Peppermint

shocking

Not all the answers are the same, yet we still play the game

"But he's going to be okay?"

Harry, Hermione, Ginny, the twins, and I were all gathered around Ron's bed, watching as he snored lightly. By some strange piece of luck, Harry's trick with the bezoar had worked, and Ron was now on the mend. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, who had run in earlier in a frenzy, were now in Dumbledore's office.

Harry nodded. "Yeah. He's going to be fine."

Ron let out a string of mumbles before a loud snore.

"So the poison was in the drink?" George asked.

Harry nodded. "Slughorn poured it out—"

"Would he have been able to slip something into Ron's glass without you or Pepper seeing?"

He shrugged. "Maybe—but why would Slughorn want to poison Ron?"

Fred frowned. "What if he meant to get you?"

"Why would Slughorn want to poison Harry?" Ginny asked.

He shook his head. "I don't know, but aren't there a lot of people who'd like to poison him?"

"So you think he's a Death Eater?" Ginny asked, and I tried my best not to flinch at the term.

"I think anything is possible," he replied darkly.

"What if he's under the Imperius Curse?" George offered.

"Or he could be innocent," Ginny sighed. "The poison could have been in the bottle, in which case it was probably meant for Slughorn himself."

"Who'd want to kill Slughorn?"

"Dumbledore reckons Voldemort wanted Slughorn on his side," Harry piped up. "Slughorn was in hiding for a year before he came to Hogwarts. And maybe Voldemort wants him out of the way. Maybe he thinks he could be valuable to Dumbledore."

I nodded in agreement, remembering Harry's task to get that memory from Slughorn.

"But didn't you say Slughorn had been planning to give that bottle to Dumbledore for Christmas?" Ginny questioned. "So couldn't the poisoner be after Dumbledore?"

As soon the words left her mouth, a nasty feeling started to spread down my body. If it was meant for Dumbledore... Did that mean Draco had done it?

"Then the poisoner didn't know Slughorn very well," Hermione croaked, speaking for the first time since Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had arrived. "Anyone who knows Slughorn should have known there was a good chance he'd keep something that tasty for himself."

"Hermione."

Everyone's attention snapped back to Ron, who was still fast asleep. I was unsure if I had even heard him correctly when he spoke again.

"Her... Hermione."

I watched as Fred and George's faces split in huge grins, sending winks my way. I bit back a smile, momentarily forgetting about the possibility of Draco being the reason why Ron was in the hospital wing in the first place.

Before anybody could say anything else, though, Hagrid burst into the room, loudly demanding to know where Ron was. We were barely able to debunk Hagrid's theory that someone was after the entirety of the Gryffindor Quidditch team when Mr. and Mrs. Weasley scurried back inside.

After an awkward five minutes of Mrs. Weasley profusely thanking Harry for saving yet another one of her loved ones' lives, Harry, Hermione, Hagrid, and I left Ron in the care of his family.