Title: Getting Through The Day
Summary: Sometimes Kingsley Shakelbolt needed to remember the good times with his lover just to get through the day as Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.
A.N.: Another Playlist Shuffle using playlist dot com! This time for the Harry Potter fandom using one of my favorite underused pairings! Kingsley/Harry. Please don't judge the length; I had a bit of trouble getting my words to come out right in the time frame.
Warnings: Slash, Americanisms, OOC, AU. You know, the normal stuff.
Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter epidemic and make no profit from this work.
Getting Through The Day
Telephone-Lady Gaga featuring Beyonce
Song Length: 3:41
I remember the first time I used a Muggle telephone for something other than entering the Ministry of Magic; I'd been assigned to assist in the relocation of Harry Potter's Muggle relatives. Horrid Muggles, I couldn't honestly see the good we'd do the world by protecting them but I followed my orders. Harry answered; he recognized my voice, called me 'Auror Shakelbolt, Sir', and I noticed that his voice had deepened some in the past year since I'd seen him last. I wished I could talk to him a bit more, find out how he was doing after his Godfather's death and everything that had happened with Dumbledore's death; Snape turning traitor really hadn't surprised me but I hear he'd been shocked and devastated. Unfortunately there just wasn't time. I did get the Prime Minister to give Harry a telephone number in the man's office to call if he needed backup; I'd be there in a flash.
This Kiss-Faith Hill
Song Length: 3:15
I remember the first time I kissed Harry Potter. The war had been over a few years but the more die hard members of the Order of the Phoenix never quite enjoyed the holidays; we spent more time remembering those who'd passed on than anything else. Ginny Weasley was going around trying to convince everyone that Harry had proposed; since her family seemed disbelieving and Harry protested the very thought with absolute disgust no one else believed her. He and I were drinking after one of our gatherings and I asked him what he wanted for Christmas. He said, "This," and kissed me. I thought for a long while after that he'd only kissed me because of the Firewhiskey I could taste in his mouth. After ten years I finally believe him.
Get The Party Started-Pink
Song Length: 3:21
I remember Harry Potter's eighteenth birthday party. Since we'd rather ignored his seventeenth birthday his eighteenth had become the benchmark just like for Muggles. Granger had been involved in a great deal of the planning and seemed rather determined to match Harry and Ginny up as quickly as possible. I wanted to be angry at her for it, since Harry and I had made no secret of our still new relationship, but I kept my mouth shut. Harry went behind Hermione's back and had the entrance song changed; he also changed his clothing choice. Instead of the formal attire Hermione and Ginny had agreed upon he wore the tight denims I loved for him to wear when we were out (or in) with a fishnet top he normally wouldn't have been caught dead in. He shimmied his way across the stage to where I stood and jumped into the air, trusting me to catch him; of course I did, and he snogged me thoroughly in thanks. Best party I've ever been to.
Fancy-Reba McEntire
Song Length: 4:56
I remember Harry Potter's first formal dinner party. Andromeda had wanted him to host something as the Head of her maiden family and Harry loved Andromeda so he agreed. Of course he had no idea what to do, and neither did I, so we'd looked into it; it was horridly complicated. It made Andy happy, though, so we kept at it. She helped a great deal without breaching protocol, under the guise of teaching Teddy about it. Harry kept Teddy as often as Andy did so it only made sense to have these 'lessons' when we were all together; we followed her non-suggestions and were pleased with the results. Andy cried when it was over, thanking us both for 'doing such good in the name Black'. We shucked the stiff formal robes when she left and let Kreacher have his way with the clean up (he'd insisted). Instead we wandered into the library, where we debated the merits of doing the same for the name Potter.
Hero-Enrique Iglesias
Song Length: 4:09
Harry never wanted to be a hero; "The hero always dies in some supposedly noble way. I just want to be normal and boring." Sadly that wasn't to be, and he did die in some supposedly noble way; it just wasn't as permanent as most people's. People assumed he'd been a hero for 'the Greater Good' or Ginny or the Weasley's as a whole; he said that was too overwhelming. He'd only done what he did to survive another day, he told me one night while we curled together in post coital contentment. Not revenge or destiny or the love of another person, just for selfish reasons. He was scared that made him a bad person, to care more for himself than the world as a whole. I held him tighter, pulling him as close as I could get him, and insisted that he'd done the right thing. "The reason the hero always dies," I told him, "is because they care for more for other people's lives than their own. You care about other people but your life is the one you're most worried about; you've got your priorities straight. Be your own hero, let them deal with themselves."
I Get Off-Halestorm
Song Length: 3:03
It's difficult to make plans with your lover when you're an Auror. "When do you get off?" isn't the right question; rather, "When do you think the last idiot will be dealt with today?" Harry understood; his trip across the country taught him all about the best laid plans of mice and men. He never got angry when I missed a reservation, just greeted me with a kiss and a smile and a romantic meal for two in our home instead of a restaurant. He made my excuses when I missed or was unforgivably late for a get together with our friends and never seemed to mind. When I got promoted to Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement I rather expected things to change; they didn't, but Harry understood. He always understood.
Kissed By A Rose-Seal
Song Length: 4:49
Harry was rather young and inexperienced when we got together. He was eager to learn the art of lovemaking and took to doing research; Hermione always teased that he'd have gotten better grades if he'd applied that in school but Harry ignored her. He was constantly accosting me the moment I crossed the door frame with plans to try something new; his favorite for a long while was flower petals. I would remove them from the flower stems and scatter them across his body then gently blow them off one by one; he'd gotten the idea from some film or another. I didn't enjoy having it done to me as well, and he didn't enjoy doing it to me, but we still tried. There were many things we tried that we didn't enjoy one way but enjoyed the other (I discovered an entirely new appreciation for ice that he just didn't share) but we both enjoyed one another's enjoyment almost as much as the fact that we were simply spending time together.
Party In The USA-Miley Cyrus
Song Length: 3:23
I traveled to the Salem Wizarding community about two years after being promoted to Department Head for a conference; the Ministry was nearly as eager for my lover to join me as I was. We attended what we had to, had drinks with Heads of foreign corresponding Departments, then ran off into the Muggle world at the earliest opportunity. Harry loved the music, and I loved his love of the music. There was something of a town party in the Muggle portion of Salem near the end of our stay and I got to make the list of countries where he's jumped into my arms and snogged me silly '2'. We've made plans to go back; we've also started plotting ways to get the Ministry to foot the bill for us to raise that number.
Yeah-Usher
Song Length: 4:08
Harry's cousin Dudley has made a real effort to be a part of his life after the war. They're fairly awkward around one another but I must give them both credit for their perseverance; whenever one asks if the other wants to get together the other always replies with an uncomfortable, 'yeah'. Did Harry and I want to go to a Muggle night club with Dudley and his friends? Yeah. Did Dudley want to come to the Potter Family dinner party? Yeah. Did we want to get together for Boxing Day? Yeah. Did we want to go to the Royal Procession? Yeah. Even if we couldn't imagine anything worse than attending the planned event we went. Dudley's boxing matches? Yeah. Harry's Quidditch matches? Yeah. Dudley even came to the ceremony for my ascension to the position of Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Despite extreme misgivings Harry went to Aunt and Uncle's home for Dudley's twentieth birthday; he left early, and Dudley followed him to apologize for his father's behavior. Was Harry finally getting the family he'd always wanted? Yeah.
Say It-Blue October
Song Length: 3:38
I remember the first time Harry and I argued. We never argue about important things, only the stupid little things of little to no consequence. This time he'd won some silly game or another we'd been playing and he wanted me to say he was the ultimate king of the world. I refused. We started bickering like children; 'say it!', 'no!' back and forth for nearly an hour. Out of nowhere Harry started laughing and I couldn't help following; why were we arguing about this? Of all the trivial things…we used it as an excuse to have make up sex. Now we try and bicker at least twice a month; it usually starts with me calling him the ultimate king of the world. We always have make up sex afterward; it's a great way to spend a rainy Sunday.
A.N.-I was planning to do fifteen but the next song was Cotton Eye Joe by Rednex and I conceded defeat by the third repitition.
Do You Want To Play The Shuffle Game Too? It's from a Sherlock BBC meme (not sure which one). Here's how you play: grab your media player (or your online playlist). Choose your fandom (it is not necessary to choose a pairing beforehand but I do in an effort at cohesion). Pick a number (for example I chose 15 and failed after 10 lol). Start the music! Start typing when the song begins and stop when it ends; record the song title, artist, and length at the beginning of each drabble. Cohesion is not a requirement, just my personal goal. The goal is to create your predetermined number of drabbles inspired by the title of the song you write it during (mine are sometimes inspired by the songs temselves). That's it; quick, easy, and far more fun than I should be allowed!