None of the Harry Potter characters, settings, merchandise, etc. belongs to me. All are rightfully J.K. Rowling's.
In Harry Potter's Shadow
By BriiDream
Chapter Two
"…such a terrible height…severe concussion…St. Mundo's…"
Ron's head felt heavy. He couldn't move it at all. Groaning, he reached up to touch his head. Someone pulled his arm back down. He blinked several times until the blurred surroundings took on more solid features.
"No moving around," Madam Pomfrey ordered. Ron noticed that his arm was heavily bandaged. "I healed the bones, but your skin is still very tender. You also broke several other things plus a concussion that I haven't been able to treat fully."
"Wha-What happened," Ron winced, every syllable vibrated in his head. He finally took notice of his parents and Ginny standing at his side. From the way his mom hovered, her hands fluttering over him, told him he didn't want to look in a mirror anytime soon.
"You don't recall anything?" Ron turned his head a few centimeters (just enough to look out the corner of his eyes) as Snape walked up to him, carrying a potion. "What is your name?"
"Ron. Weasley." Ron laid back down, already exhausted from just turning his head. His mind was numb, only allowing knee-jerk replies. "Son of…Arthur and-and Molly Weasley."
"What's the last thing you can remember, sweetie," Molly patted lightly Ron's bandaged hand. Her eyes seemed to sparkle like she was waiting to burst into tears."
"I…I…" Ron frowned in concentration. What did happen? He was drawing a blank. He was at Hogwarts, so did he remember the Sorting ceremony? Suddenly a memory of plummeting down, down into an abyss popped up, but was that a dream? "I fell?"
Madam Pomfrey ran her wand up and down his body. She frowned when she reached his head. She then turned to his parents, and gestured to her office. Snape handed the potion to Ginny, and followed the other adults out of Ron's hearing and seeing range.
"Ron, do you really remember nothing," Ginny asked, stepping forward with the potion. She helped him drink it. "You must have really hit your head hard."
"I do remember some things," Ron argued weakly. The weight on his head lightened tremendously; he was able to push himself into a semi-sitting position. "I remember falling and…"
He didn't remember anything after that. No matter how far he pushed back into his memory, there was nothing. He tried to recall his eleventh birthday party. He remembered fuzzily being allowed to eat as much cake as he wanted without the twins' interference, but that was it.
"Do you remember anything about this summer," Ginny sat at the end of his bed beside his feet. She studied his scrunched up face as he tried to recall the memories. "The Quidditch World Cup?"
"Bulgaria and Ireland," Ron gasped. Flames danced in front of his eyes. "Something else happened, didn't it?"
"Yeah, do you remember," Ginny pressed. She groaned when he couldn't add anything else. "Ron, come on, you have to remember. You don't want to go to St. Mungo's. I don't think they can cure memory loss."
"Well, tell me everything," Ron urged frantically. "I can't leave Hogwarts! The Tournament-!"
Ron gasped as visions swirled around his head. He remembered the Cup full of blue fire, loud protests, and a boy stumbling to Professor Dumbledore. Everything cut off when his sore shoulder was jerked.
"Ow!" Ron glanced up at Professor Dumbledore's non-sparkling eyes. The others had returned from their discussion.
"Headmaster, what do you think," Arthur stepped over. "St. Mungo's is expensive, but if you think they can help Ron…"
"What did you just remember, Mr. Weasley," Professor Dumbledore asked Ron calmly.
"I don't know," Ron sighed frustrated. The revelation slipped back into the darker regions of his mind. "It comes, then it goes."
"I think Mr. Weasley will overcome this setback on his own," Professor Dumbledore declared. "Time heals all wounds. He is a strong Slytherin, afterall."
"What? I'm a Slytherin," Ron yelped, then hissed in pain as his body ached from his sudden jolt. He looked at his parents, Ginny, and even Snape. None of them burst out laughing at this joke. "B-B-But Weasleys have always been Gryffindors!"
"You're a great Slytherin, Ron," Ginny offered. He felt even more insulted. "You always wanted to do something that none of the rest did."
Becoming a Slytherin hadn't been even a small part of Ron's plan to success. Slytherins were the bad guys. How did he become one of those? He was a Gryffindor! He had Gryffindor blood in his body, not Slytherin!
"You will stay in the Infirmary until your body has properly healed," Madam Pomfrey informed him. "That will likely be a week or two."
"Your classmates will bring your makeup work tomorrow," Snape sneered at his dismayed look. "Let's hope you can manage the work of fourth years. Don't worry; you'll be out of here before the Triwizard Champions are announced."
Ron remained silent as the two professors swept out of the Infirmary. Ginny squeezed his hand and his mom showered him with kisses. They all worried that he wouldn't be able to handle his schoolwork if he couldn't even remember he was a Slytherin. It was evident on their faces. Are all Gryffindors so expressive?
"NO," Ron buried his head in his hands ignoring the nagging ache in his arms and shoulders. "I am a Gryffindor…I am a Gryffindor."
Madam Pomfrey fretted over a younger student with a minor curse problem. Ron remained in the same position until the lights went out in the Infirmary. He then laid back, exhausted, from his chanting.
He refused to believe that he was a Slytherin. He had a very strong feeling that something was just not right. The swirl of images and voices in his head disproved whatever was going on here. Something terrible had happened. The memory of plummeting into a dark abyss was the strongest, clearest one in his head.
Ron drifted into the swirl of images and voices that held his lost identity somewhere in the center. He was running, running, running. Away or towards, he didn't know. There was screaming, but he didn't know who was screaming.
"-I would be in a different House if only to escape you-"
Escape who?
