Harriet Potter

After we took Ron to Madam Pomfrey at the school hospital, Dumbledore, McGonagall, Ginny, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, and the twins showed up one after another, each demanding to hear the story of Ron's poisoning several times.Slughorn disappeared at some point, and I spoke dryly, while Hermione stood aside with a pale face and fear, and only said a few hoarse words when McGonagall asked her about it.We waited outside the door all day, trying to look in whenever someone came in or out, until Madam Pomfrey allowed us to visit at eight o'clock in the evening.

Once inside, Hermione grabbed Ron's hand by the bed and I brought her a chair.Ron mumbled indistinctly in his sleep, and we continued to discuss the attack around him, Hermione still not involved.After a while, Hagrid rushed into the school hospital in a hurry, and joined the topic after confirming that Ron was fine.

"For whatever reason, I think there is a connection between the two incidents." Towards the end of the discussion, Hermione concluded softly, "First, both should have been fatal and didn't, although it was pure luck .Secondly, neither the gun nor the necklace seemed to have harmed the intended target. Of course," she said thoughtfully, "it seems that the person behind the scenes is more sinister, because they don't seem to care how many people they kill in order to attack the real target. "

Before anyone could answer the ominous prophecy, the door of the ward opened again, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley hurried to the bed.Their last visit was just to make sure Ron was fully recovered, and now Mrs Weasley gave me a hug that took my breath away, followed by Hermione.I was overwhelmed by their gratitude, but Madam Pomfrey came in immediately and reminded us that we could only have six visitors at most at the same time, and Hagrid and I left the room immediately.I thought Hermione would stay, but she pressed a kiss to Ron's forehead and followed us.When I closed the door of the ward, I saw Ron's family members smiling warmly, jokingly or relievedly at the scene just now.

We met Filch in the corridor, and he and Hagrid quickly started shouting at each other, while Hermione and I took a shortcut back to Gryffindor Tower.The bleary-eyed Fat Lady let us unhappily into the common room, which is now empty and the ashes in the fireplace are dying out.I've recounted what happened enough times today, so I'm glad the news hasn't gotten out yet.But before I could breathe a sigh of relief, Hermione suddenly hugged me, buried her face in my neck and started sobbing.

"It's all right, Hermione." I stroked her back awkwardly, trying to reassure her, "Ron's all right, he's fine. He'll be out of the hospital soon."

"I can't imagine . . . if he . . . " broke out Hermione, "he almost . . . "

"He's fine," I said firmly. "We saved him."

Hermione burst into tears, wet my shoulders.I hugged her, and the aftermath seemed to drop from the sky: If none of us thought of bezoars, if there were no bezoars in Slughorn, if bezoars didn't work for this kind of drug...there are so many possibilities Sex will keep Ron from ever coming back to us, but he's sleeping in the school hospital now and will be back safe and sound soon.I can't imagine Ron without him, and I can't imagine Hermione without him.The three of us share a stable, unbreakable bond and we can't afford to lose any of us, we'll always come back to each other.

"I'm sorry," Hermione straightened up after a long while, wiping tears, "I just couldn't... this was so stupid, all I could think about when Ron was in there was that we didn't even finish once Official date. I always have so much to do, so many books to read - my homework, looking up the Half-Blood Prince and Horcruxes... and by the way, I sometimes 'make time' with him - but That stuff doesn't matter at all!" she said vehemently, with hatred flashing across her face that made me cringe, "what's the point of those things? They take up so much of the time I should be spending with him, I waste After so much time, if..."

Almost in a heartbeat, panic hit me and I grabbed Hermione's hand.

"No if." Hermione's hand was covered with cold sweat and trembling in mine. "Listen, Hermione, you've wasted all that time, and Ron has been rescued. We'll see him again tomorrow, and you can spend the whole day with him. Then when Ron wakes up, you want to be the first Tell him what you're thinking, over and over again. You'll tell him how much you love him, that you won't waste a second of his time, and thank God with all your heart that he didn't find out too late. "

Hermione took a deep breath to calm herself, and smiled palely, "You said that to Ron too, didn't you?"

"Almost, not that vivid, probably." I breathed a sigh of relief, "Speaking of which, you two got back together the next day, and I never asked you what you said."

"Oh." Hermione gave a more real smile. "He blocked me on the way from the library to Gryffindor Tower, and I couldn't utter a word for a long time. I walked around him and went on." Go and he grabbed my arm. I got mad and said 'Ronald Weasley -' and he suddenly said very loudly 'Doesn't Harry like Dee -' oh sorry Harry! "

I let go of Hermione's hand and stood there until my heart no longer felt like it was going to burst into my chest before I said cautiously, "Well... that's like him."

"I'm sorry." Hermione looked at me worried and guilty.

"It's nothing," I clenched my fists. "It's nice to hear that there's something good about it—"

"There you are, Potter!"

We both jumped up in shock at the same time, and a huge figure appeared from the seat in the distance. I took a closer look and it was Cormac McLaggen.

"I've been waiting for you to come back," said McLaggen, ignoring Hermione and my drawn wands, "must have dozed off. I saw them take Weasley to the school hospital, it seems He won't be able to play next week."

"You talk, I'm leaving first." Hermione said, and hurried up the stairs leading to the bedroom.

"Oh, by the way, Quidditch." I tucked my wand back into the waistband of my jeans and ran through my hair wearily. "Yeah...he probably won't be able to go."

I had no reason to say no to McLaggen's request to join the practice, I hadn't even considered him as a backup, but he was the second-best player in the trials.In the second night's training he was obviously eager to prove that he was the best choice, and not only about the goalkeeper. He kept criticizing the actions of other players and correcting my tactical configuration, but often missed the ball due to distraction. I had to remind him several times to let him do his job and that I was the captain.Already at the end of training more than once I wondered if it would be better without the goalkeeper than with him.

Things didn't improve in the next couple of sessions, McLaggen did play well in the few moments when he could concentrate on goal, but his coordination with the rest of the team and Ron were at their worst. By the end of the last training before the game, more than half of the team members had clearly expressed their desire to cast a spell on him, and some had done it more than once.

"At least one more day," I whispered to Ginny in the locker room, "we don't have a second backup goalkeeper available right now, okay?"

Before returning to the dormitory, I visited Ron in the school hospital. When I walked into the ward, I was not surprised to hear Hermione's voice explaining Gump's basic transformation rules.Beside the bed was a sizable table, covered with books, papers, and intricate diagrams.Hermione went to Ron's ward to do his homework and teach him today's lesson after class every day-as soon as I appeared at Ron, I gave him a distressed look for help.

"How's McLaggen doing?" he asked nervously.

"He's the best in the world and I don't want to keep him," I said. "He's always beating people up and thinking he's better than the rest of us in any position. I can't wait to get rid of him. You'd better get back sooner." "

"That's good..." Ron breathed a sigh of relief, and quickly corrected himself, "I mean, that's too unfortunate. Do you think you can beat Smith and Griffin tomorrow?"

"I'm pretty sure your sister's going to beat McLaggen as soon as the race is over tomorrow." I sat down next to his bed. "I'll just have to look forward to that."

"He to Ginny -?" Ron jerked up, and Hermione gave him a reproachful push on the shoulder and made him lie down.

"Ginny will be fine, she's an expert in bat spells." I said gloomily, "but if I lose to Smith and Griffin tomorrow, I might kill myself."

"You don't," said Ron carelessly. "You just have to catch the Snitch before McLaggen can mess with it, and it's not going to be a problem for you. You didn't do it the other time against Hufflepuff. Caught it in five minutes, remember? Though I still hope McLaggen gets a little something like a Bludger in the head—”

"Ron!" said Hermione, amused.

"What did Madam Pomfrey say?" I asked. "Can you come tomorrow?"

"No." Ron snorted, "She's afraid I'm 'overexcited'. I'm obviously fully healed, and it's fine to play—"

"Don't you dare," Hermione warned. "If you want to go back soon, you have to obey the doctor's orders, Ron."

I had to go to Snape's Occlumency class in the evening, and I left the ward after a short stay, Ron still yelling "see you after the game" and "good luck" when the door closed.It's definitely too late to watch the time to eat, but throwing them up on the office floor isn't that appealing anyway.I hurried down the empty hallway to the basement, the sound of echoing footsteps unnerving for some reason, as it had been the few times I'd been to Occlumency class, as if someone was watching me from the corner.Before turning the corner, I stopped and quietly held my wand and looked around, but there was still nothing unusual.

But I found that the little girl dressed up by Gore was waiting at the door of the office. Before I could hide, she had already dropped the brass balance to the ground with a bang.I almost rushed to the door, only in time to hear Malfoy yell out the last "I know how to hide my things, don't worry about it".Then the door was flung open by Snape, and he gave the little girl a look, who stepped back immediately.That's when Malfoy pushed his way past Snape in a huff, gave me a sullen glance, and strode away, the little girl running after him.

Snape turned and entered the office without even looking at me, his black robes fluttering behind him.I followed, closing the door behind me, trying to clear my mind.The conjectures in my head quickly calmed down, and I've found it a lot easier to do this lately, and it's also easier to do things that require concentration—such as casting silent spells and summoning Patronuses.From this point of view, my Occlumency has indeed improved somewhat, at least I can control my brain better.

"Get out your wand, Potter," said Snape.

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

"Yes, sir."