A/N: Talk about cliffhangers...more characters past begin to be revealed...


CH11

Christmas had come and gone and school was back to its usual schedule. The Apparation classes had started the following week and Harry was still taking classes with Dumbledore just as Chelly was taking them with Trelawny though hers were about done as she was finally able to join them for breakfast.

They stood in front of the Fat Lady's portrait. "Password?"

"I don't have it but you know who I am," Ebony told her.

"I need a password."

"And I need to get in to see Harry."

"Then you need the password," she said smugly.

"Oh come on," Luis stomped his foot. "Let us in."

"As soon as I hear the password."

Ebony rubbed at the bridge of her nose and looked over at Chelly. "Do you have the password?"

"No," she said and smiled. "But I can get it." Chelly stepped up to the portrait and placed her hand on it before closing her eyes. Ebony watched as did the Fat Lady. After a moment she opened her eyes. "Snazzle Berry."

The Fat Lady gasped in shock. "But-but how?"

"Wicked cool," Luis said in envy.

"Doesn't matter. She said the password. So let us in."

"Hmmphh," she stuck her nose in the air but swung open and the two stepped inside to see Ron and Harry in the common room on the couch.

"Are you two ready yet?" Chelly asked. "I'm starving."

"You don't have class today?" Harry asked her.

She shook her head happily, "Nope, I'm free for the day. I just have to empty my vial into my Pensive later on. I think it's full…like I should be."

Ron held out the box of Chocolate Frogs he was munching on. "Want one?"

Chelly reached for one but paused. "No, but thanks for offering your candy. I'll wait for breakfast. They're making cinnamon rolls today and I want my fair share."

"Meaning four," Ebony added on.

"Don't mind if I take one," Luis plucked a frog from the box and ate it before grabbing one more.

Ron shrugged and helped himself to another. "They're Harry's anyway."

"That makes sense as to why you were willing to share," Chelly nodded in understanding now.

"Where's Oliver?"

"Already at breakfast with the others. I think he's making sure Chelly gets her 'fair share'," explained Ebony.

"So we better get?" Chelly gestured at the door.

The four started walking when they noticed Ron hadn't moved off the couch. He was staring at the fire place with an unfocused look on his face.

"Ron? Food," Harry said.

"I'm not hungry."

"You didn't eat that many frogs," Chelly pointed out at the half full box. "I've seen you eat a whole cake without a problem."

"It's not that," he shook his head. "You wouldn't understand."

"Fair enough, let's go," Harry shrugged.

"Guys!" Ron called out.

"What, Ron?" Ebony asked.

"I can't stand it!"

"You can't stand what?" Harry was now concerned. Ron looked pale, like he was going to be sick.

"I can't stop thinking about her," said Ron.

They all gaped at him, all three thinking he was talking about Lavender. "Why does that stop you from eating?"

"I don't think she knows I exist," he said glumly.

Chelly frowned. "What the hell are you talking about? You snog her every day, I think she knows you exist."

"Who are you talking about?" he blinked.

"Who are you talking about?" Harry countered.

"Romilda Vane," said Ron softly and smiled brightly.

"You like her too?" Luis's eyes widened.

"What?" Chelly spun to look at him. He seemed as dazed as Ron as he walked past her to sit on the couch next to Ron.

The three stared at them and waited for the punch line but it never came. Ebony broke the silence. "This is a joke, right? You're joking. You two have to be."

"I think…I think I love her," Ron said in a strangled voice.

"Me too," Luis nodded with a sigh, resting his head on his hand.

"Oookaaay," Chelly stretched out the vowel sound. "This is too weird."

Harry moved closer to Ron. "Okay…say that again with a straight face, because I know Luis is kidding."

"I love her," he repeated breathlessly. "Have you seen her hair, it's all shiny and silky…and her eyes? Her big dark eyes?"

"Yeah," Luis nodded. "They sparkle…all pretty."

"And her-."

"This is really funny and everything, but drop it," Harry told him. "Let's go," Harry turned and started walking away.

He saw Ebony's eyes widen. "Harry! Look out!"

He turned his head slightly and Ron's fist connected with the side of his head. He reached into his pocket on instinct and pointed his wand before Ron could throw another punch. "Levicorpus."

Ron flew upside down with a cry. Luis watched from the couch, fascinated in his daze.

"What was that for?" Harry asked angrily as he rubbed at his head.

"You insulted her! You called her a joke!" Ron said.

"This is insane!" Harry told him. "What's gotten into you?"

Chelly glanced at the box of frogs. "Harry…the candy."

Harry stared at box. "They're from Romilda. She gave them to me for Christmas."

"She gave Oliver a box too, I threw them out though…good thing I did…good thing I didn't eat one or I'd be like Luis," she smiled then her face turned angry. "That bitch! She tried to spike Oliver with a love potion! I'll kill her!"

"I'm going to let you down now," Harry warned Ron. "And…we'll go see Romilda."

"Really?" his anger faded and his eyes lit up.

"Can I go too?" Luis asked, sitting up on the couch eagerly.

"Sure," Harry nodded skeptically at seeing Luis excited about a girl.

"Liberacorpus," Ebony said from behind him and Ron lowered to the ground. Harry turned to look at her with a surprised look and she just stared at him, face passive. "Interesting spell choice…that one isn't taught in the books…"

"Can we discuss this later?" he asked and turned away from her.

"You can bet we'll talk about this later," she guaranteed.

Chelly grabbed Luis's arm. "Come on, now I'm gonna be late to breakfast because you have a crush on a girl…never thought I'd see the day."

Harry helped Ron up. "Let's go see Slughorn in his office."

They walked out the door together and Ron frowned. "Why are we going to Slughorn's office?"

"Because she's taking extra potions classes there," Ebony filled in the blank.

"Maybe I could take them with her," Ron said hopefully.

"Or I can tutor her. I'm really good at potions," Luis added on.

"Great idea," said Harry.

They pushed the door open a few minutes later and found Slughorn sitting behind his desk. "Hey Harry, you're a bit early for class. I see you brought your girlfriend with you."

Chelly frowned at Ebony who rolled her eyes in response.

"Sorry to disturb you, Professor," Harry spoke while Ron and Luis glanced around the entire room in desperation. "But our friends, Luis and Ron swallowed a love potion by mistake. Could you make them an antidote?"

"I'd have thought you could have whipped up a potion with your expertise," said Slughorn.

"Er…well umm…"Harry rubbed the back of his head.

"Yeah, Harry…potions comes so naturally to you after all," Ebony said with a cold stare and smile.

"Well, I've never made one right and I don't want to risk Ron and Luis doing something stupid in their state."

"I don't see her!" Luis whimpered, spinning in a slow circle to make sure he didn't miss a spot.

"Is she hiding," Ron got on his knees and looked under the tables.

"When was the potion made?"

"Christmas," Harry grunted, wrestling Ron off the ground.

"They accidentally took it," Chelly huffed as she and Ebony pulled Luis back into the room by his arms.

"I see…I can fix this," he nodded and opened his cupboard removing a bottle and pulled out two glasses.

"She's not here," Luis repeated.

"No, she's not," Chelly said and had him sit in a chair next to Ron in front of the desk while she made sure he didn't try to bolt for the door.

"Drink this," Slughorn handed Luis and Ron each a glass. "You want to look your best for her after all."

Luis nodded and drained the glass with a grimace. "Ugghh…that taste horrible." He set the glass down as Ron finished his and his eyes widened. "Oh my freaking God!"

"Back to normal," Chelly nodded. "I think, let me check…Luis…what do you think of Viktor Krum?"

"I'm gonna marry him some day and do things to him that should not be spoken out loud, I swear by it and now I feel like I need fire whiskey to get these thoughts of Romilda out of my head," he whimpered and set his head on the desk.

"Thanks Professor," Harry said.

"Don't mention it my boy," he opened another cupboard. "Pick me up is what you boys need. I've got butter beer, wine, and a bottle of mead I was supposed to give to Dumbledore for Christmas. Oh well, he can't miss it. Come, have a drink."

"None for me," Luis mumbled. "I don't like mead."

"Butterbeer then?"

"Sure," he grumbled and took the bottle without looking up.

Slughorn poured Chelly a glass and she denied it. "I'll take a butter beer."

"What of you Ebony?" Slughorn asked.

Ebony shut the cabinet she'd been looking through, having snuck away during it all to breeze through the books in there and find the one she assumed was missing. She glanced at Harry, tapping her nails on the cupboard. "None for me thank you."

Ron drained the glass in front of him and Harry paused, knowing something was wrong in that split second. "Ron!"

Ron had dropped his glass and fell from the chair, jerking uncontrollably.

"Professor!" Harry shouted as Chelly and Luis jumped to their feet to help Ron who was turning blue on the floor. Harry moved around the desk the same time Ebony jerked through the cabinets looking for something. Harry found the jar first with the bezoar in it. He moved back to Ron and jerked his mouth open, shoving the bezoar in. Ron jerked once more and then his body went limp.

"What the fuck just happened?" Luis questioned running his fingers through his hair.

"Ron was poisoned by the mead," Ebony answered.

"We better get him to the hospital wing," Harry said and Luis helped him half carry half drag Ron.

Chelly followed them out with Ebony while Slughorn sat in shock staring at the bottle on his desk. "Looks like breakfast is postponed along with my Pensive."

Ebony glanced ahead at Harry, wanting to discuss the spell he knew and the bezoar he knew to give Ron. She knew where he got it from, but she needed the book for proof, needed to see the Half Blood Prince's writing in the book to prove anything, but it wasn't the time for that. "Looks like a lot of things are post poned…for now."

CH 12

They all stood in the hospital wing that evening with Ron unconscious on the bed but Pomfrey's promise that he would be just fine. Luckily he was the only one occupying a bed which left plenty of room for the group. Hermione and Ginny each sat on a side of Ron's bed while Chelly sat on a bed next to Oliver. Fred and George had shown up and Ebony stood with her boyfriend, her hand in his and Harry close by.

"So all in all it's not one of Ron's best birthdays," Fred said.

"This isn't how we imagined giving him his present," George set the box on the bedside cabinet.

"Yeah, he was actually conscious the way we pictured it," Fred added and drew up a chair next to Harry. "How did this happen?"

Harry explained the situation and Ebony listened to the details. When he got to the bezoar her eyes darted to him, watching him.

"Blimey, good thing you thought of the bezoar," George told him.

"Luckily there was one in the room," Harry said and bit at his nails.

"Luckily you read about that in some other book," Ebony said and Harry met her gaze. She kept hers steady unblinking, hoping he would know what she already knew.

Hermione's sniffling caused him to look away first.

"Do Mum and Dad know?" George asked Ginny.

"They've already been in to see him, they arrived an hour ago and are in Dumbledore's office. They'll be back soon though."

"I sent for them with my Patronus when I sent for you," Ebony told him.

There was a pause as they all watched Ron mumble in his sleep.

"So the poison was in the drink?" Fred asked quietly.

"Yea," Luis spoke from across the way where he sat on the other bed. "He asked if we wanted any, he poured it out and Ron drank it."

"Would he have slipped something into Ron's cup?"

"Maybe," Luis shrugged. "I didn't see anything though…I was staring at the floor trying to get other things out of my head," he shivered slightly.

"He could have," Chelly finished speaking. "But why would Slughorn want to poison Ron?"

"No idea," Fred said. "You don't think he could have mixed up the glasses trying to get you, Harry?"

"Why would Slughorn want to poison Harry?" Ginny asked.

"I dunno," said George. "But there's loads of people who'd like to poison Harry?"

"You think he's a Death Eater?"

"Anything's possible," Fred said darkly.

"The poison could have been in that bottle, in which case it was probably meant for Professor Slughorn to drink," said Ginny.

"Who'd want to kill Slughorn?"

"Dumbledore reckons Voldermort wanted Slughorn on his side," Harry said. "Slughorn was in hiding for a year before he came to Hogwarts…maybe Voldermort wants him out of the way, maybe he thinks he's valuable to Dumbledore."

"But Slughorn was planning to give the bottle to Dumbledore for Christmas. So it could have been meant for Dumbledore," Chelly suggested.

"Then the poisoner didn't know Slughorn very well," Hermione spoke up for the first time in an hour. "Because anyone who knows him know he'd keep something like that for himself…especially drink wise."

The doors flew open and Hagrid came tromping inside leaving muddy footprints tracking along the way. "Been in the forest all day, didn' fin' out til dinner 'bout Ron? How is he?"

"They say he'll be okay," Ebony told him.

"I don' believe this," said Hagrid. "Jus' don' believe it…who'd want ter hurt Ron?"

"That's what we were just discussing," said Harry.

Mr. and Mrs. Weasley came in, thanking Harry for saving Ron and the others took their cue to leave the family with him, walking out with Hagrid.

"It's terrible," Hagrid spoke. "Dumbledore's worried sick with all the kids gettin' hurt…"

"Hasn't he got any ideas, Hagrid?" Luis asked.

"I 'spect he's got hundreds of ideas in a brain like his. But he doesn' know who sent the necklace nor put the potion in the mead or they've bin caught, wouldn' they? Wha' worries me," Hagrid looked around and lowered his voice, "is how long can Hogwart's stay open if kids are bein' attacked. Chamber of Secrets all over again, isn' it?"

Chelly shivered remembering the giant snake that had petrified her when she saw its glazing eyes in the mirror. "That can't be good."

"Gotta see it from the parents point of view," Hagrid went on. "I mean, it's always bin a bit of a risk sendin' a kid ter Hogwarts, hasn' it? Yer expect accidents, don' yeh, with hundreds of underage wizards all locked up turgether, but attempted murder, tha's diff'rent. S'no wonder Dumbledore is angry with Sn-." Hagrid stopped mid sentence and glanced at the others.

Ebony's head had snapped up at the mention of her father just as Harry's had for a different reason other than concern.

"What?" Ebony asked. "Why is Dumbledore mad at my father?"

"I never said tha'," said Hagrid quickly in his panic.

"Hagrid! Why is Dumbledore angry with my father?" Ebony demanded more loudly.

"Shhh!" he looked around nervously. "I shouldn' have heard it…but I 'eard them talkin' as I was comin' in from ter forest. But they was havin' a heated discussion. I 'eard Snape sayin' Dumbledore took too much fer granted an' maybe he – Snape – didn' wan' ter do it anymore, tha' he already had too much at risk."

"Do what?" Harry asked. "With what at risk?"

Ebony had fallen more silent as more pieces started to fit together in the puzzle. So Dumbledore knew as well. Because the risk her father spoke of was her…but what did her father not want to do anymore…and wasn't it for Draco?

"I dunno," Hagrid said. "It sounded like Snape was feelin' a bit overworked tha's all. Dumbledore told him flat out he'd agreed ter do it and with ter risk he had no choice an' that was all there was to it. Pretty firm with him. An' then he said somethin' abou' Snape makin' investigations in his House, in Slytherin. Well, there's nothin' strange 'bout that."

"Uh oh," Luis pointed at the lantern approaching. It was Filch.

"Oho!" he said with a crooked smile. "Out of bed are we, this'll mean detention."

"No it won't," Hagrid said. "There with me."

"What difference does it make?"

"I'm a ruddy teacher, ya sneakin' Squib," Hagrid growled.

Filch swelled with fury and stalked off angrily.

"Yer lot better be goin'," Hagrid said and departed there from them.

Oliver, Chelly and Ebony walked them back to each of their Houses, first dropping off Luis and then the remaining two. But Ebony stopped Harry before he went inside. "We still need to talk."

"Later…not now. I'm tired. I have a Quidditch match tomorrow and I still have to replace Ron for it."

"Fine," she agreed. "But soon."

"Sure…there are things I need to discuss with you too, you know."

"I figured as much," she shrugged and continued on down the corridor with Oliver and Chelly until it was only her and Chelly.

"Some day, huh?" Chelly said.

"I'd say so…" she said and waited for the question her friend was leading up to.

"So what's going on with your dad and Dumbledore?"

"Honestly, your guess is as good as mine."

"I feel like I've been missing out on some serious stuff."

"If there was anything I knew I'd tell you…but I don't know anything yet. I don't know what he promised to help Dumbledore with, I don't know what he promised to help Draco with."

"Draco?" she questioned.

"Yeah, apparently that dream you had when summer ended was a vision. My Dad promised to help Draco with something, swore it to his mother to help him no matter what."

Chelly gasped. "An Unbreakable Vow? With Narcissa? Your cousin?"

She nodded. "That was what you saw in your dream…I had to figure that out on my own."

"Wow…that's confusing," Chelly mumbled and bit her lower lip touching the vial.

"Have you looked at those visions yet?"

"No," she shook her head. "I will tonight."

"Good they might be useful," she told her.

"Have you talked to Stark? Maybe he knows something."

She shook her head. "He doesn't. He's as clueless as I am. He shocked with what I did know." She waved her hand in front of the door.

Snape was quick to be on his feet the minute they stepped in. "Are you two all right?"

They glanced at each other, perplexed. "Yeah, we're fine, Snape."

He let out a sigh of relief and settled back into his chair. "I heard you were with Weasley when it happened and Slughorn mentioned he had offered the mead to all of you, but didn't remember if either of you had had any."

"No, we didn't want any…good thing," murmured Chelly and twisted her necklace. "I'm going to bed."

"Good night," Ebony told her and once her door shut she looked at her father. "So Dumbledore knows…I should have guessed that much."

Snape rubbed at his forehead. "Are you still doing your investigating?"

"Yes, until I find out what I need to know," she told him. "You were arguing with Dumbledore tonight…and I wonder why since your Vow on my life is with Narcissa and not him…but you have a Vow with him too."

His eyes shot up. "Where did you hear I was arguing with Dumbledore?"

"Doesn't matter."

"It does. That was a private conversation."

"Then have it in private places, not near the forest," she warned him. "I'm going to figure this out…I want you to know that. I'm going to bed too…it's been a long day. Good night, Dad." She gave him a hug and left into her room. She opened the cabinet to her Pensive and used her wand to remove her thoughts into the swirling bowl, watching the conversation once more with Hagrid and flipping through to the previous one where she overheard her father speaking with Draco, trying to fit more pieces into the puzzle.

In her own room, Chelly stood in front of her Pensive, staring at the silver mist that swirled inside. She bit her lower lip and held the vial in her hand that hung off the necklace. She uncorked it and held it over the bowl. She was nervous, she didn't know what was inside it, she couldn't remember. All she remembered was that feeling, that void she had felt and the way Trelawny had looked at her, with such sadness. She wasn't sure she wanted to see…but she had too. She had to empty the vial.

With a deep breath she poured it in watching the mist rise up and the visions mix in. She hung it back on her necklace, plugging the cork back into. Ever so slowly Chelly peered in and watched as the mist changed into a scene. She continued watching the past vision and her brown eyes widened as she gasped, recoiling back from the bowl with a hand over her mouth to stop herself from making anymore noise for she was sure she would scream.

She shook her head in disbelief. "No, no…it can't be, F.G…it can't be…no," she dug through her dresser drawer until she found the box she was looking for and opened it, staring at the Death Eater necklace, she picked the tag up in shaking fingers. F.G. It was. It was real. Now she remembered the vision that had left that void in her and remembered why she hadn't wanted to see it. She crumbled to the ground in a heap, still holding the box with the necklace and the tag with the initials as tears fell down her cheeks. She now knew what she had wondered all her life and wished she could forget.


Talk about cliff hangers...you'll just have to wait and see...