//------------------------------//
// Weyr Drinks (Harry Is A Dragon, And That's Okay — Fic - Ongoing) 
// Story: Sunset's Isekai 
// by Wanderer D 
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Sunset's Isekai
Weyr Drinks (Harry Is A Dragon, And That's Okay — Fanfic - Ongoing)
By Wanderer D & Saphroneth






Harry looked left, right, then left again, before finally crossing the street.

This didn’t occasion any comment from passing pedestrians, even though he was a dragon and you didn’t normally see dragons on the streets of medium-sized towns in Scotland. But then again, the people in Fort William didn’t see a dragon when they looked at Harry, so as far as they were concerned Harry was just a normal fourteen-year-old out shopping in the afternoon.

Thinking about how mostly right they were, Harry turned left onto the main pedestrianized bit of Fort William. He’d been around the town quite a lot, ever since only a couple of months after he started going to school nearby, and by now it was really quite familiar and he could find his way between the bookshops almost without needing to think about it.

Halfway past an alleyway, though, he stopped and frowned before backing up a step and looking down the alley.

Yes, there was definitely a door there. And Harry wasn’t an expert on non-magical construction techniques - or magical ones, really - but he was fairly sure that that door hadn’t been there last week and therefore there seemed to be something quite odd going on.

Tilting his head, he thought for a moment about what he had to do on this visit. He had two books to take back to the library, and he wanted to see if there were any new books he’d be interested in, but neither of those things seemed like they’d take very much time and it was still quite early. Then there was the whole thing with what to do about the Yule Ball, which Harry had been putting off for days now and which he still hadn’t come to any sort of decision on, but that was more of a background thing than anything urgent for today.

Shrugging - which was quite an extravagant thing for a dragon to do, involving as it did a lot of activity for his wings - Harry turned down the alleyway to see if there was anything interesting behind the door.

The door itself seemed to qualify as quite interesting all by itself. It was sort of set into a stone archway, all of it in the side of the cinema, and that gave Harry a moment of pause because he was fairly sure that the cinema wouldn’t build a stone archway that led into one of their screens or something.

And if they did it would probably have to be a fire escape.

Instead, this door looked a lot like oak, albeit a very golden-y-red-y sort of oak which struck Harry as a much better colour for the wood in his House common room than the actual wood they used, and it had a funny crystal symbol on the front that looked like someone had tried to mix a sun and a yin-yang and decided to compromise at exactly the point that let them make it red and yellow.

There was a sign next to it with a cocktail glass.

It all reminded Harry of a pub, albeit quite a peculiar one, and he sat back for a long moment while he thought about whether he should see what it was like inside.

Maybe it wasn’t open yet? That would sort of decide things for him, and he gave the door an experimental push with a paw - only to discover that, in fact, the door simply opened with a kind of smooth glide to it.

That was good enough for Harry, and he made his way inside thinking vague thoughts about what Sirius called Pub Grub.





The bar had been quiet for hours, and expecting that to continue—it was a random Wednesday, after all... or someday—Sunset had pulled up a small stool behind the bar and sat on it, pulling out one of the magazines she had accumulated across the multiverse.

The Tesla Science Magazine, issue #9, "Tomorrow's technology for today's Super Soldiers (Blast Off To Adventure!)" had some weird concepts about how the world worked, and more specifically physics, but Sunset had to admit to herself—that chances were—the people that wrote the articles had a better grasp of that universe's laws than her. 'But still. Gamma-radiation guns? Really?' 

She flipped a page just as the silver bell chimed, announcing a new guest. Sunset blinked, slowly standing up to stretch as her visitor seemed to take in what little could be seen of the bar, before proceeding to make their way to her. She could hear four steps, and although there were small clicks and clacks on the floor, the foot stomps were padded. So it was most certainly a creature with claws and paws approaching.

She used her foot to push the stool under the bar and blinked when the dragon walked into the bar proper.

It was very definitely a dragon, but not really the sort of dragon that Sunset was used to. In the first place, it was four-legged despite being small enough that an Equestrian dragon would be two-legged, and on top of that it was wearing a set of black robes that almost blended into black scales and hide.

Then there were the accessories, like a large backpack slung between the dragon’s forelegs and a pair of glasses balanced somewhat precariously on its muzzle with frames reaching back to its ears. And the odd lightning-bolt pattern of paler scales on the forehead, which looked like an identifying mark but Sunset wasn’t entirely sure what.

"Huh, aren't you an unusual sight," she said, smiling. "Welcome to Sunset's Isekai, this is my bar between the universes. I'm Sunset Shimmer, and I'll be your bartender tonight. Would you like something to drink? I could make you Skie's favorite: Storm over Gold, a creation of my own." She smirked proudly. "Aged Rum, Grand Marnier, Cognac and trapped lightning."

“Not really,” the dragon said, shaking his head. “I’m only fourteen, and it’s not legal for me to drink alcohol in this country unless Scotland has different drinking laws. I think butterbeer is allowed, but I’m not sure that’s alcoholic.”

He tilted his head a little. “Oh, do you have white spirits? I don’t think that’s alcoholic and it’s got a nice tang.”

"Huh." Sunset narrowed her eyes. "Not sure if I'm comfortable giving you turpentine to drink, even if you say it's okay. I can get you some butterbeer if you want, but I think I should have some more selections for a young dragon." She hummed and brought out a menu, shifting around.

“Oh!” the dragon said, his ears going up poing and coming dangerously close to sending his glasses flying. “You can see I’m a dragon, then? Because I’d be sure if this was Hogsmeade or somewhere, but because it’s not I wasn’t really sure if I was able to talk about anything to do with magic.”

She stopped shifting through the menu. "Butterbeer. Hogsmeade…" she peered at the dragon more closely. "Robes. Glasses… is that a scar or just different colored scales?" She leaned back. "Huh. You're a Harry Potter."

The dragon looked down at himself, then back at her. "Well, I should hope so. I am the only Harry Potter I have met I'm afraid, though there was that book series about a human one. Are you sure you’re not going off those? Because Harry Potter and the Dreadful Misunderstanding is the most accurate one and that’s not saying a lot."

She chuckled. "It's a big multiverse, Harry… can I call you Harry, or would you prefer Mr. Potter? Or do you have a specific Draconic name? Like Bryagh, Glaurung, or Khisanth?" She squinted at him. "You don't look like an Ingeloakastimizilian."

“I think Harry is fine,” Harry said. “My friend Ron’s brother Charlie Weasley was the one who officially described me, and he said I was a Black-Backed Bookwyrm.”

He stopped his forwards movement, then, and snagged one of the nearest chairs to use as a support. Hoisting his forelegs up on the seat to get a better look, he studied Sunset much more intently.

“You said multiverse?” he asked, but didn’t really bother waiting for a reply. “You mean you’ve been there - have you actually met dragons like Glaurung or Khisanth? What about Ruth, or, or maybe Pug, he’s not a dragon but he’s still a really interesting sort of person…”

It was at about that point that Harry visibly realized that there was no point asking questions if you didn’t let the person actually answer them.

“Sorry,” he added, wings flapping a little for support as he dropped back down from the stool. “A few years ago I found out that - well, one of the things I’ve always wanted to do is actually visit the places in my books. To even just know that some of them are real is…”

He shook his head, a little lost for words, then slid the chair back into place with his tail and repeated his hop-up-onto-his-hind-legs trick at the bar.

“What about… some klah?” he asked. “If you’ve got any, I mean.”

"Klah, sure," Sunset said. "I should be able to get some. Do you want some milk with it?" She asked as she went over to the bar to check for ingredients. "As for your questions… maybe? I haven't been everywhere, but a lot of places that I thought were only fiction, or even tv shows in some worlds, turned out to be real. They're not always exactly as the books or artists depict them," she said, as she started to mix the extract she had stored. "Sometimes they're more scary, or the people there less friendly. Overall, if someone imagined it, it probably exists somewhere."

She hummed in consideration, then decided to use milk, to make the klah richer in flavor. "So from what you said earlier, about me being able to see you, and Ron's brother, I take it the others are humans?" She glanced over her shoulder as the drink warmed up with magic. "Doesn't that complicate things for you? Must be kind of tough."

“No?” Harry said, slightly surprised by the idea. “It’s actually going quite well, really. I suppose there’s more work than last year, but I am on the way to doing my O.W.Ls.” 

"Well, that's great to hear, Harry," Sunset said, turning around and gently placing a large cup—almost a bowl—in front of him. "Here you go, one klah with milk, just remember it might keep you up at night."

He took a sip of the drink, licking the inside of his mouth like he was committing the taste to memory (which was largely if not entirely because he was). “I am a bit unsure about the Yule Ball, though.”

“That’s…” Sunset began, trying to refresh her memory, but Harry kept going as if it had been a question.

“That’s a kind of dance, or mostly a dance,” he did his best to explain. “Or… something. I’m not really clear on the details because I haven’t been to one yet, but then nobody’s been to one yet, even Dumbledore isn’t old enough. But I’m not really sure I want to go, it just…”

His wings twitched a little. “I don’t really know how to think about it. I imagine it’s a lot simpler for other people though.”

Sunset crossed her arms and looked at him curiously. "What do you mean simpler for others? I happen to know bipeds can dance with quadrupeds just fine."

“You do?” Harry asked. “That sounds like the sort of thing it’d be good to know - but, not really. I mean…”

He took another drink to try and clear out his thoughts.

“From what everyone’s been saying, it feels like it’s all about romance and stuff,” the young dragon explained. “And I don’t really think I have any of that sort of feeling yet? Maybe dragons like me age differently than humans do… but it sort of seems like it’d be pointless to go if that’s the main thing it’s about.”

There was a little click as he set the bowl back down. “And at the same time it doesn’t seem fair that nearly half the school isn’t allowed to go, and… I’ve kind of been thinking about it all week, I suppose,” he explained. “Even when I thought I wasn’t thinking about it. Or thought I wasn’t really thinking about anything.”

"So, you don't have a girlfriend… drakefriend?" Sunset hummed. "I'm sure there's a proper term. Anyway, I mean anyone that you might be interested in and that's why you're thinking it's going to be complicated?"

“Well… there aren’t any dragons at Hogwarts, except for me,” Harry tried to clarify. “And Nora, but she’s a different sort of dragon, the sort everyone’s used to. And I suppose the hatchlings now, but they can’t even talk in Dragonish yet…”

Harry realized that was unhelpful. “Anyway, um, sort of? Or I’ve never really felt that sort of thing, not yet, so when everyone’s talking about dates I’m not really sure what to say.”

"And you're obviously not looking at this time," she added, nodding in understanding. "Well Harry, I went to my fair share of balls back when I was in highschool." She tapped her chin. "I don't think you need to worry much, unless your friends have been teasing you about it?"

“I don’t think they have,” Harry answered, then added, “but I’m not sure I’d notice. What were the balls like at your high school, then? I’ve never been to one, and it might help.”

"Well," she smiled. "When I was a unicorn, back in Canterlot, Princess Celestia used to organize balls for her school, and it was mostly about having fun. The Grand Galloping Gala, for example, was different. In that one, you needed to be on your best behaviour, and the idea was to get contacts and impress the nobles and important ponies." She giggled. "Looking back on it, I tried a little too hard to impress a few of them." She chuckled and went over to serve herself a small sample of klah in a more human-sized cup. "My human High School balls were a lot like the ones back at pony school, although I admit some people took the opportunity to smooch around. I uh… had other plans, but I'd say it was mostly about having fun."

“You were a unicorn?” Harry said. “Is that sort of like how kitsune can turn into foxes, or rather kitsune are foxes and are not foxes at the same time so they can sort of pick what to be? Or is it more complicated than that?”

Leaving that aside as a puzzle for the ages, the dragon looked up as he tried to remember the last few days more clearly. “It does seem a lot like the girls are having fun talking about it, so I suppose it is fun for them. All the boys who are going to be going seem too stressed out by the whole thing though.”

Sunset nodded. "Well, yes. For girls, it sometimes involves a lot of things. Choosing the right dress, looking nice, fixing their hair… also feel appreciated when boys take note of that." She fixed him with a look. "So take note of it. Don't go overboard, but a girl that spent hours getting ready will like to hear she looks nice, alright? Other than that… do you enjoy dancing?"

“I don’t really dance at all,” Harry shrugged, which once more involved his wings and sent quite a rush of wind throughout the pub. (Or bar, or whichever it was.) “Most dances seem to be learned out of books or by other people teaching you, and there aren’t many of those for dragons. June might know one or two for four legged people though.”

After a moment, he looked up to clarify. “She’s a warg.”

That didn’t seem to clarify anything.

"Aren't wargs supposed to be evil?" Sunset asked.

“Well, yes, they’re supposed to be,” Harry agreed. “But they aren’t, really. Being descended from a werewolf doesn’t make you evil.”

"I… can't really argue that point, well played, Harry," Sunset admitted, smiling. "Here's what I think… well, a possibility, if you will. If you wanted to learn to dance, I could always turn into a unicorn or maybe even a dragon roughly your size and teach you a little, but if you don't, that shouldn't really matter in the long run. It depends on how you'd like to pass the time."

“I’m not really sure I’d have the time to learn,” Harry admitted. “I know it’s not very late in the day yet, but I’ve always heard it takes a long time to learn to dance. And I still feel like I’m not sure if I’d actually enjoy going at all.”

He shifted a little, which made his backpack nearly fall onto the floor until his tail caught it. “I’d much rather spend the time reading a book or something, usually.”

"Hm. I see where this is going." Sunset leaned on the bar. "We could handle the time to learn to dance, but I don't think that's really the problem. Harry," she poked his snout, "you need to hang out with your friends. Don't they read books or watch the same movies? Have similar interests? The point of a ball is in part to dress up, sure, but also to have fun. Chat around. Get informally accepted into Slytherin through a game of 'who poisoned the punch'. It's a good chance to break the ice with others."

“Well, they do read books, and Hermione showed me my first movie,” Harry said. “I spend a lot of time with them, really…”

That last part gave him a bit of a pause, though, and he subsided for a bit before carefully picking up a peanut from a convenient bowl. A thin jet of flame roasted it thoroughly enough that it turned black, but the dragon ate it with every indication of enjoyment anyway.

“So…” Harry resumed, clearly thinking deeply, and took a long drink of his Klah. “It’s sort of like a Gather, then. You can go to a Gather with someone, or you can just go to a Gather. And since this is supposed to be all about meeting people from other schools, it’s the best chance there is to just… talk to them without one of you doing homework or it being the middle of a lesson or being told off for being too loud in the library. Or talking with your mouth full.”

Sunset blinked a couple of times. "Well. Yes. I mean… I want to say that it's more special than that, but—" she slumped a little "—that would be a lie. It really boils down to that."

Harry giggled a bit. “No, it’s helpful!” he assured her. “It’s sort of good to know that it won’t just turn into a disaster if it goes a bit wrong. I understand about things like dark objects, because dark objects are meant to be thrown into volcanoes or things like that, but how to deal with a ball is something that in all the books they sort of just… either they say it went well without giving all the details, or they give all the details and it goes badly wrong.”

That made him frown. “Maybe because reading about it going well would be a bit boring?”

"It definitely depends on the novels you read," Sunset said, nodding sagely. "I don't think any ball in any of Rarity's books ever goes badly. Or at least if it does, the rest of the night doesn't. But that's romance literature for you."

“I tried reading one of those, once,” Harry told her. “It had a dragon on the front.”

His tail went thump against the ground. “The dragon wasn’t very relevant to what happened at all. I wonder if that’s what’s called false advertising?”

"It is certainly a stretch of the metaphor," Sunset said grinning. "I take it it's not your cup of tea?" 

“I prefer the sort of stories which talk about different places, I think,” Harry said, after considering that. “Or… I suppose that tell good stories? I started out reading books because they had dragons on, because nobody else was a dragon but those stories had plenty of dragons in, and I sort of got into liking a lot of them.”

He gestured with one paw, nearly moving far enough to overbalance from his bar stool. “It’s sort of hard to describe? Because sometimes there’s a book that I think I’ll like, that has a lot of the same things as other books I like, that’s even by the same person as another book I like, but it just… doesn’t seem to work?”

Sunset shrugged. "I think Rarity would be better at defending romance novels than I can ever be. My interests lie in other directions. But I think I know what you're saying, sometimes an author will try to venture into a different genre and they don't carry the spark they had before to that one."

“It is funny how that works,” Harry said, then frowned and looked at his watch. “I feel like it’s a lot later than it should be.“

"I guess you'd better get going then, don't want to miss the chance to buy some extra books, right?" Sunset asked. "So you never told me, though, what did you think of the klah?"

“It was great!” Harry replied, brightening up considerably, and this time his glasses did go flying. He tried to catch them out of the air, juggling them a couple of times before they finally landed on the bar top, and Sunset watched with some surprise as Harry snagged them with his tail from several feet away before bringing them back to his paws.

“Don’t you need those to see?” she asked.

“Not really, it’s more sort of habit,” Harry replied, putting them back on. “And - yeah, I’ve sort of guessed that klah was a bit like hot chocolate but I didn’t know it was going to be like that. I’m going to remember it every time I read any of the books now.”

Sunset laughed. "Do you want to take some extract?" she offered, "I can always get more, and the one I opened is halfway done. Just warm milk and pour it in."

“That would be great,” Harry agreed, already thinking about rationing and being careful with such a precious gift.

Or possibly whether he could get someone to duplicate it, because if he remembered correctly you could do that with magic.

"Perfect!" Sunset said, passing him a small vial. "Now, just before you go, we have a tradition here." She gave him a small, silver business card. "If you ever want to come back, you can use that. And…" she showed him her cell phone. "We take a picture together."

The way Harry reacted to the phone was something of a reminder to Sunset that, for a Harry Potter to be fourteen, it would have to be about nineteen ninety-four.

“How far in the future did that thing come from?” he asked. “It’s all screen! And it’s a camera?”

"Hm." Sunset smirked. "Spoilers."





Buoyed by his talk with Sunset, Harry made up his mind quite firmly on the way back to Hogwarts, and it felt much more like a pleasant decision than the one he’d made before. In an odd sort of way, it felt like he now wasn’t as worried because he’d made the right choice (while before he’d made a choice which turned out to not be the right choice and that was why he’d been uncomfortable) which was that the whole ‘going out with someone’ part of the Yule Ball was only the point of it if you wanted it to be. Otherwise it was just a chance to spend time with people, especially people from the other schools which were the whole point of the Triwizard Tournament in the first place.

So Harry could invite someone else if they wanted to go and couldn’t have gone otherwise, or he could just show up by himself and talk.

And when he explained all that to Sirius at his house in Hogsmeade, his godfather considered it for almost a minute.

“Maybe I should have expected that,” he said, eventually.

“You mean that I’d be worried about it?” Harry checked. “Sorry I didn’t ask you.”

“No,” Sirius replied, and it looked to Harry as if a grin was trying to escape onto his face. “I mean I should have expected that you’d be confused about whether you could go to the Ball on your own. It’s what James did, you know.”

Now Harry was confused all over again. “But there wasn’t a Yule Ball while you were at Hogwarts.”

“That’s not what I mean, Harry,” Sirius replied. “You should know better than most that your father often went stag.”

After a long moment of thought, Harry got it.

After a much shorter moment of thought, Sirius got a cushion to the face.


End Chapter