Funerals and Weddings

For disclaimer, summary, story codes and other information, please see the prologue.

Chapter the seventh: The view from outside the closet
The next day
13 August
Grimmauld Place

When Kingsley Shacklebolt and Tonks had shown up at Privet Drive that morning, Harry was packed and ready. He’d left a note for the Dursleys, who were due back that night, and he’d said his good-byes to Jason the day before. He’d hated having to lie to his friend, but he couldn’t exactly tell him the truth (“Well, you see Jason, I’m a wizard, it’s been prophesized that I must be the one to kill the evil wizard who was just resurrected using my blood, so I need to head out to meet up with some others who are fighting against the evil wizard and trying to keep me safe from his yearly attempts to kill me. What, I didn’t mention it before? Sorry, must have slipped my mind!”); so he told him he was leaving early for school to attend a special pre-term seminar. Harry would miss seeing Jason everyday (and the sex!), but he was excited to be seeing Hermione and Ron. He’d had an amazing two weeks with Jason—clubbing, shopping, hanging out, and of course, having sex. Harry no longer had to worry about being inexperienced, that was for sure! His two weeks with Jason had been most…educational. And fun. Harry didn’t remember ever having so much fun as a Muggle before.

Harry cared about Jason and he knew that Jason would always have a special place in his heart as his first, but he didn’t love him. And he knew Jason didn’t love him either. Harry thought that it couldn’t have worked out better—he’d found a new friend, spent two weeks of his summer enjoying himself immensely, and had found a lover that gave him incredible pleasure but didn’t expect a long-term relationship any more than Harry did. Quite an accomplishment for someone who had set out to buy some new clothes!

Upon seeing Harry for the first time since the previous term had ended, Tonks had let out a wolf-whistle as she gave Harry the once-over. It was the first time she’d seen him wearing anything other than Dudley’s oversized hand-me-downs or school robes.

“Is that you Harry? When’d you become The-Boy-Who-Oozed-Sex?”

Harry grinned and was pleased he only blushed a little. Shacklebolt only raised an eyebrow while Tonks examined his earring and tongue-piercing. He eventually cleared his throat and held up a pink high-heeled shoe.

Winking at Tonks, Harry said, “Cheers, Shacklebolt, but it’s not really my style. Perhaps it might suit Tonks—it would look quite fetching with her hair, actually.” Tonks, who was currently sporting bright purple dreadlocks that snaked to her shoulders, snickered.

A reluctant smile spread across Shacklebolt’s face. “Just for that, Potter, you get to handle your truck yourself. I had planned on helping you keep a grip on it whilst portkeying, but now…”

Harry laughed and Tonks obligingly helped him with his truck and the three of them touched the shoe and portkeyed away to Grimmauld Place.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

“Harry!” As soon as Harry stepped foot into the kitchen at Grimmauld Place, he was engulfed in a mass of squealing brown hair. “Harry, it’s so good to see you!” Harry eventually managed to extract himself from Hermione’s grasp and grinned at her.

“Good to see you too, Hermione! All right, Ron? Ginny?” Harry smiled at his friends.

“Harry, mate, glad you’re here! I tell you, I’ve been going a bit crazy here, what with being the only male around most of the day. It’ll be good to have someone to talk to that doesn’t giggle all the time!” Ron said with a wink. Harry laughed as Hermione and Ginny both rolled their eyes at Ron’s comment.

“Oh, please. We don’t giggle all the time—you know it’s not more than half, really!” Ginny poked Ron in the side before hugging Harry. “You’re looking good, Harry. Where’d you get the clothes? And the earring? Don’t tell me the Dursleys took you shopping!”

Harry snorted. “Not likely!” Glancing around the room, he said, “C’mon, you guys can keep me company while I unpack and we can compare summers.”

The four friends insisted Harry explain his new clothes right away, so he gave them a brief (censored) version of his shopping trip and how it came about. While putting his shirts away, Harry unconsciously fiddled with his barbell; it was a habit he’d developed. Ginny gave a little shriek. “Harry! Is your tongue pierced?!?”

Harry smirked, then stuck out his tongue. “Blimey! It is! How’d that happen?” he laughed, playing with the barbell again.

Ron winced while Hermione looked torn between fascination and disapproval. Ginny leaned in for a closer look and spied the snakes on the barbell. “Bloody hell, he’s got snakes on it! You switching to Slytherin, Harry?” She snorted, to let him know she was joking.

Picturing a snake in his mind, Harry switched to Parseltongue and hissed, “Yessss, I’ve ssssssso been wanting to sssssssleep in the freezsssssssssing dungeonsssss.”

Although they really couldn’t understand what he said, they all laughed at his wry expression.

“Merlin, Harry, you’ve really made some changes! What else did you get up to while the Muggles were away?” Ron asked.

At this, Harry flushed a bit. Here was the bit he wasn’t exactly looking forward to telling his friends. He wasn’t ashamed of being gay—the two weeks this summer had gone a long way towards convincing him he was indeed gay and accepting the fact about himself had been a lot less difficult than he’d thought it might be—but he was worried about what his best mates would think. Oh, he knew that same-sex relationships were common in the Wizarding world and didn’t have the stigma they did with some Muggles, but growing up with a decidedly homophobic uncle made Harry a little leery of the reaction he might get coming out of the closet.

‘Best be getting it over with,’ he thought. Aloud he said, “Well, I made some new friends—Muggles—in London and hung out with them. We went clubbing quite a bit, actually. It was fun. And…I sort of met someone…in particular…that I spent quite a lot of my time with…” Harry trailed off here, not sure what to say next. Quite unintentionally, Ron came to his rescue.

“Oho! Someone in particular? Go on, Harry, what’s her name?” He shot Harry a leering grin.

“Er…Jason,” Harry said it quickly, then looked at the floor.

“A bloke! When’d you start batting for the other team, mate?” Ron’s voice sounded surprised, but not angry, so Harry dared to look up.

Ron did look surprised, while Hermione looked thoughtful. He couldn’t make out what Ginny’s expression meant.

“Well, er, this summer, I suppose. I mean, I think I’ve fancied blokes for awhile but didn’t really…acknowledge it, consciously I mean, ‘til this summer.” Harry wasn’t sure if he made any sense, but all three of them nodded.

“Wow, Harry, you really have changed a lot. I’m not quite sure I know who you are anymore,” Ginny said, with a slight frown. “New clothes, piercings, clubbing, a boyfriend…I’m beginning to think I’m here with a Polyjuiced Harry!”

Harry frowned. “No, Ginny, I’m still the same old Harry. I mean, yeah, I might look a bit different, but aren’t you glad? You and Hermione should be thrilled I’ve finally gotten some new clothes that fit!” He shot the two of them a smile. “And the piercings don’t change who I am. I guess the being gay bit might change your…impression…of me, or whatever, but it only means I fancy blokes. I hope…I hope this doesn’t mean that you guys don’t…want to be around me anymore, does it?” Suddenly, Harry was very nervous.

“No, of course it doesn’t Harry!” Hermione wrapped her arm around Harry’s shoulders. “Like you said, you’re still Harry no matter what you wear or who you date. I think Ginny just meant that she was a bit surprised, that’s all.”

Harry looked at Ginny. She didn’t quite meet his eyes. Standing abruptly, she said, ”Yes, of course, I was just surprised, that’s all. Er, I’ve just remembered I promised Mum I’d help her make dinner. See you later.” With that, Ginny fled the room.

Harry was stunned. He’d been worried mostly about Ron’s reaction to his sexual preferences, not Ginny’s! Ron interrupted his thoughts.

“Shittin’ell, what was that about?” he wondered aloud.

Harry sighed. “It’s obvious, isn’t it? Now she sees me a dirty great poofter and can’t stand to be around me.”

Ron frowned. “No, that doesn’t seem right. I mean, Ginny’s never had a problem with poofs before. She’s friends with that Finch-Fletchley chap, isn’t she, and he’s always been a bit of a nancy boy. No, I think it’s something else.”

Hermione sighed. “Harry, you don’t think that Ginny…well, she did use to have quite a crush on you…”

Harry’s eyes widened. “Fuck, I never thought about that! I mean, she was over that ages ago, right? She was dating that Michael Corner bloke last year, she couldn’t still like me, could she?”

Ron shrugged. “I thought she was well over it, mate. Maybe we were wrong.”

“Don’t let it worry you, Harry. I’ll talk to Ginny tonight and see what’s going on. We’ll get this sorted,” Hermione said.

Harry looked glum. “I hope so. The last thing I wanted to do was hurt Ginny. And what if this is how other people react?”

“Well, whatever it is, she’ll come ‘round,” Ron said in a determined voice. Then he grinned to lighten the mood. “Don’t worry about anyone else, mate. Wizards don’t give a hang about a bloke banging another bloke. Just don’t be staring at how I hang, mate, or I might have to hex your arse!” Laughing loudly at his own joke, Ron slapped Harry on the shoulder. “C’mon, let’s eat! I’m starving!”

Harry laughed and relaxed a little as the three of them made their way to the door. “When aren’t you starving, Ron?”

A/N: Thanks for the reviews! They are greatly appreciated! In response to questions: the weddings will be quite a bit later on and the H/D action is coming up soon, I promise! ;)