After a long night of practice, Harry made his way back to the Gryffindor common room, exhausted from the several hours of practice he had put himself through. His private training was going much better than he had expected it to. Despite his only slightly above average grades Harry had noticed that he was almost always one of the first people in his classes to master a new spell. The problem was that his excellence in the practical portion of the classes was negated by his subpar performance in the theoretical parts. Harry knew he wasn't stupid, he just didn't put forth the effort to do the written assignments that he should have. Part of him wanted to blame Ron (who was even lazier than he was) for that, but was aware that in the end it was his responsibility. Harry made a vow to himself to try harder from now on, because he knew that his life rested in his own hands and he needed to be prepared. He was so engrossed in these thoughts and his desire to crawl into bed and stay there for the next week or so that he didn't even hear his name being called until it was repeated, this time a little louder.
"Harry!" It was Ron, sitting on one of the large, comfortable chairs in front of the fireplace in the common room. "Can I talk to you for a minute?" Harry just stood there staring at him for a few seconds. 'Could Ron really be about to apologize for his behavior? Before even Hermione?' he thought. Harry nodded his head and walked over, sitting down in another chair near Ron's. Harry waited for his estranged friend to start while Ron looked nervous and uncomfortable, trying to figure out exactly what he was going to say.
"Listen mate, I know we got into a big fight about the Goblet of Fire but I was hoping we could put that behind us. You should see how unhappy Hermione's been. But I guess what I really meant to say was…"
'Here it comes,' Harry thought, 'Ron is actually going to apologize for one of his mistakes. Wow.'
"… I forgive you." Ron stated simply, as if that was what Harry should have been expecting to hear.
"You what?!" Harry yelled in shock.
"I forgive you." Ron answered, seemingly oblivious to Harry's rising anger. "I was mad that you found a way to put your name in the cup and didn't tell us. Then even more when you wouldn't just admit it to us, but I get it now. You're better off if you can convince people that you didn't break the rules." Harry stared at Ron, trying to convince himself not to curse Ron for his stupidity. Through it all, Ron grinned in the belief that he had done the right thing.
"Ron, I'm not going to tell you again. I did not put my name in the Goblet of Fire. I do not want to be in this tournament, and if they would let me quit I would in a heartbeat. I have been honest with you about this entire thing, and I have no reason to apologize. You are the one that should be asking for forgiveness." Harry said, raising his voice just a little.
"You are such a bloody liar!" Ron spat back. "We all know what you did, there is no use in denying it! You should have at least told your best friend how you did it, maybe I could have tried to enter too. But no, you've got to have it all for yourself, don't you? And here I was, trying to be the better man about the whole thing and you just throw it back in my face. Screw you, Harry!" With that Ron stormed off from the common room and into the bedroom, slamming the door as he went. Harry watched him go, wondering if he had just witnessed the end of his friendship with Ron Weasley. Even if not, he realized, they could never go back to the friendship they had before. That bridge had been burnt to a crisp. Having no desire to follow Ron up to the room, Harry moved to a couch and laid down deciding to nap for a bit and wait for Ron to fall asleep before he went to bed. Soon his tiredness won out over his anger and Harry drifted off to sleep. When morning came hours later and the earliest risers started waking they found him still asleep on the couch. Most of them just thought it was odd, but some of those that knew him better wondered what was wrong with Harry Potter.