One person Harry didn't tell about the article until after it was already out was Sirius; he called the man a couple of days after the Quibbler published, and he could tell from the look on his godfather's face that he'd already seen it. Harry wondered if Snape had passed it along, or if Remus had seen it somewhere else. He knew Sirius didn't have a subscription.
"That's one way to do it," the animagus declared, grinning. "Very well written, pup. Moony and I are so proud of you. So's Snape, but he won't ever say it. You have to sort-of interpret the eyebrows and the sarcasm; I'm getting much better at it, these days." Harry laughed, shaking his head.
"Thanks, Pads. Sorry I didn't warn you sooner." He hadn't felt the need to, honestly, since Sirius already knew he was gay.
"S'alright. Bit of a surprise when Severus brought it over last night, but I don't blame you for doing it. It'll shut Rita Skeeter right up." Sirius looked delighted by that. "How's it going down at school?"
Harry told him how things had been since the article came out, including Draco's jealousy. "He seems to think I'm gonna drop him since there's all these boys who want to date me now they know I go their way. As if I'd look twice at any of them when I have him." He shook his head exasperatedly.
"It's not his fault he couldn't see how much of a fool you were for him before he decided to kiss you," Sirius teased. "He doesn't know he's stuck with you now."
"I tried to tell him," Harry insisted pathetically. He paused, biting his lip. "Sirius, am I going too fast with Draco? Not— not physically," he hastened to clarify, feeling his cheeks heat. "But it's only been a few months and I already care way more about him than I think I'm supposed to. Like… like love-kind of feelings, maybe? I don't really know. I don't know what love is supposed to feel like." He hadn't had much of it in his life. Sirius sighed, though his eyes were fond. "You're probably better off talking to Moony than me about this, pup; I've never really been in love. But from what I understand of it, it happens when it happens and you're best to just let it. Merlin, Remus fell in love with Snape when he was twelve, even if it took him a few years to admit to it. Your dad fell in love with Lily the second he laid eyes on her when they were eleven. I'm not going to sit here and tell you you're too young to love Draco."
"But what if I tell him and he doesn't feel the same? Or something happens and it turns out it's not love after all and I end up ruining everything?"
"I think it's safe to say you're at least a little bit in love with him," Sirius said gently, grinning. "And that's okay! That's great, even! Whether you tell him or not is up to you, but allow yourself to feel your feelings however they come to you. You're young, sure, but that doesn't mean you can't feel these things just as strongly as someone twice your age. And as surprised as I am to be saying it, there are worse people to give your heart to than Draco Malfoy."
"I really think I love him, Sirius," Harry whispered, looking at the closed drapes of his bed as if someone was about to rip them open and laugh at him.
"Then you hold onto him and don't let go," Sirius said firmly. "Some people need to go through a few people before they find the one that fits. Others get lucky enough to find the right fit on the first try. You do you, pup; as long as it feels right, just go with it."
Harry thought about Ginny, flirting with random Ravenclaw boys because she was too scared of the depths of her feelings for Neville. Harry refused to be like that. He had Draco, and he wasn't giving that up for anything, even if his feelings terrified him.
"Thanks, Pads," he said quietly, smiling. Sirius grinned back at him.
"It's what I'm here for, kiddo." He paused then, looked a little more serious. "Severus said Dumbledore didn't seem thrilled by the article." "He wasn't impressed, no," Harry confirmed. "It was actually quite funny. I don't know what his problem is, though; Draco said he's gay too, so it can't be that."
"He probably just wasn't expecting you to take initiative like that," Sirius pointed out. "The Compulsion charm isn't supposed to make you impulsive in that way."
"Only in ways he can control," Harry said with a scowl. "Well I'm not sorry I did it. I'll just have to see if he tries to cast the charm on me again." He gave his godfather a thoughtful look. "Should I reel things in a bit? Try and play into it, so he doesn't get suspicious? Or d'you think it's a bit late for that." "I think that ship might've sailed, pup," Sirius agreed dryly. "And to be honest, I think you might want to start making preparations for the whole thing to go under. I don't know how long playing dumb is going to work for you."
It was nothing Harry hadn't thought himself, but it still made his stomach squirm anxiously.
"Snape says I should hold out to the end of the year," he said. Sirius hummed.
"I think if you can manage it, that'd certainly be ideal. Only a couple months left now. But he's going to figure out sooner or later that you're throwing his charm on purpose, and then it's just a matter of time before he learns you've lost the block."
"If I can make it through fifth year, it'll be a miracle," Harry agreed sourly. "I know it's coming, Sirius. I'm hoping I won't have to deal with it for a while, but I'm aware it could happen any day now." He'd like to get a little closer to being able to claim his Wizengamot seat before having to expose Dumbledore as the manipulative old man he was, but things rarely worked in Harry's favour.
"Just be careful, pup," Sirius said. "You've got a good crowd around you there, but that'll be for nothing if Dumbledore gets to you first."
"I know. I will," Harry promised. "I just want to focus on getting through the tournament right now."
He had enough on his plate without adding Dumbledore to the mix.
As it often does at Hogwarts, life moved on. Harry's sexuality was hot gossip for a week or so, but the Easter holidays began and half the school went home, and the next big topic of conversation overshadowed it, and Harry went back to his usual level of being stared at between classes. There were still a couple of persistent boys trying to flirt with him, but Harry was getting pretty good at ignoring them.
Rita Skeeter tried to fight back with an article about Harry trying to seduce Cedric away from Cho, but it was so laughably pathetic it didn't even register. The woman had lost her edge, and while Harry had no doubt she'd snoop around for some other angle to work, he'd beat her in this particular round. He just wished he was closer to figuring out how she got her information.
Luckily, Draco made a lot more headway on that than he did.
"Between you and the Weasley twins, I'm getting far too used to being manhandled into passageways," Harry remarked when Draco dragged him behind a tapestry. The blond gave him an odd look.
"Why are the Weasley twins manhandling you into passageways?" He shook his head, getting back on track. "Never mind. I have information for you about Skeeter."
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