"Ron..."
Half asleep and half awake, Ron heard a low call by his ear.
He frowned, forcing down the ache all over his body, tilted his head to one side, and muttered impatiently, "Shut up!"
As if he felt he had not gone far enough, he simply rolled over, pulled the quilt straight over his head, and wrapped himself even tighter, intending to shut out every sound from the outside world.
"Hey! Did you see that? We asked him nicely..."
"And just as we expected, he didn't appreciate it at all. He even covered his head!"
"Then there's no helping it... George!"
"I understand! On three... one... two... three!"
Even though Ron had buried his head under the quilt, Fred and George's voices, playing off each other, still managed to worm their way into his ears.
Just as he heard George shout "three," the quilt wrapped around him was yanked away, and cold wind rushed in without warning, stabbing viciously into his collar and cuffs.
"Hiss!" He shuddered violently, instinctively hugging his arms, and finally woke up completely.
When he opened his eyes, he found a ring of people surrounding his bed.
Fred and George each held one corner of the quilt, staring at him with wicked grins on their faces;
Angelina Johnson stood behind Fred and George with her arms folded across her chest;
Harry stood a little farther away, yawning and rubbing his eyes, looking as if he had just woken up.
Fred and George leaned their heads over, both wearing mischievous smiles. "Yo! Ronald, you're awake!"
"I'm awake! I'm awake!" Ron muttered irritably, his voice carrying an exhaustion he could not hide. "Didn't we only train yesterday? Why are we training again today?"
He sat up, looking utterly miserable. "Isn't another team supposed to be training today?