taking control

chapter 12: I Solemnly Swear That We Are Up To Some Serious Pranking

A/N: I just want to say thank you to all those who have been kind enough to leave me reviews. It really does mean the world to me. I absolutely love to hear your thoughts and opinions, so keep them coming.

This chapter went through some major changes, the most noteable being that it was split in half, then fleshed out to only one page shy of its original form. I expect 13 will receive much the same treatment. It's like getting two chapters for the price of one...almost.

I want to give a big thank you to Ruby for all her help and support. I really cannot stress enough what a wonderful job she does for me, helping to flesh out ideas, and even giving me a few good ones as well. I have to credit the pranking idea to her; that is, she was the brilliant one who came up with the idea to set up a bunch of different pranks throughout the castle set to happen at seemingly random intervals to make Malfoy's life hell. She has been absolutely wonderful to work with, and I'm sure you can all tell that she has had a great effect on the story.

Without further ado, I give you chapter 12. P.S. If you joined the Yahoo Group for this story, you would have been treated to some "teaserettes" as Ruby likes to call them. So if you're looking for some motivation...

Chapter 12:I Solemnly Swear That We Are Up To Some Serious Pranking

Ron stared at his shoes and remained silent. Realization dawned on Harry. "You wanted to prove you could do it without me, didn't you?" Ron's head snapped up painfully. "You wanted to prove that you didn't need the great Harry Potter, Boy-Who-Lived to win, didn't you? You wanted to show everyone that you could lead the team to victory without me."

Both girls gasped, and turned horrified eyes to Ron, hoping to find his innocence staring back at them. They were disappointed.

Ron's silence convinced Harry of his guilt. Up until a few moments ago he never would have even suspected that Ron could stoop this low; even now he was having a hard time believing it. "Why?" he asked. "Why...just why?" The hurt in his voice was evident.

"I'm sorry," Ron cried out. "I just...you're one of the best seekers I've ever seen play. And you've been getting even better. Anybody could win with you around because chances are you'll catch the snitch long before the other team has a chance to score 150 points."

"And was it worth it?" Harry asked, feeling more betrayed by the second.

"No," Ron immediately replied, his head down.

"Why not?" Harry inquired, not really sure if wanted the answer to that question.

Ron paused for a moment before responding. "A couple reasons. I didn't stop to think about how it would affect you. And I'm sorry for that. And also, I had little to nothing to do with our win. Without Ginny, we would've lost anyway. It's my fault we were in that position. If Ginny was in at chaser, we would have been in much better shape."

Harry nodded. He felt that was an accurate representation of the situation. "So this brings us back to the present. You apologized thinking everything would be back to normal by tonight. You never really gave a thought to how kicking me off the team would affect me. And I can't just forgive and forget that. But I am sick of arguing with you. And I'm sick of the strain it's putting on all our friends. They've been forced to pick sides and deal with the tension between us all term, and I hate having to see that."

Harry paused a moment. "A friendship has to work both ways, and there has to be trust there. And frankly, I don't see how I can trust you right now." Harry trailed off here. He had lost all his steam, and had nothing left to say.

There was a long period of uncomfortable silence as each boy contemplated everything that was said and the ramifications thereof. After a couple long minutes, Ron took a deep breath and looked at Harry. "So what does that mean? Where does that leave us?"