Chapter 2: Detention

"Weasley, Potter!" Snape barked at the end of the lesson, "Stay for a couple of minutes, I need to give your details about your detention."

"Go on," Ron sighed to Lavender, "And tell Flitwick I might be a few minutes late." He turned to walk to the front of the classroom and Harry followed him, neither of them spoke while they waited for Snape to come out of his office and Ron just wanted to get out of there. It was already bad enough they landed a detention together.

"Alright," Snape said quietly looking between the two, he opened his mouth to continue but then Harry spoke up.

"Sir," he said quickly, glaring at Ron, "Can we do our detentions separately? I don't want to be in the same room as this traitor."

"And I don't want to do a detention with an attention hungry –"

"Silence," Snape snapped looking between the two of them, "You two will be down at my office around 7 every night this week and you will be doing the detention together. Now you two will be organizing my potion ingredient storage closet. I want all the ingredients in a nice, clean flask and I want you to organize all 700 ingredients in alphabetical –"

"700?!" Ron repeated weakly, that will take them forever to do.

"That will take forever to do!" Harry complained and to Ron's annoyance, Snape smirked.

"You have a week to organize it and around 11, I will come to check on your progress. If you do a decent job, I will dismiss you but if not, you will stay there until I'm satisfied with your progress, so I suggest you two put whatever feud you're having aside and work together." The late bell rang and both Harry and Ron walked out of the classroom together silently to charms class. Neither of them spoke as they entered the charms classroom and Ron took a seat next to his girlfriend and Hermione, and Harry sat at an empty desk on the other side of the room. Ron had a hard time trying to concentrate on the lesson, he was too worried about tonight's detention. Obviously, as much as he wanted too, he couldn't avoid his former best friend while they had to organize Snape's potion ingredients storage closet and he had to speak with Harry.

When the bell rang, Ron hurriedly gathered his things and had gotten up to leave the classroom. He complained to Lavender the whole way to the great hall for lunch about what Snape was making them do and how didn't want to do a detention with Potter. Just as he took a breath to calm down when they walked into the great hall, he saw Ginny talking to Harry animatingly and laughing. Ron frowned as he watched Harry take his sister's hand and led her over to the Gryffindor Table. The second they sat down Harry put an arm around her and Ginny put her hand on shoulder and that was when Ron started to see red. "Ron," Lavender warned, also looking at them, "Don't cause a commotion."

"No," Ron snapped, "She is not going to see, Potter." And then he marched over to them, "What do you think you're doing?" Ron snarled at Ginny, who sighed and threw him a dirty look, "I'm having lunch with Harry, is that okay?"

"No, it's not okay!" Ron hissed, "I don't want to see my sister flirting and having her arms around Potter! If you think you're going to date him - "

"I'm allowed to have my arms around anyone I like." Ginny yelled, causing people to look at them, "Just because you have a problem with Harry doesn't mean I'm not allowed to be friends with him or date him!"

Harry started to look uncomfortable and he quietly said while avoiding his eye contact, "You're making a huge deal of nothing, I was comforting Ginny because she was telling me how she missed me over the summer and how she wishes you and I could work things out because she feels like she's stuck in the middle. I told her I don't think I could ever work things out with you and that was when she got upset. I was telling her just now that even you and I are no longer friends, that my friendship with your sister will never change just like it hasn't changed with anyone else in your family or Hermione or Lavender. Now before you land yourself another detention, I suggest you leave her alone because you're causing a scene."

Ron turned around and felt his ears going red when he saw everyone looking at them. Without saying anything, he turned and walked out of the Great Hall. He started to walk to the Gryffindor Common Room when he heard his name being called, "I don't want to talk," he turned around and saw Hermione, who jumped back in surprise at his tone, "Oh sorry, 'Mione," Ron flushed, "I thought you were Lavender."

"It's alright," Hermione said gently, "I just heard from both Harry and Lavender about what just happened and I wanted to see if you were alright?"

"No I'm bloody not alright, I walked into the great hall and saw my sister hanging all over Potter."

"Harry," She emphasized his name again, "Told me he was comforting Ginny because she was upset that two are too stubborn to talk about what happened. I feel the same way, Ron, it's hard for me too. It's hard knowing I can never spend time with both of my best friends because you two aren't speaking anymore and I can see where she's coming from. But I don't say anything to either of you because the both of you get mad whenever I try too."

Ron didn't know what to say, he somewhat felt bad that his and Harry's row have been upsetting both Hermione and Ginny, but he knew he could never work things out with Harry or try too. Their friendship was so ruined that even if they did try to talk, they could never work things out. "I guess I can see where you're coming from 'Mione," he finally admitted, "But I messed up badly and even if I attempted to talk to him, there's no way things will ever be the same between us again."

"Just try to be more sympathetic," Hermione said gently patting his shoulder, "And who knows maybe doing this detention will help both you and Harry work things out. I know even if you two don't want to admit it, you miss each other." She gave Ron a pat on the back and walked towards the great hall again leaving Ron to stand there and think about everything she just said. He wasn't sure if she was right about missing Harry, he never gave it much of a thought. Sure, it was lonely during the summer where they haven't spoken and he wished he had Harry around to tell him what was going on in his life. He had recently gotten prefect and had gotten a good enough broomstick to try out for the quidditch team and he wished he could've had Harry as a friend to share all of these things in his life. But did he miss him?

He took a deep breath and continued to the common room, he was no longer hungry, he was still a little peeved about seeing his sister hanging all over Harry. Of all the people Ginny had to start dating in the school, Harry Potter was the last person he wanted his sister with. Ron went to the dormitory and laid on the bed, he was finished with classes for the rest of the day and in a little bit he was planning on meeting Lavender to walk around the lake with before dinner. But also, he was so tired, being paranoid about going back to Hogwarts and having to see Harry made him exhausted. The second his head hit the pillow, he fell asleep.

Ron was shaken awake and jumped when he saw Lavender, "Have you been asleep all this time?" she demanded, "You were supposed to meet me after lunch!"

"Sorry, got tired, didn't even know I fell asleep." Ron said groggily and he yawned, "What time is it?"

"It's nearly 6:00," Lavender said watching him stretch and then standing up, "You have to be at your detention in an hour."

Ron groaned and started walking downstairs into the common room with Lavender, he had been dreading his detention all day. When they got to the great hall, he hadn't realized how much he was starving until he sat down and he regretted skipping lunch. "Ron," a quiet voice said behind him and he turned around to see Harry standing there, looking uncomfortable, "Snape wants us in his office in fifteen minutes, he changed the detention time."

"Oh," Ron said and looked at his plate, "I'll be there as soon as I'm done eating." Harry nodded and quickly walked out of the great hall. "Figures the bloody git would change the time last minute," he grumbled stabbing his food with his fork and hurrying to finish eating so he could make it in time. By the time he and Lavender walked down into the dungeon, Harry was standing outside Snape's office and Ron awkwardly kissed Lavender goodbye on the cheek and she wished the both of them good luck before leaving.

They stood there awkwardly waiting for Snape to arrive and neither of them looked at each other. Finally, Snape's office door opened and he let the two Gryffindor's inside, "Well," he sneered, "You two know what to go get to it, the storage closet is over here. I will be back around 10 to see your progress." Snape led them over to the closet and after they walked in, Ron looked around in disgust, the office was filthy! Empty bottles were laying on the floor, the shelves were overstocked with potion ingredients, papers were everywhere, and worse of all there were bottles of already brewed potions laying around, "I don't care how you organize it, as long as it's neat, get to it!" He closed the door and both Harry and Ron made eye contact, finally it was Ron who spoke, "This is going to take forever, look at the mess. I reckon he purposely made a mess of it."

"Wouldn't surprise me," Harry said quietly, "He was probably looking for an excuse to punish anyone so he could make them organize this pig pen."

"Too bad it had to be us," Ron rolled his eyes and out of the corner of his eye he could've sworn Harry smiled, "How should we do this?"

"Maybe we should organize the potions, ingredients, and empty bottles first into separate piles before placing them on the shelves?" Harry looked around the floor, "That way it'll be easier to separate them onto the shelves?"

"Right," Ron said nervously, it was weird talking to Harry again even though they had too, "How about I start with the brewed potions and empty bottles?"

"Sounds fine to me," Harry shrugged and then they both started to work quietly, as Ron sorted through the potions, he saw a label with Snape's sloppy writing that Amortentia – Love Potion and he burst into laughter, causing Harry to look over at him, "What?"

"Snape brewed a love potion," Ron snorted showing him it and Harry started to laugh, "Ugh, that's revolting!"

"I guess the poor bloke is so desperate he has to use a love potion to get someone to like him," Harry chuckled, "I can't imagine anyone falling for that git, wonder who he fancies – "

"Probably Professor Umbridge," Ron suggested and then burst out laughing, "No! Professor Trelawney!"

"Ew, no one would be that desperate to date that old hag," Harry grinned, laughing just as hard as Ron. It was weird they were talking and laughing together, it reminded Ron of when they were friends and he missed it. Maybe Hermione was right after all and he wanted to make amends.

"Look Harry – " Ron said quietly as he continued to sort through the potions, "About last year, I'm really sorry for going to Seeker, I should've given you time like you wanted."

Harry was silent for a couple of minutes and Ron felt his stomach drop, he was hoping Harry would've wanted to talk about it. Finally, Harry asked, "Did you mean it?"

"Mean what? That I'm sorry? Yeah of course I did!"

"No," Harry asked, looking at Ron, "Do you really believe I said Voldemort was back for attention?"

Ron felt his ears go red and he shook his head, "No, I don't think you did it for attention," he admitted, "I dunno why I even said that, I was just so worried about you and it hurt when you avoided us. I said it out of anger and I regretted it the second I said it."

"But why would you go to Seeker?" Harry asked looking confused, "If you didn't mean it then why would you do an interview with her?"

"I was still angry and upset about our row," Ron said, feeling awful about everything he's done to Harry, "Rita cornered me after it and I was so livid and frustrated with you that I agreed to do it, I didn't even realize what I was doing until she walked away. I regret going to her because I lost you as a best mate and it's the worst mistake I ever made. You have every right to hate me, I'm sorry I did it." Harry didn't respond and Ron felt tears come to his eyes and he turned away, he concentrated on separating the bottles and they didn't speak unless they had to for the next few hours. Once they had separated everything into piles, Snape came in and dismissed them, please to see their progress for the night. As they walked back to the common room, Harry looked at Ron, "I appreciate that you were honest about everything but I still feel betrayed by you and it's going to take sometime to believe that you're really sorry and trust you again."

"I just wish I had my best mate back," Ron said quietly looking down onto the ground, "I wish I never gone to Seeker or said the things I said."

"If you really want us to be friends again, you going to have to prove you're really sorry, Ron." Harry replied coldly, "I can't be friends with someone who betrays me. How did you think I felt when I saw the article in the Daily Prophet and seeing my so called best mate accusing me of lying, I just can't forgive you right now."

"I understand," Ron whispered feeling his stomach drop, this is not what the conversation he wanted to have with Harry at all. When they got to the common room, he saw Lavender and Hermione stayed up to wait for him. Harry went up to boy's dormitory and Ron walked over to them, "How did it go?" Lavender ask and Ron shook his head, "Oh fine," he lied, "I'm just tired so I might be going to bed."

"Are you alright Ron?" Hermione asked looking concern and Ron smiled, "Yeah, I'm great," he lied, "Just really glad that detention is over. I think I'm going to go to bed though."

Before anyone could say anything, Ron had gotten up and walked to the boy's dormitory, when he opened the door, he saw Harry was already sound asleep. As he got dressed, he quietly vowed that he would find a way to earn Harry's trust back and become friends with him once again. He might've been stubborn before but spending the last few hours with him in detention, he realized how much he missed him.

The next day, everyone in the boy's dormitory were woken up by a loud bang, Ron jumped up with a start and saw his girlfriend walk in looking distraught, "I hate her," she shouted at Ron, who jumped in alarm and sighed, he hated when Lavender got in these moods because he'd always have to be pulled into the middle. "What's wrong?" he finally asked nervously, while the other boys in the dormitory listened closely, "I hate that stupid Pansy Parkinson!" Lavender screamed, "I was in the girl's bathroom and she tried taking my wand then denied it when I caught her!"

"Did you get it back?" Ron asked frowning, why would she get upset about something as little as that?

"Yes!" Lavender snapped looking at Ron as if he were insane, "But that's not the point, I want you to talk to her!"

"Not the bloody hell again," Ron groaned, the last time Lavender made him talk to Pansy, she threatened to curse him, "You need to start sticking up for yourself!"

"If you're a good boyfriend you will," Lavender retorted and when Ron didn't say anything, someone Ron never expected to stand up for him spoke up.

"You're not being reasonable, Lav," Harry said and Ron stared at him in shock, "Just because Ron doesn't want to get involved, it doesn't make him any less of a boyfriend."

"You don't understand," Lavender whined, "Every time Pansy starts with me, Ron gets mad when I ask him to talk to her –"

"Because she threatened to curse me last time!" Ron said angrily, "You shouldn't let her get to you anyways, that's why she keeps trying get a rise out of you!"

"Fine," Lavender fumed and glared at Ron, "If you can't defend your own girlfriend then maybe we shouldn't be together." She walked out of the boy's dormitory and slammed the door, Ron, being used to his girlfriend acting this way whenever she didn't get her way, groaned and put his hands in head.

"You alright, Ron?" A quiet voice ask and he looked up to see Harry watching him, looking concerned.

"No," Ron sighed, "But I'm used to it, ever since what happened the last time she tried getting me involved with Pansy, she's been getting angry that I don't want to get involved anymore."

"What happened the last time?"

"Pansy threatened to use the torture curse on me," Ron shuddered just thinking about it, "She only bugs Lavender on purpose because she knows she'll get an reaction from Lavender and it's annoying."

"You shouldn't let her talk to you that way though," Harry frowned, "That wasn't right of her."

"I know," Ron smiled, feeling grateful that Harry was talking to him again, "But I mean it, I'm used to it. In a few days, she'll apologize and she'll be back to normal, that's what always happen. Thanks for sticking up for me."

"No problem," Harry smiled shyly, "If you want I can talk to her for you –"

"Nah, that's alright," Ron said looking appreciative at Harry, "But thanks, Harry, really."

Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw the other boys exchange looks at one another, this was the first time since their row that Harry and Ron had shared a conversation without being forced too. As they walked down to the common room for breakfast, Neville asked, "So are you two good, again?" Harry and Ron exchanged a look, even though they were somewhat on speaking terms, they still weren't friends and Ron could feel it, "Not really," Ron admitted and Harry nodded in agreement, "Harry has every right to be angry with me though but I do appreciate you sticking up for me." Harry nodded and smiled shyly again then started walking ahead of them to say hello to Ginny and walked out of the portrait hole with her. He noticed the other boys look at him nervously as if Ron was going to start another commotion but remembering his conversation with Hermione yesterday, he decided to ignore what he just saw.

When they got to the great hall, Ron saw Lavender sitting with Parvati and the two of them glowered at Ron. He sighed, of course Lavender had to get her best friend involved and more than likely Parvati was going to confront Ron about what happened this morning and he was not in the mood for it. Hermione sat down in front of him, along with Ginny sitting next to him, the both of them looking worried, "You alright Ron?" Ginny asked putting a hand on his back, "Harry said you and Lavender had gotten into an argument?"

"No I'm not," Ron muttered, "Apparently I'm not a good boyfriend if I don't fight her battles for her."

"That's not true," Ginny exclaimed, "Did she really say that?" She glared over at Lavender and Parvati, who were still gossiping about Ron.

"Yeah, all because she lets Pansy get under her skin and I didn't want to talk to her," Rom grumbled, stabbing his food angrily.

"I wouldn't either," Hermione looked shocked, "Didn't she try to curse you last time?"

"Yes," Ron scowled over at Lavender, "But Lavender doesn't care, she probably wouldn't care if Pansy did curse me. She only cares about herself."

"Don't say that," Hermione started but Ron interrupted, "It's true, Hermione!" He suddenly got up and walked out of the great hall, he needed space from everyone, especially Lavender, with his temper, he was so close to starting an argument with her in the great hall and he wasn't in the mood to make things worse between him and Lavender. As he walked out into the entrance hall, he saw Rita Seeker standing there talking a professor and suddenly he had an idea. He thought about what Harry had said yesterday about wanting Ron to prove he was actually sorry for what he did last year. When the professor walked away from Rita, Ron marched over to her, "I want to do another interview," He looked determined and Rita smiled, "Another one about Potter lying, right? Excellent!"

"No," Ron said hurriedly, "I want you to interview me because I want to take back what I said about Harry last year. He's not lying and I want the wizarding world to know that."

"Hmm," Rita started then smirked, "You see, I'm not sure if I can do that…."

"You can and you will," Ron threatened, "Look, my friend Hermione told me about you, I know you're an unregistered Animagus and if you don't agree to this or twist any of my words, I will write an owl to my dad, he works for the ministry and my brother works for Fudge, I'm sure they'll be more than glad to – "

"Alright, alright," Rita looked both furious and terrified that Ron would threatened him, "Ok, come on let's go somewhere where we can talk."

Ron smiled, feeling proud that he managed to convince Rita to write an article about Harry telling the truth. If this didn't prove to Harry that Ron was really sorry about betraying him, he didn't know what would. He just hoped in the long run that doing this article will make him earn his trust back with Harry.