XxXx
It took very little time for somebody to notice the ring now settled on Harry's finger, and even less time for news to circulate through the rest of the school. By the time that lunch arrived the entire school was abuzz with the gossip and all eyes were locked on Harry as he walked calmly into the great hall in between Fred and George.
"Do you guys think they'll ever tire of staring at me?" Harry stage whispered to the two redheads as they made their way to their seats.
"Not as long as you,"
"Keep doing weird things." The twins said shrugging and piling food onto their plates.
"I've done nothing weird lately."
"That ring,"
"Says different." The two of them grinned and looked pointedly at the silver band on his finger.
"Nobody gets,
"Engaged at,"
"Fifteen."
"It's not like I'm getting married right away! Besides we've known each other for five years!" Harry huffed glaring at everyone around them.
Everyone immediately turned away from him, those closest to he and the twins scooting as far away from them as they possibly could.
"Still weird to get,"
"Engaged at fifteen."
"Bugger off you two," Harry said rolling his eyes and ignoring the fact that people were trying to look at him out of the corner of their eyes. Without another word he pulled a book from his bag and started reading while he ate his lunch, trusting Fred and George to take care of the worst of the rumors.
By the time he had finished eating Harry could feel every eye in the hall boring into him and gave up the pretense of trying to read his book in peace. "Are you two done or should I just save you a seat in class?" he asked looking at the twins who were glaring at every one in the area.
"We're done better,"
"Get to class." The two of them agreed standing along with their friend, the three of them quickly exiting the hall and making their way to the History of Magic classroom; Fred and George standing on either side of Harry as a sort of barrier between him and the rest of the school.
The three of them sat in the far back of the classroom to make it more difficult for their classmates to stare at them, not that it stopped them of course. Professor Binns droned on as usual and there were some people that so as not to crane their necks actually turned their chairs to ogle the ring that was sitting innocently enough on Harry's finger.
Harry simply rolled his eyes in exasperation and resolutely went about taking notes and letting himself be transported back into the history as if he were actually there, he could almost pretend there weren't thirty of his peers staring at him while a ghost floated around the front of the class room.
When the class finally ended he and the twins had their things packed in record time, and were out the door before anyone could even think about approaching them. Thankfully they only had one class left and then it was the weekend and then next week would be finals and then Harry's mastery test and the end of year feast.
He just had to make it one more week and then he was free of his classmates stares until September 1st, when it would start all over again. The three of them slipped into their next class and being as the staring hadn't been stopped by sitting in the back, they took their normal seats at the front of the room and did their best to ignore the eyes on the back of their heads.
He can do it. Really he can…at least he hopes he can. All the whispering is going to drive him mad, if people aren't careful he's going to start hexing them when the staff aren't looking. He does his best to ignore the eyes boring into him and the snippets of conversations he can hear, his classmates speculating everything from him being up the duff to it all being an elaborate joke on Professor Snape's part as a way of destroying Harry for getting his mastery first.
Through it all he manages to keep his eyes on either the board or his notes as he takes them, thanking any higher power that might be out there that all they're doing is lecture notes, with no questions he would be expected to volunteer answers for. When the class does wrap up Harry practically vaults himself over his desk to get out of the room faster, the twins following hot on his heels falling into step just a pace behind him so they can step in should anyone try and approach him; as they do almost anytime the three of them are together.
They don't say anything the entire walk to Severus' quarters, stopping only long enough for Harry to whisper the password to the portrait guarding the rooms, the three of the piling in as soon as they spring open.
"Geeze mate, I dunno…"
"How you handle the eyes!" The twins exclaim as they drop in a boneless heap onto the couch, a tangle of limbs as they land.
"Any longer and you would know exactly how I handle the eyes," Harry says petulantly as he sits gracefully on the floor pulling out his school supplies so that he can revise for final exams while they talk. "Another minute and I was going to start throwing hexes at them."
"Then maybe we should go…"
"Back out for a bit." Grins fall easily into place as they speak, making no move to lift themselves from their seated positions.
"Go if you wish, have fun being swarmed by the masses asking for all the sordid details of my engagement while I stay here and focus on the most important matter at hand." Harry brightens up immediately not looking up from his notes even as he jokes with the two redheads.
"Exams." They say looking at each other with matching looks of horror at the very thought of it all.
"Well I was going to say shagging my fiancé before dinner, but that works too." Harry says looking up at them innocently as the two of them burst into a fit of laughter.
"Good one mate, pretending you…"
"Think something's more important…"
"Then exams!" The two of them are still laughing uncontrollably, with Harry reviewing his notes again, when Severus walks in the door unnoticed by them until he stops to drop a kiss to the top of Harry's head, before continuing to his bedroom to change out of his teaching robes.
"Well you boys had best be off them," Harry says grinning as he pushes himself from his seat on the floor. "You don't have to return to your dorm but you can't stay here. Go terrorize some first years or something."
The two of them stare agape for a moment as the watch him slip into the bedroom, the click of the door snapping them out of their shock and sending them out of the dungeons as fast as their legs could carry them, laughing hysterically once they finally come to a stop.
XxXx
Sorry for the short update, that took stupid long for me to post…hopefully you guys are still sticking with me on this because I'm seriously trying to avoid abandoning stories that I've posted, I just tend to have zero free time aside from in between classes where there generally isn't enough time for me to get a decent thought out let alone a chapter of any of my stories out.