The Sunrise of My Heart

On our way to St Mungo's, I decided that all of the silent thinking I'd been doing lately was unbearably morbid, so I stopped doing it. That is to say, I was less quiet and pensive in public, and I allowed myself to become distracted by things outside of my thoughts.

When we got to St Mungo's (after having stepped through a glass window at the beckon of a badly-dressed mannequin), I was somewhat shocked by the strange magical injuries some of the people had. But considering the world we lived in, I suppose they really weren't that strange after all. As I looked around, I found myself maybe considering one day being a nurse here to help those afflicted with such difficult and dangerous illnesses and injuries.

After a short wait, we were allowed to go up and visit Mr. Weasley, much to the relief of his whole family. We all followed behind Mrs Weasley as she lead us to his room, looking like one huge family full of gingers and a few odd-balls.

When we got to the room, Tonks and Mad-Eye Moody hung back, saying the family should go in first. I saw Harry hesitate, but Mrs Weasley pulled him in behind her. I stepped back to wait with the two outside, smiling and shaking my head at George when he waited for me to follow.

"You go in first. I'll be right out here."

I waited around, talking with Tonks as I did, until the other kids were forced to leave the room. I gave George a questioning look, but before he could answer, Tonks grabbed me and dragged me inside the room, saying it was our turn to visit.

"Riley," Mr Weasley said to me when I stepped in, smiling. "How are you?"

"I'm good," I answered, hanging back a bit.

"I'm told you and my George are together now."

"Yes, sir," I answered.

"He has good taste, then. Better than I'd expected. Now, if he gives you any problems, you tell me, and I'll deal with him for you." He smiled kindly.

"I will," I said, smiling. I still didn't step forward, though.

He held out his good hand towards me, beckoning me closer. "Come here," he said gently. "I'm not going to keel over and die right in front of you. I understand your worry, but you don't have to feel so frightened to come closer. I'm fine."

Slowly, I stepped closer, trying to get the image of my father's dead body out of my head. "Sorry," I said. "It's just too similar..."

"Don't be sorry. But don't be afraid either." He smiled kindly again, causing me to smile in response.

"And now to business, if you two don't mind," Moody said gruffly.

"Right," we said.

Tonks began whispering about the night of the attack, but I became distracted by flesh-colored strings snaking their way across the floor from underneath the door. Moving inconspicuously, I blocked them from the view of the others, knowing Fred, George, and the others were listening in outside the door with Extendable Ears.

"...they searched the whole area but they couldn't find the snake anywhere, it just seems to have vanished after it attacked you, Arthur," Tonks was saying. "... But You-Know-Who can't have expected a snake to get in, can he?"

"I reckon he sent it as a lookout," growled Moody, "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 much more time to look around. So Potter says he saw it all happen?"

"Yes," Mrs Weasley said, rather uneasily. "You know, Dumbledore seems almost to have been waiting for Harry to see something like this..."

"Yeah, well, there's something funny about the Potter kid, we all know that," Moody said. I crossed my arms at that.

"Dumbledore seemed worried about Harry when I spoke to him this morning," whispered Mrs Weasley.

"Of course he's worried. The boy's been seeing things from inside You-Know-Who's snake... Obviously, Potter doesn't realize what that means, but if You-Know-Who's possessing him..." Moody began, but I cut him off.

"Look, I know it's all a bit dodgy and really weird, but I really don't think Harry's being possessed by Voldy." They all started to flinch when I said 'Voldy', and then gave me somewhat odd looks when they realized what I'd actually said. "You-Know-Who, whatever," I said, rolling my eyes. "The point is, Harry can't be possessed by him, for multiple reasons."

"Yeah, like what?" Moody growled at me.

"For one, Dumbledore wouldn't let it happen. For another, if he is possessed, why is this the first instance in which he's done something for You-Know-Who, when there's been ample time and opportunity? Why not have Harry attack us Order members while we're off our guard in Grimmuald Place? Whatever caused this insight, it's not possession. I'm sure of that."

"And you've got a lot of experience with possessions and dark curses, have you?" Moody asked, glaring at me.

I simply stared coldly back at him, not removing my gaze from his until Mrs Weasley cleared her throat to get both our attention.

"Riley, dear, I understand you don't want to believe Harry's being possessed. None of us do, we all care deeply for him. But perhaps you need to think about this in an unbiased way and see if that changes your opinion," Mrs Weasley said to me.
"Fine, you want unbiased, merely factual reasoning? Harry's strong, he's protected by his mother's love, he's protected by Dumbledore, he'd have attacked sooner, and I've gazed deep into his eyes. There is nothing there but a boy who wants only to fit in and find happiness. Need more proof? Dark magic leaves traces. We would be able to sense it on him, one way or another, if he was possessed."

"Molly, maybe she's right," Tonks said softly. She didn't sound completely convinced, but at least she was willing to listen to me.

"I know another reason Harry can't be possessed," I said, smirking because I knew they couldn't ignore this one.

"Yes?" Mr Weasley asked.

"One word: Snape. If You-Know-Who is possessing Harry, he'd see that Snape isn't on his side, but ours. Snape is still just fine and in no more danger than usual, but if You-Know-Who were possessing Harry, he'd be dead. You all know it's true."

There was a momentary silence while they all thought that over. After a bit, I broke the silence. "Look, while you all ponder over what I've said, I'm going to wait outside with the others. Really think about that, alright?" Without waiting for an answer, I left, stepping outside the room. Unfortunately, everyone was staring at Harry with fearful expressions on their faces, causing me to sigh softly. "Not you lot too? Harry, you're not possessed!" But I could tell none of them believed me. From the looks of it, they'd stopped listening before I could argue my case, and I really didn't feel like repeating myself to all of them. "Look," I started, deciding I would anyways. But at that moment, the adults all came out of Mr Weasley's hospital room, so I shut my mouth, choosing to tell Harry and the others what I'd told the adults at a later time. And so, morbidly quiet, we left the hospital.