Chapter 10: Just Harry

Note: Chapter finally complete.

"Harry!" Ron exclaimed loudly, astounded to see his friend standing there. He looked like Harry…He was in his pajamas, his dark hair was wild, and he had that friendly, knowing look in his bright eyes that had been missing the previous times Ron saw him.

"Shh," Harry put his finger to his lips, and pointed at Seamus and Dean. Both curtains were drawn around the beds, and quiet as can be.

"Follow me." He pulled the pillow that Ron was clutching out of his hands, and positioned it at the top of the bed.

"Are you…You?" Ron asked cautiously, narrowing his eyes at Harry.

"Yes I am, now come on!" Harry replied in a low hiss.

"Prove it."

"If you don't come with me I am going to march on out to the Dark Forrest, find Aragog, and lead him to you so his children can eat your toes off!" Harry said. "Recall that little incident?"

"I remember that," Ron got out of his bed, pulling his robe lightly over his shoulders and sliding his feet into his slippers. That was enough proof for him, considering how they had never told anyone else besides Dumbledore what happened to them that night in Second Year. But then again, someone that had taken over Harry's body night know that anyway, Ron argued with himself as Harry led the way across the boy's dormitory, passed sleeping Seamus and Dean, and down the stairs to the empty Common Room. The fireplace still had a roaring fire going even though the morning sunlight was beginning to sparkle through the windows. Ron wondered what time it was as he took a seat next to Harry on the couch. They didn't say anything at first. Ron suddenly felt an urge to hug his mate, but he stayed still on the couch…He was still a little nervous about what was going to occur next.

"So…" Ron said quietly, staring at his hands. "How are you?" He slapped himself on the inside, realizing how ridiculous of a question that was to ask now. How did he really think Harry was feeling right now?

"I guess I am back to myself again," Harry shrugged, not making any sign of eye contact.

"Do you remember anything that happened to you?"

"Not a single thing. The last event I actually remember happening is back at the Dursley's when I had gone out following Dudley and his friends, you know, like I have done a few times…After that, there's zilch. Apparently after thatTonks and Lupindealt with me until I could get to Dumbledore, but I don't remember seeingthem either. Nothing with the Hogwarts Express, nothing with seeing you and Hermione, nothing with anything else…"

"Bloody hell, that's…Wicked." Ron felt lost for words.

"Dumbledore filled me in on some things he talked about last night. He also told me everything you guys had told him about how I acted when I was with you…I guess I need to apologize for all that, even though I don't remember a single bit of it."

"It's not your fault, so don't worry about it," Ron said quickly, even though he did feel a slight annoyance with him for what he did with Hermione. It wasn't his fault, another voice in his voice argued back. But still, that's your girlfriend, replied the other voice.

"Ron?"

"Hm?" Oh sorry, I started zoning out again. What did you say?"

"I woke up about an hour ago in the hospital wing. Everyone was there, Dumbledore, McGonagall, even Filtch was wandering around. I guess I was expected to wake up at this time or whatever," Harry continued.

"What about Snape? Was he there, too?"

"He's better too…Well, if you want to consider his normal ways better, then yes. He came across these Phantom things the morning before the trains arrived with all the students. He was staring at me from the bed across the room. You know that cold and unfriendly look with all the anger shooting out, only multiplied by ten."

"Did Dumbledore give you any more information on these things?"

"Not really, just the same that he announced to everyone else. He seemed quite quiet about the whole thing. Except…"

"Except what?"

"The main reason that these things are here is for me," Harry shrugged casually. "No surprise there though, hey?"

"Does that mean they are going to be gone now that we got you back?" Ron asked hopefully.

"Dumbledore says it's possible, but he doesn't think so…Since I was able to be brought out of their control and I am not under their power anymore, they are going to want to get me back. They aren't going to give up that easily."

"I see," Ron said slowly. "I suspect they work with Voldemort or something? Is there any more news with him?"

"You said his name," Harry replied in awe, his green eyes widening and he made direct eye contact with Ron for the first time.

"I said it once yesterday, I think I am getting it from you," Ron grinned. "Everyone just stared at me like I'd gone mental."

"Welcome to my world then," Harry grinned back. "Or maybe you are just getting more…Courageous?"

"I wouldn't say that," Ron said with a laugh.

"Dumbledore suspects that yes these things link with Voldemort, but even he is unsure. Can you believe that something like this has Dumbledore completely befuddled? Or even worse, that if these have no connection with Voldemort, that there are now two different forces out to get me…I don't know which idea is worse, really."

"I thought the same thing. This whole thing just gives me the chills," Ron pulled his robe on tighter.

"I heard about what happened in here last night," Harry said quietly, folding his hands tightly on his lap.

"Yeah, Ginny is doing fine; she should be out and onto classes today. I don't know about Neville though, what happened to him was just…just…" Ron couldn't finish his sentence as he shivered at the flash back.

"You don't need to say it, I can imagine what it was like," Harry said quickly.

"I'm just glad you're back to yourself, Harry," Ron said sincerely. "And that you aren't really mad about…Actually I don't know if you even know about…It…This thing with me and…What I'm trying to say is…"

"You and Hermione are together?" Harry guessed, a smile playing on his lips.

"How did you know that?" Ron breathed, relieved at Harry's somewhat teasing tone rather than accusing or angry.

"When I woke up, Ginny was also awake in the bed next to me, so she filled me in on some things, like you and Hermione and that 'romantic' summer you spent at your place. I must say, that is some intense-"

"It was only a couple of weeks!" Ron felt his whole face redden.

"But you are…Okay with it? Jealous? Miffed? Annoyed?"

"Of course I am okay with the whole thing, I am happy for you guys. And blimey, it had to happen sooner or later! It was so obvious at times, it was almost painful to watch! I wanted to give you both a good whack in the head," Harry teased again, and Ron felt his red face deepen.

"But I'm slightly embarrassed to speak to Hermione after kissing her like that. What a shock that must have been!"

"She'll forgive you," Ron said quickly. "She'll be absolutely thrilled that you are back. Hermione's not one to hold a grudge when it comes to…Well…You and Voldemort."

"Really?"

"Of course!"

"But you aren't angry with me? I understand if you are angry, but I just hope you don't hate me," Harry fiddled with his glasses.

"Nah Harry, I'd never hate you for anything, especially not after what you went through…" They stared at each other, and then suddenly both burst into laughter.

"This is getting almost too mushy," Harry cleared his throat, unable to hide a grin.

"As long as you don't kiss me," Ron said, and they laughed again.

"Hermione should be getting up soon," Ron realized once a few sleepy students began to gather in the Common Room, waiting to meet up with their friends for breakfast, mainly because they were too nervous to walk down themselves. Seamus and Dean appeared from the boys' dormitory doors, still in their pajamas.

"There you are Ron!" Dean called out, not taking notice to Harry at first. "We thought you'd seen one or something and high-tailed your arse across Hogwarts!" His eyes finally fixed on Harry, and he warily stared at him.

"He's back," Ron said, nudging at Harry.

"I see, you really are!" Dean slumped him on the back.

"Yes, back to boring old me," Harry grinned. "The weird git with the scar."

"So you are really better?"

"Yeah, Snape is too." Ron groaned out loud at that. Seamus hadn't said anything to Harry…In fact, he hadn't even looked at him. He was trying to keep his attention elsewhere, like at the fireplace.

"Seamus, aren't you going to welcome Harry back?"

"We better get down to breakfast," Seamus ignored Dean's question and walked, or rather seemed to run, off without waiting for the others to reply.

"See you downstairs then," Dean hurried off with a shrug.

"He doesn't seem too excited," Harry pointed out.

"Maybe he's scared of you?" Ron suggested. "You know how he is."

"Yeah," Harry drifted off, his eyes trailing over behind Ron. Ron turned to find Hermione entering the Common Room, already dressed for the day in her school robes. She looked as brilliant as ever.

"It's fine, mate," Ron tried to reassure Harry as an alarmed look played along his face.

"Harry!" Hermione called the moment she spotted him, and she ran over and gave him a hug, her arms wrapping tightly across his shoulders. Ron didn't even feel jealous or anything along those lines as Harry hugged her tightly back. He just grinned at the relived look on Harry's face.

"I'm so glad you are finally out of the hospital!" Hermione declared in a somewhat feeble voice, letting go of Harry's shoulders.

"Me too, even though all I did was sleep." Harry filled her in on most of the things he told Ron as they walked down to breakfast together, and she listened with wide eyes. Every student that they crossed paths with all stared wide-eyed and open mouthed at him, and the whispers began to flow from every mouth. "He's alive!" "Is he cured?" "What if he is still under the spell?"

"At least we are used to all this," Ron stared down a group of girls until they ran off, giggling.

"It all started with being that famous "Harry Potter boy with the scar." Then came being a Parseltongue. Not long after that was how my name ended up in the Goblet of Fire," Harry listed. "And you can't forget about Sirius. It really goes on and on." Ron noticed how quietly Harry said "Sirius."

In the Great Hall, everyone was scurrying around, rearranging their school supplies and enjoying the last free morning without having to worry about who they were going to copy their last minute homework from. McGonagall was handing out the schedules to the Gryffindor's. They all seemed to keep their conversations in their own groups, and it was obvious what was on everyone's mind. Fred, George, and Lee were seated at the end of the Gryffindor table, but Seamus and Dean were no where to be found. Fred shuddered as Ron, Hermione, and Harry all sat down in a line.

"What was that for?" Ron asked defensively.

"What?" Fred asked, looking away from Harry's eyes. Ron thought he even saw him scoot farther down the bench so he wasn't directly across from Harry.

"Aren't you going to welcome Harry back either?" Ron questioned, suddenly annoyed at how people were treating him.

"Welcome back. Harry." Fred smiled, but there was a hint of coldness in his voice. Harry looked up and smiled back at Fred, opening his mouth to speak. Before he could get a word out, Fred leapt up and ran off, muttering something about McGonagall and needing to hide the stink bombs that were lying open in his room.

"Odd," Hermione replied a minute later. "Not uncommon for your brothers, but the coldness is."

"Is he afraid of me too?" Harry asked. "And I see that your mum did make them come back for their final year"

"Since when is Fred scared of anything?" Ron wondered, staring angrily after him. George and Lee hadn't even noticed anything had happened at all, they were huddled with some other Gryffindor's, discussing some kind of map laid out in front of them on the table top.

"Ah, now I see what you have been telling me about," a high-pitched male voice came from behind. They all turned and came to face Draco and Darius Malfoy, along with Draco's henchmen, Crabbe and Goyle, who both had stupid glazed-over looks in their eyes.

"He's nothing special," continued Darius Malfoy.

"Hello again," Draco wiggled his eyebrows. "I see you know my brother."

"Oh great, another Malfoy with an awful sense of hair style and even worse attitude," Ron rolled his eyes at the slicked back, pale blond hair on Darius' head.

"I'd watch what you were saying there, Weasley. I've seen better hair than yours on my arse." Ron couldn't help but snicker when he said that and Draco just growled, realizing how stupid that sounded.

"Still associating with the Mudblood I see."

"Screw off, Malfoy," Harry said loudly, and the Great Hall fell silent, ears opening and anxiously awaiting a reply.

"Screw, now there's a term I'm sure the three of you are quite clueless about," Draco sneered, and Crabbe and Goyle let out a deep laugh.

"Oh, we all forgot what an expert Draco is!" Ron suddenly got to his feet and went face to face with Draco. Well actually, he towered over him greatly, but Draco kept his face held high and his cold eyes locked with Ron's.

"You like it in the arse, am I correct? You were saying something about arse before," Ron winked. A look of horror crossed Draco's face and he lunged foreword at Ron, tackling him to the ground before he could grab his wand. Darius took his brothers' lead and suddenly came at Harry, knocking him off the bench. Draco got a good hit at Ron's already bruised lip, and Ron got his hands wrapped around Draco's neck. Harry was just trying to defend himself from Darius' rapid punches.

"That is enough!" A loud voice barked. McGonagall and the real Snape ran over and broke up the fight.

"I'll get you one day, Malfoy, I swear to fucking Merlin I will!" Ron shouted, swatting his hair away from his bleeding lip.

"Mr. Weasley, watch your mouth!" McGonagall demanded, helping Harry up, as he fixed his askew glasses. Darius got up right away and stood near Snape, while Draco remained on the floor, tying to look injured. Darius was still shooting murderous daggers with his eyes at Ron, and even a few at McGonagall, apparently annoyed that she ended the fight before he could do some serious damage to Ron's face.

"Get up Malfoy," Snape roared in his normal angry tone.

"They started it!" Draco complained, standing next to his brother, and trying to stand with a bit of a limp.

"We didn't start shit!" Ron clenched his fists into tight balls looked ready to attack.

"What did I say, Mr. Weasley?" McGonagall flicked her wand at Ron, and white soap bubbles started to form in his mouth. It would have been a funny sight if everyone wasn't so on edge at the time. He coughed and little bubbles started to float into the air.

"Detention-For the three of you!" McGonagall pointed at Ron, Draco, and then Darius.

"Me?! But then what about Harry!" Darius tried to object. "Or can you just not count correctly, Professor?"

"Mind who you are talking to! And Harry had no part besides being the victim in this incident, I saw the whole thing from the moment it occurred."

"I was a victim too," Ron argued. He hiccupped and a huge bubble floated out.

"You had your hands wrapped around his neck, Weasley," Snape replied composedly. "Another minute and you would have killed him."

"Good," Ron muttered under his breath.

"What's that?"

"Nothing. But he-"

"Enough. The three of you are to convene here tonight, 9pm." McGonagall gave them one last disapproving look then darted off to Dumbledore, who was watching the whole situation. Snape was not far off after her. Draco was mumbling something under his breath, giving Ron one last shove as he promenaded over to the Slytherin table. Darius was trying to look menacing.

"Go away, you git," Ron stared him down.

"It won't be long now," was all he replied before pursuing his brother. Crabbe and Goyle stared dumbly after, and then quickly hurried in his path. Ron was still spitting bubbles as he took his seat next to Hermione, with Harry joining her other side.

"I see Draco has a brother," Harry said with repulsion.

"Yes, meet Darius," Ron touched his lip. "Hell comes in doubles."

"We'll pay him back," Harry grinned evilly.

"What do you have in mind?" Ron grinned back.

"You'll see."

"Hermione, what do you think?" Ron asked his girlfriend, who has been soundless the entire fight. She just shrugged in reply, and started shoving bacon in her mouth.

"You have to tell me, you can't just leave me out in the co-"

"It's the first day of school and the two of you are already getting into fights," Hermione burst out.

"What about our Prefect duties?"

"What about them? They don't start until next week, the other Prefects and the Head boy and girl have it covered until then, and I have detention tonight," Ron replied. "And he called you that word. I hate that word."

"If you just ignore the words he says it will go away faster than when you act on it," Hermione retorted.

"But Hermione, he attacked me. What did you want me to do, just lay there and let him beat the snot out of me?"

"I agree with Ron on that, there was nothing we could have done," Harry jumped in defensively.

"Oh, so now you are taking his side," Hermione slitted her eyes at Harry.

"I'm not taking anyone's side, I'm just agreeing with what he said," Harry raised his eyebrows at Ron.

"Fine," was all she said.

"Hermione, let's not be like this now, okay? It's the first day of school and we all need to be there for each other to get through it all," Ron pleaded. "Please?"

"Okay," she looked up in his eyes and kissed his nose. "I'm just getting really worked up again. Those Malfoy's just really need to learn some manners."

"Hey, there's Ginny!" Harry suddenly bounced excitedly, and he quickly ran over to her. Ron watched as Harry gave Ginny a massive hug and helped carry her things over to the table. She took a seat next on the end, and Harry sat back down between the two girls.

"How are you doing?" Ron asked his sister, squeezing her hand.

"I feel great," she replied, squeezing his fingers back. "A few cuts, bumps and bruises, nothing too severe."

"That's good to hear," Hermione touched Ginny's arm lightly. "I wish it was the same news we were hearing about Neville."

"I know. The time I was in there, there was no movement or sound or anything from him, no matter how much medication Madam Pomfrey was giving him. Dumbledore was even in there a few times, trying to get Neville to wake up…But he never did." Ginny looked down at her glass of pumpkin juice. Harry wrapped his arm around her, and Ginny let a grin spread over her face.

"I've said it once, and I'll say it as many times as I need to, he's going to pull through this and go back to being the same Neville Longbottom that we all know," Ron said strongly.

"I know it too, Ron," Hermione smiled lightly. Ginny let out a laugh, and Ron saw Harry tickling her along the arm.

"What do you two have going?" Ron asked slowly.

"Us? Nothing!" Harry laughed like someone had just told him the funniest joke on earth.

"If you say so," Ron looked with question at Hermione, who just returned the look. The table suddenly got quiet as a familiar figure started to walk towards Harry.

"Hi Harry," said Cho Chang, a pretty Ravenclaw girl who had been dating Cedric Diggory two years ago when he died. Harry also had the biggest crush on her for quite some time. He even asked her to the Yule Ball that took place, but of course she was already going with Cedric. Ron hadn't seen her much since Cedric died, but Hermione said that whenever she came across Cho, she was sobbing hysterically with one of her friends.

"Cho?" Harry said a bit confused. "I mean, yeah, Cho! How are you doing? It's been awhile." Harry said quickly, coming to realize who she was.

"How would you be doing in my situation?" She replied quietly, twirling her long black hair with a single finger. She looked on the verge of tears already.

Situation? Ron thought. It's been two damn years!

"I don't know, I haven't been in your situation," Harry looked up at her. Ron cringed inside and knew that wasn't the best thing for Harry to say at the moment. He still liked her, didn't he?

"Th-That's true," she stuttered. "Look Harry, do you w-want to take a q-quick walk with m-me?" She asked, closer to tears.

"Oh. I would like to Cho, but we were just finishing up breakfast and I really need to get back and change, and I still have a few things left to unpack, and classes start pretty soon…Do you think it could wait until lunch?" Harry rambled on nonsensically.

"I see. Th-Then I'll see you at lunch." She hurried away from the Gryffindor table and scurried out of the Great Hall, already in tears.

"Harry, that wasn't very nice," Hermione looked on after her.

"I said that I'll see her at lunch, and I will," Harry replied, taking a bite of egg. "Besides, I know what she wants to talk about. She just wants to me tell her all the shit that I saw with Cedric again, and I really don't want to talk about any of that right now. She probably wants to know stuff about Sirius, too."

"Don't you like her though? Whatever happened to trying to get her alone to talk whenever possible? And that kiss?" Ron asked.

"I guess you can say I've moved on from silly crushes like that. I should have known I would never to get to know her better with Cedric around. And now it's just the opposite with Cedric gone- I know I will never get to know her without her always bringing Cedric up, and as I said before, I don't care to reawaken everything that happened that night," Harry said in an unreadable tone. He didn't sound mad, but not very happy either.

"All right then," Ron looked away from Harry and just stared at his plate. This was definitely uncharacteristic of him. But he did have a point. Ron often wondered what happened that night with Harry. He seemed determined to not talk about anything that happened in detail.

"Come on Ron, I'll walk you back up to the Common Room so you can get dressed, then we have Charms," Hermione stood up and straightened her skirt.

"Harry, you coming?" Ron asked, following Hermione up.

"I'm just going to finish eating, but I'll see you in Charms if I miss you getting dressed," was all Harry replied.

"All right." As Ron and Hermione walked off, Ron kept looking over his shoulder back at the table. Ginny and Harry were talking quietly, and she had her arm wrapped around his back.

"Does Ginny have that crush on Harry again?" Ron and Hermione asked each other at the same time.

"It appears so," They both answered at the same time.

"Stop that," Hermione laughed, taking Ron's hand in her own.

"Or does Harry now have a crush on Ginny?"

"They just don't seem like the…Oh I don't know, most likely couple around."

"Yeah," Ron responded.

"Would you be okay with Harry and Ginny becoming a couple?" Hermione asked. "That could be a little uncomfortable, your best mate dating your sister."

"I guess if it made them both happy," Ron shrugged.

"Aww, that's sweet of you to say," Hermione wrapped her arm around his. "I was expecting you to be very protective of her."

"I am, but Harry is a different story. If it was someone like Draco, then it would be different."

"Draco? Now that would be a little off!"

"Oh, just a little," Ron laughed. They were almost up to the Common Room when a large shape floated over head, and a few pictures began falling from the walls. The inhabitants in the pictures began to yell and curse as they tumbled down the stairs.

"Peeves, what are you up to already?" Hermione asked as the poltergeist started zooming around their heads.

"PEEVES! I AM GOING TO GET YOU!" Boomed the voice of Filch from just below them on the stairs. Peeves gave one last photo of a man on a horse a shove then flew off with a wink.

"WHERE DID HE GO?" Filch screamed at Hermione and Ron.

"Up that corridor," Hermione pointed to the last place Peeves was seen, and Filch took off without a reply.

"I AM GOING TO GET YOU OUT OF HERE FOR SURE NOW, YOU DAMN PRAT!" He shouted the whole way until his voice faded.

"On goes the game of cat and mouse," Ron started snickering at the man on the horse that was now upside down as the picture lay on the floor.

"A little help here?" He asked. His horse neighed as Hermione bent to pick up the picture.

"Where did you come from again?" She asked, staring at all the blank spots on the walls.

"Right above your head there," the little man replied. Hermione hooked the picture back up and fixed it so it was straight. Ron was still giggling.

"Oh come off it, haven't you ever seen a man fall from his horse before?" Yelled the painting. "But thank you miss." Hermione grabbed Ron's arm and dragged him back up the stairs, away from all the jittering paintings.

"Peeves is going to drive Filch insane again this year," Ron said happily.

"And us…Remember, now that we are Prefects again, it is going to be our duty to look out for him as well," Hermione instructed.

"Joy," Ron replied, giving the Fat Lady the password and hurrying into the Common Room. The first years were all gathered in a bunch again, and seemed to move everywhere that way. They looked up as Ron and Hermione entered, and moved farther to the other side of the room.

"I'll wait here for you then," Hermione was about to sit on the couch.

"You can come up with me if you want," Ron tried to sound smooth, but it almost came out as sounding desperate.

"I'm sure the guys would love that," Hermione laughed. "Go on now, I'll be right here."

"You better be," Ron let her hand go and took the stairs by two. Dean and Seamus were getting dressed in the dormitory, talking quietly amongst themselves.

"Hey Ron," Seamus said, looking behind him.

"Hey guys," Ron started pulling his robes out of his trunk.

"Where's Harry?"

"He's still eating downstairs with Ginny," Ron replied, searching for where he last left his right shoe. "Should be up anytime, though."

"Okay," Seamus looked somewhat relieved.

"Are you afraid of him or something?"

"No…Why would you say that?"

"You didn't say anything to him this morning," Ron pointed out. "And where were you guys at breakfast? Usually you are at the Gryffindor table with us."

"We just went to the library for a little while," Dean answered casually.

"What, studying before classes have even started?" Ron laughed. "Reading some chapters ahead?"

"Yeah, something like that," Seamus said mysteriously. "I'll catch you guys in Charms." He ran out of the room with only one of his shoes on, which was still untied. He hadn't answered Ron's question about earlier either.

"Dean, what's up with him?" Ron asked in a hushed voice. Dean moved his eyes along the room, looking to see if there was anyone else in there, and just shrugged his shoulders.

"Come on, I won't say anything."

"Seamus likes Ginny," Dean replied quickly. "I mean, he really, really likes her. You should hear some of the things he is saying about her." Ron half coughed half laughed, and another bubble flew out of his mouth.

"You're serious?"

"Yes."

"He could have just told me that! What, does he think I'm going to pull a Draco on him or something? And besides, you should have see Harry and Ginny at breakfast. She was practically on his lap! I don't know what's going on with them."

"Wait, let's start at the beginning. Pull a Draco?"

"Oh yeah, you missed the little fight between Harry, me, and the Malfoy's. Nothing really exciting, but I just got my arse landed with a detention for tonight."

"Oh, okay. And what about Harry and Ginny? Are they together?"

"No, but by the looks of it they will be sometime soon. They were flirting more than Hermione and I!"

"I'd doubt that," Dean chuckled.

"Okay, they were flirting close to Hermione and me then," Ron chuckled with him. "But seriously, is Seamus afraid of Harry after what happened?"

"He didn't say anything about that, but I believe he may be…"

"Are you?" Ron asked cautiously.

"I'm not…I mean, I know Harry is fine now and everything," Dean straightened out his tie as Ron shoved his one shoe on.

"It's not his fault. It's not like Harry could control-"

"Did someone say Harry?" Harry suddenly came walking into the room, a goofy grin on his face. Neither of the boys replied as he starting tearing his pajamas off.

"Oh, I was just talking about Hagrid…Quite hairy this year," Dean lied, sounding incredibly stupid with that kind of remark.

"Oh," Harry laughed. "Well, he's always going to be hairy. Just like I'm always going to be Harry!" Harry continued laughing at his own joke as he pulled his robe on. Dean and Ron raised their eyebrows at each other and Dean mouthed "Okay."

"I'll see you guys," Dean grabbed his wand and shut the dormitory doors tightly.

"Do you want me to wait for you, Harry?" Ron asked, looking again for where his shoe went.

"If you want to you can," Harry started whistling as he tied the laces on his shoes.

"You feeling well? Anything not feeling okay? Your scar hurt? Stomach ache? Must be those eggs." Ron pried.

"There's nothing wrong," Harry half said, half sang.

"There's that bloody thing," Ron found his shoe sticking out from under the bed. "How did it get under there?" He went back over and stood by Harry, waiting for him to finally get his shoes tied.

"Go on, I'll meet you in the Common Room," Harry finished the last lace.

"Why, what are you going to do all alone up here?" Ron raised an eyebrow suspiciously.

"Get your mind out of there," Harry laughed. "I just need to write something."

"To whom?"

"I'll tell you later. Go on." Ron watched him for one last second, confusion and amusement bubbling in his head. He stepped out and closed the doors lightly, waited a moment, then peeked his head back in. True to his word, Harry had pulled out a quill and a piece of parchment, and got comfortable at one of the desks. He was still whistling as he began to quickly scribble down unreadable word. Ron gave one last sigh, and hurried back down to Hermione. She was sitting on the couch, looking anxious.

"About time, class will be starting soon!" She stood up.

"Hold on, Harry isn't ready yet. I need to tell you something," Ron sat down and Hermione followed.

"What?"

Ron began to explain everything that Dean and just told him, the way Seamus had said what he said, and the way that Harry was just acting. Hermione just watched with wide eyes, until a knowing look crossed her face.

"I knew it, they like each other!" Hermione gushed. "I guess it could be more that just a young crush."

"But what about Seamus, he likes her too," Ron pointed out.

"One of us is going to have to ask Ginny who she really likes. If she even likes anyone. Maybe she was just being friendly with Harry."

"I've never seen her so friendly with him before, especially after not seeing him for so many weeks! When are you going to talk to her about it?"

"Me? You're her brother!"

"Yes, but you're a girl! You understand how her brain is working. Please?"

"I don't know, it's going to be awkward," Hermione looked thoughtful. "We've never really discussed boys before."

"Please please?" Ron leaned over and kissed her neck. He started to move his hand up her leg, causing a group of third years over by the window to giggle.

"I guess I do know Ginny pretty well by now. I saw her quite enough during the summer. Or I guess you would say she saw enough of me in summer. Or enough of us. Which do you think sounds right?" Hermione was mumbling on, not really paying attention to what was coming out of her mouth, but looking down at Ron's hand.

"You pick one," Ron nibbled her ear, his hand going farther up her leg.

"Probably us then. All right, all right I'll talk to her about it the next time I see her, which will probably be at lunch!"

"Excellent, Harry will be off talking to Cho then anyway," Ron bit her ear again and almost fell over from how good her hair smelt. His hand was just entering dangerous territory under her skirt when she pushed him off gently, a little reluctantly even.

"Hey Harry, are you ready to go?" Hermione jumped up so fast that Ron nearly tumbled backward off the couch.

"I'm ready, but are you sure you guys are?" Harry grinned. Hermione blushed, and Ron just returned Harry's grin.

"Yes we are. Come along then." Hermione turned on her heel and took long strides to the painting. Harry came over and playfully hit Ron in the stomach, and Ron hit him back.

"Shut up," Ron hissed out of the corner of his mouth.

"I'm done with my commenting for this morning," Harry held up his hand innocently, unable to keep a laugh from slipping out.

The beginning of Charms was chaotic. Everyone was still bustling around, talking and laughing when Professor Flitwick was trying to review a charm from last year.

"Remember the proper arm mo-AHH!" He declared as a pillow knocked his tiny body over. A boy from Hufflepuff was the culprit. A lot of the Hufflepuff students didn't seem to laugh at anything any more, they just sat solemnly in their chairs. It was obvious why-They had lost their leader and their friend, Cedric Diggory. Many of them still looked at Harry with accusing eyes whenever he walked passed.

"I don't understand the accusations they make," Ron whispered to Hermione and Harry. "Do they actually think that Harry himself would do something to Cedric like that? It's been two damn years, get over it already! It just makes me so angry!" Ron flicked his wand harder then he intended, and another pillow that was sitting next to them headed in Flitwick's direction.

"Let them live with their childish ways then," Hermione perfectly lifted a quill up into the air. "Harry knows the truth, and we believe him. That's all that matters. Is he still wearing one of those 'Potter Stinks' badges from the Triwizard Tournament?!" Hermione pointed her finger at one of the solemn looking boys. Partially hidden by his tie, you could faintly make out the flashing of one of the badges that a lot of the people were wearing last year during the Triwizard Tournament when they found out Cedric wasn't going to be the only Hogwarts champion.

"Ignore it Harry," Ron gave a dirty look at the boy, who was too busy staring at the floor to even notice.

"You guys, calm down! It doesn't bother me anymore," Harry reassured, managing to get his quill halfway up in the air before it fell down to the ground.

The rest of the class was just like that. Some people were actually trying to work on their charms, others were fooling around, and the rest were just sitting there sullenly. Without Neville in the class, there were less accidents then during times when he was around. Of course, that didn't stop everyone from taking notice to the calmness without him, and almost wishing that he was back there to stir up a few laughs.

"Off to double Herbology then," Hermione gathered her things together.

"My two favorite things in the world, gardening and Draco Malfoy," Harry joked.

"I'm still going to ask Professor Sprout about those damn tea's!" Ron declared.

Note: This was a crazy chapter! I had initially wanted to go somewhere else with it, but all the writing that just came out of my fingers lead to another place, so I have moved my previous idea to the next chapter. Please keep reading and reviewing, I love to hear from you all. And don't mind the lame title, I couldn't think of what else to call it! :D