An Unbreakable Vow ~ Harry Potter

xxvii - in which two friends ignore their problems

After the Yule Ball, their friend group was very much damaged. Valerie spent the night tossing in her bed, thinking about what she should've done differently. But for the most part, she came up empty. It wasn't her fault Harry had ignored her. It wasn't her fault Ron and Hermione couldn't realise that they belonged together, which Valerie had secretly been thinking about since the beginning of time.

Valerie definitely didn't want to go to D.A.D.A. class. Last time it was a total disaster. She didn't think she'd be able to use the lavatory excuse again if Moody started talking about unforgivable curses again.

She lifted a shaking hand to her locket and closed her eyes, feeling the grooves etched into the tiny little golden snitch. Don't think about it, don't think about it.

Should she have even told Harry about her family's past? She had made a mistake, she was sure of it. She knew he wouldn't tell anybody, but it didn't make it any less hard knowing that she had entrusted him with her deepest secret.

Valerie sighed and finally hauled herself out of bed. Ginny and Hermione had already gone, so she was alone as she got dressed and combed out her hair. She wasn't expecting to see Ron as she carefully opened the door to the common room and walked down the stairs.

"Ron? Shouldn't you be getting to Defense class?" she tentatively asked. Valerie wasn't sure how injured his pride was from last night.

"I don't want to see anybody, least of all you or Hermione," Ron stubbornly grunted, his arms crossed.

"Well, I bet Moody wouldn't like to hear that you're skipping his class," Valerie sighed. "Ron, I'm really sorry for last night. However, that wasn't the way to treat a girl, or anybody. You get this strange prejudice towards people sometimes."

Ron bit his lip, thinking for a second before finally speaking. "I know I shouldn't have said those things. I just didn't like seeing — some people there."

"Hermione and Krum, huh?" she whispered.

Valerie could see Ron tense. She was afraid she had pushed him too far. But then he spoke. "Maybe. He's a bloke. He's not right for Hermione."

"Weren't you fawning over him at the world cup?" Valerie couldn't help but laugh.

Ron scowled. "I was wrong. He's downright mental."

"Not looking so good now that he's with Hermione, right?"

"Hey! That's not fair! What's going on with you and Harry?"

Her cheeks turned a dark shade of pink.

"Two can play that game," Ron finally said with a satisfied smile.

"We should get to class," Valerie desperately tried to change the topic.

"Let's agree never to talk about this to anyone ever again," Ron said, holding his pinky out.

She locked her pinky with his and squeezed tight. "I promise."

At those words, she thought of the vow Harry had made her, and how she might have caused both of their impending deaths.

Ron grinned and locked arms with her, completely unaware of the swirling thoughts in her mind.

Why had she ever made that stupid vow?