Warnings: Slash, book spoilers, manga spoilers, angst, clichés, brooding, chocolate abuse, reflected-upon child abuse, trauma, crude language, mentioned character death, Ron bashing, Ginny bashing, Dumbles bashing, eventual mild sexual situations, AU for books 5, 6, and 7 of Harry Potter. Slightly filler-ish for the first... half I guess with many thoughts and a bit of information dumping, but it gets better!
Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling and her affiliates. Ouran High School Host Club belongs to Bisco Hatori and her (it is her, right?) affiliates.
Features: Independent!Brooding!Isolationist!Harry, Clingy!Paternal!Sirius, and the host-bu guys being themselves
Chapter 21 (This fic is now old enough to drink!)
Despite his little revelation on the reasons behind his actions, Harry spent the rest of the ski trip brooding and generally avoiding people. He did work more on snowboarding, if only because he knew that he would get over this little fit eventually, and when he did he would regret not properly learning to do something that he found so fun (or that's what he told himself). It was a difficult to avoid the Hosts, and not just because he didn't actually want to. Well, that could be part of it, but in general they were surprisingly good at finding him.
Aside from the fact that he was rooming with Haruhi and therefore couldn't actually avoid her, he was often "kidnapped" by the twins when they wanted him to do something or if they felt he was being too antisocial. So, essentially every time they saw him, unless he was already accompanied by one of the other Hosts. Hani and Mori also were in the habit of finding him and deciding that they were going to further his training with snowboarding since he'd only actually learned the very basics from Mori in their initial lesson. He didn't have a valid excuse to decline, and they always managed to catch him when there were other members of his class within easy viewing distance, so there was no chance of him actually getting away if he wanted to. Even Tamaki actually sought him out once or twice during meals!
So, all in all, Harry managed to succeed in escaping human company for perhaps three hours a day in ten-to-twenty minute chunks, which didn't allow for proper brooding. And, really, he didn't need that much brooding time when he thought of it. Dudley had hit people because he could or after the occasional perceived personal insult (usually regarding his weight). While Malfoy's snide remark was probably meant to be more of a comment on Harry's inability to make friends, he had punched the git because of what was insinuated about Mori, so when he thought of it, perhaps he wasn't that similar to Dudley in his response, which did serve to lighten his mood.
No, what had him down was a combination of several smaller things that wouldn't have bothered anyone else in the least. In fact, most people would be happy with what he was agonizing over!
Harry had loyal friends – people who actually liked him – that stood by him even when he came off as a short tempered brat. Malfoy hadn't done anything to Harry but insult him. Draco hadn't retaliated against the helpless muggles who Harry knew he would normally have loved to torment. And, lastly, Mori had come after him when he ran off and got himself in trouble.
Well... that last one wasn't really something he was brooding over, or at least part of it. The concern that Mori had shown by going after Harry, carrying him back to the snowmobile/sled, and even tending to his wounds made his stomach flutter in a way that wasn't at all unpleasant. On that count, what he was thinking on was the guilt associated with making the older boy worried and what he had said while carrying Harry to the sled. Harry had said that Mori shouldn't and didn't have to save him, and Mori had agreed, but Harry didn't actually know to which part of the statement (that Harry shouldn't have put himself in a situation that necessitated saving, or that Mori hadn't had to do the saving but had anyway), and it made his brain hurt and the flutters die a most painful death. With the flutters went his appetite, and yet Harry couldn't even get away with eating less than normal because, as many people in his life had said, he ate too little to begin with and someone always noticed.
However, the first few points – that he had friends, Malfoy had stuck to insults and didn't do anything other than piss Harry off – were quite important and Harry found himself losing quite a lot of sleep over that segment of his vacation. The next week was so full of Sirius – who, once again, flew Tonks and Remus up for a visit as well as four Weasleys (the twins, Bill, and Charlie) – and Christmas shopping that he had little time to do his brooding except at night, but he quickly became exhausted and simply slept through Christmas Eve, no matter how many flash bangs Fred and George set off in his room (the one time they did wake him up they left with their tails between their legs - literally).
On Christmas, he woke to find all of the "family" in his room, Weasleys, Sirius, and Tonks jumping on the enormous bed and Remus looking on with an amused expression. With a groan, Harry rolled off the bed before Sirius could actually jump on him, and caught him on the ground before grabbing his glasses and managing to get a proper view of everyone.
"Can't you lot wake me up like normal people? You know, knock on the door, shout in my ear, pail of water over the head?" Harry sighed as the twins looped arms under his armpits and started dragging him to the nearest floo. Sirius had finished preparing his house while 1-A was in the mountains, and to celebrate there were six house guests staying over for Christmas. How he'd managed to actually get them all, Harry couldn't deign to even imagine knowing since he'd obviously only started arranging it that same month.
"Now Harry, you know Charlie, Remus and I would have tried," Bill protested, "but we know when we're beaten. Charlie and I just figured we could go with that muggle saying: If you can't beat the snot out of them, might as well... well, I don't actually know the phrase, but you know what I mean, right?"
"If you can't beat 'em, join 'em," Harry replied, not even bothering to fight the twins as they dragged him down the halls of his home clad only in pajama bottoms. There was no point. "You must be spending too much time in stuffy tombs or under the sun."
The argument went on playfully as Harry woke up – when they arrived at Sirius home, which was twice as exorbitant as Harry's if not more, he was presented with a mug of coffee, which helped some – and the Gryffindor Golden Boy found himself enjoying the presence of the people who actually cared for him. The Weasleys were a good family, Ron and Ginny had just been misguided by their faith in Dumbledore. Harry knew this was the truth, but he doubted if he would ever forgive them regardless.
"Bet you five galleons that our lovebirds over there are together by New Years," Charlie muttered behind Harry as they watched Tonks opening the gift from Remus – a moon pendant. She latched onto his neck and gave him a sound kiss on the lips.
"No bet," Harry replied easily and noted that Remus did not push the woman away. "I've already got one with Sirius that says they'll be shacking up by Boxing Day. I'm fairly certain that he's winning that bet, mind you." Harry took another deep gulp of his coffee and almost choked as his phone started singing about cake. He hadn't been sure that it would even work at Sirius' place since the warding was heavier and general magic content higher, but apparently that had been accounted for by whatever warding team the animagus had hired.
"Harry-chan! Happy Christmas!" Hani squealed before Harry had even managed to get the phone to his ear.
"Happy Christmas to you, too, Hani-senpai," Harry responded, smiling warmly as he did so. It was Christmas after all; he could brood at some point before the holiday was over, surely, so it was no hurry. "How has your week been?"
"Great! Everyone's together, and Takashi and I are taking care of our cousins. Hitomi-nee-chan had a baby in October and he's really cute!" Hani chirped happily. When concentrating, Harry could hear the babble of children on the other end of the phone. "His name is Kanaye-chan. I'll send you a picture of him!"
"Alright Hani-senpai!" Well, it was a given that Hani, being from an extensive family and being as childish as he was, would like children a lot, so it was no surprise that he was would so happy about being an uncle. He had brought in pictures in October after the baby was born, but he hadn't actually been named yet, so Hani had been anxious as soon as his sister said he could "find out when he met the baby." "I'm glad you're having a good Christmas. You can send me a picture when we're off the phone, okay?"
"Right, Harry-chan," Harry had the feeling that Hani was nodding emphatically or something. "How have you been? You weren't very happy when we left the mountains even though everyone tried to cheer you up. Did we do something wrong, or –"
"Nothing of the sort, Senpai," Harry placated the older boy, which would likely have been easier if he could do so visually, but it was good enough. "My mood had nothing to do with all of you, and I really do appreciate the effort you put into cheering me up. I just had some things to think about after that encounter with Malfoy." He still did, but Harry wasn't going to mention that. "My holiday is going well. Sirius invited Remus, Tonks, Fred, and George over to his home for the day, and he even got Fred and George's older brothers, Bill and Charlie, to come up too. Charlie works with dragons in Romania and Bill works on warding in Egypt. It's pretty cool to hear about."
"Dragons?" Of course that would have caught Hani's attention. When Harry had mentioned them – after Hani had asked him where the scars on his arms really came from – the small boy was suddenly more interested in dragons than even magical sweets, arithmancy, and dueling.
"Yup, I'm sure that you can ask Charlie all about them sometime," Harry had to fight down a laugh. Maybe getting a full twenty-four hours of sleep had perked him up? And it was Christmas after all. Ever since he'd started Hogwarts, Yule had been a happy time despite the little things tended to happen (finding the Mirror of Erised, polyjuicing in Crabbe and Goyle, McGonagall confiscating his Firebolt, and the Yule Ball not being exactly the best of moments), so he supposed it was enough to put him in a more positive mood.
"How long are they going to be visiting? Maybe Hika-chan and Kao-chan will invite them to the New Year's party!" Hani sounded quite bubbly at the thought, though Harry was feeling rather... confused.
"New Year's party? Are they having one?" He hadn't heard of it. A small stab of... something hit him. Well he'd never been invited to a party before anyway, since all the ones he'd actually been to were open-parties where invitations were superfluous and the surprise party Sirius had thrown him that year. Really, he ought to be used to such things. And yet he felt a bit sad that he hadn't been invited to this party.
"You don't...? Hika-chan was supposed to invite you," Hani's pout was audible. "He must have been distracted because he confessed to Haru-chan. I can call Kao-chan for you so he can invite you properly!"
"Alright, Hani-senpai," Harry didn't want to impose, but it really would be more of an imposition to say no to Hani. It was one of the unwritten rules of the universe after all. "You mentioned that Mori-senpai is with you? Tell him I said hi, okay? I have to get back to the celebrations over here, and I'm sure your little cousins are clamoring for your attention."
"Uh-huh. You're on speaker phone, actually. Say bye to Harry-chan!"
A loud chorus of "Good bye, Harry-chan!" in varying levels of comprehensibility made their way into Harry's ear-drum, causing him to pull back from the phone a bit and switch ears just in time to hear a polite "Happy Christmas, Harry" in what was unmistakably Mori's voice before the phone clicked to signal the other end was off. He could help but chuckle.
"Good call then? Was that one of your muggles?" Charlie asked curiously. While Fred and George had apparently already been well-versed in the usage of telephones before Sirius ever contacted them to have them come up for a visit, Charlie and Bill had both been astonished when Sirius had Harry explain how they worked (the older man claimed he couldn't do the wonders of muggle technology their due justice).
"Yes, though I'd prefer it if you didn't call them 'my muggles.' That was one of the seniors, Haninozuka Mitsukuni," Harry explained easily. He'd gone from being anti-social so many months ago to feeling more comfortable in social interactions than he could ever remember being at Hogwarts. So strange. "He and Mori-senpai – he's the other senior, Morinozuka Takashi – are taking care of their cousins and such apparently, and wanted to wish me a happy Christmas."
"Too bad they're graduating in a few months," Sirius mused from the ground where Fred and George had hogtied him with magically-enhanced silly string. He had spent the past three minutes trying to escape, but to no avail, though Remus was taking pity on him and cutting the bonds finally. "Takashi seems like a good guy, and Mitsukuni is just about the most adorable kid to ever walk the earth. But I'm sure you won't get out of touch with them."
Sirius didn't see the point in using suffixes for friends or people he generally liked, and he'd always been the sort to call anyone who he didn't dislike by their first name or – in the case of good friends – a nickname. Harry had often wondered if, since the only people who ever called Mori and Hani by their given names were family, that it was actual a privilege or just something that had developed from their being in the Host Club to give them shorter names to pronounce and bring up Hani's "cute" factor by having a diminutive name.
Tonks nodded her assent to Sirius' evaluation. "As if Harry would let such good friends get away!"
It went unsaid that Harry hadn't contacted anyone who he considered even friendly without Sirius having forced him to confront them since he woke up from the coma. He hadn't sent so much as an owl to anyone who didn't already know how to contact him, even Remus and Tonks when they had been the ones who were around after he initially moved in with Sirius at the house in Ireland.
It simply wasn't something that was discussed.
However, Harry felt that she was right and only nodded when she did cast an "I said something stupid, didn't I?" glance in his direction that spoke his agreement to both the statement and her reaction. Really, he'd actually had friends for... what, two months? And he couldn't imagine getting out of touch with Hani and Mori most of all the Hosts, a sentiment that he felt would only have increased by the time the seniors graduated.
He was pulled from his thoughts as something came whizzing for his head, and Harry reached out to grab it without a second thought, a mere instant before Charlie – whose reactions were similar being a seeker and dragon keeper – and stared slightly flustered at the parchment wrapped package in his hands. Bill, the thrower of said object, was grinning ear to ear, and with good reason. Harry had figured that he wouldn't get a Weasley sweater this year since Mrs. Weasley wouldn't know how to reach him and since it had been a year since their last correspondence – Harry sent her a letter thanking her for the previous year's sweater and asked if she could keep Ron from sending him hexed hats in the future – so it was a surprise to find what was obviously a Weasley sweater in his lap.
It was the same shade of green as usual, and as he pulled it on he found it was far too large, as always. In fact, it was probably larger on him that any previous now that he got a good look at it. While he appreciated that it covered his chest – he was getting a bit chilled – it was a bit much that it seemed at least five inches too long, several too broad of shoulder, and he had to roll up the sleeves to see his hands.
"I'm drowning," he deadpanned with a small smile. It was likely that Mrs. Weasley was still using Ron for her reference to her sizing for him, then. At least he'd had hope with most of the previous sweaters (the third year sweater was even too small for him now!), but he had a feeling he would never get to be as tall as this sweater painted him to be. Maybe he could use it as a sweater to keep warm just at home though.
"That's what we told her," Fred snorted with a grin. "But as soon –"
"As we told her that you –"
"Had grown a couple inches, she was –"
"Sure that you would be as tall –"
"As Ron by Christmas. Looks like –"
"You haven't grown an inch, though," George finished with a snicker.
"Three sixteenths of an inch since July," Harry affirmed. "That makes nearly five inches since we moved to Japan, and nearly a foot since I entered the wizarding world. Not exactly impressive, but I'm about average for a woman now, so it could be worse." He shrugged with the statement. It was better than being the shortest wizard he knew (outside of several partial-humans such as Professor Flitwick, that is).
They all had a good laugh at Harry's glib comparison and went on with the festivities, all talk of overlarge sweaters and friendships dissolving forgotten in the bustle of opening various gifts and glomps. (Remus, still denying his undying love for Tonks – Sirius' words – took it upon himself to give everyone a kiss on the cheek for their gifts so that he could give one to Tonks as well without seeming suspect.) All went well, fun was had as well as snowball fights, and Harry completely forgot the conversation with Hani by the time Sirius was sending everyone off to their guest rooms. Harry tried to protest when Sirius shoved him in "his" room, since he didn't actually use it, but Sirius claimed that it was decorated for his use and so it would be used at least once or so help him Merlin, Harry would wake to dog slobber until he was fifty.
Needless to say, that stopped Harry's reticence. He'd found that he enjoyed Sirius' company a lot more when they weren't living together, and so was loath to do anything that might change that arrangement. The idea of Sirius invading his room every morning was disturbing enough.
Not that his room wasn't invaded the next morning, it just wasn't the person he expected. Tonks was sitting on his stomach cross-legged and looking at him with violet eyes, her hair – which had been red and green stripped the day before – back to its usual make-everyone's-eyes-bleed shade of pink and properly spiked. Harry felt his lungs were mostly deflated and quickly shoved her off, glancing out the wall – the entire North wall of "his" room was a window – and sighed. He was okay in big rooms, but windows just made him feel more secure.
"Mind telling me why you were sitting on me?" Harry asked, rolling his eyes slightly as he sat up, most of his covers tangled about his feet. Tonks stole the pillow he'd been using (there were, however, three more, so he didn't mind) and sat on it in his stead.
"You, Mr I-can't-talk-to-anyone-or-even-tell-my-godfather-that-I'm-moving-out," she started, causing Harry to grimace slightly, "have a crush. A crush that said godfather and I suspect has been going on for months and you have done nothing about. That doesn't seem too healthy to me, but what do I know?" She sent him an impish grin, but Harry kept his deadpan expression. Really, he knew he was dense sometimes and that Sirius had recognized his crush before he had, but did she have to rub it in? Harry was too dangerous to be around in the first place!
"That's all well and good, Tonks," Harry sighed, picking at a stitch in his comforter, "but I don't see the point of your statement." And he really didn't. Was she trying to convince him to divulge who said crush was on? Or did she think that he hadn't recognized his feelings for a certain-someone and was trying to open his eyes for him? Worse, she might actually be about to try convincing him to tell Mori about his feelings.
Sadly (or not, depending on one's perspective), he was right.
"I've had a crush on Remus since I was four years old and I told him so immediately," Tonks held a small smirk on her face. "The first time he rejected me, I was a heartbroken preschooler, but I went on with my life and fell in love all over again. It just so happened that I fell in love with the person who broke my heart to begin with." Funny, Tonks had never struck Harry as one to explain things through anecdotes.
"You knew Remus when you were four?" Harry tried to change the subject, but his thinly veiled attempt was just that.
"Of course I did! He was Sirius' best friend outside of your old man, and my mum was Sirius' favorite cousin. Mind, I'm only six years older than you, so Remus was just a year or so out of Hogwarts, and he looked a lot less sick back then," if nothing else, Harry had to admire her for her dedication. "Don't change the subject. Bottling up your feelings isn't a good thing, Harry. I'm borderline socially acceptable and living a pretty good life, and I'm open about just about everything, and Snape was the most closed off person ever. Do you want to be Snape when you grow up?"
The mental image sent Harry's nose crinkling before he could even think about sending a cutesy response that would rile her up. "Ew, no," Harry grimaced. "You've seen his hair. Plus, I don't like the idea of being blown up."
"Exactly," Tonks nodded at her own pseudo-wisdom. "So, people who keep their feelings inside explode and those who don't are cool. Like me." She grinned and – in a squint – took on a look that made her look like a movie star before she shifted back, shaking the full blonde hair that she had been sporting for all of three seconds back to her pink pixy cut. "What have you learned today?"
"Not to give you sugar in the morning."
And with that, Harry slid out of bed and started looking for glasses. He was sure he'd put them on the nightstand, but he couldn't seem to find that. With a sigh, he reached his hand up the baggy sleeve of his sweater for his wand and stopped abruptly. The holster was empty. He had put his wand on the nightstand too, and it wasn't there.
"Looking for something?" Harry half expected to see Tonks holding the stick of holly in her hand and cackling maniacally, but apparently she knew better than to keep his wand where he could see it. He glared a glare reminiscent of the Potions Master who had been the topic of their discussion less than a minute before, but Tonks didn't quail. "Your glasses are on the other nightstand, by the way."
Harry quickly collected his glasses and glared properly, though he didn't expect his improved vision to help in his effort. It didn't.
"And my wand?" He demanded. His wand, eleven inches, holly, with the feather from Fawkes and brother wand to Voldemort's own, his wand that he had used for over five years was not in his grasp and if she did anything to it -! The wide grin on her face said it all. "Tonks, what did you do with my wand?" The words were hissed, and for a moment he though he might have been speaking parseltongue, but since the words seemed to have been understood, he knew it wasn't the case.
"I'm holding it as ransom," those words made Harry feel like he was going to explode. Ransom. His wand being held for ransom! "Indefinitely. You aren't getting it back until you fess up to lover-boy. Sirius told me who he thinks it is and I have my own ideas. But if you don't tell him, whoever he is, I am going to tell who I think it is that you like, and if I'm wrong..."
Harry had figured the only reason he ever had to faint would be because he was in a small enclosed space, but this was, apparently, not the case.
Lucky for him that there was a bed there.
"... It's just a regular New Year's Party," Kaoru droned over the phone, bored by whatever else he was doing. "Semi-formal attire, food, we've invited just about the entire school and not just girls so you won't be the only non-Host guy, though it is a Club function. There's going to be dancing, fireworks, the usual things. But it's a no-adults party. Mom is hosting a function for the parents of the people who are coming in the first ballrooms, so your friends can all go there. I already talked to Mom about it, and she said that she would love to meet 'the infamous Sirius Black'."
It was still Boxing Day. Harry had been woken up by his phone ringing as Kaoru called to "formally" invite him to the Hitachiin New Year's Party that Hikaru had apparently forgotten to tell him about. Harry was caught by a problem a bit earlier in Kaoru's little informational dump, though.
"Kaoru-kun, I can't dance," Harry grimaced from his end of the phone, fending off the Puking Pastille that George was trying to stuff in his mouth as he spoke. When he heard Kaoru start protesting, Harry clarified. "I mean it. I can't dance. Hogwarts had a Yule Ball once, two years ago, and since I was part of the Tournament that we were hosting, I had to be part of the opening dance. That one dance was the only one I ever did. I spent all of five minutes waltzing with a girl in my year while she led me and I still stepped on her toes."
It couldn't be helped that Kaoru burst out laughing. "Really? But... shouldn't they have made sure that you knew how to dance if they wanted to make a good impression on everyone? You don't put a kid in a t-shirt and jeans on the runway with models wearing the latest fashions anymore than someone smart putting a complete newbie in the dance floor. I'm guessing everyone else knew how to dance properly?"
"Even Fred and George, but all the witches and wizards I know who can dance don't know how to teach someone to dance. Trust me, attempts were made," Harry affirmed and slapped at George's hand just before the little orange candy would have entered his mouth. "It was pretty embarrassing, I guess, but I only danced that one dance and spent the rest of the evening talking with some mates. The... attempts weren't as public." Well, Ron, and Hermione for about a minute, and a few Gryffindors saw his embarrassment, but that was it. Sirius' attempt was not to be mentioned. Ever. "So I'm going to skip on the dancing bit."
That was not the right answer, and Harry found himself being told that Kaoru would arrange for a dance instructor for him ("It has to be someone in the club... but Haruhi and Hani are the only ones shorter than you, and she doesn't know how to be the submissive plus she's still only knows a basic waltz, and Hani is way too energetic to not lead... the only one who's used to being led by someone smaller is... I'll get back to you in half an hour Harry-kun!") before he flipped his phone shut and tackled George to the ground, took the orange candy, and shoved it up the older boy's nose.
Just because his wand was a hostage did not mean that he was defenseless! He was still quick as hell.
Half an hour later found Harry sitting in the second greenhouse of his manor tending to the Laughing Lilies that seemed to be in a spat with the Tussling Tulips. It was very strange even to him to play peacemaker between flowers, but it was easier than dealing with Fred and George. Not that he didn't love them with all his heart, because they were good guys usually, but sometimes – like when they were bored – they were just too much. His phone rang and he set down the treaty that he was setting up for his flower beds to move to where the maniacal laughter of the Lilies couldn't be heard.
"Hello?" He asked the phone, expected Kaoru or even Hikaru (not that he could tell the difference over the phone) to answer but it was, surprisingly, or perhaps not since the universe just loved to stick his nose in it, Mori instead.
"Where do you live?" Mori's voice ground out through the phone line. Harry sat blinking for a moment before regaining his bearings. It was a rather random question from his point of view, but he figured that either Mori would elucidate after the semi-secret location of Harry's home was divulged (only semi-secret because it could be found by someone who knew him fairly well if they looked in the phone book) or else Harry would find out on his own eventually if at all. So he gave the address first and then asked why. "I'm your dance instructor." (1)
"Oh," Harry wasn't sure if it was a happy "oh" or a confused "oh" since it was kind of flat, but he smiled afterward, or forced himself to. Either Fate or Kaoru was conspiring with Tonks, and he honestly had no idea which was more likely. "Alright, well, can you bring Hani-senpai as well when you come? I'm sure he'd love the opportunity to talk to Charlie about dragons. Anytime you can make it is fine with me."
An hour later Harry was finishing up the peace treaty between the two opposing flowerbeds which was signed with the nectar of the original sprout of each tribe and nodded succinctly to each grouping before he stood up and stretched. He turned about, ready to get into some clothes that were not covered in pollen and dirt, only to find himself face to face with two very curious Hosts.
"Erm... afternoon," he hadn't expected them to come today, or that they would come without calling him to at least inform him that they were going to be there, but he shook it off and smiled at them both. Okay, so it had only been about a week since they had last seen each other, but it was nice to see them all the same. "Sorry you had to come all the way out to the greenhouses for me. I was dealing with a peace treaty between the Laughing Lilies and Tussling Tulips. Apparently the Lilies have been switching onto low chuckles with the season, but since it's supposed to be summer in this greenhouse, it's aggravating the Tulips, who decided that they didn't have a big enough flowerbed..."
He trailed off. He was talking about flowers for pity's sake! Of course they were looking at him strangely; muggles didn't have sentient plant-life (so far as they knew anyway). His mouth snapped shut and he struggled to keep down a blush. He'd been babbling about the opinions of flowers.
"How did you find me anyway? Are the twins still here?" Harry asked curiously as the thought struck him. Hani immediately returned to hyperactive child mode and grinned at him.
"No, it was their brother, Charu-chan! (2) He showed us here and told me about the Horntail that you fought! He said it was really big!" Hani was like a kid in a candy store talking about the giant reptiles that had teeth that weren't much smaller than he was. "But he wouldn't come in with us. He said it was our own funeral or something like that."
Harry grimaced. "It's hardly my fault that he wasn't paying attention when I told him not to get between the Venomous Tentacular and the Day-Glo Daisies," he protested weakly. "And I got him the antidote in time, so it wasn't that bad..." he stopped again and realized they had no idea what he was talking about. Spending a week with people who knew so much more about magic than he did had spoiled him, really. "Right... anyway, welcome to the second greenhouse, where I keep some of the more temperamental plants. Greenhouse one is mostly benevolent plants and some magical shrubs, and green house three is a place even I don't enter. The green houses are licensed for growing materials for the potions Potter-Evans creates, and have a Herbologist in every week to make sure that everything is going alright... let's leave then, shall we?"
He coughed lightly in his hand and snapped his fingers. A small "pop" sounded, just a bit quieter than when Harry apparated, and a creature roughly two feet in height with large, floppy ears, bright blue eyes, and a squashed-tomato shaped nose appeared at his side.
"Yes Master Harry Potter, sir?" Tipsy asked as she looked between her master and said master's friends. "Is you wanting Tipsy to get you something?"
"If you wouldn't mind terribly much," Harry scratched the back of his head nervously. He felt awkward about ordering the elves to do anything in the first place, but even more so with Hani and Mori right there. Still, he wasn't going to lie to them. "Would you please make sure that no one intrudes on the living room in the first floor and clear out a fairly large space in that same room? Also, could you get Charlie to meet us in the first greenhouse? If Charlie and Hani," he indicated the person in question, "want any refreshments it would be great if you could send Rory over with them. I can call for any more assistance."
"Of course Master Harry Potter, sir! You is always being too nice to a house elf!"
"Thank you, Tipsy," with the thanks in the open, Tipsy popped away to do as her master tasked her and Harry cast a wary eye to his compatriots. "That was Tipsy, she's a house-elf. Basically, they are small creatures who live to clean, cook, and generally serve people. It's in their nature. But... there's no way to describe their existence but as 'slavery.' Tipsy, Rory, and Dinky are the house elves bound to the Head, Heir, and other offspring of the Potter family." He inhaled and Harry cast his gaze down at his feet. "Don't get me wrong, if I could free them and have it be a positive influence on their lives, I would, but a house-elf can only be freed if given clothes, and most go mad within a week of their freedom. They depend on the magic of a wizarding home and the bond of a wizard's magic to anchor them; elves that die from freedom become malevolent and semi-malevolent spirits like ghouls and poltergeists. I..."
This was the moment of truth, he supposed. Would they accept this part of wizarding life or be horrified and walk off? If they had let him know they were coming then instead of later, he could have waited for that particular revelation, but Fate did have it out for him. That had apparently been established before he was even born, and Harry had no choice but to accept it. Still...
He looked up through his fringe and flinched. They were horrified, it was obvious. Hani had this wide-eyed look that spoke of his disgust, and Mori had a firm set to his jaw that was surely not a good sign. Sagging, Harry took a step back from his friends and turned his attention back to the Lilies, which were snickering at his plight while the Tulips cheered on his emotional struggle, a few of the ones who were bored with him starting a wrestling match in the back corner to entertain their fellows. They were easier to look at than his friends-who-were-probably-no-longer-his. At least all the flowers could do was mock him.
Suddenly, Harry felt himself unbalancing as he was tackled from the side and he cart-wheeled his arms futilely, hoping to not fall over the Tulips or Lilies, though he knew the effort was futile as the Lilies began guffawing. It was a lucky break that Mori grabbed his wrist and torso and pulled his up before he landed though. Harry quickly collapsed and found that Hani had not, in fact, tackled him, but glomped him as he felt small arms were wrapped around his waist while Hani seemed to think he needed comforting. It was mind boggling.
"Poor Harry-chan! You want to help them but you c-can't!" Hani wailed into Harry's shirt. Harry could do little more than blink at the boy and wait until he stopped crying, though he did rub slow circles on the boy's back as he figured out what to do. Admittedly, Harry did want to help house-elves – after Hermione's death he'd read everything he could on house-elves and started up an international SPEW for elf rights – but he was surprised that Hani, and likely Mori, had seen it that way. Most muggles would be tearing him apart for having slaves, and yet Hani was crying for him. Again, mind boggling.
When Hani crawled off his lap, the Lilies could be heard giggling. Harry stood from the ground, dusting the loam off the back of his pants and pulling Hani to his feet. Mori had already picked up Usa-chan and handed her to the no-longer-distraught boy before Harry started leading them out of the second greenhouse and into the first where Charlie was leaning against an orange tree with one of said fruit in hand.
"Charlie, I hear you've already met Hani-senpai and Mori-senpai?" Harry asked as they approached, Harry making sure to keep them away from the mandrake enclosure. They were the only dangerous plants in this greenhouse, and tripping over one would knock them all out since the plants were still infants.
"Yup," Charlie peeled off some of the orange peel with a knife that he kept in his boot. "You're coming with me then, Mitsukuni? I have an album of some of the dragons I work with over at Sirius' place if you want me to grab that." Hani, of course, was ecstatic and went bouncing along beside Charlie as he talked about a certain Norwegian Ridgeback by the name of Norbert.
Harry sighed and turned to Mori. He could confess now, get it over with, not get dancing lessons, and get his wand back. He'd already had one brush with losing Mori that day, what was another? He didn't even know what the older boy actually felt regarding Tipsy; in fact, for all he knew Mori merely hadn't said anything because Hani hadn't!
"Would you like a tour of the house first, or should I just take you to where Tipsy is setting up a room for us before I go and change?" Harry asked. He decided that it was probably a bad idea to make Mori go running out (not that Mori would since he was Mori, but he would want to leave, no doubt) since he'd already sent Hani off with Charlie. He could figure out how to get his wand back without embarrassing himself, right?
Mori just gave a noncommittal shrug and Harry sighed, knowing he wouldn't get a more definitive answer than that and instead proceeded to lead the taller boy through the green house, pointing out interesting plants as they went on or telling Mori to be careful with where he placed his feet in certain areas because of a mischievous Tripping Vine and the like. The green houses were quite extensive, especially with the charms set up to enlarge certain portions for plants that were going to grow a lot, so it took a good five minutes to get even halfway across.
Suddenly, as Harry was passing the Rainbow Rosebushes, he realized that Mori was no longer following in his wake and turned about. Mori was standing ten steps back from Harry and staring at a point a bit to the left and behind Harry. To most people, the look he bore – a slightly-tighter jaw than normal, eyes marginally wider, and shoulders stiff – wouldn't even be notable, but Harry had spent quite a while just watching Mori and had learned a bit about his body language. Whatever he was seeing he didn't like.
Harry turned again to try and see whatever it was that Mori was looking at, but he couldn't really pinpoint anything. The Roses took up both sides of the path for a while, and beyond that was the ponds where the lily pads and cat tails grew, but nothing that would really draw any such look from the Wild type. It was a conundrum.
"What's up, Senpai?" Harry asked curiously. Really, he didn't see what was bothering Mori.
Mori kept his eyes trained on the spot where Harry simply couldn't see anything wrong and it took a moment before he responded with, "Bee."
For, indeed, there was a bee sitting in the rosebushes, buzzing about and collected nectar while spreading pollen. There were a couple of honey bee hives in each greenhouse to help with pollination and provide fresh honey, and they had a calming draught mixed in with their water supply so that they wouldn't try to sting Harry or the elves when they entered. Nothing to worry about, really.
"Oh... you're afraid of bees?" Harry found the idea slightly humorous, but didn't laugh. Firstly, that would be rude, and second, fears such as that were serious things. Harry was afraid of enclosed spaces and would faint. He'd had traumatic experiences with them; who was to say that Mori hadn't had a distressing experience with bees? "I'll lead us around then." So he did, though it tacked on another couple of minutes to their journey as they went around the Roses and through the poppies instead, which were on the far end from the hives. (3)
When they were free of the stifling greenhouses and back into Harry's moderately-heated home, he opted to go for the tour option since he figured that at the very least he ought to show Mori where to find the bathroom. Twenty minutes later, since Harry had only shown him around the first two floors (no need to show him the more private third floor, or Harry's room), Harry led Mori into the living room where he had asked Tipsy to clear a space for them and went off to change into something not covered in dirt and bits of plant life.
Upon his return, Harry found Mori was sitting easily on one of the couches that hadn't been removed and eating a biscuit from a tray that was doubtlessly put in front of him by an overenthusiastic Tipsy or Dinky. Rory was the odd duck of the three, in that he was less inclined to service than most elves. Harry suspected that he was probably the only one that would go insane if he decided to free them, and he was slowly probing that avenue to see if it would be possible. Rory wasn't exactly a Dobby, but he seemed the sort of elf that could do well for himself out of the house, and he could easily become a banner to show what an independent house-elf could do.
Mori stood from the couch and finished his biscuit, and the lesson began. Harry immediately decided that dancing was an awkward affair, even it was just a waltz. First of all, with his hand on Mori's waist and Mori's hand on his shoulder, it felt oddly intimate. Secondly, since he was shorter than Mori and leading, it probably wasn't how he would actually dance if he did at all. Third, being told what to do and being the one to lead was a very strange thing to begin with. He glared at his rebellious feet and concentrated on where to put them.
Suddenly, Mori's hand was off his shoulder and tilting his chin up. "Don't look at your feet, only the eyes," Mori intoned as he moved his hand back to Harry's shoulder, and nodded for them to continue at the next measure.
"Yes, Takashi-sensei," Harry replied sarcastically. He'd found the answer to be slightly humorous when he thought it up. So he never called Mori "Takashi", but "Mori-sensei" sounded too... cutesy for it, and "Morinozuka-sensei" too formal for something between friends, so he'd said Takashi.
Mori's dumbfounded expression kept them from dancing for several measures. Harry had expected an eye roll perhaps, or a throaty chuckle, or even for his comment to be ignored entirely. Instead, Mori had a small dose of surprise and even confusion on his face. Like he'd been hit over the head or something. It took twenty-seven beats (by Harry's count) for Mori to snap out of it, and the smile that graced his features was the sort that Harry had seen only once before on the older boy's face, and even then he barely remembered the incident.
Back in July, after the twins had gone back to Britain, Harry had walked into the club room later than usual in that it was already club hours. And he'd seen Mori being... charming. That was the sort of smile that Harry saw on his dance partner's face after twenty-seven beats of silence (excepting the music), and it made his heart beat wildly, each thump audible. He felt his cheeks heat up, but at least he hadn't reinvented the shade of red from two weeks ago. He half wondered if Mori was feeling sleepy and was going to ask, but a loud pop behind him made Harry try to turn around.
That didn't really work since he was still firmly grasped by Mori, and he ended up tripping. For once, Mori didn't catch him, either. Instead, Mori fell with him, and Harry found the landing to be far from comfortable, and not just in the "well this is awkward" way, but in a physically painful way as well.
In that his head had smacked against the marble floor and sent stars across his vision, and with Mori landing on top of him, all his breath was expelled and he had to cough roughly to get it back. Harry felt his blush brighten as he found Mori's face was hovering maybe an inch above his own, which added to the awkwardness of the situation. And Mori's breath smelled like chocolate chip biscuits. Really, did the world have to throw so much at him in one day?
It seemed to take forever for Mori to get up off of him, and in that time Harry decided that, while having the larger boy on top of him wasn't unpleasant in and of itself, having said boy fall on him most certainly was. He grimaced and stood to look at Tipsy who had popped into the room and caused the incident in the first place.
"Master Harry Potter, sir's Honey is saying that he is needing Master's Takashi back," Tipsy told him in her squeaky voice. "Tipsy is being asked by Master's Honey and Master's Cherry that she is coming to tell Master Harry Potter, sir that Master's Takashi and Master's Honey is needing to go home now. Master's Honey is telling Tipsy to tell Master's Takashi that Master's Takashi's brother is calling him and that Master's Honey's brother is saying that they is having to take care of their cousins." (4)
It was amazing what an elf could say in one breath.
"Thank you Tipsy," Harry nodded with a small sigh. "Could you please ask Charlie to lead Hani-senpai to the Entrance Hall? We can meet them there." Tipsy nodded frantically and popped away again while Harry got up his courage and faced Mori, who still had a small smile on his face though (thankfully) it was wasn't the heart-stopping, charming smile again. In the space of one minute Harry had blushed more than his daily allotted amount, and he was not keen to try his hand at inventing a new shade of red again. "Let's go, Senpai."
Harry saw the pair off, journeying out to the waiting car with them and waving as the car moved down the drive, which reminded him that he needed to see about getting a car and chauffeur at some point, preferably soon. Forcing himself to think about something other than the dancing lessons – Mori had promised to come again tomorrow – Harry wandered back up to the house wondering how he was going to survive without his wand and just how embarrassing it would be for him if Tonks really did confess in his stead to whoever it was that she thought he liked. Both thoughts were unbearable.
Tomorrow, he promised himself. It had only been a few hours since Tonks had taken it, and he knew he couldn't stand it for another day. I'll do it tomorrow.
Meanwhile, in the Haninozuka car that had picked the seniors up, Hani looked up at his cousin with a secret smile. "You look happy, Takashi. Did something good happen?" The mischievous glimpse went unnoticed by the older boy who stared out the car window.
"He called me Takashi..."
Author's Note: Okay... so I finally figured out how to get Harry and Mori together without something drastic (such as waiting for the climax of the story) happening. It hit me yesterday morning for no apparent reason. Really, I woke up around three am and after a series of events that had no bearing on anything to do with this story at all, I suddenly was like "I know how to get Mori and Harry together! Finally!" And I spent the next... however many hours (I never got back to sleep) plotting. It made paying attention to my English lecture difficult because I had scenes of Mori/Harry cuteness running through my head... and I only got about four hours of sleep. Aren't I wonderful?
On Ron and Ginny: Harry does and does not blame them. He's had a year to think about it, and while he doesn't want their friendship anymore he feels he could stand to be in the same country as them one day. He can't really blame them for trusting someone they were told to trust, right? He does, however, blame them for the fact that they weren't going to think twice about using him and doing illegal activities just because it was "okayed" by the Headmaster.
School sucks. End of story. On the other hand, over 20k reads equals YAY! (Edit: A year later I look at that number and laugh...)
This chapter was either going to be two short chapters (well, short for this story. The average is about 6k per, and the segments would have been less than 5k) or this big one, and I picked the big one. You could consider this as two updates though, since it's so ridiculously long! :D Over 9k words? And I basically wrote it yesterday afternoon/evening and this morning!
(1) In episode/chapter 2 (I think; too lazy to verify), Mori was dancing with Hani during Haruhi's waltzing lesson, but Hani was leading, so he's the only Host who is good enough at dancing to teach (well, they all are, except Haruhi) and dance as the submissive while Harry was taught (I imagine the twins would switch so often that neither of them could do it successfully, and Hani might, but he'd be too wild too teach Harry properly in my humble opinion). Just a little note so people don't go off on me for all the "coincidences".
(2) Hani is calling him Charu-chan because Charlie would be made up of the katakana for Chi, little ya, continued A, Ru, Ri, and probably have a continued I at the end (just making an educated guess here though), or perhaps Cha, small ya, small tsu, Ri, continued I. Not sure. So shortened he became Charu-chan! So fun to shorten a nickname, isn't it? Plus Hani is all excited about dragons, so of course he'd give the guy a nickname right off the bat.
(3) I figure that Mori needs to be afraid of something other than losing Hani, therefore he is afraid of bees. They're pure evil anyway.
(4) It is physically painful to write with grammar this bad. It makes me cringe. (Haha, Tipsy is saying that Mori (Master's Takashi) and Hani (Master's Honey) are Harry's... it makes me laugh. I just remembered Dobby calling Ron "Harry Potter's Wheezy!" and I couldn't not write that. But since there are four "Wheezy", I made Charlie "Cherry", Bill "Billy", and Fred and George are just "Twinses".)