Chapter 21- An Eventful Birthday

Natalie awoke groggily on a bitterly cold Friday morning. As she stretched and lay in her bed, her mind wandered over the past few weeks since she and Harry had come back together. All of their long conversations, brief touches and very passionate physical encounters blended into one continuous stream of languid bliss. However, she was overwhelmingly aware that she could not let herself sink into this period of satisfaction, always reminding herself with a sharp bout of worry that she and Kalissa still were not assured a return to a safe and normal life.

She brushed her teeth, took a long and hot shower and changed into her clothes. When she came to the dormitory to fill her bag with the proper books for the day, Natalie realized with a startle that Hermione's bed was empty. Both Parvati and Lavender lay fast asleep as it still was only a quarter past seven; Natalie usually was the first to awake on any morning of the week.

Natalie decided to have an early breakfast and then begin her Arithmancy essay. As she walked to the dining hall, she pandered over Hermione's recent behavior. The brown haired girl had adopted an enthusiastic attitude with Harry and her, maintaining her veil of indifference towards the slightly weakening relationship between Ron and Lavender. Though many times, Natalie detected a gleeful glint in Hermione's eyes at the sight of Lavender searching desperately for Ron who was obviously starting to become tired of her. Natalie perceived that inevitably, the relationship, which arose out of Ron's jealousy, would end for his need to save his friendship with Hermione. Natalie's only concern remained that Hermione would not let Ron slide gracefully into her favour. Over the past few days, Hermione had made several scathing and rather venomous remarks to Ron, causing Natalie to suspect that the girl had decided to enact a cruel revenge on her red haired best friend.

At breakfast, she did see Hermione reading their Ancient Runes textbook while quietly sipping a cup of coffee.

Upon seeing Natalie approach the table, Hermione looked up with a tired smile on her face. "How's the lovebird today?"

Natalie rolled her eyes. "How many times have I told you not to call me that?"

Hermione scrunched her eyes, pretending to concentrate. "I actually do not recall such an instance. Please remind me as to why you do not like that term."

Natalie sat down across from Hermione, grinning at her. "Well first of all, Harry and I do not resemble the short lived and feverish romantic couple who are blindly infatuated with one another. The term, lovebird, typically characterizes such a naïve and inherently unstable relationship."

"Something deeper, then, ooh, I see."

Natalie clicked her tongue in irritation. "Please don't do your Parvati and Lavender interpretation. It's not even that good. But yeah, we care about each other a lot; we are not just merely lovebirds."

Hermione smiled at her. "Ahhh. I see. Well, anyway, I'm very happy for both of you."

Natalie returned the genuine smile. "Thanks. But Hermione, this is an unusually early morning for you."

Hermione returned to reading her textbook. "So I can't wake up early if I want to?"

"You should be a politician, Hermione, because you really know how to evade a question. It's just –"

"What?" asked Hermione briskly.

Natalie struggled for the proper words. "Well, er, I'll just be straightforward. I'm worried about you. I thought you would be slightly happier that Ron and Lavender's relationship is starting to deteriorate, but instead, you have seemed to augment your aggression towards him."

Hermione quickly lifted her face to meet Natalie's eyes. "Why do you have the tendency to be so perceptive about the smallest and most trivial changes in my behavior?"

Natalie poured herself coffee and buttered toast. "Because I'm your friend," said Natalie stiffly.

Hermione grinned cheekily at her. "So you're going to exploit that sentimental phrase."

"I'm serious, Hermione."

Hermione sighed. "Ok, Natalie. As much as I hate to admit it, you are right, but do we have to talk about such a topic at this time of day?"

"I think this is good as any time. Don't tell me that the brilliant Hermione Granger can't think properly in the mornings."

Hermione stuck her tongue at her. "That wasn't even that funny."

"Hermione, let's talk."

Hermione returned her eyes to her textbook. She took a deep breath. "Ok," muttered Hermione. "But let me drink my coffee and compose myself before we go in."

Natalie nodded. While Hermione drank her coffee, Natalie ate her toast and began to slowly sip her coffee.

Once Hermione had drained her cup, she again lifted her eyes to meet Natalie's eyes. "Ok, whether you can see it or not, my attitude has become slightly more optimistic after I've seen how, er, Ron and Lavender are not going as strong. But Natalie, you have to realize that he treated me very badly. I implicitly expressed my desire to take him as a date to Slughorn's party and then shortly after, he starts acting extremely cold and distant with me. And, as an almost deliberate attempt to crush my feelings, he goes and plants his face on that girl in the middle of the Common Room and over the past few months, all I've seen is their snogging. It hurts a lot. What I'm saying Natalie is that you can't expect me to welcome back if he tries to be friendly with me. He has to realize how much he has hurt me and the only way he'll realize is if I be more assertive and aggressive with him."

Natalie gazed into Hermione's defiant eyes, considering her words. "I see where you're coming from but don't you think, er, continuing to bash heads with Ron is counterproductive from your perspective."

"How?"

"It's painstakingly simple. It clearly bothers you when you two fight and this fight has been especially brutal. So if you continue to shrug him off, you'll just be hurting yourself."

Hermione slapped her hand on the table. "Come on Natalie. Lift yourself out of that honeymoon shell. Nothing's that simple."

Natalie raised her eyebrows. "Ok, so what does Ron need to learn then?"

"He needs to realize how cruel and destructive his stubbornness is and readily letting us be friends will do nothing to teach him a lesson."

Natalie raised her hands in mock defense. "Ok, do what you want and take heed of my advice if you want."

Hermione nodded. "Thanks." She then closed her eyes, rubbing her hand through her face. "I did wake up far too early. I don't know how you do it everyday."

"My brain's always on the alert," bragged Natalie.

"Alert for Harry if you ask me," muttered Hermione as she dropped her face onto the table.

"Hey! That was uncalled for. Will you stop with the jokes about Harry?"

Hermione raised her head to smile triumphantly at Natalie. "Only if you decide not to talk about Ron."

Natalie sighed. "Fine. Shall we go to the library and begin on Flitwick's essay?"

"Yeah, we should," replied Hermione. "Though I do feel 10 minutes of sleep wouldn't hurt me so much."

"That's what Charms is for."

Hermione awoke from her sleepy reverie. "Of course Charms is not for sleeping. It is a thoroughly fascinating and interesting subject with a dynamic teacher in Professor Flitwick," declared Hermione, glaring accusingly at Natalie.

Natalie laughed. "Relax, Hermione. I know Flitwick's your second love, but there's no need to defend him in front of anyone except me. Anyway, I've seen your eyes become droopy in his class."

"Never."

They exited the dining hall to find an adamant Lavender interrogating a twitchy and nervous looking Ron.

"Where were you last night, Won-Won?" squealed Lavender.

"Er, well, er, I was in the library. I had some Potions homework and, er, well Harry wanted to go over some Quiddtich strategies," stumbled Ron. Natalie repressed the urge to laugh at his complete lack of tact.

"You went over Quidditch strategies in the library?"

Natalie could see Ron's mind begin to register his mistake and judging by the smirk on Hermione's face, she also noticed Ron's dumbfounded struggle for an excuse.

"Well, er, yeah, you know how serious Harry is about Quidditch."

At that moment, Natalie and Hermione passed the couple. Hermione coughed rather loudly, causing Natalie to stare at her curiously. Lavender immediately jerked her body around. Upon noticing Hermione, she glared coldly at her.

"What do you want?" asked Lavender dispassionately.

Seeing the hostility on Lavender's face, Natalie wanted nothing more than to hex her out of the castle.

Hermione did not flinch. "Harry is very serious about Quidditch so you should listen to his excuse," responded Hermione coolly.

Ron smiled gratefully at Hermione. Hermione returned the smile with a venomous glare.

Lavender's inimical aura instantly boiled into one of radiating anger. "No one asked for your comment. Anyway, I don't think he very much cares about what you say."

Natalie grabbed Hermione's arm which had immediately gone into her robes. Lavender, sensing the prodigious spellwork of the brown haired girl, retreated slightly.

Ron cleared his throat. "Lavender, stop that. You have no business insulting her like that and I do care about what she says," said Ron icily to Lavender before he strode away from them into the dining hall.

Natalie smiled cheekily at an appalled Lavender who before shooting Hermione another loathsome look, fled after her boyfriend.

"That was rather interesting," commented a bemused Natalie.

Hermione, still trembling, shook her head. "It just shows that she's a true bitch."

Natalie chuckled quietly. "I think we already knew that. But Ron did defend you."

Hermione pulled herself from Natalie's grip. "He was just trying to be noble and valiant to make up for his stupidity." She began to walk towards the library.

Natalie caught up with her. "Can't you see the positive side to things for once?"

"It's better to see the truth rather than be deluded by some romantic aspiration."

Natalie shook her head. "Honestly, Hermione, you'll see that an injection of optimism will do a lot of good."

"Ok, ok, ok. I'll try to be more like you. But let's just leave relationships and emotional turmoil alone for a while, can't we?"

Natalie grinned. "I was being a bit too interfering?"

"Almost like me. I know how annoyed you feel sometimes."

"I'm your friend," said Natalie defensively.

Hermione raised her hands as they entered the library. "I know and I do value your friendship. But you're sometimes way too perceptive."

After they had started on their essays and then decided to head to Arithmancy, Natalie saw an anxious Ron enter the library. To Natalie's surprise, he cautiously approached them.

Natalie glanced sideways at Hermione. Not noticing Ron, she was bending over behind the table, organizing her books in her bag.

"Look up," whispered Natalie.

"What?" said Hermione, straightening herself. "Oh."

Natalie gathered that she had become aware of their oncoming visitor.

As Ron reached their table, he shoved his hands in his pockets, rocking nervously on his feet. "Er, hi."

Natalie gave him her brightest smile. "Hello, Ron. Do you want something?"

Ron smiled weakly at her, his eyes flicking momentarily over her. He seemed to be deliberately staring into a blind space between the two of them. Glancing quickly at Hermione whose scowling face immersed in her Arithmancy book, Ron nodded slowly.
"Er, yes. Er, Hermione, thanks for, er, helping me there with Lavender."

Natalie looked hopefully at Hermione. Her head remained bowed down, showing no sign that she even knew he was fidgeting away in front of them.

"Hermione?" asked Natalie hesitantly.

Hermione lifted her head to glance pointedly at Natalie. "Oh sorry, Natalie. Did you say something? I think we should go to Charms."

Natalie could see Ron's ears start to become very red. If Ginny's temper was shared among the Weasley siblings, then Natalie did not want to find herself in the middle of a very nasty storm.

"Er, Hermione, I think Ron was trying to speak to you," said Natalie quietly.

Hermione turned her head dramatically to see Ron. "Oh. I had no idea he was here. What does he want?"

"Hermione, don't act like you don't give a damn. At least show some respect to me," snapped Ron.

Hermione snorted derisively. "Show some respect? I think it's the other way around."

"Listen, come on guys, we're not six year olds," said Natalie, looking pleadingly at both of the.

"Natalie, only one of us is a six year old," hissed Hermione scathingly.

"What do you mean it's the other way around?" asked Ron, his voice raising.

Hermione scrunched her eyebrows in mock concentration. "Oh wait, was I the one who completely rejected you after you asked me to Slughorn's party?"

"You never asked me. Anyway, you looked like you were having a good time with McLaggen."

"I never asked you? How thickheaded are you Ron? Sometimes, I wonder how you are able to weave together a sentence," exclaimed Hermione.

"Don't get into that stuff Hermione. I've tried to talk to you a lot of times, but you've just been your usual stubborn, superior self," said Ron furiously.

Hermione's eyebrows raised upwards, higher than Natalie thought possible. "My usual stubborn self? What other reservations do you have about me, Won-Won?"

"Oh let's see. You think you're so righteous and –"

"How dare you accuse me of being like that? You're the one who ruined our friendship by pasting your face onto that that girl," hissed Hermione, standing up and glaring venomously at the red haired Weasley.

"Hermione, sit down and Ron, calm down," said Natalie sternly.

Both paid no attention to her. "I could go on for weeks about your faults, Ronald. I'm surprised she has put up with you for so long," continued Hermione savagely.

"She obviously has more patience than you. No man would be able to put up with your nagging. Krum only liked you because half the time, he had no idea what you were saying," spat Ron, his face turning an extremely bright red.

Hermione stamped her foot violently onto the ground. "Speak for yourself, you bloody arse! You can't even kiss a girl properly and not to mention the pea sized brain. What a bloody waste of time you are for most girls!"

Ron clenched his fists, his eyes widening in brutal anger. As the expression on Hermione's face amplified into more intense and thicker fury, her eyes welled with tears.

"You two, get out of my library before you become any louder. Stop behaving like children," hissed an irate Madame Pince who had glided unnoticed to their table.

Hermione quickly swept from the room. Natalie shrugged apologetically at Ron who began to lift his bag and head out of the library.

The next morning at breakfast, Hermione looked at Natalie with a combination of bewilderment and frustration.

"What?" asked Natalie, quizzically.

"It's Ron's birthday," whispered Hermione, tracing her fingers on the table.

Natalie shook her head in irritation. "Go tell him then. It will save me from having to tolerate your restlessness for the entire day."

"I've told you repeatedly that he does not merit any sort of sympathy from me," snapped Hermione.

Hermione suddenly glanced confusedly over Natalie's head. "Don't look, but Ginny's heading in our direction very quickly."

Natalie sighed heavily. "Oh my, I don't want to engage myself in another argument with her."

Hermione shook her head. "No, I don't think it's that. She looks pretty scared."

A surprised Natalie swiveled her head to also notice Ginny. Hermione's description was a complete understatement. Ginny was rushing towards them, hastily navigating her way through the students while staring at Hermione with stricken fear. Natalie almost perceived that she had transformed into a different person. The brisk, daring aura had disappeared. Instead, the terror on her face constricted her movement into abbreviated, unnatural strides.

From the corner of her eyes, Natalie saw Hermione's eyes darken rapidly. Her face had become locked into one of appalling fear. Natalie could feel her stomach twisting unpleasantly and her eyes dilating; clearly, something was wrong and the person usually in the most danger would be Harry.

As Ginny met them, Hermione spoke with a very hesitant and concerned tone. "What's wrong, Ginny? Did, er, something happen to Ron or Harry?" Hermione's voice quivered on the last three words.

Ginny nodded, her hands trembling and her teeth mechanically clattering against one another. "It's Ron," whispered Ginny.

"What?" mouthed Hermione. Her hands were now shaking and her face had lost all emotion.

"He was poisoned by some mead he drank in Slughorn's office – Slughorn didn't know about it. We'll tell you what happened. He's still alive, but come to the Hospital wing."

Hermione nodded. Her body had begun to take a very visible and unsettling vibration. She glanced at Natalie who gave her a weak smile despite her own shock. They both stood up and then along with Ginny, rushed towards the hospital wing. When they reached the corridor, all three started to run frantically towards the wing.

Once they reached the ward, Natalie attempted to stay back in the corridor and let the other two see Ron. But Hermione urgently beckoned Natalie to follow them into the room and to Natalie's surprise, Ginny nodded as well. Natalie cautiously entered the room behind the other two.

"Oh Ron!" gasped Hermione, her eyes unnaturally dilated and her hands clasped over her mouth. Ginny's eyes had darkened considerably.

A hollow and nauseating wave of shock tumbled through Natalie at the sight of an unconscious, extremely pale and seemingly lifeless Ron. The clumsy determination and inflammatory aggression she had come to associate with the red haired boy appeared to have become entangled and drowned by an unseen but brutally sinister and wicked force. The only remnants of emotion were the slight flicker and trembling of his fingers.

As Hermione rushed to his bedside, Natalie managed to tear her eyes from the repulsive figure to notice Harry sitting next to his friend with a look of blank despair. She quickly stepped towards him, squeezing his shoulder reassuringly. He lifted his head to see her, a slight smile cracking on his face.

"It's terrible. Much worse than Katie," croaked Harry.

"What happened?" whispered Natalie. Hermione had now begun to sniff rather loudly, her face contorted into sickened trepidation.

"I think Ron took one of Romilda Vane's love potions, so I took him to Slughorn to get him sorted out. Slughorn managed to take away the effects of the potion. As a, er, birthday drink, he offered us his mead. Ron drank it before either Slughorn or myself, and well the mead was poisoned. And Ron – well, you know."

Natalie shook her head in repulsive agitation. "On his birthday of all days."

Ginny cleared her throat, causing the other three to look towards her. "Er, McGonagall recommended that we take the day off. The twins will be here soon and so will Bill, Mum and Dad."

Natalie raised her hand. "I'll go to class and collect the school work for you guys. Ginny, what classes do you have today? I can go ask the teachers what you missed."

Hermione smiled gratefully at her and Harry nodded silently, still glancing sadly at his friend.

Ginny stared at Natalie in dumbfounded surprise. "Well, er, yeah, that would be convenient. Er, yeah, thanks. Are you sure?" mumbled Ginny, stumbling over her words.

"Yes," said Natalie, trying to sound as sincere as she could. She supposed the image of a vapid and emotionless Ron had aroused an impulsive surge of compassion for her red haired enemy.

"Well, thanks, er, Natalie. Oh yeah, I have Potions, Charms, Ancient Runes and Transfiguration."

Natalie nodded. Ginny turned quickly away to look at Ron with a flustered expression on her face.

After one last smile at both Harry and Hermione, Natalie headed to her morning classes. She was barely aware of the assortment of curious looks that were sent in her direction as she walked quickly through the corridors into Charms.

Much of her morning blended into the poignant and gruesome image of an unconscious Ron. Even though she tried to concentrate on her lectures, her mind inevitably wandered to the circumstances surrounding Ron's poisoning. The poison was intended for a murder and most likely, the victim was not supposed to be Ron Weasley. Like the curse inflicted upon Katie Bell, the perpetrator of this attack was undoubtedly very crude, but blindly dangerous as he or she clearly had no qualm about causing a murder. That very thought evoked the familiar stinging sensation that spoke of inevitable fatality to Natalie's scared conscience.

Even more frightening was the tugging despair accompanying the very plausible possibility that the poison was meant for Harry. The person who gave Slughorn the mead likely had heard of his constant flattery of Harry; it would not be too far fetched to conclude that mead would be poured for Harry as well. Natalie shook her head. She was allowing herself to become engulfed by these recent events and submerge herself in augmented fear.

She returned to the hospital wing at lunch to see Ron. She was slightly taken aback when upon entering the corridor outside of his room, she encountered a large group of red haired people. She tried to find Harry, but could not discern his spectacles through the mass of red hair.

"Oy, who are you?" asked a stocky red haired man who looked barely older than her. He had a suspicious look on his face. An identical looking man, who Natalie supposed to be his twin, scrutinized Natalie carefully.

"Er, I'm Natalie – one of Ron, Harry and Hermione's friends."

Both of them paused to register her claim. Then they both immediately smiled at her. "Pleasure to meet you. Fred and George," recited the two in unison. Natalie then remembered Harry and Hermione telling her about Ron's very comical twin brothers who owned the rapidly growing joke shop in Diagon Alley.

Before she set out to shake hands, one of them turned to the rest of the group. "Oy, Harry, where are you? Your girlfriend's here."

"What?" asked Harry's voice behind the mass of red haired heads that had suddenly turned to stare at her in fascination.

Natalie's face turned a full bodied red.

The other twin glanced at her in amusement. "Oh look, she's embarrassed to be your girlfriend, Potter. That's almost a Weasley blush there," he remarked cheerfully.

"Leave her alone, Fred," said another man with a long, red haired ponytail, pushing Fred out of the way. She noticed in amazement that this man, likely another elder brother, had dragon hide boots and his general appearance resembled a flashy, rebellious teenager.

He extended his hand out to her. "Hello, I gather that you're Natalie. I'm Bill – Ron's eldest brother."

Natalie slowly shook her head. "Oh, Bill. Right. You work at Gringotts, don't you?"

Bill beamed. "Well, of course. I see that Ron has been talking a bit too much about me."

"Here's your boyfriend. Give her a kiss for us, Harry," chided the other twin, who Natalie supposed was George.

Harry had appeared at Bill's side, his face burning. "Sorry about them. They're always like this," muttered Harry.

"Oy, Harry, aren't you going to introduce us?"

"Fred and George, leave them alone," scolded an older woman with very long red hair and a familiar blazing glare on her face.

After shaking her head vehemently at the twins, the woman turned to gaze at Natalie.

Natalie smiled pleasantly at the older woman. "Hello, you must be Mrs. Weasley. I'm Natalie. Sorry about what happened to Ron."

The older woman nodded towards Natalie, a smile plastered on her face. "Yes, I've heard about you. Pleasure to meet you," said Mrs. Weasley evenly.

Natalie's smile faltered at the cool, uninviting tone in Mrs. Weasley's voice. Glancing into the woman's slightly narrowed, but intently piercing eyes, Natalie noticed a tense, but subtle air of disapproval radiating from the woman. At the corner of her eyes, she saw Harry frown at Mrs. Weasley, also taken aback by the sudden awkwardness between the two. To Natalie's relief, the others, conversing about Ron, had not noticed.

Natalie turned her gaze to Harry, hoping to change the subject. "How's Ron doing?"

"Better than before, but still unconscious," replied Harry grimly.

Natalie sighed. One of Harry's few flaws was his inability to provide a clear, detailed answer to simple questions.

The door to Ron's room opened. A slightly bald man bearing tiny fragments of the fiery Weasley hair stepped quietly into the room. "Four can go into the room."

Mrs. Weasley nodded, beckoning the man towards them. She walked quickly into Ron's room along with Ginny, Hermione and Harry. Before Harry left, he gave Natalie a tentative, but grateful smile. Natalie, however, felt relieved to be free of the woman's scrutinizing eyes, yet she could not pinpoint what exactly she had done to merit such a response from Ron's mother, who Harry had informed her as one of the warmest people he knew.

"Who is this?" asked the older man, staring pointedly at an again uncomfortable Natalie. She realized she was alone with four of the Weasleys without Harry as a buffer.

"Natalie Malkae. I do believe she is Harry's girlfriend," replied Fred cheekily.

The older man clapped her jovially on the back. "Finally, we meet. Arthur Weasley – the father of all of these boys and girl in the case of Ginny."

Natalie smiled at him, relieved that he did not share his wife's coldness for her. "Oh so, I supposed Harry told you about me when he went to your place at Christmas."

George shook his hand. "No, we figured it out. The bloke looked so happy that we thought You-Know-Who might have died for a moment. But then we realized he, like our brother, had finally discovered the prowess of a girl."

"But not any girl though, is she George?" said Fred, looking mischievously at George.

"Why of course not, my dear Frederick! It takes one hell of a woman to beat our little fiery monster, Ginevra, in a duel," replied George delightedly.

"Shut up you two. That's not something to be joke about," said Bill warily.

Natalie suddenly sighed in realization; she had almost forgotten about that incident and she remembered Minerva specifically saying that she would be writing to the Weasley's parents. Obviously, had, rather unfairly thought Natalie with a sharp of anger and disappointment, taken firmly to her daughter's side, simultaneously construing Natalie as a possible danger.

Natalie decided that it would be best to clarify and explain her view of the incident to Weasley's and hopefully appease any residual resentment. "I'm very sorry about what happened. I never meant to hurt Ginny. It was a really careless fight on both our parts. We both lost our tempers and unfortunately, my spell managed to hit Ginny."

Mr. Weasley smiled reassuredly at her. "We've already forgotten about that. Accidents happen with magic, especially when emotions run high."

"So how exactly did you meet Harry?" asked Fred, his face resting on his elbow in playful interest.

"Leave her alone, you two," reprimanded Bill.

"Just because you're getting married –"

"– does not allow you to not be interested in other romantic relationships."

"And when they include such a fanciable girl like this one, why shouldn't we be –"

"– curious," finished George.

Natalie laughed at the boisterous nature of the twins. She had never seen two people so enthusiastically connected.

"Listen, boys, I'm going to eat some lunch. Fred and George, please do not torment Natalie. Remember, your mother is within hearing distance," Mr. Weasley said before swiftly leaving the ward in slow, somber strides.

"Natalie, please tell us how you managed to fall for the Chosen One," pleaded George mockingly while Bill rolled his eyes.

Natalie laughed. "I think there are far more important things than my romantic life."

The other three looked grimly at the door. Bill chose the moment to speak. "It's sad for this to happen on his birthday. We knew that because we're so close to Harry and Dumbledore, that something this dangerous could happen."

"How is Ron?" questioned Natalie. She admired the steady maturity and calmness underlying Bill's words.

"Better than he was, which is not much to say," replied George without any sarcasm.

"Lucky that it wasn't worse," remarked Natalie, half-heartedly attempting to raise the abruptly dejected spirits of the three brothers.

"Thank God for Harry," whistled Fred.

"What? What did Harry do?" asked Natalie, sensing that Harry had not given her a very complete account of the poisoning.

Both twins smirked. "You didn't know? Well typical Harry, trying to be the modest hero for his girlfriend," said George, the previous sarcasm returning to his voice.

Natalie snapped her fingers in irritation. "You know, I'm starting to get annoyed with all this girlfriend rubbish. I like you guys but Hermione was right – you do know how to get on a person's nerves."

The twins raised their hands in identical feigned shock. "Oh my, we really have to talk to that Hermione –"

"And tell her to only reserve that mouth for our dear little brother. But Natalie, did you imply that you don't like to be called Harry's girlfriend?"

Before Natalie could defend herself, Bill glared at the twins. "They know what you mean Natalie. They're just being their usual idiotic selves."

Natalie smiled. "Thanks, but what did Harry do?"

"He saved the day. What else does Harry do?" replied Fred in mock bewilderment.

Natalie could not help but chuckle. "Boys really don't know how to give straightforward answers."

"Harry somehow pulled a bezoar from Slughorn's cupboard and gave Ron it before the poison became deadly. He truly did save Ron's life and we all are in debt to him," said Bill solemnly.

"Oh." Natalie could not summon any other response to the implicit meaning of these words. Like Katie Bell, the red haired boy in the room across from her would simply be dead without Harry's ability to summon dumbfounded luck and creative daring in these brutal situations.

"It was bloody brilliant!" exclaimed Fred and George together.

Natalie smiled sadly. "Harry will tell us it was all luck."

Bill nodded. "But others in that situation would have lost their nerve quickly. He just has –"

"An undeniable desire to beat death," stated Natalie proudly.

"Yeah," said Bill, his voice shaking slightly.

Ginny and her mother entered the hallway with wearisome, but visibly unsettled expressions on their faces. Harry followed with the same look of strained worry. And finally Hermione stepped into the hallway, still locked in a state of silent shock.

Mrs. Weasley wiped her very red eyes with a handkerchief. Bill, who had wrapped his hands around his mother, nodded to Natalie. "Natalie, you can visit Ron if you want."

Natalie smiled at Bill. "Thanks but I've already seen him and well, er –"

"Once is enough for your nerves," articulated Bill sympathetically.

"Well, then, I shall have lunch with your father. Remember – only four of you can go in there – no more," instructed Mrs. Weasley, a motherly sternness creeping into her words.

"Yes," piped Fred and George in unison.

"And both of you, please behave yourselves. This is a school and not some hooligan joke ship," ordered Mrs. Weasley, shooting a menacing glare at the twins who cringed slightly. Natalie suddenly realized where Ginny's temper originated.

After she walked away, Fred rolled his eyes. "Very highly she thinks of us," he muttered under his breath.

"Have you guys had lunch? I can stay here while you eat," offered Natalie.

"We had lunch just before you came. The house elves brought sandwiches. I think Mom and Dad just wanted some time to talk," answered Ginny with no trace of anger.

"Natalie, so what do you think about this entire mess?" asked Harry, turning towards Natalie.

"Don't worry, Natalie. Ginny and Harry have completely exhausted the topic of who is behind Ron's poisoning," commented Bill dryly.

Natalie shrugged her shoulders, wondering whether she should be honest with them. "Er, well, it seems very similar to Katie's attack. A very crude and almost blind plan that seemed to, er –"

"Get the wrong person," finished Harry grimly.

Natalie looked at Harry in alarm. "Well, er, yeah, I don't think Ron was the intended victim, but still, maybe the perpetrator wanted to send a scare into the school and so he or she just wanted to hurt somebody innocent."

"That's very probable," acknowledged Bill.

Hermione sniffed loudly, causing the others to jerk their heads to look at her. "Sorry, but I think we should realize that whoever gave the necklace to Katie and whoever gave the poison to Slughorn has definitely shown that they go at any lengths to get whatever he or she wants done. We should all be careful about anything unusual."

An appalled silence followed her statement. Natalie sensed that the others were starting to realize that with Voldemort's resurgence, they were all threatened to be engulfed by extremely sinister and insidious forces.

"But the question is really who, isn't it?" said Harry intently. Hermione frowned and with a sigh, Natalie recognized Harry's implicit suggestion.

"Well, yeah, seeing as we have nobody who would have done this," began Natalie, attempting to gather her thoughts. "But if you think about logically, you can rule out a student." Natalie detected al look of protest on Harry's face out of the corner of her eyes. "The Katie's necklace and Ron's poison are really dark and quite expensive objects – you'd have to find them in an underground, illegal shop. You obviously wouldn't get them in Hogsmeade and I doubt whoever sells these objects would sell them to a Hogwarts student. So like Hermione said, we know that this person is cruel, but his or her methods are rather crude and ill planned."

"We can eliminate any extremely murderous Death Eaters close to You know who since their means are more direct," stated Bill. His comment sent another shudder through the group.

Natalie nodded. "Then it's likely a relatively inexperienced Death Eater."

Harry shot her meaningful look. She rolled her eyes, knowing that Ron's poisoning would only strengthen his resolve to prove Malfoy's guilt.

Natalie decided to shift the conversation from the newfound fear that had disseminated through the corridor. "Harry, why did you and Ron go see Slughorn in the first place?"

"Yeah, Harry, why?" asked George.

Harry smirked. "You know the love potions that Romilda Vane was trying to give me?"

Natalie and Hermione rolled their eyes while Ginny clicked her fingers.

"Well, Ron accidentally took that love potion and so I took him to Slughorn to remove the effects."

Natalie saw from the corner of her eyes that devilish smiles had spread across the twins' faces. "Wait, Harry, there are girls who are buying love potions in the hope that it will slip into your pumpkin juice?" asked Fred in amazement.

Harry shrugged. "It's only happening this year."

"Quite the celebrity we have here," quipped George.

Harry's face turned red. "Well it's your potions they're buying."

Fred whistled. "I wondered why our love potions were selling so fast. Harry, my my, I never thought of you as the type."

Harry raised his hands in exasperation as Fred and George snickered. "It's not like I enjoy girls ordering love potions for me to take."

Natalie gave a wry smile. "Don't you two get tired of taking the mickey out of everybody?"

George raised his eyes in bewilderment. "Oh Harry, your girlfriend defends you?"

Natalie blushed a fiery red. She noticed Ginny shifting uncomfortably besides her.

"Just leave her alone," said Bill in a tired fashion.

Natalie checked her watch and realized with a slight shock that Charms would begin in ten minutes.

She turned towards the rest and motioned to leave. "Hey, sorry guys, but I have to go to Charms – don't worry Hermione, I'll get your homework. It was nice meeting you guys, Fred, George and Bill. Well, talk to you later. Say bye to your mum and dad for me."

"Nice meeting you Natalie," said Bill pleasantly, nodding towards you.

Both twins pointed towards Harry.

"Aren't you going to give your boyfriend a good-bye kiss?"

"You won't see him for another 5 hours."

Natalie rolled her eyes. "Oh my god, you two are really crackpots. But I have to go. Bye." She waved at them and walked quickly away before Fred and George could make another cheeky remark.

She did briefly make eye contact with Harry. They both shared a slightly embarrassed but amused expression.