000

Storming Skies

It was just a silly high-school girls' love ritual. Nothing was supposed to happen. Nothing would have happened, had Gokudera's mother not been a Squib. Now he's caught in another country, and in the middle of a deadly tournament. Gokudera/Harry.

000

Chapter Seven
Conflict

000

Breakfast the next day was surprisingly subdued after the events of the previous evening, even the Daily Prophet wasn't reporting anything all that interesting. After a rather distressing talk from Hermione about the mechanics behind being intimate in a gay relationship (Harry was still confused over how two guys could even – no, best not think about it anymore, otherwise Hermione may unload more disturbing information onto him), everyone had headed up to Gryffindor Tower where even more questions were thrown at him and Hayato regarding the information in the Prophet. People asking about Hayato's family, about the ritual, about what he asked for in a person. That last one was particularly horrifying for Harry who quite stubbornly maintained that he must have gotten blown off course because Hermione was over there and obviously she was who he had been talking about.

That had then started Hayato off on a 'must praise Harry' binge and the Gryffindor spent that evening wanting the ground to rise up and swallow him alive as he tried to practically hide under Hermione who was laughing herself sick as Hayato very seriously and intensely listed all of his observations on how amazing and wonderful Harry was. Loudly. In the middle of the Common Room. With everyone listening in.

It took some effort, but Harry managed to escape up to the dormitories quickly enough by reminding him, just as loudly, that he had to write that letter to his Boss, which then had Hayato drag him upstairs and away from everyone's laughter. Thankfully the dormitories had been shuffled around so that there was now enough space for Hayato in the tower to have his own bed. The Room had been enlarged a bit, and given the leash distance, the two of them were moved to the otherside of the room next to the bathroom so they could use the toilets without the leash snapping them back into one another's space as well, now they were next to Neville – or rather, Hayato was between Harry and Neville, the younger of the pair next to the bathroom door. After sorting through all of their purchases, with Hermione's help when it came to the books (Hayato may have gained a new bestfriend in the brunette as she practically lit up in glee at the sheer number of them), Hayato had written his letter, marvelled over Hedwig when the clever lady appeared at their window, knowing her services were needed, and set off for 'Italy' (Japan). Despite Harry's concern, they'd all settled down to sleep not long later and that had been that, the end of a very tiring day.

The problem now was that Hayato was acting very strange, avoiding eye-contact with everyone and obsessively guzzling coffee and patting down the pockets that Harry was now aware had cigarettes and a lighter within, no doubt counting the seconds until Harry had finished eating and he could drag him outside in order to light up. He had been acting strangely ever since he woke up. He had practically jumped like a scalded cat when Harry came into the bathroom as he was washing his hands and shot out of the room fast enough to leave the Gryffindor's head spinning. By the time Harry had finished washing and dressing, he was clothed and hanging out of the window chain smoking, two cigarette butts already stubbed out on the windowsill while Ron, Seamus, and Neville shot him looks of pure shock and scandal for his behaviour. Dean looked torn between admiration and curiosity, as if he were one step away from asking if Hayato would share. Very strange.

After finishing breakfast Harry did indeed find himself pulled outside by a mildly coffee-hyped Hayato so that he could smoke. Thankfully, this last one finally seemed to set him at ease enough to actually start talking, even if he still found it difficult to look at him for any length of time without turning red. Just what had happened last night? Had the twins threatened him while Harry wasn't paying attention or something?

"So, what's happening today?" he asked, brushing pale flakes of ash from his plain black robe – he had opted not to wear a uniform today, and given what lessons were happening today... Harry winced a little and double checked the spare uniform robe he had folded in his bag.

"First is History of Magic. Professor Binns teaches it, er, you may want to bring a book with you. He's got one of those voices that puts everyone to sleep if you try to actually pay attention. Everyone self-studies History because the Professor only ever covers Goblin Rebellions," Harry explained as he leaned against one of the castle walls. "After that, we've got Potions before Lunch. That should be... interesting," he muttered unhappily.

Hayato blew out a stream of smoke, "Interesting how?" he asked warily.

"Professor Snape hated my father. And since he's dead, he can't really take it out on him anymore. So, he takes it out on me. Plus, he's the Head of Slytherin House. He hates pretty much everyone who isn't Slytherin by default. Don't be surprised if he takes points off for breathing too loudly. That's a favourite one of his," Harry explained with a bitter grumble.

"Really..." Hayato murmured, glaring at the slightly frost-rimed mud on the floor, fingers crushing the cigarette by accident. He swore and tossed it aside before he burned himself. He would deal with this Snape character when they met, he decided, feeling his blood stir in anticipation. No one was going to insult Harry in front of him. He would blow them up until nothing but charred hair and bloodstains remained.

History was, as Harry warned him, boring beyond belief. Hayato attempted to pay attention, for all of five minutes, and then ended up cracking out one of his more recently purchased books about ingredient preparation in Potions, questioning Harry as he did so. Turned out that Snape didn't go through any of the information with the students so everything in the book was news to Harry, much to Hayato's disgust, did this Snape character not know how to teach? Even if the Senseis at Namimori were a waste of air that often did more harm than good, at least they gave their students the very basics with which they could build their own knowledge skills off of. Proper ingredient preparation in potions was like... like knowing addition and subtraction in mathematics! It was a basic! It was an essential basic that should not be skipped under any circumstances!

For the entirety of the two hour History lesson, both Harry and Hayato combed through the ingredient preparation book and one of the chemistry texts that they had also bought from the muggle-world, cross-referencing ingredient preparations and techniques with chemistry techniques and discussing whether or not the science was applicable to the magic. Apparently, Potions was more likely than not to be very close cousins to Chemistry.

Hermione seemed torn between telling them off and joining in while Ron's face was a picture of stark horror from three rows down.

And then it was time for Potions.

Getting down to the Dungeons was dizzying and confusing to Hayato who tried to keep track of the landmarks – which constantly moved, again a suit of armour saluted to him as he passed – but they were moving so quickly it was a lost cause. Hermione babbling at length about how to get through Snape's lesson as best as possible without being verbally abused or having strange poisons tested on him or losing them over two-hundred points in a lesson or get hurt via exploding cauldrons, etc, etc, also distracted and overwhelmed him a little as he tried to follow her advice and keep track of everything around him at the same time. Eventually losing the thread of conversation AND where he was in the grand scheme of the castle.

It wasn't until they actually reached the Dungeons that they remembered one of the other hurdles they had to face that lesson: The Slytherins themselves.

"There they are!" Parkinson shrieked, pointing as they turned down into the corridor that the Potions lab was.

Harry sucked in a deep breath, knowing already that this lesson was going to be a trial for his patience, and mentally reminding himself that he couldn't go throwing around curses in the middle of the corridor – he might accidentally hurt someone. Azkaban was no joke, don't kill the Slytherins. Don't kill the Slytherins.

"I suppose you should count yourself lucky, Mudblood, given how Potter's been practicing for you since first year, swallowing Snitches. I bet you've been putting him to good use!" Parkinson cackled maliciously.

Must not kill the Slytherins.

"The whole Quidditch Team probably helped," Malfoy continued with a nasty smirk.

Must not let Hayato kill the Slytherins.

Harry cursed under his breath, grabbing the back of his robes in an iron grip, "Hayato, no! Remember what Hermione said about inbreeding causing mental defects! You can't bully the retarded, it's mean!" he scolded, loudly enough to be heard by the Slytherins who all went bright red with fury just as the Gryffindors burst out laughing. Harry considered it a quip well delivered when he felt Hayato relax, not enough for him to consider letting go of his robes, but enough that he was no longer actively pulling him backwards.

"Thirty points from Gryffindor, Mister Potter," Snape's voice snarled through the corridor, silencing the laughter and reaffixing the smug-smirks back onto the Slytherins faces. The man himself swept out of the shadows and into the classroom, throwing the door open and glaring at the assembled students, "Get in there, now," he commanded shortly, eyes narrowing with great dislike on Harry and Hayato, the former sighing and doing as told, the later bristling like an angry cat even as he was dragged inside. "Thirty points from Gryffindor for your lack of appropriate attire, Gokudera," the Potions Master added viciously as dark eyes raked down the unmarked black robe. Harry quickly pushed the seething Italian inside before he could say anything.

Inside the classroom, Harry quickly went about setting up his and Hayato's workstation after handing him the spare robe, since he knew damn well that Snape would assign them together as Hayato had zero potions experience, and thus Snape could take away the maximum number of points for anything that may or may not occur to his liking. Such as existing.

Snape began as usual, register, snide commentary regarding boyfriends and better halves and idiot Gryffindors, the Slytherins snickering amidst themselves as Hayato bristled worse than Uri when confronted with bath water, and then putting the potion instructions on the board and telling them to get on with it. Standard Operating Procedure. No problem, Harry could deal with this.

"I'll get the ingredients, could you fill the Cauldron with water? Three cups worth," he said as he got to his feet and headed to the supply cupboard. It was a simple Bruise Balm which he had been making on the sly in not-so-secret since first year. The twins advised that he look to getting some extra pots from Madam Pomfrey due to Quidditch. Instead, feeling too awkward to go to the nurse, Harry took to brewing it on his own in the shower-rooms on weekends. Often he ended up maxing out his stock by the end of summer holidays and needing to brew more during the year, so it was one of the few potions he knew inside out by the back of his hand. He didn't even need to check the board as he gathered the ingredients.

CRASH

"WHAT DID YOU SAY ABOUT TESORO?" Hayato's voice roared from across the other side of the room, along with the sound of a cauldron hitting the floor. Harry jerked and whipped around just in time to see Hayato's foot plant itself into Draco Malfoy's face and launch him across the otherside of the room. "I'LL KICK YOUR FUCKING ASS!"

"MY FACE! ARGH! MY FATHER WILL HEAR ABOUT THIS YOU MUDBLOOD MENACE!" the blond roared, reaching for his wand.

"EXPELLIARMUS!" Harry snarled, wand lashing through the air and wrenching the hawthorne wand out from the blond's fingers before he could even pull a spell off.

Before it reached him though, it stopped and sped off in another direction, Harry's wand wrenching free from his fingers to follow it. The wands landed neatly in Professor Snape's hand even as both Dean and Seamus grabbed Hayato and hauled him away from Malfoy – who received a second kick to the face while everyone was distracted watching the Potion's Professor summoning their wands.

"GO AND RUN TO YOUR FATHER YOU LIMP-DICKED, PATHETIC, WASTE OF SPACE!" Hayato roared, straining against the two fourteen year olds who were clinging desperately to the tables on order to prevent themselves from being dragged forward, expressions of barely contained panic and amazement on their faces because – fucking hell he was strong! "YOU DON'T EVEN DESERVE TO LICK THE BOTTOM OF TESORO'S SHOES! NON MI ROMPERE I COGLIONI, TROIA!" he roared, devolving into vicious Italian curses.

"What did he say?" Pansy Parkinson hissed, looking at Zabini who looked like someone had slapped him and called his mother a whore.

"Basically? 'Don't fuck with me, bitch'. With a female emphasis on bitch," he explained in an undertone as both Harry and Ron joined in on the efforts to drag Hayato away from the sobbing and bleeding Malfoy. Growling furiously, the silver haired boy instead gave up his efforts to murder the blond and instead bundled Harry up against him, hugging him tightly, one hand knotting in his hair, the other around his waist.

"Nott, Crabbe, take Draco to the Hospital Wing. Everyone OUT! You are dismissed," Snape hissed, his voice strained with tightly leashed violence that made Harry shudder a little and shift, gently pushing away Hayato's hands as he stood between the livid man and the volatile Storm Guardian. The Professor bore down on the two of them, looming over Harry's somewhat lacking height and somehow managing to tower over the only slightly shorter Hayato, his wand hand trembling as if he wished for nothing more than to use it and curse the pair of them into greasy smears across the floor but refrained for now due to the number of witnesses still filing reluctantly out the door. Almost absently, Harry recalled mention of Malfoy being Snape's godson. He wondered how Sirius would have reacted to Draco attacking him like that and had to fight off a flinch when the professor came to a stop directly in front of them. He wouldn't have hesitated to hurt Malfoy. Mainly because he was a Slytherin who had hurt his godson. Harry loved Sirius, but he was just as bad as he rest of his family in terms of prejudice, just looking at it from a different angle.

Snape took a deep breath, as if to marshal his self-control before speaking as the door swung shut behind an anxious Hermione, "Eighty points from Gryffindor, Potter," he hissed, dark eyes glittering poisonously, "Like father-like son, both of you too inept, to arrogant and selfish to keep your pet monsters muzzled and chained appropriately," he sneered. "Setting rabid beasts on your betters that have no place in society and should have been drowned at birth," he sneered.

"Don't talk about Remus and Hayato like that!" Harry snapped, squaring up to the older man, no longer stood defensively in front of Hayato but now defiantly standing straight and aggressively challenging.

"I WILL SPEAK OF THEM AS THEY DESERVE TO BE SPOKEN OF! One day, Potter, your pet will turn and bite the hand that feeds it and then where will you be?" the Potions Master sneered, not looking away from the stubborn Gryffindor boy glaring at him. Glaring at him with Lily's eyes. The same look she wore when she defended him from Potter. The same look she wore when she was alive. Before he got her killed. "A weak willed, spineless Hufflepuff waste of space would never stand firm against the machinations of the Dark Lord. It would only be a matter of time until his weakness betrays you to your death," he hissed.

"You – " Harry felt hands land on his shoulders and pull him backwards.

Snape's eyes widened as the youth behind Potter suddenly grabbed him and pulled him backwards, pivoting on his back leg and slamming a kick into his jaw.

It was reflex that had him fire the Sectumsempra at neck height as he fell backwards, even as his blood chilled upon realising he was about a murder a brat in the middle of Hogwarts.

Potter's reflexes however, seemed to have bred true in his son. The boy wrenched the foreigner down, the curse sailing harmlessly overhead to gouge into the stone of the Dungeon wall.

"URI! CAMBIO FORMA!"

Scarlet light flooded the room as Harry found himself being dragged to his feet and pushed behind Hayato.

For Snape, while he may not have been all that familiar with the muggle world lately due to his prior Death Eater leanings, he was not the forgetful sort. He knew immediately what was strapped to the Italian's body as the scarlet light faded away. If he started throwing dynamite around, who knew what it would do to the Potion ingredients in the room, never mind the still open supply cupboard. Potentially, they could blow up the entire castle.

Stunning charms were flung at the pair. He would ditch their unconscious bodies at Dumbledore's feet and see how far the old man bent backwards trying to keep Potter in school this time.

Black bones snapped out, translucent shields stretched between the obsidian limbs, blocking the dark red spells from reaching their targets.

"I'll fucking KILL you before letting you lay a finger on Tesoro, you fucking asshole!" the Italian roared fiercely, raising his gauntlet and filling it with Storm Flame.

Harry swore, this was getting out of hand. His wand was nowhere in sight and with the rate Snape was throwing around stunners he didn't fancy his chances of being able to find it any time soon.

One thing for it!

He bolted. Ducking out from behind the shields and sprinting for the door.

"Tesoro!"

"Potter!"

He burst out of the door, sending Gryffindors and Slytherins scattering with yells and squeals, and, in that split-second, Hayato puffed in front of him, bewildered and with wide eyes. Harry didn't stop. Twisting a little to the side, he grabbed the volatile young man around the waist and kept running. Putting as much distance between himself and the Potions' lab as possible. Hayato forced to stumble along with him, or risk falling over.

He didn't stop until they were in the entrance hall where Hayato got roughly dumped on the floor, "What the hell were you thinking?" the Gryffindor yelled at him, dismayed and irritated all at the same time, his heart hammering in his chest like a humming bird as he gasped for air. "You can't just – attack a teacher!" he exclaimed.

"He was insulting you!" Hayato yelled back, jumping to his feet.

"He's been doing that since day one!" Harry returned furiously.

"He was insulting your father!"

"SINCE. DAY. ONE!" Harry continued even louder than before. "Snape is a sour, bitter old man who can't let go of a schoolyard grudge – AND HAS SAVED MY LIFE MORE TIMES THAN I CARE TO THINK ABOUT!" he yelled, "I don't like him, I fucking HATE him for the way he treats me and Neville and Hermione and fucking EVERYONE who ISN'T a Slytherin! But it. Is. Just. One. Of. Those. THINGS! You just have to grit your teeth and bare it because like it or not, I need potions! It's part of the core curriculum and as shitty a teacher as he is, he's also one of the best Potion Master's in the damn country and despite being an asshole, actually gives a shit about the lives of his students which is more than I can say for Dumbledore at times!" he bellowed, only for his brain to catch up with what his lips just spat out and clamp both hands over his mouth in horror.

Hayato didn't care, "He said I would get you killed," he bit out, he wasn't going to let that stand. He should have fucking killed that asshole. "I swore my life to you..."

Slowly, Harry's hands dropped from his mouth, "... So did the Marauders," he muttered softly.

"Harry!" Hermione called from the stairs, the class practically boiling up after her – all of them puffing and panting with the effort of trying to keep up. "Wha-what happened?" she gasped.

Harry stared at her for a moment before shaking his head, "Hayato and Snape disagreed," he stated shortly.

"Some disagreement," Pavarti muttered, "He was swearing up a blue-streak when you ran out of there," she stated, glancing between the subdued Boy Who Lived, and the livid looking hot Italian. "Trouble in paradise?" she asked, eyebrow raising.

"Difference in opinion," Harry grunted glancing over at Hayato who scowled and looked away, stubbornly refusing to apologise.

000

By the end of Lunch, word that Hayato had not only broken Draco Malfoy's nose and put him in the Hospital Wing by kicking him repeatedly in the face, but that he had also gotten into a fight with Professor Snape and kicked him in the face as well was known throughout the whole school. The twins came over to praise him and shake his hands, slapping him on the back proudly and saying they always knew he was a great guy. Other Gryffindors all came over to sing his praises and thank him, even Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws came over to talk to him. Meanwhile, Harry sat next to him didn't say a word and continued to eat his lunch without comment. Harry's feelings on the matter were really conflicted. And Hayato's alternative preening and kicked puppy glances he occasionally shot him were not helping.

On the one hand, he really, really wanted to congratulate Hayato, praise him, tell him how cool that was – because it really was. He had no idea what those bone things were, or the weird gauntlet that filled with the same scarlet flame that came out of Uri's ears, but it was still pretty cool. On the other, he attacked a teacher for just insulting him. Harry, Hermione, and Ron had attacked Snape as well, but that was to save Sirius and Remus from the Dementors he was determined to drag them in front of. Attacking someone just for insulting you wasn't right. That was being a bully. And Harry hated bullies. He had suffered enough at Dudley's hands for being disagreeable, and Malfoy was always one to throw the first insult and the first curse when he didn't like what was being said. Harry... just didn't know how to feel. He hated them, he didn't want to hurt them, he just... wanted them to stop. If he had the choice he would just self-study and never return, hell, he would probably do better with self-study now given the books that – ah... he would have to ask Hayato for permission to read them.

He resolutely didn't look over at him as another group of Hufflepuff students came over to thank him for standing up to the Wicked Warlock of the Dungeon.

Thankfully, given how everyone had been kicked out without the chance to gather their things, when Hermione and the rest of the class returned to Snape's room in order to gather their belongings, Hermione was able to collect Harry's wand and belongings. So he would at least be able to avoid Professor Snape until their next lesson.

"What do we have next?" he heard Ron ask, looking between them.

"Care of Magical Creatures," Hermione admitted, her voice carrying a tone of dread.

Harry didn't even try to refrain from planting his head on the table with a groan. Care of Magical Creatures with Hagrid's Blast End Skewrts, today of all days. Just what he needed to put the proverbial cherry atop a shitty cake of a day.

"Magical Creatures?" Hayato asked, his voice just a little shy of sparkling. Harry felt a brief odd mix of malicious amusement, pity, and guilt. 'Prepare to be disappointed,' he thought, wondering how he would react to Hagrid's idea of cute and cuddly pets. He just hoped they didn't end up having to give the fucking menaces a bath again. That was... Well, last he heard, Seamus was going to have those scars for the rest of his life.

The walk down to Hagrid's hut was awkward, what with Hayato bouncing in barely contained anticipation, only to take one glance at Harry who was resolutely not looking at him, and deflate awkwardly and become stony, and equally quiet. Hermione looking between them, bewildered because – since when did Harry complain about someone punching/kicking Snape of all people?

"What is that?" the Italian yelped, spotting the enclosure with the Blast End Skewrts, his eyes widening as with one massive bang from its rear-end one of the females shot forward a good ten feet.

"Blast End Skewrts. We're raising them as a class-project this year," Harry explained dully. "The females have suckers on their stomachs to drink blood. The males have stingers on their tails. They both explode from the arse end," he continued looking for the one that Hagrid had affectionately named Daisy for her slightly paler shell. "That one is ours," he stated blandly, pointing her out. She was hunched over a side of beef, hissing at anything and everything that came near.

She was the biggest of the group. Four feet long, looking more like a lobster than a crab, her hard grey shell was a little lighter and her claws were bigger. She was the better fed of them given how Harry tended to treat her like Ripper at the best of times – throw food at it to keep it occupied and then do what needed to be done while it was eating.

"They're beautiful!" the Italian exclaimed, making the other students stop and stare at him.

"I wonder what that says about Harry if he thinks that," Lavender whispered to Pavarti.

Harry sighed, "You may be changing your mind sooner rather than later," he muttered, eyeing his first friend who came over, grinning through his singed beard, leashes in hand. They were walking the Skrewts again today.

000

Hayato didn't change his mind.

In fact, it was safe to say that he liked the Skrewts more now they that had exploded, stung, and bitten him, than before when he had first seen them. Harry was trying to wrap his mind around that but for now had given up in favour of just getting Daisy back into the enclosure without turning himself into lunch. It was proving problematic since Pavarti and Lavender's male, Oatmeal, seemed to think that if he presented Harry to Daisy, he would be allowed to mate with her. And the two girls were finding it difficult holding him back. In the end, Harry summoned a slab of beef from Hagrid, tossed it in the enclosure, pointed it out to Daisy and Oatmeal and stood well-clear as the two rampaged toward it, and then got into a fight, exploding and clawing and hissing and stinging over who got to eat it.

It was a rather muddy and singed group of fourth-years that came into dinner that evening, tired and sore, they sat down and started pulling food towards them. Harry could barely taste what he was eating he was so tired, numbly chewing on a few slices of buttered bread. He was still ignoring Hayato who, right now, wasn't noticing as he was too busy questioning Hermione about the Skrewts and the species that she brought up. He seemed particularly interested in the Fire Crabs and Manticores that she seemed to think the Skrewts were bred from.

Harry didn't much care, he just ate. He was too tired to get involved right now.

Not even the sudden inpour of Post Owls prompted him to look up from where he was drooping into his bread, at least until Hermione screeched at the copy of the Daily Prophet in her hands.

"Harry! Harry! That – she – " the bushy haired girl couldn't seem to articulate her outrage and disbelief, so instead she thrust the newspaper out to him wordlessly, almost knocking over her goblet of pumpkin juice as she did so.

Taking the newspaper, Harry smoothed it out and blanched the second he got a look at the title and by-line.

HARRY POTTER REVEALS ALL!
Intimate, private, talks reveal the truth as he knows it, Halloween 1991!

Page 2

YOU KNOW WHO AND THE PHILOSOPHER'S STONE
Is he as gone as we really believe?

Page 5

THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS!
Who, What, When, and Why?

Page 7

PASSION AND DEDICATION!
Hayato Gokudera pledges life to Harry Potter! Day One and this Fiery Romance is Heating Up!

Page 9

"How..." Harry trailed off helplessly, staring at the paper before looking up at the equally shocked Hayato.

He yanked the paper open, eyes skimming the text – ridiculously fast with the Wind Reading Enchantments on his glasses which kicked in just then, speeding up not only his reading speed but also his comprehension speed. A very difficult and very nifty piece of enchantment that not many knew of.

Speaking out for the first time about his past to Ritual Given lover,
Hayato Gokudera, Harry Potter explains the truth of that tragic night
thirteen years ago that stole the lives of Lily and James Potter after
unspeakably rude, Janus Peekoms, recent Ravenclaw Graduate and
now Stock Assistant of Flourish and Blotts, interrupted what was
panning out to be a pleasant afternoon together in Diagon Alley by
asking the very question that many have been tempted, but been too
polite to voice: Do you remember what happened that night?

A question that would have had Rowena Ravenclaw rolling in her
grave, and justifiably so.

"This really isn't easy to explain." Harry Potter begins unhappily,
twisting his napkin into shreds after a meal shared in anticipatory
silence within a private parlour of the Leaky Cauldron.
"You were told about the Purebloods, right? How they look
down on people with muggle-blood. Well, it was a little more serious
than that. Several Purebloods started working for a man calling himself
You Know Who (I apologise, dear readers for this misprint, Harry
Potter is a far braver wizard than I to use You Know Who's real name.
For ease of reading, I have edited You Know Who's name out for those
with weaker constitutions), their goals are a little murky, no one is
hundred percent certain what they were aiming for, it seemed to
change so often. But either way, the results were murders, terror, rape,
destruction. It got so bad that people refused to ever say You Know
Who's name, saying You Know Who, and He Who Must Not Be Named
instead. That's why skulls have such a bad rap here, snakes too. It was
his symbol. A skull with a snake coming out of its mouth. He would cast
it into the sky where-ever he and his people had committed an act of
murder or brutality. Signing their work, so to speak. They had pretty
much taken over the Government and were on the way to winning
when... he decided to try and murder me."

Harry grimaces, "No one knows why. I used to think he was after my
parents and everyone was just dramatizing it. Mum was a muggleborn
and one of the best Charms Mistresses of the age, and my Dad was a
Light Pureblood from a pretty influential family standing against him.
But I found out last year that they were right. It
was me he was after.
Last year, there were Dementors guarding the school." Here, Harry
continues to explain Dementors and their effects in such detail that this
Reporter wonders just how he came to be so intimately familiar with
the sensations of utmost despair and cold they instil upon their victims,
and even more terrifying... Their appearances beneath the Hood. "It's
horrible. They're horrible. They look like a corpse that's been drowned.
No eyes, no noses, grey rotting skin with holes for ears and a mouth, no,
a
maw. Just a gaping, sucking black maw for a mouth. Lipless, toothless,
and cold.

"Whenever they came close, I could hear him murder her. Murder my
mother," Harry whispers in the silence of the small Parlour, empty save for
ourselves and my presence unknown. "I – I have bad reactions to
Dementors. The first time one came into our train compartment, I
collapsed. It felt like I was drowning and all I could hear was screaming.
It sounded as if it were coming through a bad radio and then... then the
next time she was saying my name. It - It was the only time I ever heard
her voice. When they got near to me. And I - as much as I hated them,
how they made me feel I - I wanted to hear her again. It was the only real
proof I had that she loved me. My Aunt constantly told me that I was
unwanted, unloved, a burden, and a freak. That my parents died in a
drunk driving accident (A not too dissimilar problem from Flying a
Broomstick under the influence, but with more fatal consequences).

"But I could hear her begging him, begging Voldemort to spare me.
To take her life instead of mine."

Harry stopped reading. "How did she know?" he demanded furiously absolutely white-faced with rage, "She wasn't even in the room! How could she – She had no right!" he snarled throwing the paper down and glaring at it, trying to set it on fire with his eyes. Instead, Hayato picked it up and continued reading, his own reading glasses now perched on the tip of his nose as he skimmed the text much faster than anyone without the enchantments would have managed.

"It is, word for word, accurate," he admitted unhappily, flipping to the other articles with a steadily growing frown, "Even the other pieces of information are word for word what we discussed. Whoever this woman is, she's very thorough," he decided, sounding as if he weren't sure whether or not to be impressed or angry. "Do Wizards have libel laws? Anything about breach of privacy or publishing information regarding Minors without their parent's of Guardian's consent?" he asked, glancing to Hermione who blinked, her eyes widening in surprise. Apparently the thought had never occurred to her.

Harry decided he could no longer be fucked with any of this and returned to his bread, angrily chewing on the plain crusts and glaring darkly over the Great Hall as everyone seemed to take his reaction as another affirmation of the article's truth and dove straight in, ignoring food in favour of reading.

Well, at least now if Malfoy talked shit about his mother, no one would ever blame him for putting his head through a window. Unfortunately, it also meant that Malfoy knew which parent to insult if he really wanted to set him off. Bad for him that Harry had been listening to his Aunt insult her since childhood, and was thus quite capable of keeping his calm when angry. At least, better than he had been last year when he made Aunt Marge blow up like a balloon.

"Is it true?" Neville asked, looking up from the paper, his face stricken, "You can – you remember that night?" he breathed, face twisted in concern. "Surely the Mind Healers erased it for you!"

"What Healers?" Harry demanded shortly, viciously tearing into his bread. "Hagrid dug me out of the house, carted me off to Dumbledore who dropped me off on my Aunt's Doorstep like a bottle of fucking milk and left. There were no Healers, no Aurors, nothing."

Neville stared at him in open mouthed horror, "No one tried to put you with m- with your Godmother?" he asked anxiously.

Harry sat up, bread dropping, "I have a Godmother?" he asked, stunned.

Neville's face fell, "Oh, I... I guess that explains that. No, not anymore, Harry," he told the other Gryffindor softly as he returned to the paper.

The smaller of the pair swore under his breath, returning to his bread, even as the twins skipped past them.

"Hurry up kiddies! Party at Gryffindor Tower for the Man of the Hour!" they exclaimed interrupting Hermione and Hayato's conversation and clapping the Italian on the shoulders to emphasize just who that man was before making their way out, likely as not heading to the Kitchens as they certainly didn't turn off towards the Marble Staircase.

"Oh Harry..." Hermione moaned in sympathetic pain even as she scrambled around Hayato and wrapped him up in her tightest hug to date. "I had no idea!" she told him earnestly. "I'm so sorry I ever doubted your reasons for learning from Professor Lupin!"

"Huh? No, it's okay, Hermione," he told her awkwardly, patting the girl's back before she drew away. "At least I got to hear her. I got to know that she did love me. That's more than most have," he pointed out optimistically. Judging by her facial expression, the forced grin on his face was decidedly less convincing than he had hoped.

000

And that's chapter 7 done, because my fingers hurt.