IWarning: Rated T for profanity, yelling, consumption of alchol, and non sexual nudity. This story will not contain any romance, sex, or sexuality and the only pairings that exist are established adult couples such as Amos and Amanda Diggory.
The First Task of the Triwizard Tournament had just concluded and after having betrayed Harry Potter after Harry's name had come out of the Goblet of Fire, the traitor Ron Weasley was trying to getting Harry to forgive him and Harry wasn't having it.
"Look, " said Ron, ""I see now that you didn't put your own name in the Goblet of Fire-"
"You see that only NOW!" roared Harry, "You wouldn't listen to me weeks ago when I tried to explain to you that I hadn't put my name in the Goblet of Fire. And it should have been obvious that I wouldn't have."
"I didn't know about the dragons-" began Ron.
"But you did think I wanted the fame that would come with being a Triwizard Champion, " said Harry matter of factly, "You should understand why I hate my fame, but you never have. "
"How could you possibly hate your fame?" asked Ron in a dumbfounded voice.
"The fact that you are even asking this question proves how ignorant you are, " snarled Harry, "I'm only famous because my mom and dad were murdered by the worst Dark Wizard of all time while I was able to survive the curse, only because of my mom's protection, mind you."
"You should be grateful to be famous for something, " said Ron insensitively,
"That's it, " said Harry firmly, "You've never cared about me as Harry Potter. You've only ever seen me as The Boy Who Lived."
"I was your first ever friend, " protested Ron.
"Actually, Hagrid was my first ever friend, but that's beside the point, " said Harry clearly, "You only ever wanted to be my friend for the wrong reasons. You're just a glory hound who hoped being friends with The Boy Who Lived would bring you some deflected fame and glory. "
Ron said nothing but seemed to be thinking.
"Don't feed me excuses either, " said Harry decisively, "Don't tell me you're overshadowed at home, heck Ginny has the same number of siblings as you and if anything the fact that she has one more older sibling than you do would make it harder for her to get attention at home than you do and she is not jealous of my fame and attention. I might also add that Fred and George aren't jealous of my fame and attention either. You are in fact the only Weasley who is jealous of my fame and attention. Even Percy, unlikeable as he is, doesn't have that issue."
"But nothing ever happens for me, " said Ron testily.
"That's exactly the point, everything happening for me doesn't make my life happier or better. At any rate, you've never been willing to work at anything to accomplish anything. You want to play Quidditch but don't want to put in the practice time. You want to be Head Boy but don't want the responsiblity that comes with it. You want to be good at magic but don't take your studies seriously. You're too lazy to achieve what you want even though you don't have nearly as much on your plate as I do, " said Harry bluntly.
"I want to be your friend again, " said Ron pleadingly.
"No, " said Harry fiercely, "You're not only a jealous glory hound, but you've proven how disloyal you are. People like Hermione, Neville, Sirius, and Hagrid all believed me at once when I told them I hadn't put my name in the Goblet of Fire. The fact that you didn't proves that you are no friend of mine. Between the fact that you know I hate fame and attention and the fact that I literally never expressed any interest in the Triwizard Tournament, the fact that I would NEVER have put my own in the Goblet of Fire should have been as obvious to you as that cheetahs are faster than snails. Even in your own family, Fred, George, and Ginny have far more true respect for me than you do. Since you betrayed me after my name came out of Goblet of Fire, what's to say you wouldn't betray me again. I can't trust you to stay loyal to me. You might well betray me by running out on me in a much more serious situation three years down the road. Any true friend, any person with any loyalty, would've understood not only that I didn't put my name in the Goblet of Fire, but that I would never have done so. Ron Weasley The Jealous Glory Hound is now a former friend of mine. You were completely unjustified in reacting to my name coming out of the Goblet of Fire in any other way than sticking by me one thousand percent. Now get out of my sight!"
"Enjoy being lonely at Hogwarts forevermore, Potter, " snarled Ron as he walked away.
"I don't think so, " said Harry to himself, "Getting shot of Ron will open up opportunities for me to make more and better friends. Friends who won't insist on having a monopoly on my time. Friends who believe me when I tell them things. Friends who aren't jealous of me. Friends who aren't glory hounds. Friends who see me as Harry Potter and not The Boy Who Lived. "
Yes, life without Ron would be better.
Next nanosecond, Harry heard six people cheering for him after he'd refused the turncoat fair weather friend back.
These six people were Hermione, Neville, Ginny, Luna, Fred, and George.
"Good job Harry," said Hermione proudly, "You're setting standards for your friends and that's A Very Good Thing. "
"I couldn't agree more," added Ginny, "Ron proved by not standing by Harry 1000% after Harry's name came out of the Goblet of Fire that his friendship with Harry had never really meant anything to him."
"He also proved he doesn't give a damn about loyalty," piped up Neville.
"And a lack of common sense," interjected Fred.
"As we all know," continued George.
"That Harry hates fame and attention," put forth Fred.
"And would thus never do the one thing guaranteed to bring him MORE fame and attention."
"Did Harry ever express any interest in the Triwizard Tournament before his name came out of the Goblet of Fire?" inquired Luna.
"NO!' chorused Hermione, Neville, Ginny, Fred, and George.
"Thank you, all of you," said Harry sincerely, "Hermione, the difference between your reaction to my name coming out of the Goblet of Fire and Ron's reaction to my name coming out of the Goblet of Fire proved that you and not Ron are my true bestie. Neville, Fred, George, and Ginny, thank you for respecting and trusting me. Unfortunately, I don't know who you are, " he added to Luna.
"Luna Lovegood," introduced Ginny, "She's in my year but in Ravenclaw, "She's very sweet and kind. She gets bullied a lot but she's very comfortable in her own skin."
"Neville, Ginny, Luna, Fred, and George, " said Harry warmly, "I would like to expand my friend circle and becoming closer with all of you is a great place to start. You are all welcome to spend time with me and Hermione at any time."
"That's good for both the short term and long term," agreed Hermione, "But there's something else you should do in the short term?"
"Which is?" asked Harry calmly.
"Develop closer ties with Cedric, Viktor, and Fleur," said Hermione seriously, "The Triwizard Tournament is supposed to bring witches and wizards from different backgrounds together. Yes, you are all opponents, but I think there's a great opportunity for the four of you to develop a great short term friendship this year."
Cedric, Viktor, and Fleur, who had all overheard this, came forward and approached Harry.
Chapter 2 will show how Harry develops closer ties with Cedric, Viktor, and Fleur and they with each other. This story will only cover fourth year and focus on the leads to the second and third tasks and the tasks themselves. Viktor and Fleur will be speaking completely proper English in this story.
A/N: I've always believed that Harry should NOT have forgiven Ron after Ron betrayed him in Goblet of Fire. I've always wished that cannon Harry would've realized that Ron was a terrible friend. In fact, Ron is EASILY the one Gryffindor in cannon Harry's year who I would LEAST want to be friends with if I were a Hogwarts student. It's important to understand that the falling out between Harry and Ron in Goblet of Fire was a case of Ron being the suspect and Harry being the victim. It is an indisputable truism that Harry bears zero percent of the responsibility for that falling out. Which is why Harry should never have forgiven Ron for that betrayal. Ron proved in Goblet of Fire that he didn't deserve Harry's friendship. Harry is better off without fair weather friends.