Harry Potter and the Shard of Magic.

By Wihstrum

Chapter Twelve: Reading Souls

"Dear Merlin…What happened…?"

The voice sounded oddly familiar, but Harry was having enough trouble opening his eyes to think about it. What the hell had he been doing? With every flex of muscle or skin sore pain would shoot trough his body. He moaned and tried to open his eyes. All was a blurry mess, but he could make out vague silhouettes of people bending over him. And why was everybody yelling and screaming?

"Here, your glasses…" Someone muttered and pushed the familiar object in his hands. Automatically he put them on his nose and brushed some stubborn stands out of his eyes. That's better… a twig snapped when he sat upright, faint sunlight shining through the trees casting yellow spots on his dark robes.

Trees?Forest

He narrowed his eyes and thought hard. He was forgetting something…

"ALEX!" In one swift motion he was up, although his whole body screamed out in pain. He didn't care whatever or whoever was calling out his name and he trudged away pushing some bushes aside. He didn't have to go far though; his mouth fell open in disbelief as he spotted a familiar curtain of white hair only a few meters ahead. He saw her walking through the bodies littered on the ground, spreading a foul stench, making Harry's insides squirm most unpleasantly. It was as if she was looking for something, or rather someone. He opened his mouth to call her…

A hand curled around his shoulder "Leave her Harry; she's got a lot on her mind…"

The Gryffindor knew whose voice it was now. Dumbledore's.

Alex in meanwhile stopped in her tracks and her gaze focused on a particular large corpse. She slalomed her way over to it, sidestepping over the other dark shapes on the ground. Her back was facing Harry when he saw her bending down, hand disappearing in the head –or rather he thought it used to be a head- of a large Shadowbron. He couldn't see what she was doing, but she dropped something in her back pocket as she spat on the dead creature. At long last she turned around and made her way up to Harry, whom still believed that he was hallucinating.

"Thank you…" she tiptoed and kissed him on the cheek, her lips quivering. She avoided his gaze as she stalked over to the gloomy figure of Snape. The image of her face was burned onto his retina; nothing, not a scratch nor a bruise. If her clothes hadn't been torn, she'd look perfectly normal.

Harry swallowed, his throat dry and tongue swollen. "She's…okay?"

"Yes, she's perfectly alright… but I fear that she's hurting mentally…"

Merlin, couldn't he ever pass a school year without ending up in the Medical Wing? The familiar scent of various medicinal potions, the sheets of the beds, soft yet crisp. After several diagnostic spells, Madame Pomfrey had concluded that he was in fact healthy, save for an enormous headache and sore body.
The Gryffindor rubbed his temples tiredly, the blood pounding in his head; his scar burning and now his also palm itching and tingling. Harry's bed sagged as Remus sat down next to him, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. "I'm so glad you're okay Harry… we feared the worst when Hermione, as well as Mr. Malfoy informed us that neither of you showed up after Occlumency."

"I'm okay…" he forced a smile at the werewolf "It's just a little much to comprehend… You should have seen her Moony; she was beyond any help…"

Okay? I'm everything but okay…

"We know… and it seems that we've only seen a fraction of what she really can do…"

"She's an Animagus…"

"Yes… plus she's got the ability of Recovery… and very powerful at that." Lupin shifted ever so slightly so he could look the young wizard in the eye. "And not to mention that display of magic you pulled of…" he laughed nervously.

"Purely instinctive; I wouldn't even remember how I did that…"

"Harry… you countered the Killing Curse." Remus paused to let the words sink in. "Twice."

The Gryffindor rubbed the palm of his hand. "It won't stop tingling…"

The werewolf smiled faintly at him "You'll learn how to control it later on…"

"Alex?"

"With Snape… he's telling her everything, the very reason of who and what she is."

His voice wavered "She's hurting Remus… I can feel it. I could feel it ever since I woke up."

"You two bonded this night. Your friendship and mutual love for one other bonded the both of you when you saved each others lives." Remus squeezed his shoulder.

"How are the rest of the students?"

"Scared, but it seems like the two of you prevented Voldemort and his followers from doing any real harm…"

Harry sighed resignedly. "Ireland?"

Remus' face clouded over "Worse… over five hundred died… we're still counting the injured, but we think it'll be three times that…"

"All that just to lure me out…" he covered his eyes and heaved a sigh.

"Not only you… He's still after Alex."

He looked deep in Remus' golden eyes "Why…?"

"You'd better ask her yourself. I think she'll have a hard time handling it herself."

The rest of the week crawled by quite uneventfully, although all eyes were on two students; Alex and Harry. Harry had been praised into the heavens when the story managed to spread out, their efforts to keep it a secret in vain. Students stalled him in the hallways congratulating him, asking him for details... Harry hated it. He truly, utterly hated it.

Worst of all way was Alex' behavior, she completely shielded herself from every social contact, and even if Harry managed to catch up with her in the hallways, she didn't even respond. It was like she was there, but all the same she wasn't.

Harry slipped in stand-by mode for the rest of week, allowing himself time to think. He couldn't quite describe the feeling he was experiencing, but it was akin to nervousness.

Thursday Night. GryffindorTower

Somewhere on the far other end of the castle was hurting someone. Harry just knew, feel, maybe shared Alex' pain. He tossed and turned, blankets clinging at his body, but not once was he at peace. It was as if his life had taken off at high speed and he was failing in trying to keep up. In two months his life had changed completely and actually there was only one real reason: Alex. When he thought of it, she was the thin string that tied everything together…

Before meeting up with Ron and Hermione again that summer, he'd vowed to distance himself from them, to keep them safe. But he couldn't. Upon seeing Alex so alone that faithful night, he realized that he should be grateful to have friends and that they wouldn't want to be pushed away for their own safety. They were there for him and he would return that form of friendship whole heartedly.

Then came Malfoy, he'd stopped calling Hermione mudblood, now he simply called her Granger. Oh yes, he still was an incredible asshole, but he was different. Like there was a crack in his icy wall that slowly shattered his shield. And once again Harry knew who'd made that crack: Alex. For some unknown reason she was able to look past his act and right into his soul. Most shockingly was that Malfoy hadn't even made a 'move' towards her… Malfoy was unofficially known as the Sex God of Slytherin, meaning he could get anyone whom he'd wanted, one way or another. But around Alex… he seemed to care for her in a different way… that sounds odd doesn't it? Malfoy care?

Even Finbar –whom was by the way snoring like a whale- seemed to be affected by her. Gaining control over his Sight whenever she was around or touched him. Even though Firenze's lessons allowed Finbar to walk around the castle without risking hurting himself or anyone else for that matter, he still controlled his Sight best when Alex was there.

And now, lastly, was the most disturbing tie she had. Something he'd forgotten about after school started. The tie she had to Voldemort and therefore the tie she had with his past. That was the most crucial part of the puzzle that was Alex.

He whimpered in his pillow, right hand clenched in a trembling fist. The itching wouldn't stop. That raised the next big question: what had been those pulses of bright light? Or rather; had it really been his doing? Yes, of course it had. He grunted. Like he needed to be anymore special…
The black haired youth narrowed his eyes and tried hard to remember what he'd done exactly; the first one had been when Alex was piled under the dark creatures, the second one when Bellatrix tried to murder her…
His green eyes widened in surprise. The earthquake! The earth had trembled when Tom taunted him. He, Harry himself, had created that earthquake and logically enough that would indicate that the one that happened at the beginning of the school year had also been his doing. What was happening?

Four tiresome days passed and at long last it became weekend…

Saturday evening.

"Potter!"

Harry quirked up an eyebrow surprised and slightly wary to see Draco Malfoy closing the space between them, his expression deadly serious. "I'm going to ask you a favor… Don't give me that look, because it'll only happen once…" He looked into Harry's green eyes while he pulled him into a narrow alcove.

"Eh Malfoy, didn't know you were into this sort of stuff…" Harry protested at the close contact.

"Shut it. I'm serious." the stormy grey eyes glinted at him, a deep frown settled on his face. "You have to talk to her…"

He hung his head, and one lock of dark hair flopped over his eyes. "She hasn't said anything to me for four days…"

"Yes that's the fucking deal Potter…" he snarled "She hasn't spoken to anyone… She doesn't eat… She doesn't sleep. I can't reach her, whatever I do; shouting, comforting, reasoning, ignoring…" the serious expression was briefly replaced with one of pure concern. Just briefly.

"Please." A lot of willpower was mustered to utter that one word.

How could one refuse Malfoy when he was actually 'begging' (Please was as close as begging in Malfoy's case) "Okay, but I doubt that she'll talk to me…"

Malfoy abruptly leaned a lot closer then necessary and whispered "She will."

He was obviously tired and desperate, to such an extent to face his rival and ask a favor. His pale face had a gaunt expression, dark circles around his eyes. He mustn't have slept for thee days, although he still was undeniably handsome… Whoa, not a good time to have these thoughts… I am trapped with the git in an alcove, alone. Right and that did not help.

Trying to sound as if he didn't care, Harry asked him "You really care about her, don't you?"

The familiar sneer was pulled back to his face "I couldn't care less about her, Potter. I'm a prefect, it's my duty."

A smirk tugged at Harry's lips as he brushed past him. Without turning he said "See you in Potions Malfoy."

The sun was setting, the grounds around Hogwarts bathing everything in a strange orange glow, as if everything was on fire. He traced the bank of the lake, following the rhythmic footprints before him, which he hoped were Alexs'. He smiled when he saw the Slytherin sitting on the very same spot he'd been grieving for Sirius. Her eyes followed the silvery flicks on the surface, hugging her legs, head propped up her knees.

"Good evening Alex…" he murmured when he sank down next to her.

No reaction.

"Seems like you've even managed to lure Malfoy out of his lair, since he was the one who filled me in on your situation…." Harry looked over at Alex, trying to gauge her reaction.

Alex didn't even blink her eyes.

"You'll have to say something someday…"

She finally gave some sort of reaction… She snorted. Harry's frustration was nearing dangerous heights.

"Don't act so childish…" he growled "If you don't talk about it, you'll drown in your self-pity…"

A slight smile flashed over her lips. A bitter smile. The lack of furthermore vocal response wasn't surprising.

"Dammit Alex!" he sneered, his glasses riding down his nose at the action. "Why don't you bloody say something, this is ridiculous!" he swallowed his anger and continued in a more calm tone "Why don't you talk to me? Everything will be okay…"

That was what it took. She turned to look at him, Harry meeting her gaze right on. An eerie feeling came over him when he didn't meet green eyes, but steel, cold, icy, gray ones.

"Okay?" her voice was hoarse and barely audible. "You call this okay?" she reached into the back pocket of her jeans, her fingers curling around a long object. For emphasis she held it up in front of his nose between two fingers; it was a jaw. The jaw of the Tiger. Meanwhile she pulled up her upper lip; the open gap had already been filled with a new tooth.

"Everything okay eh?" she lowered the sharp end into the soft skin of her left arm and before Harry could stop her, she cut herself. A long, red gap marred her arm, blood pouring out of it. At first nothing seemed to happen until he saw the shredded veins, flesh and muscles bend towards each other, connecting. The wound was closed as soon as it was made.

Harry heaved a sigh. "You know… I could say the very same thing… I countered the Killing Curse... Again!" he glared at her from under his bangs "I speak parseltongue and I can cast bright, magic pulses of white light! But am I sulking?"

"At least you were born on the good side!" she countered, malice evident in her voice.

This caught Harry of guard, but he quickly recovered himself. "That doesn't matter Alex! You have a choice; it doesn't matter from which family you come. Sirius was supposed to turn to the dark side and he became a member of the Order! Snape turned to good side again and even Malfoy still seems to be sane in his own weird way! Why should that make you different then?"

"You wouldn't understand!" she snapped

"Why wouldn't I? I understand what you are feeling, how do you think I felt when they told me that I am the only one who could conquer Voldemort. It's either me or him Alex!"

"I know that damn you! Don't you get it? I know everything, I know who your parents were, I know who Sirius was and I know that you are the child of the prophesy!" Drawing in another ragged breath, she whispered "I am born an abomination, with one sole purpose; I am here because I am the one that is supposed to kill you…"

A single tear stroke down her cheek.

Harry reached out and rubbed the droplet away with his thumb. "And four days ago you saved my life."

Alex collapsed forward with a sob, shoulders jerking up at the sharp intake of air. The sounds were strangled and soul-wrenching, so for the second time this week the Gryffindor gathered her in his arms, her head in the round of his neck. Harry realized that he'd never held someone like this before, yet it didn't feel weird or awkward.
He smiled. It was like… she was his little sister or something. Perhaps that wasn't as odd as it sounded; after all neither of them had much of a family. Let's just say they were on the same level and both needed no words anymore to know what the other felt.

After some time her whimpering died down to a few hiccups and the raven haired boy pushed her away from him so he could look her in the eye.

They were green again.

Another week passed by and Alex slowly recovered, realizing that even though the mere thought about the reason of her existence irked her out, she was able to cope with it. It was hard at first; every time Harry would look at her, let alone smile at her; she felt a pang of guilt. But he had been right: she had a choice.

All that was left of her misadventure were the shadows under her eyes and a pale, lean look. She also tended to drift away with her own thoughts ever so often and when she was sad (although she'd never admit it) she was sadder then ever, even when there was no apparent reason.

The more practical side of this was quite disturbing; it seemed that she got feverish when she didn't use her magic to its full extent once in a while; Alex had promised Snape to notify him or any teacher immediately if there were complications. The First Memory had been brought to her so violently that all her powers had awakened in a single heartbeat. Transfiguring into the Tiger hadn't been on her own accord, it was a purely emotional reaction, the Recovery kicking in afterwards. So after breaking the news about the sudden fevers, they saw to it that she'd change biweekly into her animagus form, under strict guidance of McGonagall.

As for Harry, the teachers seemed to think that the assault was a clear indication that they would have to take more drastic measurements. The extra sessions with Moony were doubled, the one on Saturday remained, but a second one on Wednesday afternoon was added to Harry's already ridiculously packed schedule. The session on Wednesday afternoon would be filled with the study of magic (Remus was hoping on starting Apparating after Christmas, even though illegal, it was for Harry's own safety), the second one would concern physical training and coming Saturday, he'd finally begin with martial arts.

Tuesday Evening. Divination.

The green life force pulsated ever so slightly. A primitive form of intelligence, yet also far wiser and even intimidating then one could imagine. A drop of sweat ran down his forehead, over his nose and finally over his lips. Salty. It took everything he had to keep focused, everything else so loud that it distracted him. The way the leaves rustled, the sounds Firenze's hoofs made even if he did not move, the loud breathing coming from the both of them and even his own heartbeat.

"That will do, Finbar."

He slumped back and sucked in a relieved sigh, his chest swelling as his lungs filled with fresh air. Meanwhile, Firenze offered a hand to pull him up, smiling he accepted it. He really, really liked the centaur. He respected his mentor, a person with a strong personality and personal values.

"Amazing! Simply amazing!" he praised the young werewolf.

A blush crept up his cheeks and he diverted his gaze. "Well, I have a good teacher…"

"Nonsense!" The centaur laughed and smacked him on his back "Finbar, you saw the aura of a stone!" he dropped the cool pebble in the palm of his hand.

He absently rolled it around, somehow a little careful. "Such a delicate form of life… I feel like I violated it, something so pure and raw…"

"I understand your sentiments, even more I hope you realize that even though you've been blessed with a gift others wouldn't even dream of, this will be hard…" bright blue eyes locked with ones almost identical.

"No I'm not stopping… but I feel like I should apologize…" he looked at the object in his hand. Everything around him faded one last time as he gently let his spirit brush the consciousness of the stone. He smiled when he felt a very shy, nearly frightened reaction coming from the presence. Feeling through auras didn't require any words, it even barely required any time. It was focusing, separating one from all other presences that offered a challenge…
You couldn't lie to another like this; feelings, emotions and impressions were ripples of colors, and just like real ripples, you couldn't stop them from affecting others, as a never-ending chain reaction.

"There…" he murmured. "Apology accepted." He shielded his fatigue quickly, his sight blurred after the encounter with the spirit of the stone, by flashing a grin at Firenze's dumbfounded face.

The centaur's eyes widened ever so slightly, indicating pure amazement "I thought you were making a joke Finbar."

He cocked his head to the side "No… not really…"

"How… How does it feel?"

He traced the lighter nerves in the stone with his index finger, almost lovingly. "Feels like finding something you've lost for a long time…" he smiled and his hand closed protectively around the little rock. "Yes, that's exactly how it feels."

Alex cursed and snarled at no one in particular, she must have been very intimidating since even Peeves who was lurking around didn't dare to approach her. Occlumency had been awful; the whole event from two weeks earlier once again fresh in mind. She tried so hard, but the knowledge that it was Snape who was looking into her memories gave her the creeps. She slammed her fist into a nearby wall and cursed at the sharp pain shooting through her knuckles and wrist. She sucked at the droplets of blood blossoming from the bruises, frowning as she felt them mend themselves under her tongue. Looking at her hand, she saw it was healed.

The Slytherin was abruptly broken out of her reverie when she heard a loud, metallic crash around the corner followed by a colorful stream of curses. Holding her breath she carefully tiptoed to the corner and poked her head around it. She hit herself mentally over the head when she saw who it was.

"Finbar, you okay?" she crouched next to him. He'd run into an old, rusty suit of armor and was currently busying himself by kicking and shouting at every piece of scrap metal he found.

A faint blush spread over his cheeks and halted his attack. "Yeah, I'm okay…" he shakily stood up, Alex supporting him. A relieved sigh left his lips when his vision became clearer. "Thanks."

She waved it away and slipped her hand into his, a habit she'd picked up after learning that it helped him. "What are you doing here?" she brushed some dust of his arm "You're in the dungeons…"

"I knew I was going the wrong way…" he muttered.

"Well, you can say that again…" she screwed her smile on and tugged at his hand "Come on, I'll walk you to the tower…"

They made their way back up to the Gryffindor Tower; Finbar in an awful giddy mood, actually a façade to hide his nervousness. He cracked a joke and saw Alex smiling politely, as if she didn't want to be rude. He couldn't stand her like this; so scared and forlorn. No other soul would be able to see it, but as an Empath, he felt every shift in emotion. Carefully, not wanting to startle her, he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "C'mon little one… Smile for me?" he pouted "Please?"

A genuine smile spread over her lips at his attempt to make her smile. "Don't be so cute Big Guy…" she prodded him in the chest.

Now it was his turn to smile, while a new blush crept up his cheeks. The rest of their walk was a stark contrast to earlier: laughter bounced off the walls, echoing throughout the stone hallways, chasing after startled spiders; a conversation about everything and nothing, snickering at every little thing, both glowing in the discovery of this new thing between them.

Eventually they halted before a very disgruntled Fat Lady. "This is my stop" he mumbled, regret laced into his words.

A smile crossed her features as she reached out, on the tips of her feet, placing a warm kiss on his cheek "Thanks, Finbar."

Before he could ask her why 'Thanks', she'd dashed off to where they'd come from. He reached for his cheek, touching the place Alex' soft lips had made contact with a second ago. Emotions raged trough his body. Pure and Raw. Like the Stone.

Still smiling dazedly he shuffled into the common room, hand never leaving the place on his cheek.

"Whoa, looks like somebody had a good time out there."

His head snapped up and saw the familiar freckled face of Ron grinning up at him. He and Harry were playing a game of Wizard Chess in front of the fire while Hermione was sitting cross-legged in a large couch a big, leather-bound book in her lap. Crookshanks draped over the edge, tail flicking hence and forth, eying the two young men on the ground with big, round, yellow eyes.

He couldn't help himself and sniggered. "Well, Divination turned out as quite a success today…"

"Sure Finbar. Sure." Ron muttered, brow rumpled as he concentrated on his next move. "You're only, like, 45 minutes late…" his hand ghosted over the board "Aah! Checkmate!" he declared, hand thrusting up in the air.

The raven head rolled his eyes and grunted. "Why do I even bother?" he plopped next to Finbar in the large couch and chuckled at the cheesy smile plastered on the werewolf's face.

Finbar caught his gaze and blushed brilliantly red. "Well, I kinda got lost. Ran into an armor… Alex helped me, guided me up and kissed me on the cheek…"

"I see, and when are the two of you getting married?" Harry chuckled, sarcasm dripping of the statement.

Finbar nervously plucked his goatee "Okay, okay, so it was only a peck on the cheek…" He eyed the emerald eyes boy's obvious skeptical expression. Within a heartbeat he'd wrapped an arm around a suddenly very flustered Harry and whispered huskily "You're not jealous now, are you Harry…?"

"Get off!" Harry protested, trying to escape Finbar's strong grasp.

"Like you want me to!" he countered, Harry trapped somewhere under a pile of pillows and Finbar. He ruffled the already untidy mop of black hair, earning a scowl form the Boy-who-lived.

Hermione giggled behind her hand, knowing where the Empath was getting at and secretly relieved to see Harry laughing so openly again, trying to overpower his obviously much stronger friend.

Someone cleared his throat and whispered "Care to explain me what this is about?"

Ron.

Oops.

Okay, Okay, so this was not really a happy chap. Well how could I? Anyway, now that we've got the drama-part behind us (one of the drama parts…) we can get on with the romance rubs hands

But more importantly! Let us all bow before Keiko-keket who's been nice and patient enough to beta-read this chapter! Glomps Keiko Yeah, well, just so you know I'm grateful eh? ;

Ah and, I think you ought to know about this: Because of the different responses I got from reviewers and friends of mine, I was briefly considering to couple Finbar and Harry. Why not? Well, just as Wonapalei explained so accurately in his review; the main idea was to use Finbar (poor guy) to let Harry realize he's bi, but it's not because he's attracted that he's in love, so that's why he doesn't act on that feeling. And people seem to think that it should be Alex and Finbar, and once again yes, that was my intention all along. So I briefly considered Harry and Finbar, just so I could have Draco extremely jealous… meh, so I didn't… I have a better idea now which allows me to stick with the main plan, yeah…

Reviews equals me feeling motivated equals more, faster updates. Mmm-kay? Points at review button just click it, won't take more than a minute. Even if you hate it, please do so for me? These reviews are what keep me going! Thank you ;