, "you can't say his name anymore, it's taboo."

"What?"

"Using his name breaks protective enchantments. That's how they track people," I explained.

"Bloody hell," he said and I nodded. "That must be how they tracked us at Tottenham Court after the wedding!" He mused and I looked at him in questioning.