TITLE: Old Friends
AUTHOR: Catriona Rhiannon
RATING: PG. Ratings may change in any subsequent chapters hereafter.
CATEGORIES: Angst and Romance
SPOILERS: SS, CoS, PoA, GoF, OotP
DISCLAIMER: Standard disclaimers apply. The characters of the Potter-verse belong to JK Rowling.
Unfamiliar characters and the entire plot of this story is based on "Merrily We Roll Along", a musical by
Stephen Sondheim, based on a play by George Furth.
AUTHOR'S NOTES: Cor, I took quite a long break, didn't I? Well, I had a bit of writer's
block, then finally I sat down and plowed my way through this chapter in one go. It's not really a chapter per se;
no plot development. But I just wanted to answer a few questions: What happened so many years ago in young adult
Harry's life that altered the way his life went? I just wanted to show how things ended up the way it did, and I
hope the lot of you will be more sympathetic towards Harry. After all, it's quite a lot he's having to go
through - falling in love and losing his best friends in one go. But not to worry! Things will definitely look up.
Maybe. If my nefarious muses decide that Harry needs a good kick up the arse. ^_^
As always: read and review, please!
OLD FRIENDS
INTERLUDE
"Get rid of her, Harry."
"Ron," Harry began, exasperated. He looked into his friend's face, which seemed to be uncharacteristically serious. "I… can't. You know I can't. I know it's wrong; I know how much I've hurt Greg because of all of this, and the both of you as well, but I think… I really think I love her."
He collapsed into his favorite living room chair, the world suddenly seeming all too suffocating and too small for him. He wanted to get out. He wanted to see her again. With her, he could just forget about all the demands they made of the Boy Who Lived and just be a boy, a man.
Ron threw up his hands. "How do you know you're in love? You can't even recognize love, even when it's right under your bloody nose!"
He let out a frustrated sigh when Harry didn't even acknowledge that he nearly told him of his other best friend's feelings for him.
"Harry," he began, a shade gentler. "You know that Hermione and I love you. We're both bleeding beside ourselves with worry. You don't pick up our calls, you don't attempt to call us, we haven't even seen you since you quit-"
He took a deep, unhappy breath. "And you missed New Year's. Bloody hell, Harry. You've never missed New Year's supper before."
"I know Ron. I…" Harry trailed off and let his face fall into his open palms. "I'm sorry."
Ron sighed. "Harry, something's wrong." Harry looked up at him, surprise in his eyes. "Hermione's been acting odd. She's been in a deep funk, and I don't know why. No one knows why." He was lying. He knew why Hermione was depressed, and it had everything to do with Harry's obsession with the Hollywood diva.
"Hermione? What's wrong? Is she alright?"
Suddenly Ron couldn't take it anymore. "Well you should bloody well know! Just because you have this woman in your life right now doesn't mean we'll just pause our lives and wait for you to get back to us when you feel like it."
Harry stood up and held up his hands. "Ron, it's not like that-"
Ron stepped closer to Harry and shoved him. "What the hell is it then, Harry? Because I don't know what's going on anymore. You don't even care about Hermione and me! Should I keel over dead before you notice? Will you even come to the fucking funeral? Or will Miss High-and-Mighty not allow that either?"
"Ron!" Harry yelled, anger igniting behind his lenses. "You're not letting me explain! You don't understand; you never did!"
"What are you going on about?"
Harry shook his head briskly. "Never mind," he said tightly.
"I asked you a question Harry," Ron said firmly. "I asked you what you meant by that."
Harry looked up at him, and all of a sudden, he could see the weariness that this argument was causing, and for a moment, Ron was nearly sorry.
"Please, Ron. I don't want to have a row with you. God knows you're my best mate. But sometimes… it's just that you never understand how I feel about being me."
"Then why don't you talk to us? To me? Instead of being so bloody thick about it?"
"RON! I've been trying to explain to you for the past few minutes why I couldn't tell you! See? This is what I meant about you not listening! Even when we were back at Hogwarts, you kept blasting me about every little thing! You never even tried to understand about how I felt about being the fucking Boy-Who-Lived. All you cared about was you not getting enough of the attention! But Deirdree doesn't know. And she doesn't care. I don't have to put up any pretenses when I'm with her! I can be me." Harry's green eyes were wide and vulnerable under his glasses. He looked as if he were trying hard not to cry. "Don't you get it, Ron? I need her."
"And what about us?" Ron spat back coldly. "Don't we matter anymore?"
"Of course you do, Ron. I just thought… I thought you would understand is all."
"Ah," Ron said simply. "So we should understand that she's turned our best friend, one of the greatest wizards of our time, into a pile of blithering… I don't know. What are you? Who are you? I don't know anymore, Harry. I don't know."
"You're not making this any easier on me."
"Damn right I won't," Ron replied sharply. "You know she hates us, and we aren't lovey-dovey with her either, for that matter. So that leaves you with two choices, really."
The angry look on Harry's face vanished, and fear and panic crept onto it. "Ron, don't make me do this. Please… don't…"
"We can't be your friends if you don't allow us to be, Harry. It's just not possible. I'd rather cut myself out of this mess with you right now, and remember our friendship as it used to be, than hang around you for the rest of my life, watching you walk farther and farther away from me. And from Hermione."
Ron blinked back the sting from his eyes, and looked down, staring hard at the fabric of his shirt. "There's no other way, Harry. If you can come up with a suggestion, I'm all ears. But as of right now, this is the choice you have to make. I didn't make it out to end this way. You did."
Harry didn't reply, but Ron got his answer.
He heaved an almighty sigh, and a great sadness lodged itself in his heart. He never thought it would have come to this. He walked to the door, through the door, and only when he heard it click shut behind him, did he allow the tears to flow.