Thanks to everyone who reviewed! You made me so happppeeeeeee!!!!!!!! So. On with the fic. Feel free to offer any suggestions that you might have, cause I might just work them in… ^^
Harry James Potter was having a bad day. Not content on letting him lie around aimlessly in his apartment, his two best friends had insisted that he accompany them out for dinner and then to a club afterwards. There had been no room for argument as Hermione dragged him from his couch and told him to "Be ready in five minutes, or I swear I will come in and dress you myself!" Not wanting to involve himself in an argument that he could have easily avoided, he had agreed. Hermione had not changed much since their Hogwarts days, and she still had the uncanny ability to make him feel totally and utterly ashamed of himself whenever a situation required it.
Ron, on the other hand, was much more relaxed around the young woman. Having finally revealed his feelings towards the young witch after the fall of Voldemort, they had become a steadfast couple, and Ron knew when to not get in Hermione's way.
So, it was, with only a minimum of protest from Harry, that they all found themselves heading off to downtown London in order to have some dinner and then meet up with some of their old school friends at a club. And, inevitably, it was at dinner when Hermione and Ron decided to announce their 'big news'.
"Well, Harry, you know me and Herm have been going out for a while now…"
"Of course." And it would have been longer if you two had realised you feelings earlier than you did.
"And you know that we love each other very much…."
"Yes. Ron, are you trying to tell me something?"
"What Ron is trying to say," interrupted Hermione, "is that we're engaged! Isn't it great Harry?!"
"Congratulations!" Harry said, holding up his glass in a toast.
Though Harry did not begrudge Hermione and Ron their happiness, it only reminded him that he had no-one of his own. After the incident with Cho, he could hardly look at another girl in the same way again. Cho was probably the only girl that he genuinely liked in that way, and the memory of Cedric had ruined that a long time ago. The memory of Cedric also brought back several… feelings. It's not that Harry had decided that he was strictly gay, but he was definitely bi. Definitely.
Finishing dinner rather late, they decided to head to the club where they were going to meet their friends. Dean and Seamus had confirmed they would be coming, as well as Lavender and Parvati, and Neville had taken time out of his successful medicinal plant business to come. Obviously, they had been coerced into it by Hermione to make the night just that much more memorable. Heading towards the club, Harry was slightly amused by the name that he saw, highlighted in large letters above the entrance.
The Viper's Nest.
Going inside, he decided that he would try to enjoy the night ahead of him, even if it meant staying sober in order to make sure that the rest of his friends made it home safely. Gryffindors were notorious for being brave, but that also meant that when they were drunk they could also do some of the most "brave" and portentously dangerous stunts that they could think of. Stepping into the club, they found most of their friends already sitting around a table near the back of the club. Dean and Seamus were already half drunk, while Parvarti and Lavender were sipping on cocktails.
Deciding that he would self-designate himself as chaperone for the night, Harry watched as his friends got more and more drunk. They were all drinking and laughing and having a good time as they celebrated the engagement of two of their closest friends. Ron and Hermione were in especially good spirits, at one time getting up to wildly gyrate to a popular dance song in the middle of the dance floor, to everyone's amusement and Harry's rather distracted horror.
His friends were so drunk that once when he came back from the bar, Dean claimed that he had seen Draco Malfoy sitting at the bar drinking whisky. This jolted Harrry for a moment though, as he had not really thought about his one-time-nemesis since the end of the war; no-one had heard of him since then, and it had already been four years. No-one decided to take Dean seriously though, after he staggered back to their table a few minutes later, saying how he was POSITIVE that he saw the tiger motif on the wall behind them wink at him.
"… I swear…. that…that tiger. On the wall be'ind you…. It winked at me…."
"Dean, perhaps you should stop drinking…"
"What! Maybe you should start drinkin, 'arry! I ain't seen you have anything yet! Then you can come and join me and the tiger…."
It was after the "gyrating couple" (raunchy cat calls and howling from Dean, Neville and Seamus), and "winking tiger" incident that Harry decided that it was time that his friends should be getting home. Managing to drag them all outside on the pretence that they were going to go to another club, he managed to bundle them all into a cab, making sure each of them got home safely, and leaving the cabbie enough money to be compensated with having to drive the rowdy bunch home. Taking in a deep breath as he watched the cab drive off, he decided that he could do with some fresh air, and decided that walking home wouldn't be such a bad idea.
Yes. Walking home would give me some time to clear my thoughts. Bundling his hands into his coat pockets, he turned to walk down the familiar night streets. Now that Hermione and Ron were finally getting married, he felt like even more of a third wheel. There was no doubt that he would be welcomed with open arms to their home, but it would be their home, not his. He couldn't help but the feel slightly depressed that he did not have a significant other in his life. He had learnt a long time ago that it was more difficult for others to take him at face value; they always saw the scar, not the person behind it. To most of the wizarding world, he was the boy-who-lived, or the boy-who-defeated-Voldemort, not Harry, never just Harry.
Turning down a dark alley, he was met with the sight of two men standing above a huddled form on the ground. Walking closer, he made out the battered form of a blonde man, probably the same age as himself, curled around himself, obviously trying to protect his ribs.
"What's going on here?" he asked. One of the men turned around as the other continued to kick the prostrate figure. "Stop that! You'll kill him!"
"If you know what's good for you, then you'll pretend you didn't see this." He said, before turning around and landing a swift kick to the man's back. Indecision briefly flitted through is mind. It would be easier to just leave them alone…. NO! I just can't leave him to be bashed to death!
"No! You've got to stop!"
"Oh yeah?! Make me!"
"…" I need something that will disable them, but will leave hem with a minimum of damage… "Pertificus totalus!" The two thugs that had been beating the boy fell to the ground. Looking over, he saw the bashed man try to get up. He succeeded, but then immediately clutched at his chest, breath coming in heaving gasps. Moving over towards the injured man, he grasped him by the arms. Turning him around, he saw the flash of silver eyes before they rolled back and his eyelids closed. I only know one person with eyes like that. "Draco?!"
Looking at the beautiful boy lying in his arms, he decided that there was only one thing that he could possibly do at the moment. He would have to take him to his apartment to rest.
O.K, I SO know you guys are like get on with it, but I felt that I had to throw in something like this. Don't worry, I will try to update regularly, since I am on my uni holidays, and the only thing I have to do nowadays is go to work. Even if I forget, I'll have my sister forcing me to write, so no need to worry. ^^*
So please! Read and Review!!!!!
Oh, and btw, to the person who called me a (and I quote) "bastard", I am, *ahem*, most definitely a "bitch". You get my drift?