Chapter 6

Harry was so absorbed in his thoughts that he didn't notice the morning mail come in, and an owl that landed at the staff table, delivering the Daily Prophet to the headmaster.

"Derek... you... you like Professor Snape?"

Derek turned to look at Harry, shocked. "What? Harry, that's crazy. Don't be silly!"

"But..."

They were interrupted as Dumbledore stood up. "Sorry to interrupt your breakfast, but I would like to see Harry Potter and Professor Snape in my office in five minutes. The rest of you may return to your breakfast." With that, he left the room. Harry frowned, but sensed that it had to be quite important. He quickly ate the rest of his breakfast and turned to the other three as he saw Severus stand to leave the hall. "Sorry guys, I need to follow the professor to Dumbledore's office. I don't know the password." Without waiting for them to reply, he ran out of the hall towards Dumbledore's office to catch up with his professor. He got there just in time as the gargoyle shifted to admit him. "Professor! Please wait!" Fortunately, Severus heard him and stopped long enough for Harry to enter, before following him and letting the gargoyle shift back to its original position.

"Ah, I see you're here. Please do take a seat." Harry waited for the professor to take a seat first before taking the remaining chair. "I need you all to look at this," Dumbledore said as he took out the Daily Prophet which came in the mail and placed it in front of them. The two of them scanned the article and then quickly glanced up at him in shock. "Yes, I'm afraid if Lucius is about to make any move on Harry or any of us for that matter, it's going to be soon. He's already gained supporters and has started..." he gestured to the article about a group of hooded wizards attacking others at Hogsmeade the day before, killing about 3 and injuring many others. And at the same time, created a lot of trauma within the people. "I will have to cancel Hogsmeade trips for the time being, and they will all be told so tomorrow. Harry will have to start training intensively as well." Dumbledore turned to Harry. "In other words, Harry, from tomorrow onwards, you'll have intensive advanced training to protect yourself from Professor Snape and I." Harry looked astounded, but Dumbledore paid no heed, turning instead to the other. "I suppose this arrangement would be fine with you?"

Severus nodded. "Albus, I don't suppose this incident is the only reason why you're doing this? Because if it is, it seems as though you're overreacting."

Dumbledore smiled. "You know me too well. Yes, unfortunately, this hasn't been the only thing that has been happening. In fact, Lucius sent quite a few people to try and enter Hogwarts... and they almost sent a spy in. Fortunately I managed to heed them off. But it seems as though Lucius is trying to go for more aggressive methods now... and if I guess correctly, he'd be planning an attack soon. Which is why we have to be alert, and Harry here has to be ready." Snape looked as rigid as ever. "Severus, I'll be counting on you to teach Harry most of the more important subjects: Defence against the Dark Arts, Potions and a few lessons on Occlumency, just in case. If you feel that they aren't needed, however, you can toggle the lessons and change a few as you like. Harry, I will be taking you in Charms. Wednesdays you'll be with me, and Tuesdays and Thursdays will be with Professor Snape unless he feels you need extra lessons. Is that all right?" Harry nodded. "All right then, I guess that would be all. Remember, it starts tomorrow. Ah, I almost forgot!" Dumbledore reached into a drawer, and Severus groaned, standing up. "Lemon drop?" At that, Severus walked out of the office without looking back.

"Erm, no thanks, professor. I'll take my leave now." With that, Harry left the room as well, missing the twinkle in Dumbledore's eyes.

-----

Harry had not spoken to Severus for a few days, and he started to feel uneasy every time he saw Derek look at Severus at the staff table during meals. He tried his best to ignore them, but it was easier said than done. Finally, he decided that he had to talk to someone. Someone whom he could trust. But that wasn't easy either. He looked at Ron and Hermione, and after some time, he decided to speak to Hermione. After all, she's logical and more open-minded than Ron is, he thought, not that Ron was illogical or anything like that... Making up his mind, he tapped her on her shoulder. "Hermione... I... I need to talk to you later..."

Hermione looked at him, and then nodded, giving him a reassuring smile. "We'll go to my room then." As soon they had finish eating, she stood up. "Ron, Derek, Harry and I have to go now. I need to tutor him in his Charms. Unless you want to come along, of course?"

"Nah, no thanks, 'mione. I'll stay with Derek and keep him company. You two have fun."

Harry chuckled inwardly for her genius. "All right then, I guess we'd better go. We only have a little more than a half-hour before DADA lesson."

"Yeah, come on Harry, let's go." She then turned and walked out of the Great Hall after waving goodbye to the other two who hadn't finished their lunch. Harry followed suit a short while after.

"All right, Harry, what's wrong?" Hermione asked as she sat down on a chair in her room.

"Can't seem to hide anything from you, huh?"

Hermione smiled. "I've been hoping that you'd tell me something. You've been acting weirdly since the start of school. More so yesterday and today. And if I'm not wrong, it has something to do with what Dumbledore called you to talk to you about yesterday?"

"Hermione, for once, you're wrong. It's nothing to do with what Dumbledore told me..."

Now Hermione looked more than curious. "Well?" She prompted after a minute of silence.

"I don't know where to start..." Harry said softly, looking down at his hands. "It's quite... personal..."

"The beginning, if you would please."

Harry sighed. "Hermione, I'm gay."

"Yes, I know."

"What? You know? How's that possible when I didn't even know that myself until... sometime near the end of the holidays?!"

Hermione gave him a knowing smile. "I have a knack for this kind of things, Harry. I can tell. Anyway, get to the point. We don't have much time."

Harry played with his fingers for a few seconds before he looked up at Hermione. "Do you remember when I told you about Professor Snape bringing me back to Hogwarts? And... my nightmares and stuff? And how he helped me to overcome them?" Hermione nodded. "Well... my feelings for him kind of deepened during my stay with him..."

Hermione gasped. "What? But... he's our professor!"

"I know..."

"Deepened... does that mean that you had feelings for him even before?"

"... I think so."

"And... what... does he know?"

Harry looked down again. "Yes... I told him... but I think the feeling is fairly mutual... at least I thought it was."

"Explain."

"We... We kind of kissed..."

"You 'kind of kissed'?"

"Yeah... It wasn't heated or anything... he just pressed his lips against mine. That's all."

"HE kissed you?!! Harry, that's..."

"Before you even dare to say anything else, let me tell you that he wasn't taking advantage of me or anything. Don't you even dare to think otherwise."

Hermione closed her mouth and the room was silent. After a few minutes of thinking, she asked, "Did you guys... talk about it?"

"He said that he would talk about it the next day... but we never did... And I... I miss him." Hermione smiled. "And you know, Derek's been looking at him so much... I saw them arguing in the hallway the other day... and they had a silencing charm cast around them so I couldn't tell what they were saying... but Derek was so agitated... I'm afraid... I fear that Derek has a crush on Severus."

This time Hermione raised her eyebrows. "Severus?"

Harry turned red. "He allowed me to call him that during the holidays."

Hermione smiled. "You're getting jealous, aren't you?" When Harry didn't answer, her eyes started to twinkle in a way that was similar to Dumbledore. "But you didn't hear what they were saying, so you might be wrong."

"But I never saw Derek so worked up before! And the way he acts around Severus... I don't know... I really don't..."

Hermione placed a comforting hand on Harry's shoulder. "Talk to Professor Snape. That's the only thing you can do now. Unless you'd rather face Derek about this."

"I've got a lesson with him later after dinner."

"Talk to him then." When Harry said nothing in response, she shook his shoulders. "Harry, listen to me. Talk. To. Him. There's no use being afraid."

After some time, Harry finally nodded. "All right, I will."

Hermione smiled. "Okay then. I think we'd better go for class before we really run late."

-----

Half an hour, Harry thought. He couldn't understand why he was counting the time before he had to talk to Severus. This is silly, he thought, it's just a simple question. It's not as if it's the end of the world. But he knew why he was doing it. He was afraid of what the other would say.

"Harry? Are you all right?"

Harry turned, looking straight into the concerned face of the one person he didn't want to see until he had talked to Severus. He forced a smile onto his face. "I'm fine, Derek." He noticed Derek give him a disbelieving look, then glanced at the food that he was mutilating with his fork. "I'm just not very hungry." Harry quickly added.

"If you have any problems, you can talk to me..." Derek said softly.

Harry smiled. "Thanks. I'm fine." He poked his fork into the piece of meat and placed the mutilated food into his mouth. After he was done, he looked at his watch again. A little less than twenty minutes. "Guys, I think I have to go now... I've got lessons with Snape, and I don't think I'd want to be late."

Ron shot him a sympathetic look. "Good luck." Hermione said, smiling knowingly.

Harry nodded. "Thanks, 'mione." He stood and then caught Derek's gaze. This time, he recognised the emotion in his eyes. Jealousy. Without saying his goodbye, he quickly turned and walked out of the hall as fast as he could.

Harry stood in front of a classroom at 12 minutes to eight. 10 mins. 8 mins. Harry took a deep breath, then knocked on the door, entering only after he heard a sound of acknowledgement from inside. After the usual locking and silencing charms were cast, Harry braced himself. "Severus?"

"You're early."

"Before we start... I have something to... ask you." Severus looked up from where he was seated, letting Harry know that he was listening. "Does... does Derek have a crush on you?"

Severus narrowed his eyes at the name. "Pardon me? That's the most absurd thing I've ever heard! And shouldn't you be asking him that question instead of me?"

Harry shook his head. "I... do you remember what happened during the holidays? Between... the both of us?" Severus said nothing. "You said we'd talk about it, but we never did. And now with Derek in the picture..." Severus stood up abruptly, walking over to where Harry was standing near the door.

"For your information, " Harry took a step backwards as Severus paused, each second two steps closer to Harry. "Mr. Walton is in the picture, but not in the way you think he is." He said, his voice dangerously low.

"W... What?" Harry stuttered, backing into the wall. "What do you mean?"

"Walton has got a crush." Harry's back hit the wall, but Severus kept advancing forward. "But it isn't on me..." He stopped walking, his body inches away from Harry's. He bent his head forward so that his lips were next to Harry's ear. "His crush is on you. And no matter what, Potter, I do not want to give you up to him."

Harry felt his face burn a bright red. "What? Me? That's not..." His voice hitched as Severus suddenly placed his left hand on the wall, just next to Harry's head. A grin broke out suddenly when the meaning of his words registered in his head. "But I guess I could deal with that... As long as it's not you he's got a crush on." Harry turned his head and looked into Severus' eyes. Their faces drew closer together and came together for a kiss. When they parted, Harry's arms were around Severus and Severus' around Harry. "Sev?" A raised eyebrow. "About that talk that's long overdue..."

"I feel the same." Severus cut him off. "But if you feel that you'd rather be with someone of your own age..."

"No! I mean, it would be a plus if the person I liked was around my age, but I don't want anyone else other than you." To prove his point, he brought their bodies closer together, kissing him on the lips again. "But I've got a question..."

"What?"

"That day when I saw you and Derek in the corridor... what was going on?"

Severus frowned. "That. Was an idiot screaming and insulting a professor and losing house points for it. If you hadn't arrived, approximately a hundred points would have gone."

Harry looked confused. "What happened?"

"He just suddenly came up to me and started going on about me being a bad influence on you and that I was too old for you and things like that. And I recall him saying something along the lines of 'you're not good enough for him' and 'you bloody death eater'. He would have gone on if you hadn't appeared."

Harry's jaw dropped. "And... you only took 20 points off?!!"

"Yes, for being stupid enough not to cast a silencing shield first. Trust me, I would have loved to take more off. Though I have to agree to most of what he said..."

Harry's mouth plundered Severus' suddenly, and he pushed the other so that Severus was the one against the wall this time. "I will not allow you to say that!" Harry shouted, his anger radiating off him in waves. He kissed him once more, this time gently. "Sorry, Sev, I'll make up for this lesson some other day. Right now, I've got something to do. And, oh yes, feel free to take points off Derek whenever you like." With that, he muttered a 'finite incantatum' and left the room, leaving a stunned Severus behind.

-----

Harry felt his anger build as he remembered what Severus had told him earlier. What Derek had said to him, and how he had reacted. As he neared the common room, his anger started to go out of control.

"DEREK WALTON!!!!" Harry bellowed as he entered the common room. Ron, Hermione and Derek looked up, startled. "How dare you. HOW DARE YOU!!" They stood up hurriedly, shocked.

"Harry, what's..." Hermione started to ask, but then quickly thought better of it as she felt Harry's intense anger.

"Mate, what's wrong?"

"HOW DARE YOU SAY THAT ABOUT SEVERUS!!"

"Oh no..." Hermione muttered softly. "I was afraid of that..."

"Severus? He can't be talking about..."

"Harry, I..."

"You WHAT!" A glass shattered and Hermione screamed, looking at Harry in horror.

"Harry, stop! Stop!! Your anger's going out of con..."

Suddenly, the common room entrance opened. "POTTER!!!" The four of them turned to the door, and Harry stopped for a while. "What is the meaning of this! If I hadn't come in, were you planning on destroying the Gryffindor common room?!"

"Professor Snape! How did you... Why..."

"Your vocabulary astounds me, Miss Granger. If you don't mind, I'd rather hear something coherent right now." Hermione's face turned red. Then taking pity on her, replied, "I felt the strong magic, so I came in to stop whatever it was that was causing it." He snapped his head to Derek. "Ah, yes, Mr. Walton. I forgot to take points off you for that scene you made a few days ago." He glared at the first-year. "50 points from Gryffindor for the lack of respect for a professor." When Derek's mouth opened in protest, he narrowed his eyes. "Unless of course, you'd like to up it to a hundred?" Derek's mouth closed immediately. "Weasley, Granger, I expect you to keep your new friend in check next time." Hermione was the only one who nodded. "And you." Severus turned back to Harry. "Are coming back with me for lesson. I don't appreciate you running out of the classroom for no reason." That said, Severus turned and walked out of the common room without a backward glance.

"I'll explain when I come back." Harry said to Hermione. "And I'll talk to you later." Harry said to Derek, his voice taking an icy edge. Then he followed Severus out of the room, faintly hearing a 'what was that all about?' from Ron and a 'Reparo' from Hermione before the portrait swung close.

The trip back was eerily silent, and it was only after some time did Harry notice that they weren't taking the route back to the classroom. Instead, they were walking towards Severus' quarters. After they entered the room, Severus turned to face Harry, finally breaking the tense silence between the both of them.

"What on earth were you thinking?!" Severus barked, glaring at Harry. "Were you even thinking? Obviously you had no common sense to kerb your anger! You're not a child, you know that! You're seventeen now - a full-grown wizard! And with the extra lessons that you've been taking, I don't see why you can't control yourself!"

Harry cowered. "I... I was just..."

"Angry. I know. I could feel it." Severus stopped ranting, taking a deep breath. He took a step forward and saw Harry flinch. He ignored it and stood directly in front of Harry, placing his arms around Harry's waist and pulling them closer. Harry looked up. "But I appreciate it."

Harry finally relaxed, and smiled. "Appreciate what?"

Severus mock-glared, but answered him anyway. "Defending me, what else?"

Harry's smile turned into a grin. "You're welcome."

Severus sighed. "You're hopeless, you know that?"

"But you like me that way, don't you?"

"Unfortunately." Severus' paused, then gave a very small smile. "I'd like you no other way." Then, their lips met again for the fifth time that day. This kiss showed the truth of how Severus felt towards Harry, and held promises of things to come.

-----

"Tell us what that was about." Hermione said. It was a statement; something like a demand. A command that told Derek that he would suffer consequences if he did not did as he was told.

"What I did is really none of your business." Derek said, not meeting their eyes.

"If it makes you feel better," Hermione started, her tone softening. "I know about your crush on Harry."

Both Derek and Ron's jaws dropped. "Wh... What?? You... Derek... Harry... What??! That is..."

"How did you..."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Will the both of you stop rambling? I thought Derek was pretty obvious. But for some reason, Harry thought that you had a crush on... someone else instead. And was jealous of Harry."

"Whoa, too much information, 'mione. How long has this been going on?"

"Practically since he came to Hogwarts, Ron. You should really start paying more attention to your surroundings."

Ron frowned. "Well then, who's that someone else?"

Derek suddenly snapped his head up and looked at Hermione with a look of horror. "No way... he didn't think that..."

"I'm afraid he did, Derek."

"But I was jealous of him! Not of Harry!!"

"Harry didn't know that. These two wouldn't be able to notice anything even if it was screaming in their face."

"'Mione, just tell me what's going on, won't you?"

Hermione sighed. "You're thick, aren't you." She cast a silencing spell around them. "Okay, you have to promise not to freak out and go crazy on Derek and Harry."

"Yeah, sure. Just get on with it."

"All right then. Please do feel free to interrupt if I got any information wrong. Let's see... Harry fell in love with Professor Snape during the holidays. Or rather, he always had been, in love with him, that is, but it went deeper during the holidays. Then Derek came to school, and had a crush on Harry. Derek could tell that Harry was interested in Snape, and got jealous. One day he lost control and confronted Snape and screamed at him. Harry came across them by accident but couldn't hear anything of the confrontation because the professor cast a silencing shield around them, and somehow or another, Harry misunderstood that Derek had a crush on Snape."

"But how?" Derek interrupted.

"I'm not very sure... but he told me it was because of the 'looks' that you kept giving Snape during meals, and how you keep looking for him. And when the both of you are in the same room, you can't keep your eyes off him."

Derek's mouth dropped. "He... I... That was because... He... ARGH! That's stupid!"

Hermione smiled. "People in love tend to misunderstand easily." Hermione turned to Ron, who had been unnaturally quiet throughout the exchange. "Ron? You okay?"

Ron opened his mouth, tried to say something without avail, and then closed it again. He repeated that several times, imitating a goldfish, until Hermione crossed his arms and glared at him. "I... That was too much information." He paused, waiting for the information to sink in. Then suddenly, "EWWW!!! Yuck!!! Snape and Harry??!! That's gross!"

"See?" Derek mumbled.

Hermione gave them a look of disapproval. "Haven't you two seen how happy Harry has been? If it makes him happy, I don't see why we should disapprove."

"I bet you that greasy git gave him some kind of potion or something to disillusion Harry! And made Harry fall in love with him so that he can manipulate him to doing what he wants!"

Hermione frowned. "Ron..." she warned.

"But really, Hermione! You don't see him being nice to anyone! I can't imagine him being nice to Harry!"

"Derek, I expected you to think more logically than that. Professor Snape may act horribly during lessons, but it's to keep up his 'It's highly unlikely that I'll be serving the good side' act. No matter what, he's still human! He still has feelings, and it's possible for him to be humane, you know!"

Derek and Ron looked at each other in disbelief. "But..."

"It's Snape, you know. Snape! Of all people, why Snape??" Ron looked livid.

Hermione glared. "Ron, I'm not going to go through this again. For once, use your head, will you?"

"But..."

"No buts, Ron! You should support Harry!"

Ron rolled his eyes. "Support him to go after Snape? Are you crazy? This is almost as stupid as your SPEW!"

Hermione frowned. "For one, it's not SPEW! It's..."

"I know what it is already, Hermione! Geez!"

"Anyway, I stopped S.P.E.W last year already, remember?"

"That was only because you were forced to see how happy they really were! And after you finally realised that thos..." They were interrupted when Derek suddenly stood and walked out of the room. There was silence for a while. "Now look what you did, Hermione! You scared him off!"

"Excuse me, Ron?? You were the one that started the screaming!"

Ron was about to retort, but bit it back. Another stretch of silence ensued, until Ron finally decided to break it. "So... what about the three of them?"

"Hermione!"

"All right! I don't know! I don't see why you guys are taking it so badly! I think it's good that Harry has someone who understands what he's going through! And he's happy. I can't ask for anything more than that. Of course, other than for his friends' understanding." She added the last part sarcastically.

At that, Ron's face turned red. It was a while before he spoke again. "Hermione, I'm sorry... I guess I should be more understanding... it's just." Ron's face contorted again. "I just can't imagine the both of them together. Like... can you imagine them kissing? Yuck!" He shuddered at the mental image. At Hermione's shocked look, Ron laughed. "You can't imagine it either?" Hermione quickly recovered and frowned.

"I hardly think that's the point."

Ron, thinking on the situation, faced Hermione seriously. "'Mione, I may have approve now, but what about Derek? He didn't look too happy."

Hermione sighed sadly. "I know... You wouldn't be if the one you love loves someone else."

Ron looked guilty. "I should keep my mouth shut, shouldn't I?"

Hermione pulled him into a quick hug. "No use fretting over it. It shouldn't turn out too bad. Don't worry."

He smiled. "Should we look for Derek then?"

Hermione returned the smile. "Yeah. Why not? And oh yes, I think we'd better call Benjamin to help us with the search."

-----

Harry walked back to the dormitory, feeling much better than he had been earlier. They had ended up resuming their lesson after their kiss, which somewhat disappointed Harry, but he felt much better later when they spent some time cuddling after the lesson. A smile made its way on his face, but disappeared quickly when he saw Derek sitting in a corner near the north tower. He thought of just walking past without acknowledging him, but thought better of it when he saw the look on Derek's face. After some hesitation, he walked towards Derek.

"... Derek."

Hearing Harry's voice, Derek suddenly looked up and focused on him. When it finally registered that it really was Harry, he bolted up from his sitting position and walked towards the other. "Harry... I... I'm so sorry... Please forgive me... I..." Derek looked down, and a sob escaped his lips. Harry was aware that Derek was trying his best to control his sobs, though his body still shook uncontrollably.

Harry froze. "Derek? What on earth..."

Derek shook his head. "You, Ron and Hermione are the closest people I have... I was so scared that I screwed everything up..." The 'I was scared to lose you' was left unsaid, but it might as well have been written down in big, bold letters in red.

"What are you talking about? You have your family don't you?" Harry asked, confused. Or is he like me? Without parents? He thought to himself.

"My parents disowned me the moment they heard that I was in Gryffindor."

"Oh... Don't you have other friends other than us?"

Derek buried his face deeper into Harry's chest, but his sobs had subsided. "No."

"How about Benjamin then?" Benjamin was another first-year Gryffindor - the only person that Derek had ever talked about that was not one of the Golden Trio.

"He... He's... I'm not really close to him."

Harry frowned. "Derek, I just realised I don't know very much about you... Would you care to tell me more about yourself?"

Derek stiffened. "I..."

"Don't you trust me?"

Derek pulled away suddenly and looked up at Harry. "Of course I do! But..." He seemed to think it over. "All right... I'll tell... It's only fair..." He sat back down on the floor and waited for Harry to follow him. Harry cast a silencing shield around them and then nodded to Derek to start. "Okay... My family. Everyone in my family is a Slytherin except for my cousin, who was a Ravenclaw. She was discriminated against, but she wasn't exactly thrown out or anything like that. Ravenclaw is supposedly the next best to Slytherin. Then comes Hufflepuff. Then Gryffindor. You can imagine my family's reaction when they found out that I was in Gryffindor. I was quite surprised that they didn't send me a howler." Derek looked down at patterns on the floor. "Anyway, my family isn't exactly what you call nice or anything. In fact, most of them are death eaters, and many died in the war." Harry looked shocked. "Don't misunderstand. I'm not blaming you. I never really liked them myself. And now that I'm disowned, I don't really think it matters. After all, I only talked to my brother and mother. I don't really like my father. Everyday he would talk about how he planned to make me a death eater, and when Voldemort died, he was so upset. What was surprising was that he recovered so fast. In a few days, he found someone else."

"Lucius?"

Derek looked up at Harry in surprise. "You know Uncle Lucius?"

"Uncle?"

"The Malfoys are my cousins."

Harry suddenly remembered what Sirius had told him a few years ago. "You're related to the Blacks, too, then?"

"Yeah."

"Does that mean that you're from a pure blood family?" Derek nodded. "So that's why the Slytherins were looking at you weirdly at the sorting."

"Which brings us to why I only have you guys as friends. The whole Slytherin group hate me to the core, and most Gryffindors call me a death eater. I hardly have a choice. And I'm not exactly very sociable."

"You aren't that bad."

"You haven't seen me with others."

Harry smiled. "I'm lucky, I guess?"

Derek's lips curled up a little in a rare smile. "Maybe." The smile disappeared. "I'm sorry for losing control just now... You aren't... You aren't going to leave me, right?"

"No, of course not. But I forbid you to say such things about Severus ever again, okay? He is not a death eater, and he deserves respect. In fact, more than some other professors." Derek bit his lip. "I mean it, Derek. He does not deserve others going up to him and screaming at him."

"But he took 70 points off Gryffindor already, isn't that enough?"

"That's not the point." But Derek was stubborn, and Harry sighed. "Derek, Severus served as a spy for the light against Voldemort," he noticed Derek wince at the name, but continued on as if he had not seen it, "and has risked his life on many occasions. In fact, he risked his life to save mine too many times for me to count. And that doesn't even include the times he protected me from harm. If that doesn't say anything, I don't know what will."

Finally, Derek nodded reluctantly. "Fine. I won't speak ill of him. But that doesn't mean that I like him."

Harry smiled. "Of course not, I wouldn't dream of thinking that."

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A/N: Heyaz people! Whaddya know? Chapter 6 is up! Funny how the muses pop up when the exams come by... Sorry for not posting sooner - hadn't had the time. Please be merciful and leave me a review!

Thank yous:

Quills 'N Ink: Thanks. Technically it isn't really a 'short amount of time', since I actually started writing this ages ago... and I'm kind of stuck at one of the later chapters right now because of exam stress... I hope the muses come back soon... Or I'll never finish... And the quality of writing also deproves later... I'm hoping to edit it once the exams are gone.

MoonpoetessZ: Really? ) Thank you! There's going to be another OC next chapter, and he's going to be introduced quite abruptly... though I mentioned him once in this chapter... Oh well. I hope I don't scare you off later 'cause of the deproving standard... )

manx: Yes, I know, I know... Harry does act really OOC, sorry about that. I kind of made him too... well... OOC. Bah. I'm hoping that it gets better... (though I doubt so...) About Severus being jealous... Severus doesn't explicitly say that he's jealous... he's half-worried half-jealous. The jealous part is because he was not very certain that Harry's feelings for him were strong enough to overcome a third party... And as for the 'eleven year-old' part... I kind of forgot he was eleven. Because Derek is more mature than those his age... so I kind of forgot that he was still, after all, eleven. But I guess Severus was afraid that Derek would 'win' Harry over because their age difference (Derek's and Harry's) is less than that of Severus' and Harry's.

Emerald Dragon Girl: Complex? Really? I didn't really think that it would be complex... It wasn't even meant to be that long in the beginning... then the muses just kept coming and coming and coming... sigh Oh well.

Arigazi: Heehee... Thanks. Everything's cleared up in this chapter- )

personz-of-da-dungoen: Thanks! That was really encouraging... )

Carbyfan13: My mind's not really working right now... What kind of bondage? I didn't really think my plot was that original.... But I really appreciate the compliment- Thanks for reviewing! )

Queen Zephora Yami: Glad you liked it- )

Dracula5555: Lol. Yes, yes. It's up. Sorry for making you guys wait. )

Desdemona321: Yep, updated. ) Thanks for reviewing-