Ron went back to the dorms and sat on his bed.
Sleep? He thought as he kicked off his shoes.
He then slipped off his cloak and dropped it down by his shoes. He yawned. Harry, in the bed next to his, stirred, then sat up. He looked around and noticed Ron looking at him. Ron stammered for a moment, then said,
"Something wrong?"
"No…" Harry whispered, "Just…I'm supposed to make sure you get some sleep…I sort of remembered it in my dream and woke up."
"Oh…" Ron said, he suddenly felt very dizzy as a wave of hunger swept through his body. He wavered slightly at the spot where he was sitting.
"What's wrong?" Harry asked.
"Nothing," Ron said quickly, "I think…I think I'll try and sleep tonight."
Harry smiled.
"Good," he said, "That's great, Ron."
Ron shot him a glare and Harry stopped smiling. Ron then proceeded to change into his pajamas.
"Where's Ron?" Hermione asked Harry as he walked down the stairs.
Harry grinned.
"Sleeping," he replied.
"Oh, good. Lets just let him sleep, then."
"I did the Muffliato spell on him so he wouldn't hear any of us. He'll miss some classes, though."
"Yeah, he will."
They left. Hermione not caring about Ron missing classes, for once. She was glad Ron was finally sleeping.
"Now we just have to get him to start eating again," she said simply, "I think that will be harder, though."
Ron awoke feeling very, very, very sick. His head was pounding and he felt very dizzy and hot. He was tangled in damp sheets…possibly from sweat. He closed his eyes tightly and groaned. Then remembered the purple cauliflower in his cloak pocket.
But he couldn't open his eyes, not with a headache like this. He did open them slightly, and was staring straight out the window. It was going dark outside.
He realized also that he had been sleeping for almost a straight day now.
The door opened. He could hear Harry's voice calling,
"Ron? You awake?"
Ron shifted around, eyes still closed. He did not want to talk. He was worried he would throw up if he did. Harry opened the hangings.
"You awake?" he asked, sitting on the bed.
Ron nodded, and then groaned again. Harry's brow furrowed.
"You okay?" he asked, placing a hand on Ron's shoulder, and through the thin shirt he could feel extreme heat, "Geez…" he then placed a hand on Ron's forehead, "You are seriously burning up," he said in a very worried tone, "I'm going to get you some help, Ron."
Ron did not respond. He didn't want help but he knew he needed it. He knew there was something seriously wrong. He didn't know whether three hours or three minutes passed. But then he didn't even know when he got help…because he blacked out.
"Ronald! You're awake!"
Ron opened his eyes. The pain was gone…the dizziness was gone…and Luna was sitting in a chair next to him, her wand tucked behind er ear, and the latest edition of The Quibbler in her hands, she was staring at him with her wide eyes.
"Hi, Luna," Ron said in a quiet voice, he still didn't know where he was.
"How are you feeling? Harry and Hermione were here a while ago…but you were still unconscious."
"Unconscious?" Ron asked as Luna set down The Quibbler.
"You had a fever that was one hundred and ten."
"Felt like three hundred," Ron muttered, stretching, "So, what's in the Quibbler this month?"
"Not very much," Luna replied dreamily, "Last months edition had plenty in it. This week was just an interview with a wizard who's attempting to train Crumple Horned Snorckacks and there's a plague of Winged Yellow Spotted Tarantulas-"
"What?" Ron exclaimed.
"-in Australia," Luna finished as though she had not heard the interruption.
"Oh…good," Ron sighed, suddenly feeling as though things were crawling all over him (A.N, don't you hate that feeling?).
"Do you want a chocolate frog?" Luna suddenly asked.
"Huh?" Ron asked, "Oh, sure!"
Luna indicated the pile of Chocolate Frogs on his side table that he had not noticed.
"It was a Hogsmeade trip today. Harry and Hermione brought these with them when they came to visit after sneaking back here. I told them to go back…they seemed so tense. I wanted them to relax."
"Oh, cool," Ron said, grabbing a frog, "Help yourself."
Luna took a frog, then stated,
"All I need is Bridget Wenlock and Chauncy Oldridge."
"Ah. I finished my collection…wait…" Ron said, stopping his tearing open of the Chocolate Frog, "You collect cards?"
"Oh, yes. My mother started my collection when I was a baby. But my dad doesn't like me eating chocolate, so I've tried my hardest to collect cards at school. But people steal from my collection. Finally I'm down to only needing two, though."
Ron smiled in an approving way, then pulled out the card.
Bridget Wenlock.
