10. Nott all bad

When the two got to the library, hand in hand, they opened the doors to find the other Slytherin's sitting at their usual table over to itself where they wore festive hats. Harry was surprised that Draco Malfoy got in on all the decorativeness with his hat cocked slightly back on his blond head. Pucey jumped from his chair and ran over to Harry wrenching him from Theo and covering his face with his arm. Harry could barely see Montague through the small gap Pucey's arms left.

"Hey, Potter, leave my Boyfriend alone. You've already got one."

Pucey just laughed and had to take a few minutes before he was ready to give Harry up. Draco pulled out a party horn and put it between his lips before blowing it. Small sparks like fireworks shot out the end. "Congratulations. I'm glad you didn't stand him up this time Potter," Draco stated with a grin.

"I didn't mean to. He knows what happened," Harry glanced over at Theo who was standing stiffly and rubbing his hands up and down his lanky arms.

Draco told them to come to the table and have a seat so they could discuss matters better. Harry found himself in Draco's old chair next to Theo. Draco was at the head of the table, which seemed much more fit for the boy. Harry was glad because he didn't feel like the center of attention anymore.

"Harry," Draco began. "One of the first things Theo told me on the train ride over was, 'I want to ask Harry Potter to be my boyfriend.' And of course, me being the prick that I am said, 'What is wrong with you?'" Everyone at the table laughed even Harry.

Theo was shaking his head and he leaned in over the table and said, "Look who did it. I believe I did?"

Montague snickered and stated, "Well, Draco came up to me and told me all about how our little Theo had a crush on Harry Potter. Pucey and I of course laughed him out of the room, but finally I told Theo when you all had practice. You can guess how mad Angelina Johnson was when I kept picking on her to tell me when."

Pucey stood up from his chair again, but this time it was not to smother Harry. "After Theo had gotten your practice schedule configured I snuck by you with a knife and cut a little hole in your bag." He sat back down.

Harry frowned and just watched Pucey smile in triumph. Harry couldn't stay mad. It wasn't for destructive purposes he supposed. "Well, Theo, looks like you've got some fine friends."

Draco cleared his throat for attention. "Excuse me? Who are we to you, Potter? Some random students you sit with?"

"Fine," Harry said. "We have some fine friends."

They all explained how they knew all along Theo was sending him gifts and notes. His many failed attempts to run into Harry and just ask him out. Draco admitted that he figured they would have been snogging in the hot tub at his Manor, but alas, Theo had been too shy then. When Madam Pince began to shoo them off again Theo took Harry toward the Gryffindor tower and Harry had surprised him by grabbing a hold of his hand.

They did not make it all the way toward the Fat Lady. Theo admitted to being a little timid about everyone in the school finding out. "You are Harry Potter after all. I'm sure they'll curse my buttocks off if anything happens to you."

Harry just shrugged. Honestly, being Harry Potter had become quite boring. He said nothing about the Ron situation. Harry figured he'd ease Theo on his other friends and until they were all comfortable around one another. The two boys hugged quickly and Theo placed a light kiss on top of Harry's head before saying good night. Harry smiled brightly at him and then ran the rest of the way toward his House.

Inside the Common Room he saw many decorations floating about the room. The fire was glowing a lavish pink and a lot of the first years were inside giving out Valentine Cards. Harry was in a good mood and waved at some of them who watched in suspicion of such a happy student. He clambered the stairs taking them two at a time until he was at the sixth year boy's room. He pushed the door open and saw Ron seated on his bed.

Ron glanced up from the letter in his lap. Harry couldn't be sure if it was new or old, because sometimes he caught Ron glancing over his old letters from his dad. Harry jumped onto Ron's bed and the red head stared at him with amusement. "Good mood?"

"Ecstatic Mood."

"Oh? So I trust you made it to your engagement with that Admirer?"

Harry nodded slowly and rolled onto his back beside Ron. "It was better than I hoped. I dunno what I suspected. Some guy I've never even talked to before who just wanted to make me the laughing stock of the school." That had been worse case scenario. It could have been Prof. Ainsley which would have been a close second.

Ron just slammed his palm on Harry's stomach. Harry curled up into a ball and rolled onto his side. "But that didn't happen," Ron observed.

"Not even close."

Ron asked who it was, but Harry said he would break the news to them about it when Neville got back. The two sat there and finally Ron explained the letter on his lap. It was from his dad. It was new and told Ron to have a good Valentine's Day. It mentioned Hermione barely briefly as if making the assumption that Ron and Hermione were still together, but even Ron was not so sure anymore. They'd not been talking since their arrival.

Harry felt a little bad about bringing in his good news after all. They sat there and Harry tried to cheer Ron up, but his friend said he didn't even feel sad about it anymore. "When I go home for Easter it'll just be us guys. Ginny wants to stay with Mum."

It seemed a little rude to ask, but Harry did, "So who was Molly having an affair with?"

Ron let out a long and exaggerated sigh. "I don't really know who it is, but Fred and George told me his name was John Dawlish. He works for the Ministry of Magic… That just makes me madder, because my dad knows him. They aren't in the same department, I believe he's an Auror. Whatever he is, I don't want to meet him or I'll cast his bollocks off."

Harry didn't mean to snicker at this, but it was hard to keep it in. Ron smirked and laughed a little too. They didn't wait much longer before Neville arrived in the room with a thing of flowers and chocolates. Harry had placed his flowers on the bed stand. He wondered if there was a charm to keep them alive forever.

When Neville say them lying on Ron's bed he crossed the room and asked if Harry had had any luck. Harry began to blush and grin. Ron explained that Harry had refused to give him any information until he arrived. Neville quickly took a seat on the other side of Ron's bed. The two boys awaited Harry's revealing.

Harry was growing giddy and asked, "Guess who has a boyfriend?"

Neville began to clap softly, but Ron just sputtered out a scrambled mess of, "B-boyfriend?" it took several attempts to make the word intelligibly leave his lips.

Harry nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, boyfriend. You knew my Admirer was a bloke. Remember?"

Ron pursed his lips and ran his fingers through his hair, "I remember, but I guess I still wasn't ready to hear it."

"Go on Harry," Neville pushed. "Tell us who it is."

Harry interlaced his fingers and took in a long and weighty breath. "Theodore Nott."

Both boys were silent and motionless. Harry felt like he had petrified them with those words. Neither of them shifted in the slightest. The smile on Neville's face slipped away. Ron blinked a few times until he pulled himself together enough to ask, "Nott?"

Harry made his way off of Ron's bed and toward the flowers. "He brought me these flowers and asked me if I would be his boyfriend."

Neville let out a nervous giggle. "Um… Alright. Well, Harry I'm very happy for you."

"What's wrong? Why are you two acting like this?"

Ron collected himself and said, "Nothing's wrong. It's just surprising, is all. I never put much thought into who it could be. I was playing around when I said Malfoy. Are you sure you can trust this guy, Harry?"

Harry placed his fists on his hips and said, "I've gotten to know him. He's great. I told him that I want you all to get to know each other. Next Hogsmeade trip you have to at least try to hang out with him."

Ron promised that he would and Neville assured that he was not against it. Neville thought Harry had found a nice Ravenclaw suitor or even a Hufflepuff. A Slytherin just seemed like a stretch at the time considering all the animosity which had been building up for four or so years. Harry told them both about how he'd become integrated in an all Slytherin study group. He did not mention the reason why though.

"I'm just happy that you're happy." They both ended up concluding.

As the other two dorm mates entered they saw Harry with his flowers and asked how the night went. Harry told him it was amazing, unable to control all emotions. Stunting the truth seemed like an injustice.

Ω

On their first weekend as a couple Theo asked if Harry would hang out with him. Harry was more than content to do so. He told Theo about his plan to get him and his Gryffindor friends to get to know each other. Theo just chuckled and told Harry that would be nice. "You know all my friends. You were hanging out with us more than then for the last few months."

"My friends had been ditching me to snog and have privacy. I was glad to make some new friends that didn't run out on me all the time."

Theo pointed out that Pucey and Montague often wandered off to do just that, but Harry explained that they didn't leave them completely. They usually returned and everyone was given fair warning about their intended actions. Theo just nodded in agreement. They walked down the relatively empty corridors. The night Harry had first held hands with Theo it was not with their fingers interwoven between one another. Now, he could feel all the crevices marking the spaces between the boy's boney fingers. Was there anything not boney about the boy? Harry peeked over at him and noticed the way his back arched as if he were trying to not appear so tall.

Theo's long pointed face gave him the feeling of being regality. The only thing not so regal was his relatively large ears that jutted out from the sides of his head out of his hair. Harry blushed when Theo glanced down on him with his soft bright eyes. His eyebrow rose. That must have been a very Slytherin trait, because Harry knew of only Slytherin's mastering such an art of facial manipulation. He raised his own eyebrow and received a lively snort.

"I don't want you to take me for a sleaze, but I don't honestly know where we can enjoy each other's company in private."

Harry guaranteed him he thought no such thing. He understood it, because he was not so certain of where they could sit down and hold conversation without being bombarded by the passersby.

They walked up and down the same hallway several times before they had the misfortune of seeing Prof. Snape walking up the stairs and into the same corridor. Harry swallowed and Theo asked what was wrong, but instantly his eyes fell on the teacher. Forgetting his hand attached to Harry's he raised both their hands to the Potions Master and said, "Good Afternoon Professor."

The teacher seemed amused when he saw their interlaced fingers. His dark eyes landed on Harry's and all the teacher replied was, "Good Afternoon, Mr. Nott. Please don't spoil my best student, Mr. Potter."

"I wouldn't think of it, Sir. Theo has helped me thoroughly in Potions."

The Potions Master's lips gave a slight twitch, but it wasn't a force strong enough to make him smirk. Harry hoped it was a smirk his features were attempting and not a frown. When the man took off down a branching hall, Harry was relieved, but also glad that one of the people who would be most likely to disapprove of his relationship. Not that Harry was seeking the man's approval.

The couple descended toward the third floor corridor and Theo pondered aloud about the teacher's missing goblet. They came upon the classroom and found its door closed. Harry just pulled Theo along, not wanting to accidently run into the teacher. He still found no fault with him except his presence which emitted peculiarity. Their tour of the castle was finished with the arrival of dinner at last.

"Sorry, if today was rather boring," Theo apologized.

"I really need to teach you not to apologize for everything don't I?" Theo shrugged. "When are we meeting up again?"

"Whenever you so choose."

Harry choose that they run in and grab a plate and then sit outside. Theo told him it was still a little nippy out, especially in the evening, but Harry didn't care. Harry wanted to eat with him. There were too many students in the Great Hall to his liking when they entered together. No one took any particular notice of them. Ron did notice him as he approached only to grab a plate and stuff food onto it before taking off again.

Theo was already outside waiting for him. The two sat beside the lake and huddled closer together for some warmth, but mostly because Harry wanted to see how close he could get without being looked down on. Theo did not say anything or make any gestures that would suggest he was uncomfortable. After finished, Harry found his boyfriends arm wrapped around his back and he was pulled even closer.

"If I ever make you unconformable please let me know."

Harry nodded. "I'm just trying to test the boundaries I guess."

Theo smiled, but didn't look at him. "I care about you Harry and the last thing I want to do is scare you away."

"Have you ever been in a relationship before? Well, with a guy?"

There was a moment that almost seemed like hesitation, but Theo pulled his legs up closer to his chest while they sat. "I am a little embarrassed to admit it, but I dated Draco for about a week in Third Year."

Harry blinked and found himself astounded to find that out. "Really? Just a week though?"

Theo sighed. "I suppose we were a both too dominating." This confused Harry, but he kept it to himself and listened as Theo recounted how they both wanted to be the one to pull out the chair or open the door. "And I know that sounds strange, but we both wanted to be the upstanding gentleman. He finally called it quits when I refused to let him ask me on dates. I thought it was my job." Theo was chuckling at himself over it. "Then I had a crush on Pucey, but goodness knows I couldn't control that mess."

Harry laughed this time as well. He saw firsthand how Pucey acted as a boyfriend. Montague was a strong individual. Though, he could be almost as crazed when it concerned his relationship. "So, when did you decide you liked me?"

"I realized I had this huge crush on you also in third year. I don't know what it was, but I guess I never paid much attention to anyone until I finally had a chance with "The Slytherin Prince" only to find I wasn't that interested. You though, you were more gentle and caring. Last year I didn't bother after that Tri-wizard tournament started, but this year seemed to be relatively normal."

They both went quiet and Harry could feel Theo shifted beside him. His lips brushed Harry's temple and a light kiss was pressed against his hairline.

"And you? Any dates?"

Harry just laughed a little bitterly. "None. I didn't even think much of dating until last year. I thought I like this one girl, but then I realized I just like the thought of her. I thought this other girl was my Admirer, but she was seeing someone else. You came in and gave me my first kiss—" Theo tried to apologize again, but Harry cut him off, "But I am glad you did kiss me, or else I probably wouldn't be so accepting now. It was all I could think about after Halloween."

Theo closed his eyes and his long nose pointed up at the sky. "I'm glad then."

Harry slump against the boy's boney shoulder.