Ron watched cautiously as Harry headed toward him, grumbling things under his breath as he did so. Judging by the hard slam of the door and the way he was intensely gripping his broomstick, something was definitely on his mind. Harry stared him down, as if trying to tell him what had just happened.
Harry plopped down frustratingly on the bench next to Ron and his other team mates, waiting for the cue to get out into the stadium. Harry stared blankly at the ground, hanging his head low as he loosely hung onto his broomstick. Ron chuckled a bit at him.
"Get your zipper stuck again? You know, Harry, there's a simple solution for-"
Harry snapped his head up and stared intensely at him, never moving his mouth to utter a single word. Ron shook his head.
"Something tells me it wasn't your zipper that did you in this time," he said smoothly, trying to be the comedian that he always tried to be.
Harry let out a heavy sigh and rolled his eyes at him, clenching his teeth to keep his mouth shut so he wouldn't say anything snotty to his best friend.
"Harry, what is it," Ron asked soothingly as he placed a hand on his shoulder to encourage his words that clearly wanted to spew out of his mouth.
Harry flopped his head back down and put his head in his hands. He mumbled something but Ron couldn't understand him.
"What was that?"
"Hermione," Harry said a bit louder. Ron blinked in thought for a moment.
"Okay…what about her?"
"She came in to talk to me a little bit ago." Harry's head was still in his hands and he never looked at Ron to see the expression on his face.
"Oh. OH! Harry! What did she say," he jumped around with his words, suddenly anxious as to what they talked about. Harry looked sideways a bit, never changing his expression, but looking long enough to see Ron turn on the bench and fling his legs around…one on each side. "What happened," he questioned a little more calmly. Harry sat up straight then pulled himself slowly to his feet to let out a deep sigh.
He leaned himself lazily against his broom with his hands, cupping the end of it for support. Ron tried his best to read his body language and facial expressions. He looked miserable.
"Harry you look like you've been thrown out the window. What happened in there?"
Harry took a deep breath and looked his friend honestly in the eyes.
"I've done it this time Ron. She hates me," he said slow and quiet. Ron's eyes jerked open further to stare at him in complete confusion. A moment later he softened and raised one eyebrow.
"Harry, did she actually say that to you," he asked in a skeptical tone. Harry just looked at him and then let his eyes wander around.
He stood up a bit straighter as he looked into the stands. Ron followed his gaze and a slight smile spread onto his face. Hermione was sitting in the stands next to Lavender and Parvati. They were on each side of her and appeared to be soothing her. Ron stepped closer to be next to Harry and he looked closer. Harry was also in a trance.
Hermione had her head on Lavender's shoulder and looked quite withdrawn, no expression on her face. She just stared at the grassy field below.
Ron locked his eyes on Hermione still and turned his head toward Harry, breaking that gaze only to look at Harry's face to hopefully understand what's going through his mind.
"Harry, answer my question. Did she or didn't she tell you she hated you?"
Harry turned his head toward him and saw that his eye brows were raised in such a way it was like he was challenging him. Harry's face softened and he looked at the ground.
"No. Not in so many words. I can just feel it," he started, then snapped his eyes back up to Ron's. he was listening intensely, thinking about every word that came out of Harry's mouth. "I mean, when we were talking in there…I don't know, I just had this intense feeling. Then she gave me the strangest look and left before I could say anything more."
Ron nodded his head slowly then moved back to the bench to sit down. They still had a few minutes until they had to fly out into the stadium and it was the perfect time to have a talk-er actually knock some sense into Harry.
Ron sighed a bit and Harry came to sit on the bench next to him.
"What," he asked, sounding between being totally clueless and defensive, noticing Ron was thinking up something. Ron looked up and grinned but rolled his eyes.
"Harry, we need to have a serious one on one talk, you and me."
Harry nodded reluctantly but couldn't imagine what he would say. Ron took that as a cue to continue.
"How many times have you told Hermione to lay off you?"
Harry just looked at him. "Plenty of times, but she doesn't get it."
"Okay-and how many times has she lashed out at you, telling you that nothing was your fault?"
Harry rolled his eyes dreadfully, not wanting to answer the question. "More times than I can count," he answered in a low drawl. Ron grinned at the expression of total frustration on Harry's face.
"Right. Harry she doesn't hate you. It's obvious she doesn't or she would let you blame yourself for nearly getting her killed, which you didn't do. You know and I know just as well that there was a lot going on. We couldn't possibly keep an eye on each other the entire time. That's what she's been trying to tell you. Why do you fight it?"
Harry stood up quickly and walked forward, keeping his back to him. Ron stood up also and joined Harry, who was staring at the stands again at a much more cheerful Hermione. She was laughing now and having a good time talking with Lavender and Parvati. Harry's eyes were glued on her. Ron looked over and stared, waiting for him to notice he was being watched. Nothing happened. He never once broke his gaze on Hermione. A tiny smile appeared in his lips. Ron saw what he was doing and it dawned on him. Ron folded his arms, feeling a hunch coming on. Harry didn't notice.
"Harry," he started.
"Yeah," he answered quietly, still watching Hermione closely as he held his broom out to his side.
"Tell me something. This is a simple question; yes or no."
Harry turned his head and shrugged, that smile no longer on his face. "Alright," he answered simply and turned his attention back to Hermione, not knowing what he was doing was so obvious.
"Harry, are you pushing Hermione away because you love her," Ron asked, feeling the corners of his mouth twitch as he asked the question. He knew the answer but wanted it straight from Harry's mouth.
"'Course I love her. She's been our friend for a long time."
Ron shook his head. "That's not what I meant. Are you doing this because you're in love with her?"
Ron kept his eyebrows raised and smiled when Harry turned his head abruptly, having a look on his face that could turn someone inside out from laughter.
"Well?"
Harry blushed and looked at the ground. "What makes you say that?"
Ron laughed softly to himself as he looked back up into the stands. "By the way you were just looking at her. I've seen that look before, but not since you had that huge crush on Cho a couple years ago. But the look in your eyes just now was much more intense than any other time you would look at Cho."
Harry looked at him, but tried to avoid his eyes. Suddenly he stared Ron straight in those eyes he wanted to avoid. His face was tense and he looked serious again.
"Ron, what do I do?"
Ron smiled and allowed the reason for Harry's torment to sink in: He was in love with their best friend.
The team scattered and suddenly it was time for the game to begin. Harry took a deep breath and looked around frantically. Ron put a hand on his shoulder as they lead the team line. "Let's just get through this game, what do you say?"
Harry smiled at him and was relieved that he wasn't going to give him a hard time about Hermione, knowing what he knows now. Harry glanced out at the stands and spotted Hermione again. This time he didn't smile. He let out a heavy, meaningful sigh as he and his team took off to the middle of the field on their brooms.