Harry Potter and the Silent Dead: Book 1

Chapter 15: Friend?

Harry walked in to the Ravenclaw common room, nodding at the upper years that were still studying. They nodded back, used to seeing him wondering around like a ghost at all hours, before returning to their reading. He walked up to his dorm and was surprised to see Terence and Lisa sitting in front of the door. "Harry Potter, where have you been?" Before he could reply, Lisa stepped forwards, her face bright red. "Do you have any idea how worried we were? We all went to the infirmary to check on you and you were just gone! And then you missed lunch and dinner! What were you thinking?" He frowned, what did it matter, they didn't need to know where he was every second of the day. He went to tell them exactly that, but Terence interrupted him. "Where were you Harry, what were you doing?" Harry was starting to feel claustrophobic, and he glared at them. He wasn't doing this right now. Shesha, clearly sensing his mood, reared up and hissed at them, her long sharp fangs on display. "Stay away from my master, humans, or I will bite." Harry walked into the dorm as they jumped back, slamming the door behind him. He jumped onto the bed, drawing the curtains around him and placing a sticking and silencing charm in case Terence kept trying to talk to him. Sure he'd liked having friends, but would always want privacy. Sighing, he fell asleep to thoughts of snakes, ghosts and his friends.

Harry spent the rest of the week in silence, splitting his time between classes and the chamber. All of this was done with zero communication. No one in the school has seen any flaming words above his head since the arguement with Terence and Lisa. He still hadn't found the book Marvolo had told him about, and Harry was starting to feel desperate. Christmas was in just a couple of weeks, and he had nothing to show for it. He sighed, head in his hands. What was he going to do. "You look troubled Harry." He looked up to see the Grey Lady wonder through the wall, sitting beside him. He looked around the library, worried, but no one else was in here. It was dinner time after all. He sighed again and looked at her. "I've fallen out with my friends." She nodded, a look of understanding crossing her pale features. "Yes, the Baron mentioned, your friends were discussing it." He rolled his eyes, of course they knew. Sometimes he wished ghosts would just mind their own business, but he understood why they did it. It wasn't like they had their own lives to get to. "What do you think about it all?" She was silent for a minute, clearly thinking . "Harrison, you understand that the living are complicated. They worry for you and this makes them upset, and angry." Harry stared at her blankly. He'd seen how temperamental the mortals were. When ghost were sad, they were sad and usually withdrew from people. Honestly, ghosts were usually only three emotions. Sad, scared or confused. His friends had this large range that he just didn't understand. "They worry for you. I'm sure if you explained, they would understand and respect your need for privacy." Harry frowned at her, closing his History book and leaning back in his seat. "Why should I? Friends were never part of the plan. I was going to spend my life with Shesha and Elder, practicing magic in peace. What has the living ever done for me?" She looked down at him with a saddened expression on her face. "Friendship and love is more important than you think Harry. Do you truly wish to lose the happiness you had with them?" She disappeared leaving Harry to think. Maybe she was right.

Terence sat on the sofa of the Slytherin common room, with the rest of the group sitting around him. As usual, they were talking about Harry. He'd barely given them a second glance the whole week. Terence wasn't really sure what he'd done to upset him, but that didn't stop him from feeling miserable at losing his friend. The entire group was sombre, although Pansy wouldn't stop raging about how rude he was being. Daphne just rolled her eyes at the angry girl. "Do we try and talk to him about what happened?" Lisa looked around waiting for an answer, but no one said anything. He sighed. "I'm not sure what we should do." The common room door opened, and they were all surprised to see Harry walk in, ignoring the other Slytherins and standing next to the group. He hesitated before sitting next to Terence with his head lowered and face covered by his hair. "I'm sorry." It was quiet, so quiet they barely heard it, but it was there. Harry just spoke!