Late in the afternoon, a few days after New Year, Estella, Harry, Ron, and Ginny lined up beside the kitchen fire to return to Hogwarts. The Ministry had arranged this one-off connection to the Floo Network to return students quickly and safely to school. Only Mrs. Weasley was there to say goodbye, as Mr. Weasley, Estella's father, Fred, George, Bill, and Fleur were all at work. Mrs. Weasley dissolved into tears at the moment of parting. Admittedly, it took very little to set her off lately; she had been crying on and off ever since Percy had stormed from the house on Christmas Day with his glasses splattered with mashed parsnip (for which Fred, George, and Ginny all claimed credit).
"Don't cry, Mum," said Ginny, patting her on the back as Mrs. Weasley sobbed into her shoulder. "It's okay..."
"Yeah, don't worry about us," said Ron, permitting his mother to plant a very wet kiss on his cheek, "or about Percy. He's a prat, it's not really a loss, is it?"
Mrs. Weasley sobbed harder than ever as she enfolded Estella and Harry in her arms.
"Promise me you'll look after yourself...Stay out of trouble..."
"Will do, Mrs. Weasley," said Estella as Harry said, "I always do, Mrs. Weasley. I like a quiet life, you know me."
She gave a watery chuckle and stood back. "Be good, then, all of you..."
Estella stepped into the emerald fire and shouted, "Hogwarts!" She had one last fleeting view of the Weasleys' kitchen and Mrs. Weasley's tearful face before the flames engulfed her; spinning very fast, she caught blurred glimpses of other Wizarding rooms, which were whipped out of sight before she could get a proper look; then she was slowing down, finally stopping squarely in the fireplace in Professor McGonagall's office. She barely glanced up from her work as she clambered out over the grate.
"Evening, Estella. Try not to get too much ash on the carpet."
"I shall do my best."
Estella moved out of the way as Ron, Harry, and Ginny came peering into view. When they had all arrived, all four of them trooped out of McGonagall's office and off toward Gryffindor Tower. Estella glanced out of the corridor windows as they passed; the sun was already sinking over the grounds carpeted in deeper snow than had lain over the Burrow garden. In the distance, she could see Hagrid feeding Buckbeak in front of his cabin.
"Baubles," said Ron confidently when they reached the Fat Lady, who was looking rather paler than usual and winced at his loud voice.
"No," she said.
"What d'you mean, 'no'?"
"There is a new password," she said. "And please don't shout."
"But we've been away, how're we supposed to-?"
"Estella! Harry! Ginny!"
Hermione was hurrying toward them, pink-faced and wearing a cloak, hat, and gloves.
"I got back a couple of hours ago, I've just been down to visit Hagrid and Buck-I mean Witherwings," she said breathlessly. "Did you have a good Christmas?"
"Yeah," said Ron at once, "pretty eventful, Rufus Scrim-"
"I've got something for you, both of you," said Hermione, neither looking at Ron nor giving any sign that she had heard him, instead addressing Estella and Harry. "Oh, hang on-password. Abstinence."
"Precisely," said the Fat Lady in a feeble voice and swung forward to reveal the portrait hole.
"What's up with her?" asked Harry.
"Overindulged over Christmas, apparently," said Hermione, rolling her eyes as she led the way into the packed common room. "She and her friend Violent drank their way through all the wine in that picture of drunk monks down by the Charms corridor..."
She rummaged in her pocket for a moment, then pulled out a scroll of parchment with her grandfather's writing on it.
"Great," said Harry, unrolling it at once to discover his next lesson with Dumbledore was scheduled for the following night and that he wanted to speak to Estella the following morning. "Got loads to tell him-and you. Let's sit down-"
But at that moment, there was a loud squeal of "Won-Won-" and Lavender Brown came hurtling out of nowhere and flung herself into Ron's arms. Several onlookers sniggered; Hermione gave a tinkling laugh and said, "There's a table over here...Coming, Ginny?"
"No, thanks, I'm going to meet Luna," said Ginny, grinning from ear to ear. Leaving Ron and Lavender locked in a kind of vertical wrestling match, Estella led them both to a spare table.
"So, how was your Christmas?"
"Oh, fine," Hermione shrugged. "Nothing special. How was it at Won-Won's?"
The two girls giggled.
"Hey! I wouldn't have gone if my father didn't make me!" said Estella.
Yes, Estella loved Mrs. Weasley, and the Burrow was a second home, but Ron was annoying to be around when he was so wrapped up with Lavender.
Harry shook his head. "Look, Hermione, can't you-?"
"No, I can't," Hermione said flatly. "So don't even ask."
"I thought maybe, you know, over Christmas-"
"It was the Fat Lady who drank a vat of five-hundred-year-old wine, Harry, not me. So what was this important news you wanted to tell me?"
Hermione was too fierce to argue with, so Harry dropped the subject of Ron and recounted all that they had overheard between Malfoy and Snape. When he was finished, Hermione sat in thought for a moment and then said, "Don't you think-"
"-he was pretending to offer help so that he could trick Malfoy into telling him what he's doing?"
"Well, yes," said Hermione.
"Ron's dad, Estella's dad, and Lupin think so," said Harry grudgingly. "But this definitely proves MAlfoy's planning something, you can't deny that."
"No, I can't," she answered slowly.
"And he's acting on Voldemort's orders, just like I said!"
"Did either of you hear them mention Voldemort?"
Estella shook her head.
"How's master would Malfoy serve them," asked Harry.
"I don't know," said Hermione, biting her lip. "Maybe his father?"
She stared across the room, apparently lost in thought, not even noticing LAvender tickling Ron. "How's Lupin?"
"Not great," said Harry, and he told them all about Lupin's mission among the werewolves and the difficulties he was facing. "Have you heard of Fenrir Greyback?"
"Of course," said Hermione and Estella simultaneously.
"When, History of Magic? You know full well I never listened..."
"No," said Estella. "Draco threatened Borgin with him. Back in Knockturn Alley, don't you remember? He told Borgin that Greyback was an old family friend and that he'd be checking up on Borgin's progress."
Harry gaped at her. "I forgot! But this proves Malfoy's a Death Eater, how else could he be in contact with Greyback and telling him what to do?"
"It's pretty suspicious," breathed Hermione. "But it could also just be an empty threat..."
"You're unbelievable, you are," said Harry, shaking his head. "We'll see who's right...You'll be eating your words, just like the Ministry. Oh yeah, we had a row with Rufus Scrimgeour as well..."
And the rest of the evening passed amicably with the three of them abusing the Minister or Magic. The Ministry had a great deal of nerve asking them, namely Harry, for help now.
The new term started the next morning with a pleasant surprise for the sixth years; a large sign had been pinned to the common room notice boards overnight.
Apparition Lessons
If you are seventeen years of age, or will turn seventeen on or before the 31st August lesson, you are eligible for a twelve-week course of Apparition Lessons from a Ministry of Magic Apparition instructor. Please sign below if you would like to participate. Cost: 12 Galleons
The prospect of Apparition filled the castle with a buzz of excitement and Estella's meeting with her grandfather consisted of the same things it always did; talking, tea while she had coffee, telling stories, and teaching her new Defensive and Offensive spells.
It was obvious something has changed within him. He guides her, as though preparing her for a future without him in it, he refused to tell her what happened to his hand, and talked in great detail about the past of Tom Riddle, aka Lord Voldemort, something called Horcruxes and assisting Harry in obtaining a memory from Professor Slughorn (she couldn't say no, not when he was asking almost hurriedly), and the child's riddle of the Deathly Hallows that was read to Estella as a child.
"How are we supposed to get a memory from him?" asked Estella.
She sat with Ron and Harry at breakfast. Hermione refused to remain in Ron's presence longer than it took to give him a contemptuous look.
"He loves the two of you," said Ron, waving an airy forkful of fried egg. "Won't refuse anything you ask, will he? Not his little Potions Prince and Princess. Just hang back after class this afternoon and ask him.
Hermione, however, took a gloomier view. "He must be determined to hide what really happened if Dumbledore couldn't get it out of him," she said in a low voice, as they stood in the deserted snowy courtyard at break. "Horcruxes...Horcruxes...I've never heard of them before..."
"Neither have I," said Estella. "It has to be advanced Dark Magic, or why would Voldemort have wanted to know about them? It's not going to be easy to get this information..."
"You'll have to be careful about how you approach Slughorn, think of a strategy..." Hermione trailed off.
"Ron reckons we should just hang back after Potions this afternoon..."
"Oh, well, if Won-Won thinks that, you'd better do it," Hermione said, flaring up at once. "After all, when has Won-Won's judgment ever been faulty?"
"Hermione, can't you-?"
"No!" Hermione said angrily, and stormed away, leaving Estella and Harry behind.
Estella slapped his arm.
"How would you feel if you had to watch the girl you liked snog and flaunt his relationship with someone else?"
Harry didn't speak after that, but he knew the answer.
Potions lessons were uncomfortable enough these days, seeing as Harry, Estella, Ron, and Hermione had to share a desk. Today, Hermione moved her cauldron around the table so that she was close to Estella, and ignored both Harry and Ron.
"You don't think I'm overreacting, are you?" whispered Hermione.
She shook her head. If Estella were in Hermione's position, she'd be a stone-cold bitch.
Before Hermione could say something else, Slughorn was calling for silence.
"Settle down, settle down, please! Quickly, now, lots of work to get through this afternoon! Golpalott's Third Law...who can tell me-? Miss Granger can, of course!"
Hermione recited at top speed: "Golpalott's-Third-Law states that the antidote for a blended poison will be equal to more than the sum of the antidotes for each of the separate components."
"Precisely!" beamed Slughorn. "Ten points for Gryffindor! Now, if we accept Golpalott's Third Law as true..."
Estella zoned out. She already knew the Third Law was true. It didn't help that Ron was sitting across from her with his mouth half-open, doodling absently on his new copy of Advanced Potion-Making. He seemed to be forgetting that he couldn't rely on Hermione to help him out of trouble when he failed to grasp what was going on and Estella didn't plan to help him as she was already mad at him for hurting her best friend on purpose, but also completely grossed out as she was forced to listen to the details of Ron and Lavender's relationship each night.
"I want each of you to come and take one of these phials from my desk. You are to create an antidote for the poison within it before the end of the lesson. Good luck, and don't forget your protective gloves!"
Estella and Hermione had left their stool and were halfway to Slughorn's desk before the rest of the class moved. She quickly tipped the contents of her phial into her cauldron and kindled a fire beneath it.
Estella had grabbed a bezoar bean just in case her pillow didn't work out as they could, in fact, heal most common poisons.
"It's a shame that the Prince won't be able t help you much with this, Harry," Hermione said brightly as she straightened up. "You have to understand the principles involved this time. No shortcuts or cheats!"
Harry huffed, vividly annoyed, as he started his antidote.
"You'll do fine Harry," Estella whispered. "Just follow the directions your Prince left," she teased.
Harry glanced at her, annoyed but nonetheless smiling.
No one could copy the spells Estella nor Hermione were doing. Their knowledge of nonverbal spells allowed them to move along with ease. Even with whispering the spells to Harry, he seemed to be struggling.
"It's not working," he whispered frantically as Slughorn peered into his cauldron, preparing to examine in delight as he usually did, and instead had withdrawn his head hastily, coughing, as the smell of bad eggs overwhelmed him.
"Did you stir counterclockwise and add Newt's blood?" asked Estella, ignoring Hermione's glances that said, without saying, to stop helping him.
He'd help her if she needed help. It was only fair.
Harry groaned loudly and shook his head. "Fucking bloody-"
Estella slapped his arm, preventing him from finishing his sentence. "No need to swear so much, you're not Ron."
Ron simply glared at her and Harry chuckled. Ron was known for his language but normally Hermione was the one who corrected him on it.
Estella didn't even notice Harry had ventured off to the supplies cabinet as she finished her potion. It wasn't exactly perfect, but it would most certainly lessen the effects of most poisons.
"Time's...UP!" called Slughorn genially. "Well, let's see how you've done! Blaise...what have you got for me?"
Slowly, Slughorn moved around the room, examining the various antidotes. Nobody besides Estella had finished the task, although Hermione was trying to cram a few more ingredients into her bottle before Slughorn reached her. Ron had given up completely and was merely trying to avoid breathing in the putrid fumes issuing from his cauldron.
He didn't linger over Ron's cauldron, but backed away swiftly, retching slightly.
"Estella! This is marvelous!" exclaimed Slughorn as he studied her potion. "So close to perfection. It would even ward off the deadliest of poisons-Harry? What have you got to show me?"
Harry held out his hand, the bezoar sitting on his palm.
Slughorn looked down at it for a full ten seconds. Even Estella was ticked off as he threw back his head and roared with laughter.
"You've got never, boy!" he boomed, taking the bezoar and holding it up so that the class could see it. "Oh, you're like your mother...Well, I can't fault you...A bezoar would certainly act as an antidote to all these potions!
Hermione was livid. Her half-finished antidote, comprising of fifty-two ingredients, including a chunk of her own hair, bubbled sluggishly behind Slughorn, who had eyes for nobody but Harry.
"And you thought of a bezoar all by yourself, did you, Harry?" Hermione asked through gritted teeth.
"That's the individual spirt a real potion-maker needs!" said Slughorn happily, before Harry could reply. "Just like his mother, she had the same intuitive grasp of potion-making, it's undoubtedly from Lily he gets it...Yes, Harry, yes, if you've got a bezoar to hand, of course, that would do the trick...although as they don't work on everything, and are pretty rare, it's still work knowing how to mix antidotes..."
Estella didn't want to look at Harry and refused to, ignoring the millions of looks he gave her.
She would've rushed out of the class at the sound of the bell, if they hadn't planned to ask Slughorn about Horcruxes after class.
"I'll see you in the library," whispered Estella, as she and Harry lingered behind.
"Sir, may we ask you something?" asked Estella, packing away her books.
"Ask away, my dears, ask away..."
"Sir, we wondered what you know about...about Horcruxes?"
Slughorn froze. His round face seemed to sink in upon itself. He licked his lips and said hoarsely, "What did you say?"
"I asked whether you know anything about Horcruxes, sir. You see-"
"Dumbledore put you up to this," whispered Slughorn. His voice changed completely. It was not genial anymore, but choked, terrified. He fumbled in his breast pocket and pulled out a handkerchief, mopping his sweating brow. "Dumbledore's shown you that-that memory. Well? Hasn't he?"
"Yes," said Harry.
"Yes, of course," said Slughorn quietly, still dabbing at his white face. "Of course...well, if you've seen that memory, you'll know I don't know anything-anything" - he repeated the word forcefully - "about Horcruxes."
He was lying, that was obvious from the sweating.
He seized his dragon-skin briefcase, stuffed his handkerchief back into his pocket, and marched to the dungeon door.
"Sir," said Harry desperately, as Estella just observed, "I just thought there might be a bot more to the memory-"
"Did you?" said Slughorn. "Then you were wrong, weren't you? WRONG!"
He bellowed the last word, and, before Harry could say another word, slammed the dungeon door behind him.
Estella never left the room so quickly, completely zooming past Harry.
"Estella!" he yelled, his voice echoing through the deserted corridor.
She ignored him. He could've taken one bad grade, especially since it was obvious he couldn't make any of the potions without that Prince's notes.
He was running after her as she walked down the stairs to the library. Before she knew that he was right behind her, his arm had shot out, grabbing hers and pulling her into a nearby broom closet.
"What, Harry," she snapped. "I'm supposed to meet Hermione so we can do some studying, which I understand is a foreign concept to you since you rely on notes from another to correctly do your work-"
"Estella, you were fine with it a week ago!" exclaimed Harry.
"No, I was happy that you were happy in Potions for once, but I understand where Hermione's coming through. You're basically cheating. You'd have had no idea to use a bezoar or what a bezoar even was without that Prince telling you! And you know that, Harry," Estella said.
Harry stood there, silent. "No, I wouldn't have known that but-"
"No, there are no buts. People work there arse off to study and succeed in that class and you just have to copy the work of another to do better. You know that if you were in mine or Hermione's position, you'd be pissed."
Harry spent a week apologizing to her, and to Hermione, which ended in a passionate and intimate session between Estella and Harry on the stairs of the Astronomy Tower and within the giant bath in the prefect's bathroom after Harry swore to fail an assignment.
The snow melted around the school as February arrived, to be replaced by cold, dreary wetness. Purplish-gray clouds hung low over the castle, and a constant fall of chilly rain made the lawns slippery and muddy. The upshot of this was that the sixth years' first apparition lesson, which was scheduled for a Saturday morning so that no normal lessons would be missed, took place in the Great Hall instead of the grounds.
When Estella, Harry, and Hermione arrived in the Hall (Ron had come down with Lavender), they found that the tables had disappeared. Rain lashed against the high windows and the enchanted ceiling swirled darkly above them as they assembled in front of Professors McGonagall, Snape, Flitwick, and Sprout- Heads of Houses-and a small wizard whom Estella took to be the Apparition instructor from the Ministry. He was oddly colorless, with transparent eyelashes, wispy hair, and an insubstantial air, as though a single gust of wind might blow him away. Estella wondered whether constant disappearances and reappearances somehow diminished his substance, or whether this frail build was ideal for anyone wishing to vanish.
"Good morning," said the Ministry wizard, when all the students had arrived, and the Heads of Houses had called for quiet. "My name is Wilkie Twycross, and I shall be your Ministry Apparition instructor for the next twelve weeks. I hope to be able to prepare you for your Apparition Tests in this time-"
"Malfoy, be quiet and pay attention!" barked Professor McGonagall.
Everybody looked around. Malfoy had flushed a dull pink; he looked furious as he stepped away from Crabbe, with whom he appeared to have been having a whispered argument. Estella hadn't had much time to talk to him, but when she did, he attempted to change the subject to something trivial or made excuses to leave.
"-by which time, many of you may be ready to take your tests," Twycross continued as though there had been no interruption.
"As you may know, it is usually impossible to Apparate or Disapparate within Hogwarts. The headmaster has lifted this enchantment, purely within the Great Hall, for one hour, so as to enable you to practice. May I emphasize that you will not be able to Apparate outside the walls of this Hall, and that you would be unwise to try. I would like each of you to place yourselves now so that you have a clear five feet of space in front of you."
Estella and Hermione partnered together as Harry moved quickly through the crowd and directly behind Draco, who was, once again, speaking passionately with Crabbe.
"Is he serious?" asked Hermione, looking at him confused.
"He's stupid, that's what he is," said Estella; it was like he wanted Draco to know that he was the one onto him.
"Quiet!" shouted the four Heads of House, and silence fell again.
"Thank you," said Twycross. "Now then..."
He waved his wand. Old-fashioned wooden hoops instantly appeared on the floor in front of every student.
"The important things to remember when Apparating are the three D's!" said Twycross. "Destination, Determination, Deliberation!"
Hermione and Estella shared a look before laughing. It wasn't that funny, but the way the Ministry instructor said it was hilarious.
"Step one: Fix your mind firmly upon the desired destination," said Twycross. "In this case, the interior of your hoop. Kindly concentrate upon that destination now."
Everyone looked around furtively to check that everyone else was staring into their hoop, then hastily did as they were told. Estella gazed at the circular patch of dusty floor enclosed by her hoop and tried hard to think of nothing else.
"Step two," said Twycross, "focus your determination to occupy the visualized space! Let your yearning to enter it flood from your mind to every particle of your body-"
"Step three," called Twycross, "and only when I give the command...Turn on the spot, feeling your way into nothingness, moving with deliberation. On my command, now...one-two-THREE!"
Estella glanced around, she wasn't the only one who spun in her spot. The whole hall was suddenly full of staggering people; Neville was flat on his back; Ernie Macmillan had done a kind of pirouetting leap into his hoop and looked thrilled, though stopped as he caught sight of Dean roaring with laughter at him.
"Never mind, never mind," said Twycross dryly, who did not seem to have expected anything better. "Adjust your hoops, please, and back to your original positions..."
The second attempt was no better than the first. The third was just as bad. Not until the fourth did anything exciting happen. There was a horrible screech of pain, and everybody looked around, terrified to see Susan Bones of Hufflepuff wobbling in her hoop with her left leg still standing five feet away from where she had started.
That was one of the most disturbing things Estella had ever seen.
The Heads of House converged on her; there was a great bang and a puff of purple smoke, which cleared to reveal Susan sobbing, reunited with her leg but looking horrified.
"Splinching, or the separation of random body parts," said Twycross dispassionately, "occurs when the mind is insufficiently determined. You must concentrate continuously upon your destination, and move, without haste, but with deliberation...thus."
Twycross stepped forward, turned gracefully on the spot with his arms outstretched, and vanished in a swirl of robes, reappearing at the back of the Hall.
"Remember the three D's," he said, "and try again...one-two-three-"
But an hour later, Susan's Splinching was still the most interesting thing that had happened. Twycross did not seem discouraged. Fastening his cloak at his neck, he merely said, "Until next Saturday, everybody, and do not forget: Destination. Determination. Deliberation."
With that, he waved his wand, Vanishing the hoops, and walked out of the Hall accompanied by Professor McGonagall.
Over the next few days, Harry's suspicions of Draco had overwhelmed him. He spent most of his free evenings determined to catch Malfoy out, utilizing and consulting the map and Invisibility Cloak every chance he got.
February moved to MArch with no change in the weather except that it became windy as well as wet. To general indignation, a sign went up on all common room notice boards that the next trip to Hogsmeade had been canceled. Ron was furious.
"It was on my birthday!" he said. "I was looking forward to that!"
"Not a big surprise, is it?" said Estella gently. "Not after what happened to Katie.
She had not returned from St. Mungos. Estella felt awful. Not only was she most likely going to have to make up the year, but she'd have to do it with the year below. What was more, further disappearances had been reported in the Daily Prophet, including several relatives of students at Hogwarts.
"But now all I've got to look forward to is stupid Apparition!" said Ron grumpily. "Big birthday treat..."
Three lessons on, Apparition was proving as difficult as ever, though a few more people had managed to Splich themselves, and Estella had managed to move a total of three feet before falling. Frustration was running high, and there was a certain amount of ill-feeling toward Wilkie Twycross and his three D's, which had inspired a number of nicknames for him, the politest of which were Dogbreath and dunghead.
For Ron's birthday, Estella had gotten him some of his favorite sweets, a broom-polishing kit that he'd wanted for months, and Chudley Cannon's merch. It was the morning of his birthday, when she and Hermione emerged from their dormitory that they were told of Ron's poisoning. Never had they rushed to the hospital wing so fast.
"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. Estella, Harry, Hermione, 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, followed by two slightly smaller ones from Charlotte and Sienna, on Ron's bedside cabinet and sitting beside Ginny.
"Yeah, when we pictured this 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 retold the story he had already recounted about a hundred times.
"..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 done in the room," said Harry.
She shivered at the thought. If there hadn't, Ron would most certainly be dead, and she wouldn't have even seen it coming.
Hermione gave an almost inaudible sniff. She had been exceptionally quiet all day. Having hurtled, white-faced up to Harry outside the hospital wing and demanded to know what had happened, she had taken almost no part in Harry and Ginny's obsessive discussion about how Ron had been poisoned but stood beside them with Estella, clench-jawed, and frightened-looking until they had been allowed to see him.
"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?" 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 Ron, "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, though?" asked Estella.
"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 Fred darkly.
"He could be under the Imperius Curse," said Fred.
"Or he could be innocent," said Estella. "The poison could have been in the bottle, in which case it would've been meant for Slughorn."
"Who'd want to kill Slughorn?"
"Dumbledore reckons Voldemort wanted Slughorn on his side," said Harry. "Slughorn was in hiding for a year before he came to Hogwarts. And maybe Voldemort wants him out of the way, maybe he thinks he could be valuable to Dumbledore."
"The poisoner would have easily been my grandfather, too. I know it doesn't make a lot of sense, but it could've been," mumbled Estella.
"Then the poisoner didn't know Slughorn very well," said Hermione, speaking for the first time in hours and sounding as though she had a bad head cold. "Anyone who knew Slughorn would have known there was a good chance he'd keep something tasty for himself."
"Er-my-nee," croaked Ron unexpectedly from between them.
They all fell silent, watching him anxiously, but after muttering incomprehensibly for a moment, he merely started snoring.
The dormitory doors flew open, making them all jump: Hagrid came striding toward them, his hair rain-flecked, his bearskin coat flapping behind him, a crossbow in his hand, leaving a trail of muddy dolphin-seized footprints all over the floor.
"Bin in the first all day!" he panted. "Aragog's worse, I bin readin' to him-didn' get up ter dinner till jus' now an' then Professor Sprout told me abou' Ron! How is he?"
"Not bad," said Estella. "They say he'll be okay."
"No more than six visitors at a time!" said Madam Pomfrey, hurrying out of her office.
"Hagrid makes six," George pointed out.
"Oh...yes..." said Madam Pomfrey, who seemed to have been counting Hagrid as several people due to his vastness. To cover her confusion, she hurried off to clear up his footsteps with her wand.
"I don' believe this," said Hagrid hoarsely, shaking his great shaggy head as he stared down at Ron. "Firs' Katie, now Ron..."
"I can't see anyone trying to bump off a Quidditch team," said George.
"Wood might've done the Slytherins if he could've got away with it," said Fred fairly.
"Well, I don't think it's Quidditch, but I think there's a connection between the attacks," said Hermione quietly.
"Yea, that's what I was thinking," said Estella.
"How d'you work that out?"
"Well, for one thing, they both ought to have been fatal and weren't, although that was pure luck. And for another, neither the poison nor the necklace seems to have reached the person who was supposed to be killed. Of course," Hermione said broodingly, "that makes the person behind this even more dangerous in a way because they don't seem to care how many people they finish off before they reach their victim."
Before anybody could respond to this ominous pronouncement, the dormitory doors opened again, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley hurried up the ward. They had done no more than satisfy themselves that Ron would make a full recovery on their last visit to the ward; now Mrs. Weasley seized hold of Harry and hugged him very tightly. "Dumbledore's told us how you saved him with the bezoar," she sobbed. "Oh, Harry, what can we say? You saved Ginny...you, and Estella, saved Arthur...now you've saved Ron..."
"Don't be...I didn't..." muttered Harry awkwardly, glancing at Estella.
"Half our family does seem to owe you their lives, now I stop and think about it," Mr. Weasley said in a constricted voice. "Well, all I say is that it was a lucky day for the Weasleys when Ron decided to sit in yours and Estella's compartment on the Hogwarts Express."
"That works both ways," whispered Estella.
Madam Pomfrey popped back in to remind them there were only supposed to be six visitors around Ron's bed; he, Estella, and Hermione rose at once.
The Fat Lady was snoozing and not pleased to be woken, but swung forward grumpily to allow them to clamber into the mercifully peaceful and empty common room. It did not seem that people knew about Ron yet. Harry didn't hesitate to drag Estella up to his dormitory after bidding Hermione good night, carefully and quietly pulling the curtains closed around his bed they slept.
The news that Ron had been poisoned spread quickly the next day, but it did not cause the sensation that Katie's attack had done. People seemed to think that it might have been an accident, given that he had been in the Potions master's room at the time, and that as he had been given an antidote immediately, there was no real harm done. In fact, the Gryffindors were generally much more interested in the upcoming Quidditch match against Hufflepuff, for many of them wanted to see Zacharias Smith, who played Chaser on the Hufflepuff team, punished soundly for his commentary during the opening match against Slytherin.
Meanwhile, Lavender kept sidling up to Estella and Harry to discuss Ron, which Estella found more irritating than their snogging. At first, Lavender had been very annoyed that nobody had thought to tell her that Ron was in the hospital wing- "I mean, I am his girlfriend!" - but unfortunately, she had now decided to forgive them both and was keen to have a lot of in-depth chats with them about Ron's feelings.
"Look, why don't you talk to Ron about this?" asked Estella, after a particularly long interrogation from Lavender that took in everything from precisely what Ron had said about her new dress robes to whether or not Estella and Harry thought that Ron considered his relationship with Lavender to be "serious."
"Well, I would, but he's always asleep when I go and see him!" said Lavender fretfully.
"Is he?" asked Harry, surprised. Every time Estella and Harry visited Ron, he was perfectly alert and highly interested to know any news of what was happening in the castle.
"Is Hermione Granger still visiting him?" Lavender demanded suddenly.
"They're friends, aren't they?" snapped Estella.
"Friends, don't make me laugh," said Lavender scornfully. "She didn't talk to him for weeks after he started going out with me! But I suppose she wants to make up with him now he's all interesting..."
Estella opened her mouth to say something cruel as Harry asked, "Would you call getting poisoned being interesting?"
With a glare to Lavender, Estella stood up, pulling Harry from the table.
"Merlin, she's a pain in my arse," grumbled Harry.
Estella huffed. "You're not the one who has to dorm with her."
The following morning, the morning of the Gryffindor v. Hufflepuff Quidditch match, Estella found herself sitting with Ron, playing a round of wizard's chess.
"I hate this game," she sighed, moving a piece across the board.
Ron laughed. "That's because you're terrible at it!"
She glared at him. "This is literally why I wanted to play checkers," she groaned as he took the piece she just moved and advanced on the board.
Ron abruptly stopped laughing. "Is Hermione really dating that McLaggen?" he asked quietly.
She glanced up at him. He looked hesitant to even ask, given he knew she was closer to Hermione than she was with him.
"Are you really dating Lavender?" she asked.
Ron shrugged. "I just-I...dunno..." he trailed off.
His mood had soured.
"Ron, she doesn't actually like him. Especially, given that he's awfully full of himself. I don't think I've ever met someone so arrogant and egotistical," she said finally, after a short pause.
His mood brightened after that.
"Check-"
Ron didn't get to finish his word as the doors to the hospital wing burst open, showing an unconscious Harry being levitated in by Hagrid and Professor McGonagall.
Estella rose to her feet as Madam Pomfrey rushed forward.
Harry hadn't been hurt playing Quidditch since fourth year, and this was obviously a bad injury. His head was bleeding quite rapidly.
"What happened?" asked Ron, unable to move from his bed.
"Beater bat to the back of his head," said Hagrid. Harry was lowered into the bed beside Ron as Madam Pomfrey rushed forward to tend to his head.
It wasn't until two hours later that Harry finally woke up.
"Nice of you to drop in," said Ron, grinning.
Harry blinked and looked around while raising a hand to the turban of bandages wrapped around his head.
"What happened?" asked Harry, confused.
"Cracked skull," said Madam Pomfrey, bustling up and pushing him back against his pillows. "Nothing to worry about, I mended it at once, but I am keeping you in overnight. You shouldn't exert yourself for a few hours."
"I don't want to stay overnight," said Harry angrily, sitting up and throwing back his covers. "I want to find McLaggen and kill him."
"I'm afraid that would come under the heading of 'overexertion'," said Madam Pomfrey, pushing him firmly back onto the bed and raising her wand in a threatening manner. "You will stay here until I discharge you, Potter, or I shall call the headmaster."
She bustled back into her office, and Harry sank back into his pillows, fuming.
"If it makes you feel better Ginny got him with her Bogey-hex and he'll be waking up with a special, but a modified version of the Pansy Special," said Estella.
"Really?" asked Harry, hopeful.
She nodded. "It's well deserved," she muttered.
"Do you know how much we lost by?" he asked through clenched teeth.
"Well, yeah we do," said Ron apologetically. "Final score was three hundred and twenty to sixty."
"Brilliant," said Harry savagely. "Really brilliant! Wait till I get ahold of him, it'll make a case of the Pansy Special look like nothing-"
"The rest of the team might've dealt with him before you get out of here, they're not happy..."
"We could hear the match commentary from here," said Estella, her voice shaking with laughter. "Luna better be the commentator from now on....Loser's Lurgy..."
Ron laughed so hard he snorted.
Silence fell between them. The moment Ron had started snoring, Harry nudged a sleepy Estella, who laid with her head on his bed while "resting her eyes."
"Come," he whispered, moving to the edge of the bed and holding the covers up.
"Harry, I'm only allowed to be in here if I don't cause trouble," she said quietly, glancing to Madam Pomfrey's empty and dark office.
"You'll be doing the opposite of causing trouble," said Harry.
Still, she shook her head.
"I'll yell for her. I'll do it."
She simply stared at him. He wouldn't dare.
His mouth opened, and Estella had never slapped her hands over someone's mouth so quickly, which Harry used as an excuse to pull her, so she laid next to him.
"She's going to kick me out when she sees," whispered Estella.
"She won't," smiled Harry. "Can't kick out my soulmate."
Estella hit him. "Yuck, it sounds gross when you say it like that."
Harry's face furrowed. "Are you saying being my soulmate is a gross thing to be?" he asked, his voice full of feigned betrayal.
"That's exactly what I'm saying-HARRY!" she cut off as Harry snagged her lips with a kiss, completely ignoring the fact Madam Pomfrey could walk in at any time, the fact that Ron was snoring beside them, and the fact Harry's head still lightly throbbed with each breath.
Before he had the chance to deepen it, she pulled away. "No, you're hurt, and we're definitely not doing anything when Ron's less than five feet away from us."
Harry stayed pouting until she fell sleepy. It wasn't until morning that he told her he sent their shared house-elf, Kreacher to follow Draco. How she slept through Dobby and Kreacher's wrestling match, she didn't know.
Hi guys, hope you liked the chapter. Vote and comment. I love reading the comments!
I'm rewatching the Hunger Games Trilogy again and I forgot how much I love it. I also have so many books I want to read and reread so now I have to read the Hunger Games again. I have issues.
I got my hair done because I get a Keratin treatment and I love it. I also have bangs again whoop whoop but it's like the curtain side bangs.
Today was so cold, it was 9 degrees.
Hope you enjoyed the chapter.
Also, I'm writing the Deathly Hallows rn and I'm so excited and I have such a good idea, well I think it's a good idea, and I can't wait to get to the end.