The next morning Harry was up early, hoping that he could make it to breakfast and finish before Ron made it there. The night before Ron had made sure that Harry overheard all of the insults and accusations he had made about Harry while talking to Seamus during a game of chess.
Harry had eventually gotten so frustrated with Ron's behavior that he slammed his book shut and hastily walked out of the common room towards their dorms and was in bed with the curtains drawn by the time Ron finally made it back to the room an hour later.
Harry also wasn't particularly happy with Hermione, who had witnessed the entire scene and yet had said nothing about it. She just sat there pretending to read with an odd expression on her face. He had expected her to say something, anything, but in the end she had just tried to act like there was nothing out of the ordinary going on.
Harry got to the Great Hall early enough to be one of the first people there. The only other Gryffindors there were a small group of seventh years frantically going over notes for an up coming test. Harry had heard talk about how difficult the NEWT year was, and for a moment was thankful that he was not in their place.
Then he chuckled, remembering just what his current situation was. Making his way to a seat towards the middle of the long table, Harry sat down and began his breakfast. About ten minutes later Harry noticed Neville coming into the Great Hall and smiled when he sat down at the table across from him.
"Good morning, Harry." Neville said casually as he began to eat. Harry dropped his fork and stared at him in confusion. Just yesterday Neville had been one of the people not sure what to think about Harry and his place in the Triwizard Tournament.
"Neville, do you still think I put my name in the Goblet of Fire?" Harry asked.
"You've always been nice to me, Harry. And I don't think you have ever lied to me, so if you say you didn't do it I believe you. I'm just sorry it took me so long to see it that way." Neville answered. Harry's smile got a lot bigger when he heard this, now thankful that he had a few friends who believed him.
"Thank you, Neville. That really means a lot to me." Harry responded sincerely. Neville just grinned at him as an answer and went back to eating his breakfast.
When they started talking again the topics were of the normal sort that Harry had missed for the past two days: complaining about evil professors (like Snape, obviously), worrying about schoolwork, and Neville excitedly explaining a Herbology project he was working on for extra credit.
Harry wasn't quite sure why Neville wanted extra credit in Herbology, he had the best grade in their entire year in that subject. Better even than Hermione's, whom seemed to have a perfect grasp of the theory but trouble working with the actual plants.
Their conversation was interrupted by the sounds of an argument coming from the entrance to the Great Hall. Harry looked over to see Ron and Hermione practically yelling at each other, although it was hard to figure out what exactly they were fighting about. As they got closer it became clear that each one was blaming the other for making them late for breakfast.
Harry laughed at the thought that in a small way it was his fault. He was usually the one to make sure Ron woke up on time and got Hermione to stop studying for the days classes so that they would be able to eat without being rushed. Harry took their entrance as a sign that it was time for him to leave, which he did after a quick good bye to Neville.
Thankfully neither of them saw Harry as he made his way out of the Great Hall and down towards the dungeon where his first class of the day, Potions, would be held. 'At least there is one thing around here I can count on,' Harry thought with a sarcastic grin, 'Snape's undying hatred for me. Yay.'
...
The next few days passed rather uneventfully. Other than Malfoy's random insults, the only person to really talk to Harry was Neville. Harry supposed he should be more upset than he was, but he had been an outcast at Hogwart's before and found it hard to care about the opinions of such fickle people.
Once that week, he had passed Daphne in the hallway and she had sent a small smile his way. In his spare time he had taken to spending hours in the library looking for new spells and ways to make up for his youth and inexperience during the tournament. He had occasionally seen Hermione studying in the library, but he made no attempt to approach her and repair their battered friendship.
She made no effort either, other than sending sad looks his way. Harry had decided he had done nothing wrong, and therefore the responsibility for making the first move towards fixing things should be made by one of them. The rest of his free time was spent in an empty and seemingly long abandoned classroom he had found on the third floor, not far from where the three headed dog had been kept in his first year.
Here he could practice the spells he had taken notes on in the library without worrying about other people watching him. After a few days of this Harry was already able to perform almost all of the spells from this year's books in Defense Against the Dark Arts, Charms, and Transfigurations. He was confident that by sometime in the next week he would be able to start fifth year spells.
After a long night of practice, Harry made his way back to the Gryffindor common room, exhausted from the several hours of practice he had put himself through. His private training was going much better than he had expected it to.
Despite his only slightly above average grades Harry had noticed that he was almost always one of the first people in his classes to master a new spell. The problem was that his excellence in the practical portion of the classes was negated by his subpar performance in the theoretical parts. Harry knew he wasn't stupid, he just didn't put forth the effort to do the written assignments that he should have. Part of him wanted to blame Ron (who was even lazier than he was) for that, but was aware that in the end it was his responsibility.
Harry made a vow to himself to try harder from now on, because he knew that his life rested in his own hands and he needed to be prepared. He was so engrossed in these thoughts and his desire to crawl into bed and stay there for the next week or so that he didn't even hear his name being called until it was repeated, this time a little louder.
"Harry!" It was Ron, sitting on one of the large, comfortable chairs in front of the fireplace in the common room. "Can I talk to you for a minute?" Harry just stood there staring at him for a few seconds. 'Could Ron really be about to apologize for his behavior? Before even Hermione?' he thought. Harry nodded his head and walked over, sitting down in another chair near Ron's. Harry waited for his estranged friend to start while Ron looked nervous and uncomfortable, trying to figure out exactly what he was going to say.
"Listen mate, I know we got into a big fight about the Goblet of Fire but I was hoping we could put that behind us. You should see how unhappy Hermione's been. But I guess what I really meant to say was…"
'Here it comes,' Harry thought, 'Ron is actually going to apologize for one of his mistakes. Wow.'
"… I forgive you." Ron stated simply, as if that was what Harry should have been expecting to hear.
"You what?!" Harry yelled in shock.
"I forgive you." Ron answered, seemingly oblivious to Harry's rising anger. "I was mad that you found a way to put your name in the cup and didn't tell us. Then even more when you wouldn't just admit it to us, but I get it now. You're better off if you can convince people that you didn't break the rules." Harry stared at Ron, trying to convince himself not to curse Ron for his stupidity. Through it all, Ron grinned in the belief that he had done the right thing.
"Ron, I'm not going to tell you again. I did not put my name in the Goblet of Fire. I do not want to be in this tournament, and if they would let me quit I would in a heartbeat. I have been honest with you about this entire thing, and I have no reason to apologize. You are the one that should be asking for forgiveness." Harry said, raising his voice just a little.
"You are such a bloody liar!" Ron spat back. "We all know what you did, there is no use in denying it! You should have at least told your best friend how you did it, maybe I could have tried to enter too. But no, you've got to have it all for yourself, don't you? And here I was, trying to be the better man about the whole thing and you just throw it back in my face. Screw you, Harry!"
With that Ron stormed off from the common room and into the bedroom, slamming the door as he went. Harry watched him go, wondering if he had just witnessed the end of his friendship with Ron Weasley. Even if not, he realized, they could never go back to the friendship they had before.
That bridge had been burnt to a crisp. Having no desire to follow Ron up to the room, Harry moved to a couch and laid down deciding to nap for a bit and wait for Ron to fall asleep before he went to bed.
Soon his tiredness won out over his anger and Harry drifted off to sleep. When morning came hours later and the earliest risers started waking they found him still asleep on the couch. Most of them just thought it was odd, but some of those that knew him better wondered what was wrong with Harry Potter.