Several people in the reviews correctly pointed out that I had Susan in the wrong year when I first published the first chapter. I have since corrected that error. While this will mainly be a Harry-Susan-Luna trio fic, they could also have other friends in the story. I'm not fully sure yet. Either way, I did correct the error in chapter 1 to put Susan in the correct year.
Harry, Susan, and Luna went their own separate ways once they reached the Great Hall, and each sat down at his or her own house table.
Harry sat at the far left end of the Gryffindor table and tried not to look at Ron and Hermione cuddled up to each other.
Harry, Susan, and Luna each individually saw something that they did not like at the Slytherin table: Draco Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson were both wearing prefect badges.
It was bad enough that Ron was a prefect and just as bad that Pansy was a prefect.
But Draco? Of all the poor prefect choices, Draco was clearly the worst. Ron Weasley and Pansy Parkinson being prefects was bad enough. Draco fucking Malfoy being a prefect?! That took the cake and in a very bad way.
Harry, Susan, and Luna each thought firmly that there was no worse choice to be a prefect at present day Hogwarts than Draco Malfoy. If anyone would abuse this position, Draco surely would.
Harry, Susan, and Luna didn't really pay much attention to Dumbledore's or Umbridge's speeches.
Harry was pissed at Dumbledore for keeping him isolated from the Wizarding World over the summer and so made a deliberate choice to tune out the start of year speeches. He made it a point not to look at the staff table during the Welcoming Feast. He simply stared down at his plate until the food appeared.
Luna, of course, didn't have the attention span for stuff like this. She kept drifting off staring at the ceiling, floor, and walls in turn.
Susan, meanwhile, was simply tired. She hadn't slept well the previous night and had had one of those "tossing and turning but never getting to sleep" nights.
They were hungry however and all three of them ate large portions, choosing on this night to focus mostly on steak, baked potatoes, and corn while washing it down with Jack Daniels and finishing with chocolate pudding for dessert.
When the Welcoming Feast was over, Harry, Susan, and Luna each walked to their respective common rooms.
Harry walked into the Gryffindor Common Room to find Ron and Hermione openly kissing in front of everyone.
When Ron and Hermione saw Harry enter, they broke apart and waved at him.
"Come join us, Harry," said Ron in an innocent tone.
Harry did walk up to them but said clearly, "I'm done with you two. Our friendship is over."
"You were hanging around the Bones bitch and the Lovegood loser earlier," snarled Ron, "What the hell were you doing with non Gryffindors?"
Without warning Harry punched Ron hard across the face.
"No one," said Harry coldly, "Insults my true friends and gets away with it. You two were fake friends and I'll be better off to be shot of you both."
Ron and Hermione had shocked expressions come upon their faces.
"You, Ronald," spat Harry, "Abandoned me after my name came out of the Goblet of Fire last year through of my own. You threw me away like wilted salad at the first sign of murky waters when my name came out of the Goblet of Fire and then fished me out of the trash after the First Task when the water seemed to be clearing a bit. You are a disloyal fair weather friend. Ronald, Hermione, you are both guilty of a Summer of Silence."
"We had no choice," protested Hermione, "It was Dumbledore's decision not ours."
"You didn't have to blindly obey Dumbledore," snarled Harry, "Did either of you even consider what your own opinions were?"
"We couldn't disobey the headmaster," fretted Ron.
"You are both control freaks who are too in love with authority. You both have a bit of Percy and Molly in you and you both have overbearing personalities. I've had it up to here with that. You could've have given me more information if you had really wanted to. Dumbledore's word is not sacred you know," said Harry bluntly.
"You need to learn to respect the rules more, Harry," said Hermione loftily.
"You two are the ones who didn't respect our friendship enough. You both promised to meet me on the train after the prefects meeting and neither of you ever turned up.
"The meeting ran long," lied Ron.
"Even if it did, it wouldn't take the whole train ride," said Harry briskly, seeing through Ron at once.
"We got sidetracked," mumbled Hermione.
"You knew exactly what you were doing," said Harry matter of factly, "You two ditched me to go spend the afternoon kissing and making out. It's always something with you two. Either you yell, argue, and bicker with each other and I'm caught in the middle, or you are being sickly lovebirds and making me a third wheel. I found two better friends on the train today. And, no, I don't give a fuck that they aren't Gryffindors. In fact, I'll be meeting them in classroom eleven at eleven tonight. Either I'm caught in the middle, a third wheel, left in the dark, or untrusted by you two with a large helping of swottiness and overbearingness to go along with it. That's a dish I'm not consuming anymore. Bye, you two. I won't miss you two. Now you two can back to enjoying making out and kissing in public."
Harry determinedly walked away and left Gryffindor Tower for Classroom Eleven early just to avoid Ron's and Hermione's presence.
When Susan and Luna turned up at eleven, Harry told them about his final meeting with Ron and Hermione.
"Good for you, Harry," said Susan approvingly, "You have identified that your friends were fake friends and made the wise decision to remove them from your life."
"It had clearly reached a point where Ron and Hermione not turning up this afternoon was the straw that broke the camel's back," said Luna bluntly.
"I'm not taking any crap from anyone this year," said Harry in a businesslike voice, "I'm done being a doormat. This year, if people, peers, or adults, wrong me, they're going to hear about it from me and they're going to pay the price for it. Effective immediately, I'm going to have more backbone and be less forgiving."
"Do you feel like you have let people take advantage of you in the past?" Susan asked Harry.
"I've let people walk all over me for too long and that's been my biggest flaw up to this point," piped up Harry, "I've let people get with away with how they've treated me by not sticking up for myself enough. Those days are gone."
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