~*Midsummer's Night*~

Chapter 5: Some Much Needed Good News

Author: Chibi Ron Weasley

Rating: PG (not much happens...^_^;;)

Memorandum: The Weasley family gets the spotlight with this chapter...I am dying waiting for the CoS movie to come out on DVD. Ahhh...I believe my finger condition is worsening because my dad is too lazy to set up a doctors appointment for me. Oww...it is hard to type...

*****I plan on updating and putting up Chapter 6 on 3/30/03*****

P.S. Lets make it simple and just say that I dont own any Hp characters. ***********************************************************************

~*Some Much Needed Good News*~

That night Ron had a terrible dream. He had dreamt that he had been running down the hallway to his next defense against the dark arts class, late as usual, but when he had turned into the hallway where the door would be, it was instead a very long tunnel with no apparent end. He ran down the corridor, his steps echoing off the walls and reverberating from the ceiling, mingling at the far end of the tunnel. After what seemed like hours, a door became visible in the distance. He ran towards it desperately, but the door seemed to be growing further and further away with each step, until he was running blindly in a void with no destination.

He stopped, clutching his books. "Bloody hell, what the devil is going on?"

He turned, puzzled, and yelped in suprise when he saw that someone was standing behind him. "Oi, you scared me!" he gasped, feeling very foolish. He glanced up at the man, who for some reason had managed to keep only his face in shadow.

Ron took a step forward. "Who...are you?"

In response he chuckled sinisterly, which suprised Ron. "I'm your new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher!" His chuckle grew into a deep mocking laugh as he stepped out of the darkness. Ron gasped. It was Uncle Vernon.

"N-no. You can't be..."

Uncle Vernon sneered, his mean little eyes searching Ron over as if he were some sort of slug. "Rubbish, we don't need your kind in this world! It's a disgrace to us hardworking normal folk, knowing the likes of you are lurking about! To hell with the lot of you!"

He shoved Ron hard and he stumbled backward. His heel caught on the ledge, helping him catch his balance quickly, preventing him from toppling backward over the edge. He blinked, double taking. Edge!? He turned around and found that they were on top of a huge stone pillar which was sticking up vertically hundreds of feet above a pit of molten lava. He had been completely oblivious to the fact that the scenery had instantly changed.

"I might as well just finish what I've started!" Uncle Vernon boomed madly. He pulled Harry out from behind his back and yanked him around to his front roughly by his arm. Harry jangled as he moved, for he was draped with chains and his hands were cuffed tightly together.

"Harry!!"

Harry tried to turn toward him, but Uncle vernon began shoving him toward the edge. "Ron...I'm sorry...!!"

Ron sprinted toward him, leaping with his last step, his arm outstretched. "Harry!! NOO!!!"

He grasped desperately at the air, Harry's hands slipping by his as he watched him fall helplessly into the chasm below.

"HARRY--UMPF!!" Ron winced, then froze like a statue, his eyes squeezed shut. He expected to feel his flesh incinerating painfully off of his bones any second, but nothing happened. As a matter of fact, he didn't even feel warm. Slowly, he opened one eye. Then he opened the other. He had quite a nice view of the wooden boards of his floor, only they were upside down. He looked up. His ass was half hanging off his bed. His panicked expression dulling, he suddenly felt very foolish. He had fallen out of bed...again!

"Bugger me, thats the fifth day in a row..." he muttered, pushing his fluffy red bangs out of his eyes and flopped the rest of the way off his bed onto the floor. His day hadn't started ouyt so well, once again. He hadn't even been able to save Harry in his dream. Even before he had awakened his day had gone bad! Well, it wasn't going to get any better by laying on the floor like an apathetic slug, so he figured he would venture downstairs, hoping to hear some much needed good news.

He picked himself up gingerly off the floor. His arm was a little stiff. He figured he should go easy on that arm for today, and stepped out into the hallway. Ron crashed delightfully into Percy for the second day in a row.

"Watch where you're--oh, Ron," Percy said quickly, "Sorry." He stepped backwards quietly back into his room and shut the door.

Ron furrowed his brow. What odd behavior for his older brother. He had actually apologized without an argument. Ron figured either Percy must have finally removed the stick from his ass, or he must still be feeling sorry for Ron. The second choice being the more probable one, he continued down the hall and down the stairs.

There was no noise. Ron listened carefully. Not even any fluke explosions from Fred and George's room? And what was up with the ghoul in the attic? Creepy, really...the Burrow had never been so somber.

Ron stepped lightly into the kitchen, slipping on fuzzy pink bunny slippers to soften the creaking of his steps along the floorboards as he shuffled across to the kitchen. He came to the table and spotted Mrs. Weasley, asleep by the window, slumped over a chair, and his spirits slumped into an even lower rut. She must have waited up all night in vain, for Mr. Weasley wasn't back yet, and she appeared to not have gotten any news.

Ron sighed, slouching back towards the staircase. He needed some news to clear his conscience. He couldn't think about anything else except how much he wanted to know how Harry was doing right now. Ron sighed in frustration, fighting the urge to punch the wall. Self destructive behavior suddenly seemed like a very good idea to him in this situation. Maybe slicing into his wrists with a nice crisp new blade, and watching the blood cascade down his flesh. How delightful. There was an exacto knife conviniantly resting on his dresser upstairs. He would just lock his door and...

The clock chimed, and interrupted his morbid train of thought. He stared at the face, for some reason not immediately realizing what the hands were depicting. The largesr hand, the one labeled Mr. Weasley, was pointing to the word 'work'. Ron cocked his head, shooting the clock a quizzical glance. It had been on 'hospital' last night.

He padded lightly around the corner back into the kitchen. He was alerted to the window by a shrill hoot. Turning, he found the source to be an elegant chocolate colored owl whom had been trying to get his attention through the closed kitchen window. Ron unlatched it at once, allowing the bird to flutter inside and perch on the sink, stretching its cramped wings. It had probably been out there a while, unable to get the sleeping Mrs. Weasley's attention. Hooting politely, it ruffled its regal feathers and dropped the letter infront of Ron.

"Thank you," Ron breathed. He graciously accepted the parchment and proceeded to unfold it.

"Molly, Harry and I have arrived safely at the hospital and everything has gone quite well. Harry is now in one of the rooms being treated. He is ok now, but the reports for his injuries included 2 broken ribs, a broken nose, concussion and various other internal injuries. I requested them to run a checkup to find out how he had sustained such injuries, and found the answer quite shocking. It seems Harry had been brutally abused by a family member, beaten until he was unconcious. When I heard this, I was appauled beyond belief. Poor Harry should not be subjected to such treatment, and hell will freeze over before I ever let him return back to that house. I will be leaving shortly to go over to the Ministry and see if I can arrange for Harry to stay with us for the last few remaining days of summer vacation. (We can make room, right?) I have spoken with the nurses, and they have updated me on Harry's condition. He should be almost back to normal by the end of the day, fit to leave the hospital. Of course, he will be a little sore and will probably want to rest most of the day, so we should keep that in mind."

Ron could barely contain himself. Harry was ok! And he would be coming to stay with them!! The thought that within hours he could be seeing Harry again caused Ron to begin grinning uncontrollably. He pushed down the powerful urge for a whoop of joy, and held onto his composure to finish the last few sentances of the letter.

"One last thing. The fact that Harry had been abused to the point that he is now in this condition is a very tentative issue. It would probably be for the better if we keep this from the rest of the children. And please send me an owl back about Ron's condition. I was extremely worried, and felt terrible that I wasn't able to bring him with me.

Love, Arthur."

Ron blinked and refolded the letter, feeling a little guilty for reading that last part. The note really hadn't been for him...He shook his head bluntly. Who cares! He already knew the last part anyway, so it's not like it was new to him. He would just give the letter to Mrs. Weasley and pretend he hadnt read it.

A wide grin spread across his freckled face as he raced toward Mrs. Weasley. "Mum! Hey Mum!!"

"Ung...what...what is it, Ronald..." she mumbled sleepily, turning over in her chair and cracking an eye open. A letter was slammed infront of her face, filling her entire range of vision with a blurred parchment tan.

"Mum! You got a letter!" Ron shouted jovially, bouncing on the balls of his feet.

Mrs. Weasley squinted her eyes. "Ron, hold still. I can't see anything with you waving it around like you're directing air traffic!" She caught Ron's wrist in her hand and took the parchment. Ron quickly remembered he was supposed to be acting like he had not seen the letter, and he stopped fidgeting in anticipation and adopted a static expression.

Mrs. Weasley's sharp little eyes moved along the lines of writing.

"What does it say?" Ron asked, no lilt present in his voice. She got to about the middle and she moved her hand up to her mouth.

"Oh, the poor dear..." she whispered. Ron could tell that she was futily fighting back tears. Eventually she gave in and they came flowing freely down her face, although she made no other noise as she continued to read on. She glanced briefly up at Ron once, then her gaze flickered back to the paper. "Ron, what had happened to Harry when you found him?"

"He was unconcious when I found him...I didn't really know what happened," he said, staring at the floor. This wasn't a complete lie. He really hadn't known what had happened when he had first found Harry.

Mrs. Weasley glanced at him again suspiciously, then back at the letter. Her face relaxed with a little relief. "Oh thank goodness he's alright now."

Ron continued to stare expectantly as his mother finished the letter. Mrs. Weasley smiled warmly as she folded it again and stuck it protectively in her pocket. "Ron," she began kindly, "How would you like it if your father arranged for Harry to stay with us for the last two days of your summer vacation?"

"Really!?" Ron beamed, his reaction just as genuine as if he were hearing the news for the first time.

Mrs. Weasley nodded in approval. "Yes, it seems if eveything goes as planned, your father will be bringing him home tonight."

Ron made some sort of half-dancing gesture of joy and hugged his mother. "Wicked!!"

She patted his head and chuckled. "Well you'de better get along then and clean that pigpen that you call your room! We're going to have to move a spare bed in there for Harry."

It was the best offer Ron could have asked for at the moment. Startling his mother, he kissed her on the cheek and bolted up the stairway.

"Oh my..." she chuckled, watching him disappear inot the upstairs. She took out a piece of parchment and a quill to write a response to her husband.

"Arthur, It would be wonderful if Harry could stay here! Goodness knows he's always welcome. Please send me an owl ASAP when everything is decided."

She put her pen to her mouth for a moment in pensive thought before reapplying it to the parchment.

"About the issue with Harry's abuse, I also agree that we keep quiet about it around the kids. I had asked Ron if he knew what happened when he found Harry, and as expected, he denied it. Obviously he knew something in the first place to take the car to Harry's, then come back with a strange wound in his arm ( I wasn't sure what is was exactly, it looked like a little metal ball. But he is fine now, I fixed him up ok.) and when I ask him about it he avoids the question. We will talk more later, and when you get home, you might want to have a chat with Ron about Harry's situation. Love you, and please come home soon, Mol--"

She was startled by a loud thump overhead, and she turned her attention toward the ceiling. Percy's muffled yells could be heard soon after, and then Ron. Mrs. Weasley sighed, finished signing her letter, sent it out with Hermes, then proceeded upstairs to see what the problem was.

"But Percy!" Ron continued, pulling the bed toward the door, "I...NEED...this bed for Harry!"

"Has the trauma caused you to go MAD, Ron!?" Percy yelled, lying on the floor with a steadfast hold on the other side of the bed, "Harry is in the hospital!!"

"Yeah, I know!" Ron said with a note of glee in his voice that made Percy stare in shock.

"You're sick!"

"No, Harry's com'in over tonight!"

Mad, you're stark raving mad!" Percy turned towards Mrs. Weasley who was standing in the doorway. "Mum, do something! Ron's gone off his rocker. He came in and dumped me off my bed while I was sleeping, and then started dragging it out the door raving about some nonsense!" he shouted defiantly, pointing an accusing finger at his grinning brother.

"Oh, he makes perfect sense to me, "Mrs. Weasley smiled. Percy stared at her, dumbstruck.

"You're all mad!"

"No, Harry's going to be fine by the end of the day, and he will be staying with us for the remainder of the summer," she beamed. She turned towards Ron. "Dear, we have another spare bed we can use. You can leave this one with Percy."

"Hah, there," Percy snorted, scowling up at Ron. Ron grinned, shrugged, then dropped the bed onto Percy's fingers and squashed them. Percy shouted a few things that made Mrs. Weasley say "PERCY!!" and Ron saluted him and hopped jovially out the door.

Mrs. Weasley pushed the bed back into the corner of the room. "There you go, Percy! Good as new!" and she jogged out of the room after Ron.

Percy climbed onto his bed, and smoothed down his hair which was now standing on end. "Like I can REALLY get back to sleep after THAT, "he grumbled scathinly.

Out in the hallway, all the other Weasley children were now gathered, obviously awoken by the 'Percy's spare bed' ordeal.

"Wha's goin on..." Fred mumbled sleepily.

"Yeah, what's up," George followed.

Mrs. Weasley smiled. "Harry's ok, and he's coming to stay with us until the start of the Hogwarts year."

"No kiddin?" George stared.

"No, I'm not kidding, and that's why Ron and I are going to go get the other spare bed." she replied.

Fred and George smiled at each other, high fiving while Ginny swelled with happiness. They all pushed the door open to Ron's room.

Mrs. Weasley's eyes narrowed in disapproval. "Ronald, it looks like there was a nuclear explosion in here. Clean up in here first or I doubt Harry will even want to stay here! How will we be able to fit another bed in here with all this clutter on the floor! How do you find things in this mess?"

Ron grinned sheepishly. "Well, you see, my clothes are over there on top of Pig's cage, or in that corner mixed in with the comic books and old dinner plates, and--"

A bedraggled cat mewl sounded from the far side of the room under a pile in the corner, causing everyone to stare in that direction.

Ginny furrowed her brow. "I didn't know we had a cat...?"

Ron shrugged. "Neither did I. Maybe I had better clean up..." he finished, sliding back into his room under Mrs. Weasley's glare.

Hermes fluttered through an open window, landing lightly on Mrs. Weasley's arm. She removed the letter from his leg and he nipped her finger affectionately. "Thank you, Hermes. Oh good, your father has sent us back a reply."

Ron glanced over his shoulder at her as she read the letter quickly and beamed at him. "Good news Ron. Your father will be arriving here with Harry this evening."

Ginny's face flushed pink and she smiled broadly. "I'de say this calls for celebration."

"Yes, I'm going to make us all a big dinner, and we are all going to eat out in the garden tonight," Mrs. Weasley said.

"I'll help you!" Ginny said, clapping her hands together. She and Mrs. Weasley took off towards the kitchen.

Ron turned back towards his room, somewhat ready for the arduous task of cleaning the mess. He truely hoped there really wasn't a cat in there someplace. Standing with his hands on his hips, he surveyed the floor...if there really still was a floor under all that stuff..

"Alrighty then...now where should I start?" *****

~*Continued in Chapter 7*~

***I will be updating, putting up chapter 7 on 3/30/03. Hope you all come back to read it!

And don't forget to review!! ^____^ It's what keeps me going! I love you all!

~Chibi Ron