April 2002

"Awake already?"

The smooth Irish voice interrupted what would have been a rather sneaky return to bed.

"Yeah," Harry said, accepting defeat. "Needed to get the kid home. You neglected to mention prior to the encounter that he's still at fucking Hogwarts."

"What? He's a seventh year. He's been seventeen for ages. And he's a horny little fucker. Sucks cock like a pro. What did you do with his virginity?"

Harry smirked and helped himself to Seamus' mug of freshly brewed coffee. "I put it somewhere for safe keeping. Can I use your shower?"

"It's broken, mate," Seamus said. The tone of his voice held the apology. "I'm waiting for the bloke who runs the building to come fix it. You're welcome to the bath, though."

"Yeah. Thanks."

"Can I share?" He was teasing now.

"It's not like I haven't seen you naked before. Knock yourself out."

They both took coffee and biscuits through to the bathroom and filled the wide, low tub with hot water and bubbles. As Harry had already said, they'd seen each other naked too many times for embarrassment to rear its red face.

Harry made Seamus take the end with the taps and Summoned his cigarettes, lighting the tip with his wand.

"What did you do to him?" Seamus asked as they settled in the water.

Harry took a long draw on his cigarette. "Fucked him."

"Oh, come on, Potter. Give a man a break."

"Okay," Harry said, as if he was conceding a very big point. "I fingered his ass and blew him 'til he came. Then I fucked him. And the little sweetheart had the good grace to wake me up this morning with a blow job."

"Bless him."

"I know. After I was done, I was going to fuck him again but he said he was sore. So I rimmed his ass until he came all over his own face."

He blew a puff of smoke at Seamus, who was gaping.

"Then I took him home."

"Jesus, Harry. You just made every wet dream that kid ever had come true."

"I know."

"At what point did he tell you he was a Slytherin?"

Harry's eyes narrowed. "He didn't."

"Oh, shit," Seamus laughed and stole a cigarette. "When did he tell you he was seventeen?"

"I checked before I fucked him. No point in getting arrested over a shag."

"And where does Charlie come into all of this?"

At once, all of Harry's walls came slamming down. "He doesn't have a fucking thing to do with any of it."

"Bullshit, Potter. You're completely arse over tit in love with the guy, even if you won't admit it."

Seamus took a mouthful of coffee, a lungful of smoke and levelled his eyes. Baiting Harry was dangerous. But sometimes it was worth it.

"Charlie has a new boyfriend," Harry said eventually. He lifted one leg and dangled it over the edge of the tub, causing water to drip down onto the tile in a steady pat-pat-pat.

"What, this Patrick guy? Are you kidding me?"

Harry sighed and lit another cigarette. "Is nothing fucking sacred any more? How the fuck do you know about him?"

Seamus shrugged. "The gay community is incestuous, you know that. And it's even worse in the gay wizarding community. Everyone knows everyone, and everyone has fucked everyone. The fact that he's eight years older than you doesn't help, honey. Charlie wasn't exactly a monk while we were still wanking in the Gryffindor showers. "

"I know." He dropped his head back to the rim of the tub. "I know. What am I supposed to do?"

"Well, I wouldn't have recommended fucking a seventeen year old in a misguided attempt to forget about the sexy man who's enjoying the love of your life's arse..."

"Fuck off, Finnigan."

"But given the circumstances... I suppose you can either fight for him, or let him go. What do you want to do? Is he worth fighting for?"

Of course he was worth fighting for. But there had to come a time when Harry started to wonder if his fighting was a selfish choice. Charlie had given him everything he'd ever asked for - friendship, romance, sex, freedom. Was it time to let Charlie have what he wanted?

And if Harry couldn't give that to him, wasn't it only fair to let someone else make him happy?

A/N: Is this a rhetorical question?

Little announcement... I'm currently working on a novel which has a deadline of April. I have to write approximately 40,000 words in the next three months. Now, this is totally do-able, I just need to get my ass in gear. I love writing this story but unfortunately it's a bit of a distraction from my real life commitments. Apologies in advance if the next few updates take a while. There's no fucking way I won't finish this story - I want to find out what happens as much as the rest of you. Keep me on alert and I'll update again as soon as I can. Thanks, as always, for all your love and support.