I'm Here When You Need Me- Chapter 12
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry, Ron, Hermione, Draco (though I wish I did), or even Voldy. I don't own any spells, places, or creatures. All of it is owned by J. K. Rowling.
A/N: The end is near! Well, not the end of the story, because that is still in the far distance. The end to the quick updates approaches, and I want to tell everyone that I am sorry that it will take me a while to write new installments. As always, please review. Your comments help me understand what you all think about my writing, and are very much appreciated.
Harry and Sarah walked into the Great Hall, and students from the other three Houses were glaring at Harry. The pair quickened their pace, got to the Gryffindor table, and sat with Ron and Hermione. As soon as they sat, Ron got up.
"Morning, Sarah," he said, as he walked away.
Harry watched him leave, dumbfounded.
"What the bloody hell was that?" he asked Hermione.
"Um, I think that he feels like you entered the Tournament yourself, and is jealous that you will be competing," she said in a small voice.
"WHAT?" both Harry and Sarah shouted.
"Well, he feels like you get all the glory. You're famous, and you, to put it bluntly, play the hero," she said even quieter.
Harry was looking really pissed.
"I don't ask for this to happen to me! I never wanted to be in the damn Tournament! And I don't 'play the hero'. I just—,"
Hermione cut him off.
"Don't you think I know that? I'm just telling you what I believe Ron is thinking. He lives in the shadow of his brothers. He wanted to be in the Tournament so he show his family that he can be more than their younger brother." she finished.
Harry seemed to ponder this for a moment, and gave a huge sigh.
"I guess I understand. But that doesn't mean that he can be a prat to me," he said defensively.
"If you want me to, I will talk to him during break," Sarah said, taking Harry's hand and kissing his palm. He looked at her and gave a small grin.
"Thank you, you're sweet. But I would rather him talk to me if he has a problem," he said.
"Alright, but if you change your mind, let me know. I'm always here for you," she told him, looking into his eyes. He gave her a kiss.
"I know. I don't deserve you."
"I know you don't, but I'm here anyways," Sarah said ruffling his already untidy hair.
Harry laughed, and kissed her again, this time deeper than before. They both had forgotten Hermione was still sitting with them, until they heard a small cough. Sarah pulled away, blushing. Hermione spoke first.
"Well, I think we should get to Potions. Don't want to be late."
The couple chuckled, and followed Hermione to the dungeons.
They got to the classroom just as Snape walked in.
"Do not get into your seats yet. I'm making a permanent seating arrangement. By permanent, I mean for the remainder of the school year."
There was loud groaning, and everyone knew—no good could come from this.
As he told everyone where to move to, the general feeling in the room was anger. No one was being seated by people they liked. He had left Sarah and her friends for last, with a grin on his face. Harry was placed with Goyle, Hermione with Pansy, Ron with Crabbe, and Sarah, to her extreme displeasure, with Malfoy. She protested.
"I'm not going to sit with the 'amazing bouncing ferret'!"
Every single Gryffindor was shaking with suppressed laughter.
"Twenty points from Gryffindor, and if you would like to continue, I will give you detention. Now move," said Snape.
Sarah had a feeling that this arrangement was to piss people off, particularly Gryffindors, so Snape could take even more points from them. She glared at him, and reluctantly walked to where Malfoy was sitting. To her surprise, he didn't even look at her. His head was down, and his eyes were closed, his hands clasped together on his lap. She took her seat, and scooted it as far from him as possible. She crossed her arms across her chest, and glared at Malfoy. He felt her eyes on him, and his eyes met hers. There was an emotion she had never seen in his icy blue eyes that was present now—sorrow. Seeing this made her mouth hang open. She unfolded her arms, and turned away from his gaze.
The rest of the week's Potions classes went by in silence between Sarah and Malfoy. She was still hurt from what he had done, and he couldn't bring himself to apologize. On Friday, Sarah received a note by owl during breakfast. It read:
Sarah—
Will you please meet me by the Black Lake tonight at 10:00?
I would greatly appreciate it if you would.
From— ?
She was intrigued. She didn't recognize the writing, but she wanted to go all the same, just to see who it was from.
After dinner, Sarah, Harry, Hermione, and Ron were all sitting at a table in the common room doing their essay for Professor Binns. It was on Giant wars, and the reason for the rift between the different Giant tribes. In other words, it was totally uninteresting. Ron looked like he would rather be anywhere but sitting there with Harry, but because of Hermione and Sarah, he had agreed to sit with them. The whole thing was frustrating to Sarah and Hermione, who had tried to get the two back together. Disgusted with how Ron was acting, Sarah kept looking at Harry's watch. She grabbed Harry's wrist for what seemed like the hundredth time.
"It's quarter to ten. I will be back in a little while. Harry, can I borrow your cloak?"
"Yeah; I can't believe you are going, though. What if it is someone who is trying to take you from me?" he asked, actually sounding serious.
"Oh, Harry. I don't think it is. And besides, I am totally committed. It would take the Jaws of Life to pry me away from you, whether you like it or not," she replied, pecking him on the lips.
She raced up the boy's staircase, grabbed Harry's Invisibility Cloak from his trunk, and sped down the stairs once more.
"I don't think it is totally fair that girls can go up to the boys' dormitories, but we can't go in the girls'," Harry said, a sly grin on his face.
"That is because we are more trustworthy than you," Sarah said, wrapping the cloak around her shoulders, so that only her head was visible. "Be back soon." With that, she put the cloak over her head and walked out of the common room.
She was alone in the corridor, and was thankful. Even though no one could see her, she was afraid that someone would be able to hear her. Sarah made it out to the grounds, and as a precaution, didn't remove the cloak until she could see the lake. No one was there, so she sat on the hard ground with her knees up to her chest, and took out her pink iPod, which she carried with her everywhere. She loved this muggle device. She loved all the muggle music too, especially their alternative stuff. She was tapping her foot to the sounds of My Chemical Romance, while she mouthed the words. Soon, she felt someone's presence, and looked up. She couldn't see the person's face, but by the way the moon was shining on his platinum blond hair, she knew it was Malfoy.
Standing up, she thought of just leaving, when he started to talk. She couldn't hear him, so she put up an index finger signaling for a moment, and she turned the music off, and pulled the ear buds out.
"What were you saying?" she asked, admittedly a tad cold.
He heaved a great sigh, and motioned her to sit again. She complied, and he sat next to her. He ran a hand nervously through his hair, and looked into her eyes.
"Well, I was just saying that I'm sorry for wearing that stupid badge. You know that I," he paused, apparently choosing his words carefully. "Don't particularly care for Pot-Harry. I thought that they were kind of funny, so I wore one. I didn't know that you would react like that. If I had known, I wouldn't have taken it. I also wanted to tell you that even though you and he are dating, I would still like to be your friend. I still care about you, and not being able to be your friend, let alone your boyfriend, is hard for me. I don't know what you did to me, but you make me want to be a better person. Even if it means being shunned from my House," he finished.
He turned his gaze to the ground, and let out another sigh. Sarah was totally taken aback. She didn't think he cared what she thought of him that much. And she certainly didn't think she had made that big of an impression on him. After all, they had been together for only a month, and he had cheated on her. She stayed quiet for a few moments, looking out at the lake. It was calming, and it helped her think. Before she actually responded to what he was saying, she asked a question.
"Why should I forgive you? I forgave you once, and you hurt me again. What makes you so sure you won't do it again?"
He picked his head up, and looked into her dark brown eyes, showing his sincerity.
"Because I think I love you," he said, almost inaudibly.