Ron climbed onto his hospital bed and rested against the pillows. He tried not to pay attention to the five small, glowing beads orbiting around his head as he pushed his feet under the blankets. Two of the healers assigned to Ron's case had placed the beads around Ron's head an hour before to monitor his brain activity throughout the night. Their hope was to catch a change in his brain activity during an episode, but Ron had been episode-free since his admittance to St. Mungo's.
"You're not ready for bed already, are you?" Arthur chuckled as he sat on the edge of the bed. "Your dinner should be coming soon."
Ron shrugged and looked at the covers of the comic books his dad placed on his bed.
"I threw a few muggle comics in there for you," Arthur announced proudly as he sat next to Ron. Ron shifted over to give his dad some room and picked up one of the muggle comic books from the pile.
"They don't move," said Ron, frowning and opening the comic book.
"Brilliant, aren't they?" Arthur replied. "Shall we find out what muggle adventures this 'Archie' character has?" Ron smiled and nodded as he handed the book he was holding over to his father. He leaned into his father's side and stared at the pictures as his father read the comic aloud.
"Knock, knock!" A round, smiley healer gently tapped on Ron's door and let herself in. She pushed a polished trolley full of food trays into the room and over to Ron's bed. "I hope you're hungry," she said with much animation. "There are loads of goodies for dinner tonight. Are you in the mood for sausages and mash or chili and a jacket potato?"
Ron sat up and peered over at the trolley. The food at St. Mungo's was nowhere near as good as his mother's cooking, but the jacket potato looked somewhat appealing.
"I'll take the chili, please," Ron replied softly. The healer smiled and lifted one of the trays of chili from her trolley and placed it on the table next to Ron's bed. She maneuvered the table so that it was sitting right over Ron's lap and got him set up with utensils and a glass of orange juice. She turned back to her trolley and grabbed a small dish from the bottom compartment. She placed it next to the dinner plate she had given him then took a step back and placed her arms on her hips, trying to look authoritative, but she couldn't wipe the grin off of her face.
"That's a chocolate volcano cake," she said with a wink. "Don't you eat that until you've finished your dinner though."
Ron smiled and nodded. "Thanks!" he exclaimed. The healer nodded and disappeared through the door with her trolley, off to deliver dinner to the next patient on her route.
"Would you like some?" Ron asked, looking up at his dad as he sat up so that he could eat.
"Nah," Arthur replied. "I think your mum would be right stroppy with me if I go home and don't eat what she's left for me."
Ron nodded and tucked into his potato while Arthur continued to read the Archie comic from where they had left off.
Ron finished his pudding just as Arthur finished the last story in the book. As Ron pushed the table away from the bed, the soiled dishes and containers from his dinner disappeared.
"Well," Arthur grunted as he set the comic on the bedside table and stood up to stretch his back. "There's a game room just down the hall. Do you want to go stretch your legs and see what they have to play with in the game room?"
Ron looked self-consciously at the beads floating around his head and bit at his lip.
"Can we stay in here?" he asked softly. "We could play a few games of chess or something?"
Arthur smiled at Ron and nodded.
"Sure, we can," he replied. "You pull the table back up to the bed and I'll unpack your chess set."
-o-o-
Molly quietly stepped into her bedroom and untied her apron from around her waist. She hooked it over the corner of her bedroom door and brushed herself off before pulling her overnight bag out of the cupboard. She was going to spend the night at St. Mungo's with Ron while Arthur stayed back at the Burrow.
Arthur had been at St. Mungo's since 3pm. The Ministry had dismissed him early to spend the afternoon with Ron. Amos Diggory had spoken with the head of the department and informed them of the issues the Weasley family was having and the Ministry had graciously offered Arthur all the time he needed to be with his family until Ron was better – with his regular paycheque.
Molly could hear two little feet quietly making their way down the staircase and toward her bedroom before stopping right outside the door.
"Mum?"
It was one of the few times she could tell the twins apart without looking. George was the only twin that ever came to her bedroom to talk alone. She smiled and turned toward the door to find George looking sheepishly up at her.
"Yes, George," Molly replied with a smile. "Come in, dear. Come, have a seat."
She sat on the foot of the bed and patted the space next to her to encourage George to sit with her. He seemed to consider the invitation for a moment before moving quickly over to the bed and hopping up next to her.
"What's wrong, poppet?" Molly asked, pulling George close with her arm over his shoulder.
"Is Ron going to be OK?" George asked, almost inaudibly. Molly smiled. George had always been the more sensitive of the twins. Both he and Fred loved irritating the rest of their siblings, but they truly cared for them as well. They'd be the first to defend any of their family members.
"Ron is going to be just fine, love," Molly replied softly. "The healers are going to figure out what's going on and they'll fix it as soon as they can."
George sat silently next to his mother and wrapped his arm around her back, enjoying the small amount of individual attention he was receiving. Molly looked down at her son sympathetically. The expression on George's face was filled with guilt and he looked like he was working up the courage to speak.
"Has Ron gone mental because Fred and I pick on him?" George whispered sadly. "Just like the way we messed him up with spiders?"
Molly pulled George into a tight hug and smiled sadly.
"No, sweetheart," she replied. "Ron knows you two do it for a laugh. This isn't something you've done."
"Fred is worried too," he mumbled suddenly. "He won't say it, but he is."
"I know," Molly sighed. "We all are. The healers just want to watch him for a little while to see what's going on and then they'll be able to fix him up good as new."
George nodded and squeezed his mum tightly before getting up and walking out of the room.
Molly bowed her head and breathed deeply, willing herself not to break down and cry, before getting back to her packing.
-o-o-
Sophie was quiet. She hadn't moved or spoken a word in hours. Although David was concerned, he let her be. It was more important to find a way to either escape or kill the beast than pull his baby sister from the depths of insanity. It would be harder on her to spend the next twenty hours constantly terrified, not knowing when the beast would return, all the while replaying Alice's grisly beheading over and over again.
David scoured every book in the house in search of a spell that would help them. Just as he was losing hope, he discovered a single page he must have overlooked the night before. It was simple magic, not very strong, but possibly strong enough to contain the beast temporarily. He would have to get himself and Sophie out of the house, just long enough to close the beast inside and cast the spell. Once the beast was inside the house, David and Sophie could get away and seek more powerful wizards to get rid of the beast forever.
It all sounded so simple, but how were they going to get out of the house and lock the beast inside?
-o-o-
A/N: We all knew deep down that the twins weren't as tough as they pretend to be. Thought I'd add a cute little scene with George to show their softer side. I hope you're still enjoying the story. There's more ahead!