Obligatory Disclaimer: I don't own the Harry Potter universe or any of the characters living there.
Summary: Ron thinks Harry has gotten his way long enough and decides to confront him about it with disasterous consequences! H/Hr Please feel free to R&R!
A/N: This is just one scene that has been running through my head that I was going to put into a larger story. Unfortunately, I may never have the time to sit down and write that story. I had to write this. It was making it impossible to study for my Operations Research test. I hope you enjoy it.
Harry hadn't seen that coming. Ron had just blown up at him without warning. He knew that Ron had been jealous of the attention that Harry was getting from everyone, but he thought that Ron had worked past that last year during the Tri-Wizard Tournament. Guess not.
"Why doesn't he understand how difficult it is to be The Boy Who Lived?"
Hermione did the only thing she could think to do; she pulled Harry into a deep and loving kiss. When they separated she still held him close and said, "I don't know where all of that out there came from but you've given him a lot to think about. Maybe he'll come around, maybe he won't. No matter what happens I'll still be here.
"Harry, I want you to promise me something. Promise me that you won't keep that much emotion bottled up anymore. It was really scary to see you finally pop. Promise me that you'll come to me and talk about it, please?"
Harry stepped back just enough to look her directly in the eyes, and with as much love as his frazzled nerves would allow him, and said, "I promise to do my very best. I'd do anything for you, 'Mione. I love you."
They didn't leave Harry's room in the prefect dorm for the rest of the night.
~~~ Moments ago in the Gryffindor Common Room ~~~
Harry had just sat down at one of the tables near the fireplace to try and catch up on some of his homework that he'd been putting off all week. He'd had Quidditch practice every night this week. Angelina, the team's new captain, has been working them very hard in an effort to make sure they were ready for their game against Ravenclaw on Saturday. Ravenclaw had beaten both Slytherin and Hufflepuff and had a lead in the point standings over Gryffindor by seventy points. There could be no room for error if Gryffindor was going to defend its title.
Harry was startled shortly after starting his Potions essay on the comparative qualities of the Eagle-eyes and Night-Sight potions. Ron had burst in through the portrait hole, slamming it in his haste. He looked up. Ron's face was almost as red as his hair.
"You just can't help yourself, can you, Harry? You have to have everything, don't you?" Ron yelled without caring that others were also studying.
"Ron, what are you talking about?" he asked while finishing the sentence he was writing before setting his essay aside.
"Oh, like you didn't already know! You get good marks in almost every class without really trying. Everybody looks up to you like some kind of god. Plus you're on the house team. Malfoy's right about you; you're Mister Perfect Prefect Potter!" Each sentence brought a deeper shade of red to Ron's face.
Without thinking Harry stood up quickly, his forgotten Potions book flying from his lap. He was now standing almost nose to nose with Ron, instantly angered.
"You think my life is perfect?!? Everyone expects me to be the best at everything I do just because I'm alive! Harry Potter, the boy who once defeated Voldemort, can do everything! I'm nowhere near perfect. I would think that you, of all people, would know that!" Harry didn't care that he and Ron now had an almost captive audience, which was growing larger as their fellow students started coming down from the dorms to see what the ruckus was about.
"Hogwash! Perfect Potter can do no wrong! Don't think I haven't noticed that your grades are now competing with Hermione's. And you don't study nearly as much as she does! Why, I don't think I've seen you crack your books open more than an hour or two any given week. With all the time that you've been spending with Dumbledore and McGonagall it's a wonder you even have time to play Super Seeker with Fred and George. I know you don't seem to have any time for your friends, or I should say friend, because you still make time for Hermione every spare chance you get!" At that Ron started to turn to go to his dorm room. Harry wasn't going to let him get the last word, though. He grabbed him by the arm and forced him to face him again.
"Let's look at my perfect life, shall we?! My mum and dad were killed when I was just a year old. I've had to live with the Dursleys ever since, and if you think that was great fun then you're way off your rocker. I'd sooner live in Snape's office! But Dumbledore insists that I return every summer to that horrible place while you get to go home to your family who all love you immensely. Any one of them would give their life for you! Anytime you have a problem you can simply walk into the next room and ask a brother or your parents. Me? I have to send a letter to someone like Dumbledore and wait for a week or so for a reply.
"Don't even get me started on homework! During the summers I have to do all my schoolwork when the Dursleys are asleep, hiding under a blanket for fear of someone seeing the dim light I use. You could plop down on the kitchen table in broad daylight and do yours. If you ever did it in the first place! You have no idea how much I envy you and your freedom! You have all these things going for you and you take it for granted.
"How about the rest of the wizarding world, let's not forget them! Whenever I meet anyone new the first thing they look at is my forehead. You have no idea how annoying that is. Everyone, including Dumbledore, probably the most powerful wizard alive today, thinks that I may be the only one who can defeat Voldemort. How would you like to have that hanging over your head every moment of every day? The fate of the entire world rests upon my 15 year old shoulders!
"On top of that, I could inadvertently get someone killed just by being around them at the wrong time, just like Cedric Diggory! He didn't deserve what he got. If he hadn't grabbed the Tri-Wizard cup with me he'd still be alive. I live in fear that it'll happen again! Who'll it be next? You? Hermione? One of your brothers, or Ginny? I care about all of you so much that it scares me to no end to think that I may be the cause for your deaths!
"You guys were the only ones who looked at me and saw ME and not the SCAR! I guess I was wrong about you, though. Obviously that's all you're seeing now. I never asked for any special attention. I certainly didn't ask to be made a prefect! My life was complicated enough as it was.
"And how would you like to have your dreams interrupted by visions of the unspeakably evil acts that Voldemort has been planning? I'm lucky if I can get a night's sleep once in a while." Harry had to stop and take a few long, deep breaths. Ron wasted no time.
"Boo hoo! Poor Harry had to live with bad muggles for so long. I'd throw you a pity party, but you don't deserve it. You've wasted no time in getting everything you could from the wizarding world to more than make up for the inconvenient life you used to have. Little Harry Potter has no money to buy his school supplies. Oops. Forgot to tell you Harry, you've inherited a vault FULL of galleons, sickles, and knuts! But we can't have you spending any more than absolutely necessary. Need a pet? Here you go, Harry, a rather rare snowy owl just for you!
"Oh no! All-mighty Harry made the Quidditch team but he doesn't have a broom. Let's just give him a Nimbus Two Thousand! And throw in a little something from his father so he can use it to break curfew so we can just look the other way!
"Uh oh. Potter's broken the law! We can't expel HIM, which unfortunately means we can't expel that worthless Weasley either. Look out, he's broken about fifty more so we'll give him and that other boy an award.
"Bloody hell, Harry's precious broom has been smashed into kindling. Here you go, how about a Firebolt to help the grieving process.
"Hey everybody look! Here comes famous Harry Potter. Let's go say hi and see if he'll be our friend.
"If that weren't enough, you had to go and ask Hermione out! Even though you knew I was thinking about asking her myself. Naturally, she said yes to the great Harry Potter! She'd probably jump up on the table in the Great Hall and spread her legs if you asked her to! She's been hanging on…." He never got to say "your every word since day one."
WHAM!
Before either of them knew what happened Ron flew across the room like he had been hit by an invisible fist, crashing into the wall between the stairwells leading to the dorms. Everyone quickly got out of Harry's way as he walked straight toward the nearly unconscious form of his 'friend'. No one missed the sparkling energy that was starting to form around Harry's eyes, which looked like they cold kill you if he just looked at you.
Harry bent over Ron and slapped him hard enough to make sure he had his undivided attention then grabbed him by the front of his collar and yanked him to an almost sitting position.
"It is one thing to insult me, call me names, or distort a situation to fit your
own delusions. It's an entirely different thing to say what you just said about someone who has stood by you everyday for the last five years! Hermione even defended you to me last year when you stormed off in your fit of anger, or jealousy, when you thought I had put my name into the Goblet of Fire. She does not deserve to be treated like that. If you ever say anything even remotely like that again, and I find out about it, the mum will kill me because I'm going to kill her poor Ronnikins!
"Don't look away from ME!" SLAP! "I'm not done yet. Since you seem to have forgotten, I did wait. I waited almost two years for you to ask Hermione out. You never did. Every time I thought that you would you just chickened out and mumbled something about having to be somewhere. Here's a newsflash for you! Hermione was waiting for you to ask as well! You just waited too long." Harry released him and Ron fell back against the wall. Harry stood up, now noticing for the first time that there were other people in the common room. He looked around at the faces of his fellow Gryffindors. It looked like everyone was there, including Fred and George Weasley, and stand not more than five feet away was Hermione. She looked like she couldn't decide whether to be embarrassed by what Ron had said, angry that Ron even thought them about her, happy that Harry cared so much about her, or scared of Harry for the incredible power that he threw at Ron without so much as lifting a finger.
Harry had to look back down at Ron. Lying at his feet like a broken marionette doll, Ron just stared back up at him, his eyes still burning with anger. But there was something else there as well. Fear? Uncertainty? Remorse? Harry couldn't tell and frankly didn't care at that point.
"Ronald Weasley, son of two great parents and brother to six wonderful siblings, who can do whatever he wants whenever he wants because he doesn't have to live up to anyone's expectations, who has grown up in a loving home, anytime that you want to try and live a while in my place just let me know! I'd gladly trade all my money in Gringotts if I could've had the childhood you've had. You might just find that the grass isn't greener on my side of the proverbial fence!"
With a quick look around the common room again Harry vanished, along with all of his schoolwork, that laid forgotten near the fire, and Hermione as well.
Summary: Ron thinks Harry has gotten his way long enough and decides to confront him about it with disasterous consequences! H/Hr Please feel free to R&R!
A/N: This is just one scene that has been running through my head that I was going to put into a larger story. Unfortunately, I may never have the time to sit down and write that story. I had to write this. It was making it impossible to study for my Operations Research test. I hope you enjoy it.
Harry hadn't seen that coming. Ron had just blown up at him without warning. He knew that Ron had been jealous of the attention that Harry was getting from everyone, but he thought that Ron had worked past that last year during the Tri-Wizard Tournament. Guess not.
"Why doesn't he understand how difficult it is to be The Boy Who Lived?"
Hermione did the only thing she could think to do; she pulled Harry into a deep and loving kiss. When they separated she still held him close and said, "I don't know where all of that out there came from but you've given him a lot to think about. Maybe he'll come around, maybe he won't. No matter what happens I'll still be here.
"Harry, I want you to promise me something. Promise me that you won't keep that much emotion bottled up anymore. It was really scary to see you finally pop. Promise me that you'll come to me and talk about it, please?"
Harry stepped back just enough to look her directly in the eyes, and with as much love as his frazzled nerves would allow him, and said, "I promise to do my very best. I'd do anything for you, 'Mione. I love you."
They didn't leave Harry's room in the prefect dorm for the rest of the night.
~~~ Moments ago in the Gryffindor Common Room ~~~
Harry had just sat down at one of the tables near the fireplace to try and catch up on some of his homework that he'd been putting off all week. He'd had Quidditch practice every night this week. Angelina, the team's new captain, has been working them very hard in an effort to make sure they were ready for their game against Ravenclaw on Saturday. Ravenclaw had beaten both Slytherin and Hufflepuff and had a lead in the point standings over Gryffindor by seventy points. There could be no room for error if Gryffindor was going to defend its title.
Harry was startled shortly after starting his Potions essay on the comparative qualities of the Eagle-eyes and Night-Sight potions. Ron had burst in through the portrait hole, slamming it in his haste. He looked up. Ron's face was almost as red as his hair.
"You just can't help yourself, can you, Harry? You have to have everything, don't you?" Ron yelled without caring that others were also studying.
"Ron, what are you talking about?" he asked while finishing the sentence he was writing before setting his essay aside.
"Oh, like you didn't already know! You get good marks in almost every class without really trying. Everybody looks up to you like some kind of god. Plus you're on the house team. Malfoy's right about you; you're Mister Perfect Prefect Potter!" Each sentence brought a deeper shade of red to Ron's face.
Without thinking Harry stood up quickly, his forgotten Potions book flying from his lap. He was now standing almost nose to nose with Ron, instantly angered.
"You think my life is perfect?!? Everyone expects me to be the best at everything I do just because I'm alive! Harry Potter, the boy who once defeated Voldemort, can do everything! I'm nowhere near perfect. I would think that you, of all people, would know that!" Harry didn't care that he and Ron now had an almost captive audience, which was growing larger as their fellow students started coming down from the dorms to see what the ruckus was about.
"Hogwash! Perfect Potter can do no wrong! Don't think I haven't noticed that your grades are now competing with Hermione's. And you don't study nearly as much as she does! Why, I don't think I've seen you crack your books open more than an hour or two any given week. With all the time that you've been spending with Dumbledore and McGonagall it's a wonder you even have time to play Super Seeker with Fred and George. I know you don't seem to have any time for your friends, or I should say friend, because you still make time for Hermione every spare chance you get!" At that Ron started to turn to go to his dorm room. Harry wasn't going to let him get the last word, though. He grabbed him by the arm and forced him to face him again.
"Let's look at my perfect life, shall we?! My mum and dad were killed when I was just a year old. I've had to live with the Dursleys ever since, and if you think that was great fun then you're way off your rocker. I'd sooner live in Snape's office! But Dumbledore insists that I return every summer to that horrible place while you get to go home to your family who all love you immensely. Any one of them would give their life for you! Anytime you have a problem you can simply walk into the next room and ask a brother or your parents. Me? I have to send a letter to someone like Dumbledore and wait for a week or so for a reply.
"Don't even get me started on homework! During the summers I have to do all my schoolwork when the Dursleys are asleep, hiding under a blanket for fear of someone seeing the dim light I use. You could plop down on the kitchen table in broad daylight and do yours. If you ever did it in the first place! You have no idea how much I envy you and your freedom! You have all these things going for you and you take it for granted.
"How about the rest of the wizarding world, let's not forget them! Whenever I meet anyone new the first thing they look at is my forehead. You have no idea how annoying that is. Everyone, including Dumbledore, probably the most powerful wizard alive today, thinks that I may be the only one who can defeat Voldemort. How would you like to have that hanging over your head every moment of every day? The fate of the entire world rests upon my 15 year old shoulders!
"On top of that, I could inadvertently get someone killed just by being around them at the wrong time, just like Cedric Diggory! He didn't deserve what he got. If he hadn't grabbed the Tri-Wizard cup with me he'd still be alive. I live in fear that it'll happen again! Who'll it be next? You? Hermione? One of your brothers, or Ginny? I care about all of you so much that it scares me to no end to think that I may be the cause for your deaths!
"You guys were the only ones who looked at me and saw ME and not the SCAR! I guess I was wrong about you, though. Obviously that's all you're seeing now. I never asked for any special attention. I certainly didn't ask to be made a prefect! My life was complicated enough as it was.
"And how would you like to have your dreams interrupted by visions of the unspeakably evil acts that Voldemort has been planning? I'm lucky if I can get a night's sleep once in a while." Harry had to stop and take a few long, deep breaths. Ron wasted no time.
"Boo hoo! Poor Harry had to live with bad muggles for so long. I'd throw you a pity party, but you don't deserve it. You've wasted no time in getting everything you could from the wizarding world to more than make up for the inconvenient life you used to have. Little Harry Potter has no money to buy his school supplies. Oops. Forgot to tell you Harry, you've inherited a vault FULL of galleons, sickles, and knuts! But we can't have you spending any more than absolutely necessary. Need a pet? Here you go, Harry, a rather rare snowy owl just for you!
"Oh no! All-mighty Harry made the Quidditch team but he doesn't have a broom. Let's just give him a Nimbus Two Thousand! And throw in a little something from his father so he can use it to break curfew so we can just look the other way!
"Uh oh. Potter's broken the law! We can't expel HIM, which unfortunately means we can't expel that worthless Weasley either. Look out, he's broken about fifty more so we'll give him and that other boy an award.
"Bloody hell, Harry's precious broom has been smashed into kindling. Here you go, how about a Firebolt to help the grieving process.
"Hey everybody look! Here comes famous Harry Potter. Let's go say hi and see if he'll be our friend.
"If that weren't enough, you had to go and ask Hermione out! Even though you knew I was thinking about asking her myself. Naturally, she said yes to the great Harry Potter! She'd probably jump up on the table in the Great Hall and spread her legs if you asked her to! She's been hanging on…." He never got to say "your every word since day one."
WHAM!
Before either of them knew what happened Ron flew across the room like he had been hit by an invisible fist, crashing into the wall between the stairwells leading to the dorms. Everyone quickly got out of Harry's way as he walked straight toward the nearly unconscious form of his 'friend'. No one missed the sparkling energy that was starting to form around Harry's eyes, which looked like they cold kill you if he just looked at you.
Harry bent over Ron and slapped him hard enough to make sure he had his undivided attention then grabbed him by the front of his collar and yanked him to an almost sitting position.
"It is one thing to insult me, call me names, or distort a situation to fit your
own delusions. It's an entirely different thing to say what you just said about someone who has stood by you everyday for the last five years! Hermione even defended you to me last year when you stormed off in your fit of anger, or jealousy, when you thought I had put my name into the Goblet of Fire. She does not deserve to be treated like that. If you ever say anything even remotely like that again, and I find out about it, the mum will kill me because I'm going to kill her poor Ronnikins!
"Don't look away from ME!" SLAP! "I'm not done yet. Since you seem to have forgotten, I did wait. I waited almost two years for you to ask Hermione out. You never did. Every time I thought that you would you just chickened out and mumbled something about having to be somewhere. Here's a newsflash for you! Hermione was waiting for you to ask as well! You just waited too long." Harry released him and Ron fell back against the wall. Harry stood up, now noticing for the first time that there were other people in the common room. He looked around at the faces of his fellow Gryffindors. It looked like everyone was there, including Fred and George Weasley, and stand not more than five feet away was Hermione. She looked like she couldn't decide whether to be embarrassed by what Ron had said, angry that Ron even thought them about her, happy that Harry cared so much about her, or scared of Harry for the incredible power that he threw at Ron without so much as lifting a finger.
Harry had to look back down at Ron. Lying at his feet like a broken marionette doll, Ron just stared back up at him, his eyes still burning with anger. But there was something else there as well. Fear? Uncertainty? Remorse? Harry couldn't tell and frankly didn't care at that point.
"Ronald Weasley, son of two great parents and brother to six wonderful siblings, who can do whatever he wants whenever he wants because he doesn't have to live up to anyone's expectations, who has grown up in a loving home, anytime that you want to try and live a while in my place just let me know! I'd gladly trade all my money in Gringotts if I could've had the childhood you've had. You might just find that the grass isn't greener on my side of the proverbial fence!"
With a quick look around the common room again Harry vanished, along with all of his schoolwork, that laid forgotten near the fire, and Hermione as well.