Taken by Surprise

Chapter 4


The club was low-lit and crowded. The music was blaring and there were too many bodies to count rubbing against each other in a feverish sort of dance all around the place. Harry didn’t know if the heat was coming from them, but it was definitely very hot and stuffy. Scorpius was shouting out greetings to blurry forms Harry couldn’t identify in the dark, all the while leading Harry by the hand to the front of the room where people were milling around in groups and the stage was all set up in anticipation of his band. Harry didn’t even try to break free now.

Sitting at the small table, Harry looked around. It didn’t look like a wizarding place. In fact, he was pretty sure that it was a muggle nightclub. And when his eyes adjusted to the dim light, thick clouds of smoke, loud noise and spontaneous bursts of colour, he realised that the bodies rubbing against each other were – Harry’s jaw dropped – he was in the gay club! Harry quickly turned away and looked straight ahead, his face aflame as if he was caught by the whole wizarding community participating in some sort of shameful act. His mind was filled with a cackling, gleeful kind of voice that reminded him of Peeves. He was in a gay club. With Scorpius Malfoy. And there were people – men – all around him – moving, touching, kissing, rubbing against each other. He needed another drink – just to make it sound less bizarre in his own head. Scorpius seemed to read his mind. He was gone and back in a blink of an eye with a glass of some suspiciously coloured liquid.

‘I have to go now. The crowd is getting impatient.’

Harry started and stared open-mouthed at Scorpius. Was he gay? Al never mentioned it. Not that he would – it was probably a secret – Harry didn’t think that Malfoy would be pleased to learn that his son preferred his own sex.

‘By the way, I made sure that the glass keeps refilling itself.’ said Scorpius.

‘I hardly think that I need any more today.’ replied Harry.

‘Trust me – you’ll love it.’ said Scorpius with a grin before disappearing into the crowd and swiftly reappearing on the stage to tumultuous applause. He bowed and grinned and then took up one of the guitars, before checking the microphone.

While the rest of the band joined him and the level of noise increased, Harry sat back and took a closer look at Scorpius. It occurred to him that he completely missed the point when both Al and Scorpius grew up. Of course, the fact that Al moved out and dropped by only on holidays or when he was short of money should have let Harry onto the fact. But now he was looking at Scorpius in a whole new light. And there was also the matter of Scorpius’s preferences – not that it mattered in the least – but Harry was as curious as a cat.

Scorpius, he noted approvingly (not that it mattered, of course), wore muggle clothes well. He was dressed in a pair of dark jeans and a shirt. The collar was undone, the sleeves rolled up. His movements were casual but elegant and his blond hair was gracefully falling over his eyes. His smile was open and infectious and his voice when he started singing was quite captivating. Harry decided that he became a fine man, though a bit forceful, which, he supposed, was a natural result of always having his way. And he certainly had his way today. More than once too. But at the moment Harry couldn’t quite find it in himself to regret going along with his wishes.

It’s been a while since he felt this relaxed and unconcerned. It could have been the amount of alcohol he’d consumed. But he did jump like a scalded cat when the band started playing a ballad and a guy asked him for a dance. Surely it meant that the level of his inebriation was acceptable – he was still capable of thinking straight. He shook his head and once the shock wore off and his heart resumed its normal beating pattern he snorted into his drink at the very idea of him sharing a dance with another guy. It was ridiculous. Why would he want to do that? He was straight, thank you very much.
He hurriedly returned his attention to the stage and caught Scorpius’s eye. Scorpius raised an eyebrow and Harry shook his head, mouthing that everything was fine, though he doubted that Scorpius could read his lips from a distance.

The soulful ballad was succeeded by a song that had Harry’s eardrums exploding; the movements around him grew more and more frantic and the guy was back again with drinks in his hand and a proposal to move into one of the booths to form a better acquaintance. That was too much. Harry wondered if he could get away with hexing him, but dismissed the thought almost at once. This was a muggle, in a muggle-inhabited area and Harry was a law-abiding wizard and an Auror to boot – it was his duty to uphold and protect the law and it’s not like he couldn’t take care of himself without using magic.

Besides, he did not fancy finding himself in front of the Wizengamot explaining that he was in a muggle gay club after his wife had left him, getting drunk while watching his son’s best friend performing on stage when a muggle started coming onto him. He could just imagine how well that would go down. The Daily Prophet would explode in ecstasy over such a juicy piece of news: Harry Potter – the vanquisher of the Dark Lord and the head of Auror department – arrested in a muggle gay club for hexing private bits off a muggle who wanted to steal a kiss. He had a sudden and rather uncontrollable urge to giggle.

Instead, unless it offended the intruder, he shook his head and excused himself as politely as he could and when it looked like the guy was about to convince him further, he walked away. But trying to navigate the sea of bodies was not so easy and by the time he glimpsed the way out, Harry realised that the band had stopped playing. He wondered if he should turn back and find Scorpius. He didn’t want to leave like that without saying good-bye. But the road back was blocked and unappealing; he has been subjected to enough stray groping while squeezing his way out to last him a lifetime.

However, while he was debating whether to go back or to keep going, the choice was promptly taken out of his hands. Harry yelped when he felt someone grab him by the hips and was startled even more when Scorpius whispered into his ear in a low, heated voice: ‘Are you going somewhere?’ ‘The loo.’ stammered Harry, too embarrassed to admit that he was chased off by a too friendly muggle and that Scorpius actually scared him into a squeaking fit. ‘Well, shall I accompany you there then?’ It sounded all wrong to Harry’s ears. Too suggestive. Inappropriate, all things considered. ‘I’m sure I can find my way.’ he replied. ‘Just to make absolute sure.’ insisted Scorpius.

They moved together, though not in the way Harry imagined. Scorpius didn’t relinquish his hold on Harry’s hips but rather guided him forward, holding his hands firmly in place. It was rather awkward, because Harry could feel Scorpius’s body flush with his, every part of him rubbing against Harry in a way that should not have been permissible.


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