CHAPTER 14
It has been a week since Lupin started the lessons with Harry. They would go upstairs to the room next to where Buckbeak is held and stay in there sometimes for up to four hours. Ron and Hermione talked to Lupin, but they still didn't know what kind of spells Harry was learning. Ron tried to ask Harry for some information on what the lessons were like, but Harry would always come back too tired to talk about it.
"This is worst than last year," Hermione cried when she saw Harry walk on after lunch without saying a word to either one of them. "Remember? When he thought we were having a good time without him? Or when Cedric died? He's pushing us away again."
Ron just nodded. If he were in Harry's situation, would he be more willing to talk? It would be hard witnessing a schoolmate's death by the hand of a horrible wizard or even know that the closest thing he had to a father was dead. Ron couldn't imagine what it would be like. It must not be easy for Harry, he sees that now. But two years ago, Ron would have done anything to be in Harry's place during the TriWizard Tournament.
The glory, the fame, Ron wanted it all. But with that comes other horrible things. Such as being an orphan, living with horrible muggle relatives, or even facing He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named every year. That is something Ron wasn't willing to trade. Ron doesn't blame Harry for wanting to be left alone every once in a while. But they're all best mates. They should be able to talk and figure things out together. They always have in the past, so why is it so difficult this year?
"You should talk to Harry," Hermione said. "He'll talk to you. He'll just think I'm fussing over him."
"If Harry doesn't feel like talking, I'm not going to make him." Ron argued.
"I'm not saying beat it out of him, Ron. All I'm saying is try to get him to talk to you. Start a conversation, maybe he'll open up to you once he get started."
"I'm sure that's going to happen," Ron said, rolling his eyes.
"Ron, you must want to know everything that's going on with Harry. I mean don't you want to know what Lupin is teaching him. Or what Dumbledore said to Harry on his birthday?" Hermione said, trying edge Ron on.
"How did you know what they talked about," Ron said suspiciously.
"I don't," Hermione said. "But I want to know, don't you?"
"If you want to know so bad, you should ask yourself, because Harry might blow up in my face. I can't handle that. You're so much better at that than me."
"Fine, if I found out anything, I'm not telling you anything Harry tells me."
"What? No, you're not. You'll tell me."
"What makes you so sure?"
"Because you always tell me."
"Some people are good at keeping secrets, Ron. Unlike you."
Ron thought about how Hermione kept the secret about Krum being her date for the Yule Ball until the actual dance.
"Alright, fine! I'll talk to Harry, but I'm not letting you know anything we talk about."
"Okay," Hermione said with a smug smile.
"I won't!" Ron exclaimed. "I'm not telling you anything."
"Okay," Hermione said again.
With that, Ron walked out of the room and trotted up the stairs to find Harry. Ron walked up the stairs and into the bedroom he shared with Harry; he wasn't there. He walked over to Ginny's room and decided to try there; he wasn't there, either. Then, Ron walked to the top floor to the room where Buckbeak was staying. Ron remembered Sirius being in that room a lot when he was upset. It was only natural that Harry would go there because it reminded him of Sirius. This whole house reminds him of Sirius.
Ron went to the room and sure enough, found Harry throwing dead rats to Buckbeak.
"There you are, mate," Ron said with a sigh of relief. "I've been looking for you everywhere."
Harry just looked up, not saying a word. He was still throwing rats at Buckbeak.
"Look, Harry, it has been a while since we've been here. And, um, we're just starting to worry about you."
"I'm fine," Harry said.
"Well, Hermione's not convinced. And neither am I. What has been going on? How are the "lessons" going with Lupin? What exactly is he teaching you? What did Dumbledore say to you at your birthday? We want to know everything, Harry."
Harry wasn't answering any of Ron's questions. Ron sighed, closed the door behind him, and sat next to Harry on the floor.
"Harry, we care about you. You're our friend. We're worried about you and the only way we can stop worrying about you is if you tell us what's wrong. Tell us how we can make it better or easier. I know I'm not the one who is usually good with feelings and what not, but Hermione's right. Don't tell her I said that. If she hears it too many times, she might never let me live it down."
Harry gave a little laugh. That made it easier on Ron. Hearing Harry laugh made things seem a bit normal again. Ron knew he shouldn't press Harry for any information. It would only make him push away harder. Then, Ron's stomach growled with hunger.
"Well, I'll be downstairs. I'm famished. When my stomach calls, who am I to deny it?"
Ron got up and walked towards the door. He turned to look at Harry one more time.
"If you want to talk, I'll be ready. You know talking does always make things seem so much better."
Ron closed the door behind him and made way towards the kitchen. However, Hermione caught him before going to the kitchen and pulled him aside and asked fifty million questions. Ron, wanting to get Hermione back for tricking him into talking to Harry in the first place, shrugged his shoulders.
"I told you I'm not telling you anything Harry tells me." Ron said, walking back to the kitchen.
"Ronald Weasley!" Hermione yelled after him. "You can be so, so, so infuriating some times."
"I'm hungry," Ron said, fixing himself a roast beef sandwich now. "Talk to me after I'm done eating."
"Then you'll tell me what you and Harry talked about," Hermione asked through gritted teeth.
"I said I'll talk to you, not what me and Harry talked about," Ron said with his mouth full of food.
"Don't talk with your mouth full," Hermione reprimanded. "Ron you have to tell me. I was just kidding about me not telling you. Please, Ron."
Hermione grabbed a hold of Ron's sleeve and was giving him a playful tug. But it was strong enough for Ron to turn around and have his face close to hers. Ron could feel the heat coming off of Hermione's skin. They haven't been this close since they were both at the Burrow. Ron painfully swallowed the food in his mouth.
Just then, Harry walked through the door and Hermione let go of Ron. Rotten timing, Harry, Ron thought to himself. Even in a big house like this, it was still hard to find some privacy. Luckily, Harry didn't see the position Ron and Hermione were just in, or else a lot of questions would come up.
"Harry," Hermione said, running over to him. "How are you feeling? Are you hungry?"
"Leave him alone," Ron said finishing his roast beef sandwich.
Hermione turned pink in the face and stepped back from Harry. Harry nodded thanks to Ron and walked over to where Ron was standing. He got out some bread from the pantry and made a peanut butter and strawberry jam sandwich.
"I'm ready to talk," Harry said quietly, sitting down with his sandwich on a plate.
Ron and Hermione exchanged looks and quietly sat down on either side of Harry.
"What do you want to know," Harry asked.
"Whatever you want to share with us," Hermione said with her hand on Harry's arm.
Harry took a deep breath, took a bite of his sandwich and began telling the story from the night the Ministry was attacked. He told them about the prophecy and how it could have been Neville instead of him. He basically told them, how the fate of the entire wizarding world lies in his hands. When he came to Grimmauld, they had a small service for Sirius, and that's when it really sunk into Harry that Sirius was really gone forever. However, the adults never gave him enough time to grief. They reminded him everything Dumbledore said to him that night in his office. It was bad enough to hear it once, but then, he had to hear it a second time.
Then, he told them about the lessons Lupin was giving him. How Dumbledore was able to pull a few strings. Dumbledore came to visit on his birthday to explain the purposes of the lessons. He also gave him his O.W.L.s results, six O.W.L.s. A lot of the lessons Lupin were teaching him were magic even adult wizards and witches have difficulty with. Harry also told them how Dumbledore wants Harry's emotions to be in checked. He has to learn to control his emotions and not lose his temper all the time. It was the only way to prevent a fiasco like last time he let his emotions control him.
A long silence followed Harry's story. They were all trying to let the story sink in. The prophecy, Harry's destiny to stop You-Know-Who, and Lupin's aid in helping Harry do it. Hermione cried a little, and Ron was too numb to do anything else.
Harry took another bite of his sandwich. The silence was killing Ron. "We should learn those lessons, too," he said, finally speaking up. "You should reform the D.A. when we go back to Hogwarts."
"No," Harry said firmly. "It's too dangerous. I'm not going let you two put yourself in a dangerous situation like last year. This is my fight, my battle. Only I can defeat Voldermort."
"Stop being noble again, Harry," Hermione said. "You're not in this alone. We're all here for you. You're not fighting Voldermort alone."
"Did I not explain the prophecy clearly? Only I can defeat him."
"Yes, that may be true, but that doesn't mean you can't get help from others. Every year, year after year, you always had to face him alone. But it was us that help you get that far! And every year, you were able to escape from him. And every year, you get closer to defeating him."
"Besides," Ron spoke up. "It's not just going to be a battle with you and him. If we didn't have the D.A. last year, do you think any of us would have made it out alive from the Ministry? Do you think Neville would be able to stun that Death Eater? We need to be prepared for what's out there. Because, whether you like it or not, mate, it's going to be our battle too."
Harry let out a deep sigh and buried his head in his hands.
"I don't know," Harry said, obviously, not wanting to talk about this. "Well, I'm a bit tired. I think I'm going to have a lie in."
Harry walked to the kitchen door, opened the door and turned around facing his friends.
"Thanks for being here. I really do appreciate it."
Ron and Hermione nodded, sensing how emotionally draining it must be for Harry to retell some of the stories that were killing his spirit.
As soon as Harry left, Hermione turned to Ron with a look that told Ron he was in trouble.
"You two didn't talk about anything up there, did you?" Hermione asked threateningly.
"Well," Ron said nervously. He was sure they were going to have another row right there in the kitchen.
"You let me make a fool out of myself, begging you to tell me nothing," Hermione said. This time, the volume of her voice went up a level. Hermione started to turn red now.
"Well, wait a minute, Hermione," Ron said putting his hands up trying to calm Hermione. "You're the one that made me go up and talk to Harry when I didn't even want to."
"And look what happened. He came down to talk to us. I told you, you should talk to him and he'll open up. I was right!"
"Yeah, but he would have done it anyway on his own time. Maybe he was already to tell us. And I just happen to interrupt him while he was up there deciding what to tell us!"
"That doesn't even make sense!"
"I only went up there because you told me you kept secrets from me."
Ron and Hermione were standing now.
"Secrets? Ron, I was just playing around. How is that even relevant to what we're talking about? When have I ever kept secrets from you?"
"Viktor Krum!" Ron said, his arms now crossed across his chest.
"Viktor? Is this what you're going to do from now on? Bring Viktor up every time we have a fight? I never kept a secret about Viktor. I told you, we're just friends! That's it! No secret!"
"Then why didn't you tell me you were going with him to the Yule Ball?"
"You found out, eventually."
"Yes, but could have told me earlier. You didn't even tell me what happened when you went to visit him."
"Because nothing did happened! There was nothing to tell!"
"That's crap and you know it!"
"What secrets are you keeping from me," Hermione said, turning the table on Ron. "You and Luna?"
"What? Me and Luna," Ron said, taken by surprise. "That is nothing like you and Krum."
"Oh, how is that? She was all over you!"
"On my arms, Hermione, on my arms."
Hermione let out a frustrated scream. "You will never get it!"
"Then, help me get it," Ron said softly this time. He walked over to Hermione, but she ran out of the room before he reached her. Ron swore loudly, then, ran his hands through his hair. He didn't understand how things can be perfect between the two of them one minute and then crap the next minute. This is not how he pictured his summer with Hermione.