Ron made his way down from the infirmary. He passed by the Great Hall. Not quite in the mood to get made of for his skin, which had UN-forgivingly turned the girlie color of pink, and was now beginning to blotch (his pale, freckled skin had mixed with abnormal shapes of pink all over his body), all he wanted to do was surrender to a dark room, with a nice feather pillow, and a warm comforter. He climbed the stairs that led to the Gryffindor tower and said the password (Peruvian Vipertooth), and entered into the common room where a gasp welcomed him in. Ron looked up and across the room to the stairs. There, across from him, frozen on the second step, her features dancing in the shadows from the lit fireplace of the common room, was Hermione. Crookshanks had the same sort of perplexed look on his stubby, furry face. Ron lowered his head and turned quickly as he saw them, wanting to leave the common room for a better, human-less place, but before he could take a step over the threshold... "Ronald!" Hermione squeaked finally. Ron winced as he turned slowly, raising his head barely. His eyes caught Hermione's as she rushed down towards him, dropping Crookshanks who ran off, frightened. "Ron! What happened to you?" Ron opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out. He ruffled his nose as he looked back, helpless at Hermione. "Well?" Ron looked at Hermione. She looked back. He tapped his throat and shook his head. "What?" Hermione asked. Ron sighed and signaled for a quill and scroll. Hermione made the 'oh' face, and ran to her bag, which sat by the sofa. She grabbed a quill and some paper, handing it out to Ron, who took it gratefully. He started scribbling down words before passing the parchment back to her. She read aloud. 'Snape had me test my potion. It worked...a little too much.' Hermione looked up at him. "What exactly happened, Ron." Ron retained the quill and wrote again. Hermione read over his shoulder. 'I added too much dragon's blood. It made me silent, and turn pink. I had to go to Pomfrey before he let me do anything else.' Hermione gasped and looked up. Malfoy was right. It was Ron. He was before her and Professor Snape didn't clean the cauldron out as Ron snuck away to the infirmary. Hermione took a step backwards as guilt came over her. Malfoy, she expected, would surely want to gain revenge. Three fold, if not worse. Ron stared at her and reached out, taking the paper from her. he wrote quickly...'what's wrong?' Hermione stuttered before answering quietly. "Professor Snape didn't clean the cauldron. I was after you...and...well...the remnan--your potion was still...oh Ron. I thought Malfoy had done it." She blinked and looked at Ron, her eyes still wide in recognition. Ron stared back, bemused. Hermione continued explaining, her voice shaky. "My potion came out horrible." Ron wrote again: I'm so sorry, Hermione, I didn't mean too. "I know you didn't." 'He wouldn't let me clean up, he was angry and yelled at me to get out.' "Did you pass?" Ron bit his lip and hesitated before writing 'yeah.' Hermione coughed. "You mean he passed you, even though you messed up?" Ron nodded and wrote again, 'it worked, just turned me pink as well.' "That's not fair!" Hermione spat. She turned hastily and ran away from Ron, back up the stairs. Ron heard a faint noise of a door slamming shut. His face filled with feelings of trouble and went to bed, himself. Maybe it would all sort out in the morning. He had a long train ride tomorrow, and hoped to Merlin that he'd be healed by then. -------------------------------------------------------------- Hermione waved as the train that carried Harry and Ron back to Kings Cross grew smaller. She had accompanied them to the Hogsmeade station, to see them off on the train. And now, as the train shrunk in the distance, she wished she hadn't decided to become better versed in the world of potions. She turned and made her way back to Hogwarts. AS she reached the front doors, she was joined by a snowy white owl. Harry had left Hedwig with Hermione, since she didn't have an owl and was going to let her use it to owl him and Ron over the summer. She held out an arm and Hedwig landed. Hermione entered the castle and made her way through the deserted halls. Even the paintings seemed to be empty and she wondered if they went somewhere over the summer holiday. She heard the clock that served as the front tower, chime ten times and sighed. In two hours, she'd be leaving, herself, for a stuffy hotel room, and a summer with a professor she wished had never been cured. Maybe he'd be more bearable if he was still acting weird. Ascending the stairs to the Gryffindor tower, she entered and headed straight to her room where she began to pack. Hedwig, watching from the back of a chair with her big yellow eyes. --------------------------------------------- All right! Another chapter down! The next chapter is in writing process. Lol. I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I hope to have the next one up soon. I want to thank my three reviewers! I hope you guy's review on this chapter, the last one seemed empty...lol. Thank you all for your patience. Oh! I don't know if I've told you guys but my RPG for Harry Potter could use a few people. is the site. Definitely go there! Look up the characters in the characters needed list and I'm sure you'll find a character to suit your needs! Until next time!