Chapter Eleven,

I've Got A Headache, And Déjà Vu…

Hermione managed to wait until they were in sight of Gryffindor Tower before grabbing Harry by the tie and dragging him into an empty corridor, leaving Ron to quickly pick up Harry's fallen book bag and follow his friends.

"What the hell 'Mione!" Harry squawked indignantly, prying her hands off of his tie and loosening it so he could breathe. The girl in question stood in front of him with one hand on her hip and the other gripping her wand, looking at him as if he were a difficult question she was trying to puzzle out.

"You've been acting strange all lesson Harry! What's going on?" She demanded as Ron caught up to them and stood behind her, both literally and figuratively. Instantly defensive, Harry took half a step back and crossed his arms over his chest, resisting the urge to grab his wand. These were his friends, it wasn't as if they were about to curse him!

"I've got no idea what you're talking about! There's nothing wrong with me!" He shot back instead, completely at a loss as to why his friends were looking at him as if he had started speaking parseltounge again. Not deterred by Harry's defensiveness in the slightest, Hermione pushed forward with her interrogation.

"Well, what happened after we left you in the corridor? Anything at all out of the ordinary?" She urged, watching him closely for a sign that something wasn't right. As Harry though back to his meeting with Eleanora in the classroom, how he had kissed her, he couldn't stop the redness colouring his cheeks. When he started to blush Hermione knew he was close to caving.

"Come on Harry just tell us! Please, we're worried about you!" She pleaded as Harry sighed in exasperation, running a hand through his hair.

"Look, we kissed alright! I fancy Eleanora Black. That's all! Seriously guys, nothing to worry about!" He finally admitted, beyond ready for this conversation to be over and for his embarrassment to fade. When he could finally look his friends in the eye after his outburst

"Oh Harry, I'm really sorry about this!" Hermione winced, taking a half-step away from him.

"Sorry about wha.."

"STUPEFY!" She cast as Harry's world went dark.

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Harry wasn't actually sure of how long he was out for, only that last he remembered he was standing, and now he was lying on his back on the cold stone of the castle floor, and his head was absolutely pounding!

Sitting up slowly, rubbing the back of his head, he noticed his friends standing pretty much exactly where he last remembered them, except Hermione's face now looked far more guilty than suspicious.

"What the bloody hell was that for?!" Harry demanded, wincing at the loudness of his own voice as it doubled his already growing headache.

"Oh Harry I'm so sorry for stunning you! And I'm really sorry that I forgot to cushion your fall!" She apologised sincerely,

"I needed to check you for potions or spells that may have altered your mind, you've been acting so strange! This sudden interest in Eleanora after meeting her alone, and I'd read somewhere that you shouldn't tell a drugged person that you think they've been potioned. The book said that they might react negatively and try to attack you, so I had to knock you out to check. Again, I'm truly sorry Harry!" She explained, helping him to his feet and dusting off his robe.

Harry could understand her concern, after all he hadn't exactly been forthcoming to either of his friends about his growing feelings for Eleanora or the first kiss that they had shared. It was all a bit sudden, to go from not even knowing she existed three days ago, to having shared two kisses in two days. Although he understood Hermione's concerns, Harry was still a bit unhappy that even after all this time, she still didn't trust him and his instincts.

This revelation didn't make him as angry as he thought it probably should, in fact, he was rather more angry that she had forgotten to cushion his fall and he now had a headache than her lack of faith in him.

So instead of continuing to argue about something he wasn't even angry about, he just sighed and gave a wry smile, asking her a questions that he already knew the answer to.

"So, did you actually find anything anything suspicious?" he asked the bushy-haired girl in front of him. Hermione shook her head,

"No, you've got nothing in your system that I can detect, which is a relief! Although the spell may not pick up on everything, the fact that you're not attacking me for even suggesting that you could have been spelled is a good sign though." She said in obvious relief. Ron however, did not look nearly as convinced.

"Spell or no spell, you shouldn't be getting involved with a Slytherin! It's bound to be trouble, you don't even know anything about her other than her bloody name!" Ron yelled, gesturing wildly as if it would get his point across clearer.

"We don't know anything about any of the girls in our year Ron! Except for Hermione, because the houses just stick together! We've been over and over this and I'm sick of it! If you have any legitimate concerns about Eleanora that don't include the fact that she is in Slytherin or that we hardly know her I'm all ears!" Harry countered, fuming at Ron's stubbornness and the fact that his head was incredibly sore.

Ron opened his mouth, ready to argue, but Hermione stood in between the two, shaking her head at him, a signal to drop the subject. He almost didn't, wanting to push around her and tell his 'best mate' to get his head out of his…

Instead Ron turned in a huff and left them alone in the classroom.

A tense moment of silence followed the redhead's departure, before Hermione turned and wrapped her arms around Harry and squeezed him tight. Harry, feeling jarred at the sudden change in atmosphere, gingerly put his arms around the bushy-haired girl currently trying to suffocate him and gave her an unsure pat on the back.

"Hermione? Er, you alright?" He asked, unsure and totally not equipped to comfort an emotional witch. She sniffled slightly and pulled away to Harry's relief, a happy smile on her face.

"I'm just really proud of you is all! For the first time since I've known you you're actually putting yourself and your happiness first! Out of everyone I know you deserve happiness the most Harry, and if Eleanora makes you happy then that makes me happy. I just… be careful okay? Despite the way he went about it, Ron kind does have a point. I'm not saying that I believe that Eleanora is evil at all, but we really don't know anything about her. Just, try to keep your brain and emotion's seperate, yeah?" She rushed out, hugging him again.

Harry was grateful for her support, having at least one other person of his side (possibly two, because Neville had been very supportive of him from the start) made him feel like he wasn't crazy for feeling this way.

Maybe, just maybe, he had a shot with Eleanora Black.

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Much later that night, well after curfew, found the very witch of Harry Potter's affections wandering aimlessly through the darkened halls of Hogwarts Castle.

Eleanora had always been fond of walking at night for as long as she could remember, everything was different after dark. There was no sound, the air quiet and peaceful, the stillness had often tricked her into believing that she was the only person left in the world. It had always been easier, she found, for her to think at night, and tonight her thoughts were completely occupied with the messy haired Gryffindor that had kissed her only this morning.

So occupied, in fact, that she didn't even notice the other person sneaking though the hall until they had collided.

"Oh!" Eleanora exclaimed as she stumbled back from the unexpected blow. The person she had run into, a student not a teacher by their height thankfully, also stumbled back and dropped what they were holding, a…broomstick?

"Bloody hell, m'sorry I wasn't…oh." Ron Weasley's apology died on his lips as he saw clearly for the first time whom he had run into. Eleanora likewise cursed her bad luck, honestly of all the people she could have literally run into!

"Weasley." She acknowledged curtly, not trusting herself to say anything more.

"Black." He replied in the same tone.

They both stood there, silently and awkwardly, for a few moments more, before Eleanora decided to end this really uncomfortable interaction. With a short bob of her head as a departing acknowledgement, she sidestepped the red-headed boy and continued on her predetermined route towards the kitchens.

"Black!" His call stopped her in her tracks and she turned to face him, hand discreetly moving towards the wand in her robe pocket.

"Yes?" She replied in a tone that was far more civil than she was currently feeling, something about this boy just… irked her! Although she couldn't quite put her finger on what it was about him, Eleanora knew that she and Ronald Weasley would never be 'braid each other's hair and gossip about boys' best friends.

"You'd better not run off to Umbridge and blab about the DA or else!" he threatened angrily, finally voicing to her the concern that had been festering inside of him since the moment she had entered the Room of Requirement.

Eleanora blinked in surprise and took a moment to digest the threat, torn between wanting to laugh at the childish attempt to frighten her, and being mildly insulted that he thought that it would work.

"Weasley, if I'd wanted to tattle on you to the toad I would have done so by now, are we done here? Good." Eleanora put on her best Black drawl, the one that most effectively conveyed 'I am tired of your very existence' and turned once again to leave the red head that was fuming behind her.

"I know what you really are!"

The world stopped turning for a moment as all the air seemingly evaporated from Eleanora's body. Her veins filled with ice as she processed what Ron Weasley had yelled at her, how could he have found out? She had been so careful, not even Daphne knew truly the extent…

"What. Exactly. Do. You. Mean. By. That?" She ground out, reigning in the fear she felt at his words and showing only her annoyance with his presence.

"I'm Harry's best mate! It's my job to make sure he's not being taken advantage of, which is obviously what you're trying to do. Why else would a slimy Slytherin want to get close to a Gryffindor? You might be fooling everyone else Black, but not me alright?! I'm watching you, waiting for you to slip up and show your slimy true colours." Threatened Ron, ignoring her question completely.

The relief Eleanora felt was swiftly overshadowed by rage when she digested what the boy in front of her had said. She took a deep breath and bottled up her rage, she had already given this boy more power over her emotions than her Grandmother would ever consider reasonable, and instead flashed him her sweetest, most patronising smile.

"Oh, well that's nice to know Weasley. Obviously you're just as bad at that as I hear you are at Quidditch." She said condescendingly, taking an educated guess as to why he was out so late with his broomstick. Her words were deadly sharp as they reached their mark and caused the desired effect, Ron's face had surpassed red and was turning an interesting shade of puce as he spluttered in indignation. Before he could do something foolish, like draw his wand and escalate this situation, Eleanora decided to bring a swift end to this confrontation.

Dropping her sweet act and stepping closer, Eleanora whispered menacingly;

"Look. I'm a part of Harry's life now, and I plan on making it a permanent thing…so you'd better get use to being second best sweetie."

Spinning on her heel for the third and final time, Eleanora flounced away, leaving a furious and dumbstruck Weasley behind her.

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AN: The first month of 2018 is almost gone! What sorcery is this?! I hope everyone enjoyed themselves and stayed safe over the holiday period, I myself spent a great deal of this month planning out the back-half of this story and it now has an official ending! At least until I change my mine once again! This was originally two seperate chapters but they were both quite small so I though I would combine them and give you a bonus chapter, I hope it reads well! Let me know what you think and if I should do more of this in the future. All the love to; thewinterking5, NataS666, mwinter1, KClown, and Lauren Saint for your lovely reviews and well wishes over the holidays.

Negotiations have come to a disappointing end…the HP universe belongs to JK Rowling, I'm just playing in it.