Title: The Cold Shoulder
Fandom: Harry Potter
Pairing: Harry/Hermione
"Well done, Hermione," said Harry, so heartily it did not sound like his voice at all, and, still not looking at her, "brilliant. Perfect. Great…"
He slammed the door behind him before being greeted by the cold winter air that had arrived two nights prior. He was putting more and more distance between him and the Weasley household, shoving his hands in his pockets and trying not to think back to the scene he had walked into moments ago.
He had just descended the stairs after Ginny asked him to 'help' her with something, when in reality it was just her making another attempt of getting back together.
"Ginny, I've already been through this with you. Sixth year was a blur and I hardly remember how we got started, but I just feel we're not meant for each other. You can respect that, can't you?" He reasoned with her.
Looking to her and seeing her face contorted in a glare, he knew she didn't think this was the right decision but he couldn't live like that; not only lying to her but himself in the process.
He had re-entered the living room and before he could even get a word out, he was face-to-face with his two best friends snogging under the seasonal mistletoe Mr. Weasley felt obligated to put up.
Before either of them could proffer an explanation to him, he was flying down the hall and out the front door.
He had stopped walking some time ago and was now approaching a snowman about his height. "Fred and Georges' work…" He noted the Weasley's Wizard Wheezes emblem emblazoned across the midsection. Just thinking of both youngest Weasley's right now sent a pang of anger through him and he just punched clean through the snowman's head. It began spraying him with ice cold water.
"Oh, Harry" A voice broke him from his stupor. He turned around to see Hermione rushing to his side, stripping her jacket from herself and wrapping it tightly around him, trying to transfer as much body heat as she could to him.
"Well done, Hermione," said Harry, so heartily it did not sound like his voice at all, and, still not looking at her, "brilliant. Perfect. Great…"
"Harry, I had no idea he was going to pull something like that, and I told him that I was over him and didn't feel that way toward him." She told him genuinely, while ruffling his hair.
His expression softened under her gaze and her words.
"You-you mean that?" He said through chattering teeth.
"Let's get you inside before you catch cold." She brushed off his question, throwing his arm over her shoulder and carrying him back toward the house.
"So, are you just going to be a bachelorette the rest of your life or did you have your eye on someone?" He asked in a dazed state
"There's only ever been one person…" She finished ambiguously.
He gripped her shoulder lightly without realizing his face was now wearing a smile that she could see out of the corner of her eye. This put the pair of them at ease.
They reached the porch before making their way into the warmth and closing the door behind them.