A Swim is All It Takes
A Harry Potter Birthday Tribute
'Cause Comebacks are Awesome
Composed by: iKoffeeholic
Summary:
It's the birthday of the Boy Who Lived! But it didn't go so happy-happy. Thanks to a certain Slytherin, Harry has to go through hell just to get back his invisibility cloak. BoyxBoy, Delicious Drarry junk.
iKoffeeholic's Word:
Who knew your freshman year could take so much out of you? Anyway, here's a treat from my long hiatus. And I'll get back to work on my other fanfiction. I promise! Happy Birthday Harry and J.K. Rowling!
xA Swim is All It Takes- A Harry Potter Birthday Tribute- A Swim is All It Takes- A Harry Potter Birthday Tributex
It was an awkward summer—the kind of summer that felt as if it was cut far too short. Well, that wasn't a problem for Harry. He didn't mind having to return to his haven a month early. Hogwarts, no matter what charms Dumbledore cast over Privet Drive, was his true home. Harry could hardly lay his head down to sleep last night. The thought of the last day of July kept nibbling at him like doxy teeth. But eventually, he found himself asleep then awake again. The summer sunlight tickled his eyes as he sat himself up on his bed and slipped his glasses on his face.
At the foot of his bed, he spotted a wide, flat box that beamed at him cheerfully with its animated firework wrappings. Harry lunged at it, pawing for a tag to find out who it had come from. He came to find a damp red piece of parchment that bore a delicate scribble in elegant ink.
'From: An anonymous admirer'
Harry blinked, and the message had changed.
'Don't worry. It's not poisonous…'
He blinked again, only to see that the words were rapidly fading.
Shrugging his shoulders, he tore of the wrappings and pried the lid off the box. Inside glittered lively, sweet-smelling toads that hopped around and croaked in hopes of escaping.
"Gold-dusted white chocolate toads?" whispered Harry to himself, for Neville was still snoring the morning away in his curtains. "Who would spend that much on me?" Then he thought about Sirius. No, that couldn't have been it. There wasn't a feather from Buckbeak in sight. Who could that anonymous admirer be, and how did they get into the Gryffindor boys' dormitory?
Then one toad quickly leapt into his hand. Like a snitch, he instantly closed his fingers around it. It didn't burst into flames or make the bones in his hand disappear. So it probably wasn't poisonous.
Harry bit the toad's head off. Immediately, he felt a contradicting warm-and-cooling sensation wash over him. He felt silently giddy as a smile made its way to his lips. He ate the rest of that toad's body and got up to put the box in his trunk. When he opened his trunk, another coloured piece of parchment caught his eye. This time, it was blank. Harry took it and examined its front and back, but found no words. He closed his trunk after he got his bathroom utilities. Maybe if he washed up a bit his mind would be clearer.
xA Swim is All It Takes- A Harry Potter Birthday Tribute- A Swim is All It Takes- A Harry Potter Birthday Tributex
Harry sat down to breakfast in between Fred and George with Ginny sitting across from him.
"Happy birthday, Harry!" said the twins as they pushed a little box into his arm. Fred whispered to Harry, "It's a new Weasley's Wizard Wheezes product. You get to have the first perfected sample."
"Thanks," Harry told them. "Is it safe to open in the castle?"
George cracked wicked a smile at Fred. "Bloke thinks our gift is dangerous!" They both shared a laugh.
As he helped himself to a bowl of Cheery Owls, a Hufflepuff laid a hand on his shoulder and wished him a happy birthday. Harry simply nodded, doing the same for the others that passed him with birthday wishes.
"You don't look too happy, Harry," said Ginny, grabbing for a muffin. "It's your birthday."
Feeling the cheeriness from the toads wear off, Harry looked up at her. Could it be Ginny? It wouldn't hurt to ask her. "Ginny, did you happen to leave my present on my bed this morning?" he asked firmly, but feeling nervous.
She shook her head, tossing some of her ginger locks onto Dean Thomas' shoulder. "No, Harry. Actually, Ron, Hermione and me put our galleons together to get your gift."
Hermione and Ron then came marching down the Gryffindor table hiding something between them. Ron tucked the gift behind his back and sat next to Fred. Hermione sat herself on the other side of Ginny, still humming what could have been a merry Muggle tune.
"Happy birthday, Harry!" she chirped. "Give him the gift, Ron!"
When Harry pulled up the box's lid, it shrank with a flatulent hiss. Then he saw what he half-expected from Hermione. He lifted out what felt like a book that was in a velvet sleeve.
"I can't believe it," moaned Fred sarcastically. "You bought him a book!" groaned George equally sarcastically.
"I know what you're thinking, Harry," Hermione told him, ignoring what Fred and George had to say. "But it's not just any book." She double tapped the object and made the velvet sleeve disappear. "It's a Pensieve Photo Album!"
Fred and George dropped their jaws in awe and jealousy.
"Whenever you want to preserve a memory, you don't have to put it in a pensieve. You just drop it into one of the slots on the pages," Hermione chattered on, feeling proud of herself.
Harry didn't know what to say. A simple "thank-you" wouldn't do it. He was still bothered about the mystery white-chocolate toads in his trunk. "It's a great gift you guys, but you didn't have to. Really…" He started.
"It's not every day you turn 15, you know," prodded Ginny, helping herself to an orange. "Now at least look inside. We each put a memory in there for you."
Ron bit off a waffle, "I bet you want him to use it homework, too, Hermione." Her ears went pink at the mentioning.
Expecting to be sucked into the book like Riddle's diary or an actual pensieve, Harry opened the book and had his expectations over-turned. Instead of being sucked in, he was greeted with silent, colourful frames that displayed continuous animated scenes of fond memories he'd had with his friends.
"That one's mine," said Ron, pointing at the scene where Harry first flew a broom to catch Neville's remembrall.
"And that's mine," Ginny giggled bashfully. "It didn't really happen, but who says dreams can't fall into a pensieve?" Hers was a short vignette of her giving Harry a kiss for saving her from Tom Riddle.
Oddly, the last one must have belonged to Hermione. It was his triumph with the dragons during the Triwizard Tournament. Obviously her seat gave her a great view.
Then the owl post had flown in overhead. Errol, the flimsy bird, had almost dropped a parcel of Mrs. Weasley's sweets on Harry's head, but Ron caught them before they landed. A tawny barn owl had dropped on Harry's shoulder with a rolled up square of parchment. It was from Hagrid.
'Happee Birthday Harry
Come by me cabin after lunch'
Harry scrawled a quick "sure" with his quill and sent the barn owl off. Closing his gift, he thought ask Hermione about those toads, which he now began to get a strong craving for. Then he ended up explaining to everyone in hearing range.
"I wasn't any of us, Harry," she said.
Ron said to Harry. "It wasn't mum either; her sweets just arrived by owl. And the Fat Lady doesn't take passwords until the start of the term, so it could be anyone."
"Not really, when she's not taking passwords, a charm that identifies a student's house goes into effect. So your 'anonymous admirer' is most likely a Gryffindor," Hermione shot at Ron.
"Then they left this blank parchment in my trunk," Harry told them. Hermione took it from his hand and tried to search for some evidence of writing, but nothing could be seen…
…until Ron's elbow knocked over a goblet of apple juice.
Hermione began to shriek, "RON! LOOK AT WHAT YOU JUST—" then she relaxed "…did… Oh Ron, you're a genius!"
"What the bloody hell did I do?!" he asked out of confusion.
Hermione animatedly mopped up the apple juice with the parchment and said, "This is Parched Parchment! You have to wet it to be able to read what it says!" The paper had soaked up of all the apple juice and revealed an elegant cursive scrawl.
Dearest Potter,
Your precious invisibility cloak has been taken from your possession.
There is only one way you will get it back:
Go to the lake tonight ALONE, and swim with the squid—STARKERS
Don't worry; it'll be just us. No need to be ashamed since no one will know.
If you don't cooperate with this order, I will know, and your cloak will be mine forever.
Enjoy those toads. They're an expensive kind of sweet.
(they're not poisonous at all)
-Your Anonymous Admirer-
Harry rushed back to the common room and up to the boys' dorm. He hurriedly yanked up the latch on his trunk and scattered his books and robes in a hurried fever to find his cloak. However, his anonymous admirer really had taken it. And the quickest, quietest way to get it back was to skinny dip with the squid at night.
Hermione and Ron came in behind him. Harry presented them his face, which was contorted with worry, confusion, fear, and curiosity. He threw himself on his bed, not knowing whether to cry or panic.
"Harry, are you really going to do this?" Ron asked his friend. "It sounds like a crazy fan girl, or worse…a dodgy bloke." He shuddered at that possibility.
Harry's craving for those toads grew too strong for him to ignore. He grabbed at the box and stuffed two in his mouth at once just to have that sensation run through his body again.
"Um, Harry, you've got some glitter on your lips," Hermione weakly told him, gesturing him to wipe it off.
All of a sudden, Harry felt the strangest urge to answer everything honestly. He wiped the golden glitter glaze from his lips. "Yes, I am Ron. And who cares if it's a bloke. I just want my cloak back! I hope it's not Colin or Dennis Creevy."
"Harry, we'll go with you! It's too risky!" cried Hermione in a short burst of laughter. "Or too embarrassing…ohh, who wants to get you this bad?"
Harry ate another jumpy toad. "I can imagine a lot of people who would, Hermione. And the note said to come alone. I don't want anyone to hurt you two."
"And you should stop eating those toads! Just because your admirer said they're not poisonous, doesn't mean anything! You should go to Madame Pomfrey!" Hermione went to snatch the box from Harry's hands, but he had already eaten the last one.
"Don't worry about me, 'Mione! I'll be fine!" Harry assured her between chews. "If I die, either by curse or embarrassment, just know that I really want to do this!"
Ron took Hermione by the hand and walked her out of the room. He whispered to her so Harry couldn't hear, "Let's go see Hagrid. He'll come 'round by the time we come back."
Harry, relishing the tingle of those toads, thought to open Fred and George's gift. Off the bow went. Harry was given a beautiful vial of what seemed to be nothing but air. He took a glance at the vial's neck. He could barely make out the little engraved instructions.
'Invisibility Serum! Drink and blend into the shadows for hours! Takes effect immediately!'
That was all he could see, but the line he couldn't read began to worry him.
"I'll take this when the moon comes up," Harry said to himself. He didn't even bother to kick off his trainers; he just curled himself up on his bed, trying to dream of who his 'anonymous admirer'.
xA Swim is All It Takes- A Harry Potter Birthday Tribute- A Swim is All It Takes- A Harry Potter Birthday Tributex
Night had fallen, and Harry Potter had downed half of the serum. It worked so well that it made his clothes invisible too, so Ron and Hermione didn't even see him meander through the common room. He made his way down to the lake, hoping he'd catch a peek at his admirer. The moonlight brought out the sparkles in the grass and the shimmery nature of the lake. That sight put him at peace.
He knelt by the edge of the lake, easing his feet out of his worn-out trainers. He neglected putting on socks since the summer was so warm. His toes splashed at the lake's glittery surface as he thought about how this might play out.
"What if the merpeople capture me?" Harry thought to himself. "What if I really do die tonight?"
Throwing those thoughts to the cool night's breeze, he stripped himself of his t-shirt and jeans and tossed him into a pile nearby. He rested his glasses on top of that. He hesitated to remove his knickers, the only barrier between him and stark-nakedness. The words of the note kept echoing in his mind.
Don't worry; it'll be just us. No need to be ashamed since no one will know.
If you don't cooperate with this order, I will know, and your cloak will be mine forever.
"How do they know? Why do they want this from me?" Harry hoped the sooner he swam with the squid, the sooner his cloak would be in his hands again. He felt that he shouldn't have said those things to Ron and Hermione. But he uncontrollably wanted this to happen. His mind was saying no, but his body was saying yes and screaming it.
In a deep breath, the only thing that clad Harry's skin was the night's cooling breeze. He felt free at once. Then he walked himself into the lake.
Deeper.
Deeper.
And into the deepest deep.
He broke out into a swim, forgetting about the Merpeople and the squid. The slightest thrash of a tentacle wouldn't make Harry get out of there. By now, his admirer should be perched on the grass to watch. He resurfaced his head to see.
Someone was coming.
Harry wish he had better eyesight at times like these. He swam closer to the bank to get a better look at their face, but the person was wearing a hood over their head. They drew their wand and aimed at Harry's clothes. "Evanesco…" the person coldly whispered with a trickle of malice in their voice. It sounded like a familiar male.
Harry paddled as fast as he could, but something slimy wrapped around his ankle before he could step into the grass.
"Please! Whoever you are!" Harry sputtered, struggling to keep his head above the water. "Help me! I just want my cloak back!"
The person under the hood gave off a chilly chuckle and extended a pale, bony hand to Harry.
When both his feet were on land again, the hooded person stood back as if to examine the how Harry's dripping naked body sparkled in the moonlight. They said nothing.
"What the hell did you do with my clothes?!" Harry shouted, noticing the invisibility serum had worn of prematurely. He was quick to cover his once-privateness with his hands. "And who the hell are you?!"
The hooded person laughed a bit harder, but it stayed soft and sinister. "Have another toad, Potter. They aren't poisonous," they said to Harry, presenting him a glittery candy in a paper. This was a command, not a request.
The craving came back to Harry with a vengeance. He ignored being sans-culottes for the moment and took the jumpy confection with a shaking hand. He devoured it happily.
The hooded person, began to ask, "Now tell me, Potter, do you fancy me?" With a swift sweep, he pulled of his hood and revealed his face.
"Yes, Draco!" escaped from Harry's mouth with no delay.
Harry's anonymous admirer had been Draco Malfoy all along? Draco was gay? Harry was shocked and scared. He was just asked if he had feelings for Draco, and without a moment's wait "yes" rushed past his lips too fast for him to catch it. What was in those toads he ate?
"It was you who took my cloak, Malfoy!"
Draco rolled his eyes. "Well of course it was, Potter. And I must say, you look lovely in your birthday suit." He ran a few fingers across Harry's collar bone and traced a line to his navel, making Harry shiver. "Do you like it when I touch you, Potter? I know you do," he asked in a fiendishly playful voice. He brushed a kiss onto his cheek.
His knees feeling like jelly, Harry told him, "Yes." If only he didn't leave his wand in his bed tonight. He whimpered to Draco, "What was in those toads, Draco?"
"Just Veritaserum, Potter. I keep telling you they're not poisonous," Draco smirked. "The glitter glaze is actually a strong Hankering Potion. It's hard to control yourself if you've too much. By the looks of it, you've eaten the whole box." He took his thumb to wipe the glitter from Harry's lips.
Harry turned pink in the face, but now that the deed was done, he wanted what he came for. "Where's my cloak you promised, Draco? I did what you said!"
Draco bit his suggestively licked his lips. "And thank you, Potter. But I want one more thing from you." His fingers gently curled themselves around Harry's member and began brushing up and down. Harry didn't object at all.
"You're grabbing my broomstick and stroking it. What more could you want from me?" Harry moaned, that familiar tingling sensation going down his spine.
"A kiss, Potter. A passionate one," Draco said, his grey eyes welling with longing. "Then you can have your stupid cloak back."
Harry looked away for a moment. Draco did all this to get to him, and in the end he wanted a kiss? As if diving in a creature-infested lake naked wasn't enough. If a kiss was all he wanted, he could've asked in private, but that might not have happened anyway. Rumours about the Boy-Who-Lived being gay would be too much for Hogwarts and the Daily Prophet to handle. Harry's thoughts raced for what seemed an eternity, then his eyes met Draco's again.
"Alright, but make it quick."
Draco tore off his cloak and pushed Harry over into the grass with the force of a hippogriff when he crashed their lips together. Harry's damp skin relished the warmth of Draco's as they rubbed against each other. Their tongues battled for dominance of the passion while their hands roamed freely. They ground against one another's hardness with tender force. Getting lost in this affair, Harry tangled his fingers through silky silvery locks and ran them over that soft skin Draco had. When their kissing got too rough, they broke for air.
"Happy birthday, Potter," Draco whispered, out of breath. He got off Harry, making him miss the weight of his body upon his. "Here's your cloak as promised." Draco bent over to get it from his robes.
Harry admired his admirer's bare backside in the moonlight. He took the cloak from his hand and draped it over his nudity. "Don't I get my clothes back?"
Draco teasingly smacked his arse. "Sorry. I haven't got a spell for that. The cloak should cover you." He placed a final kiss on Harry's cheek and set off for the castle. "Aren't you coming?" Being hidden by the cloak, Harry took revenge to smack his arse back.
"Very funny, Potter."
xA Swim is All It Takes- A Harry Potter Birthday Tribute- A Swim is All It Takes- A Harry Potter Birthday Tributex
Harry threw down his cloak and put on his pyjamas when he got back to the boys' dormitory. He grabbed the Pensieve Photo Album and reached for his wand. He drew a silvery string from his temple and dropped it onto a full page in the album. Instantly, the scene replayed itself in full colour.
"Harry! You're alive!" Hermione cheered, rushing to wrap her arms around him.
"We told Hagrid you'd gone barmy, so we ate your cake in your honour," said Ron. "Who's that anonymous admirer?"
Harry tucked the book under his bed and smiled at them. "They're going to remain anonymous."