Harry Potter & the other characters and places in this story belong to JK Rowling
Chapter Two - Back to SchoolThe next day they boarded the Hogwart's Express and headed towards school. Harry was right. The students still looked at him with a mixture of suspicion and pity, and kept asking him if he was OK. He was looking forward to checking out the "Abandoned Objects Room" which he had discovered on the Marauders Map. It would be nice to get away and be alone for a while.
The train ride was actually quite pleasant. Draco Malfoy and his Slytherin friends left them alone for once, doubtless due to the memories of their last encounter – which had involved them being hit with multiple hexes at the same time. Harry and Ron discussed the prospects for the annual Quidditch competition. There were four positions open on the team. Fred and George would not be coming back, so two Beaters were needed. Oliver Wood, the Keeper, had finished at Hogwarts. Alicia Spinnet, a Chaser, had decided not to be on the team this year after a bad injury over the summer. Ron said he wanted to try out for Keeper, and Ginny surprised everyone by saying that she intended to try out for Chaser.
"Why?" said Ron.
"Why not?" laughed Ginny. "Afraid I'll make the team and you won't?"
"I don't know… It's just a dangerous sport," said Ron.
"Ron, she can do whatever she wants," said Hermione. "She's not a baby any more, she's in fourth year for heaven's sake. Besides, I've heard that she can get the Quaffle past you most of the time." Ginny smiled angelically and Ron turned red.
He elbowed Harry. "Back me up here," he whispered.
"Umm… er… Actually… I've seen Ginny play with you guys at home, and she's pretty good, Ron. I don't think she'd have any problem being a Chaser for Gryffindor." Ginny went bright red and grinned widely. Ron just looked dumbfounded.
"I don't believe this! And I call you my best friend!" he took out his wand and hit Harry with a particularly effective Cheering Charm. Harry tried to fight it by holding his breath, but he burst out with a few giggles, then started laughing uncontrollably. Soon the Cheering Charms were flying, and all four of them were rolling on the floor in laughter. It lasted for a long time. Just as they thought it was over, one person would laugh, and then that would set them going again. They held their stomachs and groaned – they had been laughing for so long it had started to hurt.
"Hermione… Ha Ha Ha Ha… What's the … Ha Ha Ha… counter charm? Wha Ha Ha Ha!" asked Ron, with some difficulty.
"Oh… Ha Ha Ha… You wouldn't… Ha Ha Ha… like it… Hee Hee Hee Hee. It makes you…Ha Ha Ha… cry for… Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha…. Two days straight. Ha Ha Ha… It's best just to Hee Hee Ha Ha… Let this one wear off." With that, Hermione dissolved once again into laughter.
Finally their laughter subsided into a few intermittent chuckles. "Wow, that made me Ha Ha Ha hungry," said Ron. Luckily the lady with the food tray arrived at their door a few minutes later. They bought some sandwiches. They had had too much candy the day before, so they didn't buy any sweets. They spent the rest of the journey playing card games. Hermione had a deck of cards for Wizard Go Fish that she bought at Fred and George's store. It was the same as Muggle Go Fish but the cards in your hand kept changing. Then Ron and Ginny had a very competitive game of Wizard Chess. Harry and Hermione watched intently. The sibling rivalry was intense, and Ron and Ginny were quite evenly matched. The chess pieces were more aggressive than usual, and when Ginny's bishop was captured by Ron's knight, Ron's pieces started doing the Macarena and taunting Ginny's pieces. It was quite bizarre. Ginny was laughing so hard that she accidentally let Ron capture her queen, and then Ron managed to win the game.
+ + +
Later that night, after the Sorting Ceremony, the feast, and the usual celebrations in the Gryffindor common room (which were much more subdued without Fred and George Weasley), Harry lay awake in his bed. Ron had fallen asleep immediately, but Neville's snores were keeping Harry awake. He grabbed his wand and whispered "Lumos". A soft light appeared. Harry checked his watch. It was only 10:00PM. He figured that now would be a good time to check out the room in the tower. He took the Marauder's Map and Invisibility Cloak out of his trunk and quietly slipped out of the dormitory. There was no one in the common room. He put the Invisibility Cloak over his head and opened the portrait hole. The Fat Lady was snoring and didn't wake up, luckily. Harry checked the map once more. Filch was down in the Great Hall. Peeves was in the trophy room. Good. Harry thought. No one will notice me. He set off towards the Astronomy Tower.
When he reached the painting covering the entrance to the hidden room, Harry tried to move it. But the painting didn't move. It was a map of the moon, showing all the craters and mountains. He looked down at the Marauder's map. Beside the painting he could see a small dot labelled "Harry Potter". In even smaller writing, it said, "Lunar eclipse". That must be the password. Harry tapped the painting with his wand and whispered, "Lunar eclipse". The painting swung open to reveal a tunnel. Harry climbed in and closed the painting behind him. He crawled along the tunnel, which suddenly ended, and he fell into a larger open space. He lit his wand and looked around.
The room was circular. There was a large window on the western wall which looked out onto the Hogwarts grounds. Moonlight was streaming in. The light illuminated the contents of the room. It was filled with all sorts of dusty objects. Some broken desks and shelves, some old furniture – sofas, tables, chairs. There was an old piano near the window. Harry had never seen a piano at Hogwarts before. There were piles of old curtains, several rusty cauldrons, a pile of broken quills. A broken Bludger sitting on one of the sofas twitched every now and then. All of the objects in the room looked very dusty. It seemed that no one had been there for quite some time. Most of the objects were stacked against the stone walls. The central area of the room was clear. Harry climbed onto an old sofa near the window that didn't look quite as dusty as the others. One of the cushions was ripped, and it was a hideous yellowish-green colour. But it was still comfortable.
Harry smiled. This was going to be the perfect place. No one would ever come here. He could sit on this sofa and look out over the grounds of Hogwarts, and have some time alone. He had had a great time this afternoon on the train with his friends, but after arriving at school, the strange looks from the other students had begun again, and Harry needed a break. The moonlight here was so calming. He had to remind himself not to fall asleep here.
Harry wondered if his father had ever been in here; after all, this room was on the Marauder's Map, and James Potter had been one of the creators of the map. Maybe his father liked to sit here on this very sofa and look at the moon. Maybe his mother had sat there too. Maybe they had sat there together, holding hands…
Harry laughed as an image of Ron and Hermione sitting together holding hands came into his mind. It seemed kind of… weird. This whole "love" business was very confusing to Harry. Ron had been bugging him all night to talk to Hermione, but Harry insisted that he would wait until tomorrow. He couldn't understand why Ron was so impatient. After all, it was just Hermione, their friend. He wondered why Ron liked Hermione in that way. Harry thought of her as a good friend, and admitted that she had looked pretty at the Yule Ball, and that she was really intelligent; but that was all, she was just a friend. He couldn't imagine her being anything more to him, but Ron obviously could. Why? What makes one person like another person as more than a friend? Harry had liked Cho Chang last year, so he knew what it felt like, but that seemed different to what Ron was feeling. Harry had felt shy, embarrassed and clumsy around Cho. He had been so incredibly nervous to ask her to the Yule Ball. He got all queasy when he saw her in her Quidditch uniform, even more so when they were opponents. Was that what love was supposed to feel like? But now he didn't even have those feelings any more? Why not? Was love always so temporary? He didn't like the sounds of that. And Ron, he didn't seem to be nervous around Hermione at all (except that he didn't want to tell her his feelings). He argued with her just as much as usual. If he liked her, why did he argue with her? But it appeared that he liked her A LOT. Harry felt almost jealous. He wondered if Hermione liked Ron in the same way. She HAD gone to visit Viktor Krum, but Harry was pretty sure that Hermione didn't like him as more than a friend. It was all so confusing! Before last year, everything had been so simple. It had been Harry, Ron, and Hermione, all best friends. But then came Viktor Krum and the Yule Ball and everything changed. Why?
What would happen if Ron and Hermione became boyfriend and girlfriend? Would Harry be left out? They'd probably be off kissing all the time and stuff. Harry grimaced. He couldn't imaging Ron and Hermione kissing each other. It was kind of gross, but yet fascinating. Ron had never seemed the type to want to be kissing girls. Harry wondered if Ron realized that's what he'd be getting into by becoming Hermione's boyfriend.
Harry wished he had someone he could talk to about all this stuff. Ron was just as clueless as he was. Sirius would be good to talk to, but he was so far away. Harry would feel stupid writing questions about love down on paper and sending them by owl post. He wished he had an older brother. Or his father. He closed his eyes and imagined sitting beside his father, asking him all these questions. His father would have all the answers. After all, he had gotten a female to marry him, he must know everything there was to know about girls.
Would anyone ever like Harry the same way that Ron liked Hermione? Or would he be doomed to live out his days in solitude? Harry imagined himself in forty or fifty years – looking like Mad-Eye Moody, and terrorizing young witches and wizards by shouting out, "CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" when they were least expecting it. Ginny liked Harry, or used to, he wasn't sure any more. But that was different. She probably had some sort of crush on him like he had on Cho. Besides, she was Ron's sister. Harry concluded that he would likely be alone his whole life. Like Professor Lupin or Professor Moody. Maybe he should change his name to Mad-Eye Potter. Harry chuckled at the thought.
It was probably for the best. Since Voldemort had returned, Harry would be a target. If anything happened to him, he didn't want anyone to be hurt. He knew the Weasley's would be upset, and Hagrid and Hermione, but they were just friends. They would manage without him. But the thought of hurting someone like Cedric's death had hurt Cho… That was too much. If he ever felt like he was falling in love, he would remind himself of how sad and pale Cho looked after losing Cedric.
With that thought in mind, Harry got up from the sofa. It was getting late, and he had Potions first thing tomorrow. Harry left the room and made his way back to Gryffindor Tower.
To be continued…