Unexpected | Bill Weasley

~41~ Poison

The next few months passed without anything too drastic thankfully. Until Ron's birthday. I was in the library around ten pm, when Minnie came rushing to me and told me that Ron was poisoned and was currently in the Hospital Wing.

"Poisoned?!" I screeched, before bolting to the Hospital Wing.

I burst in through the double doors to find Bill, Ginny, Harry and Hermione sitting around Ron's bed.

"How long has he been here for?" I asked breathlessly.

"All day," said Ginny gloomily.

"All day? How come I only heard this now?!"

"You were teaching and marking homework the whole day."

I sank into a chair next to Bill, when the doors opened again and Fred and George arrived. They looked at Ron.

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

"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 Ginny.

"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?"

And Harry explained how Ron had accidentally taken a love potion, then he took Ron to see Slughorn, and after Slughorn made an antidote, he gave them some mead.

"...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.

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

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

There was a pause while we all watched Ron mumble a little in his sleep. I sniffed and Bill took my hand.

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

"Yes," said Harry at once "Slughorn poured it out —"

"Would he have been able to slip something into Ron's glass without you seeing?"

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

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

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

"I dunno," said Fred, "but there must be loads of people who'd like to poison Harry, mustn't there? 'The Chosen One' and all that?"

"So you think Slughorn's a Death Eater?" said Ginny.

"Anything's possible," said George darkly.

"He could be under the Imperius Curse," said Bill.