The Boy I Love -HEDRIC (2)

31.(HC) yellow everywhere

HARRY 

LXXVI

He intended to stop by his room for a second to put the cloak in his trunk and go back to the entrance of the castle, the meeting point he had agreed with Cedric. Ron was lying on his bed, too quiet. It occurred to Harry that he might need a distraction, and he invited Ron to come outside and play in the snow with Cedric.

Harry was sure his boyfriend wouldn't mind if he went too.

However, Ron wasn’t so fond of the idea.  

Standing at the end of the bed, Harry watched him settle onto the pillow. 

"Hey, about Hermione…" he started to say, getting straight to the point.

"What about her?" Ron answered softly, not meeting his gaze. 

Actually, he expected Ron to be the one to do the talking, but he decided for, "I know you'll work things out. You always do."

"And what if I don't want to fix things?" he muttered to himself.

"You're here miserable, even if you try to hide it."

Far from being offended by it, Ron found it amusing. 

"It doesn't make sense, I know…"

"Maybe not," Harry conceded, laughing as well, "but that's how you feel. Just don't let it ruin your friendship with Hermione. She…” he hesitated, not quite sure how to continue the sentence without revealing parts of their previous conversation that he imagined Hermione wouldn't be happy if he shared it. “She appreciates you and cares about your opinion."

Even though she had Harry's support, it was evident that it was not enough.

Evident how much Hermione cared what Ron thought. 

"Not enough to…" Ron stood still for a moment as he rose on his elbows until he sat on the mattress. "To ask for it earlier."

"She didn't want to tell you because of this…"

"And that's why you didn't tell me about Cedric either?" 

Oh, sure Harry wouldn't mind if Hermione hadn't told him.

I wouldn't be angry anyway, he thought, unable to speak aloud, because Ron was right and Harry had done exactly what she had done. But he had only fought with Hermione...

"Did you think I'd be against it?" Ron asked when he didn't answer. "You and Hermione have been keeping secrets, and that sucks. I don't know what... What have I done to make you both think you can't be honest with me? I know I reacted badly to Hermione. It's just that seeing her there with Viktor was like a bucket of cold water."

Harry was quick to make it clear that it wasn't anything he had done. 

He hated the realization that he was partly responsible for his best friend feeling this way. 

"I don't know, maybe I thought…" he tried to be as honest as possible, "I know that, uh, it's not something that common in the wizarding world… or muggle world, if that's the case. My aunt and uncle find it so disgusting, and for Dudley it's something to tease me about for weeks. If any of them knew…” Harry shrugged, sighing because he couldn't imagine that it was possible for them to see him as more of a freak than they already did, but they had the habit of outdoing each other frequently. "I don't care what they think. You, on the other hand, are my best friend... And it occurred to me that it would be best if I kept it to myself. Just in case."

"Harry," Ron blurted out his name in a whisper that sounded like a scolding. "You have the inconvenient tendency to keep everything to yourself. I'm not mad that you didn't tell me. It is just a shame that I couldn't bother you with Cedric sooner. All those times…” he said, shaking his head in a genuinely amused complaint until he looked up with interest, “And Cho, did I hit it or…?"