As the weeks passed Harry had no ideas of how to retrieve Slughorn's memory. Hermione had a few, but Draco shot each of them down. February slipped by quickly with no progress.

"Happy birthday Ron!" Draco's voice called out on the morning of March first. He strode into the dormitory, ignoring surprised looks from Dean and Seamus as they headed to the common room. He tossed a package onto Ron's bed. "I got you a present."

Harry sat up. "Oh yeah, happy birthday! I have a present for you too, just let me find it." He slid to the floor and started searching through his trunk. He had half-emptied it by the time he found Ron's present buried at the bottom.

"This is a seriously great haul," Ron mused as he inspected the watch his parents had sent him. "I think I like coming of age." Harry started to repack his trunk as Ron opened his gift. "Keeper's gloves! Thanks Harry!"

Harry turned back just in time to see Draco steal a Chocolate Cauldron from an open box on Ron's bed. Ron huffed at him and then popped a second one in his own mouth. "Want one Harry?"

"Not before breakfast!" Harry laughed. "Come on, we should get going. I don't want to try to Apparate on an empty stomach."

But Ron and Draco weren't listening. Ron had drifted towards a window and was staring outside. Draco was sitting on the floor, a goofy grin spreading across his face.

"Oy, what's going on with you two?" Harry asked. "It's time for breakfast!"

"I'm not hungry," Ron said in an airy voice. "I don't think I could eat. Not without her."

"I'm sure Lavender will be there waiting for you by now," Harry laughed.

"Do you think she even knows who I am?" Draco sighed.

"Lavender? I would hope so, though she's always so busy snogging Ron you never know."

Draco glared at Harry. "Not Lavender, Romilda Vane!"

Ron twirled around. "Why do you care about Romilda? You leave her alone, she's mine!" Harry took a step back in confusion.

"What do you two mean? Romilda Vane?"

Draco stood up forcefully. "I love her!" he shouted. "I love her and you'd better stay away from her Weasley!"

Ron punched Draco in the gut. "No, she's mine! I loved her first, and you aren't getting in our way!"

"She'll never love you more than me," Draco gasped. He reached for his wand.

"Levicorpus!" Harry yelled. Ron flew into the air, suspended by his ankle thanks to a spell they had learned from the Half-Blood Prince. "Expelliarmus!" A second later he was clutching Draco's wand in his left hand. "What is wrong with you two? Neither of you has ever even talked to her!"

"I love her," Ron's face had taken on a dreamy expression. "I'll always love her."

"I love her more," Draco retorted, his face a strange mixture of elation, pain and anger.

Harry glanced between his two friends. His gaze rested on the box of chocolates open on Ron's bed.

"Oh no," he muttered, "Is that- Ron, where did you get those Chocolate Cauldrons?"

"Birthday present," Ron said indignantly.

"Were they on the floor?"
Draco answered this time. "They must have fallen, so I picked them up."

Harry shook his head. "Those came from my trunk. Romilda Vane gave them to me before Christmas. They're full of love potion!"

Ron and Draco both perked up at Romilda's name.

"You know her?"
"Can you introduce me to her?"

Harry laughed. "Yeah sure, I'll introduce you both to her. Follow me." He grabbed Ron's wand from his nightstand and dropped him unceremoniously to the floor. "I'll keep your wands so, er, so you don't frighten her."

Harry led Ron and Draco to the common room, hoping furiously that Romilda would not be there. Thankfully she was not. Lavender, however, was waiting for Ron at the bottom of the stairs.

"Won-won!" she exclaimed, bounding up to him. She pulled his face down and planted a kiss on his lips.

Ron pushed Lavender away from him. "Uck, I don't want to snog you!" he declared loudly. "That's disgusting! Where's Romilda? I love her."

Harry saw tears spring into Lavender's eyes. "Ronald Bilius Weasley! How could you? After we've been dating all his time, you're cheating on me? I hate you! I hope you splinch yourself and I never see you again!" Before Harry could stop her to explain she ran off sobbing.

Ron was unphased by his girlfriend's response. "Harry, where's Romilda? I don't see her!"

"Er, this way," Harry said, directing Ron and Draco towards the portrait hole. He guided them carefully through the halls to Professor Slughorn's office.

"What's Romilda doing here?" Draco asked dreamily.

"Potions homework," Harry answered with as much false confidence as he could muster. "She had a question for Professor Slughorn."
The door swung open to reveal Slughorn in his dressing gown and nightcap. "Oh, Harry my boy, what could you possibly need this early in the morning?"

Harry answered in a whisper. "Ron and Draco accidentally ate some of a love potion. I would take them to Madam Pomfrey, but I don't want to get the girl in trouble for using it."

Draco and Ron were trying to jostle past Harry to see into the room. "Is she there?" Ron asked. "I just have to tell her how beautiful she is!"

Professor Slughorn looked at the two boys in concern. "How old was this potion? They strengthen over time, you know."

"That explains a lot," Harry said, pushing Draco back into the hall. "It's been sitting in my trunk since before Christmas." He glanced at Ron. "It's his birthday."

"Come in, come in," Professor Slughorn sighed. "I have what I need for the antidote right here. It's not complicated. I'm surprised you didn't whip some up yourself!"

"I wanted to be sure that it was right," Harry answered as Ron and Draco pushed past him into the room. They stood together in the middle of a large carpet, looking around with wide eyes. "Ron already insulted his girlfriend, I thought it was best if we didn't wait too long to get this sorted."

Professor Slughorn was mixing ingredients in a vial. "I'll have them right as rain in a few minutes."

"Harry, where is she?" Draco whined.

"You said she would be here," Ron added. "I don't see her anywhere!"

"She's on her way," Harry soother. "She'll be here before you know it."

"Here boys, drink this," Professor Slughorn handed each of them a glass of clear liquid. "It's a tonic to calm the nerves." Ron and Draco both gulped the liquid down.

"Thanks Professor," Draco said, handing the glass back, a wide smile plastered on his face.

"No problem, my boy," Professor Slughorn chortled. "Always happy to help. Same goes for you, Radagast."

"It's Ron," Harry whispered fervently as his friend sank down onto a couch by the fire, looking stricken. A moment later Draco's smile became a frown as he returned to his senses.

"Back to normal then?" Professor Slughorn asked. "Excellent. I think you two need a bit of a pick-me-up. Now let's see, I have some Butterbeer, but I think something stronger is in order. Perhaps that bottle of oak-matured mead. Yes, I think that will do nicely." He reached behind his desk and pulled out a bottle and four glasses.

"To a very happy birthday," Slughorn said as he held up his glass. Ron and Draco were already draining theirs, oblivious to the toast. Harry shrugged and tipped his glass back as an idea formed in his head. Perhaps, if he could convince Slughorn to drink enough of the mead, he could finally get the memory from him.

"Professor," he said as he sipped at the mead. "You must have taught a lot of really interesting students in your time. But I'm curious, have you ever taught someone who ended up becoming a Dark Wizard?"
Slughorn looked at Harry curiously as he refilled his glass. Draco and Ron had collapsed onto the couch across the room. "I did teach Tom Riddle in his time here, of course," he answered. "But why would you be curious about that?"

"It's hard to imagine someone like Tom Riddle as a student. I can barely believe that he was my age once." Harry answered. "What was he like, as a student? Was he interested in the Dark Arts even then, or was he just a normal student?"

There was a hint of suspicion in Slughorn's eyes. "Well, he was never a normal student by any means. In fact, he was quite like you. Brilliant. As far as the Dark Arts, well, he did seem to have some interests. But not enough that I would ever suspect what he would become."

Harry knew that he was getting close. "Could I have some more mead Professor?"

Slughorn peeled his eyes away from Harry to refill the glass. He added a significant amount to his own as well.

"What kinds of interests did he have?" Harry finally asked. He injected a hint of worry into his voice. "Maybe, if I can know what he was interested back in the beginning, it can help me to stay safe."

Professor Slughorn eyed Harry warily. He stood up abruptly. "I don't believe so, Harry. In fact, I think it would be best if you left now. You boys don't want to be late to your Apparition lessons."

Crestfallen, Harry led the way out of the room.