Lots and lots of thanks to the reviewers and my beta!
Chapter 7: Cold Kiss can turn you Hot
Harry was finding it difficult to breathe. He was scared as hell, standing in front of the hall in only a pair of shorts while everyone stared at his bruised lips.
2 days before:
The Charms classroom was alive with talk. The Gryffindors occupied the middle rows and were currently discussing the approaching Quidditch season. "Gryffindor will win for sure!" Dean Thomas announced as he pumped his fist in the air.
"With Harry on our side there will be no stopping us!" Seamus added as he grinned at the raven-haired seeker who was busy flipping through his Charms book.
Harry was digging desperately through all his books, trying to find a charm to stop people from gaping at him. He had already gone through his Potions, Transfiguration, and DADA books. So far he had come up with nothing. It was beginning to look like his Charms book was also a lost cause.
He didn't want to bother Hermione, Ron, Aura, or Ginny with the problem. He didn't want to go to the Library for a different resource book either.
"Harry? Hey Harry!"
He looked up sharply at Ron's call and gave him a sheepish look.
"Sorry, Ron." He closed the book and set it back on the desk in order to follow the conversation.
"Harry, are you OK?" Hermione inquired. She leaned closer so that only Harry could hear her.
He saw the worry on her face and immediately felt bad. "Yes, I'm fine." He nodded, but he saw that it didn't ease her fears any.
"Harry, mate, what do you think of the Quidditch season? Are we going to get that cup or what?" Ron pulled Harry away from
Hermione and grinned at his smaller friend.
Harry smiled and joined in with the talk. But, at the back of his mind was the fact that his Harpy senses could feel someone staring at him.
At lunch the noise level in the Great Hall had increased with the loud obnoxious boasting from the Slytherin table. Nott had announced in a loud voice, "So, Zabini, when will we be holding the meeting?"
His announcement was met by most of the other students staring at him in shock before they all started whispering. At the Gryffindor table, Ron mumbled, "Most likely a Death Eater-in-training meeting. They need to gather and see who can kiss he-who-must-not-be-named's ass the best."
This announcement was met by laughter from Ginny, Dean, Seamus, Neville, and Harry. The eye roll from Hermione was followed by a small lecture. "Really Ron, if it were a Death-Eater meeting then they wouldn't be boasting about it." She snapped curtly.
"I wonder what is going on." Ginny thought aloud.
"Most likely Quidditch strategies," Hermione's suggestion was met by looks of interest from Harry and Ron while Ginny and Neville looked at him as if she were stupid, "or something." She mumbled before shrugging it off.
"Or it could be…" Sean trailed off, looking around as the others leaned in. "I heard a rumour that every year the Slytherins, Fifth year and up, participates in a series of games."
"Like what? Ring-around-the-rosy?" Ron snorted contemptuously.
"No, more like 'Dare-or-torment'." Seamus put in.
"Or, 'Cold-kiss'." Dean added.
"'Cold-Kiss'?" Harry piped up, looking at them in confusion.
"Haven't you ever heard of 'Cold-Kiss'?" Ron asked in a shocked voice.
Harry shook his head. "No. What is it?"
"It's a game where one person is dared to kiss another person, but the person they kiss; well they have to make sure that the person being kissed never forgets about it." He thought for a second then added, "They also want to make sure that no one else forgets either." Seamus' eyes glowed brightly as he stated the rules of the famous Wizard game.
"So basically, you have to humiliate someone?" Harry asked, annoyed and disgusted at the thought.
"Yep, the Slytherin house is famous for the game."
"It sounds childish." Hermione sniffed.
Dean and Seamus shrugged, while Neville looked a bit pale.
"So the Slytherins are going to be playing this game?" Harry asked, looking at the others.
They nodded.
"They had better not come on to any Gryffindors." Ron growled as he stabbed at his salmon steak. Dean and Harry, sitting on each side of him edged away just a wee bit more…
"Calm down Ron," Ginny soothed, "it's unlikely that they would come to a Gryffindor." Little did she know; that comment was far from the truth…
Harry was sitting in Aura's room, crossed-legged on her bed. Aura was searching for a book while Harry played with the hem of his shirt.
"You should have come earlier, Harry." Aura clucked. "Your mother had the same problem. It nearly drove her crazy."
"Did you go to school with my mum?" Harry had never voiced the question before although it had occurred to him before.
"I was three years below her, but I knew I was a Harpy long before she did." Aura straightened and handed Harry a book. "We Harpies use the same charm that Veela's use to stop people being attracted to them, although I've never heard of a Veela using it."
Harry took the book and began to thumb through it while Aura sat by his side.
"I heard about the 'Slytherin games'." Aura smirked, running a hand through her hair.
"Did they play these 'games' while you were here at Hogwarts?" Harry was feeling nervous; he wasn't exactly liked in the Slytherin house so there was no denying they would try something on him.
"Yes, if memory serves correctly, they tried something on Lily. Fortunately for her, Sirius and James were on hand." Her smile became tight at the mention of Harry's diseased Godfather.
Harry forced the thought away, trying to concentrate on anything but Sirius. "I should go. It is almost curfew. Thanks for the book." Harry gave Aura a hug before leaving with the book tucked under his arm.
The corridors were empty and Harry strolled leisurely towards the common room. He looked down at the book, opened it, and began to flick through it.
"Harry!"
He looked up at the sound of his name being hissed and saw Ginny hiding in the shadows. He walked over to the youngest Weasley and with a voice filled with confusion asked, "Gin, what are you doing?"
The red-head glared as she looked around but kept her voice down. "Hiding! Crabbe has been chasing me around trying to give me the 'cold-kiss'." As she explained what was happening she eased them both into an empty classroom. "I was trying to get to the common room before curfew when I heard Crabbe bullying a second year just outside the Library. He was trying to get Mackelby to tell him where I was."
"If this wasn't so disturbing it would be rather amusing." Harry commented. He quickly changed his mind when she punched him on the arm. "OOF! OK I take it back, sorry."
"So you should be!" Ginny grinned. She pressed her ear to the door. "You wouldn't happen to have your invisibility cloak with you, would you?"
"Nope. Sorry." Harry sighed. He leaned against a desk and sighed. "So do you plan to keep me a prisoner here all night, or do you have a cunning plan which involves me, but I don't know about yet?"
Ginny glared at him again and shook her head. "Would it be too much for you to just wait with me until Crabbe leaves this part of the castle and we can make a break for Gryffindor tower? That's all I'm asking, OK?"
Harry shook his head at her plan and mumbled, "Just until Crabbe leaves." He went over to the door and opened it quietly to look out. The painting titled "Flight of the Trolls" graced the wall across from him and he snorted in disgust. "Ginny, we're two floors under the common room. How would we possibly know if Crabbe is still up there?"
Ginny's face acquired a slightly pink tint as this was pointed out. "Oh…"
Harry shook his head. "Ginny, you don't have a plan on how to get past him, you don't know where he is, and we are really a long way from our common room and it is getting late. Do you have a plan on how to get back safely or not?"
She growled with frustration. "I didn't really plan on having some giant-oaf chasing after me, did I? Why would I have a contingency plan?"
Harry decided to keep his mouth shut. He had closed the door before speaking to her the first time. Now he just shrugged his shoulders wearily and transfigured a desk into an overstuffed ottoman and sank wearily into it.
A few minutes later, Ginny seemed to have calmed down enough that she came to sit beside Harry. "What's with the book?" She nodded to the open book that Harry once more seemed almost buried in.
"It's just…a book from Professor LeRoy."
"Harpy-stuff?" Ginny didn't have to ask as she already knew the answer, but Harry nodded all the same.
"Yea. I'm looking for a charm to decrease my allure. I don't want everyone getting all strange on me every time I am around people. Nothing will stop my allure, but Aura says dampening it will keep everyone but my mate from wanting me."
Ginny sat quietly as Harry fidgeted and mumbled to himself for a good five minutes. "Did you find what you needed, or are you waiting for me to take you to Madame Pomphrey for some nerve tonic?" She
didn't know whether to be frustrated at his inability to show concern for their…correction- HER- plight, or amusement that he thought he had it worse.
He finally looked up at her when he recognized the 'Molly-irritated-Weasley' tone. "Sorry, Gin. Aura told me which charm would work and I was trying to make sure I understood it completely before I performed it. It's actually going to be quite difficult."
"If you need any help, I'm here." Ginny smiled, offering her support.
"Thanks. I don't think you will be able to help though. The spell is not really complicated; it will just require a lot of power."
"Well, being a Harpy, you should have more power than a normal wizard, don't you?"
"Theoretically, yes. I do have several powers that a regular wizard doesn't have." As he spoke he cocked his head to the side then began giggling.
"What now?"
"I was just remembering that one of the benefits of being a Harpy. Come on!"
"Harry, what are you-?" But Ginny didn't get a chance to finish asking her question before Harry pulled her out of the classroom and started dragging her down the hall with him.
He decided to answer her before she got too angry. "Harpy's have long sight. That means I'll be able to spot Crabbe from down the hall." As he spoke he reached their floor and paused to duck into an empty alcove to look around.
Ginny crouched beside him, catching her breath. "And you didn't tell me this before, why?"
"I kind of forgot." Harry whispered sheepishly.
Ginny rolled her eyes and snorted. She finally asked, ""Well is he here or not?"
Harry peered down the hall. At first all he could see was a few feet in front of him, but suddenly his Harpy-self kicked in, and he saw his vision stretch to the far end of the hall. He saw the residue of magic swirling around, but there was no trace of the Slytherin goon. "He's not here." He blinked and turned back to the young redhead.
"Phew." She let out a breath and moved from the hiding spot. "Well, come on then, I'm tired." She pulled him down the hall to the picture of the Fat Lady.
"Password?" The Fat Lady demanded in a bored tone while inspecting her pink nails. Her voice implied that Ginny wasn't welcome.
"PIckledpurpleprunes." Harry snapped.
The Fat Lady glanced up and when she heard Harry's voice. At the sight of him her eyes brightened and a love-sick expression passed over her plump face.
Harry gulped.
Ginny snarled, "Open up you old tart or I am going to report this to Headmaster Dumbledore."
The portrait huffed and mumbled something about rude children, but it swung open.
Ginny hurriedly pushed Harry through then crawled through also.
"Thanks Gin." Harry sighed.
"No problem." Ginny flashed him a bright smile.
The next day, Harry, being the Quidditch captain, organized a training session. He needed to see where the team was at before he could start picking replacement members.
They were halfway through training when Ginny flew up beside Harry. "We've got company." She pointed down the stands were a bunch of Slytherins had made themselves comfortable.
"OK, training is over." Harry yelled. The Gryffindors nodded and flew down, heading for the lockers.
Ron threw the Slytherins a dirty look and stalked off, Ginny and Harry leisurely trailed behind him.
"Stupid Slytherins, I bet they were there to see what we were doing."
Ron ranted, drying his wet hair with a towel.
Harry rolled his eyes behind his friend's back while securing the towel around his waist. "Whatever they were doing, they didn't get to do much of." He finally said, hoping Ron would just shut up. Reaching in his locker, he groaned as he pulled out fresh clothes…
He hadn't paid attention to what he had thrown into his bag that morning and was now wishing he had. He was holding a pair of lycra biking shorts and a black sleeveless muscle shirt.
"You ready, Mate?" Ron asked as he turned around and saw Harry frowning at his clothes. "Harry?"
"Oh, sorry, you go ahead. I'll catch up." Harry had a bad feeling about the clothes, but decided to go ahead and put them on. They would be hidden under his robes.
"You sure?" Ron asked uncertainly.
"Yeah." Harry nodded, automatically hiding the clothes from his friend's view. Once the door closed behind the red-head's back, Harry slumped down on a bench.
He honestly didn't remember packing these in his bag; he couldn't actually remember ever having seen them before. Maybe loosing his mind was part of being a Harpy. There was no way he wanted to wear these clothes, they did not feel right. But, he had no choice. They were the only clothes in his bag.
After much frowning in annoyance, Harry pulled the shorts on and was about to pull his shirt on when he heard the door open. Harry looked over his shoulder, thinking it to be one of his housemates coming to collect something they'd forgotten.
He stood frozen to the spot. "Zabini?" Harry felt very exposed as the Slytherin coolly lent against the door frame, slowly looking Harry up and down.
"Potter…" Zabini's voice sounded husky and it immediately sent the message to Harry 'Be afraid. Be very afraid."
Harry's first thought was 'why didn't I use the charm first thing this morning?' The book lay open on his bedside table and as of right now was officially useless…
Zabini was moving closer now, a hungry look in his cold eyes.
Harry shivered and moved back, but hit his locker painfully. "W-what do you want?" Harry glanced at the door and saw to his horror that Zabini blocked it from his view.
Zabini's thin tanned face was close to Harry's now. The other boy was near enough that Harry could feel his hot breath and smell his expensive cologne.
The images that Zabini invoked made Harry ill and he quickly turned his face away. His Harpy-self began screeching in rage that the Slytherin in his face was most definitely NOT his mate.
Just as Harry's instincts commanded him to fight, lips smashed down on his and pressed a bruising kiss on him. Harry began struggling wildly against the other boy, willing his tears at bay, and trying to regain control of the Harpy who demanded that he kill the thing trying to desecrate him. All of the emotions swamping him kept screaming that everything was all wrong; Zabini wasn't his mate, and only his mate could touch him like this…
Suddenly Harry felt something smooth and cold press against his exposed stomach and he felt the jerk at his navel that meant only one thing… a portkey.
When the dizzy spell left him Harry blinked and fixed his glasses, when he caught sight of his surroundings he wished he were dreaming. He immediately found it difficult to breathe as terror swamped him. He was standing in the Great Hall, wearing only a pair of shorts while everyone stared at him with lust filled eyes…
As he looked helplessly around he froze to the spot. His heart pounding so fast it almost burst through his chest. Within seconds the silence was broken by people beginning to moan as they started to push their chairs back in order to stand up. He was shaking and could feel sweat trickling down his cheek; NO, not sweat, but a single salty tear made its way down his shattered looking face.
"Harry." A cloak was thrown over his back and he was dragged from the hall.
He could smell Aura's scent as he was dragged up the stairs. Everything swirled around him, reminding him of after the Tri-Wizard tournament, when he took hold of the cup in the maze, the one that took the life of C…
'Don't think about that!' He whimpered despairingly to himself.
"Sit!" Aura snapped at him as she forced him into a chair. A second later she handed him a cup of steaming tea with lots of sugar in it. "Explain." Her voice held none of her emotions, but Harry could see the disappointment in her beautiful eyes. Her tone of voice stated that she was not impressed.
"It was Zabini. He came into the Gryffindor's locker room and he kissed me…" Harry didn't realize he was shaking and crying as he relived the horrifying moments of the other boy defiling him with his filthy touch. He could still see the hungry look in Zabini's eyes and he knew that if he had the chance the other boy would have gone much farther than a kiss…
"Zabini isn't your mate." It was a statement, not a question. But, Harry nodded all the same. "Maybe I haven't explained this properly Harry, but only your mate is allowed to touch you; no one else.
Harry was scared of this side of Aura. She was fuming and none too pleased. The young Harpy had had enough. "It isn't like I asked him to kiss me! He came onto me." Harry shook as he yelled at his elder Harpy. "It took everything I had in me not to kill him. Do you have any idea how badly I wanted to rip out his heart and eat it for daring to touch me?"
Aura flinched at his outburst and shook her head. The burning anger in his eyes told her that he was telling the truth. "Go to your room and change, we'll talk later." She retreated to her private quarters and left Harry in the DADA classroom, staring after her.
TBC…
Well I've finally finished! Please leave REVIEWS telling me how I did and thanks to:
PinaColada-babe: (grabs cookie) COOKIE! YAY! (Does dance) oh and thanks a lot! Draco and Harry will find each other later! Please tell me what you thought of the chapter and THANKS!
And of course to my signed reviewers!
REVIEW PLEASE! And I'll write chapter 8!
With love, SiriusBlack's Angel!
