Harry groaned as he woke up. He had fallen asleep on the couch in Moony's living room. Luckily it was Sunday, so he wasn't expected to be present anywhere particular. He stumbled into the bathroom and splashed water on his face before pulling his shoes back on and writing a quick note, explaining that he was going back to Gryffindor Tower to clean up. Leaving the apartments, Harry first swung by the kitchens and grabbed some toast before entering the common room.

Ron was sitting by the fire, and Harry glowered at the back of his head as he stalked up the stairs. After he had showered, he pulled on his dragonhide pants and boots and put on a black shirt with spandex. He glanced at his reflection, shrugged, and went to his trunk to retrieve his contacts, and put them in. Satisfied, Harry sat on his bed and drew the curtains, working on his weekend homework until lunch time.

When it was time for lunch, Harry put his books away, checked his reflection, and headed down to the common room, where Seamus, Dean, and Hermione were sitting. Harry! We were just waiting for you... wow!

Harry flushed slightly.

Seamus grinned. Let's just say you're going to be breaking a lot of hearts today. Dean and Hermione nodded their agreement and Harry rolled his eyes as the four stepped out of the portrait hole and down the corridors to lunch.

It was safe to say that Hogwarts proper was starting to get the idea that all was not right in Gryffindor Tower. Last night, Ron Weasley had been eating by himself, and he had been pointedly ignored by his own brothers, his girlfriend, and two members of his house at breakfast. Now, he was sitting alone, talking to Neville Longbottom, and Seamus, Dean, Fred, George, and Hermione swept in, followed by some really hot guy that no one recognized at first.

Slowly, though, the room realised who it was. Harry Potter! was the whisper traveling the rounds. Harry heard the buzz of whispers that started, and he figured they were about him. Fine, then, he thought. Let them talk. He wondered idly how long before the rest of Gryffindor and then Hogwarts learned that he was gay. He assumed that Ron would be spreading the word as quickly as possible.

Surprisingly, however, Ron kept quiet about Harry, and the only rumors swirling around Harry were of the heterosexual nature – he had a girl he wanted to impress, they said. Harry snorted, recalling Hermione's observation of Draco at the beginning of the term. You don't dress the way Draco and I do to attract girls, he thought bemusedly. Boys, yes. Girls, no. Harry rather enjoyed the admiration though, and sent an owl off to Diagon Alley to order more dragonhide pants and different colors of spandex shirts.

After a couple of weeks passed, the rest of Hogwarts slowly adjusted to the fact that, for unknown reasons, the only other Gryffindor fifth-years talking to Ron Weasley were Neville Longbottom and Parvati Patil. Even Ron's older brothers refused to talk to him. There were all sorts of rumors flying around the castle as to why, exactly, this was the case, but none of them hinted at the truth, and Harry was quite thankful. He had enough to deal with, between lessons, Quidditch, and the ever-present threat of Voldemort.


In fact, the first Quidditch match of the season was coming up, and Gryffindor would be facing Hufflepuff. Harry still had residual guilt over Cedric Diggory's death and he had essentially avoided any but the most formal interactions with anyone from Hufflepuff House. Facing them on the Quidditch pitch was going to be moderately hellish for Harry's psyche. Not to mention that with even just a bit of Magical Medicine under his belt, he was much more aware of what exactly happened when Bludgers crunched and bodies were battered. It wasn't a pleasant reality to be aware of in the least.

As a result of all of those factors, plus the fact that they had to replace their keeper with Dean Thomas, who still thought some of the finer points of soccer should be integrated with Quidditch, plus the fact that this was Harry's first stint as Team Captain, all combined to make him nervous for a week leading up to the game. To be fair, they should've had Ron be Keeper – he was the superior player. However, with the entire team angry with him, even if the girls didn't know why, precisely, it had been decided that it wasn't a prudent course of action. The decision had only further inflamed Ron, of course, but Harry & Co. could only shrug and continue on.

The morning before the match, Harry was up early. It was evident that he was nervous when he came down to breakfast. He had thrown on a white t-shirt and wrinkled light blue jeans, and it was obvious that he hadn't even looked in the mirror. Harry Potter wasn't completely vain, but he had begun to take some pride in his appearance, and he definitely hadn't given it a second thought this morning. Hermione pursed her lips worriedly as she looked at him.

Harry, dear, honestly. I know that Quidditch is nerve-wracking, and, yes, I do remember every single reason why this is worse than usual, but, dear, you look positively awful compared to normal. Now, after you eat breakfast, you go upstairs and change!

Harry just stared at her for a moment, while the twins began to laugh. Finally Harry cracked a small smile. Worried that I can't find a shag looking like this,
It was Hermione's turn to stare, while Dean and Seamus, who had just walked up, had joined the twins in laughter.

Well, if the homosexual contingent of the Gryffindor Quidditch team is done with breakfast, let's go collect the heterosexuals and get down to the pitch, Harry said a few moments later. And, yes, Hermione, I'll fix my appearance. He pulled out his wand and muttered an ironing spell at his jeans, then tucked the t-shirt into his pants and dyed it black with another spell. Finally, he ran his hands through his hair, smoothing it down slightly.

Much. Good luck, boys.

The four stood and trooped off, collecting Katie, Angelina, and Angela as they headed out the door.

Harry began to feel better as the team walked down to the changing room, talking easily amongst themselves. They changed into their robes and Harry was about to review their strategy when Katie stood on one of the benches.

Alright, you four. We Chasers want to know what exactly has gone on lately. We've supported you guys because we have no reason not to, but an explanation would be nice.

Harry sighed and grimaced slightly. The short version is, Ron finds people like the four of us to be disgusting aberrations that are sick and need to be cured by shagging a cute witch repeatedly.

Katie's jaw dropped, and Angelina's mouth had formed a little O'.

Angela was the first one to speak. So you're all gay then. Well. That does make more sense. We're actually all bisexual, so I can't see him approving of that either. She smiled. We're the Gryffindor Queerditch Team.

Harry snorted, and then the room erupted in laughter. Shags for all! Fred shouted gleefully. Fags for Victory! The shouting of horrible slogans continued for quite awhile until the team fell silent, out of breath from giggling so hard.

I think it's nearly time. Let's go kick some Hufflepuff arse, shall we? It's not cute enough to shag.

The team followed Harry out onto the pitch and the match began, Harry circling lazily far above the pitch. He saw Hermione cheering widely, and Ron scowling as he sat near the top of the stands. Moony was there, as well, and Padfoot came along – as a dog, of course, but that was better than not having his godfather there at all. Harry was proud of his team that day. Fred and George turned in yet another superb performance, Katie, Angelina, and Angela scored repeatedly, and Dean turned in a performance that surpassed Harry's wildest dreams. Even Ron had never done so well that Harry knew of. All the while, Harry scanned the skies for the Snitch. About 45 minutes into the game, he saw it – not far behind the Hufflepuff Seeker. Desperate, Harry pretended to see it below him, and headed into a dive. Once the Hufflepuff was following him at a fast rate, Harry pulled up abruptly and headed straight for the Snitch, capturing it before the Hufflepuff Seeker could even pull out of the dive. The crowd roared as the rest of the team zoomed towards Harry. After the events of the last year, and being prevented from playing Quidditch for over a year, the victory was especially sweet. Automatically, Harry scanned the stands again. Padfoot was howling while Moony cheered wildly, Hermione was screaming excitedly, Ron had disappeared, and... Harry allowed himself one glance at the Slytherin stands. God he looks hot, Harry thought. Draco's hair was even longer now, and he was wearing dragonhide from head to toe. His arms were crossed, but his lips were twitched upwards, almost like a smile. Well, that's different, thought Harry. Never thought I'd see the day he'd be so much as amused at a Gryffindor win. Indeed, though the rest of his house was booing, Draco was silent, and looked almost pleased. Harry mentally shrugged, pushing the sexy Slytherin stud (as he'd taken to calling him) out of his mind and concentrating on the fact that Gryffindor had just won a huge victory over Hufflepuff, easily giving them a substantial lead in the contest for the Quidditch Cup.

Fred and George pulled him aside in the locker room as they changed. We were going to slip into Hogsmeade for party supplies, but considering that we know about the Marauders and all now, would you like to join us?

Harry grinned. Sure. But forget about hitting on me in the passageway. Fred and George looked startled. You're very transparent, you know, he added as they headed back to the castle. Harry ran up into Gryffindor Tower and retrieved his cloak and the Map, then slipped back down to the corridor with the one-eyed witch, where he joined the twins. They hurried along the passageway, Harry telling Fred and George some of the stories that Sirius and Moony had told him about the Marauders' exploits. They emerged under Honeydukes and left some Galleons in exchange for the candy and butterbeers that were placed near the trapdoor. Flush with success, they returned to Gryffindor Tower, where the seven team members held a quick conference.

We want to tell the Gryffindors at least that we are gay, Fred started, speaking for himself and George.

Dean grinned. Everyone already knows about me, anyway.

The girls were thoughtful, then, one by one, they shrugged their acquiescence. Could be interesting, having an entire team come out at once, Angelina remarked.

What about it Harry? Katie added.

Harry shrugged, then grinned. Fine. But I want to put on something more attractive than these old jeans first.

That's our Harry! the twins cried as Harry went to his dormitory quickly and slipped into the now-familar dragonhide pants and boots. Harry paused, then threw on a scarlet silk shirt, buttoning it up only halfway and tucking it in to his pants. He glanced at his reflection for a bit, smoothing his hair and wondering idly if growing it out would help it to look better. No... couldn't look too much like he was imitating Draco. Harry sighed, and headed back downstairs, where he joined the rest of the team on top of the largest table.

Attention please! As your Quidditch Team Captain, it is my duty to inform you that the seven of us have come to an important decision today, just before the match. Harry paused, scanning the room. Hermione's eyes were slightly wide but there was an impish grin on her face; the twins or Dean must've told her and Seamus what was going on. Ron was in the corner, wearing his now-omnipresent scowl, and Ginny was sitting exactly halfway between Ron and her older brothers. She had been doing that since the whole thing began, dividing herself and her time completely in half. Harry took a deep breath. We've decided to rename ourselves. Henceforth we will be known as the Gryffindor QUEERditch Team!

Hermione and Seamus began clapping and hooting wildly, while Ron's look turned to absolute disgust and loathing as he strode out of the room. Ginny looked at him, then back at her brothers and Harry, and suddenly understood. She, too, began clapping and cheering, and soon the whole common room was chattering excitedly with their now-openly gay Quidditch team. Only two or three others had left in disgust, and Harry privately felt that they probably were jealous of one or the other of them; besides, they were only second years. The rest of the evening was spent partying and talking to many of Harry's fellow Gryffindors, most of whom were excited about the openness the team had. A few wanted to set him up with some other boys, but Harry managed to dissuade them.

Harry rode high on the euphoria of that Quidditch match for several weeks. Although he was fully outed to Gryffindor House, there seemed to be an unspoken agreement not to spread it around the rest of Hogwarts yet that the entirety of their Quidditch team was, well, queer. Most of Gryffindor was convinced that it would only be fodder for Malfoy and his Slytherin cronies to use against Harry, but Harry privately wasn't convinced. Draco hadn't been mean to a single Gryffindor all year long. No Mudblood remarks, no cracks about the Weasleys, no comments on Harry's scar or his dead parents. Harry didn't know what had changed Draco, but he was almost certain that he was gay also, and that he might have changed on the inside more than Harry would've thought possible. All of these facts and opinions made it all the more difficult for Harry to continue denying his attraction to Draco.