mirrorball

chapter twenty one

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

"Clara, please wait!" says Harry, jogging after her on her way to the infirmary. Clara kept pushing herself towards the doors to Madame Pomfrey's office. The last thing she wanted was to look Harry in the eyes. "Please, let me explain."

Harry grabbed her hand gently, persuading the Slytherin to pause in her tracks. She looked up at him with sorrowful eyes, and agony in her heart.

"I am so sorry. Please believe me when I say that I wish I could take it back."

"I just can't believe I'm having to talk to you about this." said Clara, her voice barely coming up above a whisper, "I don't understand how you could resort to violence, we're supposed to be the good guys, Harry! You are supposed to be the good guy!"

"I know, and I am sorry, I just-"

"You can't just go around hexing people and hurting them!"

"Says you."

Clara took a deep breath and held her tongue for a moment. Harry was, of course, right. She was not the perfect example of a good person, and she had a history of hexing students she wasn't fond of. However, she didn't want that behavior to pass on to Harry. He was everything good in the world, and she needed to believe in his goodness. "Okay. I understand that I may not be the most cherished hero at this school, but I do understand now that two wrongs do not make a right. Please, Harry, just admit that what you did was horrible. And I need you to promise me that you won't do anything like that again because... I just can't imagine something more destructive."

Harry nodded. "I promise, truly, I let my emotions get the best of me and I will forever be sorry for allowing myself to take it out that way."

"Right."

"So, you forgive me?"

"I'm starting to." Clara gave Harry a soft smile and pulled him into a short embrace. Her heart unclenched, the muscles in it finally relaxing.

Clara was standing next to Ginny in the Gryffindor Common Room. An odd place for her to be, but she was determined to be at tonight's celebration. Gryffindor had won their match today, and she thought her presence at this party might show Harry she really was ready to forgive him. A roar of celebration erupted from the hole behind Clara and she turned to see Harry entering the room. Harry gaped as people began to scream at the sight of him; several hands pulled him into the room. 

"We won!" yelled Ron, bounding into sight and brandishing the silver Cup at Harry. "We won! Four hundred and fifty to a hundred and forty! We won!" 

Harry looked around; there were Clara and Hermione running toward him. The girls embraced Harry, with Ron wrapping his arms around the whole group. The hug disbanded, leaving Harry and Clara alone at the center of the crowd. And without thinking, without planning it, without worrying about the fact that fifty people were watching, Harry kissed her. After several long moments — or it might have been half an hour — or possibly several sunlit days — they broke apart. The room had gone very quiet. Clara's heart had stopped beating, no - it was beating faster than it ever had. She didn't know if Harry was completely out of his mind, but she found that part of her didn't even care. Then several people wolf-whistled and there was an outbreak of nervous claps. 

"You'd think people had better things to gossip about," said Clara, as she sat in the library, leaning her head on Harry's shoulder and reading the Daily Prophet. "Three Dementor attacks in a week, and all Romilda Vane does is ask me if it's true you've got a Hippogriff tattooed across your chest."  Ron and Hermione both roared with laughter. Harry ignored them.