The Funeral
Disclaimer: The Harry Potter universe and all the characters in it belong to J.K. Rowling. This story is a work of imagination and is directed solely at readers of this website. No infringement of any rights is intended and no criticism of J.K. Rowling or her work should be considered to be stated or implied.
Part 2. The Killing Curse Deflected?
Harry had always thought that he knew Ron and Hermione as well as anyone could. The three of them had been inseparable between the ages of 11 and 18 and he could predict the way in which his two friends would react to any given circumstance with uncanny accuracy. For this reason, he had always been perplexed and disturbed by their developing romance. He had tended to share Mrs. Granger's view that the two of them were simply incompatible.
Ron had taken an instant dislike to Hermione in their first few weeks at Hogwarts and, although he had been impressed that she had been willing to take the blame for the "troll in the girl's bathroom incident", he merely tolerated her from then on. Harry's view had been different. He had been strangely drawn to Hermione right from the start, even though in those early weeks she had been just as much his nemesis as Draco Malfoy was to prove later on. Looking back, Harry supposed it was mainly the Muggle connection that had been responsible for his interest, although, he had to admit, Hermione had been a hard girl to ignore. Ron's indifference had, however, continued and his disagreements and squabbling with Hermione had gotten worse. Harry sometimes felt partly responsible, as it seemed that the two of them were often competing for his attention. For example, Ron had seemed angrier than Harry was himself when Hermione's actions had led to the confiscation of the Firebolt broom sent by Sirius, and it had taken all of Harry's diplomatic skills to mend the rift between the pair.
All of that changed, however, in their fourth year at the time of the Yule Ball. It had never even crossed Harry's mind to invite Hermione, or for that matter any of the other girls in his year. His attention was fixed solely on Cho Chang, one of the most popular and beautiful girls in the school; a fact, which he now realised, indicated how shallow and immature he had been back then. Ron's ambitions had been even more outrageous and had led to him finally embarrassing himself by asking Fleur Delacour, a girl who was much older and totally out of his reach. Hermione had been justifiably annoyed with both of them, although she mostly took her anger out on Ron, but had then caused a surprise by procuring a much sort after date with Victor Krum, the star Quidditch player from Bulgaria. And it was at the Yule Ball that Harry had first become aware of a seismic change in Ron's attitude toward Hermione. Ron had been openly jealous of Hermione's date and as a result had behaved, in Harry's opinion, like an obnoxious idiot that night, reducing the always oversensitive Hermione to floods of tears.
Looking back on it, Harry thought that he could trace the change in Ron's attitude to the time when Hermione had been hit by Malfoy's rebounding curse that caused her already slightly protruding teeth to lengthen alarmingly. She had cunningly taken that opportunity to get her teeth reduced to a normal size and Harry recalled how stunned Ron had been at the transformation. He could also remember how his own jaw had dropped when he first saw a remarkably beautiful Hermione descending the Gryffindor tower staircase on the night of the Yule Ball. After that night, the dynamics of the trio had definitely shifted. He supposed that both he and Ron had begun to regard Hermione differently and, in Ron's view at least, they had become adversaries, vying for her affection.
With the return of Voldermort, Harry's priorities had, however, changed dramatically and his relationship with Ron and Hermione had become fractured. Hermione, in particular, was now so concerned for his welfare that he sometimes felt smothered and became increasingly annoyed with her. But strangely, he had also begun to depend on her even more and the pair became closer than ever, much to Ron's annoyance. For Harry, there was also the unexpected bonus of Cho Chang's attention to distract him and when that fizzled out, he shifted his focus, for reasons that he now understood only too well, to Ginny Weasley. In contrast, Ron's attempts to impress Hermione became increasingly transparent and desperate. But that was the strange thing - to Harry's view at least - it seemed to work. Hermione became even more emotional than usual where Ron was concerned and began to act completely out of character. Firstly, she confunded McLaggen to help Ron make it onto the Gryffindor Quidditch team, then she as good as invited Ron to Horace Slughorn's Christmas party and, finally, she attacked Ron with some conjured golden birds when he appeared with Lavender Brown.
The tension between Ron and Hermione had been palpable during the hunt for the horcruxes and, with Ginny absent, Harry found that he was increasingly troubled by their closeness. It was as if he was jealous, although he had hastened to reassure Ron that this wasn't the case, even telling him that he thought of Hermione like a sister to ease his concern. However, Harry knew that wasn't really the truth and he had to admit to himself that the image that Voldermort's soul fragment had conjured of Harry intertwined with Hermione had been an appealing one. He had convinced himself that his reaction was simply due to Ginny's absence and this seemed to be confirmed later, since, once he was back with Ginny, any romantic thoughts and jealous feelings relating to Hermione quickly disappeared.
After that, Ron and Hermione's marriage, and, he had to admit, his own with Ginny, had been troubled. However, while his disagreements with Ginny were fairly trivial and tended to occur while he was away and they were keeping in touch by owl or through the fireplace at their home, Hermione and Ron appeared to be in an almost constant state of warfare. They disagreed seemingly about everything, ranging from their careers, to their living arrangements, their social life and how they should raise their children. Ron had now abandoned his devotion to the methods outlined in his previously invaluable copy of "Twelve Fail-Safe Ways to Charm Witches" and his old, conservative pureblood values had resurfaced with a vengeance, much to Hermione's dismay. For her part, Hermione had returned to her old self, as far as Harry was concerned, and was ready to stand up to anyone and everyone, if she believed that she was in the right. But the pair of them always seemed to be able to patch up their differences and return to a somewhat strained truce. Matters were helped because Ron and Harry were often away for long periods due to their work, while Ron and Hermione developed separate social interests that also tended to keep them apart. The downside, for Harry, was that he also started to see less and less of Hermione, particularly since Hermione and Ginny had become estranged soon after he and Ginny had first started to get closer. It began with a silly row over Harry's use of the Sectumsempra curse and the relationship between the two of them had never really improved. Ginny had always been fairly defensive where other witches were concerned and, Harry noted, she seemed to regard Hermione as a particular threat, although the reason for this didn't become clear to him until much later. He had missed his previous closeness with Hermione, but on the few occasions that he tried to arrange a meeting, Hermione always seemed to be too busy or didn't show up, giving him some lame excuse later on, when he confronted her.
After Voldemort had been vanquished, Harry and Ron had both joined Kingsley Shacklebolt's new administration at the ministry. Although many Death Eaters had died that night at Hogwarts, many more had escaped or simply faded away into hiding and the sentiments that Voldermort had encouraged had not entirely died with him. There were still pockets of resistance to clean-up and occasional attempts to revive anti-Muggle and mudblood sentiment. Harry and Ron had worked tirelessly to help bring the perpetrators to justice and although, after she had completed her education, Hermione had wanted to join them, Ron had objected so vehemently that she had eventually taken a more administrative role in the Ministry.
Even 19 years later, the work was still continuing and, although Harry's star in the ministry had been very much in the ascendant and he had been widely tipped to become a future Minister of Magic, he had still liked to work in tandem with Ron whenever the opportunity arose. And so, Harry hadn't been surprised to see Ron stroll into his office one morning with a broad grin on his face. Ron was still as tall and lanky as ever and topped Harry by almost half a head. His face had remained perpetually youthful, still giving him an almost boyish charm, although his bright red hair was now thinning noticeably at the crown, much like his father's.
"Have you seen that new witch working on reception?" he asked by way of greeting. "She could tell me where to go any time she liked; as long as she came along too."
Harry laughed. "You know Ron, some things never change. Don't you ever get tired of rejection?"
"Who says I'm always rejected," Ron replied with a wink. "Anyway, it wouldn't do you any harm to at least show that there is still some sentient activity down there from time to time." He nodded significantly in the direction of Harry's desk.
Harry shook his head in mock despair. "I'm surprised that you could even suggest such a thing. I am married to your sister, after all."
"Well, you should watch yourself there, mate," Ron continued remorselessly. "Ginny still has the old Weasley magic. She wouldn't be short of offers if you weren't around."
"In case you haven't noticed, I am still around. Anyway, you could hardly call me experienced where witches are concerned, could you? I mean, there was Cho Chang, but that was just one snog, so it hardly counts, and then there was Ginny. And that represents the sum total of my experience with the female gender in 36 years," Harry finished emphatically.
"I suppose your right." Ron perched on the edge of Harry's desk, keeping one foot on the floor for support. "And to think that I was once worried that Hermione might fancy a sad loser like you."
Harry didn't reply. He knew that Ron wasn't the only one who had harboured such thoughts. Harry remembered Rita Skeeter's article in the Daily Prophet in their fourth year at Hogwarts and the way in which Victor Krum had pulled him to one side to ask about his relationship with Hermione. He had been quick to dismiss Victor's concerns, although the idea that the great Victor Krum saw him as a rival had been rather pleasant and had probably contributed to his revised view of Hermione.
"Anyway, enough of this trivia," said Ron, more seriously. "I really came to tell you that McBride has been spotted." Ron was well aware that Harry had been trying desperately to find Alexis McBride, a former Death Eater who had been responsible for the deaths of about a dozen Muggles in recent years.
"You don't say," Harry replied brightening. "And I suppose that you want us to go after him?"
Ron nodded, returning Harry's smile. "You've got it in one!"
Harry thought for a few moments, mentally reviewing his upcoming commitments. "Well, I can't leave for a couple of days. The kids start back at Hogwarts next week and it will be Albus' first term - Rose's too come to think of it - so I've got to be there to see him off. But after that, I promise that we can get started straight away. We should soon be able to pick up his trail. Just imagine, McBride finally within our grasp. I can hardly wait."
Harry had been true to his word and the day after seeing the children onto the Hogwarts Express at King's Cross, he and Ron had set off for the remote village in Wales from where the report on McBride had originated. As usual, they travelled by broom, since they both preferred this mode of transport to apparition and, in any case, their brooms could always come in useful for local travel at their destination. They flew at a high altitude, far away from prying eyes. Ron seemed sullen and preoccupied and so they travelled largely in silence. Their contact in Wales had reported that he had kept McBride under surveillance and he had further informed them that he had set up a meeting with McBride later that night, under the pretext of sharing some valuable information, to lure him out into the open. So in theory, all Harry and Ron needed to do was to wait for McBride to appear and capture him. The meeting was due to take place at a secluded farmhouse on the outskirts of the village. The farm was approached down a long tarmac drive, boarded by mature hedgerows and consisted of a white, rendered detached farmhouse positioned, along with several dilapidated outbuildings, around a circular farmyard of compacted red shale. Harry and Ron took up their positions in an empty barn directly opposite the farmhouse in the late afternoon, stacking a few hay bales into makeshift chairs, behind a line of similar bales, arranged to provide cover. It was late autumn and so dusk was already approaching as they settled in.
Ron was still quiet and Harry's few attempts at conversation were met by monosyllabic grunted responses. By the time that darkness finally gathered around them and Ron's outline was only just discernable against the general gloom, Harry was not able stand it any longer.
"Come on mate, you've been acting like a bear with a sore head ever since we started out. What's wrong? Have I done something?"
"It's nothing. I'm fine," Ron replied gruffly.
Harry was well aware of the usual source of Ron's bad moods. "Look, you can't fool me mate. What has Hermione done now?"
"Oh, she's impossible!" Ron suddenly exploded. "I make one silly mistake and you'd think that I'd killed someone."
"What's happened?"
Ron sighed and shook his head in exasperation. "It was after we dropped the kids off at King's Cross," he began. "I used the thingummy…oh, what's it called…the indicator on the car, but I pushed it the wrong way and, according to Hermione, I was in the wrong lane anyway. Well, the upshot was, we had an accident. I turned straight in front of a car that was overtaking us and we got hit in the side. Needless to say, our car is now a write-off."
Ron slouched down, a frown creasing his forehead. "I mean, everyone has accidents from time to time, but Hermione went mental! Now she assumes that I must have confunded the examiner on my driving test or I could never have passed. Why must she always think the worst?"
"Well, you did mate. Remember you told me," Harry replied, suppressing the urge to laugh.
"That's not the point," Ron retorted. "It's always the same with her. She thinks that she can do everything better than I can. I know that she does," he finished sulkily.
Harry waited for a few minutes, allowing Ron's anger to ebb away. "You've got to make allowances mate. We both know that Hermione is brilliant. She sets really high standards and she doesn't understand that we can't all reach them."
"Well you don't seem to have any problems coming up to expectations." Ron sounded petulant and so Harry let this comment pass, reluctant to reopen old wounds.
"You knew what you were getting into when you married her. I did warn you often enough, Ron."
"I know. I know. But you never understood. I really fancied her and I just wanted her to respect me, at least a little bit. I thought she did for a while, but she just can't accept me for who I am. It's as if she's always searching for something else; wanting me to be someone that I'm not."
Harry's attempted reply was interrupted by a sudden movement in the farmyard. The farmhouse door was opened and a shaft of yellow light stretched out, casting shadows on the rough shale surface of the yard. A figure emerged out of the darkness to their right. It was tall and wearing a hooded cloak that hid the face and head. Harry was immediately wary. Why had the door opened before the figure appeared? Was it intended as some sort of signal? This just didn't seem right to him and he reached out an arm to warn Ron.
"It's McBride, come on," Ron spoke in a loud whisper as he leapt up and hurdled the straw bales, his wand drawn and raised in front of him.
"Wait!" Harry shouted, as the figure at the doorway spun around towards Ron and, from the corner of his eye, Harry became aware of another hooded figure emerging from the shadows, wand in hand.
"Avada Kedavra!" the newcomer shouted, his wand pointed directly at Ron.
"Protego!" Harry responded desperately, his wand aiming between them.
Harry was almost too late. His protective shield was still forming as the intense ray of green light came into contact with it. The killing curse wasn't completely deflected. Instead, it seemed to burst and break-up into hundreds of tiny bright green particles, most of which rebounded to form a haze surrounding the hooded figure, who slumped to the floor, unconscious. But some of the particles escaped through Harry's protective charm and, while he watched horrified, they seemed to be drawn towards Ron. As Ron stood apprehensively, raising his arms to try to ward off the green mist, the other hooded figure at the doorway ran off into the surrounding fields and the farmhouse door slammed shut, leaving Harry and Ron alone in near total darkness. Ron glanced towards Harry, a quizzical expression on his face, and then slowly, almost as an afterthought, he sank to his knees, before dropping forward, face-first, onto the shale.
"Ron," Harry cried rushing from the barn and crouching down besides his friend's body. With difficulty, he turned Ron over carefully and cradled his head and shoulder in his arms, desperately trying to think of what he could do. He rested his fingers on Ron's neck and encouragingly felt a faint pulse. Suddenly, Ron coughed, startling Harry, and gradually opened his eyes.
"What happened," he croaked, surprised to see Harry staring down at him. "I'm OK. I'm OK. Did you get him?"
Harry gently let Ron go, giving him time to prop himself up on his elbows, and then moved across to the still figure lying a few feet away from them. He pulled the hood roughly back from the face.
"Yeah, it's McBride. But he had a warning. Let's get you back, and then I'm going to sort this lot out for good," Harry promised.
He felt consumed by rage and a hatred for McBride, primarily brought about by his concern for Ron, but only later was Harry to find out just how much damage the events of that night had actually done.