John hadn't talked to Sherlock in a week, and he was beginning to tire of the whole thing. A part of him was still mad about what his friend had done, the other craved for his company as if they hadn't seen each other for a year.

And frankly, he didn't know what to do. Perhaps he was still waiting for Sherlock to apologize to him, even if he knew what the odds were of anything like this happening. He couldn't help but wonder how Sherlock was coping without him and a selfish part of him wanted to believe that the Ravenclaw was as miserable as he was.

John got dressed and walked downstairs to the common room. His eyes shot open at the sight awaiting him. The room was unusually crowded and loud for such an early hour in the morning. He could see a group of third years moaning in a corner, a few first years looking completely lost and most of the seventh and sixth years gathered around what appeared to be a piece of paper on the wall.

His curiosity spiked, John elbowed his way through the crowd and finally caught a glimpse of the sheet. A Ball, apparently. Next Friday, to celebrate the October break. He pushed past a girl he had never seen before and managed to read the end of the announcement.

The event was sixth and seventh years only, apparently the punch would not be virgin this time. This was the stupidest thing the Headmaster had ever done in John's opinion. Putting alcohol in the punch wouldn't stop the students from spiking it again…

He turned on his heels and frowned when he saw Harriet's smile. Of course. She wouldn't miss an opportunity to get drunk, not if it killed her. As if she had read his mind, Harriet shot him a glare and left the room.

John sighed and left too, standing against the wall outside the common room. He guessed he'd go with Sarah and try to keep an eye on his sister. For some reason, the idea didn't appeal to him one bit.

He hadn't kissed her yet, and he was afraid to think of the reason. Mainly because he feared he knew it already. Sarah was lovely, she was sweet, intelligent and boringly common.

He had never thought he would say this one day, but he missed Sherlock's insanity. He missed the owls in the middle of the night, the lunches in the park, the craziness. He missed stealing from Snape's store. He missed their natural ease with each other. He missed the way Sherlock would comfort him without a word.

But they couldn't have stayed like this forever, even he knew that. Someday they would get married, move to different towns, have kids of their own and maybe send each other a letter from time to time. But that was it. Maybe it was time to move on.

They would always be friends, but eventually they would drift away from one another. It was just easier that way. Healthier. He swallowed the lump in his throat and headed for the Great Hall, he needed to find Sarah.

The Great Hall had been decorated in orange and black for Halloween, but luckily for John, they hadn't been asked to dress up. He'd had enough trouble finding a suit, he really didn't want to imagine the hell it would have been to find a costume.

Besides, he hated dressing up.

His eyes roamed the room in search of his date for the evening, and, as he had expected, Sarah was beautiful. Her dress wasn't long but not short enough to be vulgar. It fell gracefully to her knees, and she wore a long necklace that disappeared into her modest cleavage. All in all, she was lovely.

They met at the bar and he deposited a kiss on her cheek, making her blush a little. He gave her a smile and poured her a bowl of punch before getting a glass of soda for himself. He sniffed it first to make sure no one had had time to spike it yet, and, satisfied with the result, swallowed it down.

Sarah eyed him curiously but he just shrugged it away. He wasn't nervous, just really really thirsty. He saw Greg and Mycroft enter together and frowned. Did these two even know each other? But he didn't have time to ponder the question as he saw another pair of students coming in.

He noticed Sherlock first and smiled a bit. However the smile died down before it was even born when he saw Hermione walking in with him. The picture made his guts twist uncomfortably for a reason he couldn't – and wouldn't – explain.

Sherlock was rather elegant, his natural grace only heightened by the suit he was wearing. Hermione was beautiful herself, but oddly enough, it was Sherlock who drew John's gaze. He obviously felt comfortable in his attire but John had never seen him wear one before. He wondered how often the Ravenclaw was forced to dress like this…

"John?" Sarah's voice pulled him out of his reverie and his eyes snapped open.

"I'm sorry. Were you saying something?" He tried a small smile and Sarah's expression immediately softened.

"No, I just thought you looked a bit… odd."

"Yes. Er, sorry. I was just thinking."

"It's Sherlock, isn't it?" She whispered making John jump up in surprise. He felt panic rise in his chest without even knowing why. "You were staring at him… do you miss being his friend?"

"I'm still his friend." John frowned.

He saw Sarah smile a little and relaxed. "I know he can be a real pain in the ass sometimes, but I… well, yeah, I kinda miss him."

Sarah rubbed his arm softly just as Greg came up to them.

"Hi." His almost shaky voice caused John to frown again.

"Are you all right Greg? You seem a bit… tense."

"No, no. I'm fine." He swallowed his glass of punch in one gulp before turning to Sarah. "Hello Sarah. You look lovely."

Her face lit up into a smile. "Why, thank you Gregory. You look pretty good yourself." The Hufflepuff chuckled but John saw he had to force it a little. "Did you come with a date?"

Greg ran a hand through his hair, his hand almost shaking. "Yeah, sort of."

John frowned but his answer was cut off by the Headmaster's speech, declaring the Ball open. John felt Greg tense up even more if this was possible and wondered what was wrong with him. He looked like a virgin on her wedding night. Worse, even.

But before he could ask Greg what was the matter, he saw Mycroft walk up in their direction and let out a sigh. What did he want now? However he soon realized that the elder Holmes brother wasn't looking at him, in fact he was staring at… no.

"May I have this dance?" Mycroft whispered, extending his hand to Greg.

The Hufflepuff swallowed hard before accepting it and John gaped at them, more shocked than he had ever been in his life. Mycroft and Greg. Greg and Mycroft. He wouldn't have guessed in a million years, it all felt… weird.

At least it did until John noticed something. Mycroft had intertwined their fingers and Greg was running his thumb over the back of his hand, smiling up at the Slytherin boy. His whole body had relaxed under Mycroft's simple touch and he looked happier than John had ever seen him.

Now it was the Gryffindor's turn to feel nervous for them. Even nowadays, homosexuality wasn't always well perceived, especially in the magical world. In some aspects wizards were centuries behind muggles, and he feared that tolerance was one of them. In just a few seconds people would start noticing them and… well here it was.

The whole room had fallen silent in a matter of seconds, apart from the music playing in background. Everyone was now staring at the odd couple dancing alone in the middle of the crowd. John heard whispers beginning to form here and there and made a decision.

He reached out his hand in Sarah direction. "Would you like to dance?"

She gave him a proud smile and accepted his hand as he led them to the dance floor. John noticed Harry and a blond Slytherin boy ( Draco, his name was ) staring at each other awkwardly and shrugged. Then he saw Dumbledore rise up from his chair and ask Professor McGonagall to dance as well.

He could have sworn he saw the Headmaster's eyes twinkle but he chose to ignore this piece of information. Safer if he didn't want to have any nightmares that night.

John found his gaze drawn to Sherlock but the Ravenclaw wasn't looking back. He was eyeing the crowd expectantly, his fist clenched at his side. Mycroft let his left hand fall on Greg's hip and tightened its grip there before moving him a bit closer.

Greg simply smiled up at him and John found he envied them in some way. Being this close to someone, being this comfortable with the person you loved, this was what he wanted. His brain told him to move his hand a little bit lower on Sarah's back but for some reason, his body refused.

Mycroft looked at him and John had the feeling that the Slytherin knew something. Something he didn't know himself for he saw a flash lighten up the boy's eyes before his lips twitched into a grin. However it was gone in an instant, leaving John with an uneasy feeling in his stomach.

Then, something went wrong. John could feel it even before it happened, the tension had been building up in the room and it was only a matter of seconds before someone made a snide comment. He heard a Gryffindor boy clear his throat and saw Sherlock draw out his wand in a flash.

It all happened very fast. The boy had started raising his voice. "I can't even believe those people are allowed…"

The hex went off, snapping – more probably gluing – the boy's mouth shut. When John looked back at Sherlock, he was standing very stiff but his wand was nowhere to be seen. Professor Flitwick was eyeing his student warily but John was almost sure he saw the older man wink at him. He couldn't be sure though.

The Gryffindor couldn't help himself, he saw Sherlock look at him for a few seconds and flashed him an amused grin. Sherlock nodded imperceptibly and looked away again. John felt his stomach drop a little and focused his attention of the dance. He couldn't let himself be sad, after all, he had asked for it…

The song ended and the Hall erupted in applause, and even if John could still see a few students gritting their teeth in disapproval, he was happy for Greg and Mycroft. He took Sarah's arm and led her to a small group of Gryffindor by the bar. Harry, Ron and Seamus were chatting, although to be more precise, it seemed more like a drunken Ron was saying everything he could think of.

"I didn't know Lestrade was a fag, did you John?" The red-head asked, slapping his shoulder with a little more force than necessary.

Harry looked slightly uncomfortable and John gritted his teeth in disgust, wondering if he was more unnerved by the term 'fag' or by the drunken state of his fellow Housemate. It didn't really matter in the end as he saw Hermione and Sherlock join them, their arms linked.

He tried to ignore the knot in his stomach as Ron spoke up again. "You wanna dance, Mione?"

Hermione shook her head and rolled her eyes. And even though John knew she would say no, a small part of him was still hoping she would accept the invitation and leave Sherlock alone. He preferred not to think of what this said about him.

"She's not interested." Sherlock's voice, although calm and low, silenced everyone in the group.

John simply stared at his friend, doing his best to ignore the tightening in his chest. "That's none of your business, Holmes!"

"Ron, you shouldn't drink this much…" Hermione's voice was trying to soothe her friend, but apparently it only made Ron angrier.

"You're not my mother!"

"Obviously." John shook his head trying to stop Sherlock but he knew it was too late. "I assume you would not spend as much time trying to bed her if she was."

And then, Ron lost it. John saw him clench his hand into a fist and take a step towards Sherlock. His body reacted instantly, he let go of Sarah's arm and grabbed the red-head by his collar.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

John saw Sherlock's eyes widen in surprise and he immediately let go of Ron. He could feel everyone staring at him and felt almost relieved when he heard Hermione's voice. "Come, Sherlock."

She grabbed his arm and led him to the dance floor, leaving a very confused John in their wake. The Gryffindor grabbed Sarah's hand in his. "Do you want to dance?"

She nodded softly and let him take her on the dance floor too. He put his hand behind her back and began moving along with the music. "I'm sorry, I probably shouldn't have done that."

"Ron would have punched Sherlock if you hadn't."

"Probably, yes." John answered, stifling a sigh.

"I understand, John. He's your friend." She gave him a soft smile but John simply nodded in return. He wasn't sure this was the real reason behind his behavior.

"You didn't need to do that you know." Hermione whispered in a smile. "But thank you."

Sherlock nodded. "Do you think he'll award 5 points to Ravenclaw for my trouble?"

"That's not funny, Sherlock."

"I'm sorry." The Ravenclaw murmured back. "Judging by the way he's been glaring at me all night, I'm more likely to get killed than rewarded anyway."

Hermione chuckled. "I have no idea what you're talking about." She grinned like a cat and raised an eyebrow. "I noticed that John is looking very handsome tonight."

Sherlock suppressed a smile. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

As the song ended, Sarah excused herself to the loo and John made his way towards the bar, seeing that Greg was alone there. The Hufflepuff looked up anxiously and John pulled him into a hug.

"I had no idea, Greg. But I'm very happy for you." John reassured Greg, freeing his friend of his embrace. "Mycroft though? Really?" John couldn't help but grin at his embarrassed expression.

"Yes, John. He is beautiful." John's eyebrows shot up in surprise and Greg smiled a bit. "To me, he is."

The Gryffindor took a seat and grabbed another drink. "Wow. How long has this been going on?"

"Two years." Greg sighed at John's surprise. "We got to know each other in my second year and well… we got pretty close."

"Why did you hide when you were friends?"

"We weren't really friends. We both knew it was… something more from the beginning. And to be honest, we felt a little weird showing it."

John nodded his head in acceptance and sipped at his drink. "This Ball was Mycroft's idea you know."

"What? But… why?"

"Among other reasons, Mycroft wanted us to… come out."

"So he convinced Dumbledore to throw a ball?" John chuckled before realizing something. "Wait. What other reasons?"

Greg sighed. "Look, John. I know what it feels like to hide something personal…"

"What are you implying?" John interrupted a bit abruptly.

Lestrade got up and put his drink on the table. "I'm just saying that you won't have another ball like this at Hogwarts. This won't happen again." Greg took a deep breath. "John, are you sure you're dancing with the right person?"

John felt his stomach drop, his throat tighten and his heart rate speed up. He looked up at his friend and, seeing how serious he was being, decided he needed to be honest, with Greg and with himself.

"I don't know…"

Greg simply nodded and walked away, joining Mycroft and circling his arm around his waist. John couldn't help but smile at this. They really did make a beautiful couple.

"One last dance?" Sarah smiled down at him, her hand raised in the air.

"Sure." He murmured, taking her hand.

Mid-dance he saw Sherlock leaving the Great Hall with Hermione and closed his eyes in defeat. Now that he was gone, he wasn't sure he wanted to be here anymore.

"John…" Sherlock whispered in a broken voice. "I… I don't want to hide anymore…"

I stroked his cheek with the tip of my fingers before running them through his mass of black curls. "I know…" I stood on my toes to press my forehead against his, mingling our breaths together.

I could feel his grip tighten on my waist before he brought our hips together, causing my stomach to jump in excitement. I grabbed his head with both my hands, urging him closer. Our lips were se close I could almost feel his against mine. I tilted my head and…

"Mr Watson! Wake up!"

John jumped up in surprise and pulled the covers up to his nose. He took a few seconds to catch his breath before sighing. "Professor McGonagall? What are you doing here?"

"Something happened. You need to come with me…"

A little cliffy, I hope you don't mind :] But I gave you some Mystrade, surely, you forgive me *puppy eyes*

There is more Mystrade and Hotson to come (and if you squint really hard you'll see a bit of Snanger, but I'm afraid I didn't write any more Drarry)

Please review, I will worship you forever :)