Chapter 4

"So, I'm going to assume your new, happy mood can be attributed to the Slytherin you've been staring at during meal times." Hermione whispered during dinner.

"Well, yeah. Things are great between us." Harry replied with a small smile.

"You should still be careful though." Ron muttered.

"Give it a rest, Ron." Hermione sighed. "If he was just doing this to get information, Umbridge would have given us detention for the entire year, already."

"Yeah, and he's as much a blood purist as you or Hermione." Harry stated.

"Will he be joining our first meeting tonight?" Hermione asked.

"He might." Harry said. "He probably will since it might look a little suspicious if a Slytherin arrived in the next one, and I don't want him to receive any grief."

"Well, we'll make him feel welcome." Hermione said.

Harry thanked them and got up when he saw Joseph do so. He let the Slytherin walk ahead until he turned the corridor and found himself face to face with him.

"Evening, stalker." Joseph said with a smile

"Says the person who spied on me." Harry returned with his own smile and kissed the taller raven on the cheek.

They then walked to the library and sat at their usual place.

"So, you're coming to the meeting today, right?" Harry asked.

"I'm not sure how well-received I'll be there." Joseph said,

"I know it'll probably take some time for everyone to trust you, but I promise they will." Harry encouraged.

"So, what have you got planned for tonight, professor?" Joseph asked with a smirk.

"I was thinking about the Stunning and Disarming spells." Harry said. "And if we have time, maybe we can do some basic healing spells."

Joseph nodded and the two of them stayed in the library until it was nearly time for the meeting. They headed to the seventh floor and entered the magical room, which they were referring to as the 'Room of Requirement.' Ron and Hermione arrived soon and they set up everything.

"Alright, Ron and I will go out into the hall." Hermione said. "We'll wait for everyone while keeping a watch out for Filch. You just get ready, Harry."

Harry nodded and handed the Marauders' Map to Hermione, letting out a shaky breath when she left with Ron.

"You alright?" Joseph asked.

"This is really happening." Harry said. "I'm preparing students to defend themselves because of an impending war."

"And you should be proud of that." Joseph said as he hugged Harry. "You're doing everything you can to make sure these people have a chance at surviving."

"I just don't see why we can't settle our differences without violence." Harry sighed.

"In an ideal world, that's how it would be." Joseph agreed. "But you don't have to carry this burden alone. You have me, Hermione and Ron to help."

Harry smiled and shared a short kiss with Joseph before pulling away quickly when they heard the door and a large group of students came in, smiling at Harry before glaring at Joseph.

"First things first." Hermione said. "When we leave this room and are coming here, try not to come in a large group."

There were a few sheepish grins and muttered apologies, then Hermione gave the floor to Harry.

"So, what I'm going to be teaching you all tonight are Disarming and Stunning spells." Harry announced.

"Are you sure you should be talking about that with present company?" Smith asked, obviously referring to Joseph.

"Well, let's see how long you last when I don't teach you healing spells." Joseph returned, shutting Smith up.

"I think we can all agree that we're here for the same reasons." Hermione said. "Working together can only be beneficial. If you have any beef with anyone in this room, that's fine. But we expect you to be proper and put your differences aside when we're here."

Once no one else complained, Harry began teaching. Half an hour later, he paired everyone off, with him and Joseph walking around the room helping everyone. They all were doing well and Harry was thinking of having Joseph teach some basic healing spells when there was a loud crash. He turned to see that Neville had knocked Anthony Goldstein into some chairs.

"I'm sorry." Neville repeated over and over. "I didn't mean for the spell to be that strong."

"Well, now seems an opportune moment to move along." Joseph said. "It would've been preferable if no one got hurt, but I think it's better this way."

He then helped Anthony onto a chair and asked everyone to gather around.

"I'll teach you all to use a simple spell for healing minor injuries. In Harry's case, it's been used to fix his nose several times." He said, showing everyone the wand movement. Once he was done, he then focused on Anthony. "Episkey."

Anthony gave a slight groan, but everyone saw the bruises on his face heal immediately. Everyone was impressed and Joseph then showed them another spell. He cast a full powered Stunning spell on Harry, with the Gryffindor's consent, and showed them how to revive stunned friends.

"Reneverate." He casted and Harry awoke instantly.

The rest of the hour consisted of everyone trying to disarm, stun, revive, and heal each other. In the end, everyone thanked Harry, even Joseph, before leaving in small groups.

"Good job." Joseph said.

"Thanks, you weren't so bad yourself." Harry returned. "What spells should we teach next?"

"I think the most essential spell would be the Shield charm." Joseph said. "And I might not come to the next meeting."

"Why not?" Harry asked.

"Come on Harry, even I don't stay out this late in the library." Joseph said. "I just need to be more careful than anyone else. If Draco and the others start suspecting something, they'll eventually find out."

Harry was a little reluctant, but nodded in agreement.

"I understand, but I still wish you'd be here, for support if anything." Harry said.

"You don't need any. You were great today." Joseph said.

Harry thanked the Slytherin and they walked to their common rooms together.

Now, it was Saturday night and rather than being in his dorm, screwing around with his mates, Harry was preparing for his date with Joseph.

He had brushed through his hair a dozen times, but nothing had changed. It was still springing out of his head like some angry cat. Harry sighed as he tucked away his comb, checking the time again to see if he could leave yet. He sighed and started pacing as he waited, running through a dozen scenarios in his head before checking the time again. Finally, it was time to go. After slipping on his invisibility cloak and grabbing his map to double check where Joseph was, Harry headed off to the astronomy tower.

It was dark already and the halls were nearly free of prefects. Harry heard his footsteps echo as he walked through the halls, keeping close eyes on the map for Filch. Thankfully, he made it all the way to the tower safely, and slipped off his cloak before climbing the stairs.

The first thing he noticed when he made it to the top were several candles floating around in the air, much lower than the ones in the Great Hall. There was a couch facing out that was just big enough for two. By the time Harry's eyes landed on Joseph, his stomach was already churning with butterflies.

Then, they suddenly stopped. It seemed like everything did. Harry didn't breathe as he took his time looking at Joseph, taking in the perfectly straight clothes, the soft bounce in his hair as he breathed, the small smile on his face. Harry barely noticed the treacle tart Joseph held out to show him or the two spoons in his hand; he was too busy looking past the thin slice of glass into his warm, amber eyes.

"Wow," Harry mentally smacked himself. Smooth Potter

Joseph held back a laugh, "Yes, well, I was hoping you'd like it. I'm assuming that's a yes?"

Harry nodded with a slight flush appearing on his neck. "It's brilliant."

"I suppose it would be even more so if got right to it, don't you think?" Joseph smiled, gesturing to the couch. Harry just nodded and moved with him to sit down on the couch. Joseph handed Harry a spoon and held the treacle tart between them.

On that night, the two shared their plans for the future and joys of the present. They talked about the silliest things, like who was their favourite teacher, to very deep topics, like their opinion of what happens after death. Their bodies drew closer, and they shared soft kisses and light banter, barely remembering to stay awake and head back to their dorms until the early hours of the morning.

It was one of the best days Harry ever had. It fuelled his patronus now. In fact, any thought of the Slytherin was enough to make Harry happy enough to conjure his corporeal patronus. He had really fallen. Weeks flew by with several more stolen nights, silent library dates, and even the occasional snog in the Room of Requirement before and after DA meetings. Now, it was almost winter break.

Still wracked with nightmares, Harry found solace in the nights when he could stay awake with Joseph until he'd be too tired to dream. It was a sort of safe place for him. Umbridge was getting closer to the DA, the Inquisitorial Squad were everywhere, and detentions were becoming a regular occurrence around the castle. Joseph hardly made it to DA meetings anymore, but he tried every chance he could. The students were improving greatly.

"This is from my mother?" Harry asked.

"To my father." Joseph answered. "Like I said, they were extremely competitive but, once they graduated, they became good friends.

Harry skimmed the pages; there were some letters about just catching up, asking advice, and setting up appointments. One that caught Harry's eye was when his mother wrote about how she learned she was pregnant, saying how excited she was to become a mother.

"My father was supposed to be the one to deliver you, you know?" Joseph stated. "But with Voldemort's rise, things got...complicated."

"Thank you for this." Harry said and kissed Joseph.

"You're welcome Harry." Joseph replied and hugged the shorter teen.

For the next few minutes, Harry read through the journal of compiled letters. He laughed a lot when he read one that described how his father got injured chasing Sirius for bringing up some of his old screw ups during dinner.

"Can't you come to the meeting?" Harry asked when they were about to leave.

"I'm not making any promises, but I'll try." Joseph answered. "At the very least, I'll come to walk you back to your common room."

Harry was a little disappointed, but he nodded and gave Joseph a quick kiss on the cheek before heading to the Room of Requirement. For today, Harry just decided that they'd just practice what they had learned so far, and he was impressed with how well everyone was learning; Neville could disarm; Ginny could stun; everyone seemed to finally be comfortable with their wands. Maybe Hermione was right. Maybe all they needed was someone who had actually used the spells in combat to finally push them past their boundaries.

Harry cut the meeting short that day. It was half because he didn't want to tire everyone on their last day, and half because he knew some people, such as Joseph, would have to leave early to pack and otherwise prepare for the holiday, but he knew the Slytherin had packed his stuff already. With a final farewell to everyone, Harry watched as his students-peers-friends trickled out of the room.

He was first confronted by Ron and Hermione who promised to find him later in the common room. Then, he found himself telling every person happy holidays and reinventions of the same endearment as they left. He dismissed Fred and George as they spouted off another idea for getting back at Umbridge, and made his way further into the room.

That left Harry with none other than Cho Chang. She was staring, forlornly, into the mirror. Harry took a steady in breath, ready to comfort her as he just had Neville. He'd be lying if he said that he hadn't noticed her staring. He may or may not have been encouraging the attention she gave him-feeding off the idea of being liked by a girl, properly, for once. She was definitely one of the most attractive girls in school, and while Harry didn't ever really see himself being with a girl, he could appreciate her aesthetically. Now, though, he had to approach her in a more-than-physical setting, and it was churning his stomach.

"Are you alright?" he greeted her, "I heard Umbridge gave you a hard time the other day."

"Yeah, I'm alright," she replied in a pathetic tone that let Harry see how much she wasn't.

"Anyways," she continued, "it's worth it." With that, she looked back up at the mirror to where the picture of Cedric was taped to the glass.

"It's just...It's just learning all this," Cho turned, gesturing to the room, "makes me wonder, whether he'd known-

"Cedric? Cedric knew all this stuff. He was really good," Harry choked, nearly losing his composure in remembrance, "It's just...Voldemort was better."

Cho seemed to take a moment to consider what he said, swallowing and looking back up at Harry, her eyes showing a dismissal of their previous topic. "You're a really good teacher, Harry."

Harry couldn't help but smile at this. He was very insecure about his teaching, so it was nice to hear that more than Joseph, Ron, and Hermione appreciated it. "I've never been able to stun anything before."

There was a soft stretching, scraping sound, as if a vine were being pulled across cement. Cho looked up and Harry's eyes followed, both settling on the branch of green and white growing overhead. "Mistletoe," Cho identified softly, her eyes coming to rest on Harry's.

Harry, anxious and nervous for the implications of it all spurted, "Probably full of nargles now."

He could see in Cho's eyes her desire to fulfil the plant's request. His head was swimming with a million voices. First, mistletoe means you must kiss. Second, Cho is an attractive girl. Third, Joseph. Fourth, She's a girl. Fifth, Joseph. Sixth, she was just crying about Cedric. Seventh, she's still staring.

Cho furrowed her brow, "What are nargles?"

Eighth, her lips look soft. "No idea."

Ninth, she's leaning in.

Then, her lips are on his. They're kissing. They're kissing. They're kissing.

It was full, rushed, and sloppy. Cho's tears were wet against his cheeks and his hands didn't have a place to go. He stopped thinking. It felt wrong, but this was supposed to be right, wasn't it? Kissing a beautiful girl under the mistletoe should be a dream come true.

Her tongue felt soft and slimy. Her saliva tasted foreign and all too sweet. He had to lean down and he hated the bend of his neck. They didn't touch. They kept kissing. They were both awkward and stiff, but they didn't stop. It didn't feel like an explosion. It didn't feel like electricity or fire or home. It felt like an experiment went wrong-like kissing a body of water or snow. Cold, wet, and completely out-of-body.

They finally parted, they both split with mutual excuses, and they heard someone clear their throat. They turned to the door and saw Joseph staring. To anyone, he looked indifferent, but Harry had learned how to read the Slytherin and seeing his pursed lips told the Gryffindor everything.

"It's not what it looked like." Harry immediately said when Cho left. "I can explain."

"Fine." Joseph said, taking a seat and clutching small arrangement of flowers in his hand. "Explain."

"Cho was just thanking me and there was a mistletoe." Harry said. "I thought, the kiss wouldn't mean anything, so why not? It is customary."

"I'm not mad about the kiss." Joseph said, "I'm mad about what happened before that."

"What are you talking about?" Harry asked.

"I was standing there a long time. I saw how she flirted with you, inched closer with every single word." Joseph pointed out.

Harry shifted his weight, balling his fists and looking up to Joseph's eyebrows, unable to look him in the eye. "Yeah, so?"

"Actions speak louder than words. You didn't tell her to back off or that you weren't interested." Joseph had set his jaw, his tone growing more heated, but remaining even and low.

"What does it matter?" Harry pleaded, throwing his arms out to his sides, as if to dismiss the event, "I'm with you, not her."

Joseph rolled his eyes before casting them downward, "Yeah, because I was your only option at the time, right? Now someone better has come along."

"You're being unreasonable," Harry offered more than asserted. His head was swimming right now. This shouldn't be happening. None of it. He had to make it go away. Things had been going so well between them.

"Am I? If I were you, I wouldn't have kissed Cho. I would've told her I wasn't interested because you're the only one I'm interested in," Joseph rushed, face hot and hidden as he ducked. He let his words sit for a moment before quieting his voice and tone, looking up at Harry openly, "You're the only one I want to kiss."

Harry froze for what felt like an eternity. He wanted to tell Joseph that he felt exactly the same, but he had lost all proof of that argument with Cho tonight. He quieted his voice, "I was being…polite." His voice almost shook, he looked at his feet, not even believing himself.

"Polite. So what, you knocking her up would be considered friendly?" Joseph asked through nearly gritted teeth. He raised a hand to adjust his glasses before sighing. "Nevermind. Have a happy fucking Christmas, Harry."

Joseph shoved the small bouquet into Harry's hands, turned away without looking at him, and left the room. Harry wanted to go after Joseph, but he was rooted on the spot. All he could do was stare down at the crumpled flowers.

Tenth, what the hell did he just do?