The cauldron was moved into place by the Riddle grave, a fire lite beneath it before various ingredients were added. Then Pettigrew returned to the warded area, leaving them to wait as darkness fell. As the full moon began to rise Pettigrew returned, pulling a skinny form with him and Amelia grabbed Bill's shoulder to make sure he stayed down for now. Seconds later another man appeared, cradling something in his arms. Ron was secured to the grave stone while the bundle was dropped into the cauldron. Amelia let go of Bill and give the signal right as Crouch cut off his own hand, dropping it into the cauldron.
~~
Bill bolted at full speed towards where his baby brother was as the Aurors swarmed out from hiding. He ignored them as planned, relieved when one attacked Pettigrew and he quickly used a cutting curse to the back of the stone Ron was tied to, freeing him. To his fear, his brother collapsed. Then he was rounding the stone and scooping up the gangly form before turning and running to the edge of the wards where he activated the portkey, depositing them in the Auror's medical ward where he handed his brother to the Healers. He bent over, breathing heavily and waved off the approaching Healer. "I'm fine, just winded." He moved to the side, watching as they worked to check Ron over, terrified for his brother.
He only looked away when the rest of the team arrived, minus the Unspeakables. There were three bodies on stretchers, four walking wounded and one living prisoner who looked terrified and cowed, Pettigrew. It wasn't hard to work out that Crouch had gone down fighting, he was a fanatic.
"How is he?" Amelia asked and Bill shrugged, they hadn't spoken to him yet, so he moved to help get the injured Aurors settled.
Finally, a Healer approached him. "Mr. Weasley?"
"Bill, how is my brother?"
"Malnourished although he was fed some. Wherever he was kept was cold and damp, his lungs are congested, and he has some mild hypothermia. We will be transferring him to St Mungo's now that he is stable, if you wish to inform the rest of your family?"
"He'll recover?" Bill asked and the Healer hesitated. "Will he?"
"He should, although there are no guarantees. So long as his lungs clear he will recover, his body temperature is already increasing so that is not a worry. We are unsure of his mental state after so long in captivity."
Bill nodded. "Thank you." He watched as they moved Ron to the hospital and then left himself, going to find a Floo to call his parents.
~~
They cheered as Cedric was announced as the winner of the Tournament, everyone liked Cedric, he was such a genuine person. Hogwarts could do with some positive press after all of the troubles of the last four years. They listened as the prize was awarded and then turned it off, not interested in the speeches and then the room was silent as they waited to hear from Amelia. After what felt like an eternity the mirror finally activated to reveal a tired but happy Amelia Bones.
"We've got them. Ron Weasley has been transferred to St Mungo's for treatment, but they are optimistic for his chances. Crouch Jnr refused to be taken alive, but we have Pettigrew for trial."
"And on our side?" Sirius asked and she sighed.
"Two dead Aurors, several wounded but all will live.
"What about Voldemort?" Harry asked in concern.
"The Unspeakables had the...thing we found."
"Thanks for telling us, go get some rest," Sirius told her, and she laughed.
"Reports first. I'll speak with you later." With that the mirror went dark.
~~
Arthur rushed into the ward with Molly just in front of him, looking around till he spotted Bill standing from a chair beside an occupied bed.
"Mum, Dad," he called, and Arthur moved to embrace his eldest, seeing how tired he looked.
Molly rushed past them to the bed where she knelt and held Ron's hand in hers, stroking his messy, long, hair.
"He'll be okay Mum," Bill offered, resting a hand on her shoulder. "Come on, sit in the chair."
Arthur moved the chair and they got her in it as she cried. Arthur moved to look down at his youngest, seeing how thin he was. He tried to focus on the good, they had Ron back alive after months of uncertainty and fear. Anything else could wait.
~~
Harry sat in a bunker on Isla Sorna, watching a pack of raptors as they cared for their eggs. It was amazing to see how different they already were from the raptors InGen had bred for the park. InGen's raptors were highly modified from real Velociraptors, not just in the massive size inaccuracy either. More recent research also showed that the real thing had been rather dumb which really made him wonder just what Wu and the other scientists had been up to. The ones bred for the park had also lacked feathers, although those were starting to show up now as the animals were left to live and evolve on their own. Even the proportions of their limbs to bodies was off. Some of t could be due to the incomplete DNA that had been filled with frog and reptile DNA, but he still thought they looked more like Deinonychus or Utahraptor. Harry was glad they were shifting to be more realistic, he preferred it, it made them feel more real.
Maybe he was hiding a little, but he didn't want to deal with everyone at the moment. Ron was alive and it was a big relief to know his once best friend hadn't been killed. It was just hard. Ron blamed him for Ginny's death, but Harry knew it wasn't his fault. The person who gave her that diary and Riddle, they were to blame. Ron had been his first male friend; he'd thought he was like what a sibling might be. He tried not to blame Ron for his anger, it was easier to be angry at Harry than a ghost or even Ginny herself for not telling anyone about the diary. It didn't mean he liked being the focus of the redhead's anger. Maybe what he'd been through would help him grow up, not that he would wish what he'd been through on anyone.
It left him pondering a question...offering the Weasleys a place in Sanctus. He'd do it for Bill and the twins in a shot. It was the other family members that made him hesitate, mainly Ron, Percy and their Mother. If he invited them he knew Mrs. Weasley would try and take over and treat them like her kids, but he looked to Andromeda, Ted, Sirius and Remus for that sort of thing while Hermione had her parents. Really all the adults were family. With Charlie coming...maybe he could offer the family a home on Isla Muerta with the people working at the Reserve. With magic the school commute for Ron and the twins would be fine, as would Bill's to Gringotts.
~~
Remus sat on the balcony nursing a cup of tea when he smelt her approaching. He was very aware of her scent, had been from the beginning. There were no laws here to keep him from marrying or having children but that didn't change what he was, how dangerous he could be. Not to mention he was considerably older than her. Why would she be interested in him? She took the seat beside him, holding her own mug of hot chocolate and he glanced over to find her watching him with a small smile.
"Enjoying the peace?" she asked teasingly, and he nodded, he always felt tongue-tied around her. She put her mug down and shifted to face him. "Remus..."
"Yes?"
"Do you like me?" she asked, and he froze.
~~
Sirius made sure he was flat against the wall, keeping out of sight, as he listened to his baby cousin and best friend. He practically had his fingers crossed that Remus wouldn't muck this out of some stupid feeling of worthlessness. Hermione walked into the room and frowned so he put his finger to his lips, and she walked over to see what was so interesting before shaking her head and heading to the library.
~~
Remus blinked in shock, staring into purple eyes only centimeters away. Had she really...she grinned and leant in again, yep, she had, and she was doing it again...kissing him.
~~
Harry was sad to see Dr Grant and Sattler leave but they did have a dig to get back to. Summer holidays were before them and they were all looking forward to the break. They'd heard more from Amelia and the idea of some creepy fake baby thing holding Voldemort's soul was very disgusting. But they were keeping it alive until they could destroy all of the Horcruxes with Gringotts teams helping. No one knew of the one in Harry, but Andy and Bill were confident they would be able to remove it over the summer. Once that was done, Harry's part in things should be done. Charlie and his friends had begun moving dragons onto Isla Muerta, the island much bigger that it appeared on any map thanks to magic. Slinky was very happy there too and got along well with the dragons.
On the mundane side of things, the paperwork had finally been filed to let the world know there was a new island nation. As much as they didn't want to, they needed to build up their own navy in order to help secure their waters. Thankfully, they had two ex-armed forces members among the parents who had moved and taken citizenship. One had even been a Colonel in his day, it may be the wrong branch, but he did have connection. They wouldn't be top of the line ships, but they did need them. They just needed ships able to repel poachers and sightseers to keep the islands secure.
Work began on a luxury resort on Isla Pena since it was too small to do too much with. It would be a good way to bring in revenue until they got the Park up and running. There would be no obvious magic on Pena and Nublar so that they could have guests without spreading the knowledge of magic outside their nation, not until the world was truly ready. The village on Isla Muerta was done and the people moving in, in the end an invite to the whole Weasley family had been offered, along with places in the school for those still attending. Bill had admitted that Molly had fought the move tooth and nail but with him and Charlie praising the Island and the twins desperate to attend, Arthur had agreed to the move. None of the newcomers knew who the King was yet, and Harry wasn't looking forward to them finding out.
~~
Harry lay in the circle, naked, as runes were painted onto his skin by goblins. Thankfully the air was warm so he wasn't shivering because that could mess things up. Finally, they were done, and the ritual began. Harry was soon clenching his jaw, refusing to scream as his head felt like it was going to explode.
~~
All Sirius could do was watch as his godson writhed on the floor, blood flowing from his scar. He was sure he could hear his teeth grinding from where he stood as his jaw clenched on a scream. It killed him to be able to do nothing but watch but any interference could kill Harry as they worked to separate the two souls fully. Harry's back arched and he screamed in utter agony before a cloud of darkness poured from his scar and screamed as well before fading away. Harry slumped, unconscious and Andy moved to his side to check him over.
"He's alive," she called, and Sirius slumped in relief.
~~
The Unspeakables startled as the homunculus screamed and writhed before its body dissolved into nothingness, no soul fleeing from it. In another section of their Department, an orb went dark.