I'm looking for a name for this chapter, and I'd like any errors to be pointed out since I don't have a beta yet. That is part of the reason this chapter took so long, because I really didn't want to release it without someone going over it – I hate badly written chapters – and so I kept this locked away for a long time. There were other reasons too of course, some much bigger than a beta. Anyway, let me know what you think.

Chapter 14
• Questions •

Outside, in the common room, most of the younger students dropped their eyes as soon as he looked their way. They seemed to have some sort of respect for him, but it was fear-induced respect, likely due to the fact that he'd spoken the language of their house. Though Blaise hadn't told him why, he somehow understood that even his presence commanded authority now.

He moved into the shadows of the room, listening to the students come and go from their classes. He knew he should probably go to his, but he didn't want to yet, not until Christine was fully ready, and the blood between he and his former friends had begun to boil down. That was going to take a long time, so he might have to do some studying on his own. He'd have to ask Blaise for the notes to the classes, since they were in a lot of the same ones, if not more of them.

Brandi appeared out of a door that hadn't existed before and moved across the room with fluid grace. She didn't see Harry watching her, even though he wasn't concealed very well. Neither did Malfoy who, upon seeing her, moved to intercept. Harry shifted his position slightly, managing not to be seen as he moved within hearing distance.

It was difficult not to laugh, it was like watching a mouse try and tame a cat. Of course, the mouse was longer, much more like a ferret, and had an air of superiority about it. However, things just don't work when dealing with someone that was clearly of a different, and much lower, species. Harry couldn't help but snort quietly when Malfoy suggested to her, quietly, that they attend the next trip to Hogsmeade together.

It was then, when her eyes became angry slits, that Harry chose to move forward and stop the little meeting. He didn't know Brandi that well, but he felt he owed her, and he certainly would like to make Malfoy angrier now that the platinum haired boy couldn't do anything to him. "Brandi," he said cheerfully. "I was thinking of staying around the castle next trip to Hogsmeade. Would you care to keep me company?"

Brandi rounded on him, stared for a second and then smiled brightly. She turned back to Malfoy after a nod. Truth-be-told, Harry wasn't even sure when the next Hogsmeade trip was. It had to be a few weeks away at least, but it really didn't matter; he went to Hogsmeade whenever he wanted, and no one knew any better except for Tonks, and she had sworn not to tell anyone about it as long as she was with him.

"Well," Harry said brightly as she strolled away, leaving Malfoy standing in front of Harry slowly turning magenta. "I trust that that clears things up." Any anger he'd had earlier was completely drowned out as he watched Malfoy's agitation grow. Harry grinned in return, not really worrying about what was going to happen.

"Potter!" Malfoy growled angrily. "What the bloody hell are you doing here?"

"Being entertained at present," Harry said smugly, watching Brandi stroll away. He found it flattering when she glanced back at him and smiled. However, Malfoy decided that he didn't like being dismissed so easily and raised his wand. Harry immediately shifted his focus back to his enemy.

"You do know, Malfoy, that girls respond much better to people that don't smell of rats, right?" Harry said, amused that Malfoy was threatening him.

Another throaty growl came from Malfoy, this one sounding particularly heinous. "Draco, do tell me, what happened with your cronies Twiddle Dee Dumb and Twiddle Dee Dumber?" Harry asked, noticing for the first time that neither of them was anywhere near. Without them Malfoy seemed almost... ordinary, like another student at the school.

Malfoy blinked, the reference making no sense to him, but he did get the point and it wasn't long before he was shaking with rage.

"You should know," he growled ominously, or at least as ominous as was possible for Malfoy. "They're doing things for the Leviathans, something for the new guest that's been given the privilege to enter the Slytherin common room."

Harry smirked. He was quite happy that the Leviathans had given him approval to stay and that Malfoy hated the thought of it. Even though he didn't plan to it just made things more fun.

"Well, it's good to know that everyone loves me here." Harry teased, waiting for Malfoy to rebel. He'd been quite surprised to find out that Malfoy wasn't one of the Leviathans that controlled everything and was curious to know who the two males that had been hidden were.

He assumed it was likely someone he'd never met face to face, since the only times he'd seen Blaise before today was in classes, and she had been quite the recluse most of the time. Even though she'd made a name for herself over the past year it was only a name and rumors.

Then there was Veranda who he'd never met at all, and given her size, he was quite surprised. Even though she'd been held back from graduating she was in 7th year now, which meant that it was likely that she was in at least one or two of Harry's classes, and yet he couldn't recall ever seeing her. He'd have to ask her about that sometime.

"Don't worry about it too much Draco, I don't plan on staying around for too long. I wouldn't want to get used to looking at your face; it might permanently taint any positive views of Slytherin that have been forming."

"Christine," Harry said, and the woman, who'd been waiting at the edge of the room moved forward, following behind him. Three younger Slytherins saw him coming and scooted out of the way, not forgoing a long stare. When he returned it they looked down and kept their eyes glued to the ground.

"Where do you want to go Christine, are you hungry?"

Almost immediately Harry felt a presence, like someone was standing there next to him and he turned to look who it was. Crabbe had simply appeared out of thin air, towering over him. Harry blinked away his surprise and noticed that Goyle wasn't far off, standing in a darkened doorway. Malfoy seemed shocked to see the both of them as well, as he had his mouth open.

"You are not supposed to do that," Crabbe said slowly. Harry looked at Malfoy again, and then to Crabbe, noticing that his wand was in hand and pointed, oddly enough, at Malfoy.

"Out of the way Crabbe," Malfoy hissed, raising his wand again.

However Crabbe wasn't listening, he simply stood there, overshadowing Harry, like a monolith. Goyle moved forward stepping next to his friend. "They have said he is not to be harmed," Goyle said, his words crisp but still relatively slow, and Harry wasn't sure if he was stupid, or if he was trying to make a point with Malfoy.

"He goaded me," Malfoy snapped, not ready to lay his wand down, but facing his two former bodyguards, he seemed to be rethinking his actions.

Harry was completely astonished. He'd always thought of Crabbe and Goyle as peons who did exactly what Malfoy asked, but it seemed that the Leviathans had more sway than Malfoy did.

"They do not care. He is not overstepping his bounds."

Crabbe turned to Harry, stared at him for a moment and then made a motion with his hands. "You may go," he said, "Draco will not harm you."

Doing as Crabbe suggested, Harry found it almost impossible to walk, at least without Christine leading him along, since she had no idea exactly how odd it was for that scene to have happened.

In the hallways, after they'd walked for a while, Harry finally regained the ability to speak. He looked to Christine and noticed that she was slightly shaken up by the encounter and he stopped thinking about how odd it was, and focused on her. "Do you not like Malfoy?" he asked.

"He... reminds me of someone," Christine said quietly. "Not when I first met him, but now he does, and it's frightening."

"Do you remember what I first told you about him?" Harry asked, and Christine nodded. "Well, if he gives you any trouble at all I'll make sure he gets what's coming to him. He's quite a pest and I've been waiting for a good reason to duel him for a long time."

The memory of dueling Malfoy in his second year entered his mind; the snake that had caused so much trouble was the most pressing though. If only he had known he wouldn't have done it, but everything was said and done now. Maybe next time he'd conjure dozens of snakes and set them on Malfoy, see what happened to the boy. He was a Slytherin after all; he should feel comfortable surrounded by snakes.

That was not right, Harry thought to himself. Not all Slytherins were bad, Brandi seemed to be quite upfront, and so did Blaise, though they had completely different methods of accomplishing the same feat. Many of the younger students didn't seem nearly as devious and evil as Malfoy did.

The door slid open and Harry walked into the dungeon's halls, followed closely by Christine. It was the afternoon, so there was not likely any food in the great hall, which meant that the only way of procuring food would be to go straight to the source.

It took a few minutes roaming the halls and Harry had to wonder what he was missing in his classes. It was Tuesday, which meant he should be going to Care of Magical Creatures, but he was sure that Hagrid would let him off if he sent a message and stopped by later; the giant let him get away with just about anything.

They approached the portrait and Harry reached up to tickle the pear while Christine watched. When the doorway appeared she let out a small oomph of surprise, but followed Harry in. It took longer than normal for the elves to swarm, and Harry absentmindedly noted that there was no Dobby within the crowd.

"We'd like some sandwiches," Harry said quietly, "and some pumpkin juice."

Instantly, two elves trotted up with a platter of food and drinks. Christine was watching them with utter amazement as Harry found a place to sit. "These are the elves of Hogwarts," Harry explained. "They're a bit like slaves, at least according to Hermione, but they do their job because they enjoy it, and they're very good at it."

Several of the elves nodded quickly, and he noticed that a few of them had sour expressions when he had mentioned Hermione, but were happy to hear him say they were good at their jobs. He pointed a few of them out that he knew from his constant visits to Dobby, giving Christine their names. All of them seemed quite proud to be singled out, and puffed up a little as they went back to doing whatever it was they were doing. Christine tried one of the sandwiches, then, when she'd determined that it tasted good, she wolfed it down. Harry poured her some pumpkin juice and she drank it down just as quickly.

"You don't have to eat so fast," Harry commented, and Christine stopped altogether, looking up at Harry who had yet to touch his food.

"I am sorry Master," she said quickly dropping her food, "I didn't let you eat first."

Harry laughed and shook his head. He was a little hungry, but so many other things occupying his mind, so food wasn't his first priority. "No Christine, it's not that. I want you to eat. I was just telling you that you didn't have to eat so fast, if you want more they can bring it, and we can stay here for as long as it takes for you to fill up. I'm trying to determine if I want to return to the Slytherin common rooms or go somewhere else."

Christine looked at her food awkwardly, as if trying to determine if she should start eating again.

"Eat," Harry commanded, seeing her pause. "I want you to be in good health and if you don't eat you won't be."

Finally returning to her food, Christine took it a little slower; finishing off the sandwich in twice the time it had taken her to eat the first half. She actually chewed it up before swallowing. Harry took a few bites of his, still wondering where they should go. He hadn't met up with Tonks again so he was worried if he wandered around for too long she'd appear and follow him like another servant, and he really had his hands full with just one of them.

After the way he'd been refused at Gryffindor Tower, he knew he wasn't going to go back there for at least a few days. Rules be dammed, he didn't want to deal with Hermione and her attitude. Locking him out of the common room had really done it for him, and he no longer was even wondering if he should try and salvage their friendship.

That left the other three houses. He was sure he could get into any one of them right now. Luna was still his friend, she'd been Ginny's friend, and he was sure she wouldn't see the fact that he had a slave as something that was completely idiotic or immoral. She wasn't the sort of person that had a normal perspective on things. And he knew at least Susan was still his friend, after passing her in the hall earlier he had been happy to get such a good response from her. It was nice to know that the Hufflepuffs hadn't turned their back on him altogether.

He had another idea though, at least until classes were over, something that would benefit both he and Christine. He finished off his pumpkin juice and Christine immediately poured him another cup before he could say a word. Her sandwiches had disappeared almost completely, and Harry decided that the Room of Requirements would be the best place for now. The DA still met there periodically, but after what had happened he knew that they wouldn't find a prolonged meeting unusual. Besides, N.E.W.T.s were coming up in a few months, and O.W.L.s for the fifth years, the DA had already been warned that they wouldn't be meeting as much during that time.

As he stood an elf appeared and took the platters, disappearing into the back rooms with them. He saw the elves glancing his way with happy faces. He smiled back and thanked the kitchen as a whole before leaving.

"You told me about Dragons and Unicorns before," Christine said once they were outside, "but how many other sorts of magical creatures are there?"

Harry smiled. He remembered he and Tonks going over some of the things two nights before, when they'd slept in Firenze's Forest, but they really hadn't gone into too much depth; there was simply too much to go over. "Oh, hundreds of different things," Harry said. "Hagrid, the gamekeeper, is a half-giant and he's got a half-brother, Grawp, who's a real giant, though he's a little short for his species. He's got a three-headed dog that's twice as tall as I am. He happens to love all sorts of creatures. I've had run-ins with werewolves in the forest, and spiders that are the size of elephants. There are vampires too, and banshees, shrews, hags, mermaids... though the ones here aren't the fairy-tale mermaids that you see in storybooks, they're quite dreadful looking. If you've heard about it in legend it's probably something that exists or has existed.

"Trolls, like in the books I read when I was younger? And Goblins?"

"Yes, both. They're a little different than what you read about in storybooks because muggles haven't seen them in ages, so they create fantasies about them."

Christine smiled. "I always wanted to see a goblin; they sounded so fascinating."

"They're not, not really," Harry said, remembering his first time he'd seen a goblin. It had startled him, but he'd only learned about being a wizard just hours before seeing them. At least she'd have some time to prepare for them. "They're definitely different, but they're fierce too, and very concerned about money. They run the only wizarding banks in the world."

"You have banks?" Christine asked. "Do you have money?"

"It's not like muggle money, but of course we do."

"No," Christine said, slowing. "Do you have money?"

The question surprised Harry a little bit. He supposed it was because no one had ever asked him. He wasn't sure exactly how to answer though. He was rich, filthy rich. He had received both his parents inheritance and the black inheritance as Sirius' last request. Only a few people even knew about it, including Dumbledore, who had insisted on being present at the reading of the will.

At some point years and years ago, the Black family had been given the prestige of becoming Duke of Tarrant by King Edward III. His mistress, Alice Perrers, being a prominent member of his court and also the daughter of an Earl Black (only known to those who had an understanding of the magical world) had convinced the king to do so.

Apparently, not long after she had been accused of witchcraft, and to avoid being found out, the king's memory had been altered and the town wiped from existence. The town had gone unchanged since, a place that was completely outside of the normal realm in some sense. Muggles still resided there, living their lives as they had for hundreds of years, not realizing the changes that had gone on around them. So, Harry became Harry James Potter-Black, Duke of Tarrant.

The problem was that Harry didn't know exactly what to do with them. The ministry had denied its existence ages before, because the Black family had not paid taxes on it, and so it had become a vacuum of space, uncharted, unwanted, a black hole in the English countryside. They were quite self-sufficient, and though generally poor, they were happy in a way that few could understand. Dumbledore had been trying to bring the village back into the world, but Harry hadn't allowed it, he wasn't sure it was the best thing for them.

He had visited once, during a weekend the other students had gone off to Hogsmeade. He'd been met like a king, somehow they'd known he was coming. Of course, he never told anyone else, Hermione would go ballistic about a whole town of people that were more like slaves than people – and this had been his thoughts long before she found out about Christine.

It was nice there, somewhat repressed, but much different than the outside world. The people there, muggle or magical, knew of magic, they had come to accept it, and accept their roles in life. The few magical people that lived there were educated there and rarely traveled. Generally they became leaders of the community, but rarely did they leave, and even more rarely was one who did not return and try to forget the outside world.

The Blacks had not forgotten, they had held the town and its inhabitance as a cherished piece of property, the secrets of it passed on only to the heir. Harry had been considering it a place to disappear to, a place where he could live with magic, but away from the wizarding world, a haven of sorts.

Sighing, he looked at Christine and smiled. "Yes," he said finally. "I have enough money that you never need to worry about anything."

"You do not act as such, is money plentiful in this magical world?"

Harry looked up at her, and remembered she'd come from a family that was well off. "No, I don't know all about it, but I know that people are people, magical or not, and just like in the muggle world some people are rich and some are poor, it is simply the way things are done."

The defiant attitude he had about it caused Christine to shrink apologetically. "I am sorry master," she said, bowing before him as if she had wronged him immensely. "I have offended you."

Feeling somewhat uncomfortable at her presence, Harry took her hand and pulled her to her feet. "No, it's not your fault. I just hate what I have sometimes. Everything about my life, from the beginning has been screwed up. I have more than most people can imagine, and sometimes it feels as if I have nothing at all."

Gripping her hand like a life preserver, Harry headed straight towards the Room of Requirements.

•

I'm not much in the mood to answer questions. If you really need to know something, ask on my group, if you can get in.