Oblivious
Ron sat up and rubbed his eyes. It was Halloween, his favorite holiday, besides Christmas, of course. He picked his watch up off the table next to his bed. It was six o�clock in the morning. He opened the curtains around his bed and looked over to see Harry�s bed empty.
�Not again,� Ron muttered. He got up and walked down to the common room.
Just as he�d suspected, Harry was sitting in an armchair, staring into the fire. He didn�t look up when Ron sat in the chair next to him. Up close, Ron could see dark circles forming under Harry�s eyes.
�Harry,� Ron said. Harry didn�t even blink. �Harry, snap out of it�
Harry still didn�t answer. He just stared into the fire as if it held the answers to his problems.
Ron heard people talking behind him. He turned around to see Melissa and Sheila walking down the stairs from the girls� dormitories.
�Thank God you�re here!� he exclaimed. �You gotta snap him out of it!�
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Harry could hear them talking about him but he didn�t care. He didn�t care about anything anymore. He couldn�t stand Hermione not talking to him.
Harry could see Melissa, Sheila, and Ron out of the corner of his eye. He knew they were worried about him. He hated it when people felt sorry for him.
He saw Melissa and Sheila walk over. They knelt on the floor on either side of him.
�Harry,� Melissa said gently. �Harry, listen to us.�
Harry nodded slightly to show he was listening.
�Harry, you can�t go on like this,� Sheila said. �You haven�t slept in days, your grades are dropping....�
�Look,� Melissa said. Harry flinched as she put a hand on his shoulder. �Go upstairs and get some sleep. Ron�ll tell Professor Felina where you are. She�ll understand.�
Harry jerked out of her grasp and leaned back in his chair. He wouldn�t.... couldn�t fall asleep. Every time he slept he had the same dream about his parents. No one would understand.
�Okay then,� Sheila said, �come down to breakfast with us.�
�I�m not hungry,� Harry whispered, still keeping his eyes on the fire.
�All right then,� Melissa said. She walked out the portrait hole with Sheila and Ron.
Harry watched them go and returned his gaze to the fire. They could never understand....
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Ron rushed through breakfast and walked back up to the common room. He has to bring Harry down to the grounds for Care of Magical Creatures class. He didn�t seem to care about school anymore. If Ron didn�t drag him to classes, he didn�t go.
Even the teachers seemed to notice that there was something wrong with Harry. Both Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick had asked if he need to talk about anything. Both times he said no. Professor Trelawney, noticing that Harry seemed drained of energy, was now predicting his death at least three times each class. Professor Felina didn�t say anything but kept glancing at him nervously. Even Professor Snape seemed to be acting differently. He never called on Harry anymore just so he could take points from Gryffindor.
�Okay Harry,� Ron said, grabbing his arm, �time for Care of Magical Creatures.�
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Harry let Ron lead him out to Care of Magical Creatures class. He had to go to class anyway. He didn�t want people worrying about him anymore than they already did.
�Hey Potter,� Malfoy yelled at them when they got to class, �I have something here that might interest you.�
With that he threw a newspaper at them. Ron caught it and held it so Harry could read it too.
Murders Strike Again, Few Leads to Identities
Panic continues in the Scottish countryside as more Muggles and Muggle-born wizards have been found dead. Ministry officials believe it to be the works of former prisoner of Azkaban, Sirius Black, while many townspeople believe that these deaths are a dark omen and fear the return of the Dark Lord. �We all know that the Dark Lord fell many years ago. He simply cannot rise again, so I assure you, the students will come to no harm. I will hear no more of this misconstrued rubbish,� replied Minister of Magic and Headmaster of Hogwarts, Cornelius Fudge when asked about these rumors. Several of these murders took place within the walls of Hogsmeade, not far from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Fear for the students� safety has led Fudge to put several new security measures in place in the late fall. Although rumors have been spread about what these measures may be, there have been no confirmations of any sort.
�I can�t believe they suspect Sirius,� Ron whispered. �At least we know Rita Skeeter didn�t write it. She would�ve mentioned what the rumors were. I guess Hermione scared her. Sorry,� Ron said quickly, seeing Harry flinch at the mention of Hermione.
Malfoy, seeing that they were done with the article, yelled, �Your Mudblood girlfriend will be next.�
Unfortunately for him, Professor Felina had just arrived.
�Draco,� she said sharply, �I will not tolerate that kind of language in my class. Five points will be taken from Slytherin and you will serve a detention. If I hear that word again from you, you will serve a week of detention. Do I make myself clear?�
�Yes,� Malfoy said, looking down at his feet.
�Good,� Professor Felina said. �You will serve your detention Friday with Mr. Filch.�
Once Professor Felina was gone, Ron burst out laughing. �Did you see the look on Malfoy�s face? It was priceless! Hey Harry, you feeling okay?�
Harry managed a weak smile. He should be laughing about what happened to Malfoy. He should be worried about the Ministry catching Sirius.
Except he couldn�t. At the moment, he couldn�t care less about anything.
* * *
�Come on Harry,� Melissa said, �you have to eat something.�
�I�m not hungry.�
It was evening and they were down in the Great Hall with the rest of the students. Harry wouldn�t have come, but Ron dragged him down saying he had to go because it was the Halloween feast.
�Don�t give us that crap!� Ron said, bringing Harry back to the present. �You haven�t eaten anything in days!�
�Harry,� Melissa said, �please eat something. You�re skin and bones!�
�Fine,� Harry said. He put a piece of steak on his plate and took a small bite. �Happy?� he said, pushing the plate away.
�Extremely,� Melissa said.
�Where�s Sheila?� Ron asked, looking around.
�She had to talk to Professor Binns about an assignment. Hey, you wanna know a secret?�
�Sure,� Ron said.
Melissa looked back and forth to see if anyone was listening. �Sheila�s paranoid. She can�t stand to have people stand or walk behind her,� Melissa whispered, winking.
�Hmm....,� Ron said, �I could use this.� He got up and walked to the corner of the room blending with the shadows.
�Hey guys what�s up?� Sheila asked. Then in a hushed voice, �Still won�t eat?�
�Actually we�ve made some progress,� Melissa said, pointing at the piece of steak with the bite taken out of it.
Ron approached the table and stopped behind Sheila. Melissa stared over Sheila�s shoulder and looked like she was trying not to laugh.
�Okay,� Sheila said, �I know there�s someone back there. I�m giving you two seconds to get away from me or I will make you sorry you were born.�
Ron gave a frightened squeak and tried to get away. Unfortunately, Sheila was quicker. She spun around and punched Ron in the stomach. He fell back on the floor and clutched his stomach.
�What�s going on over here?�
Professor McGonagall had hurried over and stood looking down at them. The scene must have seemed a little strange. Ron, still holding his stomach, was trying to stand, Sheila was glaring at Ron, Melissa was trying not to laugh, and Harry was staring in to space, oblivious to everything going on around him.
�It�s my fault Professor,� Melissa said. �I told Ron that Sheila was paranoid and he stood behind her to make her mad.�
�Well, I will take five points from Gryffindor for provoking her,� McGonagall said. �However, I will not condone violence, no matter what the provocation. Sheila, you will serve a detention. You will meet Mr. Filch in the trophy room Friday night to serve your detention. I would have expected better of you two.�
�Yes ma�am,� Sheila said.
�Sorry Ron,� Melissa said after McGonagall left. �I didn�t know she�d do that.�
�I can�t believe I got detention with Filch,� Sheila said frowning. �I�d rather spend an hour in the dungeons with Snape than spend five minutes with Filch.�
�You know,� Melissa said, �most of the teachers can�t tell the difference between us.�
�So?� Sheila asked.
�Well, I have detention with Snape next Tuesday,� Melissa said. �If you go in my place, I�ll go for you on Friday. So what do ya think? Deal?�
�Hell yeah!� Sheila said. �Wait a minute. What did you get detention for?�
�Because Snape is a slimy git,� Melissa said, crossing her arms. �So my cauldron melted and blew up in his face. So what? It�s pewter, of course it�s gonna melt!�
�Oh yeah,� Sheila said. �That was hilarious! I didn�t know you got detention. His face was swollen so badly the rest of us couldn�t tell what he was saying.�
�Well, among other less appropriate words, he was giving me detention.� Melissa said. �Speaking of slimy gits....� She pointed to the teachers� table where Fudge was standing up.
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