"We'll wait outside, Molly," Tonks said, "Arthur won't want too many visitors at once...it ought to be just the family first."
Mad-Eye Moody growled in approval before he set himself with his back against the corridor wall of St. Mungo's Hospital. Harry and Aurora both dressed back, too, but Mrs Weasley reached out a hand and pushed the pair through the door, "Don't be silly they're family. Plus, Arthur wants to thank Harry."
The ward was rather small. There was only one wall in the corner of the room, the rest of the light came from the shining crystal bubbles clustered in the middle of the ceiling. The walls were an oak colour and on the wall was one portrait of an angry-looking wizard.
There were three patients in the ward, Mr Weasley was occupying the bed at the very far end of the ward, besides the window. Fred quickly grabbed hold of Aurora's hand before he pulled her along over to his father; who was propped up on several pillows and reading the Daily Prophet. He looked up as he heard footsteps and beamed brightly, before placing the newspaper down onto the bedside table.
"Hello," he called out, cheerfully, "Bill just left, Molly, he had to go back to work, but he said he'll drop in on you later."
"How are you, Arthur?" Mrs Weasley asked, bending down to kiss her husband's cheek, "You're still looking a bit peaky."
"I feel absolutely fine," Mr Weasley said, 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.
"Well, I start bleeding like mad every time they try," Mr Weasley replied casually. He grabbed his wand from the bedside table and waved it, causing chairs to appear around the bed, "They said there was some kind of poison on the snake's fangs and that's why they wounds are staying 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," Mr Weasley nodded his head at the bed opposite his, where a man that looked sickly laid, staring up at the ceiling, "Bitten by a werewolf, poor chap. No cure at all."
"A werewolf?" Mrs Weasley whispered, "Is he safe in a public ward? Shouldn't he be in his own private room?"
A lump formed in Aurora's throat as she looked at the man, he looked so young and so sad before she sat down besides Fred on the chair towards the foot of Mr Weasley's bed.
"It's two weeks until the 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 any names, of course - but I said I knew a werewolf personally, very very nice man, who find the condition quite easy to manage."
"What did he say?" George asked.
"Said he'd give me another bite if I don't shut up," Mr Weasley replied, Aurora and Fred couldn't help but let out a couple of quiet chuckles at the answer, quickly coughing to cover it up.
"So, you going to tell us what happened, dad?" George asked, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Well, you already know, don't you?" Mr Weasley said, with a smile towards Harry, "It's very simple. I'd had a very long day, dozed off, got sneaked upon and bitten."
"Is it in the Prophet?" Fred asked, "You being attacked."
"No, of course not," Mr Weasley said, "The Ministry wouldn't want everyone to know a dirty great serpent got-"
"Arthur!" Mrs Weasley yelled.
"- got - erm..me," Mr Weasley sheepishly muttered.
"So, where were you when it happened, dad?" George asked.
"That's my business," Mr Weasley said, smiling gently at his son, "I was just reading about William Widdershins' arrest when you arrived. You know William turned out to be behind those regurgitation toilets back in the summer? One of his jinxes backfired, the toilet exposed and they found him lying unconscious in the wreckage covered from head to foot in-"
"When you say you were 'on duty'," Fred interrupted, "What were you doing?"
"You heard your father," Mrs Weasley whispered, "We are not discussing this here! Go on about William Widdershins, Arthur."
"Well, don't ask me how, but he actually got off the toilet charge," Mr Weasley continued, "I can only suppose gold changed hands-"
"You were guarding it, weren't you?" George asked quietly, "The weapon? The thing You-Know-Who's after?"
"George! Be quiet!" Mrs Weasley snapped.
"Anyway," Mr Weasley continued, "This time William's been caught selling biting doorknobs to Muggles and I don't think he'll be able to worm his way out of it because, according to the article I read, two Muggles have lost fingers and are now in St. Mungo's for emergency bone regrowth and memory modification. Just think of it, Muggles in St. Mungo's! I wonder which ward they're in," Mr Weasley said eagerly.
"Didn't you say You-Know-Who's got a snake, Harry?" Fred asked, looking at his father for a reaction, "A massive one? You saw it the night he returned, didn't you?"
"That's enough!" Mrs Weasley said crossly, "Mad-Eye and Tonks are outside, Arthur, they want to come and see you. And you lot can wait outside," She added looking at her children, Aurora and Harry, "You can come and say goodbye afterwards. Go on."
Aurora grabbed hold of Fred's hand and gently pulled him out of the ward. When they all finally got outside and Mad-Eye Moody and Tonks went in Fred started to rummage through his coat pockets.
"Fine," he said calmly, "Be like that. Don't tell us anything."
"Looking for these?" George asked, holding out a few tangled Extendable Ear.
"You read my mind," Fred grinned, "Let's see if St. Mungo's puts Imperturbable Charms on their ward doors, shall we?"
He and George untangled the Ears and passed the around. Aurora sighed before she grabbed one, Harry, on the other hand, was hesitated to take one.
"Go on, Harry, take it! You saved dad's life. If anyone's got the right to eavesdrop on him, it's you," George said.
Harry hesitantly extended his hand and took one.
"Okay, go," Fred instructed.
George wiggled the flesh-coloured string, which snaked under the door. Aurora placed one of the Ears over her own, hearing Tonks whispering as if she was right next to her.
"....they searched the whole are but couldn't find the snake anywhere. It just seemed to have vanished after it attacked you, Arthur...but You-Know-Who can't have expected a snake to get in, can he?"
"I recon he sent it in as a lookout," Mad-Eye Moody growled, "'Cause he's not had any luck so far, has he? No, I reckon he's trying to get a clearer picture of what he's facing and if Arthur hadn't been there the beast would've had a lot more time to look around. So, Potter says he saw it all happen?"
"Yes," Mrs Weasley confirmed, "You know, Dumbledore seemed almost to have been waiting for Harry to see something like this."
"Yeah, well," Moody said, "There's something funny about the Potter kid, we all know that."
"Dumbledore seemed extremely worried about Harry when I spoke to him this morning," Mrs Weasley whispered.
"Course he's worried," Moody growled, "The boy's seeing things from inside You-Know-Who's snake. Obviously, Potter doesn't realise what that means, but if You-Know-Who's possessing him-"
Aurora couldn't bare to listen any longer. She pulled the Extendable Ear away from her own, her eyes shifting to Harry who looked uncomfortable as he pulled his own Extendable Ear away too. His eyes contacted with Aurora's and she could see the fear that was written all over his face. She quickly walked over to him, carefully placed a hand on his shoulder, squeezing it. Harry looked down at his feet whilst Aurora looked over and shared a worried look with Fred.