I apologize for my horrid lateness on this chapter. Geez, I can't believe it took me this long. I had a lot of writer's block and then I revised it a bunch, and I'm still not completely happy with it. But please read it and review. You guys are wonderful. It's kind of hard writing in french accents a lot. Creative chapter title, I know. But I feel as if it's all been zapped out of me at the moment.

If you see me at midnight walking the streets
You know it's me for I cannot sleep
I've pushed away the dreams and spoiled the quiet
I'm propelled by fear and not the righteous
So have you been to a place like this?
To see your breath as it paints against the sky
The forever is near, I wish you were here.
- Umbrellas "The City Lights"

Chapter 5: Arrival at Beauxbatons

Ron felt a wave of fear wash over him as he struggled fruitlessly against the curse that had just been bestowed upon him. This was it. He had barely stepped foot onto his new journey, and he was already down and out.

Dumbledore's smiling face filled his vision. He was startled, even though his still body obviously did not show it. In his panic, he had forgotten about Dumbledore being with him. He felt foolish. He was not going to die, not if Dumbledore was accompanying him.

Dumbledore pointed his wand at his face and said, "Finite Incantatem." Ron felt the invisible binds that had been impressed upon his body lift, and Dumbledore helped him to his feet. Ron's hand flew to his wand, and he quickly whirled around to face the direction where the red light had come from. He found Adrien standing there, his arms crossed, with an unimpressed look on his face. Lupin, Moody and Tonks were all staring in disbelief at him.

"Eef you are going to be fighting with us, you must be ready for anyzing," Adrien said, frowning deeply. Ron felt his face flush with resentment, and lowered his wand.

"You could've just told me that, you didn't have to attack me," Ron said sourly.

"Ron, please. That may be Adrien, but I ask that you please refrain from attacking my students or anyone else that is an ally to us," Dumbledore said simply. "Well, let's carry on," and he led the way down a cobbled walkway.

Ron gazed at his surroundings as he followed the tall wizard. It was nighttime, and there were no lights around, except for the moon, and the lights coming from a vast castle ahead of them. Dumbledore led them through a pair of large steel gates that had sprung open at their approach. The castle that they were heading to was huge, even though it looked a bit smaller than Hogwarts. It was a creamy yellow color that reminded Ron of vanilla pudding. The walkway up to the school was lined with merry looking flowers, even though some of them were trampled. The whole grounds seemed to look like a garden and Ron was reminded of a country cottage.

Dumbledore came to a halt in front of a pair of large oak doors, and Ron nearly ran into him. They waited for a second or two, and then the doors opened, and a boy and a girl came out dressed in the blue robes that Ron had seen the Beauxbaton students wear during the Triwizard Tournament.

The girl smiled at them, and Ron was struck dumb with how pretty she was. She had straight raven colored hair that framed her heart-shaped face. Her eyes were a warm amber color, and her cheeks seemed flushed a little bit.

"Welcome to Beauxbatons!" she exclaimed, her voice heavy with her French accent.

"We are 'ere to bring you to Madame Maxine," the other boy said, his voice didn't have the same warmness and hospitality of the girl next to him. In fact, he looked quite bored. He had sandy blond hair, and he was heavily tanned. However, his superior manner reminded Ron greatly of Malfoy. His golden eyes flicked over them all lazily. He nodded in recognition towards Adrien, who nodded back. The girl however, showed no inclination that she recognized Adrien.

"My name is Eloise, and zis is Paul. We're 'ead boy and girl 'ere," she said cheerfully, stretching out a hand to shake Dumbledore's.

"Nice to meet you both," Dumbledore replied in his own cheery tone, "This is Ronald Weasley-," Ron felt his heartbeat quicken as she smiled at him broadly, but Dumbledore continued and her gaze was averted. "And this is Remus Lupin, Nymphadora Tonks, and Alastor Moody. I'm certain that you already know Adrien." Eloise's smile looked a little strained, but she nodded. Adrien was staring intently at her, and fidgeting nervously.

"Madame Maxine is waiting," Paul said gruffly, opening the doors and beckoning them to follow. They all consented, and Elise and Paul led the way through the Beauxbatons entrance hall. Ron gaped at the hall as they were led straight through and up a flight of stairs.

The whole hall seemed to be made of the finest marble. The white was blinding to Ron's eye, and he found himself squinting slightly. Even the portraits on the walls had people dressed in fine clothes and were painted into rich looking houses and elegant backgrounds. They sniffed disapprovingly as their procession passed them. Even the candleholders seemed to be made of crystal, and there was the biggest chandelir that Ron had ever seen hanging from the ceiling. Everything seemed smooth, and Ron was worried about slipping on the stairs. It was very beautiful, but Ron preferred Hogwarts' stonewalls and staircases much more.

"Beautiful, isn't it Ron?" Dumbledore spoke, interrupting Ron's musings. Ron shrugged.

"Well yeah, but I like Hogwarts better," he answered truthfully. He heard Adrien huff disapprovingly behind him. In front of them, Eloise turned around and smiled sweetly at Ron.

"Do you really? 'ow is eet at 'ogwarts? I've always wanted to visit," she said eagerly, joining Ron and Dumbledore on the other side of Ron. Ron felt his body temperature rise.

"Well, erm… it's nice… and it's gray… and big," Ron stammered, cursing at himself for sounding so dumb. Eloise, however, giggled and the smile did not disappear from her face.

"Oh well, I've always liked ze color gray," Eloise said amiably.

"Um, yes, it's a good color…" Ron trailed off awkwardly. He looked up to Dumbledore as if for help, but Dumbledore winked and dropped behind them to say something to Lupin as they passed through more marble corridors. There were no other corridors and Ron was reminded that there was a time change from England and France. It was clearly late at night here. They passed through more and more corridors and three more flights of stairs. Ron felt as though they would never get there.

"Did you just graduate from 'ogwarts? You must be a very good wizard to be joining Adrien and ze others on such an important and dangerous mission," Eloise said, staring intently at Ron's reddening face. He didn't want to tell her that he wasn't a special wizard at all, and that he was only here because he told his potions master to go to hell.

"Well, I'm actually still in my 6th year at Hogwarts…" Ron answered uncomfortably.

"Oh! You must be a really good wizard zen to be 'ere when you 'aven't even graduated yet!" she paused for a second, and then went on to say, "And you're pretty cute too, Ronald," without a hint of shame or embarrassment. Ron felt his insides warm and his heart thump painfully against his ribs. "We're almost zere!" Eloise exclaimed, walking a little faster to catch up to Paul at the front of their group.

"Hey, call me Ron," Ron called after her. She smiled at him over her shoulder.

"And you can call me Ellie, like my friends do," she answered. Then she whirled about and joined Paul. Suddenly, Ron felt a hand tightly grip his right shoulder and wheel him around.

He found himself face to face with an ill-tempered Adrien.

"You stay away from 'er, you 'ear?" he spat angrily into Ron's bewildered face.

"What?" he asked stupidly.

"She is mine," he said, tightening his grip on Ron's shoulder even more. Ron grimaced and felt as though his shoulder might crack from the pressure, but he did not falter.

"I wasn't aware that she was the property of anyone," he shot back. Adrien's features contorted even more, and he clenched his other hand in a fist, as if to punch Ron.

"You two getting along alright?" came the grisly voice of Moody from behind Adrien. Adrien released Ron's shoulder.

"Yes. We are fine," Adrien answered coldly, and strode past Ron, bumping him in the shoulder. Ron glared at him, and turned around to follow, Moody clunking by his side.

"Those French… mighty possessive, they are. They're very passionate too," Moody growled. Ron shrugged, making it clear he didn't want to talk about Adrien.

Pretty soon they reached the end of the corridor and found a portrait of a bony woman wearing a bright yellow silky gown resting on a dark purple futon.

"Mot de passe?" she asked elegantly.

"Cabriolets," Paul answered in a bored voice. The lady nodded and the picture sung inwardly. Paul and Ellie stood to the side as Dumbledore, Tonks, Adrien, and Lupin entered through the doorway the picture created. Moody went before Ron, but Ron hesitated.

"Aren't you coming?" he asked Ellie. The French girl looked surprised but then smiled.

"No silly. Eet is private. I am not eenvolved en your mission!" she said with a tinkling chuckle. Paul rolled his eyes.

"Oh. Right," Ron said, once again cursing himself for his stupid remarks.

"But I know I will be seeing you soon!" she said enthusiastically, and then she grasped Ron's shoulders and kissed him first on the left cheek and then on the right cheek. "Adieu!" and with a wave, she followed Paul down the corridor. Ron stared at her shiny black hair dreamily for a second, but then snapped back to reality when the portrait threatened to snap close on his big feet if he didn't get inside.

He stumbled inside, and found himself in a large round room. It was painted a light slightly sickening pink with many pictures of old haughty looking wizards on the walls. It was heavily furnished, with many oak dressers, and had pink curtains covering the windows.

"And 'oo is zis?" boomed a heavily accented French voice from the center of the room. Sitting in a comfortable looking pink armchair sat Madame Maxine. Ron recognized her immediately as she seemed to take up half the office by herself.

"This is Ronald Weasley, he will be aiding us here," Dumbledore answered kindly, winking at Ron. Madame Maxine turned her nose up slightly.

"'e seems young." Ron bristled slightly. It was very discouraging to hear people say that over and over again.

"I assure you, he is quite capable," Dumbledore said. Madame Maxine scrutinized Ron for a moment more, and then shrugged lightly and turned back to Dumbledore.

"Well, I welcome you to our wonderful school, and hope that you zolve our problem!"

"We will, Madame Maxine, I promise you that we will. And now that you're all settled in, I will be taking my leave," Dumbledore said, leaning down to kiss the hand that Madame Maxine offered to him.

"What? You're not staying with us?" Ron exclaimed. He had never thought he was going to have to do this without Dumbledore.

"I must Ron, I'm sorry, but I have other issues that I need to attend to also. You will be just fine, I know it," he said clasping a reassuring hand on Ron's shoulder. Ron nodded weakly.

"Thank you, sir." Dumbledore then nodded to the others, and exited through the portrait hole. Ron felt his chance of surviving this detention fly through the portrait hole with him.

"Our aurors will know when eet is ze right time to infiltrate ze ministry, and will alert you. But I'm sure you are all tired, and should rest. I will be taking you to where you will be staying," Madame Maxine said, getting out of her chair and towering over the rest of them. She made her way to the portrait hole and gestured to them to follow.

Ron blindly followed the others down corridors and up staircases as they climbed even higher into the castle. All that was occupying his mind was the numb realization that he would probably die and never see his friends or family again. What hope did he have of surviving with Dumbledore gone?

He trudged on after the others, even though all he wanted to do was collapse and fall unconscious in a dreamless sleep so that he didn't have to think about these troubling problems any longer. But of course, he seriously doubted he could clear his mind enough tonight to get any sleep. Finally they came to a door at the top of a long flight of stairs.

Madame Maxine opened the door and ducked to get inside. The others followed, and Ron looked around at the surroundings. It was a long circular room, with 4 beds, 4 dressers and a bathroom at the end with another door next to it. There were intricately designed rugs and tapestries on the walls. The beds looked extremely inviting, even though the blankets were pink. There were even pajamas for all of them on each of the beds.

"Zis is where you will be staying. Nymphadora, you will be staying in a conjoined room, through zat door," she pointed to the door next to the bathroom. Tonks smiled wanfully.

"Thank you, and please call me Tonks."

"Tonks?" Madame Maxine looked confused but then went on addressing all of them, "I 'ope you enjoy, it was ze best we could do under the circumstances and the short notice. I will send a house-elf up in ze morning to tell you when breakfast is."

"Thank you, it's wonderful," Lupin said graciously.

"No, thank you all for coming to our aid," Madame Maxine said genuinely.

"It's no problem really, we want to do as much as we can to help," Tonks said amiably. Madame Maxine nodded with a wide smile and bowed out of the room.

The others drifted to their beds and began getting ready to sleep, talking heartily. Ron couldn't help but feel that some of the optimistic tones were forced.

Ron suddenly felt a shroud of weariness overtake his body. He tore off his sneakers and examined the pajamas on his chosen bed. They seemed to be made of a silky light blue material, and had an embroidered dark blue 'B' in the corner on a chest pocket. Beauxbaton students clearly liked to live in luxury. He shrugged and threw the pajamas onto his bedside table. Then he collapsed into the pink bed. He inhaled slowly, enjoying the fresh scent of the clean linens. He wrestled himself under the covers, and layed face down in his pillow.

"Are you alright Ron?" Ron peeled his face away from the pillow to find himself looking into Lupin's worried eyes.

"Yes, yes, I'm okay," Ron lied. Lupin raised an eyebrow disbelievingly, but smiled all the same.

"Well okay. Try not to suffocate yourself too much with your pillow," he said before drifting towards his own bed. Ron laid down staring at the ceiling.

Might as well suffocate myself with my pillow before some death eater gets me, he thought to himself glumly. The lights went off in the room and the occupants said goodnight to each other. Ron said nothing. He was too distracted and disturbed to offer such a normal courtesy.

He felt so utterly alone, laying there in a strange country, millions of miles away from all of his friends and family. But this feeling of alone went so much deeper. He felt as though he were falling into an abyss of darkness and uncertainty and no one could help him out. He tried to brush his fear away, but could not manage it.

At least I've found a girl who actually likes me here, he thought to himself, thinking briefly of Ellie with her bright smile and shiny hair. Somehow, he could gather no comfort from this feeble thought. He tried to move onto other thoughts to distract him from thinking thoughts about his ultimate death and demise.

Hermione's face flashed into his mind. He remembered how one day last year he and Hermione were under a tree out on the Hogwarts grounds, doing homework in the spring sunshine. He remembered exactly how the sun had reflected down on Hermione's tawny hair, and how her skin looked almost golden beneath the rays. Her hair fell in her face as she leaned down to write something on her parchment, and she hastily brushed it away with a delicate hand. He sat there, not able to concentrate on his charms homework, trying not to draw her attention to his fixations on her.

She looked up from her scribbling and Ron hastily dropped his eyes to his blank piece of parchment.

"Ron are you going to do any homework at all?" she asked exasperatedly. He couldn't understand how she would expect him to get any homework done at all when she was sitting there looking so beautiful.

"Maybe someday. I don't really see the point though, as you're going to help me on it anyways," Ron answered, leaning backwards and laying down on the grass. He watched floating dust particles visible in the afternoon sunlight drift about lazily. He heard Hermione sniff disapprovingly.

"And what would you do if I weren't there to help you on homework?" she demanded.

"Hermione, without you, I'd probably just die," he said, not even thinking about the words coming out of his mouth. He tensed for a minute. He had meant to say something sarcastic and funny, but he had said exactly what had been on his mind.

"Well then," Hermione began quietly. "You better hope that you never leave me." The silence between them seemed deafening. Ron lay immobile, no longer concentrating on the dust particles, but on the weight of what Hermione had just said. Before Ron could further contemplate her statement, she had jumped to her feet.

"Come on, we should get inside now," and then she was already walking across the grass. Ron grudgingly grabbed his things and followed her, all the while wondering what she meant at that statement she made. He remembered he had been upset with her for the rest of the day for being so cryptic. But he still marveled at the way the sunlight reflected off her hair and skin and made her look absolutely perfect.

Ron snapped back to reality, and to the dark bedroom and the light snores of someone else in the room. He shifted and lay comfortably on his side. At the soothing memory of Hermione he felt his worries drift away, and felt his eyelids droop. He felt somewhat at peace, even though he knew his problems were nowhere near resolved. He wondered briefly if Hermione was okay, and whether she was thinking about him or not. Then Ron fell into the deep, dreamless sleep he had hoped for, aided by the memories of a girl a million miles away who was awake in her dormitory, wondering if he was okay and if she would ever have the chance to kiss him again.