Emma Potter; Going to War

75: Er-My-Knee

"So,  all in all, not one of Ron's better birthdays?" said Fred.

 It was evening; the hospital wing was quiet, the windowscurtained, the lamps lit. Ron's was the only occupied bed. Me, Harry,Hermione, and Ginny were sitting around him; we had spent allday waiting outside the double doors, trying to see inside wheneversomebody went in or out. 

Madam Pomfrey had only let us enter at eight o'clock. Fred and George had arrived at ten past. 

"This isn't how we imagined handing over our present," saidGeorge grimly, putting down a large wrapped gift on Ron's bedsidecabinet and sitting beside Ginny.

 "Yeah, when we pictured the scene, he was conscious," said Fred. 

"There we were in Hogsmeade, waiting to surprise him —" saidGeorge. 

"You were in Hogsmeade?" asked Ginny, looking up. 

"We were thinking of buying Zonko's," said Fred gloomily. "AHogsmeade branch, you know, but a fat lot of good it'll do us if you lot aren't allowed out at weekends to buy our stuff anymore.. . . But never mind that now."

 He drew up a chair beside Harry and looked at Ron's pale face. 

"How exactly did it happen, Emma?" 

I retold the story I had already recounted, it felt like ahundred times to Dumbledore, to McGonagall, to Madam Pomfrey, to Hermione, and to Ginny.

 ". . . and then I got the bezoar down his throat and his breathingeased up a bit, Slughorn ran for help, McGonagall and MadamPomfrey turned up, and they brought Ron up here. They reckonhe'll be all right. Madam Pomfrey says he'll have to stay here a weekor so . . . keep taking essence of rue . . ." 

"Blimey, it was lucky you thought of a bezoar," said George in alow voice.

 "Lucky there was one in the room,"I said,I kept turning cold at the thought of what would have happened if I had notbeen able to lay hands on the little stone. 

Hermione gave an almost inaudible sniff.

 She had been exceptionally quiet all day. Having hurtled, white-faced, up to Harry and me outside the hospital wing and demanded to know what had happened, she had taken almost no part in Me, Harry and Ginny's obsessive discussion about how Ron had been poisoned, but merelystood beside them, clench-jawed and frightened-looking, until atlast we had been allowed in to see him.

 "Do Mum and Dad know?" Fred asked Ginny. 

"They've already seen him, they arrived an hour ago — they'rein Dumbledore's office now, but they'll be back soon. . . ." 

There was a pause while we all watched Ron mumble a little inhis sleep.

"So the poison was in the drink?" said Fred quietly. 

"Yes,"I said at once; I could think of nothing else and wasglad for the opportunity to start discussing it again. "Slughornpoured it out —"

 "Would he have been able to slip something into Ron's glasswithout you seeing?"

 "Probably," said Harry, "but why would Slughorn want to poison Ron?"

 "No idea," said Fred, frowning. "You don't think he could havemixed up the glasses by mistake? Meaning to get you or Emma?" 

"Why would Slughorn want to poison Harry or Emma?" asked Ginny. 

"I dunno," said Fred, "but there must be loads of people who'dlike to poison Harry or Emma, mustn't there? 'The Chosen Ones' and all that?"