Chapter 4 – Girlfriend
Hey, hey, you, you, I don't like your girlfriend
A number of changes happened in Harry and Ron's flat over the next few weeks: Ron started humming an annoying tune that Harry just couldn't quite place; all he had to go on was that Ron usually hummed it when he thought Harry wasn't listening or he just went softer whenever Harry came into the room. Another thing was that now when Harry was going to spend time with Quinn he wouldn't lie about it and say he was going for drinks with his colleagues or working late; for some reason this made him feel even guiltier, just seeing Ron almost flinch and go quiet. He found too that Ron would go out with Seamus more and he even went clubbing once or twice even though Harry knew Ron hated it. The pair of them had been roped in to going soon after Ron and Hermione had split and it had been a horrible experience; the music had been too loud, the room had smelt bad and the people had smelt even worse, all drunken and just revolting. There were drunken roommates singing in a dorm room and then there were drunk strangers bumping into you and dancing around you in a hot dump; it just wasn't for Ron and Harry. Well, Harry thought to himself a little hurt, he had assumed Ron hadn't liked it either, following him out of the exit quite soon after they'd entered.
Most of all, Harry noticed that Ron would always abruptly change the topic of conversation if it involved 'she-who-must-not-be-named' or he'd make an indication that he was deliberately not paying attention. It was starting to really get on Harry's nerves.
You're so fine, I want you mine
The day after Harry had finally told Ron, Ginny and Hermione had invited themselves over to talk about it. Harry was annoyed by this for several reasons: the girls instantly complained about the state of the flat and set about messing all their things up and they also made Ron even surlier than he'd been the previous evening. So they came round and cooed and awed as Harry blushed, half-mumbling the information they nudged out of him; they all drank tea and ate biscuits, the girls grinning, Harry smiling and Ron staring at the wall, heavy frown on his face. He'd been distant for most of it, which Ginny had noticed and soon made worse, nudging him sharply with her foot with a look of half-cheer and half-anger on her strong features.
"Come on Ron, you should be happy for Harry!" Everyone winced at this, all for different reasons; Ron had just glared at his sister and Hermione had coughed loudly and started talking about something else. Hermione was more tactful in general and waited until she thought Harry couldn't hear to talk to Ron in low tones. He couldn't understand what they were saying, briefly trying to listen through the door before Ginny called for him to help her with the drinks. He stood back from the door connecting the kitchen and living room to go over and get the glasses Ginny could never find. She asked him to tell her more about Quinn and he obliged; thinking briefly that standing side by side with his ex talking about his new girlfriend wasn't strange at all.
In the wake of their break-up, mutual though it had been, he had worried that it would have affected the dynamic of their friendship group as well as the atmosphere of family gatherings. But luckily he and Ginny had remained good friends, the best parts of their relationship kept intact despite the failure of the rest. Looking back on it all, Harry still was surprised how sure he'd been before the end of the War that Ginny had been 'The One'. Whenever he thought about living after defeating Voldemort, he'd always pictured a nice little house with a few children and Ginny, smiling at him from a white-picket fence; not that he'd admit that to anyone. Anyway, the first week or two after the War was filled with long and impassioned declarations and proof of love for every couple, not just them. It was when he was deciding where to live after moving out of the Burrow that he and Ginny ran into problems. He had always thought that he'd live with Ron. He'd just assumed it and so had Ron, but apparently both of their girlfriends seemed taken aback by this decision; they hadn't become irate when their wishes to move in with their boyfriends were overlooked, but it had definitely caused tensions.
Soon, his relationship with Ginny just sort of fell apart; it wasn't anyone's fault, they just lost that rush of emotions that had come when they had seen each other before and immediately after the War. The main reason that Harry didn't want to break-up after he'd realised this, was because he was terrified of Ron disowning him as surrogate brother for hurting Ginny, so it was her who finally said one night over dinner in an okay Italian restaurant that maybe they should just be friends. Harry had acted a little too relieved but she hadn't been offended and they'd set about telling everyone. It was everyone else who took badly, Ron in particular, but when they saw how genuinely okay the pair were, they just accepted it and they'd both moved on.
He looked at her now and still saw the beauty that had attracted him to her: the fiery red locks, cute little nose and soft brown eyes. Harry had never realised before that although he saw so much of Ron in Ginny, he was never reminded of her whilst looking at her brother but in that moment when he was looking at her sparkling eyes he thought that they were the wrong colour. No, just different, not wrong, different.
When they went back to the living room, Ron had gone from moody to just plain miserable, but he at least made more of an effort to not show it and Hermione didn't seem too exasperated, just a little down.
You can do so much better
After the pair of well-wishers had left Ron immediately cleared some glasses – obviously wanting to escape Harry's presence – leaving Harry to sit on the sofa, going over the meeting in his head. Listening to the clinks from the kitchen Harry rubbed his forehead and sighed. It was going to be worse than he thought.
Harry was beginning to get a bit exasperated with this surly and jealous Ron after two and a half weeks of this behaviour; he thought that Ron was overreacting to the whole thing. Of course he would get a new girlfriend at some point. He knew that they'd been closer than they'd ever been before, he knew that he himself felt a bit strange at times, sharing parts of himself that so far, Ron had only really known. But it couldn't just be them in their little flat forever.
Coming back to a darkened flat late one night after seeing Quinn, Harry frowned, wondering where his flatmate was and went into the kitchen to have a snack before bed. He put on Ron's iPod for comfort and immediately recognised the song Ron had been humming incessantly ever since he'd been told about Harry's new girlfriend. He looked at the screen: Girlfriend, by Avril Lavinge. That name was familiar… Harry stood up straight and frowned trying to place her when she began singing. "Hey hey, you you, I don't like your girlfriend…I think you need a new one." He snorted and shook his head. Nice Ron, real nice. Now he was getting at Harry with his music. He turned it off and a few minutes later heard his flatmate return; neither said anything but just went to bed.
He didn't mention it to Ron as finally his surly best friend seemed to start coming round to the idea. The day after he'd realised what song Ron had been humming he miraculously stopped humming it, and when Harry tentatively brought up visiting Quinn at the hospital during his lunch break, Ron hadn't sucked his teeth or cut across Harry; he'd said 'Uhuh?' – angrily rather than in an 'interested' way – but it had definitely been an improvement. Maybe his friend just needed a new girl of his own to help this process along…
I think you need a new one
"Hermione, do you know any nice girls?" Harry was sitting next to his other best friend on the sofa in the townhouse she lived in with her boyfriend. Her living room was bigger than his and Ron's and nicer furnished, with pale walls, plush curtains and rustic furniture. She laughed and put down her tea.
"You haven't split up already have you?"
"No, I meant for Ron." Her face fell immediately. Harry frowned, after their break-up, Ron and Hermione hadn't expressed any animosity towards each other's significant others. Though come to think about it, Ron hadn't been with anyone since Hermione. Why hadn't he noticed that before? Coming back to the present, he studied his friend's face. She began carefully.
"Well, I don't think I know anyone of his type." This threw Harry, what was Ron's type? He managed to keep his thoughts under control during the rest of his conversation with Hermione and after he said goodbye decided to walk home instead of disapparate. It was sunny and he squinted a bit as he turned his mind to the question of Ron's type. He shut the door to the memories of Lavender Brown, he was definitely not re-visiting those days. Well, the only other girl Ron had ever been with was Hermione and he had considered them perfect for each other, except…
Hey, hey, you, you, I know that you like me
Except. As a guy, he'd had to side with Ron in most of his spats with her; it was just the rule. But occasionally he'd been really angry at Hermione's treatment of his best friend, because secretly Ron was his closer friend; she'd urge Ron to read more and play around less, to be more serious.
You can do much better
Harry had always protested this attitude. Ron didn't need to change, he was perfect as he was. Maybe he was lazy sometimes and maybe he didn't completely empathize with everyone's emotions in any given situation; but he always came through when he was needed, he always did what had to be done and Ron didn't have stunted emotional growth or whatever Hermione used to call it, he felt the same as everyone else, he was just better at disguising the true reasons for his reactions. You just had to figure out his emotional riddle to understand where he was coming from; sometimes that was infuriating but most of the time Harry was pretty quick at answering the silent question and felt a little spark of joy in his stomach, knowing that he was the only one who could really see Ron, see all of him.
Maybe that's why he was having a hard time seeing Ron with any type of girl; she just wouldn't understand him as well as he did. He sighed, that was it, he'd just have to make a female clone of himself. Snorting a little at this thought, he was surprised to find himself outside their shared flat. Maybe he should just ask him. But his gut wrenched at the thought. No, for some reason deep down, he was scared of the answer.
You're so fine, I want you mine
Sighing, he opened the door and went in.