Chapter 4

Takes place during Chapters 19 and 20 of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

Everyone was talking about Ron Weasley being poisoned the night before. They said that he was still alive because of Harry Potter's quick thinking. If Harry had not known to use a bezoar or had been unable to find one, Ron Weasley would be dead. The gossips said that he was given a love potion meant for his best friend.

Romilda Vane felt terrible. She heard the news while eating breakfast in the Great Hall. Her fork dropped out of her hand, and she ran out before anyone could say a word. The usually confident, self-assured girl was smothered with guilt, and she decided to head back to the girl's dormitory to get away from everyone.

It was all her fault. If Ron had died she would have played a part in his death. She looked in the mirror on her bedside table, and for the first time, she didn't like what she saw. She was overcome with self-loathing and had to look away from her reflection.

The door opened, and Romilda looked up. Anna and Pearl were stood in the doorway, staring at her with sympathy and concern. It hurt her to look at them. She tried her best to act like nothing was wrong and forced out a cheerful greeting. "Hi."

As she expected, they weren't convinced by her act. They exchanged looks before sitting down on Romilda's bed. It was obvious they were here to try and talk some sense into her, but she didn't want to hear it.

"It's not your fault, Romilda," Pearl said reassuringly. "You didn't put the poison into that mead. Ron Weasley wasn't poisoned because of you."

"She's right," added Anna, soothingly. "The only one responsible is the person who poisoned the mead. How could you have known? All you did was try and get the boy you like. Last time I checked, that wasn't a crime."

Pearl snorted loudly at this. "If it were, there would be a worrying amount of teenagers in Azkaban."

Romilda knew they were trying to cheer her up, so she forced a smile and a laugh. "Thanks, you two. I'm feeling better now." This was a lie, but they seemed to fall for it. She would feel better on the day Ron Weasley was back in the Gryffindor common room, and she could apologise to him.

That day finally came. She was sitting in the common room with Anna and Pearl when she heard his voice. She looked up as he walked into the common room with Harry Potter and Hermione Granger. As she walked over, she saw Harry and Hermione exchange looks of anger. Ron looked pretty calm in comparison.

"What do you want?" Hermione's voice was scathing as she glared at Romilda like she was something unpleasant on her shoe. For the first time since she was two years old, Romilda couldn't find her voice.

"Speak up," Harry snarled harshly. "What do you have to say for yourself?"

Ron surprised them all by piping up with "Give her a break, you two." He then gave Romilda a small smile and said: "Did you want to speak to me?" She nodded. Harry and Hermione looked shocked as they walked away to give them some privacy.

Romilda cleared her throat and spoke in an unusually quiet way for her. "I'm so sorry about what happened, Ron. I am a stupid, immature girl and you could have died because of me. I…."

Ron cut her off. "Don't be daft, Romilda. If you are to blame then Harry must also share blame for not getting rid of the chocolate cauldrons when he knew they had love potion in them. Or I could be blamed for being a greedy git and scoffing loads of them in one go. Heck, I could even blame the idiots I have for brothers as they designed the bloody stupid love potions. And we can't forget about Slughorn being the one to give me the poisoned mead. Do you think any of us are to blame for what happened?"

Romilda shook her head as the words he said slowly sank in. His maturity shocked her as she had always considered him to be a funny but insensitive joker.

"Do you want to hear who I think is to blame?" He asked her gently. Once again, she nodded. "I think the person to blame is the one who poisoned the mead." He spoke in a matter of fact manner, and his tone suggested that he didn't want her to argue.

Romilda was reminded of the conversation she had with Anna and Pearl. They had said the same thing. She could feel a significant amount of the guilt she had carried around start to fade. "I was still foolish and stupid, Ron," she told him. To her surprise, he laughed.

"I agree with you there, Romilda. You shouldn't be too harsh on yourself, though. Are you fourteen or fifteen?"

"Fifteen."

"When I was fifteen Hermione told me I had the emotional range of a teaspoon. I like to think I have grown up a bit since then. Don't be so harsh on yourself, learn from it and move on."

"OK, you're scaring me. I thought you were going to be furious with me. When did you get so mature?"

"I guess being seconds away from death and living to tell the tale has given me a sense of clarity. You have also caught me when I am in a fantastic mood and glad to be out of that bloody hospital wing. Maybe you should run before it wears off and I start yelling at you," he joked, sounding more like the old Ron. "Oh, and don't be trying to give Harry any more love potions. I don't know if I can survive another one."

Romilda laughed. "I promise that I will never use a love potion again."

Ron grinned at her. "Then my work here is done." He turned serious for a minute. "Joking aside, though, Romilda, if I see you doing something like this again I won't be so nice the second time around, OK?"

She nodded at him. "I swear on my best friend's life, Ron, I will never do something so foolish and reckless ever again."

He seemed to believe her as he smiled at her once more. "See you later, Romilda."

Romilda grinned at him, feeling like her usual self again for the first time in days. "Bye, Ron."

She walked to where her friends were and sat down next to them, smiling.