Chapter 15: To the Maze
The green of his dress robes was played off as a way to bring out the green in his eyes, and the bracelet was explained away as it had his parents names engraved within it.
He danced the night away, trying hard to keep his mind off of his mentor, who stood near the doors, opposite the snack bar, giving death glares to anyone who attempted to spike the drinks.
He spoke with his friends, complimenting them on their clothing or how they chose to do their hair. Harry was truly having fun, and the fact that he was surrounded by girls seemed to take suspicions away from him regarding his sexuality.
A few girls touched his arms, or laughed at his jokes, but it all felt hollow. He wanted to sit in silence with his new siblings or just hang out with his best friends. But Ron was still being a git about the tournament, and Hermione was still dancing with Krum in a daydream like state.
The two looked good he had to admit, though when he saw Ron looking at them throughout the night, he knew what was going on.
He could see the beginnings of a crush, coupled with jealousy in his friends blue eyes. It would not end well, Harry concluded. Hermione was just not into Ron the way he seemed to be into her. The red head was a bit too immature for the brunette, and while they could be good together in the future, Harry just didn't see it happening any time soon. Especially after Ron had commented saying that she actually looked like a girl in her pink dress. No, he was a long ways away from having the girls attention.
Halfway through the night, Harry excused himself from the group of giggling girls, and made his way to his adoptive sisters.
They were alone at a table surrounded on either side with people trying to gain their attention.
He hadn't realized just how popular the two were until this moment. Coming to a stop he wasn't sure whether he would be able to talk to them in school. Would they want to ignore him now that they knew how unpopular he was compared to them??
However Aubrey saw him and beamed in his direction, pulling out a chair and calling to him.
The two were dressed almost identically in nice sunset yellow, Ryan in suit robes and Aubrey in a dress. The two were a lovely match, despite their style differences, the off the shoulder sleeves adding a delicate look to the long flowing gown on Aubrey, and the sharp cut of the jacket making Ryan even more fierce than she normally did. Gold patterns were sewn into their robes, and as they moved to stand, he smiled at the way the fabric shifted in the light, hugging them both.
The two girls pulled him into a hug, and when they finally let him go, they somehow managed to drop the bomb that he was their brother without even knowing it.
"Mother truly did well with picking out your dess robes Har-bear!" Aubrey giggled, knowing that in the short time they've known the boy, Harry absolutely hated the nickname but never told them.
Even now he was cringing at the nickname, but when his sisters dragged him to the table he couldn't help but smile.
"So brother," Ryan began, pulling him down into his seat. The group around them seeming more interested at the term 'brother', "How is the night going for you?"
Harry tried to explain without showing his inner turmoil, but he should have known better. Aubrey had been watching her new brother all night, she had seen the way his eyes wandered from his date to their teacher. How he would look away quickly, blush, then try to lose himself in the dancing or in the crowds of girls.
He was so sadly trying to convince himself of something that was not there, and she knew he needed to talk about it with someone.
So she gave himself a look that not many could refuse. It was a look that promised Harry that she would get him to spill what he was hiding.
In the meantime however, the group of three only spoke of general things, and the girls would answer the odd question from their friends or onlookers about their relationship with Harry.
"Yes, he is our baby brother, and no it has nothing to do with you, so scram!" Ryan finally snapped, and sent a group of people packing.
The night carried on like this, dancing with his sisters, conversations with them and his friends, and an overall good night of fun.
Soon enough, more news of his life was spread around the school. 'Harry potter isn't an only child?' 'Potter's a part of the Dunhill family now?' 'When did he get adopted?' And so on.
It took a lot of the pressure off of him finding a fake girlfriend, and especially since he was seen around so many girls during the ball, he left for the winter break feeling less eyes on him than normal.
HPSSHPSSHPSS
Christmas break was spent having fun with his new family, exchanging gifts and another party that his friends, godfather, headmaster, and mentor was invited to.
This time everyone showed up, and while Snape was getting odd looks, the man ignored it all. He was dressed well, in dress robes that looked casual with a blue tint to the fabric. It flared out at the hip, and ended sharply, giving him a clear dominant air. He was still as antisocial and acerbic as usual, and he only looked at Harry once in order to nod once his way.
Even just the nod made him feel his stomach flutter, like he was on his broom playing Quidditch again. He only played the odd game this year, as he could not play and focus on the tasks, so the Headmaster pulled him from the main team.
Speaking of, the old man was happy to talk to Harry and find out whether he liked his new placement, and why he hadn't been informed of the changes.
Harry simply told the elder wizard the truth. "You wouldn't have taken me out of there unless I was found dead. He did it before I could find the right way to end it..." He wasn't trying to be mean or hurt the older mans feelings, but he was not going to sugar coat it either.
The Dursley's would have been the death of him. He was strong enough to only endure so much, but the added pressure of a new world, and more adults seeming to ignore the abuse... it was getting to be too much for him.
"He'll never be my favorite teacher, and we may never get along, but I respect him for keeping me alive."
He soon walked away from the conversation, feeling his mood as it plummeted.
He spoke with Sirius and Remus for a while, and found out that the two were surprised to see Snape, as the dragon had not told them of his connection to Harry.
They both looked at him with calculating stares before excusing themselves to speak to the dark haired man.
Harry watched the three for a moment, how his mentor listened to the hushed voices, then nodded. He saw how his godfathers shoulders sagged, then picked back up. How his eyes narrowed and he took a step forward before being pulled back by Remus. The wolf spoke to him in those same hushed tones before he saw his godfather heave a big sigh and nod.
The three adults looked at Harry, and he fought another blush futility until his twin sisters pulled him away.
Looking into their eyes, he knew. Oh they knew what he was blushing about and the twinkle in their eyes made him feel a bit scared.
However, they let him go, presents were opened, dinner was served, and everyone had a wonderful time. Slowly the guests started to leave, Ginny trying again to speak with Harry and stay longer. Though her time was cut short by Juni and Winona, who led her out in order to save their brother.
The look they gave him was knowing too, like they could see his interests weren't in women.
Harry wanted to disappear into the walls and never come out. His new family had somehow seen past all of his admittedly haphazard lies.
He wasn't even convincing himself that he could be straight, but how had they all known so quickly?
The night wound down, and Harry was once again saved from his twin sisters by his mother. "Girls, if your brother had anything he wanted to say, he can say it in his own time. Don't push him."
'Not her too!' He thought embarrassed. Though the fact that they all seemed to know or have an idea about his sexuality and still hugged him goodnight, still treated him the same, and still wanted him, made him feel a bit better about it all.
He may be weird, but he was apparently just the right amount of weird for them.
HPSSHPSSHPSS
The new term of the school year came up quickly, and Harry, armed with a new understanding of himself, and what he looked for in others, set about trying to be true to himself.
It was hard, since now everyone believed him to be impossibly straight. He had gotten what he originally wanted, but at the most inopportune time.
January passed, and Harry found himself swarmed with looks from the wrong gender. He could see some of the other openly out boys drift sadly away from him, and he understood just what denying this part of himself meant.
He wasn't happy with girls trying to paw at him, he wasn't happy with the girls acting like everything he said was funny, or that he was the perfect hero for their storybooks.
He was only a boy, and the fact that they seemed to only see the boy who lived made him resent the attention he got even more.
The second task was getting closer, and Harry was still drowning in all the attention he didn't want. He had taken to shutting himself in his dorm room with Silas, speaking to his hydra familiar to pass the time. Silas had just gotten to be two feet long, and his second head was growing in nicely.
He'd already brought Silas to Hagrid to see if the man had any more information to share, and the two bonded over the small hydra. Now when Harry was out doing the tasks or in classes where Silas was not allowed, Hagrid hydra sat for him.
Silas seemed to like the half giant enough, so Harry felt ok with leaving him with the taller man.
Later, and with the help of Professor Moody, Harry now knew what the riddle meant. The language was that of mermaids, which was why he could understand a bit of it, but not all. The thing he'd have an hour to get back, was something they'd stolen and kept underwater. So, with the help of Hermione and Neville, Harry found a plant that he could use to stay underwater without losing oxygen.
He had tested the extent of his siren genes, but the superior swimming and underwater breathing did not seem to be one of them. So far all he had was a nice voice that carried throughout large areas, and a better grasp at a new language.
Gillyweed it was then, he mused, deciding to let his fellow champion know about the new task.
However Cedric could not use the plant, and in the end, they each went into the second task with a different tactic.
Once Harry saw what was taken, he nearly froze. Under the clear water was people, and not just any people, but those nearest to their hearts. For Viktor, it was Hermione-- which Harry thought was cute-- for Fleur it was her younger sister Gabrielle Delacour, for Cedric it was Cho Chang, and for Harry it was Ron.
The red head was definitely still being rude, and hardly talking to Harry, even after their shared christmas break, but he didn't deserve to be trapped under the water.
As soon as they were given the signal, each champion took their time to cast whatever spells were needed or use whatever they could to get into the deep water to save the captives.
Krum went for a partial human to shark transfiguration, both Fleur and Cedric went for a bubble head charm, and Harry used the gillyweed.
The atmosphere was tense as they all dove into the water, trying desperately to get the others out in time.
Harry got to Ron fast, grabbing at the other boy wherever he could and dragging him up towards the surface. He had gotten stuck on some seaweed, but after getting loose he pushed forwards.
Once he was up, he could hear Cedric bringing out Cho, and Viktor with Hermione, but Fleur was nowhere to be seen.
She came up empty handed some time later, with her charm burst, and she was in tears.
Harry understood that she could not get to her sister in time, and praying that the timing was good, and that the gillyweed would hold out for a few minutes more, Harry ran back to the water and jumped in.
He pushed his already aching muscles to reach the blonde girl, even as sounds above the surface called him back, and mermaids below tried to deter him.
He had the young girl in his sights, and pushing through the seaweed and mermaids, he grabbed onto her. Taking one last deep breath, he held it for as long as he could, praying to whatever listened that he could get the girl out before they both drowned.
His breath was running out, the plant had already stopped working, and he was nowhere near the surface yet. The mermaids were still trying to get Gabrielle back, and Harry was once again caught by the underwater foliage.
Panic had almost set in, when he remembered that he had Khagra's flame.
Placing a hand on his neck, he willed the heat he felt to manifest faster, causing the water around him and the still unconscious blonde to heat up almost unbearably.
The mermaids backed away, and the almost sentient seaweed unfurled from his ankles. With a last burst of his energy and consciousness, Harry pushed up and through the surface of the water, pulling the girl to the safety of the arena, all the while dragging in great gulps of air.
The girl was pulled away from him by her sister, and after the task was over Harry found out that everyone except the champions were safe during that task. On his way back to the castle Harry found himself being dragged up by his collar to his mentors eye level.
If looks could kill Harry would have been dead several times over.
The man hissed out in such an angry and almost disappointed voice that Harry almost felt ashamed.
"You foolish dunderhead, she would not have died beneath the waters but you would have! There are regulations set in place and medi-witches and wizards who are trained in these situations. If the girl had been unable to get her sister, someone else would have!"
Severus was seething, and while his anger wasn't just a front for his worry and adrenaline, he was still peeved that his little mate would disregard his life so easily.
"Do not throw your life away for a tournament you were forced to participate in." The man let him go, then left, and Harry had to take in a deep breath.
He wasn't supposed to be attracted to that show of dominance was he? The man simply meant to scare some sense into him, not turn him on, so why was his body betraying him like this?
He ducked into the castle, racing towards his dorm so no one could see his blush or tented trousers. It was mortifying that he got so excited around the older wizard, even when the man was genuinely angry.
Once he was in the dorm, he lost himself to his spiralling fantasy.
There was just something about how the man brought him up to his level, the way his eyes flashed with worry and warning, the way he nearly breathed out smoke into Harry's face, just barely restraining himself from losing control.
He could feel the mans claws against his neck for only a few moments, and he focused on that feeling and image, while he got undressed.
Eyes closed, he flopped onto his bed, and cast a silencing charm around the closed bed curtains. He couldn't help himself, and as he reached lower into his briefs, he knew there was nothing he could deny anymore.
Meanwhile Severus was just calming down in his office when he was struck by a sudden sense of arousal from his mate.
He chuckled darkly at the prospect of his mate liking the idea of being manhandled, and got back to grading the assignments he had set the day before.
HPSSHPSSHPSS
The next few months passed slowly, and in his down time one afternoon, Harry reminisced on the date he hadn't really wanted in the first place.
Cho had asked him out before the second task, and he hadn't truly been listening, so he had agreed, and later he felt it would be wrong to back out. Thus was the start of his first disastrous date as a teen.
They had gone out on that Hogsmeade weekend and had a date at Madam Pudifoot's on Valentine's day. It was truly horrid with all the pink and hearts, and what was worse, was that Cho also knew Harry liked boys, and was trying to hide it. She could tell that he liked Cedric, and she had asked him out in order to let him know that if he wanted to hide, she would help.
He could see Hermione in the shop as well, and he knew from the look she shared with Cho that his best friend was in on it too. He wanted to groan, but at the end of the day he had a new friend and a way to lay low for a bit, while he figured out when he was going to come out to the masses.
It wasn't until after the task however, that Harry had decided to wait on coming out for a little while longer.
Ron had already apologized for how he was acting that year, and Harry didn't want to risk another strain on their friendship so soon after this last one.
The redhead also wouldn't stop talking about all the girls surrounding Harry, and if he had tried anything with them.
It made him a bit sick to think about, but he simply said that he didn't like most of them so they were just wasting their time.
He tried hard to keep up the act, to look like he was at least a little interested in girls, and it had worked. Ron was happy to talk about girls, and Harry put up with it, knowing that he could go to Cho, his sisters, or Hermione, and talk about boys.
Slowly but surely he began to let himself be who he was. He went on a date with Luna, who apparently also knew he was gay before he did, and the two had fun talking about nargles and the incident on his birthday that summer. She pointed out that he must not have left a snail and mint under his blanket like she suggested, and he only nodded.
He was having fun, getting to hang out with lots of cool girls, and not be the only one looked at like he needed a mind healer.
Classes moved on like normal, and everyone was actually learning more this year than in previous ones. The schools morale had gone up since Hogwarts was winning, two for three in the Triwizard tournament. Their resident saviour was actually accepting dates from girls, and most of them felt that if they had the boy who lived, nothing could touch them.
The media however, was still trying to find something to write about him, taking into account all of his very few dates, his ability as a parselmouth, and his participation in the tournament. They tried to label him as the boy who wanted attention, the savior of people who were never in danger, the newest dark wizard in the making.
However none of it stuck at the moment, and it wasn't until after the third task that anything would.
They had found out that the third task was a maze, filled with various creatures and they simply had to find the tournament cup to be declared as the winners.
Moody had given him ideas on how to get through the maze, and Harry shared the ideas with Cedric, though the other boy was content to find out on his own if he could make it through.
The two boys were a bit closer now, as Cedric knew of Harry's preferences, and they had talked about the younger boys crush. Harry assured the other boy that it was fleeting, though when the seventh year kissed him he almost took back his statement.
No, he didn't really have a crush on the Hufflepuff anymore, but the boy had soft lips and it left Harry stunned. He'd kissed a boy, and he liked it.
After that they got back to just being friends, and Harry felt more at ease with himself and his friendships than he had at the beginning of the school year.
Just before the third task, Harry decided to take the same line of thought as Cedric, and just let himself get ready to wing it in the final task.
The maze was huge, and as they all made their way in, it became a race with the clock. Who would finish first, who would find the cup and who's school would come out on top? The journey to the center of the maze was a hard one, filled with twists, turns, dead ends, creatures Harry had hardly learned about, and some he had.
It was the end...
