FicWad

Encounters with friends

Harry opened his eyes slowly and yawned. Light flooded in through the window and across his bed. He lay there, not really thinking about anything as his mind tried to wake up. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and glanced over at his dorm mates, who were all still asleep. It was 6:30, so he decided to get up. He slipped out of bed and grabbed his shower things. He quickly took a shower and went back to his room and got dressed. Just as he was slipping his glasses on, he realized that he hadn’t had any nightmares. He shook his head and went down to the common room to ponder it. A half hour later and people were filtering down. Ron sat down next to him with a huge yawn.
“Good morning,” Harry said.
“Morning,” Ron grumbled.
Harry laughed. Ron never was a morning person.
“You’re awake before me,” Ron remarked.
“Didn’t have any nightmares last night,” Harry said.
“Huh… any idea why?” he asked.
Harry nodded his head, “I have an idea, but I’m not a hundred percent sure…”
“Oh?”
“I’ll tell you when we go to breakfast,” he said.
The two fell silent and waited until Hermione joined them. Ginny came down a few minutes later and joined them in waiting. She and Harry started up a conversation about the new student. Harry smirked at some of the rumors that were already floating around about the mysterious “Tom Rittell.” Hermione joined them and the group walked over to the entrance. Just as Harry stepped through, he was grabbed by the waist and pulled into a passionate kiss. After the kiss broke, Harry laughed.
“Good morning to you too, Tom,” Harry teased, “Couldn’t stay away?”
“You know I can’t,” Tom said with a smirk.
A cough caught their attention and they turned. Harry burst out laughing and buried his face in Tom’s shoulders. Tom chuckled and rubbed circles on Harry’s back. When Harry got his laughter under control he turned back to his friends. Ron’s mouth was opened and he was sputtering. Ginny looked like she was about to have a nosebleed. Harry always suspected her of being a closet Yaoi lover. Hermione had her arms crossed and was piercing him with a look that demanded that he explain. Harry rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. He felt Tom’s arms tighten around his waist and he got a little bit of comfort from that.
“Uh… yeah… guys this is Tom. He’s my boyfriend,” Harry said with a small smile.
Ron’s mouth opened and closed several times while Ginny started to giggle. Hermione sighed.
“Why didn’t you tell us?” she asked.
“I didn’t want him to,” Tom said.
Her eyes narrowed, “And why not?”
“Because I wasn’t sure if I was going to be attending Hogwarts. There was a chance that I wasn’t going to and I didn’t want Harry telling people that he had a boyfriend without me being there to protect him from the more disapproving people,” Tom replied.
Hermione nodded, “Still, he could have told us. We wouldn’t have told anyone.”
“Harry said the same thing, but I don’t know you well enough yet to trust you. It was better for him to wait until I knew I was coming for sure,” Tom said, “Though I didn’t tell Harry that I was coming.”
“Which was probably a good thing. I might have been too excited and blurted the whole thing out,” Harry said.
Tom nodded. Hermione seemed to accept Tom’s explanation and nodded as well. Ginny got over her giggles and stepped up to Harry.
“Harry, can I talk to you for a moment? Don’t worry, Tom, I’ll give him back,” she said with a grin.
Harry nodded and chuckled when Tom growled out a “You better” at her. Ginny threaded her arm though Harry’s and the two walked towards the Great Hall. The other three trailed behind them in silence.
“Harry, Harry, Harry,” Ginny said as she shook her head, “Only you would be able to snag that gorgeous Slytherin.”
Harry grinned, “Well, it’s more like he snagged me.”
“You never gave away anything this morning when I was telling you what I heard about him,” she said, a small pout on her face.
Harry laughed, “Quite frankly, I didn’t think he was going to announce our relationship that way.”
Ginny smiled, “You look so cute together!”
“Thanks,” he said, a blush crossing his face.
“Now, Harry, I want to know everything. Where did you meet, how did you meet, when, everything,” she said just as they reached the Great Hall.
“Umm…” Harry said as he threw a look over his shoulder at the person in question that said “Help me!”
Tom chuckled and wrapped an arm around Harry’s waist, “Alright, I’m taking him back now.”
Ginny pouted, “He was just about to tell me how you met. You can have him later.”
“And he can tell you later, too. I want to eat breakfast with my koi,” Tom replied as he kissed the top of Harry’s head.
Ginny let out a small squeal, “Fine, but only if you promise that I will get the whole story later.”
“I promise.”
The group walked inside and Harry whispered, “Koi?”
“It’s short for Koibito, which means beloved in Japanese,” Tom replied.
The Hall fell silent as the two walked passed. Tom still had his arm around Harry’s waist. Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw were watching with slightly amused looks on their faces. It was amusing to see the looks on the Slytherin and Gryffindor tables. Surprise and some hatred shown on the faces of Gryffindor as they sat down. Or more like, Tom straddled the bench and pulled Harry into his lap. The Slytherin table was beside themselves in fury. How dare that impudent Gryffindor steal the newest fantasy material?! The two looked up at the head table when they heard a loud crash. Snape had fainted.
“Well, I never thought anything could shock Snape,” Harry said, “Apparently I was wrong.”
Tom chuckled, “Neither did I.”
Harry smiled and whispered, “If only he knew who you really were.”
A grin spread over Tom’s face. The Hall was still quiet, staring at the two. Ron and Hermione shifted uncomfortably while Ginny just grinned like the Cheshire Cat and sat down next to them. Several of the other Gryffindors (mostly the underclassmen) were shooting the two dirty looks. For the most part, they ignored them. What Harry couldn’t ignore was the mischievous looks that Fred and George were giving them. It unnerved him slightly. He tried to ignore it, but couldn’t in the end.
“Okay, what’s up?” he asked.
“Nothing Harry,” Fred said as his grin grew.
“Nothing at all,” George replied.
Harry leaned further into Tom, “Not happening, next excuse. You two are up to something.”
“No, we’re not,” George said.
“We’re just wondering,” Fred said as he leaned on his elbow, his chin in his hand.
“How you can kiss someone so snaky,” George finished.
Harry frowned and narrowed his eyes, “Hey, just because he’s in Slytherin…”
“No, Harry,” Fred interrupted, the mischievous grin back.
“That’s not what we meant,” George said, his grin matching Fred’s.
Harry’s frown increased and then his eyes widened when he realized what they meant. He turned to Tom and opened his mouth, “They…?”
Tom nodded and grinned.
Harry shook his head and turned back to the twins, “You are going to explain this to me right?”
The twins nodded their heads and they went back to eating. The Great Hall slowly started to talk again, mostly about Harry and “the new kid.” Snape had recovered and was now marching down the hall towards them. Harry groaned and hid his face in Tom’s shoulder. Tom chuckled and kissed the top of his head.
“Potter, what is the meaning of this?” Snape shouted.
Harry sighed and looked up, “Meaning of what, Professor?”
“Why is a Slytherin sitting at a… Salazar help me… Gryffindor table?” he sneered.
Harry closed his eyes and shook his head, “Well, Professor, he is my boyfriend, and I think he has the right to choose where he sits.”
Snape sputtered for a moment before taking a deep breath, “Potter, I don’t know how you managed to get the new student to go along with this joke of yours, but it’s time it stopped. I should give you detention for this.”
Harry heard Tom growl softly in his ear. Tom’s wand hand twitched and Harry quickly threaded his hand in the others to prevent him from doing anything. Tom squeezed it and glared at Snape, “I assure you, Professor, that this is no joke. Harry is my boyfriend, and I will do what I choose with him. Be it sitting at this table with him at breakfast or snogging him senseless in the corridor. I suggest, Professor, that you return to your seat and eat breakfast.”
Snape’s mouth fell open and he promptly fainted… again. The Great Hall was silent once again, all except for Dumbledore’s soft chuckling. Tom turned back to Harry and sighed to get rid of his lingering anger. The Great Hall burst out talking. Some people congratulated the two of the two them on their relationship, while others were saying how cool Tom handled Snape. Harry just shook his head and grabbed a piece of bacon.
“It would have been so much easier to Crucio him,” Tom muttered in his ear.
Harry smiled, “Yes, but then you would have given away everything, and you’d be dead before you could even say Avada Kedavra.”
Tom sighed, “You’re right, but still, it would have been easier.”
He plucked the piece of bacon from Harry’s fingers and fed it to him. Harry blushed and smiled shyly. The two continued to eat breakfast until it was time for them to go to class. By the time they reached their classroom, the entire school was buzzing about them. Hermione and Ron trailed behind them, their thoughts the exact same: What the hell had Harry gotten himself into?