Harry came out to the rest of the family a few days later. It was a lot more emotional than I'd thought it was going to be. Mum cried a lot, hugged him a lot and promised that she still loved him . . A lot. The look on Dads face though, was one of relief. I read it as saying 'At least it isn't my son'. Bill and Charlie tried to act as if they weren't uncomfortable, but I knew they were. And yet I was proud of them for not overreacting. Ginny, George and Fred had admitted that they'd known for quite some time.

"We caught him snogging Wood at the Quidditch World Cup" Fred explained as George screwed up his face in concentration and mumbled numbers under his breath.

"You owe me seven hundred and . . . Twenty galleons" he calculated

Fred turned to face his copy and instantly began to protest "You said 2 ½ years not 3 and it has been 3 hasn't it?"

"I was closest, you said 5"

"Actually" Ginny piped up "I said 3, so technically you owe me 720 galleons"
"Whatever are you talking about?" Mum asked mopping her dripping eyes with a dripping handkerchief

Fred and George began talking fast in their secret language that I was never able to decode, despite years of trying. Once they seemed to come to an agreement, they answered Mum who had to replace her handkerchief.

"Nothing, Mum" George answered quickly taking Ginny by one arm.

"Just a . . . bet we err- made" Fred added taking her by the other arm

The two of them resumed their conversation in that mysterious language while Ginny tried to get away. With a slam of their door they were gone and we didn't see them for the rest of the day. All in all there weren't any outbursts that day, so I felt I could let down my guard a bit that night. I could tell Harry had also taken down his defenses, because I could hear the relaxation in his breathing as we lie in bed that night. He'd been having nightmares and had taken up refuge in my bed most nights citing that he 'Just needed to know someone was there' to help calm him. And I had no problem with that.

"I thought they were going to disown me" he chuckled taking each of my unusually long toes and wiggling them playfully "You scaring me by telling me that it was a sensitive subject didn't help"

"Sorry" I laughed as he ran is finger up and down the middle of my foot.

So" he asked after a minute of silence "Are you . . . Going to . . .?"

"No" I answered quickly pulling my foot away

He propped himself up on his elbows and asked softly "Why?"

"Because" I said child-like

"But you said 'it went better than expected' . . . maybe it'll be that-"

"It won't be that way for me" I snapped curtly "Listen, they accepted you with no problem because . . Well"

He sat up all the way and stretched then finished my sentence "I'm not their son"

"Um . . Yeah" I sighed

"And it might be different because you are"

"Um . . Yeah. Wait, that sounded bad" I realized lowering my head a bit in shame "I'm kinda sure they would react the same . . Way"

I knew he knew I was lying. The truth was I knew it'd be different, especially by the look on my fathers face.

"No you're not" he figured out "But that's okay"

"Don't be mad" I pleaded as he stood up

"I'm not" he told me placing his hand on mines to reassure me

"Then get back into bed" I instructed "I already told you that we'd get a warning if someone was coming toward the room"

I tugged on his arm, but he just pulled away and walked over to the door, opened it and stuck his head out.

"What are you doing?" I asked

"Shh!" he instructed leaning further outside

I lied back on my pillow and stared at him curiously, wondering just what it was he was listening for and noting that he did, in fact, get weirder every year. A minute of so later he stepped back in side and turned on the light.

"I think everyone's asleep" he informed me while stripping off this pajama top and starting on his bottoms.

"What are you talking about?" I asked shielding my eyes after having been temporarily blinded.

He came over and sat beside me and I wasn't exactly sure what it was he was about to do, but was caught off guard when he asked "Have you ever been to a club?"

"What?" I asked taking a deep breath of relief. I'd truly thought he was going somewhere else with that.

"A club, Ronald"

"A dance club?"

"Yes"

"No" I said, My eyes finally adjusting to the menacing light

"Well, if you get up and ready you can come with me to one" he tempted pressing a kiss on my forehead.

As he stood up to finish undressing I grabbed a hold of his hand and pulled him back down "What do you mean I can come? Where are you going?"

"To a club, Ron. I just told you"

"What? Have you lost your mind you can't leave now. Mum'll kill you, us" I informed knowing that full well she would

He looked at me with a glint of mischievousness in his eyes as he answered with "Only if we get caught"

He pulled away again and discarded his pajama pants. I sat up and tried to explain to him my Mum. "Which we will" I continued "She has that clock and she's added you, did you know that?"

"Who watches a clock at 2:00 a.m., Ron?" he asked contemptuously "We'll be back before she and Ginny get up to work out"

He pulled out an outfit he had ready, obviously he'd planned on doing this earlier. He pulled on the dark blue boot cut jeans, that hugged him just right and put on the belt, whose buckle was the shape of a golden snitch. Then he put on a long sleeved, white button up shit and tucked it in only behind his belt, so as to bring attention to it. As he sat on his bed and began tying his shoes, there was a soft rapping at my window. I looked at the window to see a bluebird fluttering there.

"What the- ? A bluebird?" I said rubbing my eyes

"I'll be right down" Harry explained to the bird that gave almost a nod and disappeared. He pulled on a hot looking leather jacket and went to the mirror where he began fiddling with his unmanageable hair. "Last chance. Are you coming or staying?"

I looked at him then the door and then the window. "A couple of hours wont hurt" I said convincing no one but myself "But what do I wear?"

Harry smiled at me through the mirror and pointed to the closet where there was another ready made outfit hanging up neatly. And I wondered when did he do all of this.

"I knew you'd come around"

I got over and went to the closet and asked "So what does that mean? That I'm predictable?"

"Very" he replied smiling at me coyly

I shoved him playfully and took out the outfit that was my favorite pair of blue, boot cut ripped jeans that, after not being able to locate them for two weeks, I'd thought Mum had finally followed through in her threat to throw them away. Harry even got the pumpkin juice/grass stain mix off of the side. There was also a short sleeved burnt orange vintage weird sisters t-shirt Harry had brought for me, from when they came out 10 years ago. And a simple pair of Converse ™ that he'd brought me that changed colors with each outfit. I dressed quickly and Harry gave me another present, a belt, which buckle was just and 'R'.

"If I would've gotten your whole name, people would think you were gay" he joked while trying to tame my long locks, he'd given up on his and just let it stand on end in the back. Once it was semi to his liking we cut the light off and stealthily made our was downstairs. Harry seemed to be an expert at this seeing as he'd once told me it was practically impossible to sneak out of his Aunt and Uncles house. Somehow he'd found a way and also found one in our house. We made it outside undetected and met up with two guys. One was tall, about a half inch shorter than myself with medium length chestnut brown hair, hazel eyes and two eyebrow piercings. Be side him was a shorter boy with long blonde hair and bright blue eyes. He only had one eyebrow piercing but a whole lot of ear piercings. Atop the blonde boys shoulder was the bluebird.

"Ron, these are some of my new friends I'd told you about. The one's I met when I was at the Dursleys. That's Schuyler" he introduced pointing to the brown haired boy "And that's Amos, but he doesn't like to be called that. He likes to be called-"

"Jennifer" the teen stated in a very effeminate voice "Do you have a problem with that?"

I looked at Harry and then Amos/Jennifer and shook my head no.

"Schuy, Jen this is Ron"

"The one we've been hearing so much about. He's just as handsome as you said he would be" Schuyler exclaimed pulling me into a hug instead of taking my outstretched hand "No need to shake hands, we're all family here aren't we?"

"I guess" I said timidly

"He's blushing! How adorable!" Schuyler pointed out holding me by the waist as we began walking toward the lake where it was safe to disapparate without anyone from the house hearing. "You know, I've never had a red head before. Is he up for grabs, Potter? Does he even play for our team?"

"You have to ask him" Harry answered

"Well?" Schuyler asked

I glared at Harry for putting me on the spot. I knew I was redder than ever now and I just wanted the attention off of me.

"Um"

"Bless him, undecided I'm assuming"

"Yeah" I croaked goofily

"Well it's alright, but if you ever need any convincing I'm your man. I can make a believer out of you" he commented laughing heartily with Harry and Amos/Jennifer.

I was glad when Schuyler went to talk with Amos/Jennifer because it gave me time to decompress and take in all that had just happened. Harry's new friends . . Well they were different. A lot more outgoing than me Neville, Dean or Seamus.

"You okay?" he asked when we reached the halfway point to the lake and Schuyler and Amos/Jennifer were walking a bit ahead and talking about shoes. I never figured out why.

"Yeah" I said

"Mad at me?"

"Yeah!" I exclaimed "Putting me on the spot like that. You know I hate that

Harry chuckled "Sorry. You know they're cool. You'll get used to them. We'll be doing this a lot this year."

"What!"

Harry chuckled even louder and yawned "Don't let Amos get to you it takes him a while to warm up to new people. But by the end of tonight you two will be the best of friends and I'll have to break in a new one"

"Nah" I assured "I wouldn't do that. But um . . . How do you know they're not . . ."

"Using me?" he finished bluntly

"Erm, yeah"

"When I was finally taught Occulmency, I also learned legimency. I could tell if they or you are lying to me. So I know"

"Hmm that's not cool"

"Don't worry I never use it on you. I know you wouldn't lie to me"

He smiled at me and I smiled back at him. He held out his and to me and I took it. We walked a bit faster to catch up with Amos/ Jennifer, Schuyler and the bird.

"That bird is pretty well trained, but I don't think that it's going to like the club" I commented

The three of them burst into a fit of laughter. I didn't know why and began feeling attacked.

"What!"

"I'm sorry, Ron" Harry apologized through his laughter "I forgot to introduce you to Abby, Amos' twin. She's and animagus"

"Oh"

"Yeah, only she's being a lazy ass" Amos said shaking Abby off of his shoulder. She fluttered madly then changed back into her human form. She was the same height as Amos/Jennifer only her hair was short. She was petite and had a nose and a lip ring.

"I told you not to do that!" she shouted at Amos/Jennifer

"Well you can walk and fly, why not do one of them?"

"I didn't feel like it"

"Well that's your problem"

Abby shoved Amos/Jennifer and then came up to me, her small hand outstretched "I'm Abby"

"Ron" I said looking her over, she was really pretty.

"So you and Harry?" she asked

"Um"

Here we went with the questions again. I looked at Harry who dropped my hand and said "Nah, We're just friends"

"Best friends" I followed up with hoping that if he was reading my mind or something he didn't see my reaction to Abby.

"Cool, So Mr. Potter which Club are we heading to today?" she asked

"The Smoking Cauldron" Schuyler exclaimed with a little hop

"The Smoking Cauldron?" I asked I'd heard about the notorious gay club on the radio and wondered should I go there. "Isn't that place a . . . little rowdy?"

"Nah, it's toned down a bit" Harry explained "Its cool trust me. Have I ever steered you wrong?"

I opened my mouth to tell him about a few times he's steered me wrong and he took his hand and covered my mouth.

"Shut up"

"Alright, alright" I laughed putting my arm around his shoulders.

We reached the lake a few minutes later and disapparate out. We 'landed' on Hippogriff Avenue the heart of the downtown Wizarding District where all the clubs were. I'd only walked down this street with Mum once or twice when there was light out and she never approved. So now I couldn't believe I'd snuck out of bed to come down here and party. As we walked down the buzzing street, I knew that I looked like a tourist. But I was just captivated by the lights and the music and all of the different people, people I probably would never had interacted with seeing as my mother had kept us sheltered for most of our life.

"This is so cool!" I just about shouted as we passed a row of tattoo and piercing shops

"See" Harry said putting his arm around my waist "Aren't you glad you came?"

"Yeah"

"Well there's one more thing" he said as we stopped in from of Madame Joanna's Tattoo and Body Piercing Shop.

"What?"

"You've gotta get a piercing"

"WHAT!"

"That's the rule" Abby said

"Its your christening" Schuyler added

"But don't worry" Abby said "I'll hold your hand"

She grabbed a hold of me and pulled me away from Harry and into the shop. The woman sitting behind the counter seemed to light up when she saw us enter the shop and instantly perked up.

"Mr. Potter you're back!" she exclaimed "And you've brought friends"

"Yeah" Harry said "This is Ron, he needs to be christened"

"Yes, yes no problem. What would he like"

"Nothing!" I said

"C'mon Ron!" Harry, Schuyler and Amos/Jennifer shouted

"I told you I'd get one with you" Harry reminded

"And I told you I'd hold your hand" Abby added

I looked around and saw I had no way out, so I shrugged my shoulders and sighed.

"My eyebrows" I told Madame Joanna

"Both?" she inquired

"Just one for now"

"Me too" Harry chirped

"Very good, Very good"

She directed us to a seat behind the counter and I sat down and clutched Abby's hand. It was over in a second and it actually wasn't all that bad.

"See" Harry said admiring his brand new piercing "Was it that bad?"

I sighed and touched the tip of my new earring "No, But this is going to be a hard thing to explain"

Harry laughed along with me and now that I was christened, we made our way to The Smoking Cauldron. I didn't have I.D but apparently that wasn't a problem when you showed up with Harry Potter. I'd never been out with him like this photographers from every major newspaper wanted pictures of him, but he declined. I was glad. It would be hard enough to explain the piercing, it'd be even harder to explain why we were both on the front page of the newspaper. After we were inside a little fat, bald man with greasy hair named Eugene directed us upstairs to a special V.I.P section and told us to get anything we wanted. Harry ordered a Peruvian Pixie and I stuck to what I'd had before, Firewhiskey. Schuyler Amos/Jennifer and Abby headed to the dance floor and left Harry and myself alone.

"And I thought you got special treatment before" I joked taking a sip of my drink

"Yeah, I forgot to tell you about this"

"I see" I said looking around "But it's nice to know it hasn't given you a big head"

He looked at me through his bangs and I could see he was happy that he got my approval. We talked and drank for a little longer before Abby and Schuyler dragged us on to the dance floor. That's when we separated, Harry danced with Schuyler and I danced with Abby. She was nice but I really wanted to be with Harry, who I found sitting down in our seat after I'd managed to get away from Abby.

"There you are" I panted sitting beside him

"Yeah, I needed to take a rest"

"I think I had too much to drink" I laughed goofily

Harry handed me his bottle of water and yawned "Take mines"

"Thanks" I huffed and drank it down in a hurry

"So" he said too casually "Abby's nice"

"Yeah, A little aggressive but cool, why? Jealous?" I joked pushing him playfully

"Why would I be?"

"Oh, because she hijacked me from you and left you with Schuyler"

"I'm not jealous"

"Alright" I said condescendingly

"I have no reason to be" he added "I mean why. Abby's my friend and she's cool. I mean I knew you two would get along and you know . . . I'm not jealous?"

"Okay!" I said "But if you weren't Jealous you wouldn't keep talking about it. You'd drop it and come with me on the dance floor"

Harry looked at me curiously and then I saw something in him click. He took my hand and led me t the dance floor just as a techno version of D.J Sammy's 'Heaven' came on. We moved to the middle of the dance floor and I was surprised at what a good dancer he was.

"So are you going to ask Abby out?" he asked leaning close to my ear so I could hear him over the thumping music.

"I don't know, maybe" I said with mischievous look in my eye.

"That's cool" he said pulling away

We danced a little more before I leaned in and said "You know I'm not going to ask her out"

"It's cool if you do"

I leaned in closer to his ear and said "I don't go that way"

A bright smile appeared on his face and he put his arms around my neck and kissed me deeply. He tasted like the Peruvian Pixies he'd been downing all night. We stopped dancing and I put my arms around his waist and held him as we kissed. It was the best kiss I'd ever had. We kissed for what seemed like forever just standing there amidst the mass of gyrating bodies. When we finally pulled away I looked at him looking at me and we burst into a fit of laughter.

"C'mon, we'd better go" he suggested putting his arm around my waist

"You're going to have to help me walk, I had too much to drink" I said

"Alright" he said as I put my arm around his shoulders "You're a good kisser, you know?"

We located Schuyler Amos/Jennifer and Abby back at the table and bid them good bye. Since we couldn't apparate drunk, we caught the knight bus and were home in 20 minutes. Luckily it was only 5:30 a.m. a half an hour before Mum and Ginny were to get up.

"Perfect timing" Harry said putting his key in the door and opening it.

As he stepped inside I grabbed his hand and pulled him back. "Look, sunrise"

"Just as beautiful as sunset" he said leaning into my embrace

"And as you" I said tilting my head to kiss him

He put his hands on my cheeks and held me there. I could still taste the Peruvian Pixies on his tongue on my way upstairs.