Harry came back from school determined to deal with the Draco/Ryua problem. It wasn't like the two of them had declared they were together or anything, just agreed that Ryua ought to know what happened. He and Draco had both agreed they were going to tell her about it… but that was proving harder than they'd expected. This was partially because it was nearly impossible to get her alone for any length of time… but partially because when Harry saw her, he realized he really did still want her.
Once he realized this, he started to push it, trying to convince himself that it really was Ryua he wanted, that despite talking about it with Draco… maybe they had imagined it, it was just a combination of firewhiskey and friendly atmosphere and maybe a little bit of blue balls. Ryua certainly seemed happy about the extra attention, and the way her voice had sounded, when she told him to meet her tonight, at the Room of Requirement… well, he was just glad the school robes weren't cut too closely to the body.
..
Ryua was amused at how enthusiastic Harry was being, and how much more relaxed Draco seemed after a Christmas with the Weasleys. He still had moments when he seemed to withdraw, thinking about something, but she wasn't about to press him. Goodness knows she had her own mental issues from time to time, and didn't want anyone asking about them.
She was looking forward to spending the evening with Harry, she missed good human contact. And she did intend to teach him… for at least the first part of the evening. After all, what was the point of having a boyfriend if you let him get killed because he couldn't handle himself in a dirty fight?
They'd planned to meet right after dinner, and even though she had a feeling of slight butterflies in her stomach, Ryua forced herself to eat. She'd need the energy… and her paranoid mindset didn't want anyone to notice her behaving oddly. Draco was swamped with homework for the evening, apparently he hadn't studied much at all over the holidays, and so there was nobody to care when Ryua didn't stay in the Slytherin common room after dinner. She'd borrowed her brother's wand before dinner, so she didn't risk slicing Harry open with an unusual spell cast, her dagger was still a little unexpected with magic.
She did manage to beat Harry to the room, and smiled when it opened into the comfortable, familiar room she'd been using to teach him throughout the year. She liked this place, the way the colours were exactly how she liked, everything placed itself exactly where she needed it…
The door opened behind her, and she turned to smile at Harry. "Good to see you're on time, Potter," she said teasingly. "Eager to learn how to let loose your inner dark side?"
He laughed, and walked in, the door closing behind him. "I suppose I am… what do you have to teach me tonight?"
Ryua flicked her wrist at him, Draco's wand sending out a flash of light, making Harry leap back and grab his wand… just in time for her disarming spell to hit, sending it flying through the air to her. She caught it neatly, then tossed it back. "Constant vigilance," she said, grinning at him. "If I can take you by surprise and disarm you, so can a Death Eater. We're going to try some more… permanent curses today, spells that won't just make your opponent wobble, ones that will make them collapse and be unable to fight, one way or another."
Harry had forgotten just how… businesslike she was about the kinds of spells that most people didn't even know existed. And she was only teaching him the fighting ones… He didn't even want to think about what she had up her sleeve if she decided he needed to know how to torture someone.
"So, down to business," she said, heading to the center of the room to sit down, Harry following her. She started to list a bewildering array of curses and their effects. "Now, to be fair, I don't expect you to use many of these… but at least you'll recognize them when you see them, so you know if you can dodge, or lessen, or bounce, or if you are just going to have to take it. Or, for that matter, if you can take it."
"This one," she said, standing up and flicking Draco's wand to produce the long, slender whip of light that she'd used over the summer, "Is most often a last-attempt sort of spell. It takes very little magic to sustain once it's up, and behaves pretty much like a normal whip." She swung it behind her, then cracked it just over his head, making him yelp and duck. "You can use it to intercept spells, to an extent… but if you're using it to grab someone, don't use it on a friend. It burns."
The listing continued, Ryua making Harry get up to try some of them, saying he should at least get the feel of the spell, even if casting on a dummy was completely different than using it on a person. "One of my favourites takes surprisingly little effort to use… and it's a favourite among Death Eaters. It's not precisely a killing curse, but a direct hit causes enough damage that they won't last long. Sectumsempra!" she called, swinging her wand at the dummy, splitting the wood down an inch or so. "It's more pronounced on flesh."
"I'll say it causes damage," he murmured, walking forward and touching the slices, going slightly pale. "Who would even invent something like that?"
"Someone with a lot of hate, and a lot of enemies," she said, shrugging. "Luckily, he also created a counterspell, if you aren't tone deaf and are decent at spells. Me? I'm not good enough at spells to work it, but I'll try and learn it for you so you can reverse it."
"That's considerate of you," Harry said, turning to smile at her. "You know… you're a pretty decent person, when you get past the whole creepy obsession with dark spells."
She grinned back. "I guess you're pretty good too, if I can forget about how irritatingly naïve you are about people." Ryua moved towards him purposefully, feeling her heart speeding up slightly.
"So… does that mean you missed me?" he asked, wrapping his arms around her waist, pulling her gently against him.
"Maybe a bit," she said, leaning into him, tilting her head up to kiss him gently. It felt so good to be touching him, his hands warm and gentle on her waist before they started to move up her body, trailing lightly along her ribs and back.
The kiss stayed light and gentle for the space of a second or two before Harry deepened it, his mouth pressing hungrily against hers, one hand running up the back of her neck, fingers playing through her shortened hair. Ryua had no problem with this, biting his lip softly, her hands wrapping around his waist, tugging up his shirt.
She breathed in sharply when his fingers ran across bruises and half-healed injuries from her Christmas vacation, but the pain wasn't anywhere near enough to make her uncomfortable, and she pressed up against him to keep him from noticing anything was wrong. One of her hands slid around between them, slowly undoing the buttons of his shirt from the bottom up. She leaned forward to kiss his neck this time, enjoying the soft groan he made, the way his head fell back willingly at her touch.
Ryua was able to get the last of his buttons undone before Harry took control again, his hand on the back of her head, pulling her up to kiss him again, his tongue flicking gently against hers. He pushed her gently back against a wall, looking down at her for a moment. She looked back up at him invitingly, and he almost dove back down, kissing her neck, her jaw, her shoulder… she moaned aloud when his tongue trailed up the side of her neck and cried out when he bit her ear, arching up against him, her arms wrapping tight around him.
She felt him shiver at her reaction, his hands sliding up under her shirt, moving decisively for her bra clasp. It only took a moment of fumbling before he had it open, his hand sliding around to the front, making her gasp as his fingers brushed over her breast.
It felt nice… very nice, especially when his fingers crept higher, and she felt his fingers brush over her nipple gently. She gasped, arching her chest forwards, silently asking for more. He started to stroke lightly over them, rubbing in slow circles. Ryua shuddered, the touch was so light, but so incredibly intense, but not anywhere near hard enough…
He leaned up against her again, his hands dropping down her waist, his lips hot on her neck as he trailed kisses along her skin. She was tempted to just let him keep going, undo her shirt, let him explore as much as he wanted, it felt so good… but she had a plan. And no matter how much Harry distracted her… she wasn't going to forget it.
His hands were working at the buttons on her blouse, and he shifted up slightly, his tongue tracing the curve of her ear, making her shiver. "Mmm, Harry…" she moaned. "Did Draco say he liked that too?"
The expression on his face when he pulled away from her in a dead panic just about made up for how irritated she'd been with him. It had almost been worth Draco's embarrassed, painful admission just to see the look on Harry's face. She could almost read the thoughts whirling behind his wide green eyes, the way his mouth was open, trying to form words.
She walked slowly towards him, Harry backpedalling until he came up against the other wall. "Were you planning to tell me before, or after you got my shirt off? Maybe you were just not going to say anything at all?"
"I… I…" Harry kept trying to think of something to say… he really hadn't meant to go this far without telling her… but she'd kissed him first, and it was so easy to keep going… somehow, he doubted that 'you started it' would be a good response.
"You snogged by brother… my twin brother… over Christmas," she said, putting a finger on his chest, pinning him in place, as if he wasn't already petrified. "And from what I hear… you liked it." She was leaning against him now, her lips almost touching his neck, her breath tickling his skin. "Did you like his smooth skin? Maybe the way his hands are bigger, warmer than mine?" Her fingers, chilly, traced along the skin of his lower back, making him jump.
"Hmm… I wonder how far you really got… did you find any… obvious differences?" she said suggestively, enjoying taunting him now, pressing her small breasts against his chest, her hips right up against his. Draco had told her exactly what they'd done and not got around to doing, and she was amused to feel him twitch a little in response to her words. "Maybe you just didn't get a chance to yet?"
Yet? That's a strange choice of words… Harry's mind observed, through the gibbering fear that she was going to rip him literally to shreds, and the embarrassing arousal left over from what they'd just been doing… and prodded by what she was saying now.
"I think..." she walked her fingers up his spine, "You need to make a choice." Her fingers were in his hair now, pulling his head back. Her lips were on his neck, teeth grazing against his skin. "Don't worry, I'm not so cruel as to force you to choose right now. Anyway, I'm sure that Draco will have some convincing for you, over the next few weeks…" she backed away abruptly, leaving a cool spot on his neck where her mouth had been, doing up her shirt, then turning and leaving the room before he could recover enough to say anything.
.o.o.o.o.o.
"What did he do?" Draco asked, when Ryua got back to the Common room.
She laughed, handing him his wand. "I thought he might faint when I mentioned your name. It might take a few minutes for him to figure out what I told him… I did lay it on pretty heavy."
Draco grinned. He'd been terrified to tell Ryua about kissing Harry… and yes, she'd been mad. Of course she'd been mad… but much more quickly than he'd expected, her attitude shifted, and she'd asked how much he'd enjoyed it. Grateful she wasn't trying to kill him, Draco had given her every detail he could remember. She hadn't looked exactly happy, of course, but she looked more calculating than furious. And then, she'd suggested that if Draco thought he'd like to try it again, they should leave it up to Harry.
Hence, the idea that Ryua would get to play with him as much as she wanted tonight, then tell him that they intended to share him, at least until he could make up his mind which one he wanted more.
While Ryua wasn't entirely happy with the idea… it was better than the alternative, which was to get furious, and end up hurting Draco, and Harry, and herself. This way, two of them would be happy in the end… and at least all three would have an entertaining month or so while they tried to convince Harry to make up his mind.
