Harry Potter and the Little Prince

Chapter 8- The Rest of The Week

While the rest of the day went by fast and free, Ron got to see Harry once again after the evening holiday had passed. The funeral and feast were held in a private chapel, and after a few hours of silence with no one else around, it was time for Ron to say goodbye to his friends.

“Hey guys, I’m so sorry, I know I’m a bit of a brat but I just… I just wanted to make clear that I think you should stay here for now,” he said as he walked over to Hermione, “and I will continue to visit your place until the end of this month. Thanks for being the best summer Harry, and thank you for listening to me. Bye, guys.”

It took only moments for Ron to exit the chapel and walk back to his room, a tear in the corner of his eye as he thought about everything that had happened. Harry was gone, so what? He always believed that things weren’t going to turn out to the way he wanted anyway, but he still felt guilty and had to get help to fix his problems. This time his problems weren’t caused by him, but were caused by the way Harry and Hermione had treated themselves. For Ron, that was too much. He just really didn’t like the killing curse anymore.

On the way to the dorms, he was interrupted when he stopped after some fruit cake. While enjoying the cake that he had, he noticed a young boy looking down his side, laughing. It was the little prince, Ron noticed, that had gone nuts when he heard about Hermione’s death.

“She knew I should be the one to start killing again, but she never told me,” he said as he pulled out a large pair of dark-haired scissors. “That was the least she could have done, she knows how much I hate being left hanging up over the summer.” He started slashing, trying to take care of the pain but not finding his cutters at all effective. “I told Harry, you can’t stop me any more,” he added, pulling himself off the chopping board, smiling to himself while he walked away.

“Poor guy didn’t have a great life when he was growing up either,” Ron said, not quite pleased to see the little kid who had gone mad. He smiled to himself while eating some fruit cake, walking towards Gryffindor tower. Ron was still very happy, despite being very disappointed with this year. He remembered when Cedric died, but didn’t want to remember it. He wasn’t good at crying, or at taking care of himself. So he would probably try not to think of it, anyway.

Just before he reached the Tower for his very first time, Ron found himself in the hall of the Chamber of Secrets as Harry’s funeral procession passed. He tried to ignore it as fast as possible, looking around the grounds.

And then a hand touched him, and he froze. It touched him on the forehead, but nothing really happened.

“Weasley, don’t be afraid, just relax,” a voice told him soothingly. Ron recognized it immediately, as if it had been in his thoughts during his childhood. It was Draco Malfoy, and he was the one who had touched him.

Ron was silent for a moment, wondering what had become of his mind now, but then he heard the voice again.

“Come with me, Weasley, this is Malfoy’s time to shine,” it said.

Ron shook his head, and he walked forward. Draco Malfoy smiled slightly as he led him through the hall of the Chamber of Secrets.

“Weasley,” he said. “You have made a very important choice in this life. It is time to do something you could never have dreamed of having done, for it is not possible to imagine the end to this journey.”

Ron nodded, and he was in the exact same position that he had been in the past. He had felt as if the world was slipping through him, only it was just not there.

“Malfoy, you’re not safe, are you?” he asked.

“Not safe,” Malfoy said, and he leaned forwards to sit next to him, watching him with some amusement. “There is no safe place to be now. It has become impossible for you and I to survive. I have only one chance, and you are the only one I can rely on. The only one.”