Disclaimer: All rights belong to J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter series, and Ryan Murphy, creator of Glee.
Warnings: slash, meaning boyxboy, the Harry Potter timeline is shifted, characters might be OOC
Note: This takes place a year before A Wonderful Day
Arcade Fun
"Hey Harry!" greeted Blaine as he neared the boy with David, Thad, and Wes flanked at his sides.
"Hello," Harry nodded at them. As the group strolled out of the school, they headed towards the center of town, passing by many unfamiliar buildings and shops along the way. A sign with the letters spelling Tony's slowed the five students. The faded bricks surrounding the entrance and windows gave the building a rather run down look, similar to brand new jeans fading after multiple washes. Discreetly peeking through the windows, Harry found a majority of the store's occupants to be teens. He snapped back to attention when the door was held open.
"After you," Blaine nodded, letting the door slam shut as Harry entered. The smell of pizza was the first thing that hit him. He breathed in deeply and let out a content sigh before the sound of children laughing and pop music playing assaulted him. Harry casually scanned his surroundings. The place was surprisingly modern despite its exterior.
Harry jerked in surprise when Thad let out a loud whoop.
"Time to party like there's no tomorrow!" He turned around to face the group, vibrating with the excitement and youth of a young puppy. "What should we play first?"
"Where do you want to go first, Harry?" asked David, nudging him with his elbow.
Rubbing his arm awkwardly, he confessed sheepishly, "I've never actually been to an arcade before."
Their eyes bugging out comically, David and Thad shrieked out twin cries of disbelief. They hugged each other dramatically and fake sobbed over "the poor soul".
Still reeling from shock, Blaine finally found his voice. "You've never been to an arcade before?"
After Harry's hesitant nod, Blaine blinked in astonishment. "And you are, how old exactly?"
Harry covered his face in embarrassment. Was it really that weird he never stepped foot in an arcade before?
Wes, who had been oddly silent throughout the whole affair, suddenly spoke out his words of wisdom. "Then starting with skee ball should be the logical choice, wouldn't it?"
With that, Harry found himself being ushered to stand in front of one of many carpeted lanes.
"Behold! The key to the universe!" Thad thrust a small plastic card into the air. "It's kinda like a credit card. Only for games."
Harry decided not to ask what a credit card was.
Thad quickly swiped the card across a machine and pressed a button which depicted a green arrow. This somehow allowed ten balls to slide down next to him.
"Here," Blaine placed one of the balls into his hands. Tossing it from one hand to another, Harry looked at the group of boys.
"What do I do with it?"
"You roll it, you know, like you're bowling," David explained. However, this information was confusing to Harry, someone who has never bowled before.
"Roll it?" Seeing the confusion, David reenacted the movement of someone bowling.
"Yeah, roll it! Like this!" Thad started rolling an imaginary bowling ball, too. Harry observed the two and mimicked the motion of the arm. The trio was unaware of the awkward Blaine standing by watching them and an embarrassed Wes covering his face.
"You have to-," Thad cut himself off, gaining a wicked gleam in his eyes. "You know what? Blaine should teach you."
Stepping back, Thad pushed Blaine into Harry before he could object.
"Um, so you," Blaine covered one of Harry's hands with his as he stood behind him, "rear back like this, swing, and let go."
Blaine guided the motion with his arm, blushing bright red from the close proximity with Harry. "You try to aim for the holes over there."
Harry nodded seriously as Blaine stepped back. He abruptly swung his arm back and chucked it to the other side of the machine. Harry froze in mortification, processing what he just did.
"Uh, that wasn't supposed to happen," stated Thad bluntly. Wes smacked him on the head.
"Of course not, idiot!" He pushed Thad and David in the ball's direction. "Don't just stand there! Go get it!"
When the two reluctantly went to retrieve the ball, Wes turned and offered Harry another one. "Let's keep trying, shall we?"
"I can't find it!" Thad whined.
David scowled in return. "Keep looking!"
"But it's not even-oh! Look! There it is!" He grabbed the innocently glistening ball from its position on the ground.
"Uh."
Thad looked at his fellow Warbler. "What?"
Following David's line of sight, Thad swiveled his head to the left, seeing an unconscious man sprawled messily next to a fuse ball table.
"How hard did he chuck that ball?" David muttered in fascination and curiosity.
Thad shrugged as he eyed the man. Rolling the ball around, he shrieked and suddenly dropped it. Repeating the word "ew!" in disgust, Thad jumped back and rubbed his hands on his shirt and jacket.
"Gross!" he screamed. "There was blood on that!"
Releasing his own shiver of revulsion, David tugged on Thad's arm.
"Let's head back."
"What about the ball?" questioned Thad, refusing to step closer to the toy-turned-weapon.
"I refuse to take part in this soon-to-be crime because one of us will go to jail for this," David glanced around for any witnesses.
"Where's the ball?" Wes asked as he saw the two returning, taking in the paranoid eyes and the paleness of their skins.
"Couldn't find it!"
"Lost it!"
David and Thad shared a look.
"Lost it!"
"Couldn't find it!"
They shouted simultaneously once more, this time switching their phrases.
"We found it, but then we lost it," David explained.
Wes nodded slowly.
"Okay," he stretched out the word. "Well, I guess we'll have to move on then."
"Yeah."
"Totally."
The pair nodded eagerly. Staring at them once more, Wes shook his head in bewilderment.
Just when I thought those two could not get any weirder.
The trio later found Blaine and Harry in front of a huge machine, standing on a slightly raised platform.
"So you step on theses arrow?" asked Harry, gesturing to the floor.
"Yeah, when you see the same arrows on the screen," Blaine explained.
Just then, Japanese pop blared from the speakers, earning a flinch of surprise from Harry. He quickly concentrated on the falling neon arrows, stepping on the designated spots. Focusing solely on the game, he blocked out any other noises that could distract him. Stomping on the last move, Harry lowered his concentration to be filled with the sound of clapping and cheers. He looked on in perplexity at the teens gathered around him with smiles on their faces. Blushing from the slaps on his back as he made his way with Blaine toward their own group, he was caught off guard by an arm thrown across his shoulders.
"Dude! How come you never told us you could dance like that?" David shouted in his ear.
"Yeah, I couldn't even stand a chance against you," complimented Blaine.
"You were pulling some k-pop shit over there like," Thad tried to mimic some of the dance moves only to end up looking like he was being possessed by some sort of demon.
"Quick! Someone get some salt and holy water!" David exclaimed. "Move on to the light, beast!"
"Ha ha, very funny," Thad rolled his eyes, stopping his horrible cover of Harry's dance.
"Is that a play structure?" asked Harry, eyes suddenly gaining a sparkle.
"Yes, it is. Why?" Blaine rose an eyebrow at the sudden question.
Harry bit his lip in hesitation before sprinting up the stairs and through the many twists and turns, making his way toward to the slide.
The four blinked at Harry's disappearance.
"Well," Wes drawled out. "Good luck, Blaine!"
"What? But I don't want to go up there!"
A voice called to them from the top of the structure.
"Are you guys coming up?"
"They are, Harry! Don't you worry!" shouted Wes. "I'll just wait right over there and order some food for us for when you're done!"
"Okay!"
Wes ignored the cries of protest from those still on the ground with him.
"I'm not going up there! That's designed for kids!" David denied, staring up at the plastic and metal death trap.
"I don't even think we can fit up there," Thad agreed, "besides Blaine, of course."
The brunet growled at the unnecessary jibe toward his height.
"Go on," Wes gestured with the tilt of his chin, "Don't want to keep Harry waiting, do we?"
Grumbling all the while, the trio began their reluctant trek up the play structure.
"Ow! This hurts!" whined Thad as he bumped his head on the low ceilings.
"You think that's pain? My back and knees are killing me!" David hissed back in irritation.
Blaine smirked as he army crawled past them. "I bet you guys wished you were 'shorter than Santa's elves' now, don't you?"
"Huh! You wish!" David retorted. He quickly froze when he felt a sudden tight squeeze around his midsection.
"Uh oh."
He wriggled frantically. "Oh no, oh no, no no no!"
"I'm freakin' stuck! Thad! Thad! Help me out here!"
He was desperate when all he received was a bout of laughter.
"Dude! Not funny! Help me!"
David punched Thad's leg when he didn't stop guffawing at his situation.
"Um," Thad paused, pretending to think about it, "no."
Ignoring the furious yell behind him, Thad continued after Blaine.
"Yo, Blaine!" he called as he saw the brunet about to descent down the tube slide. "Where's Harry?"
"Down there," Blaine pointed to the ground below. Harry stood talking with Wes who was holding some sandwiches in a plastic bag.
"Well, let's go join them!"
"Hey, can I go first?" Thad asked.
"Yeah, go ahead," Blaine stepped aside, letting the taller position himself on the slide.
"No! Don't you dare!" shouted David who could see them from his unfortunate situation. "You can't leave me like this!"
"We can! And we will!" With that, Thad pushed himself down.
"No, Blaine. Not you, too," said David brokenly, tears prickling in the corners of his eyes.
Blaine just saluted him before jumping down after Thad, hearing the yell of a man driven insane behind him. He startled when he came in contact with another body though.
"What the-?"
"Um, Blaine," Thad started unsurely, "I think we're stuck."
"What?!"
Loud, mocking laughter carried over to them.
"Who needs help now, suckers!"
Thad punched the wall of the slide threateningly. "Shut up!"
"I think I can climb up," Blaine offered a solution to their problem.
"Really?" exclaimed Thad excitedly.
"Yeah, because-" Blaine shifted upwards slightly before letting out a sound filled with pain.
"My foot's jammed beside you! Move!"
"I can't! I'm stuck! Therefore I can't move!"
Ignoring the hysteric laughter of David and the continuing argument of Thad and Blaine, Wes turned to look at Harry who observed the rising conflict.
"Would you like to eat?" He lifted the plastic bag.
"Sure."
"Let's go," Wes led Harry to a table far away from the chaos behind them.