The Light in the Dark | Neville Longbottom

Chapter 91: Ron's Return

"DAWN! 'MIONE! WAKE UP! WE'VE DESTROYED THE LOCKET!" a voice shouted, disturbing my slumber.

"WE DID IT! WE FINALLY DID IT!" another voice triumphed.

"AND WE FOUND THE SWORD OF GRYFFINDOR!" the first voice shouted.

"YOU WHAT?" Hermione screamed, flying out of bed.

Because of all the screaming, I finally pulled back my covers, seeing what was going on. The thoughts about my vision lingered in my mind. As I cried myself to sleep, that was all I could think about. Neville was missing; nobody has seen him since early October... And all because he thought to punch one of the Carrows. If someone would've told me that two years ago, I would've never believed them — Neville hardly ever got physical... Well, before he started dating me. There was also the fact that Voldemort had threatened to sell my body if I didn't complete his task soon, which terrified me.

But those thoughts immediately seized when I saw Harry... and Ron... standing in the doorway with Salazar Slytherin's locket smashed.

Hermione and I stared at Ron confusedly. It was the first time we had seen him in over a month. His appearance, like the rest of ours, was horrible; he looked like he had just battled a band of banshees and lost. His ginger hair was knotted and all over the place. There was grime covering his face and clothes (the same ones he had been wearing when he left), and dried blood coated his forehead. I also noticed that his splint was gone, meaning his arm had fully healed. But despite his awful appearance, Ron stared at us with a giant smile on his face... Well, he stared at Hermione.

"Hey..." Ron stammered, awkwardly shifting in between his feet.

Almost instantly, Hermione shot out of bed, stormed over to Ron, and slapped him across the face. Ron's joyful mood dropped immediately, stepping backwards to avoid more of Hermione's rampage.

"YOU... COMPLETE..." Hermione screamed, pacing around the room and throwing small items at Ron, "ARSE... RONALD WEASLEY! YOU SHOW UP HERE AFTER WEEKS... AND ALL YOU HAVE TO SAY IS HEY?"

Ron, who stood cautiously in the doorway and continuously inched farther and farther away from Hermione, didn't respond. On the other hand, I was utterly confused how Ron got here in the first place. But considering Hermione was a ticking bomb right now, it was probably not the right time to ask.

Hermione turned around, "Where's my wand, Harry? WHERE'S MY WAND?"

Harry, who had Hermione's wand in his hand, shoved the stick into his pocket, "I don't know..."

"YOU GIVE ME MY WAND!" Hermione cried.

"I DON'T HAVE IT!" Harry protested.

Amid the trio's bickering, something sparkly in Ron's hand had caught my eye: the sword of Gryffindor. I had never seen it in real life; it was just something I've seen in history books and such. But it was just as magnificent as I had imagined it. The sword was made of pure silver and rubies, like the ones in the Gryffindor house-point-glasses at Hogwarts. I also noticed Godric Gryffindor's name inscribed on the blade.

Ron cocked his head, "HOW COME HE HAS YOUR WAND?"

"NEVER MIND HOW HE HAS MY WAND!" Hermione spat, "WHY- HOW ARE YOU HERE?"

"WELL, IF YOU'D STOP ATTACKING ME... I COULD TELL YOU!" Ron scoffed.

For the most part, I had blocked out the trio's argument, allowing my thoughts to return to last night's vision. If Harry and Ron had found the sword of Gryffindor, and the real one since there was no way they broke into my mother's vault last night... then they used it to destroy a horcrux, hence the broken locket in Ron's hand. This meant that there were four horcruxes left to destroy, and they had destroyed a piece of my father's soul last night, and therefore... were winning.