Note: Beta'd, finally. Actually, the person who offered (codyz) did a great job, and I want to thank him a lot for helping out. Everyone else should too, because he cleaned up my nasty writing a lot more than I was hoping for.

Chapter 07
• Siesta •

The rest of the trek was uneventful. There were two other groups on the way, a young set of Gryffindors, two of whom waved happily to Harry. They were met with glares from Harry. There was also a small group of Slytherins, who backed against the side of the hall the moment they saw him. Harry wasn't in a particularly good mood, but the Slytherins backing down did make him feel much better.

"You know," Tonks commented after they'd passed the Slytherin fourth years, "I think you putting one of the students in the hospital with just a kiss scared the hell out of them."

Harry wondered why he couldn't remember it. It wasn't something that he would normally do, no matter how badly he would have liked to at times. Maybe he'd just lost his temper, or something had snapped and he'd lost control. Dumbledore had mentioned it, so it must have been important. Dumbledore never mentioned anything that wasn't important.

"I don't remember it," he'd finally admitted, "I don't remember anything about the past few weeks other than brief flashes. I somehow remember Christine, but I don't know how. As far as I know, the first time I met her was when she showed up at the school. She's a muggle and I don't know how else I could have met her."

By the tenseness in Christine's touch, Harry knew that she had something else to say, but he wasn't worried about it at the moment. He was more interested in getting out of the hallway.

They finally came to a stop outside the doorway and Harry knocked before pushing it open. Tonks looked at him with her eyes narrowed, never having entered into the classroom. Harry had, after all, quit taking Divination sixth year, even though he did visit Firenze on occasion. Harry stepped in, feeling the soft, mossy texture of the floor underneath his feet. He flexed the muscles in his feet, letting the soft, damp moss work their ways around his toes. While Madam Pomfrey had kept him in some normal clothing because of the incident last time, he wasn't wearing shoes.

Christine followed him through the doors like a lost puppy, and froze mid step. The door simply appeared in the middle of a forest clearing, a stone arch marked it, but had that arched doorway not been present, you wouldn't have been able to tell you were somewhere other than a forest. Tonks bumped into Christine and Harry had to hold her in order to keep her from falling.

"What a place," Tonks said once she'd righted herself. "I wasn't aware that the castle had a forest in one of the rooms."

"Well, it's not something that's been here for a long time," Harry replied, his eyes searching the room for Firenze. "When Firenze came here during fifth year Dumbledore made some changes to this spare classroom so that he would feel more comfortable teaching."

"And, no matter how comfortable it is, I still find it is not my home," Firenze said, appearing from a group of trees. "It is difficult sometimes, being without my herd. I have all the freedom I want, something I've dreamed of since I was young, and yet I find myself wishing that the stars told me lies instead of truths."

Upon seeing the centaur, Christine had disappeared behind Harry, not sure what she was looking at. "Hello Firenze," Harry said, smiling. "You've left a standing invitation for me to visit during non-teaching hours, and I've decided to take you up on it. I hope you're not busy."

"No, of course not," the centaur responded, smiling brightly. "I would ask that you introduce your friends though, for I have been confused for some time about what the stars have shown me, and suddenly the heavens have cleared."

Harry blinked, not even bothering to try and determine what it was Firenze it was talking about. He'd quit divination for a reason, and he hadn't thought about it since. Even on his previous visits to Firenze, divination had been the last subject on his mind. "Firenze, this is Christine, she is my... companion, it's a little complicated, but she's bound to me."

Firenze nodded, not asking or pushing the subject any further. Harry turned to Tonks. "This is Tonks. I'm surprised you've never met her before, she's been in the castle a lot over the last two years."

"We've met," Tonks interrupted.

From the look in Firenze's face it seemed as though he didn't remember. "I'm sorry... Ms. Tonks, but I don't recall having had the pleasure."

Tonks shook her head and her hair turned from a melted honey to cherry, and her face sharpened until it looked stretched, longer than what it should have been. She stared at Firenze, who wore a look of dawning comprehension. "Yes, one of the two Aurors who spoke with the herd just after He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was resurrected. I believe you were trying to convince the herd to aid you in the fight against him. It is a pleasure to see you once again, I am sorry that it is not during more peaceful times."

"I'm really sorry to intrude on you Firenze, I know this is your home too, but I'm having a bit of trouble and would like to stay out of everyone's way for a while." Harry said once the pleasantries had ended. "I promise we won't stay too long, a night at most..."

When Harry looked up to him, instead of staring at the ground, Firenze was looking at the sky above. Harry glanced up and sighed, he was used to the centaurs acting like this, they had nearly every time he'd met one, but he really didn't want to have a reading done at the moment.

"It is odd Harry Potter," Firenze said slowly, as if he were choosing his words carefully, "...the sky as of late. It has told me many things, and yet refuses to give me answers. Saturn and Mercury have not been so bright in many, many years and they continue to brighten. They speak of responsibility and choice, friendship and betrayal, of the craft wiles that men understand little of. Mars dims and brightens with each turn of the moon, speaking of battles that have not yet happened and battles which have."

Finally, Firenze dropped his head to look at Harry's slack face. "The stars say many things, but the Lady Venus is most pleased as of late. She has been waxing stronger in the night sky, held and hidden by clouds. Soon she will reveal herself and all shall be clear."

Trying his best to keep his blank expression, Harry nodded, trying not to dwell on the meaning. He had no understanding of the stars, though he did remember bits and pieces of his class with Firenze. He knew Mars meant many things, and among them was war and battles. However, the only reason he remembered this was because he'd been told in his first year that Mars was bright, which had made sense five years later. It didn't really help them now.

"What about staying?"

"You are welcome here Harry Potter," Firenze said keeping himself from looking up again. "I have shown my loyalties, allied myself against even my own herd so that you may prevail. There are many who rely on you, I shall not be impeded by allowing harm to come to you."

"All right, thanks," Harry said, looking to Christine, who was now staring up at the sky.

"We can stay here tonight if that's alright with you. If we get cold I can conjure a fire or some blankets," he told her.

Christine pulled away from her upward stare and looked at Harry. "As long as you stay I will be fine," she said, looking at Tonks who had just slipped on the moss and fallen on her butt. "Will she be staying as well?"

"As well?" Harry mumbled, but pushed the thought away for a minute, intent on bringing it up later. He glanced to Tonks, who was gripping a small tree, trying to pull herself to her feet. A few branches caught her hair and yanked on it as Tonks finally stood, causing her to yelp.

He smiled. "Probably. She's my bodyguard and already said she wasn't going to leave me alone. It means that I'm probably stuck with her everywhere I go."

"She is quite loyal to you then." Christine commented. Harry shrugged, there was a difference between loyalty and whatever it was Tonks was displaying, and he really didn't care to comment on how angry it made him that Tonks was more like a babysitter than a bodyguard. "I'm sorry," Christine said suddenly. "I didn't realize she causes you such grief."

Harry pulled away, not really liking that Christine could sense his emotions when she was touching him. It made it hard to lie to her, and he didn't want her to see how bad the world was, especially since it was her first day in the magical world.

It was only after he pulled away that he remembered Christine couldn't see magic when he wasn't touching her. He wondered why it was; after all, his aunt and uncle certainly could see magic. He'd heard them yelling about it so many times before that he was beginning to think that all muggles disliked magic and probably saw it more than they knew, but were afraid to admit it.

Sobs racked Christine's body, and it was obvious she was trying to keep from crying. Harry reached out and touched her again and the sobs stopped. "Why can't I see them?" Christine asked. "When I'm all alone, why can't I see the stars and the forest, and the castle?"

Tonks piped in right then. "Well there's a long history to Hogwarts, and it hasn't always been like this. Way back when there were witch burning and stuff it was decided that hiding magic would be the best option. Hogwarts had magic put up that could keep non-magical people from being able to see the school. Whenever muggles, the term we use for non-magical humans, look at the castle, should they ever make it that far, all they see are the crumbling ruins of a castle. Why you can see it when Harry touches you is a particularly odd thing, but I'm sure that Albus would be able to figure it out if we all went back and talked to him about it."

"I don't like Albus," Christine confessed quickly. "He didn't want Harry to have me, he didn't like me at all."

Tonks didn't reply immediately. She started off towards a patch of trees directly across from where Firenze had disappeared to, while Christine was talking. "We could camp just beyond there," Tonks said. "Since Harry's not planning on going back to Albus, that means I'll be staying as well. At least there it'll keep us from the view of anyone who decides to check this room. I don't fancy talking to anyone at the moment either.

Harry followed along quietly. Thinking about Christine, generating question after question in his head. He tried not to think hard about them, because Christine would probably pick up on his thoughts, but he couldn't do it very well.

As they lay out the blanket that Tonks had conjured (Harry told her he refused to allow a mattress because it would be an insult to Firenze) Harry finally let it out. "Christine," he said, making sure to keep his foot touching her as he straightened the blanket. "Who sent you to me?"

Tonks stopped complaining, looking eager to hear the answer. She conjured some pillows and laid them out for Harry and Christine. She didn't seem to have a problem sitting on the ground. Christine turned to view at Harry, looking confused. "You did," she said quietly. She remembered the flashes, flashes of everything that had happened. Some of it wasn't very clear, but she did remember staring at him, and the way he had marked her. It had been him even if it was not him. She didn't understand how there could be a difference so great and a similarity so close. But then, she also remembered being spoken to, and she wondered, if because there was magic, that maybe there were two of her masters, and one of them was trying to help himself be a better person. That would explain why he'd given her such specific instructions.

"You sent yourself a slave Harry?" Tonks teased. "You're getting yourself into worse more trouble every time you ask a question, I can already tell. I think it might be best if we just avoid talking about slaves and what they're suppose to do for you tonight. Maybe it'd be best to find a more appropriate subject, like to explain magic to Christine, I have a feeling she hasn't ever seen it before."

Christine flushed slightly at the remark. "I've heard of magic," she replied, looking towards Harry, asking for his permission before continuing. Harry nodded hesitantly, he was having a hard time getting over the fact that she looked to him for nearly every decision she'd made over the past hour, and it wasn't something he felt capable of doing, keeping someone from making the wrong decision. "But I've never dreamed it was real, or that it was so beautiful."

"It's not all beautiful," Tonks replied immediately. "Sure the castle is lovely, and the forest here is wonderful, but there are bad things in the world as well as good things. That's why I'm around, to keep Harry out of trouble. There are people that want to kill him."

"Kill?" Christine questioned, turning back to Harry and staring. "But why would someone want to kill you? You're the most wonderful person I've met in years."

"You can't have met that many good people then," Harry said quietly.

Tonks smirked. "Harry's famous in the magical world, one of the most famous people since Merlin."

"Merlin was real?" Christine asked, gaping. She didn't even look at Harry now, and he was happy that she was showing that she had some sort of independence; he really didn't want to have to seek his approval every moment of the day.

"Yes he was," Tonks said. "Just as real as dragons are."

From that moment on Christine and Tonks were chatting like old friends. Harry watched, feeling rather tired, as they conversed and conversed and conversed. It was more than a little boring; even though he learned a lot of things even he didn't know. Apparently Aurors were trained to speak with muggles, or Tonks had done it before, because she was able to help Christine identity similar things that were done with magic instead of technology and then point out all sorts of things that magic had, that muggles didn't.

Flying brooms came up, and Harry's name was mentioned again, but he ignored it altogether, not really worrying about how much Christine found out. It was probably better to figure things out now, before she had to face it herself, that way she could ask questions now and not stand out later. The last thing he wanted was people knowing he had a muggle slave following him around. It'd hit the papers like wildfire, plus the fact that Voldemort would find it increasingly despicable, maybe even try to kill her as an example for Harry.

He thought about Voldemort for a minute, trying not to imagine what the snake-like man was doing. Probably planning an attack on some poor, helpless wizarding family. He'd been doing a lot of that lately, and his ranks had swelled considerably, already having more Death Eaters than he had last time. It seemed that the time he spent in the forest had been good for him, and bad for everyone else who was going to be in his path of his domination.

Harry sighed, knowing that he was one of those people, and all because of some stupid prophecy that had been made even before he was born. With a sign, Harry leaned back on his back, looking up at the stars. His bare foot was still resting on Christine's thigh, so that the contact could keep her seeing the truth around them instead of the muggle repelling charm that had been put up.

The air in the forest was warm, brought in by a gentle breeze that tickled the senses. Harry was sure it wasn't quite as warm outside, because it was still the early part of the year, but he was happy to enjoy the warmth anyway. He unbuttoned his shirt and let the warm breeze touch his skin.

An hour later Tonks was fast asleep, but Harry was still staring at the stars, thinking. "Christine," he said softly, feeling her slide along the ground to lie next to him. She had been quiet for almost twenty minutes, and now that Tonks was snoring softly she had finally decided to move up next to Harry.

"Yes?" she asked immediately.

"Where was it you were, before this happened to you? You said I sent you here, but I never left this castle as far as I know. Tonks would have known, because she is always within a few steps of me."

"A dark place," she said calmly. "You rescued me from there. You were different, but I can see it was you. Your eyes are the same, and you felt the same when you touched me. You say magic is real, and I've seen it, maybe you did it with magic."

Harry had already considered the possibility, he'd been thinking about it for a long time, so he pushed it away. "What dark place?" he asked. "How was it you got there?"

The skin that was pressed against him rose, and he could feel her trembling. "I'm sorry," he said immediately, turning towards her. In the pale moonlight he could see that she was crying silently. "I didn't mean to make you cry."

"No," she sniffed, brushing away the tears. "It's alright, you have the right since you don't remember when I told you before. You saved me, and you deserve the story."

Harry sighed, hating himself for making her cry. He could feel the emotion building up inside him, and knew they were Christine's. It hurt him to know that he was hurting her, especially since she was his responsibility. He wondered if this was what it felt like to be a father. Even though Christine wasn't his child, he felt responsible for her.

"I was in a stone room that smelled like dead things. It was cold and damp, and I was there for a very long time."

Harry knew exactly what she was talking about, probably a dungeon in some old castle or home. She had to have been there for a reason though, and he had to have found her for a reason, because it seemed as if he'd sent her. But why mark her as a slave? Why send her to him, in a place where she would be lost without his touch? Why hadn't he just freed her and send her back to her home?

"Before that," Harry said when she didn't continue. "What happened before that, where did you come from. Surely you must have had family?"

He stopped himself too late, because he felt her shift uncomfortably, pull away so fast that she gasped when the forest faded. She almost seemed to debate touching him again, as If it might not be something she wanted to do. Harry was staring at her, frozen and unable to decide what to say next.

They stayed like that for almost three minutes, before she finally reached out and wrapped her arm around his, pulling in tightly. Harry didn't say anything and he hoped that she would just ignore him, that she would simply fall asleep next to him, holding him like that. It was sort of nice now, being her rock that she kept balanced on. He wished he had one, every time he seemed to find one in his life things changed and they died or he lost respect for them.

"My family..." Christine said, her voice cracking. "They hated me. I was never good enough, because I never saw things the same way that they saw them. When I was old enough I wanted to get out, wanted to go to college and study a profession. They didn't like the professions I chose, I wasn't allowed to take on a career that was traditionally filled with males. So, I left, they told me if I left I couldn't come back, and I didn't. I think Chandi misses me, but I don't think I'll ever see her again. She's my little sister and I miss her, but I can't go back."

"Your family was well off, weren't they?" Harry asked quietly, noticing the odd way she pronounced things, "The family you lived with, they were really well off."

From the way that Christine cuddled closer he guessed that he was right. He wasn't sure why they had such a hard time with Christine, he'd only known her for a few hours and already found she was not the sort of person that was difficult to get along with. But that was likely because of the power that he had over her. Still, he couldn't imagine another family like the Dursleys who hated her even though she wasn't magical, but only because she was different.

He pulled her gently closer until her head was buried in his chest and she was breathing calmly again. He stared at the stars, watching for a shooting star so that he could reset his life and start again, maybe find Christine early on so that she didn't have so many trouble with her parents. It was sad that she couldn't speak with her sister Chandi. He was pretty sure he understood the feeling, even though he couldn't talk to Sirius or his parents again for different reasons.

"My family hates me too," he assured her as she was edging off to sleep. "Because I'm different. My mother died because a dark wizard felt that I was a threat and wanted to kill me before I became strong enough to kill him. My dad wouldn't let him go and he died, and then my mother put a protection spell on me before she died. That's the only reason I'm alive. Sometimes, sometimes I wish she hadn't done it because then I wouldn't have had to deal with life without them. I have no family anymore, because the family I did have was killed when I was lured into going somewhere I shouldn't have. After that, I really had nothing to live for except my friends, and now my friends are turning against me."

"I'm sorry," Christine whispered. It sounded as if she were on the edge of sleep, and Harry didn't respond except to pull her just a tiny bit closer than she'd been. She had been his friend for six hours, and his slave, and he was feeling more comfortable talking to her than he had with anyone in his life. Maybe it was because he knew she couldn't betray him, she was like a house-elf, and existed to serve. Even if the only thing she did was help him get out his feelings, it could be a good thing.

• Edited 2004.12.22 •