Chapter One

The Dream

"Hermione! Hermione, it's me, open up!"

He leaned on his knees, clutching the stitch in his side that he had gotten from running for so long.

The door opened slightly and she was standing right there in front of him.

"Harry? Harry you're soaking wet…and…did you run here?" Hermione asked bewilderedly.

"Yeah," Harry gasped, "Yeah, it rained a couple miles back. I…I had to see you, Hermione…I've got to tell you…I love you. So much. I'm so sorry for what happened…it was the biggest mistake of my life. I was drunk and I acted horribly to you…I should never have treated you like that. I…I want another chance with you, with us. I can't live without you anymore."

Her eyes were filled with tears.

"Harry…" She whispered, "I can't, Harry…I've…gotten over you…I've moved on, see? Sorry…sorry you came all this way….Goodbye Harry…"

"NO! No, wait, please!" '

He reached out, but she slammed the door in his face.

CLUNK.

"Oww! Damn box…why the hell did we put it there?"

Harry Potter's eyes flew open. He was staring at the ceiling, his hand outstretched towards nothing.

He sighed.

This was how it always ended.

"Ron?" He said groggily, sitting up in his bed and shoving his glasses on his face.

"Yeah? Oh, sorry mate…I didn't mean to slam the door that hard. I'm trying to find my bloody pass…have you seen it?"

Harry shook his head confusedly.

"Your pass? You lost your Ministry pass? No, I haven't any idea where it is, but why would it be in my room?"

Ron shrugged as he sifted through heaps of clothes lying around.

"I dunno…I figured maybe one of those times we got completely wasted, I dropped it in here or something…there's really no reason behind anything I do when I'm drunk, now is there?"

Harry sighed.

"No, not really."

Ron looked over at him, and straightened up.

"Bloody hell, Harry…what did you do last night? You look like…I don't even know what you look like."

Harry screwed up his face and looked down at the ground beside his bed.

"Well…judging by the large amounts of empty alcohol bottles sitting here, I'd say I left the bar where you set me up with the worst possible date ever and came home and got completely wasted to forget it all." Harry said sarcastically.

Ron raised his eyebrows.

"Okay, so Venetia isn't your kind of girl, I get that…but be honest, Harry…it's not her you were trying to forget, now was it?"

Harry ran his hand over his face.

"Who do you think it was, Ron, since you've obviously got someone in mind or you wouldn't be asking."

Ron sighed.

"Harry…this can't keep going on. Look, I don't know what happened between you two, but I'm sure it can be patched up nicely. Maybe if you tried talking to her…"

Harry laughed harshly.

"Maybe if I got her off my mind more like. She's all I bloody think about and I hate it. I don't need her. I'm great! I've got the perfect life…just you and me…two bachelors out partying all the time…I mean…why would I want to go and get myself in a relationship?"

Ron looked shifty.

"Yeah, well, this brings up an excellent point I need to talk to you about…"

"What?" Harry looked at his roommate warily, "Did you lose all your money to some hooker again?"

Ron looked indignant.

"She was not a hooker! And no, it's nothing like that. It's…Harry…I'm not going to be a bachelor anymore."

Harry stood up shakily.

"What's that?"

"I…I've…it's just that, last night I proposed to Allie, and she said yes, so…I'm kind of going to be getting married and…and moving out."

Harry stood there for a moment, swaying slightly, his mouth agape.

"Allie as in the new girl?" He said finally.

Ron nodded.

"But I asked you last week if you thought it was serious!" Harry protested, "and you said 'of course not'!"

Ron sighed.

"Would I have said anything else? Harry…look mate…it's been fun being free, but I mean…I'm twenty-two…and yeah that sounds young but….I've been out of school for five years now, and I've got a steady job, and my career's picking up, I've got money put away…and Allie…Allie is great. She's such an amazing person and it

hit me a couple of days ago that I don't want to be without her for another moment."

Harry looked up…those words were awfully familiar to him.

"I understand, Ron." He said, smiling slightly, "I completely understand."

"Good, because you and I are going to meet her roommate tonight."

Harry sighed.

"Okay."

Ron looked overjoyed for a split second, and then eyed Harry warily again.

"You had that dream last night." He said quietly and Harry jumped as if he'd yelled it.

"What dream?" Harry asked carelessly, walking over to his closet and taking out some clothes.

"The one you told me about…where…what was it…where you run miles and miles through all kinds of weather and shit and you get to Hermione's doorstep and she opens the door and you profess your undying love, and she tells you 'oh, sorry, I've moved on,' and slams the door in your face. That dream? Does that ring any bells, Harry?" Ron's voice was harsh and unforgiving.

"Ron, listen, let's just not start this today, okay?" Harry asked, throwing his hands into the air.

Ron sighed impatiently.

"Harry! It was a dream, okay mate? You haven't talked to her in years! It's been what…two…three years since the two of you saw each other last? When whatever it was that was so horrible that you both had to go through three years of being miserable happened? Why don't you ever want to talk about that, huh, Harry?"

Harry's fist tightened around the doorknob of the closet door.

"I…I screwed up any chance I ever had with her that night." Harry said quietly, "I blew it, and I've realized that. That's all there is to know."

"But how, Harry? What did you do that was oh so terrible?" Ron persisted.

Harry let out a deep breath.

"If you want to know so badly, Ron, you'll have to ask her, because I'm not saying anything."

He slammed the door to his bathroom shut and Ron stood there staring at the wood until he heard the shower begin. With a heavy sigh, he turned to leave.

"Well, maybe I will." He muttered, shutting Harry's door.

o----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------o

"Well, good morning sunshine."

"Shut up Allie…"

"You were out like a light once you got home last night. Rough day at work?"

"Oh, not too bad…"

"Hermione, darling, you've been my roommate for four years! I can tell when you're upset. What's wrong?"

Hermione smiled bitterly as she wrapped her robe around her.

"Nothing new." She said, "nothing new at all."

Allison sighed.

"Oh, Hermione," She leaned over to hug her friend, "Darling, I wish you would at least make an effort at finding someone! It would make it a little better."

Hermione sighed.

"But it won't, Allie, because every man I meet just isn't him."

"And a good thing, from what I've heard of what he did to you. He deserves to be forgotten. Treating you like that…"

Hermione smiled.

"I sometimes wonder if I didn't overreact a bit. He…I just saw and thought…jumped to conclusions. I suppose it was all a bit too good to be true, though…I should have seen it coming."

Allie snorted.

"You had no way of knowing he would do that."

Hermione sighed.

"Okay, enough about me…what happened between you and that…what's his name…Rick? Ryan?"

"Ronald."

Allie beamed.

"Oh, Hermione, I'm so happy! Ronald…he proposed to me last night and I said yes! I'm getting married Hermione!"

Hermione spat out her coffee.

"You're what?"

"Getting married!"

"To who? This Rick guy? I've scarcely heard you talk about him!"

"Ronald, sweetie, his name is Ronald. I didn't say anything because I thought for a little bit that it was just another fling, but oh, Hermione, he is the sweetest guy ever! I've been seeing him for a good many months now and…oh I'm so happy, darling! I…I do feel badly that I'll be leaving though…"

Hermione groaned.

"Oh…please don't tell me I have to go roommate hunting again!"

Allie grinned apologetically.

Hermione sighed.

"All right then, let me see the ring."

Allie preened and thrust out her left hand. Hermione held it gently, admiring the beautiful ring.

"He must be made of money." Hermione observed.

Allie grinned.

"Not really…that's what I love about him. He came from pretty much nothing. He's Head of Quidditch in the Ministry. He absolutely loves it! His favorite team…what is it…oh! The Cannons! He's so great…he's got this huge family, apparently, which I'm going to meet this Saturday, but tonight….darling dear, we are going to his apartment to meet his roommate, who apparently is his best friend."

Hermione smiled.

"Okay, okay, tell me more about him…what's his name? What's his roommate's name? Maybe he's available." Hermione said, laughing.

"Well, his name is Ron Weasley and his roommate…his roommate is Harry…something…Harry Potter!"
Hermione's smile disappeared with a flash, and her coffee cup dropped from her limp fingers with a crash.

"Hermione! Hermione, are you okay?"

Hermione looked down at the broken cup on the floor as if she'd never seen one before in her life.

"I…I'm fine…did you….you did say his roommate was Harry? Harry Potter?"

"Yeeess…why? Do you know him?"

Hermione managed a small smile.

"I used to."

o----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------o

"Harry! Harry, mate, are you ready? The girls will be here any second!"

Harry sighed, walking slowly into the small living room to join Ron.

"Ron, if you don't quit being so obnoxiously nit-picky about every tiny detail, I am going to pull out every hair on my head." Harry said calmly.

Ron grinned sheepishly.

"Sorry…I just…I really want everything to go great…Allie means a lot to me, Harry…I really hope you'll like her."

"And her roommate." Harry added.

"Her roommate? I couldn't care what you think of her roommate!"

Harry sighed.

"Ron, listen to me this is very important: you must make a good impression on her roommate. It's highly likely that this girl is Allie's very best friend, and her opinion is going to matter just as much as Allie's."

Ron gulped.

"Fantastic. I thought I was done with the whole impression thing." He said.

Harry grinned broadly as their doorbell rang, and clapped Ron on the back.

"Not a chance."

Ron sighed and went to the door.

"Okay," he said, "Remember…be nice, Harry."

Harry gave a bored sigh, leaning against the wall next to the door.

"I'll be on my best behavior, I promise." He said dully.
Ron grinned, and opened the door.

"Allie! Hi, love!"

Harry watched as a very pretty girl with long blonde hair crossed into the entrance hall and Ron enveloped her in a hug.

"Allie, here…this is my roommate Harry. Harry, this is Allie, my fiancée."

Harry stood up straight and held out his hand.

"Pleasure to meet you, Allie. Ron's talked about you nonstop ever since he told me you were engaged."

Allie laughed.

"Only for a day, then?" She said, her blue-green eyes twinkling, "I can imagine your surprise…apparently I'm not the only one in the relationship who kept it quiet."

Harry smiled. He was already beginning to like this girl.

"Yes, well, Ron never talks about much aside from Quidditch." Harry replied, to which Ron threw his hands up in surrender jokingly.

"All right, all right! I admit…I'm obsessed, happy?" He laughed.

Allie smiled and turned back towards Ron.

"Ron, I'd like you to meet my very best friend. Come on in, Hermione!" She called into the hallway.

Harry's smile slipped and he looked at Ron quickly, who took a horrorstruck look at Harry.

Harry's legs felt like lead, and so he was forced to stand there and watch as she entered their apartment.

God, she was beautiful. Her hair was longer and…somewhat softer…her frizzy hair had turned into soft and glamorous curls, and her skin still looked as creamy as before.

"Ron, Harry, this is Hermione!" Allie concluded, shutting the door behind Hermione, and turning to see the two boy's frozen expressions.

Ron was staring at Harry, whose eyes had never left Hermione's face.

Hermione's demure smile faltered under Harry's intense gaze.

"Hello Ron, Harry." She said softly, "It's been a long time."

Harry said nothing. He simply stared at her face as if trying to memorize her features.

Ron seemed to sense an uncomfortable silence coming, so he cleared his throat.

"Let's just go into the…erm…living room for a moment, shall we? Excuse me for a minute Allie, Hermione; Harry's going to help me get the coffee, alright?"

Allie and Hermione nodded, and Ron led them into the living room.

Harry went into the kitchen and leaned against the countertop, breathing deeply, his head spinning.

He could hear Ron coming into the kitchen and closing the door, but he didn't look up.

"Harry…" Ron said, crossing over to where he was standing, "Harry, mate, I promise, I had no idea…"

Harry nodded vigorously, still saying nothing.

Ron fell silent, just staring at him.

"Are you…are you going to be alright? D'you…d'you want me to make your excuses or something?" Ron asked finally.

Harry looked up, finally, and Ron saw that his features had changed. His jaw was slightly stiffer, and his mouth was set. He looked as though he was controlled, until Ron looked at his eyes. They were a darker green, and his emotions seemed to be reflecting in them. Ron stepped back slightly, fearfully of what Harry would do.

"I promised I'd meet Allie, didn't I?" Harry said, and Ron was unnerved to find that even his voice sounded calm and controlled. "So I'm going to stay and get to know Allie."

o----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------o

A/N: Okay, here's a new story...God I'm such a procrastinator...haven't finished two of them now...anways. Review, thanks very much! Oh, and yes, this one is rather short, but it's because it's really kind of an introductory chapter...anyways.