~AN: Thanks a bunch to the reviewers! I really appreciate your input! And
now, on with the show~
After Harry stormed out of the Great Hall he headed towards the Quidditch Pitch, summoning his broom to him wandlessly. It reached him the same time he reached the Pitch, and he leapt on, not caring if Death Eaters attacked right now. In fact, if they had, Harry probably could have wiped them out.
He flew as high as he could, feeling his stress relieve. Flying always did that to him. He shot across the pitch, urging his broom to go faster. Dive after dive after dive, Harry shot up and down across the pitch. One watching might have thought he was trying to see how close he could get to the ground without crashing.
Ron happened to come out of the forest and see someone flying. He walked over, unnoticed. As soon as he was close enough he could tell it was Harry. No one else was this good. He could tell Harry was not in a good mood. Harry only flew like that when something major was bothering him. Ron felt a stab of guilt. The only times Harry had to fly was when he didn't have Ron to talk to.
Ron missed having Harry and Hermione around, much as he loathed to admit it. It was lonely trying to talk to people who only wanted to ask you questions about yourself. Ron, as much as he loved the attention, was ready for a change in conversation. No one could be that self absorbed all the time, not even Malfoy.
He waited for Harry to land, and then walked over towards him. When Harry saw him he just sat in the bleachers, not bothering to greet him.
"Hey," Ron said, sitting down next to Harry. Harry looked straight ahead.
"You know, if you want to make me mad again, you might want to wait a few minutes. I just got calm," he said, seriously. Ron laughed.
"I'm not here to aggravate you, Harry," he said. Harry looked over at him.
"Oh, trying to kill me then?" he asked, sarcastically. Ron winced at the tone.
"Listen, I came to.er, apologize," he said, not looking at Harry. Harry just stared at him.
"That week was.complete torture. Hermione left me, without so much as a word. Didn't care to explain anything. Then, Dumbledore had you doing all that extra training, while I sat around doing nothing. It felt like both my best friends had betrayed me. Then, you got that letter from Hermione, when you said you hadn't talked to her-" he was interrupted by Harry.
"What letter? What are you talking about?"
Ron looked at Harry with a withering glance.
"I saw her owl delivering you a letter three days after she left. You tried to hide it, but I saw the owl, Harry," he said.
Harry was even more confused than he had been. "Ron, I don't know what you're talking about. I hadn't heard from Hermione either. I sent a letter to Sirius, and she let me borrow her owl. That letter was Sirius's reply," he said. "Didn't I tell you I wrote to Sirius the day before she left?"
Ron shook his head. "No, I don't think it came up. Bloody hell," he said, breathlessly. "To think I stewed over that letter for years! Well, I guess it didn't help that you were the last person she talked to. I thought you were the one who made her leave, who took her away from me. I'm sorry mate, I really am."
"Yeah, so am I," Harry muttered to himself. Ron was completely oblivious to the fact that Harry was less than thrilled.
"Let's go eat, I'm starving," he said, getting up and heading down. Harry followed silently, keeping the unsaid issues in the back of his mind.
They walked a couple of minutes in silence, and then Ron asked, "So who pissed you off? Malfoy? Snape?" Harry shook his head.
"It was Hermione," he said. Ron just stared.
"Hermione made you that mad?" he said incredulously. "Harry, I thought you were suicidal with all those dives you were doing," he said. Harry grinned.
"Nope, not suicidal, just severely pissed. Now, I'm not so mad anymore- I can see where she's coming from- it's just been a long week, and she happened to be the lucky person who I blew up at," he said sarcastically.
He suddenly groaned.
"What's wrong Harry?" Ron asked.
"Well, we sort of blew up at McGonagall. I doubt she'll be very happy with either of us. Of course," he added, "I'm not to happy with her either. I guess an apology is in order." He walked slower, almost as if someone had assigned him a death warrant.
"I should probably go apologize to 'Mione first though," he said. "She's scarier than old McGonagall," he said with a twinkle back in his eye. Ron just laughed at his friend and followed him back into the castle.
Harry knew he should apologize to Hermione about their argument earlier, but he didn't think his pride could handle it. He had good reasons to be mad at her- he shouldn't apologize for being mad.
Despite all of this, he found himself walking up to where Hermione was staying. Ron walked down to the Great Hall for some food. Harry knocked on the portrait in front of Hermione's room.
"Go away Harry! I know it's you, and right now I might just hex your head off!" she said through the closed portrait. Harry said back, "Hermione, I want to apologize."
The portrait slowly opened to reveal a very messy Hermione. Her face had lost the redness from anger, but her hair was a mess. Harry would bet she'd been pulling at it again. She did that when she got frustrated. Seeing her melted away some of his previous anger.
"Hermione, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have gotten mad at you for helping me, and I should have helped more in class. And I'm sorry I yelled at you in front of the whole Great Hall," he said, with the saddest face he could muster. Hermione bit back a grin. It was hard to stay mad at Harry. She could stay mad at Ron for weeks, but Harry.
"And I don't care what you say, I think you could manage a shield, because if Snape can do it, you can do it," he added. "I mean, come on, it's Snape," he said. Hermione finally laughed.
"Harry Potter, darn it! Why can't I stay mad at you?" Harry pretended to think about it.
"Because I'm so lovable?" he asked, giving her an innocent smile. She laughed again.
"Harry I'm sorry I yelled at you too. I was incredibly stressed from my first day teaching and I just wanted." Harry shushed her.
"I know, I felt the same way," he said. "I was worried that Arthur and Molly Weasly were going to lecture me in my own classroom," he said, laughing. She laughed with him, and gave him a hug.
"Promise we'll never fight over something stupid like that again?" she asked into his shoulder. He gently kissed the top of her head and said, "Promise. Now, I do believe you have yet to eat dinner, Ms. Granger," he said. "Care to join me?" He held out his arm, and she took it, laughing.
"Lead the way, Mr. Potter," she said.
AN: Don't worry, this is not happily ever after. Not all of the issues have been approached, and they are the biggest ones.
After Harry stormed out of the Great Hall he headed towards the Quidditch Pitch, summoning his broom to him wandlessly. It reached him the same time he reached the Pitch, and he leapt on, not caring if Death Eaters attacked right now. In fact, if they had, Harry probably could have wiped them out.
He flew as high as he could, feeling his stress relieve. Flying always did that to him. He shot across the pitch, urging his broom to go faster. Dive after dive after dive, Harry shot up and down across the pitch. One watching might have thought he was trying to see how close he could get to the ground without crashing.
Ron happened to come out of the forest and see someone flying. He walked over, unnoticed. As soon as he was close enough he could tell it was Harry. No one else was this good. He could tell Harry was not in a good mood. Harry only flew like that when something major was bothering him. Ron felt a stab of guilt. The only times Harry had to fly was when he didn't have Ron to talk to.
Ron missed having Harry and Hermione around, much as he loathed to admit it. It was lonely trying to talk to people who only wanted to ask you questions about yourself. Ron, as much as he loved the attention, was ready for a change in conversation. No one could be that self absorbed all the time, not even Malfoy.
He waited for Harry to land, and then walked over towards him. When Harry saw him he just sat in the bleachers, not bothering to greet him.
"Hey," Ron said, sitting down next to Harry. Harry looked straight ahead.
"You know, if you want to make me mad again, you might want to wait a few minutes. I just got calm," he said, seriously. Ron laughed.
"I'm not here to aggravate you, Harry," he said. Harry looked over at him.
"Oh, trying to kill me then?" he asked, sarcastically. Ron winced at the tone.
"Listen, I came to.er, apologize," he said, not looking at Harry. Harry just stared at him.
"That week was.complete torture. Hermione left me, without so much as a word. Didn't care to explain anything. Then, Dumbledore had you doing all that extra training, while I sat around doing nothing. It felt like both my best friends had betrayed me. Then, you got that letter from Hermione, when you said you hadn't talked to her-" he was interrupted by Harry.
"What letter? What are you talking about?"
Ron looked at Harry with a withering glance.
"I saw her owl delivering you a letter three days after she left. You tried to hide it, but I saw the owl, Harry," he said.
Harry was even more confused than he had been. "Ron, I don't know what you're talking about. I hadn't heard from Hermione either. I sent a letter to Sirius, and she let me borrow her owl. That letter was Sirius's reply," he said. "Didn't I tell you I wrote to Sirius the day before she left?"
Ron shook his head. "No, I don't think it came up. Bloody hell," he said, breathlessly. "To think I stewed over that letter for years! Well, I guess it didn't help that you were the last person she talked to. I thought you were the one who made her leave, who took her away from me. I'm sorry mate, I really am."
"Yeah, so am I," Harry muttered to himself. Ron was completely oblivious to the fact that Harry was less than thrilled.
"Let's go eat, I'm starving," he said, getting up and heading down. Harry followed silently, keeping the unsaid issues in the back of his mind.
They walked a couple of minutes in silence, and then Ron asked, "So who pissed you off? Malfoy? Snape?" Harry shook his head.
"It was Hermione," he said. Ron just stared.
"Hermione made you that mad?" he said incredulously. "Harry, I thought you were suicidal with all those dives you were doing," he said. Harry grinned.
"Nope, not suicidal, just severely pissed. Now, I'm not so mad anymore- I can see where she's coming from- it's just been a long week, and she happened to be the lucky person who I blew up at," he said sarcastically.
He suddenly groaned.
"What's wrong Harry?" Ron asked.
"Well, we sort of blew up at McGonagall. I doubt she'll be very happy with either of us. Of course," he added, "I'm not to happy with her either. I guess an apology is in order." He walked slower, almost as if someone had assigned him a death warrant.
"I should probably go apologize to 'Mione first though," he said. "She's scarier than old McGonagall," he said with a twinkle back in his eye. Ron just laughed at his friend and followed him back into the castle.
Harry knew he should apologize to Hermione about their argument earlier, but he didn't think his pride could handle it. He had good reasons to be mad at her- he shouldn't apologize for being mad.
Despite all of this, he found himself walking up to where Hermione was staying. Ron walked down to the Great Hall for some food. Harry knocked on the portrait in front of Hermione's room.
"Go away Harry! I know it's you, and right now I might just hex your head off!" she said through the closed portrait. Harry said back, "Hermione, I want to apologize."
The portrait slowly opened to reveal a very messy Hermione. Her face had lost the redness from anger, but her hair was a mess. Harry would bet she'd been pulling at it again. She did that when she got frustrated. Seeing her melted away some of his previous anger.
"Hermione, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have gotten mad at you for helping me, and I should have helped more in class. And I'm sorry I yelled at you in front of the whole Great Hall," he said, with the saddest face he could muster. Hermione bit back a grin. It was hard to stay mad at Harry. She could stay mad at Ron for weeks, but Harry.
"And I don't care what you say, I think you could manage a shield, because if Snape can do it, you can do it," he added. "I mean, come on, it's Snape," he said. Hermione finally laughed.
"Harry Potter, darn it! Why can't I stay mad at you?" Harry pretended to think about it.
"Because I'm so lovable?" he asked, giving her an innocent smile. She laughed again.
"Harry I'm sorry I yelled at you too. I was incredibly stressed from my first day teaching and I just wanted." Harry shushed her.
"I know, I felt the same way," he said. "I was worried that Arthur and Molly Weasly were going to lecture me in my own classroom," he said, laughing. She laughed with him, and gave him a hug.
"Promise we'll never fight over something stupid like that again?" she asked into his shoulder. He gently kissed the top of her head and said, "Promise. Now, I do believe you have yet to eat dinner, Ms. Granger," he said. "Care to join me?" He held out his arm, and she took it, laughing.
"Lead the way, Mr. Potter," she said.
AN: Don't worry, this is not happily ever after. Not all of the issues have been approached, and they are the biggest ones.