Ron
He loved Hermione Granger. Really, he did. Aside from Harry Potter she was his closest friend. She helped him whenever he asked, with almost no questions asked. Some chiding, sure, and the occasional commentary on his spelling or grammar. But never any questions.
And it wasn't like he didn't deserve the chiding. It was his own fault for say, leaving his homework to the last minute.
If she was in trouble, he'd race Harry to defend her. If she needed the shirt off of his back, he'd hand it over. If he had to jump in front of a train to save her, he'd do it without question.
But he'd be the first one to admit that there were times where she could be the most annoying person on the face of the planet. She meant well, sure. But sometimes her mouth would start going and he wasn't always sure her brain had the time to catch up.
Which was saying a lot, given how fast her brain could move.
"Seriously, Harry, again?" Hermione chided. She'd already gone in circles about his latest run-in with Umbridge. He'd avoided a detention this time largely because Seamus had 'accidentally' hit his knee into the desk and fallen out of his chair with an excessive amount of flailing and wailing and a little blood that may have originated from a Nosebleed Nougat.
It, along with his profuse apologizing to the professor, had caused enough of a distraction to get them to the end of the class period without landing Harry into any post-class punishments. Still, as they walked through the hallway, he had to wonder how blind Hermione was.
Harry was ignoring her. His shoulders were tense and hunched, looking much like a Zouwu ready to pounce on anything as he rubbed his scarred hand. Each step seemed to radiate more anger from him. Despite that, she kept chiding him.
He'd seen this all before. Harry would snap. Hermione would cower for a moment and then snap right back and storm off. He wondered if her need to be correct would sometimes override her judgment.
She repeated her question. Ron couldn't believe her. Could she not sense that Harry was fuming? Could she not see the smoke coming from his ears? Well, in her defense, he wasn't actually smoldering. And if he were, that was more likely to be the result of his older brothers' experiments than Umbridge. But that wasn't important.
"What'd you do this time, Harry?" Ron asked, doing his best to adopt a jovial, inquisitive tone. One that he hoped would serve to diffuse some of the tension. Harry didn't relax but it did turn Hermione's vitriol to him. Which was fine, he could deal with it.
"You know perfectly well what he did!" Hermione snapped.
"Nope, no idea," Ron said. The truth was Harry hadn't done anything. Literally nothing. He'd read the assigned chapter. Twice, Ron thought. And spent the last ten minutes staring blankly at the last page of the textbook. Umbridge had merely decided to call him on it when she noticed he never turned the page. "I got a good fifteen, maybe twenty minute nap in."
"You did not," Hermione hissed.
"Did so," Ron said. "Do almost every Defense class. I'm not sure I'd be able to tolerate Angelina's practice schedule if I didn't get a few extra minutes to recharge."
"That is beyond irresponsible!" Hermione started. Ron exaggeratedly shrugged his shoulders to indicate how much he cared.
"So is not teaching magic. Doesn't seem to stop Umbridge so I'm not sure why it should stop me," Ron said.
"You need to have more respect for your education than that!"
"I need to have respect for my education that the educator assigned to provide is disrespecting?" Ron asked. Hermione flushed crimson and glared at him.
"Yes, you should," she said.
"Respect is a two way street, Hermione," Ron said. They turned a corner and started back up toward the Gryffindor common room, where she would undoubtedly inform them of every bit of homework they had to complete that evening before they could even think about Quidditch practice.
If Ron was honest, he'd have preferred a Conjurations session instead. Angelina's schedule had him more exhausted than he'd expected. He'd get used to it, he'd assumed. Well, he'd have to, or he'd be off the team.
It gave him some solace that the new Beaters all looked as exhausted as he felt. And Harry did too. But Ron thought that had far less to do with the Quidditch training than it did with all of the other crap he had to deal with on a daily basis. If anything, the only times he really looked energetic were on the pitch and during their little gaming sessions.
"Some things should just have your respect regardless. Like your family," Hermione snapped back. Ron didn't feel like having this argument. But he knew taking this bullet for Harry would work out well for them in the long run.
"I don't respect Percy," he admitted. "I don't think I ever have."
"That's not nice," Hermione responded.
"Well it's the truth. He always expected it, but never earned it. Way different than say Bill or Charlie, or hell, even Fred and George. At least the twins work their backsides off. I'm not sure where they find the time."
"Umbridge's class, probably," Harry quipped.
"Oh yeah, that'd do it," Ron smirked. That would do it, he knew. Hermione would huff and the conversation would end and Harry would relax. And things would work their way back to normal. At least until the next encounter with Professor Umbridge.
It was becoming a problem. Ron knew that. He had to assume Hermione knew that. They should talk about it. But there never seemed to be a good time. He'd thought he and Hermione were on the same page. That they had the same understanding of their friend. Their summer in Grimmauld Place seemed to be proving him wrong.
He'd thought nothing of it while it happened. And in hindsight that made him furious. He wasn't sure where to direct his anger. Dumbledore? His parents? The situation? Umbridge? Everyone seemed to earn their fair share.
He could at least understand Dumbledore's reasoning. And he could understand why his parents chose to go along with it. He disagreed with it. But if he was honest with himself he felt like he'd have acted in the same way if it came to protecting his own children.
He still thought it was wrong. Acting like something wasn't going on wasn't going to help them. Yes, if they knew the truth they would be concerned and worried and it may affect them. But wasn't that better than not knowing? Wasn't that better than being lied to and being told that everything was just fine? Wasn't that better than the fantasy land?
Well, of late at least, the fantasy land had been quite enjoyable. But that was a different fantasy land.
But he hadn't even thought of that until Harry came to Grimmauld Place. It seemed like a fun little break for him. A summer in London? Score! The city was far more entertaining than the Burrow. Even if they weren't allowed out as much as he'd have liked. But his mother had taken them to various museums and tourist sites and even one day trip to Diagon Alley before Harry came. It took the benefit of hindsight to realize that the trips they did take often aligned with Order meetings of various degrees.
Perhaps the adults hadn't been as oblivious to the Extendable Ears and other espionage attempts they'd made.
He'd had a great time. Sure, a voice in the back of his head whispered that he should have figured out a way to sneak out to Surrey to see what Harry was up to. The thought that they didn't want to send letters to him felt off. They'd caved to a small degree but had told them to keep any details to the absolute minimum. Even going so far as threatening to censor the letters.
And Ron had obeyed. He wondered how long he'd regret that decision for. Forever, probably. Deep down he knew Harry would have told them to bugger off. Harry would have fought against it. Harry would have put his friends before his own amusement.
Ron hadn't. And he hated himself for it.
Some naive part of him assumed Harry was doing just fine in Surrey. That it was just a normal summer endeavor. That there was nothing to think of. He'd even said his summers had improved since Sirius. So he had to have been fine.
Now, when he thought of that, his own voice rang through his head.
There were bars on his window! They were starving him!
How naive did he have to be to think Harry was fine? He'd never been fine over a summer. He just didn't like to talk about it. So he said it was fine. And now while they were all sitting around and enjoying London, being told not to contact him for his own safety, he'd been attacked!
And even then they'd still hesitated to do anything about it. Owls and messages and confusing orders all while Ron wanted to just scream at them. Had the situation been reversed for any of them, Harry would have been there in an instant. Without question. Instead they let him stew.
Ron remembered seeing Sirius fuming as they discussed possible ways to deal with it. They shared the same opinion. Just go. Grab him. Come back. How difficult could it be? It wasn't like his Muggle guardians were going to do anything about it.
Sirius snapped at the other adults in the room. Snape had stormed out after some insult, leaving the door open as he left. They'd heard Sirius yell about how Harry had the decency to take the time to send him food when he was starving and surviving on rats he could catch but now they'd do nothing for him when they had the power to do so much more.
Ron thought Harry's arrival at Grimmauld Place had far less to do with the Dementor and his underage magic trial than it did with Dumbledore knowing that Sirius's threat of taking Harry and disappearing off to Hawaii was serious. Bringing Harry to him placated him to a degree.
When Harry finally made it to Grimmauld Place Ron had been ecstatic to see him. He'd expected his friend to feel the same way. In hindsight, that was stupid. He'd been hurt by the anger, the rejection and the resentment Harry showed. It infuriated him. All he'd wanted to do was be a good friend. To laugh, tell jokes, continue trying to spy on the Order of the Phoenix and all of that. He'd thought having Harry around would make it even more fun.
Harry's complete rejection of it stung. And his words were piercing. What did he know? He hadn't been here. He didn't know what he was talking about. He was just being belligerent because he was in a mood!
It had taken him a month to realize everything Harry said had been completely correct.
Yeah, he could be a bit slow.
He frowned to himself as they sat in their usual spot in the common room. Hermione saw Fred and George with a suspicious box of chocolates and used it as an excuse to leave them. Ron dug through his pack, wondering which homework assignment he'd get started on. He knew full well he'd probably need to complete two assignments before Quidditch if he wanted to get anything that resembled sleep that evening.
Neville hadn't been thrilled when he was scribbling away at a Divination essay while they were supposed to be breaking out of a prison. But for what it was worth, Harry had it handled. Honestly, he'd have thought both Padma and Daphne would have been more useful. But it wasn't like he had any idea how spell slots and performance points worked.
Defense? No point he'd finished it in class. At least as well as he was going to. It hadn't taken him long to realize that he couldn't possibly garner anything better than an Acceptable in Umbridge's class. Her assignments were always the same, and his grade never changed. The woman was at least smart enough to give Hermione good grades. And none of them were brave enough to question why virtually identical answers yielded different results. It wasn't worth two hours in detention.
It was a bloody awful attitude to take. And he suspected one that would lead to more harm than good. Hermione, for what it was worth, was keeping copies of their homework. What she was planning on doing with them, he had no idea, but she seemed to think they might be useful to have.
He thumbed over his Potions textbook next. That would have been the smart choice. Snape's assignments often required the most time, and the most attention to detail. The smart play always seemed to be to get those done first and to rush everything else.
If you screwed up something for, say, McGonagall, you could claim you didn't understand it and stay after for fifteen minutes while she explained it again. A smile and a 'thank you, Professor' often yielded a passing grade in the class. It just took some faux confusion and a few moments of acting like one cared.
With Snape, he'd just call you a dunce and assign another assignment until you got it right. Seamus so far had the record. He'd managed to get six assignments at one time during their fourth year, topping Neville's five.
His next text in his bag was Charms. That would work, he thought. Harry always liked Charms. And Flitwick's assignment usually only required a couple of paragraphs. One to demonstrate you understood the charm, one about the strengths of the charm, and one about the weaknesses. It was all rather formulaic but meant it could be done quickly.
He pulled out the book and turned his attention back to his friend, intending to ask if he wanted to do Charms first. But Harry was merely staring out the window of the castle with a slight frown. Ron paused, unsure if he should interrupt him.
His mind raced back to Grimmauld Place. He'd seen that look before. It was growing increasingly more common for Harry. He'd stare off into space with nothing in his eyes. It was unnerving for Ron to look at.
Ron wondered how no one else seemed to be able to see it. It was like there were moments when there was nothing left of Harry inside Harry. Like he was a mere shell. Like he wanted it all to end.
Even now, as he stared out the window, his body didn't relax. His eyes didn't move. Nothing about him changed. Ron had to wonder if he was even breathing. It was like he was never able to rest. Like he had to conserve his energy and be ready for the next salvo, wherever it came from.
It was why Ron found himself so annoyed at Hermione. As soon as they'd get out of Defense or Potions she'd start harping on him about everything he did wrong in class. And how he should know better and be better. It was the absolute last thing Harry needed.
But the last thing Hermione needed was to be told to shut up. And Ron was yet to figure out a way to politely talk to her about it. He'd gone through months without being friends with either of them. And it was far more difficult than he cared to admit. It made Hogwarts less fun.
Now, though, he felt like they were on a collision course for a catastrophic blow-up. He could see it coming as if it were two trains rushing toward each other on the same track. But he had no idea how to stop either of them.
Conjurations and Catacombs provided some reprieve. It was why Ron threw himself into understanding Lorakian culture and the ins-and-outs of Arestes's mind. He didn't like the immersion potions, feeling like they made him a bit foggy. And so far they mostly played without focusing on words and dice.
There was far more to the campaign than Neville had made fully known, there were little bits that only he and Harry shared. Things they could smirk about, but couldn't talk about yet. It made it all a bit more entertaining.
It was less about the amusement of the game, though, and more about the change in Harry. When he shifted from Harry to Kaden his entire demeanor changed. He'd always been capable of being sassy, when he wanted to. But it was a side of himself that tended to stay hidden.
As Kaden there wasn't a need to hide it. He'd have them all laughing during sessions with random asides or comments. And it made everything feel lighter. Of late, he thought the only times Harry smiled were during the sessions.
Not that Ron could blame him. With the way Padma Patil smiled at him it was fairly hard not to smile back. Another of his mistakes, he supposed. Had he been less of a sullen prick at the Yule Ball, perhaps she would have smiled at him that way.
In his defense, he'd been too stuck in his own head about Krum to even look at his date. Or his date's sister for that matter. He didn't remember thinking they were that pretty during his fourth year. But, well, a lot changed over the summer.
And then there was Daphne. Which was even harder for him to judge. If he had to answer directly, he'd have said Padma was prettier. But there was something about Daphne's face, about the way her eyes lit up when she laughed, and how dimples formed when she smiled, that was every bit as alluring. And seemed to happen more and more when Harry talked.
Which seemed weird, given how close she obviously was with Dylan Harper.
Ron couldn't get a read on the other boy. He was younger than them. And in the brief moments they'd conversed outside of the game it was clear he liked Quidditch as much as they did. But aside from that he never got the impression that Harper wanted to talk to either of them. And mostly, unless prodded by Daphne, he didn't.
The younger boy never seemed antagonistic. There wasn't any vitriol in any of his words. He didn't seem to actively dislike anyone else in their group. He just seemed indifferent to all of them. Daphne was the only one who could really get him to talk to them.
Wyckham didn't seem to have much of that issue. So far he and Kaden had no issue arguing with each other about every minor little detail. But as soon as the dice went away, it went back to the sort of blase indifference.
Ron didn't understand it. But it seemed to be working, whatever it was. And Harry seemed to be enjoying it far more than anything he was doing at Hogwarts at this point, possibly excluding Quidditch. He just hoped nothing stupid happened between Daphne, Dylan and Harry. Although he didn't think anything would.
Still, he had to admit to himself, he'd be annoyed if his girl smiled at another bloke the way Daphne smiled at Harry. Part of it seemed like a game. Like Seralyse and Kaden were merely growing closer. But there were glimpses here and there of something else. And Ron wasn't sure what to think about it.
Sure, he disliked Slytherin students on principle. But Daphne seemed alright. And if Harry liked one of them, and she liked him back, then more power to them. But couldn't he have liked one that wasn't constantly hanging out with another guy? It just smelled like trouble from a mile away.
He wondered if he should think about flirting with Padma during their sessions. It could be fun. But a small voice in the back of his head told him he'd already had that chance. And he'd blown it. Sure he could try to make it up to her, but that would be a very long uphill battle and he wasn't sure he had it in him.
Hermione would harp on them about how they wasted their few free nights a week playing the game. Especially given that they wasted another of their free nights on Quidditch. She kept waiting for their homework to overwhelm them.
To this point, it hadn't. If anything Ron thought the games served as motivation. It was something he looked forward to and knew he had to get his work done to be able to enjoy it. In a way, it seemed like he wasn't putting things off until the last minute. When in reality, all that changed was he'd moved the deadline up.
Daphne and Padma did offer the occasional advice on homework before their sessions too. At least until they started arguing about the transfiguration and Neville ended up almost having to pry them apart.
It was Harry, though, that made him look forward to the sessions so much. Of late, they were the only time where his friend reminded him of, well, his friend. And they seemed to be the only time he'd be able to recharge. After each one he seemed closer to his old self.
An old self that Ron would watch fade with each day that passed between the sessions. It was a problem. And one he wished he had a better solution to. Even if it seemed like Neville wasn't totally against adding another weekly session as they all got into the rhythm of their homework.
He spared another glance at Harry only to notice that his friend's expression hadn't changed. He frowned but knew he'd have to snap him out of it.
"So Charms?" he asked. There wasn't any response. Harry didn't so much as flinch. Ron was convinced that Padma and Daphne could walk into the common room, kneel in front of him, and start snogging and Harry wouldn't notice.
Well, maybe not. He was still human. But there were times when it seemed damn close. Ron wondered if he should say anything about all of this to Harry. He didn't want his friend to think he was prying.
Or perhaps, he merely didn't want to hear the defensive comments that would come from Harry. They rang through his head without being said. Oh, what's it matter? It's not like you cared enough to find out over the summer what difference does a few months make?
The intelligent part of his brain didn't think Harry would snap at him like that. He didn't have the cause to like he had when he first arrived at Grimmauld place. But he still feared it. He knew the eggshells he was walking on would eventually crack. But he'd be damned if it would be his fault when they did.
Although, if you were dumb enough to actually attempt to walk on eggshells it would be your fault regardless of what happened. So that was a terrible analogy.
"Earth to Harry?" he asked, figuring talking would do him some good at getting out of his own head. And, hopefully, getting Harry out of his as well. But again, he didn't seem to hear him.
He decided drastic measures were required. He threw his charms book at Harry. It landed in his lap and Harry jumped as his eyes flashed around the room as if looking for whomever assaulted him.
"What?" he snapped but his tone was more confused than angry.
"I figured we'd be able to knock off Charms before dinner and then maybe make some headway on Transfiguration during. That way it shouldn't be that hard to finish it up after Quidditch."
Harry didn't answer him. He looked down at the textbook then back toward the window. For a moment, Ron thought he was losing him again. He wondered just what he'd have to do to convince Padma and Daphne to attempt to distract him as he'd imagined.
But then he nodded and pressed his lips together. He lifted the book from his lap and peered at it.
"Snape's essay sounded awful," Harry said.
"What else is new?" Ron countered.
"Fair point," Harry said. "Might be wise to do that rather than Transfiguration," Harry said.
"Nah. Snape's isn't due until Monday and McGonagall's is Friday. And if I get a spec of food on Snape's he'll fail it."
"True. I'm sure she'll stack some other assignments for the weekend as well," Harry sighed. Ron pondered for a moment. He couldn't tell if it was Harry's general disdain for homework that gave him such a melancholy tone or if there was something else going on there.
He was going down a rabbit hole with this. He wasn't going to get an answer. He was going to have to talk to Hermione. Or if not her, someone. Maybe he should bring it up to McGonagall? He wondered if he was being foolish. She'd dismiss him outright, he thought. Harry would be fine, she'd tell him. And he wouldn't believe her. Which would make him feel even worse about the entire situation.
"It will still be easier than whatever bullocks Snape assigned," Ron argued.
"We should be able to knock it out on Saturday morning," Harry said.
"Who wakes up in the morning on a Saturday?"
"Even you don't miss breakfast," Harry countered. It was a dumb joke. But Harry smiled when he said it. And Ron figured that was good enough for now.
"Well, sleep and bacon are both essentials," Ron said. "And I've got it down to an art of managing to get to the Great Hall just before they stop serving."
"It is an impressive talent," Harry agreed with a roll of his eyes. Ron nodded.
"I know. Now start telling me about this charm so I can get the bullet points down and we can knock this assignment off and I can go gorge myself before Quidditch," Ron said.
"How can you eat that much before Angelina's practices? I feel like I'd be vomiting onto the pitch."
"I can stay stationary for longer than you can," Ron answered. He didn't know if it had any bearing on anything. Sure, as the Keeper had to shoot from side to side, but if he was playing his position correctly he could face in one direction for most of it.
Harry, as the Seeker, tended to be flying all over the place as constant as he could. Sometimes doing loops and zags and any sort of maneuver he could pull off. Honestly, he wasn't sure how Harry didn't puke every time he got onto a broom. Especially given that Harry never seemed to be particularly interested in making sure the ground was beneath him and the sky above.
A Seeker who could naturally orient like that was a highly sought after commodity in the British League. He should mention that to Harry. Maybe his friend would have a shot at going pro after Hogwarts.
Then again, with how they spent their summer, and the constant rumors that even now were spilling around the castle. He suspected Harry would have some more pressing issues to deal with after Hogwarts.
It wasn't worth it to dwell on that little bit of information right now. Harry was stressed enough as it was without looking into what would happen to him after Hogwarts. Although, Ron thought if Sirius had his way the two of them would have a right fun time somewhere with bright sun, warm beaches, and bikini clad coeds.
Ron figured it would be in his best interest to talk them into letting him join.
Their homework went off more or less without a hitch. Hermione didn't join them. Which wasn't the most unusual thing in the world, but did surprise him to a small degree. She spent the first half hour of their break lecturing people who'd signed up to test his brothers' products on why that was an insane idea in general. None of them seemed swayed.
Ron didn't understand her annoyance at all of it. It wasn't like any of it was ungodly dangerous. So far the only side effects had been handled by some quick spellwork from his brothers or some dittany. And it wasn't like they didn't freely admit to testing everything on themselves long before it got to the point where they'd try it out on other people.
He didn't offer his services because he didn't want to listen to Hermione lecture him on it. Even if he could have used the handful of sickles they'd offered each of their testers.
Once she'd finished with her lecture she joined Lavender and seemed to work on the Transfiguration homework. Mostly, though, he thought she spent more of her time glaring at either Lavender, or him. Given she often complained about Lavender's inane chatting, he figured she was at least earning such stares. Even if he wasn't. Knowing her, she was blaming him for having to tolerate Lavender.
Either way the two of them annihilated their Charms homework and got a very solid start on Transfiguration. So much that they didn't bother scribbling away at it when they joined the Quidditch team for an early dinner before heading to the pitch to practice.
It went alright, he thought. He let in far more goals than he would have liked but neither of his brothers were doing much to support him defensively. He took it as a good sign that Angelina focused her ire far more on them than she did on him.
They took it in stride, as they always did, saying they wanted to see how Ron fared when they played more offensively than defensively. Angelina snapped back that she had no interest in having the Beaters play forward with an inexperienced Keeper and to worry about that later in the season when they had more chemistry than now.
Ron felt he should have been annoyed at that. But he wasn't. In a way it was a show of faith from his brothers given that they seemed to expect he'd be able to hold his own on the back end during a match. And the Quidditch part of his brain knew that there were situations when he'd have to deal with that exact scenario. So he may as well practice it now. It started out rough but he thought he'd done much better toward the end of practice. He had a few stellar saves in a row to round out the night.
Even Harry commented on the last couple of them, animatedly lunging his arms out in the directions Ron had while making the save as they walked back to the castle. He wondered if he was blushing, or just felt warm from the effort of practice. But it was nice to be praised and it was nice to see his friend so animated.
They finished the Transfiguration homework as soon as they made it back to the Common Room. After that it made the most sense to lie their way through Divination while Neville joined them. The three of them came up with some exceptionally tragic scenarios that they'd be involved in. He wondered if Trelawney would mark all of them down for insisting they'd wind up in a Calabarian prison.
Once their homework was finished the conversation turned into the other various things they'd discuss every day. The general gossip of Hogwarts filling the common room as a whole. It went on for an hour or so. Somewhere in there he and Neville started a chess match. Neville wasn't much of an opponent. He knew little about the game. But he seemed interested so Ron focused more on talking him through options than beating him.
About halfway through the game Hermione showed up again. She walked over toward them, saw the seats were all taken in their small little nook of the common room, and tossed herself down onto the arm of Ron's chair.
She slipped and fell halfway onto him in the chair with a gasp. He caught her with one arm, holding her in place as he moved a knight to take one of Neville's pawns. It was a gambit of sorts. Neville could take it with his bishop, but he'd almost certainly lose his queen in two moves. If he was patient he'd have a shot at one of Ron's rooks and his other knight. He waited to see how Neville would react.
As his housemate debated his move he noticed he still had his arm loosely around Hermione. He stiffened as he held her, wondering if it meant anything that rather than shift away back onto the arm and move away from his touch, she seemed to be leaning back into it. Either way he decided to worry more about the chess match rather than focus on Hermione Granger.
"This is stupid," she said. Ron resisted the urge to snap at her. Chess was far from stupid. And unlike a lot of his hobbies, not one she could harp on. It was his only hobby that could even be considered mildly educational.
"What's that?" Harry asked before Ron could comment. Neville, to his credit, didn't take his knight. Ron rubbed his chin with his free hand. His friend picked up the game quickly. It wouldn't be long until he was a worthwhile opponent.
"I've done every one of Umbridge's assignments for the remainder of the year. They never get better," Hermione scoffed.
"You can't know what every assignment is for the rest of the year," Harry countered. Hermione rolled her eyes at him.
"It's not like they change all that much. Same prompts with the occasional different detail filled in," Hermione said. "But as is, I do."
"How?"
"I asked Leanne Stone to ask Umbridge for them. She put on a great show of trying to act like she was hoping to do anything to get ahead of her work during her exam year," Hermione said.
"That Hufflepuff that hangs out with Katie Bell?" Harry asked.
"Yes. And anyway, Umbridge gave them to her. I'm almost surprised she'd even organized them like that. She doesn't strike me as the type to have planned that far ahead," Hermione said.
"Percy probably did it for her," Ron said. His older brother seemed to be willing to do just about anything to curry some favor with others at the ministry. Even writing letters to him telling him how his best friend was a dangerous, delusional, deranged madman. Percy's advice, that he should immediately stop associating with Harry Potter, had fallen on deaf ears.
"That would make some sense. Either way I took the copies from Leanne and did all of them. It's the same thing over and over. It only took me a couple of hours," Hermione frowned.
"Can I borrow those?" Harry joked. Hermione shrugged her shoulders and said something that may have made Ron fall out of his chair had she not been still half perched in his lap.
"I don't see why not," she asked.
"Excuse me?" Neville and Harry asked at the same time.
"She doesn't grade fairly anyway. As far as I'm concerned, have at it. It's not like we're learning anything,;" Hermione said. The boys all blinked at her.
"Who are you?" Harry asked.
"What?" Hermione blinked.
"What did you do with Hermione?" Neville asked.
"And where did you get the Polyjuice potion?" Ron added.
"If I thought doing the assignments would actually do you some good I would make you do them. As is, it's all just busywork and we're all busy enough without them," Hermione said.
"Be nice to have one class to not have to worry about at all," Neville said. He surprised Ron by pushing one of his pawns forward. He seemed to be staging an interesting defense. And one that might beat him if he let it go on for much longer.
"It's pointless though, we're not learning anything. And the exams have a practical portion," Hermione huffed. It wasn't the first time she'd made this argument. So they all sort of zoned it out, thinking they should just ignore her and she'd move on to something more interesting.
"So you've said," Ron said. He moved a bishop into the middle of the board. Neville would have to pick between a knight or a rook. He went with the rook. Which would cost him his Queen in a few turns.
"I think Harry should do it," Hermione blurted out.
"Excuse me?" Harry asked, his brows raising. He looked like he would rather do anything else.
"Well, you're the best at it of all of us," Hermione said.
"Hardly," Harry countered with an exaggerated roll of his eyes.
"You are though," Hermione spat right back. "You learned the stuff for the tournament faster than any of us did. And you remembered it. And you utilized it under pressure. And you dueled Lord Voldemort," she said. Both Ron and Neville flinched away from her words.
"I feel like fear for my life was a great motivator," Harry shrugged. "I'd be an awful teacher."
"I doubt it," Neville said. "You always have a good way of explaining Charms and Transfiguration to me. And you were the best in Moody and Lupin's class."
"I don't think Umbridge will take too kindly to me standing up in front of the class and demonstrating the Patronus Charm," Harry said.
"We obviously wouldn't do it then," Hermione said.
"So something else to add to my schedule?" Harry asked. "I'm short enough on free time as it is."
"You'll have more of it when all the Defense homework is done well ahead of time," Hermione responded as cheerfully as she could muster. Harry shook his head.
"So I can wind up in detention for copying your homework? No thanks. I'm going to keep doing mine without looking at anything someone else did," Harry answered. Hermione frowned at him.
"I suppose that's fair but will you at least think about it?" she asked.
"No," he said.
"Come on Harry," Hermione frowned.
"No," Harry said again.
"I think it's a good idea," Neville said. Hermione smiled at him. Neville blushed and moved the wrong pawn as he looked away from her. It cost him his queen and would result in Mate in a couple more moves.
But Ron was less amused by that, given that he was too busy peering over at Hermione's bright face with her perfect straight white teeth. He didn't like that Neville had drawn such a reaction from her. He wanted to be the one who drew reactions like that from her. He couldn't think of a way to do so past agreeing. So he agreed.
"I agree," he said. It turned Hermione's expression toward him and Neville's down to the chess board. He seemed to realize he'd lost. But he played out the rest of the game and Ron didn't gloat when it finally ended. Harry said nothing. He let his gaze wander over the common room.
"Damn," Neville muttered.
"You're getting better," Ron said. He moved a few pieces back onto the board, resetting it a few turns. "Here, let me show you the only real mistake you made."
"Okay," Neville said. And Ron went about explaining some of the moves and why he made them. He was only halfway through doing so when Harry decided he was going to head to bed. It was early for him. But they'd had a long day. Hermione walked with him to the stairs leading to the boys' dormitories. Ron watched them chat for a few moments. Hermione raised her brows, seeming surprised by something before they hugged and Harry went up to bed.
She peered back at him but instead of rejoining them moved toward the other dormitories. He and Neville played another game. Which led to Neville and Dean playing a match after. It was close, but Neville pulled it out. After that, the weeknight routine in the common room drew to a close and Ron and Neville retired to the dorm room. Harry's curtains were closed and the lights were all off. Ron changed and crawled into his own bed.
He was shaken awake moments later.
His first reaction was to hex whomever dared screw with his sleep but that seemed petty. And when his eyes focused it turned out to be Harry. Which was, at the very least, better than waking up to Sirius Black standing over his bed with a knife. He yawned and sat up, feeling like he'd fall straight back asleep if he didn't move.
"What?" he whispered.
"Come with me," Harry whispered back. Ron debated asking why. But figured the why didn't matter. He was going to go with him regardless. For all he cared they could be going to bury Draco Malfoy's body somewhere and, honestly, Ron's only issue with that would have been that he hadn't been there when Harry killed him.
He found some slippers and rose from the bed, following Harry into the common room.
It was dark, the only light left from the dimming embers of the fireplace. Harry added a log to it, causing the fire to grow and sat on the couch nearest to it. Before Ron could think to ask something, he heard footsteps from the girls' dormitory.
Hermione emerged just as he turned to peer at the oncoming noise. She wore a fluffy white bathrobe tied tightly around her waist and her hair was loose and an absolute mess. It wasn't an unappealing sight, Ron thought.
"What's going on?" Ron asked.
"Sirius is coming," Harry said.
"To Hogwarts?" Ron asked.
"Of course not, that would be insane," Hermione scoffed.
"I'm not sure. He just said to be in the common room now," Harry said.
"Harry?" Sirius's voice rang out from the growing fireplace. Ah, a floo call, that made more sense. Although he had to admit, he was fairly surprised the Hogwarts common room allowed such things.
"We're here," he said.
"Who's we?" Sirius asked.
"Me, Ron, Hermione," Harry answered.
"Ah, I see," Sirius said.
"Is that a problem?" Harry asked, defensively. His body tensed as he peered at the head in the fire.
"No," Sirius said. "I thought you were fighting toward the end of summer."
"We worked it out," Harry shrugged. Ron and Hermione exchanged a glance. There had been some tense moments, they both thought, but nothing they'd have qualified as a fight. And they certainly hadn't done anything they'd qualify as 'working it out'.
Harry and Sirius chatted for a few minutes. Harry needled him about the Order of the Phoenix and even Ron had to admit, Sirius was rather more forthcoming with his answers than he would have expected.
Sirius, on the other hand, asked him about his classes and his days and how he was doing. Harry was far more reticent than Sirius. But it didn't take too much needling to get info out of him about his classes or his day or anything of that nature.
Eventually the topic got to Umbridge. Sirius was literally fuming, extra smoke billowing from the fireplace, when Harry explained his detentions. He didn't seem wholly surprised by it, but the fury was evident.
"We're not learning anything," Hermione complained when Harry hesitated to answer one of Sirius's more prying questions.
"And with exams coming up that might be a problem," Ron added, for no other reason than buy Harry some time and support Hermione.
"Exams aren't the end of the world," Sirius said. "And it will reflect poorly on the ministry if you all fail your practicals. Remember it's a third party that does the exams. And Umbridge will probably train you to fight werewolves in the second half. Her own personal army to kill the unwanted."
"What?" Harry asked.
"Umbridge hates demihumans," Sirius shrugged. "She sponsored the bill that makes it nearly impossible for Remus to get a job."
"That's barbaric. She's not teaching us anything. I'm going to fail," Hermione countered.
"Then do a lot of independent studying," Sirius answered.
"We think Harry should help teach us," Hermione said.
"Not this again," Harry sighed.
"I'm not sure it's a bad idea," Sirius said.
"Thank you!" Hermione beamed.
"If Harry wants to at least. You were great in the Tournament last year. I can actually come up with some things I'd think worth teaching," Sirius shrugged.
"Really?" Harry blinked. The idea of lessons with Sirius Black obviously appealed to him.
"Sure," Sirius answered. "Remus is supposed to meet with Dumbledore in Hogsmeade next weekend. I know there's a few books lying around here that you might find interesting. I'll send them with him. He can sneak into the castle and get them to you if Dumbledore doesn't just pass them along."
"I can't imagine why he wouldn't," Hermione scoffed.
"He doesn't want to be seen as very close to Harry. He thinks it will put him in even more danger," Sirius said.
"That's dumb," Ron said. Sirius shrugged in a way that indicated he agreed but didn't feel the need to linger on the topic for any longer.
"Just tell him they're for me," Hermione shrugged. "Just say I asked about them when staying there and you found them or something."
"Easy enough," Sirius smiled.
"And no one will question Hermione wanting more books," Ron laughed. Hermione glared at him, but she was smiling as she did so.
The conversation continued for almost an hour. Ron didn't participate much, sleep weighing down his eyes. But he watched Harry smiling and talking and enjoying himself. So much so that he wasn't surprised at how it all ended, after Sirius had left.
"I'll do it," he said.
"Great!" Hermione exclaimed, hugging Harry as they moved toward the dormitories.
"We have to find a way to keep it a secret from Umbridge. And where to do it that makes sense," Harry said.
"I'll come up with something. I actually think we should talk about it with a few more people on our next Hogsmeade weekend," she said.
"Okay," Harry agreed. His eyes narrowed as spoke, as if he wasn't thrilled by the prospect of even more people. But something about his conversation with Sirius put an extra bounce in his step. And, for the first time since they'd returned to Hogwarts, Ron followed him up the stairs to the dormitory without a trace of worry in his chest.
Perhaps this was exactly what his friend needed to end his doldrums.
Author's note: This story now shifts into a bit more of a Hogwarts then Campaign repeating style now as the characters continue to develop. As always thanks for reading and reviewing I do appreciate all of the support I receive. If you wish to support me further you can do so on PAT RE ON at TE7writes. The final chapters of my other WiP, Cleansing the Sins of the Past are live there, as well as the next ten chapters of this story.