Resolutions part 2, PG-13
Title: Resolutions, part 2
Author: Psyduck
Pairing: Pre-H/D
Rating: PG-13
Prompt: dracoharry100's #97: Broomstick
Word count: 100 x 16
Team: DE's
A/N: Continuation to the story that started with prompt 96. Click here to read from the beginning.
“Hello? Harry?”
Harry snapped out of his daydream and turned to look at Seamus and Ron, sitting across from him. “Sorry, what did you say?”
Seamus rolled his eyes. “I asked if you wanted to go order us a new round,” he said, nodding toward their empty glasses.
Harry nodded absentmindedly and accepted a couple of coins from the other two before heading to the bar, where Madam Rosmerta was chatting with Professor Flitwick.
Ron turned to the Irish boy and frowned. “Seriously, what’s with Harry these days? He’s been weird ever since we came back for the spring term.”
*
“I dunno,” Seamus replied and glanced at Harry, who was patiently waiting to order, “he’s never been like that before. You don’t suppose he’s hung up on Ginny?”
Ron shook his head. “No, he’s glad that she’s dating Dean again.” The couple had gotten back together a few months previously, much to the general public’s surprise. Everyone had thought that she and Harry were destined to be, but the former kept insisting that they weren’t getting back together. They had stayed friends, though - some things you just couldn’t forget.
“Odd,” Dean said, before turning to take a look around them.
*
The Three Broomsticks was even more packed than usually. It was Friday night, so in addition to Hogsmeade residents, the pub was also host to several eight-year students of Hogwarts.
Professor - now Headmistress - McGonagall had decided that all the students who had come back to make up for the wasted last year were allowed to visit Hogsmeade any weekend they wished, as they all were legally adults and technically weren’t even required to be in school anymore. Harry, Ron, and Hermione, of course, would have come back in any case, as they hadn’t had a chance to complete their NEWTs.
*
Lots of things had changed for their year. Every House had suffered losses in the War, and the missing students were still mourned. Nearly all of the Slytherins were gone - only Malfoy, Parkinson, Zabini and Greengrass were left. Everyone was a bit surprised to see Parkinson return, because of her exclamation to hand Harry over last spring.
Of the three remaining Houses, Ravenclaw had lost most students: Michael Corner and Cho Chang had both been killed by Death Eaters when they’d been helping Neville duel toward the end of the last battle, and Michael Corner was missing and presumed dead.
*
In addition to Smith, who had been pulled out before the end of their sixth year, Hufflepuff had only lost Susan Bones, while the only Gryffindor from their year who had been killed was Anne Montgomery, a quiet girl whom Ron had never gotten to know well, but apparently Parvati, Seamus, and Hermione’d been on good terms with. Lavender’s family had moved to the continent to make a new beginning, but especially Hermione didn’t quite mourn the loss. A Hufflepuff whose name none of them could remember had also been pulled away, and nobody actually knew why Goyle hadn’t returned.
*
Ron didn’t have any more time to think depressing thoughts, as Harry had returned with three frothy pints. He appeared to have recovered from his zone-out, since he started talking about the homework that Nigel Furniss, their new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher had assigned for homework, on how to recognize Polyjuiced people.
“Glad that the Ministry’s idiots apparently haven’t taken these classes,” he grinned at Ron. “Otherwise we’d been caught, it’s not as if wasn’t close already.”
Seamus raised a confused eyebrow, and Harry started explaining the details on their near-disastrous quest for the locket the preceding year.
*
The conversation remained light-hearted for a long time; the ungodly amount of Firewhiskey shots and ale that they consumed probably helped a lot.
“And he actually fell off his bloody broomstick,” Seamus explained in an animated discussion inspired by the three brooms perched on top of the bar while the other two were laughing, “can you believe it?”
Ron grinned. “Actually, I can.” He paused to look at the Three Broomsticks’ door, which had opened. “Oh, bollocks,” he muttered and nodded his head to the newcomers’ direction.
Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson had entered, both looking more than a bit tipsy.
*
“Let’s just ignore them,” Seamus said and looked at his empty glass. “I know what we’ll do,” he said like he was revealing a great secret, “let’s drink some more!”
Ron brightened up considerably at the mention of more alcohol. “Yessir! Harry, your turn to go order.”
“M’kay,” Harry slurred and started walking toward the bar. Ron was just about to turn back to Seamus and continue their conversation, but was startled by Harry turning directions just before reaching it. Instead, he walked straight to... Malfoy and Parkinson’s table?
“What the fuck is he doing?” Seamus gasped, looking at Harry.
*
Ron and Seamus were too far to hear what exactly was going on, and what they saw would probably have confused them even if they hadn’t drank five ales and God knows how many Firewhiskey shots. They saw Harry say something, and they didn’t need to hear Malfoy’s voice to guess how polite his answer was. Harry simply rolled his eyes and said something before sitting in the empty chair next to him. The two Slytherins didn’t protest anymore, and the three of them started talking.
Ron and Seamus simply gaped. “Come on, let’s go get him away,” Ron said.
*
“...It was a stupid place in any case,” Malfoy said, pouting slightly.
“Oh, please, you’re not fooling anyone,” Parkinson smirked and turned to look at Harry with a smug expression. “He came on to a straight guy who rejected him rather vocally.”
“You’re a pouf?” Harry asked with an amused snort.
Malfoy glared angrily at him. “I don’t see how that’s any of your business, Potter. What’s in it for me if I answer?”
Just as Ron and Seamus arrived at the table, Harry raised an eyebrow flirtatiously and touched Malfoy’s shoulder. “I can think of a couple of ways.”
*
“Harry, what the hell are you doing?” Ron looked quite nauseous when he observed Harry’s hand, which was still lingering near Malfoy.
“What does it look like?” Harry replied amusedly, “I’m talking to Malfoy and Parkinson.”
“Pansy,” the girl corrected him. “Calling a girl by her last name is offending, Potter.”
“Fine, I’m talking to Malfoy and Pansy,” Harry amended and looked curiously at Ron. “Why?”
“Because you were supposed to get us a couple of shots and come back to our table?” Seamus said, confused but not quite as horrified as Ron.
“Yeah, why are you talking to... them?”
*
“Do you remember my New Year’s resolution?” Harry asked and raised an eyebrow at Ron.
It took the red-head a while to understand, but when he did, his eyes flew even more open than they already were. He looked disbelievingly back from Harry to Parkinson and back, and raised both of his brows to ask whether or not Harry had lost his mind.
Harry simply grinned, shook his head, and cocked his head in Malfoy’s direction.
Seamus thought Ron looked startlingly much like a goldfish with hair as he gaped at Harry. “Come on, let’s go back to the castle.”
*
“But... Harry -” Ron sputtered, but let his arm be grabbed.
“Harry’s a big boy,” Seamus said soothingly, “he can take care of himself. And Malfoy,” he added as an afterthought.
Ron turned back to look at the table, just to see Harry dart another flirtatious look at the blonde boy. He looked at Seamus. “But you don’t know what he’s - ”
“Actually, yes I do,” Seamus cut him off. “Harry told me about the New Year’s resolution.” He shrugged and continued walk toward the door. “And besides, Malfoy’s not bad looking.”
“But... It’s - it’s Malfoy! And Malfoy’s a bloke!”
*
“Amazing observation, Ron,” Seamus said and chuckled, “I’m proud of you.”
“But Harry’s not gay!” Ron said as they stepped outside.
It was Seamus’ turn to raise an eyebrow. “He’s not? Oh, well, I guess he could be bisexual. But you can’t seriously be saying that you haven’t seen the way he’s been looking at Malfoy for a couple of weeks?”
“Er...” Ron looked quite ill. “How, exactly, has he been looking at Malfoy?”
“The same way you look at Professor Jacques.”
Ron blushed crimson. Jacques, their new DADA teacher, was a young woman with breasts the size of watermelons.
*
“It’s still Malfoy,” he said, “and Malfoy’s a git.”
Seamus shrugged. “Yeah, he might be, but at least he’s not completely evil. And he can’t exactly become worse by hanging out with Harry, can he?”
Ron just mumbled something involving the words “Malfoy,” “flobberworm,” and “arse.”
Seamus slapped his back friendlily. “Come on, it’s not that bad,” he said, earning a glare from Ron.
“No, seriously,” he laughed, “think if he’d picked... I don’t know, Goyle or someone.” This time Ron actually did look like he was about to puke.
“Guess you’re right...” He shook his head. “Malfoy’s still insane.”
*
“True,” Seamus said, “but he’s got a nice arse, so I guess that balances it out.”
“Seamus!” Ron gasped. “Don’t tell me you’re bent, too? Why doesn’t anybody tell me these things?!”
The Irish boy laughed. “Ron, I’m straight, but that doesn’t mean I’m blind. He does have a nice arse.” He sobered up a bit as they started up the path leading to the castle. “You don’t have anything against gays, right?”
Ron shook his head. “Nah, it doesn’t matter, really. I just wish I’d known.” He sighed. “And I do hope Harry knows what he’s getting himself into...”
TBC
Author: Psyduck
Pairing: Pre-H/D
Rating: PG-13
Prompt: dracoharry100's #97: Broomstick
Word count: 100 x 16
Team: DE's
A/N: Continuation to the story that started with prompt 96. Click here to read from the beginning.
“Hello? Harry?”
Harry snapped out of his daydream and turned to look at Seamus and Ron, sitting across from him. “Sorry, what did you say?”
Seamus rolled his eyes. “I asked if you wanted to go order us a new round,” he said, nodding toward their empty glasses.
Harry nodded absentmindedly and accepted a couple of coins from the other two before heading to the bar, where Madam Rosmerta was chatting with Professor Flitwick.
Ron turned to the Irish boy and frowned. “Seriously, what’s with Harry these days? He’s been weird ever since we came back for the spring term.”
*
“I dunno,” Seamus replied and glanced at Harry, who was patiently waiting to order, “he’s never been like that before. You don’t suppose he’s hung up on Ginny?”
Ron shook his head. “No, he’s glad that she’s dating Dean again.” The couple had gotten back together a few months previously, much to the general public’s surprise. Everyone had thought that she and Harry were destined to be, but the former kept insisting that they weren’t getting back together. They had stayed friends, though - some things you just couldn’t forget.
“Odd,” Dean said, before turning to take a look around them.
*
The Three Broomsticks was even more packed than usually. It was Friday night, so in addition to Hogsmeade residents, the pub was also host to several eight-year students of Hogwarts.
Professor - now Headmistress - McGonagall had decided that all the students who had come back to make up for the wasted last year were allowed to visit Hogsmeade any weekend they wished, as they all were legally adults and technically weren’t even required to be in school anymore. Harry, Ron, and Hermione, of course, would have come back in any case, as they hadn’t had a chance to complete their NEWTs.
*
Lots of things had changed for their year. Every House had suffered losses in the War, and the missing students were still mourned. Nearly all of the Slytherins were gone - only Malfoy, Parkinson, Zabini and Greengrass were left. Everyone was a bit surprised to see Parkinson return, because of her exclamation to hand Harry over last spring.
Of the three remaining Houses, Ravenclaw had lost most students: Michael Corner and Cho Chang had both been killed by Death Eaters when they’d been helping Neville duel toward the end of the last battle, and Michael Corner was missing and presumed dead.
*
In addition to Smith, who had been pulled out before the end of their sixth year, Hufflepuff had only lost Susan Bones, while the only Gryffindor from their year who had been killed was Anne Montgomery, a quiet girl whom Ron had never gotten to know well, but apparently Parvati, Seamus, and Hermione’d been on good terms with. Lavender’s family had moved to the continent to make a new beginning, but especially Hermione didn’t quite mourn the loss. A Hufflepuff whose name none of them could remember had also been pulled away, and nobody actually knew why Goyle hadn’t returned.
*
Ron didn’t have any more time to think depressing thoughts, as Harry had returned with three frothy pints. He appeared to have recovered from his zone-out, since he started talking about the homework that Nigel Furniss, their new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher had assigned for homework, on how to recognize Polyjuiced people.
“Glad that the Ministry’s idiots apparently haven’t taken these classes,” he grinned at Ron. “Otherwise we’d been caught, it’s not as if wasn’t close already.”
Seamus raised a confused eyebrow, and Harry started explaining the details on their near-disastrous quest for the locket the preceding year.
*
The conversation remained light-hearted for a long time; the ungodly amount of Firewhiskey shots and ale that they consumed probably helped a lot.
“And he actually fell off his bloody broomstick,” Seamus explained in an animated discussion inspired by the three brooms perched on top of the bar while the other two were laughing, “can you believe it?”
Ron grinned. “Actually, I can.” He paused to look at the Three Broomsticks’ door, which had opened. “Oh, bollocks,” he muttered and nodded his head to the newcomers’ direction.
Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson had entered, both looking more than a bit tipsy.
*
“Let’s just ignore them,” Seamus said and looked at his empty glass. “I know what we’ll do,” he said like he was revealing a great secret, “let’s drink some more!”
Ron brightened up considerably at the mention of more alcohol. “Yessir! Harry, your turn to go order.”
“M’kay,” Harry slurred and started walking toward the bar. Ron was just about to turn back to Seamus and continue their conversation, but was startled by Harry turning directions just before reaching it. Instead, he walked straight to... Malfoy and Parkinson’s table?
“What the fuck is he doing?” Seamus gasped, looking at Harry.
*
Ron and Seamus were too far to hear what exactly was going on, and what they saw would probably have confused them even if they hadn’t drank five ales and God knows how many Firewhiskey shots. They saw Harry say something, and they didn’t need to hear Malfoy’s voice to guess how polite his answer was. Harry simply rolled his eyes and said something before sitting in the empty chair next to him. The two Slytherins didn’t protest anymore, and the three of them started talking.
Ron and Seamus simply gaped. “Come on, let’s go get him away,” Ron said.
*
“...It was a stupid place in any case,” Malfoy said, pouting slightly.
“Oh, please, you’re not fooling anyone,” Parkinson smirked and turned to look at Harry with a smug expression. “He came on to a straight guy who rejected him rather vocally.”
“You’re a pouf?” Harry asked with an amused snort.
Malfoy glared angrily at him. “I don’t see how that’s any of your business, Potter. What’s in it for me if I answer?”
Just as Ron and Seamus arrived at the table, Harry raised an eyebrow flirtatiously and touched Malfoy’s shoulder. “I can think of a couple of ways.”
*
“Harry, what the hell are you doing?” Ron looked quite nauseous when he observed Harry’s hand, which was still lingering near Malfoy.
“What does it look like?” Harry replied amusedly, “I’m talking to Malfoy and Parkinson.”
“Pansy,” the girl corrected him. “Calling a girl by her last name is offending, Potter.”
“Fine, I’m talking to Malfoy and Pansy,” Harry amended and looked curiously at Ron. “Why?”
“Because you were supposed to get us a couple of shots and come back to our table?” Seamus said, confused but not quite as horrified as Ron.
“Yeah, why are you talking to... them?”
*
“Do you remember my New Year’s resolution?” Harry asked and raised an eyebrow at Ron.
It took the red-head a while to understand, but when he did, his eyes flew even more open than they already were. He looked disbelievingly back from Harry to Parkinson and back, and raised both of his brows to ask whether or not Harry had lost his mind.
Harry simply grinned, shook his head, and cocked his head in Malfoy’s direction.
Seamus thought Ron looked startlingly much like a goldfish with hair as he gaped at Harry. “Come on, let’s go back to the castle.”
*
“But... Harry -” Ron sputtered, but let his arm be grabbed.
“Harry’s a big boy,” Seamus said soothingly, “he can take care of himself. And Malfoy,” he added as an afterthought.
Ron turned back to look at the table, just to see Harry dart another flirtatious look at the blonde boy. He looked at Seamus. “But you don’t know what he’s - ”
“Actually, yes I do,” Seamus cut him off. “Harry told me about the New Year’s resolution.” He shrugged and continued walk toward the door. “And besides, Malfoy’s not bad looking.”
“But... It’s - it’s Malfoy! And Malfoy’s a bloke!”
*
“Amazing observation, Ron,” Seamus said and chuckled, “I’m proud of you.”
“But Harry’s not gay!” Ron said as they stepped outside.
It was Seamus’ turn to raise an eyebrow. “He’s not? Oh, well, I guess he could be bisexual. But you can’t seriously be saying that you haven’t seen the way he’s been looking at Malfoy for a couple of weeks?”
“Er...” Ron looked quite ill. “How, exactly, has he been looking at Malfoy?”
“The same way you look at Professor Jacques.”
Ron blushed crimson. Jacques, their new DADA teacher, was a young woman with breasts the size of watermelons.
*
“It’s still Malfoy,” he said, “and Malfoy’s a git.”
Seamus shrugged. “Yeah, he might be, but at least he’s not completely evil. And he can’t exactly become worse by hanging out with Harry, can he?”
Ron just mumbled something involving the words “Malfoy,” “flobberworm,” and “arse.”
Seamus slapped his back friendlily. “Come on, it’s not that bad,” he said, earning a glare from Ron.
“No, seriously,” he laughed, “think if he’d picked... I don’t know, Goyle or someone.” This time Ron actually did look like he was about to puke.
“Guess you’re right...” He shook his head. “Malfoy’s still insane.”
*
“True,” Seamus said, “but he’s got a nice arse, so I guess that balances it out.”
“Seamus!” Ron gasped. “Don’t tell me you’re bent, too? Why doesn’t anybody tell me these things?!”
The Irish boy laughed. “Ron, I’m straight, but that doesn’t mean I’m blind. He does have a nice arse.” He sobered up a bit as they started up the path leading to the castle. “You don’t have anything against gays, right?”
Ron shook his head. “Nah, it doesn’t matter, really. I just wish I’d known.” He sighed. “And I do hope Harry knows what he’s getting himself into...”
TBC