A/N-Thanks for the support. Keep reading and reviewing and all that fun stuff. Love others thoughts on my stories.
It was a lively group the next night when they got together for the next game. Slytherians vs. Gryffindors, Trivia Pursuit, Round Two. The stakes remained the same. The spirit of competition however had been raised. Severus Snape was glaring at his team with a promise of heavy retribution for anyone that screwed up.
Severus got the first question wrong. Draco yelled at him. Pansy yelled at Draco. Severus yelled at Pansy. Hermione yelled at Severus. It was half an hour later before they moved on to the second question. It promised to be a very long night. Five hours later, Slytherian team had this time around managed to secure two pie pieces. The Gryffindors claimed victory, thanks once again to Hermione's incredible amounts of knowledge.
Harry and Hermione slept on the transfigured couch. Remus was again left alone. Three days passed before the fighting ended. The making up however was spectacular. So, no harm done. If one didn't count the broken bed in Hermione and Pansy's room and the very loud ensuing CRASH it created, the dishes that all had to be repaired from Severus and Remus (the rest did NOT want to know in spite of Remus' stuttered attempt at an explanation!) and the flooded bathroom and water pouring down the stairs (so Harry forgot that he still had his bath water running, he was a bit preoccupied!).
During the Gryffindor's dry spell, they decided that the next trip would be to the mall and a movie. Just a very basic Muggle day but one that Harry had also never had before. Dudley had been to movies. Harry was never allowed to go.
Shopping trips for Harry were always a tortured event. His haircuts, being dragged around by his ear, watching Dudley get new clothes and hoping that he would at least get new shoes of his own. Several times he had to use Dudley's old ones and put an extra sock in the toe of the shoe. This time he actually got to shop. And spend copious amounts of money.
But speaking of shopping, it was Draco's favorite past time. Harry had to make a special trip to Gringott's for plenty of money. Harry shuddered inwardly to think of how much it was going to cost him to take this shopping trip. Not that they couldn't afford it, the combined Black/Potter/Malfoy fortunes were impressive indeed.
So once again the group met in the kitchen to head out. At least this time the shock of Severus and Remus in Muggle clothes didn't cause embarrassing drool issues. They followed the same pattern as previously, met at the Leaky Cauldron and took a bus to the mall.
Harry closed his eyes in dread when they walked in and Draco's eyes lit up with delight. Mentally he began to wonder if he had taken enough money from his vault.
The four young adults entered the shops with endless energy. Remus watched with amusement, Severus with ill concealed disgust. They wandered from store to store, Draco wanting to know what every electronic device did, how it worked and Pansy and Hermione got caught up in the television shows being aired.
Harry was just enjoying himself. He didn't care about all the small hand-held electronic items that he was paying far too much for. Especially given that they didn't work in the wizarding world due to magical interference (as Hermione reminded them of, with every new electronic purchase), it was fun. He loved being able to just pick up and purchase whatever items he wanted.
Granted, he had been able to do that very thing in the wizarding world for some time but this felt different. He was in the mall, a place previously a nightmare for Harry that was now fun. Because of his friends.
Discretely Harry went and pulled Hermione aside. They had discussed what they were going to do for their next win. Harry now needed to get the supplies they had discussed. Hermione was going to keep the others distracted while Harry went looking, then Harry would return the favor so Hermione could get the things she needed.
Quickly, Harry went down to a store he spotted earlier. It was a leather goods store. He wandered through and finally found exactly what he was looking for. Finally he took his rather large pile of items to the register. The clerk looked at his pile with wide eyes. He seemed split between wondering if the rather strangely dressed and rather young boy with a t-shirt and jeans could possibly have that kind of money, and thinking Christmas had come early with the size of the commission check he would be receiving on this sale. The total barely made Harry blink. He had pulled a lot of money out of Gringott's earlier. Quickly he handed over the cash left the store and found a bathroom to shrink his purchase.
He then went to find the perfect shirts for the guys. This was much more difficult. Something appropriate and yet something he could actually convince them to wear. He was going to let Hermione pick out her own and Pansy's clothes, except of course the leather stuff he had just bought. He had to buy for himself, Draco, Remus and Severus. Finally he found the shirts for each and appropriate accessories and rushed back to find the rest of the group.
Seemed Hermione had created a great diversion and the group was gathered around her still, except Severus who had wandered over to some books and was flipping through a book on herbs and their uses for natural cures. When Hermione spotted him he gave a brief nod and a grin. She excused herself saying she wanted to look at some books. When for a moment it looked like Severus might follow, Harry hurried up to him to ask him some questions about the book he was reading. It took some convincing but finally Harry bought the book for Severus who believed that the Muggles might just have a few good ideas, these could be a way to go with some of his potions.
Hermione wasn't gone very long before she came back with a bag from the book store. Harry grinned. Of course she had to buy some books. They wandered around the mall for quite a while longer, causing many wide-eyed gazes at most of the shops when they paid in cash for the large piles of goods they purchased.
Severus and Draco both noticed when Harry disappeared. They were perhaps the only two that hadn't stopped looking after the smaller man. It was rather obvious that Hermione was creating a diversion so they went along with it. Just when they were getting ready to go after the other man he reappeared with brightly sparkling eyes and a large grin. He was glowing with happiness so they didn't say anything.
Both felt badly that they had gotten too distracted that week by losing the game and forgot to do what they had intended. Interrogate the green-eyed man about what else he had failed to mention about his childhood. Draco still fumed when he thought about what little he had learned the week before. Severus had spent hours trying to calm his own boyfriend when they had come back from the zoo and he needed to know what else happened so he could best prepare his wolf. The leash may still be needed, with thick chain links, to keep the wolf from ripping the Dursley's apart for daring to hurt his pup.
Finally the group decided they were hungry and found a restaurant to visit. Harry and Hermione decided to order for the group, making sure they got Muggle foods for everyone. Some fried cheese sticks and breaded and fried mushrooms, zucchini, cauliflower platter for appetizers, a small pizza and several various other dishes along with some small empty plates so everyone could share. Then brownie hot-fudge sundaes for dessert. By the time they left everyone was extremely full, even Severus who had glared at the plates in disgust, but found himself extremely drawn to the fried vegetables. He had tried one simply because Remus was giving him those damn puppy-dog eyes and next thing he knew, they were ordering more of them because he had eaten the whole damn plate of them. Somehow he had the feeling he was going to regret it.
They wandered around for a while longer before heading to the movie theater. They didn't actually make any additional purchases, they were feeling too full and content to do so. At the theater they looked over the movie posters and tried very hard to agree on a movie. The girls wanted to watch something called The Notebook, but the guys all agreed no way. Finally they agreed on a movie called Eurotrip. It was an American movie, that was reported to be very funny.
When they got into the theater, Draco was rather distracted by all the bright colored signs and such around the snack stand. Harry and Hermione insisted that they had to get popcorn and soda and candy from the snack stand. The others groaned as they were still way too full from the rather large supper. Everyone finally made their way to the actual theater, arms filled with snacks.
As the lights dimmed in the theater and the volume went up, they stopped talking to listen. Draco especially seemed intrigued by this Muggle technology. He started whispering questions to Harry about why and how this worked. And if they could create this, why couldn't they make photographs that moved. And couldn't wizards make photographs that talked? He kept on asking questions until some annoyed movie goers started hushing him. Finally Harry kissed him to shut him up.
He didn't understand a lot of the movie, Harry wasn't sure if it was because of the lack of time that he spent in the Muggle world, or if it was because the humor was American but in general he found it incredibly funny. Remus and Hermione especially were amused by what was going on. Severus had a look on his face that said he was trying to be bored but wasn't-against his will.
With a quick look around, Harry gave a smirk. He recalled his cousin talking about how great theaters were for certain activities. Slowly he ran his hand up Draco's thigh. He felt Draco stiffen, in more ways than one. Harry felt him suck in a breath as he ran his hand across Draco's crotch, squeezing slightly. Draco shifted in his seat and Harry slide down the zipper of his pants, his hand running over Draco's hardening erection. He smirked as Draco bit down on a moan, his eyes never leaving the screen. He froze briefly as Severus shifted in the seat next to him, but then continued with his exploration. Draco was starting to breath heavily when Harry finally took him fully into his hand stroking firmly. It wasn't long until Draco's eyes closed, his head fell back and he bit down on his lip hard as he exploded over Harry's hand.
Harry grinned at his boyfriend when he finally opened his eyes. He met his boyfriend's gaze and slowly raised his hand, licking across it before sliding his wand out and casting a quick cleaning charm. Draco zipped his pants back up and they both shifted their attention back to the screen.
The rest of the movie passed quickly and the group was making their way back outside. They were discussing it in detail, Hermione explaining why some of the events were considered funny. Harry had to admit, even not understanding a lot of it, it was pretty funny. Harry had fallen to the back of the group, watching as his friends talked. He gave a small smile to himself. He was content. It was a nice feeling. He didn't even notice when Remus left Severus' side to fall into step beside him.
"Enjoy the movie Harry?" he asked. Harry gave him a smile that faded with the knowing look Remus was giving him. He blushed and his eyes widened.
"Four days to the full moon son," said the wolf with a grin.
"Oh Merlin!" Harry was mortified. He didn't even think about that.
Remus stopped teasing Harry when he noticed the discomfort. He stopped walking, his hand on Harry's shoulder. When Harry stopped as well, he tipped the younger man's face up to meet his gaze.
"I'm just pleased to see you so happy. These last couple weeks, you are a different person. This makes me happy. Nothing else matters. Your parents and Sirius would be pleased," he looked into Harry's eyes, letting him know his sincerity. Neither noticed that the rest of the group had stopped and was watching the scene. Hermione had tears in her eyes and Draco and Pansy and Severus' eyes were also suspiciously bright when Harry reached up and hugged Remus, the tight embrace lasting for several minutes. Remus reached up and brushed the lock of hair aside that covered Harry's scar.
"Never be ashamed or embarrassed about who you are son. You are what life made you and the choices you made make me proud," Harry buried his face in Remus' shirt.
His muttered "thank you" was muffled by Remus' chest. He wasn't sure if it was the thought that his parents and Sirius would be proud of him, or the fact that Remus was calling him his son that affected him more. They stood that way for several long moments before he felt Draco's gentle touch on his back. Harry pulled away and saw Severus with the most gentle look on his face looking at the two of them. It was rather disturbing. He thought he rather preferred the snaky, sarcastic, nasty look that Severus usually wore.
No sooner did that thought cross his mind than he heard a muttered comment about appalling Gryffindorish displays from ill-mannered brats. Harry rolled his eyes and sighed and turned to Draco. The group headed for home rather content, despite Severus' muttered comments.