Chapter Twenty-One

"So I take it Hermione told you about the… you know…"

Harry nodded, following Ron out of Charms class. Students from all four houses bustled around them as they strode down the corridor. "A couple nights ago," Harry said. "But I told her that I didn't want to do it—not after Cedric…" His throat tightened and he found that he couldn't continue.

Ron put a hand on Harry's shoulder, his smile fading. "Cedric would've wanted us to do everything we could," he said.

"Yeah." Harry turned away from him, taking off his glasses to wipe his eyes as they rounded a corner.

"Harry…" Ron looked as though he wanted to say something more, but he didn't. Shaking his head, he said, "Hermione wants us to meet during the trip to Hogsmeade. She's already started telling people."

"What?" Harry stopped mid-step, a furious look crossing his face. "I never told her that I was okay with this."

"Well, are you?"

"No… Maybe. I don't know." Harry pushed his hand through his hair. "The idea itself is brilliant, but I just know that everyone who shows up is only going to come so they can ask me about… him."

"They'll surprise you, mate. Just give them a chance. I've been talking to Neville and Luna and they seem pretty determined about it. They definitely wouldn't bother you about Cedric."

"Yeah… I don't know. Maybe you're right, Ron. I guess I'll see you in Transfiguration. I've got to head back to the dormitory—forgot my textbook."

Ron nodded and headed off down the corridor, disappearing between a flock of Slytherins and a cluster of Ravenclaws. Turning to head in the other direction, Harry found himself face to face with Pansy Parkinson.

"Fancy meeting you here, Potter," she said with a sneer. "And alone. I thought for sure you would be with Draco."

Harry frowned, looking for the groups of students he had just seen Ron step through. They were nowhere to be found. "I don't have time for this, Pansy," he said, trying to sidestep her.

She pulled her wand out and held it to his throat like the tip of a dagger. "Oh, I think you do have time for this, Potter. What the fuck do you think you're doing with Draco Malfoy?"

Harry looked down at Pansy's wand and back up to her face. "Do you think I'm scared of you, Pansy?" he asked. "I've dueled Voldemort—" She cringed at the name. "—The Dark Lord, himself. Do you really think you can intimidate me?"

"What, the fuck, are you doing with Draco Malfoy?" she demanded, pressing her wand so hard against him that it hurt.

"Fuck—Pansy, back off! Nothing! It's none of your fucking business what I do or don't do with Draco Malfoy," Harry said. "He made it clear that he was through with you."

Pansy's lips curled back in a snarl. "We'll see about that, Potter. We'll fucking see. You don't think Draco will be crawling back to me with a couple of well-placed potions—a couple of spells? You're wrong, Potter. Draco is mine."

Harry's eyes widened and his hand flew to his throat as she withdrew, striding away down the corridor. If Pansy wasn't bluffing—and Harry had a feeling she wasn't as he watched her retreat—then Draco had completely underestimated her. She was dangerous—unstable, even. He had to warn him.

Sprinting down the corridor, Harry took a left at the stairs and began to descend. He wasn't sure how he would gain access to the Slytherin common room or how he would explain to Draco what had just happened. Hopefully the bruise on his neck would be enough.

It was as he ran past the entrance to Snape's dungeon that he skidded to a stop, hearing Hermione's voice through the cracked door of a classroom.

"Look, Evan… I know it must feel strange to… to consider a relationship with a Gryffindor—"

"That's not it."

"Then what is it? What's the problem? Why do you keep saying we can't we be together?"

"We just can't."

Harry shuffled forward, angling his gaze through the crack so he could just see Hermione and Evan Prince on the other side of the abandoned classroom.

"Is your father a Death Eater? Is that it?"

Prince exhaled through his nose. "No," he said. "My father is a Muggle."

"Then is it your mother?"

"It has nothing to do with my family—"

"Then I don't understand," Hermione said. "Why shouldn't we be together?"

"Hermione—"

"Is this some kind of joke to you?"

"Hermione—"

"Don't Hermione me!"

Hermione threw herself at him, then, drawing Evan into a kiss. Harry turned away from the sight, but ran from the door, hearing a shuffling from inside the room, so that they wouldn't realize he'd been eavesdropping.

Prince exited the classroom glaring and stopped only when he saw Harry. "What are you looking at, Potter?" he said, and swept away down the hall in a whirl of black cloak. Harry was left standing speechless, feeling his gut sink into the stone floor as he heard Hermione call for Prince to come back.

AN: Thank you all so much for 122 alerts, 74 faves, and 16,000 hits in four months! (Sorry for the wait on this one. was glitching and not letting me upload the story last week.)

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