Chapter 2: Waking Up

Disclaimer: I do not own anything Harry Potter.

"Oh, honey, I'm so sorry!" Her mom bubbled, turning to sit on the floor against the bed. Hazel noted a half empty glass of wine in her one hand and sighed, kneeling next to her. She cooed comforting words, telling her mom it was alright and everything was okay, while she reached to take the glass from her.

"I'm really sorry Hazel." Her mom slurred again. Hazel stopped mid-reach and her eyes opened wide. The glass was not what she should be trying to take from her mother.

0o0o0o0o0

"Mom" Hazel breathed, staring at the barrel now pointed to her heart. Her mother started sobbing and turned the gun towards herself. Hazel reached over and placed a gentle hand over her mother's.

"Mom, what are you doing?" She could feel tears stinging her eyes and couldn't bring her voice to go louder than an airy whisper. Her mom had flown off before but never with a gun. Tony walked in to the room and stopped short.

"Hazel? What is she doing?" He shouted while Hazel was slowly pulling the gun away from her mother's hand. She looked up at his surprise entrance and immediately regretted taking her eyes off her mom.

The words 'I love you' rang from her mother's lips as she pulled the trigger, not realizing it was no longer pointed at her.

0o0o0o0o0

The growing amount of subtle noises woke her from sleep. She listened, trying to recognize the sounds but couldn't make out anything clearly except for the voices of people talking.

"So she's well enough to travel to the Burrow with us tomorrow?" It sounded like an older man who was nervous about something. She tried to swallow but her mouth was dry and her throat was rough and sore. She became aware of the weight of the blankets on top of her and that the air in the room was warm and comfortable.

"Don't rush it, Dad." Another, younger, man said. She tried opening her eyes but they felt like lead weights. After great effort she managed to crack them open and saw four blurry figures standing outside of doorway to her room. A room, she realized, she did not recognize. The subtle noises started making sense as she watched a nurse wheel a cot past the people in the doorway.

"I'm not rushing, Ronald. I just think Molly can use something to do." Hazel placed the older, balding man to the voice and watched him wring his hat between his hands. The younger voice, she assumed, belonged to the very tall, red headed guy standing next to the nervous man. He was standing with his thick arms crossed over a broad chest, giving him a strong demeanor, but his pale face showed that he was just as nervous as the man next to him. Standing next to red head was another tall boy with raven-black hair that was tousled in every direction. The three men were facing what looked like a Healer, but based on the casual jeans and t-shirts worn by the three guys Hazel wasn't sure if it was just a regular doctor.

"Is she doing okay?" A female voice asked from outside Hazel's line of vision. The dark haired boy held out his hand and a girl grabbed it and stepped beside him. Her hair was the same color as the first boy's but she wasn't upset, she even seemed to be cheery.

"She'll be able to go back to your home tomorrow morning. I just want to see how she does with basic things and write out a care plan for your wife, . Speaking of which, she should be waking up any minute." The Healer said with a smile at his watch. The balding man sighed with some relief and stopped ringing the hat in his hands so fiercely. The group of them glanced toward Hazel and she snapped her eyes shut quickly.

"Let us give her some more time." The Healer suggested and Hazel listened as footsteps shuffled away and their voices became more distant. After what she felt to be a safe amount of time she slowly opened her eyes again. The doorway was empty but the seat next to her bed was not.

"Hey." He whispered gently, kneeling down in front of her so he was at eye level, "I'm Ron, Ron Weasley. Are you thirsty?" He grabbed a cup from the nightstand and held the straw out to her. Hazel wrapped her lips around it and drew in the much needed liquid, "The Healer said your throat would probably hurt from the potions he gave you." She swallowed hard past the pain and felt the water trail all the way to her empty stomach. Ron watched her intently, a small smile playing on his lips.

"How do you feel?" He was still whispering which made Hazel smile. She tried to talk and realized her voice needed waking up, like she hadn't used it in a while.

"F – Fine." She said hoarsely. Ron nodded and gestured the straw towards her again. She gladly drew large gulps from it. She lay back against the pillow and looked up at the white ceiling, assessing how she really felt. Her head was throbbing a little bit and her body seemed weak and strained, there was a small burning sensation on her ribs just below her breast but she just shrugged it off.

"I feel fine." She said clearer than before, "But where am I?"

"You're in the Hospital. You're going to the Burrow tomorrow, though. So don't get too used to this place." He gave her a wink and Hazel couldn't help but smile back, albeit weakly.

Hazel sighed and felt her eyelids become lead weights once more. Ron grabbed the blanket at her hip and tucked it over her shoulders, keeping his large hand on her arm for a moment, reassuringly. She sighed again as he got up and walked to the doorway. He turned back just as her sigh started to turn into a yawn and that pale face she had first seen him have returned in a flash and he was running back to her.

She felt her lungs grasp for more air and she welcomed it until an agonizing burning sensation she had shrugged off turned into a nerve-wracking torch. Her hands instinctively went to where the pain was greatest, causing more of the burning to rage throughout her body. Every beat of her heart sent throbs of electricity through her, she couldn't hear, see, or think anything. All she had was pain.

"Thomas!" Ron yelled. He had seen Hazel start to yawn and had seen the shock in her face and her hands grip her ribs. The Healer had told them she would be in pain but they wouldn't know how much until she woke up; they had made her a pain potion but needed to her to rate the pain to know how strong to brew it. The Healer ran in and immediately started whispering spells and hovering his wand slowly over her. Arthur ran in and grabbed his son's shoulder supportively.

"What happened?" The Healer asked after finally getting her back to a sound sleep.

"She yawned." Ron said breathlessly, slumping into the chair beside her bed. He stared at her with wide eyes unable to believe that a small yawn could cause that much agony.

"Well I guess we know how strong to make the potion." Thomas said softly, patting Ron's shoulder. He nodded to Arthur and left the room.

"It's okay Ron. Tomorrow she will have her pain potion and she can come to the Burrow where we can all just relax." Ron just nodded.