Dozens of people filled the burrow. Groups were arranged in fours, standing in perfect lines around the living room. Bill, Charlie, Percy and George made one line. Kingsley and his three top aurors made another. Harry's squad was there, adding eight more, and Ginny, Angelina, Arthur and Molly made up the last group. Ron stood at the center of the room, Harry slightly behind him. Harry's squad had never seen him take the number two position before, but nobody was complaining, not even Harry himself. No one in the room was under any illusion that anyone but Ron was calling the shots.
"Hoxley, you and your men take the north field," Ron said sternly, pointing to the group he was addressing. "Krayshen, you guard the south. Kingsley, take your squad to the east and Bill, head to the west. Mum, Dad, take Angelina and Ginny and guard the perimeter, but stay within the wards."
Ginny opened her mouth to protest, but Harry silenced her with a look and held out his badge.
"It's an order," Harry said firmly.
"And what will you and Harry cover?" Kingsley asked.
"All of it," Ron replied, his face set in a stony expression. The groups set out with that, moving quickly through different exit doors of the burrow. Ron could hear their movements, footsteps and slamming doors. Some men boarded brooms to take to the air for a peripheral view and some were on foot, spreading out to search the extensive grounds for Hermione. And everyone knew it was only a matter of time before the party was crashed by the death eaters.
"Ron, what do I do?" Lavender asked as Ron was almost out the door. He sighed and turned back to her.
"Stay here, please? Don't get yourself hurt."
"What about you?" Lavender said, tearing up. Ron felt sorry for her for the first time in two days. "I think you should stay here, too. It's not safe for you out there."
Ron studied Lavender, noticing his Mum standing beside her. Molly watched the display, looking for Ron's reaction, as if checking to see if he would heed Lavender's request. Molly had lost a son already and wasn't ready to send another one off, not on a night when it had all but been decreed he should be killed.
"Consider it Ron?" Molly asked quietly, her face strained and her hands clutching at each other. "Don't be reckless."
Ron heard her, but the words were useless. This had been decided a long time ago. Past and future generations knew it, Hermione seemed to know it, looking at them now he could tell Lavender and Mum knew it, too. He himself had known it all along. Ron Weasley would die for the woman he loved.
"It's Hermione, Mum."
With that, he turned and exited the safety of his childhood home.
The darkness outside the burrow was illuminated by lit up wands, dotting the landscape on all sides. Ron darted forward, no idea where he was going, but needing to move. He could feel the moment his body passed the protective wards, but he didn't hesitate. Instead, he moved toward a thick grouping of trees, his eyes darting everywhere, searching for that familiar face. Inwardly, he knew it wouldn't be that easy. Hermione was invisible for God's sake, but that fact was also a comfort. Ron figured if he couldn't see Hermione, then neither could the death eaters. That detail just might keep her safe.
Moving along, some small part of Ron's mind knew that wasn't going to be the solution. If Hermione wanted to be found by Shraxem and Willigsbee, she would make it happen. A sob exited Ron's lungs at the thought, but he pushed it down, running faster instead. The running made deep breaths necessary leaving no time to give into the doubts. Hermione would be fine. She would be perfectly fine. He would force her to be.
As he ran, Ron constantly pointed his wand in different directions, muttering accio cloak in between his heavy inhaling and exhaling, praying that by some chance his wand would point at an invisible Hermione and the thing would come flying off her. Revealing her. How was he supposed to save her if he couldn't see her, damn it?
Ron was interrupted from his thoughts by a shout, and he rushed out of the wooded space back to the clearing. There, flying in circles around the burrow, were four black cloaked figures. Their trails left long lines of gray-black smoke in their wake, making it look like a storm cloud was circling the house. The lines got as close to the perimeter line of the wards as possible, two moving clockwise, two moving in the other direction.
Why are there four of them?
He felt a tug at his elbow and turned swiftly to face Harry, his wand instantly drawn up to his friend's throat. Dropping the wand back down, Harry didn't even flinch, just spoke.
"They've used the time turner again," he said urgently. "It's two of them from our time, two from the future."
Ron nodded and the two friends instantly separated again, running in different directions. Neither needed to tell the other to be safe, to get to Hermione, to protect the house, they both mutually accepted those responsibilities, one mindset now without speaking.
Ron ran toward the death eater closest to him. The four had dispersed now, flying out at various angles, throwing hexes and curses at the team of aurors on the ground. Flashes of light whizzed past Ron's head; he ducked and bobbed to miss each one, throwing a few of his own over his shoulder. If they could just bring down all four before they found Hermione, it would be all right. Ron threw a stunning spell at one that looked to be an older Willigsbee, but the figure flew straight up into the air just before it hit him.
There was a crash to his left and Ron looked to see one of the aurors on the floor, having fallen from a broom. The broom landed next to the auror with a thump and Ron summoned it to him immediately. It flew through the air and sharply into his hand. He was already running before it reached him and he jumped onto the broom at a gallop, shooting upward in the direction the death eater had just gone. Ron could make out his shape about forty yards above him. He urged the broom on, picking up speed and gaining altitude. Just as Ron was reeling back to throw a hex, the death eater shot back down at a sharp angle. Ron had to compensate and jerk down, sending his broom into a straight angle toward the earth. The floor was coming at him faster and faster but Ron kept on, obsessively tracking the death eater until he got a good line up and threw a stunner.
The death eater crashed to the ground and Ron followed, not having enough time to jerk upright and land softly. He rolled three times and the broom broke in two. Jumping up instantly, Ron ran toward the fallen death eater, binding him quickly in ropes with his wand.
"One down!" Ron bellowed as loudly as he could. He heard Harry's reply from the other side of the field.
"Two down!"
Ron wondered which one Harry had managed to catch but immediately moved on, running to a clump of woods where he saw three aurors trying to reign in a dark figure darting through the trees. He was moving quickly until something caught in the corner of his eye. He turned his head back toward the burrow, where he saw little Rose walking on unsure legs across the yard. Ron froze in a moment of disbelief. No one else was around her and she was moving closely to the perimeter of the wards. In the doorway he saw Fleur clutching Victoire, screaming for her to come back, and Audrey running as fast as she could to retrieve Rose. Ron could tell from the distance she wouldn't make it in time.
"Rose!" he shouted. "No!"
His legs darted him forward, running faster than he thought was humanly possible. Time seemed to slow as he watched with unbelieving eyes each step Rose took forward, moving her closer and closer to danger. He called on every ounce of energy left in his body and moved faster. Just as one of her little feet passed over the barrier, Ron had scooped her up in his arms and run over to the other side, back within the wards.
He held his daughter up before him, heaving in breath, staring into her little face. How had she gotten out here? Why wasn't she being looked after?
"You're as crazy as your mother, you know that?" he said to the little girl, shock still in his voice. Audrey finally made it to them, panting herself.
"Ron, I'm so sorry. We had her in the basement and I was letting her hold my wand, distracting her with it." Audrey put one hand on Ron's arm to steady herself. "All of a sudden, she started doing magic and we couldn't contain her. I've never seen anything like it in a child so young. It's like she knew you were in danger."
Ron looked at the child again, bewildered. He gently plucked the thin wand still in Rose's hand and gave it back to Audrey. An explosion behind them brought them out of their reverie, and Ron turned to Audrey once more.
"Get back inside. It's not safe."
Audrey nodded and went to take Rose from Ron's arms when a hissing voice suddenly rang out, loud and clear for everyone on the premises to hear. Ron instinctively clutched Rose closer to him.
"Ron Weasley…your time has run out…" the voice hissed, its sound echoing across the field. Ron looked around, noticing for the first time that a third death eater had been felled and there was only one left.
"You've managed a good fight….that girl of yours has shown some cunning intellect…" Ron knew that voice, he would never forget it. It was Shraxen, and Ron scowled at the air. Shraxen was flying in swift rings around the burrow, his speed and smoke trail making it difficult for anyone on the floor to hit him. Sparks of blue and red were shot up into the air, but the death eater expertly dodged each one.
Behind him, Ron saw Ginny, Lavender and the rest of his family, thankfully safe within the borders. Kingsley and Harry could be seen in the perimeter, still shouting out orders to officers, as those outside the wards circled in a frantic race.
"Are you ready to die Ron Weasley….or will you leave that to the little lady?"
Ron carefully place Rose on the ground, crouching down in front of her. His eyes were glued to the dark figure above, his face determined but grim.
"Where is she Weasley?...I know she's around her somewhere…..you can't outrun your destiny….."
Ron darted his gaze around desperately, wishing dearly he did know where Hermione was. If she was somewhere outside the wards she was like a sitting duck, with no way to get back inside. She couldn't get in, but Ron could get out. If she would just reveal herself Ron would be there in an instant, he could shield her, throw hexes, give her his wand…anything.
Then, Ron knew what to do. Fumbling quickly in his pocket he breathed a sigh of relief when his hand closed over a cool, metal object.
During those years Hermione was gone from his memory, he puzzled over why Dumbledore had given him the deluminator. He never could figure it out. He had no recollection of using it to find her in the Forest of Dean, when he had needed her desperately, at that moment wanting to hear the sound of her voice more than anything else in the world. It was like apparition, that source of light taking him somewhere that wasn't a place, but was no less a destination. It was the most beautiful piece of magic, because it could always take him home. Hermione was home.
Ron clicked the top of the deluminator open and scanned the field, holding his breath. Then, in as calm and clear a voice as he could muster, he called out her name.
"Hermione." It was a statement, but loud enough that it reached across the clearing. For a moment, it was as if all other noise stopped. Then Ron heard laughing.
"Are you crying out for your woman?" Shraxen laughed cruelly, darting around now in a zig zag pattern. The sadistic figure looked almost like he was enjoying himself.
Ron shook his head. This would work, it had to.
"C'mon Hermione!" He shouted her name, louder this time. Feeling the urgency build with each second, as Shraxen began circling lower to the ground, as if zeroing in on something.
"HERMIONE! Answer me!"
He was begging now, he could hear the plea in his own voice. Around him, his family drew closer, each holding out their wands around him as if making a mini barrier of protection. Harry stopped in his chase at the sound of Ron's last scream, turning to look at his friend. Ron watched as Harry registered the deluminator, realizing what was about to happen. Harry jerked one hand out as if to stop Ron, trying to run to his mate but barred by the wards that separated them.
Ron didn't care. This was his only plan and it was a good one. This, he could do. If it was the last thing on Earth he ever did, he would make Hermione Granger say his name.
"HERMIONE!"
His screams grew more insistent, and he yelled her name over and over, the sound bouncing around almost like a holy song. Then, as quietly as he had heard it that first time, so many years ago, she spoke to him.
"Ron."
The whisper blew out of the deluminator, so soft only he could hear. In an instant Ron was turning, moving into the small ball of light until it engulfed him. The last thing he heard before it enveloped him was a gasp and the beginning shout of a killing curse.
Hermione had suddenly appeared, ten feet in front of the wards and now in clear view of everyone in the burrow. The cloak was thrown off just as Shraxen had pulled up in front of her, as if she had been waiting for him there. He didn't hesitate for a second before aiming his wand and delivering the final blow.
Harry moved toward them both, his wand drawn to begin a shielding spell, but it was too late.
"AVADA KEDAVRA!"
The curse rushed toward Hermione, green light shooting for her chest. Then, inches before the magic reached her, a figure appeared before her with a pop. The curse hit his back instantly, dropping Ron Weasley down cold with a horrifying thud.
A/N: This was an intense chapter to write, everything has led us here! Thanks so much for reading and please vote and comment!