DISCLAIMER: Sadly, I don't own the rights to Harry Potter. If I did, I wouldn't be so poor. Harry Potter is the result of the genius of J.K. Rowling. No relation except for perhaps my first name is the same as her fake middle name. Seriously, that's it. This disclaimer covers the entire story: every word, every line...every chapter. sighs
Chapter One
Ron struggled with the brains attempting to strangle him. The giddiness that had filled him but moments before left him with amazing speed as he became aware of his predicament. Neville had abandoned him to go help Harry keep the prophecy from falling into the Death Eaters', and shortly thereafter into Voldemort's, hands. Ron could hear distant shouting and wished he could help, but he had problems of his own to deal with.
As he struggled, he wasn't really aware of where he was going as he stumbled through a couple of doorways and a couple of rooms. He wasn't able to discern if they were ones he had been in before or not. He yelped as he crashed into a shelf and heard the sound of breaking glass. Shards of glass and . . . is that sand? fell and coated him as he fell into blackness . . .
Ron stirred. His head currently felt as though it were stuck in a dense fog. His tongue felt thick as well, and his eyes struggled to focus. The world seemed strangely bright for how far underground the Department of Mysteries was. His eyes finally settled on a girl with long black hair hovering over him.
"Are you alright?" she asked breathlessly with a Scottish accent.
Ron stared for a moment and then struggled to get out the words, "Who are you?"
He noticed that he certainly wasn't in the Department of Mysteries anymore. Actually, it looked as though he were back at Hogwarts. But if someone had brought him back to Hogwarts, why had they left him lying on the ground in the hall instead of taking him to Madam Pomfrey?
"That hardly seems important when you're bleeding!" the girl said bitingly. "Let me help you to the hospital wing."
She helped him to his feet. He felt incredibly weak and dizzy as the girl threw his arm around her neck and helped him down the hall. He was too drained to speak, but when they arrived at the Hospital Wing, it was not the familiar Madam Pomfrey who rushed to aid him.
"Who are you?" Ron asked, more confused than ever.
"This is Madam Pillory; she's in charge of the hospital wing here at Hogwarts. That's where you are," the girl explained conversationally.
"I know where I am!" Ron said bewildered, "But where is Madam Pomfrey?"
The nurse and the girl exchanged looks. "The only Pomfrey I know isn't a Healer," the girl replied cautiously. "Poppy is only a fourth year."
Ron stared in amazement. The Madam Pomfrey he knew had a first name of Poppy, but she certainly was a lot older than that! "And who are you?" Ron asked again. He still didn't recognize the dark-haired girl.
"My name is Minerva, Minerva McGonagall."
"McGonagall?!" Ron squeaked out. And before either of them could ask what his name was, Ron fainted away from shock and blood loss.
A/N: I couldn't find Poppy's exact birthday anywhere, so I decided to place her at Hogwarts at the same time as Minerva McGonagall, Tom Riddle, etc. I'm going to try to keep to the known timeline as much as possible, but I may adjust slightly for the story...hopefully no one will have cows about that.