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Ron looked toward him, and Harry thought he saw a trace of scarlet in his eyes
"Ron \a150\a150?"
The sword flashed, plunged: Harry threw himself out of the way, there as a clang of metal and a long, drawn-out screamHarry whirled around, slipping in the snow, wand held ready to defend himself, but there was nothing to fight
The monstrous versions of himself and Hermione were gone: There was only Ron, standing there with the sword held slackly in his hand, looking down at the shattered remains of the locket on the flat rock
Slowly, Harry walked back to him, hardly knowing what to say or doRon was breathing heavily: His eyes were no longer red at all, but their normal blue: they were also wet
Harry stooped, pretending he had not seen, and picked up the broken HorcruxRon had pierced the glass in both windows: Riddle's eyes were gone, and the stained silk lining of the locket was smoking slightlyThe thing that had gucci ladies watch lived in the Horcrux had vanished; torturing Ron had been its final actThe sword clanged as Ron dropped itHe had sunk to his knees, his head in his armsHe was shaking, but not, Harry realized, from coldHarry crammed the broken locket into his pocket, knelt down beside Ron, and placed a hand cautiously on his shoulderHe took it as a good sign that Ron did not throw it off
"After you left," he said in a low voice, grateful for the fact that Ron's face was hidden, "she cried for a weekProbably longer, only she didn't want me to seeThere were loads of nights when we never even spoke to each other
He could not finish; it was now that Ron was here again that Harry fully realized how much his absence had cost them
"She's like my sister," he went on"I love her like a sister and I reckon that she feels the same way about meIt's always been like that
Ron did not respond, but turned his face away from Harry and wiped his prada replica handbags nose noisily on his sleeveHarry got to his feet again and walked to where Ron's enormous rucksack lay yards away, discarded as Ron had run toward the pool to save Harry from drowningHe hoisted it onto his own back and walked back to Ron, who clambered to his feet as Harry approached, eyes bloodshot but otherwise composed
"I'm sorry," he said in a thick voiceI know I was a \a150\a150 a \a150\a150"
He looked around at the darkness, as if hoping a bad enough word would swoop down upon him and claim him
"You've sort of made up for it tonight," said HarryFinishing off the Horcrux
"That makes me sound a lot cooler than I was," Ron mumbled
"Stuff like that always sounds cooler than it really was" said Harry"I've been trying to tell you that for years
Simultaneously they walked forward and hugged, Harry gripping the still-sopping back of Ron's jacket
"And now," said Harry as they broke apart, "all we've got to do is omega watch replica find that tent again
But it was not difficultThough the walk through the dark forest with the doe had seemed lengthy, with Ron by his side, the journey back seemed to take a surprisingly short timeHarry could not wait to wake Hermione, and it was with quickening excitement that he entered the tent, Ron lagging a little behind him
It was gloriously warm after the pool and the forest, the only illumination the bluebell flames still shimmering in a bowl on the floorHermione was fast asleep, curled up under her blankets, and did not move until Harry had said her name several times
"\iHermione!\i"
She stirred, then sat up quickly, pushing her hair out of her face
"What's wrong? Harry? Are you all right?"
"It's okay, everything's fineMore than fine, I'm greatThere's someone here
"What do you mean? Who \a150\a150?"
She saw Ron, who stood there holding the sword and dripping onto the threadbare carpetHarry backed chanel watches into a shadowy corner, slipped off Ron's rucksack, and attempted to blend in with the canvas
Hermione slid out of her bunk and moved like a sleepwalker toward Ron, her eyes upon his pale faceShe stopped right in front of him, her lips slightly parted, her eyes wideRon gave a weak hopeful smile and half raised his arms
Hermione launched herself forward and started punching every inch of him that she could reach
"Ouch \a150\a150 ow \a150\a150 gerroff! What the \a150\a150? Hermione \a150\a150 OW!"
"You \a150\a150 complete \a150\a150 \iarse\i \a150\a150 Ronald \a150\a150 Weasley!"
She punctuated every word with a blow: Ron backed away, shielding his head as Hermione advanced
"You \a150\a150 crawl \a150\a150 back \a150\a150 here \a150\a150 after \a150\a150 weeks \a150\a150 and \a150\a150 weeks \a150\a150 oh, \iwhere's my wand\i?"
She looked as though ready to wrestle it out of Harry's hands and he reacted omega seamaster de ville instinctively |
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