Harry had the uncanny feeling he was being followed. He had no doubt about whom it was, even if he hadn't been able to smell the peach shampoo, he would have known. He was finally in front of the door of the Three Broomsticks and without even bothering to turn around and with his hand on the door, he sighed and asked, "What do you want, Renata?"
"Nothing."
He turned and found her smiling. She had a nice smile it was true, but why was it that she was always either smiling like that or glaring at him? The smile made him so nervous as often as not and the way she glared it felt like she was drilling holes in his skull with lasers. He shivered again despite the warm spring weather.
"You know we haven't talked about when we were in that other world," he tried to sound casual and knew he failed.
She stepped in front of him and opened the door, if he'd moved back a second later she would have hit him in the head with it. He wondered if it was intentional or not, either way he followed her inside. They ordered Butterbeers, they weren't alcoholic, and they were as beer-like as root beer was. They got a table and sat down.
"So what about that other world?" she asked this so levelly and so casually that Harry could almost believe she had no idea why he was asking her at all and that nothing out of the ordinary had happened. She pulled the metal cap off her Butterbeer and tossed it back over her shoulder in an easy-going fashion.
"Well," he's said awkwardly, "about the way I acted. What I did." He was referring to kissing her. He had liked it, a lot. It was the second time he'd kissed her this year, not that he was sure she'd wanted him to kiss her either time. He hadn't really been able to identify her reaction either time though he was fairly sure she'd kissed him back. At least, he thought so; he'd never kissed anyone else before.
"I understand completely. You had to be sure I was the right person and not an imposter like those other four who looked and sounded like me." She smiled sweetly and said this all as though her answers alone hadn't been enough to identify her. The first answer alone had been enough if he could have been able to tell which of them had spoken. She should have known that already.
Harry watched her suspiciously. This had to be a trap. She was never this nice, almost never this nice anyway. "And about Christmas?" he asked nervously.
"There was mistletoe. You did what any boy finding himself under mistletoe with a girl would. You kissed her. After all, I dared you to kiss someone anyway and what better opportunity than when you find a girl standing under some mistletoe?"
This was too much. It had to be a trap of some sort. What was she trying to get him to say? Or admit to? If she thought she could get him to admit that he liked her before she admitted to liking him then she had another thing coming. Maybe this would unbalance her. Unlikely but maybe. "What would you say if I did that again?"
"What do you think I'd say?" she cocked her head to the side and gazed intently at him.
"I.I.I don't know." He hadn't expected that, he should have but he didn't. He tried to regain the upper hand or at least an even footing; he wasn't sure he ever had the upper hand with Renata. He wasn't sure anyone ever had the upper hand with her. "What if I did that now?"
"You mean what if, we were just sitting here, talking and as polite as can be and you moved your chair closer to me, much closer. Like this," she shifted her chair over so that it was very close to him, he could feel her breath on him and smell her hair and it wasn't unpleasant. "And then, what if you brought your face over near mine. Like this." She brought her face up towards his, her smooth pink lips less than an inch away from his.
Harry couldn't help it. Really he couldn't. He bent his head down the half an inch he needed to and he kissed her lips. They were sweet. She was definitely kissing him back this time; there was no mistake about that. When he finally drew back away from her-though he wouldn't have drawn back at all if it hadn't been that he needed more air and he wanted to see her reaction-and opened his eyes he could have sworn there was a faint smile playing on her mouth before her face became an unreadable mask.
Harry said softly, "So? If I did move close to you, bring my face near you, and kiss you, then what would you do about it?"
"I.I.I'd tell you how inappropriate you were to have been kissing me like that without asking my opinion in the matter and being in public. That's what I'd do." Her voice was unsteady at first but soon became as sharp as Professor McGonagall's voice ever was. She moved as far away from him as she could without moving her where her seat was. "Isn't that right, Hermione?"
Harry looked up and found Ron and Hermione staring at him. How long had they been there? His face reddened horribly and he knew it. He said uncomfortably, "Sit. Order some Butterbeers and then we can go to Zonkos." He pulled out the chair on his other side. "Sit!" Now it was a desperate plea, anything to end the awkward silence.
"Ron and I are going to go order drinks. We'll be right back." Hermione sniffed as she turned her back on them, she had obviously disapproved.
As soon as they were gone, Harry whispered furiously, "How long?"
"What?" she asked clearly startled at the ferocity in his voice, she seemed like she could possibly even be frightened. His face was a mask of wrath and still very close to hers.
"How long were they standing there before you stopped kissing me?" he demanded.
She scoffed, "Me kissing you? Not likely. I was just sitting here and you had the nerve to-"
"Shut-up!" That had been a rotten trick. He moved his chair as far from her as he could. Really rotten. She had made it seem like she was going to kiss him and she wanted him to kiss her and then she accused him of it being completely his own idea and doing. The nerve! "You are going to tell me how long were they standing there, Renata Delano."
"I don't know how long they were standing there. I.I didn't realize they were there until after you moved away and I opened my eyes."
This was just great. Ron and Hermione had probably seen the whole thing. He had just leaned down and kissed her like that. In public none the less! What had he been thinking? What was he going to do? They'd never let him live it down. But he had to know. "So? What did you think?"
"I.I.I already told you. That's all there is to it." She seemed like she was trying to glare at him but seemed unable to focus.
Torture. She seems like she likes him and then she tries to hit him with a verbal lashing and a killer stare, though for once she actually failed at both, her voice quavered and her stare wavered. Well, he wasn't going to tell her he liked her, not until she said something definite first or stopped sending him such mixed signals. He wasn't about to make a fool of himself, not again, not for her or any other girl. He couldn't put up with it.
Ron and Hermione came back with their Butterbeers and sat at the table. Harry was worried they'd ask for some sort of explanation, he didn't have one to give them. They didn't ask.
"After we finish up here we're going to Zonkos. I have a few things to pick up," Ron said.
Harry had an idea he knew what sort of things Ron wanted to pick up. He didn't care. He was grateful that it seemed Ron and Hermione had made an agreement when they got their drinks that they wouldn't speak of what they had seen, at least, not here they wouldn't. Harry drained his glass and stood, barely remembering to grab his bag from Honeydukes. "I'll meet you all there when you're done."
He walked away before anyone could stop him. That would be the last thing he needed. He heard Ron noisily drain his glass, set it on the table, and reach the door just behind him.
"Harry, you're going to explain yourself, aren't you?" Ron asked, drawing even with him.
"That depends on how long you were standing there before we noticed you."
"Long enough, Harry. Long enough. So what gives? Did she finally tell you what she thinks or did you break down and tell her? I'm telling you, you're both too stubborn for your own good."
"Well, er, would you believe I was giving her CPR?" he asked without much hope.
"Harry, do you think I'm five years old or something?" he asked indignantly.
"No, didn't think that would work. The truth is.it was all her fault!"
"How do you figure that? I saw you kissing her, no matter who started it you did kiss her."
"She kissed me back," he said bitterly, and I liked it, he thought. He shoved that thought to the back of his mind, now was not the time for it. "Well, I.I didn't tell you the whole story about when I found Renata in Azkaban. I told you about how they poisoned Renata and used, probably a Polyjuice potion, to have four imposter Renatas to confuse me and keep me from knowing which one was her. I told you they said she'd die if I didn't figure out the right one soon enough. Well, I tried to ask questions to figure out who was who, and then, as a deciding vote kind of thing to make sure I had the right girl I.I kissed her. I couldn't tell if she was mad or happy or what and now that we're back here she's giving me mixed signals again. One minute moving herself really close to me as though she wants me to kiss her and the next ready to kill me with a glare or our start verbally abusing me. She's awful she is. I'm not putting up with it anymore!"
Ron blinked in surprise. "So what exactly happened in there?"
"I don't know," Harry moaned. "I don't. We were sitting there with our Butterbeers and I brought up Azkaban and-"
"What the heck did you do that for? Let sleeping dragons lie, Harry. That's what I always say. She seemed not to care about it so you shouldn't have brought it up, it's just asking for trouble." He sighed. "Then what happened?"
"I was an idiot and asked what she thought about it."
"Ooh. Never do that."
"Yeah. Thanks for the warning." They entered the shop. "You know how she pretends to act all innocent sometimes. She asked what I thought. I didn't have an answer. So I asked what she would do if I did that again. Bad idea. Very bad idea." He shook his head and picked up what looked like a set of Gobstones but he knew better than to think that that was all that they were. He read the package and saw that any time you touched one smoke came out. "Well then she started playing games. She asked, 'You mean what if I came really close to you like this?' and she did, and then she tilted her head upward and asked, 'and if I did this?' and then what choice did I have?"
"You could have backed away very quickly! That's what I would have done, mate; that's what you should have done. She's crazy, she is."
"Oh, Ron. You've seen Renata. You know her as well as I do. Almost as well as I do anyway." He gave a weak smile. "I couldn't help myself. She's so beautiful. And she's strong-willed. I could tell that she was trying to get me to kiss her. Ron, what am I going to do? I can't put up with this until June, much less until the end of next June."
"Harry, I suggest you and her stop playing games and you tell her how you feel. It doesn't matter how pretty she is or how good at Quiditch. We've been telling you that since the fifth year! We all told you. Repeatedly we told you. You didn't listen. Stop playing games with her and tell her the truth if you know what's good for you." He gave a nod as though that should settle things indefinitely.
"And since when did you become the expert on women?" he demanded.
"Obviously you've got some respect for me, you're asking my advice," Ron retorted.
Harry changed the subject, he'd had enough of this and he suspected he might hear something of it from Hermione too later on. He was not in the mood for another reprimand from his best friend so he moved on to a safer subject, safer so long as Hermione never heard about it at least. "So how are you planning at getting back at Anthony?"
"He's afraid of mice. I got that information from Dean. Apparently in potions one day last week they had to use cut up mice and Anthony wouldn't look at the potion all class. Dean got stuck with all the work. Said Anthony actually shrieked when he first saw the mouse. These little rubber ones," he shook a box under Harry's nose. "These will turn alive for about a minute and a half when they get exposed to light. All I have to do is hide them in Anthony's bed or in his book bag. I've got some Pepper Imps too. I'm going to break them into little pieces drop them into Anthony's breakfast when he's not looking." He continued on with the list of awful things he wanted to do to Anthony.
"Well you'll like this. Renata promised Anthony that she'd give up her seat next Hermione in all her classes today so he could sit next to Hermione. But we aren't in class today. She said that tomorrow she was giving up her seat to you."
Ron's eyes widened in horror.
"What's wrong?"
"You do realize who that means is sitting next to you, don't you?"
Harry's jaw just hung open. "No!" He'd be sitting next to Renata. "I think I'm going to be mysteriously ill tomorrow before class." He clutched his stomach; he felt ill just thinking about it.
"Oh no you won't. You have to face her sooner or later. Better sooner than later, I say."
"But-"
"She'll get worse. Trust me on this, Harry."
"But-"
"Harry, there's no 'buts' about it."
"The girls are waiting outside for us. It's time to leave or we'll be late to meet your mum."
"Right." They paid for their things and went out to meet Hermione and Renata. "C'mon. We're going to be late if we don't leave now."
The four were silent all the way back to Hogwarts. Harry suspected Renata had probably had a discussion with Hermione similar to the one he had had with Ron and suspected Hermione might lecture him later on. But he knew that nothing would be changed between them because Renata was at least as stubborn as himself. Well, he thought grimly, I'm not telling her first! Make her come tell me. **************************************************************
They found Mrs. Weasly waiting in the Great Hall and the students flooding in for lunch.
"There you are!" She hugged each of them by turn. "I was wondering."
"We were walking the grounds."
"Yes, well I'm glad you're here now. I've missed you all. Ginny is already waiting. Harry, dear, that's a very nice look on you." Harry still hadn't gotten around to shaving yet. She led them over to the table. Harry and Ron sitting on either side of her with Renata and Hermione of their other sides and Ginny sitting across from her. "Isn't this just wonderful? How has your term been? Tell me all about it."
She seemed to want to hear about everything, or just about everything. When Ron tried to bring up their little trip into the other world and to Azkaban she replied, "Now, Ron, don't go spoiling a perfectly good lunch with talk about that. You're scaring your sister." She leaned over and fussed with the collar on Ginny's robes.
"No, he's not, Mum. He already told me-" Ginny started and tried to move away her mother's hand.
Mrs. Weasly returned to sitting in her seat with her hands folded but said firmly but with at least some unease, "Ginny, we are not going to discuss this anymore."
After they had finished eating and Ginny had gone back to class Mrs. Weasly began to tell them how anxious she'd been when she had found out they were gone. "Arthur and I were beside ourselves with worry! Four students kidnapped from one of the safest places in Britain, one of the safest in the world. Sirius and Jennifer were worried sick too. Dear," she turned to Renata, "your mum is coming by tonight after dinner to see you. Actually she wants to meet with the four of you in the antechamber off the dining hall. We were all so worried. You weren't hurt were you? Any of you?"
"No, Mrs. Weasly. We're all fine."
She had heard some version of what had happened, from Dumbledore and they felt it was all she needed to know. They talked a little while longer and just before she left Mrs. Weasly asked if they would be coming to Percy's wedding over the summer, after replying that they'd be delighted to come (Ron actually said something more along the lines of "Do I have to, Mum?") she departed.
The meeting with Renata's mum was very like to the meeting with Ron's mum except that Professor Delano wished Renata and Harry to stay behind and speak with her.
"Has anything out of the ordinary happened?"
Harry thought guiltily about the Three Broomsticks, this woman had genuine concern in her voice. Concern for her daughter, yes, but concern for him too. "No, nothing."
"No more threatening letters? Nothing of that sort?"
"No, Professor. Nothing."
"The Green Flame Torch! Honestly, all but a very select group believed it to be legends."
Renata's eyes gleamed. "Would that group be the one you, Sirius, and Dumbledore belong to?"
"As a matter of fact yes. But no more questions from you, young lady. You're all safe? I was so worried."
Eventually they assured her that they'd all come back fine and Renata and Harry were allowed to leave (though before she let them leave she commented to Harry about his new look), but warned to go straight back to Gryffindor Tower. They weren't likely to find any danger but just in case.
They walked in silence until it was finally broken, nearly all the way back to Gryffindor Tower, with the words, "I'm sorry."
"What?" Renata stopped dead in her tracks.
"You heard me. I'm sorry. Got that? Sorry. I was stupid. I shouldn't have done that and I'm sorry. I don't know what I was thinking." He scolded himself, You were thinking about how much you like her and hate her at the same time! That's what you were thinking. Idiot. He shook himself mentally; he wasn't making sense. "Just. forgive me?" He did his best to make it sound like a question and not an order.
She was silent for a long time. Harry worried that maybe he hadn't said it all out loud and that he had only thought it, but if that was the case then why had she stopped? Maybe he had said all of it out loud, including the part about hating her. No, he didn't think he had, and he still trusted his sanity that much.
At last she did answer. Two words. "Don't apologize."
"What? I already did."
"Then take it back! I don't want you to apologize and I certainly don't plan on apologizing so just forget it all!" She was angry. "I said forget it! Don't talk at all. I don't want to hear it." She turned her head away from him. Somehow she sounded both extremely angry and close to tears at the same time.
A stray thought drifted across Harry's mind, even angry she looks pretty. He could have kicked himself. Stop it! "No. You deserve an apology, I gave you one and I am not taking it back." It was never easy for him to apologize, he found himself apologizing to her more than anyone else but it still didn't make it easier. She was not going to make him waste this apology. Just to spite her he said it again, "I'm sorry."
"Stop it!" She began to run, straight in the direction of Gryffindor Tower.
Harry had practice running from his cousin and his cousin's thugs long enough so that he easily caught up with her and grabbed her arm firmly. They were only a few twists and turns of the hallway away from the portrait of the Fat Lady.
She was crying. Harry knew that even as tight a grip as he had on her arm, it wouldn't cause her to cry. "Renata?" She wouldn't look at him. "Renata?" He used his free hand to tilt up her chin so she looked up at him, she didn't resist. "Don't cry. Please don't cry. What's the matter?"
"Nothing."
He knew she was lying. "Tell me what's wrong and maybe I can fix it."
"You can't. I won't tell you and that's the only way you could fix it. I'm not ready to tell you the truth." She began to cry once more.
Harry sat down, still holding her arm and she leaned on his shoulder to cry. He patted her back occasionally but mostly just sat there with her leaning on his shoulder in his arms. He was content, but confused. This was Renata. Tough as steel and stones Renata who just didn't cry and certainly not at length like this. In the time that they sat there two ghosts and Professor Dumbledore passed by.
Somehow Professor Binns didn't notice them at all and the second ghost was Nick. He didn't say anything but just gave Harry a perplexed look. Harry just shook his head.
When Dumbledore passed by Harry mouthed the words silently, "I think the trip into the other world has finally got to her." It seemed possible, she had remained so composed during the trip, and sometimes things like that just took time to catch up with you. Dumbledore nodded understanding and left as quietly as he had come.
Eventually her sobs became sniffles and Renata sat up. "I'm sorry."
"For what?" Harry wondered if she was apologizing for leading him on as she had earlier.
"For just now. Bawling like a child, sitting here and crying onto your shoulder. Look, I made your robes wet."
Indeed there was a large damp patch on the shoulder of his robes; he didn't care. She was sorry for crying, not for earlier. "That's okay. It doesn't matter."
"Yes, it does. I don't cry in front of people so don't tell anyone. Please?" It seemed she had ordered him not to tell anyone and the 'please' had been an afterthought.
"Alright. Alright." He didn't tell her that her eyes were red from crying. They just sat there silently for a few minutes, slowly the red from crying left Renata's face and she dried here tears on her sleeve.
"It's late. We better get going," she said.
Harry got to his feet first and helped her up. They walked back to the Gryffindor common room. It was a school night and although it wasn't terribly late the only ones still down there were Hermione and Ron, playing a game of Wizard Chess and talking quietly. They noticed Renata and Harry as soon as they entered. Ron checkmated Hermione's king and the game ended.
Hermione stood up, "Harry, could you come talk by the fire with me?"
Ron indicated the chair Hermione had vacated. "Hey, Renata, I'll play a game of truth for truth with you."
"How do you play that?" she asked. Taking a step toward the table.
"Oh it's easy. We play Chess and when you lose a piece I get to ask you a question and you have to answer truthfully. When I lose a piece you ask me a question and I have to answer truthfully."
She sat down and moved her first piece.
Harry wanted to hear more of their conversation but Hermione firmly hauled him down by the fireplace, far enough away from the other two not to be able to properly hear them. That is probably why Hermione had suggested this spot.
"Harry," she said delicately, all but pushing him into his chair, "we want to know something."
"Who is 'we'? I only see you here. Ron is over there. For all purposes of this discussion there is just you and me."
"All right then. I want to know something."
"What do you want to know?"
"Why you haven't told Renata how you feel about her. We-I mean I-want to know why you won't tell her the truth. I want to know what happened today at the Three Broomsticks between you two." She folded her arms and waited for an answer.
Harry just sat there trying to figure out what exactly was going on today. Earlier Renata had kissed him and a little while ago she was crying in his arms. Ron had told him to be honest with Renata and now he was trying to get her to be honest to him. Hermione had positively reeked of disapproval this afternoon and now she was sitting here demanding he tell her what had happened as though she were his sister. Harry had always thought of her as a sister though sometimes she acted infuriatingly like a mother. "It doesn't matter," he said at last. "She doesn't like me and if she does she won't tell me. I'm not going to make a fool of myself by telling her first."