Author's Note: Trigger warning for LBGTQ slurs in this chapter.

Also, many of you commented that you felt bad for Andrew for being used. While I won't lie, what Harry is did was definitely not smart, it was never my attention to just have Harry use someone else. I hope these next two chapters make you all feel a little better about the situation. Of course, it's still not Drarry, so how good can it be amiright?

Harry had to admit he was not mentally present in any of his classes for the rest of the day. On the one hand, he was happy he had a date with a boy who seemed genuinely excited to have a date with him. On the other hand, he had basically just outed himself to the entire school because Draco Malfoy had made him mad. Word spread quickly, and by the time he had finished his last class of the day it seemed everyone knew. No matter where he was Harry was met with stares and whispers. He stopped dead in his tracks as he realized how unbearable the Great Hall would be.

"Uhh, I don't think I'm hungry," he said and turned on his heel, only to stop as he wasn't sure where exactly to go.

"Oh come on," Hermione said as she grabbed his arm and started dragging him down the hall. Neville followed behind the two of them. Hermione shepherded them into an empty classroom and closed and locked the door. Harry took a breath of relief and sank into the nearest chair. Hermione looked at him with her hands on her hips. "So, do you want to tell us what all that was about?"

Harry looked up at his best friend desperately. "I did something stupid."

"Well, yes that has been established," Hermione responded. She plopped herself down next to him. Neville calmly sat on the other side.

"So what exactly happened?" Neville asked. "How long have you liked Andrew?"

"Umm…"

"Harry," Hermione said disapprovingly. "You do like Andrew right?"

"Well," Harry stalled, "He is very cute. And he seems incredibly friendly."

"But?"

"Well, I don't really know him that well outside of those two things," Harry said.

"Then why did you ask him out?" Neville asked confused.

"Um…well…you see," Harry stuttered. "The thing is…I do like someone…and that person sort of…made me mad."

"Harry James Potter are you telling me you asked out a boy for revenge on another boy!" Hermione yelled. Harry refused to meet her eyes. Next thing he knew, a sharp thump arrived to the back of his head.

"OW!" he exclaimed.

"Well you deserved it!" Hermione insisted.

"It kind of sounds like you did Harry," Neville agreed.

Harry sighed. "Yeah I know," he said. "I don't intend to use Andrew honestly. He really is cute. And nice." He looked up at his friends. "I won't lead him on I swear. I mean, how will I know if I like him if we don't go out? Right?"

"And if you decide you don't like him?" Hermione asked.

"I will tell him and move one," Harry said. "Promise. I am interested I swear. I just…well I wouldn't have done what I did if I wasn't mad."

"So…who was it?" Neville asked.

Harry looked up at the expectant faces of his friends. "I didn't want to tell you guys because I know you won't like it."

Hermione sighed. "Well, we certainly won't force you to tell us, but you need to be careful Harry. The entire school knows now. How do you feel about that?"

"Nauseous," Harry answered. "This is not how I imagined things going down. How do you think they're reacting?"

"I can't speak for the rest of the school," Neville said. "But I would think the people who supported you before likely still will. There may be a few who feel the same as Ron, but I can't see them switching sides for it."

"Neville's probably right," Hermione said. "But it's just another storm you'll have to weather Harry."

"But we're here for you," Neville added.

"Thanks guys."

Harry decided to skip dinner and hole himself up in his dorm room, away from prying eyes. As soon as he was sure the room was empty, he pulled out his two-way mirror and called for his godfather. In a few seconds, Sirius' face was before him.

"That was fast," Sirius remarked. "Ron causing trouble?"

"No," Harry said. "He's just been ignoring me."

"That's probably for the best," Sirius remarked. "So what's up kiddo?"

"Uhh…well…you see…I may have outed myself to the entire school because Draco pissed me off," Harry answered sheepishly.

Sirius' eyes grew wide and his jaw dropped. "You did what?" he asked when he finally regained his composure.

"I…outed myself," Harry responded.

Sirius rubbed his face. "I'm going to need details."

"So you remember how I had to tell Cho that I was gay to explain why I didn't like her?" Harry asked. Sirius nodded. "Well, she was kind enough to point me in the direction of a Ravenclaw in my year named Andrew Brown."

Sirius raised an eyebrow. "You never mentioned that," he remarked. "I thought you were hooked on Malfoy?"

"I am," Harry said. "But there's so many complications, that I was grateful for Cho. It was almost like a back-up plan you know?"

"Uh huh," Sirius said. "So…you just went for it?"

"Well, I only just met him on the train back," Harry explained. "I literally ran into him. And he's really cute, and he also seems really nice. I wasn't sure if I was reading into things at first, but it seemed like Cho's assumption might have been right. And, well…Draco saw us talking a few times and got mad about it."

"Why would that make him upset?" Sirius asked. "Does he like you too?"

"Well that's what I thought!" Harry exclaimed. "He wouldn't give me a straight answer. I mean, that's the only thing it can be right?"

"I don't pretend to understand how the Malfoy brain works," Sirius said. "But personally, I don't see any other option."

"Me neither," Harry agreed. "And he was going on about me throwing myself at Andrew, and well…I saw them both in the same hallway and I sort of just…you know…"

"Acted impulsively?" Sirius asked.

"Maybe," Harry answered.

"So what exactly did you do?" Sirius asked.

"Well, the next Hogsmeade's trip is on Valentine's Day," Harry began.

"Oh Harry," Sirius said with a laugh. "Don't say it."

"I may have…marched right up to Andrew and asked him to go with me," Harry admitted bashfully. At this, Sirius burst out laughing. "It's not funny!"

"It kind of is," Sirius wheezed through his laughter. "Did he at least say yes?"

"He did!" Harry exclaimed as Sirius wiped tears from his eyes. "So you know, at least I got a date out of it right?"

Sirius was still laughing, albeit a little more quietly. "There's always a silver lining," he agreed. "How did the school take it?"

At that Harry sobered up. "There was a lot of stares and whispers," he said. "But I didn't have the courage to stick around to find out."

His godfather sighed. "I don't think it will make much of a difference in terms of whose side people are on," he said. "But those who are already against you will just have more ammunition. Especially the purebloods. They won't look lightly on this."

"I know," Harry said. "But in a way, it's good right? I don't have to hide anymore?" He looked to his godfather for reassurance.

"As someone who also had to come out," Sirius explained, "I think that yes, it will be a good thing in the long run, but you will have to take a lot of shit for it now." Harry nodded quietly. "Lean on your friends Harry. This is when you will need them the most." Harry nodded again. "And just know that whenever you need me, I'm here."

"Thanks Sirius," Harry answered.

"Don't mention it kid," Sirius said.

Harry made sure to clear his head before going to bed. It was hard, probably the hardest time he had ever had of it, but if there was any day he didn't want intrusive thoughts, it was this one.

The next morning, Harry, flanked by Hermione, Neville, and all the Weasley's except Ron, made his way down to breakfast. The others assured Harry that they had scoped out the house, and it appeared that the majority of Gryffindor was fine with the news of Harry's sexuality. It gave Harry a small sense of relief and a bit of extra courage.

Of course, the morning's Daily Prophet had to rain on the parade with a front page article: THE BOY WHO LIKES BOYS! Harry wasn't sure how they had gotten the information, nor how they had spoken to students so quickly. Several Slytherins had expressed disapproval of having a gay classmate, and so had several of their parents. Although, Harry was happy to note there was no mention of Andrew. He had no desire to drag the other boy into his mess. Well, any further into it.

It seemed, however, that his friends' assessment of Gryffindor house had been correct. His classmates immediately began picking apart the article, even making fun of those who had spoken out against them. The table quickly devolved into laughter. Soon Harry felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned to see Cho and Luna both standing behind him.

"Hey guys!" Harry said brightly.

"Glad to see you're in a good mood," Cho responded.

"It helps having good friends," Harry said, gesturing to the table. "Oh, and I guess I owe you a thanks for the tip!"

"Happy to assist!" Cho said. "Glad everything worked out."

"I was a bit surprised," Luna chimed in. "Given our previous conversation. But I'm happy for you none the less."

"Thanks Luna," Harry said.

"We also wanted to let you know," Cho added, "that those of us in Ravenclaw who supported you before, still do. This doesn't change anything."

"Thanks guys," Harry said. "That means a lot. It takes some weight off."

"Yes, that was the idea," Luna said cheerfully.

Harry thanked them again, and he and his friends headed to their first class. It seemed that Sirius' assumption had been correct. Those who already supported him still seemed to. A few of the guys seemed a bit uncomfortable, but not enough to switch sides. There were of course those who did not support Harry, and they were not all Slytherins. Although most of them were, for some reason Harry got the feeling that some of them may have just been following the lead of the more important families.

Most of the teachers carried on as if nothing had happened, for which Harry was grateful. The one exception was of course, Umbridge. Harry was dreading the next time he had her class. As it was, she kept sending him dirty looks. He consider his conversation with Draco weeks prior and thought that perhaps he had just succeeded in making her hate him more. But that was a problem for another day, or so he thought.

After his last class, Harry and his friends were making their way to the Great Hall, complaining about the amount of homework they were getting.

"You would think that they would give us less homework so we could spend more time studying," Harry said.

"Agreed," Neville said.

"You guys," Hermione protested. "When we complete the homework, we are studying."

"Doesn't sound right to me," Harry insisted.

"I'm going to stand with Harry on this one," Neville agreed.

"Hey Harry!" Harry turned to see Fred and George heading his way.

"Hey guys," Harry said. "Everything alright?"

"Yeah," replied George. "Angelina wanted us to remind you about practice tonight."

"She thought all this commotion might have made you forget," Fred added.

"Oh man," Harry said. "Thanks for that. I did forget." Harry shook his head. "I can't believe I forgot about quidditch."

"How do you live with yourself mate?" Fred asked, making the entire group laugh.

"Hey, if you'd had the day I've had you wouldn't remember your own head!" Harry shot back.

"Alright, I'll give you that one," Fred conceded. "I guess we know what you and Ron were fighting about."

"That was part of it," Harry admitted. "There was a lot of build-up of other things too."

"Well—" but whatever George was going to say was interrupted by another voice.

"Hey faggot!" yelled Blaise Zabini. "You and Longbottom look pretty cozy over there!"

Harry looked on in confusion, as he and Neville were literally just standing next to one another. Harry rolled his eyes and was about to retort when another voice spoke up.

"Yeah Blaise!" joined in Theodore Nott. "If anyone else is bent it's Longbottom!"

"Stuff it Nott," said George. "What's got you so concerned huh?"

"Yeah Zabini," Fred piped in. "You guys jealous or something?"

"Ooh, sounds like Potters got a whole list of lovers," Nott retorted.

"Well what did you expect Nott," Zabini said. "I bet the whole Weasley family is bent."

"With so many blokes in one family what would you expect?" Nott added.

"That doesn't even make sense," Hermione protested. "They're brothers!"

"I wouldn't put anything past those weasels!" Zabini insisted.

"Yeah—" but Nott's newest insult was never uttered. Fred had flung himself forward. All thought of magic has disappeared. Fists were flying, and Zabini was screaming. Harry, Neville, and Lee (who Harry had not even realized was there) had jumped into action to hold George back without thinking. But then, Harry saw Nott advance on George and immediately jumped into action. His scramble with Nott was fierce, but Harry had the upper hand. Time slowed down, and it felt like ages later when someone yanked him off of Nott. He looked up to see his head of house looking more furious than ever before.

"What do you think you're doing!" she shouted. "I've never seen behavior like this in all my years! My Gryffindors go to my office immediately! Slytherin's march straight to Professor Snape!" Her glare was enough to make Harry and George turn on their heels and march to her office. "In!" she shouted as they reached her door. She strode in and past them to stand in front of her desk and crossed her arms in front of her. "Well!? Explain yourself!"

"They provoked us," Harry stated.

"Provoked you?"

"They were mocking Harry because he's gay," George explained. "And then they started making untoward insinuations about my entire family."

"And instead of taking this to a professor you've decided muggle dueling was the correct course of action did you?" she bellowed. "Do you have any idea—"

"Hem, Hem." They turned in surprise to see Umbridge standing in the doorway looking rather smug. "May I help, Professor McGonagall?"

"Help?" she repeated. "What do you mean, 'help'?"

"I though you may require a little extra authority."

"You thought wrong," McGonagall replied. "Now you two listen up. I do not care what provocation other students offer you, I do not care if he insulted every family member you possess, your behavior is disgusting and I am giving you each a week's worth of detention! Do not look at me like that, Potter, you—"

"Hem, hem."

"Yes?" McGonagall said, barely holding back her anger.

"I think they deserve rather more than detentions," Umbridge said, smiling broadly. McGonagall said nothing. As High Inquisitor, Umbridge had a right to enact punishments.

"What would you suggest?" McGonagall asked through gritted teeth.

"Well, I believe they need a punishment that will ensure they understand the severity of their actions don't you?" Umbridge suggested. "You know, I was so hesitant to allow the Gryffindor quidditch team to reform due to some its questionable members. Can you imagine the kind of danger these students could do on a field, particularly as a beater?" She paused for a moment to let her words sink in. "Yes, I think a lifelong ban from quidditch ought to serve the trick. And the other twin should be banned too. He would have attacked as well had his friends not held him back. Best to take the temptation away."

"But that's not fair!" Harry exclaimed. "This had nothing to do with quidditch!"

"If one is to learn an important lesson, they should suffer the loss of something they love don't you think?" Umbridge said in her sickly sweet voice. "Yes, a lifelong ban will serve just fine."

In just a short span of time, Harry went from being jubilant at the support he was receiving to completely devastated. And it didn't help that the rest of his house was also angry. While most recognized that Harry and the twins weren't to blame, the fact still remained that they had practically lost all chances of winning the quidditch cup this year. It was almost comical. Everyone had barely blinked when Harry revealed he was gay, but getting banned from the quidditch team was a catastrophe of astronomical proportions.

"It's just a sport!" Hermione protested. "She could have done a lot worse." The rest of them shot her such angry glares Hermione never brought up quidditch again. "I know it's hard Harry, but try to focus on the positive. You still have the D.A., and you have a date coming up!"

This wasn't exactly comforting, but without any better options Harry decided the best he could do was focus other things. Much to Hermione's pleasure he not only put a great deal more effort into his school work, but also his teacher responsibilities. Whereas before he used to half ass a few lesson ideas and wing the rest, now he really focused on what he wanted the rest to learn and how to get them there. It seemed to be working. So many of the members were showing improvement that Harry couldn't help but feel a sense of pride. And it wasn't just in meetings either.

"I told you that you could do it," Harry said as he nudged Neville. They were exciting charms, where Professor Flitwick had just complimented Neville on his progress.

"I said I'd be ready to face Bellatrix, and I meant it," Neville replied.

Harry couldn't have been prouder of his best friend. He was improving in all classes, thanks to Harry's tutoring, Hermione's study plan, and of course, his own personal resolve. "Your parents would be proud of you," Harry said. Neville didn't respond, but Harry could tell he was pleased. They were even improving in potions! Not that Neville would ever be great at it, but as he pointed out to Harry a "poor" was still better than the "dreadfuls" he'd been getting.

The hardest moment for Harry was when Angelina informed him that he, Fred, and George had been replaced.

"Ginny!?" he exclaimed in shock.

"Yeah I was surprised too," Angelina said. "But she's good. Not as good as you, but well we can't have you."

Harry congratulated Ginny, but couldn't help the resentment that it wasn't him still on the team. He didn't want to be angry with Ginny for something that wasn't her fault, so instead he focused on the plus side: his date with Andrew.

He had continued speaking to Andrew in class, and was happy to see he had begun to attend the D.A. meetings. Harry may have given him more individual instruction than necessary. His initial gut feelings about Andrew were right. Not only was he very friendly, but he was also rather funny. Harry was feeling better and better about his date every day.

It was certainly satisfying to see Draco's green dragon rear up anytime he saw them together. If he was being honest, he still had feelings for Draco. They hadn't disappeared just because the blond was being stubborn. But all the obstacles in their way kept piling up in Harry's mind. Those obstacles didn't exist with Andrew, and Harry couldn't deny that was appealing.

He didn't want to play with the other boy's feelings just to turn around and leave him for Draco, but would he ever know what his feelings were if he didn't try?

Authors note: The next chapter is their date! Who's excited?