Disclaimer: I, obviously, do not own Harry Potter. Just in case there was any confusion.

A/N: This is my first attempt at writing a fic with multiple chapters (albeit only 3). While my first two projects didn't have a ton of responses, what I did get was very positive so I decided to take a step forward and attempt something a little bit longer. This is my take on Harry/Hannah which I think is a criminally underutilized pairing with loads of potential.

As with before, I hope you enjoy it. Constructive criticism is welcome, insults are your own prerogative if you have nothing better to do with your time.

I Have A Feeling You Won't Regret It

Chapter 1

Harry Potter was sitting on the edge of the Black Lake staring off into the distance. It had been 3 days since the first task of the Triwizard Tournament had ended and, despite the change in demeanor from both his friends and classmates, Harry had done his best to continue the isolation that had begun the moment his name had been spit out from the goblet of fire. It wasn't that he desired loneliness, in fact it was making him more miserable than he cared to admit, but this was a matter of principle.

During his second year, after it became known that he was a parselmouth, the entire school had treated him as an outcast. Everyone, even Ron and Hermione at first, had been suspicious of him at best to outright hateful at worst. While his friends had come around after a time and he had forgiven him, the rest of his classmates had continued to torment him until after Hermione had been petrified. Finally realizing their mistake, they had backed off and Harry had forgiven them all believing it would be a one time thing. As it turned out, he couldn't have been more wrong, as he found out after unwillingly becoming the Triwizard Tournament's fourth champion. The very next day he'd been the victim of accusing glares, accusations of being a cheater and a liar, and the odd hex as he made his way through the halls. Malfoy, the childish git, had made buttons saying 'Support Cedric Diggory' that would morph to say 'Potter stinks' when he was in the vicinity, it seemed as though there wasn't a single student who wasn't wearing one. Worst of all though, his best friends hadn't believed him when he said he didn't enter. Ron had openly called him 'cheater' and 'glory seeker' while Hermione had said she wasn't sure what to think.

Fortunately enough, it hadn't taken a full school term for the lot of them to come to their senses this time; watching Harry nearly get killed a dozen times over trying to outfly a Hungarian Horntail, the most dangerous species of dragon in the world, had gotten it through the students' thick skulls that Harry hadn't wanted to be a part of this and was in mortal danger as a result. Immediately after the task was over, Hermione and Ron had tried to come speak with him in the hospital tent and act like nothing had been wrong but Harry wouldn't have it. For the second time, they hadn't been there for him when he needed them the most and while he didn't want to outright end the friendship he needed to make them understand clearly how severely they'd hurt him by leaving him to his own devices. Others in the school had tried to act chummy and congratulate him on his performance but he'd given them all nothing more than an icy glare and a cold shoulder. He didn't enjoy acting this way and in fact felt a little guilty for doing it but he didn't see any other way to make them all understand that their behavior had consequences and he wasn't going to let himself be walked over any longer.

As all of this was weighing on his mind Harry was pulled from his thoughts as he heard a voice behind him.

"Potter?" He turned around to see a petite girl with long blonde hair looking at him from a few meters away.

"Abbott." Harry said, acknowledging her presence. He knew the girl was a Hufflepuff in his year and while the two had barely ever conversed he vividly recalled her being one of students who hissed at him aggressively in second year and had seemed to brandish her 'Potter stinks' badge with no small amount of pride each time he walked by. Needless to say, he didn't exactly hold positive feelings towards her and, as such, couldn't hold back the coldness he felt with his reply. "What do you want?"

Her face contorted into a look of shame before looking him directly in the eyes.

"I'm sorry." She said barely above a whisper.

Harry was surprised and simply replied "Excuse me?"

"I'm sorry." She said again with a bit more determination than before.

He had no idea how to even begin responding to her. The best treatment this girl had ever given him was complete neutrality prior to the events of second year. Since that point, he'd assumed her feelings towards him were, at best, general dislike and now here she was after all that apologizing to him. It almost felt insulting, did she think this would make up for how she'd acted up to this point. He felt his anger rising as he retorted.

"Is this a joke? Since when do you care about how I feel?" A steely edge in his voice.

Hannah grimaced at his words but didn't back down as she'd been expecting worse.

"Look, Potter, I don't expect you to forgive me, I know I've been a right bitch to you and you deserve more than just a simple apology. I just….." She trailed off taking a moment to recollect herself "I didn't know where else to start"

Harry stood there with his eyes narrowed, trying to discern any deception in her voice. While his anger hadn't yet dissipated her words hadn't raised it either.

"Why now?" His tone remaining sharp. "You never did this after second year."

"I was afraid. As soon as Granger got petrified we all knew it wasn't you, you'd have never hurt her like that. It was just that the idea of facing you after I'd been so cruel scared me. I know how selfish that sounds, but I've always been afraid of confrontation and I wasn't able to overcome that back then."

"And now?" He asked.

"I'm still scared now, probably more so than last time, but I knew I couldn't avoid doing the right thing this time, not after the conversation I had with Cedric."

At this Harry felt a bit of anger return. "So what, you're here because Cedric made you."

"No." She replied quickly "I was already trying to work myself up to apologize after the first task. Cedric just gave me the push I needed to not let my fear keep me from doing the right thing this time."

Harry said nothing, just continued to stare at her with a stern expression prompting her to elaborate further.

"I explained all this to Cedric last night." She continued "We talked for hours working through everything, but one thing he said that really stuck with me was 'everyone makes mistakes but good people apologize for them. Harry might not forgive you and he might yell at you but if you're a good person, which I believe you are, you'll apologize regardless."

As she finished the two stood in silence. Harry had barely moved as he listened to her and he honestly wasn't sure what to do. On one hand, a single apology, no matter how sincere, wasn't enough to let everything go but, on the other hand, she was the only one so far who had actually taken the time to apologize and what more could she do? They weren't friends, there was no relationship or trust to rebuild between them so was it fair to expect more?

Finally, Harry let out a deep sigh and began to speak. "Look Abbott, I appreciate the apology but there's too much there for me to forgive with an apology alone." Hannah looked a bit dejected hearing this "But I guess I'm not really angry anymore either. You're the first person to actually apologize which I suppose has to count for something."

"What can I do to earn your forgiveness then?" She said with a hint of desperation.

Harry was more than a little surprised at the question. He was about to say that there wasn't anything she could do right now but he stopped himself, thought for a minute, and responded with his own question. "Why is this so important to you?"

Hannah closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She had a brief internal debate about how much she wanted to reveal before making a decision. "Did you know that Pansy is my cousin?"

"Parkinson?" Harry asked, scowling at the name.

"Yes, our mothers are sisters but she's always been a little wretch. Whenever our families visited growing up she always tried to get me in trouble. Usually she was caught lying but one time I was staying with her while my parents were traveling…" Hannah paused, frowning at the memory.

"She'd just gotten a fancy new set of dress robes for her birthday the week prior and had made a big show of telling her parents how much she loved them. The night I was staying she came into my room with them, looked directly at me, and threw them into the fireplace. She immediately began sobbing and screamed for her father, as soon as he showed up she told him that I'd done it."

Harry adopted a sympathetic look, knowing a thing or two about wretched cousins, but allowed Hannah to continue.

"When I spoke to my parents about it I swore over and over that I hadn't done it but they refused to believe me. Even though they knew Pansy didn't like me they didn't believe she'd have ruined a gift she liked so much for the sole purpose of getting me in trouble. I was grounded for the next 3 months and I was so angry, not just at Pansy but that no one believed that I'd done nothing wrong when it was the truth."

Hannah's face became very serious as she looked Harry directly in the eye.

"How I treated you, accusing you of things you didn't do and then not listening when you denied them is exactly what my parents did to me back then. I jumped to a conclusion without all the facts and judged you guilty when you were innocent. I should've seen it both times, I should've stood up for you when no one else would, but I didn't and I'm ashamed of that."

Harry stood there processing what she said. He understood where she was coming from, in her shoes he'd probably feel determined to make things right as well and having not yet decided to return to speaking terms with Ron and Hermione he could really use someone to help him prepare for the 2nd task.

"Alright." He finally said. "I haven't been able to get anywhere with the clue we got regarding the 2nd task and I'd appreciate a research partner. I was planning on going to the library tomorrow after breakfast, care to join?"

Hannah beamed at him "I'd be delighted."