The only wizard in Gryffindor who could make Harry Potter wait so anxiously was really only one person now. Or rather, there should have been a second, once upon a time.
In any case.
The moment Ron Weasley, his hair noticeably longer than before, appeared in the common room, Harry Potter, who had been slumped there moments earlier, suddenly sprang to his feet. As if afraid Ron might not notice him, he even lifted a hand and waved in his direction.
Judging by where Ron Weasley had come from, it was clear that after the prefects' meeting ended, he had skipped the dining hall entirely and headed straight back to Gryffindor Tower...
At first glance, the bond between the two of them still looked exceptionally close.
And in truth, it was. Yet Harry himself failed to notice that every time his gaze lingered on the badge pinned at Ron Weasley's collar, a fleeting trace of stiffness and complicated emotion would cross his face.
Envy?
Or jealousy?
People were complicated creatures.
Sometimes, even one's own emotions could slip beyond personal control.
When someone who had always stood at your side, almost like a follower, suddenly became the very person you wanted to be, it was hard not to give rise to darker feelings.
More than that, the girl he admired had also become a Prefect. That alone filled Harry Potter with an urgent sense that she was drifting farther and farther out of his reach.
Restlessness. Resentment. Doubt. Anger.
Was he really worse than Ron?
Why hadn't he been the one chosen as a Prefect?
Every night before falling asleep, the moment he closed his eyes, these thoughts would resurface again and again. Along with them came the familiar ache in his scar and those strange, unsettling dreams.
It was only human nature. Even the savior, Harry Potter, was no exception...
"Harry?"
"..."
"Harry!"
He snapped back to himself only after someone gave him a push. Harry Potter then realized that at some point, Ron Weasley had already moved from the doorway to stand right in front of him.
Meeting the gaze cast from beneath Ron's fringe, Harry frowned and looked away. He had an uncomfortable feeling that his thoughts had just been seen through.
It left him feeling both guilty and uneasy.
Feeling awkward, Harry turned aside as if grasping for something to say, and blurted out,
"Ron… uh… hasn't your hair gotten kind of long?"
"Is that bad?"
"Not really… it's just a bit unfamiliar."
He called it unfamiliar, but the truth was that Harry was beginning to have trouble recognizing his friend at all.
That heavy, somber presence clinging to Ron felt eerily similar to his godfather's, and he had grown quieter too.
If one had to describe it, saying he had simply matured did not quite fit. It felt more like he had become an entirely different person altogether...
...
Gryffindor Common Room.
After Ron Weasley appeared, Harry Potter walked with him to a quiet, empty corner. The two of them clearly had something they wanted to talk about.
Before that—
Just as Draco and the others had said, if one were to ask who had been having the hardest time lately...
If Harry Potter stepped forward and claimed second place, then no other wizard would dare claim first.
From being inexplicably attacked by a Dementor while walking down the street on the eve of term, to being condemned by the Ministry of Magic without so much as hearing his explanation.
Then, after finally securing a not-guilty verdict at the Wizengamot, only a few days later he was viciously smeared by reports in the Daily Prophet.
And just recently, he had been dragged off by Umbridge for detention, an experience that was anything but pleasant.
It could be said that nothing had gone smoothly for Harry Potter lately...
"She's a devil... no, she's a mentally twisted psychopath."
After retreating into the corner and hearing about the meeting from Ron, Harry Potter could not help but mutter his complaint aloud.
Well... Harry Potter certainly had the right to complain. After all, he was the biggest victim.
At the moment, Harry Potter was slumped lifelessly against a table in the common room. As he grumbled, his right hand hidden beneath the tabletop twitched unconsciously a few times, like a stress response triggered by some unseen stimulus.
Sitting beside him was Ron Weasley, who had just returned from the meeting.
At least for now, Ron Weasley looked fairly normal...
"She really is terrifying, that's true. But... Harry, I don't think you should tell Dumbledore about your forehead... I mean, about your scar starting to hurt again."
"You're right. I don't really want to bother him with this either. Like you said, Ron, it's not that big of a deal, and it just makes me feel weak."
"No one would think that, Harry."
"No! Everyone does! When I'm at the Order—"
"Harry!!"
Ron Weasley's sudden sharp shout instantly snapped Harry Potter out of his agitation.
Harry immediately glanced around nervously at the surrounding wizards. Only after confirming that no one had noticed them did he finally let out a long breath and cast his friend a grateful look.
"Sorry... you know, I haven't been doing so well lately."
"Don't say that. It's not something you chose!"
"Mm, but I think I should still write to Sirius and tell him about this, see what he thinks..."
"Harry, you can't put things like that in a letter! Don't you remember? Moody told us to be extremely careful when writing, because we can't be sure owls won't be intercepted halfway!"
"Alright, alright. Then I won't tell him. But I think I'll go lie down for a bit. My head feels like there's a troll rampaging around inside it."
"Harry..."
Without giving Ron Weasley a chance to say anything more, Harry Potter showed a look of irritation, stood up quickly, tossed out that last sentence, and disappeared around the corner of the spiral staircase.
Clearly, Harry Potter had already grown tired of hearing the same comforting words over and over again. For no clear reason, he suddenly found himself missing Hermione.
If Hermione were here, she would definitely be able to give him some solid advice, not just empty, ineffective reassurance...
What Harry Potter did not notice, lost as he was in his tangled thoughts, was that his good friend Ron had been subtly and repeatedly preventing something from happening all along.
Nor did he realize that the increasingly frequent pain in his scar seemed to have a certain connection to Ron Weasley as well...