Here's a little chapter before the Holidays. I probably won't update till after Christmas. Just a little taste to last you through Christmas. Thanks for everything!
Chapter 6
Mary Ann Dawson was bored to tears. The halls of the critical unit was dark and deserted, and the only light was coming from the soft glow of her wand. Normally, she didn't take the graveyard shift, but Nancy had begged her to do this one favor so she could extend her hot date to all night and into the morning.
Mary Ann scowled as she flipped through the new edition of Witch Weekly. It wasn't fair that she was stuck here while Nancy was tearing up the sheets with the gorgeous Healer on the seventh floor. "Lucky slut," she mumbled even though she was smiling. Afterall, Nancy was her best friend and she couldn't wait to get all the details.
She kept skimming her magazine and then smiled when she got to her favorite section. It was a snippet of pictures of famous people out on the street in public. She glanced at one picture of Harry Potter sitting at a booth with a bushy hair girl sipping butterbeers laughing together. Under the picture was a short caption.
The famous Boy Who Lived, who recently defetated the You Know Who, snuggles into a booth with longtime friend, Hermione Granger.
"Oh, they make a cute couple," she said with a smile then it dropped as she looked over to the closed door of Ron Weasley's room. Everyone knew who he was and what happened to him. Although it was a long shot, everyone was pulling for him.
"Excuse me."
Mary Ann gasped as she pumped in her seat, placing a hand over her heart.
"Sorry," said the blonde haired girl that was standing in front of her desk. "I didn't mean to scare you."
She blew out a breath. "That's all right dear. We don't get much visitors at this time of night."
"I know it's late," the girl said timidly. "I was wondering if I could visit Ronald Weasley?"
"Are you family?"
"No, I'm…a friend."
"I'm sorry, but other than visiting hours, it's family only."
The girl's shoulders slumped. "Oh. I understand. I normally would come during visitor hours, but it's usually too crowded. I was hoping to have a few moments alone."
Why…she loves him, Mary Ann thought as she sighed. Her heart went out to her. "Well, you must be a distant cousin," Mary An said brightly. "That would be okay if you were a very very distant cousin."
The girl looked confused at first, but when she figured out what she was implying her eyes lit up. "Oh! Right! I'm a distant cousin."
"That's what I thought," she said with a wink. "His room is the third door on the right. Just down that corridor."
The girl smiled. "Thanks, I'll try to be quick."
"No one but you and me here. You take your time."
XXX
Luna Lovegood didn't know what to think when her eyes fell on Ron lying still in the hospital bed. His face was pale, so pale that she could barely make out his freckles she adored so much.
Potion caldrons bubbled and machines beeped and whistled around him. She didn't know what they were for but she assumed they were keeping him alive. His chest was barely moving, but it was moving nonetheless, which meant he was breathing.
"Hello Ronald," she finally said as she carefull sat down on the bed beside his hip. She slid her hand into his limp cold one and placed her other hand on top. "You're probably wondering what I'm doing here in the middle of the night.
"I know we aren't that close but…you've always been kind to me. Even when you think I'm a nutcase you still never judge me." Luna sighed as she stroke his hand. "You have to wake up, Ron, too many people need you. Including me. Do you remember the last time we talked? You came to my rescue. Maybe not as dramatic as when you pushed Hermione out of the way, which by the way was very brave, but you were my hero."
As Luna continued to stroke his hand, her mind driffted off to that dat at Hogwarts. It happened the day before the attack and Luna was on her way to Charms when sh ran into a group of Slytherin boys looking for trouble. She had tried to avoid them by keeing her head down and quickening her pace, but they followed right behind her.
Someone shoved her from behind and she stumbled forward, but managed to stay on her feet. She tried to run but they blocked her path, entrapping her in a circle. "Please," she said quietly. "I have to get to class."
One of the boys mimicked her while they others laughed and shoved her back and forth like she was a rag doll. One boy grabbed her bag and threw it against the wall, causing all her books and parcment notes to spill out. She tried to reach for her wand but they were too quick and tossed it on the floor out of reach.
"Aw, what a pretty necklace," the leader of the group said as he fiddled with it.
"Let me go," Luna said with a firmer voice as she struggled against the hands that held her captive.
"Now why would we do that?" he asked and then yanked hard on her necklace causing it to break and bottle caps scattered on the floor.
"No!" she sobbed as she tried to bend down to pick it up, but hands were everywhere and she started to panic. She was about to kick, bite and scream, whatever it took to escape.
"Hey!" a voice yelled as footsteps rushed to them. "Leave her alone!"
The boys knocked her down on the ground before running away down the corridor. Luna felt the other an rush by her, obviously chasing down her attackers. "You better run!" the voice yelled. "I'm going to report you guys to the Headmistress you bastards!"
Luna was still hunched on the cold floor shaking ans sobbing as the footsteps slowly started towards her. "Luna," the voice said softly as he crouched to her. "Are you all right?"
Luna looked up to see Ron's face gazing down on her and at once warmth filled her up and she felt safe. "Ron," she said shakily as she sat up.
"Easy now," he said wrapping an arm around her. "You took a pretty nasty fall."
"They shoved me."
"I know," he said with an edge in his voice. "But if it's okay now, they're gone."
"I'll be fine. I just…Oh! My necklace, they ruined my necklace." She then frantically crawled on her hands and knees picking up her bottle caps.
"Hey, it's okay," he said softly grabbing her wrist. He then smiled as he pointed his wand to the scattered pieces. "Reparo."
Magically the necklace came together just how it was and Ron picked it up and put it over her head. "Good as new."
"Thanks," she said softly as her eyes filled with tears. "I know it's silly, fussing over a stupid necklace."
"Obviously it's not stupid to you," he said standing up then helped her to her own feet. "It must mean a lot to you."
She blushed softly. "It does."
"Here," Ron said walking over to her books. "Let me help you with this."
"Oh, I forgot," she said following him, then together they crouched down to put everything back in her bag.
"Last one," he said holding it out to her with a grin.
His face was so close to hers she couldn't help but turn red as she took the book from him. "Er…thanks."
"No problem," he said standing up again. "Er…why don't I walk you to your next class. Just in case."
"Oh, you don't have to do that."
"I insist," he said and held out an arm. "Shall we?"
Luna smiled and linked and arm through his as they walked to her class. "So…how is everything? With Harry?"
"Harry's doing okay, getting a lot of training. We've got a meeting with the Order in a few minutes, that's where I was headed. Hopefully, everything will be over soon."
"You'll be careful, won't you Ronald?"
He grinned and gave her a wink. "Don't worry about me, I'll be just fine. Well, here we are."
"Yes, here we are." Luna then took a deep breath before leaning up and kissing him on the cheek. "Thanks for everything, Ronald. You're my hero."
She didn't wait long enough for him to answer, she had rushed into the classroom before he could. It was the last time she spoke to him and she didn't want it to be her last. "I have faith in you, Ronald," she said softly then gasped when she felt a slight pressure on her hand. Did he just squeeze her hand? She looked down but his hand was still limp. She sighed in dissapointment. It must have been her imagaination.