Shifted: Book One

Chapter Fourteen - Apologies

Hazel couldn't remember much what happened after her battle with the Vipertooth, it was a chaotic rollercoaster for her. All she remembered from that day was being hit by the dragon's flaming spit (which left a small scar on her arm), retrieving the golden egg, nervously watching Harry fight the Hungarian Horntail, and revealing the secrets inside the egg once they got back to the Gryffindor common room.

No one knew what to expect from the golden egg, but when Harry opened his in front of the Gryffindor students, it was not a soothing sound. The egg let out a deafening screech and bounced off the walls and entered everyone's ears, it didn't take Harry too long for him to finally close the egg shut and mute the irritating noise.

Moments after everyone's ears were almost bleeding, they all resumed to their conversations. Harry was talking to Neville and were stood beside Hermione and Ginny, congratulating Hazel as they sat by the fireplace. Harry's smile soon vanished when Ron approached him from door; he had a glum and guilty expression on his face. Neville walked away and started to talk to Seamus, who was laughing away with Dean on the steps leading up to the dormitories.

"I reckon you have to be barking mad to put your own name in the Goblet of Fire", Ron said, beginning the long-awaited yet awkward conversation between the two.

Harry looked at him in slight disbelief, but he was willing to listen to Ron.

"Caught on have you?", Harry said.

"Took you long enough".

Ron shifted his mouth to the side and looked around the room before responding.

"I wasn't the only one who thought you did it, everyone else was saying it behind your back", he said.

Harry looked around him, scanning the other students in the room with him, before turning back to Ron with a disappointed expression.

"Brilliant, that makes me feels loads better", Harry sighed, looking at Ron who also shared a disappointed face.

Ron looked up and changed his tone of voice into something a little more uplifting.

"At least I warned you about the dragons", Ron said.

Harry looked confused, and squinted into Ron's hopeful eyes.

"Hagrid warned me about the dragons", Harry said, with certainty, although his face showed signs of perplexity.

Ron lightly chuckled to himself and gently rested his hand on Harry's shoulder, looking him in the eyes.

"No, no", Ron pleaded.

"I did. No, don't you remember? I told Hermione to tell you that Seamus told me that Parvati told Dean that Hagrid was looking for you", he continued, with a hopeful grin on his face.

Harry's face froze with confusion, he thought Ron was being sarcastic.

"Seamus never actually told me anything", Ron admitted.

"It was really me all along. Thought we'd be alright after you figured that out", Ron finished, looking down in a disheartened way.

Harry, now furrowing his eyebrows in uncertainty, looked at Ron.

"Who could possibly figure that out?", he asked.

"That's completely mental", Harry added, letting out a quiet chuckle, whilst Ron too let out a bit of a laugh, agreeing with him.

"It is, isn't it? I suppose I was a bit distraught", Ron responded, glancing over at Harry who gave him an awkward grin.

Hazel, Hermione and Ginny, overhearing their conversation, looked at each other in disbelief.

"Boys", Hermione whispered under her breath.

She shook her head and continued her conversation with Hazel and Ginny; Hazel was going over the details of what really happened whilst fighting the Vipertooth.