Title: The Power of Seduction

Author: zimagesto

Disclaimer: don't own Harry Potter &/or co.

Summary: Something happened during the summer between the sixth and the seventh year and Harry isn't quite the same. Half-demons, assassins, fairies, annoyed Dumbledore and what would everything be without Voldemort to piss off?

Chapter 1

"They say that night is just the same as day: a period of time. Day without the presence of sunlight. I beg to differ… Night is not merely the absence of the sun: it is a time when everything is not as it may seem, when the true nature of beings and objects, of phenomena comes to surface… Or hides itself even better than before. It is the time of mystery, of power, of greatness. Of arts and poetry, but not in the normal meaning of the words. During the night, you are what you wish to be, not what they want to make you be.

For some of us, night exists eternally, not affected by time or sun. "

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A young man with hypnotizing green eyes and sort, black, spiky hair climbed into the Hogwarts Express, dragging a trunk that obviously had a lightening charm upon it. He had an aura of power and wisdom around him, something that made others wonder in the first moment, before they recognized him with shock, if he wasn't by any chance, the new Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor. Little did they know that, even though, technically, he wasn't, he would yet again act as one… but this time, knowing what he is doing and for a reason that hadn't even crossed his mind before.

No, the young man was not a Professor. He was a hero, however, one that had disappeared at the beginning of summer from under the watchful eyes of one Albus Dumbledore and hadn't appeared again until this very moment.

He moved down through the train, looking through the windows of the compartments, searching for his old friends. He missed them dearly and he couldn't wait to see them again. He passed quite a few full compartments and the train started before he reached the one he'd been searching for. One with one boy and one girl in it.

"Hi" he said with a smile, opening the door. The other two jumped to their feet.

"Hi, Harry!" Ron said, obviously wanting to say more, but Hermione had already cut to the middle of the problem.

"Where've you been!" she asked, looking quite pissed. "Dumbledore said you were safe, but that we couldn't send you any letters!"

"Safe my ass" Harry muttered, internally rolling his eyes. Snape had some sense of humor, telling Dumbledore he was safe, out of all things. "I've been here and there" he replied.

"What happened to your glasses?" Ron asked, noticing that the normal extensions to Harry's face had disappeared. The green eyed young man smirked.

"Lost 'em. Got a charm performed on my eyes and pow! Don't need them anymore"

"But Harry!" Hermione said, staring at him as if he'd grown another head "there's no such charm, is there?"

"There is, actually" Harry replied, wishing she'd just leave it. He didn't feel like going into details about weird people and quite powerful non-human beings right now. "A complicated one, but it exists"

"And where have you been?" Ron asked.

"Here and there" he said again.

"You can't leave us like that!" Hermione hissed. "We're your friends, you've been gone all summer and left us no note, no nothing! We had to hear from Dumbledore that you were safe!"

"I'll tell you" he replied slowly, trying to find a way to slither himself out of the situation. He gave them a tired smile. "But not now. Please. Give me time, it's hard to put together… How've you been?"

"Fine, the usual" Hermione replied, trying to leave the subject. Ron was not quite as happy with leaving it, though.

"You've changed, Harry. A lot" he said. "Look at you! You've grown! You don't have glasses! You seem more serious and… darker. More powerful. You seem… older. What's gone on?"

"Not now, Ron" Harry replied. He truly cared about his two friends, but sometimes they didn't know when to leave things be. Well, truly speaking, his changes had been quite drastic, but they should wait a bit. Until they were ready to understand. "Later. I promise, I'll be telling you"

And the boy sat down, looking at the other two who were still staring at him. How could he truly tell them everything that had gone on? Remembering everything was a challenge in itself. Yes, he knew of the obvious changes: the lack of glasses, the lean, muscular body, the short, spiky black hair, the overall darker look… They were the ones which had made them so curious. He'd changed. And he needed them to change, too. They had a war to fight! But could he tell them about the things that had gone on? About the Organization?

And would they take it well?

"You do seem older, more experienced, Harry" Hermione said with a small smile, trying to lighten things up. "What have you been up to? Please… Don't tell us exactly, tell us only a few things, here and there. Please…"

Harry stared at her before smirking amusedly. Yes… he'd wanted to tell them things. He'd practiced telling them everything in his head. What if he started with some trivial knowledge? Or maybe not so trivial…

"Promise to leave it to me to tell you things and not pushing"

"Deal" the two replied in one voice. Ok, now what should he tell them?

"I got myself a girlfriend" he said and immediately started laughing as the two stared at him. "Ok, more than one"

"What…?" Hermione mumbled.

"Well, let's just say that I've been with a much more pleasant company than the Dursleys this summer and that a few women taught me how to love…"

His friends' eyes opened wide as they realized exactly what he meant and he smirked.

"You've got laid!" Ron said in a surprised-admiring tone and Hermione immediately turned towards him and smacked him as Harry started laughing.

"I wouldn't call it that, but yes…"

"Well, you are definitely more attractive now" Hermione said after a brief moment of silence. "You've definitely changed"

"Yes, well…" he said fondly. "I'll tell you things. But leave me time. It's a lot to say"

Hermione and Ron settled, although they weren't too pleased, but, until the end of the train ride, it became obvious that the old Harry was still there, under the new looks and ways of acting… well, somewhere under there. Deep down. So they settled and chatted about Quidditch, buying sweets from the woman with the trolley and having Ron choke on a blood-tasting one.

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