After All, Harry

"ginny and harry smooching time"

June 1st, 2002

"Potter, Harry!"

Harry felt his lips pull back into a smile, even though he was trying not to look too much like a dork. He stood, straightening his gown and cap because he knew that if he didn't Mrs. Weasley would fuss over it being wrinkled and he didn't want to make her cry any more today. (He'd already shown her his new snitch tattoo on the side of his ribs yesterday, and with his graduation ceremony today, he didn't think she'd be able to handle it).

He walked up the stage, trying not to look into the crowd of cheering and whooping faces, because he knew exactly who's face he'd look to first. And really, it'd look kind of bad if he was getting distracted mid graduation walk because he was too busy gawking at his girlfriend.

He shook the dean's hand and walked the remainder of the stage, ignoring the flashes of the obnoxious cameras that belonged to the nosy reporters at the Wizard's Daily Tribune (known more commonly as the DBT, a newspaper that took off soon after the Daily Prophet declined in popularity). Really, he was just trying to keep his eyes on his own two feet so he wouldn't trip over them as he went down the steps.

"Yeah, Harry! That's my man!"

There goes not getting distracted, Harry thought, biting back a cheesy grin as he glanced and waved to an overly enthusiastic Ginny jumping up and down in the row about fifty feet away from him. Ron was trying to seat her again due to his embarrassment since they were the only ones to stand and clap like Ginny had. Hermione was giggling from her seat, and she gave Harry a thumbs up as he glanced at her. He tore his eyes from the rather endearing scene (he'd never say that out loud), and continued the walk to his seat next to his peers.

"Nice one, Potter," Hamza Nasir whispered, a friend he'd made last year in one of his classes, "Congrats on your diploma and all that shite."

Harry rolled his eyes, grinning at his mate's rather upfront nature, "Yeah, yeah, Nasir, congrats on your diploma and all that shite."

"Powell, Percy!"

"My god, how long is this fucking ceremony and why do we have to stay until the end?" Harry complained, looking up at the blistering heat and wondering why any god in this universe would make him have to wear a heavy gown in this sun.

"I dunno, but I know that if this lasts any longer, I'm going to sweat my balls off," Hamza grumbled, and then, after a slight hesitation on his part, "Hey, d'you reckon your friend Hermione has any siblings or twin sisters she'd like to set me up with?"

Harry stared blankly at his friend, wondering if he was being completely serious. Hamza only grinned, his expression completely sincere.

Hamza continued, "Because Granger's kind of sexy, d'ya know what I mean? Anyone that looks or acts like her is someone I'd like to get to know."

Harry choked on his own words before he spluttered out an answer, whispering back, "You're disgusting, she's like my sister, you dog," Harry shook his head, wondering how he ended up close friends with this idiot, "And you better get all of that out of your system before this ceremony ends because her boyfriend is here, and he's about four inches taller than you with Keeper muscles much larger than your chess ones, alright?"

Hamza rolled his eyes, "So what I'm getting from you is a no on that topic, yeah?" Harry shot him a look.

"Yes, it's a no on that particular topic, especially because you're the biggest player I know, I wouldn't even let you near my cousins, and I don't have any," Harry grinned, "And secondly because Hermione has no siblings--Before you ask, no, she doesn't have any cousins she'd set you up with." Harry elbowed Hamza in the ribs, and before Hamza could say anything back to him, everyone had begun to clap and stand.