Things were looking pretty good for Harry, Ron and Hermione in the last chapter... almost two good. There's no such thing as a story that's 100% happy, so now comes the point where problems arise - pun intended.
Thanks to Greyhound Master, yumienuf2eat and Wettlewash for the reviews. In fact, a big thank you to Wettlewash for adding my story to your favourites lists, that is a huge compliment to me.
I went to see Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban this week, and its awesome. But they've changed the story loads! Grrr...
After a long talk in the corridor, Harry, Ron and Hermione went back into the Great Hall. Not long after, Anthony Goldstein came over and asked Hermione to dance. She accepted, leaving Harry and Ron alone. "This is my chance for an apology," thought Harry, and so he turned to Ron.
"Hey, listen Ron, I'm really sorry I upset you when I joined the Tornados. But it was a big career opportunity, and I couldn't turn it down."
"Ah, don't worry about it," Ron replied. "If you hadn't left, we wouldn't have had Paul Dawson in the team, and look what he did!" This had been intended as a joke, but the look on Harry's face told Ron that he hadn't found it funny. Worried, and not wanting to cause a fight so soon after they'd made up, he quickly changed the subject. "So, its great being back here isn't it Harry?"
Meanwhile, Anthony was starting to annoy Hermione. At the end of each dance she tried to leave him, but he pulled her back for the next song. Like Ron, he was a pretty good dancer, but he wasn't Harry. That was who she needed to speak to. As the sixth song her and Anthony had danced to finished, Hermione tried to pull away again. Unsuccessful, she decided to pull out her wand.
"Listen, you're very nice, but I don't wanna dance any more okay? Now let me go or I'll hex you." Startled, Anthony let her go. Hermione then headed back to where she'd seen Ron and Harry last. Oddly enough, they were still there, and seemed deep in conversation. She didn't want to disturb them, but her love for Harry pushed her into doing so. She walked over, and the moment Ron, who was speaking at the time, paused for breath, she said "Hey Ron. Harry, can we talk please? In private?"
"Yeah okay," Harry said. He turned back to Ron and said "Sorry, I think this is important. I'll speak to you later, all right?" Ron didn't seem happy about Hermione taking Harry away when they'd been talking, but agreed and went off looking for someone to dance with. Hermione then took Harry out into the corridor, then outside. Harry began to apologise, but Hermione cut him off.
"No, let me speak first. I was very hurt when you left me for a quidditch meeting, and as you know from the letter I sent you, that prompted me to move to Paris. However, I do regret telling you not to contact me. I did want you to get in touch, and I feel really bad about being so harsh on you."
"You're not the only one feeling regretful," Harry assured her. "I regret leaving you for that meeting every single day." At this point, Hermione got tearful, and flung her arms around him. They hugged, at which point Harry realised that Hermione had Goosebumps on her arms. It was very cold. "Here, take my jacket," he told her, taking it off and handing it to her. She put it on and smiled at him, and they began talking about what they'd been up to in the eight and a half years since they'd last spoken.
When they'd finished talking, they headed back inside. Harry turned to Hermione, and said, "You know, I'm really glad that we're friends again." A second later, he really wished he hadn't. Hermione went mad. She yelled at him so loudly he was surprised people didn't come out of the Great Hall to see what was going on.
"FRIENDS AGAIN?! I THOUGHT, THAT AFTER EVERYTHING WE'VE BEEN THROUGH, THAT WE WERE MORE THAN JUST FRIENDS. BUT CLEARLY I WAS WRONG... I MEAN, YOU'D RATHER PLAY QUIDDITCH THAN BE WITH ME WOULDN'T YOU?!" She took off his jacket, flung it at him and stormed back outside. He called after her, but she ignored him, and the moment she was out of the Hogwarts grounds she disapparated. Harry but his head in his hands, and he couldn't believe what he'd said. Of course they were more than friends. Just when he thought things couldn't get any worse, he heard a familiar snigger behind him.
"Poor Potter, upsetting the Mudblood. An international quidditch star, and he still can't pull, how pathetic." It was Draco Malfoy, Harry's worst enemy.
"Get lost Draco," Harry told him, though not as politely as that.
"Watch your mouth Potty. Anyway, I wanna stay here, I'm having a fun conversation with you." Harry wasn't in the mood to deal with Draco, so he quickly pulled out his wand and shouted "Petrificus Totalus!" and hit Draco with the Body-Bind Curse. Harry was cheered up slightly as Draco's arms and legs snapped together and he keeled over backwards. Harry then left him lying motionless in the corridor and went to find Ron.
"There you are Harry, what did Hermione want?" asked Ron, when Harry finally found him. Ron didn't know Harry and Hermione had been going out all those years ago, but now was the time to tell him. Harry then talked about what had happened outside with Hermione.
"I can't believe you kept all this secret," said Ron, looking hurt.
"Look, Hermione's already mad at me, please not you too. I'm sorry, but she didn't want anyone to know... not even you. Can you please help me out here Ron, I don't know what to do."
"I wish I could Harry, but I can't. If she disapparated, she could be anywhere." That was when it hit Harry that he had no idea where Hermione was. Tears began to emerge as Harry began to realise that he might never see Hermione again. This had been his chance, and he'd blown it.