Posted originally on the Archive_of_Our_Own at https://archiveofourown.org/ works/10160849. Rating: Explicit Archive Warning: Rape/Non-Con, Underage, Graphic_Depictions_Of_Violence Category: M/M, Multi Fandom: Harry_Potter_-_J._K._Rowling Relationship: Draco_Malfoy/Harry_Potter, Draco_Malfoy/Harry_Potter/Severus_Snape, Harry Potter/Severus_Snape Character: Harry_Potter, Severus_Snape, Draco_Malfoy Additional Tags: Explicit_Language, BDSM, Chan, Slash_sex, Out_of_Character, Sexual Content, Threesome, Alternate_Universe, First_Time, Plot_What_Plot/Porn Without_Plot, Romance Collections: HPFandom Stats: Published: 2009-11-02 Completed: 2011-07-21 Chapters: 7/7 Words: 28280 ****** Fiducia Dilectio Fruit ****** by s_n_m_evergreen [archived by HPFandom_archivist] Summary It's Harry's fourth year and things are changing in his life. The first day of classes he finds a strange fruit on his plate and after eating it he feels more confident and assured. What does this mean for his coming year? About the warnings: the OOCness is mostly because of the fruit. We didn't warn for drugs but the fruit is drug like in some ways. The PWP warning comes into play several chapters in but there is likely going to be a point where you wonder if the story is just an excuse for a lot of sex to happen. Hope you enjoy! This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoat Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. Notes Note from SeparatriX, the archivist: this story was originally archived at HP_Fandom, which was closed for health and financial reasons. To preserve the archive, I began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in August 2016. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on HP_Fandom_collection profile. ***** Chapter 1 - Strange Fruit ***** The first years had been sorted and Harry sat with Ron and Hermione waiting for the announcements. He was more than ready to feast. The Dursley's had been difficult all summer and he'd been lucky to eat once a day but it was okay, he was back now, at his real home.

"Look at her, will you Harry," Ron's eyes were sealed to the end of the front table. "She's gorgeous." Hermione looked over at who he was talking about and nodded her head. "She is very pretty Ron, but I don't know that she's worth drooling over." "Have you seen her Harry?" Ron seemed to think she was worth drooling over. Harry looked.

"She's, er, actually I see where both of you are coming from. I don't really like her though. I saw her earlier when we were getting off the train. There's something about her that bothers me. A little too perfect, you know? Not exactly real."

"Looks pretty real to me," Ron sounded disappointed. "Oh Ron," Hermione sighed. The lady in question had rich brown hair that fell in soft curls past her shoulders. Her eyes were a bright blue, and her pale skin was flawless. Her robes were nicely tailored and she was tall. She spoke with the teachers, and they all seemed fairly entranced with her. "Hm," Harry watched her and was struck with a familiar feeling. "She reminds me of Malfoy, someone you can't trust. You know? Looks good on the surface but there's something..." Harry couldn't put his finger on it. He shrugged. "I agree," Hermione said. "Too perfect." Her head was held high and she looked away from the teachers’ table. That was when Dumbledore stood up and walked to his podium. "Well, another school year is starting, and we are all glad to see your shining faces back here at Hogwarts. This year all the rules will be followed as usual, and no new restrictions have been placed on the school, so have fun! I would like to introduce the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher to you all. Her name is Miss Violet Glen. She has previous teaching experience over seas and has come back to Europe this past year. She is very optimistic about the coming term. Please give her a warm welcome," Dumbledore finished, waving to the lady Harry had just been talking about. She stood and smiled. There were thunderous applause of course. Despite Hermione and Harry's disinterest most of the students were pleased. Harry glanced at Hermione. "Do you really see it or is it more...?" He tilted his head towards Ron. Hermione looked at Ron, then back to Harry. "Maybe partly." She shrugged. "But there's still something I don't like. I think it's her smile, it doesn't reach her eyes." Harry nodded and looked at the woman again. He saw that actually. "I hope she knows how to teach."

"Who cares, at least we'll have something to look at," Ron replied.

After all that Lupin had done the year before Harry couldn't get himself to agree. Lupin was gone and it set a damper on everything, he’d rather look at him anyway then some woman. It had been nice to actually learn for a change in Defense and he hated the thought of loosing out on that opportunity. "Dumbledore said she had teaching experience, I'm sure she knows how. The question is does she care about Defense?" Hermione bit her lip as the teacher in question sat down and the applause tapered off. "Thank you Miss Glen! Now, the moment all of you have been waiting for," Dumbledore motioned to the tables, and they filled with food. Students didn't wait for another moment, they began digging in. # The next morning at breakfast Harry found the oddest piece of fruit on the table.  It was right on his plate, the one he always sat in front of.  It looked like a cross between a cherry, an orange and a peach.  He picked it up and examined it more closely as Hermione took a serving of eggs and Ron piled some bacon onto his plate. Hermione glanced over at him and said, "Can you pass me the butter Harry?" "Sure."  Harry lifted the butter and passed it over.  The fruit was bright red with smooth skin like a cherry but it was the size of an orange or a peach and when he opened it, there were sections of fleshy yellow orange.  Harry took a section and bit into it.  It tasted like peach.  It was delicious. "What is that you've got?" Hermione asked as she grabbed two pieces of toast and started putting butter on them. "It looks good." "Some sort of fruit," Harry told her between bites. Ron glanced at it, then looked back at his porridge.  "Never seen a peach like that before." Harry nodded.  He had eaten half of it and found a pit in the middle between the sections.  "I wonder if I could grow one." "Can I try a bit?" Ron asked. Harry handed him a piece, though a part of him really didn't want to share.  He hurried to finish the rest before Hermione asked for some as well.  Ron took a bite. "It's really good for fruit.  Here Hermione, have a try."  Ron offered her the second half of his wedge. "Thanks," Hermione said, taking the offered fruit and biting into it. "Wonder where it was grown." She looked over at Harry and the pit. "Going to try to grow one?" Harry shrugged, then nodded.  "Thought I would.  Maybe Neville will give me a hand.  It's awfully good."  Now that it was gone he realized he hadn't taken anything else to eat.  He looked through the nearby fruit bowl but he couldn't find anything like it, so he finally settled on his usual favorites. Hermione finished her bit and looked at Ron. "Thank you Ron, it was really good." Then she looked at Harry again.  "I'm sure Neville will help you." Harry nodded agreement and when breakfast was over he carefully stowed the pit in a fabric napkin from the table.  Then he got up and headed for class with his friends. # "Your assignment is on the board.  I expect to see a proper potion on my desk by the end of class," Snape's voice rang through the room. Hermione looked over the board quickly, and then looked at Harry. "I'll go get the ingredients.” Harry nodded, looking at the board then over at Ron and Neville who were working together on this potion.  "Want me to get your ingredients?" Ron shook his head.  "No I've got it!"  He popped up and followed after Hermione. "Aren't you nervous?"  Neville asked as they waited.  Harry tipped his chair back. "Nervous about what?" "Feet flat on the floor Potter," Snape snarled as he passed by him. "Yes sir!"  Harry replied cheerfully putting his feet on the floor. "You know, first potion of the year and all."  Neville whispered.  "He always gives you a rotten time on the first day." Harry tipped his chair back again thoughtfully.  "He does, doesn't he?" "Ten points from Gryffindor for not listening to your instructors," Snape snapped, turning around to glare at Harry. "I don't believe I was misunderstood the first time, but perhaps I need to make myself clear.  Do not tilt your chair back Potter. Put your feet flat on the floor and leave them there." "Oh, right."  Harry dropped to the ground again.  "I'm very sorry Professor, I forgot." "You forgot?" Snape rounded on him. "It's really too bad you forgot Potter. If you aren't careful, a lot of things will be forgotten, like your House Points.  It's a good thing I haven't forgotten how to take ten of them from Gryffindor for cheek." Harry looked at Snape. “I wasn’t being cheeky, I was apologizing.” “Harry,” Neville whispered. Harry turned his head. “What? It’s true.” "Are you suddenly the champion of truth Potter?" Snape snarled. "If you aren't careful your mouth is going to get you into even more trouble." "That wouldn't be very unusual though, would it Sir?  I mean every year you end up taking tons of points from my house because of me.  Besides, you already took points for cheek when I wasn't being cheeky at all."  Harry wondered why he'd never come out and said all of that before, considering the number of times he'd thought it.  Neville and several other Gryffindor's looked at him in horror. Snape's eyes glittered as he stared at Harry.  "Detention Potter.  Friday, here.  I expect you to be on time, we have much work to do." Hermione plopped ingredients on the table and reached her hands around to put them over Harry's mouth.  "Very sorry sir," she apologized. Harry shrugged and looked at the cauldron, then back at the board.  He pulled Hermione's hands off his mouth.  "I'll get the water."  Then he went off to measure the proper amount.  A detention might be just the thing.  It would give him the chance to ask Snape a few questions that he wasn't certain why he'd never asked before. Slytherin side of the classroom was snickering and when Harry returned to the table, Hermione was busy working on their potion. "I don't know what you were thinking Harry," she said to him.  "It's like you were asking him to take points. You should have waited for a quiet moment to speak with him." Harry shrugged.  "He'd already taken the points.  I'm holding the rest for detention.  You might want to try to earn some extra points today though.  He's very sensitive, don't you think?" "He's always sensitive.  I think he needs more calcium in his diet.  I've heard that helps to sooth the soul.  Don't you think he needs soothing?"  Hermione started dropping ingredients into the cauldron and stirred it.  "I mean he's always uptight.  He needs to loosen up a bit.  Relax some more, maybe get out?" "I'll tell him Friday," Harry agreed.  "Want me to add the water?  It says gradually starting at this step." "Sure, go ahead."  She continued to stir and watched him add the water.  "I think you should.  I'd almost be willing to get a detention just to ask him some questions myself." "Less talking, more working," Snape snarled over at the Gryffindor side of the room.  The Slytherin's started snickering. Harry sighed and started adding the water slowly.  "Well, just let me know by telepathy if you want me to help on anything else." Hermione snickered.  "By telepathy?  You're cute Harry." She continued working on the potion for several more minutes. Harry watched as she worked.  There wasn't much he could do.  Snape had said to stop talking and they could hardly work together if they didn't talk.  He turned and watched Ron and Neville for a bit.  That was going to be a disaster, but he didn't say anything.  Less talk, more work.  He held back a snicker.  How silly when they had partners. "Harry, can you grab that wormwood and toss it in here?" Hermione asked. "I tried telepathy, it didn't work." "Less talk more work," Harry told her as he picked up the wormwood and tossed it to her, literally. She laughed and tried to catch it, but she wasn't quick enough.  It bounced off her arm and fell onto the ground.  "Pick that up Harry and put it in the cauldron, not toss it at me." "Ah, Hermione, tell me what you really want," Harry teased, retrieving the wormwood and putting it in the cauldron. "I really want you to do as I ask."  She stirred it in and looked at the board.  "Alright, next step is to crush the newts eyes. Do you want to stir this or crush those?" "I'll crush.  It's good practice.  Over the summer I crushed peppercorns and pine-nuts for practice."  He had done though it wasn't for practice.  Harry began crushing the newts eyes with great confidence "Finer," Hermione said, glancing over at him. "They need to be powder." "Not a problem."  Harry threw himself into it, crushing them as fine as he could. "There you go, see it's not so hard. I knew you could do it." Hermione's words were so heartfelt that she stirred the cauldron a touch too hard, spilling a drop of the liquid over the side.  "Oops," she said. Harry looked over to assess the damage.  "Don't worry, it was only a drop."  He consulted the board.  "Have you stirred it ten times to the right and twenty to the left?" "I'm on fifteen to the left, last count. So five more then you add the eyes." She continued stirring and nodded after five more. "Eyes." Enthusiastically Harry added the eyes. "That's right Harry, no need to be scared of them.  Or of the potion either really. It's such an easy one."  She stopped stirring and began to shred lily leaves.  "I don't know why we don't progress through the lessons quicker. Oh, I guess most people don't catch on as quickly."  She looked at Harry.  "Do you think you have trouble in this class because Professor Snape is hard on you or because you suck?" "Hm," Harry thought it over for all of three seconds.  "I think it's him.  I feel confident in my ability to do just about anything given the chance." Hermione nodded.  "Yeah, me too.  I think even Neville would be great in this class if Professor Snape wasn't always hovering over him, casting dark shadows on his work." "Ten points from Gryffindor," Snape said from above them.  "Less talk about teaching skills and personal ability Granger.  Work on your potion, not social skills." Harry shook his head.  "Professor, do you drink milk?" Snape's eyes gleamed. "What I drink is neither here nor there.  Pay attention to class Potter." "The thing is Professor, we have been working on the potion.  One has to communicate somehow, and we've chosen to speak to each other.  That is why we're talking."  Hermione said it very patiently, and calmly. Harry nodded.  "We tried telepathy but frankly it didn't work, sir." Snape's face began to get red.  His voice lowered. "Thirty points from Gryffindor Potter," he said softly. "Learn your place, and don't talk back to your teachers." Harry shrugged.  "It's only the truth Sir."  Why did they always make such a big deal about house points anyhow?  So what if they lost just one year.  Besides, they probably wouldn't loose.  They hadn't lost yet, and it had always looked bad.  "I think we'd better add those."  Harry nodded at the lily leaves. "Right," Hermione nodded, reaching for the leaves and adding them.  She returned to the cauldron and started stirring it.  "We're almost done now Harry," she said, seeming completely unconcerned with Harry and his behavior. "Two detentions Potter.  Watch it," Snape hissed. Harry looked at him and met his eyes.  He smiled.  Maybe Snape just didn't get enough smiles.  "Of course Sir, when shall I see you the second time?" "I'll let you know," he said, turning away from Harry in disgust and sweeping in on Neville and Ron. "I think you handled that very well," Hermione said to Harry. "Thank you."  Harry went back to helping her brew the potion. Theirs was one of the best potions brewed in the class.  As Hermione handed it up to Professor Snape, she smiled at him.  "Thank you for this opportunity sir," she said. Snape looked at her and narrowed his eyes.  "Good day Granger," he half growled. # That night Harry set the pot with his fruit pit in it next to his bed. Neville had helped him find some good, rich soil and they had watered it thoroughly. He’d said that it was likely to take a week to sprout. At about midnight Harry woke to find a small tree in the pot and hanging from the tree was a single fruit. He took it from the tree and ate it. He didn’t want to share. Besides, Hermione might be suspicious of a tree that grew and bore fruit so quickly. ***** Chapter 2 - DADA ***** Harry couldn't decide whether he was dreading DADA or excited. On the one hand the woman had experience, on the other she was... strange and nice. He didn't dislike nice, but for some reason the smiles she had directed his way made him uneasy. When they got to the room, they saw it had gone through another transformation. It was bright, the windows were open, and there were posters all over the walls. The pictures depicted different curses being used, and people properly countering them. All of the tables had such pictures on them as well. Hermione looked at Harry as they entered. "Strange," she said softly. Harry thought so to. "At least they seem relevant." He remembered another Professor who had been fond of posters, but those had been of his own face. Lockhart. She nodded and moved to take a seat, near the front of the class as usual. People were filing in excited, pointing at the posters and walls as they did so. The door at the front of the room opened, and Professor Glen came in. She closed the door behind her and moved to lean against her desk. She looked around the room at the students, and when her eyes fell on Harry, she offered him a slow smile. Yep, sort of creepy. Harry smiled back. He was sitting to Hermione's right and Ron was on her left, fidgeting. They would likely get moved around eventually. When everyone was in, and the door closed, she held up her hands. There was an immediate hush. "Welcome, everyone, to Defense Against the Dark Arts. I have gone over the notes left by each of your teachers, and it has come to my attention that, except for last years teacher, you have not had much actual training. This is your fourth year. A turning point in your lives in many ways. I have every hope that you can continue in the path set by Professor Lupin and learn how to defend yourselves against all the evils out there." Her voice was soothing, and she looked at each student as she spoke. The class was watching her in fascination. Harry was happy to hear that she approved of Professor Lupin's lessons at least, but the rapt fascination of the others bothered him. He glanced at Hermione. She was nibbling her lip as she watched. Then she glanced over at Harry. "At least she wants us to learn," she mouthed. Harry nodded agreement. It was encouraging to see Hermione still skeptical. "Now, this class is going to be hands on. Most of what we're going to do is group work. So, I want you to split yourselves into groups of six, but before you start moving there's a rule to this. Not a single group can have more than three people from one house." Students began looking around at each other. "So, us three and some Slytherin." Harry looked around. In the past he would have been much like the rest of the students, uncomfortable, surprised, unwilling. His eyes caught on Malfoy. Now there was someone he wouldn't mind working with. A real challenge. "Malfoy!" He called over. "Why don't you bring your group over here to make six." "Harry, are you sure about that?" Hermione whispered. Malfoy looked over at him, and snarled. His grey eyes caught on Harry’s, and he stared into them, as if searching for something. "Well, everyone is free to get into your groups, just as Mr. Potter is doing," Professor Glen said, and the students began to stand, shuffling around a bit towards each other. Harry smiled at him. "Sure Hermione, he'll be a good challenge, though I don't know about Crabbe and Goyle."

"I'm not working with him." Ron complained. "No, just no Harry."

"Why not?" Harry glanced at Ron.

"Are you joking? We hate each other."

"Keep your friends close and your enemies closer," Harry quipped looking back at Malfoy with raised eyebrows. Apparently he found whatever it was he had been looking for in Harry, because Malfoy stood up and motioned to Crabbe and Goyle. They glanced at each other, but got up as well, and the three of them moved to Harry. "What's wrong Potter?" Malfoy asked. "You don't have any kind of challenge with your friends, so you want someone who's actually good at spellwork?" Harry shrugged, "The point is to get better, I think this might be a good group for that."

Ron scowled. "There's nothing wrong with my spellwork, Malfoy." "Enough bickering already," Hermione said, standing up and getting in between the both of them. "The point of this, as Harry said, is to get better, not to brush up on our insults." "Alright," Professor Glen said, and the class quieted again. "If you aren't in groups in another five minutes, I'm selecting for you. So stop worrying so much and get moving." "Well, I think we're good here," Malfoy said. "Any projects we have to do together will undoubtedly be accomplished because of us." "Right," Harry laughed, "because Hermione and the rest of us are such slackers." He shook his head. "Give it a break Malfoy." Malfoy smirked. "Of course you are. Haven't you noticed?" "No, we hadn't."

Ron moved as far from Malfoy as possible. "I can't believe you're working with him purposely."

"Come on Ron, just give it a try, alright." "You know," Crabbe whispered. "He has a point. What are we doing here Draco?" "Learning. It's always best to know your enemies weaknesses, right?" Malfoy chuckled. "It's not like he's going to get the better of us." Hermione sighed and rolled her eyes. "Well, I honestly think this is best. At least we know what to expect when it comes to you three." Harry nudged Ron. "See, Hermione thinks it's a good idea."

Ron grunted and looked away. "Time to stop. If you are not in a group already, please come to the front. The rest of you," she flicked her wrist and the tables and chairs all floated up to the ceiling, clearing the room completely. "Stay in your groups, and move off around the room so there are several feet between yourselves and the other groups." Harry began moving the proper distance from the other groups around them. Hermione was moving as well. Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle kept pace a few feet away from Harry, but went in the general direction Harry was going. Once they were a good distance from everyone, Malfoy stopped. "This is good enough," he said. Harry shrugged, he'd been about to stop anyhow. He looked at Malfoy. Why had he never noticed how good looking he was before? He glanced at Hermione and wondered if she had noticed. She was twirling her wand nervously in her fingers, watching everyone, but not keeping her eyes on anyone for very long. Ron seemed intent on avoiding Malfoy completely. "Excellent. Now, we're going to start off with some spells. You are going to form a circle with your group. I'll call out a spell, and the middle Gryffindor will turn to their right and cast the spell. When the person they're casting on properly counters it, they get to turn to their right and cast it to the next. This will continue until you reach the original caster. The first group to get all the way around gets fifteen house points for one of the houses and a fifteen second head start on the next task.  The other house will have it's chance to score points with the second task.  Are we ready?" Harry was the middle Gryffindor at the moment. If they could get Ron to close the circle that was. "Ron, would you mind being part of this? If you aren't we're going to be the slowest group here." He pulled Ron between himself and Crabbe, backing away from Malfoy a bit to make a circle with the two of them across from each other. Hermione stood perfectly still between Goyle and Harry. Malfoy smirked at Harry. "Alright. We're starting with a simple spell from first year. Petrificus, begin!" Harry turned to his right and cast at Hermione. The counter was so quick that Harry had hardly blinked and she was turning to Goyle. He didn't fare as well, and had to be unpetrified. She cast on him a second time, and was still too quick for him. With a sigh, she went slowly the third time, and he finally got it right. Then he turned to Malfoy, who was almost as quick as Hermione at countering. It took Crabbe twice to counter, but then he was turning to Ron, casting fairly quickly after countering Malfoy. Ron dodged and Harry countered to prevent the thing from hitting himself. Ron apologized.

"Just turn around and counter it this time," Harry suggested. The curse was flying at him fairly quickly after Harry spoke. Ron countered this time and turned to cast at Harry, who countered first try. "Done!" Malfoy was calling out loudly as Harry countered. Professor Glen looked over at them and smiled. "Excellent! Now, wands down please." She was silent until everyone stopped moving and she walked over to Harry's group. "I believe it is Mr. Weasley, Mr. Potter, Miss Granger, Mr. Goyle, Mr. Malfoy and Mr. Crabbe, yes?" she asked the group. Hermione, Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle were nodding. Harry didn't bother, since he was certain she knew she was right. Had they honestly finished first? He looked around. Sure, he'd done well, and Hermione. Malfoy had also done, but the others... He looked at Ron. If they switched, no, Ron was slow and Hermione had been too fast. "Switch with Hermione," Harry told Ron in a quick whisper.

Ron's brow creased but he moved to Hermione and tapped her shoulder. "Harry says switch," he whispered. She nodded and switched places with him. As she did so, Professor Glen was speaking again. "So, fifteen house points to Gryffindor. No crying Slytherin's, your time is now. You six have fifteen seconds head start on the next spell, so everyone ready yourselves. This next spell is going to be a little more advanced, obviously." She looked around, and then turned once more to Harry's group. She gave Harry that slightly disturbing smile again and said, "Expelliarmus, begin." Harry turned to Ron without pause, met his eyes and cast. Ready for the cast Ron countered. Then he turned and cast at Goyle. He was not as fast as Hermione. Goyle didn't get it in one, and his wand went flying. He scrambled after it and ran back to the group as quickly as he could, his face red. "Rest of the class, Expelliarmus, begin!" Professor Glen called out. Once Goyle was well back Ron cast at him again. He countered this time and turned to Malfoy. Malfoy was countering and passing to Crabbe right away. Crabbe got it in one, and turned to Hermione, who countered easily and turned to Harry, catching his eyes briefly before casting. Harry countered and looked across at Malfoy. They had been even faster that time he thought. "Done!" Malfoy said as soon as Harry's eyes were on him. Malfoy was watching him closely, as if trying to determine something. "Alright, I know you haven't gotten much time to work, but stop." When everyone did, Professor Glen turned to Harry's group again. "Fifteen points to Slytherin. Now, I'm going to have you work on something else while the rest of the class works on these two spells again. Can you please move to the clear space behind my desk?" Harry moved with the group to the area behind her desk. They evidently had a lot of work to do, all of them should have been quicker and most of the class was slower than they were. Well, Hermione was quick as was Malfoy. He might be comparable but Ron, Crabbe and Goyle really needed to drill. She got the room working on Expelliarmus again, and then she moved to Harry. "So," she said, looking around at each of the students. "Why do you think you came out on top both times?" "It was easy the second time." Harry told her, then he looked around at the rest of the group, "I think it's sort of scary we came out on top the first time though." "Speak for yourself Potter," Malfoy snorted. "You and Granger might be fairly quick, but Weasley wasn't that great. I think in general we're well balanced. It almost makes me sick to admit that." "Harry, Ron and I are used to working together. I'm guessing that Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle are as well. I think that's part of the success. We can almost read each other to some extent," Hermione said thoughtfully. Professor Glen nodded. "That's what I was thinking Granger. So I'm going to keep the six of you together, but I'm moving you around. It's going to be Potter, then Goyle, then Weasley, then Malfoy, then Granger then Crabbe. You're going to work on a different spell, and I want you to start with Potter again. This is a fourth year spell so I have to teach it to you and the counter first. Are you ready?" She was using their abilities to their disadvantage, but Harry saw the good in that. Now they weren't trying to be fastest anymore, though speed was still an issue. They were trying to improve. Harry cast a glance at Malfoy, who was wrong by his own admission. They weren't balanced exactly as Crabbe and Goyle both had problems while Ron was their only weak spot. He sure wasn't going to say that though. Ron would get better. Harry was a bit irritated as he couldn't think of Crabbe or Goyle as a particular challenge and he wanted to actually improve. If he were a different type of person he would take great joy in casting at Goyle quickly and watching him fail to counter. Once she felt that they all had the basics of it down, she nodded at Harry. "It's time to start. Mr. Potter, you first again. Now you aren't going to stop until I come back, so when you get back to Mr. Potter, just keep going. I'll return in a little while." With that, she moved away from them and back to the rest of the class. Harry turned to Goyle and cast the spell. He didn't get it the first time and his skin started turning bright blue. Malfoy was countering the curse before anyone else got a chance and Goyle's skin returned to white. "Sorry," he mumbled. "If you're so sorry Greg, then focus. You're doing really terribly today and I know you can do better," Malfoy snarled. "Stop making us look bad." Goyle's face flushed and he looked at Malfoy for only a minute before turning back to Harry. "Sorry, I'm ready." There was a determined set to his jaw now. Harry cast again, watching the other boy to see how much of a difference Malfoy's complaint had made. It was immediate, the counter curse was off his lips in a flash, and he turned with a slight growl to Ron, casting right away. Startled, Ron dodged the curse.

"Counter it Ron, don't dodge." Harry watched the curse hurtle past Ron unable to counter it from where he was.

"Easy for you to say," Ron muttered, looking at Goyle darkly. The spell dashed across the room and smashed into one of the posters on the wall. What it did was amazing, instead of hurting the poster, it changed the poster so that it showed that curse and it's counter. No one else seemed to notice the change. Goyle looked more steady and sure of himself. He sneered at Ron. "Ready now Weasley?" he asked. "Just cast." Ron glared and Harry knew it was on. Now Ron would be ready, because he wouldn't want to be shown up by Goyle. He countered the next casting and turned to send the spell at Malfoy, viciously. Harry smiled, this was better. Malfoy was ready for him, and he countered, turning to Hermione in a flash. She countered as well, and when she moved to Crabbe, he was ready for her. He got it in one, and then turned quickly to Harry. Who countered and turned casting at Goyle with no thought for his speed, just moving on instinct now. And so it went, the six of them getting so smooth with their casting that it was almost child’s play moving from one person to the next. When Professor Glen came back over, she watched them for a moment before speaking. "Great! That earns you twenty points to both Gryffindor and Slytherin. You can stop now." Harry was glad to stop but he felt good about what they had done. He turned to look at Professor Glen, but even as he appreciated the lesson he still couldn't quite appreciated her. He grinned anyhow. The exercise had been exhilarating. "Okay, it's time to rearrange and then I'm going to give you two different spells. You're going to learn them and then cast them on each other, but in no particular order. So," she said. She moved them so that they were still Gryffindor/Slytherin/Gryffindor/Slytherin but now Harry had Malfoy on one side and Crabbe on the other. Then she taught them two spells, waited until they were used to casting them, and set them loose on each other. This was actually a bit of a challenge. Harry was caught off balance the first time. He found though, that he could read Malfoy fairly well. Crabbe was harder to read but also slower. It took a bit but he adapted. Ron had a slightly harder time and Hermione was still ridiculously good. When the bell rang, Professor Glen pointed her wand to the ceiling and the tables and chairs came down so everyone could get their belongings. "When I see you on Thursday I expect one inch on how working in groups has helped, or hindered, your progress thus far," she called out before the students left her room. "Well," Hermione said to Harry once they were in the hall. "What do you think?" "She's a good teacher." Harry couldn't shake his other feelings about her, however.

"See," Ron said confidently, "good teacher, great looking, what's not to like?" "The looks she keeps giving Harry?" Hermione asked. "Have you noticed them?" "I think you're imagining things Hermione." Ron shook his head.

Harry's brow creased. "She still bothers me, but I didn't notice her looking at me in particular beyond a few of those creepy smiles. Are there other things I'm missing?"

"No," Ron said. Hermione rolled her eyes at Ron. "Honestly Ron, you'd think your eyes weren't working properly. It's a similar look to the smiles. It's like she's taken with you or something." Harry thought it over but he hadn't noticed. "When did you see it?" "When she was prowling around the classroom and when she was moving us around in the group. I suppose I could be misreading things but I don't think so." She nibbled her lip. "I can't quite place what exactly, it is about the looks that bothers me, besides the fact that she has no right to look at a student like that." "Huh, I was watching Malfoy I think, so I missed it. I'll have to pay closer attention next class."

"Malfoy? What were you watching him for?" Ron seemed more annoyed by the moment.

"Keep your friends close and your enemies closer," Harry replied.   # “Good morning, Malfoy,” Harry said as they entered the dining hall near one another. “It’s a good day for flying. Are you joining the quidditch team again this year?” Malfoy turned an incredulous look at Harry. "Excuse me?" he sneered. "Are you talking to me?" Harry looked around. “Well I don’t see any other Malfoy’s around.” "Potter, get a life," Malfoy said, turning away from Harry and moving towards his house table. Harry followed after him. “Does that mean you aren’t joining the quidditch team this year? I’m just wondering if it’s going to be any sort of a challenge to beat Slytherin or not.” Malfoy turned to Harry and glared. "Are you suggesting I am a challenge or I'm not a challenge Potter?" Harry grinned. Why had he never bothered to talk to Malfoy like this before? It was oddly exhilarating. “What do you think? I’m saying you are of course. If you’re not going to be on the team this year I expect Gryffindor will win with no trouble at all.” Malfoy looked at Harry, then looked him up and down. "Are you taking drugs Potter? You're acting more than a little strange." “No. I have been eating more fruit lately though. Are you taking drugs? Maybe it seems like I am because you aren’t exactly yourself.” Although Harry actually did see his point. After all, which one of them was hanging out on the wrong side of the great hall? "No, I'm not taking drugs.  I don't do drugs. Drugs are bad for a person.  You should stay away from them."  Malfoy was speaking slowly, as if to a child.  His head was moving up and down, as though he was trying to make sure Harry was comprehending him. “Don’t act stupid Malfoy. I told you I’m not taking drugs. You still haven’t told me if you’re on the team or not.” Other Slytherin were standing watching them like there was a circus act going on or something. How silly, Harry though. Surely they realized that there was very little difference between the houses. They were all just students in the end of things. "Of course I'm on the team, don't be stupid Potter."  He brushed his hair off of his face and turned away from Harry. "I wouldn't have it any other way. We're going to trounce upon you this year. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get to my breakfast." Harry nodded, “Sure, just wanted to let you know, we have the field tomorrow morning for try outs. You know, if you want to spy on us or try to take the field out from under us or something. We figured we won’t be as surprised if you do now that you already know when we want it. See you later.” Mission accomplished, Harry went back to his own table. “Did you really do it?” Ron asked around a mouthful of porridge. “Of course.” Harry sat down and started piling food on his own plate. “What do you think they’ll do?” “Dunno. He thinks I’m crazy though. Well, no, actually he thinks I’m on drugs.” Ron laughed. “You have been different lately though. It’s like you’re not afraid of anything.” “Why should I be?” "Can we please get back to the eating part, with less of the talking bits?" Hermione asked.  She took several bites of food. "It's really no surprise he thinks you’re on drugs.  You're very outgoing these days.  And there are things to be afraid of. Tons of them. Like very big spiders," she said to Ron. Ron shivered. “I didn’t say there was nothing to be scared of, he did.” “Don’t worry Ron, the spiders are all outside.” Ron shivered again. Hermione looked over at Ron. "Do you really think the Slytherin's will show at the field?" “Doesn’t matter. They might not knowing we’re expecting them. Either way at least it won’t be so bad if they do now that we know they might be there. Harry’s right, it ruins the fun for them and turns stuff to our side a bit, you know?” Hermione nodded. "Yeah, I know." She glanced over at the Slytherin table. "It's so strange though. Trying to play mind games with them." Harry finished his food before agreeing. “You’re right, but we have the edge on this one since they never would expect us to do this sort of thing.” Then he gulped down his juice. “It’s Friday, so I won’t be around after dinner since I have detention.” "Oh, that’s right." Hermione looked at Harry sadly. "I'm so sorry Harry. I hope he's not too cruel to you." “Don’t be silly, I’m looking forward to it.” Ron looked at Hermione then back at Harry. “You know that really does make it sound like you’re on drugs.” “Oh come on Ron.” Harry rolled his eyes. “If anyone would know whether I was on drugs or not it would be you.” Hermione looked at Ron. "Is there something you're not telling us Ron?" she asked, mock seriously. “Harry keeps a fruit tree by his bed,” Ron suggested weakly. “Who knows, maybe at night he smokes the leaves.” Harry laughed. Hermione turned to Harry. "Well Harry, are you smoking the leaves of your fruit tree?" Her voice was still not quite serious. “Every night Hermione, every night.” ***** Chapter 3 - Detensions & Slytherins ***** Harry walked down the school hallways with a cheerful step. Detention with Snape. He would have him all to himself and be able to ask any question he wanted to with no witnesses. That meant no one would know how many house points he lost tonight. He walked into the classroom humming. Snape looked up from his desk and glared. "You can knock off the humming Potter," he said, motioning to a table in the front of the classroom.  "You have chopping to do." There was a huge bowl of red lumps. Off to the side were several small containers. "Get started." “Sure thing Professor.” Harry sat down and began to chop. “So do you drink milk?” Snape ignored him. “Hermione thinks it’s possible that you have a calcium deficiency, you know? Irritability is one of the signs. She could be onto something.” Harry continued cutting. He was silent until it became clear that Snape wouldn’t answer, then he went on. “Malfoy is joining the Quidditch team again. I suppose you know that. I don’t think Seeker is his best position but I doubt he’ll relinquish it. I think he’d be better as a Beater, don’t you?” "Potter shut up and keep cutting."  Snape didn't even look up at him.  He was marking papers, and by the amount of red ink being used, they weren't going to look good when he was done. “I never stopped cutting, and why can’t I talk? I mean you’re here, I’m here, I think it’s the perfect time for us to have a conversation. There are no witnesses and hey, why do you always feel the need to mark the papers with so much red? I mean, I know there are things wrong, but do you really have to be so thorough with your berating?” Harry never paused in his chopping. "Potter. I am working. You are supposed to be working. Be serious for once." Snape glanced up, then looked back down. “I am being serious, and I am working. Chopping doesn’t really require much by way of mouth or mind you know. It’s all in the hands and wrists and arms. I have nothing in particular to do with my mouth but talk.” Harry paused to consider. “I see why you might need quiet for grading papers though. Will you talk to me when you’re done?” "No." He snapped the word out and slashed viciously at something on the page in front of him. “Then I might as well keep trying. Hm, I have a whole list of things I want to ask you. Like why did you get so angry with me that first day of class? I was taking notes you know? Did you really think I wasn’t paying attention or did you just take some sort of immediate disliking to me?” Harry took out another red lump and began chopping it. "Shut up!" Snape snapped, looking up at Harry now, the full weight of his annoyance showing in his face. "Shut up, or you'll have another detention on your hands." Harry considered it. “Sir, might we just schedule for every Friday evening for the rest of the school year? If I keep coming back you’re bound to get tired of me and start giving me some answers.” Snape's eyes were slits as he stared at Harry. "No, we may not.  I find your company incredibly intolerable. Now shut your mouth or I will do it for you." How would he do it for him? Physically? In the past he would have assumed such, thought that Snape might use some sort of violence against him but no, it seemed unlikely. Magically then? Yes, that was probably it. Too bad. Harry thought there would be other much better ways to do it, like maybe sexually. He could kiss Harry or make him give him a blow job. Where had that come from? Harry felt himself turning bright red as he reached for another thing to chop. “So, how will you shut it for me?” None of the options bothered him all that much, so he wasn’t overly worried. There was a somewhat lazy flick from Snape's wand, and Harry found his lips sealed together. "Much better," he said calmly, returning to his papers. Yep, magic. Could he call it or what? Still, it wasn’t very imaginative. Harry snickered softly to himself and kept chopping. Silence reigned in the detention as Snape graded his papers, retrieved a second stack of them from another room, finished those, and the clocks chimed ten. He looked up at Harry and the mess he had made on the table.  "When you are done cleaning up, you may leave." Harry set about cleaning up until he couldn’t go on without asking where to put the chopped lumpy things. He approached Snape’s desk and pointed at his mouth. Snape sighed, pointed his wand at Harry, and his lips were free again. "What do you want Potter?" “Where do you want the results of my hours of silent obedient labor?” "Leave it. I'll put it away myself." He looked over the table and nodded. "Get out. You're done." “Could you at least tell me why you hate me so much?” Harry leaned on the desk. “I’ve completed an entire detention at your whim. I was almost a Slytherin you know. What would you have done about me then?” "I think I would have killed you," Snape said.  "I have always hated you, I will always hate you, and you will leave here now before I take more house points. Not that you seem to care about the house points these days."  His gaze lingered on Harry's hands on his desk. "Get off and leave." “Yes but why? Why do you hate me? Just give me a reason, a real reason because you hated me before you even knew me, and you still don’t know me. Why?” "Get out of here," Snape said, standing up and towering over him. Harry got the distinct feeling he was supposed to be scared. “Just tell me why. I’ve had to put up with years of put downs, deductions and detentions. All I want to know is why.” "Get out," Snape growled. "You never listen to anyone but yourself, do you Potter? Get out of my office, and do it now." “I’ve listened and I’ve done. Showed up at detention tonight didn’t I? Chopped for you, didn’t I?” Harry didn’t move. What was the worst thing that could happen? Another spell he supposed. “I’m just looking for one answer, Professor.” "I hate you and that is all there is to it. Get out of here Potter before I throw you out, and I will do it," his voice left no question in Harry's mind as to whether or not he would. Harry hesitated. What would that prove really? A part of him didn’t want to give in no matter what. “Fine.” he turned away and walked out of the room, slamming the door behind him. He was angry for several minutes but by the time he got to Gryffindor house he was cheerful. Overall it had been an easy detention. # Severus walked up to Dumbeldore's office and knocked on the door. He was tired of the idiotic antics of the Potter brat, and he had a feeling there was something strange going on. “Severus,” the old fool evidently recognized the sound of his knock. “Come in, come in.” Severus opened the door and swept in, his robes swishing slightly as he did so. "Headmaster," he inclined his head in his direction. "I have come to you about a matter that I believe is rather disturbing." He moved behind a seat and waited for permission to sit. “Please sit down. Tea?” Dumbledore began to rise for the teapot. "Please," Severus said, moving to take his seat. He didn't really want tea, but he knew better than to say no. The old man always felt the need to insist, and after dealing with Potter, he wasn't inclined to bother with denying forceful people's desires. “Excellent.” Several minutes passed in the making and serving of the tea. “So, how can I help you? You have discovered something disturbing?” "Quite." Severus took a sip of his tea and contemplated how he was going to say this. Finally, he looked up at Dumbledore and said, "I believe Potter is using some variety of drug." There was a long silence. Finally Dumbledore shook his head. “Harry? It seems to me that that’s quite impossible. Where would he get access to such things?” "On that I have no idea. I believe my feelings to be based on facts however, not on mere speculation. Potter has been acting oddly. Highly sure of himself, speaks in manners not like him, doesn't have any fear. I cannot think of anything else it could be." There, he voiced his opinions, let the old fool deal with it. “Certainly I can look into it, but unless I discover it is true there’s nothing I can do. In addition without something more there’s only so much looking that can be done. If he’s taking something from our world it would either be herbal or a potion. You are best suited to look into that. He would need money to get something Muggle and he’s never converted a single knut into Muggle cash. I’m certain we can assume that he is not getting money from his Aunt or Uncle. Unless he’s involved in more than just drugs I can’t imagine how he might acquire them outside of this school.” "Then he acquired them inside the school somehow. Draco has expressed his concerns to me as well, believing the boy to be insane. I shall be looking into things on my end, but I believe that you should be aware of the situation and as fully up to date on the events as possible." Severus drank his tea in annoyance. The Headmaster rarely listened to him. That figured. He wanted Severus to look into it, that also figured. “Of course, of course, one never knows what might be important. What you think is drugs could simply be a stage or it could even be some sort of curse. Why don’t you tell me everything from the beginning, hm?” He sipped his tea with a knowing look on his face which Severus would have liked to wipe off. He held his breath for a moment before speaking. If he hadn't calmed himself, he might have reached over to throttle Dumbledore. "Fine." He began at the beginning, with the strange actions in his potions class and then proceeded to what Draco had told him about their conversation in the Great Hall, ending with the detention. “I see, well Severus, as the resident Potions expert I suggest you look into it. You’ve checked your stock I’m sure, made certain nothing is missing? I’ll talk to Professor Sprout and see if she’s noticed anything that might be used to instill high self confidence. None the less, I think we must consider the possibility that Harry is simply maturing. Questioning authority is a common symptom of that you know?” Severus' eyebrow twitched. "Questioning authority? Maturing? Potter is fourteen, he isn't maturing yet, he hasn't gone through puberty. Yes, by the way, I did check my stores. Nothing was missing that shouldn't be. I'll double check it, but I doubt that I'll find anything. My wards are very particular." “Some boys mature early.” The Headmaster fumbled around a bit and came up with a small platter. “Biscuit?” Severus reached over and took something flaky and lemon off the tray. "Thank you," he said softly, even though he really didn't want it. "I doubt he's maturing. Questioning authority happens slowly, not in one huge lump." Dumbledore took one as well, a double chocolate monstrosity of some sort, and had a bite. Slowly he chewed it, then he took a sip of tea. “Tell me Severus, why are you so disturbed by this turn of events?” "Anyone not acting in their true nature bothers me." It was said quickly and firmly. It was also the truth. Potter acting fearless and bizarre was more than just disturbing, it was unnatural. “Yet you had ample opportunity to talk to the boy about his unusual behavior and you did not.” The old man took another bite of his biscuit, clearly enjoying it. "Headmaster, I was in the process of serving a detention. It would not have been proper to speak to him about his behavior at that moment." The old fool simply didn't understand propriety. “Aren’t detentions served to modify poor behavior? Surely they are the perfect time to discuss such things?” Severus finished eating his lemon cookie and tea. He was tired of speaking about this, when it was obvious that Dumbledore was simply trying to tell him he felt his detention was inadequate to the situation. "Are there any other questions you'd like to ask?" “No Severus, I’ll leave things in your capable hands. I’m sure you know best how to carry on. In the mean time I’ll make some subtle inquiries of my own.” "Thank you Headmaster," Severus said as he placed the tea down on the desk. "I shall go my own way now. Have a good evening." He stood up and headed for the door. “Good evening Severus.” There was something unsettling in the tone, something very much off about the old fool in that moment. Under the words was something disturbing and not wholly benevolent. Of course Severus knew Dumbledore was not all benevolence, but to hear a tinge of evil in his voice, that was not right. Severus turned back and glanced at the Headmaster, searching him for... something. But the moment had passed and all he saw was an old fool eating the last of his chocolate biscuit. "Indeed," he whispered and he left, closing the door behind him. What was that? He shook his head and walked down, back to his dungeons. # Harry stood with the other players waiting for try outs to start. Ron was next to him and Hermione was watching from the stadium bleachers. It was a warm morning, perfect for walking outdoors but a bit hot for flying. Of course he didn’t care, he loved to fly no matter what the temperature. “No Slytherin so far,” Harry pointed out as the first people flew into the air to warm up. “Not yet, but you never know. Who cares, since we booked the field three days in a row. Even if they take it today we’re set for tomorrow. You really are brilliant these days.” Ron stared into the sky. “S’pose we ought to warm up.” Harry had apparently spoken too soon. From across the school grounds, no less than fifty or so Slytherin's were moving. It was a huge crowd, all of them chatting and pointing at the Gryffindors. They walked right up to the bleachers and started sitting down in small groups. Draco Malfoy walked all the way to the very top, lounging across the seats and looking over at everyone. Harry laughed. “Well there’s a tough crowd.” Then he turned around and waved at Malfoy, grinning. “What are you doing?” Ron pulled his arm down. “I did invite him.” The strangest thing happened then. Malfoy's hand raised, ever so slightly, towards him. A smirk formed on his lips. Harry turned and jumped on his broom. “Come on Ron, we can’t let the first years make us look like dorks in front of fifty some Slytherin.” Ron gulped and followed suit, looking back at Hermione nervously just before he launched himself into the air. Hermione gave him a smile and a wave, and Draco seemed to be intensely studying them as they flew. In the air Angelina was gathering people into groups. She beckoned Harry and the two chatted for a while, then, grinning, Harry went off to one of the groups. “Ron, come join this group,” Harry beckoned him over. He gathered everyone close together and spoke for a good long time. Then he called out. “Right, let’s see what you can do.” Fred, George, and Angelina were doing the same with the other groups. Each group began performing basic Quidditch skills. The real try outs were on hold until tomorrow. Today they were to show the Slytherin what they were not made of. Subtly not doing their best. Some people were better at subtle than others. “What have you two been doing all summer,” Harry called to the twins, “practicing for the circus?” “Why not,” George returned. “We learned some good stuff don’t you think?” Harry laughed, shook his head and went back to drilling his group. As they were fooling around in the air, several more groups of Slytherin's came to the stands from the Castle. Many of the seats filled and for a moment, it looked as though every Slytherin in the school was scattered around on the bleachers. Up at the top, Draco Malfoy remained alone. Two or three times people tried to join him, but every time they left. One with a disgusted look on her face. Harry wondered why. He couldn't help paying attention to Malfoy. His interest in him had grown into a desire these past few weeks and he wasn't certain who he wanted more between Snape and Malfoy, but for the moment Malfoy seemed more reachable. Angelina blew the whistle and they all changed groups. Once everyone had worked in each group she began real mock try outs, encouraging everyone to do their best. Harry watched, hoping they would be much better during the real try outs. If they weren’t the team was in big trouble this year. Every once in a while he looked down to see what Malfoy was doing, or to glimpse the expression of Hermione’s face. If she figured them out Malfoy might as well. The more the Slytherin jeered, the more the Gryffindor's seemed to try and the worse their mistakes. Harry actually ended up having to catch a first year who really did fall off his broom. Finally Angelina called a stop to it. "I think we've seen everything we need to see. Regulars, we'll meet to discuss tomorrow. Results will be posted in three days time in the common room. Thank you all for coming out." Everyone headed for the ground. Harry flew for a bit before finally coming down beside Ron as the field cleared. “Well, what do you think?” “Think we might be in trouble,” Ron replied sincerely. “Oh, do you think I’ll get in?” “Well…” Harry hedged as he would have if the try outs had been real. Hermione was dashing over to them. "That was all pretend, wasn't it?" she whispered to them, panting. Malfoy was still up at the top of the bleachers, watching them. Harry grinned, though he was a bit disappointed she’d figured it out. “Well, looks like there’s a lot of practice in order.” He looked up at Malfoy. “You two go ahead. I’ll catch up with you later.” Ron followed his gaze. “You aren’t going to talk to him?” "I think he is," Hermione said, following his gaze as well. "Come on Ron, they aren't going to kill each other, probably." Ron looked between Hermione and Harry. Finally he shrugged. “Alright, if you say so.” Harry nodded to them both and made his way to the top of the bleachers. “What a mess, huh? Think we’ll manage to make anything of it?” Malfoy turned to him thoughtfully. "What was the point of that useless flying you did up there?" Harry shrugged, if he knew, he knew, but he hadn’t completely caught on at any rate. He didn’t understand the purpose. “Hey, *my* flying was spot on thank you very much. What was the purpose of you sitting up here all alone without any of your cronies?” "To evaluate you and your... team. I use the term team loosely here, given you all sucked up there." Malfoy looked him up and down. "I don't think you were serious though. Any of you. Were you trying to fool us?" “Do you really want to evaluate our team? I’ll let you if you give me a chance to evaluate yours.” Harry didn’t bother answering the questions. If they were really important to him Malfoy would ask them again. He did sit down, facing Malfoy so he could watch his beautiful face. Malfoy's lips were curved down in a frown as he looked at Harry. "You know, that's not something I would do as a Slytherin. Trust you. If I told you you could evaluate my team, you'd bring all your cronies with you to watch. That's just how you'd behave. Do you really think I'm stupid enough to take you seriously?” “No, I didn’t intend to. This is a between you and I sort of offer. If you show up alone and I show up alone then we know we can trust one another. It isn’t such a big gamble is it? Even if I show with everyone you can just say you have no idea how we knew. No self respecting Slytherin would ever believe me over you.” Harry smiled affably. He thought it was actually a pretty good offer. Malfoy sneered. "Why would you trust me? I could very easily show up with half of Slytherin. Then what would you say?" Harry shrugged. "Then I lost the gamble and I never trust you again." I continue to lust after you, Harry thought, but I don't trust you. "You know that anything I learn I'm going to tell all of Slytherin, right? I wouldn't evaluate you just to watch and wonder. I'd be doing it to see where your weaknesses are so I could prey on them. That's to be expected." He leaned back now, and all hint of cruelty was gone, what was left in its place was wonder, curiosity and interest. Harry’s eyes lit up, he felt them do it. This was the genius of the whole thing. “As will I! Then, we can see just what our respective teams can actually do with the information we get. It would make for much more interesting matches, don’t you think?” Malfoy looked at him in shock. "Are you barking mad? You want to do this? You want to?" He shook his head incredulously. "Then there'd be no secrets! Nothing to hide for our respective games." “That leaves it to skill, who has the most skill and who doesn’t. It means we all have to work harder and get better. I’d like to go pro someday. Don’t you think the best way to do that is to challenge ourselves to get better and better?” This was the part of his plan that he had told no one else. He knew they wouldn’t understand, but Malfoy might. "You really want to go pro?" Malfoy asked, and this time, his voice sounded conversational. It was as if, for the moment, they were just two people who happened to be talking to each other. Harry nodded eagerly. “There’s really nothing I’d rather do. I mean flying is the greatest, don’t you think? I know you at least enjoy it. I just…” Harry leaned back on his hands a bit. “I sometimes wish I could just fly away from everything, you know? Having a reason to be on my broom every day would be perfect. I can’t think of anything better.” "Going pro is different from playing at school you know? They have to travel all over the place, and many of them get seriously injured and can never play again. Did you know that the Harpies intentionally want only female players? And there are rules and regulations about relationships and families for each team. The contracts are often for several seasons and..." he trailed off. "Well," he brushed some hair off of his shoulder. "Not that I've read up on it or anything." He looked away from Harry and bit his lip. Harry tilted his head, suddenly very curious. “Why did you just do that?” Malfoy glanced at Harry from the corner of his eye. "Do what?" “Cut yourself off when you were talking about something really interesting.” He shrugged. "You're the enemy, aren't you? I'm not supposed to want to talk to you at all, even if the topic really is interesting and I want to." “You didn’t want to be enemies at first though, did you? I mean I’m the one who messed things up with that. Not that I trust you any more than I did then, nor do I approve of the way you treat Ron. Still, what makes us enemies exactly? The fact that I didn’t want to be your friend right off, right?” Harry had spent a lot of time thinking this over recently and that was his conclusion. Being enemies with Malfoy sort of sucked, besides he was attracted to him. Why would he want to fight constantly with someone so good looking? "You snubbed me," Malfoy said viciously, turning his head to Harry. There was a deep seated look of betrayal in his eyes. "I wanted to be your friend. Do you think we can make that up now? Do you even want to?" He was challenging Harry, daring him to say no. “I just didn’t like the way you treated Ron. I thought it was awful. I still do.” Harry thought over what Malfoy was saying. “I don’t want to make it up so to speak. There probably isn’t any way to do it anyhow. I just think it’s sort of silly for us to carry on as if nothing has changed since then. I mean, for one, I think you’re really good on the broom. I admire your flying techniques.” "Are you being sarcastic?" Malfoy asked, as though he honestly expected that to be the truth of the matter. “No, I’m serious. Do you think I’m blind? How could I not be able to tell that you were good and how could I not admire it?” Harry shook his head. “Honestly Malfoy, even if we were going to be enemies for the rest of our lives there are things about you I’d have to admire.” Like your arse, Harry thought, and your face. Malfoy rolled his eyes. "Besides flying, what on earth about me do you admire? My wit? My blazingly good looks? My fortune?" “Is this a serious question? Do you really want to know? This is your last chance to change your mind before I tell you.” Harry had learned over the past few days that people often didn’t really want the answers to the questions they asked. He seriously considered Harry for several minutes. Then he slowly nodded, his tongue flicking out across his lips to moisten them. "Yes, I want to know." His voice was soft, as though he did understand what could come out of Harry's mouth, and he was cautious of it. At least he’d really considered before giving his answer. “All right, let me see. I admire your ability in potions class. The way in other classes you occasionally best Hermione. How hard it is to get anything past you. The tone of voice you use when you are implying that I’m no better than a piece of dirt beneath the sole of your shoe. You’re eyes, they really are amazing, not plain or standard at all. Your well defined cheekbones, your lips and most of all I very much admire your arse.” Harry nodded. He thought he’d gotten everything. Then he tensed in case he had to make a quick escape down the bleachers. Malfoy looked at him hard for several moments before shaking his head, flabbergasted. "You are barking mad. You must be doing some kind of drug, what is it? I think I want some." "I'm not though. Why does everyone keep suggesting that?" "You're speaking without feeling the fear of the consequences. You're speaking about things so openly that one would think you were unable to censor yourself. It's..." Malfoy shrugged. "Not like you. It's bizarre." “Oh that. I don’t know, I just started to wonder why I was so worried all the time. Then I decided to try saying what I meant. Sometimes it seems a lot better than being careful all the time. No one’s killed me yet, not even Snape.” Harry contemplated that, “Not that I really thought he would once I started feeling this way. I mean if he was really into killing students, they would never let him teach here. He’s very attractive too, in his own way.” Malfoy shook his head. "I'm not sure I want to visit you down that thread of thinking. So.. we'll just stop there, alright?" “Sure,” Harry agreed. “Do you want to do this, or not?” Malfoy nodded his head. "Let's do this." “Tomorrow then, same time, same place. What about you?” Harry eyed him intently. "They haven't officially announced yet. But here," Malfoy pulled out his wand and tore out a strand of his hair. He flicked his wand over the hair and a braid of silver appeared in his hands. He wrapped it around Harry's wrist and it braided itself onto the wrist. "This is a promise string. If I break my promise to tell you when we meet than this will break, and you'll know I was lying and you won't trust me anymore. When I tell you, this will fall off naturally, deal?" Harry nodded. “Deal.” He was wearing a strand of Malfoy’s hair. “I’ll see you tomorrow then.” "I'll be here. I'll even be discreet for you Potter," he sneered. "But I'll definitely be here." Harry’s heart skipped a beat. That sneer was evidently sometimes a turn on. “Do you want to do something sexual sometime?” Malfoy stood and shook his head. "I'm not ready for anything like that with you. How about we work on the trust thing first?" His eyes were not quite frantic. "You are aware that you're fourteen right? I don't think you're supposed to have hit puberty yet." “No?” Harry was fairly sure he had. “Does that mean you haven’t?” Harry stood as well. “Well, maybe next year.” Then he started down the bleachers with a wave back at Malfoy. “Have a good night.” "Batty," he heard Malfoy whisper behind him. ***** Chapter 4 - Sunlight Kisses ***** In the common room, Ron and Hermione were waiting for Harry. Hermione was the first to speak. "Harry! How are you? How did it go?" “Oh pretty well. I’m fairly happy with it anyhow.” Harry sat down near them. "Yeah? What did you two talk about?" she asked, coming to sit next to him. Harry shrugged. “Flying, Quidditch, puberty, that sort of thing.” “Puberty?” Ron asked turning deep red, “You talked about puberty?” “A little bit.” Harry hadn’t meant to mention that part. It had just sort of slipped out as it was on his mind. Was he not supposed to want sexual things yet? "Why were you talking about puberty with Malfoy?" Hermione asked, confused. “Oh it just sort of came up.” “Sort of came up? How does something like that sort of come up?” Ron was not recovering from whatever had made him turn red. He was starting to look purple around the edges. “Well, he asked me what I liked about him and…” Harry put a hand on Ron’s shoulder. “You alright?” Ron brushed his hand off. “No, I’m not.” His eyes fixed on Harry’s wrist. “Why’d he give you a promise string?” "A promise string?" Hermione looked at Harry's wrist. "Why did he give you a promise string?" “He made me a promise.” Harry thought that was pretty obvious. “It’s between the two of us so I can’t tell you any more than that.” Ron was working his mouth up and down, evidently appalled. Finally he tried speaking as Harry finished. “Not a promise about puberty.” The words sounded very weak. Harry laughed. “Of course not. Besides, I’m pretty sure I’ve already hit puberty. Although my voice hasn’t changed. Hm…” "You think you've hit puberty? Early?" Hermione tilted her head to one side. "You're finding people attractive Harry?" Harry nodded in agreement. Ron gibbered. “Not M-M-Malfoy?” Harry looked at him. “Actually I do think he’s attractive. Don’t you?” Ron shook his head frantically, his face changed to white tinged with green. "He's really very handsome," Hermione agreed. "I like the way he walks. It's nice to watch him from behind, if you know what I mean." “You mean he has a nice arse.” Harry agreed. “It would be hard to miss. It’s one of his best assets.” “Not… feeling well.” Ron leapt up and ran in the direction of the loo. "He's not taking this well, is he?" Hermione asked, watching him go. "Yeah, Malfoy has a really nice arse." “Nope.” Harry considered going after him but decided against it. "Leave him alone, he'll work himself out and come back eventually. Till then, does your talking about Malfoy's arse mean you're gay Harry? Or are girls cute too?" She moved so she was facing him instead of next to him and kept her voice down. “Well, I haven’t noticed any cute girls yet. Both of the people I’m interested in are male, so maybe I am.” Harry hadn’t really thought it over too much. "Does that bother you? A lot of guys have a problem with people being gay." “No, of course there isn’t much that bothers me these days. Do you know Malfoy thinks I’m on drugs? He isn’t the only one to think so either.” Harry sat back in the seat. "It's because you're so vocal these days. You used to be kinda quiet and not shy but cautious. Now you're very liberal with what you say. Do you think there's a reason for it Harry?” “Nope.” Harry yawned and stretched. “So, do you think we fooled any of the Slytherin today?” Hermione looked thoughtful and nodded. "I think we fooled most of them. I was watching them sometimes, and they all seemed to think you were terrible. They couldn't believe what you were like, and they thought we'd be easy to beat this year. I'm betting they bought it. Except for Malfoy, when I looked at him he seemed to be wondering what was going on. Like he didn't buy it completely. What do you think? When you talked to him did it seem that way?" "Oh, he knew one hundred percent. He's hard to fool. I admire that about him, although it's extremely irritating." Harry was thoughtful for a bit. "Do you know Snape still hasn't scheduled my second detention?" "He'll get to it. He's persistent like that. Are you desperate for it or something?" Harry shook his head. “Nothing like that.” Her eyebrows raised. "No? You seem really eager." “Actually I’m wondering if he’s avoiding me.” Harry sighed. “I don’t think he likes me, and I don’t think Malfoy’s hit puberty yet.” "Okay, you know Professor Snape doesn't like you, and why do you care if Malfoy has hit puberty yet?" Harry stood up. “No, I just mean I think that the last detention I pushed him so hard that he doesn’t want to see my face ever again. I think I’ll head to bed Hermione, maybe catch the tub.” "Wait, Harry, you think you pushed him? HIM? I doubt it." Harry raised his eyebrows. “Maybe you had to be there. See I was trying to get him to tell me why he hated me and he wouldn’t tell me, so I refused to leave until he did. Then he threatened to kick me out. You know to actually remove me from the room if I didn’t go. He would have done it too I think. I finally gave in. I wonder if I shouldn’t have.” Hermione shook her head. "No, no I agree with you, you should have. Good job." She got up and gave him a hug. "Thanks Harry, for talking to me. It's kinda nice to be able to talk boys with you." She blushed. “We only talked one boy,” Harry smiled though. “I like his eyes too. They’re very unusual and they sort of chase you off while drawing you in all at once.” Hermione grinned. "Oh, you've got it bad," she drew out the last word. Harry hugged her briefly and left the common room. Did he have it bad? For which one, Malfoy or Snape? In the end what did it matter, neither one of them was easy, that was certain. On the other hand with Malfoy he might just have a chance. # The next day the team was assembled for Quidditch practice, real try outs now. It was similar to the day before except that this time Angelina was serious and down to business, as were the rest of them. Harry sighted Malfoy hiding under the bleachers and waved to him at one point, though it would have been easy to mistake the wave as being for Hermione. A part of him was sad to see him. It was sort of neat to think they had fooled the rest of Slytherin. He had to wonder what things would have been like had he not made his deal with Malfoy. Malfoy actually lifted his hand, and half waved back to him. Hermione, smiling broadly, gave him a real wave. Afterwards he gave Ron the same noncommittal answer he’d given the day before. He wanted Ron to make the team, but he had a feeling this wasn’t his year. There weren’t many openings and there had been some good people trying out. “I’ll catch up with you two inside.” Ron looked around. “After what?” "Oh Ron, give him some time if he wants it. Maybe he's going for a walk by the lake." Hermione shot Harry a smile. "Have fun," she said, taking Ron's arm and walking with him back towards the castle. “Why would he walk by the lake,” Harry heard Ron saying as they walked away. Harry grinned and walked under the bleachers. “Want to go for a walk by the lake?” Malfoy's eyebrows raised. "Sure," he said, moving out from under the bleachers. "You don't mind being seen with me?" “That’s a given. What about you? Everyone doesn’t think you’re on drugs.” Harry walked toward the lake as he spoke. Malfoy snorted. "You're right, no one thinks I'm on drugs. I don't care if people see me walking by the lake with you. My House will think I'm using you, and so will all the other Houses. A thought I don't mind if they have." Harry didn’t have much to say to that. He was silent for a while as they walked. "That doesn't bother you?" Malfoy said finally, glancing over. "That people will think I'm using you." “Nope, should it?” In theory being used was bad, but he wasn’t doing anything he didn’t want to do. “What do you suppose they’ll think you’re using me for?” "Depends on the age. The upper years will probably think I'm using you for sex or something physical. The lower ones might think I'm using you for... hmm... finding out about your Quidditch team maybe." Malfoy smiled over at him. "They'd be partly right if they thought that." “Well, I don’t mind either one. The latter is a bit more disturbing, but fair is fair. I can’t expect you to just up and trust me with nothing ventured. Then on the other side I pretty much offered myself for something physical and you turned me down.” "You were talking crazy Potter!" Malfoy stopped walking and turned to him. "You know, we've had this rivalry for years. Now suddenly you're talking to me, mentioning physical relationships and what am I supposed to think? The only thing I can think is that you want to make fun of me." Harry stopped as well. “Since I’d just told you I found you attractive I would think you would figure I was serious. You could set your own terms you know, the when, where, how details. It’s not like I was asking you to bend over the bleachers or anything. Oh,” what an appealing thought, “but I’d be perfectly willing to do so sometime for you. That’s sort of hot.” "Do you ever think before you speak anymore?" Malfoy asked, shaking his head. “Not much. Should I try harder around you? I do with some people now. Mostly teachers, and Ron. Teachers get really upset and Ron gets really flustered. I didn’t do too well last night though. He actually ran away from Hermione and I.” They’d been talking about Malfoy. He decided not to add that on since he’d just been admonished. "Don't bother trying harder Potter. I just wanted to know." Malfoy went silent for a bit, looking down at his feet as they walked. “Well, there you are then.” Once again there was silence. As they walked Harry began to go over the try outs, mentally sorting those he thought might make the team. “So, what do you think of the team?” "Better than expected, given the show yesterday. I don't know who she's going to pick for regulars, but she's got some good, raw talent. Not that you'd ever catch me saying that of course," Malfoy added, finally glancing over. "But you just did," Harry pointed out. "So if you won't say that what sort of thing will you say? No, never mind, I don't want to know. It's more interesting if I don't." "I'd be cruel of course, do you really want me to be cruel?" Malfoy lifted his head fully, smirking. Heat washed through Harry. Recently he'd begun to get hard. Sometimes it was a totally random thing, see a tree, get hard. Other times it was like this, Malfoy talks about being cruel and smirks, get hard. “Hm, I might be able to get into that.” Malfoy's eyebrows raised. "Are you thinking perverted thoughts again Potter? Because if you are, you're really strange." He shook his head. “Sorry about that. So, er,” Harry pushed through several hundred inappropriate images and topics and finally came up with, “You don’t want to talk about anything perverted.” Malfoy laughed. Then he looked at Harry, then he laughed again. "You're so strange these days," he said as he shook his head. He looked over towards the crop of tree's near the lake and he took his hand, walking them over to it quickly. He followed along without question. When they reached the trees Malfoy tugged Harry down to the ground. Then he let go of Harry's hand, and lay down on his back, staring at the sky. "The way you think, it makes others feel like there's nothing sacred to you, you know? Like everything in your mind is the here, is the now. Does that make sense?" Harry laid down next to him but instead of looking at the sky he watched Malfoy’s face. It was beautiful. “I suppose so, but what’s wrong with thinking like that? I’ve had a lot more fun since I started talking like this. I don’t feel scared all the time or like I’m not good enough. I never worry about anything. It’s nice.” "I can't imagine not worrying about things. There are so many things to worry about, you know? Home, House, schoolwork, grades, Quidditch and so many other varied things that the actual thought of not worrying is frightening. I don't know how you do it." He brought his arms up and placed his hands under his head. "I really can't." “But it’s all so much easier when you don’t.” Harry fell silent. He wanted to share the secret, or at least what he thought was the secret, but he had to be careful with that and he knew it. If the wrong person found out they might take the tree away. Of course he’d already planted a second one just in case. "How do you do it? Doesn't it all build up inside of you? I would think it would." He turned his head to look at Harry. "You're watching me." “Yeah, I don’t get to do it much. You’re beautiful.” Harry found it hard not to loose himself in Malfoy’s eyes. "Am I?" Malfoy tilted his head a bit, perhaps to see Harry better, and the sunlight hit his hair, making it seem like threads of glass. "You're handsome." That was something Harry had never heard before. He laughed. “You can’t be serious.” After all of the tongue lashings he’d received from his aunt about his hair and just about every other part of his physique he could hardly think himself cute let alone handsome. "Have I ever sounded more serious?" “I don’t really know.” Harry wasn’t used to listening to the sincerity of Malfoy’s tone. “I’m nothing to look at though, scrawny, short, hair that does whatever it wants. I’m lucky to make presentable. It’s nice of you to say it.” Malfoy moved so his hands were on Harry's shoulders. Briefly, his hands seemed to massage them but then they were moving across his upper arms. "You're filling out. You're going to have broad shoulders, buff arms and a lean, flat chest and stomach. Your hair goes everywhere but there are tons of people who would die to be in your shoes and not have to put product or spells in their hair to do what yours does naturally. You have a strong jaw and expressive eyes. You also have a very forthright walk and you're good at holding your head proudly high. You don't have to be tall to be good looking, as I'm not exactly tall myself. I'm not going to compliment you anymore." With that, he removed his hands and lay back again in the sun. Harry blinked. That was more than strange coming from Malfoy, or anyone actually. “Alright, but you mean that? Everything you just said, you think it’s all true?” His brow furrowed. "I wouldn't have said it if I didn't mean it." He looked up at the sun, frowning at it as if he was trying to be mad at it for some reason. “What’s wrong?” Harry glanced upward, then looked back at Malfoy. "Nothing is wrong." “Then why are you frowning?” "Because I said some things I shouldn't have." Shouldn’t was a word that Harry had taken out of his vocabulary. “What does shouldn’t mean anyhow? I mean either you do or you don’t. Shouldn’t is a word that always comes with guilt. I don’t think it’s very useful. It’s restrictive. So is it your restrictions, your father's, your mother's, the school's, the Slytherin restrictions? If it’s your own, just give yourself permission and your done. Like I didn’t think that was something I ought to say to Potter but I’ve changed my mind. Obviously, because you just did it. If it’s someone else’s restrictions do they really matter and even if they do, it’s not like they’re here are they? I swear on my House that I won’t tell them. There, you see? Now who did I just swear I wouldn’t tell?” Malfoy looked at him, fully looked at him. He paused for several moments, and then he pounced, literally, on top of Harry. He pressed him down into the ground and brought his lips right onto Harry's, kissing him fiercely. It felt wonderful. Harry kissed him back, pressing his lips into Malfoy’s, opening his mouth to him and trying to slip his tongue past Malfoy’s lips. It was easy. Malfoy opened his mouth, and his tongue came into play, twining around Harry's. He allowed his body to relax completely, and he kissed passionately. Harry wrapped his arms around Malfoy and enjoyed the sensations coursing through his body. It was wonderful, just the sort of thing he’d been wanting since the first day or so of classes. He thought he would be happy if the kiss never ended and he was hard, so hard now. Malfoy groaned into his mouth and Harry could feel him getting hard as well. He rubbed up against him and pushed his tongue as deep into Harry's mouth as he could. Oh, that felt good too. Harry repeated the gesture, hoping to give Malfoy the same pleasure he was receiving. He pressed up against him, shifting, trying to move so that their dicks would rub against each other through their robes. Malfoy broke away from Harry gasping. "Potter," he moaned. "I don't think..." he put his mouth back to Harry, moving his hips faster, harder. Harry had no idea what Malfoy didn’t think, but he did know what he craved. He pushed up when he could, the waves of pleasure overwhelming him until he cried out into Malfoy’s mouth and came. It was a mutual cry, as Malfoy was doing the same. Only instead of saying Potter, he was saying, "Harry!" It felt so good that Harry hated knowing it was over. He held onto Malfoy, trembling a bit from the aftershocks. “That felt wonderful.” He followed the words with a kiss. Malfoy kissed him back a few times, then moved away and nodded. "A little too wonderful," he agreed. He blinked glazed grey eyes at Harry. “Mmn,” Harry moaned softly, “those eyes.” Malfoy blinked again and tried to roll off of him. "What about my eyes?" “They’re gorgeous.” Harry was reluctant to let him go. He held onto him. “Did I hear you call me Harry?” Finally, he let Malfoy move off of him. Malfoy's face flushed as he rolled onto his back. "Well, um," he stuttered reaching for his wand. "Maybe.” "Do you think we might do something like that again?" Harry hoped he would say yes. Malfoy passed his wand over himself and muttered something under his breath, then he did the same to Harry, making him feel clean and refreshed. It had to be some sort of cleaning spell. "Do you want it to?" "Of course I do, I wouldn't have asked if I didn't and nothing we just did changed my mind, if that's what you're thinking." "Alright. Then, yes, there's a possibility that we might do something like that again." “Well then, if we do, may I call you Draco during it?” Malfoy's face flushed. He looked away from Harry, but he could see the barest hint of a nod. "Yeah, alright, so long as the offer goes both ways." “Sure.” Harry pulled Malfoy’s face around gently but firmly and kissed him. Malfoy kissed back, but not as heatedly as he had before. This was a softer, more pleasant feel. Harry pulled away and smiled. “It’s a deal.” Malfoy smiled back, a slow, tentative shy smile. It looked very odd on him. "So, I suppose I should tell you about our Quidditch practice then." Harry raised his eyebrows. “It’s been announced? I think you should have told me that first,” he teased. Malfoy shrugged. "You do? Well then, should we back up in time and forgo the... sexual activities?" He smirked. "I didn't want to have to watch my hair leave your wrist. It makes your darker skin stand out." “We should never forgo the sexual activities.” Harry looked down at the promise string. “Actually I rather like having a part of you traveling around on my wrist myself. You could make me a new promise. For example you could promise to let me give you a blow job.” Pink spots appeared on Malfoy's cheeks. "I.. could do that." He nibbled his lip. "Do you want me to?" Harry nodded. “Very much so.” Malfoy put his wand tip to the string of hair on Harry's wrist. "I promise to let Harry Potter," he swallowed. "Give me a blow job." The silver shimmered a bit, and then settled warm on Harry's wrist. “I’ll look forward to it,” Harry said. “You can try to think of a new promise to make me then. Would you like to wear a strand of my hair?” Malfoy's lip got caught in his teeth. "Yeah," he whispered. "I would, if that's alright." “Teach me the spell.” Once Harry understood the spell and how to cast it, he took a strand of his hair and held it up. “What shall I promise you?” Malfoy licked his lips. "Promise to let me give you a rim job," he said, eyes alight with pleasure. That sounded amazing. Harry was surprised Malfoy wanted to do that for him. He didn’t say so, however. Instead he touched his wand to the strand of hair. “I promise to let Malfoy give me a rim job.” He placed it on Malfoy’s wrist. Was he really getting hard again? No big shock there though. “So, when are try outs?” "Try outs are tomorrow, in the afternoon. We're meeting at two." He kissed Harry. "You're getting hot again, aren't you?" he smirked. “Yes.” Harry didn’t see any reason to deny it. “Are you?” Malfoy nodded. "A little." He bent his head down to the golden hair around his wrist and kissed it. Then he got up, brushing grass off of his robes. "I'll see you tomorrow," he said, smirking down at Harry, eyes alight with amusement. Harry nodded. “Yes you will.” Malfoy turned away, lifting his hand to wave and walked off, over the grounds towards the castle. ***** Chapter 5 - After Quidditch Blows ***** Harry washed up quickly after practice and headed for the door. “Where are you off to mate? Hermione wanted to meet by the oak tree and work on the essay for potions.” Ron hurried after him. “You go ahead. I’ve already done mine.” Harry hadn’t been putting his school work off as much, because he always felt confident he could get it done in the time he had. “Are you nuts? On something like this we can use all the help we can get.” Ron was still keeping pace with him. “Then you should be happy. You’ll get more help without me there.” Harry paused and pointed off toward the oak tree. “Oak tree is that way.” Ron shook his head and frowned. “Well, you’re the one who has to deal with Snape.” He sounded like he thought Harry was nuts, but Harry knew he could finish what little he didn’t have done on Sunday. He continued toward the Quidditch pitch. By the time he got to the pitch, there were already a lot of Slytherin's around. Some were on brooms, some were sitting on the bleachers, others were just walking around, looking at people. He could see Malfoy on his broom, sitting in the air, looking around lazily. When his eyes caught on Harry, the corner of his lip twitched up and he stopped looking around, focusing his gaze on the coach and staying there. Harry ducked behind the bleachers and put on his invisibility cloak. Then he carefully made his way onto the bleachers and way up to the top where he could watch best. It was only a few minutes more before the shed opened and Snape came out, holding one half of the Quidditch case while another Slytherin carried the other. They brought the case of balls to the pitch and set it down. "Alright," the captain said, holding up his hands and quieting everyone. "We've got our regulars, and they're flying well right now. There are three posts open for this year. One is a beater, the other two are chasers. So that's what's available, nothing else. We're going to do some practice runs with the chasers, to see if they can get the Quaffle in past the Keeper while there are beaters after them. Who is looking for what post?" Snape looked around, his eyes catching on the bleachers. He looked up, up and then right at Harry. His gaze only lingered for a moment before moving away. The annoying thing about Snape was that he always seemed to know where Harry was, even when no one else did. Also, for someone who hated him he sure did keep a close eye on him. It was hard not to notice. Harry was a bit distracted by his presence. With some effort he pulled his eyes from Snape and attached them to the practice he’d come to see. It was actually interesting to watch, as the players got into the air and the balls came into play. Malfoy took the place of the second beater while they tested the chasers, and he was good with a Bludger. Then he was a chaser while they were testing the beaters. He even got knocked off of his broom once. Snape was there though, keeping everyone from landing hard or falling from too high of a height. The Slytherin's were ruthless, almost cruel in their practicing, and although no one got seriously injured while Snape was there, many got scrapes, bruises or other minor injuries. All of them were sweating profusely, and Malfoy actually had something wrapped around his brow that was soaking up the sweat. Harry both approved and disapproved. He saw the advantages of training hard and brutally as they were, but he also so the advantages of the Gryffindor team's slow steady methods. Of course this wasn’t training it was try outs. Still, in his own experience what you saw at try outs told you a lot about the training methods of the captain. For a Slytherin there was no time to think during practice. This continued for several hours. Finally the captain called for a stop and everyone flew to the ground. "Alright," he said. "I've got your names and what I think of what you've done. I'll be posting the results on the board in the common room in two days. Until then. Regulars, meet me up on the bleachers in ten minutes." Harry stood in case he needed to move but he remained in the bleachers. He doubted that he wanted to miss the talk with the regulars. It was a short while later that Malfoy and several other faces Harry was used to seeing got up onto the bleachers and started talking. They were about midway up in the seats and the captain was pulling out sheets and sheets of parchment papers. There were diagrams and such like Oliver had often had with him drawn out on the parchment. "We have some planning to do now, and I expect full attention," the captain said. He began going over the diagrams, all the regulars looking it over and making comments here and there. Snape came up the bleachers, all the way to the top, and sat down. "I know you're here somewhere Potter," he said softly enough that no one else could hear him. "I don't know what you're playing at, but I think it's very rude to sneak around looking at things that don't concern you." Harry thought it over, smiled and moved behind Snape. He was fairly sure Snape knew just where he was. “Actually, I was invited, sir.” Harry said very softly. "Invited? That's why you're hiding in your cloak?" Snape snarled, although his voice was still very soft. He didn't even twitch when Harry's voice was suddenly behind him. He simply seemed to expect it. Harry raised his eyebrows. It seemed logical to him. Of course he knew the details. “Yes, that’s why. It would be troublesome to everyone if the one inviting me had to explain themselves. They were discrete at our try outs and I’m returning the favor.” Snape's back tensed. "I see." His hands were clenched in his lap. Harry could hear the regulars discussing whether or not the Gryffindors, who would be their first opponents, had really sucked that bad at their try outs. All of them were talking about it, except for Malfoy. He was interjecting a few comments here and there, but over all he wasn't committing to anything in particular. That was surprising. He had definitely not expected Malfoy to hold anything back. He hadn’t asked him to, that was certain. Was he waiting for Harry not to be around? After several minutes of people making disparaging remarks about Gryffindor's Quidditch team, Malfoy finally spoke up. "If you really think they're that terrible you're in for a whomping you know? Every year we play dirty tricks that are barely within legal and they trounce on us. They're up to something, that's for sure. I wouldn't consider them out of the count just yet." "We keep losing because you can't get the snitch Draco. It's your fault." It was someone random who said it, and Malfoy shook his head. "I've only had two years, you had the first chance without me. Don't think I don't know my place." Fascinating. It finally sunk in. Though Malfoy was a big deal within his year he was not yet respected here. Oh, he was somewhat respected, but that was an easy come easy go sort of thing. He had to tell them what he knew in just the right way, or they wouldn’t believe him. Worse, they might ignore it outright. “I don’t think I could stand being a Slytherin,” Harry said softly. “There are too many rules. I’d get impatient with it.” "You'd be terrible in Slytherin for other reasons," Snape said under his breath. "There are just as many rules as in any other house, you just weren't raised to understand them." “It was the first house the hat threatened me with I’ll have you know. You should be glad I fought it tooth and nail or you would have to hate me from within your own house. I only got Gryffindor because I didn’t want the same house as Malfoy.” Harry watched him. “It must be really frustrating not to be yelling at me. You’re quite unhappy.” "I am finding this situation a bit strange, yes, but not frustrating yet. I admit surprise the hat wanted you for Slytherin." He sounded thoughtful as he trailed off. “'You could be great, you know, it's all here in your head, and Slytherin will help you on the way to greatness, no doubt about that.' That’s what it said, among other things. It said I was difficult.” Harry fell silent. He tuned back in to the meeting below. "You are difficult," Snape agreed. The meeting had progressed into a commentary about the other houses, their Quidditch teams, who they thought would still be on them, and whether they were competition. Harry transfered his attention back to Snape. “So are you. I don’t think you’re talking about the same sort of difficult the hat was though.” "Possibly not. I've had a lot of practice becoming difficult. It comes with ease these days." “I don’t remember ever practicing.” Harry listened to a snippet of what was going on below then returned his attention to Snape. “I wonder why you think I’m so good at it. Beginners luck?” "Probably. More likely you don't realize you've been practicing." He sounded bored now. “Are you getting tired of me? You can always leave you know? Or I could change topics. I know some that really seem to motivate strong responses from you.” Harry leaned a bit closer. "I don't need topics that motivate strong responses from me. I don't need any topics of conversation in regards to you. It would be best if I didn't converse with you at all." He was still tense, watching his students warily. “Do you think?” Harry fell silent for a few moments. “Is that because you hate me?” "I do hate you," Snape agreed. He watched them speak for several more minutes and then leaned back a bit, which meant he was sitting straight up now. "You've been a thorn in my side since you came to Hogwarts, and before that even." “I didn’t know you before that.” Harry calmed himself and lowered his voice several notches so that he would not be sensed. He had to remember to be very quiet. “You weren’t anywhere near me. How could I possibly have been worth hating?” It just seemed so totally unfair, that while his family was hating him, somewhere far away, Snape was feeling exactly the same. “Are you related to my aunt or uncle or something?” Snape snorted softly. "No way would I be related to that hag Petunia," he said, then Harry could hear the sound of his jaw clicking closed. Harry couldn’t talk for several minutes, he was too busy fighting off laughter. Finally, he managed to get it under control enough that he was certain he wouldn’t give himself away. “Professor, could you come over this summer and call her that? I just want to see her face once. Please?” Snape's shoulders shook. "No, I would never," although there was a bit of longing in his voice. "She's got a neck like a horse." “Well, she and my uncle are the only two other people I know of who hated me instantly so I still have to wonder if you’re related to them.” Harry pictured his aunt in his mind. Was her neck really like a horse’s? "People don't have to be related to other people to each hate alike." Snape paused and took a breath. "I hate you for no other reason than you're alive," he whispered. Harry stared at him. “You… you answered my question.” Snape hated him because he was alive. “Well I can’t do anything about that. I mean I don’t want to die.” "Of course you don't want to die. What kind of fool wants to die?" Snape scoffed. “Actually, when I was younger I did. I used to fantasize that I was in the car with my parents and died when it crashed. That was before I knew my parents didn’t really die in a car crash. One time when I was eight I walked out into the street in London hoping someone would run me over.” Harry remembered the mess. All of the angry and worried faces. His punishment when he got home. “I don’t feel that way anymore though. I have friends now.” "I can't imagine your life being so terrible that you would truly want to be dead," Snape said softly. It was not cruel or mocking, more curious and confused. “Well, you weren’t there were you? Waking up everyday in that stupid cupboard with Dudley pounding up and down on the stairs above me. Not having any clothes that fit right, with everyone knowing that I wore his castaways. Then everyone saying my father was an unemployed drunk. Everyone hated me in school cause Dudley told them all the stuff Aunt Petunia and Uncle Dursley said. I was useless and no one wanted me. I’m probably still pretty useless, but at least there are people who want me around these days. Back then there was just no reason really, to want to be alive.” Now there was a depressing topic. How ever had they gotten on it? Snape remained silent for some time, before he spoke again. "Detention is Wednesday Potter, eight o'clock sharp. Be there on time." With that, he stood, and headed down the bleachers. The players were packing up and moving off. “Yes Sir,” Harry said softly as Snape stood. It was funny to think that he had tried to appease Snape by dying several times before he’d even met the man. Not that he’d known there was someone out there who hated him because he was alive. He certainly hadn’t. He still didn’t understand it. Why would you hate someone for existing? He looked at the other students seeking out Malfoy, who was walking down the bleachers slowly, as though uncertain if he wanted to leave. He glanced up the bleachers once, then got off the last stair and mosied towards the lake. Harry hurried after him. Taking off his cloak only once they were alone. “Hi.” "Potter, I thought you'd left without me or something." He blushed. "Not that that is a bad thing, or that..." he trailed off and shook his head. "Never mind." “Sorry, I should have realized Snape would be there. He caught me, you see, so I ended up talking with him for a time.” Harry took Malfoy’s hand and held it. Malfoy's fingers interlaced with his easily and he glanced at him. "You were talking to Professor Snape? I didn't even see his lips move." “Really? Well, he can be pretty amazing when it comes to being sneaky. Anyhow, yeah, and he told me my detention is Wednesday evening. I was starting to think it was never happening.” Malfoy snorted. "You really think he wouldn't have you serve a detention? Dreaming?" "No, I'd rather he did have me serve it actually. It's an excellent chance to ask him questions. Though now that I know why he hates me I wonder what I should concentrate on next." Harry walked along happily, heading for the same spot they'd been last time they had gone to the lake. Malfoy seemed similarly inclined, moving there without much thought. "You know why he hates you? That's bizarre, why did he tell you that?" Harry shrugged. “I have no idea. He says he hates me because I’m alive, that he hated me before I even came here. Do you understand it? I mean why would you hate someone for living?” Malfoy thought about it for a while and shrugged. "The only thing I can think is that he wanted someone else to be alive in your place. That's usually how that kind of thinking goes. You know, 'Why are you alive and he isn't' or something like that." “Oh, I hadn’t thought of that. I wonder who he wants then, my mum or my dad?” Harry sighed and stopped. They were right where they’d been the day before. Malfoy turned and plopped onto the ground, pulling Harry on top of him. "What do you think? He likes blokes or he likes gals? You could ask people who were around when he was in school. I could ask my father I suppose." “Hm, I’m not sure if it matters.” Their bodies felt so good against each other. Harry leaned down and kissed him. His mouth opened instantly and he moaned against Harry, slipping his tongue past his lips. Harry kissed him for some time, exploring his mouth as he pressed against his body. Then he pulled back a bit, ending the kiss. “You’re all sweaty from practice you know? Should I make you sweatier?” Malfoy gasped and moaned. "Potter, that imagery is just a tad too much, don't you think?" He grinned, feeling impish. “I just thought I might give you that blow job I promised you, that’s all. Of course if you don’t want me to loose this strand of hair you’ll have to make a new promise before I do it.” Malfoy moaned again and nodded his head. "Alright, a new promise then." He licked his lips and caught Harry's eyes. "How far do you want to go with me Potter?" he asked breathlessly. “Sexually? As far as you want. I can’t make any emotional promises just yet but sexually, the question is more how much you’re willing to do with me.” He wanted to try everything and some of it sort of worried him, but he wanted it none the less. Malfoy pulled out his wand and pressed it to the promise string. "I promise to have sex with Harry Potter," he said firmly. "There, nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?" Harry nodded, “Thank you for the promise Draco.” He kissed him. “I like it.” He kissed his cheek, then whispered in his ear, “a lot.” Then he nibbled his ear lobe. "Harry," he whispered, wiggling against him. Draco's tongue flicked across his neck. "I'm glad I can please you," he said. Then he pushed his hips up into him. "Quite glad." Harry kissed down the pale neck while his hands wandered Draco's chest. Then he paused to fumble with the robes beneath until he could actually feel the bare length against his hand. What would it be like to have it in his mouth? There was only one way to find out. "Oooh," Draco approved. "Feels good, your skin." His hands had been wandering over him, but now they tugged at his clothes, trying to get under his robes. "This makes me want to get starkers out here with you. I think you're a bad influence." “Of course I am.” He lifted his robes so Draco could touch him, then returned his attentions to that beautiful dick. “I wonder if we should be meeting after dark.” "If it was after dark, I wouldn't be able to see your skin gleaming in the sunlight." He shrugged. “No, you’d see it in the moonlight.” Then he maneuvered so he could put his lips to the smooth, soft skin of Draco's dick. He lowered his lips to it and kissed it gently. It got even more hard. "Moonlight... we should go out during the full moon Harry, if we're going to do it by moonlight." He groaned and his hands clenched at Harry's back. "Soft, very soft." “Mhm,” he agreed, though he knew they were talking about two different things. He licked the skin. It was stretched so tightly over the hard dick that Harry could see the veins beneath it. He opened his mouth and sucked him in. It felt pleasant there, though he had to wonder how he was supposed to fit half of it in, let alone the full length. "Ahhh," Draco gasped, his hands scraping at Harry's back for a moment before moving to his sides. Evidently it felt pretty good without the whole thing in. His lips twitched up as he sucked again and experimentally stroked it with his tongue at the same time. "Oh Merlin Harry," Draco moaned, hips twitching up. “Mm?” He tried to push a bit more into his mouth then, so that it hit the back of his throat. Odd, it felt sort of good there. "Harry! Gods Harry!" His head tossed to one side. "Feels so good. It's so warm in your mouth." Warm was it? That sounded good. Harry continued sucking and licking and moving, sometimes trying to pull more into his throat, sometimes just concentrating on the tip. It felt wonderful to make Draco call out to him. His name fell from Draco's lips so many times it seemed to belong there. His voice became urgent then, and he cried out. "Harry!" His hands alternated between the ground and Harry's head as he came. Harry was ready for this, he’d been doing some reading and it seemed the best way to swallow was to push the dick as far into one’s throat as possible. He was a bit sad that he didn’t get to really taste it, though none of the books he’d read had suggested it tasted especially good, but he swallowed every bit of Draco’s come. He kissed the now rapidly deflating dick and moved to rest his head on Draco’s hip. "Gods Harry, that was amazing," he panted. One hand reached for Harry's hair and began to stroke it. "Thank you. Really bloody wonderful." Harry’s dick throbbed at him. Yes it had been wonderful, is it my turn yet, it seemed to ask. He liked the feeling of tight desperation in it. “You’re welcome. I enjoyed it.” "You're hard, aren't you? You've got to be." He shifted so he could lean on his elbows and look down at Harry. "Should I do something about it?" “If you want.” He rolled over. “It shouldn’t take long that’s certain.” It throbbed and twitched, almost painful in its need. Draco chuckled as he rolled on top of him. "I see. That desparate?" He licked his lips, moved down Harry's body, and reached under the robes to put his fingers around the hot, hard flesh. "Then I should see how much of you I can take into my mouth." Considering Draco’s reaction to that he doubted he would last very long. He moaned at the thought of it. Hands moved Harry's robes up, and his pants down. They lightly stroked Harry's hot flesh, this time grazing the skin a bit with his nails. "No coming until you're in my mouth Harry," he whispered. Harry thought he might want to put him in his mouth quickly in that case, but he didn’t say it. Instead he concentrated on not coming, on holding back from it as best he could. One finger swirled around the tip and down the underside. Draco smirked. "You want it bad, don't you?" he whispered, bending down to lick the tip once. “Ah,” his eyes widened and he held back from the edge, just. “Yes.” It sounded like he was begging, though he was actually just answering the question. "Should I do it Harry?" He licked the underside, all the way down to the balls, then back up. "Should I?" Harry nodded frantically. Oh, he wanted to come so badly. “Yes.” "Well then, I should let you come. Right here, in my mouth." He kissed all around the head, and then opened his lips, taking Harry down in one, slow movement until it was in the back of his throat. He looked up at him. Harry shook, it felt so good, warm, no, more like hot. His eyes fell closed and he came, just from the feel of that mouth. “Draco!” The lips held him, Draco's throat constricting again and again as he swallowed. He chuckled as he let the spent dick slip out of his mouth. Settling his head on Harry's stomach, he looked up at him. "Liked that, I take it?" he asked, licking his lips. “Good guess.” He opened his eyes and looked at him. “Come up here and kiss me?” Draco obliged, kissing the fabric clad body as he made his way up and then brought his lips right onto Harry's, kissing him happily. It felt wonderful. ***** Chapter 6 - Squiggly Things ***** Harry hadn’t settled on any particular question he wanted Snape to answer that night, but he looked forward to the time alone with him all the same. He actually arrived at quarter till eight. Snape looked up when he entered the classroom and he smirked. "I see, you want to get here early so you can leave early? Not a chance." He got up and walked to his storage room. "Sit at the front table," he instructed. “Actually I was just looking forward to seeing you, that’s all.” Harry took a seat at the front table. “What am I doing today Professor?” He raised his voice a bit so Snape would be sure to hear him. "Killing yourself, slowly and painfully," came his voice from the other room. “I could have sworn I told you I got over that stage after coming to Hogwarts,” Harry called back. “Perhaps we could come up with some alternate project.” "Nope, sorry, I've decided." He came out of the storage room with a large cage of some sort of squiggly creatures inside it. "You get to kill and disembowel these fine worms. It should be quite a slow death." Harry stared at them and sighed. “Are they poisonous?” "Extremely. So you don't want to get your fingers caught on the pokers. They come out of their tails. I need you to take the pokers out, then kill them with it by beheading them. Then you take these scissors," he held up a pair of ebony scissors. "And cut them open. Their entrails are a bright white, which you'll put into these containers. One set per container." He bent down and pulled out a box of small crystal bowls with lids. "You'll put a liquid that I'll provide over the top of it and close the container. Understood?" Harry stared at him. Either this was an elaborate joke or Snape was actually asking him to do something which required a certain amount of skill. It was the sort of thing he would never expect to be asked to do at all. “Are you hoping I’ll have a hard time and poison myself?” "That was the idea. As I said, slow, painful, death." Snape seemed so serious. He turned away from Harry and began to move back into his storage room. Harry considered refusing to do it. On the other hand he firmly believed that Snape would not really allow him to die. “You know I know you would never kill me in detention, right?” He glanced back at Harry once before entering the room. When he came back, he had a large tub filled with a clear liquid. He placed that on the table near Harry and showed Harry a ladle. "You'll scoop the fluid into the jars this way. Understand?" He was ignoring the question. That was pretty normal. “Demonstrate the process. We’ve never done anything like it in class.” Harry did not want to kill and disembowel anything, most especially a bunch of squiggly, poisonous, worm things. "Of course," Snape agreed. He reached in, grabbed one of the squiggly things, pinched one end until a long, thin, pincer came out of it. He took it in one hand and pulled until it popped out of the worm. The worm squiggled more and more as it bled. Deftly, Snape moved the pincer and cut off its head. Then he put it on the board in front of Harry and took the scissors out, cutting the creature open. As he said, tons of white, slimy innards came out of it, and he grabbed all of that, plopping it into one of the jars. Then he wiped his hands off on a towel, and took the ladle, pouring it over the still steaming entrails. He capped it firmly and put the container to one side, sweeping the rest of the carcass into a large bowl. "Easy," he said simply. “Easy?” Harry shook his head. “Maybe if you’ve done it before.” It occurred to him that if Snape was looking for a way to keep him quiet during detentions he’d found at least a temporary solution. Still shaking his head Harry looked into the jar. He picked out a critter and tried to grab it. It was slimy and wiggled right out of his hands. Snape snickered. "You'll have to try better than that.” “You didn’t mention they were slimy.” Harry rolled his eyes. His tone was casual. “What is your point anyhow? Is it amusing to watch me fail?” Harry tried grabbing the thing again. Snape had pinched his, so he tried to do the same. Pinching it made it squiggle more, but it was easier to actually hold on to the thing. "Actually, yes, it is a pleasant pastime of mine to watch you fail. Thank you for noticing." “You should have been around when I was younger than. You would have gotten more pleasure.” Harry pinched harder, watching for the pincer. “You know there are much more pleasurable things in life. Like good food, friends, sex.” "You know I'm your Professor and there are definitely things you should not discuss with me. Like sex, for instance." The pincer finally came out, slowly from the creature. “I wasn’t discussing it.” Harry tried to grab the thing and pull on it. “I was just saying it was more pleasurable than watching people you hate fail. If you want discussing I could ask if you’d tried it as a good alternative or not.” It was hard to pull. There was a firmness to it that made it difficult. "We are not going to discuss my, or your, sexual habits. Yank it out Potter." Harry tried yanking it, hard. “There has to be an easier way.” It came out, oozing fluids all over the tank. Harry winced. He cut off the things head as quickly as he could and grabbed for the scissors. “Why not? I think sex is an interesting topic and with you forcing me into something like this I need a distraction.” "You need a distraction? Isn't the point of detention to be punished for wrongdoings?" Snape's eyebrows were raised. “Not as far as I can tell. Well, maybe with McGonagall and the other teachers, but not with you. The point with you, I think, is to enforce your authority over our every move and to make it clear that you are a very angry, cantankerous man.” Harry had to move the innards more slowly then Snape to make sure he got them all, then he covered them with fluid. It was slimy, gross work, and it stank as well. "I see. You think me an angry, cantankerous man. Quite the observation Potter." “Thanks Professor. It wasn’t hard. I mean all I have to do is explain myself honestly to you and I get detention, so…” Harry reached in to pinch another worm. “I just think there might be some better ways to work through your aggressions that’s all.” "You believe this is all simply about aggression? You know, there are times when I wonder if you think at all." Snape was leaning against his desk, slumped slightly as he watched Harry. "You have no idea that this is about discipline, about doing what you're supposed to do not questioning authority." “Considering the fact that when you first started going after me I’d never questioned authority in my life I don’t see why I would make that connection.” Harry pinched as hard as he could and went after the pincer. This was going to take forever. He was glad he’d eaten a while before coming down. Snape's eyes actually rolled. "I did that because I hated you. It became about authority. Plain and simple." Harry looked up at him. “All right then, tell me this. Why is it that of all the teachers in this school you are the only one who thinks I have a problem with authority?” "They all think your bloody amazing for doing things someone your age has no right, no reason, to do. They are impressed with your abilities, without taking into consideration that you are still a young boy in need of guidance and help, not coddling and pushing towards danger." Harry shook his head and went back to work. “I’ve always thought you were so perceptive, too.” How could he possibly think that? “I mean you’re extremely intelligent and you notice things no one else does so I don’t see what would make you so off the mark on this.” He fell into a quiet contemplation as he killed some more worms. Merlin did they stink. "Am I so off the mark?" Snape moved himself so he was sitting on the desk. "Perhaps that is merely because you don't understand. You are a child. You do not need the responsibility that is being put on your shoulders. That is all there is to it. You need discipline." Harry thought about all of the times he’d heard the word discipline and had it shoved in his face. “Well, you could always just hit me a few times like Uncle Vernon and have it over with. I don’t think I’ll ever see what cutting up worms, scrubbing out cauldrons, weeding the garden, doing the dishes, cooking up breakfast, dusting, vacuuming, or any of that has to do with discipline. If it does though, then you might actually be looking for my cousin Dudley in the needs discipline category not me.” "You know," Snape said, bending so he could lean on his legs a bit. "The more I hear about your family life, the more I learn about you. It's fascinating, all of it, really." “Is it? Well, if you say so.” Harry didn’t see how it would tell him all that much though, really. “By the way, are these things really poisonous?” Snape nodded. "Yes they really are poisonous. How are you feeling?" Snape looked mildly interested. Harry shrugged, “Fine, but I think you should know that one of them nicked me.” He probably already knew. Harry went on to the next step, ignoring the pain. It really wasn’t a bad cut after all. "You have tough skin. If you start turning blue, I'll worry about it." Snape swung his feet slightly. "Does she always stretch her neck out when she's annoyed?" “Aunt Petunia? Yeah and she’s usually annoyed if I’m around, so that’s pretty much the only way I see her. How do you know her anyhow?” Snape shrugged. "Her sister went to school here, didn't she? I saw her at the station." “My Mum, did you know her?” As always Harry was eager to know anything he could about his parents. Snape's eyebrows raised. "If I did?" “Will you tell me about her?” His voice softened. Why had it never occurred to him? Snape had commented that he was just like his father. In order to know that he’d have had to have known them, right? "Why do you want to know what your angry, cantankerous Professor has to say about your Mum?" As his excitement waned, Harry realized that he was feeling a bit dizzy. Nothing big, it was like coming down from a rush at a Quidditch game. “It has to be better than knowing nothing.” Harry ignored the feeling. He wanted to know about his mum and it seemed that Snape could tell him something. “Please?” "She was better at potions than you are," was the first thing that came out of his mouth. Then he smirked. “She was good at potions? What else?” "She had more courage than your father, that's for sure." He sat up straight, never taking his eyes off of Harry. "She was bold and forthright. She always upheld her promises." Harry smiled. He was like her that way then. He’d never gone back on a promise. “Did she have a favorite class? Do you know?” "Charms. Her favorite class was charms. She liked twisting her wrist around and watching patterns in the air." His voice was wistful. "She was exceptional at transfigurations, but it wasn't her favorite. She could make anything into anything, and I mean that more literally than I'm going to explain." The corner of his mouth quirked up in a small smirk. As Harry was listening, he felt his heart beat faster. It also made him more dizzy. The world was starting to wobble slightly. This was the most he’d ever heard about his mother though and he didn’t want to stop asking questions when he was getting answers. “Was there a class she didn’t like?” He snorted depreciatively. "Defense Against the Dark Arts. Not that she didn't think it was necessary, just that she didn't like it. She didn't think we should have to take it, because she felt that people shouldn't be cruel to each other." He looked at Harry concerned. "Are you alright?" “I like defense though, and it is really necessary.” Harry felt himself sway a bit. “Actually I’m feeling pretty dizzy,” he admitted reluctantly. Snape made a tsking sound and Harry was suddenly in his arms and lifted off the ground. He was laid out on a table, Snape's hands cleaning Harry's carefully and thoroughly. "As I said, it wasn't that she didn't think it necessary, it was that she didn't like it. She didn't like the necessity for it. Small cut," Snape said as he found the nick in Harry's hand. "Not bad. You're more fragile than expected." “Sorry,” though Harry wasn’t sure what he was apologizing for exactly. “What else do you know about her?” "I know that her favorite color was purple and she liked unicorns." He pointed at Harry. "Stay here, do not move until I come back. Understood?" Harry nodded. “Purple unicorns.” "So long as you understand." Snape was out of his vision in a moment, and Harry began to see purple unicorns floating around the room. They were playing games with each other, and their bright white horns would touch as they passed each other by. The flare of light from their horns touching was so brilliant that it made him flinch. Harry watched them as they floated, wincing and closing his eyes when they touched horns. As he watched he got better and better at closing his eyes just on time, though it didn’t really seem to help. From what seemed like a long way away, Harry heard someone calling his name. It was strange, he felt that that voice shouldn't be calling him, but it was. He couldn't really tell who it was. Just that he was being called. Harry tried to follow the sound of the voice straining towards it desperately. Who could be calling him and why? "Bloody hell," he heard, the first words that were clear. Then the floating sensation seemed to fade a bit, then more, then something warm was happening. Something very nice. He was kissing someone. His arms were around their neck, the other person's tongue propping his mouth open while liquid trickled in. That felt good. He kissed the person back enthusiastically. Kissing was fun. Hands were pressing on his head, trying to hold him back as the person attemped to move away. He moaned in protest and opened his eyes. He was now staring into glittering, black eyes, narrowed in annoyance and framed by pale skin. Snape was kissing him. No, Snape was trying to get away from him. Fingers dug painfully into his shoulders. Harry broke off the kiss, though he hated to. It had felt good, and he’d wanted to kiss Snape for a while. From the looks of things he’d just gotten his first and last chance. "Since you're feeling ever so much better," Snape said as he moved away from Harry. "You can finish taking the antivenom yourself." He held up a flask with creamy white liquid in it. “I’d rather you kept feeding it to me,” Harry replied glancing around for the purple unicorns, before he realized that they had likely been a hallucination. He wasn't very steady, and getting up seemed an impossibility. He was shaky, starting to feel cold, and were those slimy worms crawling out of their tank? "I won't feed it to you anymore. You're capable of kissing, you're capable of taking your own medicine." “Professor, I think the worms are getting away.” Harry couldn’t do much about getting the antivenom as he couldn’t get up. Snape turned to look and then turned back to Harry. "You're hallucinating." He sighed and placed an arm around Harry, helping him to sit up. "Drink." Now the worms were mutating and growing tentacles. Harry shook his head, “The hallucinations went away and now… What’s wrong with those things?” Snape glanced back. "There's nothing wrong with them," he snarled. "Drink this." He held the liquid to Harry's lips. It was soothing, warm in the right places and cold in the others. It made him dizzy, but in a very pleasant sort of way. A sigh escaped him and his eyes closed. He was floating and it felt good. “Hm,” Harry leaned back contentedly, wondering about the voice he had heard before. “You know while you were gone I heard someone calling me.” "That was me," Snape snarled. "Trying to wake you up." "No, I don't think so. The first thing you said was, 'Bloody Hell.'" "Perhaps to you that was the first thing I said, but I was calling to you for five minutes before that." He placed Harry back on the table gently and Harry could hear him moving away. "Five minutes," Snape sighed. The floating feeling didn't go away, in fact it got stronger, more sure. He was in the sky, on a cloud. The air was thin, but it felt good that way. He could still hear Snape's voice, but it was from far away. He didn't want to answer him, because answering him would disturb the air and he didn't want to disturb the air. What he wanted was... water. Lots of it. He felt thirsty, and he felt kinda warm. It seemed as though he might have been sweating but that didn't make sense. Then there was a feeling of sharpness on his cheek and his eyes flew open. Snape was staring down at him, face contorted with something like rage. His hand was raised like he was going to strike him, or perhaps he just had. "Wake up I said!" he growled, and Harry felt completely awake, alive, aware of himself and his surroundings. “Alright, fine, I’m awake!” Harry tried to sit up. It was easy, as if he did it every day, which he did. His head didn't spin, the worms looked like worms, and Snape was glowering at him. "Good, it's about time you woke up. I think you came in your pants though." He spun away from Harry who realized that his pants did feel a little mushy, sticky, wet. “How unfair, I didn’t get to feel it at all.” Harry tried out the cleaning spell he’d seen Malfoy use. "You were making enough noise I was quite certain you were." The spell worked, and suddenly he was feeling fresh and clean. “Nope, I was floating on a cloud. It was pleasant, but it wasn’t like that at all.” Harry sighed. “Oh, and I was really thirsty.” Harry hopped down from the table and moved over to the worms. “You want me to keep disemboweling those?” "Thirsty?" Snape whirled around to look at Harry again. "Don't touch them. You're thirsty?" Harry thought it over and realized that that part at least hadn’t gone away. “Yes, actually I am still thirsty.” "Then you must drink. Stay here, I won't be gone for long." Snape turned and walked right out of the classroom. Strange. He seemed awfully concerned. Harry stared at the worms wondering what in the hell they were. Then he began to remember the kiss and how good it had felt. As he remembered the kiss, he remembered that voice, calling to him. It was a warm voice, something he really felt like he had a past with. Or maybe it was a future. Hmm... hard to tell. He sat down and tried to concentrate on it, tried to hear the voice, to distinguish who it had been. The more he thought about it, the more he felt like he had heard it, a long time ago. It had that ageless feel, the feel of something from so long ago he was incapable of thought when he'd first heard it. The door opened and Snape came in, robes billowing out around him. He had a pitcher of water and a glass in his hands. Once he was right up against Harry, he filled the glass and handed it to him. "Drink." Harry took the glass and drank from it. For some time he’d been wondering if that voice had been his mum. He didn’t stop drinking until the glass was empty. He was still thirsty, so when Snape refilled the glass he started drinking again. In fact, he didn't stop drinking until the pitcher was empty, and that was because there was nothing more to drink. He licked his lips. He was still thirsty. "How do you feel?" He’d drunk an entire pitcher of water. What was wrong with him? “Fine.” "Are you still thirsty?" Yes he was, but he couldn't contain anymore water, could he? “Er, well,” on the other hand there was no good reason to lie, “yes.” "I was afraid of that." There was something incredibly sexy about Snape's worried voice. It was like silk slipping across his body. He shivered. Silk or satin. Snape turned to go, but Harry didn't want him to go. He wanted... he was hard. Harry reached out and caught his arm. “Don’t go. Couldn’t we just… try kissing again?” Oh, or even better. “I could give you a blow job.” Snape stopped and turned to glance at Harry. "No. I will not have sex with you. Any version of sex." Then he looked at the pitcher and sighed, pointing his wand at it. A stream of water hit the pitcher and it was filled. "Drink." Harry took another glass and drank it. “Why not? What would it hurt?” "Drinking? Or having sex with me?" Snape's eyebrows were raised, and that was sexy too. “Having sex with you.” Harry filled the glass again and drank more. He’d wanted Snape since he’d figured out what wanting was, so the thought that he was sexy didn’t strike him as odd at all. "We'll start with the basics. I might not be into men. I am your Professor. Next we'll move on to some higher basics. I might not be interested in young boys. I might not be interested in Gryffindors. The difficult things. I might not be interested in you, specifically. Sound good? Do you get it?" Snape's eyes were hard. Harry thought it over. “Is all of that true?” "There's a lot of things there. At the very least I am still your Professor. Now keep drinking until you feel full." Harry drank another glass of water. “I know a solution to all of it though.” He refilled his glass. “You could just close your eyes and pretend it was anyone you wanted.” He drank the new glass. "Could I now? Why on earth would I want to have sex with someone and not even look at them? You have some funny ideas of what sex should be like." He watched Harry closely, and that just made Harry harder. “Oh, well I actually want you. I’m just trying to convince you to let me have you, that’s all. Besides what is so wrong with enjoying sex for the sake of sex.” He had a couple more glasses of water. He was beginning to feel like a lake, but he still felt thirsty. If he had to drink much more, he was going to need the loo. "You want me? How bizarre are you? I hate you, and you hate me. There's no lust between us." Snape was shaking his head in surprise. “You hate me. I have a thing for you this year. I think you’re incredibly sexy.” Harry eyed the water. “I can’t keep drinking it.” "Are you thirsty?" Snape challenged. “Yes, but I can’t keep drinking. I just can’t.” "If you're thirsty, drink." His eyes glowed slightly. Harry moved closer and peered into his eyes. “Your eyes are glowing.” "I'm annoyed. Keep drinking. You don't find me attractive, you're horny." Harry backed down reluctantly and refilled the glass, drinking more water. “I only find two people attractive and you’re one of them. You might not like it but it’s true. Live with it.” "No, it's the worms." Snape took a breath and shook his head. "Just drink, stop talking, and drink." “The worms might have contributed.” Harry agreed, “But I felt this way the first day back to classes and I hadn’t done anything with the worms yet at that point. Besides, if you knew the worms would make me want you why did you have me play with them?” "I didn't know that would be the effect on you. They react differently with each person. Apparently they make you incessantly horny." Snape sat down at his desk. "Potter, have you started taking any strange potions lately? Eating any weird herbs?" Harry took some more water. “Nope.” He drank it. “Did you hear me when I said I already thought you were sexy before the worms?” "I could hardly keep the words from reaching my ears. Much to my displeasure," he finished under his breath. All that water was now starting to make him feel sick. His stomach twisted, turned, felt like it was trying to empty. Harry put his glass down. “I’m not drinking anymore.” "What's wrong?" Snape looked at him in concern. It was as if he knew when Harry meant he wasn't feeling well or he didn't feel like it. “I think I’m going to throw up.” "This way," Snape sighed, turning and walking towards the door. Harry's stomach shook more, making small gurgling noises. He stood up and followed, trying to will his stomach to hold on just a little longer. ***** Chapter 7 - Closed Doors ***** Snape walked out of that door, through another, and then through a sitting room, bedroom and into a loo. "Here, if you need to."   Harry didn't have time to think about the decor, he was rushing after Snape and made it just in time to the bathroom before he lost his stomach into the toilet. Where he remained, puking radioactive looking green stuff for what seemed like forever.   When he stopped heaving he felt dry, but not thirsty, achy and he had a splitting headache. Snape's hand was on his back, rubbing soothing circles down it and in his other hand was a cup of water. "Here," he said softly, offering the water to Harry.   Harry accepted it and spent a few minutes trying to wash the acrid taste out of his mouth. Finally, he accepted that it wasn’t going to get any better than that and he sat down on the bathroom floor handing the glass to Snape. It occurred to him that if Snape hadn’t made him cut those stupid worms they wouldn’t be in this predicament at all. “That was a really shitty thing to do to me, you know that.”   "Which part?" he asked, passing a toothbrush with a glob of blue toothpaste on it down to him.   “Having me cut those things up knowing you didn’t know what might happen if one of them got me. I trust you to keep me safe here you know?” Harry pulled himself up to the sink and started brushing his teeth.   "How fascinating that you trust me at all. You're in the den of the biggest snake here at Hogwarts. I would be terrified if I was you." Snape's voice was low, soft and sultry.   “Wll ‘m na,” Harry said, as he continued to brush his teeth.   Suddenly Snape was behind him, his hands traveling around Harry's waist. "Well you should be," he whispered.   Harry shook his head. Now what was he up to? “Y shou I e?”   "Because I'm dangerous," Snape's body came close to him, not quite touching his own. His hands locked together in Harry's front, touching his abdomen. In the mirror, Harry could see Snape's face, and his eyes were dark.   Harry spit out the toothpaste and washed out his mouth. “What are you going to do?”   Once Harry was done cleaning his mouth, Snape answered him, pulling him back flush against his body. "Maybe I'll sodomize you," he whispered into Harry's ear.   That sounded pretty good actually. “I was asking for that a while ago, remember? I don’t understand why it should concern me now. Although you gave me a really hard time about it then.”   "Then I was in the classroom, not my own rooms." He moved forward so Harry was pressed right against the sink, one hand pushing in the middle of Harry's back so his chest touched the faucet and his arse touched Snape's hardness. "All bets are off in my personal rooms."   “I don’t see why it’s so different.” Harry’s heart raced and he pushed back against Snape. He felt so big, much bigger than Draco. It was actually a little difficult to catch his breath.   "No one to interrupt me. No one to make me stop." Harry's robes were being lifted. Snape brought them to his waist and set them there. Then he reached forward and undid his trousers, pulling them and Harry's underwear down. One cool hand trailed back up along Harry's leg. "No one to hear you scream."   Oh yes, yes this was good. This was wonderful. Harry felt the skin around his balls wrinkle tightly, his dick so hard it hurt.   "Does this make you hot, Potter? Are you hard, wanting me?" The hand went all the way to his arse and lightly stroked it. "Have you wanted me to touch you? To feel you? Do you want to know what it's like to have me inside of you?" The hand left his skin, and then, with a sharp snap, it was down on Harry's arse, a stinging slap.   Harry tensed but it felt good, so good, tingly, painful. He pressed into the sink wanting more. “Yes,” he hissed.   "Really? How intriguing." The hand came down again, on the other cheek. Hard, quick, painful. "You must have matured over the summer. Have you had dreams Potter?"   Over the summer? No, Harry was pretty sure he hadn’t matured over the summer. It was more recent than that, more immediate, but that didn’t change what he needed. He had been having dreams. Every night he had one. “Dreams, yes,” he replied softly when he’d caught his breath. It felt so nice, the hot tingling, his hardness hitting the cold sink.   The hand fell on first one cheek, then the other, hard, fast, again, and then again before Snape started caressing his flesh, speaking softly. "What happens in your dreams Potter? Tell me."   Harry shook his head. “All sorts of things.” There were tears threatening his eyes from the sting of Snape’s hand on his arse but he wanted more. He wanted it harder. “I don’t know which things to tell you about, Sir.” That was one of the things. In any dream with Snape, he always called him Sir. Well, maybe there had been one in which he didn’t but that one had been… just impossible, with Snape so tender and passionate that it was hard to even remember it clearly.   After a moment of gentle petting, Snape's hand disappeared, only to return in a series of heavy, painful blows that hurt so much the tears finally fell. Just when he was certain that if he got hit one more time, his skin would split the hand resumed lightly rubbing. His arse was on fire, burning from the spanking, and when Snape reached his other hand over to turn on the sink, he pressed his whole body against Harry's body for a moment. Cold water shot out of the tap. "All sorts of things Harry?" Steady rubbing. "Tell me one thing and I'll give you something nice."   "You were holding me by the hair, and pressing me down onto your dick. It was choking me but you wouldn’t stop. I… I tried to pull away once and you pushed me down so far it went way deep into my throat and I felt it grow a bit longer. You wouldn’t let go of my head until you came.” Harry managed this in gasps, rushing through it so that he could have whatever reward Snape had planned.   "I see. You had dreams of forcibly deep throating. How fascinating. Did this make you hot, sticky, and sweaty Potter?" He reached a hand to cup some of the cool water and pulled it up and over, drizzling it onto his burning arse.   It was startling but it felt good as well. "Yes, it did."   "Were your sheets cum soaked in the morning? Did you want more?" He cupped more cold water, allowing it to cool his other cheek.   Harry wiggled with appreciation, unable to stop himself. "Yes, Sir."   "Shall I give you what you dreamed? Would you like that Potter?" He turned off the water, rubbed his hand in the hot, wet flesh and then smacked him again.   Harry felt his dick twitch in appreciation of the idea. "Please."   Snape's hand smacked him another five times, and then he reached forward, grabbing Harry by the hair and started marching him out of the bathroom. "Alright then. You asked for it." He walked into the bedroom, tossed Harry onto the floor by the side of the bed and began opening his robes. "Stay there until I tell you to move," he said softly.   Harry, who had been righting himself, stopped moving completely at the command. This was just like one of his dreams, no even better, and he'd been having them three or four a night lately. He watched Snape completely still, so hot and hard he could hardly stand it. He might come, just doing this one thing for Snape. He might come just anticipating it.   Severus took off his outer robe, then unbuttoned his waistcoat. He placed both onto a chair, which he sat in for a moment as he took off his shoes. Then he took off his inner robes, leaving him in shirt and trousers. He walked to the bed, sitting on the edge of it near Harry, unzipping his pants. "Watch me," he said to Harry as he unbelted and unbuttoned his pants. Harry didn't have to be told, he already was, but now he focused all of his attention on Snape. Snape who was undressing, Snape who was really going to let him suck his dick.   He moved his trousers open so his dick could spring free. There was no underwear. It was long, decently thick, hard and leaking. The tip of it was wet and shiny, and Snape moved his hand over the length of it slowly, swirling his finger over the tip, catching the pre-cum. He looked at Harry, smirked, and took his finger to Harry's mouth. "Clean it," he whispered.   Harry licked it, tasting the thick fluid for the first time. It had a strong taste. His mouth watered, not necessarily for more. He wasn't certain how he felt about the taste, but he licked until the finger no longer tasted like anything at all.   Snape returned his finger to his dick. "Now you know what to clean, yes?"   Harry went right to it, licking all around, gently sucking here and there. His tongue finding and feeling every peculiarity of Snape's dick.   There were strange things to find, odd scars in hidden places. One ran down the length of it on the left side, one was slashed across the base. There were a few that looked like nail marks, but none of those seemed deep. As he worked, it got harder, longer, thicker.   Snape gave him free reign for several minutes, then he grabbed Harry by the hair and pressed his lips to the tip of it. "You know what's coming next, don't you?"   Harry opened his mouth as a shock of pleasure seized him, almost paralyzing him with its force. Yes, he knew what was coming next and he wanted it... so badly.   "Good," Snape seemed to purr. With a quick shove, Harry's mouth was forced open and down onto Snape's dick. He wasn't gentle, his hair was held firm in one hand as his head was pushed down, until the dick was touching the back of Harry's throat.   It was so big, Harry's jaw ached almost immediately and his own dick pulsed with excitement. It hurt. It felt so good.   "That's right," Snape said. "Take it all Potter. That's what you want to do anyway. I suppose I should be rougher but I did promise you something nice." He brought Harry's head up and then pushed it back down. This he did several times, and then he pushed him even further, right down into Harry's throat. "Yes," he hissed, grabbing Harry's head with both hands so he couldn't move off of it. "Nice."   That was it, that was the feeling. Harry couldn't prevent himself from struggling against those hands but he didn't want to get away. His nipples were so hard that it was electricity every time they brushed against something. Harry's mind whirled. It was hard to breath. He sucked and swallowed around the huge dick, his jaw aching.   Then he could breathe again as he was brought all the way off of Snape's dick. "Like that, don't you Potter? Are you going to burst? Do you want to?"   Harry moaned and turned pleading eyes onto Snape. Why had he lifted him off of it? He had almost come.   Black, amused eyes caught his own. "Yes, you want to come, don't you? It's eating you up that you can't. You're so very close but you can't. I won't let you, you know that right?" He reached out his wand and bent down to lightly touch Harry's dick. "You can't come until I say so. That could be hours from now." His lips didn't even move, and Harry felt something slip around his dick, down to the base, and wrap around it, tightly.   He moaned as his dick twitched like it was trying to come before the option was taken away. "Yes," he whispered. It really was like one of his dreams, but different because it was so very, very real and he wanted this so very much. "Yes."   Snape smirked. "You like that, don't you? You like having your options taken away from you. Well, in that case, I can do even better." He flicked his wand and Harry's arms were suddenly pulled behind himself, tied there with strong rope. "Now you're really at my mercy."   Harry moaned, his eyes fixed on Snape's. It felt so good to loose himself in this, to be unable to do anything. Here he didn't have to make any choices at all. All he had to do was obey and that was easy, so easy. He could hardly fail to obey in this situation and Snape would take care of him, when and how he felt was best. "Please, Sir," Harry begged in wavering tones, "may I have it back?"   "You want this back?" Snape asked, pulling Harry's head close enough to his dick that Harry could smell it. "You do?"   Harry nodded and opened his mouth for it. Every cell of skin on his body seemed awake and alive. He felt so desperate and so sensitive.   "Good boy, you're learning well." With that, he shoved Harry back down on the dick, far, far down. He set a pace, lifting Harry's head and pushing him down again and again.   The pain and pleasure built inside of Harry. His dick was hot and hard but he could do nothing about it. He wanted to come so badly. He needed to, but it wasn't his choice to come. It was impossible to do more than keep sucking, breathing when he could, half choking sometimes. So good, it felt so good. The heat consumed him as he let Snape guide him.   Snape's hands guided him up and down his thick, hard dick so many times Harry began to lose all higher thought. Finally Snape grabbed hold of his head so hard it brought tears to his eyes, and the hands pushed his mouth down so far he couldn't breathe at all. Snape was silent, gasping once, then twice as he came deeply down Harry's throat, his hands relaxing several moments later. "Swallow all of it," Snape warned. "Lick off every drop if you miss anything, or I won't let you come for another hour." He finally looked down and into Harry's green eyes, his eyes glazed in pleasure.   Tears blurred Harry's vision as he set to work licking. He thought he'd swallowed it all but he couldn't be sure. He didn't want to miss a single drop. He licked and kept licking, desperate to please Snape. Actually he was just plain desperate, floating on a cloud of pain and pleasure, unable to escape.   "Good," Snape finally said. "Good boy. That's enough, I'm quite clean." He lifted Harry's head and tenderly kissed him. "How do you feel? Do you want to come now?" Harry nodded, not really trusting his voice.   "You've been good, so I can do that for you." Snape let go of Harry's face and zipped up his pants, buttoning and belting them back up. Then he bent down, and picked Harry up, putting him on the bed. He untied Harry's hands, and then retied them to the bed posts. "So you can't get away from me, Potter," he explained.   Yes, that was perfect, because he didn't want to get away. He didn't want to get away at all. A huge tremble of anticipation went through Harry. He was going to come, Snape was going to let him come.   "Good boy," Snape said, running his hands over Harry's body, lightly pinching nipples and stroking sides. He did this for several minutes before slipping between Harry's legs and pulling them wide apart. One hand traveled down between Harry's cheeks, lightly fingering his hole. "Would you like me to touch you here? Inside Harry? I can make you feel very good."   "Yes," the word ripped from him sounding almost animal in it's desire. How Harry wanted to be touched there. He'd tried to do it himself but it was hard to enjoy it when he was all twisted around just to be able to do it. The feeling of Snape's fingers against his hole made him gasp and squirm.   A hand slapped his leg. "Do I have to tie up your legs too?" he asked. "Stop squirming or I will."   Harry tried to still his legs, but it was difficult. "Please, tie them," Harry begged, unable to get them fully under his control.   "Such a good boy," Snape murmured. "When did you become a good boy?" His wand flicked, and Harry's legs were tied to the top of the frame, spread out. "There you go, helpless for my enjoyment." He touched Harry's balls. Then he ran a finger against the tip of his dick.   Harry gasped and arched. He moaned and pulled at his bonds. It felt so good to be at Snape's mercy   "Yes indeed, beautiful flesh you have." The finger trailed down the dick, around the balls and back to Harry's hole. Suddenly the finger was slick, and it was pushing inside of him. It wasn't an easy push, gentle or kind, it was a forceful push, done in one, quick stride. Suddenly, it was buried all the way inside of Harry.   Harry cried out, his throat so raw it hurt, but he hardly noticed. His hands clenched as his body went hot. The hole hurt from the abrupt thrust, but it was just another bit of pain to push together with the pleasure. His dick strained and his balls were so tight they ached.   "Beautiful, very beautiful. Cry out for me Potter, I like to hear it." The finger moved in and out a few times before another finger joined the first. Like before it wasn't gentle, it was a hard, deep thrust. This time his fingers found something deep inside that sent more sparks flying through Harry's mind.   Harry screamed out, tears flooding his eyes once more and trailing down his face. He hadn't been able to see clearly for some time at any rate. More. He wanted, no needed to come. He cried out again and again wanting the release that Snape had promised him and knowing that he would get it when Snape felt like giving it to him.   "That's right, oh Harry, you're so beautiful when you're at my mercy." The fingers moved in, out, in, out, then a third joined them and he was pushing his hand so hard, so fast, so furious inside of Harry that his whole body was moving in time to the thrusts. "Should I let you come?" he asked. "Would you like that now?" Harry tried to say yes but something between a sob and a scream came out instead.   Snape chuckled. "I see. Well then." He continued to pound inside Harry, but his other hand reached for Harry's dick, and he fondled it for a few moments. Then he touched the base, and suddenly his dick was free.   There wasn't even a second between that touch and Harry's come. His entire body surged with the feeling of his release, tensing and going limp after. Harry lay panting in the warmth of the aftermath, a part of him floating as he lay there completely spent.   "What do you think Harry, want another one?" Snape's fingers hadn't stopped moving, and they continued to be just as forceful as they had before he came.   Harry couldn't answer but his dick stirred and began to harden again. It didn't seem possible, but soon he was riding the pleasure of those fingers, the way they were touching him. He cried and shook and screamed and not long after he came a second time and it felt wonderful. He had never felt so good before in his life.   "There you go," Snape said, finally slowing his hand to a stop. "Very good." Slowly, carefully, he pulled the fingers out of Harry. He moved so he could look at him, smirk still on his face as he did so. "How do you feel Harry? Pleasantly surprised? Did you love that?"   Harry just nodded his head, unable to speak just yet. His eyes were still blurred and his limbs still tied. He felt fantastic.   "Good, you should. I don't go off and do that with just any student." He raised his wand and Harry's feet fell to the bed. With another flick, his wrists were free as well. Snape moved up the bed, and touched the wand to Harry's body, cleaning it. He pulled Harry into his arms, laying his head on Snape's chest. One hand reached up to stroke Harry's hair.   For a long time Harry lay there, enjoying the feel of his spent body and Snape's hand stroking his hair. Finally he found his voice. "Thank you," he half whispered.   Snape chuckled. "I believe most of the pleasure was all mine." He continued to stroke Harry's hair, and then he leaned over and kissed his head. "You're welcome. I suppose you're now looking forward to your make up detention on Friday."   "I have a make up detention? It's not my fault I got poisoned," Harry said softly. There wasn't a bit of anger to it.   "It doesn't matter, I don't feel as though you've served your detention. You'll just have to deal with it. I doubt you'll be disappointed." Harry could almost feel the pleasure wafting off of him.   "Hm, well if you say so, but I think I served this detention fully. I was miserable until after I was done puking and you seem to think that's what detentions are all about." He was silent for a moment. "I thought you hated me."   "I do hate you. Do you think I like you simply because I had some sexual relations with you?" Snape sounded incredulous. "Don't be silly."   "No, it's more the hair stroking thing that has me a touch concerned."   "I see, I should stop that then." Yet his hand didn't stop.   "Mm," Harry replied and he didn't say anything else, since he had fallen asleep.   ~*~   He was having pleasant dreams where everything was soft, warm, and comfortable. This seemed to be the case of things for a while. Suddenly though, the world was shaking, and it bothered him. It was annoying. Then there was a voice, calling him. It was a familiar voice, something from his past, something pleasant.   "Mum?" he asked the voice, straining towards it.   "Harry, wake up, Harry." It wasn't a female voice. It was somehow clearer now, and it was definitely male.   "Hm?" Harry pried his eyes open.   "You're a real nuisance to wake up, aren't you?" Snape asked, and Harry saw the big black eyes looking back at him.   "Not normally," Harry replied. "I keep thinking I'm hearing this voice from my past. There's something so important about it and I want to find out whose voice it is. It's strange. It's been happening ever since the purple unicorns and when I wake up it's you. You aren't from my past though." Harry fell silent. It didn't make any sense.   Snape shook his head. "That's right, I'm not from your past. Get up, you need to get going, detention's over."   Harry sat up and got dressed, still wondering about the voice as he did. "Friday at eight then? In the potions lab?"   "That's right Harry." Snape watched him. "And don't wear underwear."   Harry paused, a little jolt of desire running through him. "Yes Sir." He turned away and left, hurrying back to the common room where he would have to tell Hermione and Ron anything except what actually happened at his detention. Please drop_by_the_archive_and_comment to let the author know if you enjoyed their work!