I thank everybody (all four of you) who reviewed!
Rowenna: Where are there technical errors? I'd like to correct them.
Here's another chapter, and if you don't like it, I won't continue to write...
E Pluribus Duum ("Out of Many, Two") by AnonymousBystander
Chapter 2 - Friendships Forged, Confessions Made
Harry pushed Ron's chattering out of his mind as he walked, slightly removed from the other three people, sorting his thoughts out. He knew it was good that he was in a new school, that he had moved away from Surrey. It would be better for him, to leave everything behind, to start a new life. He knew it was easier for Sirius too.
A hand touched his shoulder for a brief moment before dissappearing. Harry turned his head to see that the gorgeous blonde had drifted away from Ron and the bushy-haired girl and was now walking beside him.
"Hi," said the blonde, "what are you thinking about?"
"What?" said Harry, taken aback.
"Nothing..." the blonde boy said, trailing away, "it just looked like you were lost in thought or something." Harry looked away, and didn't respond. "I'm Draco Malfoy. What's your name?"
Harry paused, just for a moment. "Harry Potter."
Draco held out his hand, and Harry shook it. "Nice to meet you."
For a moment, there was silence, as the two walked next to each other. Then Ron said, "Oi, Harry, Draco, we'll be late!"
Harry and Draco quickly caught up with the other two. The bushy haired girl turned towards them and smiled fleetingly. "I'm Hermione Granger," she said.
Before Harry could respond, Ron cut in. "Dumbledore's worked it out so we all have our first class of the day together, but after that, you're all on your own. Everyone OK? Great...it's time to experience the horror that is Mr. Snape's chemistry class. All aboard!"
Harry laughed as Ron held the door open for them to walk through. The classroom was nice, with a large chalk board and rows of desks. The teacher, Harry noticed immediately, did not look so nice. He had shoulder-length, greasy dark hair and thin slits for eyes. Harry could tell immediately that he would not like this teacher.
"Who are you?" said Mr. Snape immediately, noticing Harry walking in. Then he saw Draco and Hermione, and said, with a look of utmost disgust at the prospect of any new students, "Oh. Very well. Take your seats, please, we're going to get started, and I don't want any new students to slow down this class...not that we're going to get anywhere anyway, with the rate things are going this year..."
Yes, Harry did not like Mr. Snape at all, but his other teachers weren't all that bad. Mr. Binns, the history teacher, was boring as hell, but Mrs. McGonogall, the math teacher, was nice, though very strict. Ms. Trelawny was Harry's completely rediculous looking English teacher, who introduced their first book "A Chronicle of a Death Foretold" with mistiness and a frighteningly buggish air.
Harry met Ron, Hermione, and Draco for lunch, and was introduced to all of Ron's friends. They were a nice group of people, Harry could tell at once, but he knew that there were some people at this school that weren't so nice. Ron pointed them out as they left lunch to go to Latin. They were a mean looking bunch.
"Those are the ringleaders," Ron whispered to the three newcomers as they passed the group of people, "Blaise Zabini and Pansy Parkinson. Bloody idiots if there ever were any. You'll want to watch out for them."
The rest of the day passed in a haze. Harry was exceedingly happy to have made friends on his first day, and was certain that this would be better than his old school...
**Flashback**
"Fag!"
Harry couldn't see, breathe, think. Fists, punches, kicks, pouring in on him in an overwhelming bombardment of pain.
But he shut it out. He was good at it now. He could do it easily; he'd done it before. When he'd first come out, when his parents had died, he became numb, a shell with no feelings or emotions. It was all bottled up deep inside of him, waiting, just waiting for one day when it would become too much and it would all come out in one explosion.
"Die, Faggot! Rot in hell!"
He couldn't feel them anymore, they were gone, they were nothing.
Harry blacked out.
*****End Flashback*****
"Harry! Harry!"
Harry blinked himself out of his musings. It was Draco, who was looking concerned and waving his hand in front of Harry's face.
"What? What?" was all that Harry could manage, startled from being ripped from his thoughts.
"I was asking you if you wanted a ride. Are you all right, mate?"
"What? Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. No thanks, I can walk. But thanks anyway. I appreciate it."
"Are you sure?" Draco persisted. "You don't look well."
"I'm fine, I promise. See you tomorrow."
"Yeah, okay. See you."
Harry hoisted his backpack onto his back and walked away from the building, still halfway caught in his thoughts. He mused all the way back to his new house, which was a short walk from the school.
Upon entering the house, Harry dropped his backpack onto the floor at once and collapsed onto the sofa in the living room. It had been a good start at his new school, he knew, and he had friends, which was great, but it had still been a long and trying day, and he was tired.
"Hey, Harry."
It was Sirius. Harry looked up for a moment, but was too lazy to keep his head up, so he spoke into the sofa cushion.
"Aren't you supposed to be at work?" he inquired half-heartedly. Sirius worked as a graphic designer in a small firm not far away.
"I thought I'd come home early and meet my favorite godson after school," Sirius replied, sitting on the couch.
"You're sucking up to me," Harry joked, turning himself around to lie on his back, "what do you want this time?"
"Very funny, Harry," said Sirius, chuckling. "How was school?"
"It was fine. I made friends. It's good."
"Any cute guys?" said Sirius, feeling mischevious.
"Shouldn't you be asking if there are any cute godfathers?"
"Well, fine, any cute godfathers?" Sirius replied, playing along.
"Sirius! That kind of talk is blasphemous!" Harry joked.
"Oh please, you brought me into it. Besides, Remus isn't here."
"Getting lonely there?" Harry said mischeviously.
"He'll move his stuff in here tomorrow. You know that he had to finish with some last minute arrangements with...with..." Sirius trailed off, looking away from Harry.
"Oh please, Sirius. You can say it, for god's sake. I'm sixteen years old. I can handle it. They're dead, Sirius, they're dead, and they're not coming back, and I can deal with it."
"Harry," said Sirius, looking back at him, "you're very strong. It's hard to believe that you're handling this as well as you are. Thank you."
"Now, good godfather, I have some homework to do," said Harry, trying desperately to change the subject.
Sirius stood up, yawning like a wolf and stretching. "Dinner at seven thiry, Harry," he said, before disappearing.
The phone rang. Deciding that he would let Sirius get it, Harry opened his backpack and started to get to work, but was interrupted when Sirius popped his head back into the room.
"Phone, kiddo," he said jovially, his head vanishing back into the other room.
Harry grabbed the phone.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Harry, it's Ron," said the voice on the other end of the phone.
"What's up?"
"Hermione, Draco, and me--"
"--and I," Harry cut in.
"Yeah, whatever," Ron said dismissively. "We're going to the mall to celebrate the first day of school. Neville and Dean are coming too, but Seamus can't make it. What'dya say?"
"What about homework?" said Harry.
"Screw that!" Ron exclaimed indignantly. "Come on!"
"Well, OK," said Harry, somewhat reluctantly, "but I'll have to ask my godfather."
"Sure," responded Ron.
****
Sirius, after some persuasion, finally agreed, and not ten minutes later, Harry was sitting on his front porch, waiting for the others to arrive. Harry felt fortunate to have friends - especially Draco - especially since his experiences at his old school had been so bad.
A car pulled up. It was Ron, driving his red Volvo station wagon. Hermione sat next to him in the front, with Draco in the back. Harry got in, glancing quickly at the blonde next to him before looking ahead.
As they drew close to the mall, Ron explained that they were going to meet Neville and Dean there for dinner to commemorate the new school year and their new friendships.
Sitting at the booth at some cheap diner, laughing and talking with his new friends, Harry felt a sudden urge to tell them about his sexual preferences. He felt that he was lying to them in not telling them what was going on. He had never really wanted to tell anybody that much. It was odd.
"Guys," he said nevously, quieting them. "Er - I have something to tell you." Nobody spoke for a moment, then, "I'm gay."
There was silence, silence so palpable Harry wanted to scream at himself for telling them, but then, all of a sudden, Ron started to crack up, laughing hysterically. Dean and Neville soon joined him, and soon the entire table was guffawing intensly, except for Harry, who sat there, confused and bewildered, trying to figure out what on earth was going on.
"Harry," choked Ron, attempting to hold back peals of laughter, "Who cares? Why are you making such a big deal?"
"What?" was Harry's only reaction, still flummoxed.
"So is Seamus!" said Dean, getting control of himself. "We don't care that much. You're making such a big deal out of it."
"I - I still don't understand," Harry said.
"We don't care who you fancy, mate!" said Ron, finally stopping his laughter. "It doesn't matter."
That made Harry feel quite excellent.
****
"Sirius, I'm home!"
Harry pulled the door closed behind him, calling out into the house. Before he could get anything else, somebody tackled him to the floor, pinning him down.
"Remus!"
"Hiya Harry! How are you doing?"
"Still acting like a child, are we, Remus, my friend?" Harry said, laughing at his Godfather's boyfriend.
"Harry! I'm insulted! I'm certainly older than a child!" exclaimed Remus indignantly.
"Maybe on the outside," said Sirius' voice as he entered the room from the kitchen. "Get off of him, Remus, you're smothering him to death."
"But I don't want to!" called Remus, still squashing Harry on the floor.
"Wouldn't you rather tackle somebody else, my love?" said Sirius suggestively, holding out his hand, which Remus eagerly accepted. As Remus' weight was pulled off of Harry, he stood up, brushing himself off.
"How was dinner, Harry?" said Remus.
"Fine," said Harry, recovering from Remus' exuberance.
"You told them, didn't you, Harry?" said Sirius, looking concernedly at his godson.
Harry stared at Sirius for a moment, then said, "There's something really freakish about you, you know that?"
"Ah, Harry," said Sirius boistrously, "my magical Gaydar extends far past the ability to detect somebody's sexual preferences. I assume the results were good, then."
"Yes," Harry said proudly, "yes, they were."
"Excellent, my boy," said Remus, throwing an arm around Harry's shoulders. "Let's have a drink to celebrate!"
Harry, who could never tell when Remus was joking or when he was completely serious (AN: pardon the pun), pushed Remus' arm away, muttering that he had to do homework, and took the stairs three at a time to his room. It had been an excellent first day.
****
A/N: Please tell me what you think!
Rowenna: Where are there technical errors? I'd like to correct them.
Here's another chapter, and if you don't like it, I won't continue to write...
E Pluribus Duum ("Out of Many, Two") by AnonymousBystander
Chapter 2 - Friendships Forged, Confessions Made
Harry pushed Ron's chattering out of his mind as he walked, slightly removed from the other three people, sorting his thoughts out. He knew it was good that he was in a new school, that he had moved away from Surrey. It would be better for him, to leave everything behind, to start a new life. He knew it was easier for Sirius too.
A hand touched his shoulder for a brief moment before dissappearing. Harry turned his head to see that the gorgeous blonde had drifted away from Ron and the bushy-haired girl and was now walking beside him.
"Hi," said the blonde, "what are you thinking about?"
"What?" said Harry, taken aback.
"Nothing..." the blonde boy said, trailing away, "it just looked like you were lost in thought or something." Harry looked away, and didn't respond. "I'm Draco Malfoy. What's your name?"
Harry paused, just for a moment. "Harry Potter."
Draco held out his hand, and Harry shook it. "Nice to meet you."
For a moment, there was silence, as the two walked next to each other. Then Ron said, "Oi, Harry, Draco, we'll be late!"
Harry and Draco quickly caught up with the other two. The bushy haired girl turned towards them and smiled fleetingly. "I'm Hermione Granger," she said.
Before Harry could respond, Ron cut in. "Dumbledore's worked it out so we all have our first class of the day together, but after that, you're all on your own. Everyone OK? Great...it's time to experience the horror that is Mr. Snape's chemistry class. All aboard!"
Harry laughed as Ron held the door open for them to walk through. The classroom was nice, with a large chalk board and rows of desks. The teacher, Harry noticed immediately, did not look so nice. He had shoulder-length, greasy dark hair and thin slits for eyes. Harry could tell immediately that he would not like this teacher.
"Who are you?" said Mr. Snape immediately, noticing Harry walking in. Then he saw Draco and Hermione, and said, with a look of utmost disgust at the prospect of any new students, "Oh. Very well. Take your seats, please, we're going to get started, and I don't want any new students to slow down this class...not that we're going to get anywhere anyway, with the rate things are going this year..."
Yes, Harry did not like Mr. Snape at all, but his other teachers weren't all that bad. Mr. Binns, the history teacher, was boring as hell, but Mrs. McGonogall, the math teacher, was nice, though very strict. Ms. Trelawny was Harry's completely rediculous looking English teacher, who introduced their first book "A Chronicle of a Death Foretold" with mistiness and a frighteningly buggish air.
Harry met Ron, Hermione, and Draco for lunch, and was introduced to all of Ron's friends. They were a nice group of people, Harry could tell at once, but he knew that there were some people at this school that weren't so nice. Ron pointed them out as they left lunch to go to Latin. They were a mean looking bunch.
"Those are the ringleaders," Ron whispered to the three newcomers as they passed the group of people, "Blaise Zabini and Pansy Parkinson. Bloody idiots if there ever were any. You'll want to watch out for them."
The rest of the day passed in a haze. Harry was exceedingly happy to have made friends on his first day, and was certain that this would be better than his old school...
**Flashback**
"Fag!"
Harry couldn't see, breathe, think. Fists, punches, kicks, pouring in on him in an overwhelming bombardment of pain.
But he shut it out. He was good at it now. He could do it easily; he'd done it before. When he'd first come out, when his parents had died, he became numb, a shell with no feelings or emotions. It was all bottled up deep inside of him, waiting, just waiting for one day when it would become too much and it would all come out in one explosion.
"Die, Faggot! Rot in hell!"
He couldn't feel them anymore, they were gone, they were nothing.
Harry blacked out.
*****End Flashback*****
"Harry! Harry!"
Harry blinked himself out of his musings. It was Draco, who was looking concerned and waving his hand in front of Harry's face.
"What? What?" was all that Harry could manage, startled from being ripped from his thoughts.
"I was asking you if you wanted a ride. Are you all right, mate?"
"What? Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. No thanks, I can walk. But thanks anyway. I appreciate it."
"Are you sure?" Draco persisted. "You don't look well."
"I'm fine, I promise. See you tomorrow."
"Yeah, okay. See you."
Harry hoisted his backpack onto his back and walked away from the building, still halfway caught in his thoughts. He mused all the way back to his new house, which was a short walk from the school.
Upon entering the house, Harry dropped his backpack onto the floor at once and collapsed onto the sofa in the living room. It had been a good start at his new school, he knew, and he had friends, which was great, but it had still been a long and trying day, and he was tired.
"Hey, Harry."
It was Sirius. Harry looked up for a moment, but was too lazy to keep his head up, so he spoke into the sofa cushion.
"Aren't you supposed to be at work?" he inquired half-heartedly. Sirius worked as a graphic designer in a small firm not far away.
"I thought I'd come home early and meet my favorite godson after school," Sirius replied, sitting on the couch.
"You're sucking up to me," Harry joked, turning himself around to lie on his back, "what do you want this time?"
"Very funny, Harry," said Sirius, chuckling. "How was school?"
"It was fine. I made friends. It's good."
"Any cute guys?" said Sirius, feeling mischevious.
"Shouldn't you be asking if there are any cute godfathers?"
"Well, fine, any cute godfathers?" Sirius replied, playing along.
"Sirius! That kind of talk is blasphemous!" Harry joked.
"Oh please, you brought me into it. Besides, Remus isn't here."
"Getting lonely there?" Harry said mischeviously.
"He'll move his stuff in here tomorrow. You know that he had to finish with some last minute arrangements with...with..." Sirius trailed off, looking away from Harry.
"Oh please, Sirius. You can say it, for god's sake. I'm sixteen years old. I can handle it. They're dead, Sirius, they're dead, and they're not coming back, and I can deal with it."
"Harry," said Sirius, looking back at him, "you're very strong. It's hard to believe that you're handling this as well as you are. Thank you."
"Now, good godfather, I have some homework to do," said Harry, trying desperately to change the subject.
Sirius stood up, yawning like a wolf and stretching. "Dinner at seven thiry, Harry," he said, before disappearing.
The phone rang. Deciding that he would let Sirius get it, Harry opened his backpack and started to get to work, but was interrupted when Sirius popped his head back into the room.
"Phone, kiddo," he said jovially, his head vanishing back into the other room.
Harry grabbed the phone.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Harry, it's Ron," said the voice on the other end of the phone.
"What's up?"
"Hermione, Draco, and me--"
"--and I," Harry cut in.
"Yeah, whatever," Ron said dismissively. "We're going to the mall to celebrate the first day of school. Neville and Dean are coming too, but Seamus can't make it. What'dya say?"
"What about homework?" said Harry.
"Screw that!" Ron exclaimed indignantly. "Come on!"
"Well, OK," said Harry, somewhat reluctantly, "but I'll have to ask my godfather."
"Sure," responded Ron.
****
Sirius, after some persuasion, finally agreed, and not ten minutes later, Harry was sitting on his front porch, waiting for the others to arrive. Harry felt fortunate to have friends - especially Draco - especially since his experiences at his old school had been so bad.
A car pulled up. It was Ron, driving his red Volvo station wagon. Hermione sat next to him in the front, with Draco in the back. Harry got in, glancing quickly at the blonde next to him before looking ahead.
As they drew close to the mall, Ron explained that they were going to meet Neville and Dean there for dinner to commemorate the new school year and their new friendships.
Sitting at the booth at some cheap diner, laughing and talking with his new friends, Harry felt a sudden urge to tell them about his sexual preferences. He felt that he was lying to them in not telling them what was going on. He had never really wanted to tell anybody that much. It was odd.
"Guys," he said nevously, quieting them. "Er - I have something to tell you." Nobody spoke for a moment, then, "I'm gay."
There was silence, silence so palpable Harry wanted to scream at himself for telling them, but then, all of a sudden, Ron started to crack up, laughing hysterically. Dean and Neville soon joined him, and soon the entire table was guffawing intensly, except for Harry, who sat there, confused and bewildered, trying to figure out what on earth was going on.
"Harry," choked Ron, attempting to hold back peals of laughter, "Who cares? Why are you making such a big deal?"
"What?" was Harry's only reaction, still flummoxed.
"So is Seamus!" said Dean, getting control of himself. "We don't care that much. You're making such a big deal out of it."
"I - I still don't understand," Harry said.
"We don't care who you fancy, mate!" said Ron, finally stopping his laughter. "It doesn't matter."
That made Harry feel quite excellent.
****
"Sirius, I'm home!"
Harry pulled the door closed behind him, calling out into the house. Before he could get anything else, somebody tackled him to the floor, pinning him down.
"Remus!"
"Hiya Harry! How are you doing?"
"Still acting like a child, are we, Remus, my friend?" Harry said, laughing at his Godfather's boyfriend.
"Harry! I'm insulted! I'm certainly older than a child!" exclaimed Remus indignantly.
"Maybe on the outside," said Sirius' voice as he entered the room from the kitchen. "Get off of him, Remus, you're smothering him to death."
"But I don't want to!" called Remus, still squashing Harry on the floor.
"Wouldn't you rather tackle somebody else, my love?" said Sirius suggestively, holding out his hand, which Remus eagerly accepted. As Remus' weight was pulled off of Harry, he stood up, brushing himself off.
"How was dinner, Harry?" said Remus.
"Fine," said Harry, recovering from Remus' exuberance.
"You told them, didn't you, Harry?" said Sirius, looking concernedly at his godson.
Harry stared at Sirius for a moment, then said, "There's something really freakish about you, you know that?"
"Ah, Harry," said Sirius boistrously, "my magical Gaydar extends far past the ability to detect somebody's sexual preferences. I assume the results were good, then."
"Yes," Harry said proudly, "yes, they were."
"Excellent, my boy," said Remus, throwing an arm around Harry's shoulders. "Let's have a drink to celebrate!"
Harry, who could never tell when Remus was joking or when he was completely serious (AN: pardon the pun), pushed Remus' arm away, muttering that he had to do homework, and took the stairs three at a time to his room. It had been an excellent first day.
****
A/N: Please tell me what you think!