Warm Night at Hogwarts
Chapter 13
"Clarity"
Molly's scream was heard throughout the hallways of St. Mungo's. Harry watched as the healer disappeared behind the wall and heard the doors click as they shut tightly together. He leaned against his Aunt for support and looked around. Everything was happening so fast that Harry could feel himself start to become delirious. The harsh lighting slowly began to get soft as his eyes closed. Harry didn't even feel his head hit the floor.
The bustle around the waiting room increased as another sharp scream rose out from someone standing in the group that had just come rushing in the doorway. The older man was no longer with the boy and the woman, but that was just a fact that they would have to deal with later on. The nurses came running from their station over to the raven haired boy now lying on the floor. "Get the smelling salts. This boy's fainted." One of the other nurses quickly ran to a door in the wall opposite the small group that had begun to congregate around Harry and his family. She returned with a small jar and waved it under the boy's nose.
Harry awoke from his stupor to several nurses standing over him. His frightened stare caused them to jump back. Murmurs of his name could be heard from the people that had joined them to see if the young lad was alright. He was pulled back to reality when he heard Molly's sobs. Only the voice didn't exactly sound like Molly's anymore. This voice sounded oddly too familiar to him. This was a voice that he had come to feel sorry for during the summers while he was in Little Whinging, waiting to go back to school. It was the voice of his distraught Aunt Petunia. She was mumbling something incoherently about loosing one of the boys and then almost loosing the other.
Suddenly, Harry remembered where he was, in the waiting room of St. Mungo's, awaiting news on his boyfriend. He tried to sit up, but the feeling of extreme lightheadedness caused him to lie back down. The nurses all stood and slowly made their way back to whatever it was that they were doing before his incident. Several of them would look back occasionally, as if not believing that Harry Potter was standing in front of them just a bit ago. Petunia came running over to Harry and dropped into a crouch while she balanced on the balls of her feet. She quickly brushed her bony hand through his hair. She stopped herself short as the thought of how foreign this felt to her sunk in. She immediately regretted everything she had done to Harry throughout the times that he was staying with them. Especially the first eleven years before they realized that he was a wizard. After his first year at school, everything had somewhat evened out around the house as to who threw the weight around. It stayed that way every summer until he went back to school. Of course, there was always Dudley picking on the smaller boy as a show of who was more masculine. Petunia hated seeing this happen, but knew if she stepped in, Vernon would be suspicious. She always had a weak spot in her heart for the younger boy, but now knew why. These past years had seemed to go by too fast. She wished for more time, she wished that she could go back and hold him a little longer while he was a baby. She wished she could go back and change the fact that they had never celebrated one of Harry's birthdays. The tears began to threaten her as they filled the bottoms of her eyes. She did not want to cry in front of him. Even with everything they had been through these past days, some part of her was still telling her that she had to be stronger than him. She had to be the adult. She wondered if her motherly instinct was kicking in for him. For this she could not be sure, but she wanted it to happen so badly. The urge to protect him kicked in and she let her hand continue on its path through his hair. She surprised herself when she leaned down and caught herself kissing the scar on his forehead. When she pulled back, she saw the startled look on her nephew's face. She took her hand and entwined it with his and helped him stand up. She carefully helped him walk to the chairs in the middle of the room and lowered him into a seat. Petunia sat next to him still holding his hand, every now and then giving it a light squeeze. She could feel herself smile when she felt him squeeze back.
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The Healer stood above the teenager on the operating table. He looked down with amazement when he realized what he was seeing was really happening. The youngster's body was purging itself of the bad tissue. In all the years that he had been a healer, he had never seen anything like this. He knew no spell that would have this reaction. He watched as the pale chest pushed outward with every beat of the boy's heart. He knew that the boy's lung was still punctured by the ragged, fatigued breathing. Someone was watching out for this boy, and the doctor would like to know who. After a while of watching the boy stabilized himself, he walked back out to the waiting room. Had he turned his head a little more to the right, he would have seen an older man with a long white beard standing in the corner of the room.
The healer made his way slowly down the corridor to the waiting room. He saw the family in waiting, and asked them to come with him to a conference room where they could talk a bit more privately. He saw the dark haired boy start to rise and motioned for him to stay seated. "I'm sorry young man, but this is for family only." He saw the look on Harry's face change from hope to resignation. The boy's body slumped back in the chair with defeat. As he continued walking, he realized that no one was following him. He turned and pleaded with the obvious parents of this boy to follow him quietly. He didn't need a big scene in the waiting room of the hospital. He was surprised when the thin dark haired woman pulled herself out of the chair with such velocity that the chair flew from behind her, tumbling end over end.
Petunia could not believe what she had heard. She marched over to the man in the white overcoat and stopped only when her long face was inches from his. "Excuse me sir, but I don't think you understand the situation." Petunia glanced to her side when she felt Molly's hand on her arm. The rotund woman gave her a slight smile and a nod of approval. Knowing that the Weasley's would not go anywhere in this hospital without her and Harry. Or at least without Harry. She turned back to the man in front of her and regarded him with fury. "My nephew is just as much family to them as his parents."
"I'm sorry, but there's nothing I can do about that. The hospital regulations clearly states that I can only speak with the family regarding special matters of a patient. Not to mention that this patient is a minor." The Healer gently shook his head as if he was trying to show that he didn't agree with the hospital's policy regarding this matter.
"Now, you listen to me!" Petunia's hands fisted at her sides. "My nephew has just as much right to be in that room as Ron's parents do. There is nothing you or your hospital can do to stop us from going in there with them." Petunia glanced back at Harry and saw the worried look on his face. This did nothing but embolden her more. "Look at him!" She reached up and thrust the healer's face towards the boy sitting in the chair, still looking defeated. "Does that look like the face of someone who doesn't care for the boy in that operating room? Does that look like the face of just a concerned friend? Well, SIR," she spat, almost as if the word were sulfur in her mouth, "that boy sitting here is your patient's bloody boyfriend!" She realized that she had said the latter of her statement a lot louder than she had intended. She saw several people looking at her and the healer, then their gaze falling to Harry. Before anyone needed tell her, she realized that she had made a big mistake.
"Boyfriend or not, there is nothing I can do."
"RUBBISH! You will continue walking back to that conference room and we will follow you. Besides, whatever you tell Ron's parents will be told to us anyway. You're just taking out the middle man."
The Healer looked around and saw that many people were still watching them. He did not need this, on all days, especially today. The Minister of Magic was due in sometime today to make sure that everything was running smoothly with the hospital. He had a feeling that the Minister would walk in at any moment in the middle of this scene. He feared loosing his job. He loved helping the people that came in here. He loved being able to share good news of life with family members, but it was times like this that he didn't like. Times when his authority was being challenged. Times when he had to share bad news or news that didn't make sense. It was things like this that he had grown accustomed to over the years. These types of things, that other healers started saying that he was gong soft on. He took a step back and moved his hand to the side, showing the way to the door. He knew that if he kept denying them privilege into the conference room, he would only create a bigger scene. He watched as the rotund redhead followed by her husband, and then followed by the young raven haired boy, and finally the aunt that had caused the scene. He quickly made his way to the front of the group and led the way to the large conference room.
Molly had never seen a room quite like this before. In the center was a dark stained wooden table. There were at least fourteen chairs all set around it. The soft burgundy leather matched the hard carpet. Their footsteps muffled as they all made their way to the table and picked out chairs. She looked around the room at the different portraits of the past head healers. Several of them moved around and conversed amongst themselves while others were staring intently upon the group that just entered. She had a feeling that anything that happened in this room was far from private. She began to feel unnerved at the fact that all of these former healers would have the opportunity to hear everything that was going on with her son. Through the anger, rationale started to show itself by making her realize that this might be a good thing. These portraits were of past healers and therefore could offer more advice into their situation. She was not as upset as her eyes locked onto Harry's. From the look she saw on his face, Harry was just as scared as the rest of them. Molly was again reminded of the love that the two boys openly shared with her not too long ago. Her heart cried out for him, she wanted to run around the table and hold him in her arms, instead she reached her hands out and allowed Harry to take them. She offered a gentle squeeze and tried to give him a reassuring look, but knew the attempt was futile.
Harry's fingers trembled as he returned the gentle squeeze. As much as he would have liked to look Molly in the eyes, his gaze traveled down to the dark table. He knew he shouldn't have been in that room. He knew the information that was going to be shared, wasn't supposed to be heard by his ears, yet somehow, he was here. He didn't really remember walking down the corridor to get here, or walking through the door. All he knew was that he was seated at a large table and preparing for the worst news he could ever imagine getting. The semi dark room began to fade away again as the thoughts of loosing his boyfriend crept into his mind once again. Harry shut his eyes and shook the thoughts away. He knew what would happen to him if he was ever told that Ron was dead. He knew exactly the process he would need to go about to receive the appropriate results. His hand tightened against Molly's out of desperation, as he looked up to see the healer standing at the head of the table with his wand in his hand.
Kevin Borris looked around the table once before waving his wand with a silent spell. He watched as the past healers on the walls quickly fell into a deep sleep. Now that we have some privacy he thought to himself. He hated this room. He never liked having to bring families in here to share with them the news of recently departed loved ones. Although each situation was different, the results were always the same. The family ended up in tears. He knew there was nothing he could do, other than offer them kind words. Despite the fact that this meeting wasn't necessarily bad, or to give them bad news, he still felt that this room wasn't the right place for this. He longed for another room where no portraits hung on the walls, and voices didn't need to automatically seem hushed. With his left hand, he quickly put his wand back in his pocket and took the seat at the head of the table. His hands routinely folded in front of him as he sucked in a breath. "It seems we made a mistake." Kevin said as his eyes fixed on a knot in the table. A loud gasp was heard, and he knew without looking up that it was the redhead's mother. "Before you ask what kind of mistake, please let me explain. Your son…" He paused and looked at the boy with the wild black hair, "and your boyfriend, was brought in early this morning by a stranger. He had no clue of what happened to him, but by the time I got to him, he had lost most of his consciousness. We had done all we could to save him." Kevin's eyes still locked with Harry's. "We had lost him for a short time, but it seems that someone is watching out for him." He let his eyes scan across the people sitting in front of him. "When I got back into the room, I saw something I'm still having trouble believing. Your son's body was purging the bad tissue from itself. His heart was beating, but it's bruised. We patched up the lacerations as best we could. Our nurses are taking him to recovery right now. Your son's still alive." Borris stood and quickly walked to the door, letting his eyes fall on Harry once again. "There may be some things you want to get before you see him later today. I would strongly suggest not wearing bright colours when you see him for the first time either. We don't know the extent of the damage that was done to him mentally." He nodded his head and quickly left the room and shut the door behind him. He could hear soft murmurings as he started down the corridor.
"He's alive." Arthur said with disbelief.
"Yes dear, he's alive." Molly repeated with fresh tears streaming down her cheeks.
"So then he's ok?" Petunia asked.
"We don't know. I'm assuming so since he's going to recovery now." Arthur said. "Only time will tell. I'm sure he's not out of the woods yet, but the best thing is for us to be here for him when he wakes up."
Harry lifted his head. His eyes firmly locked with Molly's. "Mrs. Weasley, can I talk to you in the hallway please?"
Molly nodded and stood. She walked to the door and waited for Harry to exit first. She shut the door behind her, leaving her husband with Petunia to try and make sense of everything that was going on.
Petunia sat in shock still trying to digest the news of what they were just told. Ron's ok. He's still alive. His body is purging itself of the bad tissue. "Wait!" She bellowed. "What does he mean Ron's body is purging itself of bad tissue?" She looked to Arthur for answers, but knew that she wouldn't be receiving any. By the look on his face, he was just now digesting this news as well. When his eyes met hers, she wasn't surprised to find them rimming with tears. Petunia stood and quickly walked around the table and before she could stop herself, her arms were wrapped around Arthur. Her hold was tight and comforting.
Arthur let his head fall into her shoulder as he sobbed. Today's events were taking quite a toll on him. First, there was that secret issue with the minister at Hogwarts this morning, then him finding out that his youngest son was in St. Mungo's and was told to leave immediately to collect his wife. He didn't want to think about the rest of what had happened. He looked up as he heard the door opening once again, letting a gasp escape his lips. "How did you hear about…?" He let his voice trail off. He stood and walked to the young men standing in the doorway, holding his arms out, he embraced his twin sons. The Weasley family bond had never been tried in such an extravagant manner. Before Arthur could take the boys to the table there was a sudden sharp knock on the door. The eldest Weasley turned quickly and opened the door. He gazed out at his eldest son Bill. The door flew open and Bill walked into the conference room looking around. "Where's Mum?" He asked quietly.
"Your mum's out talking with Harry right now. They should just be in the corridor." Arthur said as he saw his three sons shaking their heads.
"They're not out there Dad." Fred quipped.
"Yeah, we would have seen them on our way back here." George added.
Bill looked at Petunia and gave his father a questioning look. Arthur looked back at the table and saw Harry's aunt still sitting there, looking dumbfounded at the new people. "It's a long story son. Why don't you three sit down?" He rushed back to the table and pulled out three chairs to accommodate his newly arrived sons. When he sat himself down, he looked up to ask how they had heard when Bill interrupted him. "Charlie's on his way. I sent him an owl as soon as I heard. Then I came here. What happened dad?"
Petunia sat next to Arthur, but knew that her place here wasn't the same now. She knew the Weasley's accepted Harry, and Molly and Arthur accepted her, but she never really gave much thought to the rest of Ron's family. What they would think about all of this. Do any of them even know about the boys' relationship? Petunia felt like this would be an appropriate time for the world to open up and swallow her whole. She looked up at the twins and recognition hit her. They came with their father to get Harry one year before school started. Apologies started flowing through her mind. This was not the time or the place for such things; she would wait until they knew Ron was better. Her eyes went to the much taller and obviously much older one, nodding a hello.
Bill looked at Petunia with question, then looking a his father, "Dad, whose this, and why is she in here?"
Arthur walked back to Petunia and put his arm on her shoulder. "This is"
"She's a muggle." Fred interrupted. He looked over at Petunia and saw the red quickly colour her cheeks.
"FRED WEASLEY! You do not talk about Harry's aunt like that. She is just as much family to us as Harry is, what with the boys…" Arthur let himself trail off.
"Speaking of Harry, where is the nancy boy?" George asked with a smile playing on his lips. He was blindsided by his dad's hand catching him on the back of the head. Reaching up he rubbed the now sore spot muttering under his breath. "Bloody hell that hurt dad."
"Good, it was supposed to. Now, as I was saying, with the boys' rel…"
A loud pop could be heard from the hall. Arthur turned to see his second oldest and youngest children walking into the room. He rushed over and hugged them both. "How is he dad?" Charlie asked.
With a face flushed from loosing his cool, Arthur leaned back against a chair. "I was just getting to that before I was interrupted…Again."
Charlie looked around the room and saw all of his siblings except for Percy sitting at the table. He figured that Percy wouldn't be bothered by something this inconvenient to his time. He shook his head at the thought of finding something more important than his own family, but he knew how Percy was, and knew that it would take an order by the Minister himself to get Percy here. "I'm sorry dad, please continue." Charlie said as he put his hand on Ginny's back and ushered her into a seat next to Fred. He looked at George, who still continued rubbing the back of his head and smiled knowing that George had probably said something inappropriate.
Arthur let out a sigh. "Now, as I was saying. With Ron and Harry's relationship, Molly and I thought it appropriate that his aunt be here with him." He looked around to gage his children's reactions and wasn't disappointed to see the shocked look cross his daughter's face. Bill and Charlie showed no reaction from which he could tell how they felt about the information they just heard. He was glad to see that neither of his eldest boys had stormed out of the room in anger. The silence in the room was broken by a giggle. Arthur looked over to see the twins poking each other and making kissing sounds. His anger at that point was higher than it had ever been before. He pulled out his wand and pointed it at them and muttered something under his breath and watched as both boys' bodies went rigid and their eyes found his. He spoke slowly, making sure to emphasize his point. "This…is…not…the…time…or…place…for…such…nonsense." He was sure that they would have nodded in response, but found themselves unable to move against the spell.
Bill and Charlie looked at each other, their eyes questioning. Bill looked to his father and asked the question before Charlie. "So, by relationship you mean?" He let his father figure out the rest of the statement.
"Yes. Harry and Ron are together. As in their seeing each other. Now, I know you may not expect this, but…"
"It's about bloody time." Charlie spoke up. A smile crept on his face. "We knew that Ron was different from us since the time we caught him in mum's closet." He looked to Bill for acknowledgement, who nodded sullenly.
"Yeah, we always knew, we were just waiting for the word that he had finally told someone. He begged us not to tell anyone, he was so scared of what you would think of him."
Arthur stood dumbfounded. He had not expected this revelation from his sons. He had no knowledge of his youngest son's escapades in their mother's closet. Memories started coming back to him from times when Ron was younger, how he would always go to his mother first. He distinctly remembered when Ron first started becoming a man. The young lad would strive to stay out of his father's way so he wouldn't have to hear "the talk." Finally, time took its course and the two sat up in Ron's bedroom for hours, although Ron never spoke his mind on the subject. It amazed him now how little he actually knew about his son. Arthur hung his head. He pulled his wand back out and pointed it the twins, releasing them from their invisible confines.
"About time." Fred said.
"Yeah dad. Did you really have to go that far? Seems a bit harsh, ya know?"
Arthur held up his hand and shook his head. "Not now boys. There are other things we need to focus on." He looked to Petunia and realized that she was looking around at everyone at the table. Walking over to her, he put his hand on her shoulder. "Are you alright?"
She nodded in response. "Who is everyone?"
Arthur made introductions and looked at her. He could tell there was something else on her mind.
"How many children do you have?" Petunia asked.
"Enough."
"Oh, is this all of them, or are there others?"
"Well, there's our prat of a brother Percy, but it would take a special order from the Minister to get him here." George answered her. He looked up in time to see the scolding look coming from his father.
A loud knock on the door pulled everyone from their thoughts. The door opened and Kevin stepped into the room leaving the door open behind him. "I just wanted to let you all know that Ron is in his own room now. You can go see him if you like."
Everyone at the table stood before he finished his sentence. They all rushed for the door and found their way to Ron's room. Fred and George were joking with themselves the whole way there. When the door to Ron's room opened, a hush fell over the family. Everyone took their time walking into the room and looking around.
Ron lay on the bed with bandages on his head and a cast around his chest and upper body, going down one arm. The bandages on his head looked as if they were fresh, but would soon need replaced. The window curtains were drawn to keep out most of the light. The salmon coloured sheets were pulled up to the middle of Ron's chest, and one of his legs was up in a sling. The rudimentary sling was a bar that was held up by two chains connecting to a rail over the bed. The sight of him sent shivers down everyone's back. It was now that they were realizing the damage that was done to their beloved brother and son.
Arthur went to the bed and took Ron's free hand squeezing it, letting him know that he was there and that it was going to be ok now. Ron turned his head and opened his eyes. "Harry." Arthur was about to correct him, but suddenly realized what his son was talking about. He didn't want his father right now. What he wanted was his boyfriend.
"I don't know where he is Ron. But he'll be here soon."
Ron's breathing was ragged. He strained to keep his eyes open and his voice was barely audible, even in the hushed silence. "Hogwarts with Dumbledore."
Arthur and Petunia knew that Harry was somewhere in the hospital now. Ron thought Harry was still with Professor Dumbledore. Arthur didn't know how to tell his son that Harry was here, but left with Molly. Just as he was about to tell him, the door opened and Harry and Molly stepped into the room.
Harry stood in the doorway looking at the bed. He knew that the injuries were bad, but he didn't think they would be this bad. He hated seeing him like this, but knew that he had to be closer to him. He had to touch his boyfriend to know that he was really alright. Harry wiped the tear from his eye and walked into the room and directly up to the bed. He reached out and ran his hand through Ron's hair.
"Harry?" Ron asked, his voice sounding barely a moan.
"Yeah mate, it's me." Harry sat down on the side of the bed and took his hand. He looked up at the family in front of him. He saw Molly nod from the back of the room. Harry reached into his pocket and pulled out a small silver box and set it down on his leg. He looked at Ron's face and asked him to open his eyes. He let out a sigh when he saw Ron comply. "Ron, there's something I need to tell you. You were my first best friend, and you were my first lover." He paused and looked up at Petunia. He saw the smile and knew it was alright to continue. "You were there for me when I thought no one else was. You always wanted to protect me from Voldemort, and you don't know how bad I wanted you to. I never thought I would get to say this to you. Ronald Bilius Weasley, will you marry me?"