TWENTY SIX

"DAD IS STILL ALIVE, I am setting out for St. Mungo's now. Stay where you are. I will send news as soon as I can. Mum." George looked around the table. "Still alive..." he said slowly. "But that makes it sound..."

Rory sipped her butterbeer anxiously as everyone looked around the table with worried expressions. They had been at Grimmauld Place for just not even an hour and Mrs. Weasley had got a letter to them to convey the news of her husband's health. Everyone was silent.

"Perhaps you should all try and get some sleep," Sirius said quietly. However, Rory and the others shot him a look mixed with disgust and concern and everyone remained seated.

The night passed quietly. Every now and then, someone would take a small sip of butterbeer or check the time.

"He's in good hands," Rory reassured, "My dad has told me about the people who work there — some of the brightest witches and wizards in Britain."

"Yeah..." Ginny nodded, "If something was wrong, we'd know right away anyways. Mum wouldn't leave us in the dark." The girl placed her head on Rory's shoulder as Fred dozed off next to her. Rory shut her eyes, not meaning to fall asleep, but was awakened sharply by the noise of the kitchen door swinging open.

It was Mrs. Weasley.

"He's going to be all right," she said in a tired voice. "He's sleeping. We can all go and see him later. Bill's sitting with him now, he's going to take the morning off work."

Rory felt a large weight lift from her chest and she took what felt like the first breath all night. Fred leaned back in his chair and placed his hand over his face. Ron laughed shakily and finished his butterbeer and Ginny got up to give her mother a hug.

"Breakfast!" said Sirius loudly and joyfully, jumping to his feet."Where's that accursed house-elf? Kreacher! KREACHER!" But Kreacher did not answer his call. "Oh, forget it, then," muttered Sirius, counting the people in front of him. "So it's breakfast for — let's see — eight... Bacon and eggs, I think, and some tea, and toast —" 

Rory and Harry exchanged a look and nodded, getting up to help Sirius as to not intrude on the family's joy. Although at times, Mr. Weasley felt like a father to her, it still did not seem right. However Mrs. Weasley joined them, thanked Harry, and threw on an apron. Harry pulled Sirius aside for a chat and left Rory alone with Mrs. Weasley.

Ever since Rory had begun dating Fred she was a bit more cautious around the woman. She was afraid of doing anything that would warrant the woman to not like her or to think she wasn't worthy of dating her son. However, Mrs. Weasley was still treating the girl all the same.

"I spoke with your father," she said, cracking an egg over the pan on the stove, "He's been working a lot recently. He said he's excited to see you, though. He'll be over for Christmas if work isn't too busy."

Rory smiled and waved her wand at the kettle to make the water for their tea boil quicker, "Really? That's wonderful."

Mrs. Weasley nodded, "How have you been, dear? Did you get the package I sent for your birthday?"

"Oh, I've been alright. Busy. And yes, I did! The cookies were so delicious, thank you! Nothing beats your cooking." She smiled as the kettle whistled. Rory poured the steaming water into eight mugs with tea bags already in them. She got out the milk and sugar and tried to remember how everyone took their tea. She took several trips back and forth from the kitchen to the dinning room to deliver everyone their mugs because she simply did not trust her ability to seamlessly levitate them through each room.

After breakfast, nearly everyone slept until it was time to visit Mr. Weasley. Rory had a dreamless sleep that made her feel refreshed and headed downstairs to see their trunks had arrived from Hogwarts and they could finally change clothes. Rory slipped out of her pajamas and into a pair of jeans and her "R" jumper she had gotten from Mrs. Weasley the Christmas prior. She was slowly collecting them year by year.

"I wish you were wearing my jumper," Fred mumbled as she joined him at the table for lunch. Mad-Eye and Tonks arrived as they finished their meals to escort them across London to St. Mungo's.

Rory felt waves of nostalgia and a bit of sadness as she walked the familiar streets of where she grew up. She held on to Fred's hand and was constantly nudging him to give him small anecdotes about her childhood ("That shop over there has the best Chinese takeaway you'll ever eat! I guess you don't know what that is... I'll take you sometime -"). London during Christmastime was a very specific feeling. It reminded her of last minute shopping and quiet birthday dinners in busy restaurants.

They had arrived outside a large, old-fashioned, department store called Purge and Dowse Ltd. Large signs on all the dusty doors read "closed for refurbishment". It was a place Rory had seen before in passing, but never payed attention to. The atmosphere was... tacky. The mannequins in the window were wearing clothes from no later than the early nineteen eighties. Rory would never have guessed a hospital was hidden beneath the walls, which was sort of the whole point.

"Right," said Tonks, beckoning them forward to a window, "Everybody ready?" She leaned in towards a hideous dummy and said, "Wotcher... We're here to see Arthur Weasley."

The dummy nodded and Tonks stepped through the glass. Ginny and Mrs. Weasley followed, then Fred, George, and Rory. She felt as if she stepped through fog as she passed the glass window. The old storefront was now a bustling hospital. Witches and wizards walked around in bright green robes writing feverously on clipboards. Around them were patients waiting, some appeared completely normal while others had grotesque deformities. Mrs. Weasley led them over to the queue at the welcome desk.

"Hello," Mrs. Weasley said when they reached the front of the line, "My husband, Arthur Weasley, was supposed to be moved to a different ward this morning, could you tell us — ?"

"Arthur Weasley?" said the witch at the front desk. "Yes, first floor, second door on the right, Dai Llewellyn ward."

"Thank you," said Mrs. Weasley. "Come on, you lot." Rory followed her down the corridor, her hand still in Fred's. They reached the door where they were told Mr. Weasley was and stopped.

"We'll wait outside, Molly," Tonks said. "Arthur won't want too many visitors at once... It ought to be just the family first."

Harry and Rory agreed stayed put but Mrs. Weasley objected, "Don't be silly you two, you're family."

The room was small and dingy as most typical hospital rooms were. Rory remembered when she was just about seven and needed to get stitches on the back of her head after falling off her kitchen counter, the muggle hospital she went to had the same dreary feel. However, she expected more from a magical one. Two other patients occupied the room, all separated by thin beige curtains. Mr. Weasley's bed was at the far end near a window. Rory was pleased to see him sitting up, propped up by stacks of pillows.

"Hello!" he called, throwing the newspaper he was reading aside. "Bill just left, Molly, had to get back to work, but he says he'll drop in on you later..."

"How are you, Arthur?" asked Mrs. Weasley, bending down to kiss his cheek and looking anxious. "You're still looking a bit peaky..."

"I feel absolutely fine," said Mr. Weasley brightly, holding out his good arm to give Ginny a hug. "If they could only take the bandages off, I'd be fit to go home."

"Why can't they take them off, Dad?" Fred asked as he softly rubbed his thumb on the back of Rory's hand.

"Well, I start bleeding like mad every time they try," said Mr. Weasley cheerfully, reaching across for his wand, and waving it so that seven extra chairs appeared at his bedside to seat them all. "It seems there was some rather unusual kind of poison in that snake's fangs that keeps wounds open... They're sure they'll find an antidote, though, they say they've had much worse cases than mine, and in the meantime I just have to keep taking a Blood-Replenishing Potion every hour. But that fellow over there," he said, lowering his voice and nodding toward the bed opposite in which a man lay looking sickly, staring at the ceiling. "Bitten by a werewolf, poor chap. No cure at all."

"A werewolf?" whispered Mrs. Weasley, looking alarmed. "Is he safe in a public ward? Shouldn't he be in a private room?"

"It's two weeks till full moon," Mr. Weasley reminded her. "They've been talking to him this morning, the Healers, you know, trying to persuade him he'll be able to lead an almost normal life. I said to him — didn't mention names, of course — but I said I knew a werewolf personally, very nice man, who finds the condition quite easy to manage..."

"What did he say?" asked George.

"Said he'd give me another bite if I didn't shut up," said Mr. Weasley sadly. "And that woman over there," he indicated the only other occupied bed, which was right beside the door, "won't tell the Healers what bit her, which makes us all think it must have been something she was handling illegally. Whatever it was took a real chunk out of her leg, very nasty smell when they take off the dressings."

The children began asking their father a recount of the event, however Mr. Weasley seemed to be hiding certain details. The twins were quickly upset by this and decided it best, when their mother sent everybody out, to whip out the Extendable Ears. Rory sat with Ron and Ginny as Harry and the twins eagerly stood by the door to hear Tonks, Mad-Eye, and the Weasleys discuss the incident. Rory looked around and saw a dark haired man at the end of the corridor talking to a witch wearing the bright green robes most Healers were. Rory's face lit up as she realized it was Andrew. He noticed them and exited his conversation with the other Healer and walked over to them.

"Dad!" she smiled and gave him a tight hug.

"Hey, kiddo." he said. Mrs. Weasley was right, he had been working a lot. Rory could tell by the sound of his voice alone he was very tired. "How've you been?"

"Good, how're you?" she asked with slight concern.

The man shrugged and ran a hand through his dark hair, "I've seen better weeks. I'll be at Grimmauld Place the second I have unscheduled time. There's sort of an... administrative issue here. I won't say much now about it, incase anyone..."

Rory nodded, understanding what he meant.

"Hello, Andy!" Ginny blushed, now standing slightly behind Rory.

The man smiled, "Hey there, Ginny. It's good to see you."

Ginny just giggled and said, "Yeah! You too."

Andrew turned his attention back to Rory and placed his hand on her arm, "I better get going, I'm really glad I got to see you. I love you." He gave her a quick hug, a kiss on the top of her head, and rushed off down the corridor. Rory froze. She had never been said those words by a parent, at least not in a very long time.