Draco and Harry ended up spending the remainder of the week with each other, for the rest of the school still wanted nothing to do with them. True, there were those – such as Luna Lovegood and Ernie Macmillan – that would come up to the pair of them, telling them that it was great what they were doing. "It's sweet, really," Luna had said. "And it shows that even Slytherins and Gryffindors can have inter-house relationships," Ernie had said enthusiastically.
And while those just whispered behind their hands and to their friends, others took a more cruel approach – yelling inappropriate slurs, jinxing them in the hallways, and even going as far as pushing Harry to the ground, breaking his glasses for the umpteenth time. Hermione helped him up as he held his snapped glasses to his face.
"Oculus Reparo," Hermione said with a sigh as Harry's glasses repaired themselves once more.
"Thanks," Harry said, dully putting them right. Harry was very grateful that at least Hermione stuck with him. And there were the few others as well such as Fred and George, who were taking it much easier then Ron. In fact, the twins turned it into a kind of a joke to cheer Harry and Draco up more than anything. Their jokes and Draco's company was the only thing that got Harry through the rest of the week, for they were due to leave Christmas break that Saturday.
When Friday had finally approached, Harry felt the pressure of the stares and whispers finally starting to fade. Everyone was more occupied with getting ready to leave for break, and Harry couldn't've been happier. True, he was going to miss going to the Burrow this Christmas and seeing Mr. and Mrs. Weasley's cheery faces, but at least he wouldn't have to endure any bullying for an entire month.
"What are you on about, Harry?" Fred said, as he and George took a seat on either side of him.
Harry looked up at Fred with puzzlement, his spoon of Wheaties halfway to his mouth. "What are talking about?"
"We just noticed that you put your name down for staying here for break," Fred said.
"Yeah, what's up with that?" George asked from Harry's right.
"Not good enough for you anymore, eh?" Fred said in mock annoyance.
"Gotten tired of us, I suppose," George said, heaving a sigh.
"Probably wants to stay behind with his boyfriend," Fred said, waggling his eyebrows.
Harry couldn't help but smile. "Actually, Draco is going home for the break," Harry said, returning to his cereal.
"Oh, than why aren't you coming back with us?" Fred asked, with sincere curiosity.
"Look, it's not that I don't want to come back with you guys, it's just….I don't really feel like I'll be –"
"Welcomed?" George finished for him. "Just because Ron is weirded out by the whole situation, it doesn't mean we all are."
"It's not just Ron, Ginny won't even look at me, either." Harry said, pushing his empty cereal bowl away from him.
"Well Ginny's different! I mean, her reaction was more so expected than Ron's," Fred said with a laugh.
"What do you mean?" Harry asked.
"Seriously, Harry? Ginny has had a crush on you since she first met you!" George said with exasperation.
"Sure, she didn't think that you two were going to get together right away, but she at least thought she would have a chance –" Fred said.
"And now that you're gay, that dream just went out the window for her!" George said. Harry looked down at the table, his stomach suddenly in knots. Fred just shook his head while George put a comforting hand on Harry's back.
"Listen mate, don't ruin your whole break just because of Ron's and Ginny's attitude. They're bound to come around. And I know Ron wouldn't want me to repeat this, but obviously I'm going to anyway – he misses you. At home, you'll be forced in close quarters and you guys are bound to make up." George said.
"And besides, you'll want to come back for Christmas," Fred said, looking around, making sure no one was listening before leaning in closer to Harry, "we're going to Sirius's for the holidays. Mum and Dad thought we'd cheer him up a bit with some company." Harry perked up at the prospect of getting to see Sirius. He was in desperate need to talk to someone, and he thought that Sirius of all people would understand Harry.
So after classes that evening, Harry skipped dinner to pack what he could in his school trunk, excited at the prospect of having something to look forward to. Just then, the dormitory door opened; Harry briefly glanced over his shoulder – it was Ron and Neville. He momentarily caught Ron's eye before turning back to his nearly packed trunk.
"Thought you were staying at school," Ron grunted from his bed.
"Changed my mind," Harry simply said, pretending to rearrange his already perfectly packed trunk.
"Oh," was all Ron said. Well, it's a start Harry thought. Maybe George was right; the forced closed quarters of Grimmauld Place was bound to help them gain their friendship back. While he never showed any signs of missing Harry, he knew it to be true, and Harry really missed Ron as well.
Harry closed his trunk, grabbed his wand and book bag and left; he was still not entirely comfortable being in his dorm room with the others while they were awake – it was very awkward. None of them would talk to him or even each other while Harry was there. But Harry was starting to get used to it. He decided to spend the remainder of the night finishing his Charms essay, rather than leaving it for the break. He headed to the library, where he knew no one would be.
Harry was right; when he entered the library, it was completely deserted except for Madame Pince, the extremely strict librarian. She watched him through her hawk-like eyes as he walked by the front desk and headed straight to his favorite table at the back. But wait, there was someone already sitting there. He was about to change his course when the somebody looked up. "Draco?"
"Harry? What are you doing here?" Draco asked, smiling.
Harry took a seat across from Draco. "Just needed to get out of the Tower. It was too crowded in there to do homework." Harry took out his Charms book from his book bag.
"Same, plus it's too cold in the dungeons. How do they expect us to study in those conditions?" Draco complained.
Harry smiled. "Well, at least we've got the library to ourselves. No one can bother or bully us here."
"Amen to that!" Draco chuckled.
"What are you working on, anyways?" Harry asked.
"Snape's essay. I'm pretty much almost done with it; I just didn't want to take it home." Draco said.
"Same. Except I still have to practice the Banishing charm before I can finish my Charms essay. I'm still having difficulties with it." Harry said, taking out his wand and looking around for Madame Pince; he made sure that there was no way she could see him performing magic, which was not allowed inside the library.
"If you want, I can help you," Draco said, "I just accomplished that yesterday."
"Are you serious?" Harry asked, looking at Draco in awe. "Yeah, I would love some help! But what about your homework? I don't want to take you from it."
"Nah, it'll be fine, like I said, I'm already pretty much finished. I can write the conclusion later." Draco said, putting his essay away and taking out his wand. "Let's see where you're at with this."
Harry cleared his throat and pointed his wand at his Charms book. He said the spell; the book slid half-heartedly across the table towards Draco, but that was it. Harry sighed.
"At least it's moving, though," Draco said encouragingly. Harry smiled. "Let's get to work."
After spending three hours in the library, Harry felt extremely exhausted, but very accomplished at the same time. With Draco's help, he was now able to make the book fly off the table with force. Hermione was going to be so proud of him when he showed her. He headed upstairs to Gryffindor Tower, looking forward to bed. He sincerely hoped that Ron and the others were already asleep; he really didn't want to have to deal with the awkwardness – he had a rather good day and he didn't want anything to ruin it.
Harry smiled, thinking of his and Draco's goodbye. He could still feel Draco's soft lips against his own, so comfortable and alluring. Although Harry was going to miss him over the break, he tried to look at this brief separation in a positive way; the longer they spent apart from each other, the better the initial reunion would be. Harry reached the portrait hole, a smile still on his face.
"Chocolate Frogs," Harry said before the Fat Lady could ask him. She swung forward, allowing him to climb through the portrait hole. Harry entered the common room to find that it was completely deserted. He looked at his watch – it was nearly midnight. He bounded up the boys' staircase and quietly opened his dorm door to the sound of snores. Harry breathed a sigh of relief as he changed into his pajamas and climbed into bed. He slowly drifted off to sleep, his thoughts on seeing Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, his godfather, and a month off from worrying about anything school related, a smile displayed on his face.
Harry was really glad the Hogwarts Express was about to pull into King's Cross, because he didn't think he could stand another awkward minute in the train compartment. Because there were a lot more students going home this Christmas season this year, the train was extra packed and left no room for less than six students to a compartment. Harry was in a compartment with Fred, George, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione. While he was glad that the twins and Hermione were there, he was getting rather annoyed at the awkward silences that would follow the forced conversations; this was mainly due to Ron and Ginny continually throwing glares at Harry, or else staring at each other, as if they disapproved Harry being let into their compartment.
"Well, that was a fun ride!" George said sarcastically, as he heaved his trunk down from the train steps.
"Oh yeah, a real riot!" Fred said, throwing his trunk next to his twin's.
"I wish there was a riot," Harry said softly, coming up behind them, "at least that wouldn't've been awkward to sit through." Harry looked up just in time to see Mr. and Mrs. Weasley waving them over; Lupin, Tonks, and Mad-Eye were right behind them, keeping watch. Harry and the others lifted their trunks and headed over to them, smiles plastered on all their faces, Harry's the biggest smile of them all. The prospect of seeing Sirius was getting closer.
"Harry, dear! How lovely to see you again!" Mrs. Weasley said, throwing her arms around him as he reached them first. "I trust you had a good term?"
"Yeah, it was good," Harry said. It wasn't a total lie; other than his best friend and his sister ignoring him, he hardly had anything to complain about.
"Excellent!" Mrs. Weasley said, hugging the rest of her children in turn a they reached their parents, and hugging Hermione as well. "Well, we'll be taking the Knight Bus back, so if you will all just follow me, we can get going." Mrs. Weasley said, leading the way out of King's Cross Station. They walked about a block away from the station, turning down a narrow and deserted alleyway.
"Can't let the muggles see the bus," Mad-Eye explained when Harry gave him a quizzical look. "We can't really hide a big, purple, three-decker bus that just appears and disappears out of nowhere, can we?" Mad-Eye raised his wand hand and stood there, not moving it. The others stared around them, waiting expectedly. All of a sudden, there was a loud BANG! and the Knight Bus appeared in front of them.
"All right you lot! On the bus you get!" Tonks said, ushering the Weasleys, Harry, and Hermione onto the bus, leaving Mad-Eye, Lupin, and Arthur to carry the luggage – also with help from Stan Shunpike, the conductor of the Knight Bus. He was very excited when he saw Harry once more, but remembered Tonks, her threat of cursing him coming back to him; he managed giving Harry an energetic wave and an excited smile.
When everyone was on the bus, they waited for the Aurors and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and Lupin to enter, knowing full well that they were going to be getting assigned seating. They were surprised to find that they were the only ones on the bus. Lupin took a step forward. "All right, I would like Fred and George to sit at the way back with Moody and Arthur, I would like Hermione and Ginny to sit with Tonks and myself, to the right over here, and Harry and Ron can sit to the left with Molly."
"Actually," Harry said before he can stop himself; everyone stopped heading to their designated seats and turned to look at Harry, "I was, erm, actually wondering, Lupin, if I could maybe sit with you instead?" Harry asked, his voice shaking with nerves. Lupin exchanged a confused expression with Molly, who just shrugged.
"If that's what you would like. Hermione, why don't you sit with Molly –" Lupin started, but it was Ginny who spoke up this time.
"Actually, Hermione can stay, I'll go with Mum and Ron," Ginny said, striding towards her mother and brother without so much as a glance towards Harry. The adults all exchanged quick glances between themselves at the awkwardness that had just occurred. Everyone headed for their seats. Harry and Hermione sat down on one loveseat while Lupin took a slightly ragged armchair opposite them. Harry breathed a sigh of relief at not having to endure another awkward ride.
"So what seems to be going on?" Lupin asked, watching as Harry's face relaxed. But when he asked the question, it was all scrunched up with nerves once more.
"What do you mean?" Harry asked with an unconvincingly curious tone.
Hermione looked at him skeptically. "Honestly Harry, Lupin isn't an idiot. He knows there's something going on." Harry shot her an angry look. He didn't want to have to discuss anything in detail until after he spoke to Sirius about it first.
"Listen Harry, you don't have to tell me what the issue is directly, but yes, I do know there is something amiss between you and Ron, and Ginny as well I take it, seeing as she volunteered herself rather than sitting with you. It was to my understanding that she has a bit of a crush on you; I was a bit surprised at that." Lupin said, managing a small smile that Harry was unable to return. He sighed.
"Let's just say that me and Ron and Ginny aren't on speaking terms right now," Harry said, looking down at his hands. "We've had a bit of a misunderstanding."
"Well, it wasn't exactly a misunderstanding as it was pretty clear what –" Hermione started, but Harry interrupted.
"Thank you, Hermione!" Harry said loudly with annoyance.
"In case you haven't forgotten, I'm your side," Hermione said calmly. Harry sighed again.
"I know, I'm sorry, I'm just a little annoyed right now," Harry said, looking anywhere but at Lupin, who was looking at the pair of them with curiosity.
"Whatever this thing is between the three of you, I'm sure it'll pass soon enough," Lupin said.
"That's what everyone keeps telling me. But I can't help but to think that I've really screwed up this time," Harry said in a whisper, sneaking a glance at Ginny and Ron, who were whispering amongst themselves, their mother watching them curiously.
"You're not saying –" Hermione started in surprise.
"I regret nothing, I'm just saying….I guess I'm saying I wish it could have happened in another way." Harry said, catching Lupin's eye.
"Well, I would be lying if I said I wasn't intrigued by these significant events. But I daresay you're waiting to discuss them with Sirius before letting the rest of the adults know?" Lupin whispered, giving Harry a knowing glance.
Harry blushed slightly. "Sorry, it's not that I don't trust you or anything –"
"It's perfectly alright Harry," Lupin said, holding up his hand, "I understand. You'll soon have your chance to talk to your godfather. We're here," Lupin stood up, as did the rest of the occupants heading to Number Twelve Grimmauld Place. Harry looked out of the Knight Bus window while he waited for his turn off of the bus. He was finally home.