okay, this is just an idea of how short the short chapters would be. if you think it's too short, review and tell me and i'll make the next ones longer (or try to). thank-you to all my reviewers, i feel so loved! i can't thank you all today because i am so tired (this is what happend when you go to bed at 6:30 in the morning and then write fanfiction instead of doing your coursework). Don't forget to review, thanks!
The common room was warm and bubbly when Harry walked in. He felt the heat as he stepped through the portrait hole and he surprised himself by smiling. Gryffindors were draped around the room on overstuffed arm chairs and pouffes and sofas, laughing, chatting, bent over pieces of parchment or chess boards. Harry spotted Hermione and Ron in the corner of the room, both bent over the same piece of Parchment, dark curly hair next to red straight hair. They were laughing and Harry considered going over and joining them, it could be so easy, just like it was in the old days, just the three of them. Then Ron turned and kissed Hermione on the lips, catching her off guard and Harry could still see the laughter in her eyes as she kissed him back. And Harry remembered that they weren't fourteen years old any more and that it could never be the three of them again it would always be the two of them and him, tagging along, occasionally risking all their lives. They broke apart and Hermione tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, blushing and giggling again. Harry could see a streak of ink on her cheek as she looked around the common room, self conscious of her small public display of affection. He was about to head straight for the stairs to the boy's dorm when she spotted him.
"Harry!"
She stood up and Ron turned in Harry's direction, a wide grin spread across his face, whether from the thrill of kissing his girlfriend in a crowded room or from seeing his suicidal best friend (Which one? Which one could it be?). Reluctantly Harry walked across towards them, his bag hanging from his shoulder and hitting his leg with a heavy thump at every step. He saw her face lose it's happy glow as he approached and she looked quizzically at him, her brow furrowed.
"What is it?" he asked when he near enough not to have to shout over the buzz of noise in the room.
"What is that?" Hermione asked quietly, one hand still on the back of her chair as though she was halfway through moving the chair to make room for Harry.
"What?"
"Harry don't fuck with me."
Hermione hardly ever swore. "Sorry? What, I don't know what you're…"
"Harry what have you done to your face?" Her voice was quiet and calm but beneath it Harry could hear a slight tremble. Ron's smile had gone.
"Nothing, I mean, well it's nothing really."
"What do you mean nothing? Harry…"
Harry was beginning to feel too hot, too near the fire. He wanted to be up in the cool solitude of the dorms. There were too many people down here.
"It's just a nick, Hermione. I'm fine." He said sharply.
"Let me see" she reached a hand out to his face and he stepped backwards hurriedly, knocking over some third year's game of wizard chess.
"No." he said, too loudly. He needed to get upstairs.
"Harry," there was an edge to Hermione's voice, one that Harry hadn't heard in a long time. He was reminded of the bossy, bushy haired girl he had instantly disliked on the train in first year but had grown to love over the years that followed.
"Hermione," he said with equal edge to his voice "I'm fine. It is a nick. I am going upstairs now."
"No you're not. Stop lying to me Harry."
"Hermione, I'm not lying to you. Why would I lie to you? What would I gain from lying to you?"
Their voices had been getting progressively louder and people were beginning to listen in. Ron was still sitting down, watching his best friend and his girlfriend row.
"Then why won't you tell me how you got that cut?"
"It's not a cut, it's a nick! And I got it by shaving, okay? That alright with you?"
"Yes. No. Argh!" Harry was shocked by the sound of sheer frustration that Hermione had made, "Why do you always force us into this Harry? Why do we always end up having rows and you running off like a wild animal? Why don't you trust us?"
"Why don't you trust me!" he shouted back, feeling trapped and hemmed in by the faces that were now turning to stare at them.
"Because you can't trust someone who tries to kill themselves!" she screamed at him.
"That's what you think I'm going to do Hermione? Kill myself again? Why would I want to do that? Maybe it's because my parents were killed by Voldemorte in an attack that I somehow survived? Or because, despite everyone saying the contrary, he rose from the dead and now wants to kill me? Or because I have to hear my mother's screams in my dreams every night? Or because I led my friends into a battle with Voldemorte in which Ron nearly died – because of me – you nearly died - because of me – andSirius actually died - because of me – but which was ultimately pointless? Do you think that maybe any of those things could have been the reason, do you Hermione!"
The whole room had gone silent and Harry realised that he had been screaming and he was now only inches away from Hermione's face. Ron had scraped back his chair and was standing, about to come to Hermione's rescue. Tears rolled down Hermione's cheeks and Harry stepped backwards.
"That wasn't your fault…no one said it was your fault" she whispered.
"Yeah, so what? What difference does that make? He's still fucking dead!" Harry's voice started soft but he screamed the last line.
"Harry…" Ron murmured.
"Shut up." Harry was horrified to find that his eyes were watering. "You sound like a stuck record. And for your information I did cut myself while shaving, and it was an accident but next time I decide to kill myself, I'll send you a post-it note"
With that, he turned and strode out of the common room, up the stairs, his footsteps echoing on the cold stone. The door slammed.
There was a hushed silence in the common room. Then, a first year, who had watched the debacle with the wide eyes of someone new to the Life of Harry Potter, turned to his friend.
"What's a post-it note?"
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