CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT: Only Making Things Worse
For the first time in as long as Harry could remember, the reason he had been kept up half the night had nothing to do with nightmares. He wasn't quite sure why but his mind kept going back to the conversation he and Ron had with Hermione about the protection spells surrounding the school. Perhaps he was reading too much into it, but he had a hunch that there was something they were missing about the whole thing.
At dawn, sick of tossing and turning, he pulled himself out of bed and made for the room of research. He found Ron's bed empty and had been that way all night as it was still made. He suddenly wondered how bad things had gone between him and Hermione. Maybe he had been so upset he hadn't wanted to come up to the dorm and wake everyone up. Still, Harry would have preferred that because then at least he would have known where his friend was. Ron knew better then to wander the castle alone late at night with things the way they were.
He figured it was still too early, even for Hermione, so he made the trek to the room of research alone. Once he got there, he wasn't even sure if he was on the right track. When he saw Hermione later he would have to run by her the theory of the protection spell. She was much better at research then him, and she would be able to tell him if his search was pointless. The only bright point was that just before Lucius Malfoy had become the new Headmaster, McGonagall and Lupin had transferred all the books from Dumbledore's office to the room of research, so they would have access to everything they needed from that one room. Lucius had asked about the whereabouts of the books but McGonagall had cleverly lied and said they had been packed up and sent into storage to be preserved, and that she could not remember where as she had not been in charge of it herself.
It was almost lunchtime before Harry was disturbed by another person. He had been so absorbed in his research he had not noticed it had gotten so late in the day.
"Were you here all night?" Ginny asked him, more than a little stunned to find Harry, with his hair sticking up at all angles, surrounded by a mountain of books.
"No, but I've been here since dawn. Couldn't sleep," he answered. Ginny's interruption allowed him to acknowledge his growing hunger at skipping breakfast.
She glanced at the titles of several books sprawled across the table he was working at, and then back up at Harry with a quizzical expression on her face. "What kind of research are you doing?" To her, the books looked to be quite different from the ones they had been leafing through on a regular basis.
He quickly explained his theory about the protection spell, and how if it worked for Hogwarts maybe they could find something similar to use to defend against Voldemort. He was pleased to see that she didn't think his idea was that farfetched at all. Unfortunately, she didn't have any better ideas of where to start searching then him, but she did agree to help.
She picked up one of the books already open on the table and started pouring through it. Harry was skimming through Protecting Your Spirit, and wrestling with the idea of asking Ginny if she wanted to grab an early lunch with him when the door burst open, and in stormed Ron, looking mad enough to snap a hippogriff's neck. The instant Ron's eyes locked with his, Harry knew his life was in danger. Before he had time to react, Ron was grabbing him by the collar and throwing him up against the nearest wall.
Harry didn't think he had ever seen Ron madder. His eyes were bubbling with barely suppressed rage.
"You have some nerve, Potter," Ron seethed. "How could you? You could have any girl at this school and you go after Hermione!"
"Ron, I don't know wha – "
"She didn't deny it when I asked her if there was something going on between you two. She couldn't tell me why you were spending all this time together and lying right to my face with excuses."
"Ron, there is nothing going on!" Harry insisted. "We weren't carrying on behind your back. You have to trust me."
Ron's eyes became dangerous slits. "That's funny, because Hermione said those exact same words."
Harry wanted to tell him everything about Malfoy's threat and the secret training sessions, but he didn't think it would make a bit of difference. It looked as though Ron wasn't about to believe a word that came out of his mouth.
Ron let go of him and backed away. For a moment, Harry thought he was getting ready to hit him, but instead Ron turned and made for the door. Everything in the room shook when it slammed shut behind him.
He saw Ginny heading for the door and caught her arm.
She gave him a furious look. "Someone needs to go after him, and since it can't be you, I'm next in line."
"There's no point in going after him when he's being a complete and total idiot. He knows I would never make a move on Hermione. I care for her – as a friend – but that's it."
"Maybe he's having trouble seeing it at the moment."
He didn't like the accusatory tone in her voice. "You think there's something going on too, don't you?"
"Harry, put yourself in Ron's shoes. You and Hermione have been spending all this time alone together, and when he confronts you neither one of you will give him a straight answer."
"Ginny's there's reasons why we've been keeping things from him, but it's not what either one of you think. Just because I don't have a clue where things stand with us, doesn't mean I'd start screwing around with some random girl, much less Hermione."
"I don't know what I want any more than you know what you want," she said to him.
"Why the hell does everything have to be so goddamn complicated?" He said, failing to keep the frustration out of his voice.
"Because that's life, Harry," she said, and then left him to go after her brother.
When Monday morning came around, Harry was the first one dressed and out of his dorm. He hadn't slept all that well anyways, and he wanted to make sure he caught Hermione before they went to class. He had knocked on her door repeatedly last night, but had received no answer. He considered just going in, but Lavender and Pavarti had caught him and said he was just going to make things worse. Today was different. He knew she wouldn't stay locked up in her room all day when they had classes, and since it took Lavender and Pavarti the better half of the morning to get ready, he'd be able to speak to her without her body guards interfering.
He had thought about hanging around the common room and waiting for her there, but he had a feeling she would have left especially early to avoid seeing Ron, which didn't really make any sense since she would have to see him in class anyways.
He bounded down staircase after staircase, eventually coming across her walking through the main hall. She ignored him until he was walking beside her.
"We need to talk," he said, keeping his voice low, so the group of passing Hufflepuffs wouldn't hear.
"We have class now," she said, keeping her eyes straight ahead. "We'll be late."
"Lupin won't mind," he said, tugging at her arm and finding a deserted hallway to pull her down, which wasn't too difficult considering it was still very early.
He had planned to start bombarding her with questions about what had happened after he had left her and Ron in the common room the other night, but she still wouldn't look at him. Even without seeing her face, he could tell she was trying very hard not to fall apart.
"I'm sorry," he said gently.
"Harry, I can't do this with you now," she said, her voice faltering.
She tried to make a run for it, but he caught her arms. "Well, we have to do something to fix this," he told her. "Look, if we corner Ron, he'll have no choice but to listen to us."
"That won't work. He'll think we're teaming up against him."
Harry raked a frustrated hand through his thick hair. "Then what are we bloody well supposed to do to get him to listen to the truth?"
He realized he was yelling, and immediately regretted it for it was making her more upset.
"I gave him the ring back, you know," she said, her voice quivering even more now. "It's over."
He had already known that – Lavender and Pavarti had filled him in on that much – but to hear Hermione talking about it, was what made it real for him. His friends would bicker and fight constantly, but that was just how their relationship worked. He never anticipated the two of them breaking up - especially over something so utterly ridiculous.
"I'll fix this," he promised her.
Hermione forcefully shook her head. "Harry, please stay out of this. I have to be the one to talk to him – and I'm going to tell him everything about Malfoy and the extra lessons you've been giving me."
"How do you know he's even going to believe you?"
"Because he will."
She pulled away from him and this time he let her. Harry didn't have the heart to tell her that wasn't likely to work. Ron wasn't about to listen to reason as long as he was still worked up about Hermione leaving and the thought of her sneaking around with his best friend.
At lunch, Hermione approached Ron. He was seated at the Gryffindor table, but was as far away from everyone as possible. She was barely a foot away when he noticed her and immediately got up and started walking. She hadn't wanted to make a scene, but she couldn't let him get away without hearing her out.
She caught his arm and tried to make him stop but he roughly pushed her away. She chased him out of the Great Hall and into the main hallway, but he still showed no signs of stopping.
"Ron, please! I want to tell you everything."
He finally stopped. With his back to her, he said, "go on, I'm listening."
She spilled everything about going to Harry and asking for extra defense lessons, and making excuses about what she was doing because she hadn't wanted him to worry about her. She told him about overhearing Malfoy's threat on Harry's life, but Harry had refused to take it seriously, and had wanted her not to say anything because he was afraid that Ron would take things into his own hands. Ron listened to it all, and when she finished she felt like this giant weight had been lifted off her chest, and was positive that he would believe her. How could he not?
He turned around, folding his arms across his broad chest. "So did you two get together last night to concoct this story?"
She felt the last spark of hope she had been holding onto dissolve. He didn't believe her. "Ron, it's the truth. Every word of it."
"Come off it, Hermione. Malfoy's been plotting against Harry since first year, but nothing's ever happened."
"It's different this time, Ron."
"Do you have proof? Has Malfoy been acting more of an asshole then usual?"
"I heard him that day in the hospital wing."
Ron waved a dismissive hand. "That still doesn't change the fact that you went to Harry for help after the Dementor attack. I bet he's the one who convinced you to go to Switzerland," he added with a snarl.
"This has nothing to do with Harry, does it? You're just upset that I'm leaving and looking for someone to blame," she accused, her own temper starting to poke through, even when she knew that wasn't going to help her. It would only make things worse. But if he planned on flaring his temper at her, she was going to give it right back to him.
"Did you really think you would leave England and things between us would be fine? Are you that naïve?"
How dare he call her naïve! "I thought at the very least my own boyfriend would be supportive, but I guess I was asking too much."
"Well, you never gave me a chance, did you? You just dump this moving to another country thing on me and then expect me to be okay with it."
"You blew the whole situation out of proportion," she shouted, pointing an angry finger at him. "Do you really think that I'm capable of cheating on you with your best friend?"
"It doesn't matter what I think," said Ron. "Now you can leave without having to worry about me holding you back anymore."
This time when he walked away, she didn't try stopping him. As much as she wanted to go after him and scream at him until she was blue in the face, she had to face reality. Ron was hurt and angry and was reacting the only way he knew how. She couldn't claim complete innocence in this mess either. If she had just been honest with him from the beginning things might not have gotten this bad, and now that he knew she was leaving he couldn't see the point in putting effort into fixing things between them. Everything was just one gigantic mess, and nothing she seemed to say was making it any better.
It was with much effort that she returned to the Great Hall. She would rather have been alone, but she didn't have the energy to walk somewhere else. Without intending to, she slid onto the bench beside Harry, ignoring everyone around her.
"Did you talk to him?" He asked her.
"I talked – he didn't listen. Harry, he didn't believe a word I said!" She cried.
"I think it's more he's angry that you're leaving then anything else. He'll come around." He was lying to make her feel better, but it wasn't working. He put a comforting hand on top of hers, but a moment later she snatched hers away.
"Don't," she said, moving it a safe distance from his.
"So I can't even touch you now?" he said, his tone harsh. "Even when we both know there's nothing going on?"
"But he doesn't," she said, looking at him. "And until he does, I think it would be a good idea for us to give each other some space."
He knew how hard it must have been for her to say those words, but that didn't make Harry feel any less angry. He was angry at her for putting their friendship on hold because there might be some remote chance Ron would forgive her. And he was angry at Ron for being so thick headed that he couldn't see how much Hermione loved him. But most of all, he was angry with himself. He managed not only to destroy two friendships, but also wreck a two-year long relationship in the process.