Chapter Forty-Three:
( the return of the r's )

▂✫⌒*･ﾟ

             SPENCER IS TIRED OF waking up everyday with Ricky's voice being heard over her mind repeatedly despite him not being there. It occurs almost every single night. She keeps herself awake until Harry forces her to try and sleep and then she does only to get bundled up with nightmares at every turn. Spencer has forgotten what it is like to actually dream something nice when all she would get is something like a memory between her and Morgana, her parents, her aunt, Voldemort, the damn stupid snake, the sensation of pain— every single worse thing to have happened to her continuously occurring in her sleep. And then the only way she wakes up is when she hears Ricky's soft voice repeat 'You're fine, you're okay' and she opens her eyes only to realize he is not there. There are times where in the middle of a nightmare some person tries to save her. It is never Ricky because he is the one who at last always wakes her up, however, she has dreamt of Blaise trying to tell her not to let others win, Daniel comforting her that their mind is beautiful, the Weasley twins trying to pop up beside her, Ginny talking about Harry, Fleur doing her hair— all of them are some sort of guardian angel trying to make her find a light path and it does not work until she thinks she hears Ricky and yet... he is not there.

             Harry has not been doing any better. Even if Spencer did not know him as good as she does, anyone could see the absolute rage in his system. The way he glares at a certain spot and if it was possible, Spencer is sure the area would burst into flames. She would assume his fury is directed at her and Hermione, however, in one of the days she kept herself awake... she heard him mutter on Dumbledore's name and it was then she realized he is furious at the dead wizard who was suppose to help him— to guide him. Spencer does not try and tell him that Dumbledore wanted what was best for him because she did not know him and most of all, she is not sure those words would be true. Instead, it feels like if Harry was just a simple pawn to the old wizard.

             She glances at him warily, noticing the way his hand is clenching toward Hermione's wand in a way that allows her to know he is thinking about all that has gone wrong. It is only when Hermione appears with two cups of tea that she turns away from him.

             "Harry?" Hermione whispers, appearing frightened that he might curse her with her own wand. Her face streaks with tears, she crouches down beside them and hands one of the cups toward Harry and the other to Spencer. The youngest of the three smiles weakly while she accepts the drink. It tastes like water to Spencer's tongue, but she ignores it and lets her throat burn because of how hot the tea is. It is not like the air is not freezing cold so it does not bother her. "Do you mind if I talk to you?" The curly-haired girl wonders quietly.

             "No," Harry replies. Spencer gazes down at the floor. He says no, but she can hear how the words are said curtly and the way he is holding back his anger on them because he knows they do not deserve it.

             Hermione nods slowly and pulls out a book from behind her hands. "Harry, you wanted to know who that man in the picture was," she starts off carefully. "Well... I've got the book."

             Timidly, she pushes it onto his lap, a pristine copy of The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore. Spencer widens her eyes in surprise and leans in closer to the two to the point where their arms are all touching. Harry shares the same expression and he holds it up in awe and surprise.

             "It was in Bathilda's sitting room, just lying there... This note was sticking out of the top of it," Hermione explains. She points to a few lines and begins reading it aloud, "'Dear Batty, Thanks for your help. Here's a copy of the book, hope you like it. You said everything, even if you don't remember it. Rita.' I think it must have arrived while the real Bathilda was alive, but perhaps she wasn't in any fit state to read it?"

             Spencer swallows deeply and agrees with Hermione's words even without saying anything. Her eyes stare down at Dumbledore's face and she barely realizes how the only reason she is part of this whole thing now with his damn watch it is because of Harry. He must have told him about how she had been helping him with those small meets they used to have... how her mind is different than others. She, just like Harry, is simply a pawn.

             "You're still really angry at me, aren't you?" Hermione hiccups. The two of them look up to see fresh tears leaking out of her eyes. Ah, Spencer realizes, so she is not the only one who can see his anger.

             Harry appears taken back and he shakes his head lightly. "No," he denies quietly. "No, Hermione, Spencer, I know it was an accident. Both of you were trying to get us out of there alive, and you were incredible. I'd be dead if the two of you hadn't been there to help me." He tries to return her watery smile, then turns his attention to the book. Harry riffles through the pages, looking for photographs. Spencer stares down with him and comes across a young Dumbledore and his handsome companion, roaring with laughter at some long-forgotten joke. Her eyes drop to the caption and then they widen in complete shock and realization.

Albus Dumbledore, shortly after his mother's death, with his friend Gellert Grindelwald.

             There had to be no way... except Spencer knows the truth. She wondered why the young man had appeared so familiar and now the answer is right in front of her. That young man is Gellert Grindelwald. Dumbledore had been friends with that cruel man. Her attention stays focus on the book while Harry freezes for the first few minutes. Then, he begins to search the pages and when he gets to the start, all three of them huddles closer if that even is possible. Reading faster than the other two, Spencer finds herself in a greater deal of shock than before.

             The first part talks about Dumbledore's accomplishments as he left Hogwarts in a style of glory. A man nicknamed "Dogbreath" Doge became one of the few who actually came to know the Dumbledore's. How the two Dumbledore brothers somehow did not appear to like each other much (which Spencer can finally relate to) and how it affected them with Ariana's ill. It mentions the real Bathilda Bagshot and not the snake who somehow ended up being her. The death of Kendra had occurred because of a backfiring charm and how Dumbledore went off to Godric's Hollow as an orphan and head of the family. Apparently, at this point in time Miss Bagshot had agreed to accept into her home her great-nephew who turned out to be the one and only Gellert Grindelwald.

             Grindelwald's terror of reign is not widely known around here precisely because of how much time he spent elsewhere— that includes the infamous school of the Dark Arts, Durmstrang. He, like Dumbledore, showed excellent brilliance and for months no one had realized where he had been. However, Spencer has come to now find out what exactly happened because Rita Skeeter exposed her former headmaster right then. Apparently, Grindelwald chose to visit his great-aunt in Godric's Hollow and there an intense shocking friendship spurred with Dumbledore.

Spencer froze when she read the letter that the two wizards would write to one another — especially that of which her former Headmaster wrote to Grindelwald which only revealed that Albus Dumbledore, the one they have come to known as one of the greatest wizards had been a part of the idea to have wizards rule muggles...

             Your point about Wizard dominance being for the muggles' own good, Spencer repeats on her mind with a ill-struck expression. We seize control for the greater good... this must be the basis of all our counterarguments... for the greater good... for the greater good— Spencer pales at what this letter that Dumbledore wrote meant.

             Albus Dumbledore had not been so different from Tom Riddle. Though, even at this point, at least Riddle is not capable of love. He is emotionless because of being conceived under a love potion (of course, this does not excuse his actions). But Dumbledore? How does one start off being a partner to one of the darkest wizards to having one of the most legendary duel? The one that young Spencer had been proud of to learn when Mordra would speak of Grindelwald and his idea to rule over muggles because that is the side she wanted to be on. Not Grindelwald's and yet it seems they were not different at all.

             Spencer closes her eyes in revolt before choosing to wrap the story altogether. She forces herself to not stop even as the dark thought of 'did Dumbledore kill his own sister?' passed through her head. Her eyes stays focus on Harry's face after she finishes and notices the anger he holds increase by the moment. Hermione then finishes possibly rereading and when she sees that Harry is done and looks up, the girl tugs the book out of Harry's hand with an alarmed look. Again, the two of them have noticed his dark expression.

             "Harry —" Hermione tries speaking but stops immediately when Harry shakes his head. She gives him a few seconds before trying again, "Harry, listen to me. I-it doesn't make very nice reading—"

             Harry scoffs at her words, "Yeah, you could say that —"

             "— but don't forget, Harry, this is Rita Skeeter writing," Hermione sounds desperate as if wanting to make him understand. Spencer does not get it. What else more do they have to understand? There is nothing in between the lines. Skeeter does not receive anything except hesitation in trusting a dead man. Dumbledore is dead already! Plus, that letter...

             "You did read that letter to Grindelwald, didn't you?" Harry glares at Hermione.

             She appears taken back and nods slowly. "Yes, I — I did," Hermione stammers and then hesitates to say, "I think that's the worst bit. I know Bathilda thought it was all just talk, but 'For the Greater Good' became Grindelwald's slogan, his justification for all the atrocities he committed later. And... from that... it looks like Dumbledore gave him the idea. They say 'For the Greater Good' was even carved over the entrance to Nurmengard."

             Spencer lets out a fake chuckle. "Dumbledore didn't give him the idea, Hermione. He was part of it!"

             Her words do not make Harry feel better, but he sends a puzzled expression toward Hermione and questions, "What's Nurmengard?"

             Hermione keeps her eyes at Spencer without a defense against her words toward their former headmaster and then shakes her head. She turns back to Harry and tells him, "The prison Grindelwald had built to hold his opponents. He ended up in there himself, once Dumbledore had caught him. Anyway, it's — it's an awful thought that Dumbledore's ideas helped Grindelwald rise to power. But on the other hand, even Rita can't pretend that they knew each other for more than a few months one summer when they were both really young, and —"

             "I thought you'd say that," Harry interrupts coldly. "I thought you'd say 'They were young.' They were the same age as we are now. And here we are, risking our lives to fight the Dark Arts, and there he was, in a huddle with his new best friend, plotting their rise to power over the Muggles."

             Spencer does not disagree with him seeing as he has a point. Her eyes follow his movements as he stands up and walks around like if he is trying to get some of his anger off toward that instead to them.

             "I'm not trying to defend what Dumbledore wrote," Hermione claims. "All that 'right to rule' rubbish, it's 'Magic Is Might' all over again. But Harry, his mother had just died, he was stuck alone in the house —"

             "Alone? He wasn't alone! He had his brother and sister for company, his Squib sister he was keeping locked up —"

             "I don't believe it," Hermione denies defiantly. She stands up too. "Whatever was wrong with that girl, I don't think she was a Squib. The Dumbledore we knew would never, ever have allowed —"

             "The Dumbledore we thought we knew didn't want to conquer Muggles by force!" Harry shouts, his voice echoing across the empty hilltop, and several blackbirds rose into the air, squawking and spiraling against the pearly sky.

             Hermione flinches at his tone of voice and tries to argue, "He changed, Harry, he changed! It's as simple as that! Maybe he did believe these things when he was seventeen, but the whole of the rest of his life was devoted to fighting the Dark Arts! Dumbledore was the one who stopped Grindelwald, the one who always voted for Muggle protection and Muggle-born rights, who fought You-Know- Who from the start, and who died trying to bring him down!"

             "He's dead," Spencer snaps, standing up herself with her eyes hardened. Hermione and Harry stop their argument as they look at her wondering what else she has to say. They recognize the cold tone on her voice, the one they do not want to get on the bad side of. "Dumbledore is not a good person, nor did he die a bad one. I'm sure he changed... but how much? Why? What made him decide that he no longer wants to be above muggles? When his sister died? You know what I got from that book? That Dumbledore knows how to hide his truths and lies because none of us knew him! Not even Harry who surely should have known more about this because it is happening all over again. Dumbledore gave his idea to Grindelwald thinking they were in this together and then at some point changed his mind— but he knew him better than anyone else. And do you know what he is doing to Harry—?"

             "Spencer, calm down," Hermione trembles, her eyes fixing on the taller girl who barely realizes she had her wand raised up angrily. Spencer closes her eyes trying to get herself to calm down and stop snapping her friends who do not deserve it.

             However, Harry seems to be listening close to her words and takes a few steps closer to her. She glances toward him and notices that her words only made his anger even more visible. "Finish what you were going to say," Harry orders, his eyes glaring right at her but Spencer knows it is not exactly for her.

             "You're just a pawn," Spencer breathes out. Harry flinches at her claim while Hermione releases a small gasp. "He gave you a bit clues of how to handle him and then leaves you to handle the rest. I mean— do we even know if he was going to tell you this? What that stupid Snitch of yours is meant to be or what Grindelwald's mark has to do with this?!"

             Hermione grasps her arm and pulls her back. "You're only getting him angrier! The only reason he is angry is because he never told him anything!"

             "Exactly!" Harry bellows. He flings his arms over his head and for what is worth, Spencer pities him. She keeps her mouth shut knowing only speaking her thoughts would not make him feel better. "Look what he asked from me, Hermione! Risk your life, Harry! And again! And again! And don't expect me to explain everything, just trust me blindly, trust that I know what I'm doing, trust me even though I don't trust you! Never the whole truth! Never!"

             His voice cracks with the strain, and they all stand looking at each other in the whiteness and the emptiness.

             Hermione continues to let her tears stream down her face. "He loved you," Hermione whispers. "I know he loved you."

             Harry drops his arms defeatedly. The anger of his slowly starts vanishing, but he still keeps the same cold interior. Slowly, Harry shakes his head. "I don't know who he loved, Hermione, but it was never me. This isn't love, the mess he's left me in. He shared a damn sight more of what he was really thinking with Gellert Grindelwald than he ever shared with me."

             Harry picks up Hermione's wand, which he had dropped in the snow, and sits back down in the entrance of the tent. "Thanks for the tea. I'll finish the watch. You two get back in the warm," he dismisses.

             Spencer frowns softly at his words before nodding knowing nothing will change his mind. Her eyes awkwardly meets Hermione, but the other girl seems to not be angry at how she had contradicted her and instead holds out her hand. Spencer purses her lips before letting her own hand meet hers. She swallows deeply before letting herself being swift away with Hermione's pull.

             The two girls stay close to each other, cuddling to keep themselves warm because despite of the banter that occurred moments ago, it is just the three of them left.

.･:*:･ﾟ'✫,'✫'ﾟ･:*:･˙

             MORGANA STILL HAUNTS HER despite not even being in the same place. Nights have passed since their great adventure at Godric's Hollow and since they found out Dumbledore is not the person they thought he was. Spencer knows that the reason she has nightmares about her older sister is because she is at Hogwarts—not right now but she is when school is in session— and not as a student but as some assistant to Death Eaters. She wonders if Blaise and her talked, fought, ignored each other... (Spencer just wants to be held by him and assured that everything will be fine). Spencer does not know and she will not know until she can go back home. And not the manor because that is not her home but at the Weasleys because that is where she sees her brother and where her friends have stayed. Even if Ron and Ricky are who knows where. Perhaps they have now reached their destination back at the Burrow. She is not sure.

             Moving on... Morgana. One would think she would no longer have her haunt her dreams but as always, she does. It does not help that her hand is still printed with the words 'I must be like Morgana'. They do not mock her anymore, but it is just her name— her name that ruins everything.

             Worst part of it is that she hates her and yet deep inside she loves her. Or maybe she loves the imagination that could of been her. Spencer flinches when she can clearly recall the question 'Is it bad that I cannot care for others like Spencer?' She remembers those words being spoken from Morgana's mouth to Mordra. Maybe there was hope for her older sister after all. Sure, she does not have empathy like others, but at least she acknowledged it and tried to do something. She tried in the beginning, to be clear. Spencer has always been the touching type; holding hands is something she adored doing even as a child. On the other hand, Morgana was not, but even then she let herself be touched by her and accepted it until everything changed.

             It happened fast, but not out of nowhere. Spencer had noticed when Morgana began spending more time with their aunt even without her. They grew closer and closer— sometimes, Mordra made Spencer join in hoping to poison her mind as well. Either way, Spencer noticed the shift in Morgana. She began being more honest about how she looks and how she feels about Spencer. The doubtfulness in her mind would vanish easily after awhile. You're annoying, stop talking, I don't like it when you do this, and this, and that... And then Mordra was finally imprisoned and Morgana snapped. That was when everything worsened from them on.

             Spencer had hope up until she was eight. She thought with her aunt being gone it would be easier, but Morgana was far too gone already. Doubt no longer rested in her mind. She became completely cold and bitter. At the age of eight, Morgana hexed her purposely and then manipulated others to think it was an accident (though, perhaps Oliver and Glorious knew otherwise). Afterwards, Spencer no longer cried out for her or tried to help her that she can still be good. It just turned into a bitter relationship with one of them giving their absolute hate while the other simply stop trying. By now, Spencer is tired. She is tired of waking up frightened and not even Harry can comfort her because he is too busy keeping himself on watch and everything.

             "Can you care, Aunt Mordra?" asks a young voice coming from the figure of a girl who is leaning her back against the wall. Spencer is debating whether or not to enter the room, but instead she keeps her ear close to the door to listen in to the conversation.

             She hears a wicked laughter and then her Aunt Mordra claims, "Caring is for weak witches, darling. Do you not see how your sister is always appearing helpless? What you are capable of will help with the Dark Lord's return. I just know it."

             Spencer frowns when Morgana asks, "You think so? I want to be one of the best he knows! Can you tell me a story about you and him?"

             Not wanting to hear anymore, Spencer opens the door with her tiny figures and stumbles in. The two of them quickly turn to her and Mordra raises her head disapprovingly while Morgana glares at her.

             "Why do you always ruin everything, Spencer?" Her older sister snaps, pushing her away. Spencer is pushed onto the ground with her sister's force and she sniffles as she tries to hide her tears.

             "Spencer?" The young Montague glances around in confusion. This is not part of her dream... "Spencer?"

             "Spencer?" She sits back immediately, her eyes opening wide in alert before a simple sigh escapes her mouth when she notices it is just Harry. Spencer inhales deeply and Harry's smile falls off as he stares at her in concern. "You alright?"

             She nods sharply, rubbing her eyes when she realizes that the light passing through is hurting them. Hermione starts stirring awake as well, her hand having been locked with Spencer for some reason. Perhaps it happened at night (well not night night since she swears she slept about two hours ago) during one of her other nightmares...

             "What's wrong?" Hermione questions tiredly and yet wide awake already as if they have to go on the run already. Spencer hopes that is not the case because her body is somehow aching. Except then she spots Harry's smile and it is genuine and not angry which catches her completely off-guard.

             "It's okay, everything's fine. More than fine. I'm great. There's some people here," Harry assures, his smile growing wider when he glances at the two girls. Spencer turns to Hermione and the two share a similar look of confusion.

             "What are you on about?"

             "Yeah, who are you—?"

             Their questions goes over their head when a familiar redheaded and brown-haired male enters the tent right behind Harry. Spencer feels her mouth open in shock and she swears the sensation of serotonin sweeps toward every inch of her body when her eyes connect with Ricky's. She does not care how completely exhausted she is or tainted by nightmares, but Spencer throws herself up from the bed and she practically knocks Ricky out of his feet once she leaps at him. Her arms wrap around his neck and she takes him in— her nose overcoming with the smell of dirt and coldness except she does not care because Ricky Adams is here! His own arms makes their way onto her waist and he returns the hug even tighter as if they have not seen each other in years which quite honestly, Spencer would believe it if someone told her that.

             "You're here," she whispers, not realizing she was crying until then because of how her voice croaks and his tainted shirt is now mixed with tears. Ricky closes his eyes in relaxation and nods his head that somehow made its way toward her own shoulders. He repeats the simple words to her and they slowly part.

             It is safe to say that Hermione does not have the same reaction upon seeing Ron as Spencer did to Ricky. In fact, the other girl had stood up completely slow and upon reaching Ron, she instead threw punches in every direction that she can reach. Even as Spencer separates from Ricky, her friend continues smacking the redhead continuously. Spencer winces at how Ron yells in pain while Hermione is livid.

             "You — crawl — back — here — after — weeks — and — weeks — oh, where's my wand?" She looks as though ready to wrestle it out of Harry's hands and the boy reacts instinctively. "Protego!"

             The invisible shield erupts between Ron and Hermione: The force of it knocks her backward onto the floor. Spitting hair out of her mouth, she leaps up again. Ricky and Spencer stare at each other in amusement— and then Spencer realizes how much she misses having this sort of bond with him and the smile falls off her face causing her to gaze away.

             "Hermione!" Harry shouts over them. "Calm —"

             "I will not calm down!" Hermione screams. Never before have they seen her lose control like this; she looks quite demented. "Give me back my wand! Give it back to me!"

             "Hermione, will you please —"

             "Don't you tell me what to do, Harry Potter!" she screeches. "Don't you dare! Give it back now! And YOU!"

             She is pointing at Ron in dire accusation: It is like a malediction, and none of them could blame Ron for retreating several steps. "I came running after you! I called you! I begged you to come back!"

             "I know," Ron starts, "Hermione, I'm sorry, I'm really —"

             "Oh, you're sorry!" She laughs, a high-pitched, out-of-control sound; Ron looks at Harry for help, but Harry merely grimaces his helplessness. Spencer chooses to stay quiet knowing how much Hermione has suffered since she was there. She cannot blame her for being furious... he had left her completely and it broke her. That is not to say Spencer did not break as well, but the situation between her and Ricky is different. Ricky chose to left not because he wanted to part from Spencer, but because he could not leave Ron deal with everything by himself. And by the looks of it, their path had not been easy. "You come back after weeks — weeks — and you think it's all going to be all right if you just say sorry?"

             "Well, what else can I say?" Ron shouts.

             Hermione scoffs with greatest amount of sarcasm, "Oh, I don't know! Rack your brains, Ron, that should only take a couple of seconds —"

             "Hermione," Harry tries to interject. Spencer sends him a glare and warns him not to continue. Harry notices and quickly quietens up instead of trying to defend his friend.

             "I don't care!" she screams. "I don't care what he's done! Weeks and weeks, we could have been dead for all he knew —"

             "We knew you weren't dead!" bellows Ron, drowning her voice for the first time, and approaching as close as he could with the Shield Charm between them. "Harry's all over the Prophet, all over the radio, they're looking for you everywhere, all these rumors and mental stories, I knew I'd hear straight off if all of you were dead, you don't know what it's been like —"

             "What it's been like for you?" Hermione's voice is now so shrill only bats would be able to hear it soon, but she has reached a level of indignation that renders her temporarily speechless, and Ron seizes his opportunity.

             "I wanted to come back the minute I Disapparated with Ricky, but we walked straight into a gang of Snatchers, Hermione, and we couldn't go anywhere!" Ron exclaims, pointing his finger right at the boy whose hair has grown bigger than Spencer has ever seen before.

             Spencer raises her eyebrows. "What are you talking about?" She questions in shock. Harry motions to her with the same confusion. Hermione throws herself down into a chair with her arms and legs crossed so tightly it seems unlikely that she will unravel them for several years.

             "Snatchers," Ricky continues for Ron. "They're everywhere — gangs trying to earn gold by rounding up Muggle-borns and blood traitors—"

             "—there's a reward from the Ministry for everyone captured. We were on our own and we look like we might be school age; they got really excited, thought we were Muggle-borns in hiding— which Ricky is— but I had to talk fast to get us out of being dragged to the Ministry," Ron explains further, grimacing slightly at the reminder. Ricky swallows deeply as if recalling the moment where his life had been endangered and Spencer squeezes his hand in comfort.

             "What did you say to them?"

             "Told them I was Stan Shunpike. First person I could think of," Ron shrugs his shoulders. Their attention heads toward Ricky knowing he must have had more trouble than them. Spencer stares at him in concern and internally releases a sigh of relief when he claims, "I told them I was Graham Montague."

             Spencer raises her eyebrow in amusement. "My cousin? Why?" She smiles and it feels completely odd like if she has not smiled in decades. Ricky gazes at her as if she's stupid which in some cases it does feel that way. "Because that was the closest I felt to you right when we separated," he answers with an obvious tone.

            "And they believed that?" Harry questions incredulously.

             Ron and Ricky shrug with a smirk and a look only they would understand. "They weren't the brightest. One of them was definitely part troll, the smell off him..." The redhead glances at Hermione, clearly hopeful she might soften at this small instance of humor, but her expression remains stony above her tightly knotted limbs. He frowns for a few seconds before continuing, "Anyway, they had a row about whether I was Stan and if he was Montague or not. It was a bit pathetic to be honest, but there were still five of them and only two of us and they took our wand. Then two of them got into a fight and while the others were distracted Ricky managed to hit the one holding him in the stomach, grabbed his wand and then I did the same to mine. We disarmed the bloke holding our wands, and Disapparated. I didn't do it so well, Splinched myself again" — Ron holds up his right hand to show two missing fingernails; Hermione raises her eyebrows coldly — "and we came out miles from where you were. By the time we got back to that bit of riverbank where we'd been... you'd gone."

             "Gosh, what a gripping story," Hermione says in the lofty voice she adopts when wishing to wound. "You must have been simply terrified. Meanwhile we went to Godric's Hollow and, let's think, what happened there, Harry? Spencer? Oh yes, You-Know-Who's snake turned up, it nearly killed the three of us, and then You-Know-Who himself arrived and missed us by about a second."

             Ricky snaps his head toward Spencer, gaping widely from her and then the other two (but especially her). "What?" The two boys that just returned question in complete shock.

             Hermione ignores them pointedly. "Imagine losing fingernails, Harry, Spence! That really puts our sufferings into perspective, doesn't it? I mean— it's not like you almost had your chest burned off or that Spencer barely even sleeps and is completely br—"

             "Hermione," Spencer cuts her off, her eyes widened in surprise at how angry she truly is... even more so than she thought. Ricky keeps his eyes on her worriedly, barely noticing the way heavy bags are under her eyes and how dead she appears while being alive. Not even the supposed Montague look can save her from looking good. Her hair is almost as spazzed out as Mordra tends to have it... shorter than she has ever had it because Harry (not Hermione since she was too busy moping around) had cut off her long hair and left it barely pass her shoulders (months ago Spencer perhaps would have been angry or upset at how badly Harry had cut it, but being deserted with only the three of them left her a bit emotionless on that behalf).

             Harry steps in quietly, "Ron just saved my life."

             Hermione appears not to have hear him. "One thing I would like to know, though," she continues, fixing her eyes on a spot a foot over Ron's head. "How exactly did you find us tonight? That's important. Once we know, we'll be able to make sure we're not visited by anyone else we don't want to see."

             Ron glares at her, then pulls a small silver object from his jeans pocket. "This."

             She has to look at Ron to see what he is showing them. Spencer appears taken back noticing it was the—

             "The Deluminator?" Hermione asks, so surprised she forgot to look cold and fierce. Spencer cannot blame her, she too is surprised by it. She glances at Ricky for confirmation and he nods in agreement.

             "It doesn't just turn the lights on and off," Ron reveals. "We don't know how it works or why it happened then and not any other time, because we've been wanting to come back ever since I left and Ricky— Merlin, bless him— followed. But I was listening to the radio really early on Christmas morning and I heard... I heard you."

             He is looking at Hermione with adoration.

             "You heard me on the radio?" she asks incredulously.

             "No, I heard you coming out of my pocket. Your voice," he holds up the Deluminator again, "came out of this. Ricky didn't believe me at first, but he noticed how serious I had been and just accepted it despite not being able to hear you."

             "And what exactly did I say?" asks Hermione, her tone somewhere between skepticism and curiosity.

            "My name. 'Ron.' And you said... something about a wand..." Hermione turns a fiery shade of scarlet. Harry and Spencer remembered: It had been the first time Ron's name had been said aloud by any of them since the day they had left; Hermione had mentioned it when talking about repairing Harry's wand. "So I took it out," Ron goes on, looking at the Deluminator, "and it didn't seem different or anything, but I was sure I'd heard you. So I clicked it. And the light went out in our room, but another light appeared right outside the window."

             Ron raises his empty hand and points in front of him, his eyes focused on something neither Harry, Spencer, Hermione, and Ricky could see. "It was a ball of light, kind of pulsing, and bluish, like that light you get around a Portkey, you know? Ricky had seen it too."

             "Yeah," the three of the say together automatically.

             "I knew this was it," Ron chuckles. "We grabbed our stuff and packed it, then I put on my rucksack and we went out into the garden. The little ball of light was hovering there, waiting for us, and when we came out it bobbed along a bit and we followed it behind the shed and then it... well, it went inside me."

             Spencer blinks confusedly. "Huh?"

             "Sorry?" Harry questions in the same tone.

             "It sort of floated toward me," Ron tells them, illustrating the movement with his free index finger, "right to my chest, and then — it just went straight through. It was here," he touches a point close to his heart, "I could feel it, it was hot. And once it was inside me I knew what I was supposed to do, I knew it would take me where I needed to go. So I Disapparated with Ricky and came out on the side of a hill. There was snow everywhere..."

             "We were there," Harry marks quickly. "We spent two nights there, and the second night I kept thinking I could hear someone moving around in the dark and calling out!"

             "Yeah, well, that would've been me or Ricky," Ron nods. "Your protective spells work, anyway, because I couldn't see you and I couldn't hear you. I was sure you were around, though, so in the end I got in my sleeping bag and waited for one of you to appear. I thought you'd have to show yourselves when you packed up the tent."

             "No, actually," Hermione points out smartly. "We've been Disapparating under the Invisibility Cloak as an extra precaution. And we left really early, because, as Harry says, we'd heard somebody blundering around."

             "Well, we stayed on that hill all day," Ron sighs. "I kept hoping you'd appear. But when it started to get dark we knew we must have missed you, so I clicked the Deluminator again, the blue light came out and went inside me, and we Disapparated and arrived here in these woods. We still couldn't see you, so we just had to hope one of you would show yourselves in the end — and Harry did. Well, we saw the doe first, obviously."

             Hermione and Spencer glances at each other bemused. "You saw a what?" Panic appears on Spencer's eyes. What if they have been followed?

             However, the boys begin to explain what had happened and as the story of the silver doe and the sword in the pool unfolds, Spencer taps her chin in thought. She sits down being extremely tired and listens close as Hermione points out the obvious, "But it must have been a Patronus!"

             "And did any of you see anyone? I mean... who would have left the sword knowing we had to need it?" Spencer questions, her eyes narrowing in suspicion. "You reckon this is another secret Dumbledore kept from us?"

             Hermione gives her a sharp look. "Don't start with that," she warns, motioning to Harry who stiffens slightly. Spencer purses her lips knowing she is right. It is not best to start getting angry all over again over a dead man. Ricky tugs her arm and raises an eyebrow confusedly. She mouths the word 'later' before focusing on the others.

             Ron and Ricky explain how they watched Harry jump into the pool and waited for him to resurface; how they realized that something was wrong, dived in— or at least Ron did while Ricky claimed at least one of them had to make it out alive (which of course received an eye roll from Spencer) and saved Harry, then returned for the sword. Ron got as far as the opening of the locket, then hesitated, and Ricky cuts in for him.

             "— and Ron stabbed it with the sword," her best friend reveals proudly. Spencer whistles in surprise and sends Ron a strained smile. She has been noticing how the two males have since then become close to another probably because of the separation from them three. The young girl does not mind since it just means her two friends have gotten closer. In a twisted way, despite all of how they have been treating each other, so have Harry, Hermione, and Spencer herself.

             "And... and it went? Just like that?" Hermione whispers in awe.

             "Well, it — it screamed," Harry mentions with half a glance at Ron.

             "Here." He throws the locket into Hermione's lap which makes Spencer lean in closer to her. Gingerly, she picks it up and examines its punctured windows. The sensation of a beating heart no longer rests and instead Spencer feels her shoulders slightly relax that they no longer have to carry that awful thing around. That another part of Voldemort's soul is gone.

             Harry turns to Ron. "Did you just say you got away from the Snatchers with a spare wand?"

             "What?" Ron hums, who had been watching Hermione examining the locket. "Oh — oh yeah." He tugs open a buckle on his rucksack and pulled a short, dark wand out of its pocket. "Here. I figured it's always handy to have a backup."

             "You were right," Harry agrees with a sigh, holding out his hand. "Mine's broken."

             Ricky begins coughing and Spencer is sure that if he was drinking water he would have been choking on it. "You're lying," he exclaims in disbelief.

             Hermione puts the vanquished Horcrux into the beaded bag, then climbs back into her bed and settles down without another word. Ah, so she's still angry, Spencer nods assumingely. She lets Ron and Harry have their small reunion of being best friends again before letting Ricky sit beside her.

             Spencer rests her head on his shoulder and suddenly feels free— like if she can sleep without being haunted by her demons. Ricky's arms wrap around her carefully and he gently lets his hand run through her hair and arm. It seems like they have not seen each other in years... that they had been lost and suddenly found one another after so much time. At least, that is how Spencer feels.

             "I'm glad you're back," she whispers. "Please... don't leave me, Ricky. I-I couldn't—"

             Ricky presses his lips on her forehead lovingly. "I'm never leaving your side again, Spence. Remember what I promised? I'll always come back to you," he tells her softly and confidently at the same time. Spencer forces down a lump on her throat and holds him closer. It is his voice. The one that always awakes her and somehow right now he is alluring her to sleep because he is next to her and if she lost Ricky... Spencer knows hell would unravel. Her and Ricky are best friends but he is not just some guy. He is her brother even long before she knew Daniel existed and he is her soulmate despite the fact that it is only platonically because he is dating Theodore while she is dating Blaise.

             (That night, Spencer sleeps more than any other day and never once does she parts from Ricky's hold).

▂✫⌒*･ﾟ

AUTHOR'S NOTE:
not me forgetting spencer has an actual
brother 😳 jk jk but in our defense, ricky
has known her longer and has been there
for her since her first year so yeah ❤️

i love daniel too tho,,, miss that guy i wonder
if he's ever gonna appear 😼

and i wonder if we will hear about blaise soon
that would be kinda cool i think 😹 maybe... 👀

but anyway, next week we will be visiting luna's
father and a somewhat short chapter but in two
weeks from now... let's just say it's the dreadful
place