Wellcome to the Jungle

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, or Glee. All recognisable characters, content, or locations belong to their respective owners. No copyright infringement intended.

Part Two: Sixteen

Chapter Three: Never Say Never

When Harry said most of his friends were in relationships, he was mostly exaggerating. Matt and Santana are no longer whatever they are, and Brittany hasn't started anything (official) with anyone since her thing with Mike had come to an end the year prior.

Puck and Santana are both playing the field, avoiding commitment and enjoying themselves, and honestly, it seems like there's some sort of unspoken competition going on between them. Harry's not exactly sure, but at the end of the day, it's none of his business, and he's certainly not about to ask.

Meanwhile, Mike and Hermione, and Ron and Lavender, have been together for a while now, and Frankie's still got some sort of casual thing going on with Lauren Zizes. Dean and Seamus are both unattached though, and neither of them have any intentions of actively pursuing anyone. Not that Harry knows of, anyway.

All of that said, it sometimes feels like he's surrounded by relationships, and Harry finds himself regularly gravitating towards his single friends, disinclined to being a third wheel, and also to answering the frequent questions of whether or not there's someone he is interested in, so forth and so forth.

Quite frankly, other then Harry's lingering - and entirely insubstantial - infatuation with Daphne Greengrass, there isn't. He finds many of his classmates attractive, of course - he's 16 years old, and girls are beautiful - but Harry has no interest in pursuing something - beyond a single night at a party, anyway - based on physical attraction alone.

Harry won't ever admit that, of course. He'll never hear the end of it, otherwise.

"You know Ginny's interested in you, right?" Kate asks him one day. It's the third week of term, and Kate's spent the last five minutes rambling about the Glee Club. Her non sequitur leaves him flatfooted.

"Ginny? Ginny Weasley?"

Ginny Weasley is Ron's younger sister. She's also a friend of Kate's, and their encounters have been few and far between.

"Yes, Ginny Weasley, doofus," Kate rolls her eyes, "How many girls named Ginny do you know?"

Harry frowns. "I swear I've had, like, three conversations with her. Why…?"

Kate shrugs. "She thinks your cute, I guess. God knows why, with that face, but I guess there's no accounting for taste."

"Screw you too," Harry answers, unfazed, "Didn't she just turn 14?"

Kate gives a confirming nod. "In August."

"Right, then," Harry determines, "It's not going to happen. Ever."

Kate frowns, but she doesn't seem particularly put out. More perplexed than anything. "Why not?"

"Because she's your friend, and my friend's sister. That's just weird. Also, she's 14, and yeah, no thanks. Not interested."

"Yes, well, I'm not going to tell her that," Kate informs him.

Harry rolls his eyes. He's not sure why she told him. He's pretty sure he could have gone his whole life without knowing one of his sister's friends has a thing for him. "Whatever."

Harry pulls into the WMHS parking lot before Kate can start babbling about the Glee Club once more, and pulls into a space beside Fred and George Weasley's beat up Anglia. They're loitering behind it, accompanied by Angelina, Alicia, Lee, Katie, and Leanne, and Harry spares a moment to be grateful their sister hasn't lingered, too.

Given Kate's revelations, Harry can't trust he won't act like an arse around her, and he'd rather avoid any opportunity in which he'd find out, either way.

"I'm meeting Colin in the A/V room," Kate informs him, "I'll see you later."

"Sure," Harry answers, approaching his friends, "Have a nice day."

"You too," Kate calls behind her, already on her way. Harry doesn't watch her go.

"Morning," Alicia greets him. She's wearing her glasses today, square-rimmed frames that flatter her face. She's also perched on the boot of the twins' car, George comfortable between her knees, her arms slung lazily over his shoulders. He has his back to her, his eyes on his phone, but he glances up as Harry approaches, and offers him a lazy grin.

"What's up, QB?"

"Not much," Harry replies. He greets his friends with the obligatory hugs and/or fist bumps, and they draw Harry into their discussion regarding their plans, post commencement.

Fred, George, Angelina, Alicia, and Lee have plans to backpack, possibly work, across Europe for a year, maybe elsewhere if the opportunity and funds arise. They're all saving up, working their arses off between college applications and what have you, and despite parental hesitations - or disapproval, in the twins' case - they're each extremely excited for it.

Leanne and Katie, meanwhile, are swamped under preparations for their SAT's in January. They're also already under a lot of pressure to determine a shortlist of colleges to apply for, and the consolation of two years - until their own commencement - is a poor one.

"Enjoy this year," Leanne says to Harry, tone solemn, "You'll miss it when it's gone."

Harry doesn't roll his eyes, but it's a near thing. "Sure. I'll do my best."

"You think I'm ridiculous now," Leanne says, "But you'll see, it'll be me having the last laugh."

"All right, drama queen," Katie links her arm through Leanne's, "Leave the poor guy alone. I've got to visit my locker. You're coming with me."

Leanne doesn't protest, and they make their way to the front doors with promises to catch up later. Harry watches them go, rueful, and returns to his car to collect his backpack.

The car isn't anything extraordinary: a secondhand Camry with just enough leg room and a temperamental radio, but as far as first cars go, Harry can't complain.

It also helps that he's been promised something better if the Camry survives until his own graduation ceremony, but Harry tries not to think about it, for a number of reasons.

"I'm going to head inside, too," he informs the seniors, still lingering.

"Sure," Lee acknowledges, "Don't slip on the slush."

Harry grimaces. "I won't. Catch you guys later."

"Smell you later, QB," Fred replies.

Harry wanders off with a sigh, resigned to another monotonous day at McKinley.

Surprisingly though, it doesn't completely go the way he expects.

-!- -#-

Over the school's PA system, the three football teams are called into the gymnasium. It's lunch time, and no one seems to have a clue about what's going on, but they do as they're told, and gather in a group in front of their coaches. Mr Schuester, the pushover Spanish teacher accompanies them, and he wears an open, optimistic smile on his face.

"Mr Schuester is going to talk to you," Coach Tanaka informs them, "If you don't listen, you do laps. If you mouth off, you do laps. Got it? They're all yours, Will."

Mr Schuester steps forward. He looks kind of nervous, and Harry glances at his friends, skeptical. What possible reason could he have to speak to them?

"Thanks, Ken. Hey, guys, how you doing? Uh, I think I recognise some of you from Spanish class, but, uh, I'm here today to talk to you about something different. Music. Glee Club needs guys."

There's a moment of stunned silence where it seems the gathered football players comprehend that, no, they'd not heard Mr Schuester wrong, and a moment later, they all relax. Thee Glee Club isn't something they need to worry about - unlike grades or the like - and consequently, they don't need to take this meeting seriously. Not when it's just a recruitment pitch that, likely, none of them are interested in earring.

"I sing," Puck informs Mr Schue.

Harry, Mike, and Matt glance between themselves, dubious. They know Puck can sing, of course - it's not something he makes any particular effort to hide from them - but because Puck's determined to hold onto his 'badass' reputation, it's not something he advertises in school. Moreover, Puck hasn't shown any interest in the Glee club whatsoever. In fact, he's taken great pains to express his disdain for show choir, and neither of them expect Puck's experienced a sudden change in heart in the last half hour.

They're thoughts are proven correct when Puck's demonstration of his musical talent involves a truly impressive fart.

Harry shakes his head, rueful, and laughing despite himself, and walks out with Mike and Matt when they're all quickly dismissed. Coach Tanaka barks at Puck to stay behind, but Puck is entirely unapologetic, and Harry silently wishes his friend the best of luck.

"How is Kate liking the Glee Club?" Matt queries.

Harry shrugs. "She hasn't quit, so I guess she likes it well enough."

"Would you sign up?" Mike wonders.

"I'd need a really good incentive," Harry answers honestly.

Harry would have to be willing to cut back his hours at the Steam House, because he wouldn't have the time, otherwise. As is, Harry doesn't have much cause to be interested in signing up and/or auditioning, but he's not necessarily opposed to the idea.

He's just… Not too invested in it, either.

"Like what?"

Harry shrugs. "No idea. I'll let you know if one comes along, though."

Matt nods, preoccupied. He's looking at Tiana Johnson, laughing with a group of her friends, and Mike and Harry share a glance, humoured.

"You going to go talk to her, dude?" Mike wonders.

"Nah," Matt shakes his head, and shoves his hands in his pockets, "She's busy."

Mike doesn't press him. "Suit yourself, man."

They split in order to head to their respective lockers, and to their classes from there, and Harry meanders his way to Visual Art with his hands shoved into the pockets of his letterman jacket. Dean Thomas joins him on the way, having switched electives at the start of the year, and they'd chat idly about school, about the impromptu football meeting, about the plans for a pick-up game of soccer on Saturday afternoon that Harry's invited to,, if he's interested.

"Sounds good," Harry acknowledges, "I finish work at 12, so I'll be there."

"We'll probably head over to Seamus' afterwards," Dean informs him, "He's stocked up."

Harry nods, "Sounds good. How much does he want?"

"10 dollars each."

"Cheap," Harry comments.

Dean shrugs. "Not complaining."

They reach their classroom, settle at the table Harry shares with Brittany, and speak no further regarding their Saturday plans. Brittany regales them with tales of her misadventures with her cat, Lord Tubbington instead, and Harry glances at Daphne Greengrass too often to be casual, and the warning bell blares shrill in their ears. Their teacher calls them to order, the class falls silent, and the rest of Harry's day can't end soon enough.