Harry Potter and the Secrets from the Past

9. THE HALLOWEEN BANQUET

...

I dream of a countryside

Graveyard, and me there,

Under the shadow of a blossoming

cherry tree with no age.

Just for a little rest

-two or three hundred years-

just to understand better and

to calm down my worries.

...

"A boring day" by Lucio Battisti

On Sunday morning, Madame Pomfrey gave Harry permission to leave the hospital wing, but she made him promise to take a rest during the day, and he told her that he would do his best.

Sadly he reached the common room, knowing very well that Ron and Hermione wouldn't be there to welcome him. He thought back at his argument with Hermione the previous evening and realized that he had been able to fight with her too, and now he couldn't talk to both of them.

"It is better like that!" he thought, determined. "I prefer to be alone in such a dangerous time." Then he recalled the prophecy and realized that it was really better for him to remain alone, knowing what his destiny would be.

"I won't have any other choice, I'll be either the murderer or the victim, and when I fight to save my life, I want to be alone."

This thought rose stronger in his mind, and he became really determined not to put his friends into danger anymore: he wouldn't ask their help anymore, and he was proud of himself for not having told them about the prophecy.

He had made his decision: he would keep Ron and Hermione as far as possible from his life.

***O***

During the following weeks, Harry continued avoiding Ron and Hermione, who never tried to come closer to him. Sometimes he realized that Hermione was staring at him from a certain distance, while he was trying his best not looking in her direction.

Despite what he had told her about asking Ron to leave the Quidditch team, Harry hadn't had the courage to do it for real: it meant that during their Quidditch practices there was always a very high tension between them, which made the trainings a real hell, for them and for their team mates.

Harry was always the first one to leave the dormitory in the morning, the first one to sit in the Great Hall for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and he was the last one to enter the common room in the evening; during classes he always sat in a single desk, far away from the others, and he didn't talk to anybody.

Sometimes Neville sat with him, and Harry wasn't bothered by this: at least he could talk to somebody.

Harry started the habit of visiting Hagrid in the evening, except when Ron and Hermione were already there: usually he peeked from the window to check, and if they were with Hagrid, he turned in his tracks and came back to the castle alone.

Anyway, during Harry's visits, Hagrid never talked to him about his ex-best friends so Harry would not lose his temper; he just limited his questions about school matters. Harry was thankful for that, even if one evening Hagrid couldn't stop himself and went immediately the forbidden subject.

"Harry, please, listen to me without getting angry... but I really believe that you should make peace with Ron and Hermione."

Harry didn't reply, but he turned to stare deeply at his shoelaces. Then Hagrid spoke again:

"When they come to visit.... we always talk about you: they are so sorry about your misunderstandings, expecially Hermione. Last time she was here, she bursted into tears, poor girl..."

"Hermione has cried for me?" Harry thought and he suddenly blushed, while his heart was starting to beat like mad. Then he raised his head and gazed at Hagrid in the eyes.

"I don't want them to suffer for me, but I don't want them risking their lives for me either.... I just want that.......... Oh, I don't even know what I want..."

Harry was so confused: he lowered his head and put his fingers in his hair. The situation was getting out of control, and he wasn't so sure he wanted to go on with his idea to keep his best friends at a distance. Then Hagrid came closer and spoke with affection.

"You're missing them, isn't that true?"

Hagrid was right, Harry missed both of them and he missed everything they usually did together: he missed his chess games with Ron, his jokes, his special way of lifting him when he was on a bad mood..... He missed Hermione, with her "I-know-it-all" attitude, her wise advice and her special way to comfort him.

"Yes, I miss them so much...."

Hagrid grinned and gave him a slap on the shoulder that nearly made him fall on his knees.

"You see? I was perfectly right, then! You must absolutely talk to Ron and Hermione and make peace.... yes, and you must do it as soon as possible!"

"But, Hagrid, it isn't SO easy," replied Harry sternly. Hagrid didn't know about the prophecy and about the danger he was risking. But the idea of living his life completely alone, like an outcast, was maybe worst than getting caught by Voldemort.

"Why isn't that easy? You'll see.... they're going to be really happy to make up with you, they're so much looking for that."

Harry didn't want to disappoint his friend.

"Then... I'll try."

"Very well, Harry... you see? It's better when we talk about our troubles... isn't it?"

"Yes, you're right... " replied Harry bitterly, knowing very well that it won't be an easy thing to resolve THAT "trouble".

***O***

The Halloween banquet was coming closer, and all the teachers were busy with the organization and the decorations, especially because all the students were waiting for Fleur Delacour and Viktor Krum with great enthusiasm.

A few days had passed since Harry's talk with Hagrid, but he hadn't managed to come closer to Ron and Hermione yet and clarify the situation. Actually, he really didn't know how to do it!

That morning they were attending a Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson, and Professor Lupin was teaching them a PROTECTOR spell: using this spell, it was possible to reject many direct attacks, make them bounce and turn them to the sender.

After the explanation, Lupin divided all the students in pairs to practice.

Against his will, Harry was paired with Ron, who didn't seem satisfied from Lupin's choice at all: they started sending spells to each other, and in turn, they had to protect themselves with the PROTECTOR spell.

All of a sudden, Ron wasn't able to protect himself from one of Harry's attacks and fell down backwards, ending with his legs up. Then he got up furiously and rushed towards Harry, shouting at him.

"YOU DID IT ON PURPOSE!"

Harry was astonished by Ron's reaction, but the surpise didn't keep him from answering back.

"MAYBE YOU AREN'T ABLE TO STOP MY ATTACKS!"

"NO! YOU DID IT ON PURPOSE, HARRY, TELL THE TRUTH.... AND I BET, YOU LIKED TO SEE ME FALLING WITH MY LEGS IN THE AIR!"

Harry wasn't able to control his temper any more, and with his blood boiling inside, and his heart beating like mad, he hurled himself upon Ron and threw him to the floor, punching him everywhere.

Ron wasn't any less angry, and he was punching him back. Both of them were furiously rolling on the classroom floor.

The other students were looking at them petrified, while Hermione was completely shocked, her hands covering her mouth. Lupin recovered before the others and rushed to divide the two fighters.

"STOP IT NOW, BOTH OF YOU! MR THOMAS, PLEASE COME HERE TO HELP..."

Dean Thomas tried his best to grab Ron's arms, being careful not to catch a blow, while Lupin had just grabbed Harry's arms.

Even if the two were now split up, they were still shouting at each other, and trying to deal their blows.

"LET ME GO... I'LL SHOW HIM WHAT I CAN DO... LET ME GO!"

Ron was shouting like mad, he had completely lost his temper and he didn't care if he was bleeding from the nose and that his upper lip was cut.

"YES, LET HIM GO... I'M REALLY CURIOUS TO SEE WHAT HE'S ABLE TO DO WITH HIS FISTS... SINCE AT QUIDDITCH HE IS A COMPLETE DISASTER!"

Harry answered back: he was wounded as well, his forehead was cut; his cheek had a wide bruise and his glasses were broken.

"WHY DON'T YOU STOP IT, FOR GOD'S SAKE!! DO I HAVE TO SEND YOU TO THE HEADMASTER ?"

Ron and Harry tried to control themselves, but Lupin and Dean Thomas didn't trust them enough to let them go.

Suddenly the bell rang, but the students didn't move: they were still frozen in place, looking at that scene with their mouths open. Then Professor Lupin spoke.

"You can leave guys, the lesson is over... I'll see you next week."

While the students were slowly exiting the classroom, staring at Harry and Ron worriedly, Lupin turned to Dean.

"Thank you Mr Thomas, you can go."

Dean let go of Ron's arms, who then tried to straighten his robe and was slowly heading to the door.

"NO, Ron, please come here... I must talk to both of you..."

Ron backtracked and stopped right in front of the teacher, who in the meantime had let go of Harry's arms. Hermione remained at the door, looking at them from there. Then Lupin spoke with a calm but determined tone:

"May I know what is happening to you two? I thought that you were friends, and now you are fighting like that.... in front of your mates..... and during MY class ?"

Harry was staring at the floor, while Ron was staring deeply at his shoelaces.

"Would any of you like to explain to me what is going on here?"

Both glanced at each other scornfully for a second, then turned immediately, staring at the floor again.

"Neither of you would like to speak? I can't believe that this fight started because one of you had missed a spell! Don't you know that in these days we must do our best to keep closer to each other, and to help one another?"

Harry was starting to realize the seriousness of the situation, and he felt mortified for having disappointed Lupin. Since neither of them wanted to speak, Lupin went on.

"After what has just happened, I should send you both to the Headmaster, and let him choose a good punishment.... but since I know you so well, and since I'm your friend, I won't take any measures against you..... at least this time..... but if I catch you fighting again, I'm going to send you directly to the Headmaster. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

Both of them nodded, keeping their eyes on the floor. Then Lupin put his hands in his pockets and started to pace the classroom with his gaze lost in space, as if he wanted to remember something really far away in the past.

"When James and I were sixteen, we had fights as well...... sometimes furiously.... in those moments, we thought that we would never be able to overcome our misunderstandings, and we even thought we hated each other! But then, we realized that our friendship was really special.... and in the end, each one of us apologized to the other, and we were friends again... more than ever.... "

Lupin turned to face them.

"I really hope that your frienship is special, just like the one which united me, James and Sirius."

There was a long minute of silence, in which Lupin stared at the two directly in the eyes, while Harry felt his shame growing.

"Well, now you can leave.... and I suggest you to go to Madame Pomfrey for those wounds."

Ron and Harry turned themselves and headed to the door. When Harry raised his head, he saw Hermione staring at them, her face red and her eyes wet. At seeing her so worried, he felt a sharp pain in his stomach: he would have given away anything, even his Firebolt, to go back on time and not do what he'd just done, but it was too late now.

Ron exited the classroom in silence, without looking at him or at Hermione and so did Harry.

Hermione ran toward them in the corridor, and when she reached them, she tried to stop them.

"May I know what's happening to you two? Ron, Harry, I don't know you anymore!!"

She grabbed Ron's sleeve, but he pushed her away with a sharp shove and started to walk faster.

Then Hermione turned to Harry and put herself right in front of him: he stopped abruptly and started to stare at her directly in the eyes furiously, noticing that his friend had a face crossed by tears.

"Harry, what's going on?"

But he was too shocked to give her a good answer.

"I don't know Hermione, I really don't know..." he replied angrily, before rushing over the stairs, and leaving her alone in the empty corridor.

***O***

Harry ran up the stairs without knowing were he was going. He was just realizing that now warm tears were crossing his cheeks and he knew that he wouldn't be able to stop them.

Suddenly he found himself in front of the Owlery and entered it to find a little bit of loneliness: there were a lot of owls perched on the stands and many others were arriving through the large windows. Harry crouched on the floor and tightened his legs against the chest, resting his face on his knees.

He felt a sharp pain on the cheek where Ron had punched him before, but he didn't care about his physical pain since the pain he was feeling inside was stronger; he had just disappointed everybody he cared for: Ron, Hermione, Hagrid and now Lupin. He had lost his temper with his best friend and now he was asking himself if everything would ever be like it was before, or if the wound just opened between them was too large to heal.

Then he thought about what Lupin had told them, regarding him and his father, and he felt a little bit of hope rising in his heart.

Harry cried all his tears away and in this way comforted himself. Then he made a decision: he would absolutely have to repair what he had just done. He didn't care about the prophecy, or Voldemort or the Death Eaters anymore. He needed his friends, and they needed him.

He would have to try to talk to them and explain his behavior: maybe they wouldn't forgive him so easily, but at least they could try to understand him.

He decided to look for Hermione first, and then go to Ron.

After a long half an hour, he tried to pull himself together, wiping his face with his sleeve and exiting the owlery.

***O***

Harry was sure he would find Hermione in the library, and in fact, she was there, sitting at a table alone, staring at a closed book in front of her. She had probably gone there to find a bit of quiet and to think.

Harry came closer to her and stood there in front of her; she raised her face to look at him with a really sad expression in her wet eyes.

"May I take a seat?" asked Harry in a low voice, and she stared at him with surprise. Then she stretched her arm and took a chair for him, and he turned around the table and sat beside her. Both started to gaze at each other deeply in the eyes and Harry spoke first.

"I wanted to apologize... for everything I've done to you."

"Harry, I...."

"No, wait... let me talk first!"

He cut her off and then went on.

"I owe you an explanation, Hermione, for my crazy behavior....."

He smiled slightly, but Hermione was still gazing at him sternly. Then he became serious again, and went on.

"Everything started when I saved you from Malfoy, remember? I gave Ron all the blame for what had happened, even if it wasn't really his fault. I don't know why I did it, maybe because I am over-protective of you, or maybe because that day I was in a bad mood. I only know that from that moment on, I lost control of the situation. I started to blame Ron for everything... for the bad Quidditch game, or for a bad mark... and then I argued with you as well, and we spent almost a month without talking to each other."

Harry paused and noticed that Hermione was deeply concentrating on what he was saying, then went on.

"Then I had the most stupid idea in the world: I thought about what Ron had told me, that it was dangerous for you to be my friends, and I thought that, since we were not talking to each other... well, it'd have been easier for me to keep you away from my life, and in this way protect you from Voldemort and all the rest."

At this point Hermione tried to cut him off, staring at him sternly, but Harry went on.

"I was wrong! I need you... both of you..... and if it isn't too late, I'd like to make amends..."

Abruptly, Hermione burst into tears, and she threw her arms to Harry's neck. He tightened his arms around her strongly, with his heart full of joy.

"You're such a silly boy, Harry! What were you trying to do? You wanted to protect us? But you were driving us crazy... I'm so happy, Harry, so happy..."

Hermione was talking to him in his ear, they were so close to each other; the load which had been burdening his heart was completely gone, and now he was happy as never before.

Suddenly he felt that his happiness was changing into something different: Harry started to feel a deep pain in his stomach. He realized that they were TOO close and he started to panic.

He blushed visibly and pushed away his friend, deeply embarrassed. Hermione seemed not to have noticed his behavior, because she was still talking animately to him.

"We must go and find Ron immediately. You've to talk to him and make peace; there is no time to lose."

Hermione got up with a great smile on her face and headed to the door, followed by an extremely quiet Harry who was trying to understand his true feelings.

***O***

Harry and Hermione looked for Ron everywhere, but it seemed as if he had vanished: they couldn't find him in the Great Hall, nor in the gardens; it was already starting to get dark, so they decided to wait for him in the common room.

They sat on the sofa, in front of the fireplace, and Hermione started to talk energetically about the long month that had passed without him: how they had suffered from the situation, how Hagrid had always tried to let Ron make the first step. Around them all the other students were slowly heading to their dormitories.

Harry was listening to every single word, being careful not to come too close to her, because now it was clear to him that the situation could have become really embarrassing.

He thought that it was a really odd feeling, just like the thing he felt when he was close to Cho Chang during the previous year.

"What is happening to me?" he kept asking himself. "She is my BEST FRIEND.... and I can't fall for my best friend, it isn't right!"

On the contrary, now he understood too well that something had changed inside him; maybe this long month spent alone had helped him realize how Hermione was important for him, how he had missed her so much.

He knew that he had always liked her for her intelligence, for her wisdom, for her great heart, and now he was starting to like her, for her sweetness, for her way of being so full of life.

"Harry? Are you listening to me?"

At that question he came back down to earth again.

"Of course I am!"

Then his attention was drawn to the door, which just opened, revealing a very sulky Ron.

Hermione got up immediately and reached him, followed by Harry, who remained at a certain distance, staring at Ron sternly.

"Ron, where have you been? We were looking for you everywhere! Harry has something to tell you..."

Ron raised his gaze to him: his upper lip was still bleeding. Then Harry came closer, stopped right in front of him, and started to talk with embarrassment.

"Ron, I've to apologize... during the last month I behaved so wrongly... will you be able to forgive me... can you?

Harry lowered his gaze, then went on.

"Now I understand that I need your friendship and that for me you are one of the most important people in the world...."

Ron looked at him doubtful for a moment, and then looked at Hermione, who nodded at him.

Finally he came closer to Harry and hugged him tight. Harry did the same, with a great smile on his face.

"WOW, you've finally done it..... I can't believe it, guys... peace is made!"

Hermione was jumping and clapping her hands for the joy like a little girl.

When the two friends pulled apart, they stared at each other in affection.

"I promise to you Ron, that we'll never fight again!"

"I'm counting on that, mate! Anyway, I'll try my best as well!"

***O***

Finally, came the day of the Halloween feast. It was a Friday. Harry, Ron and Hermione were sitting at the same desk, attending a Transfiguration class: Hermione was carefully listening to Professor McGonagall, while Harry and Ron were passing notes under the desk.

Harry was feeling really happy and uplifted; he and Ron were best friends again. Maybe Harry would soon find the courage to tell them about the prophecy and maybe they would help him carrying this load, which was getting heavier all alone.

In the meantime, he was trying his best to hide his true feelings for Hermione, especially since he knew how much Ron had always held her dear and he didn't want to fight with him again.

For the moment, it was enough being closer to her, sharing his days with her, as they had always done before. Besides, he wasn't sure about her true feelings and he didn't want to ruin their friendship by asking her to become his girlfriend.

That day, all the students were going to end their classes one hour earlier, and Harry would also miss his usual Occlumency lesson with Snape.

All the students gathered outside the castle's main entrance, ready to welcome the two special guests, Fleur Delaceur and Viktor Krum.

In the 6^th row, Harry, Ron and Hermione were looking forward to meeting their old friends again.

"It has been ages since the last time I've seen Viktor ... I wonder how he is!" Hermione asked herself, causing a sudden reaction from Ron.

"I'm sure he's always the same sad, surly and rather low guy of two years ago!"

"You didn't think about him like that while you were asking his autograph!" replied Hermione, taunting him, and he gazed at the sky, slightly embarrassed.

"Look, they're coming!"

Harry was pointing at the main gate, where the Knight Bus was entering at high speed. It stopped right in front of the main entrance, and Dumbledore went down the stairs to welcome the guests, followed by Professor McGonagall.

When the Knight Bus door opened, a beautiful girl came out: she was tall, her skin was white like the snow and her long hair was a wonderful bright blond color. She descended the stairs with great elegance and took away a lock of hair from her forehead, with a cute movement of the head. Even if it wasn't winter yet, Fleur was wearing a heavy fur overcoat and her hands were kept warm by a soft fur muff.

The Headmaster came closer to her and she shook his hand poshly.

Afterwards, a lanky boy with black long hair and untidy beard came down the stairs awkwardly: he was wearing a heavy black fur coat with a long cloak. He headed sulky toward Dumbledore, who shook his hands with warmth.

Then the Headmaster showed them inside to the Great Hall, which was amazing: colored garlands were hanging from the charmed ceiling, and large lit pumpkins and real bats were floating in mid-air.

All the students took seat at their tables, while Fleur and Viktor seated at the teachers' table. Then the feast began.

"Fleur is even more beautiful, don't you think?"

Ron couldn't stop staring at Fleur, and Hermione frowned at him.

"I personally find that her overcoat is really out of place! It isn't that cold, after all! Besides, Viktor has really grown up and he even let his beard grow..."

"I really hope that he isn't going to set a new fashion..."

Hermione frowned at him while Harry rolled his eyes: they were bickering at each other as usual, but Harry didn't cut them off. After all, he loved them for this.

After the banquet, Dumbledore got up to give a little speech.

"I officially give a very warm welcome to our special guests, Mss Fleur Delacour and Mr Viktor Krum. I am sure that with your help, they are going to feel at home, during their weekend here at Hogwarts. Our guests will be free to spend their time with all of you, and tomorrow they will go to Hogsmeade, as already planned. Finally, they are going to leave us on Monday morning very early. Now you will be able to greet them personally."

With a movement of his right hand, Dumbledore made sign to the students to get up, and with another light movement of his left hand, he pushed away the house tables to make space.

In the meantime, Fleur and Viktor had already got up to reach the other studends, who were very happy to greet them.

During her first visit, Fleur became friend with a few Ravenclaw girls, while Viktor knew already some Slytherin boys, so the students from those two Houses first came closer to them.

Harry noticed that Malfoy and Krum were greeting one another like old friends, and he didn't like that at all. He thought that Viktor was a good guy, and he could not understand what he had in common with that devil Malfoy.

Harry, Ron and Hermione remained in the back, waiting for the crowd to decrease. Then they came closer to Fleur, who was happy to see them.

"Hi, Harry... it's so good to see you... how are you?"

When she hugged him warmly, Hermione jumped in surprise and frowned at her. Then, the French girl shook Ron and Hermione's hands, but she didn't have enough time to talk because she was immediately "stolen" by a few other Ravenclaw students.

"She's such a real show-off! I bet that she likes being in the center of everybody's attention!!"

Harry and Ron turned abruptly toward Hermione, surprised by her sharp comment.

"Hi Her-mio-ni."

"Viktor, How are you?"

Viktor Krum had reached Hermione, dodging the crowd, and they were now hugging warmly.

"Fine, fine, and you?"

"I'm fine, thank you... we have so many things to talk about..."

Hermione had pulled away from the hug, and she was now gazing happily at him, while Ron was looking at them grimly. Harry was starting to dislike him as well.

When Viktor put his arm around Hermione's shoulder and pulled her gently to an empty corner of the Hall, Harry and Ron were astonished. Then the couple sat togehter, and started to talk enthusiastically.

"I'd like to know what she sees in that guy?" asked Ron loudly, obviously annoyed.

"What every girl likes, I think! He is famous, he is a sportsman, and he is rich!" replied Harry, still looking at the couple and feeling slightly jealous.

"Come on! You have just described yourself, Harry...but it seems that her eyes are just for Krum."

Harry turned to his friend, really amazed by that comparison.

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