Chapter nineteen - 'I told you not to tell him!'
"So how did it go?" Hermione asked impatiently sitting down next to Harry in the corner of the common room now most the Gryffindors were still at dinner.
"How did what go?" Harry asked absentmindedly, he'd been wondering if it would be ok to give Ginny a little present he'd picked up over half term. But wasn't sure if she'd like it.
"Where do you think Harry? Honestly you're so distracted these days."
"Huh oh, err, fine. I had a great time with him. I've got my own room and everything, and he lets me put what ever I like in it, I don't have to ask first." Harry suddenly began trying to sound more animated.
"Oh well I'm glad, it sounds like he's been trying really hard recently to give you a home, I keep getting messages through Pinky about really rather general stuff."
"Hmm. Err, have you err, had a nice holiday Hermione?" He began again while twiddling with his things and not looking directly at her.
"Yes actually I've had a nice rest. It's been a bit boring really without you around and Ron's been a bit difficult because you didn't exactly tell him you were leaving now did you?' Hermione explained a little stiffly as Harry somewhat nodded where he was supposed to though it was clear he wasn't paying any attention.
'Anyway I was talking to Draco the other day and he seems to be doing really well at the moment. We had a lovely long chat yesterday after wild rampant sex in the Ravenclaw dormitory's and then I bet you'd be really upset, you missed apple pie night yesterday but I'm sure Dobby will manage to rustle you up some easy." She finished watching him carefully out the corner of her eye and began to feel more that she was in fact talking to the cushion Harry was fiddling with and not her friend.
"Sounds nice but I'm not that hungry at the mo." Harry explained before receiving a hefty whack around the back of his head finally bringing Harry to his senses properly.
"Harry you're bloody miles away. What's the matter with you these days?" She half snapped pulling her arm out ready to contemplate a second whack, just incase.
"Nothing I'm fine." Harry replied sure he didn't deserve that as he rubbed the back of his head to check the bump was still the same size as it had always been.
"Wild rampant sex in the Ravenclaw dormitory's and you don't even notice!"
"Was I supposed to? What you on about Hermione, I thought we were talking about dinner?" Harry asked completely confused now by her and really rather annoyed by her somewhat un-necessary angry features.
"Harry, seriously have you had enough sleep recently, your so distracted, no wonder Ron's been acting so odd."
"Ron, what about him?" Harry wondered sure he would have noticed something was wrong with him by now other than the painful silence and the angry grunts late at night.
"Harry! You two have barely spoken for over a month now and I'm really worried that if one of you two idiotic twats doesn't do something about it soon you'll never patch things up properly."
"We won't. I was gonna talk to him this afternoon I just don't know what to say that's all."
"Good, now please say you're sorry or something and stop all this useless arguing."
"Say I'm sorry! What, err, why were we arguing about anyway?" He asked in all curiosity, sure it was something important but struggling to remember what.
"Oh for god's sake Harry!" Hermione sulked giving in as she whacked him with a cushion again to be on the safe side and headed up to bed to finish off some reading.
"So, you're back then?" Ron mumbled sitting on the opposite bed to Harry while Neville was carefully watching from the far corner on his own with a book.
"Yeah, did you have a good time here over half term?" Harry replied determined to try and talk to Ron seen as Hermione had resorted to hitting him a lot again.
"No, it was boring, spent most my time doing homework. And Ginny kept hanging around, she's gone right weird recently and I can't for the life of me think why?" Ron mumbled back doing everything he could not to bellow out what was on his mind.
"Oh well, did you get it all done?"
"Yeah, did you or had you done it all by the time you got there?"
"No I've had loads to do, spent hours on it and I still don't think I've got it quiet right." Harry sighed looking over at his pillow.
"That summit for Dumbledore?" Ron mumbled back.
"Yeah sort of. Err, did you..?" Harry began but couldn't think of anything else to say.
'What are you supposed to say when your this out of touch?' Harry found himself wondering.
"Hmm." Ron looked up suddenly noticing Harry's silence.
"Oh nothing!"
"No, you were gonna say something. What?" He persisted.
"It's nothing." Harry mumbled looking around for something else to say or do to cover the silence.
"Well it can't be nothing if you started to say it. What then? Go on, ask me."
"Look it's nothing Ron, I was just trying to think of something to say, I don't like being so awkward around you that's all."
"So you'd rather just not be around me at all!" Ron snapped crossly but he wasn't going to move, he'd promised the other lads that one way or another, he'd come to some sort of an agreement with Harry if only to stop the difficult silence every morning and every evening. They didn't have to be friends if neither of them wanted it was just the other three didn't want them arguing or causing problems all the time because they can't stand to be around one another.
"No Ron, that's not what I meant." Harry snapped back as Neville gave up on his upside down book and watched carefully mumbling to himself.
"Oh I hope this doesn't start another row."
"Well seen as you don't seem to like bloody awful silences then I'll say something. What the hell's going on, why've you suddenly started keeping things from me? You used to tell me everything!" He snapped angrily swaying to his feet along with Harry.
"I'm not keeping things from you, honestly I'm not, you just wouldn't understand some things."
"Then explain it to me, or am I too thick these days that you can't possibly talk to me! I mean, what else would it be, you must have some big important secret you won't tell me about, otherwise you wouldn't go sneaking off like that over half term."
"I didn't go sneaking off, you wouldn't talk to me and he wanted me to go and stay, so I went! I don't have to ask you first!"
"Why though, you didn't even tell me you were going you just went?"
"Well you wouldn't talk to me, how am I supposed to tell you stuff if you don't talk to me!" Harry snapped back equally angry now. He was only trying to patch things up and now he was angry, why was he angry, Ron was his friend and now all he felt like doing was hitting him hard with the nearest heavy object.
Fortunately for Ron this happened to be a text book. But unfortunately for him, he wasn't expecting it and got the full force of a hard-backed book being whacked around his face.
"What you do that for?" Ron snapped back but before Harry could reply 'he didn't know', Ron had whacked him back with a bigger book and knocked the pair of them on to the floor.
"Leave me alone you bloody great git!" Harry bellowed not sure if this was Dudley pushing him to the floor or Ron.
His legs and feet found the floor again to half roll half push Ron off of him, in a scramble to get standing again. Neville however, not sure what to do sprinted down the stairs and grabbed the first person he could which unfortunately was Hermione closely followed by Dean.
"They've gone nuts again!" He hissed dragging Hermione up the stairs to find Harry and Ron trying to lamely hit each other behind Ron's bed.
"Why are you been so bloody tetchy!" Harry yelled grabbing hold of the back of Ron's shirt and yanking it as hard as he could as Ron was still attempting to strangle him around the waist.
"Tetchy! TETCHY! YOU'RE THE ONE THAT'S SO BLOODY TETCHY! I TRY AND TALK TO YOU ABOUT SOMETHING, AND YOU HIT ME WITH A BLOODY BOOK!" He bellowed back as Hermione and Neville watched on not sure what to do as Dean had decided that as long as they only wrecked there own stuff then it should be ok for them to carry on for a while.
"You tried talking to me? What about all those times you walked off and sulked because you never made it on to the quidditch team? It's not my fault someone else was better than you!"
"I thought you were my friend and you go sneaking off places with out me!"
"Trust me, you don't want to know about that!" Harry yelled back while the pair banged repeatedly up against Ron's bed as Ron tried to yank at Harry's over robes up to pin his arms down and Harry tried his best to hit something that wasn't his own leg and wasn't the floor or a bed post.
"Don't want to know! DON'T BLOODY WELL WANT TO KNOW!' Ron bellowed grabbing hold of one of Harry's thin legs and rolling the pair of them over into the middle of the room as he finally received a hefty boot from Harry's dirty trainer just off the neck.
'Harry I never want to know about half the stuff you tell me sometimes! I don't want to know about my dad been attacked by a bloody great snake and how scary it was to be the snake biting at him! I don't want to know about half the stuff in ya nightmares but I still listen to you! Talk to ya about it! I don't want know what it's like dragging Cedric's dead body across a graveyard BUT I STILL LISTEN TO YOU!"
At this though Hermione had to admit, he had a point, Harry sometimes asked a lot of Ron to listen to him talk about some of the things on his mind. She was sure Ron got to know a lot more of the gritty details because she would usually burst out in tears when Harry got part way into explaining but afterwards with Ron, Harry always seemed a lot better so he didn't used to care, as long as Harry seemed to be coping and he didn't have to cope with an hysterical Hermione. They'd both worked out that over the years Hermione could be incredibly violent when she was emotional. Hugs weren't soft little gentle things when she was really upset about something. As long as it wasn't himself or Hermione, Harry was describing, Ron could usually stand to listen to Harry explain things to him that were going off in his head.
"Why though if you hate it so much!" Harry asked not quiet so angry as before as confusion waved across his emotions before receiving a sudden jerk back to his senses as Ron rolled them over again trying to get the upper hand while Harry was momentarily distracted.
"Because you're my friend. Why won't you tell me about this?"
"This is different, it's not like those things, I like it, I like her!" Harry finally heaved out pushing Ron's heavy chest off him and scrambling a bit to find his balance and with the aide of the bed post yanked himself to his feet to face Ron.
"Her, who the hell ya on about!"
"Think you thick, stupid, idiotic twat, who on earth would I like to sneak off to go see and then not be able to tell you about it after. Think you idiot!" Harry shouted trying to catch his breath, it was clear Ron was struggling to think clearly but after a moment's pause decided on an answer.
"I don't care if you like Hermione!" He snapped angrily receiving a hefty book being thrown at him and a very cross look from Hermione herself as Ginny walked in wondering where Harry was. They were supposed to have met after dinner and she was a little cross that he never showed up.
"Don't be so bloody daft!" Harry snapped back sure Ron couldn't be that blind and quiet that stupid at the same time.
"Harry, Ron. What are you doing?" Ginny asked innocently looking clearly from Harry to Ron and the state of there breathless bodies and disgruntled clothes.
It did seem to take Ron several moments longer than every body else in the room to work out what actually had been going on between Harry and Ginny but when he did, his face turned much redder and Harry wasn't really sure if there friendship was ready to test such an annoyed older brother.
Ron may find it really annoying having Ginny around constantly, but deep down, he really cared about his little sister and the thought of Harry doing anything remotely un-brotherly towards her was just a bit to much to cope with.
"Oh shit!" Harry squealed before pelting his way across two beds to the door and dashing out onto the stairway with Ron half a breath behind. Ron was quick, and unfortunately just that bit taller and stronger than Harry. So as he reached the last two steps lurched forward and grabbed Harry by the legs rolling both of them clumsily into a half empty common room of willing spectators. As they struggled to get free Hermione, Ginny, Neville and Dean came quickly down the stairs to see Ron the first to half rise and thump Harry hard as he could in the face.
Hermione was about to shout at them to stop but just as Ron's fist made contact with Harry's face he realised what a stupid idiot he was and tried to stop. Harry however was a bit pissed off now at being thumped so hard in the face and as Ron tried to get off him and stagger away he yanked out his wand and mumbled a quick incantation that froze all of Ron's legs making him fall forward and smack his head on the fireplace.
"Tosser!" Harry grumbled pulling himself up as Ginny came quickly over to help.
"I told you not to tell him." She whispered urgently as Harry made it to his feet and Neville un-bound Ron's legs yanking him up to standing. Ginny however, after deciding like everybody else nothing much else was going to happen pulled out a hanky to try and stem the blood pouring out of Harry's nose.
"I'm ok Ginny." Harry mumbled using her slightly more for support than a hug.
"No, come get that fixed with me." She insisted taking him through the portrait by the waist and arm, still holding the hanky up to Harry's face to stem the blood flow a bit, throwing Ron a filthy look as they left in search of Madam Pomfry before cure-few.
"You idiot!" Hermione sighed whacking Ron around the back of the head.
"Yeah, I think you should go get that looked at, he's cut ya face open a bit." Neville decided looking at Ron's bleeding lip, slit open cheek and bleeding forehead where he'd hit it on the fireplace.
"Maybe I should sit down for a bit, I don't want to bump into them too." He grumbled bitterly slouching down with his bloody shirt into the nearest armchair.
Neville however distinctly heard Dean whisper.
"I don't think they're going directly to the hospital wing some how, there's still a good half hour left."
"Err, it's ok, you two aint gonna argue no more." Neville decided yanking Ron by the arm up to his feet and prodding him in the back got him to head over to the doorway.
"So then Harry, you fell down in the shower and some how made a lovely fist mark under your left eye?" Madam Pomfry asked a little skeptically dabbing Harry's face with the cleaning fluid just after Ron had left with rather similar injury's.
"Well I'm very clumsy these day's." Harry mumbled flinching a bit as she was firmer than usual on his cheek.
"Well that's going to bruise but I must say Ronald Weasley seems to have a much nicer bump on his forehead after falling in the shower than you do Harry!" She sighed knowing full well the pair of them had been scrapping over something even if she had no idea why. Boys always had argued over the silliest things and they certainly weren't going to be the last set of friends she'd patched up at the end of the day.
"Well, I'll be sure to congratulate him later, but I still think the school should do something about those showers it's ever so slipy in there." Harry continued looking at Ginny and her grin behind Madam Pomfry.
"Will I be expecting anymore shower injury's tonight or do you think or can I close up after you've left."
"No, I don't think you will tonight." Harry replied getting off the bench and pulling his clothes a little straighter.
"I don't suppose we could stop off for a little kiss on the way back?" Ginny mumbled linking arms with Harry so he walked in a straighter line along the corridor, she was ever so concerned by his swaying motion and was sure Madam Pomfry should know about it, but Harry was so persistent in saying he was fine and just needed a good nights kip that she hadn't had the chance to say anything.
"Not again, it's late and they'll notice we're missing. Besides, I think I best talk to Ron, he's err, gonna want to know some things isn't he."
"Are you sure that's wise? I mean, I know he's not that strong and all, but you two were trying to beat the crap out of each other earlier, I don't want you doing it all again." She explained softly giving the password to the fat lady.
"You think I can't cope with him?" Harry asked feeling a bit hurt that his girlfriend didn't think him capable of looking after himself. After all, it wasn't Bill he was scrapping with or even the twins together, only Ron.
"No of course not, but I just don't want to have to watch that's all." She explained sadly.
"Yeah well I think it'll be fine now, well I hope it will." Harry shrugged really not sure how Ron was going to react but just as they got into the little passage way between the painting and the dormitory she stopped to offer him a very gentle reassuring kiss on the neck.
"There you are!" Ron snapped opening the second door, grabbing Harry by the collar and dragging him up the stairs to there dormitory quickly.
"Err, Ron I'm tired, can we scrap tomorrow instead?" Harry grumbled as he was pushed down on his bed and Ron sat firmly opposite.
"I'm not going to scrap with you Harry, I just want to know how long?" He demanded firmly glaring at Harry with his red face and freckled nose.
"Err, you won't like it?" Harry replied carefully.
"Sufficient to say I don't like anything to do with you and her but at least your not that old, and you not some stupid Hufflepuff or something. And I suppose there could be far more annoying lads in our year she could date. Not that she hasn't already tried too, at least twice!" He decided, then giving a slightly less angry I'm-going-to-rip-your-balls-out-look gestured to Harry to continue.
"Well it sort of started at the end of the summer holidays and went on from there. And it's not why I put her on the team, she happens to be a very good flyer!"
"And you can make out with her in the storage cupboard every time she helps you put stuff away!" Ron snapped back looking thoroughly disgruntled but much calmer to say he was extremely red in the face and his fists were looking rather white at the moment.
"Not always!" Harry grumbled but knew there wasn't much point to this, as he usually wanted to and Ron just wanted his moment and Harry was just going to have to accept it.
"What you been doing with her?"
"Err, what?" Harry wondered asking a little too blankly to be polite.
"What have you been doing with her? Just making out in empty cupboards or summit more?" He asked slightly too firmly to be remotely friendly.
"You're sister aint some little whore Ron, and not much, I'm not some randy idiot only after one thing! She's nice just as she is." He snapped annoyed Ron couldn't even trust him to behave himself but really, Ron didn't trust Ginny, he was positive Harry was just as naive as he was. Well at least that was what he hoped and told himself but Ron couldn't think that with his sister, he'd seen and heard her doing far too many inappropriate things to trust her around Harry's nice nature.
"She's worked her way around a bit recently! I'm surprised there's hardly any lads left she hasn't been with in our house. I mean, she comes across as a total bloody slapper some times now Fred and George aren't around to squash the stories, however true they are!"
"No she hasn't, and she's nothing of the sort, stop being so tetchy! She's really rather sweet and you're just cross because you haven't got anyone that's all!" Harry fumed, how could anybody call such a sweet thing as Ginny a slapper. She was anything but and although he'd thought about a lot of things recently he hasn't dreamed of actually doing any of them with her.
"Well at least you sound a bit more serious about her than Neville ever did.' He grumbled gesturing over towards the patient on looker who immediately looked somewhat annoyed by the comment.
'But I'm still not sure if that's a good thing. You might get too interested in her!' Ron grumbled but before Harry could say anything he continued.
'Anything else I should know about? Any other little secret meetings, anything else at all or is that it?"
"No that's about it Ron, just her, but she's really nice Ron and I do really care about her so try not to wind her up about it? The only person that deserves your flaming bad temper is me." He asked quickly sure that however bad he got it, Ginny might just get it six times worse the minuet he wasn't there.
"I don't want to hear about, I don't want to know about it, or anything to do with you and her ever again Harry. You can talk to me about anything at all, as long as it's got nothing to do with her!"
"So we're still friends then?" Harry quickly wondered.
"Course, we never weren't you were just been an arse that's all! Now I'm going to sleep, got bloody potion's tomorrow morning." He grumbled rolling off his bed and fishing out his far too short blue and white stripy pajamas. Neville however rolled his eyes as Harry half shrugged and got ready for bed too. The other's had decided to take a safe distance until they were sure one of the scrapping friends was asleep and for once it was Ron first and not Harry.
"So then Harry, how'd it go with Dumbledore was he pleased?" Sirius asked as Harry sat down in the corner of the owlry a few evenings later.
"Well not exactly Sirius, well he was pleased I'd practiced and stuff but something sort of happened that he seemed a bit disappointed about." Harry explained attentively but it was clear Sirius already had a skeptical mind as he wondered why Harry seemed tiered under one eye more than the other. Usually the rings under Harry's eyes were quiet even however big they ended up being.
"Why Harry, what happened?"
"Well, do you remember how I told you about Ron been a bit difficult recently and that was one of the reason's why I wanted to come stay with you?"
"Yeah, you said a bit of a break would probably fix everything and that was all."
"Well it didn't exactly work too well at first. He was a bit stressed when I got back because I didn't really tell him I was going and well, then I sort of hit him with a text book and it kind of got a bit out of hand!"
"Expand on 'a bit out of hand' and 'I sort of hit him with a text book' Harry? I've seen those books you've got, none of them are particularly light!" Sirius asked trying his best not to sound too sarcastic.
"Well he nearly broke my nose and I sort of smacked his head open on the fire place. It's ok now, well sort of, it still gets a bit quiet sometimes when Hermione sulks off to read a book but after scrapping around on the floor for a bit he seems ok."
"So let me get this right, after been good friends for many, many years now and getting yourselves in and out of a whole load of problems where you always stuck together. And now because of some stupid disagreement you end up rolling around the dormitory floor scrapping away like a couple of idiots."
"And the landing, and the stairs and in the common room and a bit in the hallway the following morning and in the back of potions but to be fair, that was Snape's fault anyway for making stupid comments every five minuets. But yeah pretty much, he's sort of getting used to the idea of her I think but it might be more of a-his-ignorance-is-bliss-and-don't-dare-ruin-it kind of thing!" Harry explained in the best off hand voice he could muster up for Sirius.
"Ah, well I suppose, as long as you've patched things up a bit. But was this all about some girl?"
"Yeah pretty much, did you ever have this problem?"
"Yeah still do?" Sirius grumbled a little more darker than normal, but no where as bad as when he thought about Azkaban.
"Why, what's been going off?" Harry wondered sure Sirius couldn't have this sort of a problem. Remus didn't have any younger sisters that always hung about getting Sirius turned on almost every time he looked at her. And if he did, he was doing a hell of a job hiding her from Harry.
"Remus and Tonks aren't talking at the moment again, kind of makes things a bit difficult with her still living here and all." Sirius grumbled, but then seeing Harry's disappointed look at his misery, forced himself to be cheery and asked the same question yet again.
"So who is this girl that's causing so many troubles? You haven't been seeing his sister behind his back have you?" He laughed thinking it funny that Ginny might enjoy causing such a fuss. He however like Ron took a noticeable amount of time to work out Harry's look and twig.
"Anyway!' Harry pushed on before Sirius could really say anything.
'Dumbledore seemed a bit annoyed when I turned up at his lesson with a bust lip and a black eye the other day. So even if I had done all his homework, I got the very clear disappointed will-the-ground-please-swallow-me-now feeling!" Harry continued annoyed Sirius seemed to be struggling to cover his laughter. He'd just laughed himself out of view shot again.
"Oh, I'm sorry Harry, it's just she's the last person I thought of. So I guess that's been going on quiet a while then to cause all this mess. But I suppose I can't blame you, she's quiet nice in a shockingly young sort of way. Well, I can see why you'd like her and what-not." He finally stumbled out thinking after he spoke rather than the accustomed other way round.
"Do you have to be so bloody openly amused by it all? I mean, I've had to put up with all sorts of trouble recently and even now Ron's not that happy with me, but you can be ever so insensitive sometimes Sirius!" At this though Sirius finally pulled himself back together and apologised again with a much less comic expression plastered across his face.
"I'm sorry Harry, I've been eating cake again and it's starting to get boring here. Now tell me about Dumbledore, you said you had that guilty feeling that I always seem to have whenever I open me mouth around him. Nothing ever seems to come out right!"
"No, I can see that Sirius. I mean it's not that bad, he's got more important things to worry about than me and Ron scrapping but sometimes, I'd rather have him shout at me like me aunt or be god awful like Snape. Well at least then I can image some of those charming books of yours featuring him and wait for the lesson to end, then I won't have to look at his ugly face for at least a good hour or so after!"
"Oh yeah I do that. It's fun. Remus won't let me change the titles to 1001 amusing ways to kill Snape. Seems to think it inappropriate reading for the dinning room. Can't think why though!" Sirius grinned knowing full well why Lupin might consider volumes of how to kill Snape in the order's main meeting point, just possibly over the top, which Harry didn't care about but they did announce Sirius's distaste of Snape a little bit too openly for Dumbledore's temper.
"Well it's getting a bit late Harry, not to shove you off or anything but you look tired and I don't want you getting into trouble for wandering around the castle after hours."
"Yeah I guess, it is a bit of a trek back to the tower." Harry decided yawning heavily even if he wasn't feeling remotely tired or hungry at the moment despite skipping dinner.
"Yeah, well come talk to me another time Harry, and go get some sleep. I don't want you getting thin again. And besides, its quidditch soon again isn't it?" He smiled as Harry yawned yet again and decided he was probably right he can always talk to Sirius tomorrow especially, seen as they were on friendly terms. Even if it hadn't helped much with Ron, spending some time with Sirius had done him the world of good.
"So grouchy, are you gonna come have some dinner with me or do I have to have Kresher sit with me again tonight for some company. Might make him sing a little song?" Sirius groaned hanging his head around the door to see Lupin laid out on his bed reading an old book and looking really rather cross that Sirius had disturbed his solitude for a second time that day.
"Don't call me grouchy! And I'm not that hungry at the moment, I might get something later." He grumbled not looking up from his book, though it was clear he wasn't reading as his eyes hadn't moved for too long despite turning a page.
"What's the matter with you? You're so difficult these day's, I thought you were finally getting to be a bit more normal again. I'm sure I'm not that far off now!' Sirius sighed coming in and slouching down on the chair in his usual board manner.
'Well for me anyway!" He added lazily.
"I'm just not in the mood at the moment. Go annoy Tonks or something." He replied impatient to have his friend gone when really deep down he wanted to have anything to take his mind off Tonks for five minuets.
"Ah and there's another thing. What on earth have you said to make her go so far away? I liked seeing her and now she'll only hang around when she knows your out, or sulking in here! And you're getting as bad as me for hanging around this place, when did you last go outside?"
"I'm not that bad and I'll go out if you want something. It's just a bit awkward that's all and it's best not to keep going out these days, you know that!"
"Awkward, it's like a bloody grave yard here now for cheeriness. I know its quiet now Harry's not around but still, even I'm not as miserable as you and I haven't got nothing to do!" He grumbled but seeing it was no use, eventually decided he might as well go away and think up a more ingenious way to sort his friend out. What that was, he had no idea but with nothing much else to do, Sirius was sure it'll come to him eventually.