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𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐀 sat next to Ginny sighing.
"So all in all, not one of Ron's better birthdays?" said Fred.
"Not it was his best birthday." Marina scoffed.
It was evening; the hospital wing was quiet, the windows curtained, the lamps lit. Ron's was the only occupied bed. Harry, Hermione, Marina, and Ginny were sitting around him; they had spent all day waiting outside the double doors, trying to see inside whenever somebody went in or out. Madam Pomfrey had only let them enter at eight o'clock. Fred and George had arrived at ten past.
"This isn't how we imagined handing over our present," said George grimly, putting down a large wrapped gift on Ron's bedside cabinet and sitting beside Marina.
"Yeah, when we pictured the scene, he was conscious," said Fred.
"There we were in Hogsmeade, waiting to surprise him —" said George.
"You were in Hogsmeade?" asked Ginny, looking up.
"We were thinking of buying Zonko's," said Fred gloomily. "A Hogsmeade 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, Harry?"
Harry told them the story. ". . . Marina told me to use a bezoar. And then I got the bezoar down his throat and his breathing eased up a bit, Slughorn ran for help, McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey turned up, and they brought Ron up here. They reckon he'll be all right. Madam Pomfrey says he'll have to stay here a week or so . . . keep taking essence of rue . . ."
"Blimey, it was lucky you thought of a bezoar," said George in a low voice.
"Lucky there was one in the room," said Harry, who kept turning cold at the thought of what would have happened if he had not been able to lay hands on the little stone.
Hermione gave an almost inaudible sniff. She had been exceptionally quiet all day.
"Do Mum and Dad know?" Fred asked Ginny.
"They've already seen him, they arrived an hour ago — they're in Dumbledore's office now, but they'll be back soon. . . ."
There was a pause while they all watched Ron mumble a little in his sleep.
Suddenly, McGongall, Dumbledore, and Slughorn entered the room.
"Very clever of you to use the bezoar Harry." Dumbledore said.
"It wasn't me. I was just doing what Marina told me to do." Harry explained, "She's the real hero."
