Disclaimer: The lyrics to the song "Hear Me" by Kelly Clarkson are in bold & italic print...hope you enjoy the story!
Turn my world upside down
Find me
I'm lost inside the crowd
It's getting loud
“Have another bloody Mary,” Charlie cordially imposed upon the strange man at the bar, “it’s on me!”
The skinny, grimy looking man looked like a hearty meal and strong bath soap would suit him better than another drink, but he happily took the cup Charlie was offering. He took a long swig, splashing part of the drink onto his tattered shirt, before resuming his conversation with Charlie.
“Brawling with Vampires, that trumps researching Dragons any day of the week!” Charlie fed the man’s ego to get him to continue divulging information.
“Et’s very hard job,” he replied in a heavy Albanian accent, “Et’s not mush pay…but ladies like et.” The nasty man winked at a barmaid.
“I’ll bet you’ve got more scars than I have,” Charlie said wistfully.
The man jumped up at that, “See dis?” He pointed to a long gash on his leg in an extremely proud manner, “Es from the leeder, Zora!”
“Surely that’s not from the Vampira of the horde!”
“Et es!” The man insisted hopping on the spot where he stood. “I punch her like this,” his fists sliced through the air in a moment of relived glory, “an’ she screams an’ slices half my leg open.”
“Wow,” Charlie cooed, appreciating the man’s wound and signaling the barmaid for another round, “You must have traveled to the ends of the country to find the labyrinth.”
After downing another cup the man looked anxiously around and leaned close to Charlie. In a conspiring tone he whispered, “Et es not so far as you think.”
Charlie ignored the offending dog breath that the man had and leaned in closer…this was what he had been waiting for.
“Really?” He egged the man on with his false enthusiasm, “You wouldn’t be too scared to show me where it is?” He held his breath hoping the man would take his bait. Once the challenge registered in the strangers eyes he leapt to his feet.
“Scared! Nicolas es scared from nothing! Get your coat, foreigner!”
This was what they all had been waiting for. Charlie took long strides to catch up with Nicolas, checking behind him every now and again to make sure that Ron, Harry, and Hermione were keeping up. He grinned; finding the location of the Horcrux was easy if you knew who to butter up.
I need you to see
I'm screaming for you to please
Hear me
“He had to stupefy him,” Ron whispered to Hermione, “at least he Apparated him back to the bar and out of harms way.”
With a loud POP! Charlie had returned.
“Ok you lot, gather round,” he ordered. They quickly did as they were bidden. “Once we go into the labyrinth we’re going to get separated,” he held up his hands as they shot each other anxious glances. “I’ve studied labyrinths in great detail…this one in particular.”
Hermione gasped casting him a covetous look, “I’ve been unable to find anything that suggests that this labyrinth is anything but fable.”
He nodded, “Right you are, books wouldn’t have that knowledge.” A shadow crossed his face, “That kind of information is only to be found in the darkest of places and people…and at a very high cost.”
“What…”
“Not now Ron,” Charlie interrupted his brother. “This labyrinth is a lot like the maze you faced in your fourth task of the Triwizards Tournament,” Charlie told Harry. “Different types of danger lies on each pathway.”
“Why did the cup have to be here?” Ron whined, looking fleetingly at the labyrinth.
“I already told you Ron,” Charlie said with an exasperated air, “He-who-must-not-be-named befriended the Vampira of the horde. In exchange for the Hufflepuff cup, he was guaranteed unobstructed insight into their forms of Dark Arts.”
“He really got the best deal all around,” Harry muttered angrily.
Charlie nodded, “Absolute protection of his Horcrux by a labyrinth of the most violent and deadly vampire horde ever to exist…not that they know what everyone is after. That Hufflepuff cup would be a treasure on the black market…many men have died attempting to attain it.”
“But no one’s succeeded,” Hermione whispered.
They all took a moment to think about the gravity of the task they were about to undertake.
“Everything should work out,” Charlie reassured them, “We’re armed with more information going in than anyone else before us.”
“So which pathway do we take,” Ron asked forcefully, trying to show a bit of Gryffindor courage that he really did not feel.
“We have to split up.”
“NO!”
“It’s the only way,” Charlie shot back. “Do you want that cup or not?”
“Yes…” Hermione began.
“Than listen to me. The pathways act like a gridlock or a code. Make it through the right ones and a single path emerges leading directly to Zora’s realm…where the cup is.”
“How do we know if we’ve cleared a path?” Harry asked, prepared to undertake the entire task on his own.
“A light shines at the end of the tunnel once you reach the trigger and all your enemies flee, owing to the fact that they’re all night creatures.”
“How many paths’ are there?” Hermione asked.
“Many, but there are only three correct ones, they make the code work: the left most path, the third from the right, and dead center.”
“Three of them,” Ron said, getting his game face on, “We can do this.”
“I’m going with Ron,” Hermione cut in.
Charlie nodded his assent. “Harry takes the left path, you and Ron take the third from the right…I’m going dead center. Once we’re in, try not to make any noise so they don’t know we’re there until we’ve worked our way through most of the path.”
They all readily agreed. “Let’s go,” Harry told them.
I'm restless and wild
I fall, but I try
I need someone to understand
Can you hear me?
Ron walked into Hermione for the third time. He got a hold of her before she had the chance to sway or fall. After giving her arms a squeeze he let her go. So far they had only been attacked from the back so he had taken the rear position. Luckily, they had not come across a situation that required them to light their wands. They continued on through the pitch black path as little critters scrambled out of their way. Ron was rather certain that spiders were completely surrounding them, but as he couldn’t see them, his façade of courage was maintained. They had been traveling in an upward direction for some time now and as they anticipated, they came directly into a wall.
“We have to climb to the top,” Hermione whispered into his ear, “I’m sure that’s where the trigger is.”
Ron nodded, than realized she wouldn’t be able to see him and squeezed her hand. The wall was pretty jagged, ensuring that they could get a decent grip. It took a while to climb, but they ignored the bats swooping around them and kept at it. It’s just this one path, Ron thought to himself, than we’ll all be back together. Hermione tapped his hand with her foot, signaling that she had reached the top. As she began to pull herself up, he heard her scream and instinctively lit his wand. With a loud whooshing sound Hermione began to fall down the side of the canyon. With only thoughts of reaching her on his mind he released his wand letting it fall into the abyss and grabbed a hold of her hand.
He gave thanks, perhaps too early, for the strong grip he had on her arm. He looked up to see how far he would have to climb before she could get a good grip on the wall. With the dying of his wand light he saw the barest outlines of the leering vampires that had frightened Hermione. As they took flight he gripped Hermione and the wall as tightly as was humanly possible. He felt them tearing the flesh from his face but made no effort to fight them off. Their only hope of survival was to make it up then canyon wall. With more strength than he knew he had, he pulled Hermione up and over his head. He allowed her to step on his shoulders while taunting the vampires in an effort to give her time. The vampires were successfully worked up into a furor.
Using their claws they slashed his back, until he could feel his free-flowing, warm blood mingling with the frigid cold air around them. The weight shifted off his shoulders and he looked up to determine whether Hermione had made it. That proved to be a costly mistake when a vampire descended upon him, slamming his head repeatedly into the stone wall. Whether it was Hermione making it to the trigger, or the fact that his head had been beaten into the wall that was causing the blinding light he did not know, as he fell spiraling into the abyss.
Can you hear me?
Molly Weasley was aghast when she saw her son’s state. However, unlike her son Bill, Ron had not been bitten by the demons that attacked him. They had checked his body thoroughly and found not a single pair of Vampire teeth, to the relief of everyone in the Burrow. Nevertheless, much like Bill’s wife, Fleur, Ron’s wife, Hermione, had not allowed anyone near him. She tended to his every wound and gash with the tenderness of a spouse and the expertise of a trained healer. Ron had not awoken yet, but the potion they had given him was not set to wear off for another few or so hours. Her son’s bravery, as told by Hermione, sent her into a fresh round of tears. He had sustained injuries from no less than a half-dozen Vampires without offering resistance whatsoever. His concern had been solely on saving his wife from falling to her death and than on placing her out of harms way.
Molly sat down at the kitchen table weeping more than ever as the voice of a seven-year-old Ron drifted into her mind.
“You’re the handsome one,” he said pointing to Bill, “and you’re the strong one,” he pointed to Charlie. “The smart one, the funny ones, and Ginny’s a girl so she’s automatically special.” He had turned to her with imploring eyes. “What makes me special mommy?”
“What are you talking about?” Fred had cut in. “You’re a girl, just like Ginny.”
“No he’s the stupid git one…” George said.
“I’ve got it!” Fred shouted at last. “You’re the awkward one!” He and George gave each other a high-five for finally figuring it out.
“Quiet!” Molly had yelled, noticing the tears that welled up in her little boy’s eyes at his brother’s relentless put downs. She took him into her lap and stroked his hair, turning him to face her.
“You’re the one with the biggest heart,” she told him gently. Ron didn’t look like this answer made him happy. “That means you’re the most innocent and purest of all,” she continued, though that didn’t win him over.
“Let’s go play Quidditch!” Fred exclaimed. “I’ll let you use my broom if you don’t cry.”
That perked little Ron right up, and he ran excitedly outside behind his brothers.
“Don’t let Ginny on a broom!” She had shouted to their retreating backs.
“Don’t worry; I’ll take care of her,” Ron, the youngest of all her boys, had shouted back to her.
She meant what she had told him that day. He truly was the purest of them all! She cried her eyes out at the memory.