For a moment, all was quiet.

Then, giving a shrug of my shoulders, I spoke up.

“Anything new?” I asked, rather dryly – it was unnatural for Ron to get this furious on such a little matter, especially at me, and I had not expected this at all. In fact, I had been confirmed he would yelp with joy at not having to help with the decorations.

Harry joined me, sitting down on the chair next to mine. “Come on, mate, cheer up,” he called to Ron. Ron, in response, huffed out of the common room. We both stared after him, eyebrows raised.

“Mental,” I said, finally looking away from the portrait hole. “Mental.”

With a shrug, Harry leaned back in his chair. Several moments passed and, suddenly, I realized that we were alone in the common room. I glanced around, and Harry noticed my glance at once.

“Seems we’re alone,” he said, very casually - the way he spoke, he might have been commenting on the day’s weather. “I wonder where everyone is.”

“Probably outside,” I said, motioning to the window. “It’s the last sunshine days we’ll get this year, you know.”

“Yeah,” Harry agreed, standing up and moving to the window. He peeked below, before returning to where I sat, though not sitting down himself. I half turned around to get a better look at him, and he smiled down at me, placing a hand on my shoulders.

Warmth shot through me, sudden unexpected warmth. It was a feeling I did not often feel, a feeling that made me want his hand there as long as was possible.

And without knowing it, without realizing it, I smiled back at him.