In case it isn't clear for everybody by now, end game is Klarry (Kurt, Harry, Blaine)
IIIII
Chapter 3
Of Kangaroo Courts and Warbler Hunting
For the rest of the week Kurt felt like an anthropologist studying an undiscovered civilization. He took to observing Harry and his friends almost obsessively. They always seemed to be laughing and joking with each other. They were carefree and didn't 'tone themselves down'. In a way, they reminded him of New Directions, which was dangerous, because it made them all the more alluring. Especially Harry, people seemed to gravitate towards him.
"Olga!" called a cheerful voice a few spots in front of him in the cafeteria line, which surprised Kurt, since so far he had never seen Harry inside during any meal. "Missed me?"
"Great" she huffed while crossing her arms. "Has two weeks passed already? I was only starting to enjoy the peace."
Harry pouted unashamedly. A few boys stared at his antics with amusement. "Sure it has, I've been starving for the whole two weeks. Olga, never do this to me again! I am skin and bones! Banning me from the cafeteria, I thought I'd die without seeing you for so long..."
"Well, you should have thought that before destroying my kitchen boy!"
"Destroying is such an ugly word. I like to think of it as renovating" said Harry conversationally, crossing his arms behind his head in an easy going manner.
"Give me your plate you brat" she said while rolling her eyes and serving him a considerable more than usual amount of food. "Let's hope you learned your lesson..."
"I did" Harry said with a very serious face. His eyes widened and he looked at her with a pitiful expression. "Can I get some of your miraculous cookies now?"
"Fine! But you don't deserve them!" Olga said while pulling a paper bag from under the counter and shoving it towards him. Harry positively beamed and putting both hands next to his tray he pushed himself forwards, planting a big loud kiss on Olga's cheek.
"You are the sun that lights my days, the birds that sing in spring and the sweetest girl I'll ever meet!" he said in a poetic tone.
Olga scowled at him and swatted him away. "Go away! And eat all your food or I'll ban you for the rest of the month! Don't think I'm not watching you."
"Same time tomorrow?" asked Harry walking backwards with his tray, a cookie already half way in his mouth.
"Food first you immature brat!"
"Luv ugg wo" Harry said with his mouth full of cookies. Some guys Kurt had never seen waved at Harry from the other side of the cafeteria. He was curious to see that the Weasley twins were sitting at a different table, as was Ron.
"What are you lot looking at?" barked Olga to the rest of the line, who promptly stared at their plates. Olga was known for two things, her amazing food and her terrible temper. From the corner of his eye, Kurt saw her staring after Harry with a minuscule smile and warm eyes.
"What was that?" asked Kurt in a whisper.
"Later" whispered Blaine next to him; giving Olga a smile as she filled his plate. She glared at him in response and he faltered a little. Once they were appropriately far away from her he started speaking in his normal tone. "I think Potter is the only one brave enough to have gotten on her good side."
"She is kind of scary" conceded Kurt, considering he used to be a Cheerio, his tolerance of scary was higher than normal people standards.
He ignored for the most part the homework talk going around him, or the Warblers commenting on their last number and kept giving furtive gazes towards the end table, where Harry was sitting with a bunch of other guys. They all listened to whatever he was saying with undivided attention. Laughing in the right places and making interested noises, he made some grand gesture with his hands and some faces and the table burst into laughter.
"He's not as bad as they paint him" Jeff said from his other side, while Blaine entered a heated discussion about the song choice for sectionals.
"What do you mean?" asked Kurt, not bothering to deny he had been staring.
"Harry, he's pretty cool actually. It's very hard not to notice him once you interacted with him" he said while gesturing to the cafeteria. Quite a lot of guys seemed to curiously stare at the end table. "He's very popular."
"I thought he was trouble" repeated Kurt.
"Not really... some guys have the wrong idea about him. He spends so much time in detention because he helps to run them" explained Jeff. "The fencing team is in rotation again this year for trouble students."
"I don't follow."
"Each year a sport club is selected to receive the 'problem cases' of the year, to give an outlet and help them adapt. The fencing team was so successful last year that they did it again this year."
"What does it have to do with Potter?"
"It was successful because of him. That's why he is captain this year, even when he isn't in his senior year... he has a way, you know?"
"A way of what?" Kurt asked confused by the half done statement.
"Of reaching people" he explained further, and smiled with a knowing look at Kurt's insatiable curiosity. "He is charismatic, very in fact."
"How do you know?" wondered Kurt, Jeff talked about Harry in a very fond manner, but there was also something there. Like if he looked up to him.
"He helped me last year" shrugged Jeff. "I was in the fencing team not necessarily because I was good or enthusiastic about the sport, but because I had some... issues. Harry helped me a lot. Being in certain clubs, like the Warblers, is a privilege that you have to earn in this school. He tutored me until I got caught up with my grades, made Coach Moody write a recommendation letter and encouraged me to audition... even helped me prepare for it in fact."
"What about his reputation?" asked Kurt cautiously, realizing that Jeff was his best bet to find out about the real Harry.
Jeff frowned. "I am not saying he is a saint, when he isn't with somebody, he isn't with somebody. But he did have a relationship last year and I can assure you he took it seriously. It ended up blowing in his face."
"What happened?"
"It's not my place to tell" Jeff said. "I only told you because you've been looking at him the whole week, but something's holding you back from actually talking to him."
"Oh… why isn't he sitting with the Weasleys?" he asked.
Jeff looked around. "He's sitting with the soccer team, as for why…" he laughed. "This might surprise you, because it sure as hell surprised me, but the four of them are not attached at the hip, they are capable of spending time apart."
Kurt's expression must have showed how perplexed he felt about that statement, because so far, he didn't think that was possible. The four of them seemed practically glued to each other.
"Ron is close to some people in the swimming team, and Fred and George are sitting with the AV club, my guess, they are planning something… and I get it, they are really good friends, but if you think about it they hang out together after school, during school and live in the same dorm, every once in a while they go their separate ways" Jeff said with a shrug and smiled suddenly. "But it never lasts long…"
Perfectly on cue, Harry, Ron and the twins, without really looking at each other, got their empty trays and placed them in the allocated space, before meeting at the entrance with an excited air. The three brothers seemed to be teasing Harry about something, the latter walking dignifiedly in front of the group.
"Beware Kurt, they are planning something" Jeff said with a shiver, at Kurt's worried look he added. "Their antics are usually great to see from afar, mostly harmless, but if you're not careful they suck you in…" he bit his lip. "My insurance does not cover therapy sessions, I asked last time."
"What happened last time?" Kurt asked.
Jeff stiffened and made a motion as if to tasting something in his mouth.
"I don't talk about it" he said looking away.
IIIII
"I'm not going in there" Trent said shaking his head, while he and Thad stared at the door in front of them with dread.
Squeak, squeak, squeak.
Loud voices could be heard arguing.
"What's going on?" asked Jeff, while Kurt sighed; he was trying to get the Warbler to open up about the things he had said, but so far no luck.
"Potter and his Pythons' wanna be have this room booked" Trent said.
"So?" asked Jeff confused.
"I left my music sheets in there" Thad said.
"I still don't see the problem" replied Jeff.
Squeak, squeak, squeak.
"What's that noise?" Kurt asked intrigued. It sounded like a rubber duck being murdered. It was following by a drilling noise, and hammering; then more squeaking. The loud arguing remained unwavering.
"I need my folder of music sheets and they have the room for 3 more hours" said Thad frustrated.
Jeff rolled his eyes, marched to the door and knocked loudly.
"Harry!" he yelled. "Whatever you are doing, can you stop for a second?" glancing at Thad and Trent he thought it prudent to add. "And keep in mind there is a prefect outside, so whatever illegal activity you have going on should be concealed."
Trent and Thad looked at him in shock.
The door opened and Harry popped his head out, not letting them see what was going inside.
"What is it?" he asked looking only at Jeff. Jeff stared at him, blinking a few times, but recovered fairly quickly.
"Why are you wearing robes? And a judge wig?" Trent blurted out unable to help himself.
"Look Random Warbler of the day, if I had to explain myself every time somebody feels confused, curious or intrigued about what we do, we would never do anything" Potter said rolling his eyes. "Now Jeff, what can I do for you? We are in the middle of something extremely important…" there was a loud thud from the inside, followed by silence.
"Is it dead?" asked a girl's voice quietly. The squeaking resumed.
"There's a folder of music sheets in the room, in the…" Jeff nudged Thad.
"Table" Thad said trying to peek inside.
Harry snapped his fingers, made a nod like gesture with his head to the inside and then somebody threw him the folder. He passed it to Thad, and was about to close the door, when a small blond approached and whispered something in his ear. She was also wearing a judge wig and a robe. She whispered for a while, while eyeing the Warblers, and Harry finally shrugged.
"I don't know, I quite liked him in Chaplin" he said. The blond frowned and said something else. "No Luna, I don't think it would be a wise way to spend my money…" he trailed off, and he looked at Jeff, suddenly a smirk appearing on his face that made all of them suspicious.
"How about Jeff?" he asked and, the girl, Luna paused, turning to look at them and fixating on Jeff, who gave a few weary steps back.
"Awww, I tawt I taw a tweety bwird!" Luna said cooing. She moved closer to Jeff, until she was comfortably standing in his personal space, she grabbed his head and turned it around a few times, examining him.
"He'll do" she decided, and grinned with a glint in her eyes. "Who are we not to eat the silly Warbler that walked to the entrance of the Lion's den?"
"Perfect!" Harry said clapping his hands once pleased. "Jeff, do you have anything to do in the next 15 to 30 minutes?"
"I feel the right answer should be yes" Jeff said nervously watching the procedures.
"But it isn't the truth" said Harry, exchanging a Cheshire grin with the blond.
"No, forget it, the last time you two smiled like that it took me weeks to be able to feel my tongue again!" he protested.
"Weeks?" asked Luna full of concern.
"We must have been off our game, happens to the best of us" Harry said reassuringly.
"We must strive to better our efforts then" she said solemnly. Thad had overcome some of his shock by then and seemed readying himself to rally the younger boys and retreat.
"We have a bunch of Wary Warblers in our hands" Harry said to Luna radiating amused condescending.
"Do you think it's necessary?" asked Luna, seemingly understanding what was said in between the lines.
"I do" Harry said, leaning against the doorway and waiting for something to happen.
"If we must, we must" she said poetically, her hair falling over her face and hiding it. "I trust your judgment."
"Oh Luna, never a more courageous and foolish sentiment has been expressed in my presence" said Harry grandiosely.
Before they could make sense of those words, Luna raised her face and froze them. Her lower lip was quivering, her eyes full of unshed tears and she suddenly seemed very, very small. Kurt felt everything inside of him melting, and the need to wrap her in a blanket and give her everything she wanted overwhelmed him. Potter, the heartless bastard was eyeing his nails in disinterest.
"Stop her!" Jeff said pleadingly, and sounded pained.
"She's about to start crying" Harry said. "You really don't want it to go that far Jeffrey, because then a small part of your soul will die… and her face will haunt you… forever."
"Ok, I'll do it! Just stop her!" said Jeff unable to look away.
"That's enough" Harry said patting Luna in the head twice. In the blink of an eye, her face cleared.
"You soulless monster" Jeff said with a shaky voice. "You're going to take over the world aren't you?"
"Of course not Jeff, then I'd be unable to resist pushing the self-destruct button that I would have commissioned for my birthday" Harry said like it was the most obvious answer in the world. Jeff sulked. "Now, be a good sport and accept your fate. I have three other girls in there trained to cry on command and you don't want to cross me."
"Fine! But only 20 minutes!" relented Jeff.
Luna and Harry exchanged a look and grinned in triumph. They reached forwards at the same time, grabbing him by the lapels of his blazer and pulled him inside. The door closed with a bang.
"Huh… Warbler down" Kurt said. Thad and Trent gave him offended looks, and knowing when to count his loses, he walked away. If he was honest with himself, and he wasn't, he would admit to be a bit upset at being ignored so blatantly.
IIIII
"You have the face of a man with a plan" Hermione said intrigued. The three of them were leaning against one of the sofas, as the twins and Luna fussed over Jeff, dressing him up for the occasion.
"Whatever do you mean?" asked Harry innocently.
"You're like a dog with a bone, you don't know when to let go" Ron said and exchanged a look with his girlfriend. "If for no other reason than getting our alibies straight you should tell us."
Harry laughed. "I'm just playing Warbler hunting…"
"He said no" Hermione said a small smile on her face.
"Until he starts dating somebody he's fair game. The best love stories always start with a no" Harry said with superiority.
"Like?" prompted Hermione.
"Pride and Prejudice, Gone With the Wind… my parents" Harry didn't bother to continue.
"Wall-E, Prince Leia and Han Solo, 10 Things I Hate About You…" said Ron while he and Hermione politely ignored the last one.
"Ronal Weasley, you did not just compared Star Wars and 10 Things I Hate About You to Pride and Prejudice!"
"Oh, but you do accept Wall-E" Ron said smirking.
"Anyways" said Hermione, looking at Harry. "You have a plan."
"Plan? I don't plan. I have never planned a plan in my whole goddamn life" Harry said firmly.
"So… you have a plan" Ron said.
"I have a plan" admitted Harry.
"We are ready!" called Luna.
"Very well then" said Harry standing up. "Wish me luck!"
"With the plan or your trial for murder?" asked Hermione raising an eyebrow. Her friend smirked cockily in response.
IIIII
Harry gulped, smiling nervously.
"You hair looks really shiny today" he said shrinking in his seat.
"Armani" said the girl slowly. "You murdered an Armani suit!"
"But look!" he said pulling his a picture out of his pocked. "Don't you think this was worth it?"
Luna stared at the picture of Hermione and Ron kissing among all the water and light, and admitted to herself that it was a nice picture.
"I still demand retribution" she said, turning to face all her friends. "I demand that the life of that Armani suit is not wasted in vain."
"Hear, hear" Fred and George said, with solemn airs.
She linked her arms behind her back, pacing in front of all of them. "What Mr. Potter did was a crime to fashion, unforgivable and only surpassed by wearing socks and sandals at the same time on the beach or any other occasion…"
"Objection!" said Harry. "What about over tanned skin? Or leggings used as pants with short tops? Or seasonal holiday clothing for adults? Or, dare I say it? Seasonal holiday clothing for adults out of the allocated time for that holiday? Ms. Lovegood is unfairly judging my transgression and blowing it out of proportions!"
"I am only bringing to light your heinous activities against fashion and all that it stands for!" said Luna passionately from the other side of the room.
"So, what you are saying is that this fictional court, with no power whatsoever, had conveyed here today to talk about crimes to fashion?" Harry asked while Luna crossed her arms.
"Indeed" she said carefully, Harry smirked predatorily.
"In that case you won't mind if we look into your record for past transgressions" said Harry pulling a folder from behind his chair and opening it. "You record is quite spectacular if you don't mind me pointing out. Never once have you worn Uggs or pants outside your home, or the same outfit twice in a month."
Luna didn't falter, not allowing herself to be swayed by compliments.
"But I do have to ask, for somebody who campaigns for fashion consciousness and justice… how come we have held no less than 4 fake trials, but never once have we taken into account that she too has committed fashion crimes for which no trial passed sentence on her!"
He pointed at her accusingly and the room occupants gasped, while Luna's expression turned murderous.
"That's preposterous!"
"Can you describe to this not court what you see here?" he asked while passing her a picture.
"It's me, wearing a classic cut LWD" she said.
"Little White Dress" clarified Harry for everybody. "And do you know when this picture was taken Ms. Lovegood?"
"I don't recall" she said with an edge of worry filtering in her voice.
"It was taken on the 3rd of May" Harry said and paused for dramatic effect. "That is right ladies and gentleman, Ms. Lovegood was wearing white after labor's day!"
Pandemonium broke in the room, with the twins hollering for her head, Hermione quoting loudly reasons why such a rule was invalid, Ron shaking his head to Luna in disappointment, Angelina throwing papers in the air and Katie fainting on the floor.
"I confess!" Luna yelled, breaking into hysterical fake sobbing. "I did it, I did it!"
There was silence in the room for a long time, until suddenly they all broke down laughing, unable to keep the charade any longer. Jeff having broken ages ago, his squeaky gavel on the floor.
"Alright, alright" he said looking at his watch, and knowing he only had a few minutes before he had to go to rehearsal. He repeatedly banged the gavel, which gave squeaky noises that seemed to only add to the craziness and calm nobody.
Harry whistled loudly, making all of them shut up.
"Thank you, now the judge of this Kangaroo Court will pass sentence" said Harry.
"Ms. Lovegood, while I have no idea why wearing white is a crime in any given date; I can't overlook your confession to nothing unless I've been bribed and we don't have time for that. By having absolute no power, following the flashcards I've been given and with only this squeaky gavel as sign of un-authority, I hereby sentence you to not wearing colors for a week…"
Luna gasped horrified.
"And Mr. Potter, I sentence you to take the girls shopping for whatever it is you did" said Jeff, slamming his gavel once. Jeff stood up, and took the wig off, as well as the robe. "This was fun guys, but I really need to go."
"No problem Jeff" Harry said, perched on the back of a sofa. His hands linked in front of him. "But before you go, I hope you understand we have a reputation to protect."
Fred and George suddenly appeared at each side, and Jeff only had a second to curse himself for getting careless before he was tackled to the floor.
IIIII
Jeff stumbled into the choir room with a lost look on his face. He was still 10 minutes early, but most of them were already there. He cleared his throat and walked to his usual seat, everybody staring after him in silence.
"Your blazer is backwards" Kurt said finally, pointing out the thing that bothered him the most.
Jeff looked at himself. His shirt was un-tucked and buttoned wrong, he had one shoe but no sock on that foot and one shoe was tied to his wrist. His tie was wrapped around one of his arms and he knew his hair was a mess.
"I just wanna forget" Jeff said with a low voice. "Just… let's… let's never say the word here again."
"The word?" asked Nick concerned for his best friend.
"The word" nodded Jeff, taking off his blazer and starting to fix his appearance.
"What word?"
"The word" Jeff said ominously. For a few minutes there were only some hushed whispers, before Nick tilted his head.
"Jeff… why is your tongue purple?"
IIIII
"Well played Mr. Potter; I thought I had fooled everybody" Luna said sitting next to him, while they all settled down to watch a movie, the twins having bribed the AV department to install them a projector on short notice. Harry just shrugged modestly. "I will get you next time" she vowed.
"And I will be ready" he said challengingly.
"I hear you have a plan to catch a hummingbird" Luna said twirling a lock of her hair.
"Hummingbirds don't sing" Harry said simply.
"They chirp" insisted Luna.
"Kurt sings, he doesn't chirp" Harry said mildly offended, and almost hit himself when he caught Luna's conquering expression.
"And how would you know how he sings?" asked Angelina from his other side.
"Yes Harry, enlighten us, how do you know?" asked Katie turning around and staring up at him.
"Because at the fundraising it would have been impossible to tell" Hermione said leaning forwards from behind him.
Harry looked around him and found himself surrounded; the twins and Ron watched everything from the other sofa with a bowl of popcorn, movie forgotten.
"I think it's about time we sit down and chat about Kurt Hummel" Hermione said. "If he's going to be around, then we…"
"Why are you assuming he's going to be around?" asked Harry crossing his arms and refusing to budge.
"You have a plan" said Hermione. "I'm sure it will involve at least one mildly illegal activity, loads of manipulation and…"
"I confess to nothing" Harry said interrupting her again. "I plead the fifth."
"You are British, you don't get to pledge anything in this country" Angelina said with a laugh, as she and the girls launched into gossip mode, trying to get Harry to open up.
IIIII
"Hey 'Cedes" smiled Kurt tiredly at the screen.
"Hey white boy" she frowned and stared at him, getting closer to the camera. "Ok, who do I have to cut? Is it Blaine? Is he not treating you right?"
"We talked" Kurt said absently fixing his hair. "He said he will only ever see me as a friend."
"Oh honey" she whispered. "What brought this on?"
"After Harry asked me out and I said no, Blaine arrived and he told me that Harry had asked him first if there was something going on between the two of us..."
"Whoa! Whoa! Back up right there, who's Harry?"
"He's hot" offered Kurt in response. "He's captain of the fencing team and he's British, he seems fun and smart."
"Then, why the hell did you say no? He's British Kurt! Who says no to a British guy? Does he have the accent?"
"Oh God, it's to die for!" gushed Kurt. "And his eyes, Mercedes, his eyes are so green!"
"Kurt, why did you say no?" she asked turning serious.
"I was kind of hoping that Blaine would ask me out eventually. I was sure he would do it and I didn't want to mess that by giving him the wrong impression and going out with somebody else. Besides, I don't really know him. What if the date sucks?"
"Seriously Kurt? Couldn't you have gotten to know him, in I don't know, the date?" she flipped her hair and put her hand on her hip, although he couldn't see it. "If the date sucks you call me and the girls and we laugh about it!"
"I want my first date to be perfect" confessed Kurt.
"Life is not perfect Kurt, for all you know this Harry guy and you would be incredible together and you are missing out because of your crazy expectations" she stared at him with a raised eyebrow. "Look boy, I only ever kind of dated Puck, Puck Kurt! I wish a hot-smart-British-guy-with-green-eyes asked me out, but he asked you out and that's the second best use I can find for a hot-smart-British-guy-with-green-eyes."
"When you put it like that…" he said with a sigh, still not convinced.
"Kurt, honey, look at me" she said kindly. "I am not saying that just because he's the second gay teenager you meet that you should go out with him and date him. But I can tell you not-not like him. From what little you have said, you do find him interesting and attractive. We're in Ohio Kurt, and there're not many guys good enough for fabulous divas like us, even less for you… which sucks and it's unfair, but it's the truth. You said you probably would never be able to date before College because nobody would ask you out. Well now you know that if you never date before College, you will only have yourself to blame."
"I was an idiot wasn't I?" asked Kurt lowering his voice. "Oh freaking Prada! I said no! Why did I say no? I've been waiting for a guy to ask me out forever and I said no to the one that did, because I was waiting for a guy that is never going to see me as anything other than his friend!"
"I'm starting to understand romantic comedies" Mercedes muttered.
"How do I fix this?" asked Kurt frantically. "I mean, it's not like I can go to him now and say, 'Hey, can you ask me out again? I won't reject you this time' or maybe I can..." he said frowning. "And what if I do and he wants nothing to do with me? What's the protocol for these situations?"
"Kurt! It's very simple, why don't you ask him out?" she asked. "If he says no then you know you did the right thing the first time and he wasn't that interested in the first place."
Kurt stopped and stared at his laptop screen. He opened his mouth to say something and the door opened.
"Hey Mercedes!"
"Hi Blaine" she replied. She and Kurt exchanged a look through the screen. "Kurt, I gotta go, but let me know if your plans for the weekend change."
Let me know if you get a hot date! she tipped.
"Sure, good talking to you, love you babe!"
"Love you too! By the way, I think your phone is in silent because I sent you like a million texts today" the connection died and Kurt turned his laptop off.
"So, what did you two talk about?" asked Blaine toweling his hair dry.
"Just catching up with what everybody is up to..." Kurt gasped. "Oh no! Oh no! Where's my baby?" Kurt threw all the contents of his bag in his bed and moved them around. He checked his blazer and pants pockets and ran out of the room.
"Right..." Blaine said closing the door while shaking his head.
IIIII
Kurt's third stop after the library and choir room was one of the common rooms. It had probably fallen somewhere, hopefully where nobody could step on it. He stopped outside the room, listening to the music coming from inside. Somebody was playing the piano in the corner. His breath stopped when he realized the song that was being played and he slowly entered the room.
"Don't cry for me Argentina, the truth is I never left you" sang Kurt. Harry turned surprised, but his fingers kept playing. "All through my wild days, my mad existence, I kept my promise don't keep your distance."
He let his voice lower, hitting all the notes perfectly. Moving towards Harry and resting against the wall. "Have I said too much? There's nothing more I can think of to say to you. But all you have to do is look at me to know, that every word is true..."
Harry kept on playing the last part of the song, staring at the piano. Kurt wished he had arrived early.
"You have an amazing voice" complemented Harry turning around on the bench.
"Your playing is incredible" answered Kurt honestly. "I didn't know that song could translate to only piano so well" he stopped considering his next step. "Can I ask you something?"
"Sure" agreed Harry standing up and closing the piano.
"Why did you ask me out?" asked Kurt after a second.
Harry turned to see him and self-consciously messed his hair. "To be completely honest... I heard you singing for your solo audition. I was passing by and I stopped, your voice made me stop" he smirked teasingly. "Then somebody told me about the canary joke. I thought it was hilarious."
"Please tell me that's not going around" pleaded Kurt.
"Nah, don't worry" dismissed Harry, smiling at his embarrassment. "Honestly, I just wanted to get to know you better."
"You didn't have to ask me out to get to know me" pointed out Kurt.
"No, but I also find you attractive" Harry said without a trace of self-consciousness. Kurt blushed and stammered, trying to find an appropriate response and failing. Harry smiled and changed the topic. "Did they give you the solo in the end?"
"No" responded Kurt sighing.
"Why?" Harry asked perplexed. "Your voice was incredible!"
"It wasn't an appropriate song choice. I've been told that I need to 'not try so hard' next time"
"Bullshit" Harry said. "What's the point of doing things if you don't give it your all? I know my opinion probably doesn't mean much to you, but I think you got robbed there. Call for a recount of votes or something."
Kurt giggled. "I might start a revolution instead, burn our blazers and all."
"Great idea! Anarchy is always the answer" he said smirking proudly. "And they are incredibly flammable" he paused and stared at Kurt, his green eyes intense. "Talking seriously, your voice" he made a whistling sound. "I love playing music, singing has never been my thing so I never realized somebody could convey so much emotion with just their voices. The Warblers are lucky to have you, don't let them ruin your talent in any way."
"Thanks" Kurt said self-consciously. He rarely got praises, much less ones so honest and heartfelt.
Harry sensing his discomfort changed the topic once more and started picking up some papers from the table he had been working on previously. "So, how are you adapting to Dalton?"
"Fine, good, good" mumbled Kurt and received a skeptical look in return. "It's hard" he admitted. "I miss my friends, my family and my clothes. The students here sometimes are so..."
"Uptight?" offered Harry with a knowing smile. "I'm aware" he stage whispered. "I'm terrible at blending in."
Kurt made a show of looking around and corresponded. "Me too…"
"So why do you try?" asked Harry. "I never bothered. I transferred a year ago, and after a dreadfully dull first week, I met the twins and Ron and, well, the rest is history. I'm sure by now you have been filled with stories about how awful we are."
"My friends back home are like that. We don't care what people think, we are loud and we love each other" Kurt said nostalgically, starting to search for his phone. "Have you seen an iPhone?"
"I'll help you look. You can always sit with us at lunch if you want" offered Harry. "It takes a while to get used to our brand of craziness, but you will never be without entertainment, where did you sit?" Kurt motioned to a sofa, while he checked the floor. "Found it" called Harry pulling his baby out of a seat cushion and grinning at him.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Kurt said while snatching his phone and hugging it. "Oh baby, I'm so sorry. I honestly could swear I checked the time in the corridor and put it back in my pocket" he mumbled.
"I'll leave you two alone" laughed Harry while grabbing his bag. He stopped and turned. "We are going to the mall tomorrow. Would you like to come?"
"Who's we?" asked Kurt.
"You already sort of met the four of us, I think you might have seen Hermione from afar and you've seen Luna at her best."
"She's like a weapon of mass destruction" commented Kurt, still melting at the memory of her pout.
"Agreed, but you haven't really met the girls. They are slightly saner than us. I promised to take them on a shopping trip. They shop, we carry bags."
"Shopping?" asked Kurt in an incredulous tone.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to imply that just because you're gay you would like to shop" Harry said with a wince.
"Are you kidding me? I love shopping, I live for shopping trips. The rest of my life is classified as what happens in between!" gushed Kurt.
Harry chuckled "We are leaving before lunch time."
"What about afternoon classes?" Kurt asked worried; he didn't want to ditch classes, not when his dad was paying so much for him to attend Dalton.
"Nobody told you?" enquired Harry puzzled. "Once every two months the teachers have a meeting to discuss stuff, don't ask me what, but they do. Class is for only half of the day and the dorms and library remain open, the rest shuts down at midday, even common rooms."
"Oh, I guess I still need to get used to some things" replied Kurt self-consciously.
"So, would you like to come?" asked Harry again.
"I rarely say no to shopping" agreed Kurt.
"Meet you at the parking lot as soon as the bell rings? We'll wait for you. Actually, what's your number?" Kurt recited it by memory and Harry dialed it, the chorus of Defying Gravity filling the silence. "There, if you can't come text me."
IIIII
"Hey Blaine?" Kurt asked once he entered their room. "Why didn't you tell me that we finished early tomorrow?"
Blaine immediately looked guilty. "You didn't know? Of course not. What was I thinking? I'm so sorry Kurt! I completely forgot to tell you! We don't even have Warblers tomorrow."
"It's ok" reassured Kurt, still a little angry about having missed a perfect opportunity to go back home. Students needed to hand in a form on Wednesdays if they weren't going to spend the weekend at the school or have their parents pick them up and sign them in and out. "Why are you packing?"
"My parents are visiting my grandparents. I'm going there for the weekend" Blaine explained as he double checked everything. "I'm sorry" he repeated. "Are you going back home?"
"Didn't fill the form" Blaine looked at him guiltily. Kurt sighed, feeling bad for something that wasn't his fault. "It's ok; Carole has the weekend shift and dad's going to a game with Finn. I'm going to the mall tomorrow, and I'll probably use the weekend to do all my numerous assignments."
IIIII
Harry entered his room and flopped down on the couch with a satisfied air.
"I'm sorry, could we open a window?" George asked pretending to choke.
"The smugness in this room is suffocating us" finished Fred.
"The plan worked?" asked Ron from his bed. Harry just shrugged, not fooling anybody with his fake modesty. "Why couldn't you just take the rejection and move on like a normal teenager? Was it really necessary to have somebody pick-pocket his phone so you could get him alone?" Ron asked with a roll of his eyes.
"I haven't the foggiest idea what you're talking about" Harry said closing his eyes with an accomplished air, ignoring the fact he had told him part one of his plan moments before putting it into action.
"How long did it take you to come to the decision to manipulate Kurt into dating you?" asked Ron.
"Hey now, I am not manipulating anybody into dating me" Harry said with a frown. "I merely ensured that we would have the opportunity to talk with each other for longer than a minute."
"So you do admit to arranging that 'casual encounter'" George said.
"Look, I am just trying to see if by spending some more time with me he reconsiders" Harry said annoyed. "I admit that I might have gone a little too Gryffindor with my first approach and the timing could have been better, so I am changing tactics. If the answer is still no after that, then I'll leave the matter alone."
The three brothers laughed.
"The girls really need to learn that to get you talking, they only need to poke in the right spot, like the purity of your intentions on this case" Ron said smirking. Harry stiffened offended, before begrudgingly admitting the guys were right.
"It's nice to see you putting all your…"
"Wickedness for personal gain…"
"And Hummel doesn't seem to have…"
"Succumbed to the Warbler's just yet…"
"We can look at this as a…"
"Rescue operation!"
Ron and Harry laughed at the familiar act.
"Seriously though, how long did it take you to decide to go full out with your bag of tricks?" asked Ron.
"I don't know, how long was I face down on the mattress?" asked Harry with a laugh.
"Snake!" Ron accused him. Harry shrugged.
"On a completely unrelated note, Kurt is coming with us tomorrow to the mall."
"That is as unrelated as the three of us are" said one of the twins, but was completely ignored by Harry, who was humming happily pretending to be oblivious.
"Please, at least tell me this is the only morally ambiguous step in your plan, because when Hermione finds out she's going to be all on my case for allowing it" begged Ron.
"Everything's fair in Love, War and Warbler Hunting…" Harry said far too cheerfully.
Ron was far from reassured.
IIIII
I know a lot of you had mention how Blaine is annoyingly oblivious, so I wanted to point out that I've been working on this fic since Season 2, so I might have been influenced by what I was seeing in the show at the time. Which was a oblivious Blaine with no regards to Kurt's feelings. (Gap attack, animal performance, telling him to tone it down, etc.). But I have honestly spend a lot of time building for things and redeeming him later on.