Hey guys, I'm sorry for the delay in updates. I'm trying to get better, but I've practically screwed myself up with all of my stories that are yet finished.

Chapter 5

For the rest of that day, Harry remained inside Ron's room. That was the only place that he felt that there was some hidden answer to leading him to Ron and Hermione. It just didn't seem right. He knew that he shouldn't have involved them in helping him against Voldemort. He knew the risks. Then, why did he take them? "You said to us once before that there was time to turn back if we wanted to. We’ve had time, haven’t we?" Those were the words of Hermione that kept replaying in his mind. "We’re with you whatever happens." Although it wasn't more than a month ago that Ron said that, it felt like a life time. His friends had always been there for him. But now, they need him and there was nothing he could do. Not with Dementors guarding every entrance and exit to the Burrow. As Harry continued to lay on the old bed and stare out at the vast sun sinking behind the horizon, the door was suddenly thrust open to reveal a large group of people. "Harry!" came a hoarse voice from the doorway.

Harry quickly turned around to find Moody, Tonks, Mr. Weasley, Fred, George, Bill, Charlie, Lupin, and Kingsley standing in his doorway. "What's going…?" began Harry.

"Shh! There's no time to explain, mate," stated Fred.

"If Ginny knew we were leaving her," continued George.

"We'd be dead meat!" they concluded in unison.

"What do you mean, 'leaving her'?"

"We're going to find Ron and Hermione," stated Mr. Weasley.

"But…we can't leave. There's Dementors right outside!"

"That's why they invented a fascinating thing called Apparation," smiled Tonks as she took Harry by the hand and led him out to the back yard followed by everyone else. Oh how Harry hated apparating. It was like his chest was being compressed and he couldn't take in a single breath. He preferred brooms. After a few minutes of the uncomfortable transportation, Harry found himself outside the Leaky Cauldron. "What are we doing here?" asked Harry as the group led him inside.

As they walked in, they saw that the entire bar was vacated, save for Tom who was cleaning mugs behind the counter. "The room is all set, just like you ordered, Kingsley," stated Tom.

"Thank you, Tom. Do you mind giving us some privacy?" asked Kingsley.

"Not at all. If you need anything, just holler." And with that, Tom exited through the back door into the kitchen. "Alright, now that we have that settled, let's get to work," said Mr. Weasley.

"Will somebody please tell me what's going on?" shouted Harry, completely frustrated that no one had answered his question.

"Well, if you really must know," replied Fred.

"We've thought of a clever way of finding Ron and Hermione," finished George.

"Really? How?" asked Harry.

"You see, Harry, as you are fully aware of, we believe that there are Death Eaters inside of the Ministry of Magic that are manipulating Scrimgeour and Umbridge. Surely, they are making sure that we have no way of finding Ron or Hermione," began Lupin.

"Ah, but there's the rub. Since they are under contract of keeping us away from Voldemort, then they must know where Voldemort is hiding," continued Moody.

"But how would they know that?" asked Harry.

"Voldemort always lets his followers know of his plan. He tells them what he is doing and how they can help stop anything from happening," replied Tonks.

"And, what? Do you really think that the Ministry is going to allow us to walk in and talk to all of the employees?" asked Harry.

"No, but they made this fancy potion known as the Polyjuice Potion," replied Tonks.

Harry was quite familiar with the brew himself. He, Ron and Hermione had used it their second year to interrogate Malfoy. But there was one flaw in their plan. "How do you expect to get the hairs?" asked Harry.

"It's a very fortunate thing that we have a Metamorphmagus on our side," replied Lupin.

They knew exactly who Lupin was talking about. Tonks could turn into any form she desired. Quite a useful quality. "So, let's go over the plan again. Tomorrow, Tonks will go into the Ministry as an inspector. While there you will get five identities. The following day, Moody, Lupin, Kingsley and myself will catch the people with some of Fred and George's Skiving Snackboxes. With the Polyjuice Potion, you five plus Tonks will infiltrate the Ministry and interrogate this list of supposed Death Eaters," explained Mr. Weasley, holding a list of names.

"But, how will we know who we are impersonating?" asked Bill.

"And how do we find these Death Eaters?" asked Charlie.

"And what if they don't talk?" asked Harry.

"Excellent questions. For your question, Bill, Tonks will have to pay very close attention to whose hair she takes and in which vial she places them. For your question, Charlie, on this list I have names and room numbers for each supposed Death Eater. Harry, for you question, each of you will have to practice turning water into tea and slipping some Veritaserum into their cups. That way we know we have accurate knowledge," answered Moody.

Harry felt his hopes raise. They were getting closer to finding Ron and Hermione. As he sat in there, Moody shouted, "Tom!"

The barman came out from the kitchen with a smile on his face. Harry was sure that Tom had been listening in on their conversation. "We need four rooms for a couple nights. Do you have some available?"

"Of course I do. Already set up, too. And I'll give it to you for free because of the circumstances."

They each thanked Tom s he handed Moody the keys. "Alright, Potter and the Weasley twins will share room eleven, the remaining Weasleys have room ten and Kingsley, Lupin and Nymphadora will take room nine. That leaves me with room eight," stated Moody.

"How many times do have to tell you to not call me Nymphadora?" replied Tonks angrily.

After they had each gone to their rooms and Fred and George had fallen asleep, Harry lay awake, thinking about how Mrs. Weasley, Fleur and the Grangers would wake up to an empty house. Yet, Harry couldn't help but feel excitement. They were getting closer to finding Ron and Hermione. All of his thoughts drifted towards them and dreams of the magical trio reuniting once more took a hold on Harry's drowsiness.

---

"No! Please! Not her!" cried Ron as Voldemort pointed his wand at Hermione. "Please! Take me instead!"

"CRUCIO!" shouted Voldemort, ignoring Ron's pleads. Hermione wreathed on the floor, screaming in pain. "PLEASE STOP!" cried Ron.

Voldemort turned to Ron, causing the curse to leave Hermione's limp body. Slowly, he raised his wand at Ron and smiled, "As you wish. AVADA KEDAVRA!"

The green light hit him square in the chest and returned him to darkness.

---

Ron woke up with a start, beads of sweat dripping down his face. The dark room that enclosed him surrounded him. Thankfully, it was just a dream…but a realistic one all the same. Slowly, he looked around and saw Hermione sleeping peacefully next to him. He knew that he had to protect her for as long as he possibly could. As he looked at her peaceful state, the door opened to reveal Lucius Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange. "The Dark Lord wishes your presence, Blood traitor!" sneered Bellatrix as Malfoy removed the shackle from Ron's ankle and took Ron by the hair, yanking him upstairs.

Although Lucius's hold on Ron's hair was painful, Ron didn't struggle. He wanted to save his energy for the fight ahead. After Bellatrix opened the door to the room that held Voldemort, Lucius threw Ron inside and slammed the door shut, locking it with just a flick of his wand. Ron didn't dare look Voldemort in the face. Voldemort was a master at Occlumency. With one look, he would be able to read Ron's mind. "A pleasure to see you again, Weasley," came the frightening voice of the Dark Lord.

Ron kept his eyes closed as he lay on the cold floor. "Look at me when I am talking to you."

But Ron didn't obey. "Didn't your filthy blood-traitor parents teach you manners, or is your family too poor to afford those as well? CRUCIO!"

The pain erupted through Ron's body again, but he didn't show any signs of anguish and pain. But he could feel it. After Voldemort had let the spell die away again, he began to speak in his frightening tone. "You must really care about Potter in order for you to be able to take this and not blame him."

This time, Ron did look up into the red slits of the Dark Lord's face. "Now, tell me…you're Potter's best friend, correct? What makes him suffer, hm?"

Ron kept his mouth shut. He knew why Voldemort asked the question…he wanted to finish Harry off once and for all. "Oh, come now, tell me and all of this pain will go away."

Before Ron could stop himself, he muttered something that Voldemort couldn't hear. "What did you say?" asked Voldemort in a happy tone.

"PISS OFF!"

As you can imagine, that didn't sit too well with Voldemort. Before Ron could do anything, the Dark Lord raised his wand at Ron and shouted, "IMPERIO!"

It felt like Ron had no control over his own body, yet he could see and feel everything about him. Voldemort flung the tip of his wand towards the wall, sending Ron flying into the hard wood. "Who do you think you are to talk to me like that!"

Voldemort flicked his wand across the room, sending Ron's painful body into an already shattered mirror. "How dare you talk to me you filthy…"

He ran Ron into a broken dresser. "Red-haired…"

Ron was pulled across the room and into a four post bed. "Blood-traitorous…"

Ron's soar and scarred back hit the ceiling. "WEASEL!"

Ron felt his body fall back onto the floorboards and the sensation of control over his body once more. Barely on the edge of consciousness, Voldemort grabbed a tuft of Ron's hair and threw him into a chair. With just a flick of his wand, ropes bound him to his new seat while Voldemort shouted, "BRING THE MUDBLOOD!"

The sound of heavy footsteps could be heard running down the creaky stairs. There was a shriek and then the sound of someone dragging a struggling person back up the stairs. The door was unlocked and flung open to reveal Bellatrix dragging Hermione by the back of her shirt. "Just leave her by the wall."

Bellatrix threw Hermione across the room and shut the door once more, leaving Hermione in a state of terror and Ron in a state of anger. "Now, Weasley, tell me what I want to know…or your little Mudblood friend here will suffer my wraith!"

"RON! DON'T TELL HIM A THING!" cried Hermione.

"QUIET YOU! CRUCIO!"

Hermione began to scream and wreath on the floor in pain. Ron could only help but watch. As Hermione went limp, Voldemort turned to Ron and asked, "Ready to tell me, yet?"

Ron couldn't answer. "No? CRUCIO!"

Hermione began to scream in pain again as Voldemort's eyes glittered with the beauty of the girl in pain. Ron could feel tears begin to fall down his face. Finally, he shouted, "ALRIGHT! STOP! I'LL TELL YOU! JUST STOP!"

The pain stopped and both Voldemort and Hermione turned to look at Ron. After taking a few breaths, Ron replied, "If I tell you…will you let Hermione go?"

"Of course. Lucius!"

Suddenly, the blonde sinister man walked through the door. "Take the filthy Mudblood to Hogsmeade and leave her with the barman at the Hogs Head."

"But, my Lord…"

"JUST DO IT!" he shouted, with an evil grin on his face.

As Lucius helped Hermione up, Ron stated, "It will be alright…just trust me."

"I do trust you," she replied. And like that, she was gone. Voldemort drug the chair that held Ron to the window to force him to watch as Lucius led a now free Hermione away from the Shrieking Shack and into the forest towards Hogsmeade. "There…proof! Now tell me, what makes Harry Potter suffer?"

TBC…

Will Ron tell Voldemort the truth? Did Lucius really take Hermione to the Hogs Head? Will Harry and company be successful? Stay tuned to find out. Please R&R!