It was already October and Snape was getting in a progressively terrible mood for over a month. Everyone knew where it came from of course, as it was more than obvious that Snape absolutely loathed Lupin for whatever boring reason the greasy bat could have. Also, the rumors about Gryffindor's first Defense lesson where Neville Longbottom had faced his Boggart of Severus Snape himself and dressed him in his grandmother's clothes. Which was probably the reason why Snape had started bullying Longbottom even worse.
He was bullying Harry a lot too, but Harry knew that reason just fine. After all, he didn't look like he found it funny that Harry jumped up from his seat every time he walked into the classroom and screamed "Riddikulus!" on top of his lungs, pointing his wand at his teacher.
. . . . .
Harry was roped into visiting the Chamber by Malinda. The tiny snake was completely smitten by the giant serpent. It counted for the other way around as well. The Basilisk, whom he had discovered was named Sigrun, a Scandinavian name meaning secret victory – which Harry found really fit her – had taken to calling Malinda 'Small One' while she had taken Malinda's habit of calling Harry 'Hatchling'.
Because of this, Harry was in a bad mood when he crawled back out of the Chamber's entrance in the early morning. Two maternal snakes fuzzing over him was a little too much for his tastes.
"H-Harry?"
Harry tensed and looked up, finding not only Myrtle staring at him, but the pale, ghostly face of one Ginevra Weasley as well. She was looking at him with big, innocent and curious eyes that made Harry's chest clench in horror. She… was still around? No wonder the Weasleys seemed to be smiling so much lately!
"Ginny…" he mumbled.
"You-you're still here."
"Um… Y-yeah, I guess I am," the girl murmured shyly.
"They told me that you went and tried to save me… Thank you."
Harry's eyes widened and he felt a little bit of the pressure go down again.
"You don't remember any of it?" he asked.
Ginny blushed silver and shook her head.
"I remember staring at the new writing on the wall outside the lavatories," she said.
"I-I knew it was me who wrote it, but I couldn't remember it… a-and then… I heard Tom's voice… in my head… saying that 'it was time'. And then everything went black."
She never saw Harry conversing with Tom. Hell, Harry was pretty sure she never even saw Tom! This was great! He didn't need to worry about her telling anyone.
"That's for the best, I guess," he mumbled.
"… Hey. Breakfast is almost gonna start so I better get going."
"I'll come with!" Ginny said eagerly, floating after Harry out of the lavatories.
Harry smiled at the girl he knew had the biggest crush on him.
"Looks like you and Myrtle are getting along well," he said.
Ginny smiled and nodded, before turning grave again.
"Why did you lie to everyone?" she asked.
Harry stopped walking and looked over at Ginny with a blank expression.
"I don't know what you're talking about," he said blandly.
"The Basilisk. It's still alive," the ghostly girl said.
"I went back to the Chamber in the summer and saw it… I-I didn't tell anyone! I just want to know why…"
Harry looked down at his feet and pouted.
"If I tell you, you'll hate me," he whispered, willing his eyes to start tearing.
Ginny gasped and tried to put a hand on Harry's shoulder, even though she wasn't corporeal anymore.
"I will never hate you!" she exclaimed horrified.
"I trust you, Harry. That's why I didn't tell anyone, I know you have a reason to lie…"
Harry swallowed harshly and looked up at Ginny with pitiful, terrified big eyes.
"I'm a Parselmouth," he whispered softy.
"I-I think it has to do with something Voldemort did when he tried to kill me, but… I've been able to for as long as I remember. My dad told me about what it meant and that most people believe that only evil wizards can do it… so-so I hid it, and then everyone started calling me the Heir…"
He gave a sad sob and Ginny looked at him sadly, as if she wanted to hug him so badly.
"When I went down to the Chamber, the real Heir – Riddle – he set the Basilisk on me," Harry continued.
"I had no way to fight it, and it was so fast, so I had to hide in the pipes under the school and lure it away first. When-when I finally made it back, you-…"
He gave another choked sob.
"Riddle was laughing! Taunting me for failing to save you! I-I got so angry that I took his Diary and destroyed it… And he went up in flames! Just like that! The Basilisk stopped chasing me then and she just looked at me, curiously. I asked why she killed students, and she said because she was told to do it and she was hungry… So I promised to give her access to the Forbidden Forest if she stayed away from the school."
He sighed and looked at Ginny with a guilty expression.
"I lied about it because the school would close if they knew the Basilisk was still alive," he confessed.
Ginny nodded in understanding and gave him a weak smile.
"Then I'll keep it a secret too!" she said determined.
. . . . .
A few days later, Harry could be found at the Pitch with the rest of the Slytherin Quidditch team to watch the tryouts for the new chaser. Flint was present too, even though he had been made to stop playing so he could fully focus on his studies. Adrian Pucey was the new Captain now, and Harry had really hoped that he would be able to play Beater again, but no such luck.
"We can't trust you with a bat just yet, Quinn," he had said sternly.
"You're playing Chaser for the whole year and the next and that's final."
Because of that, Harry was now pouting unhappily as he watched a few second years and fourth years try out for the open spot. From his own year, Alexander Xavier, Tracy and Blaise were trying out too.
"I really hope it's a girl this time," Harry muttered in Draco's ear.
"At least that way I don't have to check out the asses of our opponents anymore."
Draco sighed and shook his head in exasperation.
"You're an idiot, Quinn," he muttered.
Harry laughed and made a small loop on his broom before stopping and floating in front of his friend with a big grin on his face.
"You're right! I shouldn't discriminate!" he joked.
"I mean, Adrian has a pretty nice ass too and I've always liked Flint's shoulders. The man is built like a brute! Imagine what he can do…"
"That he can do… What or to whom?" Draco asked suspiciously.
Harry just chuckled and wiggled his eyebrows.
"Anything, anywhere and to me," he replied slyly.
Draco shuddered in disgust and flew away to watch Blaise and Tracy try out against each other. Within the given ten minutes, Blaise scored six times against zero and at the end of the tryouts, Adrian gladly announced Blaise as the new chaser, causing both Draco and Harry to cheer loudly for their friend. After that, it was time to hit the showers and go back to the castle.
On his way there, Harry was stopped by Flint, who had his Nimbus 2001 slung over his shoulder and was grinning widely. Harry stopped walking and raised a curious eyebrow.
"I couldn't help but overhear your little talk with Malfoy," he started.
Harry was very skeptical that he hadn't been able to help it. Still, he grinned slyly and cocked his head.
"Did you now?" he asked amused.
He turned away and started walking towards the castle instead of the changing room. Flint scowled confused and went after him.
"Where are you going?" the former Captain asked.
"To my room, take a more private shower," Harry replied, smirking.
"Why? You wanna join? The shower's big enough for it, and so is my bed."
Flint started grinning again and he slung a thick arm over Harry's shoulders as they both walked on.
. . . . .
Fucking Flint was entirely different from fucking Tom. At first, Harry thought it might just be because he and Tom had never done it in the showers, but as it went on and Flint dragged him to the bed to fuck again, he found that no, it hadn't been the shower that made it so different.
Tom was very precise in his movement, meticulous. Everything he did was purposefully to torture Harry with equal amounts of pain and pleasure. He got off on Harry's outcries, loved to be in control, to dominate Harry to the point where he chose what Harry would feel and what not. He loved hearing Harry beg for it, for more, harder, faster,… Even for the pain, he had Harry beg.
Flint though… Flint didn't care at all what Harry felt. To him, Harry was a body he could use. He only fucked for himself. Even the dirty things he whispered in Harry's ear while he slammed his hips against Harry's ass with enough force to leave it bright red, even the way he dug his finger deep into Harry's skin until he drew blood, were only to heighten his own pleasure. He didn't get off on humiliating Harry or watching his reactions like Tom did and Harry had no idea which he liked best at the end of the day.
"We should do this more often, Quinn," Flint said as he got dressed again.
Harry was lying naked on the bed, trailing patterns on his cum-soaked stomach as he looked over to Flint and grinned.
"Sure thing!" he agreed chuckling.
"Thanks for the little scratch, Marcus."
Flint winked and threw three used condoms in the garbage can in the corner of Harry's room before pulling open the door. Draco and Blaise tensed from where they were just about to knock on the door and jumped back. They paled as they saw Flint walk out while buttoning up his shirt and hurried inside.
"What the fuck, Quinn!" Draco exclaimed.
"I thought you were joking!"
Harry blinked and stared at his friends with a blank expression.
"That doesn't sound like me," he said dryly.
"Bloody hell! You look like shit!" Blaise said horrified.
Harry looked down at himself. Blaise was right. He had bruises all over his arms, thighs and hips and red welts from scratching covered his chest and sides. Harry laughed and shrugged it off again.
"At least he didn't do it in places where anyone can see," he said.
"But… Th-that must have hurt!" Draco shouted.
"You can't have liked that! It must have hurt!"
Harry put up a pitiful expression and let tears gather at the corners of his eyes.
"You're right!" he choked out sobbing.
"It was terrible! I tried to beg him to stop, screamed for help, but he kept going!"
Both Draco and Blaise stared at him with wide eyes as he fell into a fit of giggles.
"You two are such idiots!" Harry laughed.
"I loved it! I love the pain and I love the violence!"
"You're sick," Draco muttered.
Harry calmed down again and smirked at his friend.
"So the doctors tell me every time I go see them," he chuckled.
"But I bet you two didn't come here to catch me having sex, unless you two are closet Voyeurs."
"We came to drop off your clothes, since you left them in the changing room," Blaise said, handing Harry a little bag.
The bright haired teen grinned gratefully and hopped off the bed to collect his clothes.
"Thanks! You two are such great friends!" he said cheerfully.
"Want me to suck you off? I'm in a sex mood, so I'll do it for free."
Draco pulled a face and shook his head.
"No thanks," the blond said.
Blaise on the other hand, looked as if he was seriously considering accepting Harry's offer. That is, until Draco hit him on the back of his head.
"I'm fine, thanks," the Italian muttered dejectedly.
"That's fine too," Harry shrugged smiling.
"Besides, I can already tell you two that I'll have fucked you both before we graduate."
. . . . .
Bumping into Luna on the way to Dinner that evening was a bit of a surprise. Especially since three older Ravenclaws had crowded around her, pushing her around and calling her names.
"Pathetic, to treat someone of your own house like that," Draco hissed disgusted.
The others all seemed to agree with him, but Harry didn't hear a word they were saying. He saw red as he stomped over to the Ravenclaws.
"What the fuck do you think you're doing!" he yelled, pushing a fourth year out of the way.
"Quinzel?! Get away, this is none of your-"
The boy was unable to finish his sentence before Harry's fist made contact with his nose. A loud 'crack' of bone breaking could be heard and the boy staggered back with a pained shout, clutching his broken, bleeding nose. Harry didn't look at him or his friends and pulled Luna away from them by her wrist.
"DAPHNE!" he roared, stomping back towards his friends.
The blonde squeaked and stepped closer, trembling from head to toe and her forest green eyes wide in terror.
"Where's your sister? I need to talk to her," Harry gritted out.
"A-at Dinner, I guess?" Daphne replied shakily.
Harry nodded and started walking towards the Great Hall again, his finger still tightly encasing Luna's thin wrist as he pulled her along. The young Ravenclaw girl was staring at the back of Harry's head with wide, innocent eyes and she stumbled a bit every few steps at how hurried Harry was walking.
As they arrived in the Great Hall, Harry immediately zoomed in on Astoria Greengrass, who was sitting with her friends at the Ravenclaw table. He walked over and only once he reached Astoria did he let go of Luna so he could pull the dark haired girl from her seat.
"Q-Quinn?" Astoria asked softly as she looked at the angry expression of the Slytherin King.
"From now on, I want you to look out for Luna," he said.
"Protect her and warn me when she's being mistreated. If something happens to her, I'll take it out on you."
Astoria nodded fearfully and Harry nodded back, satisfied. As he turned to walk away, Luna grabbed his arm. Looking back at the blonde, Harry couldn't help but relax a little. Luna smiled at him and handed him a Treacle Tart.
"Go and take a little walk to cool off, Harry," she said.
"On your own. I promise good things will come from it."
Harry scowled for a second before nodding.
"Alright," he agreed.
"Thank you for saving me, Harry," Luna said, kissing Harry's cheek.
Harry laughed and walked away. He ate the Treacle Tart while walking through the empty halls. Everyone was already at dinner after all. Or at least, almost everyone.
"Hello there, Harry," Fred greeted smiling deviously as he threw an arm over his shoulder.
"How are you on this lovely morning?" George asked, wrapping an arm around the youngers' waist.
Harry grinned at them and slung his arms over both their shoulders casually, taking them off guard. Harry had seen the twins do things like this to the younger students every now and again, or people of their own age groups. He had also seen them leering at him since the beginning of that year. He recognized that look from Tom, and it made him shiver in want.
"Much better now that I've seen you two handsome devils!" he spoke cheerfully, winking at Fred.
"I have to say, with the way you've been ogling me, I was wondering when you'd muster up the courage. Aren't you supposed the daring Gryffindors and me the blushing little virgin? Sweep me off my feet, gentlemen!"
The two of them gaped at him, making Harry bark out a laugh before freeing himself from the two redheads' grasps and he started walking away. He looked back at the gaping twins and shook his head in faux disappointment.
"Thought so," he muttered amused.
He barely moved any further before two hands grabbed his shoulders and pulled him backwards in two muscular chests. His eyes widened in shock and a small blush actually formed on his cheeks as he felt twin hot breaths at both sides of his neck.
"Was that a challenge, Golden Boy?" Fred whispered hotly in his left ear.
"We'll have you know we never lose a challenge," George added to his right.
Harry smirked and turned around in their grips.
"That's good, because I was hoping I could check off 'hot twins' from my to do list this year," he purred.
To make a good point, he pressed both his palms in their crotches, enjoying how their breaths hitched. He watched smugly as large blushes started to cover their cheeks and necks. Harry moved his hands to pat both the older teens' cheeks in a condescending manner before moving away again.
"I've always been curious about the Gryffindor Dorms. How about you guys show me around next weekend? Say… Saturday when everyone's in Hogsmeade?"
Unable to do much else than stare at him, the twins nodded their heads, making Harry grin widely. He saluted them and turned away, whistling a happy tune as he walked through the empty halls of the school towards the dungeons, a bounce in his step that hadn't been there before. Looked like Luna's prediction was spot on. This year was going to be an interesting one, and not just because of an escaped serial killer.
