Honesty is His

"Every man has his faults, and honesty is his." - William Shakespeare

Gossip at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry spread like wildfire.

If Susan Bones of Hufflepuff told Justin Fitch-Fletchly, also of Hufflepuff, that she saw Draco Malfoy, self-proclaimed king and resident heartthrob of Slytherin, kissing Terry Boot of Ravenclaw in the hallway outside the Arithmancy classroom, than you can rest assured that the rumor would not stop there. In fact, Justin Fitch-Fletchly of Hufflepuff more than likely told Lavender Brown of Gryffindor, also known as the school's biggest gossip, who in turn yelled said rumor down the hall in order to inform her best friend Parvati Patil, also of Gryffindor, who was walking with her twin sister, Padme Patil of Ravenclaw. In effect, the entire main hallway of Hogwarts, which at that moment in the fifteen minutes before the lunch hour commenced, and was full of first years through seventh years of all houses, stopped what they were doing or saying to look at Lavender. What could she do but repeat what she had heard?

And so, this is how we find Hogwarts students at lunch, crowded into the Great Hall: everyone was talking about what Susan had told Justin who had told Lavender who had announced it to the entire main hallway: Draco Malfoy was seen kissing Terry Boot.

"Is it true?"

"Who told you?"

"Where'd you hear it from?"

"Lavender Brown is the biggest gossip; I wouldn't believe anything out of her mouth."

When the whispers reached Harry Potter and one of his two best friends, Ron Weasley, the two subjects of said rumor were nowhere in sight. Potter, who was only second in looks to the infamous Draco Malfoy, laughed out loud. Before he could say anything in response, however, his other best friend, Hermione Granger, came running into the Great Hall, skidding to a halt next to Harry and Ron. Tossing her huge pile of books smack into the center of the table, she fell into her seat.

"You two would not believe what I just saw!" she exclaimed.

"Well, we heard all about it," Ron sighed. "It's all everybody's talking about."

Hermione's face shone brightly as she smiled. "I'm really happy for Terry actually." She and the Ravenclaw were both prefects this year. He had "come out of the closet," as the saying goes, the year before, sixth year. Since then, he'd been moaning and complaining to Hermione about his nonexistent love life. She tried to tell him to be patient. "It's just a little surprising that it's Malfoy, of all people! He would be the last person on this planet that I would have guessed was gay."

Harry and Ron both slouched back in their seats, squirming uncomfortably. Hermione looked at them, disappointed. "Don't tell me the two of you are homophobic!"

"Well...uh...I just think it's not natural," Ron sputtered. "I mean, weren't we created with girls? I think that means a girl and a guy should be together. It's just weird to think about to guys doing that sort of stuff." His face turned the same shade of red as his hair.

Harry nodded. "Yeah. It's weird." He wouldn't meet either of his friends' gazes. "I can't even think about kissing another guy. That's just gross."

Their friend rolled her eyes. "I think it's sweet. For everyone person, there's one other person out there meant for them. If it so happens to be a member of the same sex, so be it." Ron and Harry looked at her in horror. They both spoke at the exact same time.

"You really believe that crap?" asked Ron.

"You'd be with another girl if you thought you were meant to?" Asked Harry.

"Yeah," she responded to both questions. "I don't see why not. If I met someone who I truly loved and respected and wanted to spend the rest of my life with, I don't see why it'd matter if they were a guy or a girl. What's important is that there's love there."

"I cannot believe I just heard that," Ron said, shaking his head at Hermione.

Then, the Great Hall doors opened and Draco Malfoy and Terry Boot stepped in. Everyone immediately stopped talking, silence filling the large room. They were walking very close to each other, their shoulders touching. And they both looked happy and...satisfied. It was so quiet in the room that you could hear the shattering of each girl's heart as they realized they could never get a hold of Hogwarts biggest heartthrob. He was, obviously, spoken for - by a guy no less!

Terry and Draco were a striking pair.

Malfoy was near 6'3" with broad shoulders and a lean, muscular figure. He'd played Quidditch since second year, and it showed in his body. He no longer wore his hair slicked back tight to his head. Instead, he grew it out, letting it fall naturally. Right now, he had that windblown, mussed up look, more than likely from his actions in the hallway. Malfoy's eyes, however, were his most attractive feature. Before today, every witch in the school would moan and fantasize about them. They were piercing gray, hypnotizing, and shocking.

Boot, on the other hand, just reached 6'0". He was not as attractive as Malfoy, but he had had his share of admirers before he came out. He had long, straight brown hair, which he usually pulled back into a ponytail at the base of his neck. Now, however, it was falling out, strands hanging down in front of his face and wisps going off in all directions. Boot, too, was well-built, though not having played any sports, was not nearly as muscularly defined as Malfoy. His eyes were green, and had once been the envy and fantasy of many a witch since they were so very close to the same shade as Harry Potter's.

Since Malfoy and Boot were not of the same house, they bid each other good bye at the door. In fact, they bid each other good bye with a kiss - soft, sweet, short, and chaste - and then headed to their respective house tables.

Yes, gossip travels fast in Hogwarts.

***

Harry had never seen two guys kiss before. No, wait, that wasn't completely true. This one time, when he was about eight or so, his Uncle Vernon had taken him and Dudley to see a movie in London. They had passed by two guys kissing on the street corner. Harry could almost hear his uncle's voice in his head. "That is a sick, disgusting, and wrong practice. If I ever catch you in a similar position, you can rest assured that I will turn you out on the street."

For Harry, just thinking about Malfoy and Boot kissing gave him the shudders. That was until he saw them in a classroom near the Astronomy Tower.

That night, Harry needed to be alone for a while, and the only place that he knew of that could assure him that was the Astronomy Tower. So, throwing his Invisibility Cloak over his head, Harry crept out through the Gryffindor portal, careful not to disturb the Fat Lady, and started for the Tower. About halfway there, he jumped at the sound of someone behind him. When he turned around, he spotted a shadow slinking off into an empty classroom. His curiosity getting the better of him, he snuck off after it, sliding inside the room behind the shadow.

Harry got more than he bargained for. He found himself smack in the middle of a secret lovers' interlude. Terry Boot was leaning against one of the desks, facing away from the door. The shadow Harry had seen had been none other than Draco Malfoy. He snuck up behind Boot and gently slipped his arms around the smaller boy's waist.

"Draco, I was beginning to think you stood me up," Boot commented, leaning back against Draco and covering his hands with his own.

Harry watched it all with his mouth open in both surprise and curiosity.

Malfoy's voice was soft and gentle; sounding unlike Harry had ever heard it before. "Terry, why would you even think that? You know I can't get enough of you." He pressed a kiss to Boot's temple.

Slowly, Malfoy reached out to pull Boot's hair out of the band holding in back at the nape of his neck. He ran his fingers through Boot's hair, pulling it up to his nose to smell it. "You need to get me the potions you use," Malfoy whispered, his voice so quiet Harry almost missed it.

Without warning, Boot spun around in Malfoy's arms. They leaned in together, and their lips met halfway. Harry sucked in a breath, preparing himself from having to turn away, disgusted. But he didn't have to. To be honest, he hadn't known what to expect. Part of him imagined seeing a sloppy, wet, uncoordinated kiss, but this was different. This was sweet and innocent and...beautiful.

Malfoy's hand slipped into Boot's hair, pulling his mouth closer against his. Boot, on the other hand, had wrapped his arms around Malfoy's waist in an effort to get closer. They both had their eyes closed, and their tongues danced against each other's when they opened their mouths. Malfoy moaned softly, running his fingers through Boot's long hair.

Harry let out a struggled breath. He had to leave - quickly.

***

It had been a week since Harry had witnessed Boot and Malfoy kissing. Now, he couldn't get the sight of it out of his head. And, to his horror, not just the sight of it, but the sight of Malfoy doing it. His blond, silky hair, his small, pink lips and tongue, his...

The night after the event, Harry had dreamed it had been him, and not Boot, on the receiving end of Malfoy's kiss. He woke up in a cold sweat, panting heavily. He had them immediately set to work at penning a letter to his godfather. Sirius would know what to do.

A small barn owl dropped an envelope into Harry's eggs.

Hermione looked at Harry. "Who's it from?" she wondered, taking a break from reading the current chapter in History of Magic.

"Snuffles," Harry answered, nonchalantly, wanting to be away from the wandering eyes of his two best friends before he reads it. "I'll read it later," he said, shoving the letter into his back pocket and hurriedly returning to his lunch.

Hermione, upon seeing the expression on Harry's face, simply shrugged and returned to her book, blocking out her Ron and Seamus' incessant Quidditch ramblings. Harry shoved his last forkful of peas into his mouth and made a quick excuse in order to leave. Gathering up his belongings, Harry practically ran out of the Great Hall. He found a corridor branching off the main hallway that he headed into. Sliding down the wall to sit on the floor, Harry took out the letter and unfolded it.

Harry,

Glad to hear from you. In a quick response to your looking after my own well-being, I am doing perfectly well. I am, as always, patiently awaiting a pardon, so I can stop living life as a dog and return amongst normal people. Moving on...I was wondering when you'd start hitting me up for questions regarding your love life.

Harry, it's perfectly normal for a boy your age to be feeling strange things for anyone - whether they be other guys or girls. It's called hormones. And before you roll your eyes and say you know that, I just want to remind you that it doesn't matter if what you're feeling inside is directed at another guy. You're perfectly normal; I'm sure other wizards your age are experiencing the same confusion. I wouldn't worry too much about it. I would recommend, however, doing your best to sort through your feelings and figure out which are legitimate and which are not. If you are unable to do that, explore them. You'll never know what's going on with you unless you figure it out.

I have a confession to make - Remus and I are together. So, if you decide that you tend to like the wizards better than the witches, neither of us is going to condemn you for it. We're proud of you no matter what you do. Remember that.

Sirius

Harry let out the breath he hadn't known he'd been holding. Sirius and Remus? That was something he didn't know. Somehow, though, it made him feel a lot better.

Harry struggled to his feet, sighed, and started back into the main hallway. He didn't quite make it though; Draco Malfoy came barreling into him.