Harry closed the door of Number 12 behind him and leaned against it. His breathe was coming in gasps. He had run most of the way home, a mixed feeling of fear, rage and anguish almost choking him. Harry had let Ron do the job he had been meant to, had given in without a fight and now Ron was dead. He stayed there, until his breathing returned almost to normal. It didn't feel quite right though. A tightness inside him was stopping him from breathing, seeing, even thinking properly. His head was filled by one thought only. Ron was dead. He couldn't quite take it in.
"Harry" a voice spoke from the stairs and he turned to look. Ginny stood there, staring at him, her face pale and ghostly. "Harry, he is……he is alright isn't he." She came closer looking questionably at him, her eyes betraying her fear.
"He didn't show up." said Harry, struggling to find the words to tells her. "His house is ruined and……and the Dark Mark is hanging over it."

Ginny screamed, her hands flying up to her mouth and tears beginning to run quickly down her face. She shook uncontrollably and Harry heard running footsteps on the stairs. Mrs Weasley burst through the door closely followed by Hermione. As soon as Mrs Weasley set eyes on Ginny, Harry saw the colour drain out of her face. She looked at Harry, opening her mouth to ask about Ron, but the words didn't come. Harry told her in a choking voice what he had just told Ginny. Hermione went white too, and tears began to run soundlessly down her face. She stood there staring at Harry, but not actually seeing him. She gave small gasps as though she could hardly breathe. Mrs Weasley fainted clean away, falling to the floor with surprisingly little noise, her face bloodless.

Most of the Order arrived at the house through that night. No one went to bed, but took it in turns to get up and get drinks for the cold order members that came in in ones and twos. The whole Weasley family was there, even Percy who had been forced to apologise when the Deatheaters had taken over, and the others sat in silence sharing their grief. Mr Weasley sat staring into space, his arm round Mrs Weasley who was sobbing silently. Tonks sat between Hermione and Ginny, her arms round both of them, comforting them as best she could, though her own eyes were not quite dry. The Weasley boys sat in a groups, patting each other comfortingly on the back every now and then. Harry sat alone, his mind filled with images of the ruined house, the dark mark and worst of all, that dream.

The door in the hall above opened and closed again, but no one paid much notice. Fred looked up, then realising what it was, looked back at the floor. It was probably just another member of the order. Harry thought no more of it, until several minutes had passed and no one had come down the stairs to the kitchen. He looked at the others and noticed that some of them were also looking puzzled. He got up slowly.
"I think I'm going to go and see what's going on" he said, breaking the silence of an hour. Lupin rose from his seat.
"I'll come with you" he said, his face puzzled. They walked to the door together and ascended the steps to the hallway above. Harry stepped through the door at the top and gasped. Ron was lying in a heap of tangled robes at the door. His robes were covered in blood and his face was drained of all colour.

As Lupin and Harry shuffled through the door into the kitchen supporting Ron between them, there was a scream from the far end of the table. Mrs Weasley ran over to them, and took ron in her arms, hugging him as though she would never let go. The tears came again and she sobbed uncontrollably into his shoulder. It was several minutes before Mr Weasley managed to make her let him go and led him carefully to a chair. Ron collapsed into it, looking exhausted and almost lifeless. People crowded round, but Mrs Weasley pushed them back telling them to give him room to breathe. Hermione came forward, fresh tears pouring down her face and took his arm tenderly in her hands. The blood was coming for a deep gash. Lupin came forward and took a look at it. "I'm going to Hogwarts" he said "Nothing we have here can heal this" Within seconds he had vanished. Hermione began to lovingly bandage the wound, not caring that the blood soaked through each new layer, but kept bandaging until it stopped.

Lupin came forward and gently pulled Hermione away. He pulled open the dressing slightly and looked at the gash underneath. Harry saw him winch, making it obvious that the gash was serious. Lupin looked up and spoke calmly to Mrs Weasley.
"I have some experience of wounds like these," he told her. "This isn't going to heal by itself. I think the best thing to do would be for me to go the Hogwarts and see if Madam Pomfrey would come here to see to him." Mrs Weasley sniffed and nodded her agreement. Lupin turned swiftly and headed for the fireplace, reaching for the vase of floo powder off a nearby table. A moment later he had vanished in a tall emerald flame.

Mr Weasley and Bill managed to help Ron upstairs and into the room he always shared with Harry. They took off his robes, jumper and shoes and put him into bed in his clothes. Ron's eyes were closed and he was breathing shallowly. Harry sat down on his bed, watching as the Weasley's fussed round him. Hermione was crying quietly, but the look on her face was one of relief. Harry got up from his bed and went over to her.
"He'll be ok," he told her, putting his arm round her shoulders. She nodded and took out a hanky to blow her nose and wipe her eyes. She had soon calmed down a little and Harry told her to go and wash her face with cold water. She went out of the room in the direction of the bathroom.

About ten minutes passed before the sound of feet on the stairs alerted everyone and drew their attention to the door. A moment later, Lupin walked through it, followed closely by Madam Pomfrey, the Hogwarts nurse. Harry had not seen her for a couple of years, but apart from looking a little older and having less colour in her hair, she had not changed significantly. She walked quickly across to the bed, commanding everyone to step back in a business like manner. She had a small bag with her and out of it, she took her wand. She pointed it at the dressing which disappeared. The blood began to flow almost at once, but she quickly put a towel underneath his arm. Harry did not see how this would help. It would only mean that the towel got soaked in blood as well as the bed. It was not until the blood ran down onto the towel that Harry saw the point. The blood lay glistening on the towel for a split second, then like a fuzzy picture on a television screen, began to blur and faded out of sight. The towel was left spotlessly white for a second before more blood seeped onto it.

Meanwhile, Madam Pomfrey had reached into her bag and got out a tube of vile smelling paste. She squeezed it all over the wound and Ron moaned in pain. No blood was coming now as the paste was blocking it, but Harry could not see that anything was happening. He drew closer to the bed and then leapt back as the paste emitted a load hissing sound and a small cloud of steam erupted from it. Madam Pomfrey looked satisfied and picked up her wand again. She gave it a flick and he pointed it straight at his arm. The paste was gone immediately and to Harry's astonishment, Ron's arm showed no signs of any injury at all. Disbelievingly, Harry reached out and touched the spot where the gash had been. To his astonishment, the skin was as smooth as it ever had been and there was no sign on even a small scar.

Mrs Weasley gave a cry of relief and sat down heavily on the end of Ron's bed. In fact, the only person in the room that wasn't looking relieved and surprised was Madam Pomfrey. Harry supposed this had become a mere procedure for her and no miracle at all. She was tidying up her things in a business like fashion, putting everyone neatly into the bag. She put in the towel which was now spotless and began walking towards the door. Mr and Mrs Weasley followed, Mrs Weasley telling Madam Pomfrey between small sobs how grateful they were. The other Weasley's followed, with Lupin, Harry and Hermione bringing up the rear. They were slightly behind the other, but got to the kitchen just in time to find Madam Pomfrey, who was standing by the fireplace, giving instructions to the Weasleys. "You should have someone with him all the time" she said "The wound healed splendidly which has given him a much better chance of survival, but he's in a bad state of shock and I can't be certain yet." She turned to go, but Mrs Weasley stopped her with a cry.
"Do you mean he's not out of danger?" she said, her face filled with fear. "He might still die?" "Yes that's exactly what I mean" said Madam Pomfrey gravely. "If he's to survive, he needs lots of rest, plenty good food and most important of all, don't let him worry about anything. He should not be asked to give an account of anything that happened until he is completely well again, and I shall tell Dumbledore as much."

Madam Pomfrey went moments later, leaving most of the Weasley family to comfort Mrs Weasley. Harry excused himself by saying he would go and sit with Ron first and Mrs Weasley agreed gratefully. Harry ascended the stairs to the landing where their bedroom was and opened the door quietly. Ron was in bed, but he now had pyjamas on. He must have got up and out them on when they had all gone away. His eyes were open and Harry grinned at him. He grinned back, but it was a feeble, almost lifeless replica of his normal grin, which had always lit up his whole face. This grin showed more in his eyes than at his mouth, and failed to brighten up the gaunt, pale face. He looked a bit better though, and Harry began to think that what Madam Pomfrey had said was simply to make them more careful. There couldn't be any chance of him dying now could there? He was looking better already.

Determined not to let Ron see that he was worried, Harry fixed the smile back on his face. He pulled over a chair and sat down beside Ron's bed. "We've to have someone sitting with you all the time" he said. Sensing Ron's confusion he quickly added, "It's because you're not to get up, so we've to have someone here to get you anything you need." Ron obviously accepted this story, because he relaxed and lay back on he pillows. "I've never been through anything like that before" he said, his face looking even paler and his voice sounding full of fear. Harry realised instantly of what he was talking and hastened to stop him.
"Well don't talk about that now" he told him awkwardly. "We'll hear about it when you're better." Ron grinned at Harry difficulty and this time it looked slightly more like the old Ron. "Ok" he said, still grinning. "Sorry about the pub though. You must have been there a long time" "Oh it's ok" said Harry grinning back. "I was starting to like it there. I might go and live there next time in a small room of my own at the back. Save me waiting in clouds of smoke surrounded by bottles of alcohol that I'm under stern orders from Dumbledore not to touch."

The next few days were rather uneventful. Everyone who was not busy with Order work took it in turns to sit with ron. This left the task mainly up to Harry, Hermione and Ginny. Mrs Weasley did not have any specific Order work to do, but as she was in charge of the running of the whole house, it was thought that she had enough to do. She insisted on taking the first watch at night though, after her house work was done. This gave her a tired appearance and she had started sleeping a little later, but she was as cheerful as ever and kept the house running as smoothly as she could.

During Harry's watches, they would talk or play games, so long as they weren't too rowdy for Ron. Ginny was much the same. Harry would sometimes hear them chattering or playing chess as he went past. Hermione was different though. Her watches were always quiet. Harry had once gone up the stairs and heard low voices talking, but as he approached, a floorboard creaked and the voices broke off. He made the excuse of going in to get something out of his trunk so as to avoid any thoughts that he had been eavesdropping, and found Hermione and Ron looking embarrassed and awkward by his presence. He had not doubt now that they were in love, but didn't tell anyone. He had a feeling that Hermione had told Ginny, but everyone else seemed oblivious. He did not want to interfere and so had never asked Ron and Hermione about it, or even let them think he knew. They could tell him when they wanted to.