Obsequium

Ron really appreciated Harry and the other Gryffindor boys in the days leading up to his test with Madam Pomfrey. They were all remarkably tolerant of his late night studying and slightly crabby mood in the mornings. 

On Wednesday he tried his hardest to pay attention in class. He didn’t bother listening during their two hours of History with Binns. The professor wouldn’t notice if someone died in his class let alone if Ron was studying from the right book or not.

He read through his medical textbooks, refreshing his mind on the subject a little, and making some notes while Harry drooled next to him.

Harry ended up walking him to the Hospital wing.

“It’s on my way to my parents room.” He explained. “They told me to come by for tea while you’re doing your test. You can come fetch me there when you’re done and then you can walk me to Quidditch practice.” 

Ron laughed and nodded agreeably. Harry gave him the directions and they parted ways in front of the hospital wing.

He went inside, holding his breath slightly. Madam Pomfrey was waiting for him and there was a person lying in one of the hospital beds beside her.

“Ah, Mr. Weasley, come this way.” she called. “This is Prudence, the dummy used for training Healers. It’s quite realistic but entirely fake.”

Ron was stunned at how realistic the dummy looked.

“The first part of your test will be quite simple. I would like you to do your best to tell me the names of each area I point out to you.” she said and Ron was pretty good with anatomy so he nodded determinedly and she gave an approving nod.

She began pointing to various points on the dummy with her wand and Ron gave the answers confidently. When she finished, she waved her wand and Ron felt a bit queasy at the sight as a layer of skin was removed to show him the muscles. He named them confidently as well and she removed another layer to reveal the skeleton, which he identified as well.

“Well done, now you’ll sit at that table over there and please answer the test paper as best you can.” Pomfrey said, looking pleased. “There is no time limit, but as soon as you can finish it is preferable.”

Ron nodded and obediently took his seat. He lifted the provided quill and read over all the questions she was asking him to answer before he even started answering anything.

It was a mixture of muggle medicine and magical, mostly relating to potions and some charms. One or two questions were asking for his opinion, while others only demanded that he identify this and that injury and what he might do in different situations.

Ron made his way through the papers, writing down his answers and opinions. He tried to keep it concise and without too much babbling even though he knew more about some topics than others.

When he finished, he put his quill down and looked up. Pomfrey was dealing with a patient that seemed to have cut their finger in potions class.

He watched her silently, observing the way she checked the student for injuries, the diagnosis charm she did again, and finally her treatment.

She carefully used her wand to knit the skin back together on the student’s wound. It was as delicate looking as if a muggle doctor was stitching it with a needle and thread. 

When she was finished, she removed her surgical gloves, which Ron was surprised to note were the muggle kind, and replaced them with fresh ones before applying an ointment over the freshly healed skin before gently wrapping a bandage around the finger.

“See me again in two days, Ms. Avery, for now, try to use this hand minimally and avoid holding anything heavily.” Madam Pomfrey said softly, sending the girl on her way.

“Finished, Mr. Weasley?”

“I am, ma’am.” He blurted, standing up. Pomfrey came over and gathered the test papers.

“Very good, now I will go through these test papers and you will know tomorrow evening if you have passed or not.” She said sternly.

“Should I come here to find out?” he asked and she shook her head.

“No, you will receive notice of it, as well as a schedule.” she explained and he nodded, feeling bitterly nervous as he said goodbye and left her to go through his test papers.

His stomach was curling in knots of anxiety as he made his way to Harry’s parents’ room to pick him up. He knocked on the door, feeling a bit anxious at meeting Harry’s parents as well, even though he’d already met them, technically.

The door swung open to reveal a smiling Lily Potter.

“Mr. Weasley, finished your test alright?” she asked with a proud looking grin and Ron flushed. 

“I think so,” he said unsurely. “Madam Pomfrey said I’ll know tomorrow evening if I’ve passed or not.”

Lily gave a slightly knowing smile and a nod.

“I wouldn’t worry too much, I’m sure you did great.” she assured. “Harry, it’s time for your Quidditch practice,” she called behind her and there was a thumping noise and then a grinning Harry appeared.

“Ron! How did it go?” he asked, anxious on Ron’s behalf. 

“It was fine, I did a semi practical and a written test.” he replied and both Harry and his mum looked impressed. “It was mostly muggle-based, so I was already familiar with a lot of the theory.”

“No less impressive,” Lily said. “Muggles study for ages to become doctors, the fact that you passed a test with four years of off the record studying is quite impressive.”

Ron smiled demurely and allowed Harry to say their goodbyes before they made their way to the Quidditch pitch. Ron told his friend more about what was on the test and about the realistic dummy.

He was a complete mess for the whole night and into the next day as well. He’d started a letter to Bill but was holding off on finishing it until he got the news from Pomfrey. When no news came even after dinner, his chest felt tight and his friends all seemed unsure on how to comfort him. 

He’d failed. He just knew it. 

He made his way upstairs morosely and trudged to his bed. Ron came to an abrupt stop and gaped at his bed in shock.

There, sitting neatly on his made bed was a scroll wrapped with a lavender ribbon and underneath it was a pair of masculine Healer’s robes. There was a Gryffindor patch sewn into the breast of it and below the patch it said,

Hogwarts Intern Medi-Wizard.

Ron’s hands were shaking as he opened the scroll.

Mr. Weasley,

I’m happy to announce that you passed with flying colors. I apologize, but whether or not you passed I was still planning on accepting you as a student. You will find that your Hogwarts planner has automatically updated to include the dates and times of your lessons with me. You will report to the Hospital wing at the stated times, wearing your Intern robes. I will be providing the reading material required this year, and from next year your booklist will include the mandatory books.

I look forward to teaching you, Intern Medi-Wizard Weasley.

Hogwarts Medi-Witch

Poppy Pomfrey

Ron fell to his knees. He’d done it.

Heart leaping out of his chest, he stuck his head out and called Harry joyously. Harry looked alarmed and he wasn’t the only one to scramble up the stairs. The other boys had been just as invested once they found out what he was doing and they came inside the room.

“It was on my bed,” he pointed out the robes, then waved the scroll around. “She said she was always going to take me as a student whether I passed or not. I did it, I’m Hogwarts’ Intern Medi-Wizard.”

“YEAH!” Seamus and Dean hollered and Ron let out a loud yelp when the two boys lifted him up on their shoulders and tossed him around while Harry and Neville hooked arms and cheered in circles around them. Ron laughed and laughed and couldn’t stop laughing.

“That’s our Ron! Resident healer!” Neville cheered and Ron hugged him tightly, gratefully.

“Thanks for putting up with me these past few days. I’ve been awful and she was going to teach me the whole time anyway.” he complained and Harry snorted.

“No problem, mate, just promise to tolerate me once Quidditch season starts.” he said and Ron laughed.

“Cross my heart,” he swore and Harry beamed.

His Medi-Wizard lessons had indeed been added to his planner and now he was to be in an extra two hours of class every Wednesday and Friday.

At his first class he was given the reading material for the year and Madam Pomfrey explained a lot of things to him about his new role in Hogwarts as her apprentice. 

She also gave him a patch to attach to his school robes which would show the school that he was the Intern Medi-Wizard, and Pomfrey’s assistant. As well as a slim metal ring that worked as an emergency portkey that would take him and someone injured to the hospital wing, as well as bring him to the hospital wing whenever she needed his help.

“What if I’m in another class?” he asked, fingering the items.

“Your other professors have all received a notice that should you disappear it is because of your duties as my apprentice.” Pomfrey assured. “Now, let’s get into the rules-”

The rules were quite a lot, and Ron took notes on them all. Most of it was standard, but a few were enforced, and that was mainly that until she gave her permission he didn’t have authority to treat any students outside of the Hospital Wing and her supervision.

Ron obviously agreed with this vehemently.

As the weeks passed, and the other students got over seeing his new patch sewn on his robes, Ron was really enjoying the extra lessons with Pomfrey. The Medi-Witch turned out to be extremely patient and kind and never raised her voice or triggered his curse- he figured she knew about it but she confirmed it herself when she told him that during stressful moments while healing she might ask him for something directly and that she apologized in advance for triggering his curse, should it happen.

Before he knew it Halloween was upon them, and with Halloween, the sixteenth anniversary of his curse. He was much quieter the morning of Halloween even as the school was bustling with decorations and festivities for the Halloween feast.

Harry picked up on his mood quite fast.

“Is something wrong?” he asked Ron gently. “Something happened in your mediclass?”

Ron shook his head.

“No, it’s just … I don’t like Halloween much.” He admitted carefully. “Something happened to me once on Halloween and now it kind of just reminds me of that every year, I’m sure you can relate.”

Harry looked a bit mollified.

“I guess I can relate,” he allowed. “I’m sorry that event left you so wary about Halloween. If you want, we can skip the feast.”

“Nah, the food will be too good to miss.” Ron brushed it off and his friend burst out laughing. They were on their way to charms, where they were finally learning to make things float.

Ron was required to get the charm right, not just for his charms grade, but also his mediclass grade.

His mood was already a little low, it only got worse when the twins appeared. They’d gotten over their detention with James Potter pretty fast and regained their usual mischievous taunting of Ron. 

They were just more careful about it and managed to catch him in the times that he was alone, or in the bathroom. It was like they were making up for lost time. He’d spent a solid ten minutes hopping like a fucking rabbit for them, and then demanded he go tell Percy something embarrassing in front of his girlfriend. Percy had been so angry that he’d actually taken points and Ron didn’t bother to excuse himself with his curse, he knew Percy wouldn’t care.

So he was putting more effort into avoiding the twins and all of it had resulted in him getting a nosebleed before Charms. Harry had given him a clean handkerchief which he managed to stem his nose with but he was feeling quite morose.

It was not the perfect time for Hermione Granger to decide to help him. He scowled at her slightly as she corrected his pronunciation with a distinct air of superiority.

“You do it then, if you’re so talented.” he snapped, regretting it at the flash of hurt in her eyes but her gaze hardened and she sneered at him slightly before waving her wand and flawlessly floating the feather up.

Ron rolled his eyes, unable to keep it in, and let his head fall against his pile of books. Now he had a headache too.

In the courtyard after class, he was sitting with Harry and listening to the others goof off. To his mollification, he heard Dean and Seamus making fun of Hermione and he was going to interject and defend the girl, because really, he was just as snotty sometimes and they put up with him just fine, but before he could, Hermione brushed past them.

It was obvious she’d heard them and he shared a horrified look with Harry.

“Oh no, I didn’t mean for her to hear all that,” Ron said, dismayed. “I was annoyed with her but I don’t actually dislike her or anything.”

“Well, we weren’t the ones badmouthing her.” Harry pointed out and Ron sighed.

“I guess, I’ll apologize to her later either way.”

But later didn’t come. 

Hermione skipped their next class, which was just history but still, and no one could find her either. Ron consoled himself with the fact that she would have to turn up at the feast or in the dorms eventually.

The feast was quite spectacular and Ron’s bad mood was fast fading in the face of all the treats. A mood that abruptly returned full force when he overheard Parvati and Lavender talking about Hermione.

“What did you say?” he asked them and they looked up.

“About Hermione?” Parvati clarified and he nodded. “She’s been in the fourth floor ladies room all day crying her eyes out. Nothing we said could get her out of there.”

Ron felt even worse and both Dean and Seamus looked a little embarrassed. 

“Now I just feel bad,” he muttered to Harry. “I think I’m gonna go bring her a cake or something and see if she’ll come to the feast.”

Harry nodded determinedly.

“Yeah, Hermione’s a bit much but she’s not awful and she’s our friend, sort of,” he allowed. “Come on, I’ll carry a meat pie for her, that ought to whet her appetite.”

Ron snorted at that and they slipped out of the Great Hall holding two small bundles of food for the persnickety Gryffindor girl.

As they got closer to the bathroom, the smell started getting a bit … funky. They exchanged a grossed out look but didn’t say anything to further insult the girl, even if she wasn’t there.

“Perhaps we’d better take the picnic somewhere else,” Harry muttered to him but before he could reply they froze in their steps as they heard Hermione’s piercing shriek.

Ron dropped the parcel of food he was holding and he and Harry raced into the bathroom. Ron’s jaw dropped slightly as he took in the behemoth beast standing amidst the rubble of the girl’s bathroom.

It was a mountain troll. A fully grown mountain troll.

Hermione was cowering under a leaking sink in the corner and looked utterly terrified.

“Do something!” she shrieked and the troll grunted. It sounded like the grunts were forming some sort of pattern, like a language, but Ron’s brain couldn’t follow along with it.

“Oi!” Harry shouted, getting the troll’s attention. Ron gulped.

“I’ll distract it, you get Hermione,” Ron told him over the loud noise of the troll turning to them, smashing some doors with its trailing club. 

“Take this,” he gave Harry his medi-wizard ring. It only transported two people. “Once you have her in your hands, I’ll give the password, I’ll follow right behind you!”

Harry gave a grim nod, taking the ring and making a run for it while Ron clutched his wand tighter and threw as many distracting spells as he could think of at the troll. It seemed to be working.

“Got her, Ron!” Harry shouted, momentarily distracting the troll again, but Ron screamed out the password for the ring hurriedly.

“Ad Hospitum!”

Both Harry and Hermione disappeared in a swirl of the portkey and Ron was just about to follow them, using the patch on his robes which was also a portkey, when the troll suddenly grunted and in his shock, he hiccuped as his body obediently came to a standstill.

It was like someone had thrown a bucket of ice over his head. He slowly looked up at the troll in realization.

Trolls … trolls could speak. Ron couldn’t understand them, but trolls could speak and- and this troll had demanded something from him and he was helpless but to comply. Evidently, the demand had simply been … stop moving.

The troll gave another grunt and lifted its club. Fear and adrenaline was coursing through Ron’s veins and for the first time in nearly a decade he tried to fight the curse.

Fighting the curse was painful. Ron had learned that at five years old the first time he’d had a definite reason to fight it. Fighting it was like pushing a boulder up a hill with broken arms.

Every inch of his body ached and bruised and he could feel blood spill down his lips as his nose began bleeding. The troll let his fists and club smash down and Ron choked on his own blood and a scream as the club grazed against his arm, sending him flying and thankfully ending the command on him.

Ron scrambled to his knees, trying to hide beneath the rubble, but another grunted command had him crying out loudly as his body lifted him up out of the rubble and he limped forward to the troll. He could imagine the command to have been simply “Come here.”

“HELP! SOMEONE!” Ron screamed helplessly. Another grunt and his mouth zipped closed, now he couldn’t breath well either with all the smog and panic filling his lungs.

He was going to die. 

Ron was definitely going to die, there was absolutely no human way that he wasn’t going to die. The troll grunted, sounding happy, and his club smashed down again, but this time the troll reached out to pick him up and Ron felt his ribs crack under the tight grip but he couldn’t cry out. Perhaps the command had been to be silent.

Ron’s body felt like it was in shut-down mode.

Even if he could use his portkey to go to the hospital wing it wouldn’t be to safety, he’d just bring the troll along with him and that would be even more devastating. His hands were truly tied.

The troll opened its mouth and Ron’s heart was racing so fast he couldn’t breathe or scream or anything- he was going to be eaten alive-

He squeezed his eyes shut, accepting his fate-

“Relashio! Immobulus”

And another voice that cried,

“Arresto Momentum! Accio!”

Ron felt his body soar through the sky, slamming a bit too hard against a body and then hands gripping him, holding his face and placing him gently on the floor.

“Forget all the commands given to you today, Ron!” James Potter demanded and Ron opened his mouth, sucking in a deep breath. He gasped for breath, filling his lungs with it and James was holding him tightly, way too tightly but he preferred it that way. It felt like James was the only thing holding his body together at that moment.

“I’ve got you, you’re okay, you’re okay,” He soothed, stroking Ron’s hair against his head softly. “Ad Hospitum.”

Ron felt his body swirl away, and he was just grateful for the death grip James Potter had on him. By the time he stopped swirling, he was out cold.