(all credit goes to original artists)
Ron stared down at this own blood as it pooled around his feet. None of the cuts, bruises and breaks were lethal but they were never meant to kill him. The expert spellcraft of the professor was focused on forcing him to surrender, and he had to respect it for its raw artistry.
The vitae flowed like memory, the joy of the morning and seeing his friends laugh and smile, even Seamus was there laughing and opening gifts from family and friends. You wouldn’t be able to tell that he was spilling the same blood in the same mud as him. He laughed a lot that morning. Only Neville seemed quiet, staring at him from time to time with a piercing look that seemed to cut to Ron’s soul.
The ball? It was a riot. He didn’t really care for his date, and preferred to just watch Harry steal the show by dancing with Malfoy. Their faces were ones of blissful ignorance and surprise happiness, something that Ron would lock in his memory for the rest of his life. Shining brighter than the sun was Hermione, who shocked the crowd almost as much as Malfoy did with her beauty. He didn’t even care that he wasn’t the one dancing with her.
The fight they had afterwards was more fun than anything, dumping months of emotion into one screaming match felt like a balm on the soul, and watching her express her emotions without her usual air of arrogance was refreshing, even if he was filled with regrets later. Even feeling regret felt good.
He coughed, thankfully there was no blood. His vision blurred at his opponent, wand still raised and gleaming emerald green. It’s not that he couldn’t win against Snape, it’s that he wasn’t allowed to. He didn’t have his service wand, or his service rifle, or even a little Seamus Blessing to throw. He was supposed to be a student, students don’t kill professors. All he had was his old, broken, poorly mended wand in his hand.
When he walked out in front of the professor to block his passage to Harry and Malfoy, the professor it had been the best moment of recent memory, the look on Snape’s face when the youngest Weasley boy told him no. The professor’s face when his first hexes were expertly dodged or deflected with a broken wand.
“What is Potter hiding?”
“Nothing of your concern.”
“Don’t make me do this Mister Weasley. You couldn’t levitate a mouse with that ruined wand. I don’t want to have to teach you what it means to duel a real wizard.”
“It would be the first thing of value you ever taught me.”
Then they fought. It was ugly. He couldn’t use his tricks, his underhanded spells, his war tactics because despite how much he hated Snape, he was a human. All he could do is deflect, defend, and try to get a spell in to slow him down. It was enough to get Snape angry, and Impedimenta was replaced with something that hissed like an angry snake when cast that sliced flesh and let blood seep.
Damn, he was good and he hated how good he was. Someone like Snape would have been useful in the trenches.
“Sit down, Mister Weasley, you are done.” spoke snape in his infuriatingly calm voice.
He was right. Ron was done. He could kill a dozen elves with a pen knife but he couldn’t bring himself to hurt a human, even one like Snape. He felt his knees buckle and ankles go numb. He was so tired. Would he be expelled for this? Probably, he broke enough rules for certain. He would miss his friends…
His friends.
“It’s LevioSA!”
A flash of curly hair and stern eyes hit his psyche like a hammer.
A lightning scar on an innocent boys head
Tear filled eyes and platinum hair.
Ron’s eyes shot open and laser focused on Snape. Determination and will refreshed with a thunderous pounding of his heart and soul. The hands of his friends pushing him up from his fall with every bittersweet memory. His posture changed, he began to march towards Snape with the demeanor that the trenches only can teach.
“Mister Weasley–” Snape said, surprised at the sudden change in demeanor of the fourteen year old boy. Doubt flashed across his face.
“You are… one of McGonnagalls!” He said with surprise
“McGonnagall’s Marauders to you, Snape.” spat Ron in a voice filled with purpose, footprints of blood bearing witness to each step.
Snape hesitated for a moment, the light of his wand flickering before sweeping away under his robe, Snape turning from Ron and beginning to walk away
“It appears that some other matters have come to my attention, Mister Weasley. I will have to come through here again in ten minutes on my normal route. Be sure that I find nothing.”
And he was gone.
Ron stopped alone in the hall. The moment had passed and his legs surrendered to the cruel forces of gravity. He didn’t feel the ground hit him, he didn’t feel much but cold stone and colder air. He knew this feeling, blood loss and exhaustion. The corridors were empty and he didn’t have the strength left to whisper. He felt tears well in his eyes as he watched the blood pool. the first blessed moments of pride welled in his lacerated chest. He did it. He did it for Harry. It was ok to cry a bit when you finally repaid a debt.
Nothing else mattered now, except… he would have liked to hear her voice just once last time.
“Ron! RON!”
Yeah, just like that.... Just like.... that.
#malfoid