-_-_-_-
Albus Dumbledore's soft voice floated magically through the corridors and hallways in Hogwarts, "Would the entire Weasley family please report to the Hospital Wing at once. Thank you."
-_-_-_-
Molly Weasley looked at her husband Arthur, worry wretched in deep wrinkles on her face; wrinkles she hadn't had before Voldemort's return and their youngest son's betrayal.
Their eyes met and they whispered, "Ginny!" at the same time before running to the Hospital Wing as fast as they could.
On the way they met up with Fred, George, and Percy. All five Weasleys ignored the looks they recieved from other wizards as they sprinted desperately. When they got there Bill and Charlie were struggling with the door, which was locked.
Bill finally stopped trying to open it as he said urgently, "Professor, we're all here, can you please open this confounded door?"
Dumbledore wasn't going to open it yet, "Is there anyone else with you?"
Confusion abounded between the members of the family before Arthur replied, "Er, no sir. I mean Albus. Umm... its just we were all a bit worried about Ginny and its just we were anxious to see her, sorry if Bill sounded too forward."
This time the door sprang open obediently as Charlie turned the knob. All seven Weasleys cautiously entered the room and were surprised at what they saw.
Albus Dumbledore calmly sitting in a chair next to an open window, amusement easily read in his sky blue eyes.
Harry in between a sobbing Ginny and a weeping Hermione, looking unsure about how to comfort them at the same time.
The Weasleys were about to rush towards Ginny but a single raised hand checked them.
"She's fine but I think you might want to see whats behind that curtain."
By now the Weasleys were now adequately mystified and more than one wondered if Albus was one player short of a Quidditch team.
Percy finally took the initiative to pull back the curtain and gasped at who was lying on the bed.
His gasp was echoed by his parents and concious brothers.
Arthur's mouth moved but nothing came out, his gaze rotated between Dumbledore and his son Ron. One of his arms was around his mournful wife, the other hung limply at his side.
Dumbledore again raised his hand to stop the oncoming barrage of questions.
"Hermione would you be so kind as to tell them what I just told you?"
Hermione looked up from Harry's shoulder, she simply nodded and wiped her swollen eyes.
"Well in Ron's seventh year..."
-_-_-_-
By the end of Hermione's narrative the entire Weasley family excluding Ginny who had cried herself to sleep in Harry's arms, was clustered around Ron. Of all the Weasleys, Molly had taken it worse. She refused to look at her son, ashamed of herself that she would believe he betrayed them.
Arthur let her run out of the room, knowing she needed time alone. He was stroking his son's hand and whispering snatched of a lullaby he had sung to all his children when they were babies.
"You see, I love you so.
And all the shadows of the night
will never worry you,
I'll be there with you
as long as you need me to."
Bill and Charlie who had been crying openly, unashamed of the emotions only of their assumption, looked up at the familiar tune. Slowly they began to sing the song with their dad.
"And all the monsters in your closet
will never bother us
We'll be together
and have each other.
To comfort as long as you need us to."
Finally, a little more bashfully than the three oldest Weasley men, Fred, George and Percy joined in on the last verse.
"And if ever you're alone
with no friend to your name
we will be together
and trust one another
for as long as you need us to."
This only brought more tears as they felt they had broken their promise in the last part of the song. Harry had watched the whole thing sadly as he saw the love in the family. Not for the last time he found himself wishing for his own.
-_-_-_-
The sleeping spell was wearing off rapidly and Ron began to bite his lip in his sleep so hard he drew blood. Poppy, who had been listening to the bittersweet song, remembered her work when she saw Ron pound his bed to express his pain.
She didn't have the heart to send them away but she did ask them to move a little so she could start treating him.
She bustled around the room, setting his arm and fixing his major wounds. He had been beaten obviously by the blood which was seeping through his shirt.
"Will two of you help turn him over, please? I need to see his back."
Normally she would have just levitated him but with the number of people she had had to treat of late she was too tired, much like everyone else. Chocolate was being eaten by the tonnes at Hogwarts because the fighting was continuous even if actual battles didn't take place. Sleep was a rare thing nowadays.
Fred and George stepped forward and gently turned him on his stomach. Poppy carefully pulled up his shirt to reveal a horrific spectacle.
His back resembled the King's Cross Station. Lash marks were etched all over his back, and were still bleeding, a bad sign. The few that were dry had been reopened his shirt being lifted up. The blood was oozing out slowly, meaning that he had lost a lot of blood in the past day or two. It did explain his pale complexion and fever.
There were other marks than the whip, he had had various curses placed on him, and heavy objects thrown at him, objects like rocks and planks of wood, judging by the splinters still in parts of his back.
Worst of all were the ugly black bruises all over his sides and leading to his front, he had had ribs broken and cracked.
Mrs. Weasley chose the absolute wrong time to come back in. Hey puffy green eyes stared at the wreck of her son's back and she burst into tears.
Percy got up and hugged his mother, to comfort himself as well as her.
-_-_-_-
The Weasleys, Harry, and Hermione had all been kicked out of the room because Poppy didn't want them to see anything else. If Ron's back was that bad the rest of him was probably worse.
The door opened and the small camp of people looked up to see Madam Pomfrey's set face. This was the face she used in very bad cases.
"Ronald is in a bad way. I need two maybe even three volunteers."
Percy stated evenly, "I can do it."
"Let us! We're strong and able!" chorused Fred and George.
"Shh! I don't want him woken up by this hubbub, kindly allow me to finish." She looked around to make sure everyone listened, "He's lost dangerous amounts of blood and we're going to need to do a transfusion. There's simply too much lost and there's nothing I can do about it magically, its a natural thing. His body needs to make more blood cells and the only thing I can do about it is to slightly help speed up the process. If he doesn't get blood soon he won't make it. Secondly I'm tired to the bone. I haven't yet completely healed him. He's still got some broken ribs and his fever and concussion. I need more magic simple as that. I've eaten some chocolate but its not enough. One of you has to let me use your magic to sustain me."
This time there were no questions.
Poppy quickly muttered a spell and letters appeared hovering over each person's head. Each letter was the color of the person's eyes. Harry's stood out as an emerald 'B' and Hermione's a brown 'AB'. Most of the Weasley's was the same.
Poppy finally saw Fred and George's blue 'O's and stopped in front of them.
"It's a good thing he has so many brothers to help him. I'll use the two of you so he can get more blood faster."
Ginny cried out, "No! I want to be the one to give blood! I've got O too!"
Madam shook her head, "No, dear. You should be abed still!"
Harry stepped forward, "I'd like to give you my magic. So you can finish healing Ron."
Madam closed her eyes for a moment while pressing the tip of her wand to Harry's forehead, between his eyes. Sweat built up immediately, an unconcious reaction from the last time that Harry had had a wand in that area.
Reopening her eyes, she nodded curtly at Harry and motioned him, Fred and George into the room.
Arthur tapped her shoulder quickly before she went back into the room.
"Just one more thing, Poppy. Umm... how do we get these letters off our head?" He pointed to the large brown 'A' followed him persistantly.
Poppy said,"Oh right. Finite Incantate."
The letters dissolves as the hospital wing's door closed tightly.
Now they only had to wait.
-_-_-_-
been a while!
-arynnl
Albus Dumbledore's soft voice floated magically through the corridors and hallways in Hogwarts, "Would the entire Weasley family please report to the Hospital Wing at once. Thank you."
-_-_-_-
Molly Weasley looked at her husband Arthur, worry wretched in deep wrinkles on her face; wrinkles she hadn't had before Voldemort's return and their youngest son's betrayal.
Their eyes met and they whispered, "Ginny!" at the same time before running to the Hospital Wing as fast as they could.
On the way they met up with Fred, George, and Percy. All five Weasleys ignored the looks they recieved from other wizards as they sprinted desperately. When they got there Bill and Charlie were struggling with the door, which was locked.
Bill finally stopped trying to open it as he said urgently, "Professor, we're all here, can you please open this confounded door?"
Dumbledore wasn't going to open it yet, "Is there anyone else with you?"
Confusion abounded between the members of the family before Arthur replied, "Er, no sir. I mean Albus. Umm... its just we were all a bit worried about Ginny and its just we were anxious to see her, sorry if Bill sounded too forward."
This time the door sprang open obediently as Charlie turned the knob. All seven Weasleys cautiously entered the room and were surprised at what they saw.
Albus Dumbledore calmly sitting in a chair next to an open window, amusement easily read in his sky blue eyes.
Harry in between a sobbing Ginny and a weeping Hermione, looking unsure about how to comfort them at the same time.
The Weasleys were about to rush towards Ginny but a single raised hand checked them.
"She's fine but I think you might want to see whats behind that curtain."
By now the Weasleys were now adequately mystified and more than one wondered if Albus was one player short of a Quidditch team.
Percy finally took the initiative to pull back the curtain and gasped at who was lying on the bed.
His gasp was echoed by his parents and concious brothers.
Arthur's mouth moved but nothing came out, his gaze rotated between Dumbledore and his son Ron. One of his arms was around his mournful wife, the other hung limply at his side.
Dumbledore again raised his hand to stop the oncoming barrage of questions.
"Hermione would you be so kind as to tell them what I just told you?"
Hermione looked up from Harry's shoulder, she simply nodded and wiped her swollen eyes.
"Well in Ron's seventh year..."
-_-_-_-
By the end of Hermione's narrative the entire Weasley family excluding Ginny who had cried herself to sleep in Harry's arms, was clustered around Ron. Of all the Weasleys, Molly had taken it worse. She refused to look at her son, ashamed of herself that she would believe he betrayed them.
Arthur let her run out of the room, knowing she needed time alone. He was stroking his son's hand and whispering snatched of a lullaby he had sung to all his children when they were babies.
"You see, I love you so.
And all the shadows of the night
will never worry you,
I'll be there with you
as long as you need me to."
Bill and Charlie who had been crying openly, unashamed of the emotions only of their assumption, looked up at the familiar tune. Slowly they began to sing the song with their dad.
"And all the monsters in your closet
will never bother us
We'll be together
and have each other.
To comfort as long as you need us to."
Finally, a little more bashfully than the three oldest Weasley men, Fred, George and Percy joined in on the last verse.
"And if ever you're alone
with no friend to your name
we will be together
and trust one another
for as long as you need us to."
This only brought more tears as they felt they had broken their promise in the last part of the song. Harry had watched the whole thing sadly as he saw the love in the family. Not for the last time he found himself wishing for his own.
-_-_-_-
The sleeping spell was wearing off rapidly and Ron began to bite his lip in his sleep so hard he drew blood. Poppy, who had been listening to the bittersweet song, remembered her work when she saw Ron pound his bed to express his pain.
She didn't have the heart to send them away but she did ask them to move a little so she could start treating him.
She bustled around the room, setting his arm and fixing his major wounds. He had been beaten obviously by the blood which was seeping through his shirt.
"Will two of you help turn him over, please? I need to see his back."
Normally she would have just levitated him but with the number of people she had had to treat of late she was too tired, much like everyone else. Chocolate was being eaten by the tonnes at Hogwarts because the fighting was continuous even if actual battles didn't take place. Sleep was a rare thing nowadays.
Fred and George stepped forward and gently turned him on his stomach. Poppy carefully pulled up his shirt to reveal a horrific spectacle.
His back resembled the King's Cross Station. Lash marks were etched all over his back, and were still bleeding, a bad sign. The few that were dry had been reopened his shirt being lifted up. The blood was oozing out slowly, meaning that he had lost a lot of blood in the past day or two. It did explain his pale complexion and fever.
There were other marks than the whip, he had had various curses placed on him, and heavy objects thrown at him, objects like rocks and planks of wood, judging by the splinters still in parts of his back.
Worst of all were the ugly black bruises all over his sides and leading to his front, he had had ribs broken and cracked.
Mrs. Weasley chose the absolute wrong time to come back in. Hey puffy green eyes stared at the wreck of her son's back and she burst into tears.
Percy got up and hugged his mother, to comfort himself as well as her.
-_-_-_-
The Weasleys, Harry, and Hermione had all been kicked out of the room because Poppy didn't want them to see anything else. If Ron's back was that bad the rest of him was probably worse.
The door opened and the small camp of people looked up to see Madam Pomfrey's set face. This was the face she used in very bad cases.
"Ronald is in a bad way. I need two maybe even three volunteers."
Percy stated evenly, "I can do it."
"Let us! We're strong and able!" chorused Fred and George.
"Shh! I don't want him woken up by this hubbub, kindly allow me to finish." She looked around to make sure everyone listened, "He's lost dangerous amounts of blood and we're going to need to do a transfusion. There's simply too much lost and there's nothing I can do about it magically, its a natural thing. His body needs to make more blood cells and the only thing I can do about it is to slightly help speed up the process. If he doesn't get blood soon he won't make it. Secondly I'm tired to the bone. I haven't yet completely healed him. He's still got some broken ribs and his fever and concussion. I need more magic simple as that. I've eaten some chocolate but its not enough. One of you has to let me use your magic to sustain me."
This time there were no questions.
Poppy quickly muttered a spell and letters appeared hovering over each person's head. Each letter was the color of the person's eyes. Harry's stood out as an emerald 'B' and Hermione's a brown 'AB'. Most of the Weasley's was the same.
Poppy finally saw Fred and George's blue 'O's and stopped in front of them.
"It's a good thing he has so many brothers to help him. I'll use the two of you so he can get more blood faster."
Ginny cried out, "No! I want to be the one to give blood! I've got O too!"
Madam shook her head, "No, dear. You should be abed still!"
Harry stepped forward, "I'd like to give you my magic. So you can finish healing Ron."
Madam closed her eyes for a moment while pressing the tip of her wand to Harry's forehead, between his eyes. Sweat built up immediately, an unconcious reaction from the last time that Harry had had a wand in that area.
Reopening her eyes, she nodded curtly at Harry and motioned him, Fred and George into the room.
Arthur tapped her shoulder quickly before she went back into the room.
"Just one more thing, Poppy. Umm... how do we get these letters off our head?" He pointed to the large brown 'A' followed him persistantly.
Poppy said,"Oh right. Finite Incantate."
The letters dissolves as the hospital wing's door closed tightly.
Now they only had to wait.
-_-_-_-
been a while!
-arynnl