A/N - Sorry for the day late in the update. I was sick and this completely slipped my mind. Anyways, onward with Chapter 11.
Chapter 11 - Writer's Choice and Shadow
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"Where were you?" It was a simple question which was snarled in distain. Harry couldn't help but close his eyes and picture Hermione, with her curly hair in loose tendrils around her face, her eyes desperate and pleading.
"We went for a walk." Hermione's tone was clear, confident, but shook just a bit to the end.
"A walk? Just the two of you? You go for some bloody long walks, don't you?"
Harry let out a low breath and lightly hit his head against the wall he was currently leaning against. They had been at it, the two of them, for quite some time. He was pretty sure that everyone else had placed a silencing charm except for him. He wanted to hear this.
"What me and Harry do is none of your business, Ronald."
"Of course not. What you two want to bloody well do is always your bloody business. But don't forget Hermione, you kissed me. Now to go after Harry while he's with Ginny-"
"They broke up." Her voice was a whisper, but Harry could hear it as he strained against the wall that divided his room from Ron's.
There was a moment of silence before he heard Ron's voice again. "What is it then? You two an item now?" The words were spoken with so much disgust that Harry couldn't help but feel ashamed. The thought had briefly crossed his mind several times. He could imagine how simple life would be with Hermione by his side. She was his best friend after all, she could easily be so much more. But he never dwelled on that idea. He couldn't; not when he could see the way Ron looked at her or the way she would ignore his idiotic best mate whenever he showed interest in other girls. It was about time before they got together; and Harry - knowing this, wasn't going to stop it.
"There's nothing between me and Harry. How many times do you want me to say it?"
"As often as it takes. If there really is nothing, why is it that every time my back is turned you two go sneaking off somewhere?"
"Just listen to yourself! Do you have any idea what you're saying? I care deeply for Harry, he's my friend. Are you asking me to give that up?"
Ron mumbled something that Harry couldn't hear then. Briefly he wondered if there were any Extendable Ears he could use, only for his thoughts to stop short on one of the inventors of that product.
"What?" He heard Hermione ask, her tone confused.
"I said, I reckon you're bloody good friends."
There was silence then, and Harry could almost hear Hermione letting out a low breath in frustration. "What do you want me to do? Stop being Harry's friend? He has no one, Ron. Have a little compassion."
He has no one.
He had stopped thinking like that sometime back, falling into old habits of placing the people around him in a familial way. The Order had become his family; the Weasleys even more so. He had surrounded himself with people he trusts, people he considered his friends. And he had lost some of them because of the war they fought together.
There was another moment of silence before Ron spoke again, grudgingly. "No, of course not. You know he's like my brother."
"Then let me look after him. The one thing I'm really good at besides books and exams is looking after Harry."
Ron was silent for a while before he said, "Right. You're right. Sorry. I'm a bit on edge, I guess. From last night."
"Of course," Hermione said kindly. "I understand."
Harry could almost picture Ron's half smile and Hermione falling into a comfortable embrace with him. The thought clenched his gut tight. Deciding that he didn't want to hear any more, he pulled out his wand and cast a silencing charm around the room the Weasleys had given him to sleep in that night.
Maybe he was meant to be alone. Even though he had thought that things would change after Voldemort had fallen, they hadn't changed for him. Not really. Maybe he was meant to stay in the shadows and watch everyone else move on in life without him.
And maybe he should make his peace with that.
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