Disclaimer: This fanfiction is based on characters and situations created and owned by J.K. Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
Five minutes had passed, and Harry's stomachache finally started to subside. He had decided that he would rather call it a night and go back to the castle than face Ron or Hermione that night. He stood up, opened the door, and got off the carriage. Harry retraced the path of the carriages and went back to Hogwarts. Once in his dormitory, Harry put on his pajamas, brushed his teeth, and turned in for the night.
***
Still in The Three Broomsticks, Ron was now on his third glass of butterbeer. He wasn't paying much attention to his surroundings, otherwise he would've seen Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle walk in the pub and scowl at him as they passed his table. Usually Ron would have scowled right back, but he was too deep in his thoughts to notice.
Just then Ginny walked into the pub and saw Ron. She decided to go over and talk to him since he looked a bit lonely. She walked up to his table and sat down across from him. Ron looked up, slightly startled, and met eyes with Ginny.
"Oh, it's you. You gave me a start, Ginny. Well, anyway, what's up?" said Ron, in a flat sort of tone.
"Nothing much…is something wrong, Ron? I thought that you were over the whole breakup thing. You seem really down in the dumps," said Ginny.
"Yeah, you could say that. After all, I just found Harry and Hermione alone together in one of the carriages, in a very compromising position, no less. I mean, Hermione and I just broke up, and Harry goes and hooks up with her?! What kind of friend does that?! And Hermione - how could she be that fickle and shallow?!!" Ron practically shouted the last few sentences across the table at Ginny, not seeming to care who heard him. Ginny could feel the other students in the pub staring at her and her brother now, and she started to redden in the face.
"Oh…I'm sorry, Ron. But are you sure that what you saw wasn't misleading? I mean, I can't imagine that Harry or Hermione would do something like that," said Ginny in a low voice. She was hoping that Ron would follow suit and lower his voice, too.
"Are you calling me a liar, Ginny?!!! I saw what I saw!!! Harry and Hermione were hugging in a MORE than friendly way!!!" shouted Ron. He couldn't get the image of Hermione kneeling down between Harry's legs and hugging him. He was now furious. Ginny's face reddened a shade darker as she saw more heads turn to their table. She could see that Ron wasn't going to change his mind right then, or lower his voice, for that matter, so she decided to shy away from the subject.
"Ron, let's go to Honeydukes and get some candy, we only have about twenty more minutes before it's time to leave," suggested Ginny in a low tone.
"Alright, sounds good," responded Ron in a matter-of-fact tone. He picked up his glass of butterbeer and downed the remainder of it with one swig. He slammed the mug down on the table and stood up. Ginny followed Ron's lead out of The Three Broomsticks, happy to be leaving the room full of stares out into the welcoming night air.
Malfoy turned his head to watch Ron and Ginny leave the pub, then switched his attention back to his cronies, Crabbe and Goyle. The whole time the three of them had been sitting at the table directly behind Ron and Ginny, and they had heard every word of Ron's outburst. The three of them exchanged sly glances, then Malfoy sneered, "So… Potter's a girlfriend snatcher, eh? Well, this ought to be interesting. Come on - Crabbe, Goyle - let's go spread the good news that Potter's stolen himself a Mudblood for a girlfriend!"
The three Slytherins laughed evilly as they got up from their table and made their way over to where Pansy Parkinson and her chums were seated. They knew that the best way to spread gossip in Hogwarts was to put it into the capable hands of Pansy and her group of gossiping gals.
A/N - The sixth chapter is up! Many more chapters are to come. Please leave a review; I would really appreciate your feedback!