J.K. Rowling is a genius. I am a writer who enjoys playing with the other kids’ toys. No infringement is intended.
The end of this chapter contains 2 lines from the chapter “Malfoy Manor” in Deathly Hallows… pages 463 and 466 in my copy.
Many thanks to Natalie for her beta work.
Scenes From Shell Cottage: Chapter Two
He closed his eyes, leaned back against the door, and breathed deeply. He loved the smell of this cottage. Even indoors, he could smell the ocean. Voices floated up to him from downstairs, probably Dean and Luna, maybe Harry. Ron opened his eyes. He was standing in an open space with a thin spiral staircase threading up through the middle of the floor and into the ceiling. One could walk all around it in a little circle, four doors in the space all together”two bedrooms, a bathroom, and a tiny nook of a hallway that led to a small library.
Ron walked to the window seat and looked down at the ground below. In the moonlight he saw Harry, and was confused. Why wouldn’t he have come inside? There was a shovel on the ground and something else… Ron had all the pieces for a couple of seconds before it fell together in his mind. Dobby was dead. He could just make out the shape of the elf on the ground next to Harry, and a sparkle of metal in the moonlight that Ron recognized as the knife he had last seen slicing open Hermione’s neck. He cursed under his breath and leaned his forehead against the wall. Dobby had traded his life for theirs. Harry was digging now, and the sight of it made Ron sick with grief. Dobby was dead, and a knot of fear gripped Ron as he considered who on their side might be next.
He didn’t hear the creaking of the stairs or the approaching footsteps.
“Ron.”
He did not turn around to face his brother, but only said, “Dobby’s dead,” in a flat voice.
“The elf? I'm afraid so. Harry is burying him now. He was a friend?” Bill asked.
“Yeah,” Ron said. “He saved our lives tonight. Dobby was as brave as any wizard I’ve ever met.”
“I’m sorry then.”
Ron turned to face him. “What about the others?”
“Mr. Ollivander is sick and very weak. Luna needs a bit of sunshine I think, but will be fine. Dean’s all right. The goblin is not good, but Fleur thinks he will make it.”
Ron nodded blankly.
Bill’s features were full of concern. “Ron, what happened? Who did this to you? Was it You-Know-Who? Death Eaters?”
“Please don’t ask me.”
“Ron, tell me what’s going on,” he said, taking the elder brother tone. “Maybe I can help.”
“I can’t.” Ron sat down heavily in the window seat and hung his head. “You can’t, Bill.”
“How can you say that?” Bill said, frustration and anger coloring his voice. “You show up here with a dead elf and a half-dead goblin. Not to mention Hermione… I don’t know what you’ve stumbled into, but you are obviously in over your heads.”
“We’ve been in over our heads since we were twelve.”
“It’s different now. Dumbledore is gone! It was one thing when you were at Hogwarts and he was there to keep an eye on things, to help you… but now...”
“Now we look out for each other.” But even to Ron’s own ears, his words fell flat.
“Hermione was tortured, Ron! Isn’t that what happened? Because that’s what it looks like. Cruciatus?” he asked. “More than a few times, I guessing,” Bill said loudly, not noticing how Ron flinched at the words. “From the look of her, she couldn’t have taken much more!”
Bill’s words hit him like a curse, and a rage Ron didn’t recognize began to form inside his chest. “I know what happened, Bill,” he growled. “I was there.”
“Then how can you just sit there saying you can’t tell me what’s going on and you don’t need help?”
“Because I can’t!” he exploded, standing up and giving Bill a hard look. “Because Dumbledore told Harry we couldn’t involve anyone else! Are you saying we shouldn’t trust Dumbledore’s judgement? Do you have any idea how much more danger you would be in if you knew?” Tears slammed against the back of his eyes, making threats. “They would come here and grab Fleur and hurt her until you told them what we are up to. And you would tell them because you would do anything”anything”to make it stop. They’d kill you both without thinking twice. Do you think that would be helping us? Bill, don’t you see? They would use the family to get to us!” He winced at the thought. “We can’t tell anyone! We have to bear this ourselves. I’m not a kid anymore, Bill. I’m not tagging along; I’m part of this. We have to do it on our own, the three of us.”
“Ron,” Bill started, calmer.
But Ron was just getting started. “And how can you stand there telling me she was tortured? You think I don’t know that? I heard it! I heard every curse, every scream, every terrifying silence! It goes round and round in my head, it never shuts up.” Ron stared at his brother with pleading eyes. “You think this would have happened if there was anything I could have done to stop it? Don’t you think I would have died before letting them touch her? They didn’t care! And we couldn’t get out to help her!”
“Ron,” Bill said, closing the distance between them in two strides. “She’s okay now.”
Ron dropped into the window seat and put his head in his hands. “We couldn’t get out,” he said again, anguished.
“I’m sorry.” Bill sat down next to his brother. “I’m sorry. I was just… I was scared. We’ve been so worried about you. And then to see you like this… see how close you must have come to…” He broke off, unable to finish the thought. He put a hand on Ron’s shoulder and squeezed. “Are you all right?”
Their eyes met, and just for moment, Bill saw his baby brother, twelve-years-old.
Ron’s voice was a whisper. “They were handing her over to Greyback.” Bill flinched at the name and his face contorted in anger. “When they were done with her… they were just going to let that… that monster...” His voice broke and a tear slid down his dirty face. He didn’t bother wiping it away. “One minute later, and we would have been too late,” he said, shuddering.
Bill pulled him into a hard embrace, as Ron muttered something else about Greyback.
A few minutes passed.
Then Bill said, “She’s all right now.”
Ron nodded as he sat up, sniffing loudly.
“What about you? Are you sure you’re okay?”
“I’m fine,” Ron said blankly.
“I don’t know about that.” Bill put a hand up to Ron’s cheekbone. “Do you think you have a broken bone here somewhere?”
“I don’t know. Yeah, maybe.”
“I can fix it,” Bill offered, reaching in his pocket for his wand.
“Later,” Ron said, rising. “I need to clean up and get back to her.”
“Isn’t Fleur looking after her?”
Ron nodded, but still walked off in the direction of the bathroom. He turned back to face Bill before going in. “Sorry I yelled,” he said.
“S’all right,” Bill said as Ron disappeared behind the door.
***********
Fleur shot him a look as he slipped into Hermione’s room. “Nice of you to keep your voices down,” she commented.
“Sorry,” said Bill. “Did we wake her?”
“She stirred a bit. I’m not sure if she heard anything.” Her face softened. “Is it all right now between you and Ron?”
“Yeah. He’s got too much on his shoulders. They all do.” He looked down and shook his head. “And he’s right… I still think he’s fourteen years old, and he isn’t. He’s really quite capable. I’m not sure any of us give him enough credit,” he finished, referring to his family.
“He’s suffering from something else, too,” she said quietly, her eyes on the sleeping girl.
“I agree,” Bill said. “Do you think he knows it?”
“If he didn’t before tonight, he does now,” Fleur commented. “I’m going to see to ze goblin,” she added. “She’ll be fine for a bit.”
“Ron’s coming right back. I’ll stay until he gets here,” he said as Fleur let herself out.
He’d been with her only a few minutes when he heard her stirring.
“Ron?” Hermione croaked.
Bill turned to face her. “He’ll be right back. How are you feeling?”
“Bill..." Her voice was weak but clear, almost determined. He saw that she wanted to tell him something. He sat down in the chair Fleur must have pulled up for Ron, and leaned in close.
“What?”
“He begged them,” she said feebly.
“Who?”
“Ron. He begged them to take him instead of me.”
“I’m so sorry, Hermione.”
“But they wanted the Mudblood.”
He flinched at the word. “Don’t say”“
“I want you to know. He tried to take my place… he begged them,” she said again.
Bill finally understood. She had heard some, if not all, of their shouting in the hall.
“Hermione. I know how good he is.”
“And strong,” she said, her eyes heavy.
“I know. It’s all fine now.”
“And brave,” she added, fatigue getting the best of her. Her eyes slipped shut again and her breathing became even once more.
Soon after this, Ron returned looking much better, cleaned up and rather normal-looking aside from his mangled face.
“Are you sure you don’t want me to fix that for you?” Bill asked. “Would only take a moment.”
“Not now. How is she?”
“She woke up, but only for a few minutes.”
“Did she say anything?” Ron asked, his eyes on Hermione.
“Not much… she fell right back to sleep,” Bill said. “Call if you need anything.”
Ron sat down in the chair by the bed, relaxing into it and tipping his head back. His muscles hurt. His head hurt. For the first time, he felt how tired he was.
“Except for the Mudblood,” came the voice into his mind like a knife.
He jerked upright and shook his head in an effort to clear it. But the screams were right behind, and he couldn’t stop them by simply changing positions. He turned his eyes to study Hermione. Fleur had cleaned her up, and the familiar smell of Essence of Dittany hung in the air. She was quite pale, but he couldn’t help thinking how pretty she still looked, peaceful, with her hair fanning out around her. His mind slipped into the quiet again.
“Crucio!”
He shut his eyes tight against it, but it was no use. He tried to focus on the here and now… on Harry digging outside and Hermione sleeping in the crisp white sheets in front of him. It worked for moments at a time. When it didn’t, he had no choice but to relive the most terrifying hours of his life.