Dec. 23 – which is a Monday according to the 1996 UK calendar – is the day students leave for Christmas. Jan. 5, 1997 – a Sunday, the students return – and Jan. 6 is the day classes resume. Jan. 17 – a Friday, is the Slytherin/Ravenclaw match. Feb. 1 – Saturday, is the day Harry receives that bloody heart from Voldemort. Feb. 10 – Monday, is the day the announcement for the dance is made. The dance is on Feb. 14 – Friday. Feb. 17 – Monday, is the day Cho asks out Harry. Feb. 22 is the day of their date, which is a Saturday. Mar. 7 – a Friday, is the day Harry and Cho shag and Mar. 9 – is Sunday, the day the article comes out in Witch Weekly.
AN2: This chapter has masturbation in it and if that offends anyone you might want to skip over it. Since I don't know if will take this down for that scene you can all catch it on the sites listed on my profile. The usernames are listed as well. Also this story will be considered AU with the release of HBP. I haven't read it yet but have seen spoilers from others on it. So saying that, this story I think will be considered AU, at least mostly. I might include some stuff from book six, not sure yet. This will be post-OotP and pre-HBP. And now on to the story!
Chapter 15: Public Viewing, Humiliation and Hiding and a Concerned Blonde
Leaving the tower that morning with his friends and heading to the Great Hall Harry was filled with an unease that rivaled yesterdays. His stomach was clenching in an incomprehensible apprehension worst than the first of February. Licking his lips, mask firmly in place he walked into the Great Hall for breakfast and sat down at his spot at the Gryffindor table. The feeling in his stomach was taking away any appetite he had but he put some on his plate anyway and ate it just the same not wanting to draw suspicion. He didn't even taste the food as he chewed it and swallowed. One hand covering half his face he mechanically ate the food, tense and alert for something to happen. He engaged in conversation with his friends in an automatic mode. Glancing up he looked at the Slytherin table which he had unconsciously sat to face and scanned the table casually for that familiar and unique blonde hair. Seeing it he quirked an eyebrow when he caught Draco's eyes before turning back to his plate.
The flutter of wings alerted him to the arrival of the morning mail and his unease and apprehension went into a full blown attack on his stomach. Eyes fixed on the birds flying into the Hall he absently pushed his plate away as panic began to rise up in him. Surely, Cho wouldn't have done anything to publicly humiliate him? As owls started dropping the mail to they're recipients Harry's panic upped a notch. Swallowing around the lump in his throat that seemed to have taken permanent residence there he calmly as possible brought his orange juice up to his lips to drink. When he heard the gasps and the exclamations he closed his eyes having a feeling that whatever it was about it had something to do with him.
"Oh my," Hermione whispered across from him, her voice sounding shocked. "Harry…" she trailed off and Harry looked up into her wide brown eyes. She looked back down at what was in her hands before turning it to him. Harry gaped at the front page before clamping his jaw tightly shut, face going red from embarrassment and anger.
Witch Weekly Exclusive: Harry Potter 'The Boy-Who-Lived'
And what all you single ladies want to know
From the personal experience of
Cho Chang!
Harry looked up feeling completely mortified as he heard the whispered conversations about the article.
"Merlin, it even has pictures of him shirtless..."
"Completely naked too…though his bits were blurred out..."
"Oh look! It even has a description of his..."
Harry reddened further if possible and bit his lip as the people started staring, leering at him. Turning around he looked to the Ravenclaw table, more importantly Cho and saw her talking and giggling with a bunch of other girls. When the girl next to her tapped her shoulder and pointed in his direction Cho looked up and gave him a deceptively sweet smile, eyes glinting smugly. She even had the nerve to blow him a kiss! Face flushed with anger and embarrassment but trying and halfway succeeding in looking impassive, knowing he had many eyes on him, he stood and as calmly as possible strode from the Great Hall running once he was out of sight of the entrance.
He ran all the way to the tower, choked out the password and ran inside up to his dorm. He couldn't deal with this, not today, not any day really, but he couldn't deal with the stares and questions right now. Grabbing his backpack that was stuffed with some of his things, he grabbed the Marauders Map and he threw on the invisibility cloak, spelled the curtain to be inaccessible to those outside of it to give him time to get where he wanted and left the dorm. He didn't want to deal with anything or anyone right now, not even Ron and Hermione. Getting to the portrait he moved out of the way just in time as it burst open and the two people he was just thinking about came rushing in. as they rushed past his invisible form he slipped out the closing portrait. Pulling in a deep breath he collected himself a bit and walked away from Gryffindor tower. He had one place in mind to go and knew that no one would find him there. His secret rooms; Salazar Slytherin's rooms.
Draco couldn't believe it even seeing it and almost predicting it he still couldn't believe it! Cho had told all she knew about that encounter with Harry the other night, right down to the size and description of his…well. Draco was a bit flustered as he read Pansy's copy of Witch Weekly and made a decision to steal one from a younger year. He forced himself to smirk at the plight of Harry Potter when someone commented on Potter being taken down a peg. Looking up he caught sight of the black haired boy leaving the Hall and bit his lip. He wanted to go after him because, yes, he was concerned. There was no dismissing that fact. But he held himself in check from years of Malfoy training under his bastard of a father. He joined in on the taunting and jeering of his housemates feeling like a prat for laughing and saying some of the things he said.
Standing up he walked towards a younger year and snatched a copy of the magazine from her hands with a snarled, "Give me that!" firmly ignoring her glare and sulky expression. With a smirk at his housemates who stood to follow him he turned and stalked from the Great Hall with a small swagger to his hips. He didn't think Harry would be showing his face for awhile considering how red it had been. And if he knew Harry, which he thought he did pretty well by now, than the Golden Boy who wasn't so golden, Draco knew would be hiding out somewhere no one would or could find. With a sigh he headed to the common room as he knew it would be expected of him to make comments about the article with his housemates but once that was done he was going to his room, intent to peruse the article in the magazine privately.
Minerva McGonagall couldn't believe her eyes. In all her years as a teacher she had never seen what she was now reading. Having demanded a copy from a student of her house she had leaned over to Albus and shared the article with the old Headmaster. She'd known Harry Potter to get himself into many a mess before but this was the icing on the cake! Looking to Albus she saw that even he looked surprised by this turn of events. Looking across the Great Hall the old witch saw that a slow building of chaos was starting. Girls were running from table to table chatting and giggling with other girls, the whispering was getting louder; from the sound like the buzz of a hundred bees too a low key roar, the volume was getting louder.
Minerva looked to the Ravenclaw table and pinpointed Cho Chang out immediately. She was swamped by girls and some guys who all seemed to be gushing over her and gesturing to the magazines they held. Looking closely she looked at Cho's face thinking the girl must be as mortified as her student, who she had seen leaving the law. What she saw though made her lips thin into a line as she pursed them and caused her eyebrow to scrunch together. The 7th Ravenclaw looked happy, even smug as she gloated and preened among the masses of students.
"Albus," she said sharply turning her eyes to the older man. "You must do something!" she hissed glaring frantically around the Hall.
Dumbledore looked at the article and shook his head sighing a bit. This wasn't something Harry needed right now. Harry deserved any and all privacy he could get and this was just wrong. Sighing again he looked to Minerva. "Breakfast is over anyway, we will send the students to do what they going to do for the day." He said looking around the Hall.
"What about Potter and Chang? Did you see the look on her face?" Minerva asked, her old face flushing a bit in her anger.
Dumbledore looked to the Ravenclaw table, looked to Cho Chang and saw what his transfiguration professor was talking about. The girl was still looking smug and smirking as she conversed with the others around her. Dumbledore narrowed his eyes as he thought what this little bit of information could mean. He looked back to Minerva. "Call both Ms. Chang and Mr. Potter to my office Minerva," he said as he stood up. "I believe breakfast is over," he said to the now quiet Hall. "Go about your day everyone! Ms. Chang if you will follow me to my office?" he said before stepping down from the teachers table and making his way from the Hall.
Minerva watched with a guilty bit of satisfaction as that Chang girl paled slightly before recovering her composure and standing from the table, also making her way from the Hall.
"Seems Potter's found another way to garner attention," a silky voice sneered from beside her. Looking up she looked into the black fathomless gaze of her colleague, Severus Snape and felt like sneering herself almost.
"I don't think Potter is behind this Severus and you really need to let that grudge you have go and stop acting like a child!" She snapped glaring at the black haired man and standing from her seat to collect Harry from where she thought he may be, Gryffindor Tower. She looked at Severus and saw his face flush red in what she gathered was anger, his glare enough to make a lesser person cower. She didn't bother to give him time to respond and turned on her heel and stalked from the slowly dwindling mass of the Great Hall. She didn't have time for a bitter man with petty grudges.
She made her way swiftly to the tower, her strides purposeful and set. She absently clutched her robes as she made her way thinking about the things that happened within the last month. First Harry had received that awful package on the first of February; a bleeding heart said to be in honor of his mother and now this! The boy poor boy, she thought. She knew the boy never had any real privacy, knew he wouldn't the moment he had received that title but this was atrocious. How someone could slander the boy like he was shown today, she didn't know. And she had a feeling that Chang girl had something to do with it.
She sniffed as she continued her brisk pace. She didn't condone casual sex as the children of the last few years seemed to be fond of but she knew hormones ran rampant and that having all these teenagers in the castle was bound to result in them having sexual acts among each other. It's happened since she's been teaching and she knew it would continue to happen. Making it to the portrait of the Fat Lady she barked out the password ignoring the "How Rude!" that came from the portraits inhabitant and strode into the common room.
Looking around she saw Ron and Hermione sitting on one of the couches anxiously, talking to each other. She strode over to them briskly. "Weasley, Granger," she said as they looked up. "Is Potter in the dorm?"
They exchanged a look before Ron spoke up. "His curtains on his bed are spelled shut and he wouldn't answer when we called him but we thinks he's up there," Ron said nervously glancing towards the stairs.
"We tried spelling them open but the locking charm is one we can't counter," Hermione said, a bit of confusion and frustration coming through her worried tone.
Minerva pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes before stalking towards the stairs that lead to the boys dorms. "The Headmaster wants to see him so he will have to come out," she said over her shoulder as she strode up the stairs. She could hear Ron and Hermione following behind her but ignored them as she made her way to the sixth year boy's dorm. Walking into the room she made her way over to the one four poster with closed curtains.
"Potter?" she asked as she came to the curtains. "Potter answer me, the Headmaster wishes to see you!" she snapped when no answer came. Sighing in frustration she pulled out her wand and went about casting unlocking charms on the curtains. When none of the easier unlocking charms worked she huffed quietly before trying another one. This one worked as the curtains glowed very faintly. Pocketing her wand she grasped the curtains in her hands and pulled them open. The bed was empty of any sign of Harry Potter. Looking briefly confused she continued to stare at the bed before scowling. She turned towards her two Gryffindors. "He's not here," she said looking at the two students in front of her. "Did you see him leave?"
"No, when we came back here we checked his bed which had its curtains locked. We didn't see him leave," Hermione said as Ron and she exchanged another look. Minerva pursed her lips and looked annoyed.
"You didn't see him at all?" she asked and the two shook they're heads again. She looked at them closely before decided that they were telling the truth. "Well then," she said as she turned on her heel and began to head back towards the door. "If you see him let him know immediately that the Headmaster wishes to have a word with him," she said as she walked out the door. She decided to head to the Headmasters office and tell him of this development and see what he may suggest.
Back in the dorm Ron and Hermione waited in silence for a moment as McGonagall left. Once they were sure there Head of House was gone Hermione turned to Ron.
"Do you think he even came back here?" Ron asked as Hermione looked at him, her confusion and worry evident.
"I don't know," Hermione said kneeling down to Harry's trunk. She grasped the lid and yanked it open and began rummaging through the contents. She could hear the common room filling up as the students came in and searched more frantically.
"Do you think you should really be going through his stuff Mione?" Ron asked nervously as he watched what his girlfriend was doing.
"Ronald," she said in that tone of voice as she continued to search. "After what happened this morning and with Harry not being here like we thought he could be anywhere. What happened was humiliating," she said and then let out a groan of frustration. "Its not here, his cloak, its not here," she rambled as she searched a bit more.
"What about the map?" he asked looking to the door where he could here people coming up.
"No, no, no" she chanted as she gave a huff and shut the trunk. "Neither are in there he must have slipped out under the cloak and took the map with him." She said just as the other occupants of the dorm came in. She threw Ron another worried look and she bit her lip.
"Hey Hermione what are you doing up her?" Dean asked as he sat on the floor in front of his trunk and began going through it.
"McGonagall wanted to speak to Harry and I came up here with Ron to get him," she said as she sat down on top of Harry's trunk.
"How is Harry? After what happened this morning he must be feeling awful," Neville said sitting on his own bed.
"He wasn't in here and we don't know where he is," Ron said with a sigh.
"What do you mean?" Seamus asked looking from Ron to Hermione with wide eyes.
"Exactly that," Hermione said. "We don't know where he is. When we came to find him his curtains were closed and locked with a spell and we couldn't open them. We had thought he was there but ignoring us. McGonagall came to get him for the Headmaster but when she got the curtains open he wasn't there," she explained with a small shrug.
"Do you know where he might be? Maybe we could go look for him," Neville said. Ron looked at his girlfriend and shrugged.
"It's worth a try," he said.
"Come on Neville lets you; I and Ron see if we can't find him, I know a few places he may be." Hermione said as she stood from the trunk.
"You guys want more help?" Dean asked looking up from the book in his hands.
"No, you two staying in the common room?" she asked.
"No heading to the library," Seamus answered.
"You guys see if he's there while you're at it. If he is tell him the Headmaster wants him," she said and the two boys nodded before she, Ron and Neville left the room to start they're search for they're friend.
Draco was leaning back against the pillows of his bed in his room, the Witch Weekly magazine he had taken from that girl in his lap. He had just left his housemates in the common room where they had spent sometime bad-mouthing Harry.
Flashback
Walking into the Slytherin common room Draco sat in his customary chair smirking for all he was worth while inside he felt guilty. Sending a silent apology to Harry wherever he was he turned to his housemates mask in place.
"Did you see the way Potter fled the hall?" Pansy laughed as she sat in a chair, eyes alight with mirth.
"Talk about the brave Gryffindor," Millicent Bulstrode guffawed from her seat.
"Yes, it was about time Potter got humiliated for something. Probably off to hide away like a coward now," Draco drawled forcing a smooth and easy chuckle from his throat.
"Who knew Chang had it in her though? This little stunt was worthy of a Slytherin and she did look pretty smug about the article." Blaise said thoughtfully.
"Your right Blaise," Theodore Nott said nodding his head of brown hair. "Potter probably didn't even see it coming being the Golden Boy Gryffindor that he is."
Draco smirked at this but not for the reasons any of the Slytherins might have thought. He was smirking because he knew Harry had a bit of Slytherin tendencies and that he had seen at least some kind of disaster coming. Maybe not this type of trouble but he was aware of something coming. And Draco also knew Harry wasn't as golden as many thought him to be.
"You almost sound sorry for him Nott," a voice like warm velvet said. Draco barely held himself from wincing but did tense a bit. That voice he knew belonged to Morgan Ennis one of the coldest female Slytherins. She was a seventh year and related to Augustus Rookwood by her mother who was Rookwood's sister. It was also known that she wasn't too fond of Theodore as she thought him to be weak and a disgrace to his family. The room went silent at her statement.
"I'm not," Theodore snapped. "I'm just saying that the little half-blood probably didn't see it coming." His voice was steady as he looked Ennis in the eye. She stared back at him with dark eyes and gave him a sneer but said nothing more.
End Flashback
Not long after that Draco had taken his leave and headed to his room. Now he was here in the privacy of his room perusing the magazine. It had Chang's description of the night, or at least the shagging. There were also pictures of Harry in different states of undress. Looking at the pictures closely he had to admire Harry's form. He was lithe and lightly muscled, a little on the thin side but other than that he had an attractive body. Draco felt himself flush as he imagined what that body would feel like pressed up against his, rubbing against his, thrusting against his. Biting his bottom lip he cupped his half-hard erection with his hand and put pressure on it, rubbing his cock lightly. Glancing at the picture of Harry's naked body, the important bits blurred out, he cursed softly and set the magazine aside and began unzipping his pants and pulling them down onto his thighs.
(Check one of the sites in my profile for the delelted scene)Once spent he was gasping, eyes closed and lips parted as he tried to regain his breathing. He opened his eyes still panting lightly and sighed as he sat up. He took in a deep breath before rising from the bed. He shook his head as his thoughts went to what he'd just done. He'd just gotten off to pictures of his friend and said friend had been completely humiliated in front of the whole school not even two hours ago. There had been very few times when Draco felt ashamed of himself or things he'd done and this was one of those times. With a grimace he padded into the bathroom to wash away the shame and the evidence of it.
(AN: this will go back a bit too just as Harry enters his secret room)
Harry got to his secret room without any problems, hissed out the password and went through the opening. Walking into the large common room he flopped down onto the plush green couch. He dropped into the chair and stared at the empty fireplace apathetically. He ignored the hissed questions from the runespoor portrait above. He just stared into the barren fireplace.
He knew many people would want him only for the fact that he was the Boy-Who-Lived. He had known this since 2nd year though, when it became obvious that to many people he was the Boy-Who-Lived over being just Harry Potter. It was only painfully obvious when people turned on him for thinking he was the heir of Slytherin, isolated him, and stared at him with hate and fear. But the second he was found out to be innocent, to not be the heir he was liked and fawned over with awe again. It was the same in 4th year when his name came out of the Goblet of Fire. Half the school turned against him including his best friend Ron.
Ron's jealousy showed through that year and to Harry, no matter how much he tried to deny it and ignore it, it showed that at least a part of Ron saw him as being more the Boy-Who-Lived than just Harry. He remembered the spark of bitterness he saw in Ron's eyes that first night after his name came from the Goblet. Ron had wanted to know why Harry hadn't included him in on how to get his name into the Goblet and his bitterness and jealousy shown through more than anything that day. And while Ron had apologized for his behavior and Harry had accepted it he hadn't been able to keep the traitorous thought of "but will it happen again, Ron? Will you turn on me again when my fame comes into play?" from invading his mind.
And when he slept with Cho he had been well aware that it was probably more to do with his Boy-Who-Lived status than anything else. And he had accepted it with a certain amount of bitterness and resignation. But he hadn't expected this! An article on the whole sordid exploit in one of the most read wizarding tabloids. A tabloid almost the whole of the female population of Hogwarts received and many of the magical population as a whole. He could have dealt with her gloating it around the school though it would have been no less humiliating. But this was more than just a hundred students or whatever. This was a large portion of the magical world. He had to breathe deeply to keep himself from panicking or getting angrier than he was.
He could feel his anger rising as he thought about it and stood from his seat. He immediately began to pace in front of the fireplace. Four steps one way stop and turn and four steps the other. He was trying to calm himself down, to cut off the build up of rage that was threatening to overtake him. He could feel his magic stirring around him and within him. Inhaling deeply he held it, turned, paced four steps and let it out slowly. The tension eased a bit but not enough.
"Harry your glowing!" The hissed exclamation from the left head of the snake, Atropos, said.
"He's not glowing," Erinyes hissed scathingly. "He's got sparks coming off of him!"
"She's right you know," Morpheus hissed quietly, calmly. "Its more like sparks than a glow."
Harry had stopped his pacing, startled, at the comments coming from the portrait. Raising his arms he looked down at the bare skin – he was wearing short sleeves – and saw what the runespoor was talking about. He had tiny lightning bolts of red, green, brown, white, silver and grey crackling up and down his arms. Looking down at the rest of his body he noticed that even over his clothes he could see the same colored lightning bolts arcing on his body. Distracted from his previous troubles he stared at himself opened-mouth and wide eyed.
"What's happening to me?" He whispered as he watched the bolts twist around each other and jump from finger tip to finger tip. He was mesmerized and frightened at the same time. He didn't remember this ever happening to him before and he'd been angry plenty of times before. He noticed as he looked on closely that the sparks weren't touching his skin but was moving above the skin. Reaching a hand to touch his other arm he hesitated briefly before attempting to probe a bolt that was arcing up his forearm. The dual colored bolt arched from his arm to his finger and traveled up the new arm with a soft 'zip' sound and a tiny sting.
"Salazar used to do that," Erinyes stated.
"He would say that he was leaking magic," Morpheus said.
Harry looked up at the portrait and stared at the three-headed snake a moment. The words took just a second longer than necessary to register but Harry was shocked from two previous events and one couldn't expect him to catch onto everything quickly. "Salazar Slytherin…leaked magic? What do you mean?" He asked.
"When he got... angry, he would have sparks coming off him like you do now," Atropos said. "Though the colors around him if I remember correctly had been red, yellow, grey, gold, and silver I believe."
As Harry talked to the runespoor his anger had slowly dissipated as his curiosity took over. When he looked back down at himself the sparks had disappeared. Looking back up at the portrait he said: "Did Salazar ever say anything about him leaking magic? Why it happens? Anything?"
"Not really say," Morpheus said as he looked down at Harry. "He tended to speak – as you would say – our language when agitated. He would pace and rant. Talk about excessive emotion and magic, controlling it and such. We don't know much but you can always check the library." Morpheus looked at the other two heads at this and they bobbed their heads in agreement.
"Now," Erinyes said seeming to drawl as it hissed. It always amused and disturbed Harry a bit when she would talk like that. "Are you going to tell us what had you so angry when you came in here?"
Harry looked at the portrait of the runespoor for a moment, blankly, before coming back to himself. He frowned and gritted his teeth. He frowned again looking thoughtful. He had known that something was going to happen even if he hadn't imagined anything of this magnitude. Now that he had calmed down he could look at it clearly and he realized that while he was incredibly angry about it he had expected something. Deep down he had expected something big and definitely humiliating but he hadn't thought of it being more public than the school. Sighing he gave the portrait a bitter smile. "It's nothing you three, just an incident with a smug, vain, petty bint who doesn't even matter. For now though," Harry said with a smile that wasn't quite as bitter. "I've got a bit of a research to do." With that he turned and left the sitting room, heading to the library connected to the room through the door on the right.
He didn't leave those rooms at all that day.
After leaving the tower Minerva had made her way to the Headmasters office and informed him about Harry's missing status. Dumbledore, confident Harry was still within the school or at least on the grounds, had passed along the message for the portraits and ghosts to keep an eye out for him. But he wasn't seen the rest of the day or that night which had many of the professors, excluding Severus, worried over his absence as well as his friends when they couldn't find him anywhere either. Draco was mildly worried about Harry's absence also but knew Harry was off somewhere where no one could find him. He knew Harry would reappear when he was ready to and not until. And while all this was going on the school was overrun with gossip and talk on the article. It was an interest Sunday in Hogwarts.
AN: Okay everybody I have a few things to add to this. The colors of the sparks on Harry and what the colors mean: I'm using information from: A Complete Guide to Magic and Ritual by Cassandra Eason. Some things, if there are any who have read or will read the book, have been tweaked a bit to fit my purpose but the information source belongs to Cassandra Eason.
White: The color of divinity and the life force. It represents light, vitality and boundless energy.
Black: The color of not only death, but also of regeneration. It represents marking the boundaries of the past and moving forward towards the future.
Red: A color in many traditions that represents blood or the essence of life. The color can also represent power, physical energy and determination, along with courage when facing opposition and change under difficult circumstances.
Orange: The color of fertility, whether personal or to bring a project to fruition and to find personal happiness.
Yellow: Traditionally the color of the mind and communication and has sometimes been associated with jealousy and treachery. It can also represent intellectual achievement, learning and travel, along with facing mental challenges or when it is important to express your self clearly or to change location.
Green: The color of the heart, love and emotions. Has an association with the garden and growth.
Blue: Is the 'healing' color and the color of the spirit. It is the color of conventional wisdom and limitless possibilities. Blue can expand the possibilities in boundaries and create confidence. Blue can also be for idealism when dealing with officialdom and when seeking justice.
Purple: Purple provides a link with higher dimension, with nobility of spirit and with inspirations. Purple can also represent when you need to trust you inner voice and for psychic development and spiritual strength.
Brown: The color of the Earth and the Earth spirits. Rich, vibrant brown represents rooted power and instinctive wisdom. It is also the color of affinity with the natural world and acts as a protective force.
Pink: Represent the gentler aspects of love and kindness. It is also the color of reconciliation and harmony and can induce quiet sleep.
Grey: The shade of compromise and adaptability. It is also the color of invisibility and protection against psychic attacks.
Gold: Gold represents the heights of worldly achievement, wealth and recognition. It also represents money, long life and great ambitions, for confidence to aim high and achieve your dreams.
Silver: Silver represents dreams, visions, and a desire for fulfillment beyond the material world. Sliver can also represent intuition and sudden insights especially in your dreams and can also mean bringing hidden potential to the fore.
The colors and what's happening to Harry will be explained later on but just keep it in mind!