Southern Comfort

Southern Comfort
Meet Joe Black

Harry's jaw dropped to the floor. Hermion leaned over and whispered to him,

"close your mouth, dear."

Phillip was waking toward the Gryffindor table. Phillip eyed Harry and Hermione and, gesturing toward the empty seat at Harry's side, smiled and said,

"Is this seat taken?"

Harry started sputtering and before Hermione could object managed to get out a weak,

"Help yourself."

Hermione looked cross but didn't want to make the new boy uncomfortable. During Dinner the conversation at the Gryffindor table turned to school.

"You want to beware of Snape, the Potions master," Seamus was saying, "He hates Gryffindors with a passion."

Harry wasn't really paying attention to anything, he was trying hard not to drool. Phillip was gorgeous he had long blond hair that reached to the middle of his back which he had fasted loosely with a black elastic hair tie. His eyes were a unique shade of green. Harry couldn't put his finger on it but they were stuck somewhere between Harry's Emerald and a light brown.

>>almost the same shade as Ron's eyes<<

Harry mused to himself. He wondered briefly why he was thinking about Ron then shook himself and turned his attention back to Phillip's wonderful long hair and stunning smile. At the end of dinner Harry offered to show Phillip to the Gryffindor commons room. Hermione gave an exasperated sigh and stormed out of the great hall to look for Ron. He hadn't showed up at diner and she was worried about him.

****

Hermione stomped her feet on the hard stone flooring of the entrance hall as she half ran from the great hall. She needed air.

"Calm down Hermione," she said to herself, "Harry is a big boy, he can take care of himself. He's been at it for 16 years I'm sure he can handle himself."

Hermione couldn't control her anger and she didn't know why. She hated that he was dating Draco just as much as any other Gryffindor but she still felt that Harry was being unfair to Ron. She decided to go for a walk to calm her thoughts before she actively sought out Ron to find out what was wrong. She walked around the edge of the castle to where Hargid's hut was visible. She stopped and thought about whether she wanted to get Hagrid involved in this. Before she could decide she saw a flash of red out of the corner of her eye. She looked up and gasped at what she saw. Ron was sitting on the ground in the shadow of a statue wrapped in Justin Finch-Fletchley's arms. The two of them looked very...ahem... comfortable. Hermione turned on her heel and walked swiftly toward the castle to avoid disturbing Ron and his curly-haired companion.

****

Harry had barely noticed that he was eating let alone what he was eating he was so preoccupied with Phillip that he didn't care either. He looked around confused as Hermione got up and stormed out of the great hall. He was slightly surprised to find himself in the Gryffindor commons room later that evening, he didn't remember how he got there. All he knew was that he was sitting on a couch in the Gryffindor commons room with a blond angel and couldn't believe his luck. Harry was torn from his daydreaming when Phillip looked at him and said,

"So, tell me all about you."

It took Harry a moment to process the request. Finally he said,

"Well I guess there is not much that isn't already published somewhere. Tell me what you know so I can fill in the blanks and correct the exaggerations."

Phillip looked somewhat confused.

"I don't know anything about you at all. I just met you this evening, and why would your life be published anyway? What have you done?" Harry blinked in surprise. This was the first time since he found out he was a Wizard that he had met someone who knew absolutely nothing about him, it was quite refreshing.

"Well," said Harry, "I don't know where to start. Honestly this is the first time I've met someone who doesn't know all about me already."

"Why don't you start with why you are famous," Phillip commented, "You've piqued my curiosity."

Harry grimaced. His fame was something of a burden and he disliked being treated differently because of it. Phillip seemed the perfect opportunity for someone to get to know him instead of knowing him because of Voldemort.

"Well," Harry began, "Have you ever heard of Lord Voldemort?"

Phillip shook his head.

"WHAT?!!" Harry screamed. "How can you not know about him? Did you grow up on the moon?"

"Close," Phillip chuckled, "I grew up in America."

He looked slightly disappointed as he remarked,

"We are about as ethnocentric as they come... We never hear about anything that doesn't involve us... Sad really."

Harry was astonished but he gathered his thoughts and relayed the tale about He-Who-Must-Not-Be -Named and his hoard of Death Eaters. Phillip was the perfect audience, he sat, staring at Harry in rapt attention and never once interrupted. Harry lost track of time as they discussed everything from Quidditch to Saturday Morning Cartoons. Harry wasn't sure how or when it happened but somehow they ended up sitting on the floor in front the fireplace. Phillip leaned back against one of the chairs and pulled Harry into his arms. The next thing Harry knew he heard birds chirping outside the window and realized that they had fallen asleep in the commons room.

****

Ron was out of breath by the time he got to the portrait hole that lead to the Gryffindor commons room. He and Justin had sat outside and talked until way past curfew and he had run all the way to the tower to avoid being caught by Filch. He stopped just short of the Fat Lady to catch his breath, whispered the password and climbed into the commons room. He almost tripped over a small bundle on the floor. He caught himself just in time and looked to see who had left their things lying around. He had to do a double-take because the sight that met his eyes was not a pile of books and some parchment, it was a mysterious blond boy with his arms wrapped around his Harry. Ron was in paralyzed from the shock and seethed with jealousy. He cursed lightly under his breath, fresh tears stinging his already puffy eyes, he stepped over the pile of Harry on the floor and made his way to the room that he shared with the other sixth year boys marveling at how one could go from complete happiness to complete misery in the space of 30 seconds. ****