Changed (Drarry)

Chapter 3

"Harry! Get up!" Ron yelled in Harry's ear, making Harry jump and sit bolt upright, green eyes widened to extremes from fear, breathing heavily. "Breakfast, then Dumbledore has something to tell us."

"Sorry." Harry mumbled, his insides churning as he tried to breathe, he felt like he was going to start shaking like a leaf, and talking to Ron at all was making it worse, and he physically couldn't make himself any louder than that.

"Yeah, well get a move on, we have to degnome the garden after talking to Dumbledore." Ron said standing back form the small, unstable camping bed Harry was sleeping on, crossing his arms and looking Harry up and down.

Harry couldn't respond, he wanted to, and he opened his mouth to, but his voice couldn't come out and Harry started to feel like he wasn't breathing. Eventually he managed to get up and started to get dressed. Ron's eyes made Harry feel like he was being stabbed with at least 1000 pins, and sent uncomfortable shivers down his spine. He had changed in front of Ron before, in fact he had changed in front of all of the boys in Gryffindors, but today it felt almost creepy.

In second year Harry had found a spell that hid his injuries without it being detectable, he didn't remember how he found it, or even if he had actually been looking for it, maybe he had made it himself? It didn't really matter anyway, Harry had cast it as soon as he had left the Dursleys, so that nobody would question him. It meant that Ron wasn't going to see any of his throbbing injuries that had only been aggravated by the low quality bed, but it felt like Ron was looking at them and judging him for them.

H̶a̶r̶r̶y̶ ̶t̶h̶o̶u̶g̶h̶t̶ ̶i̶t̶ ̶w̶a̶s̶ ̶o̶d̶d̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶h̶e̶ ̶h̶a̶d̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶s̶l̶e̶e̶p̶ ̶o̶n̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶e̶x̶t̶r̶a̶ ̶b̶e̶d̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶R̶o̶n̶'̶s̶ ̶r̶o̶o̶m̶ ̶w̶h̶e̶n̶ ̶R̶o̶n̶ ̶h̶a̶d̶ ̶o̶t̶h̶e̶r̶ ̶b̶r̶o̶t̶h̶e̶r̶s̶ ̶w̶h̶o̶ ̶w̶e̶r̶e̶n̶'̶t̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶r̶e̶,̶ ̶s̶o̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶r̶e̶ ̶m̶u̶s̶t̶ ̶b̶e̶ ̶a̶t̶ ̶l̶e̶a̶s̶t̶ ̶o̶n̶e̶ ̶f̶r̶e̶e̶ ̶r̶o̶o̶m̶ ̶w̶i̶t̶h̶ ̶a̶n̶ ̶a̶c̶t̶u̶a̶l̶ ̶b̶e̶d̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶h̶e̶ ̶c̶o̶u̶l̶d̶ ̶u̶s̶e̶.̶ ̶I̶t̶'̶s̶ ̶n̶o̶t̶ ̶l̶i̶k̶e̶ ̶l̶a̶s̶t̶ ̶y̶e̶a̶r̶ ̶w̶h̶e̶n̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶y̶ ̶d̶i̶d̶n̶'̶t̶ ̶k̶n̶o̶w̶ ̶h̶e̶ ̶w̶a̶s̶ ̶c̶o̶m̶i̶n̶g̶,̶ ̶s̶o̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶y̶ ̶h̶a̶d̶ ̶t̶i̶m̶e̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶p̶r̶e̶p̶a̶r̶e̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶ ̶h̶i̶m̶ ̶m̶o̶r̶e̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶n̶ ̶a̶ ̶c̶a̶m̶p̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶b̶e̶d̶.̶

"Good morning, Harry. Did you sleep well?" Hermione asked with a smile as Harry came downstairs in the nicest of Dudley's old hand me downs that couldn't even nearly fit Harry.

"'Morning, 'Mione. I slept alright." Harry said, smiling back at her as he sat down beside her. He looked dishevelled, with extremely messy hair that didn't seem like he had done anything with it that morning, which he hadn't as Ron kept rushing him.

Harry felt more comfortable talking to Hermione, but he still felt a little claustrophobic, which he had never felt before, especially not at the Burrow. He felt comfortable sitting next to Hermione, which was odd, as he had always been closer to Ron than her. Thinking about Ron, he was back to glaring at Harry, presumably for sitting next to Hermione, but it's not like there was ever any kind of seating arrangement, and Harry was Hermione's friend too.

"Harry, dear, don't you normally sit next to Percy." Mrs Weasley said with a closed eye smile that made Harry feel like he was in danger, images of a man he had never remembered meeting flashing before his eyes as he forced a smile of his own onto his face.

"I just felt like sitting next to Hermione this morning Mrs Weasley." Harry said, his throat hurting from talking to her, even though the day had barely started and he had hardly talked to anyone yet.

"Yes, but that's where Ron sits, can't you let him have his seat back?" Mrs Weasley said, frowning slightly as she looked Harry over.

Harry opened his mouth as if to reply, but he found that he didn't have any words, and he didn't want to make the Weasleys hate him, they were the closes thing to family he had. Harry got up and walked around the table to sit next to Percy. He didn't understand what the problem with him sitting next to Hermione was, so what if Ron liked her, everyone here except Harry and Hermione were Ron's family, Dumbledore being somewhere off, probably doing something important that they wouldn't understand or in some kind of meeting.

Fred and George were silently glowering at Mrs Weasley behind her back, but as soon as they noticed anyone looking at them, they were all smiles like the rest of the family. Harry wondered what was going on with them, but he guessed it was something they didn't want to talk about in front of everyone.

"How are you doing after last year, Ginny?" Hermione asked as she leaned forwards to grab some toast from the large plate in the middle of the table.

"Me?" Ginny asked, jumping slightly as Hermione addressed her, giving Ron the briefest look of fear(?) before replying to Hermione. "I'm doing alright, I guess. Dad was actually more mad about it than mum. I haven't been getting many letters, but I guess that can only be expected, but there are people I want to talk to."

Ginny's eyes flicked to Harry as she said the last part, a look in them that made Harry feel uncomfortable, and he could have sworn he had seen a hint of pink in her pupils, but he guessed it must just be something reflecting in them. Harry couldn't place what about her look felt so uncomfortable, but looking in Hermione's eyes as she looked at Ron he could see the same way he felt in her eyes.

S̶o̶m̶e̶t̶h̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶w̶a̶s̶ ̶w̶r̶o̶n̶g̶.

-----

Harry, Ron, and Hermione were all sitting on one of the sofas in the living room in that order, Ron sandwiched between Harry and Hermione as Dumbledore sat opposite them, looking almost too comfortable in a house that wasn't his.

"You said you had something to tell us, Professor." Hermione prodded when Dumbledore made no move to do anything after pulling them aside.

"It's unfortunate news, I am afraid." Dumbledore said with a deep sigh, stirring a cube of sugar into his tea that was already too sweet for there to be any need for the tea to have ever been brewed. "Minerva has abandoned our side, she framed me for illegal act and had me removed as headmaster so her wife could take my role."

"Why would she do that?" Harry asked, shocked, his chest feeling like it was closing in on itself. He liked Professor McGonagall, she was always kind to him and he felt fondness from her and for her, like she was a part of his family in a way hard to put into words.

"I should have figured it out long ago, women with wives are never to be trusted." Dumbledore said with a heavy sigh, seeming to not notice Hermione's breath hitch at his words.

"What did she accuse you of?" Ron asked, sounding almost distant, as though he already knew what was going on and was asking for Harry and Hermione's benefit, then again, he may have listened in the last time Dumbledore told someone.

"There is a man called Sirius Black, he handed James and Lily over to Voldemort," Ron and Hermione shuddered, Harry feeling like his world was shattering, "and then killed 12 muggles and another wizard. He was in Azkaban, and Minerva claimed he was innocent and that I put an innocent man in there." Dumbledore said, looking less sad than Harry felt was appropriate for the situation. The man who had handed Harry's family over to Voldemort was out and Dumbledore was away from Hogwarts and Professor McGonagall had betrayed them.

"What are we supposed to do?" Hermione asked quietly, looking down at her hands, feeling horrible for finding people attractive regardless of gender, Dumbledore was far wiser than them and he said it was wrong, and he was more likely to be right than them.

"You must try not to get in trouble, absolutely do not let Harry near Mr Black, and you cannot trust Minerva as much as you used to." Dumbledore said, looking down at the three 13 year olds, his eyes having their normal twinkle in them that almost seemed to have an energy making uo the twinkle that made Harry have a shiver run down his spine.