The Wonderful Break-Up

"Ronald, are you okay?" I asked him. I saw his reflection in the mirror, and he had this dopey, dazed look on his face. Me and Harry exchanged worried looks.

"Ron?" Harry said.

"It's beautiful, isn't it? The moon…" We noticed a box of chocolates by his side.

"Divine. Had ourselves a little late night snack, did we?" Harry asked him. Ron kept the same dazed expression as he turned to face us.

"It was sitting on your bed, the box. Thought I'd try one."

"Or twenty." I said.

"I can't stop thinking about her, you guys." Seriously?

"Really? I reckoned she was starting to annoy you." Harry said, and I nodded.

"She could never annoy me. I think I love her." We stared at him, dumbfounded.

"Excuse me?" I said, and he nodded. Once again, we exchanged glances.

"Well, brilliant."

"Do you think she knows I exist?" Okay, this was officially getting weird.

"I bloody well hope so, she's been snogging you for three months." I said. And breaking the heart of my best friend while doing it, I thought to myself. Ron looked confused now.

"Snogging? Who are you talking about?"

"Who are YOU talking about?" Harry asked.

"Romilda, of course. Romilda Vane." Oh shit.

"Okay, very funny." Harry said, which made Ron get angry and throw the box at him.

"What the hell was that for?" I said to Ron.

"This isn't a joke! I'm in love with her!" He shouted.

"Okay, fine! You're in love with her! Have you ever actually met her?" Harry said, and Ron calmed down.

"No. Can you introduce me?" And then he went back to his original spot by the window. I went over to look at the box with Harry, where sure enough, was a picture of Romilda Vane and a little note that said, 'Dear Harry, thinking sweet thoughts of you, happy Valentine's Day, Romilda'. Harry and I exchanged glances, remembering that we had heard that she was trying to smuggle him a love potion.

"Ron, these chocolates, they're—" I started to say, but Harry had a better idea.

"Come on, Ron, we're going to introduce you to Romilda Vane." I looked at him, and hoped he knew what he was getting us into.

Hermione, along with everyone else, had obviously gone off to bed already, so no one saw us dragging Ron out the portrait hole. After a few minutes, I realized where Harry was taking us. Brilliant, Harry.

As he banged on Slughorn's door, Ron started to get fidgety.

"Do I look alright?" He asked me.

"Devastatingly handsome, Ronald." And he smiled. Finally, we heard footsteps on the other side of the door, then a loud crash, followed by Slughorn yelling a loud profanity. Good ol' Sluggy. He opened the door, still quite groggy.

"Yes?! Oh, Potter, it's you. I'm afraid I'm quite busy at the moment." He started to close the door, but I stuck my foot in it just in time. It hurt, and I was sure there would be a nasty bruise there in the morning.

"I'm sorry, sir, we wouldn't bother you if it weren't absolutely important—"

"Is Romilda in there?" Asked Ron from behind us, which got Slughorn's attention.

"What's the matter with Wenby?" He asked. I leaned forward so Ron couldn't hear me.

"He's taken a very powerful love potion, Professor."

"Ah. Very well, bring him in." So we went into his office, where Ron sat on the back of a couch, hugging a pillow. Man, this boy was thick. "I'd have thought you could whip up a potion for this in no time, Harry, an expert like you."

"I figured this called for a more practiced hand, sir." Harry said. Slughorn chuckled appreciatively.

"Hello darling, fancy a drink?" Ron said to no one. Really, really thick.

"Perhaps you're right." Slughorn said.

"I'm sorry, sir, for our misunderstanding—" Harry said, but Slughorn waved his apology away.

"Yes, well, water under the bridge, as they say, right?" but he still looked wary of Harry. He he, wary of Harry. I was a poet, and I didn't even know it. I sat on a chair in the room, not wanting to interrupt them. This was a good plan Harry had here.

"I mean, I'm sure you're tired of hearing it after all these years, the questions. About Voldemort—"

"Don't say his name!" Slughorn said very sternly, which startled both Harry and I.

"Sorry, sir. It's just, Dumbledore once said that fear of a name only increases fear of the thing itself. It seemed to make sense." Harry said. Bold move, Harry.

"Yes, well, with all due respect, Dumbledore sometimes forgets that most people don't have powers so great that we can risk offending the most dangerous dark lord who ever lived." He had a point. It seemed that the potion was ready, as Slughorn went over to Ron and handed it to him. "Alright, my boy, bottoms up!"

"What is this?" Ron said, eyeing it nervously.

"It's a tonic, for the nerves." Which Ron seemed to believe, and he downed the potion right away. Slowly, his face changed, and he started to come around.

"What happened?"

"Love potion." I said, for the first time in a while.

"Bloody strong one, at that." Slughorn said.

"I feel… bad." Poor Ron. Slughorn went to his pantry.

"Pick-me-up is what you need, my boy!" He glance at Harry, "Do us all some good, I think. I've got Butterbeer… wine… ah, and a dazzling oak-matured mead! I had other intentions for this, but given the circumstances…" He filled four glasses and handed them out to each of us. Ron started drinking first, apparently parched. As the rest of us clinked glasses, Ron crashed to the floor before we had chances to drink.

"Ron!" I said, and sat next to him. Harry was at his other side in a matter of seconds. Ron was shaking, as if having a seizure, and I was afraid this was something serious. "Professor, do something!" I cried, but he was too confused.

"But… I don't understand…" But Harry was already up and on his way to the supply cupboard.

"He's choking!" I said, almost crying now. Harry was digging around in the supplies, until he found what he was looking for. He grabbed a small, brown stone, and ran back over to us. He shoved it down Ron's throat, which made Ron stop shaking instantly. The room was completely silent, and Ron wasn't breathing anymore.

"Come on, Ron." I whispered.

"Breathe." Harry said. And then Ron drew in a shaky breath, and opened his eyes. Harry and I Iet out sighs of relief.

"These girls are gonna kill me, Harry." And with that, he passed out, but kept breathing. Harry and I smiled at him.

….

We took Ron to the Hospital wing, where he stayed unconscious all night. We never left his side. That morning, I awoke to Harry gently shaking my shoulder, because people were starting to arrive to check up on Ron. Soon we were surrounded by Dumbledore, Snape, Slughorn, McGonagall, Ginny, and a very stricken Hermione.

"Quick thinking on your part, Harry, using the bezoar. You must be very proud of your student, Horace." Dumbledore said. I couldn't help but remember that it was in fact Snape who taught us about bezoars, but I didn't want to correct him at the moment.

"Huh? Oh, yes, very proud." Slughorn said.

"I think we can all agree that Potter's actions were heroic! The question is, why were they necessary?" Said McGonagall.

"Why, indeed." Said Dumbledore. He was examining the liquor bottle that had poisoned Ron. "This appears to be a gift, Horace. You don't, by chance, happen to remember who gave it to you, do you? Which, by the way, possesses remarkably subtle hints of licorice and cherry, when not diluted with poison."

"Actually, I had intended to give it as a gift, myself."

"To whom, might I ask?" And then Slughorn suddenly looked ashamed.

"To you, Headmaster." And then the doors burst open, and a distraught Lavender Brown came rushing into the room to be with Ron.

"Where is he? Where's my Won Won? Has he been asking for me?" she stopped when she saw Hermione, and got all upset. "What's she doing here?" Hermione stood up.

"I might ask you the same question!" She said. You go, Hermione. Tell her whose boss.

"I happen to be his girlfriend!"

"Well, I happen to be his… friend."

"Don't make me laugh. You haven't spoken in weeks! I suppose you want to make up with him now that he's suddenly all interesting."

"He's been poisoned, you daft dimbo! And for the record, I've always found him interesting." Ron snorted suddenly, which made us all look at him.

"See? He senses my presence. I'm here, Won Won, I'm here…" Ron started mumbling something that sounded suspiciously like Hermione's name, and turned toward her. Smiling, Hermione takes Ron's hand. I wished I could pat her on the back. Lavender got super angry, and stalked out of the wing. Dumbledore smiled.

"Ah, to be young and feel love's keen sting. Come along, everyone, I think Mr. Weasley is in good care." Dumbledore, you genius. We all started filing out, but Ginny and I stopped by Harry.

"About time, don't you think?" Ginny said, glancing over at Ron and Hermione.

"Tell me about it." I said, grinning. We all were looking at Hermione, and when she looked up at us, she smiled.

"Shut up."