The rest of the school year went by in a breeze. Now that he could be satisfied whenever he wanted, it was easier to pay attention in classes. No more potions exploded, and no one figured out that Harry was shagging Snape.

No one except Hermione, of course. She had picked up on what happened as soon as he came back from their first fuck, but Harry wasn't surprised by his friend's deduction skills anymore. He would have been surprised if she hadn't found out, actually.

The graduation ceremony was a nostalgic moment, and it also marked a new phase for Harry: a life out of the closet. He was ready to come out, but there was only one problem… His father.

Harry was terrified that he was going to be kicked out of the house for being queer, but he was also terrified of what his father would do when knowing who exactly was Harry's… Partner? Boyfriend? (They still hadn't labelled the relationship).

Lily had always said the animosity between his father and Snape never faltered; it had actually gotten worse with time. So he decided to go by parts: he would come out as queer, and if his father's reaction wasn't destructive, he would talk about Severus.

If the worst was to happen, at least he was already an adult. He could get a job and pay for a flat.

He decided to do it on his birthday. Maybe the celebratory atmosphere of the event would prevent the worst type of reaction. Harry told his mom that he didn't want a big party, he just wanted dinner with the family, and he would celebrate with his friends the next day, which was a Saturday.

That was how he found himself sitting at a table with his parents and the whole crew — Sirius, Lupin with his wife, Tonks, and their son, Teddy. Also present were Tonks' parents, Andromeda and Ted, and Harry sneaked Hermione into the "family" because he needed emotional support.

They had dinner, sang and cut the cake, and Harry drank some firewhiskey to gather the courage.

"Guys, I have a... I have news to share."

Everyone turned to look at him expectantly, and he saw Sirius commenting something with Lupin and sniggering.

His hands shook badly and he almost gave up, but Hermione squeezed his arm lightly, grounding him.

"I…" His stomach gave ten thousand flips. "I'm gay."

The whole room went silent. Teddy looked up at his father.

"Daddy, what is gay ?"

Remus went white at the question. " Not now , Teddy."

The kid pouted at him, hair going from blue to a sickly green.

Sirius gave a humourless chuckle, staring at Harry as if he didn't quite know him. "Quit the joke, kid. You both are dating, right?" Sirius pointed to him and Hermione.

"Um, no." Ew. She was his best friend. "Hermione's dating, but it's not me. I'm really queer."

His mom came to him and hugged him hard. "I already knew it, son. I'm proud of you for telling us. Can't even imagine how hard it was!" She said with teary eyes and a tender smile. Harry felt his own eyes tearing up.

"Thanks, mom."

He turned slowly to his father. James Potter was frowning, a glass in his hand, ice melting in the forgotten whiskey.

"My son's a fag?"

"Dad…"

"Don't. Don't call me that, you faggot. You are not my son. I don't have a son," James said venomously and stormed out of the room, ignoring Lily's call.

It was like the world opened below Harry's feet, and his breath faltered when he fell. A crack expanded from the middle of his chest and spread through his entire body, leaving him shattered and bruised.

His father didn't cast him out of the house. He cast him out of the family . It was so much worse.

Sirius stopped for a second before he and Remus followed James, sending Harry a disgusted glare. "I should have known. You've always been a sissy."

Remus didn't even look at him.

Harry forced himself not to cry and his throat closed up painfully. The rest of his family hugged him and supported him, but he couldn't stop looking at the stairs where his father had gone.

He was thankful he didn't say anything about Severus.

Hermione eventually convinced Harry's mom to let him sleep at her house, so he would have a safe place to stay. Lily was torn but accepted it. She reassured Harry that she loved him no matter what, and Andromeda and Ted also said that he could crash at their house whenever he wanted. Tonks said that her husband was an idiot, but he would come around.

Still, he arrived at Hermione's house with a heavy heart. His father hated him, and he didn't even know everything. He half-listened to Hermione explaining to her parents what happened and asking if Harry could stay over, to which they immediately agreed. That only hurt him more — he barely knew Hermione's parents and they were ready to accept him the way he was, yet his father didn't.

Harry sent a letter to Severus telling him what happened and asking if he could see him on Sunday. Sleep took a long time to come to him.

He came out to his friends the next day, and the reaction was very different. Neville was a little shocked but readily accepted him; Luna said it was obvious since the first day she met him (it had been in the second year, so Harry had no idea how she would know something that he didn't even know, but Luna was like that).

Draco Malfoy, Hermione's boyfriend, only raised an eyebrow at him. Hermione said he came from a very conservative family but he wasn't an idiot like his parents. Harry would have to take her word on that since he had never interacted much with Draco.

Not all of his friends were there, though: Fred and George had a problem with the shop and had to cancel, and Cedric and Cho were already travelling together to do a Curse-Breaking Mastery together, but he knew they would accept him as well. Cedric was the nicest guy he had ever met, and Fred and George only cared about causing a riot.

They spent a nice evening together and Harry returned to Hermione's house at night. He sent a letter to his mom saying that everything was fine and for the umpteenth time he reread Severus' answer to his letter, saying that he was welcome at his house any time.

He fell asleep still holding the letter.

The next day he apparated to Spinner's End and walked a short distance until he got to the right house. Severus opened the door for him and Harry threw himself into his arms, kissing him heatedly. He only chuckled in amusement.

"Missed me that much?"

"Tremendously," Harry said, already unbuttoning his shirt.

Severus held his hand, stopping him. "I have a guest. Come meet him."

Harry groaned in frustration but nodded. They crossed the house, which was clean and well maintained with hundreds of books all over the place until they got to the kitchen, where a tall man with long, dark curls was sitting. His grey eyes locked onto Harry and he shook with the familiarity. The man got up from his chair and gave him a small, pure-blooded bow.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Potter. My name is Regulus Black."