Well, I made it through my super long work day.... We still have a couple more days of crazy hours before Christmas, then leading up to New Year's Day, though, so it's not over yet. I plan on a decent-sized update for the 24th (as long as everything works out like I think it will), but for now chapter 12 will have to hold you over. ^_-
The more I read over the parts withPansy the more I wonder if I like her or not. When I started this I think I was going in one direction withintroducing her, then the year went by and I seemed to have forgotten why she was there, so I had to start all over with her character. If there are inconsistencies because of the lapse in writing, I think Pansy's character would be one of them....
This is also where Luna is...umm...introduced....
I hope you like this chapter. -_-*
**~~***~~**
The hours leading up to dinner seemed to stretch into something resembling forever. When at last food had been served, eaten, and cleared, Harry stood and followed his parents out onto the porch. For the first time in weeks, Harry didn't retreat to his room as soon as the mandatory custom of family dinner was complete. James seemed pleased and Lily was nothing short of beaming when Harry sat beside her on the swinging bench seat.
"Glad to see the storm has finally passed," James commented casually.
Harry gave a half smile, his thoughts preoccupied. After a moment of silence, he asked tentatively, "Mum?"
"Yes, honey?"
"Do you know anything about Pansy?"
As if she had been forced to think of some terrible memory, a scowl crossed her face, and the tension from earlier when she'd overheard Harry ask James the same question returned. The silence continued until Harry was just about to ask again, when Lily said softly, "You two spent some time together. Mostly at parties and such."
"So, we were friends?"
"I don't know if I would go that far, but you did occupy yourselves with each other when there was no other entertainment."
"Lily," said James, who'd been listening as avidly as Harry, "for goodness's sake, give the boy a straight answer."
She sighed. "All I know about your relationship with her is that you changed a great deal after you started spending time together. Granted it wasn't much time, but it must have been enough to effect you."
"Like, maybe we were...dating?"
"I really couldn't say. I will express my opinion that you're better off not associating with her now." There was a pause. "Apparently, she's been in a lot of trouble at school."
"How do you know that?" James asked.
"Severus and I talk do talk about our jobs sometimes," she answered somewhat defensively. "When Harry first started spending time with her around school he mentioned I might want to discourage it."
James made a face but kept any comments to himself.
Harry sat back and looked out at the house across the street from his own. He felt just as confused as he had before, but now that confusion was infused witha determination to speak with Pansy the next day. His mother might think he was better off, and Snape, too (for all that mattered to Harry), but he wanted answers, and it sounded like Pansy was the only one who had them.
**~~***~~**
The next day Harry went through the motions of being in class with little enthusiasm. If Ron or Hermione noticed, they didn't say anything. They, too, seemed to be preoccupied. It wasn't until lunch that Harry learned that all three of them were thinking about the same subject.
"Harry," Hermione said, breaking the silence that had fallen over the group.
"Hm?"
"Ron mentioned that you talked to Pansy Parkinson yesterday."
"It was more her talking to me," he replied evasively. Hermione had that fierce glint in her eyes that she got when she knew she was right about something that she thought someone might disagree with--she was ready for a debate and Harry didn't feel much like having one.
Ron stared hard at his food and Hermione's eyes narrowed in the way they always did right before she became almost unbearably bossy.
"Are you sure she's the best person for you to be spending time with right now? You have a lot to catch up with, and she's not exactly the model example to help you with it."
Sighing, Harry set his fork down and looked at her. "I think I can handle myself, thanks."
Hermione looked disapproving, but remained strangely quiet on the subject. In an obvious effort to express her negative feelings for Pansy, she began to critique the American Literature professor's introduction to the textbook. "I have to wonder if he's even read it himself...."
Harry suppressed a sigh. His appetite was gone and it was all he could do to stay sitting at the table. He did appreciate Hermione, but not right now. Not when he had his mind on something he knew she disapproved of. It was just difficult to know that he couldn't go to his friends for advice he felt he so desperately needed. Of course, they had given him their advice...it just wasn't the advice he'd wanted.
"Are you going to see the new movie this weekend?" Ron asked suddenly, as if trying to change the subject of thought that was flowing amongst the three of them.
"The action one?" Hermione asked with distaste.
"It's more of a world drama," Ron defended.
She shook her head.
"What about you?"
"Probably not. I have a few things I wanted to get done. And Mom is talking to me again, so I have to clean my room."
Ron poked at his food moodily. "Wish my mom would let me get off my chores when she was mad at me. I'd never have to lift a finger."
"Hmm," Harry replied. As he glanced around the room, he couldn't help but notice Pansy sitting at a corner table with her group of cackling friends. They all wore too much eye makeup and they laughed too loudly, he decided.
As if drawn to his gaze, Pansy turned to him and their eyes locked. She smiled a little and nodded, as if in answer to a question Harry hadn't realized he'd asked.
Without thought, as if this interaction had happened a million times before in exactly the same way and he was now running on instinct, Harry stood. "Bathroom," he muttered hastily in response to the questioning looks Hermione and Ron turned on him. He nearly felt embarrassed and ashamed of how quickly he had jumped at Pansy's silent command, but he couldn't stand all the questions he had any more.
Not sure where he was suppose to be going to meet her, Harry walked out of the cafeteria and stopped by the water fountain at the far end of the hall. She'd see him if she came out the same door....
Several minutes passed and there was no sign of her. Harry started to feel ridiculous, like he was a dog rolling over for a treat he was never meant to have. As he studied out the merits of tucking his tail between his legs and returning to Ron and Hermione, he was stopped by Pansy's voice, at hailing volume, calling to him from the opposite direction from the cafeteria.
"Memory damage, Potter?" Her tone was snide and careless, as if daring anyone to find them meeting each other.
"I've been waiting for about five minutes, anyway. What took you so long?" he replied feebly.
"Just to clear up your forgetfulness, we use to meet by the back door." She stopped beside him, gave him a short, appraising look, then shifted her weight impatiently. "So, lover boy, what did you want?"
"Could we go somewhere else?" Harry asked with a nervous glance down the hall.
The two walked back in the direction from which Pansy had emerged. Turning a couple corners that looked like utility halls, they slipped out two huge, grey doors. They were behind the cafeteria, beside the teachers' parking lot. To the right was a green dumpster.
"Fancy meeting you here," Pansy said, turning sharply to face Harry and leaning against the brick wall.
"Yeah."
"You did want something, didn't you?"
"Sort of."
Pansy smirked. "You know, if I didn't know you'd tell me before I had to figure it out on my own, I would swear you really did have memory damage." She stared at him once more, like she was sizing him up, or as if she'd never seen him before. "You do remember everything, right? From the party?"
"Mostly," Harry lied. The fact that she'd been able to read him so easily unsettled him.
Her lips curved in a thoughtful frown. "Mostly? As in, 'not at all?'" she asked decisively.
"There are a few hazy spots."
"Like what?"
"This really isn't what I wanted to talk about," he replied, though it sort of was--ha hadn't expected to be so uncomfortable with the conversation.
"Do you remember the fight you had with Draco?"
Harry scowled. This was not going how he'd planned at all. "Look, this was a bad idea." He started to walk back to the door, but Pansy wrapped her slender fingers around his wrist. It was a light grip that he easily could have broken, but he didn't. Instead, he allowed himself to be stopped, though he did not face her.
"What, exactly, do you think happened that night?"
Harry sighed. It must have been the gentle hint in her usually demanding voice that got to him, because before Harry knew what was happening, he heard himself say, "I don't know. But I do I know it was Draco's fault."
"You've been blaming him?"
"This was a bad idea," he repeated.
"Harry, Draco didn't do anything. That fight was my fault."
Harry sighed again, resigned to giving away every scrap of dignity he might still have in this situation. "Pansy, I don't even remember a fight. All I know is Draco seems to think he caused the car accident. He apologized, and I assumed he must have been right."
"That was my fault," Pansy repeated evenly, as if it were a textbook fact. "Draco was drinking too much, like usual. I set it up for you to find him with Daniel."
Daniel? Harry wondered, his head suddenly spinning.
"They weren't doing much more than talking. I'm the one who tossed the salt on and rubbed it in."
"Why did I go for a drive with Draco if I was mad at him?"
"You didn't. After you two argued and tossed a couple punches, you stormed out of the house and disappeared. Once Draco cooled down, he went looking for you."
Feeling slightly numb in his limbs, Harry said, "Draco wasn't driving?"
Pansy shook her head.
"Who was?"
"I could venture a guess, but I won't."
"Why not?"
With a sigh, Pansy said, "Well, first of all, it doesn't matter if I'm right or not, because it still happened, and you have to deal with it just the same. Second, if I'm wrong, it will just be one more thing I messed up."
His cheeks flushing slightly, Harry asked, "Why did you want me to find Draco with someone else?"
Pansy just laughed a little. "You are forgetful these days."
Scowling at her, Harry muttered, "Never mind then."
"So, now that you know the truth, are you going to run off and make up with your beloved?" She ran a teasing hand up his bare arm.
Harry shivered involuntarily and stepped away from her. "I told you before, I'm not interested in guys."
"Don't blame you." Despite the heavy tone in her voice, Pansy's eyes shown with all the contentment of Moaning Myrtle discussing death.
"You sound like you're really enjoying this," he accused.
"What I'm enjoying is seeing you squirm. It's not a very widely viewed show, but it's definitely worth the high admission fee." Pansy's smirk turned into a smile. "Besides, you're cuter when I have you by the balls. Figuratively, of course."
Harry was starting to think his mother had been right about it being best if he didn't associate with Pansy. Yes, she knew more than he did about things he was desperate to remember, but this was hardly turning into a situation that felt much more comfortable than Draco pinning him against the church door before deacon training class.
Changing her tone back to an unconcerned casual, Pansy said, "So, your little bump on the head knocked you straight. How did you break that to Draco?"
"It wasn't too hard." Harry looked around. "We should go back in. We'll be in trouble if we're late for next class."
She looked a little disappointed. "Yeah, I guess. I'll see you around." With that, Pansy opened the door and went back inside without bothering to wait for Harry.
Left alone, Harry leaned against the wall. The talk that he'd hoped would make him feel better only managed to confuse and frustrate him. Whatever Pansy knew, it was obviously something she didn't want him to know. It had been a waste of time.... Well, not totally. He did know that Draco hadn't been driving. Not only that, but none of it had really been his fault. The poor sod was just too drunk at the time to know that for himself.
With a sigh, Harry went inside and walked along the hall. The way back to the cafeteria seemed longer now that his thoughts were heavier. The same intense swell that had driven him to seek out conversation with Pansy despite all warnings made him want to speak to Draco. Why, he couldn't say. Maybe to assure the boy that it wasn't his fault. Though the very presence of a need to relieve Draco Malfoy's guilt bothered Harry.
When Harry returned to the table and sat beside Ron, he sighed and rested his chin on his hand.
"Something wrong?" Hermione asked, her eyes narrowed knowingly.
Glaring back, Harry said, "No." His reply felt incomplete and he wanted to say something else, but nothing was coming to mind. He glared out the window, wishing it was time to go home so he could be by himself.
**~~***~~**
"Harry?"
Harry, who was lying on his bed trying to do his homework, looked up from his textbook as he mother walked into the room.
"Your father and I are going to the store. We'll be back in a couple hours. Do you want anything?"
"No, thanks." When she left, Harry sighed and tossed his book aside. It was no use. He couldn't stop thinking about his conversation with Pansy. There were only two people who knew anything about what really happened that night and Harry didn't trust either of them.
But why shouldn't he trust Draco? They'd been in a relationship. Draco couldn't be all bad....
Maybe.... Harry shook his head. No. Not Draco. Just let it go. It's in the past. Who cares what happened?
The answer, simply, was that he did.
**~~***~~**
As he, Ron and Hermione walked to school the next day, Harry tuned out all conversation around him. He was still locked in a battle with himself over Draco. He knew Pansy wouldn't give him answers, and he knew he had to have them. That left only Draco.
When they reached the school Harry parted ways withhis friends and walked towards the science building at the back of campus. It would be his first chemistry lesson with Snape and only the realization of how unprepared for it he was could drive thoughts of Draco out of him mind. Pushing the door open, Harry walked down the short hallway looking for Lab 2. Spotting the sign on the farthest door, he walked tentatively into the classroom.
There was a wide, black counter top attached to the back and side walls. It was mostly clean with only the odd microscope and wooden test tube rack. Three rows of four two-person desks filled the center of the room. Two wide windows were open to let the morning coolness into the room, and overall it was surprisingly bright and almost cheerful.
Picking an empty seat near the door, Harry set his things down and glanced around for anyone he knew. Luna Lovegood was sitting in the back of the room by herself and Nott was near the far wall. Two girls who looked oddly familiar were whispering together at a table in the middle. The remaining eight people were unfamiliar.
Just as Harry began to relax, the door opened. He tensed and relaxed only slightly when he saw Draco, not Snape, walk in.
Ignoring Harry, Draco walked to the back of the room and sat by himself.
Several minutes passed before Snape arrived, his dark shirt and jacket odd in the white, sterile room. He marched to the desk at the front of the room, set his case on it, and took out a sheet of paper. Without introduction--and he clearly needed none, judging by how the students straihgtenedin their seats--he began to call the role. When he was finished, he said, "This term, as withevery other, you will be working with partners. As several of you have chosen to sit alone, I will give you one minute to rearrange yourselves. Anyone without a partner at the end of that time will be assigned by me."
There was the racket of scurrying and Harry, acting before thinking, grabbed his bag and slipped into the seat beside Draco, earning a slight glare from Nott, who had to change direction and sit beside Luna.
"What are you--" Draco started with a sneer, but his protest was cut off by Snape saying, "Any complaints with your desk mates?"
Nott raised his hand.
Sneering with amusement, Snape offered, "Would anyone like to switch with Mr. Nott?"
Draco eyed Luna then glared even more heavily at Harry, but didn't say anything.
"My condolences," Snape said to Nott. "The tables are numbered starting with the one by the door and going up the rows. When I call your table number, one person will come to my desk andretrieve two books. Table one." A short girl with blond hair walked to the front of the room. On the calling went until he said, "Table eight."
After an unreturned glance at Draco, Harry stood and went to get the books.
"Interesting choice, Potter," Snape said under his breath, his tone strangely conversational.
"Better than Lovegood," he answered without thinking, wanting to say something to excuse his odd behavior. He felt he'd betrayed the Luna he knew and only looked sheepishly at his toes when Snape replied, "Indeed."
Snape handed him the books. "Table nine." When all the books had been passed out, he walked around to the chalk board and started writing in scratchy letters "COURSE AIMS." He turned back to the class. "Ultimately, myaim is to get through this year without any of you breaking anything too expensive to replace. As that is unlikely--and note, broken items will be billed to your tuition account--I will settle for not having my classroom demolished. Youraims, however, will be slightly different." As he continued to outline the goals for the term, Snape stood perfectly still, his arms folded over his chest. He then covered basic safety and procedure, then set them practice work to be done with their partners. "Quiet talking is acceptable. You have until the bell rings to finish the preview questions on page five." He sat at his desk and began to read from a thick book.
Finally free to talk, Draco hissed, "What are you doing?"
"My work."
"Not that. Sitting here."
Choosing not to answer, Harry said, "The answer to the first one is x10, I think."
Draco scowled.
The rest of class went by quickly. Harry and Draco finished their work second and turned it in to the order of, "Sit and read quietly."
Assuming his voice would be covered by the other people still working, Harry slid back into his seat and leaned towards Draco, who was flipping through his textbook, his chin on his fist, a coolly bored expression on his face. "We need to talk about something."
"Bugger off."
"It's really important. Please, can we meet after school?"
Draco glared at him, his eyes like ice. "Practice is after school."
"After practice, then?" he persisted.
"Only if you tell Snapeyou want to switch partners with Nott."
Harry looked at Luna. It wasn't that he had anything against her, and if she was anything like he'd dreamed her to be she would be at least interesting to spend a year with...but he had really wanted a less volatile partner in the class that he knew he would be the worst at. "I guess so," he finally agreed: he doubted anything would help his chemistry grade if he didn't catch on anyway. "I'll tell Snape Friday, at the beginning of class."
"Deal."
The rest of the morning passed quickly. Harry paid little attention to the homework discussion going on between Ron and Hermione concerning Cultures, and he avoided Pansy on the way to lunch--a move his friends appreciated.
"Any reason for the change of mind?" Ron asked as they sat down with their food.
Harry shrugged. "I talked to her yesterday and realized you guys were right. I don't know why I used to hang out with her before, and, based on what I saw, I don't know why I would want to start to now."
Harry ate his lunch without contributing much to the conversation. He was contemplating his coming talk with Draco. He wanted to know everything he could about the party and he was finally prepared to sacrifice for it. He was nervous about admitting his memory loss to Draco, but he hoped that fact that he could deliver up the person actually responsible for all of Draco's guilt would be worth some privacy.
The afternoon dragged much more slowly than the morning had. It was with a sense of gratitude that Harry trudged towards the soccer field after his last class. When he got to the equipment shed, he took out the balls, cones, and jerseys and went to set up the field. When he was done, he took the stat book out of his backpack and started flipping through it just to be doing something.
While practice ran, Harry focused on finishing a short essay Remus had assigned for the next day. Snape glared at him for his inattention, but didn't say anything. He might have been more annoyed had Harry's distraction not been school work.
Overall the real, Snape seemed less inclined to be rude towards him than the other one, and Harry had a sneaking suspicion that it had to do with the fact that Lily was still alive.
When Snape blew the whistle and told everyone they could go, Draco lagged behind the rest, pretending to have trouble with the zipper on his dufflebag. When they were the only two left, he said quietly, "Meet me on the far side of the bleachers after everyone leaves."
"I could just pretend I need to see you about something in the stat book," Harry commented. He didn't want people to see him sneaking around and get the wrong idea.
"Or we could meet on purpose, since I would obviously be the one you would stop to ask questions of. You know, because your best friend isn't on the team, or anything," he sneered sarcastically.
Harry scowled at him. "Fine. Just don't take too long getting changed." When Draco had disappeared into the locker room, Harry took out his key to the equipment shed and started putting things back--Snape had let him start keeping the key in case he couldn't be at the field when practice started. Pretended he had to organize the equipment, he stayed in there to avoid having to talk to the rest of the team as they left. Nearly twenty minutes passed before Ron and Colin, the last ones done changing, came out.
"Coming Harry?"
"Actually, Snape wants me to organize the shed. I'll be a while, so you guys go ahead. I'll just walk home."
"You sure?" Colin asked, peering at him unsettlingly. "It's awfully hot today."
"Yeah, it's fine. I'll see you tomorrow."
Shrugging, Ron said, "All right. See you."
"Bye, Harry."
When they were gone, Harry stepped out of the shed and locked the door then walked around to the side of the bleachers that wasn't visible from the parking lot. He waited for ten minutes before Draco, showered and changed, strode towards him.
"Took your time, did you?"
"I let everyone else shower first so I'd be the last one here. Generosity takes time."
"Guess you'd know all about that," he said, unable to resist the jibe.
Sneering, Draco said, "You're the one who invited me to this little tea party."
"I know. Sorry. I'm just kinda tense."
Draco set his bag on the bleachers. "Don't want people seeing us together?"
Unwilling to admit that that was part of it, he said, "I don't care about that. But I wanted to ask you about...the party."
"What party?"
"The one from the night of the accident."
Draco's eyes darkened. "Why?"
"I talked to Pansy yesterday--"
"Oh, this will be good," he interrupted, rolling his eyes and crossing his arms over his chest.
Talking over him, Harry pressed, "And she admitted that the accident was her fault. Well, not that she was driving, but that she set up the thing with you...and Daniel." It felt odd to be having this sort of conversation, but he figured the easiest way to get it over with was to do it.
Draco scowled. "How'd she do that?"
"I don't know. Honestly..." he started. He stopped and took a deep breath. After a second he restated, "The night of the party is a little...fuzzy."
"Fuzzy? Fuzzy how?"
"Like, I don't remember much of it. I don't know if it was the alcohol or the injuries, but I just don't remember a lot of what led up to it."
Understanding dawning in Draco's eyes, he said, "I get it. Pansy dangled some tidbits and now you're all curious, so you came to me to find your answers."
Harry waited a moment before nodding slightly.
"And what if I say I'm not telling you anything? Let you wonder and suffer."
"If that's your answer, fine. But I don't think you'd do that. Not when I'm asking you to clarify your innocence in the whole matter."
Draco looked at him thoughtfully for several seconds. "Exactly how little do you remember?"
It was Harry's turn to glare. "Little enough to wonder about how all the events string together."
Frowning, Draco asked, "What do you want to know?"
Harry took a deep breath. He wasn't sure he wanted to throw Draco his last scrap of dignity, but he felt so close to finally getting an answer. Finally knowing who was responsible for all this annoyance and pain. "I want to know who was driving the car that night."
He looked offended. "Don't you think if I knew that I would have done something about it?" he growled.
"Who's it likely to have been?"
Draco thought for a minute, his expression softening slowly. Quietly he said, "Harry, I wish I could tell you."
Feeling uncomfortable, Harry looked at the ground. Several seconds passed before he said, "There was no one I would have talked to if I was mad at you?"
"There were a couple guys you ran around with."
His stomach turning, Harry sneered, speaking before he could think better of it: "While I was with you?"
Draco smirked. "Conveniently forgot that part, too, did you?"
Heat rose in Harry's cheeks and he couldn't think of anything to say.
After a minute of silence, Draco said, "Of the guys I noticed at the party the only ones you spent any time with were Brandon and that Creevy freak."
"Colin?" he aske3d before he could stop himself.
"I don't understand it either," Draco answered lightly, raising his hands in front of him. "Not that I'm saying you were sleeping with him, or anything. But you did disappear with him a few times then not want to talk about it."
Harry glared at his shoes, his fists clenched at his sides. This was going from bad to worse and he wished he hadn't bothered pursuing the issue.
"Was that all you wanted?"
"Yeah," he said dejectedly.
"Well, while this has been amusing and...enlightening, I should get home. I have some things to take care of." Not waiting for a reply, Draco walked around Harry and disappeared around the far end of the bleachers.
Left alone, Harry wandered to the other side of the bleachers, sat on the step in front of the equipment shed, and rested his chin on his fist. He stayed there for several minutes, thinking. Once again he'd thought things were going to get easier and they'd only become more difficult. He knew Ron wasn't responsible for what happened. He couldn't say he remembered any Brandon. And then there was Colin....
Shaking his head, Harry stood up and went into the locker room to get his book bag. The walk home would give him time to clear his thoughts and decide what he was going to do about what he'd just learned.
Any questions Harry had about Colin could be cleared up easily enough by a call--Colin's phone number was conveniently located in his cell phone, just like the rest of the team members'. Despite this fact, Harry had a hard time deciding whether or not to call him. He almost wasn't sure he wanted to know what might have been the subject of their meetings....
**~~***~~**
"What did you get for number fourteen?" Hermione asked, interrupting Harry's thoughts.
"I got twelve," Ron volunteered.
"I asked Harry," Hermione answered indifferently.
Harry looked at his homework page. He had twelve as well....
One of the most difficult things about class work, he was finding, was that Hermione consulted with him frequently when there were discrepencies. Apparently he used to be do very well at math and chemistry, and no matter how often Harry commented that he couldn't remember the formulas they had learned last year, she still seemed to think he would have the right answers.
"I haven't done that one yet," he lied, covering his paper with his book.
"The back of the book says twenty-four," she continued, flipping pages, "but I keep getting nineteen."
Ron scrubbed at his page with a blunt pencil eraser and scribbled in Hermione's answer.
Harry did so as well, as discretely as possible.
"I'll ask about it tomorrow." Closing the book, Hermione leaned back and shook her head, then looked up at the sky. They were sitting on the lawn beside the track behind the school. All the sports practices had been canceled for teacher meetings and Ron and Harry had only talked Hermione into going out to a movie if they finished their homework first.
"Are you both done?"
Stuffing his paper in his bag, Ron said, "Yep. Just need to check that one problem, right?"
Harry, too, hid his mostly blank paper and stood up. "Yeah, let's go."
Shouldering their school bags, the trio started down the sidewalk away from the school. Ron started talking about Fred and George's getting an appartment--they were looking around London for a place they could afford--and how that would clear out some space at home.
"You'll be bored, just Percy and you," Hermione commented.
"Not so much. I'll get the bigger bedroom."
Harry watched the cars driving by. He supposed he might ask his friends about Colin. They were team mates...it wasn't so strange that he should have spent time with him when he was angry with Draco. They were probably better friends here than in the dream. That was all.
"So, have either of you heard much about Colin?" he ventured. "He hasn't been hanging out after practice as much any more."
Ron made a disbelieving sound and shook his head. "I don't know what's up with Creepy, but he's getting creepier by the day. Yesterday I saw him talking to Vince Crabbe. I mean, what the hell would they be hanging out for?" It was unlike Ron to use Colin's nickname--one given to him by Draco and used by few teammates. It was a mark of great annoyance.
Hermione huffed knowingly but didn't say anything.
After a moment Ron said, "Oh, go on. What do you know that we don't?"
"Only that Colin Creevy might not be the best person to be around. I was by the head's office waiting to pick up my transcripts and I saw him waiting to go in."
"Maybe he was getting transcripts, too," Harry suggested more diplomatically than he felt.
"I doubt it. He looked kinda shaky."
"He's been kinda shaky for months," Ron retorted. "I think he's been getting into a few things he shouldn't be. Mind, it's not my business--"
"He's on your team, Ron," Hermione snapped. "Whether you do the same stupid things he is or not, you two are connected and it will look bad for everyone when he gets caught."
Harry didn't say anything for a moment, but, recalling the conversation at the pizza parlor, he said, "So you guys really think he'd be involved with drugs?"
Shaking her head, Hermione said, "Or something ridiculous."
Finally daring to ask a direct question, Harry said, "I didn't spend a lot of extra time with him, did I? You know, before the accident."
They were both quiet for several seconds.
"I mean, guys, you know me. I wouldn't do something like that. But, you know, maybe I knew something then."
"It's possible," Ron started doubtfully, "but I can't see you risking anything to get into drugs. It takes someone with real issues to do that stuff."
Someone hiding a gay relationship with a team mate who also happens to be a public rival?Harry pushed the thought away as quickly as it came. If he was getting high with Colin Creevy to drown his stress and sorrows over a secret boyfriend he would rather not know.
With a firm determination that he was no longer the person he was before the accident--whatever crazy things that person might have done--Harry decided to stop pursuing the mystery of how the accident happened. He finally realized that he didn't care as much as he might. He was a different person and that was all that mattered.
Isn't that what Dumbledore said? If I want to be that person, look for him. Well, I did, and now that I know more about him I don't want to be him any more. Pleased with his resolution, Harry turned the conversation to the movie they were about to see and did his best to forget all about Colin, Draco, and Pansy.
TBC
**~~***~~**
There you go. And on Christmas Eve there will be some big chapters.... Interesting chapters, I think. ^_^
And a note about Colin.... When I introduced him I knew he was going to be different from the books, but it wasn't until I was about at the beginning of this section that I realized how different I was making him. Some of you are no doubt wondering if Colin really was into pastimes of the less than legal kind.... I'd like to be mysterious and tell you you'll find out in later chapters, but I didn't end up exploring it due to some twists in the plot.... -_- This isn't a substance abuse drama anyway.... Think what you like about Colin. If you don't like the drug angle, maybe he's the victim of extreme bullying from Crabbe which has changed his personality....