Harry Potter and the Time Fluke

Hogsmead Date Part 2

Harry's immediate reaction was the heating up of his cheeks at the meaning behind Tom's words, and his eyes became hooded. His heart hammered wildly in his ribcage, and he wanted nothing more than to turn around and allow Tom to fulfill that statement—which absolutely terrified him. Harry blamed it on his hormones.

It was difficult for him to accept or even comprehend Tom behaving so forwardly. Unfortunately, they were in public. Sure, it was the back of a very clustered store and there probably weren't many people in the building, but one never knew who could be lurking behind a rack of bulky winter cloaks. So, taking a deep, steadying breath, Harry willed his carnal urges back under his control.

"Tom," Harry hissed gently, yet sharp at the same time. "Not here." He tried pushing the arms away, but the taller boy wasn't budging.

"Why not?" Tom's lips grazed the shell of Harry's ear. "It's not like I have a particular need to watch my behavior if I'm not to be receiving any presents." He tightened his iron-grip and nuzzled his face into Harry's neck.

"And what if someone were to see us?" Harry pointed out. It was the nineteen-forties, and while he didn't exactly know the wizarding world's standpoint on homosexuality (he didn't even know what it was back in his original time), he knew muggles didn't preach for that particular way of life. When Tom still refused to move, Harry decided to add, "Anyway, you won't get your presents if you continue to hold me like this when I don't want you to."

That seemed to have an effect on Tom since he loosened his arms around Harry considerably—but didn't drop them completely—and Harry half-turned to face him. "So you did get something for me," Tom said with a triumphantly smug air.

Harry pursed his lips. "I never said I hadn't." He glanced down at the arms still around his waist and opened his mouth to comment on them when a loud, hacking cough that could have only been two racks over breached the Slytherin pair's supposed solitude and caused Tom to snatch his hands back as if they were burned. Harry raised an eyebrow, refusing to appear shaken by their near-discovery. "See, I told you—"

"Finish that sentence and you'll be left without a tongue," Tom warned, so Harry shut his mouth. It wasn't that he was afraid Tom would actually follow through with the threat; he just didn't feel as though carrying that particular saying through to the end was very important.

With one last distain-filled glance at the scarf he now knew wouldn't be a purchase that day, Harry turned and quickly strode out of the store. He didn't look back; there was no need to. Tom's near-silent footfalls were barely discernible behind him.

"You're not going to buy any clothing?" Tom inquired once they were back out on the street.

Harry gave a tiny shake of his head. "No. There wasn't anything Dmitry would really like in there. I'd seen the scarf a month ago and thought maybe it would be a good present for him, but I changed my mind. And anything else that store carries I'm sure he either already has or would never wear because he finds it too repulsive. There's a used-goods shop up ahead we can go look at. Occasionally they have nice-enough things." Harry huffed slightly in agitation. "If they don't, I'll just have to owl-order something." He really didn't want to, though. Owl-ordering anything was always more expensive than going into a store and simply buying the desired item. Of course, that was because the owl—sometimes in the plural sense—had to deliver packages over a great distance, but Harry really hoped it wouldn't come to that. "Why can't Hogsmeade ever stock up on quality items? Or why can't some of the businesses in Diagon Alley branch out and put up shop here too? They have to know they'll get good business from the students..."

"Maybe," Tom agreed, "but their only real revenue would be on Hogsmeade weekends, and it's much more profitable for them to only keep one shop in Diagon and have all the students owl-order things so they can tack on the extra fee." Harry grumbled something about cheap businessmen to which Tom gave a slight chuckle. "Of course, there's always the option of being boring and getting Dmitry a book. You have before."