Something New

05

"Mate, you gonna come down for breakfast?" Ron asked as he slipped on a pair of shoes, then standing up and facing his friend's bed.

"Not hungry," Harry replied, sitting up in his bed. He was hungry, but it wasn't like that was unusual. He was still a tad bit mad at Hermione and Ron, though he wasn't entirely sure why he was upset with the ginger.

"Don't you think Lovegood'll be worried; you barely had a bite yesterday night as well. Come to think of it, I haven't seen you eat much at all since we've gotten here," Ron said, though it seemed like the last bit was more to himself than Harry. 

"So you aren't worried then? What makes Luna different from you or Hermione?" Harry questioned, ignoring the second half of what he'd said.

"Nothing, I just figured since she's your girlfriend, I could make you worry about her worrying or something. It made sense in my head, alright?"

"That might have worked, except for one tiny detail...LUNA AND I AREN'T TOGETHER!" Ron stepped back, hands held up in surrender, while Harry glared daggers at him.

"Well, I just assumed-"

"Oh look, you've spotted the problem. Don't assume anything, just ask me and I'll tell you!" Harry was well aware the other boys in the dorm had woken up by now, watching the scene play out, but he really didn't care. The more who knew Harry and the Ravenclaw weren't dating, the better.

"Hermione did ask, and you stormed off without giving an answer," Ron pointed out, and Harry resisted the urge to strangle him. His hotheaded temper was really getting the best of him, but in his defense, it was far too early to be dealing with this.

"She called her loony. I may not be dating Luna, but she's still my friend, and she's just as sane as me. Call her that, and you'll be calling me loony as well." Seamus snorted at that, and Harry turned to scowl at him. Of course, Harry hadn't forgotten that the boy really did think he was loony, but he didn't think the boy would be so stupid when Harry knew something he definitely didn't want getting out. Dean seemed to pick up on this and elbowed his...friend? What were those two anyway?

Despite what the two Gryffindors might think, Harry wouldn't out them. He wasn't evil, just angry.

"Maybe you are loony, going around making friends with that girl, not to mention that whole ordeal with the 'horses' a few nights ago. How would you know if you were crazy or not?" 

Harry was done. He stormed out, something he seemed to enjoy doing quite a lot, still in his pajamas. He saw Hermione reading a book in the common room, but ignored her when she called out his name and walked out the portrait door. He jumped when he saw something on the ground. Though he quickly realized it was a someone, with vibrant red hair and Gryffindor robes.

"Ginny? What're you doing out here?" Harry asked, giving the lump on the ground a small kick. The girl snapped up and pulled out her wand, pointing it directly at Harry. He flinched, taking a small step back.

"Oh, it's you," the girl said with a breath, lowering the wand, oblivious to Harry's uneasiness. After taking a few seconds to recover, Harry offered his hand, which she gratefully took, and he hoisted her up from the ground.

"What were you doing out here?"

"Forgot the password," she replied sleepily, stretching out her limbs and yawning. "What's with the pj's?" 

Harry looked down and realized he was, in fact, still in his pajamas. He'd never changed.

"Can I borrow your wand, Ginny? I left mine up in my dorm, and I'd rather not go up there again." Nodding, Ginny passed the wand over to him.

"Accio robes, wand, and book bag!" Saying the password so the stuff wouldn't rip the portrait up, he watched as his things came flying towards him, and grabbed them all. Passing the wand back to Ginny, Harry gave a quick thanks before moving to go to a bathroom and change. He stopped when he noticed a tuft of blond hair behind a wall at the end of the corridor.

Narrowing his eyes, Harry walked towards the person slowly. As he got closer, he realized the figure was undeniably Malfoy.

"Malfoy, why are you hiding behind a wall?" Knowing he'd been spotted, the Slytherin revealed himself fully, head down and staring at the ground. He mumbled something Harry couldn't make out, and the raven-haired boy rolled his eyes.

"What, no snarky comeback? You're not going to pull out your wand and try to hex me? Punch me, maybe? Has Malfoy gone soft?" Harry smirked, watching as the ferret's head whipped up.

"I have not gone soft, Potter. You're delusional."

"Maybe," Harry shrugged. "Everyone else seems to think so anyway. Now, this conversation is  odd enough, so I'll be on my way now." He could feel Malfoy's eyes on him as he left towards the bathrooms.

Things at Hogwarts seemed to be changing. Fast; too fast. Umbridge, Malfoy, Ginny, Luna, Ron, Hermione, even he was, he supposed. Harry didn't like change. 

He was afraid of it.

Word count: 883

*Sorry for the shorter chapter, I've got exams coming up and I'm trying not to fail all my classes, so...