A/N: Sorry for the long delay between chapters, work and life took over for a while, but I'm back! So I hope you enjoy this new chapter! Let me know what you think of it!
The Slug Club was having its first meeting after dinner on Tuesday about three weeks after classes started. Harry knew a few of those that were going such as Ginny, Hermione and Cormac McLaggen for they were there when Slughorn first started the club when he started teaching potions again. Harry was pretty happy that they were going, not so much that Cormac was going because he seemed to continue to flirt with Hermione, even though she was with Ron.
"Harry! Guess who else is coming to Slug Club tonight?" Ginny said, a big smile on her face as she sat down next to him for breakfast.
"Who?" Harry asked, genuinely curious as to who else was invited to the club. He figured there were a few people he wouldn't know from other houses, but he couldn't think of who else he knew that was invited. Those that had been in the club when he was in it were obviously included in the club this year, he assumed that there would be a few new members this year since Slughorn was returning to teach potions.
"Michael!" Ginny said, a bit too enthusiastic for Harry's liking. He had been in a good mood when he had woken up, having slept well and was excited about breakfast as well as for the first Slug Club meeting, which always proved entertaining even if it bit awkwardly so. But hearing Ginny mention Michael Corner was not only going to Slug Club with them, but also the fact that she was using his first name made him quite annoyed. He had no idea that the two of them were close enough to be on a first name basis with each other. It made him a bit uncomfortable, but he didn't know how to bring up it with Ginny. He knew if he said something to her she'd get upset at him, accusing him of being jealous of her having a friendship with someone just because they happened to be male. She'd go on to say that she was allowed to have male friends just like he was allowed to have female friends. Harry didn't have many female friends, although he did seem to have plenty of admirers, many of whom would giggle at him in the hallways when he walked by, and who couldn't be any older than fourteen. Ginny used to glare at them whenever she was with their sight, hoping they would be deterred. Some were, but there were also those that still tried to get Harry's attention. Ginny eventually gave up when Harry said it didn't bother him. In truth it was wearing on Harry that Ginny was so jealous of girls that were far too young for him. Shad had no reason to feel insecure about their relationship, Harry couldn't imagine being someone else.
His mood had now soured considerably at the mention of the Ravenclaw boy. He didn't like Ginny spending so much time with him, it made Harry quite jealous, even though he assured himself there was nothing to be jealous about.
He did his best to quell the annoyance in his voice, he hoped Ginny wouldn't notice. "Oh?" Harry asked, taking a large bite of eggs to quiet himself from saying anything more.
Ginny was too excited to notice his annoyance and continued with what she was going to say. "Yes!" The redhead explained, going into detail about how excited she was, and how much they had in common. She went on to say that she hadn't realized just how smart he was at potions, and how he was helping her with all her potions homework.
That would explain why Harry had been seeing less of his girlfriend recently, she was off studying with some guy. Harry didn't want to let his imagination and jealosy get the best of him. He had to remind himself that this was Ginny Weasley, the girl who had been in love with him since she was eight or nine years old.
"That's great Gin." Harry said, giving her a small smile. "I'm glad he's helping you with your Potions work, but you know you could have come to me if you needed help." While Harry was no expert in potions, he thought he knew enough to at least be able to help his girlfriend with her own homework.
It was then Ginny's fiery temper decided to make an appearance. "Harry, you're not exactly an expert at Potions." She said a bit harshly for Harrys liking. "Michael's taking N.E.W.T level Potions this year! And I know you're not Harry." She said with a sneer. It wasn't like Ginny to say such a thing, then again when her temper flared Harry was never prepared for what came out of her mouth.
Ron who was also at breakfast sat there with his mouth hanging open, a piece of toast in his hand. It took only a moment for Ron to recover before his own face went red with anger. "Ginerva! You have no right to talk to Harry like that!" He said, animosity lacing his words. The two Weasley siblings started to argue back and forth as if Harry wasn't there, comparing grades of not only him and Michael, but to everyone they could think of. The argument only subsided when Ginny got up, huffing saying she had to go to class. There was still more then enough time for Ginny to get to class as breakfast wasn't even half over, but he suspected that she just needed time to cool down.
Hermione, Ron and Harry were sitting in the common room by the fire a few minutes before they had to go to the Slug Club meeting. Harry hadn't seen Ginny all day, and that hadn't bothered him in the slightest. It was as they were getting ready to head to the portrait that Ginny came rushing downstairs, her face flushed.
"Uh..Harry, can I talk to you for a second?" She asked, looking at the floor rather then her boyfriend. "Yeah." Harry said simply and a bit gruffly. Hermione and Ron exited the portrait hole to give the other two some privacy. "I wanted to apologize for how I acted this morning. It wasn't right of me to say what I did do you." Ginny said, her face going red with shame. She hopped Harry would accept her apology and they could move on and have a nice evening together.
Harry pulled her into a hug, letting her know he accepted her apology. "Let's go, the others are waiting." He said, giving her a quick kiss before exiting the portrait hole.
Harry was delighted to see many of his friends at the Slug Club. Slughorn had expanded the number of members in his club. The Boy Who Lived saw that Neville and Luna were seated around the large round table, and to his dismay so once again was Cormic as well as Michael. Harry suppressed a groan at the sight of the Ravenclaw boy, but noticed that a huge grin broke out on Ginny's face. Before Harry could say anything, his giflriend took his hand and pulled him into the seats next to Michael. He was more then miffed that Ginny had decided to sit next to Miachel, with Ron on Harry's other side, Hermione seated next to him, and to Harry's annoyance, Cormac had decided to move seats so he could sit next to Hermione.
Cormac it seemed couldn't take no for an answer. Despite the fact that Hermione and Ron were clearly together, and had been for quite some time now, Cormac still tried to hit on Hermione, flashing her a dazzling smile.
Harry wanted to enjoy the night as best he could, he tried conversing with his friends that were at the meeting, but he couldn't help thinking about Ginny and Michael, especially since they seemed to be engaged in deep discussions about Potions. He was also getting annoyed with the way Cormac was acting towards Hermione, constantly trying to get her attention and laughing way too loudly at whatever she said.
Harry was more then ready to get up and leave the table alone when he saw the large door open and a blond haired young man enter. He recognized who it was almost immedietly despite the express the young man was wearing. It was none other then Draco Malfoy who once again looked like someone had kicked his puppy. Clearly Draco didn't want to be there by the look on his face, but for the life of him Harry couldn't figure out why Draco was there to begin with. He would never have expected Slughorn to include Malfoy in the Club, especially because his father was a known Death Eater and all around prat.
"Ah! Mr. Malfoy!" Slughorn exclaimed loudly and jubilantly, "Glad you could make it!" A chair magically started to make its way across the room, situating itself between Harry and Ginny. There was some quick shuffling done by the students to make room for the new chair, and Harry wondered if this day could get any worse.
"Potter…" Malfoy said rather quietly and without the usual maliciousness to his words. "Malfoy." Harry responded with a slightly questioning tone to his voice. This was awkward to say the least and Harry had no idea how to proceed. The two of them very well couldn't exchange insults all night. Harry took a bite of his dessert pondering what he was going to say to the Slytherin. It would be polite to ask how his family was doing, especially since he was genuinely curious as to what happened to the Malfoy family after the war.
The Malfoy family had managed to avoid going to Azkaban, laying low for a few months before word surfaced that Lucius Malfoy was working for a family business, their respectable apothecary where he runs the shop in Diagon Alley.
"So...how's your family been?" Harry asked, genuinely wanted to know how the Malfoys were doing. There was a look of shock on Malfoy's face when Harry asked him the question. He was even more shocked that Harry was sincere in his question, instead of trying to get a rise out of the Slytherin.
"They're….doing well...Father enjoys running his shop.." Draco explained, going into a bit of detail about how since putting the shop in Diagon Alley, business had done well. It was a slow start at first, but once people saw that Lucius was trying to make an effort to earn an honest living the apothecary had profited. "My mother has enjoyed selling and even helping develop wine for the shop." He said, a faint smile on his face at the fact that his mother had found her niche in the world.
Despite all of the problems Harry had had with the Malfoys he was truly happy that they had been able to make an honest living in the Wizarding World. "That's...really something Malfoy." Harry said, awe tinging his words a slight smile on his face to let Draco know that Harry was truly happy for him.
"Thanks…" Draco said, giving the Gryffindor a small smile in return. Harry nodded in response, eye's catching the expression on Rons face. It went from astonished at hearing Harry and Malfoy speak so civilly to one another to highly annoyed in the span of a few seconds when he caught Cormac whisper something in Hermione's ear. "Oi! Cormac! Get your filthy mouth away from my girlfriend." Ron shouted, his temper flaring at having to deal with Cormac flirting with Hermione all night. While Hermione did her best to not encourage the young man, he clearly didn't know when to back off.
Ron had stood up at the table, all eye's on him. His breathing was labored as he fixed Cormac with an heated stare. It looked like he was ready to grind the kid into the table for merely flirting with Hermione. Harry grabbed his arm and pulled him back a bit. "Ron...leave it..it's not worth it. Let's go.." Harry told his best friend, mumbling an apology to Slughorn as they were leaving rather abruptly. Hermione followed them out shortly after giving Cormac a piece of her mind.
She felt horrible about how Ron felt, how he had gotten angry, jealous and insecure. She had tried multiple times throughout the night to tell Cormac to leave her alone. He would comply for all of about five minutes before he was trying to get her attention again. Hermione wanted to get a chance to conversate with other members of the Club, see what had happened to them over the summer. Hermione only managed to hear some of what Nevelle had said before Cormac tried to capture her attention, so make sly comment. The young woman had done a lot of eye rolling that night, so she was pretty grateful when Ron flipped out, looking like he was going to deck Cormac in the face. After a few choice words she for Cormac she left the Slug Club and caught up with Ron and Harry in the hall.
"Wait! Ron!" She called, wanting a change to explain herself.
"Leave it Hermione...You didn't do anything wrong..that nit should have gotten a punch in the face." Ron said, his face still flushed, but his breathing had calmed down. Now it was Ron's turn to apologize, he looked a bit sheepish that he had even acted in such a manner. "I'm sorry...I shouldn't have freaked out like that...just seeing him talking with you the whole night..and then he was whispering in your ear...I don't know why you stay with he.." Ron told her, mumbling the last few words.
They had had this talk so many times that it was starting to wear on Hermione. She understood his insecurites, but thought he had moved past them, especially becuase of the battle last year. A sigh escaped the young womans lips. "Ron...how many times do I have to tell you. I'm with you because you're an amzing person. You're so kind, so funny and you have such a smart mind." She told him, going over to him and wrapping her arms around him, pulling him into a warm hug. "I love you and only you Ronald." The Gryffindor spoke, her words firm, trying to reassure Ron how much she loved him. She could only hope it was enough. She didn't know how else to help him with his insecurities. If he had been a Muggle they could have gone to couples counseling, or Ron could have seen a therapist to work out his issues, but she wasn't sure such things existed in the Wizarding World.
She took his hand in hers and started to go back towards the Gryffindor dorms. "Lets get a good night sleep and you'll feel much better tomorrow." Hermione told her, hoping to calm him down.
Harry had thought they would have a normal, quiet year at Hogwarts, but he was thinking that was never going to happen. He was more tired now than ever and couldn't wait to climb into his soft bed and sleep off the bad mood he had been in since breakfast.