A/N: This is it, peeps. Thanks so much to those of you who have read this far and a special thank you to those of you who have left reviews. I hope you have enjoyed this story and thank you for your patience. I have such a hard time with endings and I hope I have done this story justice for you. Enjoy this final chapter!

-o-o-

"What have you done?" Molly bawled, clutching Ron tightly as Arthur tried to get her and Ron away from the tree.

"It's only temporary, Molly," Curtis replied, unsure of whether he should help Arthur or back away to avoid the wrath of Molly.

"Hurry, darling," Arthur grunted, lifting Ron into his arms. "We have to get away from the tree."

"You knew!" Molly snapped. "You knew Ronnie was going to die!"

Arthur shook his head silently and began moving away from the tree, followed closely by Molly. "This was the only way," Arthur replied, struggling not to cry as Ron's body dangled limply in his arms.

"Everyone clear away from the tree," Curtis instructed. "Quickly! We don't have much time if we're going to get Ron back."

"The only way we could get the demon out was to pull both of their souls out of his body," Arthur choked as he and Molly turned to watch Curtis. "The demon was too strong. It had more control of Ron's body than Ron did. Their souls were connected."

Molly was too angry and too distraught to reply. She held Ron's head in her hands and gently kissed his forehead. Charlie and Bill quickly raced to their parents' side and watched as Curtis began casting a spell. The forest was silent apart from the muttered words Curtis began chanting. It was an old spell; magic Molly had never experienced for herself. She watched closely as the tree began to light up, beginning at the bottom and moving up into the branches.

Curtis increased the volume of the spell, raising his arms as a beam of red light shot out of the top of the tree, illuminating the clouds above. There was a loud rumbling beneath their feet and a sudden snap as the tree cracked right through the middle.

Three white orbs of light shot out of the crack in the tree and hovered at the exposed roots.

"Charlie! The doxy! Now!" Curtis shouted with urgency. Charlie quickly passed a small, cloth bag to Curtis. Curtis opened the bag and threw the small, irritated fairy over to the tree. All three of the orbs moved toward the magical creature, but one moved far faster than the rest and disappeared within the body of the fairy. The other two orbs backed off as the doxy stood, frozen, on the grass in front of the base of the tree.

The doxy examined its hands and began experimenting with the movement of its limbs. It looked up at the Molly and the men with an expression of loathing.

"Quickly, bring Ron!" Curtis shouted to Arthur. Arthur moved as fast as his tired muscles would allow him to and placed Ron in front of the tree.

"Why are there two?" Arthur asked uneasily, eyeing the two orbs hovering above his son's body.

"One of them isn't Ron," Curtis replied as he cast a freezing spell on the doxy. They watched as one of the orbs backed away from Ron's body and disappeared around the tree. The last orb hovered over Ron's body for a moment before sinking into Ron's chest and disappearing from view.

The group watched in silence. Ron remained still for a moment then his chest slowly began to rise and fall. His face scrunched up and he rubbed his eyes before sitting up and looking around, not sure of where he was or how he'd gotten there.

"Ron?" Arthur asked, not sure if the orb that had gone into his son was actually Ron's soul.

Ron turned and looked at his father and smiled. "Dad?" he gasped. "What happened?"

Without a word, both Molly and Arthur ran to Ron's side and embraced him tightly.

"How do we know it's really Ron?" Bill asked, pulling Curtis aside.

"Well, we know this one is the demon for sure," Curtis replied, lifting the frozen doxy off the ground and examining the ugly expression on its face.

"But the other ball of light…" Charlie began. He stopped short when he noticed Molly's stunned expression as she stared at something behind them. Curtis and the boys turned and took a step back as four ghostly figures made their way toward them.

Bill grabbed Charlie's shoulder, forcing him to turn back to the tree where the spirt of a young man had stepped out from behind the tree. The spirit of a young girl with short brown hair ran away from the group and raced over to the young man, embracing him tightly. The other spirits moved quickly toward the young man, joining together in a group embrace as the Weasleys and Curtis watched in awe.

Sophie, David, Alice, Helen, and Edward, the father turned to look at the group watching them. David smiled and placed his hand on his chest, mouthing the words "thank you". Sophie wrapped her arms around her brother and smiled down at Ron then looked up at her brother.

As the grouped looked on, the spirits began to disappear before their eyes until they were looking at nothing more than the dark forest.

"I don't understand," said Charlie, breaking the silence.

"Sophie's brother got trapped in the tree when he tried to stop the monster," Ron replied. "The monster killed his family and came after him." He looked up at his parents. "I wanted to tell you, but the monster wouldn't let me."

"It's so good to have you back," Molly sniffed, pulling Ron into a tight embrace and refusing to let go.

"But we haven't gotten rid of it," Bill stated, looking at the frozen doxy.

"Your father and I are going to take care of it," Curtis explained. "Why don't you boys go help your mother get Ron settled in the house? We'll be along in a moment."

Molly pulled Ron to his feet and the four Weasleys made their way to the burrow while Molly announced all of the food she was going to serve in celebration of having her youngest son back alive and well.

"I didn't want your children or wife to watch," Curtis sighed, "but I assume one of you will need to witness that this thing was actually destroyed." Arthur nodded, standing back as Curtis tossed the doxy onto the ground and cast the killing curse.

The monster was weak, having just inhabited the new body. It had no chance to escape and its soul was destroyed along with the doxy's. The men did away with the body of the doxy and made their way toward the house.

-o-o-

"Ready or not, here I come!" Ginny shouted, uncovering her eyes and looking around the garden. She raced toward her father's shed in hopes of finding one of her brothers. Molly watched from the kitchen window and smiled.

It was the last day of summer and the older children were going to be heading to Hogwarts the following morning. Their bags were packed and their school supplies had been purchased the week before.

It was Bill's idea to spend time with the younger Weasleys for the day and Ginny's suggestion to play hide and seek. Molly loved the moments when all of her children were getting along and spending time together.

The Weasley household had returned to normal and all was well with the family. Curtis had left the day after the demon had been exorcised with a trunk full of baked goods from Molly.

Molly started as the sitting room lit up and Arthur stepped out of the floo. He walked into the kitchen and brushed himself off before kissing Molly's cheek and wrapping his arm around her waist.

"All is well, I expect?" he asked, looking out the window and watching Ginny chase Percy toward the back step, which had been designated as 'home free'.

"Couldn't be better," Molly sighed, resting her head on Arthur's shoulder.

-o-o-

Ron raced through the trees until he couldn't see any of his siblings anymore. He could hear Ginny and Percy shouting, so he knew he hadn't gone too far into the forest.

He spotted a large, gnarled tree and ran to hide behind it. He recognized the tree and knew there was a large hollow where the roots had pulled away from the ground, making it an ideal spot to hide. Getting on his hands and knees, Ron crawled beneath the tree and waited for his sister to come searching for him.

As his vision adjusted to the lack of light within the tree, he noticed the small intricate symbols that looked like they had been burned into the tree. He ran his hands along the symbols then stopped suddenly. He held his breath and remained as still as he could. A loud snap that within the tree and the small amount of day light that had been lighting the inside of the tree suddenly disappeared.

"Found you, Ron!" Ginny shouted, tagging her brother's foot and racing back to the house in a fit of giggles.

"Dang!" Ron grumbled loudly, climbing back out of the tree and racing after her sister. "How did you find me?"

The Weasley children raced around the back garden, laughing and shouting in the autumn sun. The tree that had caused the family so much turmoil stood, benign, a few meters within the forest. All magic within it was gone and it no longer posed a threat to anyone. David's spirit was free, the demon's spirit had been vanquished, and Ron's body and mind were once again his own.

-o-o-

A/N: I'd love to hear what you thought of this story. Constructive criticism is always welcome if it will help me to become a better write.

Thanks again for reading!