Harry couldn't bear being alone with his thoughts. His thoughts always diverted to Ron and Hermione… and he thought that he had had enough of Ron and Hermione to last him a lifetime.
But what if this does last a lifetime? What then?
He shushed his inner, cynical voice and heaved himself out of the Gryffindor Common Room. He simply wasn't going to get any good out of sulking all day.
Harry roamed the castle, feeling very alone, and hoping that he could run into someone… anyone.
"Well, if it isn't Potter!"
Except him. Harry urged himself to keep walking, but the speaker continued in his wake.
"What the hell do you want, Malfoy?" Harry asked spitefully.
"Just thought I'd congratulate you on a good man's game," Draco said, his signature smirk forming on his lips.
"Why would you say that?" Harry had been on the receiving end of Draco's taunting for seven years now, and this compliment could only lead to an enormous blow.
"You're taking this losing to Weasley thing extraordinarily well. If I were you, I'd positively feel like scum if I lost to him." Harry fumed, dangerously clenching his fists ready to pummel to kingdom come. "And at the hands of a Mudblood too! Imagine th-AUGH!"
"Don't-you - talk about - my friends - that - way!" Harry bellowed, forgetting all reason and the fact that he had magic and started hauling punch after punch on Draco's sickening face. "You lousy bas-"
"MR. POTTER GET UP THIS INSTANT!"
Harry had a vague feeling that someone was there with them, but he didn't pay it any heed until hands came underneath his arms and lugged him off of Draco, whose face, he noticed with gleeful contempt, was bleeding profusely from the nose.
"Mr. Potter! In all my years in Hogwarts-how could you? - Explain yourself this minute!!!"
As Draco groaned, sprawled upon the stone floor, Harry slowly looked up into the enraged face of Professor McGonagall. Her eyes were bulged out, her nostrils were flared, and her breathing was oddly fast and shallow. Harry knew that in order to get himself out of trouble, he would have to think of something fast.
He shrugged.
Professor McGongall's face reddened a few shades and Harry was surprised that she didn't slap him. She fiercely turned around at Draco's cowering figure and said, "Mr. Malfoy, take yourself to the Hospital Wing. I am certain that you are capable of doing that!" He scrambled up, his hands covering his bleeding mess of a nose and practically bolted to the infirmary. "And as for you," McGonagall spat, rounding on him. "I am shocked beyond disbelief that you… you… would stoop this low. You are to have detention every night for this month and I'll be having a word with Dumbledore. Also note that you are stripped of Hogsmeade visits for this month as well. Now go to Gryffindor Tower and don't let me catch you acting so despicably again!"
She stared long and hard at him, and Harry had no choice but to go back to Gryffindor Tower and stay there and wait for Ron and Hermione.
To his surprise, they were already there, sipping casually from Butterbeer bottles.
"Harry! There you are!" Hermione exclaimed, getting up from the seat next to Ron and bringing him over a Butterbeer bottle. He smiled feebly and the day felt a little better when she smiled back at him. However, her eyes dropped and the smile soon disappeared from her face as she noticed traces of blood all over Harry's hand. "Harry! What on earth have you been doing?" she asked in rapid concern. She took a hold of his hand to inspect the mess and Harry felt his skin tingle at her touch.
"Oh… well… I got into a little fight…" he said, avoiding eye contact.
"A fight?! Harry, what were you thinking? You could have gotten into so much trouble!" Hermione said, eyeing him warily.
"Who was it, mate?" Ron questioned, butting in. Hermione sent a glare his way, and for a moment, things were how they always were…
"Malfoy. I got into a fight with Malfoy…"
"Alright!" Ron whooped, about to pump his fist into the air but Hermione intercepted it.
"No, it's not alright, Ron. Harry could have gotten in deep trouble." She turned to face him. Seeing the look on his face, she said, "D-did you get in trouble?"
Harry shifted uneasily under her gaze. "Er… yes. McGonagall caught us…"
"What were you fighting about?" Ron asked, the same time Hermione asked, "What did she say?"
"I-it was nothing. He was just being his usual self and I guess I just lost it then," Harry fibbed. "I've got detention for the month, no Hogsmeade and McGonagall said she'd be talking to Dumbledore."
"Dumbledore? That's quite serious, Harry!" Hermione gasped. "What did Malfoy say to make you lose it like that?"
"Oh… well… he just…" Harry really didn't want to explain the whole ordeal to Hermione, or Ron for that matter. It concerned the two of them, and Harry thought that his jealousy towards the whole Ron and Hermione relationship would be too evident there. No, it was unsafe. Thankfully, he was interrupted before he could elaborate.
"Ron, Hermione, I just finished developing the pictures!" It was Colin, who was waving a photograph excitedly in the air.
Ron felt himself go a little pale. "Wh-what? Already? So soon?" Hermione seemed to just be stunned into silence.
"Oh sure! With the potion I use, it takes no time at all, and I figured that you would want this photo straight away. So here you go!" He handed the picture over to Ron, who gaped at it, Hermione doing the same. "Now don't you two make a great couple?" Colin asked cheerily.
"What's the picture of? Let me see," Harry queried, reaching out to see the picture.
"Er… no! You don't want to see this, Harry… I-it's nothing," Hermione said, snatching the picture in order to get it further away from his grasp.
Colin chuckled. "Oh, those two just want their little privacy. It's a picture of them kissing, that's all."
Ron wanted to strangle Colin for not keeping his mouth shut. Hermione wanted to die on the spot. The pair of them didn't want their relationship to seem too serious if Harry was ever going to cave in and say something… but a picture of the two of them kissing, well, that just made things a little more complicated. Harry felt something inside of him wrench cruelly. He gently retracted his arm and muttered a faint "oh". The tension flared up between everyone.
Colin seemed to notice the drastic atmosphere change and silently excused himself. The three of them were left in the Common Room to wallow in the discomfort surrounding them.
"Well… the relationship between you two seems to be smashing," Harry said in fake happiness.
"Oh… well… it is," Hermione said softly, her voice barely audible. Ron nodded silently, not knowing what to say.
"I-I'm happy for you two. I really am," Harry willed himself to say. "You know, I thought it would have been really weird, having the two of you go out, but I see now that you must be really happy with one another. That's… that's great." He slowly stood up and started to make his way to the staircase. "I'm a little tired right now, and I reckon I should wash off Malfoy's blood from my hand," he said awkwardly. He then departed without another word.
Ron and Hermione were left alone and the two of them stared sullenly at the staircase where Harry had just been. Once he disappeared from view, Ron's gaze diverted back to the photograph lying between he and Hermione.
The picture was in black and white and was a normal photo that didn't move ("I should never have shown him that potion to develop Muggle pictures!" Hermione scolded herself). Trust Colin to use non-magical film so that Hermione's innocent peck on the cheek looked like an intimate moment between the two of them. The picture almost made him sick, and not because Hermione and he looked like they were kissing. He stared at Hermione next to him, who looked quite close to tears.
"Hermione…"
"No, Ron. This is going all wrong. Harry is starting to think that we're really serious and that's the last thing I want him to think! The more serious he thinks we are, the more pretending we'll have to do and that just downright means we'll have to lie to him some more. I don't want to lie to him anymore, Ron, this is just going to hurt him and even us in the end." She looked up at him miserably, her eyes shining. Ron slung an arm around her shoulders and tried to comfort her.
"Listen, Hermione, I don't want to take this too far either. But maybe… maybe this picture will really prompt Harry to say something. He says he's happy for us, but I can see right through him! Maybe it'll work still…"
"No. I want this to stop. I was mad agreeing to do this in the first place. Ron… we have to end it."
Ron looked at her and said, "Are you breaking up with me?"
A wan smile broke out on their faces at the small joke.
"Seriously, Ron. We'll end this officially tomorrow, and we'll tell Harry the truth. I think he has a right to know."
"Okay," Ron agreed reluctantly. He knew Hermione was right, she was from the beginning, but it still didn't make the fact that his plan was crumbling to ruins any easier to accept with grace. "We end this tomorrow."
*
Harry awoke in the middle of the night, not from the usual terrors that haunted his sleep. No, this time, it was due to the most obvious reasons. Ron and Hermione dating was working for them, yet it wasn't working for him. He felt uncomfortable around them, out of place, and sometimes, he just wished that it had been him instead of Ron.
What did Ron have that he didn't anyway?
Pending disaster looming over your head.
Harry shook his head and sat up in bed, staring bleakly into his blankets while resting his head upon his hands, which then rested upon his knees. He felt hurt to know that his two best friends were dating, being happy with each other, while he was left in the dark, basically awaiting the ultimate confrontation in solitude.
Hermione would definitely say otherwise. Ever since the two of them had begun dating, she and Ron had assured him multiple times that they would always be there for him and that nothing would dramatically change. Ron even said that Harry should voice out if the whole affair was bothering him.
"And Harry, I don't want to ruin anything, so if you start feeling uncomfortable, let me know…"
Harry had to let him know. This was causing him inner turmoil, something that he could definitely have less of.
He swung his legs out of bed, his bare foot touching the cold floor. He had half a mind to wake up Ron at this moment, but thought it better for it to wait until the following day. Instead, he did what he normally did on sleepless nights, and padded out of the dormitory all the way to the Common Room.
The dying light emanating from the fireplace cast creepy shadows all along the walls. The warmth was welcoming though, so Harry settled himself onto the couch to bask in it. The only sound accompanying him was the occasional crackle of the fire, and soon, Harry was lulled into a half awake state. His eyes wandered over the room, from the eerie shadows he noticed earlier to the dancing flames. His eyes then fell upon something on the table near the couch and his stomach flopped.
Lying there, taunting him, was the black and white photo of Ron and Hermione kissing. It seemed simple enough, her lips making contact with his cheek, yet Harry still felt affected as if he had seen them snogging each other senseless. He dropped the photo back on the table and began to make his dreary way back to bed when a voice startled him from behind.
"It's not what it looks like, you know."
Harry swerved around, caught in surprise at the sight of Hermione there, her nightly ponytail mussed up from tossing and turning in bed and her pajamas quite rumpled. A frown was set on her face as she looked upon the photo in scrutiny. Harry was confused at the look on her face, for he thought that one wouldn't mind so much a picture of them kissing their significant other, but he just took it as perhaps her not appreciating the lack of privacy she and Ron were getting.
"Just wish that everyone left you alone?" he asked, as she came to sit next to him and stare into the fire much as he had.
Hermione sighed, picking at the couch's cushion. "Yeah…" she breathed.
"I know how you feel."
She looked at him then and the expression in her eyes was overwhelming. Harry did not remember any girl staring at him that way, and all of a sudden he had the urge to kiss her soft lips… even for the briefest of moments.
Their faces drifted closer and closer, Harry's mind screaming in protest that this was wrong… this was bordering on the lines of ruined friendships… but he didn't want to listen to his mind. He blocked it out and listened to his heart and body. He kissed her.
Kissing her was similar to flying. He felt weightless… her senses consumed him and there just seemed to be nothing but him and this wonderful sensation. He never wanted to stop. He could kiss her for an eternity.
Hands ran through hair… hands were simply everywhere. A million feelings were experienced all through closed lids. This just seemed like it would never stop.
Meanwhile, Harry's mind wrestled with his body. He so wanted to keep kissing the girl in his arms, but he couldn't…
He pulled back, looking into her flushed face and wanting to resume what they had started. They were breathless, the light of the flames dancing off their heated skin. Harry's fingers hovered over her face as he finally gave in and traced her brow and swept away pieces of her hair from her face. Hermione shuddered at his feather light touch.
"Harry, look, I-" Hermione started to say but Harry stopped his movements and pulled back, shaking his head.
"Hermione, I-I'm sorry. I shouldn't have-I'll just go..." He got up from the couch, and at the last moment, picked up the photograph of her and Ron and handed it to her. "Here, you forgot this."
He walked away, feeling terrible. He closed the door to the dormitory, thinking that perhaps he had just closed the door to the best opportunity in his life.
Clutching the picture, Hermione wiped away a tear, willing herself to not start crying.