One in a Million

Reminiscences

Harry's POV:

"YOU DID WHAT?" Hermione screamed at me in the Common Room the next morning.

"You liked him! You admitted it! Then you ran! What the hell, Harry?" I had never heard her curse before. It was quite unsettling.

"I-I don't know! I got panicked and I ran!"

"But you said you liked him, mate!" Ron yelled at me.

"Why am I the one in trouble?" I yelled back, my anger mounting.

"Because you probably broke his heart!" Hermione shouted.

"Since when do you care about his heart?! He called you a mudblood for Merlin's sake!"

"I care because you did! You liked him! You still do! So you should have grown a pair and talked to him!" Hermione exclaimed in frustration. I huffed.

"I don't know how to talk to him and all this yelling sure as hell isn't helping!" Suddenly, we were all laughing. I wasn't sure why. A mixture of frustration, stress, anxiety, and several other factors were all in play.

"Harry." Hermione said as she wiped a tear from her eye and stood.

"You like him. It's obvious. You definitely don't want to admit it, but we already know. You have to admit it to yourself before you can tell him." I sighed and ran a hand through my hair.

"Alright. Fine. I'll apologise today. I'll explain that I didn't mean it."

A sudden feeling of sorrow washed over me so hard that I stumbled back.

"Harry? What is it?" Hermione asked, worry in her voice.

"I-I don't know. It-It's like some feeling just hit me, but it's not mine." Ron frowned at me.

"Maybe you should go to the Hospital Wing?" I shook my head.

"Maybe it's that connection thing. I'll ask Lupin."

Hermione sighed then looked at her watch and jumped. "Hurry! We only have five minutes until breakfast is over!"

We all grabbed our bags then hurried out of the portrait hole, the thought of talking to Lupin completely slipping out of my mind.

***

As we were leaving the Great Hall, heading towards our first class, Hermione tapped me on the shoulder.

"Herbology is canceled today. Go talk to Lupin." I sighed.

"Do I have to?" She gave me a stern look and I groaned then held up my hands.

"Fine! Fine, I will." I turned and walked down the corridor, towards Lupin's classroom.

I knocked lightly on his office door and opened it at the "Come in!".

"Ah. Harry. I see you have had a change of heart since last night?" I sat down in the chair in front of his desk.

"It wasn't that I didn't like him. Because I kind of do? Maybe? I'm not sure if I like him as a friend or as something more. But when I saw him come from underneath the invisibility cloak, I panicked. He had heard everything I said! I just got scared, so I ran. How did he even get the cloak in the first place?" At that, Lupin chuckled as he settled back down behind his desk.

"You forget, Harry, that I used to be a Marauder, right along with your Father. You are also forgetting who was much of the brains of those operations." I felt a slight grin creep onto my face.