"Can I call you Tori? You know Tori, I'm a great friend."
"I don't get it, why are you being nice to me?"
"Maybe I don't want to see you friendless."
When Victoria Silvers, who comes from a long line of Slytherins, is sorted into Gryffindor her life...
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"So, all in all, not one of Ron's better birthdays?" said Fred.
It was evening; the hospital wing was quiet, the windows curtained, the lamps lit. Ron's was the only occupied bed. Tori and the twins had just heard about Ron's incident as Tori stood at his bedside.
"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 —" George sighed.
"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 retold the story about Ron eating the love potion sweets and Harry taking him to Slughorn. "—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 go 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.
Hermione gave an almost inaudible sniff.
"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.
"So the poison was in the drink?" Tori asked, speaking up for the first time.
"Yes," said Harry at once. "Slughorn poured it out —"
"Would he have been able to slip something into Ron's glass without you seeing?" Fred asked.
"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," Fred shrugged, "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.
