Replies to reviews:
WELL! That was so much better than my third chapter…at least by the number of reviews-Smirks in amusement-
Anyways….
NOGART EHT: You're serious? Whoa, thank you for the compliments…I've only blushed a couple of times in my life…but right now I'm pretty sure that it's my third time! Thank you…and I'm sure you will find love (if you haven't already) very, very soon! You're too nice not to find one!
Tweeny-weeny: Yes, I did ask nicely, didn't I? –Winks- I'm not quite sure what you mean by 'moody' there, but yes, they are in seventh year. I assume the strange words refer to the spells...it's okay; I was thinking to put a glossary down here anyway!
Trouvfindras: Literally 'to find'. 'Trouv' comes from trouver, which means 'to find', in French, and 'find'...well I think you can guess where that came from!
Trouvfindend: Literally 'to end the finding process'…come on it only HAS 'end' at the end!
Lumivictumis: means 'come alive my light'…me thinks it sounds slightly freaky, but o well…I means, seriously, 'victum' for goodness' sake…sounds like 'victim…actually it means 'alive; in Latin.
Lumimortuusis: means 'may the light die'. Morbid, isn't it? As you've guessed, 'mortuus' means 'dead' in Latin.
And finally, asperses: to reveal. I think that 'asperi' means reveal in Latin…give or take a few letters or so…-giggles nervously-
Oh yeah…and Collorportus means to seal a door (check out the site: those are the spells…whew! But glad you asked the question.
Xanthie: Thank you so much for your compliment! I feel like I should hug you, but the closest thing I think I would come to, is hugging the computer…and yes, I've wanted to be a writer since I was 4…very long time…My family's kind of pushing me to publish something…it's kind of strange, because they didn't have much confidence in me before I won a story competition (I'm so happy about that!) But thank you very much for your support! It means a lot to me…
In fact, thanks for ALL of you guys' support! (I was actually prepared to have a flame after the first chapter went up…considering that it IS slash, for one thing…)
AJ586: Course I love you! And I betcha if the fic could talk (heavens please no, my house is strange enough already) it would love you too!
And about the 'HPDM' thing…I wanted to warn the readers…just in case they didn't like the couple. It's also because I find myself skipping fics when I'm not too sure of the pairing. It's because I don't want to be disappointed halfway through, you see. But I'm still pretty damned open-minded about the pairing thing…usually a good story can pretty much convince me.
HandsOff: Nice name…I'd love to say that…unfortunately, quite like Draco, I'm raised by strict Chinese parents (yes, I'm Chinese, any racists here can bugger off, thanks), so yeah…though I don't quite see Draco backing off because of his upbringing…he'd just to it with more style…anyway, don't shrivel up and die, just yet, you still need to read the rest of the story! There's two more chapters, hold on! And besides, the last one's going to be on …guess what? V-DAY! Yup...so soon... (Boohoo!)…And don't kill me! I'm updating, now! I'm updating!
Morena Evensong: Really? I'm glad…I didn't have my betas for those two chapters, so I was kinda worried there…glad you liked the idea…to your question of 'have you done anything like this before…' no I haven't…this is my longest story…my others have all been one-shots!
I LOVE YOU GUYS! –Ahem, just had to say that-blushes- PLEASE KEEP REVIEWING!
Chapter 6: Written Words
The pen is mightier than the sword –Edward Bulwer-Lytton
Harry Potter was tired.
Very tired.
It was one bloody week before Valentine's Day, and already he couldn't even bloody eat breakfast at his own house's table.
Why, you ask?
Well, only because there was a bloody pile of Valentine's letters and cards and whatnot sitting in the place where his breakfast should have been!
He growled, his face set in what seemed to be a permanent grumpy mood. His two best friends looked at him in slight anticipation.
"Hey, mate, what's the matter?" Ron said in the gentlest voice that Hermione had ever heard from him.
Harry visibly relaxed a little.
"Harry?" Hermione coaxed anxiously.
"I…I…they don't know me!" Harry yelled out in a rush. The whole hall quieted down.
Ron hesitated a little. Then, "What do you mean?"
"They're all giving me these presents, and chocolates, and, and flowers," Harry picked up a bunch of withering roses, a ticked-off expression on his face.
"They don't even know me! Roses and violets blue my ARSE!" he shouted. The whole school gasped –they had never heard Harry swear.
"How can they say that they love me when they don't even know me? How can they say that their love will never die, and that we'll live happily ever after on a fecking cloud nine?" Harry all but shouted at them.
His voice lowered to a whisper, as his eyes shone with a hurt that both his friends had winced at.
"How do they know I'm even worth loving for?" he asked in a forsaken voice.
Quickly he ran out of the hall, the school looking after him, gaping.
Only one person saw the jeweled drops of water that fell from his eyes.
Harry crept into his bed, tears blurring his vision. Vaguely, he wondered at his loss of control.
Jeez, I was acting like girl with PMS right then… he scowled. The side effects just had to come now, didn't it?
He looked at the potion on his bedside table, his face darkening. Dumb sleeping draught…making me lose control in the morning, my ass! More like making my emotions go haywire…he thought bitterly.
He sighed dejectedly. After all, it wasn't really the fact that he'd lost control that he was upset about. It was the fact that he hadn't even been exaggerating in the first place.
He wasn't understood by most people –in fact, very often, he was misunderstood. He didn't want to be a hero. He wanted to be normal, to be happy, to be able to be selfish.
And he hated himself for wanting that, too.
He sighed, then, wearing a puzzled expression, turned around.
Recognizing the dark shadow that flitted across the dormitory's window, he walked briskly across the ruby carpet.
Giving Hedwig an owl treat, and inquiring about her eggs and their father (Hedwig immediately squawking with what Harry could have sworn was a blush), he settled down comfortably on his bed.
He unraveled the scroll.
Dear Harry,
It's one week before Valentine's Day. Are you as excited as I am? I hope you are. After all, I am going to let you see me in person.
Do you like the painting so far? I really hope you do. I think it's one of my best works –but then, only the best should ever be given to you.
Today's riddle:
Swords are mighty
Yet with writers they failProtect you I will
Forever…
Yours,
Your secret admirer
P.S. I don't think you're selfish –you've got a right to be human.
Harry looked at the letter with something that was akin to surprise. His admirer had virtually read his mind. And it wasn't only that part that he was surprised at. Yet, thinking about it, he realized that V-Day (at least that's what he'd named it) was probably the likeliest day for his admirer to reveal himself.
He smirked.
He wouldn't pretend that he hadn't tried to run through about the possibilities about who his admirer was. He'd run through almost everything –so far, the only thing he knew was that it just had to be a Slytherin.
There were only two real houses where his admirer could be –Ravenclaws were way too busy to be sending love letters in approximately two months away from the NEWTs. Hufflepuffs would never be brave enough to send him love letters, let alone laugh at his own house in the very middle of one. That belonged to a Slytherin. And since it couldn't have been his own house…(the fifth letter had made sure of that), it was confirmed.
His secret admirer was a Slytherin.
To tell the truth, he wasn't really bothered about it. He'd learned long ago that there had been more than one reason why the Sorting Hat had suggested he be in the House of Green.
Over the years, he'd realized that many of the Slytherins had never been given a choice in their growth –that most of their choices had been made for them ever since the taking of their very first breath.
He'd been thinking a lot over the summers and had finally come to the conclusion that if Dumbledore was not going to do at least something about the Slytherins; he would.
He blinked. It was time for Charms.
Harry rushed headlong along the corridors. It was almost time for Potions. Reaching the door, he reached out towards the handle, bumping hands with one that was slender and white.
He looked up.
Draco Malfoy was standing next to him.
They stared at each other –tingles of something that only one of them recognized.
"Potter, Malfoy, please enter the classroom," said Professor McGonagall (she was substituting).
The sarcastic voice broke the spell.
They entered into the classroom.
Harry wandered along the classrooms. Swords? Why swords…the pen is mightier than the sword?
What on earth is he on about…then the protecting me part…
Harry looked around, baffled. Wait, in the wizarding world, you don't use swords. You use wands…pen must just mean education…now where do you learn to protect yourself?
He looked around him, cautiously, his eyes alighting upon a certain classroom.
Of course, the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom!
Running madly, he turned the doorknob hurriedly.
At first, there was nothing.
Then, right after he'd softly closed the door (later, he would have sworn that there was a whisper of 'Collorportus'), he watched, as the very air seemed to shift apart for a single sword.
It was beautiful, resting on dark blue velvet.
Dragons and phoenixes twisted around the handle, becoming one. Their bodies were gilded with silver, and emeralds adorned their eyes. The handle was onyx –and Harry could feel a protection charm around it –ensuring that the sword would never break. As he performed a searching spell, he found many others –one to ensure that the sword would never be used against their owner; one to ensure protection against acid…and many, many others.
It was bloody gorgeous.
Finally, he took the scroll next to it, and unrolled it.
Dear Harry,
This sword is magically charmed to ensure that it will only touch enemies of yours as well as many other things. It not only has a water dragon scale embedded in the centre, but a tuft of hippogriff's fur, a phoenix feather and a single hair off a centaur's tail. These cover all the elements, making sure that you will be able to call upon any and every piece of nature.
It will be able to protect you.
It will be able to protect you, even if you refuse me, as I would have done.
I…
This is a poem I wrote…
Love, may you treasure
All the things that I have given you.
They represent my heart,
They represent my soul.
And no matter wherever
However, whatever, whenever
I am and will be
I will always be there.
So close your eyes
And in everything I do
Know that I do it for you
So close your eyes.
Cause no matter what I do
I will always still love you
And no matter wherever
However, whatever, whenever
I am and will be
I will always be there.
Love, may you treasure
All the things that I have given you.
They represent my heart,
They represent my soul.
And I will love you forever.
Because I can't not love you…
So I will love you forever.
And I will love you forever.
I love you.
Yours truly and eternally, your admirer.
Diamonds as bright as the clearest crystal sparkled on the paper.
They were made out of water.
Harry was crying.
He was crying because he finally knew that someone cared. Someone loved him, loved him for what he was, as an individual, as a human, and not an idol.
Someone loved him.
And that was enough.
He glanced at the painting, smiling softly.
Six swans swam over the surface of the painted midnight lake. The moonlight reflecting off the swans –each perfect, yet different in it's own way.
Tucking himself into bed, he looked at the painting one last time.
One more week.
His eyelids slid closed
One more week.
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