| Then a panting voice spoke from over his head
"Are \a150\a150 you \a150\a150 \imental?\i"
Nothing but the shock of hearing that voice could have given Harry the strength to get upShivering violently, he staggered to his feetThere before him stood Ron, fully dressed but drenched to the skin, his hair plastered to his face, the sword of Gryffindor in one hand and the Horcrux dangling from its broken chain in the other
"Why the \ihell,\i" panted Ron, holding up the Horcrux, which swung backward and forward on its shortened chain in some parody of hypnosis, "didn't you take the thing off before you dived?"
Harry could not answerThe silver doe was nothing, nothing compared with Ron's reappearance; he could not believe itShuddering with cold, he caught up the pile of clothes still lying at the water's edge and began to pull them onAs he dragged leather chanel bag sweater after sweater over his head, Harry stared at Ron, half expecting him to have disappeared every time he lost sight of him, and yet he had to be real: He had just dived into the pool, he had saved Harry's life
"It was y-you?" Harry said at last, his teeth chattering, his voice weaker than usual due to his near-strangulation
"Well, yeah," said Ron, looking slightly confused
"Y-you cast that doe?"
"What? No, of course not! I thought it was you doing it!"
"My Patronus is a stagI thought it looked different
Harry put Hagrid's pouch back around his neck, pulled on a final sweater, stooped to pick up Hermione's wand, and faced Ron again
"How come you're here?"
Apparently Ron had hoped that this point would come up later, if at all
"Well, I've \a150\a150 you know \a150\a150 I've come backIf \a150\a150" He cleared his throat
There was a fendi handbag replicas pause, in which the subject of Ron's departure seemed to rise like a wall between themHe had just saved Harry's life
Ron looked down at his handsHe seemed momentarily surprised to see the things he was holding
"Oh yeah, I got it out," he said, rather unnecessarily, holding up the sword for Harry's inspection"That's why you jumped in, right?"
"Yeah," said Harry"But I don't understandHow did you get here? How did you find us?"
"Long story," said Ron"I've been looking for you for hours, it's a big forest, isn't it? And I was just thinking I'd have to go kip under a tree and wait for morning when I saw that dear coming and you following
"You didn't see anyone else?"
"No," said Ron"I \a150\a150"
But he hesitated, glancing at two trees growing close together some yards away
"I did think I saw something move over there, but I was running to the miu miu knock off pool at the time, because you'd gone in and you hadn't come up, so I wasn't going to make a detour to \a150\a150 hey!"
Harry was already hurrying to the place that Ron had indicatedThe two oaks grew close together; there was a gap of only a few inches between the trunks at eye level, an ideal place to see but not be seenThe ground around the roots, however, was free of snow, and Harry could see no sign of footprintsHe walked back to where Ron stood waiting, still holding the sword and the Horcrux
"Anything there?" Ron asked
"So how did the sword get in that pool?"
"Whoever cast the Patronus must have put it there
They both looked at the ornate silver sword, its rubied hilt glinting a little in the light from Hermione's wand
"You reckon this is the real one?" asked Ron
"One way to find out, isn't there?" said Harry
The Horcrux was still gucci bag swinging from Ron's handThe locket was twitching slightlyHarry knew that the thing inside it was agitated againIt had sensed the presence of the sword and had tried to kill Harry rather than let him possess itNow was not the time for long discussions; now was the moment to destroy once and for allHarry looked around, holding Hermione's wand high, and saw the place: a flattish rock lying in the shadow of a sycamore tree he said and he led the way, brushed snow from the rock's surface, and held out his hand for the HorcruxWhen Ron offered the sword, however, Harry shook his head
"No you should do it
"Me?" said Ron, looking shocked"Why?"
"Because you got the sword out of the poolI think it's supposed to be you
He was not being kind or generousAs certainly as he had known that the doe was benign, he knew that Ron had to be the one to wield the prada bags handbags swor |
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