Coercion and Confusion

*


Harry woke up the next morning and realized that neither Ron nor Hermione had woken him up to relive the events. He pondered this for a second. Usually, in the past, they wouldn't leave him alone until the problem was solved, or he'd become so frustrated they just dropped it.

Neither had happened though. Harry opened his hangings and looked over at Ron's bed. Ron was snoring slightly and looked completely at ease with the world. Harry scowled at him and wondered when his friends had stopped caring.

Maybe it was when he killed Voldemort single handedly, or maybe it was when they finally realized they were destined for each other. Either way, it annoyed Harry that they didn't seem to care about him anymore. He had stayed outside for four hours last night, and no one had come to look for him, save Draco.

Ugh, Draco. Harry groaned at the thought of having to face him that day. Last night Harry had had a very vivid dream involving Draco and a pair of handcuffs. It was lucky he'd placed a silencing charm around his hangings before falling asleep. He was pretty sure that if Ron had any doubts about Harry liking Draco, the dream would have alleviated them.

Harry sat up and took a shower. He dressed in the quiet of the dormitory and slipped down into the common room. He was surprised to see Hermione sitting in an armchair by the fire. She was sitting quietly, watching the pure white snow float past the window. She turned when she heard him move on the staircase. One look on her face told him he had to talk to her.

Harry sighed resignedly and made his way over to her. For once, the table in front of her was not covered with books. She folded her hands in her lap and looked at Harry. Harry was nonplussed and stared back, waiting for her to speak.

"Harry," She started, "Ron told me what happened yesterday." Harry scoffed. So they had discussed him but didn't deem him worthy of hearing what they had to say on the subject. "Please, Harry, don't be angry."

"Angry!?" Harry said, astonished. "You discuss me in secret and figure out things before I even know! Why should I be angry!?" Hermione grimaced.

"You're right Harry, but we thought you knew." Harry humphed and wouldn't look at her.

"How would I know? I've never had enough time to myself to figure it out!"

"Well, have you had enough time now?" Hermione asked softly. Harry sighed and looked out the window where the snow was piling up on the cill.

"I don't know, Hermione. I just don't know." Harry put his head in his hands. When he spoke next, his voice was muffled by his hands. "I think I might like Draco, but I can't tell if he likes me or not. Sometimes he's really nice to me, like last night, and then other times, he's his usual smarmy self."

Hermione nodded serenly, her attention now focused solely on Harry. Harry shook his head while it was still in his hands.

"I can't figure it out. I don't know anything." Hermione frowned and patted his shoulder.

"It's okay Harry. We're here for you." Harry looked up at her and smiled. The first true smile he'd shown in a while.

"Thanks, but I'm not sure you can really help here," Harry told her. Hermione scoffed and waved a hand.

"Of course we can! You didn't think all we did was talk about you! We also, okay, I also think of ways to help you." Harry stared at her incredulously. She really was the smartest which of the year.

"What did you have in mind?" Harry asked curiously.

"Well, Malfoy is obviously in denial. We have to get him to see you in a different light." Harry raised his eyebrows doubtfully.

"Uh-huh, because that's possible." Harry said sarcastically and rolled his eyes at the thought. Hermione frowned at his lack of enthusiasm.

"It's not impossible, if that's what you're thinking. I think the first thing is to change your clothes," Hermione said, surveying Harry's far too big jeans. Harry looked down at his clothes.

"What's wrong with them?" He asked, confused. Hermione scoffed and rolled her eyes.

"Next weekend, there's a trip to Diagon Alley. We're not supposed to leave the Alley, but I think for your sake we're going to have to sneak off into Muggle London." Harry gaped at her.

"Wait, did I just hear Hermione Granger suggesting that we break the rules?" Harry clarified. Hermione smiled slightly.

"Well, I am the Head Girl." She said bluntly. Harry chuckled. He finally felt like they were actually connecting. Since the war, he'd felt a little disconnected from the world and his friends especially.

"Okay, is Ron going to come?" Harry asked. Hermione thought for a second.

"If you can convince him to help you to get Draco Malfoy," Hermione said skeptically. Harry grinned at the thought of what Ron would say when he told him he needed his help in order to shag Draco Malfoy.

"I'll see what I can do."

**

The weekend came and Harry managed to convince Ron that he truely needed his help. Ron was uneasy at first, not quite happy in the knowledge that he was helping his best mate get Malfoy, but he put it aside in acceptance of his Gryffindor loyalty to help his friend.

Saturday morning, all the seventh years met early in the entrance hall. They walked down the lawn to just outside the gates. Professor McGonagal and Professor Flitwick would be accompanying them to Diagon Alley for the day.

From there, they apparated to Diagon Alley. After receiving instructions to meet back at the Leaky Cauldron at half past five, the group dispersed. Harry, Ron, and Hermione shuffled off to the side and waited until most people had left. Professors McGonagal and Flitwick sidled off down the road also.

The trio moved quickly towards the door of the Leaky Cauldron and slipped outside onto the street of Muggle London. Harry breathed in the air and felt excited for the first time in a long time. Hermione glanced around nervously as though they would get caught. She grabbed their hands and dragged them across the street.

They walked for a while, soaking up the feel of the city. Hermione spotted a shop and pulled both boys inside. Harry looked around, shocked at what he saw. He'd never seen so many clothes in that style. It was a punk store, full of dark blues, greens, and reds. Hermione grabbed a few things off racks and shoved them into Harry's arms.

She pushed him into a dressing room and sat down outside, waiting. Harry stared at the clothes in his arms for a minute, a little surprised at the quickness.

"Come on, Harry," Hermione called. "We have a lot of places to go to today." Harry was shaken out of his trance. He pulled on a dark blue shirt and a pair of tight black pants. He looked at himself in the mirror and his jaw dropped.

The pants hugged his ass and through the shirt his muscles were visible. He'd never in his life worn something like this.

"Are you ready, Harry?" Hermione asked through the curtain.

"I don't want to come out," Harry replied. He heard Hermione scoff.

"It'll be fine, Harry. Just let me see." Harry grimaced, and pulled back the curtain. Hermione caught sight of him and gasped. Harry sighed.

"I knew it. This is so wrong." Harry turned to go back in the room, but Hermione grabbed his arm and pulled him back out.

"Harry, you look amazing!" Harry raised his eyebrows.

"What?" Hermione turned him around, admiring from all angles. Ron noticed this and scowled at his girlfriend's actions.

"This is perfect," Hermione told him. Harry was still doubtful, but after trying on so many more clothes he gave in to what she wanted and bought the lot.

Ron was grumbling by the time they left the shop. Hermione reprimanded him for not being supportive.

"I am being supportive, but why do we have to do so much?" Ron complained.

"Because we must help Harry. Okay, next I think we need to get you new shoes." Hermione said, eyeing Harry's old dirty trainers.

"What's wrong with my shoes?" Harry asked, looking down and cocking his head to the side. Hermione rolled her eyes and pushed him into the shoe store.

Harry looked around at the many rows of shoes and gave Hermione a reproachful look. She moved forward and pulled down a few boxes. She handed them to Harry and removed the clothes bags from under his arm. He sat down in the chair and tried on a pair of brand new sneakers. They looked very nice and new compared to the horrible jeans he was wearing.

Hermione immediately snatched them up for the keep pile. Harry tried on several more pairs. In the end he had three new pairs of shoes. It was lunchtime by then. They went to a Muggle cafe and ate lunch while discussing possible reactions Malfoy might have.

After lunch, Hermione took them to another clothes store. Harry came out weighed down by many more bags. He felt as though he'd bought the entire store. They made their way back to Diagon Alley. Just outside the Leaky Cauldron, Hermione transfigured the bags to look like they came from Madame Malkins.

It was barely five O'clock when they re-entered Diagon Alley. They succesfully manuevered around people to walk up the street, making it look as though they had been down the other way. They sat down and Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour and enjoyed ice cream sundaes while waiting to return.

At 5:30, Harry gathered his bags and apparated with the group back to Hogwarts. He trudged up to Gryffindor, carrying his many bags. When he got into his dorm he dumped them all on his bed with a sigh. Seamus happened to be in the room at the time.

"Did you buy all of London, Harry?" He asked. Harry smiled and shook his head. Seamus walked over and peeked inside one of the bags. He pulled out a pair of light blue stonewashed jeans. He raised his eyebrows suggestively at Harry.

"Ooh, who are you trying to impress with these?" He asked mischivously. Harry snatched them back and stuffed them inside the bag. "You don't have to hide it from me," Seamus told him. Harry scowled. He finished putting away the rest of his new clothes.

He sat down on his bed and glanced at the picture of his parents on his bedside table. He wondered what they would think of all of this. 'Probably that I'm crazy,' Harry told himself. He lay back and closed his eyes just to rest them, but he was soon asleep.


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A/N: Spectacular news! I got a new computer and managed to save all my fics!...not so much my music...but that's okay...i guess. Anyway, this means no more dying!!!!!!! I hope, and perhaps more updates. :)