Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Harry Potter but I do own this plot.
Author's note: Thanks to Kim who has helped me with this piece. Love you dear!
Harry never ceased to marvel at how his life had turned out, how there was always something that was always happening, that was infuriatingly, not part of any plan for his life. It was almost as if at every corner he turned there would be something new (and terrifying) awaiting him, almost annoyingly.
He didn't have any fixed plan for his life of course. But he did know that all he wanted was a quiet and peaceful life.
Which was not going to happen if he was Harry Potter.
Sitting in his room which had not been cleaned in a while simply because he did not feel like doing it, he began to recall all the unplanned and unwelcome things that had happened in his life.
When he was in his first year at school, he had hoped for some friends, adequate results, not too many scrapes with teachers. And what had he got? A troll, a professor that had two faces, one of which belonged to Voldermort and was on the back of his professor's head, that had tried to kill him for some stone that could make you live forever and gold.
Second year. He had wanted a slightly less harrowing year. And instead, he was entreated to his newly found talent of being able to speak to snakes and being associated with the heir of Slytherin who turned out to be none other than Voldermort.
Third year. He had known that his year wouldn't be normal, judging from the look of the past two and he was right. He had learned about the two most important people in his life in that year, one of which was thought to be a convicted mass murderer on the run from jail and a werewolf. Definitely not your average year.
Fourth year. He had given up on having any sense of normalcy in his school life, but still that shred of hope lingered…quashed when he realized that a Death Eater had put his name into a cup whereby he was now a champion representing his school, fighting for his life against dragons, Blast-Ended Skrewts and eventually Voldermort. And the fact that this competition was going to give him 'eternal fame and glory'? Brilliant. Just brilliant.
If there was one thing he had learned, it was never to expect anything normal or planned in his life. Things just happened and he had to go along with them.
He had thought that if he was to defeat Voldermort once and for all, all these unplanned things would just stop happening to him and he would finally be able to live a life that wasn't fraught with possibilities but concrete plans for the future. After all, all these unplanned events in his life had all been linked to Voldermort in one way or another and Harry and the rest of the wizarding world would be glad to see the last of him.
But he had learned again, how wrong it was to expect a peaceful, normal life after fulfilling his destiny. The word 'normal', was not to be associated with his name. In fact, it could almost be considered as a joke, that he could, one day lead such a life.
After the war, he thought that everything was going to be alright. That he would no longer have to wake up in the middle of the night, his mind full of the disconcerting scenes of him as Voldermort, performing acts of terror upon innocent subordinates. That he would no longer have to take everything that came at every twist in his life, but that he could actually plan something for his life and follow it through.
It wasn't just him who celebrated the end of the war. Everything seemed to fall into place, after the demise of Voldermort. Mr. Weasley continued his foray into the intriguing life of the Muggles, Mrs. Weasley kept herself busy looking after Bill's daughter, George went on running the Weasley's Wizard Wheezes which had expanded rapidly into a chain of shops all over the wizarding world.
He had gotten back with Ginny, and Ron with Hermione. Everything was the way it should be.
Or so he had thought.
The first few weeks had been bliss, he remembered, the feeling of something that resembled freedom, had been so intoxicating to him, so refreshing, and he prayed that he would never be burdened by anything again, that he would feel this way forever. He had spent so much time with Ginny, talking, having fun and mostly snogging. It had felt so right, so normal and he reveled in that feeling that had been utterly new to him.
But things had changed. He realized that he could no longer talk to Ginny about things other than Quidditch or school. She hadn't been on the hunt with him for the Hoxcruxes and wouldn't, couldn't understand how it had been for him, Ron and Hermione. Snogging and having fun, he realized, weren't the only things that constituted of a normal life. Finding it harder than ever to have a proper, more in-depth conversation with her, he had decided to break things off for awhile.
He had begun spending his time with Ron and Hermione then, but realized that things had changed between the three of them as well now that Ron and Hermione had hooked up. He couldn't be in the room with them for more than five minutes, without Ron snogging Hermione or shooting her what could only be described as tender looks across the room. He had felt weird at first, and then later it had gotten so that he couldn't spend more than 5 minutes in a conversation with them.
He had brushed aside his feelings momentarily, dismissing it as being something that was normal to feel when your two best friends began dating. But he also couldn't deny the fact that these feelings were becoming more and more intense, so much so that he could no longer bear to look at them holding hands, or kissing, but had to look away.
He knew then that what he felt about them dating was no longer normal.
He hated to see them snuggled up together in a corner of the room, whispering soppy things to one another. He hated to see Ron reach out for her hand when they were out walking on the street and grasp it in his. And most of all, he hated to see Ron touch her or even kiss her, be it a peck on the cheek or a full kiss on her lips. He no loner felt annoyed, isolated by the barrier that had formed between the three of them when Ron and Hermione began dating, but rather a molten, deep-rooted jealousy taking hold of him.
In short, he had fallen for Hermione.
Denial was futile. He found himself thinking about her constantly, thinking about how he would have loved to see her and Ron break up. He knew it was wrong, to wish such horrible things upon Ron, especially when his best friend was so happy but he had no control over this anymore. He knew what he was feeling was completely out of his character but yet he could no longer take the visual image of the both of them in his mind any longer.
But how, how was he going to change the way Hermione thought about him, when she seemed to be so blissfully happy with Ron? He could see it in her, the way she gave a different sort of smile to Ron than to him, the way she welcomed Ron's caresses, rather than recoiling from Ron's touch as he would have preferred to see.
The jealousy surged up once more in him as he thought about how they had been kissing one another in front of him this afternoon, not even caring that he was watching them, rage at Ron filling his entire being…
He kicked out at the table that was opposite his bed, out of sheer frustration at not being able to change the way things were now and the piles of books and parchments that had been used by the three of them as research for the Hoxcruxes had now been swept to the floor, making it messier than it had already been.
Harry swore, and knelt down to try and restore some of the items to its rightful place. Just as he had picked up several thick volumes of his old DA manuals and some pieces of parchment that were on the best way to destroy the Hoxcruxes, another slim book slipped out of the pile he was carrying and onto the floor.
Carefully placing the stack onto the table once more, he stooped to pick up the book, holding it as he studied its violet cover emblazoned with the words in bold lime green, 12 Fail-Safe Ways To Charm Witches. It was still relatively new, as Ron had only given it to him last year as a birthday present and Harry had seen no reason to take it on the hunt, seeing as how he would be too busy fighting Voldermort to study how to win girls over, and had shoved it under some piles of Hermione's books and research papers, forgetting all about it until now.
Interest piqued, he opened it, thumbing through the book randomly. Each chapter seemed to be rather short, giving simple elaborations about each tip, but from what he had scanned through, it seemed to be rather good.
Flopping himself back down on the bed, he wondered if this book was really as good as it said it was, and whether it could help him to win her over. As he flipped the pages to the first chapter, he decided that it was worth a shot.
At the most, it would make for interesting reading.
AHHH! The ending sucked but I hope you guys will help me by reviewing as to whether I should continue!