Alright, since apparently someone (who shall remain unnamed) was handing out my chapters that were unbeta'd, I decided to release this before I bothered to start reposting. The story will soon turn into a single chapter and I'll restart a different story that will be a rewrite, something I'll spend some time on to make sure it flows a lot better.

This story was written in about a week, and I never got back to writing any more of it, all these chapters I had I was going to save for the rewrite, but since I'll probably be doing more extensive then a thorough edit, I'll just post them now and see what people think. Originally this mess was chapters 15 - 20 or so and it's been edited sort of by several different people, but all the edits got confused, and so there may be errors (and probably is) throughout the document. I really don't care much at the moment and am simply posting so that everyone else can see what I had written.

As for the rewrite. I will need beta's and people who have ideas. I'm looking to make a darker story, and try and make a believable path for Harry turning dark. Email me, Mehetabelo at or contact me via aim or yahoo, they're both on my profile.

Anyway, here it is. Review, leave me some sort of idea of what you did or didn't like about it, I'm trying to work out kinks, and it's a lot easier to do when people point the good and bad.

Chapter 15
• Floating About •

They started up again quietly and made it all the way to the doorway without disturbing anyone. Harry focused, and then paced back and forth past the door, with Christine following along quietly. She imitated what he was doing and was quite surprised when the doorway suddenly appeared.

"This is my favorite place in the castle." Harry said, pushing open the door. The room was significantly different than when he'd last entered. It acted as if it were having trouble deciding exactly what he wanted, and had instead split the room in half, a darker half, with dark shades of grey on one side, and maroon on the other. There were even two separate beds. Glancing at Christine, Harry wondered if she had wanted something darker, however he wasn't sure which one he liked more so he wasn't sure which he'd picked.

"Christine, did you want this place to be something?" he asked finally, giving up trying to determine which side he'd wanted.

She shook her head. "Why do you like this room most? Is it because it's two rooms in one?"

Harry shook his head and concentrated. He'd been practicing this over the past year, although he hadn't done it too often, he'd been trying his hand at preparing for Voldemort. He'd tried a few times but he couldn't muster up enough motivation to do it; his friends had kept him do other things and Quidditch had kept him busy as well.

The room melted away leaving the barest of rooms with human like figures standing on one side. They were unmoving at the moment, but as soon as he'd fire a curse at them, they'd begin to move. The room was padded like the pictures he'd seen at the (cinemas)? and he knew it would absorb most of the curses. There was nothing else in the room, though Harry noted it was a bit darker than it had been the last time he'd practiced.

Concentrating again, the room melted away again and turned into a meeting room that was much smaller than the dueling room. A table stretched out in front of Harry and chairs bubbled up from the ground.

"This room is likely the most magical room in the whole castle; it will literally do what I ask of it. You can want a kitchen—" the room melted away again and cabinets formed, then sinks and stoves. Before it had even finished it began to melt away again. "— A living room —" couches sprang from the dissolving cabinets, and tables lined around them. "— A study—" the couches changed form, many of them melting upward into bookcases and books. Tables became desks.

Christine was watching the place change over and over again, saying nothing until the books appeared. "Master," she said quickly, "may I look at them before you make them leave?"

Harry smiled and concentrated, perfecting the room; he was feeling distinctly moody and felt the dark grey room fit him much better for the time being, so the carpeting changed, the bed appeared along one wall but the bookshelves stayed, allowing Christine her wish. A small table appeared near the end of the room, containing quills and scrolls, and booklets of paper. Christine followed his glance and walked to the table, examining the quill and then the scrolls. "I've never written with anything other than a pen." She admitted as she dipped the quill into ink. She wrote out a few words on the bit of parchment and smiled. "It doesn't seem so hard though, writing with one of these."

Shrugging, Harry stepped towards an empty spot in the room, where a chair rose from the ground. He sat and watched quietly as Christine walked through the books with her hands. She seemed to want to touch every spine and read every title one at a time. "I've always loved books; my great grandmum had an enormous library of books she collected. She would show them to me when I was really young, tell me stories about how she'd gotten them. I didn't always believe her, because they sounded so magical that it couldn't possibly be true... but now, now I see that maybe she was right."

A bell resounded through the halls twenty minutes later signaling the end of classes. Harry, who'd been trying to put his mind into a calm state staring at a wall focusing on a dot, sighed and stood.

Christine was busy in the corner, reading something; she'd noticed the bell as well though, because she was only just getting back to the book, ignoring the chiming for the most part.

Harry watched her as she read intently, smiling and frowning, taking notes on a piece of parchment. She seemed to enjoy the book, whatever it was, and Harry decided that it might be best to allow her to stay here.

"Do you want to stay here while I go find someone?" he asked. Christine looked up and shook her head, putting the book down immediately.

"I am your servant master. You may order me to do as you wish but this place is frightening alone."

Daunting. Daunting was a much better word, but Harry let it slide. He understood her feelings though; he hadn't been alone at all his first year and it had still been such an intense place. Fighting a troll and running into a gigantic three-headed dog hadn't helped, but then he was sure he would have felt the same way even if they hadn't been present.

"Come on then," Harry said, "let's go find somewhere else to bunk tonight and find out what sort of things have been going around. Blaise never brought up the rumors that I'm sure are circulating, and I do need to make sure that I'm seen or they might make a big deal about it and send out a search party or something."

Knowing Dumbledore, Harry didn't think he was being the least bit sarcastic, Dumbledore would find him, no matter what corner of the castle he was staying in. The room of Requirements wouldn't be a very safe room, since he already knew where it was located. Christine just followed along; Harry left the room and her writing, hoping that no one would disturb it before they returned. He'd been considering using the room as a safe place for the nights, but then, he wasn't going to be happy if someone just waltzed in on him, especially if he wasn't up to it. He truthfully doubted that anyone would be able to make sense of everything, but some would be enough.

Purposefully Harry avoided the main hallways, even taking some of the secret passages through the castle until he was standing behind a curtain down the hall from the Hufflepuff common room. Since classes were over for the evening he assumed someone he knew from Hufflepuff would eventually walk past him.

Harry noticed that a few of the older groups had started to filter in after three groups of young Hufflepuffs, intent on getting to their common room fast, passed by. They seemed slower, taking their time instead of hurrying everywhere. It occurred to him that the school was a lot like that, and that as students got older they slowed down, let things happen and watched them instead of hurrying not to miss.

Hannah appeared, with two other Hufflepuffs. Ernie McMillan was the only one Harry knew, the other person he recognized, but she hadn't really spoken with him.

"Hannah," he whispered, moving out of the curtain, trying not to startle them too bad.

She stopped, and was quite taken by the way he appeared, as if he'd simply stepped out of thin air. She smiled when she realized who it was. "Harry!" she said happily and then glanced around. "I thought you were being followed by a woman, the one that Hermione was angry about."

Harry held out his hand and Christine moved forward from the curtain, taking it. She shrank a little behind him, as if using him for protection.

"Hannah, meet Christine," he said, pulling Christine forward. He was going to make her get used to others so that she wasn't always shrinking away. "Christine," he said quietly, but his voice carried strong authority, and she moved forward as if commanded, "this is Hannah Abbott, a good friend of mine."

Hannah blushed as Christine offered her hand shakily. "This," Harry said, pointing out Ernie, "is Ernie McMillan, another friend of mine."

Pausing for a second, Harry looked at the third member. "I don't recall your name, I'm sorry. I know you though; you're in potions with me this year." She nodded shyly.

"That's Megan Jones," Hannah explained, after shaking Christine's hand. "She doesn't speak because she carry's a family curse that prevents her from speaking without causing... difficulties, most of the time we just tell people she's a mute."

"A curse?" Harry asked, curious. He'd heard of curses that passed through family lines, but never had he actually seen one that was still happening. He smiled, "That's alright. She doesn't have to talk; she's pretty enough even without saying anything."

He didn't really mean for it to come out the way it had, but it was true; she was very pretty in her own way. She wasn't Cho pretty though, or his mum pretty; they were the sort of people that were photographed and put on cover pages. She was the sort of pretty he had begun to like during his sixth year, the sort that he was comfortable around. It did bring a blush and a shy smile. "Good," Harry said, delighted. "Christine, this is Megan, my new friend. Megan, my... well, this is Christine."

"Is she really a slave?" Ernie said, watching Christine with an intense look. "Hermione is going about the castle trying to tell people you're enslaving women."

Harry laughed, he couldn't help it. iI just seemed so funny now, that the only friendship he'd ever had that had lasted through it all, without a single fight, was suddenly against him.

"She said you cursed her too," Ernie said, staring at Harry, looking astonished. "And Ron, he said that you did do it, at the Breakfast Brawl—"

"The Breakfast Brawl?"

"The fight that we had the other morning, the one that you started."

"Me?" Harry asked, surprised. "The morning Hermione marched in on me while I was eating breakfast and screamed at me in front of the whole Great Hall?"

"Yes." Hannah said. "You mean you haven't heard any of the rumors at all? After what happened with the Slytherin girl and the Slytherin boy that's gone missing? Then, the Breakfast Brawl — the fight that happened in the Great Hall the morning you, Ron and Hermione broke your friendship, and you disappearing. Everyone is trying to figure out what's been going on with you. Not to mention the rumor that the girl with you is a slave, Hermione made sure that everyone heard that one."

"She is a slave," Harry said. "I don't think it's something I want to discuss in the hallway though; I can explain it in greater detail when we're somewhere that's a little more private."

Hannah stared; she didn't seem to have any words to respond. Ernie had blinked, and continued to look Christine over, taking her in like a new broomstick. Harry almost said something, but decided to keep it to himself until he could speak with Ernie in private, hoping that he would realize his mistake before then. Megan was the only one to react. She took Harry's hand, and with her other hand took Christine, pulling them along behind her.

They followed a short set of stairs down to a single door, with two knights guarding it. Megan reached forward and placed her hand inside the knight's. It moved and then dropped to one knee, sword pressed against the ground. To the right of him, another door appeared in the wall. Hannah hurried forward and pulled it open. "I'm sorry for being so rude," she said quickly, "I was just so surprised; you sort of caught me unaware. Megan's right though. It might be best to talk about it inside the common room; we've got some private studies set up for use that might work out alright."

Ernie nodded and took the position of last as everyone entered the door. The common room was plush; Harry might have sworn he'd just walked into a room of pillows, all of them bright pastel colors. He almost squinted because of how bright the room seemed. Several chattering Hufflepuffs stopped when he entered and stared at him in surprise. All of them recognized him immediately and Susan, who'd somehow gotten past Harry already, stood and walked forward to meet him, a smile on her face.

After hugging Harry she let go and moved to Christine. "This is her?" she asked Harry, "the slave girl that everyone's been chattering on about for the last two days?"

Harry's eyes drifted past her and to everyone else, the whole room was watching intently.

"Alright," he said loudly. "I'm going to clear this up right now, so that there will be no more rumors. Christine, please address her by her name, is my slave, yes. I don't want to hear anyone saying I said she was a sex-slave or some sort of fantasy girl. She was given to me, as a present, though I'm not sure who it was yet, or why exactly she was given to me. Even being that she's a slave, I don't want anyone to disrespect her in the slightest, because that would be disrespecting me. The choice was not entirely mine either; she chose this position for whatever reason, and I'll ask that you not try and question her about her reasons. I understand that sometimes things are painful to bring up, but not this. I did not purposefully do this, nor do I intend to do it to anyone else. One was enough, if not too many."

Hannah pinched him from behind. "Right," Harry said. "I haven't heard all the rumors that have been circulating about me lately, but most of them are either severely skewed or they're utter lies. I'd like to try and defend myself against them, but I don't know what they all are and a few of them I'm not so sure are lies either. I have to get some things straightened out and once I've done that, I'll tell any of you that would like to know about the rumors, and ask that you let others know about them. For obvious reasons I've been avoiding the throng of people; Christine finds it difficult to be around too many people at once, and she's a muggle, so she's only just learning about magic in general. Some of you muggle-borns might understand what she's going through."

That about did it, no one spoke at all. Hannah just moved forward, and Megan took Harry's hand again, leading him past all the students and pillow chairs that looked unbelievably soft.

"Harry might be staying here for a little while," Hannah announced, standing just outside a doorway. "I'm sure you'll understand his need for privacy, so please don't go telling anyone that he's here at the moment."

All of them seemed to nod in synchronization. Harry wondered how many of them believed him, and how many were just going along with the group. He knew time would tell and he wasn't all that worried about it.

Susan was sitting on a chair that looked more like a beanbag than it did a chair. There was a table in front of her that was no more than a foot off the ground. Harry was a little confused about it, but didn't say anything.

Justin Finch-Fletchley came into the room, and then Zacharias Smith appeared, sporting a delighted grin. He spoke even before the door closed, apparently finding it amusing that there were so many people talking about Harry. "I've got to hand it to you Harry," He said with a chuckle. "I've not seen such odd rumors spread about anyone like they spread about you. Sometimes I think that it's a curse or something." His eyes drifted to Megan who was ignoring him altogether.

"So what are the rumors? The ones that could be possible," Harry said while Hannah shut the door. She smiled at him, and then offered him a double seat. Of course, Harry plopped down into it and pulled Christine down with him. Megan found a seat nearby because the one next to him had already been occupied by Hannah.

"There's one about you killing students," offered Justin. "They say that several Slytherins have gone missing, and you're the reason it's been happening."

"I haven't killed anyone as far as I know," Harry said in a half joking manner, hoping it was true. Since he couldn't remember what he'd done, and he knew that some of the things he'd done already were pretty bad, he wasn't going to rule out the possibility that he'd killed someone. Although, he was going to find that one out for himself, and not let anyone else know he was worried about it.

"A lot of people have been told you've been attacking students. Sometimes it's just Slytherins, but it depends on the rumor. Sometimes it's all students," Susan offered, her strawberry red hair bobbing as she sunk into another one of the chairs directly across from him.

Pausing, Harry tried to determine how to best answer the questions since he didn't know exactly how true it was. He did know he'd attacked at least two students, both Slytherins. "I got in a fight with some Slytherins," he said slowly. "I kissed one of them too, apparently that didn't go over too well."

Everyone chuckled except Christine, who just cuddled closer to Harry. He stroked her softly, running his hands through her hair, it was becoming a bit of a habit already, even though he didn't realize it. "I did hurt her a little, when I kissed her. There was something magical that happened, something I don't quite understand. She said it was like the kiss was good enough to be addictive, but when I pulled away it hurt her. I'm not sure exactly what it was that happened though. As for the others, I only defended myself when they attacked me."

"You're saying that you talked to the girl, after you kissed her?"

Harry shook his head. "We discussed it last night."

"So you've been sleeping with other girls? Was she one of them?" Hannah asked as soon as he had finished speaking. She seemed demanding, almost angry about it.

"Well, I knew I didn't have much of a personal life," Harry said quietly, focusing on stroking Christine's hair for a second. "I didn't know that everything I did required some sort of explanation." Hannah turned pink, but Harry closed his eyes, trying to be himself, not whatever he was turning into. "I've had sex once in my life, for those interested in knowing. In addition, no, the girl who I kissed wasn't there at the time. Besides, at the time I wasn't really in control of what was happening, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have done it if I had been."

He knew he wasn't in control now, or at least not in full control. Somehow Voldemort was making him do things, things he wouldn't normally do. Christine wasn't the reason though, because apparently he'd done them even before she showed up. What he really wanted to know was how to stop it from happening again. He didn't want to lose control and do something he'd really regret later on.

"Come on Potter, tell us who it was," Zacharias Smith said, grinning like a maniac. "Was it good? Did she dump you right afterwards? It wasn't your slave, was it? You said she wasn't a sex slave."

Zacharias, for all his misgivings, was a good guy, Harry knew that, so he let the eagerness slide. He'd known Zacharias since the first DA meeting in Hogsmeade, and he knew that it was just the sort of person Zacharias was, something Harry had grown to accept.

"Well both of them had to sleep it off afterward," he snapped, still irritated that Zacharias was pushing the line.

Ernie, Justin and Zacharias all gasped at the same time. The girls all went rigid, even Christine, who knew about it. Harry knew she hadn't been happy it wasn't her, and he hated to bring it up again. "I really don't want to talk about it, it wasn't exactly a perfect moment in my life."

"You slept with two girls and you don't even think it was all that great?" Justin asked incredulously. "I've never even slept with one girl, I've had problems dreaming of two at the same time," he blushed the instant he said it, and quit talking, glancing towards Susan, who was glaring back. Hannah was watching Harry quietly, not with anger, or hate, but a sort of strange inquisitive stare.

"Look," Harry said finally, "I told you, I didn't exactly have control of the situation, it wouldn't have happened if I did."

Christine snuggled up against him, calming him a little, but he could feel a flash of rage from inside, and hoped he wasn't losing control again. These were his friends and he didn't want to hurt them.

"Justin understands," Susan said, still glaring at him. "There are other rumors though, like that you're in Slytherin now."

"I stayed there for a few nights," Harry said simply. "Hermione locked me out of the Gryffindor tower and told the younger kids not to tell me the password, that I had to meet with the headmaster before I could get in."

"The Slytherins let you stay? I thought they practiced xenelasy."

"Xene-what?" Harry asked, looking at Zacharias, confounded, and angry with himself for not knowing, something he knew was unnatural. He never got angry with himself for something so petty, not that he could remember.

"Xenelasy," Zacharias said confidently. "It's a Spartan term, meaning that they can remove you for anything they want, and you going in their common room would certainly cause some sort of uproar. I'm surprised you lasted two minutes, let alone a few nights."

"I'm Harry Potter," Harry said with a smirk, "I can do anything."

"Seems like it," Hannah said from beside him. It made Harry smirk, and feel better about not knowing the word a moment before; they still looked up to him.

"What else then?"

"Well, there are the slave rumors, that you've taken a whole harem of girls as your own personal sex slaves, which you dispelled already. The rumor that Christine is a muggle, which you confirmed. There's a rumor that she's a bodyguard though, and not a slave at all. One that you have had a girlfriend who's been frantically looking for you since you disappeared. Some people think you ran away from Hogwarts after the Breakfast Brawl. Some people think you died. There's something going around about you becoming friends with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Ron and Hermione say you hexed Hermione during the Breakfast Brawl, and then ducked under a table before they could do anything about it. Some people are saying that the Chamber of Secrets has been opened again, one of those stupid rumors that pops up out of nowhere..."

Susan finished, looking up at Harry for confirmation or denial.

"Well, as you can see, I've only got one girl, and she's not even a sex slave, just a slave that I somehow ended up with," Harry said, calming Christine by running his hands along her spine. He didn't want to tell them that she was probably meant as a sex slave, and that she wanted to be one, that was just slightly disturbing, and he really didn't want them to jump at him again. He had enough people he was fighting at the moment.

"You know that would go over a lot better if you weren't petting her," Justin said.

Harry stopped for a moment, but continued on again when he felt Christine start to feel more uncomfortable. "I do this because she likes it, and she's a little nervous being here. She's mine, so I'm supposed to make sure she's safe and feels safe, I can't just tell her that she needs to go against everything she knows."

Susan moved a little bit and got closer to Justin, who decided it was best to just to accept the answer without any further comments.

"As for a bodyguard, she's a muggle, and isn't even strong enough to guard herself, that's part of the reason she is a slave. The girlfriend bit is probably someone looking for me to find out what happened. I haven't ever had a real girlfriend, not after dealing with Cho, it's too difficult. Might even be a teacher transfiguring themselves to find out where I've taken off to. I didn't go to classes today because I thought it might be better not to expose Christine to that just yet. I haven't run away, obviously I'm still around. I hate Voldemort—" collective shudders ran through the group. "No matter what anyone says I'll fight against him."

Clicking them off in his head, Harry sighed. He couldn't believe that his former best friends were saying he hexed Hermione, and on purpose. Why would he go and do something like that? He hadn't even hexed Malfoy until he'd don't some pretty atrocious things.

"I don't know anything about hexing anyone during the fight the other morning, I just ducked under a table to keep Christine safe. And I haven't been to the Chamber of Secrets since second year, and I really don't want to go back, it's not the sort of place one wants to remember."

For a second he remembered it vividly, remembered things he'd not seen there on his trip, remembered the library of books, the small cave that had been made into a room, the escape tunnel that led to the surface not large enough for the Basilisk to get through. The thought was gone a moment later, and Harry had to hold back his hatred for what had been born in the room, letting it pass through him, and continue on. He couldn't lose control.

"That's everything that I've heard," Susan said, staring at Harry intently. "Did none of the Slytherins talk about you at all?"

"No," Harry said. "They weren't allowed to."

"It wasn't Snape that was protecting you," Zacharias observed. "He's hated you since the day you were born. You should hear him prattling on about your hero-complex and how you get away with everything. He was furious that you weren't in classes this morning. Said he'd assign a week's detention to you unless you had a signed note saying you were incapacitated. No one could ever figure out why, but he hates you with a passion, more than any other student."

"He and my father were enemies in school," Harry said, his heart burning with his hatred toward Snape. "He couldn't get over his childish behavior and decided that since my father was his enemy I was also his enemy. There's nothing I ever did to him, nothing I've said, implied, anything. He simply hates me because of who my father was."

"Doesn't make much sense, does it?" Ernie asked. "He never does a good job teaching the class you're in, I've heard rumors about how some of you can't even brew a basic potion. I don't see how that's true since you're all in N.E.W.T level potions. Surprised me, seeing as in fifth year you were in remedial potions."

A thought sprung up in his head, and Harry could feel more information coming out, as if a domino had fallen, starting a reaction. It took a moment, thoughts of the Pensieve, of Sirius and Remus, then further back, further to the order that Dumbledore had given Harry work with Snape. Snape sneering and telling him he had no idea what sort of person he was. Anger consumed him, and Harry knew that it definitely wasn't his rage. It exploded outward, filling him up as blood did, reaching every part of his body. He thought about Snape being a traitor, of Snape saving Harry, of Snape fighting Quirrell first year.

The anger built higher and higher until Harry was seeing black spots in the room. "Leave now," he said in a tone so quiet and fierce that no one even dared say anything. The room filed out, glancing back at him several times. When they'd all gone, it was he only Christine left.

The slave had moved from his lap as his anger had increased, and wasn't fulfilling her duties. He glanced down at her and smiled wickedly. "You are here and your master is unsatisfied," he said quietly "You are failing in your duties."

Christine stared at him in surprise. She reached out, tentatively, to touch him and jerked back the moment they came in to contact, falling to the floor. To her it seemed as if the person in front of her was completely different, not just in spirit. His features seemed to sharpen, his eyes darken, and even his skin seemed to pale.

Everything made sense to her, why her master had not been with her, though he had, when she was marked. While she was in the castle she had heard of the great evil man that held them, heard things that brought nightmares worse than she'd ever experienced. She had been faced with him only to find him eager, almost child-like. But the man she'd been told about and the one she'd met were two different persons, though they may have occupied the same body. Her master had been there, he'd given her the mark, saved her life, sent her to a place where she would have a better life. This man in front of her was not her master; he was the vile thing that she'd been told about, the one that her master had kept at bay. He had somehow taken over her master and was angry.

"Please," she begged, scooting to one of the chairs that had been previously occupied, "don't hurt master."

Harry stared at her, and fought with himself, trying to keep himself in check. He screamed, but it came out more like a hiss. He stared at her, his eyes glowing with anger, and then, everything went away. Harry stared at Christine, cowering before him. He dropped to his knees, not of his own volition; his legs had weakened so much from the sudden lack of power that he could no longer stand.

He fell into Christine, dazed, but clear on something, that Voldemort was controlling him. It hadn't felt the same, but it was obvious it was Voldemort. He wasn't sure what to do now, if he should inform Dumbledore, or figure out how to defend himself. After all, the last time he'd told Dumbledore things hadn't worked out so well, and eventually he'd had to learn Occlumency on his own. He still had difficulties with his mastery, he lacked the ability to curb his emotions so easily, but he was good enough to have kept Voldemort out for such a long time.

As he felt Christine's arms slip around him he knew that, for the moment, everything was all right. Voldemort wasn't with him anymore.

•

He awoke in a bedroom, a soft blanket covering him, and Christine nearby. He wasn't sure exactly how he knew where she was, he could just feel her presence like a thought in his mind. His eyes fluttered for a second, but the light was too bright and he had to close them again. "Christine," he said gruffly, bringing her hurrying forward. "The lights, can you turn them down?"

It took a moment after she moved away, and he could hear people speaking in hushed tones, then the lights turned down around him. "Harry," a voice said, whom Harry reconfigured as Hannah Abbott, "should we have taken you to the Infirmary? Christine said it wasn't what you wanted, so we didn't, but you weren't looking very good for a while."

"No, Christine was right," Harry said, glad they hadn't put him somewhere where he'd no longer have the ability to keep out of Dumbledore's reach. "I'll be alright, I've just got to get something to drink."

There was a bustling sound, and within no time he had a cup in front of him. He looked at Christine, who was smiling brightly, and smiled back. "Thank you," he said. "I'll be fine. Thank you for telling them I didn't want to go to the Infirmary."

She smiled brighter, and Harry took her hand, pulling himself up with her help. The room he was in was not quiet or as plush as the common room, but it was large, open, and comforting. He was on a bed with bed sheets that were twice as thick as his, but much lighter. Lilac flower patterns ran across it in strips. He knew he wasn't in the boys room and wondered how he'd gotten to the room, and whose bed he was in.

"How long has it been?" Harry asked, remembering that they'd told him before he'd been out for almost two days, he hoped that he hadn't been there that long.

"Only an hour or two," Hannah said. Harry turned to her, and noticed that Megan and Susan were both standing behind the blonde girl.

"Whose bed am I in?" he asked.

"Mine," Hannah said.

"We had taken you to the boys dorms," Susan said from behind. "But then one of the younger boys thought you should go to the hospital and hurried off to get someone. Christine insisted you would be all right, and that you really didn't want to go, so we snuck you over here without anyone seeing you. When Jenesen returned with a teacher you were gone, and the boys said they weren't sure where you were. We were going to take you to the infirmary if you didn't start getting better, but you did start to gain some color again, just a little while ago. Dinner's soon though, and we need to make sure we're there so that no one thinks anything out of the ordinary is happening. Hannah's offered to stay behind to keep an eye on you, make sure everything's going to stay alright. We're going to go, and while we're there, make sure that some of the nastier rumors running around get straightened out."

Harry nodded, glad that they were going to do that for him. He leaned forward to sit up straight, but fell back immediately. Both Christine and Hannah reached out to grab him at the same time. "You shouldn't be moving," Hannah chided, "whatever happened drained you a lot." He smiled at both of them while Susan chided him.

"Listen to her," Susan said, "she's training to be a healer, and she's quite knowledgeable about the basics, stuff that can be found in a book."

Christine nodded and dropped to her knees beside him. "Megan can talk to me," she whispered in his ear. "She says that because I don't have magic her curse can't do anything to me."

Harry turned to look at her, glancing to Megan, who was visibly smiling brighter than she had been before Harry had collapsed. "Good," he said, knowing what it felt like to be singled out. "You have my permission to be her friend if you'd like," he continued, feeling that it was something she wanted to ask, but was having difficulty doing it. He was beginning to doubt that she'd ever had many friends. Even though she was pretty, she didn't have a strong personality, and a lot of people clung to strong personalities. "I'm going to be right here, I won't be going anywhere. You can even go to dinner if you'd like."

"I..." Christine said, faltering. She looked to Megan and back to Harry. "I need to stay with you master."

"Go with her," Harry said seriously. "Go with her, get some food." Thinking it might be better to give her a reason, he thought of one quickly. "Bring some back for me when it's time to return. That's an order."

Everyone looked a little startled at the order. He was very specific about it, wanting Christine to have somewhat of a normal life even if she was a slave. She needed to have friends in order to have any sort of normality, so Harry was going to make sure she took that step.

All of them left soon after, Susan giving Harry a withering look, while Megan leaned into Christine's ear to whisper things. Harry wondered again what the curse was, but wasn't sure if he should ask anyone. It might be considered rude.

"Harry," Hannah said, waiting until the door had shut to speak. "Why do you order her?"

Harry stared at her, frowning slightly, not really wanting to answer. It was all so much easier with Christine there, comforting him, making him feel like he was in complete control. At the moment he didn't feel like that, at the moment he felt weak, pathetic.

"It's alright Harry, you can tell me," Hannah prompted, moving closer.

Harry looked away, trying not to look into her eyes; they made him think about things he didn't want to think about at the moment. He knew Voldemort was gone, at least for the time being, and he didn't want to open up another door for him to enter again, it might be harder to get rid of him again.

"Please Harry," Hannah said, moving even closer, her hand slipped into his and her arm rested against him.

"Have you ever had an animal?" Harry asked quietly, relenting to her request. He thought it might be the easiest way to explain it, by relating it to something Hannah might understand better. "An owl, or a cat, a dog, something?"

"My parents have stables." Hannah said cautiously. "They breed and sell all sorts of horses, some magical, some not."

That would make things simple. "You've helped take care of them?" Hannah nodded. "What if one of them couldn't even graze without being told? What if he was so broken that he needed someone to tell him he needed to eat, someone he needed to sleep, someone to tell him he needed to join the other horses?"

"We never had a horse like that," Hannah said a little confused, but staying close to him still. He wasn't looking at her face anymore, because she was leaning against him and it would be uncomfortable to look into her eyes while she was that close to him.

"You my not have, but what if you did? Would you tell it to eat and sleep?"

"Of course."

"Christine's a lot like that, she won't even leave my side unless I order it. I thought it might be a good idea to give her a reason so that next time she might do it on her own, without order. I've only been taking care of her for a few days, and it's becoming a little difficult." Harry said, sighing. "I didn't really sign up to be a master of someone. I have a hard enough taking care of myself. That's what Hermione and Ron were for until recently, to make sure I wasn't screwing up, but not anymore."

Hannah nodded a little, enough that Harry felt it. "Maybe you need someone else to help you, Hannah said wrapping her other arm around his, her hand squeezing his softly. "There are a lot of people who would be willing to help you out you know, some of us will always believe in you."

Harry smiled and turned to look at her, her eyes shining brightly up at him. "I never thanked you," he said softly, staring at her eyes, he felt trapped, as if he was losing control again. Voldemort wasn't even something that occurred to Harry though, it was like the rest of the world sort of faded away, and there wasn't anything else that mattered for the moment. She leaned forward a little, her lips turning up just enough to show that she was smiling.

"You could give me a kiss... as a thank you," she said quietly.

Harry stared at her lips, wondering if she really meant it. He vaguely recalled that he'd done this before, with someone else, some other set of lips had been pressed against his, soft lips that had melted into his own. It was blissful, the kiss, it warmed him from the inside, starting at his mouth and traveling down like warm cocoa in the morning.

He pulled back immediately, remembering Brandi's words about the kiss. Hannah was frozen, a like of euphoria on her face. Harry felt the coldness afterwards, the lack of magic, as if it had been yanked right out of him. It wasn't as Brandi had described it, and Hannah didn't look like she was in pain. Was it the same thing? Or was this what kisses were suppose to feel like?

"Hannah, I don't think that..." He never finished his sentence. Hannah forcefully grabbed him and shoved her lips against his. The connection strengthened, Harry could feel the magic flowing through him, pulling on Hannah, wasting her away. She moved on top of him, swinging her whole body so that she was seated in his lap, pushing against him, trying to make more contact. Her hands slid along his arms, then to his shirt, pushing it out of the way.

It took everything Harry had to pull away again, and it didn't hurt this time, it seared, as if his whole mouth was in fire, like drinking fire-tonic, "Hannah," he gasped, finding it hard to breathe. "Maybe this isn't..."

Again he was unable to finish, Hannah yanked on his shirt hard, pulling it from him and then shoved herself up against him again, pressing her lips against his. The feeling was blissful, and strengthening. Harry was caught in it, unable, and unwilling to fight it. His hands slipped around her, tugging and pulling at her clothing. She didn't resist, instead she used one of her hands to reach down her front and unbutton something. He wasn't sure anymore, and he didn't really care, he was willing to rip it from her just to touch her skin to his. He wanted the feeling to be everywhere, not just his mouth, and she needed to be wearing a lot less clothing for that.

The outer cloak wasn't there, they were inside, it didn't matter though, and she was still wearing her proper school attire. The robes came first, fragments of them. She got the cloak unbuttoned quickly enough, it was too thick for Harry to rip, and it slipped off her with Harry's continual pulling. They broke apart for an instant to breathe, Harry staring at the blonde hair falling around him while she gasped for air. It hurt for a second, hurt to even breathe, and then her lips were there again, pressed against his.

The blouse came next, it wasn't thick at all. Somewhere between Hannah's frantic hands trying to unbutton the front, and Harry's hands pulling from behind, the blouse gave way with a ripping sound. Little pieces clung to Hannah's flesh, but most of it was gone, thrown to the side.

For a moment Harry thought that if she'd been wearing less, or ready for him, it might not have been like this, it would have been so much easier if she were like Bellatrix, ready and waiting for him. The thought took a moment to burn itself into his mind before he was able to shove it away.

Harry bucked a little, remembering what he was doing, remembering it for an instant, just before Hannah got his zipper down. The pants didn't last, when they got caught on the bed while Hannah tugged on them Harry tried to reach them, but they were gone almost the moment he touched them. They didn't get pulled down either, they simply disappeared, and with it the rest of his clothing, and Hannah's.

It only took a moment, both of them were ready, and it only lasted a minute. She screamed into his mouth as they came together, and a pulse of power struck him so hard that he had to pull away for a moment just so that he didn't drown in it. When it was over she collapsed next to him. He couldn't help but shiver as a breeze carried through the room. He covered her carefully, feeling so good that he didn't feel the need to cover himself.

An hour later, when several Hufflepuffs entered the dorm room, they were surprised to find a shiver of power and pleasure pass through them. All of them stopped suddenly, letting the feeling race through their body and warm them. Three moved forward to Hannah's bed and were surprised at their findings.

"Master," Christine said, reaching forward and shaking him, "Master."

Harry opened his eyes slowly, still basking in the power that had filled him. He had difficulty focusing on what was going around him; it all seemed so slow, so insignificant. Something moved him a little, jolting him back to normal reality, and normal time.

"Christine," he said serenely, touching the hand that was shaking him, "please calm down."

Like flipping a switch, Christine was calmer, much calmer. "Master," she said quietly. "You are naked."

Harry looked down at himself, let out a long breath, smiled, and looked back up to her. "I am," he said serenely.

"What the hell did you do Harry?" Susan whispered fiercely, moving over to Hannah, who was asleep.

Harry looked to Megan, who was watching him, then back to Susan. "She'll be alright," he said slowly. "She's just sleeping it off."

"Did you and her..." Susan said, glancing towards him. Her gaze traveled down his body and she looked away again. "Please put some clothing on," she asked quietly, trying not to look back.

"I'd be happy to," Harry said, "but unfortunately my clothing seems to have disappeared. Hannah may have banished them because they weren't coming off fast enough." He wasn't sure exactly what had happened. It had been he or Hannah that had done it, and he hadn't done any magic that he knew of.

"Hannah did what?" Susan asked, choking. She glanced up to the door, and then waved her wand, putting up a silencing charm. Luckily enough the curtains had been drawn at some point, and no one could see what was happening. However, it was going to be difficult from keeping any mention of it from spreading.

"I didn't say Hannah did it, I said she might have. Everything was frantic for a short period of time," Harry said calmly. "If you'll hand me a wand, I'll just conjure some clothing if that will help."

Megan offered hers, and Harry spent a moment conjuring a robe. Then he stepped off Hannah's bed to dress. There was a gasp and Harry turned to look at those watching. He smiled softly. "Hello," he said, slightly amused at the blushes that crept over all their faces. "I'm Harry Potter," he continued, not even troubled that he still wasn't wearing anything.

"Angel," offered one of the girls who was staring at him, though not quite as high as his eyes.

Harry smiled back. "Thank you," he said brightly.

"No," Susan said from behind. "Her name is Angel. Put on some clothing. Now."

Instead of following her order, Harry turned around to look at her. "Are you angry with me?" he asked tenderly. "I don't want you angry." He moved forward and wrapped his arms around her. "It's alright," he said peacefully, "everything is alright."

He could feel her tense under him and he pulled away. Taking a long moment to stare at the clothing, he decided it might be better just to conjure them onto him, instead of fighting to put them on. With another wave of the wand the robe disappeared and reappeared on him. He closed the bottom buttons so that Susan wouldn't complain, but left it open to the air, if felt much better to leave at least part of himself exposed.

"There, all dressed," Not that he was all dressed, a single robe could hardly be considered a full outfit, but he wasn't going to dress up fully, he felt no need to, and he was covered, which had been where Susan's unease had originated from. He offered Megan her wand again, who took it quickly.

Angel, the brunette who hadn't been able to look away, frowned. "He looked good without clothing Susan, why'd you have to go and make him put something on?"

"It's embarrassing!" Susan snapped.

"He certainly didn't seem embarrassed," Angel said, smiling. "First naked man I've ever seen and I think he ruined it for the rest of them."

"You could see more of me," Harry said peacefully. "Hannah is still sleeping," he offered as an explanation at the look he got from Susan.

"Harry Potter, if you get in another woman's bed after doing that to Hannah, I'll curse you myself," Susan growled.

Undaunted by the threats, he'd had much worse in his life, Harry turned back to her, and stepped closer again, only to have her step away. "What if it's your bed?" he asked, looking around. "I could sleep in your bed, would that be alright?"

"No!" Susan said, wide-eyed. "You can't just walk in her and sleep with me."

"I wasn't sleeping, Hannah is sleeping."

Thoughts began processing in his mind, thoughts other than sucking power from the girls. Harry looked to Christine, who was busy attending to Hannah, cleaning her up a little while no one was watching. He looked to Angel, who had an eager sparkle in her eye, and then to Susan, a scared look in hers. "I'm sorry," he said simply, before diving into Hannah's bed and pulled the sheet over himself. He fought to button up the robes underneath so that he didn't look like a fool, half exposed to the world. He couldn't believe the only thing he'd conjured was a robe; he could have at least given himself some pants to wear.

Christine smiled at him, and crawled over Hannah. "You did not mean to do this?" she asked him as his head peaked out under the covers.

Harry looked out the curtains to Susan who hadn't moved. "I didn't really want to," he whispered to her, "things sort of got out of hand and she wouldn't stop."

"It is alright," Christine said, returning to the job she'd been doing. The sheet continued to shift around, exposing Hannah, and Harry pulled it over her as best as possible, trying to keep from looking at her naked body. He was still feeling the urge to go and kiss someone, draw on them, fill himself up with power, but it was easier to fight. What bothered him most was that it wasn't Voldemort. He knew Voldemort was gone, he knew he was having a difficult time controlling himself, and that there was nothing to blame it on.

"I should leave," Harry said, slightly embarrassed. It would be easier on him if he didn't have to face Hannah when she woke up.

"You're not going to just sleep with her and leave, are you?" Susan said angrily. "Is that the type of guy you are? Do you make friends with women and then leave them to wonder what happened?"

"No," Harry said quickly, disgusted at the thought. But, he realized he'd done it already with Veranda and Genevieve, that he'd simply had them and left. Other than talking with Veranda a few times since then, he hadn't even brought it up. If he hadn't been there, a part of it, he might not have even known it had happened.

"Then stay with her and be there when she wakes up," Susan said. "I don't know why she went and did something so dim, but I knew she liked you before. You could at least have the decency to give her a chance."

"You like him too," Angel snorted from outside the curtains. "I've heard you talking to Hannah about what you'd like to do with him when you get him alone. Seeing him here, I can see why, but don't deny it now. He's already offered to sleep in your bedsince apparently you won't allow him to come over and play with me."

"Shut up Angelica," Susan warned. There was a scoff, and Susan disappeared from the drapes. Megan was still there though, her eyes watching. She seemed a little sad, but was trying to keep it from showing.

"Megan told me that you saved her once, from Malfoy."

Harry looked to Christine, startled. He barely remembered Megan, other than seeing her in class. He hadn't even remembered her name, but he never remembered saving her from Malfoy. "I..."

"She said it was a long time ago and you might not remember, but she's wanted to tell you thank you ever since."

A long time ago? Harry thought harder, reviewing the encounters he'd had with Malfoy while other people were around. He got back to first year, when everyone had been running scared, and he remembered a particular meeting in a dark hallway. He'd been alone, walking along, trying to figure out what Hagrid was talking about with Nicholas Flamel, and he'd walked around a corner to find Malfoy taunting someone. Of course naturally, he'd said something to Malfoy, diverting the attention away from whoever it was. She'd been a Hufflepuff, he remembered that, but he didn't recognize her at all, and after the fight that had ensued, he'd never really thought that much more about it.

He looked up to Megan to see eyes glimmering with hope. He wasn't sure why; it was five years before, and there were all sorts of things now that they knew to keep Malfoy in line. "She's wanted to say thank you since second year?" he asked Christine. Megan nodded quickly, smiling. "You're welcome, I suppose," Harry said, still amazed that the girl remembered something so strongly after five years. He had to be reminded about it, and even then he couldn't place all the details.

Megan was apparently happy he'd said that, because she smiled brightly.

"Did you two become friends?" Harry asked, trying to keep his attention focused from Hannah. Megan seemed to have no problem doing it, because her eyes were set on him. It made him feel like he should shrivel under her attentiveness.

There was a growl and a sharp smack sound. Everyone's attention turned to what was happening outside. Susan was standing in front of Angelica holding her face, looking extremely surprised. Harry rolled off the bed and walked forward to the girls. "Susan, are you alright?" he asked, concerned. He didn't know Susan, but he had experienced fighting without one's own house, and though it didn't happen very often, it was often more violent than when it happened in other houses.

Susan turned to him, her deep red hair swinging. She looked at him surprised, as if he was the last person she expected to be there.

"She said I wasn't allowed to go near you," Angelica said sweetly. Harry turned to look at Angelica, but could see the bully seeping through, and knew that he was probably better by not allowing her nearby. He wondered how she'd gotten into Hufflepuff, but didn't assume anything, since it was probably likely that there were people like that everywhere. Neville was never much of a Gryffindor, not until Harry had brought it out in him. He always showed a few small spots when it was really needed, but it wasn't his normal personality. Angelica could be the same way, not quite the best Hufflepuff, not unless the situation arose, and right now wasn't the best time for the situation to arise.

Susan looked at Harry, pleading for him to understand. One thing that Harry did know was that he knew Susan, she'd been one of those people that had been with him during fifth year. When so few people had listened to him, she'd been there, even been one of the few that understood him. She'd been around ever since. A member of the DA, and definitely someone that Harry trusted. If she didn't want Angelica near him, it was probably for a good reason, though he wasn't sure what it was, but he trusted her enough to believe her.

"It's alright Susan; I won't go near her if that's all you want."

Everyone looked surprised. Harry looked to Angelica, who was stunned. "I trust Susan. I'm sorry if that's going to ruin our chances at a friendship, but there has to be a reason for it, and unless she says different that's enough for me." Susan opened her mouth to say something, and a word came out, maybe two, but they were so soft no one heard them.

"Come on," Harry said, taking her hand. He looked to Angelica, who was still bewildered at his words. Christine was smiling when Harry pulled the curtain away a little, and Harry noticed that she'd finished with Hannah and had wrapped her up properly.

"Megan wanted to know if she should expand the bed," Christine said once Harry had pulled the drapes around them. "She says if you and I are going to sleep with Hannah tonight we might need a little more room."

Harry nodded to Megan, who flicked her wand, and the bed slowly bubbled outward. He saw her mouth open, but didn't hear any of the words that came out. Christine watched her intensely, and it seemed as if she could hear the words, Harry wasn't sure why she could though. For the moment though, it didn't matter.

"Susan," he said, pulling her down to sit on the bed next to him. "Thank you for not letting me go to someone else's bed. I think there's something wrong with me, because when Hannah and I... well, when we kissed, something happened, something that felt really, really good. There was magic in it, and she wouldn't stop. I didn't want to, I tried, but I couldn't even stop after a while. I think if I would have kissed Angel or you I might not have been able to stop again."

Susan stared at him, confusion written all over her face. "Why do you have to be so nice Harry?" she asked, eyes tearing up. "I want to hate you, but you're always such a nice guy."

He hugged her again, trying not to make it to intimate. "I'm sorry," he offered, but wasn't sure if that was such a proper response.

"Why Hannah?" Susan sobbed into his shoulder. "Why did you have to go and pick Hannah? Everyone likes you, and a lot of us have been trying to get your attention since last year, when you came to school so down about everything."

"You talked to me," Harry said, "last year, all the time. Why didn't you just tell me you liked me?"

"Stupid prat," Susan said. "I tried to get you to notice it, but you Hermione and Ron were always together. And when it was just the two of us we were always talking about people that had died in our life. It's not exactly the best subject to bring up after a conversation like that. And besides, you never showed anyone any interest after Cho. Even that cute 7th year transfer students that follows you around everywhere just gets the cold shoulder."

"She's a bodyguard," Harry said after thinking it over. He decided it might be best to confide in someone, since his former friends were the only ones that knew before. "She's not a seventh year and she doesn't want me to like her. She's an Auror, assigned to make sure I stay safe."

Susan pulled away and stared at Harry. Megan, who was sitting at the end of the bed, listened with interest. Susan shook her head. "She likes you, any girl can tell."

"Well, even if she likes me she's still my bodyguard, and it's her job to make sure I can't do anything against the rules or go anywhere I'm not supposed to. She's like a babysitter. Why do you think she's been looking for me so frantically?"

"Why didn't you tell us the truth earlier?" Susan asked.

"Because I wasn't supposed to tell anyone," Harry replied. "The Ministry assigned her at the beginning of the year because they had heard that Voldemort was going to try and assassinate me before the year was over. Apparently, the best way to keep me safe is to keep someone to tail me where never I go."

"And you told us," Susan said. "Megan and me. Why?

Glad that they were traveling down a different road, one not about Hannah, Harry decided it was best to answer and keep them talking like this. He shrugged. "Maybe I trust you more than I do Zacharias and Justin."

"Why?"

"Because you've never lied to me, and you've never turned your back on me."

"Why Hannah?" Susan asked. "Why did you take her to bed?"

"She kissed me," Harry said. "After that I couldn't stop."

"Would you kiss me?" Susan asked. Harry shook his head.

"When I kiss people sometimes bad things happen, I don't think it would be the best idea to do that," Susan turned away, and Harry knew she felt as if he was rejecting her.He tried to think of the best way to make her understand, but she couldn't understand, not without feeling it and feeling it was going to make it too hard not to do it. "Susan I think you're beautiful, and you're one of the most understanding girls I've ever met, I just don't want to hurt you."

"It can't hurt, look at Hannah, she's still smiling, she looks happy."

Harry shook his head, refusing to let Susan talk her way into a kiss, even though he wanted to show her, he wanted her to feel what it was like, how good it felt, how good it could feel. He fought to keep those thoughts to himself though.

Two had been too many, three was just pushing it, and if he had to deal with more than that he might go crazy. "Can I kiss you then?" she asked, stubbornly. "You gave Hannah a kiss, don't I deserve one too?"

"Why are you so adamant about it?" Harry asked, trying to determine how to get her to back off. "Why do you want a kiss so bad?"

Susan thought for a second. "Because I've wanted you to do it since third year."

The answer caught him off guard, that she'd wanted to do it that long. Ginny, who'd had a crush on him since before school, had always wanted something, maybe a kiss, maybe more, but he'd not realized other people had crushes on him. It was sort of a stupid thought after all; he was the savior of the wizarding world, why wouldn't other girls have crushes on him?

What got him even more was that she'd had the crush third year, the year he'd started developing a crush for Cho Chang. That had been so long ago, it felt like a lifetime. "You've had a crush on me since you were 13?" Harry asked, still trying to grasp the thought. Even Ginny had gotten over her crush eventually. Granted, she'd started going with girls and not guys, so that could have been some of it.

It was best to just tell her no, Harry knew it, but there was a big part inside he was holding back that wanted to kiss her, wanted to create magic and draw it out of her. She'd enjoy it, she'd find it irresistible, and that was why Harry knew he couldn't do it.

"Please?" Susan pleaded, squirming a little. "Just a kiss. If you think we won't be able to stop Megan can hold me back. If you're afraid you won't stop, tell Christine to hold you."

Harry shook his head, but the idea of it had some merit, and it took root in his head. It was as if two parts of him battled over it, the first not wanting Susan to crave him like Brandi had warned him about. The second part wanted her to experience the kiss, know what it was like, and take her beyond the borders of her imagination. He finally relented just so that the continual fight in his head would stop.

"Alright, a kiss," he said with a sigh. He glanced towards Megan, "can you hold her back once we're done?"

Even though they'd just talked about it happening, Megan seemed surprised that Harry actually asked. She nodded a little and moved around the bed, positioning herself behind Susan. She seemed a little unsure about what to do, which wasn't something that Harry wanted. "I'm going to let her kiss me," he said, outlining what he thought was going to happen. "When I pull away she'll probably want to keep going, you've got to make sure she can't do that."

Megan quirked her eye and Christine smiled. "I'll help her Master."

Harry nodded that it was alright, and waited until Christine positioned herself behind Susan as well. He looked at Susan, who was looking a little scared. "We should not go through with this," he offered as soon as he saw the frightened face.

Susan shook her head though. "I want to," she said quickly.

Harry nodded his head, let out a long breath, and thenleaned forward. His lips slid on top of hers. She had good lips, soft, but not too soft, full, but not too full. He could taste the something sweet on them, pumpkin juice, and he drew away, realizing that it wasn't happening, that the feeling wasn't there.

Susan looked a little confused and Harry saw that Christine and Megan had slipped their hands onto her shoulder, to hold her back. He shook his head. "It's alright," he said to them.

"That was a kiss?" Susan asked, looking troubled. "That's what Hannah couldn't stop? It barely lasted a second, and it felt as if I was kissing my brother."

Harry glared at her; he knew it was better than that. He closed his eyes and tried to level his thoughts, but he couldn't help it, he wanted to show her what it was like. He leaned forward this time, surprising her as his lips touched hers again. His right hand slid around her neck and he pulled her a little closer while his left slid around her waist just inside the robes. His hands touched her smooth skin, bringing goosebumps to the surface, and Harry slid has hand a little further around, moving up her back a little bit. The magic didn't happen, but he was beginning to enjoy the kiss, so soft, so sensual. He began to forget that he didn't want Susan to be addicted, to forget that they were sitting in Hannah's bed, in the Hufflepuff common room.

He started to pull away, just a little bit, when it happened. There was a sparkle, like the first time he'd used his wand. He felt Susan start to melt into him, her body molding up against his. His hands reached further up her back, pulling her closer and dipping into her. She didn't resist at all, instead she seemed to flow with it, pressing her chest tighter against his, trying to become a part of him. The feeling increased, and the warmth trickled down his throat, sizzling comfortingly as it did. Thoughts began to rise up that he shouldn't continue, but other thoughts shot them down; the pleasure of it all, the comfort he was feeling, making her feel, it was all so right.

The room turned fuzzy, as if a haze had settled over it, he closed his eyes so he didn't have to see it. Instead of looking at her he felt her, using his hands to explore her back and neck. She pressed harder against him, so hard that he wasn't sure if she was on the bottom anymore. Shivers coursed through his body as a moan of pleasure escaped her lips like an extra pulse of magic.

His mind screamed at him at that something was going on; it wasn't supposed to happen like this. The haze lifted a little as Harry opened his eyes again, staring at Susan's. He remembered that he wasn't going to let this happen, that she wasn't going to be brought into this like Hannah was. He shook his head and tried to pull away, but one of Susan's arms had found its way around his neck at some point, holding him as close as they could bring him. The other was desperately pushing away the robe he'd put on earlier. He knew he wasn't wearing anything underneath and fought it, finding that his impeding nakedness was helping him control himself

He pushed harder away, his mind screaming at him to stop. She finally pulled away herself, and Harry tumbled back onto the bed trying to catch his breath. He looked up and saw Christine trying to hold Susan back, her own face full of conflicting emotions. Megan wasn't even trying. She was staring at Harry with an open mouth, looking at him with such a hungry look that it was difficult to tell whether she wanted to shag him or eat him. At the moment neither of them seemed like good options in Harry's mind, though parts of him protested.

Harry didn't know what was going on, but he couldn't sit in the bed any longer. With Christine barely holding Susan down, Harry turned and fled the cover of the curtains. Outside he got an even bigger surprise. All of the girls who'd been grouped earlier, the ones that had seen him naked, were piled in a single bed, kissing, and removing their clothes. Some of them stopped when they saw him, but they didn't say anything, they just stared. Angel's head popped out from beneath two of the girls and she struggled through them, trying to work her way out.

When she had she fell to the floor and started at a half crawl towards him. Harry, unsure what was happening, ran as fast as he could towards the door. He glanced back just in time to see that three more of the girls had started towards him, including Megan who had started to push off her robes as she did.

Harry slammed the door behind him and bolted down the corridor, trying to find an exit. A warm wind followed, sweeping ahead of him as if clearing the way for him. He opened two doors, finding that the moment he, did all heads turned towards him and within a second the eyes began to take on a shiny look. The last door he tried led out, and he dashed into the common room heaving heavily. Everyone turned to look at him and their eyes began to glaze over, even the men, who there were more of. Harry shook his head as Ernie stepped towards him, refusing to believe what was happening.

Salvation came from the most unexpected source. It was like part of him was shoved down, something magical pushed behind a door. He knew who had done it, he could feel the familiar haze at the edge of his thoughts, knew that Voldemort had helped him stay in control. However, it worked, and he could see everyone still staring at him, but their eyes began to take on a normal look again. Some of them started crying though, not hard, but tears rolled from their eyes as if they'd seen some vision of perfection only to have it ripped from them.

The door behind him opened and several girls piled out of the room. Harry had to dart out of their way so he wasn't mobbed by them. Almost all of them stopped just outside the door and stared at him with hungry looks, only to have it die and be replaced by something slightly disappointed, or angry in some cases.

"Maybe I shouldn't stay here," Harry said aloud, but not much louder than a whisper. Susan tumbled through the door, her eyes on fire, with Christine being dragged behind.

"I tried," Christine said immediately, seeing his flushed face. "Everything changed, and I tried so hard to resist."

Harry nodded, and edged along the girls until he was next to her, and Susan, who was still looking a little strange. He slipped his arm around her. "Thank you," he whispered in her ear and kissed her forehead softly. "It was enough.'

Christine couldn't help but smile, even though she was still struggling to keep Susan back. Harry reached forward and put his arms on Susan's shoulders, holding her firmly still. "I told you what would happen," he said sorrowfully. "And this time it wasn't just you, it was everyone I think. I can't do this; someone will get hurt if I don't stop."

"Anything," Susan whispered. Harry leaned in a little closer. "Anything," she whispered again.

"Anything what?" Harry asked.

"For another kiss. I'll do anything. I'll be your slave if that's what you want," she said. A lot of the girls backed away as soon as she said it, as if they were afraid of what she was saying. Susan wasn't the most headstrong girl he knew, but she was quite a kick in the pants most of the time, which meant she was probably one of the more influential Hufflepuffs, especially being that she was in 7th year.

Harry shook his head. "I told you before that it gets worse. It gets much worse." Harry knew it . He instinctively, he knew Hannah was gone, that no matter how much he tried, she'd never be the same again. She was still Hannah; she just couldn't be without him, just as he suddenly wondered if he could be without her, or Christine. He felt a small piece of Hannah inside him now, and a piece of Susan, faint, but there. There was Brandi deep down, buried beneath Hannah, but there.

He refused to believe that he could do it to someone else. But tears were streaming down her face, whimpers coming from her mouth. Harry relaxed a little, because she was falling into him instead of pushing towards him. He knew he was safe as long as he didn't kiss her. As far as he knew at least. It was all so complicated, everything was so complicated.

"I should go," Harry said looking at some of the others who were still staring at him intently. "This isn't going to work out here, I can tell. I wanted to thank you for everything you're done, but I can't exactly stay around, it might just get worse."

"Stay," Susan pleaded. "At least with Hannah, she doesn't deserve to be punished because of what I did," she drew away to show she could fight the urge, and stared at Harry, a twitch in her eye. He couldn't bear the thought of screwing up so bad again especially with Hannah, so he nodded. He did owe Hannah that much, if not a whole lot more. He did hope that Susan would be able to resist, because he was finding it harder and harder to pull away when he kissed someone.

"Alright," Harry said, turning to enter the Hufflepuff common room. He wondered if there were any spells in place but quickly found out there was when he ran into an invisible wall.

"It's easy to get past," Susan said with a whisper, while the other students started to mill around again. A lot of them moved up to their dorm rooms or left altogether instead of watching Harry. "You just have to know the right words."

"The right words?" Harry asked and the barrier was gone. He stumbled a little, because he'd been pushing up against it when it disappeared. Susan caught him and Harry had to pull back quickly to avoid wrapping his arms around her and meeting her lips again.

Nodding, Susan turned again, pulling her stare away from Harry. "Come on, it's already night, you might as well get some sleep."

Once in Hannah's bed Harry felt a little more comfortable, except for the fact that she was naked. Christine slipped in behind him and he could feel that she was wearing less clothing than she should have been. Her arms wrapped around Harry though, and she let out a long, comforting sigh. Harry decided it was best to let her and do as she liked, it was best for the moment. What surprised him was when, two hours later, he was awakened to movement and he spotted Susan slipping into the end of the bed in the darkness. She didn't push herself into Harry, but curled up at the bottom of the bed, just close enough that his feet were touching some smooth part of her body.

•

"Harry?" someone asked, shaking him awake. It took a moment for Harry to remember everything that had happened. His eyes opened up to see Susan, looking particularly lovely, shaking him awake. She was straddling him, leaning so close to him that, if he moved, he'd be against her mouth. He knew what she was trying to do and it was inviting, very, very inviting. He could smell her nearness, feel her legs against his own. The robe he'd had on when he went to sleep was no longer closed, instead it was open, and because if was the only thing he was practically naked.

"Susan," he said, she opened her mouth and he turned his head the moment she tried to place her mouth to his. "You can't do this."

"Please let me," she begged, rubbing hard against him, trapping him underneath her and doubling his pulse. Harry tried to hold it back, refused to let her get more addicted. It would go away, it had to.

When Harry felt her ripped from him he looked up, eyes wide. Christine was holding Susan in the air like a toy, looking not so female-like. Harry couldn't help but stare as Christine turned and placed Susan on the ground. "Do not hurt my Master," she said quietly, but forcefully.

He felt Hannah stir next to him now that Susan's legs weren't pulling his apart, but she didn't awaken immediately. "Thank you Christine," Harry said as he stared at Susan. "You can let her go though. I don't want her hurt."

At his command Christine released Susan and she dropped a few inches to her feet. She was wearing very little, and Harry couldn't help but stare at her beautiful figure now that he was several feet from her. "Susan," he said, sitting up. "I cannot let it happen. I told you that Susan."

"Just one more," Susan begged. "It's destroying me inside."

Harry wondered if it was the truth. He could feel the way that her mind was working, pressing him, trying its very best to convince him it was true. It was difficult to tell if it was, if she was already so addicted that she couldn't go on without it. "I'll kill myself," she whispered just loud enough that Harry heard it.

He jumped to his feet, not even bothering to pull his robes closed, and marched forward. He threw his arms around her immediately. "I'm sorry," he whispered, holding her tightly. When he realized what he was doing, and how close they were to being naked, he withdrew, only to have Susan holding him tighter.

"Please Harry," she whimpered into his neck, kissing it softly. "I'll do anything you want; I'll listen to your every command."

It took Harry everything he had to pull away from her, but he did. He shook himself and pulled his robes closed, giving the rest of the girls in the room a peak by accident. Several of them were watching him as he stood there, in their dorms. Some of them acknowledged him with a nod, some with a gape, but none of them said anything at all. Christine, who was only wearing knickers looked at the girls and blushed, covering herself as best as possible.

A glance towards the bed sent Christine scurrying to it, hiding behind the curtain on Hannah's bed. Harry turned to look at the girls, and all of them looked down at the ground under the emerald gaze. He turned back to Susan, who was weeping. She hadn't really started crying, or wasn't trying to, but tears were leaking down her face and she was staring at Harry like something she'd never be able to touch again.

"Just let me be near you," she said with the faintest of whispers. "Don't abandon me like you were going to abandon Hannah."

Harry took her hand, slipping his fingers between hers. "I don't know what I've done to you, but the only way to apologize is to not abandon you now."

She clenched his hand tightly within hers and her tears flowed more freely. "Thank you," she whispered. "Thank you for not leaving me."

Harry pulled her towards the bed. "You need to get dressed," he said, leading her to the side of the bed. "Christine, dress yourself as well," he added, glancing inside. She was beautiful, sitting there in her knickers, looking expectantly at him. He supposed she thought he might take her because he was turned on, but Harry was still trying to stay in control, and he refused to do it here, with other girls all around.

Hannah stirred a little more and Harry saw her eyes start to open. He opened the curtains and stepped inside, pulling them closed again as he knelt on the bed. Her eyes took him in first; there was fear and surprise, but the looks faded away and turned to a warm, blissful smile. "Harry," she said. "You're here."

"Of course," Harry said softly. "I have to apologize for last night."

"No, don't apologize. It was the best thing that ever happened in my life."

"You know that you'll never be able to have that with anyone except me, don't you? You know that I ruined it for you with anyone else," she nodded. Of all things, she smiled while she did. Harry was a little surprised. "And you know that you can't be the only one, right? Christine's already mine, and Susan is infected too by whatever it is that I did."

"Anything if you let me do it again," Hannah said happily. "Anyone. You can have all of them."

Harry couldn't believe it, couldn't believe she spoke as she did. It had to be the kiss doing it to her; it had to have affected her even more than Brandi had thought it was affecting her. Was it different somehow? Maybe because they'd been shagging each other, something had happened that wouldn't happen with just a kiss. Hannah wasn't Hannah, but she was still Hannah. As confusing as it all was, Harry knew one thing, that he shouldn't have let her kiss him.

"I can't continue to stay here," he said, looking through the curtains to see some of the girls continually glancing his way. They knew something was wrong, that he'd done something strange. How stupid would they have to be not to? The night before, half the house had a gleam in their eyes that screamed sex, and sex with him had been their preferred choice. "I'll have to go back to the Slytherin house, or stay somewhere safer than that."

"I'll come," Hannah and Susan volunteered immediately. They looked at each other and then back to Harry. "We'll both go," they confidently said together.

"Maybe," Harry said carefully, not wanting to tell them no. He refused to do that after causing this to happen to them. But, he wouldn't tell them they could go either; it might cause difficulties if they took to wandering behind him like Christine did. Not that she was at fault; she needed him in a different way. "I won't leave you alone though, not if I can help it," he added bringing relieved looks on their faces.

"Hannah," Harry said, looking directly at her. "You need to get dressed and go to classes just like it were any other day, do you understand? Susan, the same goes for you."

They nodded, Susan slower than Hannah, and complied, getting to their feet and moving to the dressing table. Harry watched Hannah move with a feminine mystique he'd not seen in her before. Susan did it on purpose, wiggling around a little to make sure that Harry got a good look as she bent over to pull on some shorts to go on under her robes. For the first time in his life, Harry didn't blush or try and look away. He watched them, fully aware of what they were doing and why. "Christine," he said, noticing she'd pulled on the top that had been under her robe the day before. "We're going to need to go and find a place while everyone's in class."

She nodded silently. "I want you to know that no matter what you're always mine," Harry said, reassuring her. He could just tell by looking in her eyes that she wasn't sure. She wanted him more than anything she'd ever had in her life and at every turn he turned her away. Harry wasn't even sure how long he could keep it up, but he had to try, he had to control whatever it was that was happening to him. If he couldn't he might as well hand himself to Voldemort without a wand.

"Master," she said, bowing her head as she stepped from the bed. They would need breakfast. Harry wondered if it was the best idea to go to the Great Hall, but he was suddenly feeling a whole lot better than he had in a long time. Hermione and Ron didn't matter, they were no longer his friends, and he no longer cared.

"Hurry and dress," Harry said confidently. "We're going to breakfast first."

Christine obeyed promptly, and with a few waves of his wand both of them were ready to go out. Christine's robes were much more modest, though they didn't look like the dress robes he'd conjured for her. He wondered exactly how he was able to pull it off, he could barely remember the spell he'd used and had a good deal less control this time around. He'd have to practice more.

As he stepped into the Great Hall everything went silent. It was like when he'd spoken Parseltongue in the Slytherin room; no one seemed to know what to say. That is to say, no one except Hannah and Susan. Both of them raised their hands immediately to call Harry forward. He smiled, nodded, and then stepped towards them, not even bothering to glance at the Gryffindors.

Megan was sitting directly across from Hannah looking a little lonely. Harry supposed that it was likely because Hannah had something else to talk about today, and not with her, rather with Susan, who was the person sitting next to her. Harry nodded and gave Christine a gentle shove in the right direction before squeezing into the spot that mysteriously opened between Hannah and Susan.

Hannah was delighted, and as Harry placed some food on his plate she bent over and kissed his cheek. "They're angry," she whispered quietly. "They're fuming just because you came."

She speared a piece of the potato he'd just placed there and placed it in her mouth before straightening up. Harry glanced at her, watching her smile wickedly, before looking down at his plate and finding one of his rolls were missing. He looked to his other side to find Susan making the roll look like it was chocolate as she ate it ever so slowly. Wide-eyed, he looked down at his plate, a lot less hungry for food, but more hungry for other things.

Christine seemed to be waiting to eat and he glanced across to her. "Christine eat," he commanded in a firm, but quiet tone. Like a robot she followed his command, cutting up some of her eggs and placing them in her mouth. His eyes moved to Megan, who was keeping quiet of course. "Christine," he said when he realized his mistake. Her arm froze and her eggs drooped, dripping from her fork. "Pretend I'm not here. If you'd like to speak to Megan do it. If you want to make other friends, that's your choice."

There was a barely perceptible nod, but there was a bright smile from Megan when he looked to her again.

Surprisingly, other than scathing glances, all of which he ignored, breakfast was altogether enjoyable. There was the difficulty of Hannah and Susan forgetting they had their own plates and eating off of his. He had to refill his plate again before he even got more than a few stabs at the food. He never finished it off, and decided it might be best to get something later when the two weren't around. It was worth it, watching Susan eat her food like it was a gift from heaven. It turned him on so much that he had to close his eyes for several minutes and imagine Snape in a bikini before he could stand up and excuse himself from the table.

While breakfast was quiet, leaving didn't turn out to be so easy. At first it was Tonks. He knew it was her because she came crashing through the door looking as if she hadn't slept in four days. He had a suspicion she probably hadn't. Her hair, usually well kept, was 3 different colors, and one eye had lost its color completely while the other was an intimidating black. "Harry!" she gaped, staring at him. "You and I are going to need to talk."

Harry tried to step around her, but found that she was still as quick as ever. "Come now," she said, spinning around with Harry in hand and dragging him out the door.

Outside, her eyes sharpened up a little and she frowned. The white eye slowly faded into a light brown color as she stared at him. "You about got me fired," she hissed slamming him into the wall. "I walk away for twenty minutes and you cause the biggest uproar at Hogwarts since Gustus Tremble shagged a girl during dinner."

That was certainly something to live up to. Harry wondered if he could pull that one off, maybe up in front of the whole student body. He smiled sweetly, wondering how much power he'd need to turn the whole great hall into a bunch of sex fiends. It might be interesting to watch the teachers go at it.

"Don't you dare smile at me Potter," Tonks growled. "If you ever do something like that again I'll wring your neck personally. I don't care how important you are.

Harry leaned into her and kissed her nose, causing her to stumble backwards in surprise. He turned back to the Great Hall and walked in. He still needed to get Christine and figure out how to ditch Tonks again. He could always kiss her and make her one of his loyal fans, but that was something he didn't seriously consider as he wasn't the sort of person that would do it.

With a look Christine was on her feet and headed in his direction. He really did plan on going somewhere else. The Room of Requirements might make a good hiding spot temporarily, but he'd have to think of somewhere else where no one would think to find him. Now that they'd seen him on such good terms with the Hufflepuffs, or at least two of them, they wouldn't allow him enough space. He was getting tired of being bound to something, and was finding that freedom meant more and more to him.

The twinkling gaze of the headmaster tried to catch Harry's attention, but it wasn't enough. Snape seemed to be glowing with rage and Harry wondered if he knew about the Leviathan meeting. Surely he must know some things; he was head of the household. McGonagall had the sourest face, staring down at Harry as if she was trying to cut him in half with just a look. Harry managed to smile when he saw that Hannah and Susan were following behind Christine and headed right for him. He also caught the flash of a hex headed his way and ducked before it struck. Ron was on his feet looking so angry Harry wondered what he'd done.

Then it occurred to him earlier in the year when he and Ron had discussed some of the more beautiful woman in the school. Hermione hadn't been on the list, but at the top of Ron's list was Hannah. Harry was sure he had a crush on her and just had to figure out a way to approach her. It made sense to think that he might be mad at Harry. She wasn't an option anymore, no longer available in the tiniest bit.

Harry didn't smile or frown; he just turned his gaze to his former best friend and stared. He swore he wouldn't let someone push him around again. It didn't matter if he was Harry Potter or Sirius Black; no one was going to have control over his life except him.

Hannah was just happy that Harry didn't say anything when she stepped in behind him. Both of them stared at Tonks, who'd taken a semi-defensive position against the opposite wall, watching Harry as he waited. She seemed disturbed and red in the face, although she looked extraordinarily cleaner than she had when she'd originally walked through the entrance to the great hall. It was obvious that she hadn't been expecting Harry to be there.

"Found a bed to sleep in I trust," Tonks said, eyeing Hannah.

Hannah was the one that nodded. It didn't take much to get her to speak; she may have a very tempting body, but she wasn't quite all there. In the DA she asked some of the strangest questions he'd ever heard, and this was after getting to know Luna. Harry shrugged. "It was her decision, not mine. I would have preferred it not be quite so well known either," Harry said frowning. "I won't be able to stay there any longer."

Susan and Hannah both pouted. "It wasn't my decision to have you make the relationship so blatantly obvious," Harry said to them. "Everyone in the school is going to be talking about it soon.

"So?" Susan said. "I don't care about everyone else in the school, and Hannah doesn't either." Susan still kept an eye on Tonks though, not seeming to like her presence.

Tonks wasn't finished and went into interrogation mode now that she knew what Harry had been up to. She asked a dozen questions, all unanswered by Harry, until he finally held his hand up. He looked to Hannah and Susan, and then to Christine, who had been joined by Megan during the questioning. "Go back to the common room," Harry said. "Megan, please watch Christine for me today. I have something that needs to be done."

Megan nodded mutely and slipped her hand into Christine's possessively. Harry smiled, knowing that Megan wasn't going to let anything happen to Christine. A friend that could develop that fast was always going to be a friend. When Susan, Hannah, Megan and Christine had all set off towards the common room, Harry set off in a different direction, making sure that anything he said wouldn't be heard by the group. It wasn't that he cared if they knew; he just rather preferred they didn't know anything about certain things at the moment.

"Where have you been?" Tonks asked after several minutes of silence. I've been all over the castle looking for you. I know you weren't in the Hufflepuff rooms earlier than yesterday because I was there and I couldn't smell you at all."

Tonks and her overdeveloped sense of smell. She could smell four times as good as most humans or wizards, she'd adapted her insides to do it.

Harry shrugged at her, not really paying all that much attention until they walked into an empty classroom. "No," Tonks said. "You're not going to get away without answers. It's going to be very, very simple. I ask a few questions, you provide answers so I have a full report about what happened to you."

"My kisses are addictive," Harry said in a semi-husky tone. Watching Tonks wave her arms about had really gotten him weak at the knees. She really needed someone to give her a good shag and calm her down. The problem was, when she and Harry even went to the Three Broomsticks, Tonks refused to drink anything that was even slightly alcoholic. She would just sit, sipping a butterbeer, watching the street to make sure that no Death Eaters had suddenly decided to make the shop a target. They never did, Harry and Tonks were good at sneaking in without anyone knowing they were there. She didn't even respond, like she hadn't heard the answer because it didn't have anything to do with the question.

"A different room," Harry said finally, deciding it would be best not to tell her he'd been sleeping in Slytherin beds the past few days.

Tonks fumed, but didn't ask again. "Why are Hannah and Susan acting like Christine?" Tonks asked next. Harry stared into her eyes, watching her anger buildup. He couldn't help but watch at walls built behind them, walls that looked impossible to break.

The answer was a little more difficult to give without exposing himself too much, and since he'd already told her the most he'd tell her, he decided to forego the answer she wanted to hear. Even the old Harry would have known it, and avoided answering. He thought for a second though, trying to decide what to say that would appease her. There was nothing really, he knew that she'd avoid his kiss if he told her that was what it was. And, being an Auror, she was very good at avoiding people attacking her on any level.

"Because they enjoy me sleeping with them," Harry said quietly. He'd only shagged Hannah but he'd slept with the both of them, so it wasn't really a lie. While it also detracted from his image it made Tonks rethink her opinion of him, which was a good thing.

"They can't like it that much," Tonks almost sputtered and Harry knew he'd won the argument already; he could see the wall behind her eyes shudder. She was on the defensive, and he was attacking, so it made things so much easier on him.

"Why are you telling me what they can and can't do?" Harry asked, focusing harder on her eyes, trying to tell her to go away, that he was in control of his own life, that he was in control of this argument. "If it mattered to anyone it would be them, and I'm the one you're questioning."

"Yes you are," Tonks said angrily. "Why did you run away?"

"Why were you not there to protect me?" Harry shot back at her.

"I needed to speak with Albus about everything," Tonks defended.

"Was that your first priority?" Harry asked quietly, waiting for her to get mad. It really didn't take long; she'd been building up the anger for some time.

"You!" she screamed, her walls trembling under pressure. "You're the one I'm supposed to protect from everyone. I can't do that if I don't know what's going on. I went to Albus to find out what he might know, and see if he could find out anything else."

"Tonks, why are you so upset with me? It's not your job. You're a smart witch and I know you could get a good job outside the Aurors. There is a demand for them in the private market, and they pay a good deal more."

"You don't want me to keep you safe?" Tonks asked, going from fully enraged to miserable in a matter of seconds.

Harry sighed. "You're not going to be able to keep me safe from things I won't tell you about," he said. He didn't intend to tell anyone about the Voldemort attacks, no one was going to get hurt again, and if Voldemort called him out to some place, he'd go alone. However, that didn't seem to be what Voldemort was doing. He was instead working on Harry's mind, trying to change some things. Harry recognized it now, fighting with Tonks. Before, he wouldn't have been able to handle her quite the same way and he would have lost the argument quickly. Now, now some of those things Voldemort was trying to do to him interested him and he wanted to find out what was happening and why.

"You need to go speak to Dumbledore. Tell him that I don't want anyone to help me and I'm doing just fine on my own." Harry said, continuing to stare into her eyes. The wall he'd seen in them seemed to have finally broken down with her change in attitude. He smiled, realizing that somehow he'd used some form of Legilimency on her. He hadn't practiced much of it, just focused on Occlumency so that he could prevent Voldemort from entering into his mind.

Tonks nodded stupidly, as if it were an order she had to fight, and left the room.

Free from Tonks, Harry headed down another hall to decide where might be the best place to hide away for a while, from a lot of people, not just Tonks. The looks he'd been given at breakfast meant he was less popular than ever before.

It didn't take long for someone to find him. It wasn't someone angry with him though, she was quite happy to see him. "I'm Su Li," she said quickly when he raised his eyes to meet her. He knew who she was, a Ravenclaw 7th year. She had once been in a group of Cho Chang's friends. They'd had some differences during 4th year, and were no longer friends, even though they were now the same year. (Cho hadn't been around most of last year and had to repeat the classes to take her N.E.W.T.s). She was however, a very smart girl, one of the few that had gotten close to the same scores on the O.W.L.s as Hermione.

"I know who you are," Harry said, not really wanting to stop and talk to someone.

"I know what you are," she responded quickly. Harry fully stopped and looked at her again, carefully examining her. She was pretty, not sculpture pretty, but exotic pretty, and the grin she had painted on her face told Harry she knew something.

His eyes moved from her body to her eyes, focusing on them as he spoke. "What do you think I am?" he asked, keeping his focus on her eyes. There were no walls, but there was a jumble of thoughts, so many feelings. Excitement, anxiety, intrigue, interest, fear, all of them were there. She did know something; he could feel it inside him.

"I'm not going to tell you yet," she said promptly, turning and leaving.

Harry watched her go, strutting away, and wondered if she was teasing or trying to do something else. Probably trying to catch his interest, but she'd already done that. He watched her ass swing back and forth against her tight robes and smiled, yes, she'd already caught a lot of his interest.

He didn't pursue though. If he'd learned anything since he first came to Hogwarts it was that everything always found its way back to him. He turned and made his way down another hallway, wondering what it was that the dark Ravenclaw knew and how she'd come across the knowledge. If it was Hermione it would have had to have been the library, and so that was the direction he headed.

Madam Pince had died the previous year and a stingy old man named Tetny was working the library on a semi-permanent basis. His hawk-like eyes snapped to Harry the instant the door was open and he frowned. He didn't say anything, he never said anything. Harry was sure he and Megan would make great friends. Except the librarian was quite a bit older. He had a knack for standing around the corner so when you were chattering together you'd walk right into him. He didn't need to speak either, everyone could feel the weight of his stare should they be trying to do anything wrong. Harry had began avoiding the library altogether since the old man had arrived. He used go there with Hermione, but not lately.

"I'm looking for a book about magical kisses," Harry said immediately. "Something that may cause addiction."

The man frowned and Harry smiled. "I'm having a problem, and I think that there might be something in a book like that that could tell me what the problem is."

A deeper frown.

"Well, I thought, since you were the librarian you'd know. You do know that Dumbledore has given me exclusive permission to visit the restricted section, so I'm going to go have a look for myself since you don't seem to know how to do your job."

Win against Voldemort, that's all Dumbledore had been thinking about for ages. Harry had to go learn some top level spellwork if he wanted to have a chance at that, so he'd been given permission by Dumbledore to do some of his own magical studies and the librarian knew that.

Inside the restricted section, Harry browsed through the books for more than an hour, but found nothing that could help him. He doubted, without the help of the librarian, Sir Tetny, he'd get nothing more than a lot of books to scan through. He glanced towards the old man who returned the look with a sour one. Harry couldn't help but smile. He'd come back, maybe with a Ravenclaw that knew how to work the library system better than him. He was sure that there were others besides Su. Then again, she might come to him when he didn't show enough interest in pursuing her.

•

Harry was quite surprised when, as he left the library four hours later, she was waiting outside for him. "Didn't find anything?" she asked innocently, her eyes telling him she'd been thinking he might come here, but hadn't been sure until the moment he walked out the door.

"I asked Sir Tetny, but apparently he thinks me finding out why every girl I like wants to shag me isn't a good reason," Harry said boldly.

"Has it progressed that far?" Su asked, confusion written all over her face. "I had heard about the Hufflepuff common room, but everyone said it died before anything happened."

"Died?" Harry asked, curious to know how much she'd tell.

"The flame," she said, as if it explained everything. She turned again to leave, but Harry wasn't going to let her do that. He stared at her walking away angrily, trying to figure out what was happening to him, when he felt the familiar touch at the edge of his brain. Something ignited, something familiar but new and his body shivered. Su, several steps away, stopped. It was almost a minute of fight before she turned towards him, her eyes on fire, staring at him like there was nothing else in the world.

The power shut off. Voldemort did it, but Harry felt it happen. He knew what happened from the last time Voldemort shut it down, but this time he felt it shut down, felt how it happened. He knew he could do it again and it was worth having Voldemort in his head just to know that.

The desire died in her eyes, but Harry could see that it lingered, a hunger. "What is the flame?" Harry asked as her mind started to return to normal. Su opened her mouth to speak and a sigh came out.

"What did you do?" she was finally able to ask.

"Turned some of it on," Harry replied confidently. "If you walk away from me I can do it again and again until you can't help but tell me."

"Are you threatening me?" Su asked.

Harry smiled at her. "I don't need to threaten, I'm just warning you."

It surprised Harry when she smiled. "I know you Harry," she said. "You don't do things like that. Your powers are uncontrolled as far as I've been able to figure out; they seem to come out when you're focused emotionally. I've been looking into your affliction since a long time before it happened to you. It's a hereditary condition which exists for some wizards. Some people think it's a myth, but it's only because it is so rarely brought to life in a wizard, it takes a good deal of power to do it."

"What is it called?" Harry asked.

"Your affliction?" Su asked, smirking. "Come with me and we'll go make sure before I tell you anymore."

The proposition, while exciting, wasn't something Harry was ready to do. He needed to find a place to keep out of view, especially Tonks', for a while. Following Su would help one problem, but wouldn't help him find a place to stay. "I don't think that would be the best idea," Harry said quietly. "I need to find some place to stay for a while."

"You're welcome to come to our common room," Su said quickly. "We have some study rooms that are reserved for 7th years. I have my own that no one will enter if I say so. You may stay there."

Someone entered the hallway and Harry reached out and pulled Su into a small niche in the hall, keeping both of them from sight. "I can't go anywhere without the others."

"I'm not saying you need to stay," Su said, breathing in his ear. The niche was a very small space and she was pressed up against him even more than she should have been. "I'm just saying to go there for a night. Surely you'll be alright away from your other lovers while we try and determine exactly what's wrong with you."

"They're not my lovers," Harry whispered back. "Hannah is the only one. Susan is addicted to me, and Christine can't live without me nearby."

"They'll all survive for a night without you, won't they?"

Harry didn't have a lot to think about at that moment. The people in the hall passed by, and Harry saw that they were the Patil twins, who he rarely saw together at all. They were chatting about something, and he heard his name, which was probably not a good sign.

"Come on," Su whispered. "I'm interested in finding out about this, making sure you are what I think you are."

The urge to find out was too great, and Harry finally accepted that this would be the best thing. He would have to contact Christine and assure the others he wouldn't be gone for long. "Alright," he told her back. "But I'll need you to take a note to them so that they know I'm not abandoning them. They might have difficulties when I don't show up. I think the addiction is a lot stronger than most things. All it takes is a single kiss before it happens now. Susan, she's addicted to being near me."

"Just wait for this," Su said, peaking out and making sure the hall was clear. "It all needs to be documented so that one day, after everything's said and done I'll have proof that the bloodline isn't just a myth."

Even though he really didn't want to deal with more press, he thought he might be able to accept it if he was able to somehow control what was happening. If his life consisted of kissing a girl and she was suddenly in love with him, he was going to have a very short list of people he was going to kiss in his lifetime. He knew he couldn't just ruin it for someone, and take away everything that was remotely normal about their life. Plus, if it had happened before to others, it was possible that there was some sort of spell to reverse the effects of what was happening. He hadn't really thought about it before, but that might be the best way to get everything right again, just make them all better.

Harry knew where the Ravenclaw common room was. He'd escorted some of the DA members back to it a few times. He briefly wondered why Su hadn't become a member of the DA, even after they'd opened it to more people. She seemed like the sort of person that would do that. But then, Cho was a member of the DA, and that might cause difficulties with her, since neither Cho nor Su liked each other.

"Why did you read about this before?" Harry asked as they stumbled through the halls at Su's quick pace. "Did you know that I would have this problem?"

Su stopped at a corner and looked at him smiling. "I investigate legends," she explained quickly. "Things from all over the world, trying to find something to write a research paper on so I can be accepted into the unspeakable department at the Ministry.

"You know what they do?" Harry asked incredulously. "I thought their job was a mystery."

Su smirked, "How would you get a job if you didn't know what you were getting into?" she asked lightly, thinking it funny. "The Unspeakables have a lot of different things they do, but one of the most obvious ones is research into things. What those things are is the mystery. I've heard rumors that they have objects that are older than any known records of magic, and magical records are very, very old. Unlike muggles, we keep a very good documentation of our history, and keep it in good shape."

"So you want to be a researcher?" Harry asked, already breathing hard. The brisk walk that he and Su were on was already putting him out of breath breath even with all the exercise he got from playing Quidditch. It was insane that the girl hadn't even begun to breathe hard. "Why myths though?"

"Myths are magic themselves," Su explained. "They're the often the oldest records of things. I heard a myth once, about a magical creature that was said to be long dead, something that can live for thousands of years and suck up any knowledge of those it touches."

Harry's eyes widened, he knew what she was talking about, knew what she was implying. During the aftermath of the Department of Mysteries incident, Hermione had researched the creatures that attacked Ron, and they were exactly that, mythological creatures that were said to live for ages. They had supposed that Ron was hurt because they'd extracted information from him when they attacked him, even given him a hard time about having more knowledge than he seemed to have.

Su seemed to have heard about the incident and was trying to get him to reveal that he'd seen them. He knew it, and he wouldn't tell her yet, so instead he smiled and nodded his head in acceptance. He guessed it was possible that myths were more important than they first seemed.

The Ravenclaw common room was not exactly empty, but Su pulled him through it so fast that Harry wasn't sure if anyone could have even got a look at him. She touched her lips as if smiling, and winked before the whole town went down. There was a small table in the room, with chairs on each side, an inkwell and quill in the middle, and several rolls of parchment. "This is my study room," Su said as Harry looked it over. "You may write whatever letter you wish for me to deliver while I ensure that this room is kept private for today."

The Ravenclaw stepped out of the room with a smile that was reminiscent of a Slytherin, and Harry wondered what she was planning. He knew that he needed to get the kiss under control. He was happy to at least be able to turn off whatever it was that came up afterwards, the thing that made everyone look like they wanted to eat him, because that was as bad as the kiss itself.

Sitting at the table, he wondered exactly what to tell them. He knew if he told them that he'd be staying in the Ravenclaw room they might come, so he had to leave that out. He would have to tell them that he wouldn't be returning that night, so that they wouldn't worry about him and not get any sleep. He would leave, probably in the early morning, but he still needed to find a place for them to stay, so it might be best if he didn't tell them to meet him in the morning. Instead, he chose to tell them to meet him during lunch, the room of requirements might be the best place for it, just for a meeting place.

After scribbling down a bad excuse, he crumpled the paper and wrote it again. It occurred to him that he didn't need an excuse for them. So, he simply said he wouldn't be returning until the next afternoon and that the three needed to meet him at the Room of Requirements. He signed his name and folded the letter, placing all three girls' names on it so that they knew it was meant for all of them. He paused for a second and opened the latter again, adding a postscript to the bottom that told Christine that she may do what she liked with Megan while he was away.

He folded the note again and stared at it. Three years ago he never would have assumed he could have told anyone what to do. Then they'd started the DA, and he'd taught, he'd learned to be someone's teacher. Two years ago he wouldn't have thought he could control people with words so easily, and then he'd seen how Voldemort controlled people, bent them to his will. Last year he wouldn't have ever thought he could be writing three girls at once, reassuring them he'd return, and then Voldemort had messed with his mind and done something to him. Now he was sitting at a table in Ravenclaw, trying to determine what to do about everyone.

Su entered the room and Harry tapped the letter with his wand, sealing it shut. He didn't necessarily want Su to know where he'd be going tomorrow. Although she was a Ravenclaw, he didn't really trust her all that much. He'd had a few bad experiences with Ravenclaws. He handed her the note. "This goes to one of the three on the front," he said, before looking back down to the table. Su placed a book there with a long ribbon hanging from it. "Take a look at it," she said before leaving the room and shutting the door behind her.

Harry opened the book and flipped to the marked page, he was surprised that it was written in print for how old it was. Halfway to the page he saw a picture and stopped flipping. "Dragon," the title of the picture said, showing a long thin, windy snake like creature that looked more like the Basilisk he'd killed rather than a dragon. He turned the page back and read from the book. It didn't take long for him to realize that the person who was writing it knew very little about dragons. He flipped a few more pages coming across several creatures he'd never heard of before finding a picture of a docile looking fairy. He read the article about it.

It was a muggle book, he finally realized, finishing the nonsense they'd written about fairies. Su Li had given him a book, an old book, about myths in the muggle world. Why had she done that?

A little irritated, Harry flipped to the page that was marked and noticed it was highlighted with some magical spell. Incubi, it began, the 'I' in incubi written in huge script and decorated with what looked like horned people. When the night falls an Incubus spreads his desire unto woman. He shall make his way into their house that he desire their companie. It is said that from them their seede spring witches and divels of the most unholie nature. Its companion, which is called the succubus, oft takes the form of a prettie wench, which seducith men unto itself, taking their seed to deliver forth the incubus unto the world.

Proofe is affirmed by Charles Darner, having manie times seene witches and whores prostituting themselves in the woods, uncovered and naked to the navill, moving about according to the disposition of the act of concupiscence with non seene the attendance of a man. It is after conderable time that this man, continuing to observe has seen the black vapor of a divell, having the bignesse of man unknown bringing forth his seede unto the witch. At length he departed from feerful of being seen by the divell.

Many have heard in legend of the Incubus that came to lay upon the ladies bed side, springing forth his desire and forcing upon her his member, causing anguish and pain. Wherewith she, being offended, cried out for companie saying that the holie bishop had fell upon her in the night. The holie man was thus brought before a trial and the ladie didst defame him, claiming it was he. The holie man, knowing not what thing the ladie spoke of, confessed nothing. The holie man was purged of infamie at great length, having determined it was but a divell of great lust which had inhabited her. She slept few nights wereafter, awaiting its return that she may again lay with it.

Harry stopped reading. It was difficult to read things that had been written hundreds of years before. He got something out of it, that the muggles believed that divels - probably the current muggle 'devils' and witches were born from Incubi. Incubi were supposed to be from Succubus, the partners of Incubi, and males who were lured to them.

There were also two testimonies, one of a man seeing a woman having sex with an invisible man it seemed, and the second of a woman being raped by a bishop, while the bishop didn't seem to have knowledge of it. The woman seemed to have wanted the rapes to continue though it seemed, because the writing had said she waited for him to return after. That caught his attention, that a woman had been brutally raped, so much so that she'd called for help, only to wait in bed for it to happen again. Was it like the kiss? Was there something that linked him to the Incubi?

He scanned down the page until he got to another account by a woman with an incubus in her bed.

In the district of Corath, in a village not but twelve miles from Bradstock, a young woman of exceeding beautie, confessed to a holie man that she had been dispirited by a beautiful divell who came to her bed at night, as quiet as the wind, moving through locked doors and past the bed of her mother. Thus the divell did call forth passions she knew not until his touch, drawing on her embrace and calling her his own, causing unimagined pain and pleasure from her and laying with her til the morn drew near.

This maiden thus begged the holie man to free her from the great foul madness which had befallen her. She claimed the Incubus called upon her, but would not take her werewith he went, and it had been many days since he had returned. Having been called of the Lord Christ, the holie man did bestow upon her blessings, sending away the fierce heat which had inhabeted the maiden. Yet, two days hence, the maiden did disappear from the world, the incubus having stole her from this world for her lusts had not failed even as the holie man had cast them from her.

Harry sighed. The second account had been just as difficult to read, but at least it had more information. The woman had been shagged, several times, and was probably a virgin before it. She hated and loved what the incubus had done to her. The incubus left her for a while and after enough time, the woman had gone a little nutty, and tried to get a holy man to take away the feelings she'd been having. Apparently it didn't work, because two days later she'd disappeared, most likely taken with the Incubus instead of staying around.

"Find anything interesting?" Su asked from the doorway and Harry looked up at her, surprised. "I delivered the note to Hannah," she said. "She read it with me there, she seemed sad, but understood it."

Su moved away from the door, pulling it shut first, and locking it with a spell. "So, did you find anything interesting?" she asked again, moving to sit down near him. Harry stared at her, wondering why she'd changed into different robes.

"The book is a muggle one," she pointed out, "but there are others, just none I could get as quickly as I'd like to. They're coming through owl post from my mother."

"Where did hear about it?" Harry asked, still watching cautiously. He was getting the feeling that Su wanted more than just to document what was going on with him, maybe to discover them herself.

"I've heard stories about Incubi since I was little," Su said. "Mother wanted me to know all sorts of myths and tales, and she's told me all of them she'd ever heard. I investigated some of them of course, they interest me a good deal, and I was at one point investigating the connection between a Succubus, that's the female counterpart of an Incubus, and Veela's. I never got very far, because Veela's don't like people looking into their believes or history, there are some gory things that happened, but I did find that they may very well be the Succubus' of old muggle texts. I did not however, find any counterpart to the Incubus, not at first."

Pausing, Su extracted a roll of parchment from her robes and laid it out on the table, unrolling it slowly. "There is an interesting tale I found about a young wizard in the mid 15th century that of sorts, and ended up marrying half a dozen woman within days. Until that time he'd been a normal man, but after that date he had woman writhing at his feet wherever he went. He was caught and drowned by the church. Unfortunately he did die, as he had no wand to perform any sort of charm to keep him alive. There are other documented cases of it happening through time, but yours is most similar to his. It's like he simply wakes one day and has woman falling at his feet."

Harry was beginning to see where she was leading, that he was an incubus of some sort, at least as muggles imagined it. But, if there were some cases of it... "Why were the others so much different than mine?" Harry asked, no longer trying to wait patiently.

"There's very few records," Su pointed out. "Veela's know more about the male version of their race than anyone else, but since it's not an everyday occurrence, no one's bothered to ask them, and they tend to keep their own cultural differences to themselves."

"Why am I here then," Harry asked, irritated again. "I've read for several hours and have only gained a few points, all of which you probably already had figured out yourself and could have told me ahead of time."

"You're uncontrolled," Su pointed out, "that's why we're here. I'm going to help you gain that control. I've been reading about the people who were able to control themselves and the way that wizards control themselves around Veela's, and I think I've figured enough of it out.

Harry nodded, listening intently, he was going to have to accept that he wasn't going to be getting this the easy way. "So what do you want me to do?"

"Kiss me," Su said promptly, watching Harry. His face soured immediately and he shook his head.

"I don't think you understand," Harry said, "it only takes once."

"Oh, I think I know what is going to happen," Su said, "or at least what you think is going to happen. As I've said, I think I've discovered a way for me to block out the effects. If this is going to work at all I'll need to know if it works."

Harry didn't respond immediately, he was thinking over his options. If it didn't work he'd have another addict most likely. He hadn't kissed Susan much and she was already addicted it seemed. He wasn't about to risk it with someone else. Then again, she said it would block everything out, was that possible, was she somehow able to circumvent whatever it was that he was doing? Could he try and find out?

"No," he responded again, refusing to even dare to do it.

"Explain the kiss to me, in the greatest detail possible," Su said quickly, avoiding addressing his response for the moment.

Harry explained it, explained how he'd kissed Hannah, how the power and flowed into him. He stopped soon after, but Su wouldn't give up and he soon found himself telling her everything that had happened piece by piece. "And what about Susan?" Su asked the moment he finished with him feeling drugged. Harry took another breath and went into the story with Susan, what the kiss had been like, what the room had acted like, how he'd been chased and then almost mauled by sex fiends in the common room. He left out Voldemort, saying his power had just turned off.

"Alright," Su said, finishing writing the last line. "I can understand how you would want to avoid kissing another girl. How about we try something brief, like just touching lips for a moment, or see if we can call up 'the power' some other way... you already did it to me even though you said you didn't know how to turn it on or off the first time, that it just happened, but you turned it on when you were angry at me. We should try and see, while I'm blocking, if you can turn it on again."

The idea was better than her kissing him, even though it would probably lead to the same thing. "I don't know," he responded tentatively, "what if I can't pull you off? Or what if I give out too much power, and everyone around jumps me thinking I'm the main course in a shag-fest?"

Su Li laughed gently and stood, walking to the door of the room, she tapped it and turned around. "That'll keep people out," she said thoughtfully, "at least for several hours, so you're not going to be dragged down by some Ravenclaw, mad with lust. As for how to drag me off you, I'm quite light, and I'll put my wand to the side, so if you have to you can banish me, it'll send me flying and you should be able to keep me from returning. I've also brought a sleep drought if I get too close, you can just force it down my throat, and, by the time I awaken, the urge will be gone."

Harry stared at Su, wondering where she'd gotten that idea. Susan certainly hadn't gotten over it, and they'd just kissed. Brandi was the only other person. Harry's eyebrow quirked and he glanced to the vial. "You do know it's not that easy, don't you?" he asked her. "The third person, well, the first person really, I infected, was away from me for several days, and when I got close she was deathly afraid of me. She knows she'll get addicted and was afraid I might want to kiss her again."

The way Su reacted confirmed Harry's fears. "You've talked to her," he stated, wondering if he should feel a little more afraid. If Su was talking to Brandi, then that meant she'd done more research on him specifically than she'd first said. It meant that if she wanted to trap him, she could probably do it.

"Brandi was very interested in some of the research I'd done about something else. It was simply an exchange of knowledge. Though, she's very interested in you now, finding out what's happening and what will happen. I don't think that our bartering relationship is at an end."

"So how much do you know?" Harry asked. "About me?"

"A good bit," Su said, "after all, I'm very good at research. Now, quit delaying, either do it or don't. I'd like to get things done before I'm too tired to get everything thought out properly, and I don't want to lose my concentration while we're testing you."

Staring at her, open mouthed, Harry couldn't pick the words he wanted to say. He finally just closed it and nodded, thinking it might be better to know and eventually be able to control it. The problem was, at least according to Su's research, there weren't any other Incubus around to talk to. He could go to the Veela, but he was sure it'd take entirely too long to convince them to trust him.

"So, you really think this'll help?" Harry finally managed to ask.

Su nodded, tying back her hair as she did. "I think that it'll take a strong will to be able to keep in control, and it'll help you see what you can and can't do around people. I'll tell you how strong it is, how difficult it is to fight, and you should be able to gauge that based on how you feel while doing it."

"Alright," Harry nodded slowly, hoping he wasn't making the wrong decision. "Slow at first though, I don't want you to get something you can't fight off without some sort of warning."

Su nodded, then sat down on the chair next to Harry, staring at him. She stopped looking for a second, reached over and made a scribble on her paper, then turned back to look at Harry. She tilted forward getting close to him, but not touching. She moved slowly, staying within a quarter of an inch, but somehow avoided touching him. Her hand moved along his arm, causing the hair to prickle from the breeze she cause. Still, she didn't touch him, just made his breath start coming faster. It was hard to determine what was happening, but he suddenly felt hot, like his skin was on fire. The moment it happened she pulled back and stared at him.

"That caused an immediate reaction?" she said, forming the statement into a question. Harry couldn't help but nod as his limbs began to calm and his heart slowed. He tried to form words, to ask what had happened, but they didn't come, the feeling was still there, burning brightly.

Altogether, Su seemed indifferent to the reaction. She simply nodded as he did, and then scribbled down some more notes into the pad she had in lying on the table. It was almost a full minute before she was finished and looked up to Harry. "Would you like to try that again?" she asked. Harry just nodded dumbly.

"Alright, without the cloak this time," Su said. "I need to see what a reaction is like in direct contact with skin," she pointed out as Harry began to shake his head. She didn't really understand, didn't know he was naked under his robes. He finally sighed and sloughed it off his chest, but tried desperately to keep them on around his waist. He was successful for the moment, keeping himself in a fairly dignified position while allowing Su to do whatever it was she planned. At least he wasn't naked.

There was a momentary pause while Su stared at him, her mouth open a little. Harry found himself able to focus more because of the look she was giving him. He remembered that he wasn't supposed to allow this to go astray. "Su?" he asked, furrowing his brow. "Do you want me to put it back on? I don't think this is going to go well, you're already looking a little off balance."

She shook her head. "I just never had someone simply pull off their robes for me," she admitted. "Cho and Terra always had the boys goggle at them, ready to do whatever they wanted, but no one ever looked at me like that. So, I always worried about studying more than they did, even though they are Ravenclaws."

The name Terra didn't ring any bells, but Harry was sure it was likely one of the other girls that was within Cho's group of friends. It didn't surprise him much that they inspired mild jealousy, she did seem to get whatever she'd wanted, everything but Harry. She still looked at him sometimes, when she didn't think he was looking, and he could see that she wanted him, for one reason or another. However, after 5th year he refused to go back with her. She hadn't had an easy life either, being removed from school during most of her 7th year. While Harry pitied her situation he had nothing to say to her.

"I won't disrobe completely for you," Harry said, trying not to make it sound wrong. "Not that there'd be anything wrong with doing it with you," he added quickly. "I just think it'll cause a lot more problems, and I don't want another person chasing me around like a lost puppy dog."

Su accepted the answer as it was supposed to have been said. She looked a little miffed though, and Harry tried to ignore it. "Are we going to do this, or do you want me to put me robes back on properly?" he asked.

Finally smiling again, Su scribbled some more notes on the paper. When she was done she stopped forward again, a little more tentative this time, as if she knew something more were going to happen. She didn't have to go far, the moment her hand came close to Harry the fire in his skin started to burn again. It didn't take long for it to start to spread and within a minute of her closeness there was a white hot fire in the pit of his stomach. It was hard to control, harder than anything Harry had ever done. He felt hungry, as if he hadn't eaten or drunk in weeks, and Su was looking like an appetizing course at the moment.

Choking to fight back his own urge, he stepped back. Su reacted quickly, moving back as fast as she could, stumbling over things. She ended up falling into a couch that was now across the room. It hadn't eben there before, and Harry wondered where it had come from, but didn't wonder about it long, his eyes were glued to the ruffled looking Su Li as she tried to right herself.

"Are you alright?" she asked, fighting her robes to lay straight again. Her hair looked as if she'd just got into a fight, but it wasn't severe, it did look distinctly funny though, and he chuckled, but never let his eyes travel away from Su.

Harry tried to compose himself again, tried to will the burning sensation away. It faltered for a moment, but didn't recede, it didn't however quit spreading. "No," he whispered. Then, realizing what he'd said he shook his head. "I mean yes, I'm fine."

Nodding, Su leaned forward and made some more notes on her parchment. It took longer this time, and she kept glancing up at Harry, but didn't ask any questions until she'd written a good bit. "How do you feel now?"

"Hungry," Harry said, hoping she wouldn't ask what he was hungry for. He didn't want to tell her, but he didn't want to lie either.

She nodded, and scribbled something. "And did you feel something when I did that? You acted quite startled, so I suppose you did, could you describe the feeling for me though?"

Harry described the feeling in detail, not telling her it was specifically in his stomach, but making a vague reference to it with his hands.

Su spent a few minutes copying his answer down, then wrote a few more notes out. "Alright," she said, still unchanged by the feeling that was beginning to drift around. Harry wondered if she really had discovered a way to block out the effects. While he hadn't kissed her, he knew he was giving off some faint sighs of lust, that should make her jump all over him, or at least get the glazed look in her eye hat told him she waned something from him.

"Do you want to wait a few minutes?" she asked, being careful not to stare directly into his eye. "So that the fire feeling goes away. I could go get you something else to much on," she added quickly.

"No," Harry said, still watching her, "it's alright, I don't think it'd help much anyway. The feeling only gets stronger the longer I wait, I don't think it's going to go away if you're even in the room, so it might be best if you leave for a little while."

It was as if he were disappointed with himself just for saying it, he could feel a sort of dread that she'd listen to him and go away for a little while. It didn't last too long, because she shook her head. "I need to watch everything that happens. Like I said, I'll be able to keep the feelings at bay, so as long as you can control yourself and not try and deflower me, I think everything will be alright."

Not sure if he could actually keep himself from trying to take her, as he'd taken Hannah, Harry began to say something. Su didn't notice though, and she'd already moved forward, her body within inches of him. Her lips moved upward, coming so close, so very close, that it seemed wrong not to kiss them. He fought it, fought the urge to join with her. "It feels so right..." he whispered before the heat engulfed him.

Smart enough to have an inkling of what was happening, Su stepped away, not stumbling, but moving as quickly as possible. She made it halfway to the door, now running full pace, before her mind was overrun with pleasure. She quivered, and slowed, not really paying attention to what was in front of her. Her mind could see nothing until she turned to Harry. He seemed to have changed, not for the worse either. It was as if he glowed with splendor, just standing there, waiting for her to come to him. A deity, the deity, and there was nothing else that mattered other than him.

He was smiling, smiling so very brightly, and she couldn't help but return the smile as she walked back to him. She almost groveled at his feet, begging for forgiveness for trying to run. She knew he wouldn't want that though, knew he wanted to wrap himself around her and take her into a place of bliss, a place where everything was right.

•

Cho walked into the Ravenclaw study room the next morning to find the most appalling site she'd had ever witnessed. She gasped, turned and fled, leaving the door wide open for others to glance in and gawk.