Ron tries to come back, along with Hermione. He pushes them away. He succeeded without them, and he refuses to feel the pain of their rejection ever again. Harry will not welcome them back. He continues to study and train. Someone must have told Sirius how he felled the dragon, because soon a face appears in the fire with soft admonishments. Part of Harry shrinks back at Sirius being the one to tell him off. Desperately, he still wants his godfather to be with him, to be the father he never had. (Another part of him hisses that Sirius doesn’t know what’s going on. How dare he judge Harry for trying to survive? Another part just laughs, because it felt good to stop that dragon. It felt good to hurt, to finally not be the one hurting.) So, he apologizes and promises to be careful. For a few days, he does not train, but the frustration of no progress with the golden egg forces him back before long.