Hello, friends! I'm back from the beautiful Caribbean, rested and tanned and more ready than ever to serve you generous helpings of Au Pair! Oh, how I missed the nano-electric glare of the computer screen. Sigh.

School starts soon (the sigh is real this time), so chapters will start to become a little unsteady at that point. But hopefully, Au Pair will be over by then, and Serendipity will be ready to roll! Are you psyched? Cuz I am!

I got in a lot of writing during my vaca; so expect quick updates for the next two and a half weeks. Also, we're getting closer and closer to the end (!), so chapters may get longer. I know, sucks, right? 8-P

Great job Dracis Tran for giving me the correct answer to the trivia question! Yes, it is indeed Taming of the Shrew, and the movie with Julia Stiles is 10 Things I Hate About You! Funny stuff, noi?

Alright, I've ranted enough for one note, so here's the chapter!

Disclaimer: If I was a rich girl… I'd buy Harry Potter!

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"So what did the Healer say?"

"He should be coming around soon. Lestrange's Stunner had enough power to take him out for days; we're lucky something made him want to wake up."

"And then they'll be able to un-Stun him, right?"

"Dad just told you two seconds ago, as soon as he's ready to wake. Should be any minute now."

"Shh! Look, he's moving!"

"Oh my!"

"Fred, get a Healer, quick!"

"Healer Lawrence! Healer Lawrence! He moved a bit!"

"Move aside, dear. Ennervate."

o-o

Harry had the most peculiar feeling of flailing about in a dark room and then having a light switched on without warning.

He opened his eyes carefully, only to find half a dozen heads crouched over him, blocking his view. Harry had to shut his eyes again at once. All that red hair was blinding him.

"Eighteen inches of personal space, please?" Harry croaked. A few people laughed, and Harry heard the shuffling on six pairs of legs.

Harry opened his eyes one more time. Ron, Charlie, Fred, George, and Mr. Weasley were all standing a little ways from his bed, smiling at him. A woman in a white uniform was putting her wand back in her pocket.

"Mr. Potter." The Healer smiled gently. "How do you feel?"

"Fine," Harry said blankly. And then he remembered – "Mrs. Weasley, Ginny? How are they? And everyone else - is everyone else okay?"

Mr. Weasley bit his lip worriedly. "There were no losses on our side. We were extremely lucky. The Aurors and Order members came for reinforcements, you see. But Ginny – well, she was hit with something very Dark, and nobody's quite sure what it was. But there's a team of Researchers working on her case as we speak, and they've been making excellent progress."

"Researchers?" Harry questioned.

"St. Mungo's pride and joy," Charlie broke in. "Researchers are investigative Healers, if you will. They're the ones who are responsible for finding new techniques and cures in magical medicine. They work closely with the Department of Mysteries, but hopefully Ginny's problem won't be so severe that it'll have to go all the way to the top." Charlie finished heavily.

Harry nodded. "And Mrs. Weasley?"

This question was met with silence from the Weasley men. Ron spoke up eventually.

"Mum, she – they said…" Ron swallowed hard. "The Healers said that she might not ever be the same again."

Harry was taken aback, not sure what to say at this, or even who to say it to. But Mr. Weasley, who rather abruptly left the room with only a faint "excuse me" as his parting remark, spared Harry the trouble of filling the silence.

"He's gone to see Mum again." Fred watched his father's progress through the fogged window. "He's been there for hours, only came out once when he heard that you were waking up, Harry."

"Don't get us wrong, mate." George looked at Harry. "We're glad that you're alright, but with Mum and Ginny –"

"Don't worry about it," Harry assured him quickly. "Go ahead and see them. I'm fine here."

"Actually, Mr. Potter," Healer Lawrence, who had been standing in the corner during this conversation, came out of the shadows. "You'll be just as fine at home. Since you're awake and obviously alert, feel free to check out downstairs at the Help desk at any time. An Auror will be called to escort you home, I believe."

"Thank you, I'll do that." Harry smiled a little, and the Healer left. "See? There's no point in worrying over a cured patient, is there? Your mum and sister need you more," he told the brothers.

"Alright, alright, you win, Harry." Charlie held up his hands, signaling defeat, and exited the room.

"Gred, I think I can see that we're not wanted here," George sighed to his twin, wearing a look of extreme pain.

"Come, Forge. I believe that Harry wished to be alone with Ronnikens," Fred said regretfully, pretending to wipe a tear from his cheek. The twins left as well.

"Gits," Ron muttered softly, but with less zeal than usual. He was worried.

"Ron, you don't have to stay either."

"I'm not. I'll just help you check out, and then I'm going to see Ginny. Dad'll probably want to be alone with Mum." Ron's strained smile was not very reassuring.

o-o

Five minutes later, Harry and Ron were standing at the front desk on the first floor, waiting to be assisted.

"Yes, hello," Harry addressed the witch at the desk when it was finally his turn. "Harry Potter, checking out from the Carmen Sedgwick Ward, Semi-Extreme Curses,"

She flipped through a couple of folders and pulled one out of the top pile. "Here you are." She handed it to him. "There's the visitor's list, medical record, history, and bill for care. How would you like to pay for your treatment?"

"Oh, er, I dunno. Can you just take the gold out of my Gringott's account?"

"Certainly. Sign here, please. In this quill." The witch slid a form and a heavy black quill across the counter towards him. "That's just a Security Quill, to identify that as your true signature," she added at his suspicious look.

"Er, right." Harry signed the dotted line at the bottom of the page, quill buzzing in his hand.

"Thank you. Please check through your folder to make sure that all your papers are in order. Have a nice day," the witch said mechanically.

Harry flipped through the folder idly, skimming a couple of pages. Ron was looking over his shoulder.

"They're charging you that much for a few hour's bed time and an enervate spell?" Ron asked skeptically.

Harry shrugged. "It says here on the medical form that Healer Lawrence gave me some kind of potion while I was unconscious." He replied distractedly. "Wait!"

The witch at the desk turned back to him. "Yes, may I help you?" She asked blankly.

"I was just here ten seconds ago." Harry raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, right." The witch blushed a little. "Well, what can I do for you?"

Harry slid a page back to her. "The visitor's list says that someone called 'Rose Burns' visited my room at 5:26 PM. But I don't know any Rose Burns."

The witch didn't look very concerned. "I can't tell you much about it. I wasn't on duty when she was let in. My shift starts at six." The woman's expression suddenly became excited. "I did hear something from Elaine, though, about a bit of a commotion down here, at around 5:30. She was on duty then, see, and there was a woman who came in demanding to see a patient. She started yelling and fussing when Elaine wouldn't let her in - visiting hours for non-family members were over, you know - and they eventually had to call security to escort her out of the building."

"If she was kicked out of the hospital, then why is her name on my visitor's list?" Harry asked confusedly.

"She eventually calmed down, and Elaine was so relieved that she let her in."

Harry didn't comment on the stupidity of this. Instead, he turned to Ron. "Have you ever heard of a Rose Burns?"

Ron shook his head. "Never heard the name before. And I wasn't in your room until about a quarter to seven, when we first heard that you were coming around." He added at Harry's worried look, "it can't have been a Death Eater or anything like that, Harry, if that's what you're thinking. St. Mungo's security was heightened after that Broderick Bode incident with the Devil's Snare. Dad was telling me about it."

Harry was only slightly reassured, but he gave up the matter for the time being.

"Look Ron, I don't think that Auror's here yet, but I want you to know – if you need anything, I'm here."

Ron nodded stiffly, understanding. "Thanks, mate. Actually, there is something – could you write to Hermione, and tell her what happened, and about…about Mum, and Ginny and everything?"

"Of course. Leave it to me." To his right, Harry saw an imposing Kingsley Shacklebolt enter the waiting room, looking around for him. "I have to go. Take care of yourself, alright? And keep me posted."

"I will," Ron promised.

o-o

Dear Hermione,

I promised Ron that I would write this letter to you – he wanted you to know what was going on. There was an attack on the Burrow today, while I was visiting. Death Eaters. Ron and I are both fine, although I was out cold for a few hours. But Ginny and Mrs. Weasley were both hurt. Mrs. Weasley had the Cruciatus put on her a bunch of times. The Healers are afraid that there might be permanent damage. I didn't want to harass the Weasley for details, but it sounds like she might be in a condition similar to the Longbottoms'.

Ginny was hit with a Dark spell. No one knows too much about it, which is the only reason that she's not making a lot of progress. A team at St. Mungo's is trying to identify what curse she was under, but until they know what that it, she won't be waking up any time soon.

Everyone else is okay. The Weasleys are pretty much camping out at the hospital until there's any news. Ron would have written you himself, but he's with Ginny and his mum.

Hope you're well,

Harry

P.S. Have you ever heard of a witch called 'Rose Burns'? Just let me know if the name sounds familiar.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

And thus ends chapter twenty-one…

A note about some of your reviews: RELAX! I know what I'm talking about here, this story has been planned out since its birth. All of your (I admit, very clever) questions will be answered within in the next few chapters. So stay tuned!

Trivia Question: This is a tough one – does anyone know the origins of the 'eighteen inches of personal space' comment that Harry favors in this chapter? Good luck!

L8R G8RS!

LaRohaZeta