Title: Fall- back
Chapter twenty: Busy Day in Lima
Rating: T
Summary: After the war Harry moves to Lima, Ohio to try and live a normal life as just another invisible teenager. You know what they say about best laid plans, though. KH/HP
Disclaimer: Anything you recognise…. Isn't mine. Though I probably wish it is. Now I'm sad.
AN: So, I didn't do better. I'm pretty sure I actually did worse. I got some really sweet reviews and PMs telling me to take my time though, and I want to thank you guys for that. You're sweethearts. So, the thing is, a lot has happened to me lately. I won't get into it here, but I had to take my time for a bit. Relax, get my groove back. While doing so, I fell into some other fandoms (primarily Doctor Who) and out of some others. And as such, most of my creative energy has gone into new fandoms.
While I still really like Glee, I haven't actually seen this season's last episodes. I'll still watch them, but I don't really like what the spoilers I read were telling me. Anyhoo, this has no further bearing on this story, besides this: You guys PM me, which I love (and sorry if I haven't returned your messages, for some reason I don't appear to be able to), but please don't spoil me for the last few episodes. Thanks in advance
Here's the next instalment of this fic. I'll honestly try to get a new chapter out sooner next time.
Oh, and if you want to message me - which you always may do- I'll get to it faster if you message me on Tumblr instead of here. Also, better chance of me being able to answer it.
You guys rock!
Also, over 600 reviews already, guys! Wow. Just, wow.
Enjoy the chapter, lovelies and don't hesitate to let me know your thoughts at the end of it!
Blaine decided that while there were only very few people that actually annoyed him, Wesley Montgomery was quickly working his way up that admittedly short list.
"Wow, Blainers, looking good!"
And so was Jeff Bradford, for that matter. Blaine sighed, before resuming his vigorous assault on the boxing bag in front of him. Ever since the tie at sectionals – because yes, of course they had tied. How was anyone's guess, since he didn't think the Warblers had been any better than New Directions (or, indeed, even on par with them)- Wes and his vulture of the day had been stalking him to find out what else he all knew about their musical rivals.
Instead of just asking Blaine what he knew about the New Directions ( which, admittedly, wasn't a hell of a lot), Wes had taken to following him around like a bloodhound on a trail. At first, Blaine had laughed about it when he had seen the Asian council member and Thad stalk him in the supermarket, trying – and failing miserably- to hide themselves behind the same carton of milk. He had found it amusing when he had spotted Wes and Nick spy on him from behind a newspaper with cartoon- esque eyeholes cut out of it.
He had been confused when Wes had shown up at his hairdresser with Colin and he had been downright shocked to find him and David in his back garden at home, since they lived over fifteen miles away. Having him and Jeff show up at his gym now though, was the proverbial straw. He stopped his beating away at the bag for a second to turn to the two Warblers behind him, lounging casually on a bench and not even trying to look inconspicuous anymore.
"Could you," he started to ask as politely as he still could, "just stop following me around? Even for just a day?"
Wes raised an eyebrow at him, looking distinctly unimpressed. "Not a chance."
"It's not like I'm in their show choir inner circle or something," Blaine impressed on them, "I'm just friends with Harry and Kurt. I've never even met the rest of them."
"And yet you failed to mention that one of your friends was one of the biggest threats to us winning the competition. A countertenor, Blaine. Really?"
"I didn't know that!," the curly haired Warbler said. "It's not like we hang out around a campfire and sing songs while roasting marshmallows or something."
"Well, how was I supposed to know that?" Wes asked, seeming to be very serious about this. Jeff snorted.
"Common sense?" Blaine replied. Jeff chuckled. Wes turned to him.
"Something you'd like to add, Jeffrey?", he asked archly.
Jeff's laughter stopped immediately. "Nope. I'm good."
"Wimp," Blaine muttered, before going back to his punching bag, studiously ignoring his choir mates.
"You go to the gym a lot lately," Kurt commented while they got out of Harry's tiny car.
"Yes, I suppose I do," Harry himself replied while locking the car behind them. He slung his gym bag over his shoulder and started walking towards the building with Kurt by his side.
Kurt looked at him from the side. "You're not planning on becoming all bulky, right?"
"Why?" the wizard asked. "Would that bother you?"
The auburn haired boy next to him shrugged. "Not bother, per se, I don't think. I just don't think it'll suit you all that much."
"Are you calling me tiny?" Harry asked, his left eyebrow rising to meet his hairline.
"Yes, Hare," Kurt sighed. "Miniscule."
They had entered the building by this point and were heading towards the changing rooms.
"Seriously though," Kurt tried again when Harry entered the changing room, following in behind him, "you've been coming here a lot more frequently. Why?"
"I've just got a lot of energy," Harry replied, pulling his shirt over his head. Kurt politely turned his eyes away.
"Then stop drinking coffee."
Harry laughed, then took a quick look around him before explaining: "Not that kind of energy. I haven't been using my magic a lot lately. Muggle environment and all. I've got magical energy crackling beneath my skin. Exercising helps me release some of that energy."
"But I thought you lived around non- magical people before?", Kurt asked, before letting out a tiny 'eep' when his boyfriend dropped his jeans to change into gym shorts.
"I did," Harry said, before bending over to tie his shoelaces. "But that was either before starting at Hogwarts or for short periods in between my school years. Besides, I had to use a lot of magic last year. I suppose you can compare it to going cold turkey. The magic rebels."
"So, magic is like an addiction?"
"Not to the conscientious user," the wizard replied. "Though I suppose to some wizards it is. I reckon that's where power hungry megalomaniac dark lords come from."
"Huh," Kurt said as they walked out of the changing room and into the gym. "You learn something new every day."
"I know I do," Harry replied. "AP American history is killing me."
"Not what I meant," his boyfriend said, digging through his bag to find today's fashion magazine.
"I know," Harry said. "Still, though…"
"Don't you have Rachel as your research partner for that?"
"What part of 'AP American history is killing me' do I need to repeat?" Harry smirked. Kurt nudged him in the side softly, a grin tugging at his lips.
"Understood. Now go be all manly and sweaty."
"Are you going to be alright?" Harry asked. Kurt held up his magazine.
"I can keep myself entertained. Now go," he said.
"Yes, sir!", the wizard said, jokingly saluting his boyfriend before winking and walking off towards the boxing area. Kurt chuckled and sat down on a bench, settling in to read his fashion magazine.
Reaching the boxing ring and hanging punching bags, Harry immediately spotted Blaine almost literally punching the stuffing out of a bag, his face set in an annoyed scowl. The reason for the scowl became clear to Harry very quickly as he noticed the two blazer clad boys behind Blaine, continuously talking to him.
"Are these two boys bothering you, Blaine?" he asked flippantly, grabbing onto the bag to give his friend a more stable target to hit. The look of relief on Blaine's face was impossible to miss.
"Yes," he breathed. "Please get rid of them."
"It's a free country," the blonde boy said, "We can sit wherever we want."
"Unfortunately," Blaine hissed through his teeth. Harry chuckled.
"You look a little tense there, mate," he said to the boy still pummelling away at the bug. Blaine raised an eyebrow as if to say "no shit".
"Want to work some of that off?" Harry continued while motioning towards the ring and ignoring the sarcasm so masterfully represented in only an eyebrow.
"Dude, did that English guy just proposition Bee?" the blonde boy stage- whispered to the Asian boy, who only rolled his eyes in response.
"There's something seriously wrong with your friends, Bee," Harry said as they made their way to the ring.
"Why?" Blaine asked, mock – indignantly, "for implying you might find me attractive? Am I not attractive to you, Harry?"
Harry sighed, choosing not to answer that since his boyfriend was only a few metres away.
"Oh, just get in the ring so I can land you on your ass for that," he just responded, holding the ropes open so his friend could climb through.
"See?", Blaine said as if this just proved his point while climbing into the ring, "there you go talking about my ass again."
"Shit, Harry, I think you broke something," Blaine wheezed out as they climbed out of the ring over half an hour later. Jeff and Wes – whom Blaine had explained to Harry in between punches- had already left to go back to Dalton. Harry glanced over at him.
"Did you just curse?", he asked, figuring he should really stop cussing if even Blaine was picking up on the habit.
"Really?" Blaine asked incredulously, "That's the most important thing you got from that? I think you broke a rib."
"Oh, let me have a look," the wizard replied, before carefully reaching out to feel against Blaine's rib cage. Blaine hissed.
"Oh, don't be such a baby," Harry said. "You're fine. You probably just pulled a muscle or something."
"Please tell me you're not feeling up another boy when your boyfriend is only a little ways off," a familiar voice cut into whatever Blaine was about to say in reply to that.
"Don't be ridiculous, Hermione, of course I'm not," Harry automatically replied before his brain caught up with his mouth, "I'm just checking for injury, as you should know, sin- Hermione!"
Harry spun around, only to find his bushy haired friend standing behind him, arms crossed, with an amused expression on her face. He rushed over to catch her in a tight hug.
"What are you doing here?" he breathed into her hair, not yet able to fully comprehend her being there.
"I missed you, of course," she replied, hugging him back tightly before abruptly letting her arms drop. "Could you stop hugging me, though? You reek."
"I don't reek!," Harry indignantly replied before letting go of her. "I'm just a bit sweaty."
"My point exactly," Hermione said before glancing behind him meaningfully. It took a few seconds (and Blaine rasping his throat) for the penny to drop in Harry's mind.
"Oh, right," he said, an embarrassed smile on his face, "Blaine, Hermione, Hermione, Blaine."
"Gee, thanks, Harry," Blaine said while reaching forwards to shake her hand, "that just told me loads about her."
"I'm the friend that got him through secondary school," Hermione helpfully supplied. Harry chose not to correct her, since she had a point. "His other best friend and I came over for a bit."
"I'm the guy who kicks his ass on occasion," Blaine replied. Him, however, Harry did feel the need to correct, but something else had caught his attention first.
"Ron's here?" he asked. "Where?"
"He's over there," she said, pointing over to where Kurt was sat, "giving your boyfriend the you-hurt-my-brother-prepare-to-be-hurt-in-return-speech."
"He's not," Harry sighed, resisting the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose. Looking around Hermione though, he could see his red haired best friend talking to Kurt with a serious expression on his face.
"I thought you didn't have siblings," Blaine said confusedly.
"I don't," Harry answered distractedly.
"Don't let Mrs Weasley hear you say that," Hermione said, "she's already on my case for getting you to write more, I don't want to have to lecture you on having a very large, redheaded family as well."
"Can you just not, and say you did?," Harry tried, but the look on her face already told him this was a futile attempt at avoiding the lecture. He sighed. "Fine. But later, okay? I need to go save my boyfriend from yours."
"Actually," Blaine said, looking over at Ron and Kurt. "I think it might be the other way around."
As they got closer, Blaine turned out to be right.
"….no, really, orange does nothing for you, why are you even wearing that shirt?," Kurt's voice could be heard.
"It's the Cannons!", Ron replied. Next to Harry, Hermione rolled her eyes. "It's the best Quidditch team there is!"
"It's really not, though," Harry cut in as they got close enough to be heard. "Aren't they last, again?"
"I prefer to think of it as still. They're a stable team," Ron said, while Blaine asked Hermione what Quidditch even was.
"Secondary school football," she said in return, lying her face off with an ease she wouldn't have been able to pull off before their year on the run. Meanwhile, Harry wedged himself in between his boyfriend and his best friend, throwing the latter a suspicious look.
"What are you doing here?," he asked.
"Just meeting your boyfriend," Ron answered cheerfully, "you've been very close-lipped about him so I figured I'd just introduce myself."
"Right," Harry said, drawing out the word. "Can I trust you guys not to gossip too much while I shower?"
"No promises," Hermione said. Harry figured that was only fair.
"Coming, Blaine?" he asked. Ron's eyes widened.
"Oh, relax, Ron," Harry said while Blaine replied with a quiet 'sure', "there's cubicles."
"Why does everyone think I'm propositioning you today?" he asked Blaine as they walked towards the changing room, not sure if it was wise to leave his boyfriend in the hands of his best friends.
"Not sure," Blaine shrugged. "Your friend Ron takes his high school soccer really seriously, though, doesn't he?"
Later that day, after Harry and Kurt had had coffee with Hermione and Ron and the two friends had come over to see Remus for a bit, they were preparing to take off again.
"You're leaving so soon?" Harry asked while Hermione was still buttoning her coat.
"Ron's scheduled Quidditch practise for seven o'clock tomorrow," she explained, "I've heard George call him the next Oliver Wood twice already. "
Harry checked to see if Ron could hear them or not. He was trying to get Teddy to change his hair to mimic Hermione's though. Then he asked: "How's Fred?"
"He's getting better," Hermione replied. "He's still not all there, though. A bit fuzzy at times. George has been making great progress with him though. There was talk of him starting up in the shop again next month."
"That's great!" Harry grinned. She nodded.
"It really is," she said, before reaching into her coat pocket and pulling out a heavy parchment envelope. "But now on to the real reason we're here…"
"What? Do you mean to tell me you didn't really miss me? I'm hurt, Hermione."
"Oh, shut it, Harry. You know I missed you. That's why I insisted on coming here myself to hand you this. It should be done by a ministry employee, really, but Kingsley thought we might like to come for another visit."
"Thoughtful," Harry commented. "Now, what exactly am I holding?"
"It's your court summons," his best female friend explained, "Assuming you still want to testify in the Malfoy case. It's in a week and a half's time, just a few days before Yule."
"I'll be there," Harry nodded.
"Speaking of Yule," Ron interjected, coming over to join them, "Mum wants to have you over. There's a thing at Hogwarts, too, but Ginny said she'd find a way to wheedle you in to doing that."
"What thing?", Harry asked, a hint of fear in his voice. Hermione immediately caught on to it.
"Honestly, Harry? A dark lord you can handle, but social functions scare you?"
Harry shrugged. Ron threw him an understanding look before handing Teddy over to him.
"Anyway, mate, Ginny said she'd pop by later tonight. Keep your floo open, okay?" he said.
"Tell Kurt goodbye for us, will you Harry?" Hermione asked before reaching over to hug him and give Teddy a kiss on the cheek. "It's a shame we don't get to do it ourselves, but we've got to go."
"I'll tell him when he comes over tonight," Harry promised, before telling Ron that he could tell his mum he'd be over come Yule. When they left through the fireplace Harry felt the distinct urge to close off the floo, but resisted actually doing so.
"We're just going to have to face the music, Ted," he muttered. Teddy laughed.
"Yeah, laugh all you want. You're going to have it easy. She'll just coo over you. Me, I'm going to have my boyfriend and my ex in the same room."
"...so I said to him, I said, don't you even dare think I'm going out with you again, you filthy motherf-"
"Ginny!", Harry scolded, pointedly looking down at the toddler playing at his feet.
"-fickler," the redhead continued, "And then I turned him blue. I got detention for it, too."
"You turned him blue?", Harry asked, aghast, "For how long?"
Ginny shrugged. "Just until he apologised."
"Has he?"
"Not just yet," the witch admitted with a guilty smile. "The other Huffelpuffs have started calling him the Huffelsmurf. It cracks me up every time."
From the other side of the room, Remus snorted. "That is funny."
"But enough about me," Ginny breezed, sitting herself down on the couch opposite Harry and Kurt. "I want to hear all about you, Kurt. I want to know all about the boy that's drawn the great Harry Potter's eyes away from the female sex and unto you."
Kurt, who honestly was still a little shocked at having seen a girl casually walk out of a burning fireplace not even ten minutes before was having a hard time catching up to her. Harry, sensing his boyfriends discomfort, swiftly interjected:
"Now Gin, go easy on him. He's still recovering from learning about magic and here you sweep in, demanding to know all about him. Let him breathe for a second."
To Kurt he added softly: "Honestly, you'd think she would be just a bit more pissed about her ex suddenly being into guys and all that. Instead she's suddenly my number one fag hag."
"I heard that, Potter," Ginny said with amusement in her voice. Harry smiled at her guiltily. "But you're right. I'll go easy on the poor Muggle."
"Ginny," Harry sighed, exasperated.
"Just kidding, Harry. You know I love Muggles. Especially the tasty kind."
"Gin, stop. Please."
" Yeah, yeah. Now, about Yule…"
I told you guys before that I couldn't kill Fred. I just couldn't.
So, what did you guys think?
Till next time!
Love, Robin.