That hit Harry with more emotion than he expected, and he faltered on the stairs for the briefest moment. "Thanks, Parvati." He imagined what it would be like, going to the place his family originated. He didn't speak the language, or know any of the culture or his own family history; it would probably be more embarrassing than insightful. Maybe he'd wait until he'd had the chance to raid the Potter vaults a bit, learn more about his heritage.
"I heard a rumour," Lavender drawled, bringing the conversation back to safer topics as they neared Gryffindor Tower, "that you, Harry, are going to the ball with Susan Bones. Care to comment?"
"It's true," he confirmed, and Parvati squealed halfway through giving the password, making the Fat Lady scowl at her.
"I knew Anthony wouldn't lie to me about that! That's really great, Harry; you two will look good together."
"We're just friends," Harry insisted. Both girls giggled.
"We know," Lavender chirped. "But that doesn't mean you can't make a great pair. And Sally-Anne is fuming, which is always a plus."
Harry frowned at that. "She doesn'tSally-Anne doesn't fancy me or something, does she?" he asked in mild alarm. He didn't think the Hufflepuff girl even liked him — she was always glaring!
Both girls giggled, exchanging a look. "No," Parvati assured. "But, well— she's always been mean to Susan. As soon as the ball was announced she started saying that no one would ask Susan because she was too fat to get a date." That made both of them scowl, and Harry's eyes widened.
"That's awful!" He was now even more glad he'd asked Susan to go with him. Who the hell did Sally-Anne Perks think she was, saying such things?
"She's just jealous," Lavender huffed. "She thinks all the boys should fancy her because she's skinny. But Susan's way prettier and nicer. So now Sally-Anne's going with Wayne Hopkins, even though she really wanted to go with Roger Malone but he turned her down." Parvati let out a quiet, wistful sigh at Roger's name — Harry knew the Ravenclaw boy was, according to many of the girls, the most attractive boy in their year.
"Well I'm just glad Susan agreed to go with me," he said, not sure he wanted to get deeper into the gossip spiral. "I kept getting asked by girls I don't even know, it was weird!"
"You're a Triwizard champion," Parvati reminded him, grinning. "And unlike Cedric, you're actually single. Can you blame them for taking a chance?"
Harry managed a smile, even as something in his chest twisted painfully. He wasn't single, but he couldn't tell the girls that. Couldn't tell anyone.
The common room was fairly busy, and the two girls bid Harry goodbye to head up to their dorm and… he was pretty sure they said something about trying out hairstyles. Either way he left them to it, intending on heading up to put his books away and then go find the twins for a little light hexing of random floor tiles in the Entrance Hall. Instead, he paused when a voice called his name.
"Harry, can we talk for a minute?" Hermione and Ron were sat on the sofa in the corner, Hermione's brown eyes imploring. Ron didn't look thrilled to be there, but he wasn't actively glaring at Harry. Harry shrugged, changing course. "What do you need?" he asked, sinking into the chair opposite. Hermione bit her lip.
"This has gone on long enough," she started. For a second, Harry thought she was going to confess to being a spy for Dumbledore. "I know the two of you have had… issues, this year, but really, you've been friends for far too long to let this silly tournament get in the way of that." Harry bit back a snort; if only it was just the tournament. "It's awful having the two of you fighting, and Harry I know I've been a bit short with you lately, and I apologise for that, but it's been hard, alright? I hate it, and I wish you two would just get over this and be fr iends again. Ronald, Harry very clearly did not put his name in the Goblet, and he needs your support, not your derision. Harry, you can't blame Ron for being a bit jealous sometimes; these things happen, and you shouldn't begrudge him his feelings."
Harry absolutely would begrudge him his feelings when those feelings made him be an arsehole, but he kept his mouth shut. He had never been able to stand up to Hermione when she brought out her sad voice, and maybe he had been a little hard on both of them lately. He was so worried about Dumbledore, he was seeing enemies everywhere, even in the two people who had been his best friends since he was eleven.
He wasn't saying they could go back to that again. His friendship group had expanded far too much for him to ever be happy with that insular little trio again. But maybe he could stop actively avoiding them, at least. That probably a dick move on his part.
was
"Ron's being very silent in all this," he commented. Hermione shot the redhead a pointed glare. Ron looked like he was being forced to drink vinegar.
"I'm sorry I said what I said, about you putting your name in and everything," he muttered. He didn't sound particularly sorry. It was like watching a toddler being made to apologise by their mother. "I just… you get all this great stuff you're school champion, you might win a thousand galleons, and that's on top of being Harry bloody Potter. And you don't even care."
"I don't want to be school champion," Harry retorted, trying not to get too angry with Ron while Hermione was sat there staring at him pleadingly. "I didn't ask for any of this. I don't know what I'd do with a thousand galleons. And mate, if you want a scar on your forehead, dead parents, and a target on your back, then by all means, go right ahead."
Ron blanched. Hermione winced. "Harry," she scolded. He shrugged, not remotely sorry.
"If he's willing to stop being a dick then I'm willing to speak to him again. But it'll take more than a half-hearted apology for me to actually forgive him."
"Hear, hear!" It was the twins, perching on the arms of Harry's chair with identical grins on their faces.
"You tell our prat brother, Harry. Look, can we borrow Hedwig for a bit?" George asked, ruffling Harry's hair absently.
"Yeah, no problem. She's been bored lately." With all his friends at Hogwarts, and the mirror to talk to Sirius and Remus, he didn't have much use for her save for the occasional letter to Mrs Frobisher, who was busy trying to get Skeeter banned from school grounds except for the tournament.
"Cheers, mate!" Fred beamed.
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