I screamed. I couldn’t help but scream as Ron lay there on the floor, shaking and foaming. I dropped my glass of mead from my hand and raced over to him. Tears started to stream down my face as I heard my glass shatter on the floor. It was the only sound that could be heard other than Ron’s choking noises. I looked over at Professor Slughorn, who was just staring down at Ron. What didn’t he do something? He was the one responsible after all. I stood up and as soon as I did, Harry pushed me out of the way and shoved something down Ron’s throat. I suddenly wished that I hadn’t offered to help Harry get Ron out of the common room and down to the Potion Master’s office.

It had all seemed quite hilarious though because Ron had accidently swallowed a love potion that Romilda Vane had slipped into Harry’s chocolate cauldrons. He was comical the way he had been acting, and I tried my best to help him not fall off the back of the sofa, but when he does fall despite my trying, it tends to be laughable. Things had all of a sudden gone from happy to bad. It was in ten seconds flat, no doubt. Harry had screamed at me to help him to the hospital wing, but I was backing up. Despite the fact that Ron looked normal now, I couldn’t help but continue to sob as Professor Slughorn offered to help him. As soon as they were gone, there was only one thing that I could think of. Hermione needed to be next to Ron. So, I bolted out of the office and headed straight for the Gryffindor common room.

“Courtney?” she questioned, standing from the sofa. “What is the matter?”

“It’s Ron!” I shrieked. “You have to be there. Come on!”

Kam then walked down the stairs from the girls’ dorms. “What’s going on guys? Courtney, why are you crying?”

“Ron’s in the hospital wing. We need to be there!” I shrieked again and grabbed Hermione’s wrist and ran.

“Oh my goodness!” Hermione’s voice cracked once we had gotten down there. “What happened to him?” she stood beside his bed and let the tears flow freely from her eyes. “Courtney, Harry,” she said, looking from me to him, “What happened to him?”

“He’s been poisoned,” Harry murmured.

Kam squeezed my hand, and I laid my head upon her shoulder. How could the poison have possibly gotten into that bottle of mead? I was quite sure that Professor Slughorn didn’t have anything to do with it because he looked just as shocked as Harry and I had. I then remembered that Slughorn said that he had meant that bottle of mead to be a Christmas present for Professor Dumbledore. Wait…that only meant one thing…that someone was trying to kill our headmaster.

“This mead, usually having traces of cherry and licorice, has been heavily dosed with a deadly poison,” Snape had said from behind us. “Who could be possibly trying to kill you, Horace? If this was in your possession…”

“It wasn’t for me,” Slughorn replied in a small voice. “It was meant for Albus.”

“Professor,” I said, turning. “Someone is trying to kill you,” I started sobbing again as Dumbledore smiled sweetly at me. “First with the necklace. Now with the mead. You are being targeted, Professor. You need protection.”

“Thank you, Courtney, for your input, but I am quite aware of the situation. I appreciate your concern though,” he still smiled at me.

“Miss Flint, you are very perceptive. You could very well be placing blame on someone you wouldn’t want to,” Snape said to me with a nod.

“I know who it was,” Harry said forcefully. “It was Malfoy.”

“As I said before, Potter,” Snape smirked at him. “Do you have any proof?”

He shook his head. “No, I don’t. I just know.”

“How could you possibly know that it was Draco?” I asked. “Why are you quick to accuse him for anything strange that goes on around school? You really do need proof before you go spouting your mouth off, Harry.”

“Look, Courtney, I know that-“

“You know nothing!” I screamed at him.

That’s when the room got silent, and Lavender made her grand entrance. She was hysterical with her babbling about if Ron was asking for her and her sobbing like a mad woman. Her eyes then narrowed at Hermione.

“What is she doing here?” she asked rather rudely.

“I beg your pardon, but I have a right to be here,” Hermione said just as rudely.

“You have no right. With the way you’ve been treating him, you forfeited your right to be here with him. I’m his girlfriend-“

“Oh, shut it, you cow,” Kam was the one to speak up. “Nobody here likes you, not even your own boyfriend, so I say that you don’t have the right to be here.”

“Excuse me,” Lavender said, “but Ron happens to love me.”

“Are you sure about that?” Kam asked with a smirk on her face. “You better leave before I drag you out of this room by your hair, and I meant it. That’s not a threat, Brown. It’s a promise, and you know how good I am at keeping my promises.”

“Miss Diggory,” called one of the professors, but she wasn’t paying any attention.

That’s when Ron shifted in his bed and said something, but no one could make it out. All of us got closer. He was waking up! Poor Ronald. He had been through so much that day, and it was all Lavender’s best mate’s fault. That Ramilda Vane has got to set her eyes off of Harry. It will never happen.

“Hermione,” Ron murmured in his sleep. “Hermione.”

I smiled. I knew that he was really in love with her. That’s when we all heard a gasp from Lavender, whose mouth was hanging out like she was trying to catch flies. Yes, it was only a surprise to her that Ron wanted Hermione. Hermione was smiling from ear to ear as she took his hand.

“You-“ Lavender started to say, but that’s when Kam grabbed her by the hair and tore her out of the Hospital wing. Not even one of the professors had moved to stop Kam. That must mean they’re all in support of what had just happed. That’s how I saw it at least.

“Young love,” Dumbledore sighed from behind us.

A half hour later all the professors had left, Kamrynn strode in with a huge smile on her face. She came right over to me and plopped down on the chair to my left. Harry and Hermione smiled at her as if she had just done something that was so incredible, which it was. Everyone had been waiting to do something to Lavender since she started rooming with me.

“What took you so long?” I asked her.

She shrugged. “I had to beat her into submission.”

“You didn’t hurt the daft bimbo too much did you?” Hermione smirked.

“I certainly did, Herms,” her shit-faced grin getting even bigger.

“And I certainly did hope you would,” Hermione said and shocked all of us.

Kam then looked over at me and leaned in to whisper: “You better go out into the corridor,” she giggled. “You have a visitor…or at least I think he came here for you.”

My heart felt like it had stopped beating. It had to be Draco outside, but what was he doing there? He couldn’t possibly be waiting for me. I decided that it wasn’t the best thing to do to go out there and see him. He could wait out there all bloody day if he wanted. I had told him it was safer to be apart. I should’ve instilled that more in his head the first time around, but I didn’t have the heart to.

“Why aren’t you moving your ass out there? The guy is waiting out there silently for you. Now go!” And Kam pushed me off the chair.

“Fine,” I growled at her. “Only because I don’t want to be your next victim.”

Kam giggled. “Come here, my pretty,” she said in a strange voice.

I rolled my eyes and wondered out into the corridor, and sure enough, he was waiting for me at the end. He didn’t smile when I approached him but pulled me into him instead. I wrapped my arms around his neck, and the aching I never knew was there subsided almost instantly at his touch. His smell engulfed my nose and made me feel at peace since I had been crying nearly all day. My eyes then popped open once I realized that we were hugging in an open and very public place. I pushed him away from me even though I just wanted him to hold me for the rest of the day and into the night.

“Courtney, I’m so sorry,” he murmured to me, his eyes looking as if he was trying to push back some tears. “I love you, and I swear I didn’t mean it.”

My eyebrows scrunched together in confusion. “What are you apologizing for? You have absolutely nothing to-“

“Yes, I do,” he interrupted me. “It’s my fault you almost died today, Courtney. I’ve been stupid and careless with my actions, and I plan to think out any future plans before I just go and do them.”

“Seriously, Draco, how could it have possibly been your fault?” I laughed at him. “You’re just being paranoid. I know that you would never try to kill me or anyone else for that matter. You have too big of a heart to even think about it.”

He sighed. “Once again, Court, you are giving me too much credit. You seem to forget,” he looked around to make sure no one was around, “who I work for. I have been pushed into doing things that I would think too cruel for any teenager to deal with, and those things pushed me to do something that almost killed you, and I am so sorry for that.”

My breathing became ragged as I realized what he was saying. “How could you even been around Slughorn’s alcohol stash…” I then trailed off and remembered that I had caught him in Slughorn’s office at the Christmas party. “The party. Oh, Draco, how did you even get a hold of a poison that dangerous?”

He sighed. “My mother gave it to me just in case I needed it.”

I started to back away from him. “You’re trying to kill Dumbledore, aren’t you?”

“Courtney, you’ve got to understand that I don’t have a choice in this,” he whispered, reaching for me, but I pulled away. “Court…”

I shook my head, new tears starting to form. “Harry was right all along, and I’ve been protecting you!”

My voice echoed through the corridor, which caused Kam to come out of the hospital wing with a yell at Harry to stay back or else. She walked over to us and put an arm around me. I just shook my head at him before letting Kam lead me back to Ron. I looked over my shoulder back at Draco to see him sobbing on his knees and pounding his fists into the ground. I loved him, but how could he have hidden something so serious from me? How could I defend him now that I knew exactly what he was up to?

A/N: I know its been a rather long wait for this story, but i couldn't help it! sigh. anyway, comment, vote, and love! This chapter is dedicated to Miranda1995 because she is too awesome. You all should check her out because i hear that she has some pretty awesome stories! Thanks. :D