Choices

Chapter One: The Veil

Making the same mistakes twice was a tell-tale sign of stupidity, Hermione had once thrown at him during a lecture. If that were true, Ron was forced to now accept the three of them were as stupid as they come.

He wasn't even sure why he agreed to it, no part of him wanted to even be in the Ministry, much less breaking into a department that held only their deepest regrets and nightmares. He and Hermione were a right pair though, never able to turn down their hero friend when the time struck. That said, Ron wasn't sure it was purely for Harry they impulsively hopped aboard his crazed plans each time; trouble always found them because they looked for it a little. The drama and secrecy thrilled him, he was old enough now to admit that.

This was going a bit far. They couldn't even all fit into the invisibility cloak any more, so while Hermione and Harry cozied up hidden from view, he was the idiot who had to bribe a witch from the cleaning department to show him the area. Honestly, he couldn't believe it was so simple either.

He supposed no one ever expected anything of the cleaning crew. To be fair, all Ron did was flirt a little, complain about being a hero and wanting some 'much needed closure over the harrowing battle in the department of mysteries.'

Bloody hell, if 14 year old Ron knew how women would one day swoon over him, he wouldn't have been nearly as much of a git.

"I could get into so much trouble for this," She sighed, looking up at him through long lashes, "but I just can't stand to see a soul in such torment."

Who talked like that? Ron, bemused, patted her arm, "And know that this soul appreciates that just so much." Uh-oh, the sincerity was getting hard to fake. Ron panicked, quick, calm her suspicions, "I'm so nervous confronting my painful past like this."

Her look of suspicion melted into sympathy and he had the heart to feel guilty for taking advantage of a good person, "Well, hush up, and I'll help you out. You can take me to dinner sometime to pay me back."

That had not been part of the plan. Ron felt an unseen body nudge him and rolled his eyes - guess he was taking one for the team again. "Sure," it was half-hearted and he hoped she didn't hear it in his tone.

When they entered the department of mysteries, he instinctively felt a tremble of fear run through him. This place had haunted him nightly in the summer of fifth year. It was a reliable source of torment for both of his best friends, too. Harry and his bloody dreams - here they were again, half-cocked, no idea what they were doing, leaping into the unknown on nothing but a figment of their friends imagination. They would deserve to be called stupid, and that included Hermione, brightest-witch-of-her-age-ms-know-it-all-brainy-pants.

One would have expected, trusted even, that once the war was over, the Trio would settle down and enjoy a quiet, normal life. No such luck. It had been five years since the war ended and for the last few months Harry had been having a dream every night about this place.

There was only so long he and Hermione could listen before they decided to investigate. Ron certainly didn't expect them to find anything Harry was looking for, and it might cost them their jobs, but Ron didn't work at the Ministry so that was out of his hands. He suspected Hermione didn't believe they'd find anything either so her compliance in this plan was puzzling, but Ron knew better than to question her decisions when it came to Harry. Or ever, really.

Before he could even utter thanks to the unnamed witch, Hermione tore off the cloak and stunned her. Ron gaped, "Brilliant, but scary."

Hermione shrugged, looking only a little perturbed by the actions. Reluctantly, she spoke, "Someone will probably need to… modify… her memory a little."

Both men immediately stared at her, and she sighed deeply, "Fine, I suppose I'm the memory charm expert." The admission made him uneasy, remembering all too well the Trio's trip to Australia to restore her parents memories. Hermione hadn't really been the same since, a fact that he knew kept Harry awake at night. Besides these dreams, of course, he thought with a tinge of exasperation.

"It's okay, we'll have loads of time to practice memory charms when you two are jobless bums," He quipped, glancing around the department. The cleaning girl had sworn there would be no one about at this time, it was her rota to clean the area, but he was sceptical of her credentials.

"Shut up, Ron," Harry replied swiftly, with no malice, "Chosen one, remember? I'll talk our way around it if needs be." His tone was mocking, but Ron suspected there was some truth in it.

"Overwhelming confidence in this," Hermione said dryly, now flanking Harry with her wand held to her side. They couldn't quite lose the vigilance the war had given them, though time had tried to heal almost everything else. "Harry, please tell me you at least know where you're going?"

He halted, putting one finger to his head and closing his eyes - and Merlin, was he humming? "Just waiting on my psychic powers to kick in.."

Ron couldn't help himself and he let out a vivacious, loud laugh. Hermione swiftly elbowed Harry and gave Ron a sharp look, "Sorry, I thought maybe we'd have something more specific than 'anywhere in the whole department',"

Harry's grin faltered, and dread quickly filled Ron. That look was never good. He looked guilty, abashed, reluctant. Something bad was coming. A quick glance at Hermione confirmed that she was suspecting the same thing… Shit, he thought. If Hermione didn't know what was coming it was bad. Ever since they had gotten together, Harry and Hermione had become even more annoyingly adept at reading each others mind. Mental, the both of them.

"Well, see, the thing is," Harry stumbled over his words, eyes roaming around the long hallway of the department. "It's - it's mostly the veil…"

"The veil." Ron responded, flatly, already tired.

"Harry," he couldn't help but flinch - and saw Harry do the same - at the hurt in Hermione's tone, "Why didn't you tell me?"

The man opened his mouth to respond, but Ron was done. They were here now, may as well give some closure to Harry's tormented psyche. "You lovebirds can discuss this later, yeah? We're currently in the middle of a 'situation' and to be honest, I'd like to get this over with. C'mon, we can use the scar to sweet talk anyone we come across."

"You know I hate it when you call me the scar," Harry grumbled as he took point.

Hermione came up on his left side, wand still hanging tightly in her hand, "You have no grounds for complaints tonight, I think Ron should be able to call you what he wants."

"Finally, I've been waiting years to use Pothead."

"Ronald."

As they approached the room, Ron wondered if it was still as he pictured in his mind. It was his first real test as a duelist, a fighter and soldier. Hermione had once described it as the night they all lost the innocence taken from Harry in fourth year. While he thought that was a bit extreme, Ron had to admit that the battle of the department of mysteries held a place of horror that many other battles took second string to.

Harry slowed his pace and swallowed, "Now or never, I guess."

He was about to stride forward, when Hermione placed a hand on his, "Hang on, let's take some precaution." Hesitating for just a minute, she threw the cloak over her boyfriend. "Why don't you take this with Ron and go ahead?"

There was a short silence in which he stared at her, causing Ron increasing discomfort. Another one of their silly wordless conversations. "Mate, out with it already, not all of us can read your mind."

"Ron, I think you should keep watch and Hermione should come with me." He said finally, looking down at the cloak. Ron almost laughed; had Harry been concerned about his reaction?

"Absolutely fine. You guys enjoy the walk down thriller lane," He said, pushing them toward the door.

Hermione was frowning, "If you're sure, Ron, we can toss a coin or something -"

"Nope, it's good, go." After a bit more cajoling, the two left him in the hallway and he relaxed. Tossing his wand from one hand to the other, Ron fought the urge to whistle and fill the silence. There were some terrible rumours about this place that persisted among his peers no matter what his age was. The tale changed somewhat as he got older, but the message remained the same: the Department of Mysteries was a fucked up place.

When he was younger, he very temporarily harboured the wish to become an Unspeakable - it seemed unspeakably cool. Once he discovered you could never reveal to anyone you were an unspeakable, it was dropped immediately.

He sighed, wishing he had worn a watch. Ron had no idea of the time and the spell Hermione showed him multiple times was once again lost on him.

Was that a cough he heard?

Suddenly, he began to hear the screaming, and Ron started backing up to the door. Reluctantly, he walked backwards through the door his friends had disappeared into. Something was wrong.

Tentatively, he called out, "Harry? Hermione? We may have a problem." The screaming was getting louder and he turned and ran further into the room, finally spotting his friends standing near the veil, examining it.

In his haste to reach them, Ron picked up the pace but he had never been the most athletic of people. As he reached them, he stumbled over the uneven ground in the room, realising only by the utter horror dawning on his friends faces that he was stumbling into something much worse than the last time he had been here.

Two deafening screams joined the others, his name clear on their lips, as Ron slipped through the veil, seeped and consumed immediately by the darkness it brought.

A/N: Thanks for reading! I would truly appreciate reviews.

Obviously, the veil is a bit different in this fic so please I won't be sticking dead to canon on it. I've finished this fic, it's around 17k words but I haven't decided how I'll chapter it yet. I'll likely update a couple of times a week, maybe tomorrow or Monday for chapter two.

Rated T as I don't think it's overly explicit except the language, but let me know if you think it should be M.

It will be HHR, but very much as a side pairing, romance is not a focal point. Added them as pairing to the story description so no one would come expecting RHr etc. This follows canon up the end of the seventh book, excluding the epilogue.

Thanks again!

CR.