Black Truth [READ DESCRIPTION]

chapter twenty-three

Chapter Twenty-Three: A Decidedly Good Friday

"First day back in school after vacation but do you think the teachers could go a little easier on us?" Ron looked forlornly at the stack of homework that he had piled in front of him on a table.

"You'll find that if you actually get started on it, Ron, the work goes much faster than you think it will" Hermione told him from where she was already working on her Arithmancy homework.

Ron looked at Hermione's pile of homework, which was about half the size of his because she had already been working on it for an hour. In a last resort effort, Ron turned to Harry, who also had a rather large homework pile in front of him.

"Harry?"

Harry was too absorbed in his Potions text to register the question. Let's see… R: Radish, Ragweed, Ragwort, Raspberry, Red-root, Reed (common), Reed (giant), Rose, Rosemary, Rocket (Eruca sativa), Rue, Rush (common), Rutabagas…

"Harry!"

Harry looked up. "What?"

"Ron was trying to find a way out of starting his homework" Hermione stated, shooting Ron an annoyed look.

Harry grinned sheepishly. "Sorry, Ron. I have a Potions essay due first thing tomorrow."

"But you don't have Potions until the afternoon."

"I know."

In the silence that followed, Hermione looked up from her calculations. "Harry, are you sure Malfoy won't mind us being in here?"

Harry shrugged. "It's not like we're sitting on his bed, Hermione."

Ron didn't hold back the shudder that idea sent through him. "Like we'd want to be."

Harry returned to the index. He'd run out of R words. But "Rosa Rubiginosa", the ingredient he was supposed to be doing this essay on the uses of, was nowhere to be found. "Where's the Rosa Rubiginosa?" he asked the book exasperatedly.

"Try looking under the common name and not the scientific name, Harry" Draco told him as he entered through the portrait. "It's most likely listed under Eglantine."

"Thanks." Harry started going back to the E's.

"Sure." And Draco disappeared into the bedroom.

Ron shared a knowing look with Hermione as the blond left the room.

"You two seem to be…close, Harry." Ron stumbled slightly over the words.

Harry thought for a moment. "I guess you could say that. We're not really close friends… we're just not enemies any more."

"I think that's a good thing, Harry" Hermione told him.

Ron looked almost betrayed. "What? Why?"

"Well, before this whole thing happened, if we were in the same room as he, Malfoy wouldn't ever have missed the chance to start something. But just now he completely ignored us. I don't know about you, Ron, but I'd rather be ignored than be yelling insults at each other."

The look on Ron's face clearly indicated that he'd rather be yelling insults, but he kept quiet. Hermione did have a logical point, even if his family's feud with the Malfoys might state otherwise. Ignoring each other was a lot less… troublesome… than constantly fighting.

Talking about his friendship with Draco made Harry remember the conversation Draco had started the night before they came back. "Hey, Ron…" Harry started. "What do the other Gryffindors think about me not staying in the tower anymore?"