FicWad

She-who-must-be-named and her minions blah blah blah blah, I don't own any of it.

Chapter 47

Snape was his usual cheery self in class on Tuesday morning. After collecting the pre-class homework and a quick demonstration he cleared the desks and paired everyone off at random to practice shielding and performing the day's jinx. However it was not lost on Harry that he had been paired with a Slytherin, he was only thankful it was Blaise and not Malfoy.

Unlike Transfiguration or Charms, he had already practiced and perfected the DADA material for the year and so he was able to make quick work of Zabini. When Snape made no move to intercede Harry took his own initiative.

"Zabini hold on!" He called quietly and watched as his partner lowered his wand. "Look, you're flicking when you should be jabbing alright. I don't know why our illustrious Professor isn't telling you this since he seems so invested in teaching us to properly defend ourselves."

Blaise nodded without saying a word and brought his wand to bare awaiting Harry's go ahead. Harry nodded and was promptly disoriented as his perceptions were all reversed, if he had to describe it he was upside down, facing backwards, left was right and right was left. However he knew all of this from study and his experiences in the Triwizard Tournament, once he recognized it he was able to reorient himself and quickly cast the counter and disarm his opponent. "Not bad Black, maybe the rumors about your organization are true."

Harry handed him his wand back, "It's a school club now and you are welcome to join us. Again?"

He nodded and Harry returned to his spot where they began casting back and forth once again, shielding and jinxing as fast as they could. Before long the rest of the class had stopped what they were doing and were staring at the pair of them. Blaise had broken out in a sweat and his breathing had quickened but he refused to back down from the impromptu battle of wills. Eventually Snape called a halt, which he had to repeat three times before they stopped and Blaise promptly passed out.

"Potter what have you done?" Snape called as he rushed to the other boy's side.

"We were just performing the exercise as instructed Snape." He replied

"Sir!"The man shouted at him.

"You don't need to call me Sir, Professor."

The entire classroom gasped and stared at him, Snape however was grinning. "50 points from Gryffindor for your cheek, and detention Saturday evening, you had best hope that Mr. Zabini is not permanently harmed or that will be the least of your worries! Class Dismissed!"

Everyone was quick to gather their things and exit the room; Harry was exceedingly upset at the turn of events. He had no clue what happened to Zabini, or why on earth he had shown the Professor such disrespect. Whether Snape deserved it or not, Harry knew his punishment was deserved if a bit excessive, Hermione pulled him from his thoughts as she caught up to him on the stairs.

"Harry, what on earth just happened?"

"I don't know Mione, Blaise and I were just practicing. Granted it was full out practicing but I didn't notice any difference in his casting."

She shook her head. "You were casting non-stop for over half an hour Harry, maybe you and your Super magic can handle that but Blaise must have passed out from Magical Exhaustion!"

"What?" Harry exclaimed quietly. "He would have stopped if he was getting that tired...wouldn't he?"

"Think about it Harry, he is trying to take over as the lead male for Slytherin house and he was in a battle with the lead male from Gryffindor. No don't interrupt; I thought you had already accepted that even if it is unofficial."

"Fine...you were saying?"

"He didn't want to show weakness Harry, so he kept casting full bore hoping to best you or at least come to a draw. He doesn't know about your unlimited reserves."

Harry sighed as they reached the door to his room where two nymphs were engaged in an act which did not belong in public while Bernie's feet could be seen sticking out behind his usual bush with nymph feet wrapped around his backside. Harry cleared his throat causing the goat-man to jump up suddenly and look around.

"Milord! You gave me a fright!"

"Uh, Bernie since when do your nymphs chase each other?" Harry asked.

Bernie turned and looked over at the tree where one of the girls was kneeling while the other leaned against the tree with one knee over the others shoulder, being serviced. The Satyr smiled. "Ah, that would be your fault milord. Or more precisely that would be your fault milady."

"My fault!" Hermione exclaimed, though her blush told Harry that she already knew exactly what he meant.

Bernie grinned at her even as his eyes traveled up and down her body. "I am not the only one to share the frame with Wenny lately; your antics on the couch were quite enlightening to these relatively innocent girls."

"Innocent? Hardly!" Hermione said trying to defend herself.

Harry just smiled at her, "Think about it Mione, in a way they are innocent. Running around nude and having sex is what they were born, uh painted to do. That..." He gestured to the couple, which were still engaged in the act, "Is a rather not innocent act for them."

"Fine, but it is not my fault, you are the one that couldn't keep it in your pants!" She pouted. "Bernard, open up please?" He nodded and the portrait swung open allowing them entrance.

Harry laughed all the way to the couch where he plopped down. Hermione was still in a mood, "And what are you laughing about Harry, in case you forgot you lost your House 50 points and got a detention just now!"

"Sorry, you are just amusing to me." He said with a grin. "Besides, I lost that many points third year for defending you, I think this is way more worth it." Her hand went to her mouth to cover her teeth before she remembered that she had let Madam Pomfrey continue to shrink them even after they had reached the correct size.

"That isn't the point Harry, first of all you are going to have to curtail your attitude toward Professor Snape regardless if he does the same, and second you have to remember that you are not normal any longer, I thought you wanted to help Blaise not make a fool of him."

He sighed. "When have I ever been normal? Wait. Please don't try to answer that. In any case you're right on both counts, but I already warned him about mistreating the students this year. Lucky for him I deserve what I got this morning eh?"

The bell rung and she stood and kissed him quickly on the cheek. "I'm off to Arithmancy; I'll see you in Charms."

He waved as she left and settled into review for the day's subject in Charms.

Not long after she left Bernie called out from Wenny's portrait. "Harry? There is a lovely young thing at your door by the name of Lavender, shall I allow her entrance?"

He looked up at the painting. "I suppose you better Bernie. Thank you."

The door clicked open and Lavender walked in to find Harry sitting on the couch, Monday had been pretty much a bust during the day but that evening the two of them had taken a walk around the Black Lake and chatted. She told him all about her family and her family business which was in clothing design and supplying material to other designers such as Madame Malkin. He had been pretty quiet about his home life but she didn't press, by the time she had run out of talking points and moved on to cosmetics Harry gave up and kissed her, partly because the constant flirting during their walk was driving him crazy, but partly because he just wanted her to be quiet for a moment.

"Harry!" She exclaimed and jumped into his lap and wrapped her arms behind his head, kissing him on both cheeks before capturing his lips. His arms came automatically up to her waist and he trailed his fingers up and down her spine. She was smart enough he supposed but he had not yet connected with her on a mental level, on a physical level however he was hard pressed not to push her toward being more intimate.

"Hey you, so what brings you by?" He said quietly as they came up for air.

"Hi," She whispered breathlessly. "Um...I...oh! I was wondering if I could do my Divination homework in here before Charms?" He was beginning to wonder if he had developed some sort of "Clark Kent" ability that made her forget things when he kissed her. It seemed like no matter what the subject he was capable of rendering her completely speechless, semi-catatonic at times, with just a good snog.

"That's fine, Lav. I'm just going over my Charms for next period."

She looked for study materials before looking up at him funny. "Where are your books? Your notes?"

He tapped the side of his head and smiled. "Occlumency has given me a photographic memory. I only have to read the book once."

She poked him in the chest. "You are supposed to be teaching me that stuff Mister. Do you have any idea how annoying it is to have my brains scrambled every time you touch me?" He made a mental note that it was his touch and not his kisses that had gained supernatural powers. At least for the next week he couldn't test out the theory on Gin or Mione.

"You do realize what that might entail? I won't just teach anybody, the experience and the bond can be rather intimate between student and teacher. I don't want you to get trapped in a relationship or anything."

She decided to play dumb, "I know there is a lot of meditating but I don't know much else. You taught Hermione and Ginny right? What made that so intimate?"

He blushed and she tried to suppress the grin that threatened to break her cover. "Well there is the fact that you might end up sharing all of your deepest secrets and desires with me by accident. Also...uh, Mione figured out that being nude...uh..helped her to meditate and relax. She got Gin doing it as well and....well I have tried it and after the initial shock wore off she was right. Not that it would work for you. I mean you don't have to get naked for me to teach you or anything.."

She let the grin spread finally and leaned in to quickly kiss his lips. "Don't you want to get me naked?" She asked.

He took a deep breath as his libido caught up to the conversation and his erection stirred. Unfortunately Lavender was sitting across his lap and noticed immediately. "Oh! It is nice to know I'm not hideous I suppose." She said playfully.

He lowered his voice and steadily leaned in closer as he spoke finishing against her lips. "You are far from hideous Lav. I just don't like looking at women simply as sexual objects; however despite what my brain is trying to put across, I still have the body of a sixteen year old who would very much like to see you in the buff."

Her lips brushed his and she shot off of his lap. "None of that Mister Harry, I have homework to do and I don't need you distracting me!"

He grinned up at her, "You could have studied in the Library or the Common Room, I think you were in fact, looking for a distraction."

She thought about it for a moment before replying. "I suppose, but that doesn't change the fact that I need to do my homework!"

He waved toward the desk against the wall as a peace offering and she blew him a kiss before settling down at the desk and getting her parchment and quill out. Rather than continue his review of Charms, which was actually almost unneeded anyway, he watched her for the next half hour. Despite her airhead facade she was actually intelligent; she just expressed herself differently than the rest of his girls. If you got her talking about Divination, fashion or gossip she was extremely well informed, unfortunately none of that interested Harry at this point.

After cataloging her mental traits he began taking notes on her appearance. She was just taller than Ginny but still shorter than Hermione, with a very pleasing hourglass figure. Her eyes were a beautiful brown, which he found more and more was his favorite eye color. Luna's silvery blue eyes were striking but not the feature that attracted him to her, and nobody could compete with the perfect blue of Gabrielle. And her hair was just below her shoulders in length and curled very prettily like Hermione's hair once she had it relaxed. In fact he suddenly noticed the amazing similarities between the two girls. Both Mione and Lav had brown eyes and long curly hair. Both had a similar build, it was just that Lavender tried very hard to take care of her appearance whereas Hermione was self confident and bookish, and he loved her for both. But he knew that beneath the conservative clothing was an extremely nice body, his erection began to stir once more as he though more about it.

So, as he sat deep in thought he completely missed Lavender trying to get his attention before she dropped into his lap and began snogging him once again. She pulled away after a few seconds.

"Are you in there Mister Harry? I saw you staring when I finished my homework; I thought you were staring at me..." She addressed him in a pouty seven-year-old voice.

He felt extremely ashamed for some reason. "Sorry, I was staring...then I guess I got lost in thought."

She grinned and ran a hand down his chest and continued down to his crotch. "So you were staring at me and thinking dirty thoughts? You naughty naughty man!"

"No wait! That isn't what I meant! I mean I was staring at you, and I was sort of thinking...but I wasn't thinking about you..."

She got off his lap and stomped back to the desk and began putting her things away. "Fine, if you are really not attracted to me I guess there is no reason to continue this..."

He got up off the couch and walked up behind her. He turned her slowly to face him and pulled her chin up so she was looking at him. "I'm sorry Lav. This whole plan is bloody confusing if you ask me, but I promise you I am more than attracted to you." He said softly.

"Really?" She asked hopefully.

He nodded, "You are a very beautiful girl, before this summer I would have had to admit that I thought you were the prettiest girl in our year. We just ran in different circles."

She put her book bag down and stepped into an embrace, which he automatically returned as she looked up into his eyes and smiled. "Well you weren't exactly easy to approach either you know, nobody wanted to step into the middle of the Golden Trio."

He leaned in closer letting his mind shut up and let his body do the talking for a while. "Funny how things end up then isn't it?"

She brushed her lips lightly against his as she spoke. "So you really thought I was the prettiest?"

Rather than answer her aloud he brought his lips to hers steadily deepening the kiss. He caught her and held her weight almost effortlessly as she melted against him, she pulled his shirt from his waistband and ran her hands up underneath against his bare skin for the first time and going on autopilot he did the same with her blouse getting a moan from her when his warm hands met the warm skin of her back for the first time. She suddenly found strength from somewhere and pushed him backward toward the loveseat where he sat down before she sat astride his lap, never breaking the kiss.

Her hand went to his waistband and he let her undo his trousers before his brain reengaged and he stopped her. She pulled away looking slightly confused. "What's wrong?" She asked breathily. Her pupils were dilated and her cheeks were flushed with desire.

He took a deep breath, "I don't want to move too fast Lav, you asked for a week or so to ourselves because you wanted a shot at a real relationship. I am trying to do that but if we get too intimate too soon I'm afraid that won't happen."

She turned her head and examined him for a moment. "You're really something else you know that Mister Harry?"

He smiled. "So I've been told."

"You better be careful or I might fall hard for you." She said leaning in for another kiss.

"That's why were taking it slow, it needs to be mutual and I don't just want to use you." She finished leaning in and began another kiss, her hand once again went to his waistband and paused for a second to see if he would stop her again. When he didn't she continued inside his boxers and along his curls until she wrapped her hand around his extreme erection.

"Holy..." She began.

"So I've been told..." He said quietly.

She began to make her way to her knees and he was about to stop her but was saved as the bell rung announcing that class would begin in fifteen minutes. He pulled her hand gently from his painfully hard erection and stood them both up getting a pout in protest from her.

"We still have fifteen minutes..." She said in her kiddy-voice again.

"And we need to straighten ourselves up. Besides, I think we were moving too fast again." She continued to pout at him but began tucking and straightening her uniform once again as he did likewise.

"Can we start Occlumency tonight?" She asked quietly.

His eyes went wide for a moment and his voice caught in his throat, but he swallowed and smiled. "I suppose so."

She grinned at him. "Good, then maybe we can finish what we started..." He honestly had no response and so just smiled back.

They gathered their things and walked arm-in-arm to Charms, Hermione threw him a questioning glance when she saw the two of them together but he shook his head slightly to answer her unasked question. To his amusement she pouted as he approached looking much like Lavender had moments earlier.

"Did you two have fun then? Did you actually get any work done?" Hermione asked quietly as he joined her in the corner of the room to await instructions for the day's lesson.

"We did a bit of snogging, though she tried to take it further. And yes we did get work done thank you very much, I do have some self control."

She grinned at him, "You could have fooled me."

Professor Flitwick quickly called the class to order as the bell rang, he went over the ward they were learning for the day and gave the rest of the class the chapters to read. He then approached them in the corner and asked a few review questions before demonstrating the wand movement and incantation and leaving them to their work.

He tried to stay next to Hermione for a while as they practiced but she finally shooed him away with the admonishment that they were technically not dating and needed to keep up appearances. And so he dejectedly perfected his casting before moving to chit chat with Daphne once more.

"Hello again you seductive snake. You sure you don't want to come to Hogsmeade with me?" This had become somewhat of a private joke between them over the last week. He would pretend to ask her out and she would pretend to reject him and then they would be able to carry on a normal conversation disguised as bickering. In a funny way it almost reminded him of Ron and Hermione from years before and he wondered idly if she was flirting with him or just being polite. He wondered if he was doing the same. Thoughts of Ron brought him to look around the classroom until he found Ron sitting with Dean, Seamus, Parvati and Lavender. The boys were talking in low tones rather than studying, the girls were doing the same though he could see them giggling about one thing or another. He almost dismissed it until Parvati looked up and caught his eye before breaking down in giggles once more.

"Great, they're gossiping about me." He said quietly to no one in particular.

Daphne looked nonchalantly at the girls in question then back to Harry, "You really do get around don't you Black?"

He barely controlled the blush and responded as venomously as he could for show, "I have no idea what you're talking about."

She leaned in closer, "Word travels milord, Lovegood, Weasley, Bones and Brown are at least Purebloods even if they are from minor families. But why do you insist on fraternizing with the likes of Granger and that Hit Wizard Tonks?"

Harry's anger was real this time, "Why do you have an issue with half-bloods and Muggleborn? I had thought better of you Daph." He spit at her.

She was taken aback momentarily but regained her cool demeanor almost instantly, "I don't have an issue with them if you must know, but they should stick to their kind."

"You're a racist snake you know that? Just when I thought that Slytherin was redeemable."

She turned on him, "Now listen here Black, just because I don't think that they should be allowed to mix with their betters does not mean I do not respect them as people in their own right! How dare you accuse me of such a thing!"

"Then explain it to me your worshipfulness!"

She looked around quickly to make certain they were not attracting undo attention and lowered her voice. "Look, since time immemorial there has been a class above the rest. Royalty and Pureblood Mages have always been held above the riffraff, just because a King or Duke was not able to keep his Willy to himself does not give his bastard the right to rule!"

"How dare you!" Harry said coldly; and indeed the temperature dropped in his vicinity. "You do realize that half of the atrocities committed by your precious royalty were because they were inbred and sick! Those bastards as you refer to them have been the savior of the royal lines since time immemorial! When a King becomes a Tyrant he loses the right to rule, his inbred Royal-bloodline starts breeding genetic defects that lead to insanity or stupidity. Then along comes his bastard to lead a revolution and take over by right of conquest as well as blood. You do realize my mother was Muggleborn? You do realize that Andromeda Tonks ne Black is the one who couldn't keep her willy to herself? Where do you get this stuff?" He asked heatedly though it did nothing for the temperature.

She seemed to catch on to his mood as she began shivering and looked around curious that nobody else could feel the cold, she looked back to him and was pinned by the power in his eyes as she responded. "I...I...my mother..."

"Not Matty Malkin, for some reason I can't picture her filling your head full of this dribble!"

She was stunned again by his information, "I...no...Matty is one of my father's stranger wives..." She just could not regain her calm appearance with him staring her down like that.

He shook his head. "Not your father I hope, Wood Parkinson and Terrence Zabini seemed reasonable enough."

She shook her head, "My real mother Diana Greengrass, my father's first wife. Her line goes back to Merlin's time as far as we can tell...Besides, Blaise's Uncle Terry is a bit off if you ask me."

He lost some of his anger and she was able to regain some of her footing, once again glancing around to see who was watching. She only saw one pair of brown eyes looking back at her from the Gryffindor section and they were full of jealousy. She suddenly realized just how close Harry was standing to her and took a step back.

"I thought Terrence was his father?" Harry said quietly.

Glad to see him in a more reasonable state she was happy to fill him in on the clan. "Blaise's mother is known for marrying rich wizards who then die unexpectedly. Her last husband was Terry's brother. Terry is not at all happy with her but he loves Blaise like a son."

He had cooled off enough to regain control of himself. "Listen alright; I'm sorry about that...conversation. I love Hermione and I cannot stand to hear someone speak of her so casually as if she were an animal." His eyes began to grow dark again and she quickly jumped to keep him from his anger.

"Look, I told you I don't think of them as animals. I was just raised to see Purebloods as Royalty who do not mix with the commoners. That includes Muggles and Muggleborn. I realize that you are a Halfblood but you are the only child and heir of two very long Pureblood lines, and you are not a bastard child." He growled. "I am sorry; you are not an illegitimate child as your father did marry your mother. You have standing amongst the Pureblood aristocracy despite your lineage and I hate to see that wasted on the likes of...sorry to see you dilute your bloodline more by being with Granger."

"Listen Daphne, if I get you some books on genetics will you read them? I know it is Muggle Science so you will automatically dismiss it but you have to see. Purebloods should have bred themselves out of existence a century or two ago but have not. There is not a magical explanation; the only logical one is that they have been renewing their bloodlines with Muggle or Muggleborn mates."

She considered the idea for a moment, "Fine, I will read your science and even accept that it is possible that we have used breeding stock in the past. But I still don't know about fraternizing with them like this. That's another thing, if you love Granger why are you with Brown?"

He sighed and was about to begin his explanation when Flitwick called the class to attention once more for the practical part of the class. "Later." He said getting a nod from her.

She nodded in response and they began making rounds through the class as they had before. Once again he appeared to be the only one brave enough to help out the Slytherins and ended up at the edge of the group. "Tracey Davies right?" He asked the rather tall blonde.

"What of it Pott..Black?" She responded with venom.

"Look, you're supposed to swish then flick not flick then jab. Like this." He demonstrated for her and watched as she repeated his actions and got the spell correct on the first try.

"I...look Black, you aren't welcome over here. Thanks for the tip but you better move along before someone..." She was interrupted by a rather unwelcome voice.

"Looky here, its Potty trying to talk up one of our chicks again boys. You know milord I understand that the pickings are slim in the other houses, but you just don't rate a Slytherin Princess for a date so give up." Malfoy spouted off getting laughs from his two goons.

Harry was about to respond in the same manner as the last time but was surprised when Blaise stepped between them facing Malfoy. "Move along Malfoy, Lord Black is simply trying to help out; I seem to remember his little group bested you without wands last year. I for one think he is worth learning from."

"Get off it Zabini, like I just got off your mother!" Malfoy snarled.

Blaise grinned back at the boy giving him pause. "Actually Malfoy, you are welcome to my mother. Maybe you will end up like her last three husbands, you two deserve each other."

Malfoy was choking on his tongue trying to come up with a response but a very suave Blaise turned to the rest of the group. "Listen up all of you, Lord Black is simply offering to help us out. I say we call truce and let him help, I think you all noticed the OWL scores from last year? How many Slytherins were in your defense group Milord?" He said turning back to Harry.

"Uh, none." Harry said still stunned at this sudden change.

"And what was the average OWL score for your little group?"

"Exceeds Expectations...but I..." He was cut off again.

"And what was your score?"

Harry blushed very slightly before getting annoyed at the smirk on Malfoy's face. He decided he would go along with whatever was happening if it would wipe that smirk off. "Double O plus, they couldn't give me more points so they sent a letter letting me know I had the highest recorded score for DADA ever." There was a sudden intake of breath from all the snakes present.

Blaise was grinning as he turned back toward the group, Malfoy looked stunned. "You see what I mean? I think we need to promote change within our house and peace between the houses. Hatred is getting us nowhere and that is simply not acceptable to a Slytherin is it? Onward and Upward right?" The group broke away muttering to themselves quietly as Malfoy was dragged away by Crabbe and Goyle.

Blaise turned back to Tracey. "If you need help, don't be afraid to ask him since it appears that no one else is brave enough to try and Daphne can't really help all of us." Daphne nodded from the other side of the group before she turned back to her demonstration.

"Thanks for that Zabini." Harry said quietly as the boy went to walk away.

The boy smiled ever so slightly, "Don't disappoint me Black; I just went all in placing a bet on you."

"Oh, and sorry for making you lose face and all that. I didn't think honestly." He said quietly so that Tracey couldn't hear him.

The boy shook his head, "Don't apologize for being stronger than me, I should have stopped or slowed down." Blaise answered in the same hushed tones.

"Or I should have seen that you couldn't show weakness when facing me."

"Don't worry about it Black, if today's gambit pays off then were even." He then walked away.

"Um...so what was that wand movement again?" Tracey asked shyly and Harry turned to show her again.

The rest of class was much more subdued and as usual the advanced students were given non-verbal casting as homework. Harry had just entered the hallway when he heard the beginnings of a curse being cast and dove headfirst bringing Hermione, Parvati and Lavender down to the floor with him as a curse shot overhead and struck the wall. In what looked like a blur of movement to the rest of those present but felt like a lifetime to Harry he slowly turned and released his wand even as he began the wand movements. In less than half a second Malfoy was disarmed, unconscious, and stuck to the ceiling with a passworded permanent sticking charm. Time then seemed to jump back to normal speed suddenly leaving Harry disoriented.

"Harry!" simultaneous cries came from either side as Hermione and Lavender both tried to kiss him and ended up butting heads, Hermione looked apologetically at a fuming Lavender before standing and helping both of the others to their feet where Lavender jumped into his arms and began kissing every inch of his face.

"Mister Harry, you're my hero!" Kiss, "How did you know he was casting?" Kiss, "I can't believe you dove in front of that curse for me!" Kiss, kiss, kiss.

He reached up and grabbed her hands from the sides of his head where she was holding her target and pulled them down to her chest. He then kissed her properly getting the immediate response he was looking for as she went slightly limp and half-comatose. "Lav..Lav?" he whispered quietly.

"Hmmm?"

"You in there?" He said with a small smile and a glance at a very jealous looking Hermione.

"Mmmhmm?"

"All better now see, not a scratch on anyone...well except him." He said nodding toward the boy on the ceiling.

"That was still amazing Harry, I've never seen anyone react that fast or cast like that!" She said as she finally came back around.

Just then Flitwick rushed into the hallway and looked around. "What is going on out here?"

"Nothing Professor, There was a minor skirmish but Malfoy thought better of himself and shut up." Blaise answered coolly.

The little man looked around at the crowd looking for signs of trouble before shrugging. "Very well then, I believe we are missing lunch?"

"Yes Professor." Came a chorus of replies and they all headed toward the stairs.

Nobody ever thought to tell the Professor he should have looked up rather than at the crowd. "Nice work Black...how do we get him down?"

Harry grinned, "Why would you want to do such a terrible thing?"

Blaise just looked at him until he relented. "Fine, the password is I'm a Ferret."

"Why would I say such a thing?" The Slytherin asked.

"You don't, it's keyed to him." Harry said with a grin.

"Harry!" Hermione chastised him though she was grinning as well.

"Good show Black...this is going to be an interesting year..." Blaise said and separated from him as they entered the Great Hall.

*************************SFTP************************

Halfway into lunch Tonks came up behind him and clearly trying to control her giggles asked him what she needed to do to get her cousin down off the ceiling on the fifth floor. After a playful session of "Why ask me?" he gave her the password and watched as she laughed uproariously out the doors getting strange looks from everyone in attendance. Afterward he and Hermione were free for the rest of the day but as he began to make his way his way down the table toward she and her girlfriend he caught a very slight shake of her head and an apologetic look in her eyes before they darted over his shoulder and back across the table to Gin. He followed her line of site and found Lavender tapping her toe and waiting patiently for him.

"So we are off for the rest of the day Mister Harry, whatever shall we do?" She asked him once she caught his eye.

He turned toward her and sighed internally, the plan was not working out as far as he was concerned, although Luna had actually been fun. He supposed that dating was often like that but he really didn't like the trial and error of dating when he already had three steady relationships. He walked toward her and threw on a smile.

"I guess we could go for another walk around the lake."

She shook her head, "That was lovely Harry, but it would be boring to do again, besides it is starting to get chilly outside. How about we head upstairs?"

He nodded and they made their way arm-in-arm up the stairs, he was about to continue up toward Gryffindor tower but she steered him toward his rooms. "I thought we could work on Occlumency, if that is okay with you?"

He had promised her they could work on it later; he just wasn't all that comfortable around her when they were alone. Her body drove him crazy in a good way, but her mouth could drive him crazy in a bad way. Mentally sighing once more he walked her down the corridor and through the portrait, which clicked open at his approach. Once inside he got very nervous.

"Uh...look, for this to work we both need to relax just a bit alright? Can we, um, talk or something for a while?"

She just smiled and sat down on the loveseat, patting the spot beside her which he took gratefully since it didn't require much thinking. "So what do you want to talk about?" She asked him quietly.

He tried to think of something non-sexual off the top of his head that didn't have to do with gossip, makeup, fashion, or Divination and only one thing sprang to mind. "Uh, how about Quidditch?"

Surprisingly her eyes lit up, "That sounds fun, so who is your favorite team?"

"Uh, well Ron keeps trying to force the Cannons on me." She made a face, which he couldn't help but chuckle at. "I don't have the heart to tell him I'm a Puddlemere United fan."

She smiled, "I of course love the Harpies, not only are they actually a rather good team, but they are all so beautiful. It's nice to know that even in a downpour with sixty knot winds there are ways to keep your eyeliner from running and your hair from going frizzy. But I think deep down I'm a Tornado's fan."

He began to relax as they chatted for half an hour or so about everything Quidditch. She was surprisingly well informed and he finally found some common ground which interested him in her mind as much as her body. If not him, then some Quidditch fan was going to be very lucky when they snagged her as a girlfriend. It wasn't long before he had his arm wrapped around her as she laughed at some off color joke he made or a story he told about the World Cup prior to the attacks. She was pressed lightly against his side and he found that he rather liked her there even as he pulled her closer.

"So are we ready to get started now?" She asked with a large smile.

He smiled right back, "I think we are. Now you realize there is some reading involved in this right?"

She looked a bit crestfallen but quickly nodded anyway. "It's worth it if I can remember things even half as well as you can."

"It will also keep the likes of Dumbledore and Snape out of your head." He mentioned.

She shrugged, "I don't necessarily have anything to hide, but I suppose that is a nice bonus."

"Dobby?" He called out and the elf appeared before him. "Can you go grab Occlumency for the Occluded for me?" He nodded and popped away, the book appeared as before with a double-pop too quick to see the elf before he left. Harry picked it up and handed it to her.

"Now I can walk you through the meditation today, it is one of the basic things that is covered by the first couple of chapters so you won't have to read the whole thing. But once you find your center there is not a lot I can do to help you out so you will need to have studied up on it."

She nodded, "I thought you were a mind reader as well, couldn't you pop into my head and help me organize stuff?"

The question actually made some sense but he was not about to do the work for her. "First of all, the term is Legilimens; Mind Reader implies that your memories are like a book and all I have to do is find the proper page, that isn't how the mind works. Second, the way you choose to organize your mind has to make perfect sense to you, in fact the less sense it makes to anybody else the better in case they make it past your shields."

"Shields?" She asked in rapt attention, he found the look disconcerting as she never seemed to concentrate so hard in class.

"Everyone has natural shielding just to cut out the noise of life. Part of your training will be to strengthen that shield and possibly form a new one that is specifically for protecting your thoughts and memories. It's in the book." He said tapping the cover of the tome in her hands.

She sighed. "Well, anything worth doing and all that...So is this the part where I have to take my clothes off?" Her question was unexpectedly shy. After as much as she had pressed him to do this and her casual mention of the fact, it seemed she was in fact a bit uncomfortable with the idea.

"Do you want to see me naked that badly?" He asked with a smile.

She blushed, another surprise, but nodded. "That might be part of it...It just sounded like so much fun until we are actually ready to do it, you know?"

Harry nodded and walked over to the desk where he pulled out two sheets of parchment. He produced his wand and waved it a few times turning them into fluffy bathrobes. "Here we go." He said turning back toward her, "How about we start out in these and if you still can't seem to get into a meditative state we can work our way up to nudity?"

She took the robe gratefully and stood up; she removed her shoes and stockings and began to unzip her skirt before catching his eye. "Well, turn around!" She said with a smile.

He did as she asked and walked into his room where he quickly removed his clothing and put on the robe before heading back. He knocked on his bedroom door and called out to her. "Is it safe?"

After receiving confirmation that she was decent he walked back in to find her wearing a robe and a blush. "You know, all that blushing is kind of cute."

"Stuff it Mister Harry." She said playfully

He called out to Bernie to lock the portrait before heading to the center of the room where Dobby had thankfully placed a large rug at some point. He then sat down cross-legged, making sure that he was not exposing himself and motioned for her to join him. Once they were settled on the floor he led her through some breathing exercises to get her more relaxed.

"How are you feeling right now?" He asked softly.

"I can feel my body rocking in time with my heartbeat. I can hear blood rushing through my ears...and a high pitched noise that..."

"That's your nervous system, trust me you don't want to listen to that or it will just get louder and more annoying. Concentrate on the sound of my voice instead..." She nodded. "Now your mind should be completely devoid of thought, tell me what you are seeing but don't try too hard to describe it."

"Black...Red...Yellow dancing lights..."

He suppressed a chuckle, "That is the back of your eyelids, you aren't relaxed enough, you need to let your mind wander a bit more. Rather than trying NOT to think of anything, let's try not thinking and just watching whatever your mind wants to show you." She nodded and went quiet.

He dipped into his own center and then raised himself to the level he was telling her about, it was almost like dreaming, possibly more like daydreaming. He found himself sitting in a meadow with bright sunlight shining down. He tried to hold on to the image, but not so hard that he lost it and spoke again. "How are you doing?"

"I feel like I'm about to fall asleep and start drooling...sorry...I can't really seem to do it, every time I start to drift off I concentrate on the image and sort of end up losing it. I don't know what I'm doing wrong." She said in frustration.

"Alright calm down, frustration won't help you here. Breath in..." He demonstrated. "Now breathe out slowly to a count of five." She did so and he decided to try and help her along. He reached out and felt just the edge of her shields and that is where he kept his consciousness even as he drifted back toward his meadow.

"Breath in again..." She did. "Now follow me and keep up your breathing. You catch a glimpse of blue white and green just from the corner of your eye. Don't chase it, just let it sit there. Good, now another breath. Without looking at it I want you to imagine what you can see, the green is grass on the ground gently swaying in a light breeze. Breath....The blue is the cloudless sky above the sun shines brightly, it is warm and cozy, just the perfect temperature for lying in the grass. Breath....Around the edges you see the white mist that obscures the trees. You are in a beautiful meadow, now I want you to lay back in the grass and Breath...." He did the same even as he described it to her and found himself lying in the meadow looking up at the clear blue sky.

"Harry?" He turned his head and found her lying beside him in her Robe.

"This is different..." He said quietly so as not to wake her up.

"How is this possible?"

"I was touching your mind very lightly trying to help you relax; I guess you followed me into my vision. It's beautiful isn't it?"

She nodded and scooted over to lie on his shoulder as they both looked up at the sky. "Where are we?" She asked.

"I don't know. No place I've ever been it was just where my mind took me." Their voices sounded hollow, kind of like they were echoing off of nothing.

"It's nice."

He nodded and pulled her closer to him. "It is. Now that you are here I guess I can help you out more than I thought. Once you reach a state like this you should be able to actually control what you see. Look up at the sky." He said even as he looked up. "Why don't you think us up some clouds?"

"How do I do that?" She asked quietly.

"You just do, pretend you're writing a story or something, whatever works for you and imagine white puffy clouds appeared. She tried it the way he said and a single white cloud floated across their field of vision. "I did it!" She exclaimed.

"Calm down, you don't want to ruin it. Now how about a cloud shaped like something, the first thing you can think of, sort of the opposite of finding shapes in the clouds when you're awake."

She went quiet for a moment and a rather large penis shaped cloud floated lazily over head. "Why Miss Brown, I think you are not concentrating on your work."

She blushed prettily which he found amusing since she should technically be able to control that here. "You said the first thing that came to mind...and I got a feel of you earlier..."

He coughed as he hastily changed the subject. "Alright, now make the clouds go away."

She looked at him funny for a moment before closing her eyes. Soon the clouds dissipated and left the sky once more clear and blue. "Good job Lav, now I want you to make the sun disappear."

"What?" She exclaimed quietly.

"This is all a dream world Lav; you have to learn how to block things out and how to change things around in your head. Now go on, I'm not saying you have to turn the lights out, maybe just make the sky completely blue with the sun hiding behind the trees?"

Once more she closed her eyes, rather than what he asked, the sun fell quickly behind the trees casting the whole meadow into twilight. "I suppose that works as well, but now I won't you to make the trees and mist go away as well. We just want green grass as far as we can see meeting clear skies." She concentrated and what little of the trees poked through the mist seemed to fade away and the mist began to roll back. It stopped at the edge of vision though and her face screwed up.

"Lav you're trying too hard. Don't make it go away over the horizon, just make it disappear. There are no rules of physics here."

"Physics?" She asked without opening her eyes.

"Natural laws...don't worry about it. Here I will help you with this part." With a thought the mist simply disappeared.

"Now can you make the ground into sky as well? If you have to then imagine you are on a broom or something, but remember, if you make the ground disappear there is nowhere to fall to."

For some reason that was easier for her to grasp and they were suddenly surrounded on all sides by Lavender sky which he found almost poetic. "I actually think this is perfect but it doesn't matter what I think. What do you think?"

"I think it's beautiful...but how can you tell where you are, or where you are going? There is no frame of reference." She said. The last sentence made him up his appreciation for her mind more.

"That shouldn't be a problem once you find your center, at your center should be a representation of your magic like a spring or a well or even a lake. That will help you anchor yourself when you start sorting your memories and emotions."

"This whole thing is scary I just want you to know that." She said with a smile as she floated toward him.

He opened his arms and welcomed her into his embrace. "But worth it, now here is what you are going to do at night before bed. I want you to try and reach someplace like this on your own and then I want you to stop thinking and feeling. For now you won't be sorting anything I just want you to be able to control yourself. If you get relaxed enough you should be able to start exploring until you find your center. Oh, and read the book."

"Poo on reading, you are so much better at teaching than any old book Mister Harry." For the first time the nick name didn't aggravate him, he thought it was cute.

"Well, there are things in that book that I might forget to teach, just ask Gin about it sometime..." She went rigid in his arms for a moment before relaxing again. "Do you have a problem with Ginny?"

She shook her head and sighed. "No, I think she is lovely, and beautiful. I guess I just can't help being jealous."

"You know I am not leaving them right? Even if I fall in love with you I already know I am in love with them."

Lavender sighed and nodded into his shoulder. "I can handle it if we work out...I mean, I have to right?"

"Exactly."

She stepped back out of his embrace and looked around. "So none of this is actually real right?"

He nodded cautiously, "I would be careful about what you do in here, but yeah, for the most part this is just a waking dream I guess. Why?"

She untied her robe and took it off in a flash causing him to go instantly erect and his eyes to lock in the open position. "Uh..." He said intelligently.

She strolled over to him watching in amusement, as he stood immobile. "I'm glad you like what you see."

"Uh..."

"I was too scared to do this in real life, but in here it's like I have no inhibitions since there aren't any repercussions. And now that this is out of the way maybe I can meditate properly."

"I uh...I suppose so." He said having finally regained the use of his voice.

"I show you mine, you show me yours Mister Harry." He nodded and removed his robe quickly having already gotten used to nudity.

"Oh my..." She said quietly.

He smiled glad to have regained some advantage. "So I've heard...honestly I got used to my body over the summer so it never bothered me that much to disrobe in front of you. However watching you disrobe is another matter."

She closed the distance between them and wrapped her arms around his neck pressing his manhood against her stomach. "You mean even after everyone you have been with you were still nervous about getting me naked?" He nodded. "How sweet." She leaned in and kissed him and he immediately deepened the kiss. His hands ran down her back to her bum and back up to her chest where he began playing with her nipples and massaging her breasts before he finally had to break for air.

"I haven't ever been this exposed before...I mean I've played around with, well that doesn't matter. But you're the first guy to see me completely naked."

"Lucky me." He said through a smile before kissing her again.

She ran her hands down his chest and wrapped one around his shaft before directing him between her legs where she began using him as a dildo. She seemed to give up as a bed appeared behind him and she pushed him down onto it.

"Lav?" He asked a bit fearfully.

"This isn't the real world right Harry?" She said as she climbed on top of him.

"Right...but I still don't think..."

"Stop thinking, this is just a daydream I've had more than my fair share of." She reached between them and lined his cock up with her entrance before quickly sliding him inside her.

"Lav! Wait, I thought you were a virgin?"

"You think in my fantasy of being with you I am going to go through the pain of breaking my hymen Mister Harry? Think again." She began rocking and he stopped protesting.

"Still not right, but...bloody hell this is erotic." He groaned as she came loudly on top of him. He rolled them over and began long slow strokes enjoying every sensation even as she came once more beneath him. He slowed for a moment and gazed down at her. "Do you normally get off so easily?"

She shrugged, "Never had sex before, but it is my dream and I am having multiple orgasms. Now shut up and shag me!" He obliged and began pounding into her. He imagined that any other girl would have passed out after the tenth orgasm but was simply happy to see her enjoy herself. He could feel his own orgasm building and it felt like the one he had with Luna, which he supposed, was only natural being a dream and that having been the most amazing orgasm of his life. Finally he couldn't hold off any more.

"Lav, I'm gonna...I..." He panted.

"I Love You Harry!" She screamed before falling back to the mattress still looking as beautiful as if she had not just been shagged rotten. Even as he spilled into her Harry was scared out of his mind.

"Lav I... I mean you do not love me! It's too soon..." He collapsed on top of her as the pleasure was still washing through his system trying to force the fear to subside.

She looked hurt for a moment before she turned her face away from him. "Of course not...just caught up in fantasy is all...sorry for scaring you like that. At least you enjoyed yourself right?"

He groaned as he pulled out of her and lay on the bed beside her. "I did, that was amazing Lav but I am not going to be doing that in real life any time soon. I still think it was too fast even in here." He said gesturing to the empty Lavender sky all around their floating bed.

She cuddled into his shoulder and sighed contentedly. "I know, I just couldn't help myself. You have been my fantasy for years now, I'm sorry if I rushed you."

"How about we get out of here, it has to be dinner time."

"What about a shower?" She asked. He just looked at her for a moment as if she had gone crazy. "Oh! Right, sorry, forgot where we were."

He walked her through waking herself back up slowly, one level at a time they returned to the waking world and opened their eyes at the same time facing each other sitting cross-legged on the rug in his common room. She blushed a very deep red and couldn't meet his eyes. "Uh, so...dinner?"

He stood and offered her a hand up. "Dinner."

She walked over to the couch where she had placed her clothes earlier and looked nervously at him and smiled shyly. "Do you want me to go in the other room?" He asked.

"No...no if I am going to do this I have to get used to it in reality..." She took a deep breath and slowly let the robe fall to the ground; his reaction was exactly the same as it had been in the dream, instant erection. He watched for a moment as she slid her white cotton panties back on and decided that he would rather watch her remove them and headed toward his room.

"Where are you going Mister Harry?" She asked with a pout.

"Uh, my clothes are in here. Not that I don't want to see you naked, um again that is... I just need to get dressed as well."

She turned toward him with her hands on her hips wearing only her panties. "I've shown you mine..." She waited patiently until finally he got it and let his own robe fall to the ground.

"Happy?" He asked.

"You have no idea." She said staring straight at his member for a moment before looking up into his eyes. "Well off with you, I don't want to be late for dinner!" She shooed him into his room before finishing getting dressed.