Chapter 4
"Oh my god."
"What, what is it?"
"They've found me."
"They've what?"
"They've found me!"
Harry groaned as he flung himself back against his pillows. "I should have seen it coming," he moped.
Hermione gazed at his screen, rolling her eyes at the many friend requests he now had on his Facebook. "Oh please, Harry, it could be worse."
"They're going to find you as well, you know," Harry warned. "You'll have ickle first years liking and commenting on everything you post."
Giggling, Hermione scrolled through the list of names, recognising many from their own house. "Hey look, Dean has a Facebook as well."
"Oh, well I'll befriend him," Harry replied, sitting up to take a look. "Nice picture," he grinned. "I wonder if Ron knows?"
Hermione eyed the photo with an amused expression; Dean and Ginny were kissing rather intensely in his display photo, something, she was sure, Ron would not find appealing whatsoever.
"Let's just hope Ronald never wants a Facebook," she finally stated.
"Ginny hasn't mentioned that Dean has a camera—I wonder what sort it is," Harry pondered. "I'm thinking of getting one and putting more photos onto my Facebook, what do you reckon?"
"It'd be nice to have some photos with you guys," Hermione replied honestly. "But the last time I checked there were only a few wizarding cameras around and none of them were compatible with our laptops."
"How long ago was that? And it doesn't matter; I'm sure I could buy a regular muggle digital camera and adjust it so it doesn't explode near Hogwarts with all of the magic." Harry chuckled humorously. "That would be pretty funny though."
"Oh yes, terribly funny," Hermione mocked.
"Mione, you're a girl, it's not meant to be funny," Harry clarified with a smirk. "Now what the hell am I meant to do with all of these friend requests? I don't even know most of them!"
"Then don't add them," Hermione said simply. "Add only who you want."
"But they'll never give up!" Harry groaned. "I hate groupies."
Hermione couldn't help but laugh. "Groupies, oh my god I can just imagine them following you around for an autograph."
"They'll be fighting to be the first ones to comment on the things I post," Harry snorted. "No, you're right, it's better if I just ignore them."
"It's alright, I'll protect you from your groupies," Hermione grinned.
"Promise?" Harry smiled hopefully.
"I promise," the bushy haired brunette giggled.
"Where's Ron this evening?" Harry asked as he ignored many of the friend requests he had.
"Probably surfing the internet," Hermione replied, sitting back down beside her own laptop. "I have a feeling he's discovered the more... interesting... side of the net."
Harry glanced at her blankly. "Interesting?" His eyes widened. "Oh..." He bit his lip to stifle a laugh. "I didn't even think he'd find stuff like that!"
"He's a typical teenage boy, Harry, how could he not?" Hermione replied with a roll of her eyes. "You guys can be so dense sometimes."
"Shut up I am not," Harry huffed. "Excuse me for thinking my best friend was better than that."
Hermione snorted but smiled, stealing one of Harry's pillows to lean against. From her position at the end of the bed, they could see each other but not what they were looking at on their screens. She didn't mind of course, she'd positioned herself on purpose so they were able to still talk but respect each other's privacy.
With a glance at her best friend, Hermione opened a new tab and clicked on one of her saved links. Her dashboard on Tumblr appeared and she scrolled greedily through the posts she'd missed with a hidden smile. Although she felt sort of bad that she'd kept this website secret from Harry, the idea of having her own secret blog made up for it.
She'd discovered Tumblr a year ago from a friend via Facebook whose posts would show up on her newsfeed. After clicking on the link and having a look at what her friend did, Hermione's excitement grew to the point where she had made one herself. For the first few weeks, Hermione had become obsessed with the website, following new people, reblogging posts and discovering she wasn't the only one to do certain things. It wasn't until she realised she had mountains of homework to do and only a week left of holidays to do it in, Hermione had regretfully decided to back off slightly and save her blogging for her free time.
With her homework done for this evening however and the weekend the next day, Hermione saw no reason why she couldn't spend most of her night doing what she loved.
Little did she know that Harry was doing exactly as she was, scrolling through his latest posts and smiling at the many notes his drawings had. He noticed with excitement that he had a few questions in his ask but decided to leave them until later after he'd seen most of the new posts.
The two Gryffindors continued in companionably silence, both Tumblring and yet not knowing the other had discovered the site as well. Hermione's next page of posts had finished loading and she was scrolling down when she came across a drawing that looked extremely familiar.
Crashing-Waterfalls reblogged Lightning-Shaped-Scars.
Hermione looked up at Harry whose gaze was intent on his screen, a small smile tugging at his lips. Lightning-Shaped-Scars...
Heart pounding, Hermione clicked on the link and followed it to Harry's supposed blog. After reading the information on the side, Hermione's suspicion was confirmed.
"You have a Tumblr!" Hermione suddenly shrieked.
Harry's heart skipped a beat as he looked over at her. "But—I—how do you know?"
"Because I have one as well!" Hermione folded her arms and glared. "You didn't tell me!"
"You didn't tell me either!" Harry retorted.
"I didn't think you were the blogging type," Hermione sniffed as Harry rolled his eyes. "I was... protecting you."
"I'm sure," Harry sniggered. "Are you going to follow me now?" he asked curiously.
"Only if you follow me in return," the brunette challenged in reply. "Be warned though, your dashboard might be filled with rainbows and ponies."
Harry grinned. "Does that mean I can I return that favour with photos of half naked men?" Despite the challenge in his voice, Harry's heart was pounding a mile a minute, worried how Hermione was going to react to this sudden news.
"Half naked..." Hermione's eyes narrowed. "Harry James Potter, you never told me you liked men! I can't believe you didn't tell me! Your best friend!"
Harry's smile was a relieved one as he grinned over at the frazzled female. "Sorry," he said genuinely. "You would have found out anyway when you follow me so be thankful I told you now."
Hermione glared. "You should have told me sooner. Seriously, I can't believe you've kept this from both Ron and I."
"Well it hasn't been for that long," Harry replied awkwardly. "I started thinking I might like guys during the summer holidays but I... I wondered if it might have been a phase or something. Since finding Tumblr though, I know now that I really do prefer males."
"I could have helped you figure it out," Hermione said. "I could have found you a date! I have a few muggle friends who are gay."
"You—you do?" Harry said with surprise.
"Yes of course," Hermione continued exasperatedly. "Why so shocked? You thought I'd hate gays?"
"I didn't know what to expect," Harry replied softly. "The Dursleys..."
"Don't believe anything those people tell you," Hermione said strongly. "Liking men is not a bad thing, Harry, you are free to love and like whoever you prefer."
Harry's heartbeat was calm now, beating softly in his chest as the realisation that Hermione wasn't going to hate him forever sunk in.
"Thank you, Mione," he smiled. "Do you think Ron will be as understanding?"
"He doesn't hate Neville, does he? And Neville likes men as well," Hermione pointed out.
"That's true." Harry tapped a finger against his lips. "Okay, I'll tell Ron as well."
"He'd like that," Hermione smiled gently. "The only thing I can imagine him doing is being mad at you for not telling him sooner."
"Just like you," Harry smirked. "You guys should date, you're so in tune."
A blushed crept into Hermione's cheeks. "Don't be silly, Harry," she said. "As if Ron would."
Realisation hit Harry hard that he blinked. "You have no idea, do you?"
"About what?" Hermione frowned.
The grin that Harry threw her way was brilliant, his green eyes brightening immensely. "Ro-on likes you, Ro-on likes you," he sang.
"You're joking," Hermione accused.
"I would never!" Harry huffed. "He told me so the first night we came back."
"But why would Ron like me?" Hermione pressed. "He didn't even see me as a girl until fourth year."
"Probably for the same reason you like him," Harry replied casually. "I'm not joking, Mione, I promise."
Hermione still looked doubtful but Harry was determine to get his best friends together. They deserved to be happy.
"If he were to ask you out somewhere, would you go?" Harry asked.
"I—um, maybe?"
"Mione..."
"Okay, yes I would but it's not going to happen," Hermione said.
We'll see... Harry thought smugly. "I'm going to be gloating when you two start dating."
Hermione brushed aside his jibe and instead decided to change the subject. "Your drawings are very popular."
"Yeah I'm surprised," Harry smiled. "I can't believe I already have over a hundred notes."
"People know quality when they see it," Hermione winked, glad to see it was Harry's turn to blush. "Hey, who's Blonds-Do-It-Better?" she asked as she looked through Harry's blog. "You re-post heaps of his stuff."
"A guy I met," Harry replied with a soft smile.
"On Tumblr?"
"Yeah."
"Aww, Harry has a Tumblr crush," Hermione giggled. "Is he nice?"
"To me," Harry chuckled. "He has this killer attitude against people who annoy him; I wish I had his confidence."
"Hmm..." Hermione pondered. "I think I might follow him, he has some amazing photos."
"I know you just want him for his naked men pictures, Mione, you don't have to lie."
"Shut up, Harry."
Curls-Cats-and-Consistency started following you.
Heh, another follower... Draco thought. "How many is that now? One hundred and fifty?"
Clicking on the link, Draco found himself on a rather feminine looking page with one of Potter's drawings as their latest reblog.
Hmm... I guess that answers how they found me...
He moved his gaze to the side bar, reading the long piece of information that stretched down the entire side of his screen.
Extreme bookworm... female... loves cats... hates sport... constant studier... bloody hell she sounds like Granger.
Draco's eyes widened. Granger! For the love of God are you serious?
"Wait a minute, unless Potter has suddenly decided to come out, would he really allow her to view his profile?" Draco frowned. Maybe he's admitted he likes men... Draco's frown became even more intense. And what does it matter? Stop sulking!
"I'm not sulking," Draco argued with a mumble. "So what if Granger knows that Potter's gay?"
Who cares that Potter drew a picture of Granger yet he doesn't even look at you... Draco's subconscious added.
"He's talking to me now though," Draco pouted.
But he doesn't know it's you... if he did he'd block you faster than when he catches the snitch...
"No doubt," Draco agreed, sighing loudly. "Thus humiliating him is the only option."
If you say so...
The breeze was warm against Harry's skin, the sun bright overhead. It was a gorgeous Saturday afternoon and Harry, Ron and Hermione were all lounging outside beside a large tree. They weren't the only students out enjoying the sun either, many from different houses sat in various spots on the grass, stretching all the way back up to the castle.
Harry had his parchment book open and leaning against his legs, back pressed up against the tree trunk and pencil moving carelessly. He wasn't paying much attention to what he was drawing but he liked the way the patterns swirled down the side. A laugh from Hermione had his gaze moving and he smiled at the easy way Hermione and Ron seemed to be talking.
He had honestly missed this, relaxing with his friends and not worrying about anything else.
"Hey, Harry, we're going to head inside and grab something for lunch to bring out, did you want anything?" Ron asked suddenly, getting to his feet and brushing off blades of grass.
"Yeah sure, I'm not fussed," Harry smiled. "Anything will do."
"We'll be back soon," Hermione promised.
Harry watched them leave, their hands so close they could have been holding hands. How on earth could Mione be so blind…?
Moving his gaze away, Harry studied the landscape for some inspiration for his next drawing. His eyes drifted over smiling students and gently swaying trees until an unfamiliar laugh had him searching across the field.
Malfoy sat at another tree with Pansy, Theo and Blaise relaxing around him. One of them had obviously said something funny as a genuine smile had brightened the blond's face, his eyes alight with pleasure.
Why can't Malfoy look at me like that…? Harry thought miserably.
A suddenly idea hit him. It was a terrible and no doubt dangerous idea, yet the more Harry argued with himself the more he wanted to do it.
Although Malfoy will never smile at me like that, I can still draw him that way…
Biting his lip, Harry sharpened his pencil, turned over a new page and began to draw.
Draco yawned widely as he stepped into his room. The day had been almost perfect, sitting out in the sun with his friends; what a shame it had been at school and not at the manor. It didn't help that Potter had been sitting near them, obviously creating more drawings. Draco had been sorely tempted to find out who or what it was he was drawing, maybe even chide him a little, enough for a heating argument—they hadn't had one for a while now, it was rather saddening.
That's because you can't find anything to argue about… the voice in his head stated. You like this peaceful truce don't you…?
Draco snorted. "My life is a complete bore, why the hell would I like it?"
He ignored anything else his little voice had to say and instead logged onto his laptop, following the same steps he did every day until both his email and Tumblr were up and running on separate tabs.
I wonder if Potter uploaded that picture he drew today…? Only one way to find out…
Draco went through his friends and found Potter, clicking through to his page. There were no drawings displayed so Draco began to scroll, ignoring most of the posts. Determined, Draco went back a page in Harry's blog, keeping an eye on when the posts had been uploaded or reblogged.
Just as the blond was about to give up and return to his own dashboard, his eyes fell upon Harry's latest drawing, breath suddenly lost.
"Fuck me…" Draco breathed.
His eyes softened as he gazed over the picture Harry had drawn of him. The blond had never really been fond of self-portraits but this—this was something else entirely. The elegant way that Potter had captured his natural essence was astounding to say the least and Draco was finding it difficult to remember why he hated Potter in the first place.
The Golden Boy was certainly not who Draco assumed he was and it startled the blond to no end. He was beginning to find that the brunet's presence didn't even annoy him anymore and where Draco had always been able to find something wrong with Potter's appearance, there were now small details that Draco found... appealing.
"Oh god, I'm falling for Potter," Draco whispered.