A Harry Potter Fan Fiction

I don't own Harry Potter

Pre-Chapter Wind - The Halloween Bash commences and Noel is asked to dance with Malfoy before being suddenly interrupted by Harry. Harry has a go at Noel on the dance floor before he walks off, leaving Noel with something to think about.

-Severed-

I arrive at the Great Hall for breakfast to find Harry sitting with the team, suited up for today's Quidditch game against Slytherin. The game...maybe I should talk to him after it since it really wouldn't be a good idea to set him off right before the game by talking to him now. I make my way over sit next to Ginny and Hermione to eat with them instead.

"Noel, why is Malfoy looking over here at you while Harry is giving you the stare down?" Ginny asks after a while of eating in silence.

"I'm assuming Malfoy is doing this to piss off Harry before the big game today and Harry is looking at me because Malfoy is looking at me." I answer, having been ignoring the looks from both Harry and Malfoy.

"But why would looking at you piss off Harry other than the fact that it's Malfoy?"

"Being Malfoy really takes the cake here, but moreover he seems to think that Malfoy and I have been having a secret forbidden love affair behind his back because he thinks he caught us with our hands in each other's cookie jar last night on the dance floor when Malfoy asked me to dance."

"Oh. Is it me or does Harry seem to be acting like he's jealous?" Ginny asks, looking back and forth between Harry, Draco, and I.

"That's what I said, but he said its not like that because he has his darling Chang so he can't possibly be jealous over me."

"Hey, if it barks and growls like a dog, then it must be a dog. If he's acting like he's jealous, then he must be jealous."

"If it were only that simple." I grumble, pushing around the soggy bits of my breakfast.

"Why so miserable Noel?"

"The reason why she's so miserable is because she didn't set out to make Harry jealous." Hermione says, joining in on our conversation.

"She's right and I hate this. It makes me feel weird. I should be happy he's jealous at all, but he's being jealous for all the wrong reasons. It's not him being jealous over seeing some other guy with me because he likes me, he made it clear he had someone else, it's about this childish pettiness revolving around the need to keep his toys out of other people's hands. I'm not a toy and I'm definitely not his toy." I wanted to be someone he could rely on and someone who he could care deeply about, but now I wasn't so sure.

"What are you going to do?" Hermione asks hesitantly as we watch the team get up and head out of the Great Hall together. Harry catches my eye, gives me a hard look, and immediately turns away.

"Nothing too drastic." I say.

"Just be careful in whatever. We don't want a house war between you and Harry." Hermione tells me.

"Yeah, and just think that maybe he's acting like this as his way of telling you how much yesterday hurt him so he's covering it by acting jealous. You never really know how much you care about someone until they are gone and maybe you dancing with Malfoy made it seem like you were gone to him." Ginny says.

"I'll think about it."

The crowd cheers excitedly as Harry catches the snitch. He'll be in such a good mood tonight...maybe I should hold off talking to him after as to not ruin the celebrating. While debating in my head when was the best time to talk to him, the whistle is blown only for Harry to get hit in the back with a Bludger and fall off his broom. Okay, maybe not later either. I drag Hermione with me down to the pitch to find Harry punching Malfoy when we arrive while Fred was being held down by the rest of the team with Madam Hooch yelling at Harry and George to go see McGonagall. They storm off the field and I walk over to Malfoy in an angry haze.

"WHAT THE HELL MALFOY! WHAT DID YOU DO? BLOODY SLYTHERIN! WHY'D YOU DO IT?" I demand.

"I just lost the game. Do you expect anything less from me?" He sneers, wiping the blood away. "Did you remember anything I offered at all yesterday?"

"YOU STUPID JERK! TO ANSWER YESTERDAY'S QUESTION, THAT'S A DEFINITE HELL NO! I CAN'T BELIEVE I LOST MY FRIENDSHIP WITH HARRY OVER DANCING YOU! I WILL NEVER EVER BE YOUR FRIEND!" I was still shouting at him when Hermione comes to drag me away toward our team. I see Fred, still struggling to get a go at Malfoy, and go to talk him. "Fred?" I ask, he calms down almost immediately. "What happened?" I ask, taking a seat beside him. The girls realize it's safe to leave, so they do. "What did he say?"

"He had a go at my parents and Harry's Mom, then he said something about you enjoying his company on the dance floor above Harry's and you know how Harry is. He was already mad at him for what happened last night so he exploded at Malfoy. Did you really dance with him?" Fred asks calmly.

"Yeah, now I'm wishing I didn't, but he was there and then he asked me and I said yes. I don't know what I was thinking. Are you mad at me too? Are you going to ignore me for it? Are you gonna yell at me for it too? I don't think I could take it if you were mad at me too. Harry being mad is enough for a lifetime considering how he gets mad."

"It was just a dance. It didn't mean anything." Exactly. "So no, I'm not gonna yell and I would never yell at you. I know to yell at you would mean you might cut me off and that might not be a bad thing because make up snogging is really hot, but it's really okay Noel." He says, patting my head. "By the way, the next time you want to dance, just come and find me and I'll gladly walk away from any current prank in process to dance with you okay. I can't get mad at you for wanting to dance and it's not like you snogged him after." Fred laughs.

"What's with you people and snogging?" I laugh. "Although I wish someone would tell Harry about that. Who cares about Malfoy anyway? He's a sore loser and a git. He just wants attention and the Boy Who Lived is hogging it all, and your Mom and Dad loves you." I say with a smile.

"Stop it. You're getting all mushy on me. It might be contagious." Fred jokes.

"I'm serious. Harry's Mom and Dad died for him right? I don't think Malfoy's parents would do that for him. So get up off your ass and get changed. It's time to celebrate the fact that we won today and Slytherin didn't." I say, and Fred heads to the changing room. I stand up and walk over to Hermione.

"Wow. You really know how to rally people up and also calm them down quickly." Hermione says shocked.

"Yeah, I have that effect on people." I laugh when I spot David, Derek, Drew, Richie, and Jake walks towards us. My faces grows solemn at their appearance.

"We're leaving now. Gramps sent us here to say goodbye before we take the train to take the plane home." David says.

"Already? Can't you just apparate home so you can spend more time with me?" I ask sadly. "I could really use you guys for support right about now."

"Our trunks are already on the carriages." David says. "We'd love to stay longer, but we've been away from home too long as is."

"So this is goodbye? You know I'm not good at goodbyes. I didn't even say goodbye when I left America to come here." I sniffle, feeling the tears build up at the corners of my eyes. They couldn't be leaving, not when I needed them most. It seemed like I hardly got the chance to be with them enough and now they're leaving.

"Then don't say goodbye because we'll see you again soon." Derek smiles softly, pulling me into a hug. Drew, Richie, David, and Jake join our hug with Hermione sniffling from where she stood.

"I don't want you to leave."

"Sorry Angel Face. I don't care how long it takes, you better write to us." David says.

"Even if its only one sentence." Richie says.

"Or a billion." Drew says.

"We just want to know you're okay." Jake says. One by one they let go and just walk away silently. No goodbyes because goodbyes sucked. Hermione gives me a sympathetic look and we go back to the Common Room, arm in arm, to wait for the boys to return from the changing rooms.

I watch Harry as he stares out the window miserably. He, Fred, George had gotten themselves a lifelong ban from Quidditch because of their actions today. That must have sucked to have a lifelong band from Quidditch, which means there would never be a perfect time to talk to Harry and that now is as good of a time as ever. I decide to wait until he's all alone before making my way over to him.

"I'm in a bad mood Noel." Harry says, sensing me walking up to him. "I don't want to talk to you right now because it'll only end up with us fighting."

"I'm not here to fight with you. I'm here because I've been thinking all day about when would be the right time to talk to you when I realized that there's never going to be a right time. That doesn't me we aren't going to talk right now though."

"We don't need to talk."

"Yes we do."

"Why?"

"Because we do. If we don't, things will keep building between us unresolved and one day we'll blow up at one another and ruin what we had forever. With that, I came here to tell you that I'm tired of being treated like an object instead of a friend. You don't treat me like any of my other friends treat me, the way you're supposed to, and it's been three strikes."

"Three strikes?" He asks, sitting up.

"The first was when you scorned me for trying to help you like any normal friend would do, the second was when you snapped at me harshly for the smallest thing just because you were in a bad mood, and the third was you accusing me of going behind your back with Malfoy like some traitor." I explain.

"So what does it mean? Three strikes and I'm out? What does out mean? You gonna ignore me until I've learned my lesson?" He scoffs.

"It's much different than that. I'm not going to ignore you."

"Then what are you doing?"

"I'm letting you go before things get to the point where we're mad at each other all the time and can't stand one another."

"So you're saying you don't want to be my friend anymore? How is that different from ignoring me?"

"It's a clean break for the both of us Harry."

"I'm calling it you giving up."

"Call it what you want, but it's happening. I gave you three chances here and you blew through them all in three months."

"Well sorry." He says.

"Why say it when you don't mean it?" I ask with a frown. "I don't want you to say you're sorry."

"What am I supposed to say then?"

"I want you to agree."

"You want me to agree to this 'clean break' thing?"

"Yes."

"If I agree, I have one condition. If I agree, you can't come back. You can't ask to be my friend again, ever. You want this, well I want it for good then."

"Harr-" I start.

"Take it or leave it?" He interrupts me. All I wanted was for him to let up for a while and now he's turning it back on me and making that while be forever. It was enough to make me want to change my mind, but-

"I'm taking it."

"Fine."

AN: Have you been having a busy week? I've been having a busy week. Hopefully it's been good. Being good feels good, but being back on track feels better.