Ok, disclaimer: I own nothing, except Nikki, that's it, doesn't that just suck? Well, I am going to dedicate this chapter to Caitlin (RJP) the reason for my insanity. Here is chapter 7. Note, there is a snog scene in here, it is towards the end, so if ya don't like that stuff, tough, its in there and you can't do anything about it!

Chapter 7

The Truth Revealed

When we last left Nikki and Harry, they were sitting in the Hospital Wing, discussing Nikki's attack. Meanwhile, Draco Malfoy, Severus Snape, and Albus Dumbledore were all in the Dumbledore's office having a friendly chat with tea and crumpets. Well, in a happy little world where nothing was wrong, maybe, but not now. They were all sitting around, quite tense, except Dumbledore, who was eating a Lemon Drop, very delicious and bitter, but sweet. You know, I am not sure why anyone would actually like lemon drops, but I like them. The combination of bitterness and sweetness is actually quite satisfying.

Well, moving on from my little discussion on Lemon Drops and back to the story. The three people I just recently informed you of were sitting around in Dumbledore's office. Malfoy was sipping on a Butterbeer that Dumbledore insisted he drink. Normally, a Malfoy would never accept a drink that came from Dumbledore, but Dumbledore said it was to find out the truth and if he didn't drink it, he would instantly be expelled. Malfoy knew he had a decent shot at Head Boy next year, and didn't want anything to screw it up. Plus, his father would be majorly pissed if he had been expelled. Lucius Malfoy was not a very nice person when angered, I mean, more evil that usual. That was something Draco did not want to deal with.

After Dumbledore felt that Draco had drank enough of the Veritaserum filled drink, he began his questioning. "Alright, we will start the questioning. First, please state your name." He began.

"Draco Lucius Malfoy." Draco replied.

"Do you know the accusations against you?"

"No, I do not."

"You have been accused of attacking Miss Nikki Gryffin. Did you." Dumbledore asked.

"No sir, I did not."

"What happened yesterday afternoon in Hogsmeade with Miss Gryffin?"

"She and Potter were fighting and I started laughing when she slapped him, then she kneed me in the groin." He replied truthfully.

"Did you tell anyone?"

"Yes. Blaise Zabini and my father."

"Your father is in Azkaban, then how did you inform him."

"He broke out last night. It was quite simple, the Dementors are no longer in power."

"Did he give you an answer?" Dumbledore asked, becoming more and more concerned. Lucius Malfoy is a dangerous man, almost as dangerous as the Dark Lord himself.

"Yes, this morning I got a note that said 'It has been taken care of ' "

Dumbledore put his long fingers together. His eyes lost their twinkle and he looked genuinely worried, and that almost never happens. He stared at them for a good long moment, before he spoke. He whispered only two words. "Oh dear"

MEANWHILE:

"Dear, do you know what happened?" Madame Pomfrey asked.

"Not really, I was in the Owlery, delivering a letter, and when I turned around, there was a figure in black. I couldn't see his face, but he pulled out his wand and said…dammit, what was it…oh yeah. He said 'Dormio Adamae'." She explained, not catching Madame Pomfrey's look of anger at her swearing.

"Dormio Adamae…that's 'Lover's Sleep'. It puts whoever it is cast on under a deep sleep until true love's kiss awakens them. If they go twenty-four hours and no kiss, they will never awake." Madame Pomfrey explained before leaving the Hospital Wing to go to Professor Dumbledore's office.

"Well, I suppose it's a good thing I came then, eh?" Harry said.

"Yeah, my knight in shining armor." Nikki said quietly before grabbing his collar and pulling him in for a nice long kiss. Her arms wound around his neck and lifted herself up into the kiss. Harry put his hands on the small of her back, supporting her. He didn't want her to strain herself; she had had a hard day. Harry held her up, being such a good boyfriend. He was just getting in to it when suddenly…

"Miss Gryffin, Mr. Potter, I need to speak with you in my office shortly. Miss Gryffin, you are free to go." Came the ever so calm voice of Albus Dumbledore. Harry jumped off Nikki and he was red, As was Nikki.

"Ok Professor, we will be there in just a minute." Nikki replied. Harry left the room shortly so she could get dressed.

Five minutes later, they were on their way to the Headmaster's office.

"Canary Creams." Harry said as they arrived at the Gargoyle. They got on the moving staircase that would lead them up to Professor Dumbledore's office. Before they could knock on the door, the wispy voice of Albus Dumbledore spoke up.

"Come in, come in."

They entered and took a seat in the chairs that Professor Dumbledore pointed out. "Well, Miss Gryffin, I suppose you are wondering who attacked you, am I correct. Well, you must be. That was a silly question. Rewind and strike that. I must inform you that contrary to Mr. Potter's belief, it was not Draco Malfoy whom attacked you. It was in fact his father. He broke out of Azkaban, I suppose he didn't want to many people to know he was out, otherwise, he may have killed you right then and there." Nikki gasped and Harry's eyes went wide. "But, he didn't so no harm done!" Dumbledore said lightening the mood a bit.

"So, that's it?" Nikki asked.

"Well, no. You did physically assault another student. I am afraid I am going to have to give you a detention for that. It will be November 25, at Hagrid's." Dumbledore explained. "That is all, you may go." As they got up to leave, Dumbledore stopped them. "Oh my, I forgot something. Harry, I need to see you in my office at midnight on that same evening. Bring that handy cloak of yours and tell only Mr. Weasley and Miss Granger about it if you please." Dumbledore said.

Harry was unsure how Dumbledore knew about his cloak, but then again, Harry remembered how he thought it was Dumbledore who sent it. Even if this wise old professor had not sent him his father's cloak, that old man knew everything that went on in his castle. Sometimes it was a bit unnerving.

Harry decided that since Nikki didn't know Hagrid like the Trio did, she might be…nervous about being in close proximity to the gentle half-giant. He was right; she was downright terrified of what he might make her do. As they made their way back to the Gryffindor Common Room, Harry stopped short and Nikki turned around to see that was wrong.

"Harry? What are you doing?" she asked.

"Would you accompany me on a walk on the grounds?" He asked her formally.

"What? It's getting late, and its cold. Where the Hell do you want to go?" Nikki asked him.

"I can tell you are nervous about this detention, but I promise you, Hagrid is a nice guy when you get to know him. Plus, he hates Malfoy almost as much as Snape hates me. He will probably reward you for kicking him." Harry reassured her while putting his arm around her shoulder.

"Thanks, but I'm still nervous, he's so big!" She exclaimed.

"Yeah, I know, but just think of him as a big teddy bear. He wouldn't even hurt a fly." Harry replied. He thought it was actually kind of funny that this girl was so terrified of a man he knew to be kind and gentle.

Harry led her out the front doors and down the path to Hagrid's hut. As they walked, Harry silently and casually slipped his hand in hers. She looked at him with an inquisitive glance and he just smirked. Then she intertwined her fingers with his. This caused that smirk to turn into a grin. When they finally approached Hagrid's hut, Harry knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" came the gruff voice.

"It's me, Harry. I brought someone to meet you." Harry replied.

"Oh, come in, 'Arry. It's be'n a while! I haven' seen ye in months." Hagrid said as he opened the door. Harry walked in first, followed shortly by Nikki. "An' who's yer friend 'Arry?" he asked.

"This is Nikki. She is serving a detention with you on November 25th." Harry explained.

"Wha' she do? I know it wasn' in my class. Did Dumbledore give it to ya?"

"Yeah. I kinda…uh…kneed Malfoy in the…ya know…" Nikki replied. Hagrid just chuckled. As most knew, after Malfoy's father had tried to have Buckbeak executed (though he failed), Hagrid did not like the little ferret one bit.

"A'righ'. I'll make sure it's an easy one. Ye can even stay if ye wan' 'Arry. Keep 'er company." Hagrid offered.

"That would be great. Would you Harry?" Nikki asked.

"Sure, I'd love to." Harry replied. They spent the rest of the evening drinking tea and getting to know one another. Around 8 o'clock, Hagrid decided that if Harry and Nikki stayed any longer, they would have an even worse detention with Filch or even Snape.

The weeks flew bye, the homework piled up, and everyone felt as though Christmas holidays would never come. Before they knew it, it was November 25th. Time for Nikki's detention with Hagrid. Nikki had never heard of an easier detention. All she had to do was clean Fang, and clean up Hagrid's already tidy house. The easy part was that she could use magic.

The detention was to last an hour, she was done in five minutes. They spent the rest of the time just talking, and playing cards. Nikki loved to play Poker. Another cool thing was that Wizard cards could talk…well, the Jack through King could talk. Harry never knew Nikki was such a good Poker player. Thank goodness they weren't playing for actual money, he would be out a whole lot more than he cared to lose.

At 8 o'clock, the "detention" was over. Harry and Nikki made their way back up to the castle. As soon as they arrived in the Common Room, they made their way over to the couch. This was one of the busiest times, seeing as after dinner was the oppertune time to do any and all homework. Slowly, the Common Room emptied out, first years needing sleep, everyone else, claiming they need sleep just to have an excuse to get out of homework for another day. It was now nearly 12:45. Nikki and Harry were just sitting around talking, oblivious to Harry's meeting that should take place in fifteen minutes.

Harry subtly put his arm around Nikki's shoulder. He did the whole "yawn" stretch. He was afraid that she would pull away, yet she only just leaned in to him, resting her head upon his chest. He was about to lean down for a kiss, when suddenly they heard a slight tapping noise at the window. Nikki looked up and saw an owl. A very familiar owl. The family owl, she jumped off the couch and ran to the window. She threw open the window and the owl flew in and perched on the arm of the couch, its claws digging into the plush red couch. It dropped the letter and flew off. Nikki grabbed the letter and ripped it open. Her eyes quickly ran over the letter as tears came to her eyes. Harry had only seen tears come to her eyes once before. That was when she received a letter saying that Zach was getting worse. This time, he knew the news was better. Not only were there tears in her eyes, but she was smiling. He knew that Zachary was getting better. That was the only thing that could make her smile like this.

"He's getting better." He was right. He stood up and Nikki threw her arms around him and planted a big kiss right on his lips. There was so much force within the kiss that it knocked the both of them backwards onto the couch. Nikki was on top but Harry flipped them over so he was on top. They never broke the kiss. Nikki ran her tongue along his bottom lip asking for entrance. He accepted and their tongues were exploring each other's mouth like no tomorrow.

They continued this for several more minutes, when Harry slowly started sliding his hand down From Nikki's neck down her front, slowly moving down to the hem of her shirt. Subtly, he slipped his hand underneath her shirt then slowly began to move his hand up her stomach heading for her chest. He was almost to his destination when he heard a 'pop' come from the fireplace and an oh-so-familiar voice say "Well, this is a Hell of a welcome party!"

Harry jumped up and saw whose head was floating in the fireplace. "HOLY SHIT!" he shouted.

Ok, there ya go. Yeah, I gave you a cliffhanger, but if you can not figure out who is in the fireplace, then you are dumber than I thought. Well, I should have a new one up soon.