Harry woke up on Sunday morning feeling quite chipper. He felt as though a huge weight had been lifted off his chest, having revealed his sexual orientation to his two best friends. Hermione, unsurprisingly, has apparently figured it out months ago, and had spent her free time doing research about what the wizarding world thought of homosexuality. She seemed slightly put out at his relief that there were no potions or charms that allowed men to carry children (where on earth would it come out?), but smiled indulgingly at him when he picked up a copy of a wedding magazine with a pair of very attractive wizards in dress robes on them and smiled, imagining one of them being him. Ron, very surprisingly, had also known. He had first had suspicions when Harry and Ginny never got back together, those suspicions being confirmed when he caught Harry staring at Seamus' bottom one too many times to be friendly. He, only half-jokingly, warned Harry not to get any ideas about falling in love with him, as he was a taken man. This earned him a smack on the back of his head from his ever-loving girlfriend.
They had then discussed what happens next. Would Harry come out publicly? Why was it anyone's business who he did or did not take to bed? He could see the cover of the Daily Prophet now, "Boy-Who-Lived-To-Take-It-Up-The-Arse." No thank you. It was bad enough that he got so many fan letters and gifts that Mcgonagall had to refuse owls entry to Hogwarts. Harry tried to suck it up; he attended the countless stuffy Ministry functions, he went to the trials, he even gave a speech at the opening of the new wing at St. Mungos. He would not willingly subject himself to any more public scrutiny, especially when he had no need to. It wasn't as if he had a boyfriend!
Were there even any other gay men at Hogwarts? He had long held suspicions about Dumbledore, but even if the man weren't dead and 100 years too old for him, there was just no way. Harry made a mental note to ask Hermione whether she could use her incredible powers of observation on the rest of the Hogwarts male population. He sighed, his mind coming back to his stupid, unwanted celebrity status. He had hoped that once he had killed Voldemort, people would leave him alone, but it was obviously not going to happen. Even if he did find another gay male, and even if he found him attractive, he would probably only want Harry for the 15-minutes of fame, not for Harry himself. And, in the incredibly unlikely scenario that he did, how could Harry subject someone to a life like they would have to lead? Constantly in the public eye, every move and fight chronicled for all of Britain to read about the next day. It was bad enough that Harry, Ron, and Hermione had to put up with it, how could he subject someone else to that kind of life?
Harry looked critically at himself in the mirror. Black, shaggy hair that curled at the ends and wouldn't stay put, admittedly beautiful green eyes were obscured by foggy lenses, and too-full lips that looked like they belonged on a much larger face. His body bore many scars, from mermaid spears and basilisk fangs and sharp knives and from writhing around under the cruciatus curse. Who would understand these scars, that they were part of him? Madame Pomfrey had offered to give him a crème to remove them, but they were reminders of his life, and of how important that the mistakes the wizarding world had made could never be repeated. His partner could not be a vain person, they would see nothing beyond the blemishes on his skin. He was not as tall or broad as Ron, who now stood at 6"3' and would have made a formidable rugby player in the muggle world. However, he wasn't slender like Malfoy either, with his lithe muscle-wait, what? Lithe muscles? Harry shook his head, he was thinking too hard again. Malfoy only appeared in his mind when Harry got lost in his thoughts.
A grumbling stomach tore Harry out of his reverie. He glanced at the clock on the mantel, almost 11. Fuck, Ron wouldn't be happy about being late to breakfast. He pulled on his rumpled shirt and pants and headed down to the Great Hall, hopefully leaving all thoughts of slender blonde twats behind.
Author's note: Hey guys, sorry these chapters are so short. I'm just trying to get some exposition in before they make contact.