The Pride
by Jardyn39
Chapter 2 - An Experiment
Harry was about to knock on the front door of the white painted cottage but it opened before he had the chance.
"Ah, there you are Harry. I was wondering where you'd got to!"
"Hi, Luna," said Harry before checking himself. "Um, Luna? I didn't realise you were expecting me."
"Of course I was expecting you," she said, leaving Harry to close the front door and wandering off towards the kitchen at the back of the house.
Harry followed, asking, "Luna, is your Dad around?"
"Daddy's out. Well, what do you think?" she asked expectantly. "Isn't it wonderful!"
Harry looked at the contraption that filled the entire kitchen table and wondered what on earth it was. A complicated maze of glass tubes and bottles with boiling liquids were making low gurgling noises.
"I've just finished putting it all together!"
"Um, Luna? After what happened the last time, aren't you supposed to get Ministry approval before any more experimenting."
"Well, I would hardly call this experimenting."
"Yes, but would the Ministry agree? If you blow the back of the house off again they are bound to notice."
"Let's start it up!"
"Luna!"
Before he could stop her, Luna lightly tapped something deep inside the heart of the maze with the tip of her wand.
Flames erupted from the centre and Harry grabbed her, pulling her down to the safety of the floor and waiting for the explosion.
"Um, Harry?" said Luna after a long moment during which were was quite a lot of loud gurgling but no actual explosion from the table above them.
"Yes, Luna?" he replied, dreading her inevitable observation that not every experimental potion she tried to make resulted in an explosion.
"Do you think Ginny will be happy?"
"Sorry?" said Harry, completely thrown as to why Luna would want to discuss their mutual friend while they lay under the kitchen table. "Of course she'll be happy. Both of them will."
Harry shifted slightly so he could see her face a little better.
"They seem such different personalities, though. What if it doesn't work?"
"Maybe it won't, and if it doesn't they'll both still have friends in us."
"Oh, yes. You're not holding a candle for her, though? I always thought I'd see you and Ginny exchange vows, you know?"
Harry smiled and said, "No. Ginny and I were over a long time ago."
"Oh, good. That sort of thing isn't healthy."
Harry didn't reply.
"I do hope they're happy together. They deserve it."
Harry nodded as he looked up at the underside of the table. He could see the faintest flashes of light in the shadows.
"I wish I could find that kind of happiness."
"I'm sure you will, Luna. Somewhere out there is the ideal guy for you. You just see, he'll see the mushroom cloud from one of your potions on the horizon and just have to come and investigate."
Luna laughed softly and said, "As a matter of fact the Ministry official who turned up to complain the last time was quite attractive."
"Well, there you go then!" said Harry, laughing.
"He was altogether too nervous, though."
"Well, never mind. Unfortunately it looks like your search for a Ministry official will have to wait another day; I don't think your experiment isn't going to blow up after all."
"Hm? Oh, is that why we're lying on the floor?"
"Yes, Luna. I'm sorry if I startled you. It looks like I'm joining the ranks of your more nervous visitors."
"Well, I hope you're not too nervous. I was talking to Mrs Weasley about you at the Reception, actually. She said you were looking out of sorts and I had to agree with her. We were watching you when you went off, you see."
"Were you?"
"Yes."
"Did anyone else pass comment on me?"
"I didn't really get a chance to make further enquiries. Ron thought you were your usual moody self but Hermione seemed concerned."
"Luna, when did you stop calling Ron, Ronald?"
"Well, he sort of changed and it didn't suit him anymore."
"He changed?"
Luna sat up and peered over the table top but didn't attempt to get to her feet. She relaxed back against one of the kitchen cupboards.
"Are you very unhappy, Harry?"
"Me?" he replied in surprise. "You don't want to listen too closely to Mrs Weasley, you know?"
"If you want, but you know she's probably right. She was saying what a shame it was, what with Ginny and Neville getting married and Ron and Hermione being together."
"Why's that a shame?"
"Well, if we were going out it would give us all a sort of symmetry."
Harry snorted but was a little taken aback to see Luna's unreadable expression.
"Luna?"
"All I'm saying is," began Luna slowly but perfectly seriously. "I mean, if you wanted. After all, according to the Daily Prophet you've got quite a bit of, um, pent-up energy."
Harry looked at her blankly for a long moment before his face cracked into a grin.
"Luna, you are the most outrageous person I know!"
Luna smiled and said, "Thank you, Harry. I'll take that as a compliment."
He reached out and touched her shoulder.
"You're also the most selfless friend a person could have, and as attractive as you are I don't think we should complicate things just now."
"As you like, Harry."
Just then the sound of the front door opening reached them. A moment later, Mr Lovegood appeared at the door.
"Hi, Dad!"
"Hello, dear. Who's that down there with you?"
Harry scrambled to his feet, embarrassed to be caught on the floor with his daughter; particularly given what she had just proposed.
"Oh, hello, Harry. Don't let me disturb you."
"Hello, Mr Lovegood. I came to ask about the interview I did."
"Interview? Oh, that thing about the Dark Force Defence League."
Harry nodded.
"I've decided not to run it after all."
"Why?"
"It seems so absurd."
This statement, coming from the editor of the Quibbler of all people, stunned Harry. Broomstick races around the moon with no independent witnesses was a printable story and yet his interview was too absurd.
"It needs something more. To be honest, if it wasn't you making those claims I'd have said the whole think was a figment of a deranged mind. I mean, whoever heard of a single member of the Dark Force Defence League who actually stood up to the Dark Forces? You know to join you just have to put a down payment on the membership fee!"
"I was going to suggest that you re-write the piece from your perspective, Harry," interrupted Luna. "If you had corroborative quotes from the people involved at the time it would be so much better."
"Oh, what a good idea," agreed Mr Lovegood.
"Well," began Harry rather less than enthusiastically.
"Harry, I'll give Justin a call," said Luna at once. "I know he'll want to help."
Harry didn't bother trying to correct her but he thought it rather unlikely given that Harry had just been publicly accused of having an affair with Justin's new wife.
"Darling, what is it you are trying to make?" asked Luna's father interestedly, peering down at the table.
"I'm distilling Barble-Roots. If I could find a way of extracting the sap as a powder, we wouldn't need to go to so much trouble. Harry gave me the idea ages ago."
Harry struggled to remember when that might have been but soon gave up.
"Ah, I see. Well, that would certainly be a commercial success. It's always a pain brewing with Barble-Roots since they go off within an hour of them being picked."
"I wonder what went wrong?" mused Luna. "Perhaps the roots I used were too old."
"Um, Luna?" said Harry, looking under the table. "It's snowing."
"Good grief," cried Mr Lovegood, as a fine red powder appeared from thin air underneath the table and floated gently down onto the tiled floor.
Luna stopped tinkering and looked under the table.
Seeing her concerned expression, Harry asked, "Luna, what's wrong?"
"I can't apply to the Ludicrous Patents Office unless I can explain what is happening here. Right now I've no idea."
"Luna, dear," said her father patiently. "Half the patent applicants are insane and the other half are judged insane purely on the basis of their submissions. The Patent Office has yet not received an adequate or remotely rational explanation of any invention in living memory. Write it up and get your application in as soon as possible. This could actually be worth a lot of money."
"I couldn't allow this to be used commercially," said Luna.
"Why not?" asked Harry.
"Well, what about all the poor root pickers? I couldn't bear it if they were all put out of a job!"
"But, surely your invention just means they can pick for processing rather than fresh for market," reasoned Harry. "They will still need the roots picking. In fact, won't demand actually increase?"
*
Harry opened his eyes as soon as he heard a familiar soft cough.
"I wasn't asleep," he assured her truthfully. Harry had actually been repeating a mantra-like chant in his head.
He had been rather surprised when, after so long, the receptionist had said he was allowed to come up to her office. Lately he had been turned away with an excuse that she was too busy to see him.
Hermione smiled at his reflection in the mirror as she washed her hands at the small basin in the corner of the room and then sat down behind her consulting desk. Harry drew himself up and turned to face her, determined in his resolve not to upset her.
"I'm sorry I kept you waiting," said Hermione, rubbing her eyes. "I've got a couple of hypochondriacs on the ward at the moment and neither likes to think they haven't got the worst symptoms in the hospital. The latest is acute Insomnia, which at least managed to keep the night staff awake thanks to all the loud snoring."
Harry smiled at her but was concerned to see how tired she looked. She never did look quite her best while at work, in his view, since she wore her hair tied back in a very bushy ponytail.
"I think you're the one who could do with some sleep, Hermione. How long have you been on duty?"
"Just the usual," she replied dismissively, just as she did every time he suggested she was working a little too hard. "What can I do for you?"
"Um, I need a small favour, actually," said Harry, leaning forward. "Justin Finch-Fletchley has invited me and a guest to his place for the weekend."
Hermione struggled to maintain a straight face for a moment before she burst out laughing. Harry tried to look indignant for a moment but one look at Hermione and then he too was chuckling.
"Oh, Harry," she managed to say, wiping tears from her eyes with a white tissue. "You really are a tonic. I haven't laughed so hard for ages."
Harry smiled warmly at her.
"I see you're keeping up with my press clippings," he said dryly. "Anyway, I could use some moral support and I was hoping I could persuade you to come along as well."
He was pleased that he'd managed to keep his voice as even as he could.
"Why not take Luna?"
"She said she would be too busy."
"But, you did ask her properly?"
"Um, no."
Hermione just gave him a knowing smile and Harry assumed she had already spoken with Luna.
"Please, Hermione. Susan's probably brewing up a poison just for me as we speak."
"Susan? I rather assumed it would be Justin who would worry you more, given your recent headlines. Hasn't he got all those wild animals now?"
"I did wonder why he was so keen for me to come," admitted Harry. "Perhaps he really is planning on feeding me to his tigers."
"Lions, Harry."
"Oh. Well, the pair of them wouldn't hurt you, would they. Justin always liked you best."
"Not Susan, though," Hermione reminded him. "Remember we have had words in the past."
Harry's shoulders sagged a little. He never had discovered why it was that Susan and Hermione came to clash. He hadn't really known anything about it, in fact. When he'd turned in that night they were all friends, but the next morning all he noticed was that they had become very formal with each other.
He'd almost dismissed this from his mind until Luna mentioned the night she and Ginny had needed to break up a duel between the two of them, yet Harry couldn't think of two people less likely to fight each other.
All he got out of Hermione was, "Don't talk nonsense, Harry," when he'd asked and Justin had intervened to stop him even asking Susan what had happened.
"I wonder if Rita's free?" asked Hermione a little too innocently, making Harry snort.
"At least think about it?" he pleaded.
"Okay, I'll think about it. Maybe I could join you there for a couple of hours or something."
"Thanks," said Harry, getting to his feet. "I thought you'd be the best one to talk things through with Susan if she won't listen to me. Neither of them really knew how it was at the time and you were in the thick of it."
"I wasn't the only one," Hermione reminded him modestly.
"Well, your medical skills and quick spell-work might come in handy as well."
Hermione tutted softly and stood up.
"I'll walk you out," said Hermione. "I'm heading in your direction."
They walked slowly along the ward towards the exit doors and the lift lobby, and this gave Hermione a chance to give Harry a few hints as to how he might placate Susan. He didn't really think he needed this advice but didn't mind at all; any opportunity to converse with her properly was too rare to be squandered.
"I got a postcard from Ginny this morning," said Hermione. "I'm not sure the warm climate entirely suits them, but she sounds happy enough. She asked after Trevor too."
"Pity he couldn't go with them," said Harry. "Still, they'll be back before he knows it."
They arrived at the lift lobby still chatting.
"You got time for a tea?" Harry asked hopefully.
"I'd like to Harry, but no. I've a rather delicate procedure to perform in a few minutes."
Harry held up his hands and said, "Don't tell me any more!"
They laughed and Harry heard the lift car approaching.
"Oh, by the way," he began as the bell sounded announcing the arrival of the lift.
"Harry!"
Harry felt his face falling as Ron practically jumped out of the lift.
"How are you, mate?"
"Fine thanks. I was just going," he said reaching out to catch the lift gates before they closed. He quickly stepped inside and punched the floor selector.
"Bye, Harry," said Hermione in a rather small voice.
He couldn't help but look up at the sight that had for so long filled him with anguish. Ron was standing close to Hermione with his arm draped oppressively over her shoulder. The way he was leaning and the way she seemed to look so uncomfortable made it look like Ron was bearing down on her.
He was two flights down before he uttered, "Bye."
*
Harry exited through the St. Mungos shop-front entrance and made his way along the busy street before deciding on impulse to make his way to one of the London parks. Perhaps a touch of green would cheer his spirits.
This had been the first time in ages that he'd been allowed to visit her at work. Apart from Ron's arrival, it had gone well. Hermione half-promised to look in on them; although he knew she wouldn't. He had been friendly and she had been receptive.
It wasn't much, he knew; but it was better than it might have been.
It was only as he passed through the great iron gates that he remembered. It had happened in this very park.
Harry wondered along the gravel topped footpath before stepping out onto the sea of green grass. He headed over to the shade of some trees where he knew there would probably be a free bench to sit on.
Presently he sat down. The benches here were generally the last to be filled because the view of the field sports was obstructed. Still, he had a decent view of a group playing softball in the distance.
Harry let out a low sigh.
It was in this park that Hermione had finally put him in his place regarding Ron's treatment of her.
He had gone over their conversation so many times he could no longer be sure who said what. He was also beginning to lose track of what he actually said and what he'd wished he had thought of to say at the time.
"Hermione, why do you put up with him like that?"
"Harry, it's really none of your business."
"He treats you with contempt."
"Ron just needs time to adjust, that's all. You know he had a problem when he was cut off from us."
"No, Hermione. He had a problem with you being alone with me."
"Same difference. He came away feeling insecure and helpless. He needed patient understanding and compassion; not threats."
"Well, he was asking for it," muttered Harry. "We barely got out of there with our lives after nearly a week being trapped and he needed the understanding and compassion."
"He was worried."
"So he should be after leaving us in there."
"You know it wasn't his fault, Harry. Ron couldn't get through the wards; No-one in the Order could either."
"The Order didn't forget the counter-charm, though, did they?"
"He was under pressure, that's all."
"Yeah, right."
"Listen, Harry," Hermione said firmly. "This is all ancient history. We'll never agree on this, so please can we drop it?"
"We were talking about his treatment of you," Harry reminded her, still not sensing just how angry she was.
"I've had enough, Harry."
"Good."
"No. I've had enough of you, Harry. If I can find it in my heart to forgive Ron and give him time to work things through, then so should you."
Harry scowled at her.
"I want you to make things up with Ron, Harry. When you make it up with him, you'll make things up with me."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"I need to get back to the ward. If you're going to the Burrow on Sunday, I'll see you then."
Hermione then got up and crossed the park without looking back once, leaving Harry to stew. Right then he had absolutely no intention of making things up with Ron, of course. He even tried to decline Sunday lunch except Mrs Weasley wouldn't hear of it.
To Harry's particular annoyance, Ron clearly knew of Hermione's ultimatum when he turned up for that Sunday lunch.
He also must have had a shrewd idea that Harry was very tempted to settle matters once and for all with his wand since Ron made quite sure his mother was right there as a witness.
"Harry, mate. I know how difficult things have been, and I know that I probably haven't helped much. I'm sorry," he added in what seemed to Harry as a wholly insincere manner. "What do you say? Shake on it?"
Ron held out his hand and Harry could almost feel Mrs Weasley's face redden. Harry knew her absolute dread of another Percy-like split in the family.
Harry knew he had no choice but to take Ron's hand. He couldn't disappoint Mrs Weasley, and in the back of his mind he also knew Hermione would not be pleased either.
Their hands had barely touched before Mrs Weasley was hugging them both and crying with relief.
The smirk on Ron's face was barely perceptible, but Harry caught it well enough. A glass lantern exploded across the room, showering tiny glass fragments over the floor. Unfortunately, Neville was far too accident prone to avoid suspicion.
Harry had pulled his hand apart from Ron's firm grip knowing he would need to deal with him at some date in the future.
Across the room, Hermione had been watching the exchange very carefully.
Remembering her features, Harry relaxed back against the park bench. After what happened at the Burrow, neither of them spoke of Ron that much. Harry watched on helplessly as Ron's behaviour towards her seemed to get worse to the point where it was now easier for him to just make his excuses and leave the moment Ron put in an appearance.
Harry had a vague idea that Ron was trying to provoke him into doing something stupid but no-one else seemed to notice anything. Perhaps it was just his imagination.
However, most people appeared to notice his growing animosity towards Ron.
Even Hermione had crossed town a few weeks ago to accuse him of cursing Ron. Fortunately, Ginny had by then proudly announced that she had hit him with a rare form of stinging curse but Harry had wondered why Ron had allowed Hermione to think it had been him.
As pleased as Harry privately was for Ginny, the reason she felt he'd deserved it was less pleasing. Ron had earned, or had been given, yet another promotion. More boasts of a bigger office and a bigger desk. At least it was a few days before he could enjoy his bigger chair thanks to Ginny's good aim.
Harry had sworn to himself that although he knew it was inevitable that one day he and Ron would have things out, he would do his utmost not to be provoked while Hermione's friendship depended on the semblance of peace between them.
Even so, this did not stop Harry weighing up the pros and cons of putting Ron in his place. From his perspective, though, he knew it would become more and more difficult. Ron was a fully qualified Auror now, whereas he was a Ministry outsider.
Even Harry had to admit that Ron was doing well for himself.
Harry never regretted not pursuing the only career he'd ever considered. He too had been offered a post with Ron but had declined knowing that he would never be allowed to earn his own advancement.