Going Through the Motions

A/N: This is where I develop a character that seems to be neglected more often than not.. Hope you all enjoy!! Next chapter coming up in a day or so!! Thanx to those who read and reviewed!!

Disclaimer: I don\'t own Harry Potter or anything connected to it; that would be JK Rowling and Scholastic Books. So don\'t sue; I\'m broke.. heh..

=====

Going Through the Motions
Chapter 3- Why Don\'t You Come and Play?

\"Come on, Ron, it\'s a great idea!\" said Seamus imploringly. While Harry was meeting with Professor Dumbledore, the rest of Gryffindor House was heading back to their tower after the feast. All of the sixth-year Gryffindors, with the exception of Harry, were traveling in a close knot, listening to Seamus\' idea.

\"I don\'t know, Seamus,\" said Ron, shaking his head. \"I mean, it sounds kind of fun, in an embarrassing way. But I don\'t know if Harry will go for it. I mean, do you seriously think Harry\'s in the mood for Truth or Dare?\"

\"That\'s the whole point!\" said Seamus as the small group passed through the portrait hole indicating the entrance to Gryffindor Tower. \"I mean, I don\'t know what Harry\'s feeling or anything, but I\'m sure he wants the chance to forget all of his troubles, at least for one night.\" The four of them sat down in front of the fireplace.

\"Seamus has a point, Ron,\" said Neville, nodding thoughtfully. He was quite worried about Harry; unlike Seamus and Dean, he had fought alongside Harry in the Department of Mysteries. In fact, he had probably seen more of the battle than Ron or Hermione, in particular the part where Harry had lost his godfather. Neville had heard Harry\'s cries of despair, had seen the anguished look on Harry\'s face as the first father-figure he had ever had was taken away from him. Neville understood exactly where Harry\'s depression was coming from, and he suspected that a frivolous game like Truth or Dare would help take the edge off of his worries.

\"Fine!\" Ron exclaimed, throwing his arms up in surrender. \"Just remember that it was your idea if Harry gets mad.\" Seamus merely chuckled. Ron shook his head at him. \"So, are we inviting Hermione along?\"

\"I see no reason why not,\" said Seamus thoughtfully. \"She\'d probably get mad if we didn\'t, or turn us in to McGonagall or something. And what about Ginny? You know she\'ll curse us all into next week if we don\'t invite her.\"

\"Okay!\" said Ron, exasperated. \"But just those two; otherwise, Harry probably won\'t agree to it. And you\'re the one that\'s gonna have to ask him.\"

\"That\'ll be a piece of cake,\" said Seamus, confidently.

=====

\"Hell, no!\" exclaimed Harry. After his meeting with Dumbledore, Harry just wanted to curl up in his bed and not wake up until classes started in a couple of days. And now Seamus wanted him to play Truth or Dare?

\"Come on, Harry, you\'ve got to play!\" said Seamus, a note of whining entering his voice. He had stayed behind in the common room to wait for Harry; the rest of the sixth-years didn‘t want to witness Harry‘s reaction to Seamus\' idea and had fled to their rooms. \"It\'ll be tons of fun! I mean, how often do you get to watch your mates making total prats of themselves?\"

\"Erm.. Every day?\" returned Harry, dryly.

\"Yeah, yeah, jolly joke,\" grumbled Seamus good-naturedly. \"Why not, Harry? I\'ve even arranged for us to get a hold of some butterbeer! Fun times for all!\"

\"Listen, Seamus,\" said Harry, his tone serious, but not harsh. He truly appreciated the Irish boy\'s attempts to cheer him up. Last year, Seamus had practically called him a liar because of Harry\'s claims that Voldemort was back. Thankfully, after the interview Harry had done for The Quibbler, Seamus had finally believed him, and had even joined the D.A.. Now it appeared as if Seamus was trying to overdo it, to make up for his past actions. \"I really do appreciate how you\'re trying to cheer me up, but I really don\'t think that a game like Truth or Dare is going to make all these things I have going on, disappear. And I know if Ron and Hermione are playing, they\'re going to just interrogate me as to how I feel, and I damn well don\'t feel like talking about it!\" Harry finished practically yelling.

Seamus looked stunned for a moment. For the first time since he had invited Harry into his train compartment earlier that day, he finally saw Harry\'s guard come down, saw Harry actually show some genuine emotion. Then the sandy haired boy responded, his voice so low that Harry almost had to strain to hear him. \"I understand, Harry. I mean, I don\'t know what you\'re going through, though I do want to. Listen, I know we\'ve never been particularly close.\" Seamus put his head down. \"Hell, I was such a prick around you last year, I\'m surprised you\'re still willing to put up with me.\" Seamus looked back up and stared Harry right in the eyes. \"I guess I just finally realized this summer just how stupid I was. You had so much to deal with; hell, you still do, way more than me, and here I was, not even letting you relax in your own dormitory.\" Seamus looked shamefully at Harry\'s gaunt, careworn face, feeling slightly afraid that he in part had helped cause it.

\"Seamus..,\" said Harry, overwhelmed by the sandy-haired Gryffindor\'s unexpected response.

\"Please, Harry, let me finish,\" said Seamus, grimacing. \"I guess I just wanted to say, I want to it it all up to you, and maybe, just maybe, gain your trust back.. And your friendship. And I thought this was the best way to do it; once classes begin, you\'ll probably be involved with studying, hanging out with Ron and Hermione, practicing Quidditch.\" Seamus sighed. \"And I\'m sorry for piling all of this on you, you\'ve got enough to deal with. But I honestly think that this game could do you a world of good, Harry. It\'s one night where you don\'t have to worry about the fate of the world, or classes, or anything.\"

Harry was silent for a moment, gazing into the fireplace as he pondered Seamus\' declaration. Seamus took his lack of response to be a ‘no\', and got up as if to head to the dormitories.

\"Wait, Seamus,\" said Harry, grabbing Seamus\' robes. The Irish boy regarded him a moment, and then sat back down. \"I\'ll be honest with you, I\'m not entirely sure how to respond to all of that, at least at this time.\" Seamus merely nodded, with a resigned look on his face. \"However, I appreciate all that you said, and maybe one day I will tell you what all has been weighing on my mind, when I feel like talking about it. And I understand why you\'re so adamant about Truth or Dare, it\'s just that I don\'t want to force any of this out.\"

\"Here\'s an idea,\" mused Seamus. \"I\'ll have a talk with all of the others who are playing, and I\'ll make it clear that we\'re to stay off of those topics. After all, the goal is to have fun, and serious questions have no place in that! How does that sound?\"

With that, Harry finally broke out into a smile, albeit a small one. \"Then I guess I\'m in.\"

\"Great!\" shouted Seamus joyously. \"Trust me, Harry, you\'re going to have a lot of fun tomorrow night.\"

\"With you planning the activities?\" said Harry, the smile still on his face. \"I don\'t doubt it.\"

Seamus looked extremely gratified at the compliment. \"I guess we should be heading for bed now, Harry?\" Harry nodded, and the two of them made their way up the stairs to the sixth-year boy\'s dormitory. Harry was shocked to find three doors instead of one. \"Didn\'t you know, Harry? One of the benefits of being a sixth-year! You\'re rooming with Ron; he mentioned it on the train, ya know.\"

\"Oh,\" said Harry, looking a tad embarrassed. \"I wasn\'t paying much attention then.\"

\"No worries, mate,\" said Seamus grandly. \"Yours is the one on the left. See ya in the morning, Harry.\"

\"Thanks, Seamus,\" said Harry, smiling at the Irish boy one more time before heading through the door that Seamus indicated. Ron was sitting on his bed reading through an old issue of Quidditch Illustrated; but as Harry entered, Ron sat up with a wary expression on his face.

\"Sorry, Harry, it was his idea,\" said Ron really quickly. \"And everybody else agreed with him.\" Ron looked so defensive that Harry couldn\'t resist pulling his leg a little.

\"And you went along with it,\" said Harry in a very cold voice. And even though he didn\'t know it, with all the shadows in the room, his gaunt face looked almost skeletal. Which explained the absolutely horrified look on Ron\'s face as Harry uttered those words.

\"I\'m so, so, sorry,\" Ron managed to get out as he stared into Harry\'s face.

Harry held his look for a few more seconds, then relaxed his face. \"Ron, I really couldn\'t resist.\" With that, Harry broke out into a grin. Ron looked at Harry with an incredulous expression for a second before a sheepish grin appeared on his own face.

\"Berk!\" yelled Ron, still smiling. \"Harry, you completely scared me. Especially the look on your face.\"

\"The look on my face?\" said Harry innocently. \"You\'re the one that was looking at me like I might explode or something!\"

\"Well, I figured you wouldn\'t be too happy with me for going along with Seamus\'s crazy plan,\" muttered Ron. \"I hope you didn\'t yell at him too much, he did mean well. That‘s why I finally went along with it.\"

\"I know, Ron,\" said Harry, quietly. \"And to borrow a Muggle phrase, he made me an offer I couldn\'t refuse. I\'m in.\"

Ron looked ecstatic. \"That\'s great, Harry! I do hope you know that this means that you\'re a complete enigma to me. I was positive you were going to refuse.\"

\"Then my work is done,\" said Harry in a pompous tone. He started pulling off his robes and getting ready for bed.

\"Harry..,\" said Ron in a wondering tone. \"This is the best mood you\'ve been in since.. well, its been a while, let\'s leave it at that. Was it Dumbledore or McGonagall?\"

\"No,\" said Harry shortly. He pulled out a pair of his pajamas and started putting them on. \"They just added to my problems. As did some nameless person who sent McGonagall a letter detailing my supposed behavior at the Leaky Cauldron.\"

Ron tried not to let a guilty expression cross his face. He didn\'t want to know how Harry would react if he found out that Molly Weasley had sent the letter after listening to Ron and his encounters with the morbidly depressed Harry.

\"Then who was it?\" asked Ron, trying to change the subject; also, he was wondering who had cheered Harry up.

\"Seamus,\" said Harry, simply. \"I think we\'ve underestimated him all these years.\" With that, Harry got into bed and turned out the light. Ron shrugged for a moment, and turned out his as well. He was still curious as to what Seamus had said to make Harry cheerful and willing to play Truth or Dare, but if Harry didn\'t want to talk about it, Ron would deal. As he had been doing a lot lately.

Please read and review!!!