WARNING: I think these warnings are mostly useful for those of you who look specifically for the scenes of a sexual nature. Don't deny it, I know you're out there. Such a scene can be found just about half-way through this chapter.

Author's note: I've started remodeling what will become my daughter's room, so updates might take longer that usual because I will have less free time on my hands.

I considered this chapter title, and now I have Will Ferrell and Chris Kattan dancing in my head. If this confuses you, then you are either too young, or your taste in television is arguably better than mine was. Coincidentally, as I post this, it is Saturday night.

Thank you all for reading. I can't say it enough, you guys are awesome. As always, I love reading the reviews you leave for me, and as things are now, I have pages of notes that are filled with ideas spawned from reviews and private messages. I don't think this story would be half as good as it is without the inspiration from the feedback I've been receiving, so keep letting me know what you guys think. :)

-o-o-

Chapter 14

What is love?

-o-o-

"Wow, big plans for a hot date later on?" Susan commented, noting that Wednesday had put on rather daring underwear, and was pulling a corset out of her trunk. "Kind of risqué for breakfast don't you think?"

"Something like that." Wednesday agreed as she pulled on the too small corset, and began tightening and knotting the leather laces. The other girls cringed at how tight Wednesday was drawing the corset. "And I like how it feels."

Leanne whistled at the overall effect. "Got anything else in store for the poor boy? If Harry sees you dressed like that, he's going to be putty in your hands. I wouldn't be surprised if he'd let you put a collar on him." She joked as she finished getting dressed.

Susan and Hannah looked scandalized while Megan laughed. All of the girls were taken aback by what Wednesday pulled out of her trunk in response. A thick iron collar, that wouldn't be out of place in a dungeon, dangled from an equally thick chain.

"I wasn't really planning on it for today, but I did come prepared." Wednesday dropped the heavy collar on her bed, and reached back into her trunk

"Merlin Wednesday, what are you planning on doing?" Susan asked, looking slightly disturbed. "Between the rumors flying around, and you dressed like, well... that... I figured you were going to shag him, not chain him up and... what would you even do with that?"

"Okay, now I'm really curious." Leanne said as she walked over to peer into Wednesday's trunk. "What else do you have in there?"

"I don't even want to know." A blushing Hannah said as she threw up her hands. Making her way to the door, she called out, "I'm heading to breakfast, I'll pretend I don't even know this much... Just whatever you do, be careful, and don't get caught."

Wednesday looked at the curious faces of her roommates and shrugged. "I don't really have anything special, just whips, chains, nothing unusual."

A set of manacles and leg irons joined the collar on the bed, along with a coil of rough hemp rope, followed by a trio of different leather whips. Upon seeing the growing collection of 'toys' Susan and Megan followed Hannah's example, and rapidly escaped to breakfast, deciding that they really didn't want to know either.

Leanne looked fascinated, if not slightly confused. "I've heard of this sort of thing, but I didn't really think people actually did it. You really, um, tie him up and whip him? And he lets you? … Why?"

"It hasn't happened yet, and I wouldn't say he 'lets' me do anything. Playing is fun." Wednesday smiled widely with a wicked look in her eyes. "Regardless of which end of the knife you're on. It's exciting."

Leanne took a moment to process what she was learning about Wednesday. The image of Harry tied up, completely nude and helpless, came to her mind unbidden, and she blushed furiously. "I'm not sure about the other stuff, but I think I can see using ropes and..." She grew warm as she imagined herself tied up, and at the mercy of a man like Harry.

"I really need a boyfriend." Leanne whispered to herself as her imagination continued to run wild. Her eyes glazed over as she stared at nothing, lost in her own thoughts.

After pushing everything back into her trunk, Wednesday finished adjusting her robes. "If you want, you can borrow whatever you'd like."

Wednesday's comment brought Leanne back to reality, and she jumped slightly. "What? Oh... um... maybe?" She walked along side Wednesday as they both made their way toward the Great Hall. Mentally, she started running through the list of boys she knew were available, wondering if any of them would feel adventurous.

These girls were interesting. Wednesday thought as she walked. Apparently most witches were easier for her to get along with than most non-magical girls. She idly wondered if this was anything like having sisters. Pugsley was okay for a brother she grudgingly admitted to herself, but she still wished that he had been a girl instead.

-o-o-

"Bloody hell 'Mione." Ron groused "Couldn't you let me finish eating at least?"

Rolling her eyes, Hermione pulled Ron away from the Great Hall, seeking some modicum of privacy. "If I let you finish, we'd be in there until the house elves took away the last of breakfast. Now come on, I have a full course load, so we need to take advantage of every second we have to plan."

"I'm not that bad, 'sides I'm a growin' boy." Ron said, defending his appetite. "What do we need to plan for anyway?"

Looking around to ensure that they were alone, Hermione pulled Ron into an empty classroom. Closing the door behind them, she turned to Ron with an excited grin on her face. "We are going to get Harry back."

"The whole Order tried to do that, and fat lot of good that did. What makes you think we'll be able to do anything?" Ron asked, thinking maybe Hermione had finally cracked. It was too many books, and too much studying. He knew he should have been more insistent on her loosening up a bit.

Hermione pulled a phial filled with a golden potion from her robes. "The Order didn't have this, felix felicis. This is liquid luck Ron. As long as we come up with a perfect plan, this potion will make it so we can't fail."

Looking skeptical, Ron leaned against a desk and sighed. "Alright then. What did you have in mind?"

"We already know that Harry is highly resistant to mental control, which means that they must be subduing his willpower somehow." Hermione explained her theory, confident that it was the only explanation. "Basically, we need to get Harry alone, and get him to drink a couple potions that will clear his mind, and bolster his willpower. Once the potions take effect, he should be able to throw off whatever is controlling him with ease. The liquid luck will make sure we can get him alone and drinking the potions. If I ration it properly, I think I can make him take some as well, to give him that extra edge to free himself."

"Did you stay up all night thinking this up?" Ron asked, half joking. Then he shook his head. "There's way too much that could go wrong, I don't think that little luck potion is going to cut it."

Hermione frowned. "That's why I said we need the perfect plan. My idea is just a starting point. I can brew the potions we need no problem, especially since Professor Slughorn is much more... reasonable that Professor Snape."

She poked him in the chest with her forefinger. "You're taking less classes than I am, and I know you aren't as stupid as you pretend to be, but you are lazy. I really need you to focus, and help me refine my plan. We can do this. I know we can, and you know that if it was one of us, Harry would do anything to save us."

"Yeah, he would." Ron agreed. "Hey, I bet Harry's map would be a huge help."

"Brilliant Ron." Hermione said while rolling her eyes again. "But I doubt he'll just let you have it, and it might be too dangerous to try and search through his things."

"He doesn't have the map, I do." Ron said with a grin. "When Dumbledore figured Harry wasn't going to be able to go back to the muggles in time to keep those wards from falling, he brought what Harry left behind to the Burrow. I snagged the map, figuring it was the only important thing he had. Couldn't find his cloak or his Firebolt."

Ron's grin faded. "I was fooling around with it, and had it on me when the Burrow was attacked. Lucky huh?" Ron didn't sound as if he felt lucky.

Hermione gently placed her hand on his shoulder. "How is your father?"

"Still hasn't woken up." Ron shut his eyes tightly. When he opened them there was a fire she'd never seen there before. "Don't worry 'Mione, we'll make this work. We'll get Harry back. Then, when the three of us are back together, there's nothing we can't do."

-o-o-

Herbology came and went without incident. Harry and Wednesday left the greenhouse as the only two students that the venomous tentacula never tried to attack, which frustrated those who'd been bitten to no end. It seemed that the plants somehow knew that it was in their best interest to leave those two alone. As with every other subject, homework was assigned despite it being the first day. A several foot essay detailing the care and feeding of the tentacula, as well as its uses, both as a potion ingredient and as a living plant.

At this point, most sixth years started to truly understand that their so called free periods were going to have to be used to finish the amount of homework they'd be given over the year. Add in the studying they'd have to do in preparation for various tests, and there really didn't seem to be much free time left.

It was for this reason, that Harry and Wednesday agreed to wait until after lunch to go off in search of privacy. Since neither one was taking history, they would use the free time to work on their already hefty homework load. They weren't the only ones to decide that, and spent the time before lunch in the library among other studious sixth and seventh years.

-o-o-

Considering their completely different schedules and houses, meals were when Harry, Wednesday, and Luna could all spend time together. By lunchtime, they'd already settled into a routine of sort, where Luna would choose a random table to sit at, and the other two would join her. Breakfast had been at the Gryffindor table, but now they sat with the Hufflepuffs.

"I suppose you're right, but how would they know?" Luna asked out of nowhere.

Hannah looked around for someone who might be talking to the younger blonde, but failed to see anyone. "Um Luna, who are you talking to?"

Luna held up a hand, silently asking Hannah to wait a moment. She tilted her head as if listening intently, and then laughed musically. Focusing on Hannah, she said, "I'm talking to Thing of course. He's very funny, and surprisingly insightful at times."

"Luna, do you have thing hiding in your robes?" Harry asked, mainly because he couldn't see the hand in question.

"Don't be silly Harry." Luna answered with her ever present smile. "Thing isn't being punished anymore."

Luna leaned forward, and shifted her hair to the side, revealing Thing sitting on the collar of her robes. No longer hidden by hair, Thing leaned back onto his wrist, and waved at Hannah.

Hannah stared at thing for a moment before responding. "Thats... creepy, but kind of neat too. Can I see it?"

Thing tapped out a message on Luna's neck before leaping down to the table in front of her.

"Of course you can. I said you weren't being punished anymore." Luna said as she sat back up, and ran her finger gently across Thing's thumb.

The nearby Hufflepuffs all stared in apprehensive wonder as Thing scrabbled across the table to stand in front of Hannah.

Justin Finch-Fletchley leaned across the table to poke Thing with his wand. "I still can't get over how cool magic is sometimes."

Thing shamelessly basked in the attention he was getting, especially when several of the girls deemed him cute and adorable.

Luna's smile faded, and a small frown appeared in its place.

Many of the students made comments on where they could find a cute or cool pet like this, and the girls all took turns holding Thing, who seemed to love the attention.

Harry looked between Thing, and the increasingly upset looking Luna. He started to say something, then decided to watch instead.

"He's not..." Wednesday started to say, but Harry stopped her by placing his hand over her mouth.

"No, I want to see if anyone figures it out on their own." Harry said as he watched the scene unfold.

"You know you don't have anything to worry about right Luna?" Harry finally said upon seeing how upset the girl was becoming, and that apparently he and Wednesday were the only ones to notice her growing ire.

Ignoring Harry, Luna stood up and marched over to where Thing was being petted by a fourth year girl. Luna grabbed Thing out of the girl's hands, and without saying a word, stomped away in the direction of Ravenclaw Tower.

"Thing should have known better than that." Wednesday commented as she watched the upset Ravenclaw leave the Great Hall. "Though, I didn't realize Luna was the jealous type."

"What was that all about?" Hannah asked, concerned that Luna's strange outburst was somehow her fault. "Why would she be jealous that we like her pet?"

-o-o-

"Hi Harry." A voice called out in what was supposed to be a seductive tone. "You haven't visited me in a while..."

Looking up, Harry and Wednesday saw the ghostly form of Moaning Myrtle laying down on the ceiling and fluttering her eyelashes at him. Wednesday watched in interest as the dead girl floated down to hover in front of them.

"You must be Myrtle." Wednesday said as she studied the ghost before her. "Harry told me all about you. What is being dead like?"

Harry stood back and watched in amusement as Myrtle enjoyed telling Wednesday how dreadfully horrible her afterlife has been. Considering Myrtle was practically the guardian of the Chamber of Secrets, he felt it important to stay on her good side. Wednesday's genuine interest in talking to the ghost who seemed to wallow in misery, would go a long way in keeping her as an ally. It would be inconvenient if their use of the chamber was made public knowledge.

During a lull in their conversation, Harry joined in. "I plan on using the chamber quite a bit this year. As a friend, could you keep that a secret?"

"Will you keep me company this year? I didn't see you at all last year..." Myrtle pouted with an over the top expression.

"I was a bit preoccupied last year, but this year I can make sure to stop and chat every time I go down into the chamber." Harry explained.

"Okay Harry." Myrtle agreed happily, then frowned. "I don't know why you'd want to go down there. It must be awful."

"That depends on your point of view I suppose." Harry said before hissing at one of the sinks. "Personally, I think it's rather nice."

The sink sank into the floor, and a very wide, round passageway opened up. Leaning into the hole that sloped downward into darkness, Harry searched for a second before finding an etching of a snake in one of the stones that lined the wall of the passage. A few more words of parseltongue, and a secondary passageway opened up just inside the first. This one was man sized, and had steps instead of a steep slope.

Myrtle shivered in remembrance of the huge, yellow eyes that had stared at her from that opening. With a wail she flew up into the air, and crashed down into one of the toilets, causing water to splash out into the room.

"I guess she has some bad memories." Harry said with a grin as he held out his hand toward Wednesday. "The basilisk that killed her came up out of this hole over fifty years ago. Want to see it?"

-o-o-

Wednesday frowned as she looked over the skeletal remains of the once fearsome beast. "I was expecting a rotting corpse. How is it already just a skeleton? I would have thought that a creature saturated with magic would take years to decay. There isn't even a puddle of decomposed flesh."

Harry sighed. "Yeah, Dumbledore had me open up the chamber so that wizards could get down here to harvest the body. I wager he made a tidy profit, then again, for all I know he had the galleons put into my account. Doesn't really matter anyway."

Wednesday approached the hulking skeleton, unaware that Harry was smirking as she drew closer. Harry licked his lips in anticipation as she stepped over one of the many stagnant puddles around the beast.

The oblong puddle glowed, and from either end a barbed wire shot out, wrapping around each of Wednesday's ankles. The sharp barbs bit in, drawing blood and securely gripping her. A moment later, the wires each pulled her back into the shallow puddle toward their origin. The end result was Wednesday being forced to stand with her legs just wider than the width of her shoulders.

Taking advantage of catching her off guard, Harry made liberal use of the summoning charm, and almost literally tore her robes off of her. "I came down here yesterday when you were in ancient runes. Explored for a bit, and laid a few traps for you. You aren't turning this one around on me, this time you're mine."

Her first reaction was to try and pull her legs free. Failing to budge her feet, she reached down to pull at the wire itself with her hands. All she succeeded in doing, was staining the puddle red with her blood, and providing him a provocative view of her backside.

"If you think this will make it easy for you, you're sorely mistaken." She commented as she turned to look back at him, almost daring him to approach.

Wednesday had meant it when she said she'd dress for the occasion. Her smooth pale legs were covered by black fishnet stockings that went up to mid-thigh. A matching garter belt held the fishnets in place, and framed her delicate lace knickers. The corset she'd worn before bound her chest tightly, displaying her firm breasts prominently.

"I found this spell in the restricted section last night." Harry said casually as he walked around her. His eyes took in every inch of her, clearly appreciative of her lingerie. "It was designed by a minor dark lady back in the late 1800's to mimic barbed wire which some muggle had recently invented. She was a muggleborn who enjoyed torturing pure-bloods with muggle artifacts. Simple to cast, but unfortunately even simpler to dispel. Of course, you'd need a wand for that." Harry chuckled softly.

She watched him circle her, wondering what he had in store for her. Her own plans were spoiled neatly, but she wasn't afraid to improvise. All he needed to do was make one mistake. Seeing a jet of light streak toward her, Wednesday twisted to the side to avoid it, only to move right into the path of his follow up spell.

Harry smirked as Wednesday's arms moved against her will to wrap behind her back. Her forearms were bound tightly together with his magic, and she was rendered all but completely helpless.

He made his way around to stand behind her and ran his hand up her sides, stopping at her upper arms, where he gripped her tightly and leaned forward. "I told you. This time, you're mine." he whispered into her ear and proceeded to kiss his way down the side of her neck, and across her bare shoulder.

Moaning her appreciation, Wednesday noted that this was one game where losing and winning were almost indistinguishable. She felt the pressure on her chest relent, and her corset fell to the ground. Then her moans intensified as his kisses became bites, and he roughly grasped her breasts, pulling her tighter to him.

"Now, bend over." He ordered, but she hesitated, resisting on principle. The choice was taken from her as he forced her forward. Her knees hit the hard stone floor first, and the momentum carried her further. Not having her hands free to catch herself, she turned her head to the side and landed roughly with her shoulders to the ground and her backside high in the air.

With no leverage, she was completely at his mercy. Wednesday felt that same exciting fear that gripped her that first night when he took her virginity. He could do absolutely anything to her, and she would not be able to stop him. At that thought, her mind drew a blank as to what he could possibly do that she would want to stop.

Her mind was brought back to the moment when she felt cold steel slide between her panties and her flesh. Moments later her panties fell away exposing her arousal to the cold air. She cried out in pleasure as he once again proved he knew that his mouth was meant for more than kissing.

Reduced to a quivering puddle, Wednesday hardly registered that his fingers replaced his mouth. She did however, gasp in surprise when she felt his fingers wander, exploring new ground. Once again she was introduced to a new sensation, pain slowly blossoming as he explored her body further.

Her hair being pulled tight brought a sharp pain that was soon drowned out as he entered her in a brand new way. She cried out in pleasure as the pain he introduced her to grew in intensity. His other hand held tightly to her still trapped arms, and he forcibly brought her to her second climax.

Between the tightness and her screams of pleasure, Harry felt his own release approaching fast. Gripping her hips with both hands, he quickened his pace, bringing himself to climax even as Wednesday's continued to grip her.

Taking a moment to catch his breath, Harry fumbled for his wand. Two simple counter-spells released Wednesday, and she allowed herself to fall to the side, rolling over until she lay on her back on the cold stones. The two of them remained silent as they calmed down and began to breathe normally.

-o-o-

"What happened between you and Ron anyway?" Dean asked, taking advantage of the aforementioned redheaded prefect being on patrol.

Harry set down the transfiguration book he'd been reading, and looked up to see both Dean and Seamus looking at him with interest. "I suppose you could say he doesn't approve of my girlfriend and the supposed influence she has on me."

Dean shook his head. "He and Hermione keep calling her evil. Sounds to me like they're just jealous. Even with that goth thing she's got going on, she's a fine looking witch. I can't say I'd blame you if you changed up a few things just for her."

"I'll say." Seamus agreed with a lecherous grin. "She a little weird, all soft spoken and serious all the time, but I'll bet anything she's a demon in bed."

"You're not far from the truth." Harry agreed, then looked thoughtful. "Though, I think a bed was involved only a few times."

Neville, who at this point wasn't surprised by that particular revelation, pointedly ignored the conversation and buried his face in an obscure herbology book he'd bought when he got his new wand.

Dean and Seamus on the other hand, showed renewed interest.

Dean had been trying to hook up with Ginny, but his attempts weren't going as well as he thought they would. Despite being his best friend, he wasn't about to believe any advice Seamus gave; it really wasn't worth asking Neville, since the boy was so shy most of the time; and he certainly wasn't going to ask Ron how to date his sister, that would just be stupid. Perhaps Harry could give him a few pointers if he was that successful with his own relationship.

As for Seamus, he talked a big game, but most everyone knew that it was just that, talk. He was hoping to pick up something from Harry, and maybe be able to add some true stories to all of his made up ones.

"So, how did you get her interested in you?" Dean asked, hoping for something he could use.

Harry thought for a moment. "You'd have to ask her, but I know it was my skill with a knife that impressed her enough to start dating me."

Neville had been taking a sip of water as he overheard that, and nearly choked as he thought of several possibilities of what Harry might have meant by that.

"I should show how good I am at something then, if I want to catch a witches eye?" Dean asked, assuming a benign reason for Harry's talent with a knife.

"Maybe, I think that depends on the witch." Harry said with a shrug. "The best advice I ever got was this: Make her feel desired, and never hesitate to show how you feel."

"That actually sounds like good advice." Seamus noted. "Who told you that?"

"Her father." Harry said with a grin that widened as he noticed the other boys each realize in turn what that implied.

"You asked Mr. Addams advice on dating his daughter?" Neville asked, no longer able to pretend he was reading. "And he gave it to you?"

"No, of course not." Harry denied immediately. "I think Wednesday asked him to give me that advice after we were dating. I was a bit shy about our sex life, and he helped me lose that shyness."

"Did he know... You know, I don't really want to know." Neville said as he took his book and water, and headed down to the common room to read.

Dean and Seamus just looked at each other as if to confirm that they both heard the same thing. Clearly advice from Harry wasn't going to be useful for mere mortals like them.

-o-o-

Wednesday sat on the edge of her bed in her usual opaque nightgown, brushing her hair as she tried to decide the best way to sneak out later on. Harry had asked her to meet him by the whomping willow after dark, and she was curious what he had in mind.

Susan and Hannah stood near Hannah's bed, whispering furiously.

"I'm sure it's nothing Susan. She doesn't seem upset at all." Hannah argued quietly.

"Auntie used to bring me to work on occasion when she couldn't find a sitter." Susan whispered forcefully. "I remember seeing witches come in with bruises like that. They all acted just fine, and would say they were fine, but Auntie would tell me that they were far from fine. When I got older she explained exactly what was wrong with those witches. I'm telling you, you need to do something."

"What am I supposed to do?" Hannah asked, keeping her voice low. "Just ask her if Harry's been... doing that to her?"

"I don't know. You're the prefect, figure it out." Susan hissed. "If you don't do anything, then I'm going straight to the headmaster. I'll get the DMLE involved if I have to."

Neither girl noticed that Wednesday had stopped brushing her hair, and was standing behind them. "Why would you need to go to the authorities?" She asked, not wanting to bother with any law enforcement.

Both girls jumped, and Hannah glanced down at Wednesday's bare arms which had some rather distinct bruises. "Well..." She hesitated.

Susan glared at Hannah, then turned to Wednesday. "Does Harry... Is he too rough... What I mean is, does he beat you, or do anything you don't want him to?"

Wednesday raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Too rough? I don't understand. And of course he beats me on occasion. I wouldn't be in love with a man who couldn't get the upper hand at least once and a while."

Taking in the two girls' gobsmacked appearance, she looked even more confused. "Did your mothers not tell you what sex was supposed to be like?"

Hannah looked worried, and sent an apologizing glance toward Susan. "Wednesday, sex is supposed to be loving, and you should always feel safe. If Harry is hurting you, then you need to get out of the relationship before he goes too far."

Wednesday tilted her head and studied Hannah and Susan's worried features. "You're serious aren't you?" Unable to stop herself, her hand shot up to cover her mouth as she began giggling.

Biting her lip hard to stop herself from laughing outright, Wednesday shook her head. Regaining control, save for a minor smirk that would not be denied, she explained what sex was really supposed to be. "Sex is about feeling good, and doing whatever you want to make it feel good. I like it when Harry is rough, I like the mix of pain and pleasure, and I love it when he makes me feel helpless. I'm sure if you asked him, he'd feel the same way when I get the upper hand, and do all those things to him."

The confused, skeptical looks on the two girls faces prompted her to lead them to Hannah's bed, where she sat them down. Remembering when her mother gave her the full sex talk when she was eleven, Wednesday gently repeated what she had been told as she channeled her mother's caring personality.

-o-o-

Wearing the shadows as comfortably as she wore her nightgown, Wednesday silently moved through the halls of Hogwarts. Slipping out into the night, she made her way across the grounds to the school's whomping willow tree without being detected. There she found Harry already waiting for her, lounging casually at the base of the tree, just out of reach of the agitated branches that were trying in vain to crush him.

Seeing Wednesday step out of the shadows, Harry chuckled at the sight of her walking barefoot across the grass in her nightgown. He probably should have mentioned what he had planned, but he wasn't going to complain about how she was dressed. It really wouldn't matter anyway. He absently prodded a knot on the tree's trunk near the ground, and disappeared into the hollow that had been behind him.

The angry writhing of the willow's branches stopped, and the tree relaxed as if put to sleep. Wednesday took note of the knot Harry had pressed before vanishing into the dark passage beneath the tree. She caught up to Harry fairly quickly, and they walked together through the underground secret passageway.

"Where does this lead?" Wednesday asked once she realized that Harry wasn't going to offer any information without prompt.

"To Hogsmead, specifically the shrieking shack. It's rumored to be haunted by incredibly violent ghosts." Harry shook his head at the interested look on his girlfriend's face. "Sorry, the rumors aren't true. They started because of all of the weird noises Remus used to make when he was trapped in the shack during full moons. It's a wonder nobody realized that the sounds only occurred on the full moon, and put together that a werewolf must be the cause."

"Then why are we going there now?" She asked, curious about what Harry wasn't telling her.

Harry grinned evilly. "To pick up something that we couldn't exactly carry with us on the Hogwarts Express."

Finally the shack was in sight, and they could hear two voices chatting casually from within.

Wednesday pushed forward, and opened the door into the rundown building. "Uncle Fester? Aunt Dementia? What are you doing here?"

Fester turned to grin at his niece. "You two left an unfinished project, so we brought him to you."

Off to the side there were two crates. Fester banged on the smaller one, and a tearful whimper could be heard from inside.

Wednesday's eyes widened in understanding, as Harry moved to the larger crate and began hissing to the contents. He started to work on prying the side off, but Fester pushed him off to one side and tore the crate open with ease.

Snakes poured out of the now open crate, and swarmed around the smaller one. Muffled crying could be heard from inside the surrounded box. A lone snake broke from the crowd, and slithered up Harry's leg.

Dementia handed Wednesday two large duffel bags that squirmed and shook. "Those are the ones we could catch, Pubert had a lot of fun running around collecting them."

Dementia laid a hand on Harry's shoulder as he finished talking with the snake now coiled around his wrist. "Gomez wanted to be sure that I let you know how much he likes those cigars you had delivered from Knockturn Alley. Morticia says that he hasn't coughed up blood this much in years."

"I was hoping they would work out. The shopkeeper wasn't sure what was in them, only that it was some kind of deadly poison." Harry smiled, glad that his thank you gift was appreciated.

Harry looked at Fester, then the unopened crate. "If you wouldn't mind Uncle Fester?"

"Happy to." Fester replied as he smashed his fist through the top of the wooden crate, eliciting a hoarse scream from within.

Fester lifted Pettigrew out through the shattered remains of the lid, and held him out in front of Harry.

"Peter." Harry gave the traitorous Marauder a wide toothy grin. "You're going to transform into a rat now, and I'm going to carry you to your new home. If you try to escape, our next session is going to be much, much worse for you."

Quivering with fear, Pettigrew shrank into his animagus form, and fell into Harry's waiting hands.

Harry and Wednesday hugged Fester and Dementia goodbye, and thanked them wholeheartedly for going out of their way to help. Then they returned to the tunnel, heading back toward Hogwarts. Wednesday led, carrying the writhing bags of snake food, and Harry followed with Pettigrew held tightly in one hand. The snakes followed along, careful not to get underfoot.

-o-o-

Author's note: Two chapters in a row that take place over the course of a single day. Don't worry, I'm not going to go through the entire school year a day at a time, it's just that there's just a lot going on right now. The pace should pick up soon.

A mistake that I made with Snape's torture was brought to my attention. I've edited chapter 9 so that I no longer have Asclepius cutting off three of Snape's hands by the end of chapter 11. Whoopsy.

To Gravin X reviewing chapter 13: Hermione and Ron are working on their plan, next chapter you'll get to see what happens when they go through with it.

At first I intended to have the fight with the Basilisk reflect Harry's true nature somehow, but I realized that he probably wouldn't have killed the thing at all. After thinking on it for a minute, I realized that the whole Chamber of Secrets end game was really clichéd, so why not have it intentionally so? I had fun making canon seem like something Dumbledore made up on the spot. I'm glad you enjoyed it too.

To Guest reviewing chapter 12: I never considered any other house for Wednesday, I'm glad most everybody agrees with my placement. :)

To Dontblink reviewing chapter 13: According to canon, a dark wizard cannot cast a patronus. I think this is because it is a purely light spell. I say bollocks to that. The imperius is an unforgivable, a supposedly purely dark spell, and Harry had no trouble using it on the goblin teller multiple times. Not to mention Snape can cast a patronus. I don't care if he was firmly against Voldemort, there is no way he wasn't a dark wizard. In my story anyone can cast a patronus, assuming of course that they can master the spell.

I haven't decided what Harry's new patronus will be, but I can guarantee that it won't be a stag.

To psycho bunny reviewing chapter 13: Thank you. I hope you liked this chapter as well.