Remember I am a person too and my feelings matter...pfft...that sounded so lame :D *ignore that* I want to remind everyone that this is my least favorite of the Harry Potter books (not to say I don't love it because I do, but in light of number 3, 5, & 6 it just doesn't compare) and I was very tempted to skip it [like I did the first two (only because they've been done by others already)]. Therefore, I would like to inform you that writing these chapters is very very very VERY difficult for me as I have to read the book and watch the movie bit by bit and sort through what I want to keep, toss what I don't feel like dragging myself through, and make it more fitting for a Slytherin Harry instead of for a Gryffindor Harry. Not to say that this is necessarily hard or not enjoyable, but it is time consuming. Thankfully, I don't have a life and I need this to throw my emotions at.

For those who didn't bother reading the above: you're not missing much.

Enjoy!

Harry and Theodore found themselves stuffed into a compartment with Draco and his two lackeys, Goyle and Crabbe, but neither were too worried as the Malfoy heir would soon be off patrolling the Express in his bi-annual train hunt for weak people to pick on, preferably first years and Gryffindors. While Draco was there he informed everyone how his father had wanted him to go to Durmstrang, but his mother hadn't wanted him going to school so far away.

"Ever thought of foreign exchange?" Draco asked them after a long lull in the conversation.

Theo answered. "I did. Tried to convince my father to let me attend the schools of either Australia or Canada. Wouldn't let me, of course."

"Too far away?" Draco mused.

"Doesn't like foreigners."

"What about you, Potter?"

"Never thought about it." Harry didn't want to admit that he didn't know it was an option.

Eventually, Draco, Goyle, and Crabbe left and Theodore and Harry started about playing Exploding Snap. It wasn't long into their first game that Harry suddenly remembered something that had happened while at the World Cup and he asked (a bit out of the blue), "Theo, do you like blokes?"

Theo didn't even look up from the game as he replied coolly, "Yeah."

"Y-you do?" Harry inwardly cursed for stuttering.

"Is that a problem?"

"N-no." Harry focused pointedly at the game. "Just shocking, I guess. I mean, I've never really thought about liking blokes."

"It's normal in the wizarding world."

"Is it?"

"Well, Dumbledore likes blokes, you know."

"He does?" Why his voice squeaked was beyond Harry, but he decided to blame it on puberty.

Theo snorted a small laugh. "Well, yeah. Everyone knows that. Some, well...just Rita Skeeter...even said he had a thing for You-Know-Who and that the war was started because they had a falling out of some kind. It was all just lies spread by her, of course, and he refuted all such claims, but they circulated for a great time."

"Is he...single...now?" Harry inquired, a little nervous for some reason.

"Why? Interested?"

Harry gagged at the question and Theo snickered.

"I don't think he's ever been in a long-standing relationship...but I'm only fourteen, Harry. I don't really know that stuff."

"Oh, right."

They continued playing silently as Harry thought about what he had learned and came up with another question.

"Can...you know...wizards marry wizards and witches, witches?"

"Yeah." Theo shrugged. "Of course. We're not Muggles, you know. We understand that's all right."

"Understand that, but not Muggle-borns?" Harry regretted the question as Theo gave him a dark glance.

"The only problem with Muggles and Mud...uh...Muggle-borns came from the Statute of Secrecy." Theo drawled, his glare becoming a bored facade, which he wore to mask what he was really feeling. "Originally, wealthy wizarding families like the Malfoys and Notts were big in Muggle circles, often marrying into their royalty and nobility in order to obtain more and more wealth. They had no problem with the wealthy of the Muggle populace because it assisted them in their own rise in riches. They strongly opposed the Statute of Secrecy because it would pull them from these circles. However, once it was passed, they, not wanting to be accused of breaking any laws, refused to admit they had been connected to such people and followed the next craze, which was the Pure-blood mania. Thus, they pretended they had no Muggles in their past lines and began to restrict themselves to only those who were believed to be the same. They felt they would gain greater influence if they were up with the times. Pure-blood mania is just a phase. Mind you, a long-standing one. Eventually, it'll fall out."

"I don't think prejudice is just a phase, long-standing or not." Harry shot back, more heatedly than he had intended. "It's just an excuse to belittle other people and think better of themselves."

Theodore's eyes flicked with something bitter and, maybe even, violent. "Is that your opinion of me?"

Harry's stomach squirmed. "Well...you...it's...you don't seem like you really like picking on others and you...don't say that word around me."

"Your mother was one." Theo said dryly. "A Muggle-born, wasn't she?"

"Y-yeah."

"Than of course I can't say it."

"But you'd say it if she wasn't a Muggle-born?"

"Of course."

"But...you just said families like Nott and other supposed Pure-bloods have Muggles in their past and probably Muggle-borns as well!"

"And?"

"That means your blood isn't any purer than mine!"

"Both of my parents were Pure-bloods, whose parents were Pure-bloods, whose parents were Pure-bloods. Anything past that doesn't matter."

"So do you think less of me because of my blood then?" Harry was standing now. "You and I can both become Animagi! We're both top of the class in potions and transfiguration and charms and D.A.D.A. and we were both able to cast full-bodied Patronuses last year when we were only thirteen-year-olds! How are we any different? My blood doesn't make me any less a wizard than you!"

Theo hadn't moved while Harry's voice had begun to rise with each sentence until he was shouting, red-faced and ears prickling with his rage. Instead, a calm had settled over Theo's face and when he spoke, the soothing liquid of his voice cooled some of Harry's anger.

"I never said any of that." Theo stated. "I was only telling you what Pure-bloods think. Don't assume I don't understand, Harry. I've gone to a Muggle school just like you. I know what it's like to feel different from everyone else, just like you. I understand isolation and mistreatment and feeling like no one likes me or wants me around. I know exactly how you feel because I've experienced a lot of what you have, Harry. Our magic is similar because of that, not because of our blood or our parents or the House we're in. We have the same experiences, the same trauma in our past, and this is what gives us power and a will to strive forward and prove ourselves."

Harry sat down, feeling very heavy and very tired. "I'm sorry...I...shouldn't have yelled."

"It's all right." Theodore shrugged it off as if it was nothing. "But you have to understand, Harry, that terms like "Mudblood" and "Blood-Traitor" come naturally to me. Before coming to Hogwarts, I didn't even know they were considered offensive."

Frowning, Harry laid down his cards and leaned back in his seat. "Ugh...this blood drama is stupid..."

Theo began putting the game away. "Maybe...look, the trolley's here. Let's get some snacks. I'm starving."

After loading up on snacks and beginning their tri-annual sweets gorging, Harry finally asked another question, "So, if you like blokes, do you have anyone...you know...special...in mind?"

"I'm only fourteen, Harry!" Theo laughed as he opened a chocolate frog. "Mmm...Dumbledore again..."

"Do you have Merlin yet?" Harry asked as he looked at his.

"You have Merlin!" Theo practically dove over to Harry's side of the compartment. "That's supposed to be the hardest card to find!"

"You can have him." Harry passed the card over to his friend. "You've been looking for him longer. I don't mind waiting."

Theo took the card and gave Harry what was probably his first real smile. "Thanks, Harry."

"Of course." Harry ate his frog and then moved on to a pasty. "So, no one, huh?"

"Well, considering you're the only person I'm close to..." Theo's eyes were mischievous.

Harry wrinkled his nose. "You don't have a...uh...crush on anyone?"

"No." Theo shrugged. "I mean, I only figured out over the summer that I don't like girls."

"Oh..." Harry hesitated and then mumbled, "And you think I'm a bloke-liker?"

Theo rolled his eyes. "Pueramoris is the technical term. It means "boy love" in Latin and can also be applied to a witch who likes wizards. A witch or wizard who likes witches is called a Puellamoris, which is "girl love" in Latin. And, yes, I do think you're a Pueramoris."

"That sounds like a spell." Harry sighed.

"It is." Theo pulled out his wand. "If I cast Pueramoris at you it will glow blue if you like blokes, but won't do anything if you like girls. The other spell obviously works in the opposite way."

And before Harry could object Theo had cast Pueramoris and a blue glowing light washed over Harry.

Blushing profusely, Harry stood as if to leave, but then sat back down and covered his face. "That was mean, Theo."

"Sorry." Theo put his wand away, but didn't seem to really mean what he said. "Well, now you know...of course, it's still subject to change."

"Great..."

"You're only fourteen, Harry. You're not supposed to know for sure yet. I mean, you can, but...most people don't know until their older."

Harry sighed and reached for another pasty. "How do you know this stuff, Theo?"

The other boy shrugged. "I read a lot. Used to because I was isolated enough from the wizarding world that I wanted to make sure I knew as much as I could so I didn't get left out or look ignorant."

"I wish I could have done that." Harry glanced at a school book he had brought into the compartment and been reading while Draco controlled the conversation. "I feel as if I'm so far behind everyone else."

"You'll be fine." Theo stood. "Well, we're getting closer. Better change."

Pink flooded Harry's cheeks and he turned his face fully away from Theo as he didn't want to see and get nervous. While he was sure Theo didn't see him that way, the idea of changing in front of someone who liked blokes was nerve-wracking. The idea was similar to the idea of changing in front of a girl. Fumbling with his robes, he got into them as quickly as he could without looking at Theo, mostly because he didn't want to see Theo looking at him as that would only increase Harry's anxiety.

In his head he repeatedly whispered, I'm not homophobic. I'm not homophobic.

He wasn't. He had no problems with a bloke liking a bloke or any of that. Sure, it was currently a natural reaction to be wary, but it was only because Harry had never been in situations like this. He lived with the bloody Dursleys! How else was he supposed to react to something new like this? He took his seat with his gaze glued to the floor as Theo continued to take his time changing.

He wasn't homophobic and he didn't see Theo differently now that he knew the other was...Pueramoris. The fact was he simply wouldn't change in front of a girl because girls usually liked blokes, therefore, if a bloke liked a bloke it wasn't really proper to change in front of him either...right? His eyes flicked up and he caught sight of Theo's back and shoulders, thin with sharp angles, and his gaze flew to the floor again.

He was fourteen. He didn't need to be thinking about this stuff. He could wait a few more years before he gave it any serious thought...right?

"You'd think I was going to hex you, Harry." Theo snickered and Harry's eyes were brought back up to find his friend's laughing eyes. "Hey, I have a question for you."

"Go for it." Harry murmured, hoping for a change of topic.

"What do you think of long hair?"

"I like it." Harry told his friend. "Why? Gonna grow yours out?"

"Thinking of it."

"Go for it. It'd look good on you."

"Than you'd like it?" Theo sniggered and Harry hit him lightly.

"Can it, Theo."

Not long afterwards, they arrived at Hogwarts.

Well, addressing youth sexuality is not normally a thing for me, but I felt like bringing it up here. Hope you don't mind my invented terms and spells. I'll update whenever I have time or energy or emotional stability. :D Hope you enjoyed. Review if you like.