dedicated to trampolines13 for the cute cover! Thank you ;)

Ch. 37: Won-Won's Wipe-Out

Song For This Chapter: Come What May - Scene Aesthetic

     The worry that was oozing out of Hermione was toxic. "What happened?!" She blurted out once more, badgering Harry as we sat outside the Infirmary with Ginny. Madame Pomfrey had kicked everyone out until they had Ronald stabilized.

     Rubbing my blurry eyes, I stifled a yawn and muttered some inaudible curses about getting yanked out of bed too early on a school morning. Hermione must have heard my complaint because she shot me a sharp glare.

          "Elle, Ronald was poisoned - twice!"

     "You'd think the first time would have been enough," I winked, nudging her. "Right? Riiight?"

     When she merely rolled her eyes at me and turned her head away, I knew I'd crossed a line. Groaning, I stretched out my shoulders, feeling extremely sore from the labor Snape had punished me with the night before.

     Even though I had attempted to feebly brush off Ron's near-death experience, I actually was scared for him. It was terrifying to have been woken up by a practically hysteric Hermione, muttering about how Ron was in the Hospital Wing, nearly dead.

     It was hard to believe that Romilda Vane, the goody-goody Gryffindor pre-teen (or at least that's what I thought her age was), not only had tried to slip HarryPotter an extremely strong love potion, but also Slughorn had given Ron a glass of poisoned mead.

           Poor Won-Won was wiped-out. Literally.

     A wry chuckle came from deep inside the darkest parts of myself, making me feel terrible, but also extremely amused at the same time. It was slightly funny, but totally terrifying. 'I'm a terrible person'.

     Hermione, Ginny, and Harry all shot me glances of distain at the sound of my dry giggles. "...S'rry," I sighed, leaning against the cold, stone wall of the castle.

     "Soo," I clapped my hands together, startling Harry who's eyes were glazed over, as if he was thinking about something entirely different than the situation we were in. "How did Won-Won bweak himswelf?" I puckered up my lips, making my voice fluctuate in a whiny, crying tone.

     Hermione's eye twitched a bit as she listened to me. "Don't. Just, ...don't."

     "What?" I asked, gasping dramatically. "You don't want to talk about Won?"

     Ginny chuckled and Harry smiled a bit, but it barely reached his eyes. He reached out a limp hand and brushed up his glasses, so he could rub his tired, green eyes. "Well, I came into the dorm to find a discarded, more than half, eaten box of chocolates on my bed. And, Ron was sitting there, on the floor, watching the moon."

     Hermione scoffed, brushing some bangs from her eyes.

     "Then, when he told me he was in love with Romilda Vane, I knew I had to take him to Professor Slughorn. Professor Slughorn gave Ron the antidote and then poured a glass of mead for all of us. We turned our backs for a second, a second, and Ron began seizing on the floor. H-He was foaming at the mouth."

     The small smile on the corners of my lips quickly slipped, feeling the daunting pressure of realization hitting me. This was a serious situation. In my mind, I could see a boy twitching on the carpeted floors of Slughorn's office, but it wasn't Ron. I quickly pushed the demented thoughts of a seizing Fred away.

     "I rummaged through the drawers of Professor Slughorn's chest, remembering a lesson from Snape about bezoars. I practically had to shove it down Ron's throat."

     Goosebumps pebbled my arms as I rubbed my hands together, a weary outlook on everything. "That's terrible. Ron's lucky you remembered that particular lesson, Harry. Good job."

      Harry shifted on the bench, glaring down at his clasped hands. "Yeah, that's what Slughorn said, but I don't feel particularly lucky, Elle. I mean, it's my fault that Ron was poisoned in the first place."

             "No -" Hermione and I cut him off at the same time.

          "It's Romilda's fault, Harry," Ginny sighed, resting a, hopfully, reassuring hand on his shoulder, while Hermione coughed a bit.

            "It's not her fault about the mead, however." Her face was distraught as she thought about the unconscious Weasley. "We need to find whomever did this."

     There was the light sound of Madame Pomfrey opening the Infirmary door and quietly informing us that we were allowed to visit with Ron now. However, as we sat down beside his bed, Hermione at his head and I at his feet, we found that he was still unconscious - just as we'd left him.

     "There may be a long recovery process," Madame Pomfrey said, adjusting the crisp, white sheets around Ron. "But, he will be fine."

     We sat around for a little while, since it was before breakfast, we had an ample amount of time before class started. I had Slughorn for first class of the day; something told me that he wouldn't mind my tardiness.

     Footsteps echoed throughout the Infirmary as a gaggle of teachers waddled inside, faces pulled into hard masks of concern and suspicion.  Dumbledore, McGonagall, Slughorn, and even Professor Snape made their way in.

    Ducking my head to avoid the sharp glare I was getting pierced with from Snape, I felt a pit in my stomach. 'Maybe you shouldn't have called him a toss-pot,' my mind sighed. I weighed that thought in my mind, but finally decided that none of it mattered now.

     Dumbledore examined Ron, leaning over his body to watched the way he twitched from the effects of the poison. "Quick thinking on your part, Harry, using a bezoar. You must be proud of your student, Horace."

     Slughorn faltered, glancing from Ron's unconscious body to the wrapped bottle of mead in his hands. I couldn't believe he was still carrying that thing around. "Y-Yes, very proud."

     Hermione caught my gaze as the teachers began to discuss what had happened, and why it had happened. I glanced towards the bed opposite of Ron's, where Jenna was still unconscious. There were a lot of unexplained accidents this year.

     "This appears to be a gift, Horace." Dumbledore nodded towards the bottle, sauntering towards his friend and reaching out to grab it. "Do you remember who gave you this?"

     "I-I intended to give it, Headmaster," Slughorn meekly bowed his head, as if ashamed, "to you, actually."

     "Me?" Dumbledore rose a brow, snatching the bottle from Slughorn and giving it a few good whiffs. "Hmm. Remarkably subtle hints of licorice and cherry... a lot polluted with poison." The blunt way Headmaster Dumbledore stated that would have made me laugh in any other circumstance, but I managed to get by without a single chuckle.

     "Where is he?! Where is my Won-Won?!" Ugh, oh Godric - who told her? Ginny and I both flinched at the grating sound of Lavender's voice while Hermione scooted closer to Ron's unconscious form.

     Like a love-drunk hooker, the blonde wobbled into the Infirmary, practically tripping over herself as she sputtered about. "Has he been asking for me? Does he need me? What happened to my poor Won-Won?" She barely drew a breath through all her talking, and I noticed her face was taking a hue of grey.

     "Jesus Christ, Lavender - take a breath," I murmured quietly, under a sigh of indignation. Ron's girlfriend glared at me then noticed Hermione, at the sight of my sister sitting at his bed side, her grey hue turned violet.

        "W-What's she doing here?!" 

     Ginny and I both opened our mouths to say something while Harry tried to remain out of the picture, but Hermione surprised me by scooting out of her chair and shooting Lavender a ferocious glare. "Mind if I ask you the same question?!"

    Lavender's eyes bounced from Hermione to me to Ginny then back to Hermione. "I happen to be his girlfriend!" She hissed, making me roll my eyes.

    "I happen to be his-," Hermione paused a bit, eyes wavering, "friend." An ugly, huff of a snort burst it's way from my nose as I bit down on my knuckles, clamping my eyes shut tight so that I wouldn't make too much noise from my obvious enjoyment of the scene in front of me.

     Lavender hissed a sort of sadistic laugh and shook her head. "Ha, don't make me laugh!" She rubbed her arm, not sure whether to glare at Hermione or Ginny - both where shooting her daggers while I kept my eyes shut, snickers bottled deep, deep inside. "You two haven't spoken in weeks. I suppose you want to 'make up with him', now that he's all interesting!"

        "He's been poisoned, you daft bimbo." Hermione rose her voice, "And, for the record, I've always found him interesting."

    Lavender opened her mouth to make a remark, but I cleared my throat in an abrupt interruption. "Eh-hem," I shuddered to think of how closely it sounded to Miss. Umbitch's, "Let's stop this pissing contest before the claws come out, alright? Alright!"

     I only remembered that four teachers were in the room when McGonagall cleared her throat and caught my eye over her half-moon specticals. In that gaze, I knew she was giving me a detention.

     Shallow gasps sounded from Ron's corpse as he shifted around, sputtering out short breaths of marred words. "H-a, H-aa," he managed to choke out. I rose a brow at the sound, thinking that he was laughing at the argument.

     Lavender's breathing got heavier, making me flinch away. "You see? He senses my presence." Hermione scrunched up her face in distaste just the same manner that I had, and in that moment I knew we looked the same. "Don't worry, Won-Won. I'm here!" Ginny's upper lip curled. "I'm here!"

      Ron's nose twitched a bit, as if he smelt something foul. Or, maybe that's what I wanted to believe, but he did mutter some more under his breath. "Ha...Hami..."

     "Ugh, typical Ron," I jested, nudging Ginny. "He's thinking about ham, even in his sleep." Ginny chuckled at my words, but we both knew he was probably trying to say something else.

     "He...Hermi...."

         We all inched closer to hear the already quite obvious truth. In my peripheral vision, I could see even the teachers creep closer to the drama.

     "Her-my- Her-my-own-knee," Ron finally managed to sputter out. Lavender took a deep gasp of air and cupped a hand over her mouth, eyes watering before she quickly turned on her heel and made a run for it.

      Ginny smirked and turned towards me with a raised hand, as if wanting a high-five. Half-heartedly, I slapped her hand, but on the inside I felt rather bad for the poor girl. While, yes, she was pushy and clingy and just annoying, she totally had been in 'love' with Ron and her spirits were just demolished in front of everyone here.

      "Oh to be young," Dumbledore stated, adding to the sympathy I was feeling, "and to feel love's keen sting."

'Thanks, Dumby.'

     Frowning, I watched the Infirmary door slam shut. Hermione sighed in relief and sat down on Ron's mattress, taking his pale hands into hers. The moment of pity for Lavender quickly passed as I watched the shining light in my twin's eyes. She seemed ecstatic, and as she leaned forward to tell Ron she was there, I could see how completely enraptured she was by Ronald Weasley. 

     "Well," Dumbledore clapped his hands together lightly. "Come away everybody. I believe Mr. Weasley is well tended."

     A grin wafted over my lips as all of us, excluding Hermione, rose from our chairs and began to make our way out of the Hospital Wing. Beside me, Ginny chuckled and pulled Harry aside, murmuring to him 'finally, don't you think?' as they made their way into the outside hall.

     I strayed behind a bit, grinning from ear to ear and bouncing on my toes, swinging my arms around my torso. If I could express how much happier I felt, I would have to have been singing.

     "Well, Hermione, I think -"

     She suppressed a wicked smile and turned her loving eyes onto mine, squinting a bit. "Oh, shut up."

     On my way outside, I pat Jenna on her knee, sparing her a small smile. If she was awake, she would be dying of enjoyment. She lived for these things.

     A few days passed until Ron was back on his feet. Lana was pissed when he recovered so quickly.

     "How is it that Madame Pomfrey can fix up one of the 'golden trio' with the flicker of a damned wand, but Jenna has been in the Hospital Wing since the start of term?" Lana huffed, glaring at Ron as she snapped a raw carrot stick in half with her nimble fingers.

     Shaking my head, I lightly took the breakable food away from her. "Lana, I'm sure that she is doing the best that she can. The poison was different, and Ron was saved by Harry. Let's try to look on the 'bright' side, yeah?"

     Luna skipped into the Great Hall and sat down across from Lana and I, taking the seat next to Neville. "Morning Gryffindors. Odd things are happening," she reported with her usual air, holding up an upside down Quibbler.

    "Something in the paper, Luna?" Neville prodded after a minute of her merely staring blankly off into space.

     Luna nodded. "Oh, always. There is an outbreak of Higglymugs in Egypt and Mollygruffles are invading Scotland's east coast." I nodded, pretending as if I was completely aware of what she was talking about. "But, that's not what I was talking about."

     "What then?" Lana sighed, stabbing her carrot with a golden fork, splintering it into more pieces.

      "I hear Lavender and Ron broke it off," Luna sighed. "Ron says he doesn't remember anything since he was poisoned. Seems odd things are happening everyday."

     I nodded in agreement, glancing towards the doorway where I saw Katie Bell walk through, causing my stomach to drop. She moved towards her friends, but revealed an awkward, bobble-headed blonde pushing her way through the thick, hungry crowd of students.

     Lana practically tossed her plate at Neville at the speed she jumped from her chair. I grinned and shot Luna a wide-eyed glance of amazement. "Odd things are happening every day indeed."

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OKAY - A FEW THINGS:

1) lovely people made an Instagram fan-page, it's called: fandom.by.letter where they will be doing some awesome head cannons and things based of the HT series ! So cool, right??! GO FOLLOW IT!

2) I'm still going to put on a Q&A for the end of the book, so send in your questions!!

3) What would you like to see in the book, before the end? [I wanna know your thoughts].

4) 180 votes until the next chapter ;) [you know I'll still update even when you don't get there, so don't sweat it].

5) sorry for the short/choppy chappie - I've been soooooo busy with graduation around the corner and getting my grades up!! SORRY, OKAY?! AND IT WAS MY BIRTHDAY ON THE 2ND - SORRY! [she says sarcastically, because hey, who turns 18 everyday?!]

xxJess <3