Apparently, I forgot to post this earlier.

Chapter 3

He was finishing get cleaned up before lunch. He had his free period before lunch today, and he was preparing for the meal. Well, he was more worried about a conversation during the meal than eating. He was too concerned to eat.

He tried brushing his hair into an organised state. His hair just popped up. He let out a groan. He used his hand to push the hair into a somewhat neat style. He straightened his tie as he left the bathroom.

He tossed his cloak on, grabbing his orange bag from his bed. It has been four days since the bag has been turned orange. Ron hadn't noticed. Hermione made a quiet inquire about it. Susan hasn't said anything about it but just smiled every time she saw it.

Most meals have been in the company of the redhead. Most study sessions have been in the company of the redhead and some of their academic friends; usually, Hannah or Hermione would join them. Most of the last five days has evolved around the pretty redhead with more freckles than he could ever hope to account.

He couldn't help the smile as he descended the stairs.

"Oi, finally. Lunch is almost over, Harry."

Harry glanced at his watch. "There are still 30 minutes left Ron."

"It will take us just over five minutes to make it down to the Great Hall. That is not enough time."

He rolled his eyes, "It is fine, Ron. No need to overreact."

He left through the tunnel as his mate followed him muttering to himself. "Did you change your clothes?"

"What? No."

"They are cleaned, though. No hint of wear."

He hurried down the stairs trying to escape the examining look.

They made it down to the Great Hall without any other words being exchanged between them. He was sure that it was only because Ron was starving for food.

He smiled as he saw Hermione and Susan sit down next to each other. He quickly moved to the seats across from them that were open. He set his bag down in front of him as he slid into his seat across from the Hufflepuff.

"Hermione. Hi, Susan. How was Runes class?" He started to pile on food to his plate.

"It was good. Professor Babbling was impressed with our rune work. I am glad we can finally start working with runes and not just translating them. It will be exciting to start working on runestones." He smiled at her enthusiasm. He learned that Ancient Runes was Susan's favourite subject.

"Did either of you get any studying done during your free period?"

"Hermione, it is called a free period for a reason," Ron answered before he continued to dig into his plate.

"I studied some of Potions." He offered up.

"When? You were in the dorm almost the whole time showering and putting on new clothes."

"No, I wasn't." He could feel his cheeks start to heat up.

"You spent at least 15 minutes trying to tame the mess you call your hair."

He heard Susan giggle as he tried to bury his head in his hands.

"Ow, what was that for Hermione." He looked as Ron rubbed his shin. He only received a glare from the bushy-haired girl.

"Honestly, Ron." She huffed in annoyance.

The conversation moved to talks of Quidditch. Susan and Ron were debating the chance of the Chudley Cannons of winning their next game. Harry was on the same page of Susan that there was no chance the Cannons could win. Ron was adamant as ever that they will win and turn it all around.

"The Cannons haven't won against the Wasps for the last decade. They won't be able to do it this season either."

"You Wasps fans cheat."

"We are called Stingers; thank you very much. And we do not cheat." Susan tipped her chin up in superiority of her team.

"We would have won this summer if your fans didn't distract us during the penalty shoot."

He watched as Susan grew a predatory grin, "You know I was at that game. The Cannons would have lost even if they did make one of their penalty shot."

"I am afraid she is right, Ron. I was listening to the game with you. The Cannons would have lost no matter what; they were down by two hundred at that point."

His mate looked betrayed, "How dare you? You only agree with her because you like— Ow, Hermione."

She rolled her eyes, shoving her plate away and grabbing her book bag. "Come on, Ron, before I send Ginny after you. See you both later."

Hermione waved too Susan and Harry before walking out, dragging a confused, muttering Ron with her.

"What was that about?"

"Ron? He is just a huge, Chudley Cannons fan. I am not sure why; the rest of his family is not at all." He shrugged.

"Not that. He was saying you only agreed with me because?"

He only stared down at his plate. He was sure his cheeks were redder than a Weasly's red hair. Damn Ron. No subtle bone in his body. At least Hermione stopped him.

"I have no idea. He just talks alot of nonsense."

"I am sure." He glanced up and saw a smug smile. He glanced down at his empty plate.

She knew it. He should come out and say it now.

"Look, Susan. I don't know how to say this. But, uh, would you like to go on a picnic date Saturday? The weather is supposed to be fair, and I am sure Dobby will be glad to make us a basket."

"Hmmm. Spend the day with you or study? I know Professor Snape and Babbling will assign a few pages worth of material for the weekend."

He felt his heartache, "It is fine. I understand." He started to go for his bookbag, trying to remember to ask for Hermione's help to change it back to its original colour if he can't.

"Harry, wait. I was just teasing you. I would love to."

He couldn't help himself as the smile grew on his face. His heart started to race.

Before he could speak the bells began to ring to signal the next class.

"Shit. I have to run. I have potions now." He gathered his bag, knocking it on the table. "I will talk to you at dinner, yeah?"

He started to run through the hall as he could hear sweet laughter behind him; his only saving grace was that Slughorn was teaching and not Snape.

It was going well, he thought. There hasn't been any crying, yet. Nor was he interrogated about his friendship with Hermione. She didn't mention Cedric or ask about his death. Overall he was much happier with this date than the one he had with Cho.

He cracked open one of the butterbeer that Dobby managed to pack for them and handed it to Susan.

"Thank you, Harry. I still don't understand how Dobby got these for us. The Hogwarts elves are not supposed to be able to bring us alcohol."

He shrugged, "I learned not to question Dobby; he has a strange fascination with me."

"Is it because you freed him?"

"No, he was like that since the first time I met him." He took a swing his bottle as he remembered the crazy elf.

"How did you meet Malfoy's elf? I didn't think you and Draco would invite each other over for a play date."

"I would have invited him over if I thought about it. I am sure my relatives would have had a field day with him." He smiled at the thought of Draco and the Dursleys fighting each other. "Dobby came to me the summer between the first and second year. He was blocking any communication from my friends, so I thought I was alone again. He warned me that there would be a danger at Hogwarts and I must not go back. I said no. So in response, Dobby tried getting me expelled by floating a cake and dropping it on some muggles."

"Did you ever go to the Ministry to get it removed? They should have been able to tell whether you did it or not by checking your wand."

"No," He paused, trying to think why no one mention that they could do that, "no one said anything about that."

"Well, Dobby seems like a sweet elf."

"He can overreact, though. Remember that bludger that was trying to kill me in Second year?" She nodded her head, "It was Dobby trying to get me grievously injured so I will have to leave the castle."

"You were amazing during that game, though."

He hummed in response.

"I am serious. Merlin, you were out there zooming across dodging the bludger. You got Malfoy to fall off his broom. And then," She turned slightly, towards him and leaned forward. She rested her self against his side. She hugged his right arm that was supporting his body upright. By reflex, he tensed up. "And then with a broken arm, you still caught the snitch." She sighed, turning to face him, "It was utterly brilliant."

He got lost into her light blue eyes. He thought he could see the admiration in them, along with something else. His gaze darted down to her lips. A lovely smile caused the corner of her eyes to wrinkle.

He wasn't sure who moved first only that next thing he did know was their lips touching. He could taste the butterbeer on Susan's lips. He could taste some kind of fruit, but he did not care enough to identify it right now.

He had to break apart to catch his breath. He leaned his forehead against Susan's.

"I think that was utterly brilliant."

He smiled as she giggled, "You think that was brilliant?" He nodded his head, trying to breathe. "Then you will be blown away by this."

He didn't get to respond as he fell backwards, landing on the ground. Harry would have let off a sound of discomfort, but his mouth was too busy fending off an attack.

They stayed like that for a while. The sound of the waves drowned out an of the other sounds that were in the area. She was right; this was far better.

It took some time before they broke apart. She laid her head against his chest as they stared to the sky. It was there as he laid contently against the ground that there was a bright flash of light.

"Fawkes?" He looked to the phoenix who floated a little ways away from them.

He shot up straight with Susan, who seemed scared by the bird. "It is okay, Fawkes is Dumbledore's familiar."

The bird let out a mournful cry. It was then Harry noticed the letter in the bird's claw. He tried reaching for it, but the message was dropped in Susan's lap.

There was another flash, and then the phoenix was gone.

"Does the headmaster usually delivers messages like that?" She eyed the sealed envelope in her hand.

"No, at least not with me. What does it say?"

She tore open the envelope, "It just says that I am to report to his office immediately that something happened."

She handed him the letter as she began to gather her things. He read the same thing. He started to pack the blanket they were laying on inside the basket the food was in. He vanished the bottles of butterbeer.

He looked back to the castle, and they were about 30 or 40 minutes away from the castle.

"I have an idea, Susan." He raised his wand, "Accio Firebolt."

"Will it work from this far?"

"We will find out. Hermione and I never found anything saying it didn't work over long distances. As long as you have a clear picture of the item you are summoning it should work."

She shook her head as they began the walk back to the castle, "I still can't believe you used a broom to fight a dragon."

"I was a fourth-year; I didn't know any spells to defeat a Hungarian Horntail. The summoning charm was the best Hermione, and I could come up with."

"You could have used the seize and pull charm. Honestly, I don't know why any of you champions thought of that. Instead, you all had to be overdramatic and not think with logic."

"Hey!"

She smiled before kissing him on the lips, "It is a good thing you are cute. And I have to admit it was spectacular flying from what we could see."

"I am glad it was entertaining for everyone else. I nearly died at least a hundred times."

She wasn't able to respond as his Firebolt zoomed to him. It slowed down before it hit him. He smirked Susan.

"Oh, shut up." She sat on the broom behind him, wrapping her arms around his body. She looped the basket through one of her arms.

He kicked off into the air with the sound of her glee. The wind started to rush past them as they began their journey back to the castle.

"Go faster." Susan's voice screamed in his ear.

He followed her command as he leaned down. The broom slowly started to pick up speed. It was sluggish with the extra weight. He began to fly over the lake, causing water to spray them due to the wind.

He pulled up higher. Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes, enjoying the freedom he felt. Susan seemed to have read his mind as she told him he wasn't to do anything too stupidly death-defying.

In a way, this reminded him of the jailbreak of Buckbeak and Sirius with Hermione. She clung to him tighter and was up for no fun. Susan, though, was more than happy to partake in some acrobats in the sky.

He began a steep dive to the water surface. Turning up before the hit the water, he flew low. He kept turning in wide angles so they could reach out and touch the body of the water.

They were perhaps a foot from the cliffs as they flew up parallel to them. Pushing harder, they zoomed closer to the school. He did a few laps around the towers and schoolyards. He finally started slowing down as they neared a landing near the headmaster's office.

"Merlin, Harry." She wrapped him in a hug once they made it to the ground, "you have to let me borrow that some time for a fly or even a game. My Nimbus does not compare to that."

"You can borrow it, but not if it is Gryffindor versus Hufflepuff."

She smiled again before their lips meet. She pulled away before they could deepen the kiss more.

"I still need to speak with the headmaster." She giggled at his obvious distress, "Perhaps later we can find a broom closet." The wink caused him to grab her hand and start to pull her to the stone gargoyle two floors up.

The stone gargoyle opened for them as they neared. It was obviously Susan's first time heading into the office as she stared at the statue. He held her close as the stairs began to move them upwards. Dumbledore bid them entry after knocking on the door.

The mood of the room immediately damped his own. A sombre-looking Dumbledore sat behind his desk ask Professor Sprout took Susan into what looked like a bone-crushing hug.

"Ms Bones, thank you for coming. Harry, I didn't expect to see you today. Please have a seat, both of you if you would like." He gestured to three seats that appeared across the desk.

Susan sat in the chair next to his.

"I regret having to inform you, but Hannah Abbott will no longer be at school this year."

"What? Is she okay, what happened? Can I talk to her?" Harry felt his hand in a death grip.

"Ms Abbott is fine. Her father pulled her out of school. Her mother was attacked early morning by a group of Death Eaters and killed."

His heart stilled for a moment—another person who died because of him.

As Susan began to weep, he wrapped his arms around her, holding her close as he began to rub her back, trying his best to calm her.

"As I understand it, you are close to the Abbotts and even spent the summer at their manor. I am sorry for your loss."

The sound of a young woman crying echoed through the walls as they sat in silence. Harry tried his best to calm her, but he had no idea what to do. It did not seem his current method was working either.

"Oh, Susan. I am sorry, dear. I have talked with Professor Dumbledore, and he has agreed you can have Monday off. He will also allow you to leave for the funeral." Professor Sprout smoothed Susan's hair as the girl continued her cry. "Here, deary, Poppy gave me a few calming draughts when she heard what happened. Hannah took one before her brother and father came to pick her up."

The blue potion was handed off to Susan, who looked at it before downing it in two gulps. He instantly felt her body relax.

"Thank you, professor."

Susan returned to the embrace of his arms. She buried her head in his shoulder, clinging to one of his few nice shirts he picked out to wear for their date.

After a few extra moments, Susan stood up, wiping a few tears away. "If that is all professors, I would like to leave."

"Just one more. Since Hannah can no longer fulfil her duties as prefect, Pomona and I would like you to take up the duties." The badge that was offered was taken with a muttered thank you.

Harry glared at the headmaster. A girl just lost someone who was most likely as a mother to them, and he dares to give them a prefect badge as a consolation.

Picking up his broom and the picnic basket, he followed Susan down the stairs and outside to the hallway.

"Dobby."

"Great Master Wizard Harry Potter called?"

"Can you please take these and place them on my bed? And tell Hermione that I won't likely be at dinner and to not worry." He handed the broom and basket off to the house-elf.

"Dobby will take things to Harry Potter's bed. Dobby will also tell Harry's Hermy what Harry Potter said." With a soft pop, Dobby was gone as quick as he came.

"Harry's Hermy?" Susan looked at him with a quiet smile playing at the corner of her mouth.

"Don't ask. Besides Dobby calls you Harry's Suzy." He watched the blush creep on her face. "Now come on." He grabbed her hand, interlacing their fingers, and began to pull her into the direction of the seventh floor in the left corridor.

"Where are we going?"

"You will see."

He could see her eyes roll as he continued pulling her along with him. She didn't protest as she made an acknowledging sound as they neared the room.

He was glad to see the room had no one in it as he began to pace back and forth three times in front of the wall. The door appeared, Harry held it open for Susan, whose's eyes were still red and puffy.

Following her inside, he saw a small room with a large comfortable looking sofa facing a lit fireplace. An open chest of blankets sat against the wall. A table was in the corner surrounded by a booth style seating.

Susan dragged him to the sofa. She forcefully pulled him to sit between her and the armrest of the couch. She pulled her feet up under her as she wrapped her arms around his midsection. Susan then grabbed his arm and threw it around herself as she cuddled into him.

Reacting on what he thought was instinct, he began to rub her side where his hand rested.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

There was a moment of silence that he almost took for a no. "Well being a prefect now means I can give you detention and take away points. So you better behave now." She started to giggle at her joke while he smiled.

"Seriously, though, I can only imagine what Hannah's mother meant to you." The giggling almost immediately ceased.

"It is hard. Auntie was like a mother to me, but I also spent alot of my time with the Abbotts. Mrs Abbott was also like a mother to me. Any time Auntie had to stay late for work or had to travel, I would be at Abbott's home." She shuddered, causing him to wrap his arms around her fully. "I was a mess after Auntie died. Mrs Abbott cared for me during those times. And now— and now she is dead too. And Merlin, I wasn't even there or able to now comfort Hannah. I feel like I owe them that. She must hate me now."

The tears began to flow freely once again.

"Why would she?"

"Because while she told her mother died, I was out on a perfect date with you, snogging, enjoying it. I should have been there for her."

His mind went blank when she admitted she liked the date, and the snogging session they had. It took him a second to recover.

"First, I am glad you enjoyed the date... and the snogging. Second, you didn't know that Mrs Abbott was going to die. We got back as fast as we could. I can't imagine Hannah holding this against you."

"She was there for me. When Auntie died, I was with Hannah; she cared for me. Anytime I was sad because of my parents dying over the years, Hannah was there." She began to stumble over her words, "The one time she needed me I wasn't there."

He hugged her close. She burrowed into his side. He could feel her tears begin to wet his shirt.

"I am sure if you ask Professor Dumbledore he will let you go to the Abbotts' house for the rest of the weekend and Monday. I know I would appreciate that if I was Hannah."

He only received a mumbled 'possibly' as he continued to try and comfort her. At the sound of the supper bell, they both chose to ignore it as neither was hungry.

Since the halls were going to be empty, Harry offered to escort Susan back to the Hufflepuff Common Room. The joy and laughter of earlier in the day was nonexistent as they walked to the basement. They only spoke to say hellos to the people they would pass in the in halls. Passerbys' eyes were drawn to the puffiness of Susan's and the fact she was holding his hand and walking close to him. He knew that the gossips of Hogwarts would have a story of him and Susan circulating the school by the end of the day.

They stopped once again in front of the barrels that held the entrance into the common room. Susan moved in front of him as she looked at their joined hands. They had a moment of silence as she studied their joined hands as he worked the courage to do something.

"I am sorry for today, Susan."

"Why?"

"I—" He paused, trying to find the correct words, "I imagine this wasn't the day either of us wanted or planned."

"It wasn't your fault, Harry."

"But it—"

He lost his sentence as her lips found his. His mind went blank as he tried to remember what he was saying only moments before. As the kiss deepened, she pulled back.

"Harry, you can't control everything. Nor can you be at fault for everything. Everything that you had control over made my day. I had a fun time."

He only smiled as he took in her words.

"Thank you, Harry. I will see you tomorrow, ya?"

"Talk with Professor Sprout about going to Hannah's house for the rest of the weekend and Monday to provide comfort. If she says no, I will see you tomorrow. If not I will see you Tuesday."

With her nod, she entered through the hidden tunnel. Harry wasn't entirely sure if she would ask for the time off, but he could only hope. From what he now knew, Hannah was a sister to Susan. Both should have each other to provide comfort for the other.

Pulling out the Maurader's Map, he saw Ron and Hermione were in the Great Hall with the rest of Gryffindor Tower. Making a decision, he continued on the journey that would lead him to the Tower. He knew that the moment he sat down in the Great Hall both of his best friends, and the rest of his house, would demand the details of the day. He didn't want to have to air his day in the middle of the public hall. He would rather not air it at all but knew he would at least have to tell it all in detail to Hermione and the highlights to Ron. Both of those could be down in the comfort of the Gryffindor Common Room, and when he was no longer in his few fine clothes.

It took another hour before students began to flow into the room decorated in Gryffindor colours. After changing, and taking a quick shower, Harry sat down at a table in the corner doing his homework. He was only slightly aware as Hermione and Ron sat in the seats opposite of his. Hermione pushed some of his mess out of the way as she began to pull out her work.

"How was your day, Harry?"

"Hmm," he looked up from his work, pretending not to know what she meant, "It was fine. Just doing homework now."

He tried to hid his smirk as glared at him, "Merlin, Harry, we want to know how the date went. Did you snog her?"

"Ronald! That is rude. I am sure Harry was a perfect gentleman and did not 'snog' Susan." She said the word like it was a despicable act.

He noticed both of his friends were looking at him waiting for some confirmation or denial. He let his grin speak for him.

"Ow, Hermione." He rubbed the top of his head where she hit him with a stack of papers. Ron started to congratulate him before he stopped due to the glare of the ferocious bushy-haired girl sitting next to him. "I didn't snog her, Hermione, she snogged me."

He was once again hit on the head again. Hermione hit Ron also after he started to cheer for him. His girl best friend began to demand to know everything that happened since the moment he departed from them on the way down to lunch.

He began to describe following her idea of doing a picnic on the lakeside; he assured Hermione her blanket was safely on his bed. He tried to skip over the ideal chatter that he and Susan had before Hermione demand to know what was said.

He skipped over how long they spent laying on Hermione's blanket playing war with their mouths; he wasn't even sure how long they were doing it. He mentioned how they got back to the castle after receiving the mysterious message from Professor Dumbledore to the cringe of Hermione. The bushy-hair girl did not consider a broom ride to be a suitable way to spend part of a date.

"What did the headmaster want?"

He paused, unsure whether he was supposed to tell his friends about what happened with Hannah's mother. He figured that it would either be in the newspaper in the morning or be gossip during breakfast.

"Hannah's mother was killed in a Death Eater attack earlier in the day. Hannah's father pulled her out of school. Mrs Abbott was like another mother to Susan. Professor Sprout and the headmaster wanted to let Susan know what happened."

"That explains why I didn't see either of them or you during dinner."

He nodded, "Hannah was already gone by the time we arrived back at the castle. Susan was upset about not being there for her friend and about Mrs Abbott. I took her to the Room of Requirements to try and comfort her in private." With the questioning look Hermione sent him, he continued, "Merlin, Hermione, nothing happened. She cried, and I held her, and we just talked. We decided to skip dinner since neither of were in the mood, so I dropped her off back at her common room before coming up here and get ready to be interrogated by you."

"Prat." She rolled her eyes before opening her potions book. "Are you going to see her again?"

"Well we do go to the same bordering school, so yes I will." He dodged the wad of paper, aiming for his head; he did not avoid the kick to the shin.

"I will." It was more of a promise to himself than anything else. He wanted to start believing in people saying he deserved something good happening in his life. He lost too much already. He has dealt with terrible more than he wanted. He will be damned if he let one of the few good things to happen to him walk away now.