A/N: Okay, first things first. This is a SHORT chapter, and for that I am sorry. I was in the process of making it longer, but I haven't updated in more than a month and began to feel guilty because of the dozens of reviews sitting in my inbox, rotting. So I left it somewhat short--and this is the worst chapter yet. It's my 'setting the scene' chapter, and the rest of Harry's school day is rushed, as well as his departure into town. Second of all, I feel like a raccoon run over by a mack truck, and I can't bring myself to respond to each and every review this time. Hence, some will be grouped together. I'll do my best to answer the extensive ones, and I will be sure to answer any and all questions asked of me. Third of all, I am REALLY sorry about this whole thing, and the delay. Do bear with me...and email me if you feel like it. I've gotten several from my devoted readers, and I've gotta tell you, I love it. I adore it. I worship it.
And now, on with the show...
"Hey, Ron," Ginny Weasley murmured, nudging her brother's arm. "That your new friend? He's…interesting enough to be the guy you described, sure enough."
Ron spared a glare for Ginny, who'd interrupted his conversation with Hermione. He glanced at Harry, who was standing at the service counter, ordering coffee through chattering teeth. "Yeah, that's him." He turned eagerly to talk to Hermione again.
But she was already rushing over to Harry, looking concerned. "Dammit!" he muttered, casting another glare at his sister. "You suck," he told her petulantly.
"For Christ's sake, Harry," Hermione scolded, grabbing his icy hands and warming them with her own. "What took you so long?"
Harry grinned, handing money to the girl at the counter and accepting his coffee gratefully. "Had myself another fag," he answered, cuddling the cup close and breathing in the aroma, "and a little chat with Malfoy."
Hermione's slightly lipsticked mouth opened in a small 'o' of surprise. "Are you kidding?"
"Certainly not! Mmm, something about that boy, Mione…"
Hermione shook her head sadly, slowly leading Harry to their group's table and buying the two of them time to talk privately. "He's an ass, and, as I mentioned before, he has a girlfriend. I'd bet you anything that Draco Malfoy is straight as an arrow."
"And I'd bet you anything that he's a closet-case secretly hoping for someone just like me to drag him out and show him the wonders of a homosexual life!"
Harry said this rather loudly. Several people gave him dubious looks. He made sure to grin and make eye contact with every single one of them.
"Harry!" Hermione hissed, embarrassed. She detoured to a relatively unoccupied corner and pulled him close. "Shh! Look, I'm just saying, maybe you should consider someone else. See that guy at Ron's table? The black boy sitting to the right of him? He's openly bi. What about him? Cute, right? And single! His name is Dean Thomas."
Harry narrowed his eyes mischievously at the boy, pretending to mull over it. "Hmm…cute," he agreed. Hermione's sigh of relief was cut short as he smashed her hopes. "However, I like challenges, and Malfoy's a challenge if I've ever seen one. Not to mention, he's so pretty. I've never been one to pass up a pretty boy."
"Arrrg!" Hermione muttered through clenched teeth. "You're impossible!" With that, she stomped off. Harry followed, still grinning.
Hermione sat back down next to Ron in a huff. She glared down at her cooling coffee and shifted away from Harry when he squeezed into the booth next to her.
"Aww, come on," he whispered to her, acutely aware of the table's curious gazes. "It's not such a big deal…"
Hermione glanced at him, eyes hard. "You're being stupid, Harry," she whispered back furiously. Despite herself, however, she softened at her friend's hurt expression. Under the table, her hand touched his tentatively. "I just don't want to see you get hurt."
Harry smiled a little and patted her hand. "I know what I'm about, Mione," he said softly, "and believe me, I'm sure a little hurt will surface along the way. But that's never stopped me before."
"So," Ron interjected loudly. Harry was amused and intrigued by the jealousy he saw in the other boy's strained expression. "Where've you been, Harry?"
Harry debated with himself for a second before shrugging. "Out having a few smokes."
"Ugh," Ron grunted, making a disgusted face. "That's so gross. You're killing yourself, you know," he added, looking as if he expected this to be a great revelation.
Harry shrugged again, patting the pocket that held his fags. "There are worse ways to die." He noticed the boy Hermione had called Dean nodding agreeably. "Anyway, care to introduce me to your mates, Ron?"
A shrill giggle off to his left made him jerk sharply, and Harry bit back a groan upon spying Lavender Brown for the first time. "Mates," she breathed when he cast her an irritated look, "instead of saying 'friends', you know? It's so cute." Luckily, before Harry could open his mouth and retort in a way more than likely offensive, Ron intervened.
"Okay, that's Lavender, and her friend, Pavarti Patil." Patil was a pretty Indian girl, who had, much to Harry's distress, a laugh as frequent and sharp as Lavender's. "And this is Seamus Finnigan, our resident smartass…" Seamus, a handsome boy with sandy golden hair and a large white smile, opened his mouth to say something, but was overridden by Ron. "…And Neville Longbottom", who had cheeks like a chipmunk and nervous brown eyes, "and these two are Hannah Abbot, and Ernie MacMillan, but you can just ignore them because that's all they ever do." 'That' referred to the furious make out session a small girl and only slightly bigger boy were engaged in. Indeed, they showed no reaction to being introduced, and Harry doubted they'd heard. "And this is Dean Thomas, your fellow smoker, and that's my annoying little sister, Ginerva."
"Ginny, dammit, it's Ginny!" the younger Weasley exploded before Dean could offer his hand to Harry. She glared at Ron, then Harry, quite seriously. "And if you ever call me Ginerva you and I are going to have some serious problems."
Harry raised one pierced brow, impressed at how quickly her face had gone from white to red—a matter of seconds. He held up both hands in a gesture of agreement. "No problem, no problem—Ginny. Got it." And when she smiled, and she was pretty.
"Nice to meetcha, Harry," a deep, amused voice added. Harry smiled at Dean Thomas, took note of the hint of interest that flickered in his warm brown eyes, and nodded.
The rest of the lunch hour, which turned out not to be very long at all, was spent chatting. None of the group reacted badly upon learning Harry's sexuality; in fact, Dean looked positively delighted, and Ron let out a loud, "Oh, thank God!" before he could stop himself, causing everyone at the table to burst into laughter, except Hermione, who looked clueless and confused.
The group parted on generally amicable terms and headed back to school in their respective vehicles. The rest of the day passed rather quickly for Harry; psychology with a batty instructor named Trelawney who spent most of the hour telling him that he was suffering from all sorts of terrible mental illness in front of the entire class (Ron, who sat behind him and snickered quietly the whole time, made it nearly unbearable); French with a small, energetic teacher named Flitwick; study hall with Mr. Black, whom Harry instantly took a liking to, and who spent the period telling a long, hilarious story about illegal fire works and the consequences of setting them off while smashed out of his mind; and P.E. with Ms. Hooch and a younger man named Oliver Wood. P.E. was, by far, his favorite class of the day—not only did Harry love any and all sorts of sport, but he also had the class with Ron, Hermione, Dean, Seamus, and Neville, not to mention the delectable Draco Malfoy. He watched Malfoy play basketball the entire period, admiring the sinuous way his body moved as he swerved and thwarted the other players' every moves, absent-mindedly laughing at the raucous jokes Seamus was making and not doing much of anything physical, himself. Malfoy ignored him, even when Harry managed to catch his gaze in passing and leered at him lustily.
This didn't deter him, however. If anything, it excited him. The chase is on, he found himself thinking.
When the final bell rang, Harry met Hermione outside of the girls' locker room and couldn't help but feel pleased and somewhat responsible for the deliriously happy look that she wore. "Good day, then?" he asked lightly.
"The best, Harry, the absolute best," she assured him, throwing her arms about his shoulders and grinning into his neck. She released him after a few bone-crushing moments and positively beamed. "You're coming over tomorrow morning to help me pick out the next outfit, right?"
"Of course, love. Wouldn't miss it for the world." They stopped by his locker, and after looking up the combination, he dragged his battered skateboard from its depths and they continued toward the parking lot entrance.
"I'm exhausted," Hermione admitted, sighing. "This felt like my first day of school as well. I had no idea that people were so tiring."
Harry laughed. "Ah, you'll get used to it. You sort of build up an immunity, and before you know it, you'll be partying day and night, chugging energy drinks and running about like a loon."
Hermione looked horrified. "I certainly won't! I have two exams to study for tonight, and I plan to get at least twelve solid hours of sleep in order to be fully rested for tomorrow."
Harry hid his smile. "I was just kidding, Mione. I'll doubt you'll ever turn into a carbon copy of me. Though I must admit, I'm quite worn out myself."
Hermione fished around in her pocket for her keys, nodding. "I'll bet you'll be glad to get home and have a nap, huh? That's what I'm doing."
Harry shook his head regretfully and dropped his board to the asphalt, pulling his jacket tighter to his frame in the chill winter breeze. "Actually, Mione, I'm headed into town. I'll try to give you a call later tonight, alright?"
Hermione stopped walking and looked at him in surprise, keys dangling from one hand. "You don't want a ride home?"
"Nah, I'm off to find myself a job," he replied, planting one foot on his board and pulling out his Newports. With a quick flash of a smile in his new friend's direction, he pushed off, narrowly but expertly avoiding a flashy BMW as it roared out of the parking lot and faintly hearing Hermione's indignant, "Well, bye then! Geez!"
Humming to himself, Harry picked up the pace, waving innocently at the BMW's angry series of honks.
Response for the Reviews (condensed version):
SuciaBonita: Eeek. Please don't die. I'm feeling much better, thank you...
Savage Amazon: I'm glad I could motivate you to sign up for fanfic, if only to review my story )which is even more flattering, mind you). There is no rape, and I didn't mean to imply it. Just varying degrees of physical abuse. Thank you for the review!
vote-larry4prez: I'm all about setting the standards, lol. And he's not only in your mind, but mine as well--I can picture him perfectly. Thank you!
Daemon Queen Lilith: Oh my gosh! I completely forgot about Luna, and your review reminded me...I'm going to shove her in there somewhere soon! Heh, thanks!
Night: I'm glad you got the chappies, and hope you get this one as well!
LJMharry: I have no idea how many chapters this will be. To be honest, I don't even know where the hell I'm going with it. Here's hoping for the best, though, and good luck with your story! Thank you.
Jazzylady: I don't know for sure, but I'd say sometime in the next two or three chapters. Thanks!
Madizon: That was one of the nicest reviews I have ever gotten--thank you very much.
ura-hd: The Vernon-Harry interaction is particularly difficult for me to write. I'm trying to make it seem harsh, yet easily hidden. I plan to have several people discover the truth, however, and I don't know if Vernon will be charged yet. Any advice would be welcome, and thanks for reviewing!
Rit-Globe: Harry had some money saved from his job in Surrey, and he had several cartons of cigarettes saved up. I'm forcing him to get a job, though--he's running low on cash and Newports. Thanks!
atlantis: Actually, I took that line from something I myself am frequently telling my friends. Lol. Thanks!
Kuramalovergirl15: Lol, no, the Grangers aren't going to adopt Harry, but Hermione will find out about the abuse. Thank you for reviewing.
non-descript-personl, Dragon Smile, amber-eyez456, The Angsty Gothic Angel, LenJade, SnakeTalker, charlle, asphyxiation1013, DreamersDisease, Rin Kanzaki, elvengoddess696, emedragon, HPDM-Slash-Rocks, Danish Girl, Angels Whisper, blackreflectednightmare, zoomaphonethepirate, gothic-looser, D EDMUN, Sezza Ridka, theTigersFire, Slash-Lover, Hawkenten, Faren'sFowl, FlamencoPenguin, Keeyan, driven to insanity, ISC, Crystal Moon Dragon, Bibilien, cottoncandy, Dea Puella, Mistress Vamp, magic-shield, lita-2003, fudgebaby, angelkitty77, Raven's Light, Squirrelswillrule, and Sandalino Silvio Leif:
Thank you all, and I am deeply, deeply sorry that Idon't havethe energy or the health to respond to everyone individually. The next few chapters might continue in this vein, and for that I apologize...
A/N #2: A question for my reviewers: Out of curiousity, how many of you are male? I just keep imagining a load of pretty gothic fangirls...