Ron walked up to them slowly. Harry kept his back to the jerk, waiting for Ron to make the first move. He felt Ron stop behind him. "Fred, George," Ron said without much kindness or emotion. The twins looked at each other then backed away. Smart move by them. Harry was starting to wish that he could make such a smart move. "Harry."
"Weasley." Harry turned to look at Ron, noting that he was probably stronger then Ron now, despite Ron working for the Cannons. Guess working away the pain helped him more than he thought.
"What you doing back Harry?" Ron asked. There was a smile on the man's face, but Harry could see the anger in Ron's eyes.
"Fixing bridges," Harry said calmly. Ron's face become contorted in confusion. "And breaking a couple of them down." He felt the anger in that space just below his heart starting to boil. Not yet. "How have you been Ron?"
"Great, me and Hermione are getting married, did you know that?" Ron said. Harry wanted to say yes, and that she broke it off, but really if given the chance, he wanted Ron to dig himself into a hole even deeper than the one he was starting in.
"Hermione and I," Harry corrected.
"Whatever, the point is that we're getting married," Ron said with so much resolve that it sounded like he believed himself. Harry arched an eyebrow at this. This was getting too easy.
"So where is she? I mean, shouldn't she be with you right now?" Harry asked. Ron faulted at this, the confidence leaving his face.
"Well, she's not here right now," Ron looked around, like he was trying to spot Hermione. Harry knew where she was, coming from behind Ron to scare the living shit out of him. That was what Harry figured Ron was full of, because there was nothing else coming out of him.
"Don't say that Ronald," Hermione said as she took the final step from around him. Ron jumped a foot off the ground, though it didn't matter. Harry's glare never left Ron's face as he began to look at Hermione.
"Love, what are you doing here? I thought you were visiting your parents, and coming later," Ron said.
"When did it happen Ron?" Harry asked before Hermione could respond. Ron looked confused before his eyes shone.
"Well, I asked her back in-" Harry cut him off.
"No, when did you start telling yourself these lies? And believing them?" Ron stopped at this, the confusion replaced with anger.
"What's that supposed to mean Potter?" Ron growled at this and took a fighter's stance. By now a crowd was beginning to form around them, and he could see Mrs. Weasley storming her way toward them.
"That Hermione loved you, that you deserved her, that I treated her poorly," Harry said.
"Those are true," Ron said. Harry chuckled, he couldn't help it. Now that Ron was before him trying to defend himself, it seemed kind of pathetic. "What's so funny Potter?"
"You live in a delusional world, filled with only the lost hope that you could amount the emotional capacity to fulfill a woman's desires to the point that she needs you more than anything else." Ron's stance grew back to confusion before quickly shifting back to the anger that he held. "You have no idea what I said do you?"
"Doesn't matter, you're still the jerk that drove Hermione away," Ron spat. Harry took two steps toward Ron, lifting him off the ground with all the strength he could muster. Which surprised him by easily lifting Ron.
"Only after I found the two of you together," Harry growled, "in my bed." He took several deep breaths as he grabbed hold of that anger below his heart. He had almost let it loose, and he did not want that to happen just yet. He was saving it for someone special, and as he felt the magic burn in the air, he realized that someone special had joined the party. He turned Ron, letting him get hit by the red spell sent his way.
"And that folks is how you take care of them enemy," he said as he unceremoniously dropped Ron to the ground. "You let them take out each other first." Molly stopped in her tracks, her wand held at her side as Harry began to approach her. "Hello, Molly." The famous Weasley temper had to come from somewhere, and it seemed that Molly was the source. Harry smiled at her, knowing it was only going to make her more angry. "Where's my invitation?"
"What?" He shocked her, good.
"My invitation to the Lupins' wedding," Harry said. "I know I was invited, they told me that you were in charge of it, so, tell me, where is my invitation?"
"It must have got lost in the mail," Molly said, looking around everyone.
"While normally I'd say yes, but owls don't let go of their letters without a fight, and all of mine go straight to Gringotts," Harry said. "They never got it, so I'm asking you again, where is my invitation?" He let his voice rise at the end, tapping into that pit of anger. A crowd had gathered around them now, one that Harry knew wasn't going to like one of two people by the end of the night. He hoped it wasn't him. "I'll ask you again one more time. Where is my invitation?" Molly mumbled something, her glaze glued to the floor.
"In the trash?" Harry asked. Molly's face shot up at this, beet red with angry eyes. "Now, why is that?"
"I do not need to answer to you," Molly shot back. "You're nothing but a troublemaker, out to ruin the lives of my children."
"Ruin your childre- Ruin your- Ruin...." Harry felt the anger toppling over. He vaguely heard something shatter and a couple of shrieks, but his eyes focused red on Molly as he glared her down. "You ruined my life with your manipulations."
"I did nothing of the sort," Molly scoffed. "I was only looking out for my children."
"Yes, your children, not the extra who thought he was apart of your household," Harry's voice near a dead whisper, but the room heard it. Molly stumbled back as if slapped. Good. He stood in silence for several minutes before deciding to start ripping her apart. "When do you tell Ron that he deserved Hermione?"
"I did nothing of the sort," Molly said. Her eyes stayed on Harry's though he knew he was getting to her.
"How about telling Ginny to use a love potion on me?" Harry said. "She's a lot stronger woman than you gave her credit for." Harry began to pace slowly, knowing that his calmness made Molly only angrier. "She told me what you told her, and made the decision on her own to try to get my attention without such atrocities. Worked too by the way." Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ginny blushing. Her telling him of her mother's words had been the first corner stone breaking between him and the matriarch of the Weasley household. "Seems your children really don't need your help to thrive. Or at least, most of them don't." Harry kicked Ron for emphasis, causing Molly to gasp, and several others.
"Now, we're going to try this revolutionary idea," Harry said. "We're going to tell the truth." He waited for a moment, knowing his voice was getting more and more condescending. "And by we I mean you."
"Don't you dare take that tone with young man," Molly said, waving her finger in his face.
"So now you think you have a right to boss me around?" Harry said through his laughter. "You kick me out of your house when I refused to bend to your whims in regard to what you thought was best. And now you're trying to get me to listen to you." He clutched his stomach, the laughter becoming too much. He stood up as the bolt of red streamed past him. "Now that wasn't very nice."
"How dare you come here and ruin this for everyone else?"
"I ruined it? I ruined it?" Harry said. "I wasn't the one who made your son steal my girlfriend from me. I wasn't the one who deluded the rest of my family into following my orders or else. I wasn't the one who did not invite the last remaining link to my friend's father to their wedding." He looked at Hermione and Ginny for a moment. "I think I confused myself on the last one." He got some nervous chuckles out of it though.
"Wedding?" Ginny stage whispered to him.
"Thanks," Harry said. "I'm not the one who took over a wedding that you really had no right to take over."
"It was my son's wedding." Molly was reeling now.
"No, it was supposedly Ron's and Hermione's wedding. Tradition dictates that the bride designs and plans her own wedding."
"She knows nothing about how a proper wizarding wedding should be." Molly scoffed at this. Harry felt the pit below his heart overflowing.
"And in that statement alone, you prove to me why you are unfit to welcome someone like Hermione into your home," Harry said. The room was dead silent as Harry's words sunk in.
"Ron's too good for her, that's all is really is," Molly said, dismissing Harry's implication.
"No, Hermione was too good for Ron," Harry said. "Any girl is too good for Ron. You shoved so much shit into your son's head about deserving something in life, he hasn't done a honest day's work in his life."
"He works hard for his money."
"Oh really, then how come the manager of the Cannons asked me if we should look for another Keeper?" Harry said. There was a pause of confusion in the air. "By the way, I own them." he said with a dismissive air. "I'm done telling him to keep Ron on. He's going to have to earn his spot like the rest of them." He looked at Molly for a moment, realizing how pathetic she looked. Standing there, huffing and puffing, trying to blow the brick house down. "No one deserves the world on a platter. You have to work for what you get in life."
"Like you've done a day's work before," Molly snapped back.
"You know, you're attacking the person, not the argument," Harry admonished with a grin. He knew this would only get her angrier, but really, did he care? "Bad form, bad form. But no, I work hard. I worked at a radio station these last couple years, turned the place around. Half the fun with making money is turning it into more money. Ask the twins." Harry waved at the two, knowing he had put them on the spot. He turned back to Molly knowing the anger was only bubbling over now. He did not want to tip the pot just yet. Or did he even want to do that at all? "But that's not the point. I'm saying that Ron doesn't want to work because you made him that way."
"You're saying that this is my fault?" Molly stepped back, as if slapped again. If only...
"Yes, and not just Ron's lack of aptitude for achievement in life," Harry said. "But for Ginny's childhood crush on me, and consequently her actions that made her choose poorly in an attempt to garner my attention. For chasing your two oldest sons out of the country, and then another out of the family. For your inability to control your twins." Harry looked at Fred and George before laughing, "though I doubt that that you tried very hard after they were born."
"I raised my family the best I could," Molly said. "You just messed everything up."
"How?" Harry asked. "How was I the one that messed up, when it was your son that used my girlfriend?" Molly stood silent. The anger was too much. "You son nearly destroyed my life, and all you can say is I messed up? That this is somehow my fault? What the hell is wrong with you woman?"
"You can't talk to my mother like that," Fred said. Both he and George stepped forward, only to fall flat on their backs when Harry waved his arm at them.
"Your family already screwed me once, I'm not letting you interfere until this is done."
"What's done?" The other asked.
"A reckoning," Harry said. "Because the truth is always painful." He turned his back and began to walk away, stepping on Ron as he did so. He stopped as he stood right in front of Hermione. He saw the Lupins standing beside her and Bill and Fleur were off a little further behind him, though, Bill was making his way toward Harry.
"What you've done, mother, is nearly unforgivable," Bill said. That stopped all anger in the room, and the added bonus of stopping all conversation was something Harry was not going to argue with.
"And what was that William," Molly snapped back.
"You let the actions of one child run the entire family, because those actions suited your 'one-big-happy' family mind," Bill said. "We're going home." He turned and grabbed Fleur outstretched hand before guiding her off through a parted crowd.
"He has chosen sides," Harry said. He turned toward the twins, looking at this with steel in his eyes. "Are you going to choose yours or would you like to hear more?" They had already sided with him, why the hell would they move against him now? He mentally shook his head. This was not about sides, this was about right and wrong. He wanted them all to understand what had been done to him. "I'm choosing for you. You will hear more."
"Enverate!" He waved his hand toward Ron. Ron shot up, surprised at the change in his position. He spun around, his fist clenched in anger. "You wish to tell your mother what happened or should I?" He remained silent though, looking between Harry and his mother.
"Harry, stop toying with them." Harry looked at Hermione a moment before nodding. "I want to go soon. The company is getting fouler by the minute."
"So you're spreading you legs for him now?" Ron said. He looked at Hermione for a moment before turning his glare back at Ron. Harry took a step forward, but Hermione shook her head, moving up behind him. Tapping Ron on the shoulder, she slugged him, knocking him to the floor.
"You're the only lowlife here, Ronald," Hermione said. She looked at Harry for a moment before walking away. He wanted to talk to her, tell her what an amazing punch it was, but really, Ron still needed to be put into his place.
"You couldn't handle her anyway Ron," Harry said. "That's why I believe you never were intimate with her."
"How the hell do you know?" Ron spat, blood covering a bit of Harry's shoes. Harry felt the pot overflow for a moment. It was too much for him to handle. As his magic stretched out and stunned Ron again. Damn bastard.
"You're still alive," Harry said. He stood up and looked back at Molly. Ron's little outburst there stole the rest of his hate, or at least the hate he was willing to part with at the moment. "Your son acted to abuse the relationship he had with Hermione in an attempt for me to leave her. He got her drunk one evening while out with friends than took advantage of her once he had gotten her back to my flat." He looked at Seamus and the rest of the friends he had in Gryffindor. They all looked ashamed, like they knew some part of this, or maybe even all of it. More people that decided what was best for someone, without their consent. "Following that, he proceeded to tell you all that the two of them were dating, while telling Hermione he was out looking for me. Hermione was left in the dark at Hogwarts as she tried to rebuild her life with some resemblance of order. I left for Oxford and have been in the area for the last six years. Your son is nothing more than a liar and a cheater. And you choose him over me, someone who thought of you as family. Be happy with your choice. You'll be damn lucky to get another one." With a final push through his anger, he spun and apparated out of the room, and through the wards that had once stood around it.
I0I
The Weasleys, or at least all of them but Ron and Molly, tried to contact him the following month. A word would have been too much from them. He wanted to keep his distance for as long as he possible could. They deserved more than what he gave them, but that pit of anger that hung right below his heart was too strong. He had seen what that pot could do to a man in Voldemort, hell, he had used it to finish Voldemort off. No, that anger was too strong. He hated the man he became when he let the pot overflow, let the pit become more than a pit, but a lake of fury.
Harry had made sure he did not spend time fretting over his anger. He became lost in his studies, to make sure he did not have to think about the New Years Eve Party. Olivander had taken him under his wing and he felt like this course of action, enchanting, was difficult even for him.
The problems came not from the spells, but from the patience of writing the spells, for lack of a better term, on the object meant to be enchanted. To a novice, the writing has to be perfect and to do that, time is take to ensure that the totality of the enchantment works. Yes, he was better at it than most, simply because of his ability to sustain his magic for so long while using it, but he still had trouble writing the magic from time to time. He wanted to finish his apprentice piece before the end of spring, in time for Luna's birthday. Olivander was hopeful of that too, saying that then he could start with magical objects and repairs following it.
"That's enough for today Harry." He looked up at Olivander from the box in front of him. He was working on enchanting the box with a music charm. The problem was not laying the charm down, the problem was weaving it between several other charms he had already in place, such as a locking charm, a security charm tied to the locking charm, a lumos tied to opening the box, and a nox tied to closing the box. Those four along had taken him the better part of January, and none of them were perfect yet. Damn box locked in place when he opened it at times, then the light would shine through the edges of the box when he closed it. He finally got all of that worked out. Hopefully.
"You think this will be finished in time?" Harry asked.
"My boy, you've made more progress than any of my other apprentices have to date," Olivander said with a laugh. "Enchanting is about patience, not speed. Its about skill, not the flashy charms. An enchantment is for life, so we must ensure that they are done right."
"Its harder with magical cores, isn't it?" Harry asked. He set the box aside, before standing up from the table.
"Yes and no," Olivander said. "Once you know how to react to the magic inside of something, then it becomes easier. Which is why you weave the magic now, instead of first trying with something like a core." Harry nodded, trust his mentor.
"Thank you sir, see you tomorrow then," Harry said. He left the store, knowing that he'd be mobbed by the masses on the way to the Leaky Cauldron.
With his return to the Wizarding world, he found that life was not quiet for him anymore. He always was being asked to do something, bothered by someone to help them with a problem. Especially that damn Ministry. Not a day went by that he didn't get a letter, asking for his help in the Magical Law Enforcement department or to return to work for them. He discarded those letters every day. People did not change because of the war, if anything, they fell into old habits faster. Hogwarts sent him letters every day, asking to come in as a guest speaker. He reluctantly turned those down. As much as he wanted to revisit the castle, they wanted to discuss the one thing that did not need to be discussed. How Voldemort died.
He never wanted to talk about, for the simple reason was it did not matter how the battle ended. He wasn't ashamed of what he did to end the war, nor was he angered by it. It had to be done and he was the one to pull the trigger, so to speak. The war was won, that was the important thing. The Quibbler reported a generic statement of what had occurred, and beyond being bland, there was nothing wrong it. There was no specular battle, no great duel between enemies. Voldemort was dying when Harry met him already, the lost Horocurxes doing enough to damage his link to the living. Fear was in the man's eyes, and fear was still in them when Prior incantum ended, backfiring on Voldemort once again. The "duel" lasted only a moment, though. It did not haunt, for he had lost no one close to him. Yes there had been deaths, but his friends all made it out alive. What more could he ask for?
As he walked, he felt a normalcy fall over him. Not that that he ever could be normal. He just finished a day working on enchantments. Even if that was the only thing he had going for him, he doubted he'd still be normal.
"I hope you're happy Potter." Harry turned toward the source of the voice. Ron was standing by the entrance to Knockturn Alley, and from his stance looked both drunk and ready for a fight. Smell of alcohol, stronger stuff, reached his nose. He felt his insides knot a little at the want, at the draw for a little liquid courage. His hand went to his pocket watch, holding it tight. The want never went away, it always was there. Haunting him, taunting him.
"For what?" Harry said.
"For ruining my life," Ron stumbled toward him. Harry shook his head at the pathetic sight before him.
"It seems to me that you're doing a pretty fine job of that yourself," Harry muttered. He watched Ron stumbled closer, drawing a crowd around them. The smell was stronger. His throat ran dry. It was only one drop, to quench his thirst.
But one drop could destroy a man. Or at least, this man.
"You could have had anyone, anyone, and you took her," Ron slurred through as he made his way closer to Harry. "She was mine, you knew that I loved her first."
"Technically her father loved her first, but that's beside the point," Harry said. "But she was not mine to take. She is her own person. She made the decision."
"Like how she slept with me?" Ron said. Harry shook his head, pulling back on that damn pit of anger again. Why did it have to be so damn hard to control? It was easier with the drink, and part of him rationalized like that every day.
He was glad to have another part of him talk him out of doing stupid things like that. If only he had listened to that conscience of his more often.
"You took that choice away from her Ron," Harry said. "why did you do it Ron? Why did you try and take her from me?"
"You didn't deserve her," he muttered as he stumbled forward. Harry took a step back, his compassion ending at not frying the man's arse.
"No one does," Harry said. He turned and walked away, letting Ron fall to the ground. His twin brothers were rushing out of the shop in his direction. Harry didn't need to take a second look to know that Ron hated who he had become. The bottle said it all.
A/N: Okay, I hate these things as much as the next reader, but I have to add this. First an apology. Life sucks, get over it. Things come up, and I failed a personal deadline. Nothing more. I wanted this scene to work well, and I think I did a good job. If he's not as angry as you think he should be well....that's life I guess. Harry is as angry as I need him to be. I hope you enjoyed this story, I've enjoyed writing it. Only one more chapter, then the epilogue. Thank you, and read and review.
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