Chapter 105

Suspicions and Theories

Note from the Author's: Happy New Year everyone! May 2024 bring you all peace, joy, and happiness!

"So, not really the day we had planned, is it?" Fred asked, as he stood beside Ron's bed in the Hospital wing.

"Yeah, we kinda wanted him to be conscious when we gave him our gift," George added. "We thought we'd surprise him with some good news."

"Good news?" Lily asked.

"We were looking at buying Zonko's," Fred replied.

"Make it a Hogsmeade branch of Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes," George added.

"But this has put a dampener on the day," Fred and George spoke at the same time.

"What happened?" Bill asked, from the chair he was sitting in.

"Someone sent him a box of chocolates dosed with a love potion, which made him obsessed with Pansy," Lily explained.

"Why?" Fred and George asked, confused.

"We think it was to break apart our friendship, hoping Draco would become very jealous and attack," Lily answered.

"Last year, I would have attacked, but since I lost my parents, I've changed. We suspect Blaise Zabini, since he's running with Crabbe and Goyle, but that also shows how little they really know me," Draco answered.

"When we got to Slughorn's office, he cured Ron immediately, then poured us some mead. Ron drank his immediately, and that's where the poison was," Pansy said. "Slughorn mentioned it was supposed to be a present for Dumbledore, but they clearly didn't know him either."

"Thank Merlin for amateur hour," Fred said.

"And for you being there," George added.

"I'm glad there was a bezoar there. Slughorn froze up," Lily told them.

"You've helped save pretty much all of us now," Bill commented. "Ginny, Dad from that snake, now Ron, and don't forget the attack at the market."

"I'm glad we ran into you that day at King's Cross," Charlie agreed. "Mum should be down shortly; she's meeting with Dumbledore and Slughorn."

The entire Weasley family had arrived, including Percy, who was leading the investigation, but Lily knew he wouldn't be able to do anything without evidence.

"Percy might not be able to do much, but we can do something as part of the Order of the Dragon," Lily suggested.

"Like what?" Lavender asked, sitting in a chair and holding Ron's hand. Madam Pomfrey hadn't been pleased about so many people being there visiting, but Lily had pleaded with her to let them stay, especially given the circumstances.

"We know who did it, so now we need to find evidence. Unfortunately, we can't exactly go to the Slytherin common room, and using Polyjuice potion won't work. I've been keeping an eye on the map, and there's no way to fully track them as they keep disappearing," Lily said.

"You think Pettigrew told them how to stop showing up on the map?" Hermione asked.

"Would he be able to do that?" Draco asked. Lily had shown him the map a little while previously but hadn't had the time to tell him everything yet.

"He was Wormtail, and he helped create it. From what Uncle Sirius said, he only helped in mapping out some of the castle, but he was able to stay hidden for years on it," Lily replied. "It was only when he was under a lot of stress that his spell to hide himself began to fail."

"When your Uncle Remus escaped from Azkaban," Draco surmised.

"Exactly," Hermione confirmed. "Which means, unfortunately, that the map is going to be useless to us to track anyone."

"Unfortunately, yes," Lily concurred, sighing. "That had been our best shot of finding Zabini."

"What about tracking Crabbe and Goyle instead? They're following Zabini, and I know they're not good enough to cast a decent spell," Pansy suggested. Lily grinned.

"Pansy, that's brilliant," Lily said, before seeing Draco's grin.

"I have a better idea," Draco said. "We have someone who can track them in person and not be seen."

Lily immediately saw where he was going with his suggestion. "Draco, you're a genius as well," Lily commented. "We ask Dobby."

"You think he'll be able to help?" Parvati asked.

"Let's see," Lily said. "Dobby, we need you," she called out. With a crack, Dobby appeared next to Lily.

"Lily Potter, Miss, how can Dobby help?" Dobby asked, smiling.

"Dobby, we need your help tracking someone," Lily said, before explaining what they needed to Dobby. "You can't be seen, that's the most important thing."

"Dobby won't rest until Dobby has completed the task, Miss," Dobby said eagerly.

"Dobby, don't say that. You need to get some rest," Lily insisted. "Just… make sure you take care of yourself as well."

"Yes, Lily Potter, Miss," Dobby agreed, smiling before vanishing.

"He takes his work too seriously sometimes. My father never treated him fairly, but I was always thankful that he was around," Draco said.

"He's always willing to help," Lily agreed, before looking at Ron. "How long do you think he'll be unconscious for?"

"Madam Pomfrey said he'll be awake today, but he'll need a lot of rest," Lavender replied. "I won't be leaving his side."

"Didn't think you would," Bill said, smiling at her. "He's lucky to have you with him, Lavender."

"I feel the same way about having him," Lavender told him. "When he was professing his love for Pansy, I knew someone had done something to him. No offence Pansy."

"None taken, I'd feel the same if Draco professed his love for someone else, like Lily," Pansy chuckled.

"I won't let Zabini get away with this," Lavender promised bitterly. "He'll pay for doing this to my Ron."

"We'll make sure he doesn't get away with any of this," Lily promised. "Stay with Ron, keep him company."

"Wild animals couldn't make me move," Lavender assured her, as Molly Weasley entered the hospital wing, with Minerva following behind her.

"Thank you, Lily," Molly exclaimed, pulling Lily into a warm hug. "You saved him! You saved him!"

"It's okay, Mrs. Weasley. I wouldn't let anything happen to my friends," Lily gasped, although she was muffled by Mrs Weasley.

"You thought very quickly, Lily, and that was incredible," Minerva told her, smiling at Lily. "You were able to keep a cool head and retained control of the situation. Not everyone can do that."

"You helped teach me about that, along with Uncle Sirius," Lily pointed out, stepping back from the hug. "I'm just glad there was a bezoar to hand."

"We all are," Bill said, smiling. His smile faded as he looked at Minerva. "What did Slughorn have to say?"

"He can't remember who gave him the bottle, but he was certain he was in Hogsmeade at the time," Minerva replied.

"He doesn't remember when, does he?" Lily asked.

"Only that it was before Christmas," Minerva sighed. "Unfortunately, that doesn't exactly give us any clues."

"No, not really," Lily agreed.

"You should give Ron and Lavender some privacy, let them rest," Minerva suggested. Lily nodded, and as the large group left, Lily was determined to find out who was doing this to her friends.

"I have to admit, I don't fully understand how he managed to attack Katie, or get the poison to Slughorn," Charlie sighed, as he sat back in his chair. Lily had suggested they go to the room of requirement to discuss what had happened, with Bill, Charlie, Fred, George, and Percy joining them, whilst Molly had remained in the Hospital Wing. Crouch was also there, as was Minerva.

"Or how he managed to do it without leaving any evidence," Percy mused. "I'm not doubting you Lily, but without evidence, officially, I can't really do anything."

"I understand that, Percy," Lily said. "But we need to find a way to get evidence."

"How? It's not like we can just search the Slytherin common room, not without causing chaos, and we've only got suspicions to go on," Minerva told them.

"What if we start trying to figure out the why, rather than the how?" Parvati suggested. "We have a theory for why he had the love potion planted, but the poison was supposed to go to Dumbledore, so he wasn't exactly planning on that happening."

"Do you think he'll be cautious now, with his plan having gone badly?" Padma asked.

"Maybe, but at the same time, he'll likely see it as a partial success, having hurt Ron," Draco told them, before taking a sip of his drink.

"The way he thinks, you're right about that. Still, how did he manage to get the Love Potion into Hogwarts?" Hermione asked.

"Could he have stolen some from Slughorn's office somehow? Or the class?" Neville suggested.

"Or he got it from our mail order catalogue," Fred said bitterly.

"No, the stuff you make isn't as powerful, which you do on purpose. This was strong stuff, which means getting it from Slughorn's office is the likeliest explanation," Lily said, as she was pacing. "Still, it doesn't explain about how he can do the Imperius curse. As you said, Mr. Crouch, that requires a lot of power."

"It does, and from what I know of Zabini, he's not strong enough to cast that spell," Crouch confirmed. "Which means someone else is."

"Who in the school is powerful enough to cast the Imperius curse?" Ginny asked.

"Not many. I feel confident in saying that you and Lily are strong enough, maybe a couple of the seventh years, but none of the Slytherin students have the power," Crouch replied.

"Which makes this even more complicated," Minerva added. "Someone else has to be behind all of this, someone powerful."

"But if we start suspecting anyone, we risk going down the path of a witch hunt," Crouch warned them. "The second we do that, we all become paranoid. Right now, we've got to be very careful. We should continue on as though nothing bad has happened and wait for our opponents to let their guard down. The second they make a mistake, we pounce."

"Makes sense to me," Lily agreed. "Aunt Minnie, what do you think of all of this? I know you're not happy with how far we're taking things, but…"

"But right now, there are students at risk, and I won't allow more children to be injured, not if something can be done," Minerva replied, pursing her lips after. Lily could see how nervous she was about Lily's safety, but at the same time, Lily knew that Minerva trusted her, especially after everything they had all been through. "Just… promise me that you'll be careful, Lily. I don't want any of you to be hurt, but I can't lose you Lily," she said, before embracing Lily in a hug.

"Always, Aunt Minnie, I promise," Lily assured her. "I'll keep you updated on everything."

"Please do," Minerva told her. "Now, Barty told me about the last lesson you had with Albus. I want to discuss it, but we should wait until you've managed to complete the task he set you, so we have the full picture."

"Good idea," Lily smiled softly at Minerva. Her smile quickly faded. "Not sure what to do, but I'll find a way."

"You always do, Lily," Minerva smiled and placed a hand on Lily's shoulder. "You always do."

As Lily reached the common room, she noticed that the rest of their classmates were there.

"How's Ron?" Dean asked.

"He'll be okay. He's resting in the Hospital Wing and will likely be there for a couple of weeks," Lily replied.

"Any idea on who did it?" Cormac asked.

"We're pretty sure it's Zabini, but we don't have evidence, and we have a lot of questions," Lily said, sighing as she sat down.

"Can't Dumbledore do something?" Seamus asked.

"Not without evidence. Ron's brother, Percy, is investigating, but we're not sure what it'll turn up," Hermione answered. "Right now, we just need to keep going on with things, and let the Slytherin's make a mistake we can catch them out on."

"Anything we can do to help, we will," Dean said.

"Thank you," Lily replied. "I just want to make all this stop."

"We're right there with you on that one, Lily," Cormac said.

"Alright, let's get some rest, and clean up a little, shall we?" Hermione suggested. There was a collective groan from the group, but they began to clean up like Hermione asked.

"Cormac, Dean, can I borrow you?" Lily called them over before they went to do something.

"What's up?" Cormac asked, sitting in an armchair.

"I know this isn't exactly priority number one right now, but if we're going to keep a straight face, I need to cover all my bases. Until Ron's back, Cormac, I'll need you as Keeper, and Dean, can you take over as Beater for Cormac?" Lily asked.

"No problem, Lily," Cormac and Dean replied at the same time.

"Seamus, that'll put you as a sub, so be there ready to play in case we need you," Lily saw Seamus near them, and made sure he heard.

"Glad to help," Seamus nodded, smiling softly at her.

"Thank you," Lily told the three. "I appreciate it."

"You should go and rest, Lily," Hermione approached her as she spoke. "It's not been an easy day for you."

"For any of us," Lily pointed out.

"Come on Lily, rest," Ginny insisted, taking her hand. Lily sighed, and stood up, following Ginny to the dorm rooms.

Lily smiled at Ginny as they sat on the edge of Lily's bed, and pressed her lips to Ginny's, closing her eyes as she allowed herself to get lost in the moment, her breathing slowing as the moment practically slowed down time. Every kiss, Lily found, was perfect, and managed to make her feel like everything was… calm, and peaceful, despite the dangers around them.

"How do you always manage to make me feel better?" Lily looked into Ginny's eyes as the kiss ended.

"By being here where you need me," Ginny replied. "Just as you've been here for me, from the beginning."

"I don't know how I'd be so calm without you, Ginny," Lily told her, holding Ginny's hand. "Just… being next to you is calming, and intoxicating, in a good way."

"That's what love is, right?" Ginny chuckled softly. "I mean, I had a crush on you when I first saw you, and as I got to know you, it developed fully into love."

"I think I knew it was love when I saw you after I got past the dragon for the Triwizard task. You were there waiting for me, and you were the most beautiful sight I had ever seen. I looked in your eyes, and I saw the way you felt. I knew I wanted you, but I was scared of annoying Ron, and of being rejected by you," Lily confessed.

"I don't think I could ever have rejected you," Ginny smiled as she cupped Lily's cheek with her hand. "I'm always here with you Lily, no matter what happens."

"And I'm always here for you," Lily promised.

"Just… hold me, and stay with me?" Ginny asked. Lily nodded, as the two of them curled up together on Lily's bed, just lying there, looking up at the ceiling, and as she closed her eyes, despite it being early in the afternoon, Lily felt thankful that she had Ginny.

She didn't know how bad the war with Voldemort was going to get, but she knew that not only would she make Zabini pay for hurting Ron, but she'd also make Voldemort pay for every pain he had ever inflicted on her loved ones.

Whatever it took, she would stop him. Yes, she'd stop him to protect the world, but as she kissed Ginny's forehead, she also knew that she'd stop him for Ginny's sake.

For the love of her princess.