Him - A Harry Potter Love Story

Chapter Forty-Three

A/N I'm in a huge rush this morning and I don't have time to edit...so if there are any typos or just sentences that don't make sense, that's why! Thank you!

"Wait, Harry!"

He turned around, his hand on the doorknob of his dorm. He smiled a little.

"Yes?"

"Can I sleep with you tonight?" I asked, wrapping my arms around myself.

He frowned a little. "You haven't been having more nightmares, have you?"

I let out a small laugh. "Of course not! I just...feel like it tonight."

Thankfully, he bought it, and nodded, the smile returning to his face. I walked in with him, surprised to see Ron still awake, sitting on his bed. He had a pillow clutched to his chest, and a dreamy look on his face.

"Ron? You okay?" I asked, walking over to him. His eyes drifted to mine, widening a little.

"I'm in love."

Harry and I exchanged a nervous look.

"You're...you're in love?" I slowly sat down next to him on his bed. "With who?"

His smile fell a little. "Romilda Vane, of course."

My eyes widened a little, and Harry ran over to his bed, picking up an opened box of chocolates. I quickly stood up, walking over to him and pulling him away from Ron.

"What do we do?" I hissed quietly.

"We have to take him to Slughorn," he said, grimacing. "He'll be heartbroken if he tries to talk to her."

"Ron, I have an idea," I said softly, walking over to him. He turned his head towards me again, the goofy smile growing.

"Yeah?"

"Why don't Harry and I introduce you to Romilda?"

"You know her?" His eyes widened a little.

"I do." I smiled a little, glancing over at Harry nervously. "We both do. Come on, let's go."

Ron easily followed us to Slughorn's office; but getting Slughorn to let us in proved to be very difficult.

Harry knocked on the door, and I gently took Ron's arm. His eyes were wandering, taking in every detail of the hallway, as if expecting for Romilda to emerge from the walls.

The door opened, only a crack. I couldn't see Slughorn's face from where I was standing, but I knew it was him.

"Professor, we need your help."

"I'm sure you don't need my help for anything, Potter," he sneered. "You're a natural at potions. Fix whatever has happened by-"

He stopped when he opened the door a little more to see Ron and I.

"What's wrong with him?"

"A very powerful love potion, sir," I replied. "Please, we need your help."

"Is Romilda in there?" Ron asked, peering over the professor's shoulder.

"Yes, Ron, she is," I said, my voice nearly shaking. It was terrifying, seeing Ron like this. I looked to Slughorn, a helpless expression on my face. I widened my eyes a little, tilting my head down, knowing that the look would break him.

"Oh, fine," he sighed, opening the door all the way. "Bring him in."

We watched in silence as Slughorn prepared a potion for him. Ron sat in between us on the couch, leaning back and staring at the ceiling. I wanted badly to take Harry's hand, but I knew I couldn't just reach across Ron to do it.

"Here you go, m'boy," Slughorn said, handing Ron a glass. He smiled a little nervously, and took it, downing it in only a few seconds. As he gave the glass back, his smile quickly fading.

"What's wrong?" I asked, furrowing my eyebrows.

"No one going to feel too good after coming back from a love potion," he explained, standing up and walking over to a cabinet. "I have some drinks here. They were a gift, I've been meaning to pass them on to Dumbledore for quite a while now, but I'm sure one bottle won't be too bad to take."

As he started pouring the glasses, a picture on Slughorn's wall caught my attention. I stood, walking over to it, frowning.

When I got closer, I immediately felt my throat tighten, an urge to cry causing me to bite my lip. I stared at the picture of my parents, running a hand through my hair.

They were young. They had to have been in their first year. Emmet had his arm around Adeline's shoulders, and she was laying her head on his shoulder. They both were laughing, just like they were in the other picture I had. Other students milled around behind them, in what appeared to be the same room Slughorn always hosted his dinner parties in. In fact, it looked like it was a Christmas party they were at.

I suddenly felt Harry's arms around me. I shifted so I was facing him and embraced him tightly, choking back a sob.

"They were wonderful people, Cassandra," Slughorn said softly, walking up to us. We pulled away from each other, our hands remaining together. "I'm-I'm sorry that I haven't said anything to you about them before."

I turned back to the picture, blinking away the tears stinging my eyes. "Can you tell me about them?"

Slughorn came and stood next to me, on my other side. Harry squeezed my hand on the other side.

"Well, it was obvious they were in love, even when they were so young," he sighed. "They were both in Gryffindor, of course. They were incredibly brave."

"What were they like?"

"Adeline, she was-"

Slughorn was interrupted by a sudden choking noise behind us. We all whipped around. I let out a gasp, seeing Ron writhing on the floor, foam coming out of his mouth.

I ran over to his side, and Harry took off searching for something around the room. Slughorn stood there in shock, glancing at the drink he had poured into the glass.

I kept muttering swears as I pushed Ron over onto his side so he wasn't choking on whatever was coming out of his mouth; I wasn't sure, though, if it would help at all. It was obvious he had been poisoned.

"Back up!" Harry shouted, and I quickly scrambled away. He shoved something into Ron's mouth, and only a few moments later, he laid still, his chest rising and falling with ease.

"We need to get him to the hospital wing," I muttered, still in shock.

"I-I don't know what happened, I'm-I'm so..." Slughorn let out a small whimper. "Harry, Cassandra...please know that I'd never do this to someone on purpose. The drinks were a gift, I never-"

"It's alright, Professor," Harry said. "We know this wasn't you."

Harry and I both carried Ron (with much difficulty) to Madame Pomfrey. Later that night we laid in Harry's bed together, his arms wrapped around me.

"You think it's Malfoy, don't you?" I whispered, staring up at the ceiling. Harry shifted a little, not answering right away. Just when he was about to speak, I continued, saying, "Because if you do, I agree."

He pulled me a little closer to him.