Harry Potter and the Prophecy of the Strinx

Harry Potter and the Prophecy of the Strinx

By Moon Weasley

Chapter Eighteen:

Ron's regret

To describe the atmosphere at breakfast New Year's Day as a tad tense was in many ways a vast understatement Harry sullenly concluded while slowly nipping from his goblet of pumpkin juice. The Great Hall was full of its normal morning chatter with most students deliriously discussing the events and drama of last night's New Years Ball. At the Gryffindor table however three fifth year students were not making any contributions to the excited gossiping. These three fifth years were of course Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley.

The other Gryffindors had unsurprisingly noticed the subdued ambience down their end, but thankfully none of them made any enquiries as to the reason behind it. Harry noticed Colin Creevey looking extraordinarily hyper though and quickly averted his gaze. Experience had taught him to avoid eye contact at all cost. Colin had a unique ability to read way too much into everything and looking at him for even the briefest of moments tended to bring out the paparazzi in him. Harry feared neither Ron nor Hermione would take kindly to any harassment of that kind. They had enough on their minds as it was.

A couple of very long minutes later and still none of the three had spoken. Harry stared gloomily down on his bowl of soggy porridge that he for some reason couldn't bring himself to eat. He had every intention of doing so but his hand was strangely uncooperative this morning. All it would agree to do was simply to absentmindedly push it around the plate in large swirling motions, round and round, round and round. It was strangely mesmerising watching the spoon leave a wide gap in its wake that slowly closed. Harry didn't stop until he'd managed to spill a great lump of it on the table, earning himself a rather disgusted look from Parvati.

Sighing dramatically he dropped the spoon, making it topple off the table and hit the floor with a loud clang. How was he honestly supposed to eat when his two best friends were in such a terrible state and refused to talk to each other? The whole sordid situation was wrecking havoc with his appetite.

Resting his chin heavily in the palm of his hand Harry silently cursed the ball. A lazy "Accio" returned the spoon and as he pushed his plate away Harry solemnly vowed that if he ever found himself in a position with the adequate sort of power at his disposal his first action would be to ban Balls all together! Those blasted arrangement brought nothing but trouble anyway! The state of Ron was proof enough of that.

Though Ron was sitting next to Harry he was still miles away. None of their usual carefree jabbering about Quidditch, methods of getting Malfoy in trouble; Quidditch, badmouthing Snape or Quidditch had come natural today to Harry's huge dismay. In fact there hadn't been such a complete silence between the two of them since last year's stupid fight about Harry's participation in the Triwizard Tournament and quite frankly the situation brought back some rather unpleasant memories.

The only consolation was that at least this time Harry had nothing to do with the unnatural silence hanging over them. No, this time he suspected the explanation easily could be found while examining the disastrous events of last night's New Year's Ball. In fact Harry felt confident in assuming that neither Ron nor Hermione would forget this particular Ball too hurriedly.

Ron was constantly casting quick nervous glances towards Hermione when he thought she wasn't looking. Much like Harry, Ron seemed to have lost his appetite this morning (a huge indication that he was in emotional unbalance, because Ron was ALWAYS hungry!), and he was sitting stiffly fingering compulsively with his napkin.

The stiff and un-Weasley-like posture combined with the less than talkative mood was probably closely linked to the fact that a glowing Lavender Brown seemed to have been surgically attached to his right arm. She was doing all the talking at their end of the table all the while smiling and beaming like there was no tomorrow.

God, she is annoying Harry mentally exclaimed while rolling his eyes indignantly. He instantly sent a wave of warm thoughts and sympathy towards Ron. The prize paid for exhibiting great levels of denseness was almost inhuman! Becoming Lavender's boyfriend did seem like an overly harsh punishment for being a dense twit, but what could a best friend do anyway? It wasn't like Ron was planning on keeping her for long anyway. At least Harry hoped he wasn't. She was not good for his headache, not good at all.

Watching Ron shudder and squirm as Lavender placed a very wet-looking kiss on his cheek, Harry made a mental note that when the time came that he developed feelings for someone, he would seek out Ron, make him tell his life story and then do exactly the opposite of what he'd done. There was absolutely no way for Harry to repeat this mistake!

After witnessing Ron snogging Lavender in the presence of, well everyone, Hermione had fled the Great Hall with a velocity that would make Ben Johnson gasp, and no one had seen her since. Seeing as school hadn't started yet Harry had sort of expected her to skip breakfast this morning to avoid Ron. He'd therefore been quite surprised to find her already seated at the table when they arrived, looking surprisingly calm and collected all things considered.

Almost like normal, Harry noted. Almost. Something about her eyes were slightly off. Sure they were a little red (probably from crying) but more disturbingly they somehow looked to be - well a bit dead was probably the best way to describe them. The passionate twinkle that always seemed to glow so intensely (either for homework, elf liberation, anger or annoyance (the two latter usually directed towards Ron)) was gone. Still the most noticeable difference was that she wasn't talking - at all!

A normal breakfast for Harry really couldn't be classified as normal if certain key elements lacked. Hermione's non-stop blabbering about homework, her and Ron's customary bickering and Ron and his own meaningful conversations about Quidditch were all perfectly good examples of things that had become sort of "breakfasty" during their four years as friends. Today however all three of these elements were missing. Harry didn't think things could possibly get any tenser and weirder, but to his misery he was wrong.

Harry's eyes automatically travelled to the entrance where a glimpse of red had caught his attention.

It was Ginny.

The now familiar fluttering in his stomach returned instantly and he quickly removed his gaze from her. Out of the corner of his eye he watched her approaching the table looking disturbingly good in a pair of faded jeans and a soft pink turtleneck. Harry instantly became very concentrated on his porridge. But obviously he wasn't concentrating hard enough because he very much felt how Ginny's thigh graced his own when she slid down in the seat next to him. The small touch sent every fibre of Harry into an internal turmoil and for some reason all his blood began flowing south. Feeling embarssangly light-headed he began calling forth an army of his most grotesque mental images. Professor Trelawney in a bikini had the desired effect though left Harry feeling decidedly queasy.

Ginny muttered a low "good morning" and they all answered her in muffled voices without looking up from their plates.

Harry watched her eyes flicker from Hermione to Ron and back again. She raised an eyebrow, shook her head slightly and reached for a piece of toast. That's when she spotted Lavender's death grip on her brother's arm and Harry could tell that she was fighting back a chuckle. The fact that she managed to hold it in was a testament to how miserable she knew Ron was over the mess he'd managed to ensnarl himself in. Besides he wasn't the only one suffering.

With a look of subdued amusement she began buttering her toast and Harry soon forgot all about Ron's small predicament. He was mesmerized by her every motion. She handled her knife with such flair and elegance, spreading the butter evenly without problem. God she was amazing! And god he had totally lost it!

This was getting ridiculous. Harry shook his head in pure self-loathing. Honestly, she was simply applying butter to a quite average looking piece of toast, not designing the Eiffel Tower or anything the like! Although it did come close... Gah, he had it bad!

Ginny reached for the marmalade and caught Harry staring at her. He cursed inwardly while blushing extensively outwardly.

I'm acting like a bloody idiot he thought admonishingly and, in a weak attempt to save face, turned his attention to the conversation between Seamus, Neville and Dean. Apparently they were in the middle of a very thorough evaluation of the fifth year girls' appearances last night. Harry vaguely registered Seamus classifying Pansy Parkinson as "a cross between a beaver and a hag" before his thoughts began to wander.

He'd barely slept a wink last night thinking about all the strange things that had happened the previous evening. Normally Harry would've been most excited and worked up about the bad wizard Dobby had been talking about before the mysterious bottle of Butterbeer had knocked him out. And although he was quite anxious to get more information about that, it hadn't been the primary source of his insomnia. Instead he'd been tossing and turning because of a small sentence Ginny had whispered during their dance.

"You better watch out for rain later tonight."

It had taken some time before the statement had sunk in with Harry. He'd been so totally preoccupied with the feel of Ginny's breath on his neck to register the meaning of her words straight away. Not that it had made much sense at the time and when asked for an explanation she'd just looked remorseful for some reason.

The arrival of Dobby had saved Ginny from answering, and due to the mayhem that followed Harry had temporarily forgotten about the strangeness of her words. But it had come back to him most vividly when he, not much later, had found himself being attacked by Peeves the poltergeist showering him with water balloons and swatting him about not having brought an umbrella.

Lately there had been a lot of strange occurrences where Ginny was concerned. Mad bludgers, steaming cups of hot chocolate and now rainfall of water balloons - she seemed to have some sort of sixth sense when it came to episodes in his life. It was starting to get a tad bit suspicious to tell the truth and Harry was dying to question her about it.

He chanced a glance at her and was met with a pair of very intense brown eyes starting right back at him. Taken aback by the directness of her stare, Harry still caught the meaning behind it. Ginny knew exactly what he was thinking and before he knew it she had exited the hall toast in hand, leaving him alone with two mute friends and a very bothersome Lavender.

All in all this was really the worst thinkable start of the New Year!

* * *

After finishing what Harry later would describe as the most depressing meal ever, Hermione had whirled off without giving them any hint about her destination. But knowing Hermione's natural magnetism towards anything written Harry had a sneaking suspicion Ron would be wise to avoid the library that day if he valued his health (something that shouldn't be too difficult since Ron was known to suffer from a self-proclaimed allergy towards said room).

That again reminded Harry that he still hadn't explained the whole Hermione-misunderstanding to Ron. But with Lavender tagging along that particular talk would have to wait.

Lavender looked perfectly content in her current position as Ron's side shadow and hadn't given them any indication that she was planning to leave much to their mutual displeasure. A clever evasion tactic needed to be hatched out and put into action if they were to get rid of her, Harry concluded miserably.

More than halfway to Gryffindor Tower and still they hadn't managed to shake off Lavender. Their attempts to bore her into retreat by talking animatedly about Quidditch and ignoring her completely in the process hadn't put any damper on her spirits. She was hanging to Ron like a choking tie, beaming like she'd just been awarded Order of Merlin first class. Ron however looked like he was about to belch slugs. Harry thought they were the weirdest couple he'd ever seen.

Almost at the Fat Lady Lavender had even begun babbling and was hinting heavily that perhaps a stroll up to the Astronomy Tower should be considered. That thought seemed to frighten Ron more than Aragog and his charming family of blood-thirsty Acromantulas. Harry would've laughed if it weren't for the tragic state of the situation.

Needless to say the prospect of spending the day with Ms. Dim was not the brightest either of them could think of. So when Dumbledore suddenly appeared before them Harry thought he'd never been happier to see the old bugger.

"Ah, just the two young gentlemen I was looking for," the headmaster said, a hint of amusement detectable in his voice. His eyes darted quickly towards Lavender's death grip and Harry could have sworn the old man was fighting back a chuckle. Ron didn't seem to take any offence of the fact that the head of Hogwarts was quite obviously amused at his expense now that the possibility of ditching Lavender was within reach.

"I hope you don't mind that I steal these two charming Gryffindors away from you for a little while, Ms. Brown," said Dumbledore with a small bow. She blushed and shook her head and Ron's look of doom was immediately replaced with a broad grin. Lavender however didn't seem to notice the evident signs of relief on Ron's face and quickly pecked him on the chin before dashing off towards the common room, her giggling echoing down the corridor.

"Thanks," said Ron uncharacteristically chummily to the older man, and Dumbledore winked slyly at him.

"That is quite alright, Mr. Weasley. You looked a smidge uncomfortable if you don't mind me saying so."

Ron visibly shuddered. "That's one way of putting it I guess," he said quietly. Dumbledore nodded understandingly.

"I'll offer you some piece of advice if you don't mind me intruding into your affairs, young man." Dumbledore was looking Ron straight in the eye waiting for permission to lecture. Ron however didn't seem to know what to say and just stood there looking mildly embarrassed. Clearly taking Ron's silence as yes Dumbledore continued to talk while gesturing for the boys to follow him.

"Experiences from a long life have left me with a few realizations that I don't mind sharing with young men such as you," he began while striding purposefully towards his office. Ron and Harry had more than enough trying to keep up with his speedy pace but managed to share a bewildered look. Dumbledore really was a funny sort of fellow!

The headmaster however paid no attention to them and continued on his monologue.

"When it comes to matters of the heart, there are a few traps one should zealously try to avoid. The first one is this; never keep a lady waiting! This not only applies to everyday situations, far from it. What's perhaps even more important is this: Never put off asking her, that usually leads to disaster. I learned that the hard way after hesitating to ask the lovely Miranda Ascot to accompany me to Hogsmeade in the fall semester of sixth year. If I don't remember incorrectly, and between you and me I seldom do, she ran off with that dreadful Andrew-fellow and ended up marrying the twit too..." he trailed off upon seeing the boys' bemused faces.

"Well, my tragic school day crush is not really important. I do however believe that you, Mr. Weasley have exercised poor decision-making skills when it comes to asking the desired female to be your date. I will not pass judgment, only advice you to be swifter next time around. I assume you know what I am referring too?"

The (one-sided) conversation was getting more and more awkward by the minute and both boys drew a deep breath of relief when they finally reached the ugly gargoyle. Dumbledore gave the password ("canary cream") and they stepped through the archway and onto the winding staircase.

Ron (despite obvious embarrassment and scarlet ears) looked fit to burst with laughter and Harry was desperately signalling for him to get control over himself. As they dumped down in the two chairs offered to them in front of the headmaster's desk, Ron had resorted to chewing furiously on his bottom lip to avoid sniggering. Harry gave him a piercing stare but it had little effect seeing as he was having trouble fighting down his own chuckles.

"Tea?"

Both boys shook their heads vigorously as Dumbledore waved his wand conjuring up a steaming pot of tea and a plate of biscuits.

"I thought I would bring you up to speed on the investigation concerning the bad wizard the faithful house elf Dobby informed us of last night," Dumbledore informed them as he added two lumps of sugar to his newly poured cup of tea. Harry's curiosity was instantly evoked.

"How's Dobby? Is he alright?"

Dumbledore nodded. "Yes, the little fellow is recovering quite nicely as we speak. I believe he will be up and about before nightfall. I also suspect he would deeply appreciate a visit from you Harry if you don't mind. He's been very cooperative and observant although the identity of the wizard in question is not yet revealed I'm afraid."

Dumbledore sipped his tea carefully, taking time to devour no less than three biscuits before he continued.

"Then what was it Dobby saw?" Ron asked eagerly. He seemed to have recovered from his laughing fit and was now eyeing the plate of biscuits with great interest. Dumbledore noticed and bid Ron to help himself and he did just that.

"Well, according to the elf he sensed more than saw a dark wizard prowling in the corridor near the dungeons. House elves have very powerful magic of their own and the ability to sense intentions are one of those. Dobby felt evil and vice heavily in the air and therefore correctly deducted that there was a wizard with impure intentions lurking about the premises."

Dumbledore paused to wipe some crumbs off his lilac robes. Ron ignored the mounting pile on his Weasley jumper busily munching on his fifth biscuit.

"I'm guessing," Dumbledore continued, "the perpetrator become aware that he was discovered, because let's not deny the fact that Dobby, good-natured as he is, has never been known for his discretion, and decided to try to prevent him from revealing too much and knocked him out with the bottle. Quite clever really, it could've easily been explained as a prank gone haywire."

"But what was a dark wizard doing here? And who was it? Was it a Death Eater? Did he do any damage? What are the chances of a Death Eater entering the castle? I thought there were wards preventing this sort of thing? At least that's what Hermione keeps nagging us about."

Dumbledore signalled for Harry to calm down.

"Calm down, son and I'll explain," he said soothingly. "Yes there are wards preventing dark wizards from entering the castle so this puzzles me somewhat I must admit. However brilliant I find my own safety precautions to be, there is really never any guarantee that they are without faults. I have however instructed Professor Flitwick and Professor Figg to do a thorough revision of the wards and hopefully they will find and caulk possible loopholes."

"But what if they come up empty-handed?" Harry asked breathlessly. "Remember my dream about Voldemort and that mysterious hooded fellow? Voldemort said that the Death Eater's presence at the school would be of great importance. Couldn't this mean that the bad wizard Dobby was squeaking about is someone from inside the school? You know a student or a teacher perhaps?"

Dumbledore nodded his head in agreement. "Yes that is unfortunately a possibility. I have talked to Professor McGonagall about this and she is keeping a close watch out for any suspicious behaviour. The house elves are also instructed to report any irregularities to her. Hopefully this will lead us to the culprit if it should turn out that one among us have hidden agendas."

He stopped again to take a sip of tea and refilled his cup. Harry rolled his eyes but knew better than to disturb the headmaster while he performed one of his tea rituals.

"Ah, splendid flavour," he said contently. "Blackcurrant is by far my favourite. Well, moving on I performed a useful little spell taught to me by Alastor Moody, the real one I might add, that detects any use of dark magic performed within the vicinity. It leaves a trace you see, all magic does. Each spell has its own unique fingerprint you might say and by analysing this we can quite accurately tell which spell has been performed."

Ron and Harry exchanged impressed glances. Apparently not even Ron knew that this could be done.

"What did you find then," Ron asked breathlessly. Both boys stared at Dumbledore eagerly awaiting the answer.

"It was indeed dark magic performed in that specific dungeon corridor last evening," the headmaster responded gravely. "The spell is called The Locatius Spell and is a highly powerful locating spell created by none other than Salazar Slytherin himself more than a thousand years ago. It can be used to locate whatever one wish to find but the spell itself drains the caster of a vast amount of power. It takes days and weeks for power to be fully restored and thus demands a powerful and skilled wizard to master it successfully."

"Sounds like a Death Eater to me," Ron said thickly with his mouth full of biscuits. "Those bloody buffoons will do anything that Voldemort tells them to do even if it means risking their health," he continued while reaching for a cup obviously having changed his mind about the tea.

Dumbledore raised an eyebrow behind his half moon spectacles and Ron's ears coloured slightly. "Sorry, didn't mean to swear," he said remorsefully. "Mione keep telling me off for doing it but I seem to forget anyway."

Dumbledore smiled benignly. "Don't worry about the cursing Mr. Weasley, I quite happen to agree with your assessment about those "bloody" Death Eaters as you call them. I am however surprised and rather pleased to hear that you have begun to address the Dark Lord by his proper name, though I personally much prefer to call him Tom."

Ron shrugged and nodded. "Had to, Harry kept badgering us about it and I figured it was better to comply than being nagged by him all the time. Not that bad when you get used to it, really." He grinned broadly. "Gave Mione quite a surprise first time I said it too. That alone was worth the effort."

Dumbledore laughed heartily at this and Ron grinned even broader. Harry just shook his head. The two of them seemed to have hit it off just splendidly but he for one was more interested in hearing more about the Death Eater that had been traipsing around Hogwarts no less than twenty-four hours ago. He therefore cleared his voice rather indiscreetly trying to get the other two back on track.

"Oopsie-daisies, we seemed to have wandered a bit off track there for a moment, haven't we Ron?" the headmaster said mirthfully. "Seems young Potter here are anxious to press on."

Harry managed a strained smile. "Yeah right," he mumbled before continuing his questions.

"What do you think he was trying to locate, professor?"

T

his seemed to be the most important question right now. If there was something of worth to Voldemort and his supporters inside the castle, they should really see to it that it was adequately secured, or maybe even removed.

Dumbledore leaned back in his chair with a thoughtful expression. "Ah, that is indeed a rather tricky question to answer, Mr. Potter."

Harry grimaced. Yet again it looked as if the Headmaster was intending to suppress information from him. This was getting tiresome.

Dumbledore sighed heavily before continuing speaking. "The reason why the question can not be answered, is because I myself do not know what the dark wizard was seeking. A hidden way in perhaps or some charmed objects that I do not have knowledge of or maybe a specific book? Your guess is as good as mine, I'm afraid."

Looking into the older man's eyes Harry could tell that he was in fact telling the truth.

"I will confer with my colleagues of course, and I hope they can help shed some light on the situation. If that should prove to be unfruitful we should take it up with the Order on our next meeting."

Ron and Harry nodded their agreements and after Ron had emptied the tray of biscuits they bid their goodbyes and left the office. Well outside in the corridor again Harry turned to Ron only to discover that the redhead seemed to have vanished into thin air.

"Ron? Where did you go?"

Harry glanced left and right for signs of his companion but Ron was nowhere to be found. That is if you managed to overlook the rather large tuft of red hair sticking out from behind the statue guarding the Headmaster's office...

"Shush, Harry she might hear you!" the tuft whispered nervously.

Harry raised an amused eyebrow. The unmistakeable hiss of Ron Weasley was coming from behind the ugly gargoyle and peering behind it he found Ron hunched (rather uncomfortably by the look of things) with his hands covering his eyes.

Harry couldn't help but laugh at the pathetic sight in front of him.

"What on earth are you doing?" he asked between giggles.

"Shush, can't you hear it?" Ron asked with evident dread in his voice. Harry stopped laughing and listened intently.

The sound of girls talking was drawing nearer and suddenly Ron's leap into hiding made perfect sense. He was of course dreading being spotted by the diligent Ms. Chatterbox.

"Don't let her find me," Ron pleaded desperately and Harry quickly assured him that he wouldn't. The truth was he was nearly as disinterested in her company as Ron was.

Whimpering Ron retreated further into the shadows while Harry feigned searching his robe pockets for something or the other to avoid looking completely stupid standing all alone in a corridor. Soon two girls Harry believed to belong in Hufflepuff came into view and Harry couldn't help but smirk.

"The coast is clear, Romeo," he crowed playfully and watched the pitiable sight of Ron Weasley emerging from his hideout a pronounced scowl adorning his freckled face.

"You can wipe that grin of your face, you prat," Ron sneered as he reluctantly came into view after Harry had assured him profusely that none of the girls bore any resemblance whatsoever to his darling Lavender.

"I didn't see you enjoying yourself either when she was trailing us like a bad spy," Ron mumbled angrily. Harry shrugged but didn't stop smirking.

"That might be true, mate," he said in a teasing tone, "but at least I'm not the one resorting to hide and seek to avoid a girl you most eagerly snogged senseless before hundreds of witnesses less than twenty-four hours ago."

Ron shot daggers at Harry and lunged forward clearly aiming for a headlock. The seeker in Harry reacted instinctually and dodged the long arm easily.

"What's the matter Ron?" he asked playfully unable to resist the urge to taunt him a little about his grave mistake. "You know there's no reason to be shy around me, so please go on and spill the beans, old buddy old pal. I assume that last night's exhibit was your official debut as a Snogger and please do tell me - did the earth move, did stars fly before your eyes and did your body go limp with pleasure?"

Ron was reddening methodically now, the blush starting from his forehead and working itself gradually from his ears and down the rest of his face. He muttered something incoherently and shot Harry a look suggesting he was pushing his luck.

"What did you mumble?" Harry asked innocently.

"I said yes, that was my "debut" as you call it," Ron barked and turned his back to Harry crossing his arms defensively. Harry's gut feeling now intuitively told him that the teasing had gone far enough and quickly decided that the next move really should be Ron's. If he wanted to talk about it, he of course would be more than willing to listen. That was what best friends were for, wasn't it?

After a moments silence, Ron heaved a deep sigh.

"Snogging Lavender is the stupidest thing I've ever done, Harry. I'd rather seek out that hideous spider-lair we found back in second year than as much as touch her again."

The mere thought seemed to cause him to shudder and Harry felt nothing but sympathy at this point. Ron turned around and a painful mix of despair and regret was clearly written all over his face.

"What am I going to do with her? She's a fucking nightmare and this time I really mean it!"

Harry nodded his agreement and put a comforting arm on Ron's shoulder.

"Come on, Casanova let's go somewhere a bit more private than this hallway and talk about it. I'm sure we'll figure out some scheme to rid you of giggle-face."

And although he didn't look entirely convinced that such a scheme could be found, Ron shrugged and followed Harry back to the common room to seek out a bit of privacy. However, the instant the portrait swung open they were met with the shrill giggles belonging to Lavender or Parvati (their giggles was equally horrid and impossible to tell apart). Ron winced and immediately turned to escape but Harry grabbed hold of his robe preventing him from taking flight down the corridor. He motioned for Ron to stay still and carefully peered inside the room. A quick scan of the common room informed him that the two girls were located sitting in a corner; heads stuck together with their bodies shaking with titters.

If anyone had walked in on the scene that played out seconds later, they would probably had problems controlling their mirth. Because there's no denying the fact that the sight of two fifteen year old boys literally tiptoeing across a room with eyes firmly fixed on their desired destination, would be quite an amusing sight.

And quite against all odds they actually managed to travel the distance from the portrait hole and to the staircase without being spotted. Although truth be told their escape was narrow.

When they'd were just a small step away from the stairs Ron clumsily managed to step on one of the twins new and improved fake wands that always seemed to be littering the room. It very inconveniently turned into a large rubber chicken letting out a loud and ear-splitting squeak.

Providence however seemed to be on Ron's side that day because the squeaky chicken noise was effectively drowned out by Parvati, who suddenly began hollering like a banshee at something Lavender had just whispered. Silently agreeing not to push their luck any further Ron and Harry without hesitation bolted up the stairs.

Well inside the dormitory Ron trudged glumly across the floor and flung down heavily on his bed. He buried his face in the pillow and let out a muffled scream. When he seemed to have let out at least some of his frustration, he reluctantly turned to face Harry again. He on the other hand was sitting on his own bed chuckling quietly at Ron's predicament.

"Stop smirking, Harry," Ron groaned irritably, hiding his face beneath the pillow. "This is the worst bloody mess I've ever snarled myself into and all you do is snigger. Good friend you're turning out to be. Bloody hell, they should change you title to The Boy who bloody Smirked instead."

Harry gasped, clutched his heart and faked outrage. Ron responded by effectively giving him the finger.

"I'm so thoroughly fucked!" Ron exclaimed with a hint of doom and despair in his voice. "Perhaps I should just fling myself off the Astronomy Tower and get it over with. At least then my death will be swift and painless. And I think I will take certain death any day over being antagonised and tortured to death by Lavender."

Harry busied himself with straightening his bedspread to hide his amusement. Knowing Ron's short fuse it would probably be wise to stop his chuckling soon and instead help eradicate the impending problem.

So after getting control over his sniggers he turned to face Ron again and upon seeing the redhead's glum face he soon sobered up. It was time to come clean and tell Ron about the huge misapprehension concerning Hermione. That in it self wouldn't help him get rid of Lavender but hopefully the notion that the girl he truly liked (though he'd never admitted to this) at least wasn't in love with Harry, would at least lift his spirits somewhat.

The tricky part however was telling him this without reveal anything about Hermione's feelings. She had confided in Harry and begged him not to breathe a word of it to a living soul and he couldn't betray her trust by spilling the secret to Ron. Besides, they should be mature enough to talk to each other by now, he concluded wishfully.

"Ron?" Harry began quietly, not quite certain how to approach the subject. They'd never talked about girls before - at least not in this respect. Where should he begin? What should he say?

"Yeah?" Ron replied chewing thoughtfully on his lower lip while pulling loose threads out of the hangings around his four-poster. "What is it, Harry? Please, no more cracks about Lavender I'm begging you."

Here goes nothing, Harry thought nervously, sucked in his breath and began to talk before he lost his nerve.

"I've been meaning to talk to you about something and first of all it's got nothing whatsoever to do with Lavender."

Ron visibly relaxed but Harry felt everything but. Why was this so hard to talk about anyway? Oh yeah, that's right his inner voice (which sounded scarily like McGonagall for some reason. Harry did not want to know why) reminded him. It was about feelings! Sometimes being a boy really sucked.

"Uh you see Ron, there's something I've been meaning to talk to you about ever since you returned from Christmas holiday." Harry stopped talking as Ron immediately jerked his head from the pillow; his eyes wide open with fear.

"What is it? Has there been more nightmares, or have your scar hurt or..."

Harry shook his head. "No, no, no it has nothing to do with Voldemort for a change." He paused for a brief moment contemplating how to best explain it. "Actually it has more to do with, eh, Hermione."

At the mention of Hermione's name Ron visibly flinched and his face went pale. He lowered his eyes back to the loose threads yanking at them with renewed intensity.

"Oh, her," he said in a strained voice. "That's okay Harry you don't have to say anything. I kind of figured it out on my own, you know. I am however rather pissed off about the fact that you purposely avoided telling me, honestly I am supposed to be your best friend..."

Harry sighed dramatically and cut Ron's rant off. "Shut up for a minute, Ron," he said making Ron snap his head up to meet his eyes. He looked confused and angry and Harry decided to just come out and say it before his impatient friend lost his temper and started to pound on him.

"I have to explain something to you, Ron so please just hear me out okay?" Ron looked even more perplexed but managed a short nod and Harry wasted no time and quickly continued.

"I didn't figure it out until Seamus made an offhand comment during the Christmas break about Hermione supposedly being my girlfriend. I had no idea what he was talking about, but after some further elaboration on his part it didn't take long before it all dawned on me."

He stopped to draw his breath and was pleased to see that Ron looked somewhat intrigued by what he was saying.

"I thought there was a sort of strained tension between you and me before you left, but couldn't quite figure out the reason for it. Not to mention that you surprised us all big time when you went ahead and asked Lavender to the Ball. Especially since the entire population of Gryffindor had placed all their wagers on you asking Hermione."

Ron's ears now did what they knew best, namely reddening profusely. "Uh, er what?" was all Ron managed to stutter before Harry abruptly continued talking. He was on a roll now, and wouldn't stop before everything had been cleared up.

"You see young Weasley, I have a little theory that I hope you don't mind me sharing with you." Harry cleared his voice importantly got up from his bed and started to pace in front of Ron's bed. "And my theory goes something like this: I believe that a certain best friend of mine, let's for argument's sake call him Ronald, have over the last year or so developed, what shall we call it - some deeper feelings for another certain best friend of mine - let's call her Hermione."

Ron's face was now a deep violet colour that Harry had never seen on him before (and it was not very becoming) and it looked like he wanted to protest loudly. Harry however would have no such thing.

"Shush young Weasley, no talking until I am finished speaking." Ron just gaped but no sound came out of his mouth. Harry smiled gleefully and continued.

"Ever since last years Yule Ball most Gryffindors have suspected that there is something going on between yourself and said girl. However it has been the popular opinion that neither of you have acknowledged this fact yet. I have to admit that it has been kind of amusing watching your little antics over the last year. The row after the Yule Ball was nothing short of priceless and that was when my suspicions started to grow. The mutilation of your Krum figurine was yet another brilliant clue together with your sudden move from sheer devotion to undisguised hate for the poor Quidditch-playing fellow."

Harry paused for dramatic effect and chanced a look at Ron. He had recovered somewhat from his violet face colour but still he looked crestfallen. He was clutching his pillow seemingly lost for words for a change.

"Well, seeing as you have no objections so far I'll just press on with my theory," Harry said brightly. "Even if haven't said anything to you about this that doesn't mean I haven't noticed. I know you too well Ron not to see that you were starting to see Hermione differently even though you might not have known this yourself in the beginning. But whether or not you had realized how you felt about her I was absolutely positive you would ask her to the Ball. She said it quite clearly last time, didn't she?"

Ron nodded and slumped back against his pillows. "Next time ask me first and not as a last resort," he said quietly not meeting Harry's eyes. "I remember that. How could I forget such rage?"

Harry smiled at Ron and sat down beside him. "You were planning on asking her, weren't you?" Ron nodded again and the unbecoming violet face-colour returned full-scale.

"I thought so," Harry said with satisfaction. "That was why I couldn't understand why you suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere asked Lavender. I mean - Lavender! Don't you remember how shocked I was and how I kept buggering you about it? It made absolutely no sense to me whatsoever. Not until Seamus made that remark during Christmas holiday about Hermione being my girlfriend, that is. I swear I nearly sat on the box of rock cakes Hagrid had sent me in pure shock, not that that would've been such a tragedy. Seamus sort of helped me puzzle together what probably had happened."

Ron was still not meeting Harry's eyes and fingering nervously with the sleeve of his new shirt.

"You saw her hugging me in the common room that night you asked Lavender didn't you and thought we were, eh you know in love or something?"

Ron still didn't say anything and Harry sighed. "You always were rather hot-tempered and jumped to conclusions way to hastily, Ron," he said with a weak smile. "You were wrong this time actually. Hermione was just pestering me about who I was going to ask to the Ball, I swear. It was just a friendly hug, nothing more. I'm not in the slightest bit interested in Hermione in that way. She's like a sister to me, that's all."

Finally Ron looked up. "But you still went to the Ball together didn't you? Danced together too and it didn't look like nothing to me." Harry sighed again. It wasn't going to be to easy convincing Ron that he didn't harbour anything but pure friendship towards Hermione.

"Yeah we did go the Ball together, but we only decided on that after you asked giggle-face. Neville was starting to act even clumsier around Hermione than normally and she was terrified he was going to ask her. Ginny had told her some rather nightmarish stories about her sore feet last year and she was most eager to avoid that. You know Hermione; if he'd asked her she wouldn't have the heart to say no. So she asked me if we could go together and I finally agreed."

Ron still looked a bit sceptical. "But what about the close dancing and giggling? That didn't look like a "we're-just-friends" kind of thing to me."

First Harry didn't understand what Ron was referring to. Had he danced with Hermione? For some reason Harry was only able to remember his dance with Ginny...

Then it dawned on him and a huge grin spread across his face.

"Oh you mean when I saved her from Percy? Poor girl, I left her alone for twenty minutes and when I returned I found her slowly slipping away being bored to death by your brother. I asked her to dance to get her safely away from his mind-numbing rants. No offence Ron, but he really can be a bit of a drag..."

Ron smiled lopsidedly for the first time since Harry had started on his theory. "Don't I know it," he exclaimed and rolled his eyes before he sobered up again. "A shame to the Weasley-legacy of pranks and mayhem that one. But forget about Percy for a moment and explain to me about the dancing. You two looked so content and happy on the dance floor. Hermione was constantly laughing and smiling, you know...."

Ron stopped in mid-sentence because Harry suddenly started to laugh uncontrollably. "What's so funny?" Ron asked half offended half curious as he watched Harry dry his by now streaming tears. "Unforgettable," Harry managed to squeak out between chuckles. "So sorry you missed that, it was priceless!"

"What was priceless?" Ron was getting slightly agitated.

"Percy, he was being..." Harry broke down into another fit of laughter and Ron was getting really impatient. "What about Percy???"

"You know Millicent Bulstrode, that really ugly Slytherin-girl in our year?" Harry chocked out between chuckles.

Ron shuddered. "She's icky! What about her?"

"She was totally hitting on Percy! It was the most hilarious thing I've ever seen apart from the award-winning performance by Malfoy the amazing bouncing ferret, of course. I thought Hermione and I were going to laugh or heads off it was so entertaining. Sorry you missed that, mate. It really was one for the books. But then again you created history yourself seconds later by Snogging Lavender senseless and publicly I might add. Not your best move, if you don't mind me saying so. Especially if Hermione is the one you're in love with..."

Harry looked expectantly at Ron. Would he admit to it or was he still clueless? Ron was staring blankly into the air in front of him not saying a word. Harry had part given up on getting a straight answer when his friend suddenly spoke.

"I messed up didn't I?"

A small smile crept across Harry's face. We have a breakthrough he thought happily. Finally!!!

"Well, you did manage to get yourself a girlfriend," Harry reasoned mock-seriously, "but seeing as it isn't the girl you had your heart set on I would have to say that, yes you did mess up."

Ron groaned loudly. "I've been a bloody prat. I know most people think I'm kind of dense and all, but I've known for a while how I felt. Don't know why I didn't tell you about it though. It would have saved me a lot of trouble, really."

"Probably," Harry said silently. "This is all kind of new to us, you know. I mean girls and all," he added upon seeing Ron's muddled look. "I suppose it's not that easy to talk about at first. Wish you had though. It would have saved you the trouble of getting rid of Lavender."

At the mention of her name Ron groaned loudly again hiding his face in his hands. "She's horrid, isn't she?" he asked while shaking his head disbelievingly at his own actions the previous night.

"Absolutely intolerable," Harry answered without as much as a hint of amusement in his voice.

"I have to break up with her, and fast"! Ron said firmly and Harry couldn't agree more.

"Are you ever going to tell Hermione how you feel?" Harry asked a moment later and Ron looked at him with a horrified look on her face.

"Tell her?" he croaked hoarsely. "Like, to her face? Are you mad? She'd laugh herself silly and then tease me until the end of time. I could never do that. Besides, she's with bloody Vicky!"

The last word was spat out with huge distaste and Harry couldn't help but laugh a little.

"She's not with Viktor and you know it. Besides she looked absolutely heartbroken when you snogged Lavender last night. I don't think I've ever seen anyone run that fast. I might be out on a limb here, but I have a slight feeling that she just might like you back."

Ron looked part hopeful part disbelieving at Harry's words. He heaved himself out of bed and started to pace around much like Harry had been doing while revealing his theory minutes earlier.

"I'm not quite sure I believe that last part Harry, but for arguments sake I'll pretend it might be possible. If so I hurt her tremendously last night and in order to put it right again I have to get rid of Lavender - and that soon! She's the worst girl I've ever met and I'm including Pansy Parkinson in that assessment."

"Then find her and dump her," Harry said reasonably. A determined look formed on Ron's face and he nodded in agreement. "That is the best bloody advice I've ever gotten!" he said with a wicked grin. "What are we waiting for?"

And so they left the dormitory in search of the girl in question to hopefully get her out of Ron's life as fast as she'd entered it.

* * *

Unfortunately finding Lavender proved more difficult than first believed. The sheer irony of it all was taunting them as they searched the various parts of the castle to no avail. The girl they'd had trouble avoiding for most parts of the day suddenly seemed to have made herself completely unplottable. After a two-hour search that also included such unlikely hideouts as Myrtle's bathroom and Filch's archive room Ron launched the idea that perhaps Lavender's inner eye had forewarned her about the imminent break-up and as a result she was now trying to hide from her destiny. Harry had laughed heartily at this at first but as their search stretched out in time he couldn't help but wonder if there perhaps was some truth to this.

Dinner came and went that afternoon without the giggling duo of Lavender and Parvati making an appearance and both boys slowly started to mentally prepare to postpone the heartbreaking for another day. But as Ron pointed out between mouthfuls of roast beef, a slight delay of the actual break-up wasn't such a tragedy - at least he didn't have to spend time with her in the meantime.

Both Harry and Ron had more or less accepted the fact that the dumping of Lavender wouldn't take place that evening when they headed back for the common room. Needless to say neither was prepared for the awaiting surprise on the other side of the Fat Lady's portrait.

Ron had barely set foot inside the room when two pairs of eager (and heavily nail polished) hands grabbed him from both sides and pulled him struggling towards the farthest corner of the common room. The attack came about so suddenly that Harry didn't even have time to blink before the two assailants, who by the way turned out to be Parvati and a fourth year Parvati-wannabe, had managed to seat a dumbfounded Ron into a chair while giggling shrilly the entire time.

Everyone's attention was now directed to the particular corner where Ron now, wild-eyed and pale, was staring straight into Lavender's flushed face. The table was filled with candles and at the centre of it she had placed a glass ball, next to it her priced set of Tarot cards. Harry groaned. This was just too much.

"Hi," Lavender whispered silkily while innocently batting her eyelashes at Ron. "'Lo," was all Ron managed to press out. He was boiling inside. So this was what she'd been up to all afternoon: Setting up a fucking freak-show for everyone to watch. Bloody brilliant, that was all he needed right now - her supposedly telling him his future, undoubtedly filled with sappy and mushy stuff about their great future as a couple.

Ron vaguely noticed that Lavender continued talking about her divine divination skills and how she'd just love to take a glimpse into his wonderful future. He was more concerned about all the people watching this pitiful display than hearing some cock and bull predictions. He quickly spotted Harry who seemed to sense his immense discomfort. Ron saw him raise his eyebrows in a silent question about what to do about the situation, but Ron couldn't see any obvious solutions. With a crowd this size it would be inhumanly cruel to create a scene and dump Lavender right here and now. Nobody deserved that kind of humiliation.

To identical blurs of red bobbed past him on his right side and he instinctually knew he would never hear the end of it from the twins. This little incident was providing them with blackmail material for years to come and by the sound of their excited laughter they knew this all too well. And just when he thought things couldn't get more embarrassing Lavender went ahead and took his hand in hers and laced their fingers. Before Ron knew what happened she had leaned across the small table and placed her lips on his.

Loud "ahs" and "Go Ron" immediately broke out from the crowd something that seemed to work as fuel for Lavender. Her kissing immediately intensified and moments later Ron (who was completely paralysed with shock) found that the girl had crawled into his lap. This was however the last straw.

Ron suddenly regained control of his limbs and firmly pushed Lavender off. "This is so not on!" he barked and wiped his mouth with the hem of his robes.

Shrill protests from Lavender, angry profanities from Parvati mixed with disappointed yells from the other bystanders didn't register with Ron as he got to his feet and made his way towards the stairs. He had just spotted Hermione in her favourite chair by the fireplace, with her beloved Hogwarts: A history in her lap seemingly engrossed in its content.

But Ron knew she had been watching. He had noticed her flushed cheeks and her watery eyes. And as he put his foot on the lowest step of the stairs leading to the dormitory he turned on instinct. Their eyes met for the first time since he'd stupidly kissed Lavender and Ron just knew he'd hurt her more than words could say. And it broke his heart - again.