The next day, Harry planned to try and talk some sense into his friend. He never got the chance. At breakfast, he discovered the other boy's final betrayal. He hadn't just abandoned their friendship because of a piddling issue like Harry's sexuality; he had sold it out, like so much juicy gossip, to the eager eyes of all Wizarding Britain. The morning's front page was smeared with the scandalous news of Harry's sexuality, noting a 'reliable source' as the fountain from which they had drawn their water.
After reading the article, Harry felt the cloying fog of depression begin to seep into his bones. He couldn't even rally enough ire to demand an explanation. He need not have, as Seamus and Dean did it for him. He watched morosely as they stormed down to where the redhead sat and demanded loudly to know how he could do such a thing. Ron, stubborn git that he was, refused to answer. Harry watched with tired fascination as the boy tried to simply walk away. If McGonagall hadn't stepped in, he'd been certain the confrontation would have ended in a brawl. Instead, Dean and Seamus returned to console him while McGonagall dragged Ron off to Merlin-knew-where.
-Break-
Harry, as it turned out, was inconsolable. He spent the last week of term buried deep in the folds of depression, emerging only long enough to attend his post-finals classes and meals before returning to the dark mood of self-pity. His friends tried their best to reach him, but every attempt failed. Eventually, a silent agreement passed amongst them to let him work his own way out of his bleak and grey attitude. Only Hermione remained steadfastly by his side. That is why he accepted, when she offered up her parent's guest room for the summer. With Voldemort gone he needed somewhere to stay, no longer welcome at his relatives' house. And, of course, the Weasley's were no longer an option.
When Harry stepped off the train at King's Cross, the clouds that had gathered over his head had begun to rumble with the threat of more tears as soon as he spotted the redheaded Weasley clan a little further down the platform. He turned quietly away as he waited for Hermione to finish saying her goodbyes to Ginny and a couple other friends from other Houses. He didn't think he'd ever smile again…until he did.
"Hiya, Harry!"
Harry turned back to see Fred and George grinning just behind him.
"Hermione-"
"Told us-"
"What happened."
"Sorry-"
"Our little brother-"
"Is such a-"
"Twat." They finished simultaneously.
Harry shrugged. "It's his prerogative, I guess."
"Not true," Fred said, wrapping an arm around Harry's slumped shoulders. "He's got a right to be an idiot, sure, but he's got no right to go spreading your private life around the papers like he did."
"But don't you worry, Harry," George said, wrapping his arm around Harry's shoulders from the other side. "We'll teach him better this summer. Mum's agreed, under the circumstances, to let us use him as a tester for our products."
"I'd rather you didn't," Harry said, ducking under their arms.
"What?" They asked together, staring at him with identical looks of disbelief.
"Don't tell us-"
"You're buying into-"
"That idiot's-"
"Lunacy, Harry."
Harry couldn't help but offer up a small smile. "I'm not," He assured them. "Ron's free to think whatever he wants, but I don't believe there's anything wrong with being gay. I just…I don't want him to be made to suffer just because he's too ignorant to look past his own nose. It won't change how he feels, and it might make him feel like retaliating on top of everything else. It's best to just let sleeping dragons lie."
"We'll take that under advisement, Harry."
"But we don't guarantee he won't suffer this summer."
"We're gay, too; it isn't just you he's mistreated."
"So we have to at least pay him back for lying about accepting us."
"And for depriving us of our favorite little brother for an entire summer."
"Well, obviously for that."
Harry chuckled. "Obviously." He pulled the older wizards into a hug. "Thanks, you guys. And I guess it wouldn't hurt him to get a little payback. Call it character building."
The boys grinned wider as they pulled away.
"That's just-"
"What Mum said."
Harry started when both twins suddenly jumped without warning. They both pulled out their wands and Harry saw they were vibrating violently.
"We should really-"
"Figure out-"
"How to-"
"Dial that down."
They both looked up at him after flicking their wands, ending the vibrations. They still wore matching grins.
"We'll catch you later, Harry."
"We came down on our lunch break."
"Just to make sure you knew you're still a Weasley."
"Which you are."
"But we have to-"
"Get back."
"We left-"
"Lee alone, and-"
"He doesn't really-"
"Know how to handle-"
"The customers."
Harry chuckled again, his depressive fog lifting a little. "Thanks, guys. I'll see you when Hermione's parents take us to shop for our school stuff."
"Give Hermione our best." They said simultaneously. With a 'pop' of displaced air that was almost drowned in the bustle of the platform, the twins disappeared.
Harry sat down on his trunk beside Hedwig in her cage with a small smile. The twins were always good for lifting whatever sour mood someone was in. He didn't notice until it was too late that the rest of the Weasley's on the platform had joined him.
"Harry, dear."
The Wizarding Savior looked up, his smile slipping into a scowl as he saw Ron standing with his mum and sister. The other boy crossed his arms over his chest and looked away. Harry turned instead to the matronly witch and forced himself to smile.
"Hi, Mrs. Weasley."
"You know, dear, you're still more than welcome to come spend the summer with us. We'd be happy to have you, and you could stay in Charlie's old bedroom," Molly Weasley invited warmly.
Harry shook his head. "No, thanks, Mrs. Weasley. You guys are like family, but, I…" He trailed off uncertainly. He didn't know how to put into words why he couldn't bring himself to be around his treacherous ex-best friend. The sight of Hermione walking towards them made him realize he didn't have to. "I already told Hermione's mum and dad that I'd be staying with them. It would be rude not to, since they went to the trouble of setting up their guest room and all."
Mrs. Weasley nodded, smiling sympathetically. Harry thought she might understand the real reason why he didn't want to join them. She looked at Hermione, who'd dragged her trunk up to sit beside Harry's. Crookshanks, who had been following her since she got off the train, settled at her feet.
"You two have a fun summer, now. And do try to stay out of trouble."
Harry chuckled warmly as she hugged him, and then Hermione. "No promises, Mrs. Weasley. Trouble seems to find me no matter where I go."
"I'll keep him out of trouble," Hermione volunteered, smiling.
Molly grinned and nodded. "I'm sure you will, Hermione." She rounded on her son. "You, Ronald, don't know how much trouble you're in for this summer. Let's go."
Harry snickered as Ron exclaimed in pain the second his ear was pinched between two of his mum's fingers. The pair walked off down the platform, Ron frog hopping to try and keep up with his ear. Ginny grinned and waved at Harry and Hermione before jogging after her mum and brother. Harry turned to his real best friend, who smiled softly and rubbed his shoulder.
"Feel better?"
Harry nodded, smiling. "Yeah."
"Good, let's go find my mum and dad. They're probably waiting on the Muggle platform, since they can't get past the barrier."
Harry stood up and picked up Hedwig and one side of his trunk, dragging it after him as he followed Hermione towards the partition wall. He really did feel better, knowing that the rest of the Weasley's still wanted him around. A good chuckle seemed such a small thing, but it had somehow brightened his world.
It didn't make him forget about Ron's disloyalty, but it did make him feel better. Not much, but enough that he could muster a genuine smile, shy though it was, when they nearly ran into the Granger's on the other side of the column between platforms 9 and 10. Hermione immediately threw herself at her parents, wrapping them both in a giant hug which was immediately returned. Harry exclaimed lightly, barely setting Hedwig's cage down, when Hermione's mum reached for him and drew him into the hug as well.
"Oh, we're so happy to have you spend the summer with us," Mrs. Granger exclaimed.
"If only so our little Rabbit won't be so alone this summer," Mr. Granger said, pulling away to pinch Hermione's cheek.
"Dad," Hermione whined, playfully batting his hand away. She stepped back as her mum finally relinquished her hold on them both, and wrapped an arm around Harry's shoulders. "Mum, Dad, I would like you to officially meet my very best friend, Harry Potter."
"It is our pleasure, Mister Potter," Hermione's mum insisted.
Harry blushed. "Just Harry, is fine."
"Well, Just Harry," Mr. Granger chuckled. "I hope you know that Hermione's told us all about you and your adventures."
Harry ducked his head bashfully. "She has?"
"She has," Mrs. Granger confirmed. "And we're so happy she has you to rely on, through thin and thick."
"Even if 'thick' is a little too thick for my liking," Mr. Granger grumbled amiably. "You kids ready to go? Your mum and I took the day off, so we thought we'd do lunch on our way back to the house."
Hermione rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "We're hardly kids anymore, Dad. I'm legally an adult in the Wizarding World, and Harry will be just next month."
"You'll always be my little Rabbit," Mr. Granger cooed. He chuckled when his wife smacked his arm.
Harry grinned. "Mr. and Mrs. Granger, I can't tell you how much it means to me that you've invited me into your home on Hermione's word alone."
"Oh, not at all, Harry, dear. It's our pleasure to have you. We've always wanted to meet Hermione's wizard friends, and if Hermione says you're the best, we believe her," Mrs. Granger said. "Of course, you can't spend the whole summer calling us 'Mister' and 'Missus'. You'll call me Violet, and this is Jack."
"And he's 'Just Harry', and she's Hermione," Jack Granger said delightedly. "Let's go, I'm hungry."
Harry chuckled with Hermione and her parents as they set about the task of putting their trunks onto trolleys. Crookshanks leapt up onto Harry's trunk beside Hedwig's cage and curled up to sleep as they moved towards the exit, wheeling their trunk along in front of them. Hermione's mum, Violet, giggled at the sight.
"I suppose we know we don't have to worry about those two this summer," She commented lightly as they walked out into the gilded sunlight and moved towards the car park.
Harry smiled and scratched the orange-ish cat behind the ears. It had always driven Ron nuts, whenever Crookshanks had come to visit Hedwig in the dorm, sometimes spending the night at Harry's feet. Neither of them could ever figure out how the cat had gotten not one, but two, doors open for the visit. This reminder of Ronald Weasley, traitor, left Harry feeling bereft. He forced himself to smile when Hermione's parents helped him heft his things into the boot of their SUV, but he no longer felt like smiling for real. The ride to lunch was filled with Hermione chattering about how the year had gone, and how she felt she'd done on the finals. Harry sat quietly beside her, staring out the window as his depression slowly creeped back in on him. At lunch, he made himself join in on the conversation, but he got a sense that the Granger's knew he wasn't fully invested. For their part, they directed most of their questions at their daughter, and left Harry to eat his food in solemn silence. Harry suspected Hermione had told them why neither of them were spending the summer with the Weasley's this year, as the three of them did their best to avoid any topics involving a certain redhead. The ride to the Granger home was much quieter than the ride to lunch had been. Hermione had noticed Harry's return to unhappiness, and spent the ride with his hand held in both of hers in her lap. Harry managed a grateful smile before he turned back to watching out the window for the long-ish drive.