These characters aren't mine, sadly, and I make no profit from Harry Potter. I cry out to the stars, "If only, if only."

Chapter 5: Monthlies

The end of September was approaching, and Harry had just mastered the meditation Selena had been teaching him. It was quite useful for keeping his emotions under control.

"Very good, Mr. Potter," Selena said. "Finally, we can begin more intense work."

She opened the window and let the autumn air slip gently into the room. She beckoned for Harry to come stand by her at the window. "You have the ability to control anything with a brain. The more simple the brain, the easier it will be to control the creature. Do you see those geese on the lake?"

"Yes," Harry said. A question was forming in his mind, but he would have to wait until the end of this practice to get any information from Selena. He had discovered a week ago that asking questions in the middle of a session resulted in Selena dismissing him because he could not concentrate on the subject at hand, which profited them nothing.

"Call it to you," Selena said.

"I'm not quite sure how to do that. The geese can't hear my voice..." he trailed off.

"Sirens need to use their voice only on creatures of more complex minds. And geese do not qualify as those of complex minds. Focus on the goose of your choice and will it to come to you in your mind. Clear your mind of everything else. Let this be your only thought."

Harry did as he was asked. To help clear his mind, he closed his eyes. Come here, goose, he thought, envisioning the goose he had chosen flying in from the lake into the window of Selena's office.

Suddenly, he was being pummeled. He opened his eyes and saw that the entire geese population of the lake had responded to his call, and were now flocking to cluster around him, trying to land on his shoulders or head. Selena was suppressing laughter at the sight of a goose-covered Harry Potter.

"Professor, what went wrong? I only wanted one," Harry cried over the honking of his new-found friends.

"You will be a very powerful siren, Harry. To have your power reach out to a flock when you attempted to reach only one proves that your powers are very great," Selena responded. "Well, I suppose you had best be heading for Potions."

"I have a few questions first," Harry replied as the geese settled down to waddling around Selena's office. "First, I was wondering if the Ministry considers Sirens to be people or creatures."

"As long as you are registered with the Ministry, there should be no problems. We were given rights long ago, provided we make ourselves known. I've already filled the paperwork out for you. No need to worry," she said.

"Also, I was...well...I was wondering if I could spend more time working on getting my...powers..." (he glanced at the geese scattered around the room) "...under control."

"Well, if you have any more free time that you would desire to devote to training, I'll be happy to help you, provided it doesn't conflict with my schedule."

"How about after Quidditch practice this afternoon? You could pick me up at the pitch," Harry suggested.

"That sounds fine," Selena said. "Now hurry, or Sevie will be upset."

Harry still hadn't gotten use to her calling Snape by the pet name of Sevie. He picked up his things and bolted out of her office.

Moments after he left, Selena looked at the counter and realization struck her. This afternoon was quite inconvenient for her. It would also be inconvenient for Harry to have Quidditch practice this afternoon.

-

Ron answered the door to the Gryffindor Quidditch locker room. The black cloaked figure standing at the door frightened him out of his wits. He was certain it was a Death eater there to kill Harry, and, being in the way, Ron was dead.

"Mr. Weasley, I must see Harry immediately," Selena's urgent voice came from the cloak. She pushed back the hood to reveal her face and convince him she was who she claimed to be.

Harry took his time getting to the door, despite Selena's obvious impatience. "Professor, is something wrong?" he asked.

"Quite terribly so, come with me," Selena commanded, grabbing his arm and leading him away from the pitch. He was quite confused as Selena led him into the Forbidden Forest.

"Professor, what's wro"- his voice cut out as a terrible pain spread through his body and he fell to the ground. Selena was right behind him, but he barely noticed this. He cried out with the pain, as did she. A few hours of screaming themselves hoarse ensued, then suddenly, the pain was gone.

Harry looked at Selena. Her hair had turned the electric blue color of her eyes. She looked a bit pale her breath came in ragged gasps, as did his. "Are you alright?" she asked, her voice sounding very melodic.

"I guess," he replied. He realized his voice sounded much like hers.

"Here, put this on," she said, pulling a black cloak similar to her own out and handing it to him.

"Professor, your hair..."

"Yes, it's the color of my eyes. As yours is the color of your eyes," Selena answered his unvoiced question.

"That's ridiculous." Harry said, using a summoning spell to conjure up a hand mirror. When he saw his reflection, he screamed and dropped the mirror. His hair was, as Selena had said, the same emerald color as his eyes. "What...?"

"I'll answer your questions on the way to my office," she explained.

During the trek to the castle under their black cloaks, Selena explained that every month, all sirens, regardless of sex, transformed. Most sirens referred to this time as their "Monthlies" and it always came at the end of the month. If he wanted to know the full extent of the ability his transformation gave him, he should take a swim in the lake. The transformation gave sirens the ability to breath underwater. If he should go for a swim, the webs at the base of his fingers would extend to his fingertips to make it easy to pull himself through the water. This was due to the old days when sirens used to live on small islands, and were more savage. They would swim out to ships on the ocean and kill the crew to steal the provisions and luxuries onboard. Also, standing in a body of water would heighten his manipulation abilities even more.

Harry realized as they got into Selena's office and shut the door that he had an insatiable desire to make love to her. It was stronger then it ever had been before. Standing next to her, he couldn't help himself and gently kissed her on the lips.

"Harry," Selena gasped weakly, "we can't. The consequences"-

"I don't care what the consequences are," he whispered to her, taking her in his arms.

"We can't," she repeated, leaning in to kiss him.

As they kissed passionately, he swept her desk clean with one arm, then hoisted her onto the desk. He laid her down gently, climbing on top of her.