Friday, December 19
"What are you doing?" Hermione asked as she saw Harry and Susan duck their heads beneath the table.
"Living our best lives," Susan's voice said simply before Hermione heard a small pop of a cork being unsealed.
Hermione shared a wide eyed look with Theo. Anything that involved Susan and Harry 'living their best lives' was sure to be dangerous at best, outright criminal at worst.
"What, specifically, are you doing though?" Theo asked tightly.
Harry's head popped back up and he brandished an empty potions vial. "We, my beloved brother, are getting lucky."
It took a second to click in Hermione's mind what they meant, and when it did, she felt real fear unfurl in her stomach and her hair stood up on the back of her neck.
Under no circumstances, ever, should Harry 'Chaos' Potter be allowed to wander the castle alone under the influence of such a strong potion.
"Felix Felicis," she told the others in a horrified croak.
"Wicked," Ron laughed.
Blaise and Draco shared a quick look and both shrugged almost simultaneously.
"So Timmy and Dumbledore will be dead by nightfall?" Neville said casually. "Brilliant."
Hermione did not think it would be brilliant at all.
Hermione was terrified.
***
"Severus, what is your son doing?" Minerva asked from Severus' right hand side.
Severus watched curiously as Harry and Susan popped up from beneath the Slytherin table, identical looks of mischief on their faces.
"Something horrifying, I'm sure," Severus said. He tapped his wand on his thigh, silently intoning his marlios spell to overhear the conversation at Harry's part of the table.
"We, my beloved brother, are getting lucky," Harry said brightly.
Severus choked on his coffee.
"What is it?" Black asked curiously.
"Felix Felicis," Severus sighed after Granger said it, offering a perfect rational explanation for Harry's crass statement. "Horace gave Harry a bottle in his first class with him."
"Dear God," Minerva said. She rubbed her forehead, undoubtedly imagining the same vision Severus was. "We should cancel classes, bunker down in the dungeons."
"The dungeons will hardly be safe," Severus said drily. His look did soften as he heard Harry let out a peal of uncharacteristic laughter though.
Who cared what chaos Harry dumped on them all today? If anyone deserved a day of the beautiful sort of manic joy that Felix Felicis gave the drinker, it was Harry and Susan.
***
"Well, I'm high," Susan giggled. "This is much better than the trash Johnny smokes."
"It's a shame you don't have a broken mind," Harry said airily. "This is what flying feels like, except I don't want to transfigure into an owl."
"What do you want to do?" Draco asked, peering at Harry and Susan as if they were some sort of experiment.
Harry considered it for a moment, trying to let the liquid luck flowing through his veins make a decision for him. "I'm waiting for the post," he said confidently. "And there it is!" he cried with an unexpected burst of joy. "Sevvie! Over here buddy!"
The other students stared at Harry, nervous whispers breaking out about what could be in the parcel Sevvie carried that would cause Potter to be so excited.
Harry had no idea what was in the parcel, but he knew he it would definitely be something brill.
"Oh." Harry curled his nose at the parcel, immediately recognizing Rita Skeeter's loopy handwriting on the outside. "Nevermind then," he said. He stroked Sevvie's wings affectionately. "I'll just give this to Snape."
"Don't you want to read it first?" Neville asked.
"Nope." Harry smiled charmingly at his friends, affection bubbling up in him as he saw their faces. "I love you all."
"I love you too," Trent said immediately with a broad smile.
"What is in that potion?" Blaise laughed.
"I'm scared," Draco whispered to Luna.
Luna squeezed his leg beneath the table and giggled. "We all love you Harry," she said. "What does Felix say you'll be doing next?"
"Hmm..." Harry inhaled, then shrugged. "I have to go give this to Snape, then I'm not sure. I guess I'll just figure it out as I go."
"I'm going to go send a letter," Susan said. She jumped to her feet with a huge smile. "I won't be in class today, could you let the professors know that I'm quite busy, Hermione?"
Hermione seemed ready to lecture Susan on skipping classes, but then Susan turned her thousand watt smile on her and Hermione relented.
"I'll tell them," she said. "Could we, perhaps, please, prevent a war from breaking out today?"
"Don't be stupid," Harry laughed, "There's already a war, isn't there?"
Hermione's face paled a bit, but Harry ignored it. He got to his feet and shared a wicked smile with Susan.
"I feel like I'll see you soon," he said. "Good luck with your letter."
"I don't need luck," Susan sniffed, "I already have it."
***
Susan danced out of the Great Hall on the balls of her feet, humming a little as she let the magic inside her lead her to her destination.
For the first time in almost a month exactly, Susan felt happy.
She didn't care if it was manufactured happiness, it was still joy that filled her for now. And it gave her a brilliant idea to try and find some lasting happiness as well.
Susan waltzed in the Hufflepuff common room, smiling cheerily at the students lingering around on the plush sofas.
"Good morning," she sang. "Beautiful day, isn't it?"
A few of the younger kids looked startled at her chirpy tone, but they smiled back easily enough and waved to her.
Hufflepuff was such a lovely house to be a part of.
"What are you up to?" Justin asked her.
"I've got an important letter to write," Susan said confidently. What the content of that letter would be, she had no idea. What she would do next, she had no idea.
But Felix knew.
"Are you busy later?" Justin asked, his smile nervous, but cute in a boyish way. "I was thinking—"
"Can't," Susan said, interrupting what she was sure would be another invite to hang out together. "I'll be honest with you, Justin, you just aren't my type."
Justin blinked, his smile slowly sliding off his face. "Is it because I'm not Harry?" he asked, attempting to sound haughty instead of hurt.
Susan giggled and patted his arm consolingly. It was absurd how Fred graduated and suddenly everyone believed Susan and Harry were an item. Susan loved Harry, Harry was her absolute best friend in the world, but she wouldn't date Harry for all the galleons in the world. "Nobody is Harry, except for Harry," she told Justin. She had a sudden stroke of brilliance that she later accredited to Felix. "I think Parvati is single though, you should ask her out."
Justin shook his head in bemusement, but Susan was sure that it was the right thing to tell him. She gave him one more smile then made her way through the back corridor to her rarely used dorm.
She managed to summon her parchment, quill, and ink nonverbally and flopped down on her bed with a huge smile. She nibbled on the end of her quill for a moment, trying to decide what to write, when she felt a wash of the potion clear her mind, assuring her that she was overthinking it and to just let the words flow naturally.
Charlie,
How are you? Wonderful, I hope. I've thought a lot about what you said back in June and decided to compromise with you. My birthday is February 7, and it happens to fall on a Hogsmeade weekend. Would you like to have dinner with me? We could have dinner and possibly go back to your place afterwards (or rent a room in Hogsmeade, whichever you prefer). I do think you're quite fit; charming and brave as well. If you'd be interested, let me know, because I've thought about you quite a lot these last few months and I think I could be persuaded to try out this 'love' that you feel so strongly about.
Write to me?
XO,
Susan Bones.
Susan smiled at the letter, certain that it would bring her as much luck as the potion currently was.
***
"Seeeeeeev!"
Severus stiffened and turned as Harry called out to him, a thick parcel wrapped in brown paper in his hands.
"Yes?" Severus asked, ignoring the irksome way Harry sang his name.
"This is for you, apparently," Harry said. He tossed the parcel to Severus, drastically overestimating his abilities to catch it.
"C'mon, Sev," Harry laughed as the parcel landed on the ground beside him. "You gotta be quicker than that!"
Severus snagged the package off the ground and shook his head at Harry. "How much did you drink?" he asked.
"How do you know me so well?" Harry asked, his smile wide and his eyes sparkling brightly. "Half the vial, didn't I?"
Severus considered the vial that he saw Harry brandishing this morning and was torn between amusement and annoyance.
"I suppose Horace neglected to tell you that a single mouthful would last all day?" he asked.
Harry scrunched his face up, looking like a confused puppy, before laughing and shrugging his shoulders. "I don't remember," he said. "Why? Does this mean I'll be lucky for two days?"
"No," Severus sighed and smiled fondly at his impulsive and idiotic son. Felix Felicis had a rather set timer on its effects, though the potency would be dramatically increased if Harry and Susan had more than a single mouthful each. "It means that you are going to be incredibly annoying for the next twelve to sixteen hours and I would prefer you not burn the castle down."
"I'll consider it," Harry said with an impudent wink. "That's from Rita," he said, nodding at the parcel in Severus' hands. "No idea why, but I know you're meant to have it."
"Delightful." Severus rolled his eyes. "I'll just go read your fan mail while you go terrify the students with your cheer, shall I?"
"What a lovely idea!" Harry cried. "Ta, Sev! I hope you get lucky today as well! Love you!"
Severus rolled his eyes once more even as he felt his lips curling up in a pleased smile as Harry bounced away down the corridor.
He pitied anyone who crossed paths with the child today. Apparently, Felix Felicis had a rather affectionate side effect when mixed with Harry's Lithium potion. An interesting thing to note.
The package Harry gave him was curious though. Felix Felicis rarely explained why it led someone to make the decisions that they did, though there must be some explanation for Harry handing over a package from Rita Skeeter to Severus.
Severus poured over the package in the privacy of his office, his mouth wide open as he read all that Rita had discovered from Bathilda Bagshot.
Albus certainly had quite the colorful past.
Severus hesitated when he read a letter that Albus wrote to Gellert Grindewald, where he outright agreed with the subjugation of muggles. Something was tugging at his mind as he traced Albus' odd signature.
Instead of an A, Albus signed the beginning of his name with a curious symbol. A triangle with a circle inside of it, and a line drew through the center.
Severus was certain he had seen the symbol before, and he continued tracing it as he thought it over.
***
Susan had been skipping through the castle, debating on what she wanted to use all her luck on, when she ran face first in to her best friend.
"Harry!" she cried happily, pulling him in for a hug. "What are you doing?"
"I don't know!" Harry cried back, his voice a little high pitched with his excitement. "What are we doing?"
"We are..." Susan scrunched her face up as she thought it over for a moment. "Going to find Peeves!" she said happily. "Let's go!"
"Alright!"
Harry linked arms with Susan and skipped alongside her, causing her to laugh since Harry had no idea how to skip.
"Like this," Susan said patiently, showing Harry the proper skipping position as they moved through the corridors.
***
Dean Thomas grabbed Ginny's arm and backed against the wall of the corridor as Susan Bones and Harry bloody Potter went skipping down the corridor.
"What are they doing?" Ginny asked, scoffing derisively as Potter laughed at something Bones said.
"Something terrifying, I'm sure," Dean said quietly.
Nothing that made Potter and Bones laugh and skip could be good at all.
***
"Did you send your letter?" Harry asked after Susan taught him how to skip properly.
"I did," Susan said. "Luckily for me, Sevvie was already back in the owlery!"
"Lucky you," Harry laughed. "Who was it for?"
"Charlie Weasley," Susan said with a soppy smile. "He's so fit, Harry. I might be aiming quite out of my league."
"Ugh," Harry curled his nose up at Susan's terrible taste. "Fred is way more attractive than Charlie. Charlie's all muscles, Sue. He could squish you like a bug."
"I know," Susan grinned at Harry, "It's sexy, isn't it?"
"No." Harry laughed as he almost fell on top of a suit of armor. "Fred is sexy, Charlie is... I dunno, rough, maybe?"
"Stop," Susan laughed, "You're making me want him even more!"
Harry did finally trip over his feet, landing in a sprawl on the stone floor, blinking in surprise. "How come I fell?" he demanded of no one. "I'm supposed to be lucky!"
Susan tripped too, landing right next to Harry, and turned to point out the window they were next to. "Look," she whispered, "Dumbledore's leaving."
"That also isn't lucky," Harry said with a petulant pout. "I wanted to make him miserable."
Susan clicked her tongue at Harry and tilted her head next to his. "It means we have the whole grounds to ourselves," she whispered.
Oh.
Oh.
"That is lucky," Harry grinned.
***
"Should we go find Harry and Susan?" Draco asked Ron and Neville after their Herbology class.
"Uh..." Ron raised his brows at him in an incredulous look. "Why would we do that?"
"And why would we bother?" Neville sighed. "Look."
Draco turned towards where Neville was pointing and his eyes widened to see Harry and Susan holding hands and walking straight towards the forbidden forest.
"Do we... do we stop them?" Draco asked.
"Fuck. No." Ron said decisively. "We go to the library and pretend we never even saw that."
Draco and Neville agreed and they quickly scampered off to the library to meet up with their friends who were relatively sane.
***
"Threstrals have an innate mapping system built in," Harry explained to Susan when they were partially in the forest and began looking for the black winged horse-like creatures. "Plus, they're super friendly and dead useful."
"Are we going somewhere?" Susan asked as she helped Harry seek out the creatures she couldn't even see.
"I dunno," Harry said seriously. He had a feeling they were in the place they were supposed to be, but he didn't feel like they were going to be flying away on a threstral. Harry looked around the forest curiously, wondering what was inside it that Felix wanted him to find. "Let's just walk around and see what happens, yeah?"
"Perfect." Susan grabbed Harry's hand and strolled between the large trees, as careless of the ominous darkness as Harry was. "This way," she said, suddenly jerking on Harry's arm to turn him and unintentionally causing him to lose his footing.
"Again?!" Harry cried when he stumbled and barely caught himself on a tree trunk. "Why am I- wait, what the fuck?"
The tree trunk that Harry grabbed on to made a quiet groaning sound. Harry and Susan watched with wide eyes as the base of it slid open slowly.
"Holy hell," Susan breathed, her eyes lit up joyously. "What is this?!"
"Someone's secret stash," Harry laughed happily. He grabbed the scarf off Susan's neck and wrapped his hand in it, caution striking him as he went to grab a glowing opal necklack in the hollowed out nook. Harry lifted it curiously and tilted his head side to side as he studied it. "Definitely evil," he said certainly before dropping it on the ground and sending it to his trunk with a wave of his hand and small burst of magic.
"This isn't," Susan whispered, grabbing a sharp dagger and holding it up for Harry to inspect.
"And this is," Harry said, scooping out a black vial from the cache and squinting at it. "Draught of Living Death?"
"Looks like it," Susan agreed.
They rifled through the trunk for a few more minutes, finding a few small bottles of firewhisky and another knife.
"Is this... I didn't buy these," Harry said slowly.
"I think it's from your secret admirer," Susan laughed. "Must be a bloke."
"Hmm." Harry hummed thoughtfully as he eyed all the illicit items hidden. "Tada!" he laughed, sending them all to his trunk. "No more stabbing people and me getting blamed for it!"
"Tada!" Susan agreed with a giggle. "C'mon, let's go back inside. It's chilly out here."
Harry and Susan were midway through the grounds when Harry saw a cloud shaped like a smattering of freckles on Fred's shoulder and he had another stroke of inspiration.
"I think I'll go see Fred," Harry said decisively. He turned to Susan and smiled nervously at her, "Tell me everything you know about sex."
***
Minerva walked slowly from the Great Hall towards her classroom after lunch, enjoying the view of the snowy grounds from the windows.
Truly, there was no place in the world that could rival the beauty of Hogwarts in the winters.
The grounds were beautiful, the castle filled to the brim with decorations and Yuletide cheer, the candles felt warmer, the giggles were—
Giggles?
Minerva peered in an empty classroom as she passed, quirking her brow at Harry's messy black hair leaned close to Susan's gleaming red curls.
The two of them were plotting something, undoubtedly something chaotic and sinister, but they were also giggling, which gave Minerva a terrible feeling in her stomach.
They have no reason to bother you, she reminded herself as she backed away from the classroom. Leave them to destroy the castle in peace, and perhaps you will live to see eighty.
***
"How are you going to get there?" Susan whispered to Harry when they were secluded in a classroom, plotting Harry's escape together.
"Apparation," Harry said simply. "Duh."
"Duh," Susan laughed. She eyed Harry's school uniform slowly, grimacing at it. "You have to change though."
Harry, adorable idiot that he was, looked down at his shirt, tie, and robes, and shrugged. "Why? I'm getting naked when I get there, aren't I?"
Susan snorted. "Yes, but you have to make him want to undress you," she said with another giggle that kept bubbling up inside her. "C'mon, let's go play dress up!"
Harry was terribly cute, in his own way, but Harry wore baggy jumpers and jeans and Susan preferred him in dressier clothes. It really was Susan's lucky day, because she'd wanted to dress Harry up in Blaise and Draco's clothes for forever, but Harry usually glowered at her when she tried, but now he just followed along like an excited puppy.
Susan's heart was so full of affection for him. She pulled him close and kissed his cheek impulsively. "I love you," she said.
Harry smiled at her, and Susan adored his smile when he was truly happy. "I love you," he said earnestly.
Aaaaand, when they got to the boys' dorm, not only was it completely empty, but Draco forgot to ward his wardrobe against thieves this morning.
"It's our luuuuucky day," Susan sang. She threw Draco's wardrobe open and eyed Harry carefully. "Strip," she said. "Let's see what I'm working with."
***
"Come on," Theo whispered, pulling Hermione behind him. "Harry and Susan are off killing their enemies or kidnapping newborn muggleborns, we have the dorm to ourselves."
Hermione laughed and tried protesting weakly. "We should be studying," she said.
"We'll study after," Theo grinned. "Plus, don't we need to know anatomy? This counts, right?"
Hermione blushed in the way that Theo loved to see and ducked her head. "Quickly then," she said, laughing lightly as Theo led her through the empty common room.
"Quick?" Theo smirked at Hermione and leaned close to kiss the little sensitive spot beneath her ear. "Never," he breathed.
Hermione's sharp little inhale was cut off by a sound that Theo knew meant trouble.
Laughter.
From inside their dorm.
Which meant...
Theo slowly and silently cracked the door open just enough that he could peek inside and confirm what he already knew.
Harry and Susan.
"What are they doing?" Hermione whispered behind Theo, her hand tickling his back beneath his shirt.
Theo pulled the door back shut and shook his head, his fleeting impulse to spend his two hour break in bed with his girlfriend now gone entirely.
"Something that involved destroying our dorm with clothes," Theo sighed. "Apparently Felix Felicis told them to start a bloody war tonight."
Theo personally didn't care if Harry tossed his clothes around. Harry was his brother, he could wear his clothes or dig through his wardrobe all he wanted.
But Draco would throw a hissy fit of epic proportions once he saw the mess Harry and Susan had made.
"I wonder what they're up to," Hermione mused thoughtfully as they stomped back downstairs.
"Knowing Harry? It probably involves weapons and blood. A lot of blood."
***
Harry held his arms out to his sides, spinning slowly so Susan could inspect his outfit.
"Ugh! You're so handsome I'm going to..." Susan's golden hand flew to her forehead and she fell backwards on Ron's bed in a pretend faint.
"Shut up," Harry laughed. He looked down at Draco's silky dark purple top, coupled with Blaise's black trousers that made Harry look at least three inches taller than he actually was, then inspected his hair carefully in the mirror.
"Fred's going to die," Susan said happily, propping her chin on Harry's shoulder now to watch him mess with his untamable hair.
"I don't want him to die," Harry laughed. "Just... just shag me."
Susan let out a loud laugh, her cheeks pink and her eyes bright. "Fred would shag you if you showed up in my mini skirt," she said. "Which you should have worn, in my opinion."
"He might not," Harry said, a small burst of nerves attacking him suddenly. "I- I really freaked out last time, Sue. He might not want to anymore."
Susan turned Harry away from the mirror and stared at him sternly. "Do you feel like he won't want to?" she asked.
Harry considered it for a small moment before the luck in his veins wiped his worries away with a whisper of reassurance.
"Nah," he grinned. "I feel lucky."
***
Trent walked down the dungeon corridor quickly, wanting to grab his cards before dinner began.
"You'll love poker," he told Sapphire genuinely. "Harry taught me, and it's loads of fun. Ron said I can borrow his chips if I promise to bring them all back."
"Brill," Sapphire grinned, her white teeth sparkling in the candlelit corridor. "Is it hard?"
"Not at all," Trent assured her, tripping over his words as he got distracted by her smile. "It's—"
Trent's assurances that poker would be easy to learn were cut off as they passed an alcove and heard a lot of giggling.
"Har—"
Trent slapped his hand over Sapphire's mouth, keeping her from drawing Harry and Susan's attention to them. He grabbed her arm with his other hand and drug her quickly in the opposite direction, his cards and Ron's poker chips forgotten.
"What was that for?" Sapphire hissed once Trent released her.
Trent shook his head at her. He knew Gryffindors were brash and impulsive, but Sapphire surely knew better by now.
"They're giggling," he said. "Do you ever see Harry giggle?"
"Well..." Sapphire pursed her lips as she thought it over. "No," she finally said. "I suppose I don't."
"Exactly," Trent told her. "Which means they're plotting something positively insane. I'm not ready to die today, are you?"
"Oh my God, you're right," Sapphire agreed quickly. "Let's just stay far, faaaaar, away."
Which was one of the first sensible things Sapphire ever suggested really.
***
"Listen, Harry, I don't like to say I'm a pro, but I've never had a complaint before," Susan giggled in the alcove they were temporarily hidden in on their way to help Harry sneak out of the castle. "Ask me anything."
"Alright... does it matter who's on top and who's on bottom? D'you think Fred'll like it if I'm on top?"Harry blurted.
"Ask me anything that isn't specifically gay," Susan laughed, causing Harry to laugh as well.
Well.
Perhaps it was more of a giggle.
But nobody saw them, and Susan wouldn't tell anyone that Harry was giggling.
"He's handsome, isn't he?" Harry said dreamily. "Funny, fit, and I have no idea why he loves me, but he does."
"You're very loveable," Susan said. "Fred's a troll, but he makes you happy."
"Fred is not a troll!" Harry gasped, shocked by her audacity. "He's brill, Sue. I'm going to marry him, you know."
"I know," Susan laughed. "I can't wait for the wedding."
"Me either," Harry sighed. "Except... except then we'll be married, and married people..."
"Have sex," Susan said simply when Harry trailed off. "Do you really want to have sex with Fred?"
"So much," Harry grinned.
"Then listen up, and I'll give you all my best ideas."
Harry propped his chin on his knees and listened with eager ears and wide eyes as Susan talked.
Susan was a genius, in Harry's personal opinion.
***
Tonks was strolling through the dungeons. Technically, she was working, but truthfully she had been hoping to run in to Severus.
Casually, of course.
She'd embarrassed herself quite a bit a few weeks ago and it curbed her enthusiasm for making an arse of herself for a while.
She hadn't seen Severus yet, but she did nearly get knocked over by Harry and Susan when she turned a corner.
"This isn't lucky at all!" Harry cried before laughing. "We can't be bumping in to cops today! What is this bullshit?"
"Tonks!" Susan yelled happily, ignoring Harry's complaints. She threw her arms around her and caught Tonks by surprise with a tight hug.
Were you supposed to hug teenage girls you were the guardian of? She'd need to ask her mum...
"Wotcher," Tonks said warmly, awkwardly patting Susan on the head. "What are you two up to?"
"World domination," Harry quipped before breaking out in to a fit of giggles. When Susan let go of Tonks and began giggling as well, Tonks narrowed her eyes at the pair of them.
"Are you guys drunk?" she asked curiously.
"Higher than Harry can fly, actually," Susan said chipperly, apparently not worried at all at saying such a thing to Tonks.
Which was fine.
Tonks wasn't Susan's parent, she was aiming for more of a big sister type of role in her life. If Susan wanted to start their new relationship off with absolute honesty, then all the better for Tonks.
"High and planning world domination?" Tonks grinned, raising one brow at the pair of them. They did look like they were up to no good. Except, Harry always looked like he was up to no good honestly, but it was amplified quite a bit right now.
"Harry's joking," Susan said with a bright smile and an easy toss of her golden arm over Harry's shoulders. "We are quite busy at the moment with our plans though, what are you doing?"
"Patrolling," Tonks shrugged. "Want some help with your mad schemes?"
"No," Harry said hastily, confirming Tonks' guess that they must be absolutely insane or incredibly illegal.
Or both.
Probably both.
"Why don't you go bother Sev?" Harry suggested with a sly look in his eyes. "He likes you, you know."
"He'll never admit it if so," Tonks said sheepishly, a little embarrassed that her feelings were so obvious that everyone apparently knew about them. "I think he must be a bit too good at hiding his emotions."
"Trust me," Harry said in a conspiratorial whisper, "He blushes, Tonks, blushes. You just have to be upfront or he'll talk in Slytherin riddles forever and you'll never get anywhere, yeah?"
"Be blunt," Susan nodded sagely at Harry's side. "Say 'hey Professor Snape, you're incredibly sexy and I would like to be your girlfriend.'"
Tonks laughed, shaking her head at the odd advice from the two obviously inebriated teenagers. "If I feel like looking like I prat, that'll be the first thing I tell him," she said with a playful smile.
Harry shrugged and picked a small piece of lint off his shirt. "Don't say you think he's sexy, he'll think you're taking the mickey out of him," he said. "But just argue with him for a bit, that's what I do when we have a problem. And when you're done, you could just say 'can I kiss you?' That's what Fred said to me and now-" Harry held his left hand out with a flourish and a proud smile, "we're getting married, aren't we?"
"Yeah..." Tonks eyed Harry's ungodly expensive ring and felt her chest tighten for a moment. She knew she told Sev that they'd find a way to save him, but it was beginning to feel impossible. And here Harry was, beaming and acting like a normal teenager doing dumb shit, bragging about his fiancé and tossing out unsolicited relationship advice. It was probably one of the saddest things Tonks had ever witnessed.
"Go," Susan squealed, pushing Tonks towards Sev's door. "Go get your man, Tonks!"
Tonks tripped from Susan's push and gave her a half-hearted glare for it. "And what are you two going to be doing?"
"I told you, world domination," Harry rolled his eyes.
Susan giggled and smacked Harry's arm lightly. "Harry's going to get shagged and I'm going to go find our friends."
Tonks looked from Harry to Susan a few times before shaking her head. Judging from the impish lights in their eyes, and the cheeky grins they both sported, Tonks was certain that Harry's words were closer to the truth than Susan's were.
"Don't get arrested," Tonks quipped with another careless shrug. "Have fun."
Tonks was hesitating outside Sev's door when she heard Susan whisper to Harry, "She's great; isn't she?" And it was heartening enough to hear that Tonks grinned and rapped her knuckles lightly on Sev's door before letting herself in.
***
Susan walked to the passageway to Hogsmeade with Harry, both of them strolling carelessly, confident they wouldn't be stopped.
"You're going to love it," Susan told Harry when they approached the statue of the humpbacked witch. "Just focus on Fred's face, play some music you like, and keep your mind in the moment. Okay?"
"Okay," Harry said. He took a deep breath and gave Susan a crooked smile. "How do I look?"
"Dashing," Susan said. She smoothed Harry's hair down and beamed at him. "Go get him."
Harry gave her a wink over his shoulder before dropping down in the passageway and heading to the destination Felix was clearing the path for.
***
Fred was turning the key in the lock on the shop, closing up for the evening, when a whistled tune caught his attention. He turned and glanced down the alley, only to let out a startled laugh.
Harry was strolling down the alley, his hands in his pockets, whistling a merry tune as he walked straight towards Fred.
"Hello, my love," Harry called, waving his hand dramatically. "I was hoping to find you!"
"What are you doing here?" Fred laughed happily, running over to scoop Harry in his arms and spin him around. "I thought you couldn't leave until tomorrow?"
"I've left early," Harry said, laughing as he tilted his face towards Fred's, his lips seeking Fred's out immediately. They kissed for a moment, passion and excitement burning through Fred's veins.
"Is George in your flat?" Harry whispered against Fred's lips.
"Nope, he's out for the weekend," Fred said, attempting to recapture Harry's lips in his own. "Why? Do you wanna go upstairs?"
"Yes," Harry said, another laugh bursting from his mouth. He kicked his legs, making Fred laugh and softly set him back on his feet. "Lead the way, my brilliant fiancé."
Fred was bemused by this sudden uncharacteristic display of affection and happiness pouring from Harry, but who was he to complain about it?
Harry was moody, maybe he'd finally just swung upwards to find a bit of happiness.
He led Harry upstairs to the flat the George and Angie shared, offering a drink that Harry turned down. Harry pushed Fred backwards, obviously wanting him on the sofa, and he quickly straddled his lap and began tugging at Fred's shirt.
"Off, please," Harry said plainly.
Fred chuckled lowly, "Your wish, my command." He pulled the shirt off and tossed it carelessly on the floor. He rolled his head back when Harry immediately began lining his collarbone with his mouth- a kiss there, a bite there, and Fred was putty in his hands.
"Now these," Harry whispered, pulling at the waistband of Fred's trousers.
Fred, who had been lazily running his hands up and down Harry's back, scratching lightly and avoiding the scars, causing Harry to moan while he kissed Fred's chest, froze.
"What?" he asked dumbly.
"I'd like to shag you," Harry said with a blinding smile that warmed Fred's heart while his words warmed...
Something else.
"And it's difficult with these-" Harry tugged on Fred's trousers again, "-in the way."
"But..." Fred was struggling to come up with the question he needed to ask as Harry lightly, almost curiously, palmed him through his trousers. "But why?" he blurted, resisting the urge to thrust in the contact. "I don't want you to do something you don't want to."
He also desperately didn't want to have another row. Nor did he want to see Harry break so terribly under the weight of all the things in his past that he barely discusses.
"Oh, I want to," Harry winked with a very becoming smirk. "I wouldn't be here if I didn't, would I?"
That had been a pretty good argument, really.
Fred's resolve to discuss this first began to wane as Harry slowly shed his own shirt, grinning self-consciously.
"Do you want me?" Harry whispered.
"Fuck, so much," Fred breathed. He considered his options quickly and decided that the spare room that was meant to be his would be their best bet. "Come on."
Fred tucked Harry's legs around his waist securely, standing up and causing Harry to laugh as he was holding Fred's neck with his legs still wrapped around him.
"We're supposed to keep the lights on, play music, and maybe I should be on top," Harry said thoughtfully as Fred carried him to his room and dropped him on the bed. "Can- can I?" he asked, his voice nervous now as Fred climbed over him and began kissing his neck and running his hand wondrously down Harry's bare side.
"Anything you want," Fred said truthfully. He'd done it either way before, he didn't really have a preference. "Would it be easier if you could see my face during it?" He'd read that in a book that Remus casually gave him. It had a lot of good advice in it, even though Fred had flinched when he read the title. 'No More: a Guide to Reclaiming Intimacy after Sexual Assault.'
It had been hard to read, probably the hardest book Fred had ever, or would ever, read, but Fred worked on it diligently. If Harry could slowly open up about his past to Fred, then Fred could do that for him.
For them.
Harry pushed Fred back, his nose adorably scrunched up in confusion. "How would that work?" he asked. "I- I don't get it."
Fred shook his head at Harry, working to keep his tone light even with the anger and grief that struck him in the chest. Harry only knew one position, one way to have sex. Harry didn't know how to make love, or how to be romanced during it, he only knew one bloody position. "Love, there's more than one way to do it," he said softly.
Harry still looked confused, but he smiled too. "Teach me?" he whispered. His green eyes were wide, perfectly earnest and his hand clutched Fred's shoulder, pulling him closer.
Dear God. Fred loved him so much. If he didn't already have a ring on Harry's hand, he would be booking it to go buy him one right then and there.
"I love you," Fred said. He sat back on his haunches, unbuttoning his trousers slowly. He watched Harry, surreptitiously glancing at his hands since they were the first parts of Harry's body that would betray his stress, but Harry's hands were steady and his eyes were filled with lust while he watched Fred. Harry bit his lip as Fred slid his trousers down, exposing the top of his pants, and Fred thought he might be done for then and there.
For someone with very little experience with romantic seduction, Harry had a real knack for it.
"Are you sure?" Fred asked huskily as he kicked off his trousers and leaned back over Harry's body.
"If I wasn't, then Felix was," Harry smirked.
Fred, who had been in the process of slowly unbuttoning Harry's trousers, paused. "Felix?"
"Liquid luck," Harry said, wriggling and trying to get Fred to continue undressing him.
One... two... three...
Fred slowly counted to ten before he sat back and sighed down at Harry. "Are you high?"
***
Harry laughed, "Very," he said. "Kiss me?"
Fred shook his head, his red hair flopping across his forehead, making Harry want to run his fingers through it.
"I'll kiss you, but I'm not having sex with you," he said flatly.
"What?" Harry sat up and blinked at Fred.
That wasn't very lucky.
"Why?" Harry demanded, clamping down on the niggling thought that maybe Fred didn't find him attractive, or... or maybe Fred didn't want to have sex with him because he freaked out last time, or...
"Harry, I love you," Fred said softly, putting his hands on Harry's cheeks. "I love you, I respect you, and I want the best for you, always. And we will not be having sex while you're high on liquid luck."
"But..." Harry pressed his lower lip out in a pout. "But I really want to?"
Fred huffed out a quiet laugh and poked Harry's lip back to a normal position.
"No," he said firmly. "I'm saying no."
"You don't understand," Harry said earnestly, "you're my sunny beach."
"I..." Fred trailed off and cocked his head at Harry in a very Harry-like way that made Harry laugh. "I don't know what that means."
***
Fred thought his love for Harry had reached its capacity, truly he did.
He thought that the day he proposed to him, slid that ring on his finger, he never could have loved Harry any more than he did.
But, this was Harry fucking Potter, Master of the Impossible, and as Harry explained his odd statement, Fred fell in love so hard that he truly worried his heart would cease beating.
"My sunny beach," Harry repeated. He grabbed Fred's hand and smiled so freely, so beautifully, that Fred wondered how he had wound up with such an amazing person. "I thought you were my life raft, saving me from drowning in depression, but I was wrong," Harry said. "You don't keep me in the dark waves, you change them completely. You take an ocean trying to drag me under and drown me and transform it in to something calm, warm, welcoming. You make me feel safe." Harry lifted Fred's hand and kissed his palm, his green eyes smoldering as he held Fred's eyes. "My sunny beach. My happy place," he whispered.
"I love you," Fred said, knowing the words would never adequately portray the depth of emotion he felt. "I love you so incredibly much."
"Brill," Harry said, a bright smile back on his face, "so, can we have sex?"
Fred laughed and shook his head. "No."
***
"Where's Harry at?" Ron asked Susan as she sat down for dinner.
"Somewhere doing something wicked I'm sure," Susan winked.
"Is it..." Draco gulped and leaned closer to Susan, dropping his voice to a whisper. "Is it grenade guns again?"
Susan's laughter filled the hall and echoed off the walls, causing all of her friends, except Luna, to lose a few shades of color from their faces.
Luna just bit her lip and tried to stifle her own quiet giggles.
"No," she told Draco once she got control of her laughter. "It's not grenade guns again."
No one looked very reassured, but, as Harry would say, that wasn't really her problem.
Susan eagerly pulled the platter of steak and kidney pie towards her. "This is my favorite," she told Hermione happily. "Is that luck or a coincidence?"
"Both," Hermione nodded.
"I think that owl is lucky though," Luna hummed, drawing Susan's attention to a pretty amber colored owl flying right towards her.
"Oh!" Susan's smile was so wide that it began hurting her face as the owl landed on her shoulder and offered her a scroll. "He wrote back quick!"
"Who did?" Theo asked.
Susan flipped her hand at him, ignoring his question as she quickly unrolled the scroll.
Susan,
While your letter was both flattering and charming, I will firmly be turning down your offer to 'go back to my place'. However, if you would like, I would very much enjoy taking you to dinner and getting to know you better.
Every bit of gold I've seen since this summer reminds me of your strength and your beauty.
I hope to see you soon,
-Charlie
"She's turning red," Neville murmured to Ron. "That's bad, right?"
"Can't imagine it's anything good," Ron said back to him before cleaning his throat. "Whatcha got there, Susan?"
Susan's brows furrowed as she reread Charlie's rejection of half of her offer.
That wasn't very lucky at all.
Although... she absently grinned as she reread his last sentence.
"Nothing," she told Ron airily, tucking the letter in her pocket for safe keeping. "I've got a date."
Blaise chuckled. "Sure you do," he winked. "Really though, what nonsense have you gotten into now?"
"Lucky nonsense," Susan winked back. "Truly Blaise, perhaps I've finally found love."
***
Sirius looked around the Great Hall and frowned.
Harry was gone.
Sirius leaned forward so he could look up and down the Head Table. Snape was gone too.
Which was fine.
It probably meant Harry and Snape were having dinner together.
"Looking for your godson?" Minnie asked him.
"He's probably with Snape," Sirius said, unconcerned now that he solved the puzzle.
"Hmm." Minnie hummed quietly, her lips flattened as it looked like she struggled to contain a laugh. "I doubt that Harry is with Severus."
Sirius put his fork and knife beside his plate and looked at Minnie curiously. "Why do you doubt that? They spend most weekends together."
"No," Minnie said slowly, giving Sirius a pitying sort of look. "Severus spends every Sunday with Harry, Friday and Saturday he saves for Nymphadora."
"Fuck," Sirius swore under his breath, his eyes flicking more carefully through the hall again. He ignored that bit about Tonks, choosing to focus on Harry instead. He couldn't help it if Tonks' portion of the Black Madness led her to striking up a relationship with Snape of all people. Sirius couldn't imagine what she saw in him, but Tonks was a grown witch who could make crazy decisions if she wanted.
Sirius couldn't wait to tell Andy about it though.
"Then where the hell is Harry?" he murmured.
"As I have yet to see Albus today, perhaps Harry snapped and killed him," Minnie said with a blasé tone. As if it were a joke, and not precisely what Sirius had been worrying about. "Ah, no, I am wrong," she said. She nodded towards Harry's group of friends at the Slytherin table, "Harry would hardly commit a capital crime without Susan or Theodore."
That...
That was a good point.
"So probably nothing too crazy then," Sirius said hopefully.
Minnie laughed quietly and shook her head at Sirius. "Of course it's something crazy, Harry is a madman. We simply won't know what insane plot he is executing until he's ready for us to know."
Another good point.
***
Harry woke up, wrapped up snuggly in someone's arms. It took less than a second to recognize them as Fred's arms. Harry shifted backwards a little, feeling something rather hard poking in to his backside as the memories of yesterday washed over him.
"Jesus fucking Christ," he groaned, embarrassed by his behavior.
"Good morning to you too," Fred laughed, kissing the back of Harry's neck lightly before nuzzling in to his hair. "Sober now, are you?"
"I'm going to die," Harry moaned. "I can never go back to Hogwarts, Fred. I told everyone I loved them, everyone, Fred. I can't even look at you."
"Aww, am I not your sunny beach anymore, love?" Fred said, his breath sending chills down Harry's spine. "You're so bloody romantic when you're high as a kite. I think that was the best night of my life."
"There's nothing funny about this," Harry said, trying to sound firm as Fred's hands creeped around Harry's torso, trailing his fingernails lightly across his collarbone. "It's not- aah, quit distracting me."
"Mm, quit distracting you or quit touching you?" Fred asked, his hand hovering above Harry's chest and his hips angled away from Harry's now.
Harry puzzled over the distinction between the two and flipped over to study Fred's face. "You said no?" he said uncertainly. "You didn't want me?"
"Harry," Fred's eyes were soft as he carefully didn't touch Harry, but still managed to make him feel as if he were being hugged with just the single word. "I said no because you were high. I don't want us to have sex if you're just floating along and not really consenting clearly."
Harry gnawed his lip for a moment, nervous to speak now when everything spilled so easily last night. "I'm not high now," he whispered with what felt like every bit of bravery in his body.
"No, you're not," Fred agreed. "But we also don't have to do anything because you thought you wanted to last night. It's not a race, love, we can do things on your time."
Harry already used up all his bravery for speaking, so he instead just pressed forward, bringing his body flush against Fred's. "I want to," he breathed while kissing Fred. "Do you want me?"
"You have no idea," Fred laughed.
By the time Harry returned to Hogwarts, having apparated to the grounds and then having to wait for someone to come let him through the gates, Harry was swaggering with the understanding of precisely how much Fred wanted him.
Also, holy hell, Susan had been right, Harry hadn't known a thing about sex before this morning.
It had actually been a little awkward, and Harry had only lasted an embarrassingly short amount of time, but he wouldn't be telling anyone that, would he? What he would be telling Susan, at least, was that he hadn't even panicked.
Well.
He had only panicked a little, but they 'took a timeout', and Harry collected himself and dove back in. And once they were done, Harry had felt pretty smug about the happy look on Fred's face. He had been decidedly less smug when George came home while Harry was shirtless in his kitchen, but he supposed it was solid proof that his luck really had run out.
Which didn't really matter, because Harry planned on either brewing a batch himself, or stealing some from Slughorn.
The manic euphoria of flying all day had been brilliant, and Harry couldn't wait to do it again.
"Good morning," Harry said cheerfully as he spotted Sirius stomping across the snowy grounds, his arms crossed and his face rather peeved.
"Where the fuck have you been?" Sirius demanded as he let Harry in the gates. "It's nearly lunch!"
"Shagging Fred," Harry said flippantly. "It was brill, really."
So was seeing Sirius trip in his shock and land face first in a pile of snow.
The week of detentions Harry would be serving after Christmas break were not so brill.
But it had been a small price to pay for the luckiest morning of Harry's life.