Present Scenes

Sequel to Episode of the Past

Summary: Relationships are never easy, especially when trying to decide whether or not to move beyond the status quo.

Warnings: Mentions of m/m pairings, some abuse, mild language and other things that will probably come up - Un-beta'd so mistakes are likely

Disclaimer: Both Harry Potter and CSI:NY belong to their respective creators and right holders, which isn't me obviously. This won't be repeated

A/N - I know from the first story that some disagree with the idea of Harry being gay. In spite of that I am also glad that they think that Episode of the Past is a good story. Here's my reply to the idea that it seems like a distasteful concept - I didn't choose to make Harry gay just because I think it's hot to picture him and Flack together. I chose to depict him as being gay to hopefully show different dynamics to him and further explore his relationships with others under that context. I also think that outside of comedy or homosexually targeted media it is rare to see a homosexual character and generally when you do they exhibit nearly all of the stereotypes.

Also, gay or not relationships are not easily approached whether or not it's friendship, familial or as lovers. I know for myself I feel comfortable in my sexuality, but I also believe that when I fall in love I would be accepting of it no matter the sex of the person I fall in love with.

This chapter kind of jumps around and hopefully future chapters will get better. I will also need some help with ideas because the plot for this is hard to pin down, meaning updating will be slow.

"It's not a date Don." Harry said with raised eyebrows waiting for his friend's reply.

"Ah, why would you bring me?" He evaded trying to think about what his friend had asked of him.

"Well, you are one of my best friends. Aunt liked you and she would have invited you herself but I said I would ask if you would come with me as my guest." Harry looked at his watch, "Look no pressure. It's not for another month and a half. It's been arranged for my usual days off so it would be a quick overnight trip and then after the ceremony we can fly back."

He turned and began walking away and Don watched still at a loss about the question. Completely out of left, he thought with wide eyes. He sighed and turned back to the crap on his desk. He had just finished one case, but there were still others that he had to work and then there were plenty of past ones that he had to clear off or finish the paper work for. Really it had been a good thing that he had been sitting when Harry had asked him.

"My aunt's getting married to Remus. Do you want to come with me to her wedding?"

Not a date...he shook his head determined to concentrate on something other than the intense green eyed gaze behind wire frames.

~~~PS~~~

"Should you be on the job now? It's only been a couple of months."

Harry looked up from his crouched position next to the body. He spotted Stella coming towards him with a camera in hand. He stood up slowly and moved back careful with where he stepped.

"I'm fine." He saw her blunt look and spoke again, "Look Stella sitting alone in my flat will just make me crazy. Here at least I can do something. I'm taking it easy," he saw her unblinking look and replied a bit defensively, "my work load has been halved because the others have been taking this or that case from me."

His accent thickened with his irritation.

"Poor Harry," Stella murmured as she got back to doing her job.

He reeled at that. He really hated that phrase. He had heard it so many times as he grew up from so many people that thought they knew him and what he had gone through. Funny it had been Professor Snape, right stiff bloke that he is, that had really kept him somewhat sane under all the pitying looks and comforting condolences of everyone. When Snape had used it, it was in scorn.

One of these days he should send the chemistry teacher something in thanks, but that wouldn't be for years if ever. The man's arrogance was probably far worse than any he said that James Potter had when they went to school together.

"I just can't dwell on what happened or I'll second guess myself into some kind of unhealthy addiction."

"Are there any healthy addictions?"

"You caught this case too?" Harry looked up to see Danny strolling past the uniforms and ducking under the tape.

"I'm here right? Anyway you were saying somethin' about addictions." The other detective said as he pulled on gloves.

Harry rolled his eyes, "People like to pretend there are."

"What's this about asking Flack out?"

"You asked Flack out? Really, no one really thought you would ever ask him out." Stella sounded genuinely surprised.

Harry shot Messer a look of surprise as well, "I didn't ask him out on a date. I just asked him if he would come with me to my aunt's wedding. She wanted to invite him herself, but I said I would see if he would come with me as my guest."

"I don't know. That's not what's being said around the office."

Harry frowned, "We talked in our own building." He looked at both CSIs closely, "They gossip about us in your guys' section too?"

The dirty blond detective snorted, "We've got a pool going on you guys."

"Danny," Stella said with a smile fighting across her face as she turned away from the body to look at something that had caught her eye.

Harry rolled his eyes. "It's not that big a secret. I've known since after my second boyfriend, since moving to America, left because of the overtime I did missing my date. I'm still not sure why the pool about Flack and me began though and I don't really want to know." He told them warningly.

He moved away from the body and the CSIs. His eyes scanning over the crowd and picking out those that looked willing to talk there and those that would probably out right refuse to say anything whether they knew something or not.

~~~PS~~~

Don still didn't know what to make of the 'not a date' thing that Harry had asked him about. That had happened yesterday and they haven't run into each other since. Not surprising, from what he had heard about their investigation it seemed that it was becoming an exercise in deciphering.

He didn't mind for once needing more time to think about the request. Besides he had his own stuff to deal with. Some shake downs and ground walking along the streets hunting down leads.

He looked into the dead eyes of the woman looking through him. She leaned casually against her door jamb clearly not wanting to talk anywhere else with him. She wore a natty robe over top old faded joggers and a white wife beater. Her shoulders are slightly hunched making her height between five-four and five-six.

"I told the other that I don't know nothin'." Her voice carried the rasp of a smoker. Her arms are crossed over her torso holding to herself.

Flack was familiar with this. Most of the people he dealt with in these neighbourhoods didn't want to deal with anyone else let alone a cop. He sometimes wondered how much of what he had to chase down came down to behaviour. You live in this kind of environment and what often happens? Life beat down on a person and the person would sometimes try to beat back but a lot of the time it was in the wrong way.

"Look I'm just looking for some answers here. I was told that Caron sometimes hung out around here. If you see him tell him to give me a call," Don told the woman.

He walked away knowing that his card was more likely to be thrown into the trash than kept to be passed along. Sometimes it was hard to understand that to a lot of the people the cops weren't really the good guys. Other days, he could get why cops and civilians had a hard time relating to each other; on those days he was looking into the eyes of a parent, child or lover and seeing their betrayal by the system.

He reached the street and turned north. He hadn't bothered driving. He wanted the time to think or not think as it were about the talk the other day. He had another stop to make before heading back to the station. He heard his phone, reaching into his pocket he pulled it out and checked the id before punching the button to answer.

"Flack," he waited for a response as he shifted out of the way of a gaggle of little old ladies carrying grocery bags and gossiping.

His eyebrows shot up as he listened to the caller. Well, this was unexpected, a break so soon. It didn't help with the other problem, but he would take what he could.

~~~PS~~~

Harry dropped into the chair across from Mac with a groan. He wondered why he had agreed. It wasn't like there hadn't been other options. He looked up to see the small glitter of amusement in the older man's eyes.

"She finally won the right to set you up didn't she?"

"Felicia, yeah," Harry nodded, "We made a deal sometime ago. If she could get me the information that could lead to a solid arrest then she could fix me up on a blind date with someone. Well before there were always some small way that I could wiggle out of it, including saying that I was dating someone at the time, but this time well..."

Mac laughed, "You know she prides herself in fixing up lasting couples."

"I know I'm doomed," Harry said with humour. "I don't know why I've let that deal go on. I hate surprises."

Harry shook his head and his expression got more serious as he looked the other man in the eye. "You wanted to talk Mac?"

"Stella told me that she already tried talking to you about coming back to work now, so I'm not going to get into why you should think about taking more time. What I want to know is do you really believe that you're ready for duty again? I've talked to your supervisor and he's mentioned some concern."

Harry wanted to be angry. If he were still a teen he would have lashed out rather violently, not on Mac but on everything in the office. He still remembered his fifth year and what he had done to Dumbledore's office after receiving some news about his godfather. Instead, he sighed and thought about what his friend had asked.

He lifted his hands into view and looked at the new scars branded and cut into them. Harry would prefer not to remember but thinking about the hazy memories while awake wasn't as bad as being forced to relive them in his dreams.

"I can't sit at home Mac." Harry smiled grimly, "About the only good thing to come out of this is the fact that my aunt is marrying Remus Lupin." He looked out of the office at the busy CSI labs, "I'd prefer not to dwell on what happened." He hesitated before telling Mac quietly, "At the end of my fifth year I found out that my godfather was killed and that summer I went into depression. About the only reason I didn't get too bad was because my aunt insisted on getting me into different activities for the entire summer after the first month of not wanting to interact with anyone."

Mac had weighed his words carefully before nodding, "Remember we're all here for you to talk to if that's what you need."

"I know and I appreciate that."

~~~PS~~~

"You know I heard Felicia succeeded in talking Potter into going on a blind date of her choice."

Flack stopped typing as he leaned back to listen in on the conversation.

"He always gets himself out of those."

"Not this time," There was smugness to the tone as he informed the other knowledgeably. "He broke up with his last boyfriend before England. He hasn't seen anyone since and he can't cry any problems because he's back to work now."

"Huh, well, I hope he knows what he's in for. Felicia can be really scary when she's on a matchmaking hunt. I think the people she has in her sights are more likely to latch on to someone for sheer survival..."

The conversation faded out as the two speakers walked away. The din of the office covered up anything further from Don's hearing. He frowned. A hand clenched and released the arm of his chair unconsciously.

His concentration is completely shot now. Has Felicia ever set up a gay couple before? He didn't know why he is so concerned; it isn't any of his business. It got a laugh when Harry had first mentioned the deal between him and Felicia. Now though…it annoyed the hell out of him.

He got up grabbing his jacket from the back of his chair and pulled it on with jerky motions. He said something about making rounds to someone before leaving. He practically marched out of the room as he made his way out of the precinct. The wake he left had several giving him a cursory glance before turning back to their own stuff.

Some turned to someone close and bets were discussed. They knew that Flack was straight but they also knew that there was a kind of charge between him and Potter. They forgot who had pointed it out; it was simply something that everyone knew about now. It was only a matter of time to some of their minds, hence the betting.

~~~PS~~~

"Yo Flack can we talk?" An accented voice called from one of the booths.

Don turned and spotted where Felicia's voice came from. His cheek flexed once before he put on a forced smile as he moved to her table. The low lighting of the bar and low murmur of voices surrounded him. He slid onto the bench easily as he faces the mocha skinned woman.

"Felicia I hear you've been busy." He greeted.

"So you've heard already, huh. Well that's pretty much why I want to talk with you." She leaned forward letting her cleavage become more visible as she looked seriously in the light skinned detective's eyes.

"'Bout you callin' on yours an' Harry's deal, yeah I might have heard something." Don said with a shrug and slight expression on his face.

She smiled, "Good. Now you know Harry better than anyone. I want some kind of idea about what kind of man I should set him up with."

Don's eyes narrowed. "Felicia you know him about as well as I do so what's up with this?"

He waved over a waitress and asked for a beer. He turned back to the other woman and waited for her answer. He looked out at the crowded establishment as he waited impatiently for her to give him an answer to the question.

"Well, I may know him quite well but I've really only met one of his past boyfriends. You have met them all if I'm not mistaken. They often go to that boy's night out that you guys take part in sometimes."

Flack snorted, "If none of them lasted they're the last guys to base Harry's date off of."

"Oh I know that sugah," she leaned back crossing her arms. "Even so there are certain traits that we're attracted to in different people and sometimes people knowingly or unknowingly pick several with the same one. My thought is if I knew what about each of those men Harry liked then I could pick out someone I thought had them."

"They'd better like food or not mind that Harry would rather stay in and cook." Don pointed out thinking about how Harry had a dozen favourite places to eat and a particular dish that he liked at each one. A look of bliss on Harry's face crossed his mind that usually had Don reminding himself that he was only into females.

Don had asked once and Harry had shrugged and kind of passed it on about having to do with his childhood. He then remembered that Harry had said once in aside to another case he was working about how little he ate. It hadn't taken much to realize that Harry was probably being starved when younger. Don had gotten angry and spouted something about his aunt and uncle.

Harry had surprisingly gotten defensive on his aunt's behalf. "Uncle Vernon had always gone on about Aunt Petunia needing to cut down on eating this or that reminding her about her diet." His voice had been so scathing. Green eyes burned into blue, "My aunt had been practically a living skeleton that was how thin she was. Meanwhile, Dursley and Dudley were quite obese in comparison." He would pause and look ahead, "I saw pictures of her when she was younger. She might not have won any pageants but she used to be quite pretty in that understated way. Marriage to Dursley changed her and with my parents gone and no other close family there was no one there to champion her against her abusive husband."

He saw Felicia straighten up as she came to a decision. Don waited warily for her to say whatever it was that had crossed her mind. He is resigned to listening to her plans regarding one of his best friends.