Chapter Eight: Quidditch Quest
The next morning, Ron had already gone when Harry awoke. The other boys were just getting out of bed. None of them seemed to know what happened last night. Harry dressed, hurriedly, and went down to breakfast, but Ron wasn't there. Wracking his brain for all the possibilities, Harry came up with it: The Quidditch pitch.
Sure enough, when Harry reached the Quidditch pitch, he could see one lone figure circling overhead. It was undoubtedly Ron. Harry pulled open the broom shed, grabbed his Firebolt, and shot up after Ron. When Ron saw Harry, his eyes widened, but he didn't move.
"Ron, I need to talk to you," Harry said, quietly, hovering next to him. Ron didn't answer, just examined his suddenly fascinating broom handle. "Ron, about last night...You've got to understand, I didn't mean to..."
"To kiss me?" Ron asked, speaking for the first time. There was no roughness to his voice, just stating the facts.
"Ron, I swear, I didn't...I would never have..."
"Geez, Harry..." Ron breathed, running his fingers through his hair. "You could have told me you liked me...I mean, obviously I don't like you back, but it would have been better if you'd told me, rather than kissed me. I mean, I'm not resenting you, or anything. You're my best mate, but...You kissed me!" Harry sighed in relief. This was going to be better than he'd expected. He'd figured Ron would freak out and start yelling.
"No, Ron, I don't like you. I mean, I'm not even gay, I don't think. But you remember yesterday, at breakfast, when I choked on my Pumpkin Juice?" Ron nodded. "Well, I choked because it was burning. Somebody slipped a love potion in my Pumpkin Juice. Trouble is, the first person I looked at was you, so...I'm in love with you."
Ron's eyes widened. "You're in love with me?" he exclaimed. Harry nodded. "Oh...Well, that's a bit comforting. I mean, I'd have felt really bad if you liked me..." he said, logically. "But who put it in your drink?" Harry shrugged.
"That isn't the least of my worries. Hermione and I have just been trying to figure which love potion it is! There are so many! We're trying to find the counter potion, but no dice so far."
"Yeah, but we have to find out who did it! Love potions are illegal, Harry! Whoever did it is probably working for Voldemort! They could be using me to get to you!" Ron looked around, as if he were expecting Voldemort and his Death Eaters to pop out of the ground.
"Yeah, well, if we find the counter-potion quick enough, we won't have to worry about Voldemort. Besides, how would Voldemort manage to slip me a love-potion?" Ron shrugged, but he was going into paranoia-mode.
"Well, it could've been Snape! I mean, you know, he is the potions master! Or Malfoy! He's always done well in potions. Daddy's little Death Eater, no doubt. He could have slipped it to you." Ron was ranting about who could have given Harry the love potion all the way back to the castle, but Harry wasn't listening. He was just glad Ron didn't hate him. He'd probably die of a broken heart. Which would be a shame, since Christmas was coming up.