Then He Opened His Mouth

Disclaimer: Not mine, obviously. I\'m only borrowing the lads for a bit, and will return thertuartually unscathed. I am writing for fun, not profit, although I do so love a good review. But I won\'t beg for them!
Rating: PG-13 to R currently for language, more heated things to follow
Warning: SLASH! \'Nuff said.
Thanks: My beta reader, goldenpaw72 and Taran. Any errors left behind are mine alone.


Chapter Eight
Revelation and Concealment
~@~

As soon as she arrived home, Hermione ran upstairs to her room to log onto her computer, determined to get to the bottom of the little mystery called Glenn deWedlour. Sas aas almost 100% certain that Draco Malfoy and Glenn deWedlour were one and the same person, however she fervently wished that this wasn\'t true. Although she felt that Harry deserved to be happy, she couldn\'t ignore her own feelings for Draco.

Sitting down at her desk, she began to think of how the name could be manipulated to reveal the identity of the mysterious author. Please don\'t let it be Draco, please don\'t let it be Draco, she begged silently. On a piece of paper she wrote down all of the letters in the name \"Glenn deWedlour\" then looked at them for a moment. It couldn\'t be a play on the name \"Draco Malfoy\" because there was no M or A in the name. She was tapping her fingers on her desk when she remembered what Harry had told her and Ron about his meeting with Tom Riddle in the Chamber of Secrets. Tom Marvolo Riddle was an anagram for \'I AM LORD VOLDEMORT.\' What if \'GLENN deWEDLOUR was an anagram for something else? She quickypedyped in the URL for Wordsmith.org into her browser. This was an anagram server, which allowed her to input names or words and automatically retrieve multiple results. Okay, here we go. Find anagrams for..\"Glenn deWedlour. All right, Crookshanks, let\'s see what we\'ve got.\"

Get Anagrams.

Hermione sighed when what seemed like thousands of words came up, but did not let this little setback hinder her. As she scrolled through the list, there were a few words that caused alarm bells to go off in her head. Particularly GEL, DUEL, and DUNGEON. \"Now we\'re getting somewhere.\" One by one, she narrowed the search down by looking for anagrams with those words in them, and one by one, she eliminated them. Gel had hundreds of entries, none of which really stood out in her mind. And although duel showed some promise, the results did not really scream Malfoy to her. That left only one other word that might point in the direction of Malfoy. Filled with apprehension, she typed it into the server, then pressed \'Get Anagrams.\' There were a mere ten results that filled the monitor. It didn\'t take long for her to read through them.

Anagram for \"Glenn deWedlour\"
DUNGEON DELL REW
DUNGEON DWELL RE
DUNGEON RED WELL
DUNGEON DREW ELL
DUNGEON DWELLER
DUNGEON LDL WERE
DUNGEON LDL EWER
DUNGEON LDL RE WE
DUNGEON DR EL LEW
DUNGEON DR ELL WE

Hermione choked down a sob. DUNGEON DWELLER. Of course, it had to be. The Slytherin dorms were located in the dungeons at Hogwarts, and who was a Slytherin? There it was, then. Evidence in black and white that her hunch was correct, and that Draco Malfoy was Glenn deWedlour. She cleared the history on her browser, logged off and shut down. This was information she was not quite willing to accept, and much less share with anyone else. She picked up Crookshanks, and hugging him close to her chest, she lay down on her bed in a strop.

~@~

Harry sat alone in his room ruminating on the events of the day. He had been so certain that he knew exactly how he felt about Glenn, until this afternoon when he saw Malfoy standing there so casually in Madame Malkin\'s shop. Now he felt utterly confused and unsure about everything. It didn\'t help matters that Glenn had also been in Diagon Alley and had apparently seen him upset in The Leaky Cauldron. Had he seen Harry in Madame Malkin\'s as well? He hoped not, considering he\'d been gaping at Malfoy the way a starving man looks upon a six course meal. And why wouldn\'t he look? Malfoy was stunning, and his first glimpse of the blonde had literally taken his breath away.

The trouble with Malfoy however, was that he was a prat who never had a civil word for Harry as long as they had known each other. It was a shame, really, that such a beautiful young man could have such an ugly personality. In the past, each time Harry thought he might feel something for Malfoy, the blonde had opened his mouth and promptly stuck his foot in it. Who knew what might have happened if Malfoy hadn\'t been such a snobbish git their first year. Harry sighed deeply. It didn\'t actually matter anyway. Malfoy would never cast him a second glance. Besides, it didn\'t take a rocket scientist to know that Malfoy was as straight as they come. He\'d escorted Pansy Parkinson to the Yule Ball the year before last, and last year she always seemed to be stuck like glue to him.

Plus, there was Glenn to think about. How could he even think about another when he was lucky enough to have found Glenn?

Kind, caring, wonderful Glenn. Glenn, who had done so much to make him happier than he had ever been this summer. Glenn, who had been secretly watching him, and thought he was beautiful. He would be a fool to throw something as special as this away for the superficial beauty of Draco Malfoy. So why was it even an issue? Did Malfoy really have that much of an effect on him? He certainly didn\'t think he was that shallow, but he couldn\'t deny that he found himself very attracted to Malfoy.

~@~

In room eleven at The Leaky Cauldron, Draco was deep in thought. It was really good seeing Harry this afternoon. Summer must really be agreeing with him, he mused. He\'d aed hed his hair to grow until it skimmed his shoulders, and his skin was glowing with colour. The biggest change was that the fire that had been missing from his eyes for so long was finally returning. He sighed dreamily, hoping that he was partly responsible for Harry\'s transformation. He stretched languidly, thinking about Harry\'s birthday which was two weeks away. He had already spelled the galaxy in a globe so that a small figure of Harry appeared to be shooting through the stars on his Firebolt. He also added a second spell to the globe, that would be activated when the time was right. Draco wrapped them up in nice paper, and only had to figure out how to get them to Harry. Psyche was out of the question, the parcels would be far too large for her to handle on her own. He could shrink them to send, but Harry would not be able to resize them at the Muggle\'s house, so that was out. The only other option he could think of was to send them via Muggle post. It was something that he would have to work on tomorrow. He was completely knackered, and stretched out on the bed to get some well deserved kip.

He awoke early the next morning and went downstairs to enjoy a quick breakfast before having a bath. After he was finished with dressing and grooming, he gathered up the gifts and headed out into the streets of London in search of a place to send them from. He finally found something called a \'post off' ne' near Trafalgar Square and made inquiries about having the package delivered.

\"Excuse me, could you tell me how long this will take to get to Little Whinging in Surrey?\"

\"It should leave out with todays post, and could take anywhere from three to five days to arrive. Would you like to make arrangements to have them delivered?\" She reached for the parcels that Draco held in his hands. \"You know, you can place these in one larger box if you\'d like. It might make it easier to send that way.\"

Draco gave it some thought and decided to place the smaller parcels into one big box. He wrapped the box in brown paper and addressed it carefully, passing it to the clerk for shipping. She smiled, and placed the box on the scale.

\"That will be seven pounds, fifty, please.\" The clerk was too bloody cheerful for this time of the morning, and Draco immediately regretted his decision to send this through the Muggle post. He stuck his hand in his pocket to withdraw the proper amount of money, but found he\'d forgotten to convert his galleons to pounds. Fuck! FUCK!

\"Erm, I seem to have left my wallet at home\" he said apologetically. The package was handed back to him with a smile. \"I\'m very sorry to have wasted your time. Thank you for your help.\" He couldn\'t wait to get away from the perky woman, and rushed back to his room at The Leaky Cauldron to see what other arrangements he could make.

~@~

At the Burrow, Ron was surprised when an owl he did not recognise came flying into the kitchen. In it\'s grasp was a very long package, shaped suspiciously like a broom. There was another smaller package, which, like the larger one, was wrapped in brown paper. He held his breath as he plucked the letter that accompanied the parcels and opened it.

Dear Mr. Weasley,

Congratulations! Quality Quidditch Supplies is pleased to announce that you are the Grand Prize Winner of our \"Shoot For the Stars!\" contest. Your prize package includes a Broomstick Servicing Kit, a full set of Chudley Cannons Quidditch robes and The Firebolt Racing Broom. The Firebolt, featuring pinpoint precision , unsurpassable balance, and superbly smooth action.

Again, congratulations on your win. Enjoy your prizes!

Your friends at Quality Quidditch Supplies

He ripped the wrapping off of the longer package, revealing the treasure that it was concealing. Oh, it was beautiful! Ron caressed the handle reverently, picking up the broom and holding it at eye level to admire the craftsmanship of the first-rate racing broom. He couldn\'t wait to get on it and give it a go around the garden. The only odd thing was that he couldn\'t for the life of him recall ever entering a contest at Quality Quidditch Supplies.

~@~

After about a week of searching, Draco found an alternate way to send Harry his pressies. He had no idea that there was a Wizarding Postal Service that delivered parcels too large for owls to carry, but he was glad to have finally found it. He wrote a letter to accompany the gifts, then made the arrangement for the package to be delivered next week on July 31st. As he was heading back toward his room, he caught a glimpse of Harry, Hermione and Ron coming out of Flourish and Blott\'s with piles of books. Must be doing their shopping for school supplies. Which reminds me...I need to get my books as well. As he passed the trio, he noticed Harry trying very hard not to stare at him. Draco\'s eyes caught Harry\'s and their eyes locked and held for a moment before Harry blushed and looked away. i>Ohi>Oh, gods, he was looking at me! Draco Malfoy was looking at me! And it seemed to be more than just a casual look, too. I can\'t believe he looked at me like that... Harry was on cloud nine and floated around Diagon Alley the rest of the afternoon, hardly noticing anything that was going on around him. He was only brought back down to earth when Ron began to talk about the new Firebolt he had won.

\"The owl came swooping into the kitchen with this huge package added ted to me! And when I opened the letter it said I\'d won this \'Shoot for the Stars\' contest, and the grand prize was all this great stuff and a bloody Firebolt! Can you believe it? I don\'t even remember entering any contests, but I guess I must have.\" Ron was grinning ear to ear, and Harry couldn\'t help but be glad that he had set up this little surprise for his best mate. He smiled and clapped Ron on the shoulder.

\"Ron, I have a little confession to make.\" Ron gave his friend a questioning look. \"I\'m the one who entered you in the contest. I noticed the entry form and knew how much you wanted a Firebolt. So I placed your name in the contest. You don\'t mind, do you?\"

\"Mind!? You\'ve got to be kidding me, mate! Of course I don\'t mind. You\'ve helped make this the best summer ever!\" Ron was absolutely thrilled, and it was obvious by the smile on his face. The two friends were so excited about the Firebolt that they really didn\'t notice that Hermione had gone quiet after they had run into Malfoy on the street. They didn\'t notice the almost lovesick look on her face as he walked past them, his eyes plastered on Harry. And they didn\'t notice her gaze follow him as he went on his way into Flourish and Blott\'s for his schoolbooks.

~@~

July 31st dawned bright at number four, Privet Drive. Harry was awakened from a sleep filled with dreams about Draco Malfoy by a sound coming from outside. He was gobsmacked when he saw a box floating in midair right outside his bedroom window. He flung the window open and brought the box inside before the neighbours saw it. He closed the window and carried the box over to his bed and sat down to open it. There was a letter inside, so he opened that first.


Dear Harry,

Happy 16th Birthday! I hope your day is as wonderful as you are, and that your birthday is everything you want it to be.

I had one hell of a time figuring out how to get this package to you. I even went to a Muggle Post Office (where I got the big box!), but had forgotten to convert some galleons to pounds. I found a Wizarding Post Office in Diagon Alley when I was there last week for my schoolbooks and I was able to set up this delivery in advance. Did the floating box freak you out? The clerk at the WPO told me that this would be delivered by a stork (!) under an invisibility spell. I would love to have seen the look on your face when you saw a box floating in midair outside your house.

I can\'t wait until school starts again, so I can see you everyday. Please don\'t be worried if I don\'t reveal myself to you right away, but believe me when I say that I will do as soon as the time is right. There are just a few things I need to attend to first, and then you will know everything. You are in my heart, now and always.

Yours,
Glenn

Harry reached inside and pulled out three smaller parcels. Each was wrapped in brightly coloured paper and had a bow attached at the top. How very Muggle of you, Glenn.. Harry smiled at the thought of Glenn wrapping the gifts for him, painstakingly placing the bows on top. He hated to tear into the paper, but he was dying to know what was in the boxes.

He chose the largest one, and tore the paper off of it, revealing a book, one that Harry had been wanting called \"The Starry Room: Naked Eye Astronomy in the Intimate Universe.\" Harry was pleased that Glenn remembered his interest in the stars, and decided he would begin reading it tonight. The next one was smaller, and he excitedly ripped the paper away from that box. It revealed a plain brown box, which Harry opened, revealing a small, brass telescope. A smile spread across his face, these were some of the best gifts he had ever received, and there was still one more gift to open.

He lifted it out gently and removed the wrapping paper. He opened the box and removed it\'s contents. Harry\'s breath caught in his throat, and his eyes began to shine with unshed tears. In his hands he held a ten inch glass globe, which contained a moving model of the galaxy. And when he looked closely, he could see a small, dark haired figure on a broom shooting amongst the stars in the heavens, a blissful smile upon his face. It\'s me! A slip of paper fell out of the box, and Harry picked it up.

Harry,

I told you once before that I will always imagine you as a shooting star, streaking across the sky on your Firebolt. Now you can imagine it as well.

Glenn

A feeling of warmth and happiness filled Harry, and later that night, he decided to send Glenn a quick owl to thank him for the pressies. He was sure that Hedwig would be able to find him, she was a pretty smart owl.


Dear Glenn,

Thank you so much for the wonderful gifts. I\'m happy you remembered that I like astronomy. The book is one that I had been wanting for a while now, and I can use the telescope here at night for star gazing. I will also use it from my dorm room, there is a window there that is perfect for watching the stars. But I think the most amazing thing is the galaxy-in-a-globe. Seeing the little image of myself flying in the stars was just brilliant. Thank you.

I wanted the stars, and you gave them to me. You are more amazing than you know.

Love,

Harry

Hedwig apparently had no problem finding Glenn deWedlour and delivering Harry\'s message to him. She returned not more than an hour and a half later, tapping on his window for entry. He let her in, and she held in her grasp two things. One was a note.


Harry,

You\'re welcome. I\'m so happy you liked everything.

Goodnight, love...

Your Glenn

Harry\'s heart began racing when he noticed the second thing that Hedwig had brought with her. It was a few strands of platinum blonde hair.

TBC