Okay, ready for round two..
Firstly, I want to give some props to Draco664, who not only is the author of two of the best stories on Fan fiction, (Betrayal of the Best Kind and Midnight duel, Midday love) but also a downright nice person and taught me to use bolds and italics in stories.
Check him/her out, the website won't let me link to it, but find it. It is well worth it. I've also decided to give out some props to a couple in-progress fics that are definitely worthy of a read.
Hogwarts Apprentices: Gentry Green, by lisa roquin
Has slash, but don't be closed-minded about it. The story line is great. Harry gets accepted into a newly-reinstated Apprentiship program, and gets some responsibility along the way.
Harry Potter and the Pride of Gryffindor, by jonny english
Animagus!Harry and ProfessionalQuidditch!Harry Definitely cool.
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Harry sped through the corridors, his robe unclasped and showing a generous amount of his bare torso to the school at large. More than twice he had to veer around staring, unblinking girls, who's jaws would literally drop, before they noticed that he had a hold of Ginny's hand, then they would turn to glare at her.
He mentally berated himself for asking her to accompany him the way he did. As he was still fairly angry at Ron and Hermione, she was the next closest friend he had, yet even she was still closer than his surviving blood family, and the fact that she was there when he.. 'matured' made her the optimal choice for moral support.
However, the method he employed made it seem as though he was interested in pursuing her. His instincts, which he was sure now were at least influenced by his heritage, made almost every act he did a seduction if he didn't stop to think about it. Letting her down without losing her friendship would not be an easy task, but alas... one catastrophe at a time.
At last, they approached the Gargoyle guarding the Headmaster's office. Harry paused, not even guessing at a password yet, as he remembered that Professor Dumbledore was still eating his lunch, and probably wouldn't be due back for at least awhile yet. He turned his back to the wall and slid down to a sitting position, burying his face in his hands, willing himself to keep calm.
He heard and felt Ginny's presence slide down the wall next to him, and heard her ask if he was okay.
"Ginny, I just sprouted wings with a collective wingspan of.... oh.... probably near twelve feet. How 'okay' do you think I could possibly be at the moment?"
Ginny's sensitive side chose to insert itself into the conversation at that exact moment. "Why are you jumping down MY throat about it, huh? The only reason I am even here with you is because you pleaded with me to come, even hinting at some fun and games in the future, and now you're being mean to me? What is WRONG WITH YOU!"
Harry grimaced, not quite sure how to respond, before looking around, and finding the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy waving at him from across the stairwells. 'The Room of Requirement, perfect!' he thought to himself.
"Look, Ginny, I am really sorry about that outburst. But seeing as how we have to wait for Dumbledore to finish his lunch before we can talk to him, why don't we go to the Room of Requirement. I'll explain what my theory is on all of," he made a sweeping gesture down his bare midsection with an open hand, "this."
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"So," Ginny began, "let me get this straight. You think you are a Veela, at least partially, correct?"
Harry nodded.
"Never mind the fact that a male Veela is supposedly mythical, again, right?"
Harry nodded a second time.
"And that somehow explains why your emotions are all over the place, why every girl, including me, that lays eyes on you wants to drag you to bed, and why everything you say when you aren't angry comes out in a sordid manner, right?"
Harry stood, shrugging off his cloak, exposing his wings in the process. He brought them up as high as he could, extending only a bit, in effect making them look even bigger than they had before.
"And lets not forget about these," he said, gesturing with one of his thumbs at the enormous black-feathered wings protruding from his shoulder blades.
Ginny still looked disbelieving, but sat down, ready to at least try and listen.
"Look Ginny, as a matter of fact, just today we went over Veela and the 'myths' about the males in Defense. Veela, male or female, are usually described as having expansive mood swings, and the ability to attract any member of the opposite sex. Not to mention that the physical qualities that the males are supposed to have fit me to a T. Black windswept hair, striking eyes, pale skin, height topping out at about 5'8" or 5'9", and lets not forget the HUGE BLOODY BLACK WINGS I JUST GREW IN FRONT OF YOUR VERY OWN BLOODY EYES!"
Suddenly ashamed at his outburst, he collapsed backwards into a couch and buried his face in his hands elbows resting on his knees, valiantly trying to fight off the tears that threatened to fall.
Ginny came and sat right next to him instantly, rubbing the skin between his wings in a hopefully soothing manner.
"You see Ginny?" he spoke from between his palms. "You are over your crush on me, and have been for well over a year and a half. Yet now you blush when I make any eye contact with you, and touch me whenever you get a chance. Does that sound like something you would normally be doing?"
The soothing motions on his back abruptly stopped, and he risked peeking between his fingers only to find Ginny staring at her hand in horror.
Harry placed his hand on her knee to get her attention, but immediately pulled it back when her eyes shot up and made contact with his own, causing her to flush a light pink once again.
"Ginny, you HAVE to fight it. You are one of my best friends, and these feelings you are experiencing are not, by any stretch of the imagination, natural. Until I can learn to control it, if indeed it IS possible, I need you to be strong. Please, Ginny, please, for me."
Ginny closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths. "Okay, I think I can control myself, at the very least if I keep my eyes closed. But for Merlin's sake! Put your robe back on!"
"What does it matter to you? Your eyes are closed." Harry retorted, a smile beginning to reappear on his face.
"Just do it! If I slip up and open my eyes, I want as little temptation as possible, okay?"
Harry chuckled, amazed that he had felt so comfortable literally disrobing in front of her earlier. He did, however, respect her wishes and tucked his wings down before shrugging on the robe, belting it up so that it showed as little skin as possible.
He reached out to clasp her shoulder, getting her attention.
She sucked in a sharp breath before tearing herself away from his touch.
"Don't touch me! If you touch me again, I just might hex all of your clothing off and ravish you right here!"
Harry laughed.
Ginny, with her eyes still closed, smirked and replied teasingly: "And don't laugh either, it would just be better if I can't hear you or see you at all right now, just smelling you is taking every ounce of willpower I have at the moment."
"All right then, why don't you just go ahead back down to the common room. Oh! If you run into Ron and Hermione, would you tell them that I need to speak with them as soon as I get back?"
Ginny nodded, still not opening her eyes, but biting her lip now.
"You are still going to keep this a secret, right?"
Ginny nodded once again, then spoke in a cracking voice. "I need to get away from you right now Harry, I just can't control myself any longer. I'll speak with you later, okay?" Halfway through her sentence, she turned around and began heading towards the exit from the room, closing the door behind her just as she finished.
Harry walked towards the exit himself, but stopped short when he heard her frustrated groan on the other side of the door. When he heard four tell tale 'thumps' of her whacking her head into the door before she ran off, it was all he could do to contain his laughter, trying to spare her feelings.
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Harry found himself in front of the gargoyle for the second time in half an hour. 'Nothing to do but start guessing, I suppose,' he thought.
"Acid Pops.. Sugar Quills... Sherbet Lemon?
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Ten minutes later...
Snickers?... um... Kit Kat?...
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Five minutes after that..
Harry, quite tired of the guessing game and very aggravated, held up his right hand, which was now supporting a strange purple ball of fire. "Look you overgrown bookend, either you open up right now, or I am going to melt you down and use your remains to pave a trail into Hogsmeade. Understood?"
The Gargoyle, surprisingly, jumped, not slid, but jumped aside.
Harry stalked up the circular staircase, not even knocking before entering the headmaster's office.
"Sir? I need to speak with yo-.." He trailed off as he noticed that they weren't alone in the room.
Sitting in chairs in front of the headmaster's desk, yet upper bodies contorted so they could look at him, were Professors McGonagall and Snape. Snape looked outraged, even more so than when he usually laid eyes on Harry, but McGonagall looked flustered and seemed to be having trouble forming sentences at the moment, judging by how her mouth was opening and closing yet no sound was coming out.
Harry tried a second time. "Headmaster, I need to speak with you. It's not Voldemort, but it is rather high priority." He glanced at the two professors still staring at him before returning his gaze to Dumbledore and adding; "Alone, please."
The Gryffindor Head-of-House had by this time regained her wits. "Mr. Potter! Where is your clothing?"
Harry glanced down, observing how in his tantrum in front of the gargoyle and the charge up the stairs his cloak had come undone, once again displaying his chiseled torso. He put his hands into his trouser pockets, brushing the sides of his robes back displaying even more pale skin, and cocked his head to the side.
Raising his eyebrow in amusement, he asked, "What seems to be the problem? I haven't had a complaint all day." He smirked at her gobsmacked expression. "It IS related to what I need to speak with the Headmaster about," he finally gave in, having pity on the older woman who seemed to be having no more success in controlling her hormones than Ginny earlier.
"Potter! I think thirty points from Gryffindor for your obscene state of dress should be sufficient, don't you?." Severus Snape actually managed to bark out the sentence while maintaining his smirk.
Harry thought quickly, and decided that this was one of the few times to abuse his new powers before the school staff found out.
He turned a pleading look to McGonagall. "Professor, you can't let him do that! I assure you I had no choice in coming here dressed as I am now!"
McGonagall turned a soft eye on him before glaring at Snape. "I think that Potter is exactly right. One hundred points to Mr. Potter for the courage to come here dressed like that, obviously showing exemplary house traits."
Harry turned a kind smile to the Transfiguration teacher, which actually caused her to blush like the rest of the girls he had come across today. Inwardly, though, he was shocked out of his mind. 'If that is the kind of response I get by turning up the charm, I had better just assert more self- control. No telling what could happen if I charm the wrong woman.'
Albus politely asked the two teachers to leave, so that he could have his chat with Harry alone.
Harry sat, making himself as comfortable in the chair as he could with his wings erecting his posture, when the wizened mage spoke.
"Now then Harry, what did you need to speak with me about?" he asked while holding out the dish containing his lemon candies.
Harry hardly heard the words, but did feel an almost overwhelming need to confide in the man. He wasn't sure, but he thought that now that the empathic centers in his brain had opened, he could just tell that the need wasn't natural. In fact, knowledge of an empathic suggestion to trust the man made Harry not trust him at all. He had to think up a lie, and quick.
Gently turning down the offered sweet, he began to speak. "Um, I was on my way back from lunch, and some girl thought it would be funny to hex off my shirt and tie. I didn't recognize her. Actually, I only saw her out of the corner of my eye. But I thought I would let you know personally, seeing as how I don't really trust any of the other Professors that much. I'm sorry, I should have just went to Professor McGonagal or Flitwick or something..." Harry stood, acting like he was embarrassed for being there in the first place, even though embarrassment didn't really seem like an emotion that he was able to feel any longer.
"Quite alright Harry," he began, "you know that you can come to me with anything. Alas, I do have quite a bit of paperwork to do, so if there is anything else?"
"No Sir, sorry again, Sir."
"Have a good day, Harry."
"You too, Sir."
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Harry made it back to the tower in a little under ten minutes, having stopped back at the Room of Requirement to gather his forgotten shirt and tie, tucking them into his cloak pocket. He barely stopped to refasten his cloak on the way down.
He approached the portrait of the Fat Lady, and impulsively testing a theory, winked salaciously at her.
"Do you think you could let me through, just this once, without the password?" he asked in the most seductive tone he could muster, full of hidden promises and delights.
The Fat Lady didn't even blink. "I'm sorry young man, no password, no admittance," she replied somehow kind and stern at the same time.
Harry broke out into a full-blown smile. "What is your name, anyway?"
"Oh dear," the Fat Lady remarked, bringing up a handkerchief to dab at her eyes, "it must be at least seventy years since someone has asked me my name. It's Margeuritte."
Harry grinned. "Well, Margeuritte, my name is Harry. This could just be the beginning of a beautiful friendship." As almost an afterthought, he muttered the password. "Follow the Butterflies."
The portrait swung aside, admitting entrance. "I'll come speak with you another time, Margeuritte."
"Just call me Marge, Harry" He heard as he stepped into the common room. There was a collective gasp when he entered, emanating from all the girls in the room. He glanced down, and noticed that his cloak had come undone once again. Harry gave his trademark lop-sided grin in return to the gasps, and a few girls sighed dreamily.
"Has anyone seen Ron and Hermione?" he asked. No one answered, just stared at him.
He did a quick check over his shoulder, making sure his cloak was still covering his wings ( but to anyone else, he looked as though he were checking whether everyone was staring at him or someone behind him), before looking to his left and down.
A small first year girl with her black hair in pigtails was looking back at him with an expression of a 'deer caught in the headlights'.
Harry got down on one knee to talk to her eye-to-eye, and asked her directly if she had seen Ron, Ginny, or Hermione.
The girl promptly fainted, swaying slightly in a boneless wobble before Harry caught her, saving her from striking the floor.
Not willing to chance another fainting by asking another girl, he gently picked up the child, supporting her shoulders and knees with his arms, her head propped up against his bicep. He quickly spotted Dean and Seamus in the Corner playing yet another hand of Exploding Snap. He walked quickly over to them, clearing his throat to get their attention.
"Hi Harry." Dean said, a questioning look in his eyes about the girl Harry was carrying.
"Sup, Harry." Seamus said, not looking away from the game.
"Hey guys," he began, "have you seen Ron, Ginny, or Hermione lately?"
Seamus was studying his cards intently, so Dean answered him. "Yea, Ginny came in about twenty minutes ago and pulled Ron and 'Mione up to the Sixth year boy dorms, promising pain and punishment to any who enter uninvited."
"Hey, thanks Dean." He shifted the girl's weight in his arms.
"Um, Harry? Why do you have an unconscious firstie in your arms?"
Harry shrugged, making the first year bobble a bit. "She fainted." He set her down next to Seamus, who still wasn't paying any attention. "When she wakes up, could you make sure she's not too disoriented?"
"Sure Harry." Dean replied before mumbling things under his breath to the effect of "lucky I'm such a good friend" and "Babysitting ickle firsties."
Harry charged up the stairs by twos, entering the dorms where his bed lay. Upon entering, he was greeted with the sight of a very impatient looking Hermione, a still-angry Ron, and a bored Ginny with a large red mark in the middle of her forehead.
Harry shut the door, before pulling out his wand and casting every locking spell he knew on the door and silencing spell on the room.
He turned back to the other three in the room. "Have you told them anything yet Gin?"
Gin immediately closed her eyes and shook her head 'no', while beginning to bite her lip again.
Harry looked over to the other two, where 'Mione was gazing in rapture at his still-uncovered chest, and Ron was looking between the two with a mixed expression of disgust and anger.
"Mione.. Mione? MIONE!" Harry finally had to shout, to get her to look up at him and not at his body. "You know that theory you had earlier? About the Man-Veela thing?" She showed no signs of having heard a word he said, just a slightly glazed, hungry look in her eyes.
"Oh for god's sake, Hermione! Just shut your eyes for a bit, okay? Trust me," he said as he pulled his cloak closed around him. Reluctantly, she did as asked, and he repeated his question.
She nodded, her eyebrows shooting up to her hairline.
"Well, I think you were right." Hermione's eyes snapped open again, this time in shock, and Harry took the opportunity to reveal his recent 'developments'.
The cloak hit the floor, and his wings popped back into their full and upright positions. He ruffled them a little, just for show, while the information sank home to his best friends. He looked over at Ginny, whose eyes were still clenched shut and she was murmuring things to herself.
While Hermione was contemplating the new information, (Harry figured that her brain wasn't working as fast as it normally did, being so distracted and all), Harry pulled Ron to the side of the room for a private, whispered conversation.
"Is this why you're angry? Because you think that 'Mione likes me better than you?" Ron looked away but didn't reply, a huge scowl on his face. "Look, Ron, I'm not interested in 'Mione for anything other than a sister. It's just that until I can get a handle on these powers, I'm going to attract any woman or girl who sees me. Trust me, if it weren't for this stupid thing, she wouldn't even give me a second glance. She does really only have eyes for you, and you know it."
At the end of Harry's little impromptu speech, Ron's head snapped up, clearly confused on what the last sentence meant. "Merlin," Harry breathed, horrified at the secret he just let out. "You actually DON'T know it, do you? Ron, listen to me. You can never, ever tell her that I told you, okay? I don't think that I'll survive the thrashing 'Mione will be sure to hand to me if she ever gets wind that I told you."
Ron agreed and nodded, looking four times happier than he had when Harry entered the room.
Finally, Hermione's cortex processed the information and she blurted out, "You have to tell Dumbledore!"
Harry cringed, remembering the empathic suggestions he felt just a little over twenty minutes ago.
"NO, absolutely not, listen to this guys.." And Harry related the tale of the meeting, Ron laughing when he got to the part about McGonagall blushing and giving him a hundred points, and all three outraged and confused as to what Harry felt from the Headmaster.
"Look, I need to trust you guys to keep this a secret between us four, okay?" Ron agreed, Ginny had already agreed, but Hermione took a little.. 'persuasion' to keep from running off to Dumbledore at the first chance she got.
"But then who is going to help you deal with this, Harry?"
"I'm going to write to Fleur and Gabrielle Delacour, being the only Veela whom I know and trust, and see if they can get here for the Hogsmeade trip next weekend. Other than that, my only concerns are how to get a shirt on over these wings."
Hermione's brows knitted in thought, before she got the classic 'Light Bulb' expression on her face. She walked over to his trunk, and pulled out one of his uniform shirts. She cast a spell on it to unwrinkle itself, another to button itself up, and a third to suspend it in mid-air.
She then cast a severing charm and cut out the collar, a good deal of the buttoned front, and the shoulders from the rest of the shirt. Taking the newly 'remodeled' shirt, she rebuttoned it around Harry's neck, put his cloak back on over his shoulders and clasped it, then removed the tie sticking out of his pocket and threaded it through, tying it off as the last step. She took a step back to admire her work, and spoke a single word.
"Perfect."
Harry walked over to the mirror, and noticed that it did look as though he had the entire shirt on under his robes. There was just one problem.
"Mione, while this is undoubtedly brilliant, my cloak has already come undone twice today! What if it comes undone in the middle of a crowded hall or something?"
Hermione rolled her eyes, and cast a sticking charm where the sides of his robe met. She gave him a superior expression and asked, "Are you, or are you not a wizard, Mr. Potter?" Hermione, it seems, can focus better than either Ginny or McGonagall can when she wants to.
Harry had the grace to blush. 'Huh,' he thought to himself. 'I guess I can get embarrassed now can't I?'
"Okay guys, here's the game plan. I'm going to write out the letter to the Delacours, and hopefully spend all of my time outside of classes and meals away from the female population. If you guys could cover for me until after Hogsmeade, I'd really appreciate it."
The girls nodded right away, but Ron added his own stipulation.
"You had better get me a good Christmas present this year, mate," he grinned.
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Ooooh, he doesn't want Ginny OR Hermione! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAA *cough* *cough*
NOW who's he gonna get with?
Could it be Ms. Bell? Parvati or Lavender? Fleur or Gabrielle? Pansy? Maybe none of them?
I'll never tell...
At least not yet :)
Firstly, I want to give some props to Draco664, who not only is the author of two of the best stories on Fan fiction, (Betrayal of the Best Kind and Midnight duel, Midday love) but also a downright nice person and taught me to use bolds and italics in stories.
Check him/her out, the website won't let me link to it, but find it. It is well worth it. I've also decided to give out some props to a couple in-progress fics that are definitely worthy of a read.
Hogwarts Apprentices: Gentry Green, by lisa roquin
Has slash, but don't be closed-minded about it. The story line is great. Harry gets accepted into a newly-reinstated Apprentiship program, and gets some responsibility along the way.
Harry Potter and the Pride of Gryffindor, by jonny english
Animagus!Harry and ProfessionalQuidditch!Harry Definitely cool.
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Harry sped through the corridors, his robe unclasped and showing a generous amount of his bare torso to the school at large. More than twice he had to veer around staring, unblinking girls, who's jaws would literally drop, before they noticed that he had a hold of Ginny's hand, then they would turn to glare at her.
He mentally berated himself for asking her to accompany him the way he did. As he was still fairly angry at Ron and Hermione, she was the next closest friend he had, yet even she was still closer than his surviving blood family, and the fact that she was there when he.. 'matured' made her the optimal choice for moral support.
However, the method he employed made it seem as though he was interested in pursuing her. His instincts, which he was sure now were at least influenced by his heritage, made almost every act he did a seduction if he didn't stop to think about it. Letting her down without losing her friendship would not be an easy task, but alas... one catastrophe at a time.
At last, they approached the Gargoyle guarding the Headmaster's office. Harry paused, not even guessing at a password yet, as he remembered that Professor Dumbledore was still eating his lunch, and probably wouldn't be due back for at least awhile yet. He turned his back to the wall and slid down to a sitting position, burying his face in his hands, willing himself to keep calm.
He heard and felt Ginny's presence slide down the wall next to him, and heard her ask if he was okay.
"Ginny, I just sprouted wings with a collective wingspan of.... oh.... probably near twelve feet. How 'okay' do you think I could possibly be at the moment?"
Ginny's sensitive side chose to insert itself into the conversation at that exact moment. "Why are you jumping down MY throat about it, huh? The only reason I am even here with you is because you pleaded with me to come, even hinting at some fun and games in the future, and now you're being mean to me? What is WRONG WITH YOU!"
Harry grimaced, not quite sure how to respond, before looking around, and finding the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy waving at him from across the stairwells. 'The Room of Requirement, perfect!' he thought to himself.
"Look, Ginny, I am really sorry about that outburst. But seeing as how we have to wait for Dumbledore to finish his lunch before we can talk to him, why don't we go to the Room of Requirement. I'll explain what my theory is on all of," he made a sweeping gesture down his bare midsection with an open hand, "this."
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"So," Ginny began, "let me get this straight. You think you are a Veela, at least partially, correct?"
Harry nodded.
"Never mind the fact that a male Veela is supposedly mythical, again, right?"
Harry nodded a second time.
"And that somehow explains why your emotions are all over the place, why every girl, including me, that lays eyes on you wants to drag you to bed, and why everything you say when you aren't angry comes out in a sordid manner, right?"
Harry stood, shrugging off his cloak, exposing his wings in the process. He brought them up as high as he could, extending only a bit, in effect making them look even bigger than they had before.
"And lets not forget about these," he said, gesturing with one of his thumbs at the enormous black-feathered wings protruding from his shoulder blades.
Ginny still looked disbelieving, but sat down, ready to at least try and listen.
"Look Ginny, as a matter of fact, just today we went over Veela and the 'myths' about the males in Defense. Veela, male or female, are usually described as having expansive mood swings, and the ability to attract any member of the opposite sex. Not to mention that the physical qualities that the males are supposed to have fit me to a T. Black windswept hair, striking eyes, pale skin, height topping out at about 5'8" or 5'9", and lets not forget the HUGE BLOODY BLACK WINGS I JUST GREW IN FRONT OF YOUR VERY OWN BLOODY EYES!"
Suddenly ashamed at his outburst, he collapsed backwards into a couch and buried his face in his hands elbows resting on his knees, valiantly trying to fight off the tears that threatened to fall.
Ginny came and sat right next to him instantly, rubbing the skin between his wings in a hopefully soothing manner.
"You see Ginny?" he spoke from between his palms. "You are over your crush on me, and have been for well over a year and a half. Yet now you blush when I make any eye contact with you, and touch me whenever you get a chance. Does that sound like something you would normally be doing?"
The soothing motions on his back abruptly stopped, and he risked peeking between his fingers only to find Ginny staring at her hand in horror.
Harry placed his hand on her knee to get her attention, but immediately pulled it back when her eyes shot up and made contact with his own, causing her to flush a light pink once again.
"Ginny, you HAVE to fight it. You are one of my best friends, and these feelings you are experiencing are not, by any stretch of the imagination, natural. Until I can learn to control it, if indeed it IS possible, I need you to be strong. Please, Ginny, please, for me."
Ginny closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths. "Okay, I think I can control myself, at the very least if I keep my eyes closed. But for Merlin's sake! Put your robe back on!"
"What does it matter to you? Your eyes are closed." Harry retorted, a smile beginning to reappear on his face.
"Just do it! If I slip up and open my eyes, I want as little temptation as possible, okay?"
Harry chuckled, amazed that he had felt so comfortable literally disrobing in front of her earlier. He did, however, respect her wishes and tucked his wings down before shrugging on the robe, belting it up so that it showed as little skin as possible.
He reached out to clasp her shoulder, getting her attention.
She sucked in a sharp breath before tearing herself away from his touch.
"Don't touch me! If you touch me again, I just might hex all of your clothing off and ravish you right here!"
Harry laughed.
Ginny, with her eyes still closed, smirked and replied teasingly: "And don't laugh either, it would just be better if I can't hear you or see you at all right now, just smelling you is taking every ounce of willpower I have at the moment."
"All right then, why don't you just go ahead back down to the common room. Oh! If you run into Ron and Hermione, would you tell them that I need to speak with them as soon as I get back?"
Ginny nodded, still not opening her eyes, but biting her lip now.
"You are still going to keep this a secret, right?"
Ginny nodded once again, then spoke in a cracking voice. "I need to get away from you right now Harry, I just can't control myself any longer. I'll speak with you later, okay?" Halfway through her sentence, she turned around and began heading towards the exit from the room, closing the door behind her just as she finished.
Harry walked towards the exit himself, but stopped short when he heard her frustrated groan on the other side of the door. When he heard four tell tale 'thumps' of her whacking her head into the door before she ran off, it was all he could do to contain his laughter, trying to spare her feelings.
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Harry found himself in front of the gargoyle for the second time in half an hour. 'Nothing to do but start guessing, I suppose,' he thought.
"Acid Pops.. Sugar Quills... Sherbet Lemon?
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Ten minutes later...
Snickers?... um... Kit Kat?...
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Five minutes after that..
Harry, quite tired of the guessing game and very aggravated, held up his right hand, which was now supporting a strange purple ball of fire. "Look you overgrown bookend, either you open up right now, or I am going to melt you down and use your remains to pave a trail into Hogsmeade. Understood?"
The Gargoyle, surprisingly, jumped, not slid, but jumped aside.
Harry stalked up the circular staircase, not even knocking before entering the headmaster's office.
"Sir? I need to speak with yo-.." He trailed off as he noticed that they weren't alone in the room.
Sitting in chairs in front of the headmaster's desk, yet upper bodies contorted so they could look at him, were Professors McGonagall and Snape. Snape looked outraged, even more so than when he usually laid eyes on Harry, but McGonagall looked flustered and seemed to be having trouble forming sentences at the moment, judging by how her mouth was opening and closing yet no sound was coming out.
Harry tried a second time. "Headmaster, I need to speak with you. It's not Voldemort, but it is rather high priority." He glanced at the two professors still staring at him before returning his gaze to Dumbledore and adding; "Alone, please."
The Gryffindor Head-of-House had by this time regained her wits. "Mr. Potter! Where is your clothing?"
Harry glanced down, observing how in his tantrum in front of the gargoyle and the charge up the stairs his cloak had come undone, once again displaying his chiseled torso. He put his hands into his trouser pockets, brushing the sides of his robes back displaying even more pale skin, and cocked his head to the side.
Raising his eyebrow in amusement, he asked, "What seems to be the problem? I haven't had a complaint all day." He smirked at her gobsmacked expression. "It IS related to what I need to speak with the Headmaster about," he finally gave in, having pity on the older woman who seemed to be having no more success in controlling her hormones than Ginny earlier.
"Potter! I think thirty points from Gryffindor for your obscene state of dress should be sufficient, don't you?." Severus Snape actually managed to bark out the sentence while maintaining his smirk.
Harry thought quickly, and decided that this was one of the few times to abuse his new powers before the school staff found out.
He turned a pleading look to McGonagall. "Professor, you can't let him do that! I assure you I had no choice in coming here dressed as I am now!"
McGonagall turned a soft eye on him before glaring at Snape. "I think that Potter is exactly right. One hundred points to Mr. Potter for the courage to come here dressed like that, obviously showing exemplary house traits."
Harry turned a kind smile to the Transfiguration teacher, which actually caused her to blush like the rest of the girls he had come across today. Inwardly, though, he was shocked out of his mind. 'If that is the kind of response I get by turning up the charm, I had better just assert more self- control. No telling what could happen if I charm the wrong woman.'
Albus politely asked the two teachers to leave, so that he could have his chat with Harry alone.
Harry sat, making himself as comfortable in the chair as he could with his wings erecting his posture, when the wizened mage spoke.
"Now then Harry, what did you need to speak with me about?" he asked while holding out the dish containing his lemon candies.
Harry hardly heard the words, but did feel an almost overwhelming need to confide in the man. He wasn't sure, but he thought that now that the empathic centers in his brain had opened, he could just tell that the need wasn't natural. In fact, knowledge of an empathic suggestion to trust the man made Harry not trust him at all. He had to think up a lie, and quick.
Gently turning down the offered sweet, he began to speak. "Um, I was on my way back from lunch, and some girl thought it would be funny to hex off my shirt and tie. I didn't recognize her. Actually, I only saw her out of the corner of my eye. But I thought I would let you know personally, seeing as how I don't really trust any of the other Professors that much. I'm sorry, I should have just went to Professor McGonagal or Flitwick or something..." Harry stood, acting like he was embarrassed for being there in the first place, even though embarrassment didn't really seem like an emotion that he was able to feel any longer.
"Quite alright Harry," he began, "you know that you can come to me with anything. Alas, I do have quite a bit of paperwork to do, so if there is anything else?"
"No Sir, sorry again, Sir."
"Have a good day, Harry."
"You too, Sir."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ *~*~*~*
Harry made it back to the tower in a little under ten minutes, having stopped back at the Room of Requirement to gather his forgotten shirt and tie, tucking them into his cloak pocket. He barely stopped to refasten his cloak on the way down.
He approached the portrait of the Fat Lady, and impulsively testing a theory, winked salaciously at her.
"Do you think you could let me through, just this once, without the password?" he asked in the most seductive tone he could muster, full of hidden promises and delights.
The Fat Lady didn't even blink. "I'm sorry young man, no password, no admittance," she replied somehow kind and stern at the same time.
Harry broke out into a full-blown smile. "What is your name, anyway?"
"Oh dear," the Fat Lady remarked, bringing up a handkerchief to dab at her eyes, "it must be at least seventy years since someone has asked me my name. It's Margeuritte."
Harry grinned. "Well, Margeuritte, my name is Harry. This could just be the beginning of a beautiful friendship." As almost an afterthought, he muttered the password. "Follow the Butterflies."
The portrait swung aside, admitting entrance. "I'll come speak with you another time, Margeuritte."
"Just call me Marge, Harry" He heard as he stepped into the common room. There was a collective gasp when he entered, emanating from all the girls in the room. He glanced down, and noticed that his cloak had come undone once again. Harry gave his trademark lop-sided grin in return to the gasps, and a few girls sighed dreamily.
"Has anyone seen Ron and Hermione?" he asked. No one answered, just stared at him.
He did a quick check over his shoulder, making sure his cloak was still covering his wings ( but to anyone else, he looked as though he were checking whether everyone was staring at him or someone behind him), before looking to his left and down.
A small first year girl with her black hair in pigtails was looking back at him with an expression of a 'deer caught in the headlights'.
Harry got down on one knee to talk to her eye-to-eye, and asked her directly if she had seen Ron, Ginny, or Hermione.
The girl promptly fainted, swaying slightly in a boneless wobble before Harry caught her, saving her from striking the floor.
Not willing to chance another fainting by asking another girl, he gently picked up the child, supporting her shoulders and knees with his arms, her head propped up against his bicep. He quickly spotted Dean and Seamus in the Corner playing yet another hand of Exploding Snap. He walked quickly over to them, clearing his throat to get their attention.
"Hi Harry." Dean said, a questioning look in his eyes about the girl Harry was carrying.
"Sup, Harry." Seamus said, not looking away from the game.
"Hey guys," he began, "have you seen Ron, Ginny, or Hermione lately?"
Seamus was studying his cards intently, so Dean answered him. "Yea, Ginny came in about twenty minutes ago and pulled Ron and 'Mione up to the Sixth year boy dorms, promising pain and punishment to any who enter uninvited."
"Hey, thanks Dean." He shifted the girl's weight in his arms.
"Um, Harry? Why do you have an unconscious firstie in your arms?"
Harry shrugged, making the first year bobble a bit. "She fainted." He set her down next to Seamus, who still wasn't paying any attention. "When she wakes up, could you make sure she's not too disoriented?"
"Sure Harry." Dean replied before mumbling things under his breath to the effect of "lucky I'm such a good friend" and "Babysitting ickle firsties."
Harry charged up the stairs by twos, entering the dorms where his bed lay. Upon entering, he was greeted with the sight of a very impatient looking Hermione, a still-angry Ron, and a bored Ginny with a large red mark in the middle of her forehead.
Harry shut the door, before pulling out his wand and casting every locking spell he knew on the door and silencing spell on the room.
He turned back to the other three in the room. "Have you told them anything yet Gin?"
Gin immediately closed her eyes and shook her head 'no', while beginning to bite her lip again.
Harry looked over to the other two, where 'Mione was gazing in rapture at his still-uncovered chest, and Ron was looking between the two with a mixed expression of disgust and anger.
"Mione.. Mione? MIONE!" Harry finally had to shout, to get her to look up at him and not at his body. "You know that theory you had earlier? About the Man-Veela thing?" She showed no signs of having heard a word he said, just a slightly glazed, hungry look in her eyes.
"Oh for god's sake, Hermione! Just shut your eyes for a bit, okay? Trust me," he said as he pulled his cloak closed around him. Reluctantly, she did as asked, and he repeated his question.
She nodded, her eyebrows shooting up to her hairline.
"Well, I think you were right." Hermione's eyes snapped open again, this time in shock, and Harry took the opportunity to reveal his recent 'developments'.
The cloak hit the floor, and his wings popped back into their full and upright positions. He ruffled them a little, just for show, while the information sank home to his best friends. He looked over at Ginny, whose eyes were still clenched shut and she was murmuring things to herself.
While Hermione was contemplating the new information, (Harry figured that her brain wasn't working as fast as it normally did, being so distracted and all), Harry pulled Ron to the side of the room for a private, whispered conversation.
"Is this why you're angry? Because you think that 'Mione likes me better than you?" Ron looked away but didn't reply, a huge scowl on his face. "Look, Ron, I'm not interested in 'Mione for anything other than a sister. It's just that until I can get a handle on these powers, I'm going to attract any woman or girl who sees me. Trust me, if it weren't for this stupid thing, she wouldn't even give me a second glance. She does really only have eyes for you, and you know it."
At the end of Harry's little impromptu speech, Ron's head snapped up, clearly confused on what the last sentence meant. "Merlin," Harry breathed, horrified at the secret he just let out. "You actually DON'T know it, do you? Ron, listen to me. You can never, ever tell her that I told you, okay? I don't think that I'll survive the thrashing 'Mione will be sure to hand to me if she ever gets wind that I told you."
Ron agreed and nodded, looking four times happier than he had when Harry entered the room.
Finally, Hermione's cortex processed the information and she blurted out, "You have to tell Dumbledore!"
Harry cringed, remembering the empathic suggestions he felt just a little over twenty minutes ago.
"NO, absolutely not, listen to this guys.." And Harry related the tale of the meeting, Ron laughing when he got to the part about McGonagall blushing and giving him a hundred points, and all three outraged and confused as to what Harry felt from the Headmaster.
"Look, I need to trust you guys to keep this a secret between us four, okay?" Ron agreed, Ginny had already agreed, but Hermione took a little.. 'persuasion' to keep from running off to Dumbledore at the first chance she got.
"But then who is going to help you deal with this, Harry?"
"I'm going to write to Fleur and Gabrielle Delacour, being the only Veela whom I know and trust, and see if they can get here for the Hogsmeade trip next weekend. Other than that, my only concerns are how to get a shirt on over these wings."
Hermione's brows knitted in thought, before she got the classic 'Light Bulb' expression on her face. She walked over to his trunk, and pulled out one of his uniform shirts. She cast a spell on it to unwrinkle itself, another to button itself up, and a third to suspend it in mid-air.
She then cast a severing charm and cut out the collar, a good deal of the buttoned front, and the shoulders from the rest of the shirt. Taking the newly 'remodeled' shirt, she rebuttoned it around Harry's neck, put his cloak back on over his shoulders and clasped it, then removed the tie sticking out of his pocket and threaded it through, tying it off as the last step. She took a step back to admire her work, and spoke a single word.
"Perfect."
Harry walked over to the mirror, and noticed that it did look as though he had the entire shirt on under his robes. There was just one problem.
"Mione, while this is undoubtedly brilliant, my cloak has already come undone twice today! What if it comes undone in the middle of a crowded hall or something?"
Hermione rolled her eyes, and cast a sticking charm where the sides of his robe met. She gave him a superior expression and asked, "Are you, or are you not a wizard, Mr. Potter?" Hermione, it seems, can focus better than either Ginny or McGonagall can when she wants to.
Harry had the grace to blush. 'Huh,' he thought to himself. 'I guess I can get embarrassed now can't I?'
"Okay guys, here's the game plan. I'm going to write out the letter to the Delacours, and hopefully spend all of my time outside of classes and meals away from the female population. If you guys could cover for me until after Hogsmeade, I'd really appreciate it."
The girls nodded right away, but Ron added his own stipulation.
"You had better get me a good Christmas present this year, mate," he grinned.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ *~*~*~*
Ooooh, he doesn't want Ginny OR Hermione! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAA *cough* *cough*
NOW who's he gonna get with?
Could it be Ms. Bell? Parvati or Lavender? Fleur or Gabrielle? Pansy? Maybe none of them?
I'll never tell...
At least not yet :)