Gloves, Toaster and Toilets

Arthur put on his bomber jacket and put the parchment and the gloves into the pockets. He folded up Moody's spare invisibility cloak and, after checking that he had not left anything behind, he apparated back home. He decided that he would not tell Molly of the gloves as he did not want a lecture as to why he should not be enchanting Muggle objects. He decided to hide the gloves and "talk" to them when he was alone and there was no chance anybody might find out that he still had something that might be "dangerous." They would be a good companion for those times that he was alone with nothing to do and there was a lot on his mind.

Arthur used them when he was alone at number 12 Grimmuald Place, standing guard over the Department of Mysteries and when he was alone at work with nothing left to do. The gloves proved to be very intelligent and knowledgeable. They were good companions for Arthur and gave him good advice when he needed it. Arthur thought he would have the gloves as a companion for a very long time.

December came very quickly for Arthur. About a week before Christmas, he had guard duty. He didn't like that he had guard duty so close to Christmas but, at least he didn't have guard duty on Christmas Eve, or Christmas Day. He felt sorry for whoever would have guard duty o those days. He spent some time "talking" to the gloves about Christmas and some of his plans. He was starting to feel drowsy so, he put the parchment, ink and quill into his cloak and fixed the invisibility cloak. He trusted that the gloves would wake him up in case something was happening.

He was starting to doze off when the gloves did something very weird. They started jumping up on their last 3 fingers and pointing with their index fingers at something on the ground. Arthur looked up and his eyes swept the floor. At first he didn't see anything. Then the gloves jumped into his pocket. He found this weird but, knew that it meant that danger was coming. Then he saw it; a twelve foot snake was slithering towards him. He jumped up and drew his wand from his waist but, he was too late. The snake bit him, once, twice, three times. The last thing he saw, before losing consciousness, was the gloves trying to shoo the snake away.

Arthur woke up to a Healer changing bandages around his middle. He started moving and the Healer noticed that he was awake.

"Oh, good - you're awake. I'm the Trainee-Healer, Augustus Pye. I'll get the Healer-in-Charge for you." He started moving away.

Arthur stopped him. "Wait - what happened?" Arthur only vaguely remembered the snake and it biting him.

"You were bitten by a snake. I'll get the Healer and he'll explain everything." Pye left and Arthur was left wondering exactly what happen. Before long, the Healer came.

"I'm the Healer-in-Charge, Hippocrates Smethwyck. You were the victim of three snake bites. You are very lucky to be alive."

"Well that's relieving. As long as I know I'm close to dying. How long will I stay here?" Arthur wanted to at least know what was going on.

"You'll have to stay here for a few days more, over Christmas but, you seem fine and I don't think you'll be staying here all that long. It's just a matter of the wound healing and closing up." The Healer knew that he would not be staying long but, he would want to see the news and what's going on so, he gave him a copy of the Daily Prophet.

Arthur sat up and started reading the newspaper and he wondered if he would get his gloves back because he would be very bored having to sit alone. After finishing the newspaper he looked around the room. There was a woman sleeping but, her leg was above the bedspread and you could see that a big piece had been bitten off. There was also a man sitting up in bed, looking at Arthur.

"Hello, I'm Arthur Weasley."

"Yes, I know. I saw you being brought in. from what I heard you got really bloodied up by a snake. I feel sorry for you but, at least you'll get better."

"Well, since you know about me, why don't you tell me about yourself. Like, why you're here; you don't seem very sick to me."

"I got bitten by a werewolf so, I'm getting treated here until I can be on my own. It's pretty hopeless for me. I would even, rather have your three snakebites than my werewolf bite. Nobody knows what it's like." He seemed forlorn about his luck.

"It's not all that bad. I have a friend who finds the condition quite manageable and he got his bite as a small child. There is a potion called the Wolfsbane Potion, it helps you keep your mind when you transform. It's -"

"Shut up or, unless you want another bite." The man turned away from him and went to sleep. Soon Molly came and started fussing about.

"Don't worry, Molly. The Healer says I'm fine and am going to go home a little after Christmas. I only need to stay to get the wound healed." Arthur wanted to reassure her.

"Alright, but, I'm staying here and watching over you." Arthur looked like he was about to protest so, Molly repeated once again, more firmly this time, "I'm staying." Arthur drifted off to sleep feeling reassured that his wife was there. He was sleeping so fitfully that he didn't hear Molly sending out an owl to tell the kids the good news. He couldn't hear Bill coming in and relieving Molly of her burden so that she could visit her kids and reassure them once again that everything was fine.