Chapter 13: You're so much better

An: Dunuhnuhnuhnuh! You say it's your birthday! Dunuhnuhnuhnuh! Gonna have a good time! That's right; today is my 18th birthday! Yay! And what is a better birthday present than reading your sweet, sweet reviews, readers? Hope you enjoy this chapter, everyone! I'll try to post this quick; I have birthday plans with my family in the later. Hope you enjoy this chapter!

Continuez.

Harry felt numb as he woke the next morning. The dorm was unusually cold; but, he noticed upon waking, none of his fellow Gryffindor roommates were there. Even Ron, whom Harry had always been able to count on, appeared to have abandoned him. Harry pummeled the bed in anger. How could Ron be so stupid as to think Harry wanted this?! Any fool should have been able to recognize he hadn't put his name into that cup!

Feeling rather sorry for himself, Harry pulled his clothes on, and prepared to exit the dorm, only to find Hermione standing there. Her hair was braided, and she looked flushed. In one hand she balanced a stack of toast; in another, a thermos of hot, strong tea. As it was the weekend, she wore a thick woolen sweater and a skirt and leggings. Harry felt he had never seen such a welcome sight.

"Harry," Hermione greeted him, pulling him down the stairs with her. "We need to talk."

Harry thought it was the understatement of the century. "Yeah, we do."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Harry was relieved to find that Hermione had accepted his story without question, and for a while they sat in companionable silence, eating their toast and sipping tea out of the thermos, a thick, red, woolen blanket flung over them as they sat in the grass under their favorite tree, watching the giant squid.

Finally, she wiped the crumbs from the toast off of her shirt, and turned towards Harry with a businesslike expression. "I talked to Ron earlier, and from the looks of it, he isn't very pleased with you. What happened?" Harry noticed a few strands of her hair had fallen out of its neat plait, and concentrated on them for a moment before answering.

"I don't bloody know why, Hermione. Ron's just being a great stupid prat. It's like, I dunno, he thinks I put my name in the Goblet of Fire for attention."

Harry looked away, and was so angry at the injustice of it all that he almost missed Hermione's quiet, "That is what he thinks."

Harry whirled around to face Hermione. "What?"

She sighed, looking tired and forlorn. "He does think you're doing this for attention, Harry, and he thinks you're betraying him. You know how insecure he is. He's always felt like he's been pushed aside, while you've gotten all the attention."

Harry chucked the remains of his toast into the lake angrily. "So he wants more attention, does he? He wants to be famous for somehow surviving a psychopath's attack when he was a baby, an attack that killed his parents? He wants to be famous because said psychopath had unsuccessfully tried to kill him time and again after? WELL HE CAN BLOODY WELL HAVE IT, DAMMIT!"

For a moment there was silence, punctuated by Harry rapid and harsh breathing. Finally, Hermione said, in a small voice,

"He doesn't see it that way, Harry. He just knows that, where ever you go, people know your name. He want's that."

Harry shook his head. "Well, he can take it, take it all. I don't want to be the Boy Who Lived."

Hermione shook her head sadly. "If only it were that easy."

"Maybe it is," said Harry, fiercely. "Maybe, the world will get lucky and I'll die in one of the challenges."

For a while they just stared at each other, until it was broken by a loud sob from Hermione, who flung herself on Harry, knocking the thermos over into the grass.

"Harry, don't talk like that, don't you dare talk like that. You will not fail; you are so much better than what everyone thinks. You're my best friend, Harry. So please, don't talk like that!"

Taken by surprise, and feeling more than a little guilty, Harry hugged Hermione, muttering. "I'm so sorry, Hermione. I…I didn't mean it."

They remained embracing for a while, oblivious to everything, even the fact that they were being watched.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Ron muttered angrily all the way back to his dorm, blind with anger. The first person he ran into was Ginny.

"Hi, Ron!" She piped, grinning.

"Gin," said Ron urgently. "You're good friends with Hermione, right?"

"Yes…" replied Ginny slowly, rather alarmed at the urgency in her brother's voice.

"Did she tell you if she's going out with Harry?" Ron said, without preamble.

Ginny paled. "No! Why do you think they're going out? Did they…"

Ron shook his head. "No, but they were embracing by the lake. Looked pretty cozy, if you ask me. D'you know anyone who may know if they are going out?"

Ginny looked thoughtful. "Well, Lavender Brown would probably know. She always does, and she's always taken a special interest in Harry and Hermione, anyways, because Harry is already famous, and Hermione's never really shown any interest in boys. If anyone should know, it's her."

Ro nodded at his sis, and took off.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

He found himself skidding to a halt in front of a rather surprised looking Lavender Brown in the library.

"What is it, Ron?" She asked, batting her eyelashes coyly. She had always had an interest in the youngest male Weasley.

"Hullo, Lavender." Ron replied wearily, sinking into the chair across from Lavender. "So, I have a question."

Lavender grinned, tossing her hair and leaning forward slightly.

"Ooh, a question? Do ask."

"Are Harry and Hermione going out?"

Rather taken aback, Lavender blinked. "Nooo…not that I know of. If I'm correct, which I think I am, Harry has a crush on Cho Chang, and Hermione still hasn't shown any interest in anyone." She sighed. "It's soo frustrating. But why do you think they might be going out?"

Ron got up. He may not be very happy with Harry and Hermione, but he certainly wasn't going to spill anything to Lavender Brown, the resident gossip queen.

Avoiding her eyes, he shrugged. "No reason." And fled to the Gryffindor Tower, leaving a slightly crestfallen Lavender, with nothing good to gossip about.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

As Ron paced his dorm, dozens of moments from the last almost four years overloaded his brain, all featuring Harry and Hermione. Harry and Hermione laughing together, Harry and Hermione helping each other on homework, Harry and Hermione hugging…

Suddenly, Ron stopped dead in horror. For in that moment, he was sure; sure that his two best mates fancied each other, even if they didn't know it yet.

Fin.