Written for the Great Maze Comp/Chall
It was going to be alright, Ron decided, nodding his pudgy face. George and Fred said that this was a perfectly safe way of training, and that if he didn't start now, he'd be behind everyone in class once he got to Hogwarts.
That was one thing he absolutely could not stand.
So, gripping their family's broom in hand, he snuck upstairs to his room and climbed into the attic, ignoring the ghoul there. He glanced around the room, squinting in the dust filled air.
Aha!
There, in the very corner, was the window he was looking for. He scrambled to it and cautiously pushed it open. Then, he stopped, listening.
No one came up. Smiling victoriously to himself, he poked his head through, and then his torso, and then finally, his legs and feet. He determinedly didn't glance down – he would chicken out if he saw the distance, and then they would make fun of him for being a wimp.
No, he was going to do this and prove to them that he could, and would, become the star Keeper on the Gryffindor team at school. He'd show them all, and bask in the glory or their awed gazes.
Yanking the broom through his legs, he took a deep breath… and then jumped.
For a moment, he was flying. The wind rushed through his hair and stole the breath from the lungs, and he could barely keep his eyes open. And then the moment passed and he was plummeting to the garden below.
A scream tore out of his throat, terrified.
He hit the ground harshly, and his entire right side sprung into flames. Red hot pain was the only thing he could think or see. The last thing he heard was the slam of the door before he blacked out.
…
"What were you thinking?" his mum screeched. Ron winced at the loud voice, thanking Merlin it wasn't him she was shouting at.
Fred and George were bearing the brunt of her anger instead.
"I can't believe you were so idiotic and reckless and endangering Ron's life like this," she hissed.
"But mum—" Fred started.
She shot him a glare. He quieted down.
Ron, condemned to the bed for another couple days, and forbidden to play Quidditch for another month, smiled at that.