A/N: Thankyou to the 8 out of 186 people who read the last chapter and took their time to review. We appreciate that you gave a moment of your time to read the chapter, but not only that, you also gave us a shout about what you thought and some of you even came up with theories of what happened to Harry. Yep, good question, wtf did happen Harry? ...
But anywho, we quite (ok more than quite, really) enjoy reading your reviews and replying. So thanks again guys. On the other hand to the other 178 of you, all it takes is to click that little button that says 'go' next to the option of submit review, then when the screen comes up, u can write till ur little hearts content, anything along the lines of a simple "more" or "update", and the occasional "this sux balls" is always a personal favourite. So this time we'd really like to hear from a few more of you, else wise how will we know if you want more? So until then, Madley-Tassida.
on with the show…
-CHAPTER TWELVE-
Ex-mas
The next thing Harry knew he was lying curled up on the stone floor in the dungeons. He had a throbbing headache; he was cold, hungry and naked. He couldn't remember anything about how he got there. He rubbed his eyes and sat up. He looked around. He had no idea where he was. He suddenly heard footsteps coming down the corridor towards him. He hurried to cover himself up.
"What's cookin' good lookin'?" came the voice. Harry squinted through the darkness. It was Malfoy. Harry blushed. (A/N: now I personally don't think Draco would say this, not with his place in society, but Blaze insists it's left.)
"Everyone's looking for you, you better get to Gryffindor tower before McGonagall has a break down."
"How did I get here? What happened?" Harry asked puzzled.
"You ran away apparently, Granger claims you wanted to find me. Look it's sweet, but it could have blown our cover. So next time be more careful." Malfoy smiled at Harry.
He struggled to his feet, stiff and cold.
"Here, put this on." Malfoy handed him his cloak.
"Thanks." Harry pulled it on and wrapped his arms around his body.
"Well, if anyone asks, some one else found you. Just walk to the end of this corridor, turn right and the stairs will lead you back to the entrance hall." He ruffled Harry's hair. "I'm glad you're ok."
Harry made his way quietly back to the Gryffindor common room. He entered the portrait hole and walked into the warm room. There was a squeal from the corner of the room. Hermione ran up to Harry and threw her arms around his neck, "You're ok! Oh Harry, I was so worried! Fancy running off naked into the snow! Oh everyone's out looking for you. Except Ron, he's been in the dormitory ever since you went missing. He won't come out. I've had no sleep since. You were missing for two days." Harry pulled away from Hermione and looked into her eyes. They were bloodshot, red rimmed and had huge black bags under them.
"What happened? I don't remember anything. Two days…shit!"
"You had some sort of fit or something after I told you that you're a parselmouth."
"Oh, I remember the parselmouth bit. Nothing after that though." Harry yawned tiredly.
"You went crazy! You started yelling at me like you didn't know who I was. Then you removed all your clothes and ran off. McGonagall's about to have a breakdown!"
Just then the portrait hole opened and an extremely stressed Professor
McGonagall walked in, "Oh Potter! You're alive! Oh, thank god you're ok! Look at the state of you! Off to bed I think." She guided Harry up the stairs and into the dormitory. "Now get some sleep and don't come out until you're fully recovered, the Christmas holidays started yesterday." She shut the door behind him. Harry looked over to Ron's bed. Ron had shut the curtains of his four-poster. Harry changed into his pyjamas and crawled into bed. He was asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. He didn't wake up until the next afternoon.
He got up and dressed. The curtains around Ron's bed were still closed. Harry spent Christmas Eve alone in the common room. It wasn't until Harry went upstairs that he
ran into Ron. All the other boys had gone home for Christmas break so they were alone. Harry walked in tired and ready for bed when he bumped into Ron.
"Oh, hi Ron! Haven't seen you for a while. I had a fit or something. I can't really remember much," Harry tried to make it as light and happy as possible.
"Yeah, I know," grunted Ron.
"Well, it's Christmas tomorrow. Excited?" Harry tried to keep the conversation going.
"Yeh, real excited," Ron said sarcastically.
"Well, I've got you a present!" Harry said cheerfully but was quickly losing his enthusiasm.
"Oh…" Ron looked up; he seemed less cold all of a sudden.
"But you'll have to wait until tomorrow to open it," Harry teased.
"Oh, of course," Ron looked up towards the ceiling, "Oh, it seems we're under the mistletoe Harry."
"Uh oh!" Harry looked up and sure enough there was a bunch of mistletoe hanging from the roof above them, "Well, we… we can't… it doesn't matter…" Harry turned away but Ron caught his arm and pulled him back. Before Harry knew it Ron pressed his soft warm lips to Harry's. When he pulled away Ron smiled at him, "Couldn't have you getting boils all over your face if we didn't…"
Harry just turned his back and climbed into bed. His lips tingled on the spot that they had touched Ron's. Harry had quite a restless sleep that night, full of dreams of Ron and Draco.
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Christmas morning dawned bright and early. The boys were woken by Hermione who stormed into the dormitory and threw their bedclothes off.
"Come on! It's Christmas! Let's open presents!" she said joyfully.
"Pezenz…wah…buu Herminghnee it's szz am…" Harry mumbled, his brain thick with sleep.
"Yes, I know it's 6am Harry, but it's Christmas! Come on, get up! Hurry! Before Fred and George bring out more vegetables," Hermione said warningly.
Ten minutes later both boys were dressed and walked into the common room bleary eyed and carrying handfuls of presents, to find Hermione and Ginny sitting together on an armchair. Ron was too tired to care.
They exchanged gifts excitedly. From Hermione Harry got a handy book called 'How to Cope with Liking the Same Sex!' From Hagrid he got a box of chocolate frogs in which he found a rather disturbing 'Christmas edition' Dumbledore card- Harry, seeing the nude portrait, once again wondered how on earth he found men more attractive than women. Then he remembered Mrs Weasley… maybe I'll stick to men…he thought to himself. From Mrs Weasley he got a pink knitted jumper and a large plum cake. Ron's knitted jumper was purple- the international colour of gays- Harry noted.
The best present of all would have to be the present Malfoy had gotten him. Of course the sender was 'anonymous' but Harry knew Malfoy had sent it. It was the album 'Jazz' by Queen- Harry's favourite band- for obvious reasons. He quite admired Freddie Mercury. 'Jazz' was his favourite of their albums, although he had also gotten
the 'Best of Queen' from Ron, who insisted he put it on right away. Harry would've
preferred putting 'Jazz' on- but he didn't want to hurt Ron's feelings. So he walked over to the CD player and put in the disk.
"Oh, we're just going for a walk, we'll see you later." Hermione and Ginny exited the common room holding hands. Ron didn't seem to mind much.
Harry turned the music up. It was on his favourite song – 'You're My Best Friend' he was singing loudly to it- smiling as he danced around the room. He caught Ron's eye and smiled broadly. Ron didn't smile back. Instead he walked over to the CD player and switched the song to 'Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy' Ron began to dance crazily around the room and began to sing at the top of his lungs.
"Ooh love- oh lover boy, what're you doing tonight, hey boy. Everything's alright-" he came up to Harry, put his arms around him and pulled him close, swaying back and forth- "Just hold on tight, that's because I'm a good old-fashioned lover boy!" Ron stopped when he saw the expression on Harry's face and he dropped his arms.
"No Ron, you're not a good old-fashioned lover boy to anyone and certainly not me," Harry glared at him, "There's a song I think you ought to hear." Harry pulled out his 'Jazz' album and put it on.
"Hey, where'd you get that from?" Ron asked angrily.
"I got it from Draco actually," Harry sneered. He put the song 'Jealousy' on and sung the words really loudly, looking Ron in the eye, "Oh how wrong can you be? Oh, to fall in love was my very first mistake!" He sung the chorus even louder, "How, how, how, all my jealousy!"
"Fine! I don't care what you think! If you like Malfoy's CD better than mine, I'll just take it back then shall I?" Ron grabbed the CD case and stormed up to the dormitory.
Harry, feeling quite happy with himself, went to put 'Jazz' back into it's case when he saw the 'Best Of' CD lying on the table.
"Oh he's a nob," Harry cackled and put both CDs into the case. He put it with his pile of presents and decided to go down for breakfast.
The rest of the day was spent with Fred, George, Hermione and Ginny in the Gryffindor common room, by the fire, playing wizard's chess. Once again Ron failed to show any sign of life.
No one could fail to enjoy the Christmas dinner at Hogwarts. The Great Hall was decorated with trees, holly and mistletoe and enchanted snow fell from the ceiling.
Percy, who hadn't noticed George had stuck a cob of corn down the back of his jumper, kept asking what they were all sniggering at.
They finished their third helpings of pudding and headed to bed. Harry walked into the dormitory to find it pitch black with only the moonlight to see by. He crawled over to his four-poster bed and fumbled around for his trunk. He heard a sniffing sound followed by a choked sob. He got up and looked over at Ron's bed. Ron was lying on the bed fully clothed, crying quietly. The tears running down his cheeks glistened in the weak moonlight. Harry walked over to the bed and sat down on the end, he started to rub Ron's back. Ron didn't move or say anything but his sobbing became less violent, so now silent tears rolled down his cheeks.
"It's ok Ron, don't worry about it. I'm not angry with you." Harry reached into his pocket and pulled out the cake he'd wrapped in a napkin to eat later. He put it on Ron's bedside table and leaned over to whisper,
"Merry Christmas Ron," he wiped the tears from Ron's face with his sleeve and bent over and kissed Ron on the cheek.
He got up and went back to his own bed. Not another word was said between the boys that night.
When Harry woke the next morning only crumbs were left on the napkin and Ron was gone.
Harry dressed and went down for breakfast. He found Ron sitting at the table alone. Everyone else had already eaten and left. Harry sat down beside him and took a bowl of porridge.
"Morning," Harry said brightly.
"Morning…" Ron seemed hesitant.
"So, what do you wanna do today? It's a nice day, we could go visit Hagrid." Harry suggested.
"Nah…" Ron was focusing on his toast.
"Oh…well how about-" Harry was cut off.
"Hermione reckons the potion's almost ready," Ron interrupted, "She wants us to go there when we're finished."
"Yeah, ok, we'll head down in a minute."
Harry quickly finished his porridge and the two of them left the Great Hall. On their way, Ron performed another one of his speeches.
"Look Harry, I've thought about what you said. I am too jealous. I should be happy for you that you've found someone that can make you happy…and horny, that's more than I could ever give you. So…I'm just going to stay out of your business with Malfoy from now on, ok?" Ron looked at the ground.
"So you admit you were wrong?" Harry wanted to rub it in a bit more.
"Yes, Harry, I was wrong." Ron continued to look at his feet.
"Ok Ron, I forgive you." Harry was trying not to laugh. Ron looked up grinning; clearly relieved his apology had been accepted.
They reached the bathroom on the second floor and entered. Luckily this time Hermione was sitting in the floor next to the cauldron instead of a pile of clothes.
"Hey Hermione," Harry sat down beside her.
"Ok, I think it's finally ready. There's just one final ingredient," Hermione said, running her finger down the page of the huge potions novel they had stolen from the library over three months ago.
"What is it?" asked Ron concerned.
"Says here, the final ingredient to complete the Polyjuice Potion is…oh god," Hermione's eyes widened as she read the recipe.
"WHAT! WHAT!" Ron was leaning forward to look at the book.
"Pubic hairs of the person you want to change into…" Hermione sighed.
"Shit…" Ron looked down at the floor.
"How the hell…?" Harry thought out loud. Hermione looked disappointed.
"Guess we can't do it then," Ron said.
"No! We have to! By tonight we will have the hairs and transform! That's final!" Hermione was determined to make their plan work.
"But how are we going to get Crabbe and Goyle's pubes by tonight?" Ron looked at Hermione as though she was crazy.
"Go up to Percy's dorm. Under his bed you will find a stash of magazines-"
"What the hell are those things, aye?" Harry interrupted.
"Don't ask questions, just do it. So take two of the magazines. But don't open them and especially don't get caught! Then take them down to the entrance hall and wait
until Crabbe and Goyle come out from dinner. Make sure they find the magazines, and then hit them with sleeping charms. Then they're all yours. Remember to get their clothes too."
"Ok, sounds easy enough, but won't people see us dragging them around?" Harry asked.
"Don't worry, I'll create a diversion. I'll do it at seven o'clock. So be ready. Hopefully they will have already left by then. They're always the first ones to leave. Probably stuff themselves so full they have to run to the toilet straight after every meal."
"Ok, we'll be ready for seven. Then we'll meet you here at 7.30pm." Ron looked excited.
"Yep, ok, you go get the magazines and I'll head off to the Slytherin girls' bathroom." Hermione had an evil grin on her face.
They separated, which left Ron and Harry alone, again.
"I wanna know what those bloody black wrapped magazines are!" Ron was quite frustrated.
"Yeah, what on earth could they be? I don't know why everyone seems to like them so much." Harry was equally as frustrated.
They reached the common room and headed straight to the sixth years' dormitory.
"Ok, we have to be quick, straight in, straight out," Ron spoke in a low voice. They opened the door and took two steps in. Harry could have fainted at the scene he witnessed next.
Percy was there alright, and he was on top of a girl. They were both completely naked and obviously hadn't heard the two boys come in.
Percy was screaming out, "Almost there! Just a bit more! Oh, fuck me harder baby! That's the shit!"
The girl was screaming at the top of her lungs, "Oh Percy! Harder! Harder!"
Then Percy let out one loud groan. "Ohh, there we go…" He then sat up so he was straddling the girl. He had his back to the door so he still hadn't seen the boys staring, dumbfounded.
The first thing Harry noticed when Percy sat up was the girl's extremely large breasts; her nipples were hard and erect. If seeing them wasn't enough, Percy then began to touch her breasts. He then bent over and started sensuously licking them. His tongue running smoothly down her naked sweaty body until he got to her lower abdomen. The girl lifter he head and saw Harry and Ron standing, staring. She let out an ear-piercing scream.
Percy got up straight away and turned around. The girl covered herself up in a bed sheet and ran from the dormitory.
"WHAT THE FUCK?" Percy screamed, he hastily pulled on his boxers, but failed to cover his obvious erection. He ran after the girl, yelling, "Penelope wait! It's ok! Penelope!"
"Shit…" Ron was still staring, completely taken aback.
"Yeah…" Harry was also totally shocked.
"Oh shit, we better get those magazines before Percy gets back. I don't want to be here when he does come back," Ron said, snapping out of his daze finally.
"Yeah, quick, under the bed." Harry walked across to the four-poster and got onto his hands and knees. Ron followed.
"Anything?" he asked.
"There's lots of those little blue packets from Herbology, and a few balloon like things with white shit in them…"
"Oh…any magazines?"
"Umm…" Harry shoved his head under the bed even further and spotted a pile of black wrapped magazines, "Yeah, I'll grab two…"
Harry reached in and took two off the large pile.
"Ok, quick, let's get out of here before Percy comes back!" Ron warned.
"Yeah quick!" They ran out, shutting the door behind them.
Once safely out in the corridor they decided the library was the best place to hide out because Percy would never think to look for them there.
-------
Crabbe and Goyle, who always did whatever Malfoy did, had signed up to stay over the holidays too. But Harry was glad that most people had left. He was tired of people skirting around him in the corridors, tired of all the muttering, pointing and hissing as he passed.
Fred and George, however, found all this very funny. They went out of their way to march ahead of Harry down the corridors, shouting, "Make way for the Heir of Slytherin, seriously evil wizard coming through…"
Percy was deeply disapproving of this behaviour.
"It is not a laughing matter," he said coldly.
"Oh, get out of the way, Percy," said Fred, "Harry's in a hurry."
"Yeah, he's nipping off to the Chamber of Secrets for a cup of tea," said George chortling.
Harry didn't mind; it made him feel better that Fred and George, at least, thought the idea of him being Slytherin's heir was quite ludicrous. But their antics seemed to be aggravating Draco Malfoy, who looked increasingly sour each time he saw them at it.
"It's because he's bursting to say it's really him," Ron had said bitterly. "You know how he hates anyone beating him at anything. Especially when it's his boyfriend getting all the credit for his dirty work."
Harry had agreed to still go along with the Polyjuice Potion idea even though he didn't believe it was Malfoy doing the attacks. Although Harry was still a little curious as to what Malfoy was going to tell them. They had never really discussed the attacks or the Chamber together; in fact, they hadn't socially met up since the night by the lake. The school timetable and homework meant that they were always too busy. So Harry was looking forward to talking to his boyfriend again, and being disguised as one of his best friends meant he would probably tell Harry anything he wanted to know. Harry had planned to somehow get Draco alone and ask him some really deep questions…but for now he would just have to wait and see what would happen.
-------
By the time seven o'clock came around they had stationed themselves behind a large statue in the entrance hall, wands at the ready.
Crabbe and Goyle- as planned- were the first ones to leave dinner and were walking towards the steps that lead down to the dungeons.
"Quick, now!" Ron whispered. Harry quickly muttered a spell under his breath and the two black wrapped magazines flew over to Crabbe and Goyle, floating in mid-air.
"Wicked! Check out these!" Crabbe yelled to Goyle, taking one of the magazines and stopping to open it.
"Cool! And they're free!" Goyle did the same.
At that moment Harry muttered a sleeping jinx that hit the two oafs so hard they crashed to the floor instantly asleep.
"What an excellent idea of Hermione's- distract them with magazines- ingenious!"
Just then there was an ear-piercing scream from the Great Hall- "RAPE!"
"Quick, that'll be Hermione's distraction, lets drag them into that broom cupboard," Harry whispered.
They dragged the two obese Slytherins to the broom cupboard across the hall with great difficulty.
"Ok, first we'll have to strip off, then we'll get the hairs and then put their robes on…" said Harry reluctantly.
"Oh, cool," Ron seemed oddly enthusiastic.
Harry started taking his clothes off quickly. He looked over at Ron. Ron's eyes opened wide, he backed up against the wall holding his crotch. He sunk slowly to the floor, whimpering.
Harry turned away and began undressing Goyle. Behind him he could hear Ron unzipping his fly. Harry frowned- he could hear panting… he shook his head and pulled on Goyle's uniform. The panting turned to fast moaning, Harry tried to block out the sound.
Ron let out a stifled cry and his heavy breathing slowed. He got up and quickly changed.
