Harry potter The Boy Who Remembers

Harry though snorted, "You're seriously asking this? You practically ignore me ever since Halloween, and just because I don't talk to you during class, you think that something is wrong."

The girl's face paled, "Oh Harry, I'm so sorry. I was just caught up with Neville and Ron that I didn't really make time for you."

"Hermione, let's be frank. You didn't just forget to make time for me, you forgot entirely about me," Harry said.

"I didn't forget about you. It's just… It was nice to be appreciated in my house is all. I never felt at home in the Gryffindor common room, but now people are nice to me. They talk to me, they ask for my help," the Gryffindor tried to explain.

"And that made it alright to completely forget about your actual first friend?" Harry replied with some bite in his voice.

"You're the one who insisted that our friendship be secret," Hermione bit back, "you can't just expect me to disappear every day from everyone just to hang out with you."

"That's a fair point. But it's not enough to just outright ignore me. And with Longbottom and Weasley of all people."

"What's wrong with Neville and Ron?" Hermione answered while gritting her teeth.

"Ron Weasley is a lazy boy that is jealous of everyone around him and channelled this jealousy into putting people down. Neville Longbottom is an arrogant brat who thinks the entire world revolves around him because of some fluke that happened to him when he was still in diapers. I wouldn't call them to be good friend material." Harry said.

"It wasn't some fluke, he killed you know who, for Merlin's sake. And you don't get to judge who my friends are," the girl answered back.

However, Harry wasn't done there, "Weren't they the people who you complained about because they kept pranking and bullying you, calling you names because they were jealous of how much you're better than them in your classes?"

"They saved my life, Harry!"

"And you wouldn't have needed saving from the troll if they hadn't insulted you, to begin with."

Hermione stubbornly didn't back down, and Harry decided to just press on. He sighed in exasperation, "Look, Hermione. I know that Longbottom and Weasley don't like me, and I don't care. I never did anything to them, while they tried to attack me multiple times. Being friend with me and them is not going to work out, and you know it. I personally don't care about you being friends with them, but they won't feel the same. You can't live a double life like that Hermione. One day they will find out about it, and you can guess how they will react. You will have to choose between us. No, you have already chosen. You just didn't want to make it final. You're smart enough to understand what's going on, you're just afraid that your new friends would drop you, and you're keeping me as a safety net."

Harry looked Hermione directly into her eyes and continued, "Well, I'm not anyone's safety net. I was able to maintain friendships with my housemates and you, without anyone taking priority over me. You could have done the same if you had chosen anyone but Longbottom and Weasley, but you did, and from the look of it, you will not budge. So, what's the answer, Hermione? Who are you picking? Me or them?"

Hermione looked down and didn't answer, and Harry understood exactly what her answer was. After all, it was what he expected, "The fact that you're looking like that means that you're choosing them. And that means that we're done, you and I. I don't have the energy to hate people too much, so from now on, we're strangers. Granger and Potter."

"Harry…" Hermione, no, Granger, opened her mouth to argue back but closed her eyes.

The Potter scion just shook his head, "You know, it's good that we stopped being friends this early. Someone who would have dropped me at a moment's notice for something they think is better is not someone I want as a friend in the first place. You could have tried, Hermione, but you took the coward's way out."

Harry just turned to leave. He almost wanted to reveal to the girl that he was the one who had saved her from the troll. But he knew that this would shatter her entirely. She was a conflicted girl, but she was already practically crying, and he didn't need to be cruel just to hurt her more. In a way, Harry still cared for her to not hurt her unnecessarily.

So, he just left, ignoring the sobs of the girl in the room. He forced himself to not come back and comfort her. It would be the complete opposite of what he wanted. Although Harry thought back at the fight with the troll and noticed how similar the aftermath was to the books. Hermione had become friends with the boy who lived and Ron Weasley, and the golden trio was born. They would start going through one daring adventure after another, each leading to Voldemort somehow.

Was it fate? Was Hermione Granger always meant to help the boy who lived survive his trials? Or was there someone else arranging for it? Harry could see Dumbledore pulling a few strings to give the child of the prophecy a loyal witch with a lot of potential that would push him to not stagnate in his magical education.

But this was too late to ponder on some primordial force pushing the world towards a certain direction. Or even a headmaster with the mental capabilities and deviousness of James Moriarty. With magic very little was impossible, but Harry was still a beginner in understanding it.

As for Hermione, he didn't really hate her. Or even dislike her. She had made her choice, and Harry had other friends. He could respect that. But why were his eyes teary as he stood in front of the Slytherin common room entrance? Why did it hurt so much to see her practically admit that she liked Longbottom and Weasley more than she does him?

He kept pondering that until he came to a realization. For all his maturity and intelligence, Harry still wasn't that experience when it came to emotions. He was practically emotionally stunted in his past life, and in this one, he still had the emotional maturity of a child, even if he did his best to keep them controlled. Harry was a child, even with all the memories of his past life. He was still growing, learning his place in the world, and having lost a friend, when he had so few for years, did hurt.

Harry felt as if some weight had come off his shoulder somewhat. He felt lighter when he finally accepted a part of himself. He always thought of himself as Harry, the man, but never as Harry, the child. He was so consumed with learning magic that he had forgotten a part of himself. He was allowed to be hurt by what happened. He had given his trust to someone, something that he rarely did, and it was neglected. Damn right, he was right to be upset.

With that realization out of the way, Harry simply wiped his tears, put on a fake smile and walked into the common room. He was immediately accosted by Blaise who wanted to challenge him in a game of chess. The Potter scion rarely ever returned to the common room just after lessons, preferring to try out new spells or just stay in the library.

The two boys were later joined by Daphne and Tracy and just hung out. Telling each other stories, or just playing games. They spent hours just enjoying each other's company, and the pain that Harry was feeling was numb by the end of the night. It was nice, remembering that even with Hermione gone, he wasn't alone.

It was one of the happiest evenings he had ever experienced. And by the end of it, Harry realized that he had almost forgotten about his former friendship with Hermione.

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