Fury Little Problem {A Harry Potter Fanfic}

Chapter Thirdy-Five: Truth in Omission

Harry exited the carriage into the brisk February cold. He couldn't for the life of him, fathom as why someone thought that a Hogsmeade trip now, during the dead of winter would be an excellent idea. Though, the more he thought about it, he guessed it did make some sense, given what the date was a few days ago.

Every year, Hogwarts set up a Hogsmeade weekend right around Valentine's Day, the perfect opportunity for the many couples that roamed the halls to celebrate their relationship together away from the old castle. Valentines were exchanged throughout Breakfast, the halls of the castle and the streets of Hogsmeade were all decorated for the holiday, and it seemed that Madam Puddifoot's shop got a large amount of extra business due to the holiday.

Despite the cheery mood that the rest of the castle seemed to be in, Harry couldn't help but feel a little somber on this day. All it did was remind him of the continued rift that existed between himself and his girlfriend. Though, him and Fleur had kissed and made up, quite literally in fact, he couldn't help but feel that something was still off in their relationship.

She seemed happy and cheerful enough when she knew that he was around, but a few times either when she didn't realize he was near or when she didn't realize that he noticed, he saw her looking at him or staring off with a reflective look on her face. Reflective was one way to describe it, but Harry felt that there was maybe something else to it, determination, remorse? Was she still upset over what had happened? Either way, to the untrained eye, their relationship looked as fine as ever but it was obvious to him and he felt that she noticed too, that there was still some tension in their relationship.

Deciding to try and fight past their recent awkwardness, Harry asked Fleur if she wanted to have lunch at the Three Broomsticks with him, which she happily nodded yes to, but Harry noticed that her face returned to its previous state right afterwards. He hoped that their date today would help their relationship get back to how it used to be.

Once both of his feet were back on solid ground, he looked to his left and saw Ron and Hermione exit from the other side of the carriage, their own date planned for today as well. They all stopped for a moment, nothing was said as the companionable silence from the carriage ride continued, though a bit more awkward now. Now that his best friends were about to head to Madam Puddifoot's for their date, the absence of Harry's own date became more conspicuous.

Fleur had some extra studying to do for some of her exams that were coming up, at least that's what she claimed. Harry had a feeling that she was simply coming up with an excuse, which only exemplified their recent troubles more.

He got a wave from an oblivious Ron and a sad smile from Hermione, before the pair of them left him to his own devices. Deciding that he would rather not just wander around the village by himself, he decided to go to the Three Broomsticks and wait until Fleur showed up.

If Hermione could say that she was honestly enjoying her and Ron's date she would, but even though it was only partially true. The date itself was fine, after having a lovely lunch at Madam Puddifoot's, they went to the book store in town where Hermione got a few books, before walking around the village a bit before they were supposed to meet Harry and Fleur at the Three Broomsticks.

But Hermione couldn't help but feel that some things were off about the whole day. She felt that the atmosphere in Puddifoot's left a little to be desired. The whole place was decorated garishly and the place was filled with kissing couples. It was almost painfully obvious that this was Ron's intention, get her around so many couples openly displaying their affection so that either of them would hopefully drum up the courage to take that leap forward. The only issue was that Hermione didn't feel the need to flaunt her and Ron's relationship for everyone to see, but truthfully, she wasn't comfortable with such a brazen display, but it also seemed that Ron couldn't talk himself up to it either, making the whole deal incredibly awkward despite everything else.