A/N:Hello again everyone. 155 favorites 258 follows 85 reviews and over 23000 views; two milestones passed,that was quite the surprise to come back too, thank you all for the support. I'll am back, I'm not particularly enthused in having to write some more after two weeks of doing just that, so don't be surprised if I decide to just forget you all and enjoy my holiday lol. But in all siriusness, give me a day or two to relax, collect my thoughts and ideas, reward who needs to be rewarded, and write and answer some outstanding PMs, before I work on the next chapter. If everything works out, you'll get on the usual two week schedule.

Almost forgot; for those who were too lazy or just couldn't be bothered with looking on the poll, Su Li won by a landslide, with Luna second, and Daphne giving her a run for her money. Once more, thank you to those who took the time to vote; I'm thinking about the doing the same for Harry, what do you think?

As usual,I apologize for any grammatical errors that got pass me.

Edit 20/12/2016: Sorry about the first upload; really dropped the ball in regards to grammar, couldn't allow it to stay until I get a beta. Thanks for bringing it to my attention.

Please Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I own nothing of Harry Potter or anything dealing with its franchise; Only the OCs.

Chapter 14

Growing Pains: Part One

Su Li woke sharply as she felt something disturb the ward around her bed, and then felt the intruder jumping onto it, only for them to be met with her wand pointing at their face as it glowed a bright red.

"Morgana, Su; if surprising you ends with me being held at wand-point, I won't wish you a Happy Birthday like this ever again" the voice of the intruder said as they held up their hands in surrender.

Seeing that the person wasn't a threat, she took the time to clear the sleep out of her eyes, and focused to see that the individual on her bed was none other than one of her friends, Lisa Turpin. "Don't do that." She reprimanded softly while stifling a yawn as she got out of bed and set out to get ready for the day.

"I told her not to, but you know how well that girl listens." Su heard another voice say, and turned to see Padma giving her an apologetic expression as she sat in her bed while still wearing her night clothes. However, before she could reply, Lisa spoke up from behind her.

"Bugger that, come open your present. It's from the three of us" Lisa said while point towards the square package on her bed, and then towards the lightly snoring Mandy.

Su turned back and approached her bed and the package resting on it; she took the wrapping paper off for it to reveal a book, 'Dueling through the Ages: Volume Three'. "Thank you" she said to her two conscious roommates.

"It was nothing at all; I only wished you had owled us about you and William; we could've gotten you some robes that would drive him crazy" Padma teased.

"Or we could've gotten Mandy to get you a couple of those sexy muggle knickers for when he starts dragging you off into the broom cupboards; those would definitely set his wand on fire." Lisa said as she started laughing at the red-faced Su Li.

"We aren't like that yet" Su retorted.

""Yet"" Padma and Lisa replied simultaneously, causing them both to laugh as they watched her blush spread down her neck. She noticed Mandy getting up from her bed, while rubbing her eyes, and noticing the giggle duo and her heavily blushing face.

"Hey! I thought we said we'd take the mickey out of her together! At least tell me you haven't told her about us getting her one of those muggle vibrating wands." Mandy said, and joined her laughing roommates as Su hastily retreated into the bathroom.

As she closed the door behind her, Su Li silently cursed each of her roommates under her breathe in mandarin as she fought down the blush they had caused with the thoughts they had provoked into her mind. She had spent the night after the feast going into detail about her relationship with William, minus the details of most of their conversations when it regarded his abilities, House and his moment of weakness on the train. She did tell them however, about every kiss, hold, purr and touch she had enticed out of her tiger; though now, she was coming to regret it if it meant putting up with their teasing.

An hour had passed by the time they had all gotten ready and were heading down the tower towards the Great Hall for breakfast. Su Li had mostly remained silent as she walked with her friends and only answered or spoke when one of the others directed the conversation towards her or asked her opinion. When they reached the slowly filling Hall, her eyes turned towards the Slytherins; noticing that William was sitting with his back turned towards the majority of the Hall, with Greengrass sitting next to him.

She frowned. William was paranoid; he had never once sat where he didn't have his back facing a wall or him facing the entrance of a room. Maybe she should address what happened on the train; it was possible that it was still bothering him, and throwing him off balance. Her eyes glanced towards Greengrass. That…issue…would have to be resolved before she got any more ideas in regards to her tiger.

She sat herself at her House table, along with her friends, and began dishing herself some breakfast, when Lisa spoke softly so that only the four of them could hear, "Su, have you noticed that Greengrass is still being all friendly with William"

Padma rolled her eyes as she finished chewing a bit of toast, "That's because they are friends, Lisa. Leave it be." She spoke from her seat beside Su Li.

"I don't know Paddy…" Mandy spoke, as she glanced over her shoulder and took in the scene of the four Slytherins eating, with Davis speaking in an animated manner, and then taking in, Greengrass wiping something off William face with her hanky. "…she seems a bit too friendly to me" she finished while turning to face the addressed girl.

"Merlin, the both of you are almost as bad as Lavender and my sister. Leave. It. Be." Padma said sternly at the two, causing them to drop the subject. Su sent the girl grateful smile for silencing the two, however…she couldn't stop herself from glancing every now and then at the girl beside her tiger.

It wasn't long until a person sat at her unoccupied side and spoke to her, "There you are, Happy Birthday Sue." She looked up from her breakfast, and at the bespectacled face of Penelope Clearwater, whose head nodded towards the small package she just placed on the table, "Well, go ahead then. Open it."

Doing as commanded, she opened the package for it to reveal several exotic quills of different colors. "Thank you Penny, They're lovely." Su replied as she passed it to her friends, who had been eye the gift with curious expressions.

"It's your birthday, Su? You should've told us; we could've gotten you something." A voice said from down along the bench. Leaning forward, Su realized that it was Terry Boot who had spoken, with Michael Corner nodding in agreement with him.

"I didn't want to be a bother" she replied softly.

"I take it you hadn't mentioned it to William either then?" Penny asked, and upon seeing her nod her answer, gave her amused smile as she turned to dish out her breakfast and spoke, "Well, aren't you in for a surprise."

"What do you mean?" She asked softly. She watched as Penny turned her eyes towards the ceiling as the morning owls flew into the Hall, and focused on one particular owl with a large brown package gripped in its talons.

As the owl landed in front of her, after she had hastily cleared an area for it, Penny spoke, "William owled me a couple weeks ago before school started asking me about some Runes, how they looked and how their concepts would change with how they are place with other Runes; along with when your birthday was. He tried to be all Slytherin about it, but it was obvious that he was planning for your birthday. Though I'm curious as to what he applied the Runes on." She finished as she leaned forward to watch her open the package.

Su felt an odd combination of nervousness and giddiness as she reached forward and began to tear it open. There was a collective gasp from her and the girls around her as they took in gift; it was a navy blue satchel handbag with two bronze buckle clasps holding the belts of the bags flap, which had the Ravenclaw emblem in relief, closed. Turning it over showed a large relief of Su's clan symbol, an Eastern Dragon in a circle swallowing its own tail.

"I want a boyfriend now." Lisa whined jovially.

"It's beautiful…oh look, a note." Mandy said in a wondrous voice as she took the note from the bottom of bag which was facing her and read it, "'To help avoid future back problems. Signed, William.' Short, but sweet, practical, but personal in its own way I suppose."

"Who'd have thought William had such good taste; I understand the Ravenclaw crest, but what's with the Dragon?" Padma asked as she rubbed her had against the aforementioned designs.

"He doesn't…and it's my clan symbol…You'd call it a House Coat of Arms here." Su answered softly as she caressed the gentle leather of her gift, while she thought about what Padma had said. William was anything but aesthetic, having a preference to focus on something's functionality; so who helped him choose such a beautiful bag?

Suddenly, there was a commotion going on behind her, soundly like the yelling of an angry woman, but she ignored it in favor of the item before her and the thoughts and questions it was creating inside her. As she unclasped the buckles and open the flap, she watched as the insides become lit by a strong, but gentle light. Looking inside, she noticed that it was coming from two Runes on either side of the bag.

"So that's what he did" Penny stated, focusing back on the gift, after watching the howler and its recipient, "May I?" she asked, while indicating the gift. Upon receiving it, she began to scrutinize the bag's insides, the flap and finally the shoulder strap. "Crude…but nicely done for someone not experience in the subject…they won't last long, given that they were stitched in, but they'll last long enough for a year or that and a couple months." She mumbled mainly to herself.

"What are you going on about" Lisa said impatiently, addressing the older girl.

"Hmm?" Penny answered, and then realized that they were waiting for her to explain, "Oh, sorry about that. William placed a few Runes on the bag. The ones inside are a dead giveaway, they just produce a light for you to see; the one underneath the flap is to activate the 'light' whenever you open it, and the one here underneath the shoulder strap and…here, underneath the bag, helps lighten the weight." Penny answered while she indicated each of the stitched runes on the bag.

Su Li got up, much to the confusion of her friends, and worked her way towards the Slytherin House table, specifically her boyfriend. As she approached him, she noticed that William's black friend…Zabini, mutter something to him from his seat across from him, causing him to turn in her direction.

As she closed the short distance, while he held his usual calm demeanor and expression, she could see the his nervousness flickering behind his eyes as he tried to occlude it, but she suspected his other half was not letting him. The fact she was the causing him to be slightly flustered, was a thrilling and comforting thought, and it showed on her face as she smile brightly up at him as she sat beside his unoccupied side.

"Thank you for the gift." she said softly as she placed a hand just above his knee, catching Greengrass' eye from the other side of her tiger, she leant forward and gave him chastise kiss, and smiled at the embarrassed flicker she saw pass his eyes as she continued, "It's lovely."

"You should thank Tracey and Daphne, the concept was theirs; I just carried it out and placed the additions" she heard her tiger reply, causing her smile to slip and eyes to narrow as she glanced towards the blonde, who held her usual icy expression, but gave the slightest hint of a smirk when she noticed her looking.

"It was all Daphne's idea actually; I just provided the muggle magazine. She was the one who went page by page to find your gift." Tracey spoke up after finishing a bite of her meal; eying the lithe Asian girl with mirth filled eyes.

"Th-Thank you, Heiress Greengrass." Su said softly, while forcing a smile at the blonde.

"Daphne, please Ms. LI. And it was my pleasure; your reaction, made it all worthwhile." Daphne answered as she held up a goblet and toasted in her direction. Any reply that Su had was stopped when a shadowy figure, bellowed past them while flicking its wand, causing sheets of paper to land in front of the Slytherins, and spoke in a monotone voice, "Ms. Li if you plan to attend any of your classes; return to where you belong."

Su Li ignored Professor Snape in favor of looking over William's arm and at the schedule in his left hand while he continued eating with his right.

"Potions with Gryffindors, Charms with the Ravens after lunch and History with the Hufflepuffs before dinner…Alright for a Monday I suppose." He spoke aloud, while tilting his schedule towards her showing where their classes would be shared, while moving to get up. "I need to get my potions book though; didn't expect to have Professor Snape as my first class on a Monday, of all days." He finished.

Zabini scoffed, "Same here."

"Looks like we're on the same hippogriff" Tracey joked, and looked towards Greengrass and continued, "I'll get your books, yeah?" receiving a nod from the addressed girl, she followed in the wake of her fellow Slytherin friends.

With only her and Greengrass in the immediate area, Su turned to face the girl with slightly narrowed eyes and demanded softly, "Why."

Greengrass casually continued buttering a small triangle of toast and answered as she focused on what she was doing, "My ally needed help; something that so far has been a rare occurrence. As an ally…no, as a friend, it would be remiss of me not to do all in my power to help him."

"We're together now."Su said softly, but with a demanding tone, not noticing that she was shaking slightly and her wand hand twitching.

Greengrass turned fully to her, icy blue meeting agitated black, "Oh I know, and congratulations on that fine accomplishment" she said with a hint of sarcasm slipping out and then continued, "But we both know the truth of why he's with you at the moment."

"W-What?" Su Li found herself saying and unable to break eye contact with the girl before her. She watched as Greengrass leaned forward into her space, never breaking eye contact, and whispered her answer.

"That he's just using you." Su stiffened as Greengrass continued, "You're nothing but a foreign bint that he can use to consolidate his growing power while remaining under the radar; that you are nothing but a practice girl for him until he is experienced enough for a more suitable candidate." Greengrass finished, and leaned back and then spoke allowing a small smile through her expressionless face, "Oh dear, you're shaking like a leaf."

"T-That's not true…If anyone is being used, it's you. And you're replaceable." Su Li answered back, feeling like she was more reassuring herself than intimidating Greengrass; proven true when Greengrass continued to smile as she spoke.

"You're right, I am being used and I expected him to; he's a Slytherin after all. But ask yourself, would he do it if you asked. Would he abandon such a useful asset on the whim of a little girl? Would he choose you…over me" Greengrass finished as she continued to stare at the flickering and unsure eyes of the lithe girl before her.

"I-I-I-" Su Li tried to get out, but hindered by her own thoughts and Greengrass interrupting her.

"-am a weak girl; A girl that is not fit for such a powerful wizard. I'll be the first to admit that you match him on the magical level, but he needs someone with more social and political power than you could ever hope to offer or muster. I have that over you in spades…that, and more." She finishes with folding her arms under her developing bust, making Su acutely aware of her lack thereof.

Su continued to stare at the girl's icy eyes as she struggled with everything Greengrass had said to her, trying her best to refute the arguments, but found that they were agreeing with many of her own thoughts; found them siding with the words of her sister, and proven evident with her past experiences and failures.

She wasn't as strong as her sister. She wasn't a beautiful, wealthy, social butterfly or politically connected like Greengrass. Why was William with her?

"I'll leave you to your thoughts then" she heard Greengrass say, causing her to break out of her thoughts and watch as the girl begin to walk away. Thoughts and feelings were discarded as she felt a burning desire to not let this…pureblood, inbred bint just walk away. She was a Li; she was the ever growing and changing dragon; she would not let her go, believing that she could just take what was hers. Never.

"Daphne." Su said in an unusually loud voice, causing the blonde bint to turn to her with a raised eyebrow, "Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus" she finished in a determined and strong voice.

Greengrass gave her a faint smile, the same smile her sister would always use on her, and replied, "Videte oculis serpentis…I did mean what I said before, your reaction made this all worthwhile" she then turned and headed out the hall.

It was just after dinner as William sat alone in the 'dueling room' waiting for both Sukie and Flitwich to start their sessions. His first day had gone uneventful, with the exception of watching Snape tearing into Potter as usual, the charms professor asking both him and Su to stay back, and both Daphne's and Su's change in demeanor.

If it wasn't for his time spent learning to read the girl's micro expressions that broke through her mask, and his new ability to smell emotions, he would have missed her smug satisfaction. And then there was Su's lackluster demeanor and her sudden avoidance of him that he found…troubling. The fact that he had spent the time in history class focused on figuring out her change, than approaching Susan or bettering himself or continue to work out how to perform complex wandless magic or a multitude of other things that needed to be done was of great concern to him in regards to his focus on his goals. He was a Lord of a resuscitating House for Merlin's sakes; he had more important things than worrying over the change in his hormonal teenage girlfriend…right?

His internal debate was interrupted however, by the appearance of Sashet slithering from the shadow of a desk close to one of the walls, and crawling her long body up his leg, wrapping herself in a comforting bind around his torso, and resting her head on his shoulder before reaching up to nozzle her silk-like scales against his cheek.

§I thought you went hunting§ he asked as he rubbed his hand under her jaw.

§I was my pet. But then I saw the two little snakes being confronted by the blonde mouse and some large rats. They did nothing when they started casting spells.§ Sashet replied.

William chuckled at her description of Draco and his companions. Her intellect had greatly improved due to their bond, but she still liked to simplify things as prey or rivals; the fact that she deemed the twins as such was not lost on him.

Though it would not have been the way he would have done it, they had made the right choice in not attacking 'Lord' Malfoy. Doing so would be making their time in the pit more of a living hell than it was going to be. But by not doing anything at all, by not launching a single spell at his accomplices, they had set how others would interact with them.

The door opened, causing him to glance over his shoulder and find Su standing there, with his gift hanging off her shoulder. He turned back to Sashet and spoke, §Keep an eye on them for me. When the attacks become harsh enough to cause them to bleed; tell me.§

With a nod she began to descend down into his shadow, he turned to Su, "You've been avoiding me" he stated bluntly as he drew close to her as she placed her bag on the desks against the wall.

"I had a lot to thinking about" she said ever so softly with her back to him. It was only due to his enhanced hearing that he picked it up. As he stood behind her, he could smell her anxiety.

William pulled her gently back and wrapped his arms around her while resting his head in her silky black hair, "Galleon for your thoughts."

"It's 'knut for your thoughts'" Su mumbled softly as she leaned back into him.

"Yours are worth more."

He waited as Su remained quiet in his arms, until she turned and placed her head down on his chest and spoke softly, "Why did you choose to be with me?"

William frowned visibly at the question. Was that the reason she had been so distant today? He placed his hand underneath her chin and looked down at her worried face, "I'm with you because I have never trusted someone, never cared about or desired someone more by my side, than I have with you. You are my partner; my bestfriend, and more. And while what I do with those around me, manipulating and using them, using everything and anyone to my benefit, is part of my nature; I won't do the same to you as long as you are by my side, and are with me in all things."

He continued to stare into her eyes as she seemed to search for something; finding it, she smiled and then snogged him. "Okay." She said simply, and then continued kissing.

While he was stunned at her change in both demeanor and scent, he didn't argue or tried to figure it out; just focused on the snogging the girl in his arms as he deepened it.

"Ahem." Came the sound from a squeaky voice, causing them to break apart. William turned and was greeted by the amused face of Professor Flitwich standing by the open door, "I hope I wasn't interrupting anything?" he asked jovially as he closed the door and began to ward it.

"No professor." Su stated while blushing, and muttered to him under her breath to him, "We'll finish that up later."

They stood side by side as they faced the diminutive professor as he windmilled his arms in a jovial taunt. Suddenly, he launched a large pale yellow spell into the air in between the three duelists, causing it to split into multiple bolts, and begin raining in the direction of the duet. William acted by flashing his wand upwards and silently casted, 'Avis Circumcingo'. A multitude of different birds of prey issued out from his wand, and began to encircle the pair in a helix formation, getting hit by the pale yellow spells causing them to stiffen and fall as if stunned.

William gave another silent command, and the remaining birds launched themselves at the professor, while Su Li stepped a few paces in front of him and continued their chain as the birds came close in range to the professor.

'Confringo;Confringo;Confringo…' Su continued to cast repetitively at each bird that was near the professor causing visual chain of explosions around the man. Using the time bought, William took a calming breath and then began casting silently at the stunned conjured birds, 'Ursifors' ; the magic of the spell caused various birds to combine together and then form three large bears, which then at his command ran in the direction of the firestorm his Sukie was creating.

However, he smelt a change in the air and spoke sharply as he casted a shielding spell, "On the right!" he finished the command and spell just in time for it to be hit by the translucent white of a 'blast curse' causing it to buckle from the force and him to lose his footing slightly.

"Trying to kill us now are you, you bloody dwarf" William said using his occlumens to speak calmly despite the adrenaline and his rapidly beating heart, as Su retaliated with various fire-based spells and him redirecting the bears towards the now visible professor.

"It's as the muggles say, young William" Flitwich spoke in a cheerful squeaky voice as he bounced, twisted ,blocked, and dodged Su's spells, and casting minor spells at the bears causing them to either tap dance or hover in place, " 'The kiddy gloves are in the process of being take off'."

"It's, 'the gloves are off', professor" Su stated as William used his wandless magic to throw the professor off balance and conjured flames issued from her wand, cutting off any path the professor could take except towards them.

She bent down sharply, causing the professor to focus in her direction; causing him to come into eye contact with William, "Legilimens" he muttered under his breath as he stared into the beady eyes of the professor while his 'other side' attacked the professor mentally with the force of a large bludger.

He watched as the professor visibly flinched, while he heard him speak through the connection as he fended of the brutally attacking tiger, 'Fascinating'.

"Suuu" William drawled out at his girlfriend as he focused his magic on the connection and felt the professor beginning to get the up hand against his 'other side'.

"Right." She nodded at him as she stood to his side as not to break his eye contact and then focused her will and magic on the flames around the professor and casted out loud, "Ignis Incarcerous" the flames moved like thick snakes in the air towards the professor and wrapped around him bodily.

William broke the connection, leaning forward while holding his head as the mental exhaustion from his 'other side' hit him, "Did we just beat the professor?" Su asked in her soft voice as she kept her wand pointed at the captured professor, and moved to his side and place a hand on his shoulder to aid him back upright.

"W-wand at the r-ready" he puffed out caution as he wiped the sweat that was running down his forehead. Collecting himself, he centered himself and used the time to ready their defenses. "Inanimatus Conjurus" he muttered as he concentrated on all the parts necessary and not the details of the objects due to his mental exhaustion.

Before them stood four adult sized suits of armor, each carrying a large kite shield and a mace. While the shield looked reinforced and sturdy, the suits and the weapons looked both blunt and slightly brittle. 'Animatis' he finished silently, causing the suits to stand in sharp attention, and then moved into a defensive formation in front of the pair with their shields before themselves.

"Do you concede professor?" Su asked as she watched the flame ropes continue to bite into the man's torso, however they were both surprised when they heard him answer.

He giggled.

There was a sudden boom and a large shockwave issuing from where the diminutive man laid; the wave ousted the flames and blasted the suits off their feet and into the far wall, while the remaining energy knocked William and Su onto the floor.

"Never leave an opponent with their wands, whether they are down, maimed, unconscious or dead. That'll be five minutes of spell evasion for the both of you, but good show, good show. Your team work was marvelous as always. I can't wait to see how you each fight against those around your age during the Dueling club." The professor said in a cheerful squeaky voice as he put away his wand.

Seeing that the professor had called a break to their training, he did the same as he sat on the ground and asked, "Dueling club professor?"

"Oh yes; your new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Lockhart propositioned the Headmaster about it the first day he came here. I've tried several times n the past to set one up as to encourage more students into how to properly defend themselves and to potential have more interested in dueling competitions, but I was always rebuffed. So imagine my great surprise when he agreed with the formation of one this year." He answered in his jovial squeaky voice, but William could smell his frustration and resentment.

His thoughts, however, were on what the professor had said. A club like that would surly attract the attention of a vast majority of the school, and a club of that size would need to either limit its members or host in a large venue. Knowing wizarding logics, it would be the latter…so the Great Hall…with everyone there…perfect.

"I'm looking forward to it professor; something like that being held at Hogwarts would be life changing for many who attend it." he answered, as Su gave him a questioning look.

Flitwich chuckled and then spoke, "Indeed. Now, I must say again, I'm quite impressed him the creative and abilities you've both shown so far. Su, you're displaying an increased stamina and magically power. Your chains are much longer, faster and consistent in power, however, you're leaning too much on your family's magic; don't be afraid to utilize different spells in your combination to both compliment your partner's dueling style and help off balance your opponent." Su nodded her agreement and understanding of his words as she stood back up before him.

He next turned to William and spoke. "You, William are showing your growth in transfiguration; your ability to quickly conjure and transfigure objects and the size and variety of them is very impressive. However this session you've shown a certain change in your dueling mentality, having taking a solely offensive approach. I'll this time I allowed it in order to observe how you've progressed over the summer; your role is to contain the opponent, use your abilities to that extent when you duel with your partner." He finished while looking up at the now standing book as he nodded.

"But overall as I've said, I'm impressed; so impressed in fact that I'm willing to increase your repertoire, and we will focus on mastering a spell of your choosing for the rest of this month." He finished cheerfully.

"I'd like to learn how to use my wand to deflect spells" Su spoke straight away.

"Ah, Spell Defection; A specialty of your sister's if I remember correctly." Professor Flitwich stated, never noticing that Su gripped her wand tightly at his words, however William noticed the shift and filed it away for later as the professor continued, "Your reaction time and precision would need to improve greatly than it is now…but it should be doable; It certainly would be a available skill for you to have next year. And you William?" the professor asked.

"I'd like to learn how to use illusion spells…their versatility would suit my dueling style greatly." William said as he remembered the numerous times the professor had fooled him despite his occlumency.

Professor Flitwich laughed in his squeaky voice, "It would certainly be intriguing to see what you come up with; and your background in mind magicks will make things easier for you. Well, now that we've decided, let's get started shall we? We still have a few hours before curfew."

Hours had passed when an exhausted William walked out of the 'dueling room' with both his and Su's robes and vests bundled in his left arm as a heavily bruised and exhausted was Su holding on to his right arm as she leant on him. Their session had not gone will overall; this new branch of magic called for a constant concentration on every detail and aspect of whatever illusion one was creating. It was easy for one to miss certain details, they could also cause the image to behave disjointed or even for the castor to just lose focus and cause the image to fade prematurely. He could see why wizards would hardly use it given their laid-back approach to magic and wanting to cast spells that came easy or made a big boom; the thought of using this ingrained weakness against them…against his new target...against Dumbledore…made his desire to learn how to cast them that much stronger. He looked down at the lithe girl; she had her work cut out for her.

Professor Flitwich did not exaggerate about the skills difficulty nor did the sadistic bastard let up on his girlfriend when they started training. After showing her how to cast the spell, position her body and properly deflect spells; Professor Flitwich continued to cast 'Stinging hex' after 'Stinging hex' at his girlfriend, much to his slient amusement at the karmic justice of the situation and seeing the slight tinting of his Sukie's cheeks. However, despite just learning the spell, Su was able to slightly deflect two out of every ten of the hexes that he professor casted.

Spell deflection called for one to use their magic to form a small shield at the point of their wand, in which they could then use to deflect, and if one was extremely skilled reflect, spells caused by their opponent. The difficulty came in the castor actually getting that small shield in the right place, at the right angle and at the right time in order for them to actually deflect the oncoming spell. It was a useful skill to have when it was impossible to actually dodge the spells and it allowed on to conserve magic while giving them mobility; something standard shield spells lacked.

As they walked through the dark corridors towards the Grand Staircase, William spoke after he kissed the crown of Sukie's head, "You know, you could've let me healed you."

He watched as she shook he head and spoke in her soft voice, "No, 'There is no gain, without pain'."

William just shook his head and let it be, having learnt his lesson about stubborn women from his years dealing with Nymeria. "Alright then, well we're almost to the staircase, and then you make your way to your dorm to get some rest." He finished, however was stopped by Su stopping abruptly.

"I thought I said we would continue what we started." Su stated in her soft voice.

"Yes, but you're obviously too exhausted to do anything at the moment." He said as his eyes roamed over her bruised appearance. He noticed Su's eyes take on a hardened appearance as she reached up, gripped him by the loosen tie around his neck and began to lead him away from the stairs and down another corridor.

"Suk-" he started to say, but was interrupted.

"Be quiet." She said in soft, yet harsh voice. They turned another corner and walked towards a closed door in the silent hall. He watched as Su opened the door, revealing it to be a broom cupboard. Su walked in while pulling him along and then stepping to the side as she reached and closed the door behind them. As it closed, she pulled his head down towards her by his tie and spoke in a soft whisper to him, "It's still my birthday, and I will bloody get what I bloody want." With that, she then brought his lips to hers.

William returned the snog with equal fervor after getting over his initial surprise. His thoughts began to leave him as he felt his Sukie's soft tongue dancing teasingly against his own, as she pushed him back with surprising force into the shelves of the small space, and her hands ripping his uniform shirt.

He started to have his usual fight between his rational and instinctual mind as he took in whiffs of his Sukie's scent; jasmine mixed with a hint of sweat and a large abundance of desire and need. He started to purr while he unconsciously dropped their belongings to the floor and gripped her developing hips tightly with his hands, causing her to give out a hauntingly seductive whimper, as he started to give in to the moment and his instincts.

As he gripped her waist, he pushed back until she met the shelves on the other side, never once breaking their intense snog, making her give a startled moan. Going with his instincts and the multitudes of fantasies he's had with her in this position, he grabbed her hands and held them above her head with one of his own, while he broke their snogging session and began kissing and nibbling along her neck, especially the few spots that had been hit with the hex.

He was rewarding with Su gasping breathily as he continued, and began fighting him to move, as she began pressing her groin into him, "D-damn i-it Will-li-liam….Don't stop, don't stop, don-" she then gasped sharply and gave out a loud moan, filling the small room with her intoxicating scent.

He followed his instincts, as they made him let go off her hands and moved them to her waist, lifting her up causing her to wrap her legs around him.

"Th-that was amazing" Su said in a soft husky whisper as she leant her forehead against his and looked to where she thought his eyes were as she caught her breath.

"Glad you enjoyed yourself." He said in a gluttural voice as he moved his hips, causing Su to gasp softly and himself to groan; he hadn't thought it possible to become so hard.

"Is this because of lil ole me?" his Sukie asked in a teasing seductive voice as she grounded down into him, causing him to groan once more, her face glowing with a familiar confidence she seemed to gain whenever they were together in similar situations. She continued grounding into him as she stared through the darkness at him, "we can't have you walking around like that now, can we?"

They continued as they began snogging each other wildly, with Su's hands gripping the back of William's head tightly, while his hands moved from her hips and up under her blouse, feeling the soft smooth skin of her sides against his fingertips as he traveled up them until he was caressing her bra covered breast.

"I'm almost there again" Su said breathily in Williams ear as she nibbled it, causing him to groan, and her to moan in return when he thrust against her particularly hard in retaliation, she then continued in a seductive and teasing voice "Do you want to go together? I do. Please William, will you? It's my birthday, and want to feel you explode…please."

William answered her by grinding harder into her, causing her to moan loudly and her grip on his hair to tighten. They began to build to their breaking point together, when suddenly the door swung open sharply causing them to break their kiss ad turn to it, only to close their eyes due to the intense wand lights.

"Alright you a lot break it-" the feminine voice stopped with a gasp.

"Good on you, mate." A male voice spoke up.

William eyes adjusted, and he took in the appearance of a godsmacked Penelope, and Flint with a smug grin on his face.

"Couldn't they have waited a few more seconds." Su muttered softly in a frustrated voice.

"I heard that young lady! Get-get down from-from…there, this instance. What the bloody hell do you two think you were doing!?" Penny spoke erratically.

"Looks like they were about to shag each other rotten to me." Flint spoke joking as he watched Su with an appreciative look in his eyes as she slide down from where she was and began adjusting her clothes, that was until William stepped in front of her, and gave him a sharp warning look.

"I could ask you the same; if my memory serves me well, Mr. Flint here isn't a prefect."

"I- we were- that is to say-" Penny began to stutter, but stopped when Flint placed a hand on her shoulder and spoke to him as he chuckled.

"Alright, I get it; we didn't see each other. That good." He stated, and William nodded, causing him to continue, "Right then, come on Penny, let's-"

"-There's no bloody way I'm going to just leave them." She interrupted him, giving both William and Flint a glare while she grabbed Su around the shoulder upon seeing her finish dressing and pulled her towards herself, "my charge and I need to have a chat. You make sure he gets to his dorm, and you do the same with him, Marcus." she said as she began to practically frog march the younger girl in front of herself.

William watched the pair go, never in his life hating someone as much as he hated Penny at the moment, and then he heard Flint speak in an amused voice as he placed an arm around his shoulders, "I know the feeling mate. One of the hazards of using a cupboard I'm afraid." He chuckled as William continued his stare. "Come on mate, the sooner you get to your dorm, the faster you can get yourself sorted."

They began to move out down the corridor; never noticing a girl with red tinted eyes watch the commotion play out, and then continue on her way towards the second floor, with a leather bound book clutched in her hands.

A/N: And there you have it. I have somethings that need to be sorted out or brought forward before I can progress the plot, so those who read for that; please be patient. Those who enjoy fluff; enjoy it while it last. Please review and let me know your thoughts.

Till next time