𝑺𝑶𝑳𝑺𝑻𝑰𝑪𝑬 [𝑯𝑨𝑹𝑹𝒀 𝑷𝑶𝑻𝑻𝑬𝑹/𝑻𝑾𝑰𝑳𝑰𝑮𝑯𝑻]

𝐷𝐼𝐷 𝑇𝐻𝐸 𝐿𝑂𝑉𝐸 𝐴𝐹𝐹𝐴𝐼𝑅 𝑀𝐴𝐼𝑀 𝑌𝑂𝑈 𝑇𝑂𝑂

"They're all nutters!" Ron roared, standing up suddenly as his appearance now made sense to Gwen. He looked simply terrified. There wasn't any other way to describe it. His brown eyes were bulging out of their sockets as his hair looked as wild as ever. "I don't know what kind experiments they've been doing, they kept me in the dark with most of them! But they're nutters! I didn't know about this, I swear! I know you won't believe me, but I didn't know how far they had gone! I overheard some when we were in Italy! Before I got away! They figured if you--"

"If you had killed me, then there was no way for you to return home" Gwen added darkly. "You were bounded to them forever."

"The fact of the matter is, they are doing these experiments" Harry said. "But we don't know how much of a success they've had."

"This is dark magic, ancient magic" Gwen said, thinking hard. "They can't have conducted these experiments without anyone noticing. They need a sacrifice--"

"They didn't need one when they brought him back last time" Harry added quietly, as Ron flinched. "In the graveyard, they needed bones and my blood. It could be done with just blood."

"But Voldemort was still alive in some sense" Gwen added. "He no longer has Horcruxes. He's been dead for ages."

"I'm telling you, they're nutters" Ron whispered, as he began to shake. "All nutters. None of this makes sense. No one else knows this is happening, if the Italian Ministry--"

"Why would the Italian Ministry help the Vampires? Help you? This is an act of war." Gwen pointed out.

"It all ties back to you, doesn't it" Ron said darkly, his eyes still growing larger. "They wanted you to fail. Your articles in the paper had started conversation in other countries. This 'experiment' seemed to be working. Magical species and Wizards could live together in harmony. It was working...And this was a threat to other countries. Not everyone wants to be seen as equal to a House-Elf."

"Are you a part of those people too?" Gwen asked with a slight edge to her voice.

"No, I just wanted you to fail" Ron countered. "I didn't care about the rest...The way the Italian Ministry saw it, if you're negotiations failed with the Volturi, if you were...If you were harmed by the Vampires. Then your experiment would fail. No one would rise up to overthrow their government for a new one. If magical species went along and killed a beloved figure...Well, who would want to put their families at risk?"

Gwen took a deep breath. It made sense... but it also didn't. She was trying to wrap her head around it all. If any of it had gone wrong, if she had escaped...Their plan would all fall to pieces. Would they really risk war to keep this change from happening?

"Where is Irina now?" Gwen managed, feeling her head spinning with all of this information. The more witnesses they had the better. Especially if they were willing to cooperate.

"I have no idea" Ron said.

"So, what was your role in Italy? Just to kill me? Or did you have to do something else?" Gwen continued, wanting to press him for more information.

"I had no idea what was going to happen! Daphne said we would surprise you and ruin your meeting. I would sedate you...Making you unable to speak. We were going to ruin your meeting--McLaggen told me about it and I told Daphne. I told her who would go and why you would be there. I knew it wouldn't just be a 'Diplomatic Mission' I know you too well--"

"So, you were sent there to sedate me?" Gwen asked sharply, her voice with a piercing edge. She stood up furiously as Ron backed away in his seat. "Did you not ask questions about what you injected me with? Do you know what you did to me?!"