Disclaimer: I own nothing.
A/N: Okay, people, now it's time for chapter 4. I am SOOOOOOOOO sorry that I haven't updated in forever, but I've been grounded. But it was only for five days…but that is like forever. But now I'm back, and better than ever. Okay, not really. But anyways, here is chapter 4.
Oh, and I want to thank Danu3, who, once again, was the only reviewer for the last chapter. But thanks for trying to get me more reviewers. Luv ya!!!
Chapter 4: Changes
Harry walked slowly down the corridor leading to Gryffindor tower. The hall was filled with people, but Harry had plenty of room to move. Every person was skirting around him as if he had some contagious disease that they would catch the moment they touched him. He sighed. He knew why they were all avoiding him. He just didn't care.
He came to the portrait of the Fat Lady, who looked down at him with her eyebrows raised.
"Why so glum?" she asked kindly.
"No reason," Harry said dully. The Fat Lady raised her eyebrows skeptically.
"There's always a reason for everything," she informed him. Harry rolled his eyes.
"Chocolate Frogs," he said. The painting sighed.
"If you insist, dear," she said, swinging forward to let him in. He climbed through the hole and, without stopping to talk to anyone, continued on up the stairs to the boy's dorm.
The dorm was not, as he had hoped, empty. Neville Longbottom lay sprawled across his bed, talking to an extremely large and rather unattractive plant that Harry recognized as the plant Neville had in fifth year. The one that had sprayed Stinksap all over the compartment and then Cho had walked in. Neville looked up and smiled as Harry entered.
"Hi, Harry," he said. Harry smiled a little and waved at the clumsy boy. "How was your summer?" Neville asked. Harry's smiled disappeared, and Neville winced. "Oh, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have…I should have realized…I'm sorry," he finished.
"Don't worry about it, Nev, it's no big deal," Harry said in a dull voice, turning towards his bed and pretending that he was busy in his trunk. There was silence in the dorm for a few moments.
"So, Harry," Neville said, making an attempt at conversation. Harry rolled his eyes, but was unseen by Neville as he was buried in his trunk down to his waist. "There's the first Hogsmeade visit in about a week. Maybe we could hang out together?" Harry sighed.
"Yeah, sure, Nev," he said. He pulled a pair of pajamas out of his trunk and began to put them on. He felt rather than saw Neville studying him, and he looked up. "What?"
"Are you okay, Harry?" Neville asked quietly. "I mean, I know how hard this must be for you, but if you ever need to talk, I'll be here. Okay?"
"Okay, Neville, but seriously, I'm fine," Harry assured him. Neville raised his eyebrows.
"Whatever, Harry," he said, shrugging and turning back to his plant. Just then the door opened and Dean and Seamus walked in. They stopped when they saw Harry. Seamus looked as if he wanted to turn around and run right back out the door, but a slow smile made its way across Dean's face.
"Hey, Harry," he said. Harry felt a wave of relief wash over him. Not everyone hated him. "How's it going? Okay, that was a dumb question. Um…how was your summer? No, that was even stupider. Erm…hi, Harry!" he exclaimed. Harry allowed himself a small laugh.
"Hi Dean," he said. "Hi, Seamus." Seamus slowly looked up at him. He glanced over at Neville, and then at Dean, and then back at Harry. Harry could tell that there was a major internal battle going on. Finally, however, Seamus smiled and stuck out his hand.
"Hey, Harry, how are you doing?" he asked sincerely. Harry smiled and shook his hand.
"Not bad, considering the circumstances," he said, shrugging. Dean smiled sympathetically.
"Don't worry, mate, I'm sure you can still talk to Hermione or Ginny about it," he said, apparently hoping to cheer Harry up. On the contrary, Harry's face darkened and he looked away. "What?" Dean demanded. "Was it something I said?"
"I can't talk to Hermione and Ginny," Harry said quietly. "They've both abandoned me."
"What do you mean?" Seamus asked curiously. Neville hadn't looked up from his plant, but Harry could tell that he wasn't missing a word of the conversation.
"Well, remember Hermione and I were going out last year?" Harry asked. The other boys nodded. "Well, at the end of last year, she left me for Malfoy." The other boys gasped in unison.
"What?" Dean said in amazement. "Why?" Harry shrugged.
"Don't know," he said. "But she did. And I talked to Ginny at Ron's funeral over the summer, and she blames me for his death."
"What?" Dean repeated. "Why in the name of Merlin would she do that?" he demanded. Harry shrugged again.
"Don't know," he said again. "But she does. So, now I'm pretty much all alone. Except for Luna," he added as an afterthought.
"Wait," Dean said from his spot over at the water jug, where he was filling up a glass. "Do you mean Luna Lovegood?" he asked. Harry nodded. Dean just stared at him.
"Well, she's always been there for me, even if I haven't been the nicest friend," Harry said slowly.
"Friend?" Seamus demanded. Harry nodded again.
"Yes. We're friends," he said. Seamus did a double take and Dean dropped the cup he was holding, spilling water across the floor. Neville, however, having been with Harry and Luna and the others in the Department of Mysteries in fifth year, didn't look too surprised. Harry decided that the conversation was over, and he climbed into bed. Just as he began to draw his curtains around his bed, Dean spoke.
"Hey, Harry?" he asked. Harry looked up. "Just know that…you're not alone. We're here for you, mate." Harry smiled.
"Thanks, guys," he said honestly. "That really means a lot to me. 'Night, all," he said, pulling the curtains around himself.
That night, for the first time since Ron's death, Harry wasn't plagued with nightmares and terrors. He dreamt of all the good times that he had spent with his old friends, and the times that he was sure to come with his new friends.
A/N: Okay, I know, it's not a very long chapter. But I really felt that I was being too hard on Harry, and I wanted to give him support from his fellow Gryffindors. Harry will be hanging out with Luna some more later on, and they start to figure out what's going on with his screwed up life. But I'm not going to tell what's going on until later chapters, like possibly eight or nine, maybe later. You will start to see things that connect with the dreams that he's having, but if you can't figure it out, you're going to have to wait until the end to figure out completely what's going on.
Thanks for reading this far. I love reviews, so give 'em to me!!!
