The Desire's Rose

Chapter 1

Desire's Rose

"Ronald Weasley! If you don't give me back my book, I will not be held responsible for my actions!" Hermione Granger yelled as she chased Ron down the corridor to Herbology in the green houses.

"It's just a book, for Merlin's sake, Hermione!" Ron called over his shoulder. He worried about that girl sometimes. She took things way too seriously.

"Ron," she snarled, "I haven't finished it yet!"

"Why are you reading something called-" he glanced at the cover "-A Walk to Remember anyway?! Sounds quite boring to me!"

"That's because...you have...the mental capacity...of a Blast-Ended Skrewt!" she shouted, panting and slowing down. Ron was in a bit better shape, being in Quidditch and all. He laughed and Hermione watched his stupid crimson head speed away.

She stopped and grabbed her knees, breathing hard. Harry jogged up beside her.

"I didn't know you liked Skrewts that much, 'Mione," he said, grinning knowingly.

"Shut up, Harry." She shoved her best friend playfully. They continued down to the greenhouses, talking casually.

<^>

"Welcome back, 6th years," Professor Sprout cried, cheerful as always. She looked ridiculous in a flower pot hat with a small, live sunflower bobbing around on top of it. Some of the class of Gryffindors and Slytherins mumbled replies, but the rest of them were too miffed at being in a class of Gryffindors and Slytherins to bother. Afternoon sunlight drifted lazily through the dirty glass ceiling as the Professor began the lesson. "Today we'll be studying-" she paused for suspense here "-the Desire's Rose." The class quieted now, it sounded pretty good. This might actually be interesting to someone other than Neville.

"Now," Professor Sprout continued, "the Desire's Rose is a parasitic plant. Yes, Ms. Granger, we know you know what that means. Anyway, for our lesson today, you will make groups of three, first of all. Then, in turn, each of you will make contact with the Rose. Now what this lovely plant does is feeds your mind the information it needs to create a new reality, a dream world. It finds what is in the life you wish for yourself more than anything, constructs it, and makes you believe it is real. Even if you don't think that this is what you want, it truly is your deepest desire. It even gives you memories of earlier times in that 'reality'. Then it feeds off your happiness. Not so much as Dementors do, but you'll be so elated you won't notice anyway.

"As for your partners, you will write down what is happening to the victim." Some of the class muttered at the use of the word 'victim'. "Any shudders, twitches, eyes moving under eyelids, anything of that sort. You will also note the state of the Rose as the victim's dream progresses. When it goes into full bloom, you will remove it from your partner, I'll explain that when the time comes. Then the next of you will try it and so on. Sound fun?"

It sounded more appealing than the plants they had studied last week: Medusa Vines. Ron shuddered just thinking about them.

As usual, Harry, Hermione and Ron were partners.

"I wonder what it looks like," said Ron, curiously reaching for the box on the table next to them. He pulled it to him, opened the top and peered in. Black vines twisted and squirmed, all surrounding a purple core. A rose? No. More like a fly trap.

"Ron, don't-" Hermione said, reaching to smack Ron's childishly outstretched hands away. But too late. Ron's blue eyes widened in surprise and he cried out as the plant lashed onto his arms and crawled up with terrible speed, to settle the core in the center of his chest. It secured itself with it's vines around his arms, neck and torso before...

"Ow!" Ron cried, as the core stuck a long, thin needle into his chest. Then he drooped and his eyes fluttered close. Harry and Hermione grabbed him before he fell and sat him on a stool. Hermione was fascinated, but she took this opportunity to get her book back, before getting some parchment and a quill and scribbling down everything. Harry watched Ron.

<^>

Ron woke up suddenly and sat up in his Gryffindor four poster bed. He had had the strangest dream. He couldn't even remember it now, though. Shaking his head to get rid of that sleepy feeling, he stood up, yawned and stretched.

"Ron! Hurry up! We're going to be late for Quidditch!" Harry yelled up the stairs. Ron's best friend was always up too early.

Quidditch. Ron had nearly forgotten about the game against Slytherin today. Nearly. He got dressed quickly and ran down the stairs. Harry was lounging on the couch and Hermione was reading a book in her chair. Her hair looked fantastic. Ron would bet that it felt like a cloud.

She saw him, set down her book, got up and walked over.

"About time," Harry mumbled, picking up Hermione's book and looking it over.

"Good morning, handsome," Hermione said quietly, leaning up to give him a good morning kiss. He kissed her back. Merlin, could that girl kiss. And he was right, her hair was smooth as silk.

"Yeah yeah, hurry up, you two," Harry urged. He was now waiting at the portrait hole.

They broke the kiss. "Good morning," Ron said, without stuttering or his voice breaking. Hermione looked up at him happily.

<^>

"Look at his face," Harry told Hermione in the greenhouse. Ron's face was plastered with a dopey grin, and he sighed just then. Harry guessed to himself what Ron was dreaming.

Hermione wrote down that the Rose was beginning to blossom. The shell opened in two parts, like a mouth, like an oyster. A pleasant scent floated out from inside it.

<^>

They all ran down to the Quidditch pitch, Ron and Hermione holding hands. They said their goodbyes at the entrance to the stands and then Ron and Harry rushed to the room where the rest of the team sat, waiting. Harry took a seat with the rest of them and Ron stood in front of them all.

As Gryffindor's team Captain, he was supposed to give a bit of a pep talk before each game.

"Now team, this one's for the Quidditch Cup. We can beat Slytherin like that," he snapped a twig in his hand. "We've done it before and we can do it again. Now get out there and...well...just don't fall off your brooms." The team laughed.

They headed out.

On his LightRacer broom, the fastest one on the market now, he lead the team to the skies. He took his place at the goal hoops and guarded them mercilessly. The score was 260 to 0 before Harry caught the Snitch.

The crowd erupted. Ron landed and the team lifted him on their shoulders. Hermione ran down from the stands and, when the team let him go, kissed him so that his ears turned red.

Ginny let a box of Fred and George's Frighteningly Fanciful Fireworks go above their heads.

<^>

"Look, Harry! It's blooming!" The horribly ugly purple core was opening all the way, the petals stretching like they had just woken up. They were a dark purple, changing to a blue so deep it was almost black towards the center. It smelled like a dream.

"Alright, class. Listen up! That means you, Mr. Malfoy. If the Roses bloom fully, it is time to detach them. Pour a sprinkle of the powder in the jars I've given each group onto the center."

Hermione reached behind her and picked up the little jar, taking a pinch of the chalky powder, she held back a sneeze. She dashed the powder over the core and watched, fascinated as it began to recoil.

<^>

The fireworks faded and the early summer day became freezing cold. Sounds of things crawling in the stands and the screams of students broke Ron and Hermione's kiss. He held her close as they froze in the center of the mayhem.

Dementors swooped down and flew in a circle like vultures above the team. Death Eaters ran through the entrances to the pitch and stood in a circle around them as well. Ron, Harry, Hermione and the team tried to blast away the Dementors and Death Eaters, but the black-cloaked figures were too many in numbers. All their wands were quickly taken.

Spiders. Everywhere. Spiders climbing on the goal hoops and over the stands and coming towards them. All different sizes, all horrible looking. Then a high-pitched, cruel laugh.

<^>

Ron's face was pale and contorted with fear. His breathing got faster and he sat straight up against the wall of the green house. "His face..." Hermione said, and grabbed his hand. It was so cold. His hand clutched Hermione's and his eyes flew under their lids.

<^>

Voldemort suddenly stood before them, his black robes billowing in a gust of icy wind. He appeared inside the circle of grinning Death Eaters and skulking spiders that surrounded Ron, Hermione and the team. His eyes burned with malice, and he sneered murderously.

He nodded sharply, once, and the Death Eaters simultaneously pulled out their wands and cast Crutacious Curses on Harry and their teammates, excluding Ron and Hermione. Another blast of wintry wind. Ron closed his eyes in pain as he heard his friends screaming. There was nothing he could do. He hated it, hated being powerless.

Another nod from Voldemort, and the Curses stopped.

"Weasley," he growled. His pale hand snaked out like a whip and grabbed Hermione, pulling her to him with his long fingers. He had her next to him, gently stroking her face, before Ron could even react.

"Don't touch her!" Ron yelled, not knowing what to do. His composure was gone, taken along with Hermione.

Voldemort smirked mockingly and pushed the girl towards the Death Eater nearest him. Snape snatched her and held her tightly, one hand in her hair, the other arm around her waist, holding his wand. She, on reflex, threw her hands up to where his pale hand was tangled in her hair. He pulled her head back, exposing her neck. He pointed his wand at her throat . Her eyes were full of tears, but they didn't spill. Another Death Eater came. Then together, he and Snape forced her to her knees, both pointing their wands and eyes directly at her. She kneeled, her eyes wide open in fear.

The Dark Lord caught Ron with a whispered spell and grabbed him. He, too, held his captive by the hair. He prodded Ron's throat with his wand.

"You die alone," he hissed in Ron's ear. Voldemort swung Ron's head in Hermione's direction. He saw Snape back away from the spider Hermione had become.

<^>

The Rose closed completely, pulling the needle out of Ron's chest. It fell off him, onto the floor and his eyes snapped open. Harry levitated the shriveled Rose back into the box, unwilling to touch it until he absolutely had to.

Hermione quickly let go of Ron's hand when she met his eyes. They were cold and sad and hollow. His breathing returned to normal and he sagged against the wall.

Professor Sprout waddled over. "Well done, Ronald. Here take this." She handed him a small blue leaf. "Eat it." Ron didn't even bother to grimace, he just slid it in his mouth and chewed slowly. The small hole where the Rose and pierced him closed magically as he swallowed.

Harry patted him on the back, but he just kept glancing nervously at Hermione.