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"\iLeast loved, always, by the mother who craved a daughter Least loved, now, by the girl who prefers your friend Second best, always, eternally overshadowed \i
"Ron, stab it now!" Harry bellowed: He could feel the locket quivering in the grip and was scared of what was comingRon raised the sword still higher, and as he did so, Riddle's eyes gleamed scarlet
Out of the locket's two windows, out of the eyes, there bloomed like two grotesque bubbles, the heads of Harry and Hermione, weirdly distorted
Ron yelled in shock and backed away as the figures blossomed out of the locket, first chests, then waists, then legs, until they stood in the locket, side by side like trees with a common root, swaying over Ron and the real Harry, who had snatched his fingers away from the locket as it burned, suddenly, white-hot
"Ron!" he shouted, but the Riddle-Harry was now speaking with Voldemort's voice and Ron was gazing, mesmerized, into its face
"\iWhy return? We were better without you, happier without you, glad of your absenceWe laughed at your stupidity, your cowardice, your presumption\a150\a150\i"
"\iPresumption!\i" echoed the Riddle-Hermione, who was more beautiful and yet more terrible than the real Hermione: She swayed, cackling, before Ron, who looked horrified, yet transfixed, the sword hanging pointlessly at his side"\iWho could look at you, who would ever look at you, beside Harry Potter? What have you ever done, compared with the Chosen One? What are you, compared with the Boy Who Lived?\i"
"Ron, stab it, STAB IT!" Harry yelled, but Ron did not moveHis eyes were wide, and the Riddle-Harry and the Riddle-Hermione were reflected in them, their hair swirling like flames, their eyes cheap chanel jewelry shining red, their voices lifted in an evil duet
"\iYour mother confessed,\i" sneered Riddle-Harry, while Riddle-Hermione jeered, "\ithat she would have preferred me as a son, would be glad to exchangei"
"\iWho wouldn't prefer him, what woman would take you, you are nothing, nothing, nothing to him,\i" crooned Riddle-Hermione, and she stretched like a snake and entwined herself around Riddle-Harry, wrapping him in a close embrace: Their lips met
On the ground in front of them, Ron's face filled with anguishhe raised the sword high, his arms shaking
"Do it, Ron!" Harry yelled
Ron looked toward him, and Harry thought he saw a trace of scarlet in his eyes
"Ron \a150\a150?"
The sword flashed, plunged: Harry threw himself out of the way, there as a clang of metal and a long, drawn-out screamHarry whirled around, slipping in the snow, wand held ready to defend himself, but there was nothing to fight
The monstrous versions of himself and Hermione were gone: There was only Ron, standing there with the sword held slackly in his hand, looking down at the shattered remains of the locket on the flat rock
Slowly, Harry walked back to him, hardly knowing what to say or doRon was breathing heavily: His eyes were no longer red at all, but their normal blue: they were also wet
Harry stooped, pretending he had not seen, and picked up the broken HorcruxRon had pierced the glass in both windows: Riddle's eyes were gone, and the stained silk lining of the locket was smoking slightlyThe thing that had lived in the Horcrux had vanished; torturing Ron had been its final actThe sword clanged as Ron dropped itHe had sunk to his knees, his head in his armsHe was shaking, but not, Harry realized, from coldHarry crammed tiffany co jewellery the broken locket into his pocket, knelt down beside Ron, and placed a hand cautiously on his shoulderHe took it as a good sign that Ron did not throw it off
"After you left," he said in a low voice, grateful for the fact that Ron's face was hidden, "she cried for a weekProbably longer, only she didn't want me to seeThere were loads of nights when we never even spoke to each other
He could not finish; it was now that Ron was here again that Harry fully realized how much his absence had cost them
"She's like my sister," he went on"I love her like a sister and I reckon that she feels the same way about meIt's always been like that
Ron did not respond, but turned his face away from Harry and wiped his nose noisily on his sleeveHarry got to his feet again and walked to where Ron's enormous rucksack lay yards away, discarded as Ron had run toward the pool to save Harry from drowningHe hoisted it onto his own back and walked back to Ron, who clambered to his feet as Harry approached, eyes bloodshot but otherwise composed
"I'm sorry," he said in a thick voiceI know I was a \a150\a150 a \a150\a150"
He looked around at the darkness, as if hoping a bad enough word would swoop down upon him and claim him
"You've sort of made up for it tonight," said HarryFinishing off the Horcrux
"That makes me sound a lot cooler than I was," Ron mumbled
"Stuff like that always sounds cooler than it really was" said Harry"I've been trying to tell you that for years
Simultaneously they walked forward and hugged, Harry gripping the still-sopping back of Ron's jacket
"And now," said Harry as they broke apart, "all we've got to do is find that tent again
But it was not difficultThough the walk through the dark d |
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