Author's note: So I wrote this on 31/07/11 for Harry's 30th birthday but I was on holiday so I had to wait until I got back to post it. It's basically Harry/Sirius fluff as they discuss Harry's love life. It took itself in a different direction than I'd imagined but hey, fics always do, right? Anyway, leave me a review if you want & tell me what you thought! Happy 30th Harry!
/
"Harry, hang on a second," Sirius called, moving past a suspicious-looking Mrs Weasley to catch up with his godson. "Mind if I have a quick word?"
"No, it's fine," Harry replied, wondering what was making his godfather act so strangely. He'd been quiet all morning and hardly smiled or laughed at all over lunch, making Harry wonder if there was anything wrong in the Order. He hoped that Voldemort hadn't done something drastic because he'd just been starting to enjoy the Christmas holidays and he'd been under the impression that Sirius was too. He followed Sirius into the pantry, feeling quite confused and slightly nervous.
"Is something wrong?" Harry asked, watching Sirius closely for a reaction.
"Something wrong?" Sirius sounded surprised. "No, I just wanted to talk to you." Harry nodded, although he couldn't think what Sirius could want to tell him that would require any level of privacy. Perhaps it was something to do with his parents? Or perhaps Wormtail had been located?
"Oh, OK." Harry wasn't sure if he was expected to say something or whether Sirius was going to initiate the conversation and his godfather seemed almost reluctant to speak. Finally he broke the silence.
"It's just that… I heard Mr and Mrs Weasley discussing Ron last night," Sirius began. Harry's heart leapt. There wasn't something wrong with Ron, was there? "They seem to think that he's of the age now when one of them needs to talk to him about relationships… and stuff."
Harry's stomach swooped and he suddenly realised what Sirius wanted to talk to him about. Part of him was wishing that the conversation was focused on Voldemort after all.
"So I thought that maybe I should have that conversation with you," Sirius continued. Harry groaned.
"Oh Merlin, really?" Sirius laughed.
"Yeah, my reaction was pretty similar when Mr Potter sat James and me down and told us that he was going to talk to us about relationships." Despite his embarrassment, Harry was slightly curious.
"How come…?" he asked, before trailing off, remembering what Sirius had said over the summer about running away from home when he was sixteen. Sirius grinned.
"How come Mr Potter gave me that talk instead of my own father?" Harry nodded. "Well, my father did give me his version of that conversation, I suppose," Sirius replied. "It went something along the lines of 'do whatever you like, with whoever you like, as long as they're pureblood and they're able to produce a decent heir to the family.' And I wasn't too keen on his philosophy so I pretty much worked it out myself until Mr Potter came along to correct me."
Harry laughed. From what he'd heard about Sirius at school, he had been the good-looking one out of the Marauders, who was also known as the Heartbreaker of Hogwarts for quite some time. Harry hadn't had any experiences really, apart from the brief kiss with Cho before Christmas and suddenly, Harry knew that he was confused about what to do next. Did one kiss make him Cho's boyfriend? Did it make him Cho's almost-boyfriend? He wasn't sure what she'd be expecting when they next met and he realised that the nerves that he had come to associate with the next DA meeting had very little to do with the meeting itself and everything to do with the fact that she'd be there.
"You look worried," Sirius remarked, smiling slightly. Harry shuffled his feet.
"Well, OK. There's a girl at Hogwarts-"
"Excellent," Sirius smirked. "What's she like? Good-looking? Intelligent? Unattainable?"
"Er… yeah," Harry admitted. "She's Seeker on the Ravenclaw Quidditch team." Sirius rolled his eyes.
"I'll never understand what it is with the Potter men and Quidditch. The one time that your dad got your mum to fly a broomstick, I honestly thought that he was going to propose right there and then." Harry grinned. He'd heard from Lupin about his mother's dislike of flying. "So, what's her name?" Sirius asked.
"Cho," Harry. "Cho Chang." Sirius frowned.
"I don't think I know her parents. So, is she in your defence group?" Harry nodded. "And does she like you?"
"Um… I'm not sure," Harry replied. He wasn't sure whether Cho actually liked him, or whether she just saw him as a meagre replacement for Cedric. He didn't want to mention the fact that she had been Cedric's girlfriend to Sirius because that was likely to put a depressing spin on the conversation which, up to that point, had been going well.
"Well," Sirius continued thoughtfully. "Where I always failed with females was interpreting the signs. I'd pretty much flirt with anyone, even if they didn't look particularly interested. I used to like the challenge." Harry found it challenging enough just plucking up the courage to talk to a girl, let alone attempting to speak to someone who wasn't even interested. He must have let his surprise show because Sirius laughed. "Don't worry, I've since found out that I was approaching it all wrong. There has to be some attraction. I suppose it's better to take it a bit slower at first."
"Well," Harry nodded, deciding that it would be best just to tell the truth quickly. "We sort of… kissed, before Christmas." Sirius smirked.
"Mistletoe?" Harry nodded. "Well," Sirius looked pleased. "She must like you then. What are you going to do next?" Harry felt anxious at the thought of facing Cho again and having to know what to say to her.
"I don't know," he muttered. "I probably won't say much to her, not outside of the DA meetings anyway." Sirius groaned.
"No, no, you've got to talk to her, Harry!" Harry felt even more nervous. If Cho was expecting him to know exactly what to say, she'd be in for a disappointment. He felt a stab of fear when he remembered that her previous boyfriend had been older than him and probably much more experienced with relationships.
"But there's nothing to say," Harry shrugged, wondering why it was so imperative that he didn't just pretend that nothing had happened. Sirius grinned.
"Exactly, but she's a woman. You can't kiss them and then ignore them, you can't date them and then ignore them and you definitely cannot, on pain of death, sleep with them and then ignore them." Harry felt himself going red.
"I wasn't going to… sleep with her." Sirius smirked again.
"Good. But the original point still stands. You're going to have to say something to her because if you don't, there's a high chance that not only will she never speak to you again but she will also tell all of her friends what a prat you are." Harry swallowed. He had enough unwanted attention as it was, without Cho's sixth-year friends adding to the list of people who stared at him when he walked around Hogwarts.
"But… what do I say?"
"You could ask her out?" Sirius suggested. Not sure if he even knew how to do that, Harry shrugged.
"I could but... what if she says no?"
"Well," Sirius considered that for a moment. "Under no circumstances should you send her a singing bunch of flowers by owl post the following morning, forgiving her for her mistake and letting her know that you're willing to give her another chance." Harry burst out laughing.
"Who did that?" he asked, although he already had an idea. Sirius grinned.
"Your dad," he replied, confirming Harry's suspicion. "Although there is the chance that six years after that, she'll finally agree to go on one date with you." Harry considered that for a moment.
"Why are girls so complicated?" he groaned. "Why can't Cho just tell me what she wants?"
"Believe me Harry," Sirius grinned. "It gets so much worse as they get older. Just ask her out. What's the worst thing that could happen?"
"She could say no and it'd be all over the school and possibly the Daily Prophet by the next day."
"That's not good," Sirius agreed. "And you can't even take revenge because Harry, you should never hex a girl."
"I know that, Sirius," Harry rolled his eyes. Sirius laughed.
"But you could get Hermione to do it for you."
Right on cue, the bushy-haired witch poked her head around the pantry door.
"Harry? Sirius? Are you in there?" She blinked in the sudden lack of light.
"We're here Hermione," Harry replied. Tentatively, she stepped backwards.
"Sorry, was I interrupting you?" she asked. Sirius shook his head and then clapped Harry on the shoulder, giving him a grin.
"Nope, we're done in here," he replied. "Time to leave, is it?" Hermione frowned.
"Sirius, you can't come to see Mr Weasley. Dumbledore reminded you, you're not supposed to leave the house."
"Alright," Sirius looked slightly frustrated. "I'll just wait here for you to come back then."
"I'll meet you upstairs, Harry," Hermione told him, without responding to Sirius. Harry glanced at his godfather.
"Do you want me to stay?"
"No!" Sirius shook his head. "No, you go with the others. Don't worry about me." Harry looked questioningly at him.
"You're sure?"
"Definitely," Sirius nodded, giving Harry a little push out of the pantry. Grinning, Harry turned around.
"Alright. And thanks for the talk." Sirius pulled his godson into a hug and smiled.
"Anytime, Harry. Anytime."