My beta is back! *happy dance*

To all of you who asked more about Burt-Harry meeting, rest assured, I always intended to make it last longer, but last chapter was long enough already so I put it here as a flashback.

Author's note at the end.

Enjoy!

I'll see you at 525 or on the 09/06

Poll open till tomorrow.

- 0 - 0 - 0 -

Chapter 8

Arsenal, Blank Letters, and Dishonor

"You never told us how the meeting with the in-laws went" commented Hermione, as she, Ron and Harry looked over their menus.

It was Friday and Hermione had demanded the three of them went out for dinner. Harry had invited Kurt, but his boyfriend had made a half excuse before disappearing. He had a feeling he was planning something and usually he would be all over this, trying to figure out what it was, but that could wait until Hermione was satisfied that she and Ron wouldn't be pushed away by Kurt's arrival. He could interrogate Kurt tomorrow.

"Well…" Harry said remembering the night.

- Flash Back -

He frowned when he heard his wife giggling at the door, Kurt's delighted laugh as background. Once the three people at the door finally made their way inside, he crossed his arms.

"So, you're dating my son" Burt Hummel said looking as threatening as possible, unaware Finn was imitating the position behind him, frowning at Harry and sizing him up.

"Yes Sir, I am" Harry said and looked him straight in the eyes as he said those words. Burt could admire the guts on the kid. There was no hesitation and he hadn't let go of Kurt's hand yet. He did it a second after, extending it towards Burt. "It's a pleasure to meet you; Kurt speaks very highly of you."

Kurt colored embarrassed when his dad didn't return the gesture. He wanted to make the boy sweat, but he didn't seem fazed by his intimidation tactics. Kurt stared at him in disappointment for a second, before grabbing Harry's still extended hand and pulling him upstairs.

"Let me show you my room. My bed hasn't arrived so we have sleeping bags for now, I still haven't decided how to paint my room…" said Kurt. Harry nodded along to what Kurt was saying. Since both overnight bags were hanging from one of his shoulders, Harry's looked considerably smaller next to Kurt's. Burt narrowed his eyes.

"Open door policy sweetie" Carole said kindly before he could.

"Sure!" called out Kurt.

Carole swirled around and glared at his son and husband.

"What do you think you're doing?" she asked in an outraged hiss. "That was completely disrespectful Burt Hummel!"

He made a noncommittal sound. "He's old enough, he'll get over it" he mumbled.

"Yeah" said Finn nodding along.

Carole glared harder. "I get he's your son and your brother, and you both feel very protective, but you don't think it affects Kurt too how you treat Harry? I think between the two of them he's the one feeling nervous. You both have said that you accept who he is, now you need to show him."

"I showed him plenty!" mumbled Finn. "I even let him decorate my room!"

Carole glared at him until he quieted down. "Regardless of how Kurt's relationship with Harry goes, this meeting is going to affect him for the rest of his life. If he doesn't feel safe bringing his significant other here, then I wouldn't be surprised if he never does again. I am not saying you can't go all papa bear on him, but there's a line you don't want to cross. Not unless you want to lose touch with this aspect of Kurt's life."

Burt sighed deeply. "You're right… I'll go, ask them to come downstairs or something."

"Thank you" Carole said. "Finn?"

"I'll behave, promise" he said, resigned.

- 0 -

"Harry" giggled Kurt. "Seriously, I forbid you from ever seeing it again!"

"But you look so cute in this picture!" protested Harry. Burt stared at the room in silence. Harry was sitting on the floor, with a year book open in his lap. He knew that after Kurt had changed the way he styled his hair, he hated to see any of the 'old' pictures and that year book was a Pandora Box once opened.

"Close it! I look like a 12 year old" complained Kurt, but didn't move from his vanity.

"You do look younger" Harry said closing the book. "But I wouldn't go that far… you should see some pictures of me when I was 12. I had glasses and my hair was this huge mess that went in every direction."

"I see there are no more glasses" Kurt said with his eyes fixated on Harry's hair. "Think it's time to change the hair too?"

"Please, now that I've grown into my boyishly good looks I totally rock this look" Harry said messing his hair even more and making Kurt laugh.

"I hate to admit it, but you do look good" Kurt said with a sigh. "It takes hours for me to get my hair to look this amazing, it's so unfair you… hey dad" Kurt said noticing him and tensing.

"Hey boys" Burt said awkwardly. "Why don't you join us downstairs?" Kurt hesitated, so addressing Harry he added. "Sorry about before, but my hands were greasy" he extended his hand and Harry grasped it firmly, despite still being on the floor. Well damn, he had a good hand shake too. "It's nice to meet you."

"The pleasure is mine" Harry said with a smile, politely ignoring the lie.

Burt examined the hand before letting it go he commented. "You have grease under your nails."

"Yeah" Harry said. "The bus broke down on them and I had a look, but the carburetor was completely busted."

Burt looked at Kurt.

"I was so not going to get grease on myself before going up on the stage" Kurt said haughtily and warmly smiling at his father. "I supervised!"

"You bossed me around" Harry said, standing up.

"Semantics" dismissed Kurt.

"I wrote a term paper on semantics for Professor McGonagall and aced it" Harry said challengingly. "You do not want to discuss semantics with me."

"I hate to say it Kurt, but your version of 'supervising' almost cost me my best mechanic once" Burt said.

Kurt bristled. "Ernie had no idea what he was doing!"

"You were 10" Burt said and Harry laughed. "Come on, I wanna have a look at your car, when did you buy it?"

"8 months ago" said Harry, deciding it was best not to tell him he had relied on his bike for the most part before that.

"When was it last checked?" he asked as the three of them made their way downstairs. Carole smiled at them pleased, before ordering Finn to help her out when he notice he was about to go after them.

- End Flash Back -

"The rest went well I think" said Harry. "They questioned me a lot during dinner, but after that first bump I suspect Kurt's step mom told them off and made them play nice."

"Mom's adore you" said Hermione laughing.

"True, I think my mom is trying to look how to adopt you against your will" Ron said with a resigned air. "I also think every time I visit Hermione and her parents are home, her mom sighs wistfully hoping for the day she will dump me and pick you instead."

"Would it help if I tell her I am gay?" asked Harry patiently.

Ron perked up. "Totally, but be like completely out. None of that bisexuality crap, you tell her you only do guys now."

"Sure, I'll 'come out' next time I see her" Harry said putting his menu down. "I might not even have to say anything, I'll just make out with Kurt where she can see."

"It's moments like these I wish I was gay" Ron said pretending to swoon. "If I was…" he gestured to Harry, himself and made a claw like motion. "Grrrrr…"

Hermione almost spit out the water she had been sipping. She covered her mouth to muffle her hysterical laughs, while Harry awkwardly stared at Ron.

"Please never do that again" he said with a wince. "For real, if you have to choose between that and shooting me, just shoot me."

- 0 - 0 - 0 -

"You are ridiculous" Kurt said laughing. "And your explanation is ridiculous too…"

"My explanation was rocking awesome, like you" Harry said and Kurt giggled.

"Your compliments are ridiculous too" laughed Kurt.

"So everything about me is ridiculous…" summarized Harry.

"You got it" nodded Kurt while their faces were inches apart.

"How about this?" asked Harry and gently cradling Kurt's face he kissed him. Kurt blinked a few times to get the fog out of his brain.

"Maybe not that" Harry kissed him again. "Definitely not ridiculous…" said Kurt while their foreheads where pressed together. "But your explanation that Pavarotti is molting so his feathers can match my clothes is ridiculous."

"It's a perfectly reasonable explanation" Harry said pretending to be offended. "You take forever to pick your clothes; I think Pavarotti is entitled to a few days of silence while he decides what the new feather trend for birds is in fashion this season."

"Simply ridiculous" repeated Kurt; he paused for a second to analyze Pavarotti. "So he really is fine? He's just changing his feathers and I am not doing anything harmful?"

"He really is fine" confirmed Harry. "Molting requires a lot of energy in birds, it's completely natural he is less active for a while. But once he is done we can take him out of his cage in my room, he'll be able to fly around for a bit… I used to have a bird in England, granted it was a little bigger, but the principle remains."

"Ok" Kurt said relieved. "Thanks for coming by so quickly, I know I was panicking and was being…"

"Ridiculous?" asked Harry teasingly. Kurt giggled.

"Oh grow up…"

"And stop being ridiculous?" Kurt laughed harder.

"Harry!"

"Am I being too ridiculous?"

"Stop" Kurt started to laugh to the point where he was almost falling. "It's hurting to laugh!" Harry laughed with him and slowly they calmed down. "Don't make me laugh again."

"But that's my favorite thing about myself" Harry said pouting.

"Making other people laugh?" asked Kurt rolling his eyes. He was resting against his boyfriend's chest, their faces close together and they smiled at each other, oblivious to their surroundings.

"Making you laugh" whispered Harry, pressing their foreheads together and rubbing their noses. "It makes my day…"

"Cheesy" Kurt said and smiled. "Sir Cheese… Lord Cheeseball… mmm…"

Harry threw his head back and laughed. "Look who's being ridiculous now!"

"Don't start again!" laughed Kurt.

"But I am Lord Cheeseball the Sixth!" declared Harry magnanimously, one arm in the air. "My throne, my kingdom, and my name were cruelly usurped by the rat bastard, Chuck E…"

Kurt was laughing hard enough that Harry's arms were the only thing keeping him from tipping over. Small tears were starting to form in his eyes and he glowed with happiness. He laughed harder and harder the more Harry talked, until he was literally begging him to stop.

"But Kurt" said Harry in a whinny tone. "I haven't even gotten started about how I plan to gallop into the night to reclaim what's mine!"

"Oh shush you" Kurt said his body still being attacked by small bouts of laughter. "Let the rat bastard keep it, because honestly? Not a big loss."

"Oh, how thee words plague my mortal soul!" lamented Harry dramatically. "To choose between my kingdom and the keeper of my heart! What a cruel fate has fallen upon me!"

It was Kurt's turn to throw his head back and laugh deeply. "Oh gosh, seriously? You are the biggest drama queen in the world!"

"Kuuurt" whined Harry. "I am really into my role here, ok?"

"Ok, sorry babe" Kurt said patting his chest. "But there's no way I'll ever enter your cheesy kingdom."

"Well then" Harry said in the haughty tone of voice from before. "I shall burn it to the ground!"

"So you're burning your kingdom for me?" Kurt said and placed a hand over his heart. "What a romantic gesture!" he cooed.

"I'd burn a thousand kingdoms in your name" said Harry softly, moving so their foreheads rested against each other. "Sail the seven seas…"

Kurt smiled, with a fond look in his eyes. "So you're a pirate now?"

"Aye" Harry said rubbing their noses together. He separated and said in his normal tone of voice. "It was a natural progression after I burned my kingdom."

"Of course it was" Kurt said with a perfectly agreeable tone of voice.

"Which if you think about it, makes perfect sense" Harry said nodding along to his own story. "Remember? It was your Siren's voice that bewitched me."

"And now you have won the Siren's heart" Kurt said with a glimpse of playfulness in his eyes. He pulled Harry back towards him by the tie. "Shouldn't you claim your booty now… captain?"

"Aye, aye my luv" Harry said and pressed their lips together, one hand moving to cradle the back of his boyfriend's head and the other to the back of the couch.

Blaine stared at the two of them and exited the room before he was seen.

- 0 - 0 - 0 -

"Good morning!" cheerfully called Kurt entering the room. Nobody stirred. He frowned at the four beds, before going to the right one. He pulled it cautiously and smiled tenderly at Harry's sleeping form. He was on his stomach, his face resting peacefully on the pillow. A smile appeared on the boy's face and Kurt smirked.

"You're awake" he accused.

"'m not" denied Harry sleepily.

"Ok fine, you won't care I'm naked then" Kurt said sarcastically. Harry opened one eye, examined Kurt's dressed figure and turned to the other side.

"Liar" he said. "I'm feeling disappointed and my trust is shaken, get naked and we'll call it even."

"Please don't get naked" said the twin above Harry, curtains still around his bed. "And if you do, please let me know so I can leave… shit! Is that the time? What the hell are you doing this early in the morning?"

"I am not going to get naked!" said Kurt blushing and regretting the comment already. "Yes its 7:30 am, now Harry, stop being difficult and get out of bed."

Harry made a displeased noise.

"Fine" he mumbled grumpily but opened his eyes and slowly sat on the bed. "Why are you still dressed?"

"Wow, your hair" Kurt said hypnotized; it seemed to go in every direction, defying laws of gravity in the process. "It's like… wow. You weren't kidding."

"I know" said Harry passing a hand through it and trying to tame it slightly. "Happens when I don't blow dry it, I was too lazy to do it last night."

Kurt stared at him, before slowly a grin broke onto his face.

"You blow dry your hair?" he repeated slowly, savoring the moment.

"Yes" said Harry too sleepy to be embarrassed.

"I didn't picture you as the type who puts a lot of effort into their hair" Kurt said laughing. "Sure, it usually looks messy, but in a good way, this" he gestured to Harry's head "this is not the good messy."

"Keep poking fun at my hair this early in the morning and I'll mess yours" Harry said.

"Oh my fucking God!" said the second twin getting his head out of the curtains. "Either go away, or shut the hell up! It's too early in the morning for this cute I love you, you love me crap! Just start to make out or something, it should keep your mouths busy."

After his angry tirade the twin's head disappeared back into his bed. Kurt was taken aback for a second, before he exchanged a look with Harry and they both started to laugh as quietly as they could.

"I'm going to shower" said Harry. "Any chance you will tell me what's going on?"

"I own you for the day. You planned a lot of dates, so I figured it's my turn, but knowing you unless I do it this way you will never let me" Kurt said looking around the room in interest as Harry finally left his bed, leaning to kiss his cheek for a second. He stretched, his back making a popping noise in the process. "That one is yours right?" Kurt asked pointing to one of the wardrobes.

Harry nodded absently, making his way there to grab a pair of boxers and moved to the bathroom yawning. Kurt waited until the door closed before jumping at the opportunity. He opened the doors and frowned. Harry didn't seem to have a lot of clothes. He noticed the Dalton uniforms straight away, as well as his training uniforms and the plethora of running clothes that took over one whole drawer. He did have a good selection of jeans; several t-shirts from old rock bands, which he tended to wear after soccer or fencing, and a few, more formal shirts. He recognized one from their first date. He looked around and found what he needed, quickly stuffing it inside his bag and picking Harry's outfit for the day.

With one last look, he closed the doors. This wouldn't do at all. He and Harry needed to go shopping. ASAP. The water stopped and he could hear the blow drier now. He smiled. Maybe he could convince Harry to start a moisturizing routine? He had a very nice skin after all. They could call each other and do it over the phone!

The door of the bathroom opened and Harry exited. He had a towel around his neck and nothing but his boxers on. Kurt blushed immediately, unused to being around half naked guys.

"Am I making you uncomfortable?" asked Harry noticing his tense form. "I can change in the bathroom…"

"No, it's ok, you just surprised me" mumbled Kurt looking away. He shoved the clothes in Harry's direction and turned around.

"Sorry" Harry said while quickly changing. "I'm used to sharing my room. After a while of rooming with other boys you are bound to lose some decorum."

Kurt snorted. "I have a hard time imagining you ever had much to begin with."

Harry kissed his cheek from behind. "Morning"

Kurt smiled and turned, kissing him once, before separating. Ignoring the minty aftertaste in his mouth from Harry's toothpaste, he firmly stated. "Let's go, we don't want to be late!"

"What are we doing?" asked Harry collecting his things. Kurt just smirked and walked away, Harry pouted, but his expression quickly turned into excitement. He passed an arm around Kurt's waist and they walked quietly to the parking lot.

"I'm going to blindfold you now" said Kurt once they reached his Navigator. Harry's lips quivered into a smirk, but he held onto the comments he knew Kurt wouldn't appreciate.

"Is there a piñata involved at some point?" asked Harry instead. "I always wanted one. Oh my God! There is a piñata! This is totally awesome. But it's not shaped like anything I like right? I could never hit a pony… or a lion. A snake totally, a badger too, Dora the Explorer for sure… maybe even an eagle… but not a dragon, unless it was white… or you know deformed, like Barney."

"Barney is a dinosaur" Kurt said trying not to laugh at Harry's overly animated ramblings, which was becoming harder and harder to understand the faster he spoke.

"As if" Harry said crossing his arms. "Show me a paleontologist that can back up that statement… sober!"

"Yes, yes honey, whatever you say" mumbled Kurt laughing. "Get inside and watch the head" smoothly, Harry entered the car, once Kurt had followed his example he gave him a look. "Can I just say it's worrying you look so at ease with a blindfold?"

"I told you I used to wear glasses right?" asked Harry with a casual air. "My vision was pretty bad, blind without glasses bad… I got it fixed when I was 14, which tells you how bad it was because usually you have to be a lot older. After the operation I spent a while with my eyes wrapped. Guess I am used to not depend on my eyes as much as other people."

Kurt smiled and drove, while Harry played with the radio.

- 0 - 0 - 0 -

"Do you trust me?" asked Kurt once he parked.

"I just allowed you to drive me around with a blindfold, I think it's safe to say I do" said Harry.

"Take your shirt off then" ordered Kurt.

"Please tell me you are going to take advantage of me" Harry said in a hopeful tone.

"Very funny" said Kurt. "Seriously, take your shirt off."

"Fine, but there better be some inappropriate groping on your part at some point today. I'm having a rough day and my self-esteem is on the floor…" Harry said and made quick work of his buttons.

"So you want me to feel you up so you can feel better?" asked Kurt giggling.

"Sure, let's go with that" Harry said.

Kurt took a second to admire how the sleeveless shirt made Harry's arms look so yummy, before pulling the thing he had taken out of the closet. After Harry had changed into that, he walked around the car and helped him out.

"I have to say, I am very intrigued" said Harry, his head moving from side to side trying to guess where they were. Kurt said nothing, nervously dragging an over-energized Harry.

"I didn't know you liked surprises this much" Kurt said trying to settle him down before he started to run in circles.

"I like surprises, I am just not surprised very often" said Harry.

"Ok, we're here" Kurt said once they entered the establishment. Harry immediately took the blind off and looked around. His face quickly turned to awe; he turned to look at what he was wearing and laughed.

"How did you know?" he asked grinning at Kurt.

"I kind of threatened a few of your friends to give me ideas" Kurt said, feeling smug. Harry stared at him shocked for a few seconds, before smirking approvingly. Kurt decided to ignore that in favor of taking his coat off.

"God you are hot" Harry said appraisingly.

Kurt blushed. "The shirt is too big for me."

"You still look hot" said Harry grinning widely. "I can't believe you brought me to a sports bar…or that you are wearing one of my Arsenal's shirts."

"You took long enough for me to slip it on while you blow dried your hair" Kurt said modestly. "I'm more surprised at having been able to get you into your shirt without you finding out."

They smiled at each other, before Harry grabbed his hand and walked towards the inside. There was a small group of people there, all of them dressed in the same team shirts and having breakfast or drinking tea. It didn't seem the usual kind of thing to do in a sports bar, but then again, with the time difference there wasn't much they could do.

"So, who gave you the idea?"

"Oliver" Kurt said. "He said there was a match today, and being crucial because something, something about something, and somebody something, something" resumed Kurt, Harry laughed. "I understood enough to know that your favorite socce…"

Harry quickly turned and covered his mouth, glancing around at the semi-hostile expressions.

"Sorry mates, he's a Yank, I'm working on it" Harry said and received nods of approval. He turned to Kurt apologetically. "I've been here before, it's the closest thing to a pub you can find in this side of Ohio, so a lot of people from across the pond frequent it… and believe me luv, you do not want to call football, soccer here."

Kurt looked around when he heard the term of endearment. He nervously squeezed Harry's hand. His boyfriend grinned. He leaned forwards and kissed his cheek. "People here won't care if we start making out, as long as we don't get in between them and the TV" he said with a careless air that disappeared for the next part of his statement. "But seriously, don't call it soccer. It will get us beat up… and do not, and I repeat, do not bring up Samir Nasri at any point."

"I don't even know who…" started to say Kurt before giving up. They sat down while the TV commentators gave a lot of statistics and mentioned names, but Kurt only had one question in mind. "Why do they have a red uniform and a black and blue one?"

Harry laughed, before gesturing to his red shirt. "They use this one for home games, that is to say when the games are played in their stadium. Then they have the blue and black for when they are visitors."

"Sounds pretty sensible to me" Kurt said approvingly. "Why is that guy wearing something different?"

"He's the goal keeper; his uniform is always different so that it's easier for the referee to distinguish him. He's the only one allowed to pick the ball with his hands."

"I see" Kurt said. "I think today I can honestly say I am going with your team, the other team's uniforms are atrocious."

Harry laughed. "Good to know we got your approval… I was going to watch the game later on today" said Harry, taking in the atmosphere and smiling widely. "But this is sooo much better."

"Glad you like it" Kurt said pleased with himself.

"You're going to see a side of me I was hoping you wouldn't see for a long time" said Harry seriously.

"Black Friday is coming soon" Kurt said while their food arrived. "That won't be pretty for you to see either. I know we're rooting for Arsenal, I know there's two teams and they both try to get the ball into the goal thingies, and that there's kicking involved… care to explain more?"

As Harry launched into a long monologue about football, how it worked, who was playing, why it was an important game and other stuff, Kurt smiled and nodded, trying to share his boyfriend's enthusiasm. It wasn't hard to do, since seeing him so happy made him feel good about having planned this. He focused on getting the basic rules, ensuring he wouldn't end up asking a stupid question.

Once the game started, he might as well have lost Harry. His attention was fully on the TV. He did make an effort to explain to Kurt what was going on, but often cut himself off to yell at whatever had gone wrong or good in the game. Kurt got bored after a while, but was determined to suck it up and do something his boyfriend liked for once. Thanks to Tom, Seth, Oliver, and Jeff, he had a long list of possible date ideas he could take Harry to. He was sure eventually things would become more natural and planning this obsessively wouldn't be necessary, but it was good to feel prepared.

- 0 - 0 - 0 -

"This was great Kurt!" Harry said still high from his team's victory. Kurt made a note that as good as this date had gone, maybe dates where the outcome was out of his hands and in the hands of fate (and a bunch of overpaid players) was not the best idea. Kurt paid their tab with minor fuss from Harry and felt suddenly tired. This whole time difference was horrible and had cost him hours of sleep.

Harry smiled at him. "You know, I think this is the first time somebody takes me out on a date instead of the other way around. What brought this on?"

"I'm not going to lie" Kurt said as they leisurely walked around Columbus. "I love all the dates you have planned, big and small, but sometimes it's nice to be the one doing the planning. I like seeing you happy… and I like that I am the one that made it happen."

"You hate the big dates" Harry said kissing his temple, his good mood still present.

"I don't hate them" said Kurt immediately. "I just like the small ones better. We are more, I guess, more us on those, there's less pressure and it's just more fun… I do like the big gestures, knowing how much time and effort you put into them makes them special and with how much extra practice the Warblers had booked, it was the only way to go on dates, but I don't want this relationship to depend on that. Big gestures stop being big if you do them all the time. My favorite date is still our first, when you took me to see Mary Poppins… but the replica of Paris is a close second."

"Alright" Harry said after thinking it over. "I'll save the big gestures for special occasions. We can take turns planning dates or plan them together, how about that?"

Kurt grinned. "I like the sound of that…" he laughed suddenly. "This was very mature of us."

"Very" agreed Harry making a face. "Gosh, who knew I could be mature."

"I like it" said Kurt. "In New Directions we would have let the problem fester until it exploded, at which point somebody would storm out of the room, somebody would sulk, sad or angry songs would be exchanged depending on the nature of the fight and everybody would gossip about us behind our back."

"Sounds very high school to me" Harry said.

"Very" agreed Kurt repeating Harry's early gesture and pulling a face. "Let's not do that."

"Agreed…" Harry said with a resolute air. He turned to Kurt. "I know is kind of early, but what do you say we head back and nap? We can order lunch later."

"I like that plan" Kurt said immediately. He had been heavily leaning on Harry and the latter must have noticed. Then again, he also seemed quite happy to go back.

- 0 - 0 - 0 -

One glance at Fred, George, and Ron loudly playing video games was enough for them to decide to try their luck elsewhere. They crossed the room without saying a word. Harry paused for a second to grab his sweatpants despite his boyfriend's look of disapproval. Kurt's room was thankfully empty and they both changed quickly. Harry pulled his team shirt off and kept the sleeveless one on. The countertenor looked slightly ridiculous with his silk pajama pants and the Arsenal shirt, but Harry was wise enough not to comment. Besides, he really did like how Kurt looked with his team's shirt on. Maybe he could get him his own.

They cuddled as close together as they could and both smiled contently.

"Kurt… is your hand on my ass?" asked Harry containing his laughter.

"Yes, now that I felt you up, I think we can say this date is complete" Kurt said, hiding his blushing face and satisfied grin. Harry continued to quietly laugh for a few seconds before they both fell asleep.

- 0 - 0 - 0 -

"Hummel" Tom said, smoothly taking the empty seat in front of him.

"Riddle" said Kurt suspiciously, remembering he owed the boy a favor.

"I need you to deliver this to the janitor tonight" said Tom passing him a sealed envelope. Kurt stared at him confused. "Don't look so puzzled, I'm the Head Boy, sometimes I have to do errands for the faculty. I have plans for tonight that interfere with my duties, either way I do not find myself eager to waste my time playing messenger. Just go down to the lower floors, hard to miss."

"Ok" Kurt said grabbing the envelope and deciding to count this as a victory. Jeff quietly exited the library. Breaking his promise to be silent to Kurt seemed the lesser evil now.

- 0 - 0 - 0 -

"Hey, Hermione says she and the girls are going out tonight. Spend the afternoon at a spa and then go for a late dinner" Ron said to Kurt, mobile in hand. "She wants to know if you are in."

Kurt opened his mouth to say yes, but his eyes trailed to the envelope sitting innocently in front of him.

"I can't, I promised somebody to deliver this to the janitor at 10:00" Kurt said sulking.

"I can do it for you" intercepted Harry smoothly. "I'm going to be here after all and it shouldn't take more than 5 minutes."

Kurt frowned. On one side it seemed wrong to let Harry do the favor he promised Tom to do, on the other he didn't think Tom would care who deliver the letter.

"Are you sure?"

"Of course, I don't mind… you can pay me with kisses" Harry said and winked.

"If you really don't mind, then tell Hermione I'll go" Kurt said.

"Sure" Ron replied and walked away, talking with his girlfriend and ignoring Fred and George's enacting of how the conversation was going. It really spoke volumes of how used he had become to them when Kurt didn't bat an eye at the wig they had pulled out of somewhere. He did notice how scarily it resembled Hermione's hair in an offhand manner.

- 0 - 0 - 0 -

Harry eyed the envelope once more. He had opened it as soon as Kurt had been taken away by the girls. He had asked Hermione to distract him while he solved whatever was going on. He even made sure they picked him up so he wouldn't be able to leave early. Inside there was only a white piece of paper neatly folded; he knew Tom had a reason to send Kurt to the basement at that time and he didn't have a good feeling about this.

"Are you sure you don't want us to come with you?" asked Ron when Harry stood up.

"No, but keep your phones at hand. Hermione will let us know the moment they are heading back, text me when they are" Harry said zipping up his hoodie. "Don't let Kurt see you, if he drops by, can one of you say Ron and I went out drinking or something?"

"You know, normal people come up with excuses that won't get them into trouble" Fred said.

Harry snorted. "What can I say? I went home?"

"I don't know. Remind me how far away England is…" said George.

"I'll see you in a bit" Harry said, shoving his hands inside his pockets.

"If you're not back in an hour we're coming for you" Ron said with a firm voice.

"Sounds like a plan" agreed Harry.

- 0 - 0 - 0 -

Harry quietly made his way to the basement. Skillfully sticking to the shadows and frowning at the sounds he was hearing. An unpleasant feeling settled in his stomach. He had a suspicious of what was going on, but couldn't be sure unless he went past the door in front of him.

He took a deep breath and opened it.

He entered and a few of the guys noticed him straight away.

Harry's jaw tensed and he looked at what was going on around him. From their shirtless, shoeless forms, to the human ring they had created around two of them. It was pathetic how serious they were taking this. Finally he exploded.

"YOU BLOODY MORONS!" he yelled, making everybody freeze. He had never been this mad before in his life. Correction, Harry wasn't mad, he was furious. "This had to be the biggest act of stupidity I have seen in my entire fucking life!" he continued to yell.

Because seriously, who was stupid enough to start a fight club in Dalton?

"Potter" somebody said, voice full of contempt.

"Anderson?" asked Harry and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Of course you had to be involved…" he looked around the room and glared at every single one of them, however he focused most of his frustration in three people. "Sanders, Tolle, Hick" called out Harry and the boys flinched. They had never heard this voice before.

"Sanders, Hick, you are out of the fencing team, effective immediately; don't even bother to show up again" he said coldly. "Tolle, I will be speaking with Oliver, and be assured I will strongly suggest to him to follow my example… the rest of you" he gave them a look of disgust. "The rest of you… I have no power or responsibility over, so I don't give a damn what you do."

He turned on his heels and marched out, fuming.

"That was unnecessary" Blaine said angrily, having followed after him. "What happens here has nothing to do with school activities."

"No Anderson, you know what's unnecessary? Your attitude" he snapped and turned around, glaring at the lead singer. "You go on and on to Kurt about how I am a bad influence, but I have never done something like this" he said gesturing to their surroundings. He laughed sarcastically. "You are a bloody hypocrite; you put this dapper mask and bitch about how I am the devil reincarnated because I refuse to conform to everybody's standards. Well guess what? This is exactly why I don't do it, I have nothing to repress so I don't need to come to the basement like a rat to release some tension."

"You don't know what you are talking about!" snapped Blaine.

Harry laughed. "Don't I?" he sneered at the smaller boy. "I understand perfectly fine what's going on."

"You don't know shit about me!" yelled Blaine, hands clenching and unclenching.

Harry was tired of restraining himself. He had stoically kept his opinion about Anderson to himself, not wanting to give Kurt the impression he had anything against his friend. However this was too much, this was the last drop and he was sick of letting the Warbler get away with things. So he attacked and when he attacked, he had been taught to go in for the kill.

"I know you don't like Kurt romantically. I know you are not jealous of him having a relationship either, but I do know you are angry that the closest thing you had to a real friend left you for me" Harry said hitting every vulnerable spot he had found in Blaine. "You don't understand how somebody chose me over your pathetic, perfect persona."

Blaine lunged at him, but Harry easily side stepped to the side, extending his foot to trip him. Blaine lost balance but managed to stay upright, barely avoiding colliding against the wall in front of him.

"Kurt told me how you are different, how you're not the person he thought you were and I get that too" said Harry viciously. "Kurt was your safe haven. He didn't have expectations of how you would behave and he was as happy to have found a friend in you as you were; he didn't interact with anybody at Dalton so you could be yourself. Then Kurt came here. You had to choose between your only real friend and your mask, and you made the wrong choice… maybe if I wasn't in the picture Kurt would have adapted, but I am here now and I won't allow you to make Kurt miserable by following your example."

Blaine was suspiciously quiet, staring at the wall and giving his back to Harry. He knew he had already wounded his pride, but it wasn't enough for Harry. Not yet.

"I will be the first to admit I break rules, but this is the most selfish and stupid thing I have seen in my life" he carried on. "Let's say the faculty finds out, at worst you will get expelled, get a mark in your permanent record. You're still 16 after all, but the ones in there that are 18? They could face charges. Sanders and Hick are in Dalton because they have two strikes already; their parents sent them here hoping they would stay away from trouble. They are in the fencing club so we can help them, so that they make the most of their last chance, and this? This would send them straight to juvie… but clearly you don't give shit about it."

"I didn't know" Blaine said quietly, turning around.

"No Anderson, because you are fucking blind to everything that doesn't fit into your little world; you don't think about consequences or how you are hurting people" snarled Harry. "You are actively helping to jeopardize the future of half of the students in there and destroy completely the chances of the other half. But of course, what harm can it do as long as you follow some romanticized code that a movie gave you!"

Harry took a deep breath, resisting the urge to punch the guy. He would not sink to their level.

"This is not like a movie. This is a coward's way and frankly, sickening. It's dishonorable to everybody involved, even yourselves and you might as well have spit on the school's beliefs. Beliefs that were the reason you came here in the first place." Harry said disgusted. "You said to Kurt I slept around, that I broke rules and am a bad influence. I never lied to him. I told him everything he needed to know before getting involved with me. I owned up to my screw ups and out of all that, I think with how strongly he believes in non-violence, that nothing would disturb him even half as much as this would."

Blaine stared at him in defeat and resentment. "You are going to tell him."

"No" denied Harry. "Because if I tell him, he will know and I don't want him to get involved in this. I don't want him to decide if he has to betray his friend or do what is right. I want him to be able to say he knew nothing about this and not have to lie. However I won't lie to him either" with one last look at the place he passed by Blaine. "I don't care how you do it, but disband this thing and tell the arsehole that came up with this brilliant idea that this time I won't go to the Headmaster or faculty, but next time I will go straight to the police and let them deal with all of you."

Seething Harry walked away, his mind a furious swirl of information. If he didn't watch it he would go straight to Tom Riddle's room and beat the living shit out of the guy. He was established enough at Dalton that he had no problem going in and out of that room. People knew better than to cross him, but Kurt? If Kurt had been the one to stumble into the Fight Club, who knew how that could have ended…

- End Chapter 8 -

I am hoping the Blaine-Harry confrontation was good enough. I was going to put more description on it, but it ended up cutting the flow of Harry's angry rant to Blaine so I got it out and left it like that.

Harry's past will come when it comes, and it's one of the few things I won't reveal to those who ask.

Also, I know a lot of you mentioned Harry seems a bit too perfect at the moment. I agree, but that's because right now Harry is keeping a lot of stuff to himself, which is a flaw already. He also tends to come a little too strong. So I guess at the moment you aren't seeing flaws that are as in your face as others.

All the best,

SweetCaroline91

PS: An anonymous review mention they were confused by the end of the chapter, because they didn't watch Glee. Honestly it didn't occur to me that people who don't watch Glee might be confused. So let me explain.

There's a episode in which Blaine and Finn had a bit of a confrontation after Sam and Blaine had a fight.

(Blaine is boxing)

"Is that Sam's face?" Finn asks.

"Yup. Yours, too." Blaine glances at him. "Don't act so surprised. After getting bullied so much, I took up boxing. I also started the Dalton branch of Fight Club, which…" BAM… "I obviously…" BAM… "can't talk about." BAM.

Now, that made me pause and double take. I was like WTF? He started a branch of Fight Club? And I decided it had to be part of the story. Because seriously? Worst. Idea. Ever