Unexpected Love

Unexpected Love

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Unexpected Lovers

The next morning, the list had gained another reason for not curing Malfoy. 'With the winter drawing near, fur is so practical.' This one was in Ginny's writing.

'That makes Hermione second in the list of reasons, and you third,' said Ginny, counting. 'But I'm still top!'

'Right, I need two more reasons,' said Harry. 'I'll have to think about them.'

However, what he found himself thinking about during most of his classes was what Ron had said to him. He wasn't even sure what it was that two boys could do together. Of course, the Dursleys had never told him anything about the facts of life and, despite hearing the other boys talk, he wasn't entirely sure what a boy and a girl could do together either. He'd hoped that he could ad-lib it if it ever became relevant.

Part of the problem was that Ron, unlike any of the others who fancied him, sat beside him in all his classes except Potions. He'd never particularly thought about that before, just taken it for granted, but now...

Now Ron was overwhelmingly there.

Finally, after class, when the trio were sitting near the fire doing their homework, Harry asked Ron, 'Do you mind if I tell Hermione what you said to me?'

Ron hesitated, then said, 'I suppose I don't.' His ears started to redden.

Hermione was looking from one boy to the other. Harry told her, 'Ron told me he fancied me.'

Ron's ears grew redder. Hermione grinned. 'You're very popular, Harry. Everyone's telling you they love you. Who do you love?' She sat looking at him.

'I don't know. I'm starting to get curious about what two boys can actually do, though.' He wasn't about to admit his boy/girl ignorance to anyone, but this was something he could safely admit. His face felt as if it was burning.

'Charlie had a booklet with, uh, diagrams,' muttered Ron. 'It looks simple enough. It's in my trunk, he gave it me.'

'Oh, I see. Look, would you mind if I borrowed it, just to get some idea? I don't know if I'd ...'

'Yeah, no problem. You don't have to do anything.' Ron's ears were now at least as red as the Gryffindor emblems on the wall, as was the rest of his face.

Hermione was looking at Harry still, now with a surprised expression. He said, defensively, 'I'm just wondering what it involves. It doesn't mean anything, you know. But ... well, I didn't get on too well with Cho, did I? I'm wondering if, just maybe, there's, well, if there's a reason for it.'

'You think you failed with Cho because you're gay?' she asked incredulously. 'You don't think you two broke up because the only things you really had in common were being Seekers, and Cedric's death, and that's not a very good basis for a romance? You don't think maybe Voldemort isn't the ideal matchmaker?'

Ron looked blank. 'You-Know-Who -- please stop saying his name -- isn't a matchmaker!'

'Honestly, Ron! He ordered Cedric's death, and that's why Cho wanted to talk to Harry, as part of coping with that, part of the grieving process. Harry, don't you think that perhaps there is another girl who you already get on better with, who would make a perfect couple with you?'

Ron laughed. 'Perfect? Harry might need another boy to make a perfect couple.'

Harry thought about it. 'Maybe. Well, if I look at this booklet and it upsets me, I'll know it's the nothing-in-common reason, won't I?' He was surprised to hear Hermione describe him and Luna as a perfect couple -- she really had changed her mind about the Ravenclaw girl. At least -- surely she couldn't mean Marie-Susanne? No, it had to be Luna.

Hermione nodded. Ron said, 'So you don't have to remind me about it, I'll put the booklet under your pillow later, OK?'

'Thanks.'

*

Harry lay in bed looking at the booklet by the light of his wand. The words and diagrams combined to answer more questions than he'd realised he had. Only about a third of the booklet was concerned with gay males, which reassured Harry about Charlie. He was just as interested in the section on what a man and a woman could do together, which answered a lot of questions too, for which he was grateful; he hadn't even had to reveal his ignorance on that subject to anyone.

The booklet hadn't upset or disgusted him, but it had been more interesting than exciting, so he still wasn't sure if he could be gay. However, he now felt ready to cope, at least on an anatomical or practical level, with anyone. Emotionally, though, he was still baffled. The booklet gave no advice at all on the subject of how to tell someone you fancied them back, let alone the possibility of telling someone you fancied them when you didn't already know how they felt. Still, it was a start, and he didn't have to tell anyone he fancied them -- they were all telling him.

He lay there, now staring up at the cover over the bed. What was he going to do? How about if he did nothing? It wasn't compulsory. The Dursleys would certainly approve of him not having any fun.

'Right, I have to do something to spite them,' he muttered. 'But who?' He remembered how he'd felt all day sitting close to Ron. Ron would definitely be the easiest person to talk to about this.

*

The trio finished their lunch and went out into the courtyard, despite the fact that it was a dull, drizzly November day. Some of the younger Gryffindors were taunting the etiolated furry form of Malfoy, who was trying to rise above the situation. Since he was almost eleven feet tall, that was easy to do.

Harry, Ron and Hermione chose to lean against the wall under a small tower jutting out of the inner wall. It meant they could avoid at least some of the drizzle.

Harry checked nobody else was within earshot, and said quietly, 'Ron, I want to talk to you about what you said the other night. Do you mind if I talk now?'

'I'll leave you alone, then,' said Hermione, standing up straight.

'Don't,' Ron urged, 'it'll look more normal if we're all here, and you already heard the beginning anyway.'

Harry agreed. 'Yes, you can stay -- unless you want to get out of the rain.'

She glanced up. 'It's not too bad. OK.' She leant against the wall again.

'I'm interested,' Harry told Ron. 'I don't know if I really am gay or not, but I suppose this would be one way to find out.'

'You are? So the booklet didn't upset you?'

'No, it didn't.'

Hermione bit her lip, obviously uncomfortable at hearing this conversation. 'I'm still not convinced. Did you ever feel attracted to boys before Malfoy talked to you, Harry?'

He thought about it. 'I don't think so.'

'I don't believe you are gay. I suppose if you insist on experimenting, though, I can't really stop you.' She was blushing now, as were both the boys.

'Do you want to stop me?'

'To some extent, yes. Harry, you've only just started thinking about this, and now you're rushing ahead ... you ought to think about it more. I think you should wait another week.'

'And I want you to try this,' said Ron, 'so you get the deciding vote, Harry.'

'I want to try it,' he told Ron. 'Though I don't know how we could get any privacy around here. I thought of the Room of Requirement, but what happens if someone else wants a different room? Too many people know about it, after last year. I can't think of anywhere else.'

'Oh, I can,' said Ron, looking around for something or someone who didn't seem to be there. 'I'll sort that out later.'

'You're really going to do this?' Hermione asked again.

'I tried dating Cho, now I'll try someone different.'

'There are other girls than Cho,' she said, not meeting his eyes.

He followed her gaze, and saw beautiful Marie-Susanne on the other side of the courtyard, sheltering from the rain. 'Yes, I know. But I've been friends with Ron for years; why not give this a chance?'

*

Ron was talking to Ginny for a while after the day's last lesson, and then came back to where Harry and Hermione were sitting. 'Do you want to try it today?' he asked.

'OK, if you can work out where we can.'

Ron turned and gave Ginny a thumbs-up sign.

Hermione frowned. 'You're using your own sister to get the other boys out of the way for a while, so that you and Harry are alone?'

'Yes. Look, she spends most of her time with them anyway! I just made sure that today I'll know when that time is.'

'Clever,' said Harry admiringly.

*

Neither Harry nor Ron had eaten that much at dinner, and they were back in Gryffindor Tower before most of the other Gryffindors, including Seamus, Dean and Neville. Hermione had stayed downstairs, eating a slow dinner. 'She'd have been bored just sitting here anyway,' said Ron, as he and Harry started up the stairs to their dorm.

'No, she'd read some books while we weren't around to distract her,' Harry commented. They'd been up these stairs hundreds of times before, often together, but today every step he took felt different.

Once upstairs, they sat together on Ron's bed, kissing and touching with increasing enthusiasm. Eventually they lay still, rumpled and panting.

'That ... was not quite how ... I thought it would be,' said Harry, trying to get his breath back.

'No,' said Ron. 'I've read that ... loads of times ... and never ... dreamt it would ... feel like ... this.'

They lay there, just recovering, for a while longer, and Ron asked, 'So -- what do you think?'

'Kissing Cho was good too. I don't know. I wish I had something to compare this to.'

'Yeah. I can't help there. You need a girl to help. You could ask Hermione to suggest someone. I don't think she's too keen on us both being gay.'

'No, I don't think she is. I don't think she'd like me trying to use her as a dating agency, either, though.'

Ron laughed. 'I suppose not. We'd better clean up and get back downstairs. Ginny can't hold them up forever. At least, I hope she can't.' He performed the Scourgify charm on both of them, and they tidied their clothes.

Once they were back in the common room, Ron signalled to Ginny, who glanced over and nodded to him, before turning her attention back to her friends.

'Feel like talking?' Hermione asked, as they sat down with her.

'Yeah,' said Ron. 'I wish I'd had more of that dinner. I'm really going to regret not having another two bowls of that roly-poly pudding, later.' He laughed at her frown.

'It was interesting, and nice,' Harry told her. 'I still don't really know what I am, though; Cho and I never went further than kissing, so I don't have anything to compare this with.'

'I'm convinced how I feel,' said Ron, gazing at Harry. Harry smiled back.

'"Nice"? Just "nice"? You don't sound all that impressed. How are you planning to compare?' Hermione asked. 'Are you going to put an ad on the noticeboard? "Girl wanted to try sex with. Must not mind being dumped, if I'm gay after all. Apply to Shy Lightning Scar."'

Harry pretended to consider it. 'Good thinking, as usual! It might work. No, of course not. I don't know what I'll do next. Think about things, probably.'

*

There were other things to think about anyway. The first Quidditch match of the year was only two weeks away, and would be between Gryffindor and Slytherin, as it usually was. The rivalry between the houses was worse than it had been the previous year. Katie Bell was transfigured into a snake, and only her frantic pleas in Parseltongue to Harry to get McGonagall to help restore her stopped Filch throwing her out of the castle to go and live in the Forbidden Forest.

Marie-Susanne was attacked by a curse that turned her red and furry, but that turned out to be Malfoy getting revenge, and nothing to do with the Gryffindors, despite Snape's wild accusations against everyone on the Gryffindor team -- at least, everyone but Harry. This worried Harry. He wasn't used to Snape being so hopeful and friendly towards him.

Ginny was found levitating over the castle one day, desperately clutching at any possible hand-hold to prevent herself being blown away.

'Thanks,' she panted, when Hermione brought her down with a reversed-levitation charm. They walked with her up to the common room.

'Did you hear about Millicent Bulstrode? Someone Transfigured her into a troll last Monday,' Hermione said, to try to cheer Ginny up. Millicent was one of the Slytherin Beaters.

'I suppose they turned her back,' said Ginny.

'Not until Saturday morning, when they finally noticed. Daphne says they thought she'd just got some better make-up, until then.'

Ginny grinned. 'Who's their captain this year?'

'Marie-Susanne, for some reason that nobody's explained,' said Ron. 'And Malfoy already cursed her, and she apparently told him all the gruesome details of what she'll do if he does it again.'

'I saw her. She still looks beautiful, even all red and furry, doesn't she?'

'She's back to her normal incredibly beautiful self now, though.'

*

The actual game was a masterpiece of aerial ballet, commentated on by Lee Jordan, despite his having left Hogwarts at the end of the previous year. Ginny, now a Chaser, scored an incredible number of goals for the Gryffindor side, and Harry and Marie-Susanne achieved the unprecedented feat of both grabbing the Snitch at the same time, locking their fingers together and having each team score seventy-five points. Gryffindor won thanks to Ginny's amazing number of goals, though.

'That was exciting,' said Harry as they returned to the castle. 'I've never held a girl's hand while a Snitch fluttered away between our hands before.'

'Have you ever held a girl's hand before, without the Snitch?' Hermione asked.

'Uh ... oh, actually, no. I did try with Cho, but she moved her hand. Anyway, whatever Marie-Susanne says, and she did ask me to sleep with her while we were landing ...'

'That would be a bit public,' said Ron.

'She asked me while we were landing, to sleep with her later, all right? Anyway, I don't think I like her enough.'

Ron snorted. 'Bang goes that chance, then. Who else do you think is going to offer?'

Harry shrugged.

*

The next day, Luna caught up with the trio as they were leaving the Great Hall after lunch. 'Harry, I want to talk to you about sex.'

Ron was looking uncomfortable, clearly not wanting to eavesdrop on this. 'Look, I'll be up in the common room, when you've finished.' Hermione nodded her agreement and went up the stairs with him.

Luna watched them go. 'Good, now we're alone. Come on, let's find somewhere more private.' Luna took his hand and almost pulled him down the corridor past Firenze's classroom, and along into an empty classroom. Harry let himself be dragged, thinking as he went that he'd had his hand held twice, by two different girls, during this weekend -- and his whole life. Why were they going this far for privacy, anyway?

'Why are there so many of these empty classrooms?' Harry wondered, looking around.

'They're very useful to hide in when you don't want to be found,' said Luna, taking a copy of the Quibbler from the bag she was carrying, and starting to read aloud a column called 'Advice for the Lovelorn'. It urged its readers to take precautions against pregnancy and Nargles, to tell the people they loved how much they loved them before they were eaten by Magivorous Callugens, and to always carry a parasol and a twelve-foot length of wire when having a picnic, to prevent Heliopaths attacking. Harry's head was spinning when she finished.

'So I'm going to do what it says,' she told him, putting the magazine down on a desk. 'Harry, I love you, and I love you this much.' She threw herself at him, knocking him back against another desk, and wrapped her arms around him as tightly as she could.

Harry's head was still full of thoughts of picnicking under Nargle bushes and presenting a bouquet of Heliopaths to Ron, or perhaps Malfoy, or maybe Snape, or Ginny, or Luna, or to Marie-Susanne (who was flying past the picnic on her broom) or Hermione. He was completely surprised by her action, and for a moment couldn't react, then he brought his own arms up, almost automatically, and hugged her too.

Why, he asked himself, is everyone suddenly telling me they want me? Could this be some plan of Voldemort's? If so, it was it was his favourite of Voldemort's plans -- at least it was enjoyable at this stage, apart from Snape's announcement.

'Why are you suddenly doing this?' he asked her.

'It's not sudden, I told you weeks ago,' she pointed out.

Harry decided not to press the issue any further. The gentle pressure of Luna against him was much more pleasant than the pressure he felt to ask questions.

*

Harry climbed weakly through the portrait hole, dragged himself over to the empty chair beside his best friends, and collapsed into it.

'You had a long conversation about sex,' said Ron. 'Luna is tiring to talk to, isn't she?'

Harry grunted.

Hermione stared. 'You can't blame mistletoe this time!'

'You kissed?'

Harry said, 'Yeah. And more. As much as with you, Ron.'

'You and her?' Ron asked incredulously. Hermione just kept staring.

Harry nodded, grinning smugly. Hermione looked away, covering her eyes. It looked as if she was crying. He asked her, 'What's wrong? Why are you crying?'

'Nothing,' she sniffled. 'So you liked it as much as when you were with Ron?'

Harry shrugged, deciding she must have been crying because of something that happened while he was with Luna, and that she didn't want to talk about it. 'I suppose so. It's trial and error. First a boy, then a girl. I still haven't decided if I'm gay. It's been quite a year so far.' He mentioned his idea that Voldemort might be behind it.

Ron winced at the name. 'Oh, don't! That would mean he's controlling me!'

'Oh, yes. I suppose it does. I don't think he'd really think like that, anyway.'

'Softening you up for a deathblow?' wondered Hermione tearfully. 'He might think like that.'

'You're just in a bad mood because nobody's done anything with you,' said Ron. 'Or even offered. Ever.'

Hermione glared at him, then grabbed her bag and stalked off towards the stairs to her dorm without a word. Ron ducked, so that her bag wouldn't hit him in the head, but it still caught him a glancing blow -- and it looked very heavy, thanks to her collection of books.

'Did you have to say that?' Harry asked, watching her go. 'I really am worried about why everyone's telling me this term that they love me.'

'I might be able to work that out! If I didn't have this headache, at least. No, all right, I shouldn't have said that. I'll apologise to her tomorrow. I thought you had decided, you know, and I was shocked about you and Luna, but I shouldn't take it out on Hermione; she's done nothing wrong.' After a pause, he added, 'But it's true. You've done something twice, I've done it once and she's in last place with no times ever. She's done nothing, right or wrong.'

'Yes, as far as we know, but you could be more tactful.'

Ron shrugged. 'I'm still hoping Hermione and Ginny are neck and neck with nothing ever.'

Next chapter: Harry and Malfoy find something new to disagree about, and it's the end of the story.

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