OH LOOK! It's another chapter! :D Sorry that it took so long, but some of the scenes didn't want to be read and RL has been getting in the way of my writing time. :(
Are the chapters becoming boring? I seem to be getting less and less reviews each time I post something. I CAN'T IMPROVE IF YOU DON'T REVIEW AND TELL ME WHAT ISN'T SO GOOD! So please leave a review, even if it's to tell em that you hated it.
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"So Harry," Artie said after they had all stopped hugging., "Broomsticks, fact or fiction?"
Harry laughed at the question.
"Fact. We have sports that we play on them. Quidditch and Quodpot. Though I have never played Quodpot because it's the American version of Quidditch. It's like the difference between football and football. I was on my house Quidditch team at school."
Blaine and Charlie were fascinated by the thought of a sport played in the air on brooms and so Harry spent the next few minutes explaining the game to them. Artie was just confused by the sport, despite the fact that it wasn't as complicated as 'Football' which Harry wasn't able to get his head around.
"Flying monkeys, fact or fiction?" was Artie's next question, interrupting Harry's explanation of some of the finer points of Quidditch. Harry blushed slightly, before forcing it down, realising that he had gotten slightly carried away.
"Fiction, I think." Harry didn't know of any, for they hadn't covered them at school. But he hadn't gotten the best grades in Care of Magical Creatures, so for all he knew they could be an actual creature. If they weren't he wouldn't have put it past Hagrid to create one, like he had done with the Blast-Ended-Skrewts.
"What about vampires?" Blaine asked and Harry smirked, thinking of the conversation that he and Blaine had had about them.
"Fact. I've even met one. Sanguini his name was if I remember correctly. He came to a Christmas party that one of my professors threw. I didn't really talk with him much, though."
Blaine's jaw dropped. "No way! What about werewolves? Don't tell me that those are real too."
Harry laughed at the look on Blaine's face.
"Werewolves are real. One of my professor's was one. Remus Lupin. He was one of my dad's best friends. I was his son's Godfather." Harry said, souring at the thought of what happened to Remus and later little Teddy. He had failed Teddy, he should have been there for him and he wasn't. Teddy and Andromeda had been visiting the Weasleys on the day of the fire, as Molly and Andromeda had become fast friends. They had all died in the fire. They had all died because he was too slow.
"What about Dragons?" Marley asked, placing her hand on his and giving it a slight squeeze. Harry realised that he had suddenly just stopped talking. He gave Marley a grateful smile, thankful that she had distracted him from his downward spiraling thoughts.
"Dragons are real. I've met three in my life." Harry said.
"Okay. You can't just leave it at that Harry!" Charlie exclaimed, "Details, Harry, we need details!"
Harry laughed slightly and scratched the back of his neck. "Well Norberta I watched hatch. The Groundskeeper at Hogwarts had won an egg in a game of poker. It was taken to the Dragon Reserve in Romania a few weeks after it had hatched." Harry purposefully left out the fact that having a dragon egg was illegal and that sneaking Norberta to Romania wasn't exactly legal either.
"The second one was kind of trying to kill me. I had to take a fake egg that had been put with the dragon's other eggs for the first task in this inter-school tournament. The third was one that I rode out of a building that it was trapped in."
His friend's were looking at him in shock. But before anyone could say anything there was suddenly music playing. Blaine jumped up and grabbed his phone from the other side of the room and held it up to his ear.
"Hi Kurt, what's u-" Blaine suddenly pulled the phone away from his ear.
"Yes, I saw it. Calm down, there's no need to deafen me!" Blaine paused, obviously listening to what the person on the other end was saying, before laughing lightly.
"It's amazing, isn't it?"
"No, it's not just special effects. It's real Kurt."
"No. I know...Yes...I can...What?...Oh, that... uh, it's complicated...No Kurt, I can't...I want to, but it's not my secret to tell...no...I love you too...Thank you for understanding...I know. I miss you too... It's not been the same here without you...Glee is good. I'm actually with some of them now...Yeah, we've been giving Harry an education in all things Disney...yes that's him... Yeah, Artie, Marley, Charlie and Harry...okay, putting you on now!"
Blaine took the phone away from his ear, pressed a button and suddenly the person on the other end of the phone was audible to everyone in the room. He placed the phone on the arm of one of the sofas and sat down.
"Hi, Kurt!" Artie called, "Long time no see."
"Artie, hello! Hello everyone else as well! I haven't actually met any of you, but Blaine has told me so much about you that I feel like I sort of already know you. I look forward to actually meeting you guys at some point."
Artie and Kurt talked for a couple of minutes, Harry feeling slightly awkward because he couldn't just start a conversation with any of the others in the room, because Kurt was on what was apparently called speaker-phone.
Suddenly Harry had the urge to sneeze. He tried to muffle the sneeze, but to no avail.
"Bless you." Came the chorus from around the room.
"Who sneezed?" Kurt asked from the other end of the line.
"That would be me." Harry said, speaking to Kurt for the first time.
"Ah! Harry Evans, right?" The boy asked.
"Yeah, that's me." Harry said, glancing at all of his friends who now knew the truth.
"I've heard lots about your amazing cooking skills from Blaine."
"Oh I'm really not that good-" Harry started to say, but was interrupted by all of the others in the room proclaiming otherwise. Harry felt his face go bright red. It was one thing his friends telling him that his food was good, but them telling other people was a different thing entirely! It wasn't like he was a professional or anything.
After a few moments of awkward silence, Kurt started speaking through the phone again.
"So did you guys watch the broadcast?" He asked. Harry swallowed, his mouth going slightly dry at the reminder that the world now knew of magic. They all responded in some form of a positive answer, all talking at once.
"I can't believe that there has been a whole society of people and we didn't notice! I'm kind of worried about those Death Eaters people that the guy mentioned though. How are we supposed to protect ourselves if we don't know what they look like?"
"If you see a funny looking light headed towards you, duck?" Artie suggested, and Harry had to admit that it was a good strategy.
"They can't harm what they can't hit." Harry muttered and he saw Marley nod in agreement.
There was suddenly a loud noise from the other end of the phone line and some shouting, the voice sounding vaguely female in nature.
"Sorry guys, I have to go. Rachel drama. It was nice talking to you all!"
They chorused their farewells and Blaine picked up his phone and hung up. Harry glanced down at his watch and was shocked at the time. How was it already half past eight at night?
Charlie glanced at the clock on the wall as well. She stood up and walked over to the door.
"I'll be right back." She said and left the room, only to return a few minutes later with a huge smile on her face.
"Hey Harry, could you show us some more magic?" Blaine asked, his eyes twinkling with excitement.
"Uhh, sure." Harry said, removing his wand from his holster. Harry was just going to show them some charms when he suddenly had an idea. Harry smirked and Marley laughed.
"Oh this is going to be good!" Marley said with a chuckle, "Harry has his 'I'm up to something' smirk on."
Harry blinked. He had a specific smirk for that? He shook his head slightly, stood up, and walked to the center of the clear space on the floor.
"Master, I don't think you quite realise what you've got here!" Harry exclaimed, inwardly laughing at the looks of utter confusion on his friends' faces. "So why don't you... ruminate, while I... illuminate the possibilities."
Harry transfigured his clothes and charmed his skin blue, making himself vaguely look like the Genie from Aladdin. Harry could see the penny drop as they realised what he was doing. He charmed music to play and started to sing.
Well, Ali Baba had them forty thieves,
Harry conjured forty small thieves, not similar to those that had been in the movie, but at the size of the toy soldiers that Harry had managed to scavenge as a child. He sent them towards his friends, vanishing them just before they reached them.
Scheherazade had a thousand tales.
But master you're in luck, 'cause up your sleeves
Here Harry conjured sparks to fly out from his sleeves.
You've got a brand of magic never fails
You've got some power in your corner now! Harry placed a glamour around him momentarily to make his muscles appear huge before quickly dissipating it and conjuring a mock machine gun.
Some heavy ammunition in your camp!
You got some punch, pizzaz, yahoo and how.
See, all you gotta do is rub that lamp, and I'll say:
Harry transfigured his clothes into a waiter's' outfit, complete with a notebook and a Quick Quotes Quill and danced, performing to his friends.
"Mr. Aladdin, sir, what will your pleasure be?
Let me take your order, jot it down?"
You ain't never had friend like me
Life is your restaurant and I'm your maitre'd
Come on whisper what it is you want;
You ain't never had friend like me!
Yes sir, we pride ourselves on service.
You're the boss, the king, the shah.
Say what you wish; it's yours, true dish.
At this point Harry conjured a plethora of sweets, as he didn't know what baklava was, dropping them on the others and covering them with sweets.
How 'bout a little more baklava?
Harry transfigured long scrolls of parchment, one having the words Column A on and the other Column B, rolling them out when he sang about them. The scrolls themselves seeming to come out from inside his sleeves.
Have some of column A try ALL of column B,
The lists disappeared in a puff of smoke.
I'm in the mood to help you, dude.
You ain't never had friend like me
At this point Harry transfigured his clothing yet again into a posh suit, complete with coattails, and top hat, both in a bright purple. He also created illusions of clones of himself that he made to dance along with him.
Oh my. No no. My my my.
Can your friends do this?
Harry made the clones disappear before he then made himself float.
Can your friends do that?
He conjured a pineapple and charmed it to make it dance.
Can your friends pull this
Out their little hat?
Harry took his top hat off and pulled a live rabbit out of it, handing it to Marley.
Can your friends go poof?
Harry apparated, creating a small puff of smoke just before he disappeared, and appeared just behind his friends.
Well looky here. Harry sang, making all of his friends jump. He walked back around the sofa as he sung the next lines, smirking at his friends.
Can your friends go abracadabra, let her rip,
And then make the sucker disappear?
Harry made the rabbit that Marley had been cuddling disappear and transfigured his clothing back into what he had been wearing at the beginning of the song.
So don't just sit there slack-jawed, buggy-eyed,
I'm here to answer all your mid-day prayers,
You've got me bona fide certified;
You've got a genie for charge d'affaires.
I've got a powerful urge to help you out,
So what you wish, I really wanna know?
You've got a list that's three miles long, no doubt,
Harry conjured a scroll that unwound itself whilst levitating, circling around him, before disappearing into blue sparkles.
Well all you've gotta do is rub like so, and oh -
Mr. Aladdin, sir, have a wish or two or three.
I'm on the job, you big nabob!
Whilst he danced, Harry conjured multiple items each time he said the word friend, charming said items to do things, such as, but not limited to, crazy dances and self-multiplication, all floating in bouncing circles around his friends.
You ain't never had a friend, never had a friend,
You ain't never had a friend, never had a friend,
You ain't never had a friend like me.
Harry grinned to himself. He hadn't used that much magic in a long time, and he had almost forgotten how much fun magic could be if one wasn't solely using it to try and stay alive. Harry banished everything that remained of his performance with a wave of his wand.
You ain't never had a friend like me. HA!
Blaine, Artie, Charlie and Marley burst out in applause.
"Harry that was amazing!" Marley exclaimed. Harry couldn't get the grin off of his face. His friends excitedly babbled on about how awesome magic was for a good few minutes. Harry still couldn't believe that they had been so accepting of the whole thing.
"If you used magic, we'd be sure to win even nationals!" Blaine said. Harry felt his stomach drop. He couldn't use magic in competitions, they would be sure to find him. He couldn't be found. He wouldn't go back.
"I- No. No. I can't." Harry forced himself to breathe, feeling his panic levels rising. He sunk to the floor. "They'll find me. I can't go back. Please-I"
Harry looked down and so missed the looks that Marley, Charlie and Artie all turned and gave Blaine. Was he shaking? Harry tried to stop the shaking, but only succeeded in lessening it.
"I'm sorry Harry, I wasn't thinking." Harry heard Blaine say. He looked up to see guilt in Blaine's eyes. "I would never-"
"It's okay." Harry said, interrupting him. "Sorry, I overreacted."
Before the conversation, which was quickly becoming very awkward could continue, there was a voice yelling from somewhere else in the house.
"Charlie! If you and your friend's want pizza then you're going to have to get it now before the others eat it all!"
Charlie's face lit up. "Guys, I forgot to ask. Do you want to stay? Mum says that you guys can sleep over if you want. We'd have to sleep in here though, we haven't really got the room upstairs for everyone."
The others all pulled their phones out and called whoever they needed to ask for permission. Harry, being emancipated, was his own permission. Phone calls made and permission granted, they all made their way into the kitchen. Pizza was one of Harry's favourites. He had never been able to have any growing up, and so once the war was over, one of the first things he had done was going out to try pizza. It had been heavenly. After some of the others had picked a slice, Harry picked up a large piece of pepperoni pizza and between them the pizza was soon consumed.
Charlie's mother walked in just as the last piece was finished. "I've put out some blankets, pillows and spare duvets in the living room for you guys. Two of you can sleep on the sofa, but the rest of you will have to sleep on the floor I'm afraid."
They all piled back into the living room, stomachs full. There was a little argument over who would get to sleep on the sofas, but in the end it was agreed that Artie would sleep on one and Marley on the other. Conversation flowed easily between them and it was the early hours of the morning before they decided to get some sleep.
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There once was a person called Stu,
Who always forgot to review,
but he had an opinion
so became my ghostly minion
I also stole all his shampoo!