Harry Potter and The Boy Who Had No Choice

Breakups by the Great Lake

Chapter Five

The next few weeks passed in a blur of lectures, Quidditch practices, and enough homework to drown all of Gryffindor house. If Harry thought that the professors were going to take it easy on the returning eighth years, he was sorely mistaken. Ron and Hermione became more comfortable showing physical affection around Harry; it was still odd, but Harry wasn't bothered by it. The only thing that did bother him was the fact that his friends would always look at him as if he were a hurt puppy, regardless of how many times he insisted that he supported their relationship.

Quidditch practices were admittedly a bit awkward, as Ginny kept approaching Harry afterwards like she wanted to talk. Harry always made some sort of hasty excuse to leave as soon as possible after practice was over, but he couldn't help the twinge of guilt that pulled at his stomach every time he saw Ginny's face. At first, he wasn't entirely sure why he made such an effort to avoid her; after all, they would never be able to get back together if they didn't talk. But after having time to think, Harry realized that his avoidance of Ginny wasn't driven by a desire to avoid awkward conversation: he was avoiding her because he truly didn't want to be in a relationship with her anymore.

It was painfully obvious that Ginny still loved him, and with the not-so-subtle hints Hermione and Ron were dropping, it would be impossible for Harry to claim that he was unaware of her feelings. Luckily, neither Ginny, Hermione, or Ron had directly asked Harry about any of it yet, so for the time being, Harry chose to ignore his issues with Ginny and focus on other things.

Detensions with Malfoy were surprisingly bearable. The Slytherin boy seemed to make a point of pretending Harry didn't exist while they worked, and Harry returned the favor. They rarely spoke, only breaking the silence when one of them would make a snide comment under his breath and the other would pretend not to hear. If Harry ignored the dreadful tension that ran between the boys, he could almost imagine he was working with a stranger. Almost.

The only thing bothering Harry besides his situation with Ginny and detensions with Malfoy were his recurring nightmares. They happened less frequently now that he was at Hogwarts, but he still sometimes woke up whimpering in the night and only hoped that Ron or the other boys in his dormitory hadn't noticed.

Harry sat on the floor with his back against the couch. Hermione laid in Ron's lap reading a book while the lanky ginger absentmindedly ran his fingers through her hair. As nice as the gesture seemed, Ron's hands were not particularly gentle, so the sounds of the crackling fire or flipping pages was occasionally interrupted by a muffled "ow" from Hermione followed by a glare at Ron.

Harry was desperately trying to focus on his Charms homework - Flitwick had given them eight inches due the next Monday - but Holly kept curling into his lap, preventing him from writing. Eventually, he gave up and stroked Holly's soft tan fur until she was fast asleep.

"She's really cute," Ron murmmered. At first, Harry thought he was talking about Hermione, but his eyes were fixed on the snoring puppy in Harry's lap.

"Yeah." Harry smiled. She was nothing like Hedwig, who wouldn't hesitate to nip Harry when she was upset or hungry: Holly was always sweet and cuddly

"Harry," Hermione began apprehensively. "Can I ask you something?"

Harry sighed. There were a number of things she could ask about, none of them he was eager to talk about.

"Er-yeah."

"I was wondering what's going on with you and Ginny?" She averted her attention away from her book and onto Harry. Ron peered over at his friend as well.

"Nothing." Harry shrugged. It was true. There honestly wasn't anything going on between him and Ginny anymore.

"What I mean is" - Hermione sat up from Ron's lap and crossed her arms over her chest - "Last time we talked about her, you said you weren't ready to be in a relationship yet." She raised an eyebrow, obviously trying to coax an explanation out of Harry.