The Witching Hour

Warning: Coarse language and violence

Chapter 10- Comeuppance


Being bodily removed from Hermione’s soiree by his former best friend, did not settle well with Ron Weasley. He was fuming at the fact that Hermione was not only marrying the bastard that had tormented him in his school years, but said man had humiliated him in front of his friends and family. The dressing down he could handle, for he had plenty of that in his day from teachers and others, so it was no skin off his hide, but he actually got decked by Severus Snape. He was hit so hard in the jaw, that not only did the damn thing break, but he quite literally flew backwards from the impact. To top things off, his boss, Kingsley Shacklebolt, was there and did nothing to aid him in his fight against the former dark wizard. He stood by and watched the whole thing and when it was over, he had the audacity to applaud the git’s behaviour! How dare he! Ron wanted revenge against Severus and his boss, but was stumped as to how to go about getting back at two men who were clearly more powerful than he.

Apparating a little south of his and Hermione’s former home in Fox-Hart Hills, he skulked about in the darkened local park, pausing occasionally to kick at a piece of rubbish left behind. After a while, his legs grew tired and so he sat on the low wall lining the edge of the park. Taking a moments respite, he felt the cold night air sting his cheeks, and stir the bushes. It had the overall air of being creepy. It was odd how he had never noticed the eerie feel of the park at night time. Somewhere in the distance, he heard the tell-tale crack of apparition, and his heart began thudding in his chest; he did not have a good feeling about this. Knowing he should have gotten up and left, he was frozen to the spot, as if awaiting his destiny. His ears picked up the steady rhythm of falling footsteps growing closer.

“Ah, Weasley, curious to see you here at the witching hour. Isn’t it your bedtime,” said a cold and calculating voice.

“N... no... Sir. Malfoy?”

“Ah, ah, ah, that is no way to talk to your superiors, now is it Weasley?”

“I suppose you think that is yourself?”

“Such insolence from a blood traitor. Keep in mind, boy, I am not my son, Draco, and I will not hesitate to kill you. Ridding filth like you from this earth will have no bearing upon my conscience, so watch your tongue. However, I did not come here tonight to kill you. I believe that you and I have a mutual enemy, and I thought that we may be able to help each other out.”

“How’s that, sir?”

“It has come to my attention that the traitor Snape will be marrying that mudblood, Granger. You want him gone for taking your second chance away from you, though I don’t see why you would want her anyway, and I want him to pay for his part in destroying the Dark Lord.”

He should have thought about coming to Lucius Malfoy sooner; it was well known that this man had a vendetta against Snape. A more perfect person he could not have asked for. The thing about working with a Malfoy was that they always wanted something in exchange; everything had its price, and he could not help but wonder what the price for this would be. Maybe his first born? Nah, he was just joking with that thought, hopefully that would not be the case because Lavender was due anytime now. He knew that making a deal with Lucius Malfoy was like making a deal with the devil himself.

“Meaning no disrespect, but what do you want in exchange for this?”

“Nothing that the act of destroying Severus Snape will not take care of. Now, I have something for you.” Lucius reached an elegantly gloved hand into the pocket of his black velvet robes and withdrew a book.

“You are giving me a book, sir?” Ron scoffed at the idea and looked down his nose in disgust at the older man.

“Mind your insolence. This is no ordinary book, Weasley, and it is worth more than your whole family, so do be careful with it. Within its contents, you will find some very useful curses that will remove your magical signature from the crime you are about to commit. Do us both a favour and read it.” With that being said, Lucius Malfoy disapparated.

Once Lucius was away from Ron, he laughed maniacally. How easy it was to persuade him to do his bidding, and with an object that belonged to Dark Lord no less. The aforementioned book was only to be used as a last resort, or not at all because of what it has been known to do. If the reader thought that the spells and curses were nasty, they were nothing compared to their counters, but if Weasley was smart, he would read it with caution, but since he isn’t, he would likely make a mistake.

It looks like the boy never learned the lesson his sister did. Good lord, the young man was dumber than an oaf. It was a wonder how he ever had the brains to become an auror. He laughed even harder when he thought of what would happen if the boy had failed in his attempts to take out the traitor, it was too funny. With any luck, Ron might eliminate himself as well.

---

In the days after Severus and Hermione’s engagement party, things thankfully went back to normal. Hermione carried on at The Witching Hour, which was growing in popularity, even going so far as to draw in wizarding tourists from other countries. Severus on the other hand, went back to his mildly peaceful life teaching children, though he had a sense of foreboding that was lurking about unchecked. He knew that it had everything to do with the showdown between he and the Weasel. Wondering if Kingsley felt the same, he penned a short note to the Minister, asking if he could spare the time to meet with him. Kingsley responded the same day, via the floo network, saying that he thought it would be a good idea if they did.

The day following the letter, Kingsley and Severus met for lunch, for it was the only time that either could spare. In the beginning, the two former Order members simply played catch up about their lives, but when the subject turned to the events of the party, it was serious.

“Severus, what happened at that party should have never occurred.”

“If you are referring to my behaviour, Kingsley, I need to remind you that I was not about to stand by and be attacked. His actions were out of line, I was merely defending the honour of my fiancée and myself. If you were in my position, you would have done the same.”

“Too right you are, Severus. I was not referring to you defending yourself, because you have every right to do so, but I was talking about Mr. Weasley; he has to be stopped before he causes real damage to himself and/or others. With Ron being who he is, you know just like I do that he will not let that fight go without having a chance to retaliate. For Merlin’s sake, Sev, you were the boy’s teacher for 6 years, you know how little sense he has! I can’t fire the boy, it wouldn’t do any good. There is very little that I could personally do without losing my position.”

“Indeed, sense never was the dunderhead’s strong suit. Knowing him as I do, I don’t think that it is just going to be me that he acts against, and you will be in danger as well, because he probably feels like you did not defend him when you had the chance to do so. Do us both a favour, don’t worry about losing your position, Kingsley, let me handle it, or better yet, we both will, then we will cover it up. Isn’t that what the Ministry does best anyway, cover things up?”

Kingsley chuckled and said, “You have a fair point, Sev. How do we go about doing this, now?”

“Well, I will trail you home every night and wait for him to strike. Knowing Ron, he will do this within the next couple of days, and you will be the first on his list, simply because you will be easier to get hold of. Getting to me will be harder, since he knows that I am reclusive; he will have to think of a way to lure me out into the open. Taking you out first will give him time to think. Also, be on the look out for dark alleys, I know that it is muggle cliché, but I don’t put it past him to attack you there. It will also probably be a little further away from the ministry so he will not take the chance of getting caught.”

“It seems as though you have thought this out, Sev.”

“Not really. I was a spy for many years, and you have forgotten, I had to do a fair bit of dirty work for Voldemort, that and I was Ronald’s teacher for six years. I know how he thinks. He may not look it, but he is a strategist, and I am merely following what would come easiest to him.”

Kingsley had never known much about Severus, outside of his dual role as a spy and Order member. Whilst it was true that they had gone to Hogwarts together, they never associated, simply because they were both too reclusive to ever come across each other long enough to have a conversation. He knew that Severus was powerful, and their little plotting session today proved that he would never want to get on the bad side of Severus Snape; the man was obviously strong and dangerous. Being his enemy was not on his to do list.

---

Ron set up a small work station in his flat and then warded it. He did not want Lavender to come across this room and report him and the room’s contents to the Ministry. Sitting down at his small desk, Ron began to search through the books pages that tingled with some ancient magic. There were several curses that would certainly serve him, but he wanted something that would take a bit of power, and would let Kingsley and Severus feel his anger. Ah, here it is. He stumbled upon something that would not only make them both pay, but would erase his magical signature from the scene. Lucius had been right, this book is useful.

Once he had taken notes on the small part of the chapter that he was interested in, (he couldn’t be bothered with reading the whole thing; it made his eyes hurt) he started practicing, then planning how to get to Kingsley. It would be fairly easy, he would do it the following night after work; the man would never see it coming. However, getting to Severus Snape would be more difficult because he never went anywhere, well except the Forbidden Forest. Hey, now that had merit! He could attack him there and the beasts that resided within would consume the evidence. How perfect! This was shaping up to be very easy indeed.

---

Ron did not dress in the typical wizard fashion the next day; he needed clothing that would not resist movement, so he opted for a grey ribbed sweater as well as a pair of dark knit trousers. This was a little formal, but he figured if anyone asked, he could always tell them he had a date after work. No one really needed to know the true reason behind his clothing.

Taking on Kingsley would mean that he would have to be quick on the draw, for the man had reflexes like a cat. He was sure that he could fall 100 feet and land standing up unfazed. He hid his wand in his sleeve and departed. Work went by quickly as it so often did when he was expecting some excitement in his life, and before he knew it, the workday was over and darkness shrouded the land.

He waited just over an hour for Kingsley to leave, and as soon as he exited, Ron disillusioned himself and began to follow him from several spaces behind. Kingsley had that sneaking suspicion that tonight would be the night that he would face off against Ron, and sure enough, he felt the air behind him become thicker, alerting him to a presence. He quickly detected Mr. Weasley’s signature, but did not hurry or do anything to let Ron know that he was prepared for a fight. If the boy thought that he was only going to be fighting him tonight, he was sorely mistaken; Severus was hiding just ahead in the shadows closest to the alleyway.

As they silently approached the alley, Ron snuck up and place his large hand over Kingsley’s mouth and dragged him into the darkness. But before he got too far, Kingsley hit Ron as hard as he could, sending him back a few feet. Ron’s moment of inattention, gave Kingsley just enough time to draw his wand to still him. Unfortunately, this did not work, and it only served to make the Weasel angrier.

The air around them crackled and it felt as though it was breaking. Ron was emanating a dark energy that had not been present since Voldemort fell some years ago. He knew that there was something going on with the man, but he did not think that it would go this far. Ron took his first strike, expecting little resistance from the minister, but he was wrong. Kingsley was not the head of his department for no reason. He was a very powerful wizard indeed. He recognized the curse right away, but he needed a second wizard to counter its effects.

Stealthily, Severus made his way in the darkness, sensing evil afoot, he recognized the Dark Lord’s signature. Kingsley was in shit if he was the only one chanting its counter. Sev began the chant as well, and Ron wondered what in the hell was going on. He heard two voices but saw only one person. He was beginning to think that he was hallucinating when he felt a strong hand grip his shoulder painfully. Fingernails were digging into his skin and nearly into his veins. His blood felt red hot, and as though it were on fire, nearly burning him alive. All of the sudden, the spell that was supposed to ruin Kingsley was broken. The fucker was saying its counter! How in the hell did he know it? He was not supposed to know it!

Severus made his form visible to Ron and said: “You dare use the tools of the Dark Lord against his former follower? Surely, you did not think that no one would know its counter? Whoever gave this to you, little boy, failed to tell you what would happen to you if this spell’s counter was given. Let’s teach you a lesson in dark magic, boy. This particular curse is nasty, but its counter is worse. You see, you will be stripped of your magic, and will be no more useful than a squib. Do you feel the subtle hum thrumming in your veins? It feels like you are being drained, doesn’t it? It is almost like having your very life blood being pulled out of you, and in a way, it is. I can tell how weak you are getting by the way your legs are shaking. Every magical drop within you is leaving, and you are powerless to stop it. Pretty soon, all you will have are your memories of being able to perform a simple summoning charm. It is no more that what you deserve for trying to murder Kingsley.

You know that we could kill you right now and no one would hear you scream? Death would be too kind for you for all that you have done. Now you will finally have your comeuppance, and what is more, whenever you tell this story, no one will ever believe you. So in a way, you screwed yourself.

I am sure that when you leave this alleyway a squib, you will make your way to St. Mungo’s. Sure, they will admit you to try to discover what is wrong with you, but there will be no trace of what happened, and your useless ramblings will make them think you are insane. It is only too funny that there is no cure.

Oh, and when you see Lucius Malfoy to return Ancient Magick Moste Vile, be sure to give him my love and tell him I say nice try, but you will have to send someone more intelligent next time.”

---

Ron lay in a crumpled heap in the alleyway, mostly uninjured, no way to defend himself, and without the thing that he had only ever known. Losing Hermione was bad, but losing his magic was the equivalent of losing his life. He knew that making a deal with Lucius was like making a deal with the devil, and that there was always a price. If he had known this then, he would have never done it; giving up his magic was just too high a price to pay. The bastard was right, he had indeed screwed himself over tonight. Now all he could do was think about why he had not listened to his conscience that was giving him that bad feeling, why had he ever read that book, well, he didn’t read all of it, not even all of the section that he used. If he had, he would have known what could happen if the counter curse was given. Oh well, it is too late for that now.

He got up, dusted himself off, and began to walk home. He knew that once he got there, he would have a lot of explaining to do. To Lavender, to his family, and maybe even to the Ministry itself, if any of them reported him. If they did, he would not blame them; it would be just his luck to get locked in Azkaban and lose his magic in the same night.


A/N: A major thanks goes out to my friend, the Dark Knight for helping me write this chapter. He deserves a million thanks!! I also have to thank my fans that continually read, review, and rate, as I have said before, you guys are awesome! Thank you for inspiring me to new heights as an author.