The Songbird and The Viper

Flesh and Blood

Ronald Weasley had been poisoned on his birthday.

By noon that day, everyone had heard of the incident and was in various stages of grappling with not only the filing security of the school but also the fate of one of their own.

Between the days it took for Ron to fully recover, Harry's attitude soured completely regarding Draco. Not that Draco even made an effort to be around them anymore. He stuck with mostly Crabbe and Goyle, barely even allotting time to be with Johanna. She bitterly swallowed her pride and allowed him to continue as if she hadn't noticed, as if it didn't rattle her heart every time she saw him disappear.

Johanna was busying herself with her studies and was becoming better through study sessions with Hermione and sparring with Harry when he was available. He even expected that she would be able to take the apparition test since she was excelling with her progress in magic.

Harry took pleasure in forgetting Johanna was with Draco, and even found himself completely distracted from his task of tracking him. Most days he even stuffed the Marauders Map at the bottom of his trunk to fully enjoy the time he was getting with his friends. Of course, nothing like that would last forever, and he eventually continued his investigation whenever he caught a glimpse of Malfoy stalking off.

Johanna was with Harry and Ginny, sat on the grounds as they laughed about Lavender Brown and her obsession with Ron. Ginny was sat across from Johanna, who had her back against Harry's. Johanna had noticed that Harry was starting to grow more attracted to Ginny as time went on and so she did everything she could to get them in the same room together.

Ginny clasped a hand over her mouth, trying to swallow her chips before another laugh choked her. Harry had his head tilted back, grinning up at the sky as he let out a chuckle.

"I mean honestly, she looked at me with the most serious expression and said that. I couldn't get away fast enough. Nearly tripped into Peeves!" He exclaimed.

Ginny fell back on the ground, gripping her stomach as she rolled through her laughing fit, "No way!"

Johanna laughed too, brushing her fingers through her hair, "I cannot believe she's serious."

"I can't believe Ron hasn't told her he's through with her. He faked being asleep to avoid her and after that, he still ducks to hide when she prances by. Did you see how angry she was when Hermione was with him? Not to mention she keeps pestering me about him and his feelings as if I'd know what he was feeling," Harry groaned, shutting his eyes.

Ginny propped up on her elbows, still cooling down as her eyes fell on Harry. Johanna saw a glimmer within them that made her smile.

"I told him to break it off... And what does he do? Ignore what I say and do the arguably harder thing," Johanna shook her head with a sigh, causing Harry's head to fall completely back on her shoulder which caused them both to laugh. Ginny's eyes dropped to the floor but she laughed too.

Just as Johanna opened her eyes, Ron dropped into the grass beside Ginny. She grinned at him in a taunting fashion, "Ah speaking of the lovable idiot!"

Ron rolled his eyes, huffing as he pushed his books away from him, "Enough of that. Not here to be tormented by you."

"Still running from Lavender?" Johanna mocked with a light laugh.

Ron faked a laugh and immediately frowned. Ginny tousled his hair and he backed away from her which brought him closer to Johanna. She lightly tapped him with her foot to get a response. Harry looked over to see Ron's expression, "You've got to tell her."

"I know, alright. I will. You just don't understand how persistent she is, Harry," Ron's eyes brimmed with fear, "She's mad for me."

"Oh please, what is the worst thing she can do?" Ginny cried.