Disclaimer: This chapter is another one where a bunch of stuff is taken from The Half-blood Prince. More specifically Chapter 19 (Elf Tails) HP&tHPB but shown from our girl's view. All the props must be given to J.K.R. for creating it first.

-\?/- -\?/- -\?/- -\?/- -\?/-

The strange cold numbness from that morning had morphed into an even stranger glacial-like fury. As the minutes had ticked by and they waited for any news from beyond the doors, Harry and Ginny had become consumed with hypothesizing possible assailants and their motives. Along with the ever-worrying solution to how someone had managed to pull the attack off in the first place...

While she had stood to the side, unwilling to partake in the useless venture. Not when some of the greatest minds in the european magical community were already on the task. Instead, she chose to stare at the inanimate slabs of wood, memorizing the embossed grain as she hoped for them to part. That way someone, anyone, could come and tell them he was going to be alright.

It had been well after dinner time when Professor McGonagall had delivered the merciful reassurances that he would be. The tearful arrival of Mr. and Mrs. Weasley meant Harry was yet again hastily pressed for answers he did not have. After another hour of standing around ineffectually passed, they were finally allowed to see him.

Even with Madam Pomfrey's warnings, the sight of Ron was startling at first. He was so pale that it was hard to distinguish his skin from the sheet that covered the lower half of his body. A green-tinge had settled around his lips and contrasted horribly against the smattering of freckles across his long face. Most noticeable was the newly acquired gauntness to his features that had not been there the night before at dinner. From the poison itself or the subsequent fight for his life, she couldn't be sure.

Her knees buckled signaling that she had reached her limit and needed to sit down. The physical manifestation of just how close they had come to losing him was too much for her exhausted mind to bear. Thankfully the interruption of Fred and George's arrival distracted Pomfrey from sticking her in the bed next to Ron and a chair was conjured right behind her with a flick of the older witch's wand. With some help from Harry, she sat back and stayed quiet through the welcoming of the twins.

A much easier endeavor than trying to talk while tears fought to fall down her cheeks. She found herself grateful for the choice of silence when the conversation inevitably wound from an explanation of events around to speculation. As much as she would have liked to completely zone it out, she kept an ear on the conversation. There was no way she could forgive herself if she missed something important. Not when the stakes were so important and people's lives hung in the balance…

The conversation switched from Slughorn (the only other person in the room at the time of the attack) possibly being a Death Eater, to who would have reason to target him as a victim.

"Dumbledore reckons Voldermort wanted Slughorn on his side. Slughorn was in hiding for a year before he came to Hogwarts. And..." Harry said, trailing off at the end before quickly continuing. "And maybe Voldermort wants him out of the way, maybe he thinks he could be valuable to Dumbledore."

"But you said Slughorn had been planning to give that bottle to Dumbledore for Christmas." Ginny reminded him of the detail he had told them earlier in the day. Her eyebrows lifted as a new theory sprung from her lips. "So the poisoner could just as easily have been after Dumbledore."

"Then the poisoner didn't know Slughorn very well." Hermione interrupted, using her voice for the first time since that morning. She winced at how obvious her struggle not to cry was but didn't let it stop her. "Anyone who knew Slughorn would have known there was a good chance he'd keep something that tasty for himself."

Harry opened his mouth to respond but suddenly Ron gasped and then whispered her name. His voice was so raspy that she wished there was a spell she could use to help him but anything she did could have dire effects when mixed with the magic done to keep him alive. Especially when she didn't know the specific spells used.

She looked around for Madam Pomfrey but he instantly quieted down and started to snore lightly. Reassured that he was somewhat comfortable, she relaxed back in the chair, only to be startled into standing by Hagrid's unexpected and rather loud appearance. Unable to calm her hammering heart, she didn't sink back into the chair like her spent muscles screamed for her to do.

Independent of the conversation she looked back down at the boy she had thought she would spend her life with. Everything in her screamed out to take his hand in hers but it felt wrong, like she was playing the part that Lavender should have been there to fill. So she shifted far enough away that the feeling was able to ease and her concentration could focus on the newest theory to develop.

"Someone couldn' have a grudge against the Gryffindor Quidditch team, could they? Firs' Katie, now Ron..." Hagrid suggested the anxiety at the thought seeped into his tone.

"I can't see anyone tryin' to bump off a Quidditch team." George said skeptically.

" Wood might've done the Slytherins if he could've gotten away with it." Fred offered.

"Well, I don't think it's Quidditch, but I do think there's a connection between the attacks." She said quietly. Not sure if her two cents would be appreciated at the moment, considering it had to do with the facts they had, not outrageous speculation.

Fred smirked over at her as if he had been waiting for the resident know-it-all to chime in. "How'd you work that out?"

"Well..." She started again. "For one thing, they both should have been fatal and weren't, although that was pure luck. And for another, neither the poison or the necklace seemed to have reached the person who was supposed to be killed. Of course, that makes the person behind this even more dangerous in a way, because they don't seem to care how many people they finish off before they actually reach their victim."

The gloomy turn to her pronouncement appeared to have a sobering effect as the rest of them digested what she had said. The large doors opened once more and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley hurried down to the group that was gathered around their youngest son. As soon as they were within reach Mrs. Weasley was hugging Harry and thanking him for his quick thinking. Soon she was gushing over all of the times he had managed to save one of her kin.

"Half our family does seem to owe you their lives, now that I stop and think of it." Mr. Weasley said, his voice thick with emotion. "All that I can say is that it was a lucky day for the Weasleys when Ron decided to sit in your compartment on the Hogwarts Express, Harry."

"Yes, yes. We are all blessed to have the valiant Harry Potter in our mists but we do still have a six visitor rule..." Madam Pomfrey said gently but yet sternly, the look she gave at the oversized crowd told them she was not going to leave quietly without at least two bodies accompanying her.

Hermione smiled for the first time since re-entering the castle. There was a comforting normality to having the woman nagging at them. She and Harry stepped up as the ones to leave, quickly followed by Hagrid, that way the Weasleys could be left alone to have some time together as a family.

After some rushed farewells were issued the three of them headed out for Gryffindor Tower together. Hagrid decided to tag along since it was past curfew and Filch was out prowling because of the attack. She couldn't help but wonder, albeit guiltily, about how much information they might be able to wrangle from their loose-lipped friend…

-\/-\/-\/-\/-\/-

Later that night after she and Harry had left Hagrid arguing with Filch and returned to the common room she had retired almost immediately. Instead of the answers that she had hoped to gain from the half-giant all she had gotten was more to worry over. What were the muggleborns going to do if they closed Hogwarts? This was one of the last places they were safe. If they were sent off to their unprotected muggle homes with Traces still on them, they would be sitting ducks waiting around to be picked off by Death Eaters.

Her peculiar anger from earlier returned. She wanted to know who the attacker was. She wanted to be able to curse the savage until they no longer resembled a human being. She wanted to take their voice so no one could hear them scream in agony… Just like Katie. She wanted to leave them as wasted away as Ron.

An eye for an eye.

It was only fair after all...

The tips of her fingers tingled with the hum that always came prior to using magic. She flipped over in bed knowing she needed to get control before she completely lost it. Slowly she took deep breaths, focusing on how her lungs constricted and then expanded until she was able to trust herself again. Revenge was not where her mind would be used best. Not when she still needed to figure out what Neville had asked of her.

Today had, without a doubt, been a wake-up call. She missed having Ron in her life. She missed the way he would snort when he found some random thing funny. His embarrassment would then cause him to laugh all the harder. She missed his stupid jokes and how he was always up for a game of wizarding chess. He was one of her best friends and it wasn't right of her to get so pissed about Lavender or his ridiculous expectations of her.

Well... It wasn't right to hold onto those feelings for such a long time at the very least.

And if his mutterings were anything to go by he must have missed her as well. Why else would he have said her name in his sleep-induced delirium?

It could have been a subconscious response to hearing her voice… Regardless of the reason she had to do it. She needed to set aside the trivial nonsense and be his friend again before something happened and one of them was left with the soul-crushing guilt she'd had a taste of.

Her decision left her up most of the night as she contemplated her newest conundrum.

How in the hell did you have such an awkward talk with someone so soon after they had barely escaped death?