THE NEW HEAVEN AND EARTH | RON WEASLEY [BOOK FIVE]

5. THE BRIGHEST STAR

"If we kill them, they'll know we were here." Hermione argued, making a good point which Gene wished she hadn't.

"It's better we wipe their memories." Harry said, nodding in agreement, though he frowned as he spoke.

"Hermione." Gene said, causing her to turn, "You're the best at spells." she stepped away, out of Ron's hold and faced away as Hermione cast the spell, feeling as though she truly might have been sick if she had to watch Dolohov be given the chance to live.

They decided not to stick around any longer, taking the back exit as they made their way onto the streets of London again, night having fallen on them. They moved quickly, glancing around themselves, paranoid. Gene flinched as a man ran toward them, though he quickly brushed past them and she felt a wave of relief wash over her.

"How is it they knew we were there?" Harry asked, nearly breathless as they sped up.

"Maybe you both still have the Trace on you." Hermione offered.

"Can't be. The Trace breaks at seventeen. It's Wizarding law." Ron countered, "We've got to get off the streets, get somewhere safe." Ron said, tucking his hands further into his pockets as he eyed the pedestrians around them warily.

"I have an idea." Gene said, nodding slightly.

She brought them to number twelve Grimmauld Place.

Gene unlocked the front door with the tap of her wand, stepping in front of the others, just in case they had any unwelcome visitors as the gas lamps sprung to life, illuminating the narrow cobwebbed hallway. They hadn't been back for a while and it was clear.

Just then, a great rush of cold air swept through the hallway as something shifted in the shadows at the end of the hall, rising from the carpet, tall, dust-coloured and horrifying- rushing toward them, causing Hermione to scream.

Gene's mouth went dry as she saw Dumbledore, and for a split second, she thought it was really him. But she blinked once, twice and saw a ghostly, worm-eaten Dumbledore, his corpse come to life, with empty looking eyes and a sunken face. It drew nearer before exploding, in a great cloud of dust, swirling like mist in the corridor, and falling back to the carpet.

"What was that about?" Ron asked breathlessly as they recovered from the sight.

"Mad-Eye's doing, I'd guess. In case Snape decided to come snooping." Hermione answered, swallowing thickly as they all gathered their composure, Gene most of all.

The sound of a floorboard creaking caused them to stiffen in their place, blinking as their eyes remained on the hallway. Slowly, Hermione drew her wand, peering into the shadows.

"Homenum Revelio." she said. Nothing came. Hermione lowered her wand before turning back to them, "We're alone."

Gene and Ron went upstairs to her old bedroom, next to Sirius' as they got on with gathering blankets and pillows and anything else they could spare, although it seemed as though someone else had done some searching of their own. The room was a tip, as well as the other rooms on the way up, and Gene imagined it was thanks to Snape. She wondered if he had gotten what he was looking for.

"Waste of a bed, don't you think?" Ron muttered as Gene handed him a few pillows, placing them in his arms one by one.

She turned fully now, raising an eyebrow as she balanced the last one on top, his chin lifting to see her over them.

"We could always share?" she offered, a hint of a smile on her lips and she watched his cheeks blush, right on cue. "I'm only teasing. Come on,"

Ron nodded quickly as she rested a hand on his upper arm, gathering the duvet in her arms in a heap and they made their way downstairs, leaving their conversation unfinished.

All together, they pushed two sofas on opposite ends of the drawing-room close to one another, only having enough space for one to sleep in each. Gene had assigned Harry and Hermione to each sofa for the night, not taking no for an answer as they begrudgingly set their beds up.

That left her and Ron. Going with the assumption that he didn't mind sleeping by her side, she lay cushions on the floor, covering them with a blanket to provide them some comfort.

She climbed into the makeshift bed on the floor, snuggling further into the thin blanket that lay over her, glancing to the side to find Ron already staring, before quickly averting his gaze. Gene noticed how he had formed a sort of wall between them using a pillow, which only made things more uncomfortable. Gene removed it entirely, placing it under her head instead as she turned onto her side, much closer to Ron now, her face inches away from his chest.

He had been roused awake from his light sleep by the movement, his breath catching in his throat as Gene was now practically pressed against his chest, eyes shut peacefully as he heard her light breathing. Ron swallowed hard, doing his best to not to move an inch for the rest of the night in case he disturbed her, because he knew how little she slept anyways.

But he was wrong. Gene wasn't sleeping at all, not really. She only pretended to be, so that Ron could fall asleep, because she knew how he would have stayed up all night until she did.

Once she could hear his light snoring, she opened her eyes, sinking further into the sheets as she glanced up at him, smiling a little as she watched him sleep peacefully now. Gene watched how the light of the moon casted a shadow of his long eyelashes across his cheek, the slight furrow of his brow and she wondered what he dreamt of as he slept beside her.

Gene tore her eyes from Ron's sleeping figure, watching the crescent moon outside their window. She found peace in it, inhaling and exhaling, her eyes trained on the sky and the stars that shone over them. She wondered if she could find the star Sirius. It was said to be the brightest star in the night sky, according to her books on Astronomy that she had studied last year.

It made perfect sense to her.