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Part I: Bitter-Sweet Dreams

Chapter 18

Harry awoke feeling very tired. He had taken back to sleeping in the dorms, and had one of the worst days he could remember. Ginny had been telling the school that she had had sex with him the night before he made his arrival back into the school as a whole. Blaise was about as angry as a bull in the crimson haven of Gryffindor Tower, and Cleo was acting like a protective older sister. The small first year had taken to Harry as she would to an older brother figure, and that is what it had turned into.

Harry often carried her on his back to and from classes, and Blaise had taken to holding onto him as if expecting someone to show up to try and take him away. The tension between Ginny and Blaise was explosive and Harry expected any spark to set off an explosion. Bella had turned into Cleo's older sister and role model. This was turning into a horrible disaster, as Cleo was running around terrorizing the Hufflepuffs, who she had found she hated a great deal and often referred to as "Helga's Dipshitties", something that no one understood, but caused less laughter than anger from Hannah, who Cleo had an unexplained hate for.

Defense class was progressing well, as the teams had trials, in which the teams had to fight through animated practice dummies and one hidden teacher on changing terrain to try and get to the ending prize. Harry's group always won, and shockingly Justin and Ernie were rising stars. Their progression in Advanced Defense class was amazing, and their short weapons worked amazingly to compliment their magical prowess for long-ranged spells. The Chess Troupe was functioning well, and Ron had found that his shield worked well in allowing him to defend himself, allowing Hermione to work well in the frontlines of the fight, keeping many of the "pawn" pieces alive much longer.

Advanced Defense yielded a large amount of individual work, which was very interesting considering the fact that Harry had very little to do. One could guarantee a pass in the class early, as well as recommendation for advanced training and recognition on the N.E.W.Ts for Defense should they be able to defeat Mr. Long in an all-out duel. Mr. Long was proficient with his staff to the point that it seemed like he was born with the weapon at his side. He was able to hold his body off of the ground with the staff with relative ease. The bite of the staff was truly there, as he demonstrated on Harry, who volunteered, seeing as he was the only one not scared of a little fire it seemed.

Dean's axe was formidable as any other weapon in the class. The battle axe seemed to have grown, the staff attached to the blade getting longer and seemingly made of some metal. The blades had a greenish tint to them, and were wickedly sharp, catching light almost like some kind of jewel, and reflecting it. He wielded it so well it should have been a crime, almost as if it weighed absolutely nothing at all, and even had a move he had created with it, where he swung it down to the ground in a straight downward strike, and when it struck the ground, he seemed to roll forward holding the handle, which sent him into a kind of flip using the axe as balance, and as he came down once more from his flip, he pulled the axe up again for an even stronger hit. This move was quick, and could come from nowhere, as Ron found out going against the tall, strong boy.

Ron's shield had gotten thinner and took on a pointed look, almost like it had been two shields put together at a 90 degree angle, and then turned, so that the shield had a point. The point had sharpened some, and Ron could wield the shield upside down, with one arm in the strap, and it almost made a kind of blade, as the bottom was pointed as well.

Seamus' war hammer was incredibly interesting to watch in battle. It had a very Celtic-inspired simplicity, with ancient design, to the point without all of the flair and aesthetic designs others seemed to value. The hammer's head was square and almost like a mallet Harry had once seen in the kitchen used for tenderizing meat, as it had little raises and dips on the hard hammer surface, for added damage it seemed. Where Dean's axe-handle had gotten longer, his hammer staff, on the other hand, had gotten shorter, to the point that if need be, it could be used with one strong hand. Seamus had found that the hammer worked amazingly in his right hand, and alright in his left, and he was learning to do moderate spell work with his left hand, and that made him a sharp, powerful, and dangerous threat, as one would never know what to expect, as he was capable of a stunner and a few other spells such as a Disarming spell with both hands, and was proficient enough to incapacitate an unsuspecting opponent with the hammer regardless of which hand it was held in.

Susan's cleaver, which she called Peacemaker, was the most non-peacemaking thing Harry had ever seen outside of Kyoto and Baretta. The weapon looked downright wicked. It had a warped and contorted blade, that looked almost like wood that was burned, but was clearly metal. The blade had grooves and jagged breaking points in it at random places, but was undeniably sharp. The handle was a pure and clean golden color, and there was a golden ring through a hole in the top of the cleaver, that didn't seem to be there for much of anything, but it looked damned cool.

Ernie and Justin were a gruesome and amazing pair. While their weapons had kept a similar appearance, they themselves had changed just enough that something very odd had happened. During one of the matches in Defense class, they had shown exactly how good they were, when Ernie had been split from Justin, and was behind the enemies in prime position to do damage while Justin was taking the full brunt of the attack, but Ernie couldn't do as well with just one sword for attacking and a shield he didn't need. And they had done something downright shocking.

Ernie had launched his shield across the floor, tripping up a few of the attacking, animated wooden opponents, while Justin threw his sword up and over as if it was all practiced and a perfectly natural action at the same time. Justin grabbed the shield and defended with a deftness that was shocking, while Ernie snatched the sword from the air as if he was a seeker and the snitch was floating in water in front of him and it was the easiest thing in the world. And he took out all of the enemies from behind. And when they were back together, they gave each other their weapons back and finished the course.

Their teamwork was interesting to say the least, as if was the most natural thing in the world for them. They had gotten the teamwork thing down better than anyone else in the entire class, outside of Harry and Blaise, who worked more instinctively than with Harry, Blaise and Bella.

Bella's gauntlets had changed a lot, as the blades were able to get longer and change direction that they came out at what were her words that no one could hear, or ever caught. The blades themselves were straight-forward, straight blades for the longest before suddenly, they changed. They took on a spear-like shape, the normal thickness of the blade for the most part, but near the end of the blade, where the tip of the sharp sword-like weapon pointed, it flared out in a kind of diamond shape, making it almost a 3-point weapon, able to do damage from 3 different directions. She used these with harsh lack of discrimination and a mental kind of instinct with the direction of her enemies to the best way for the blades to point. Watching her was like watching a dancer, she had the instinct of a seasoned fighter, and the weapons seemed to bring a light to her eyes.

Blaise's weapons were amazing. She moved with them interestingly, as she had sat up for over a month with Harry, working on holsters for them. In the end, they ended up working the weapons amazingly, as Harry used some of his enchanting skills on the objects, choosing to connect summoning charms to small rings Blaise put on her pinkies. The rings would draw the knives to her, while the holsters had a slight banishing charm on them, to send them out of her sleeves, and the summoning charm drawing them back to hands, as to ensure her hands were never cut by the knives.

The knives were beautiful, pure white blades with white handles, depicting sky blue snakes spiraling around the handles. The blades shimmered in the light, and seemed to glow powerfully like a beacon in the night. The Demonic energy was still there, but was simply a pulse whenever Blaise held them, and wasn't there at all when anyone else did. All but Harry. Whenever Harry got too close to them, and especially when he touched them, they flooded energy. But he wanted little to do with the weapons, as they were showing how pure they were, as the Demonic energy they gave off was such a beautiful feeling that he worried about corrupting them.

His gloves, on the other hand, still had yet to come off for an extended period of time. He was able to get them off to shower, but they seemed to respond oddly to him once he felt endangered by someone throwing the bathroom door open loudly. They shot onto his hands, and didn't seem to want to come off again.

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Harry stared calmly outside of the castle. The fall and early winter months had passed with good developments, for the most part given the classes, but yet and still, he was very proud of how much everyone had developed. Parvati and Padma had become good, strong friends to him, which was very interesting, because Lavender seemed to be the most distant and despising about Harry. She had sided up with Ginny on the girl's most recent accusation, saying, "A witch always knows."

Ginny seemed to believe she was pregnant with Harry's child.

And this had a lot of Gryffindor Tower split. Professor Snape was having a field day. He only stopped his teasing, which went on behind both Harry and Blaise's back, when he made a comment about Cleo that caused the girl to "accidentally" trip and spill her hair-cleansing potion all over him. "Darn, Professor, I'm sorry to have messed up your hair like that, it must have taken years of not using this potion to get it in that…particular style. I am so very sorry." And the girl sassed her way back over to her seat, smiling to herself.

Harry hadn't spoken much to Ginny, and every time she tried to speak to him, he would walk away from her. She seemed to think that this "pregnancy" would make him love her, and all it was doing was making several people in the school that he wanted on his side turn on him. She was being the catalyst to a huge polarization of the school, people that had his back, and people who didn't.

But regardless, he thanked her for it. He knew who would be there for him in the end and who wouldn't. Ron, shockingly, had sided with him quickly, and Harry was thankful for that. Ron and Daphne were very deep in their relationship, and had spoken their love for each other on a beautiful night in early December, when the sky was clear and the stars twinkled above them. It showed tact beyond the stereotypical Gryffindor criteria. It was amazing.

Harry stood outside the school in the morning of what would be yet another double date between Harry and Blaise, and Ron and Daphne in Hogsmeade. Bella had taken to not hanging with Harry and Blaise as much, as she had her partner-in-crime in Cleo, and the two were often busy causing some kind of havoc. Bella had liked being friends with Blaise and Harry, but nothing more, on her own insistence, saying "I refuse to be the 3rd wheel to destiny. You two are meant to be, and I will be damned if I end up standing to the side watching the purest love I have ever seen be held up by me. However, I reserve the right to come in and sweep one or both of you off your feet whenever I want and use you to my own dark and devious devices." She had smiled and given both of them a kiss and had walked off with Cleo.

It turned out that her break-up consolation to herself was pulling a huge prank on the Hufflepuffs, her and Cleo pulling arguably the worst prank ever, involving some invisibility spells, some clown wigs, huge shoes, and a specified type of spell that caused your target to do a specific action. In this particular one, it was an amazingly planned out circus routine that seemed to multiply in length every time someone tried to stop it before it was ready to be done.

Meaning, for 38 consecutive hours, the Hufflepuffs were fairly, or nearly, naked clowns doing very stupid clown routines and dances, in the middle of the Great Hall, including the horrible circus music.

Harry chuckled thinking back, but the world wasn't all happiness, sunshine and puppy-dogs. Life was very capable of being hell, and he, better than anyone else, knew that. And Karma had told him, the time for the call was drawing very, very near. And that meant that was approaching.

Harry sighed and looked out to the grounds. Silent tears fell for what was to come. And those would be some of the last tears he ever shed on the grounds of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for a very long time.

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Hannah Abbott prided herself on her purity. She had a long-standing dislike of Cho Chang, and girls that bounce between boyfriends, as she believed that all courtship should be there to establish a lasting relationship. She was, what some would call, overly religious, or as Seamus had recently taken to calling her, which irked her, a "Super-Christian."

Hannah's belief system was adopted from her late mother, and she therefore believed that it was her responsibility to pass that on to her younger sister. However, Cleo was raised by, and heavily under the influence of, men. Hannah's father was a headstrong Auror who married into a religious family he couldn't handle, and as a result, Hannah's family was separated until her mother died.

This was largely the reason Cleo hated her sister so deeply. Cleo was turned over to live with her older brother, an Unspeakable, at a young age because their father wasn't able to handle raising a small child, as he knew nothing of how to do so. Cleo rarely saw Hannah, and every time she did, Hannah was always trying to change her, and alter her. This, while Cleo knew a lot more about Hannah's doings than the older girl thought.

Cleo knew all about the "experimenting" with Susan that went on in the girl's life, and therefore thought the hypocrisy of what Hannah was doing, as well as other things in the past, warranted her deep-seated hate.

However, Hannah always wanted what she believed was best for her sister, so she dragged her along for something called Pomfrey's Purity Check. It was really a checkup for girls and their parents, to check their virginity, as well as give them potions for birth control as well as other health potions. Cleo had no intention of going, and was forcibly taken along by her older sister. The younger girl wanted to stay and work with her partner in crime, in order to play yet another prank. Bella was yet another person Hannah didn't approve of.

"We are going to have to get you some new friends, Cleo, you can't be hanging out with those horrible people that you are around so often."

"What, like Harry, Blaise and Bella? You just don't like them because they are better than you, they are better family than you. And if you interfere in them, as my family, I will hate you forever, for the rest of my life. And after I am dead." And with that, Cleo shook off Hannah and ran down the hall.

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Harry's blades were glinting in the light as he tossed them. Straight into the wall, they shone like beckoning lights to everyone looking for him, and that pretty much encompassed the entire castle. He had been very quiet since the Ginny disaster, which had begun at the start of breakfast, and had spread into the late evening, escalating to Blaise's Gryffindor Tower pass being rejected by those who supported Ginny, and re-instated by those who supported Harry. The cycle continued 29 times in the process of a week before Harry stopped fighting it.

Laying in his room, he was a picture of repetition. He stopped going to most classes, and any teacher that questioned him about that, was immediately cut off by either him walking away, or Blaise pulling a knife, the latter only occurring where it concerned Professor McGonagall. The only classes he went to were his classes with Ms. Madison and Mr. Long, as they seemed to be steadily steering the entire school away from relying on their wand as a first and last means of doing anything.

The school refused to allow him to get a new wand. His time was spent laying in his bed, making holes in the ceiling of his dorm. He used the knives Blaise had given as a means of channeling magic for most things magical he did, but often they were spent being tossed into the ceiling, before the magic in the castle pushed them out as the ceiling seemed to repair itself. However, eventually, the holes stopped filling completely, and soon enough, the knives would fall, but the holes would stay.

Harry had the tendency to flare up in his Demonic energy at times, but prided himself in keeping calm, considering everything that was going on around him. His flare ups generally led him down into the Chamber, but sometimes, he would find one of the few people that calmed him, within the general area. As he tossed his knives, he heard someone enter. Looking up casually, he saw who it was.

"Cleo?"

"Harry! Oh my god, Harry, that bitch of a supposed sister of mine is trying to make me do the Purity Check thing. I can't! If I do, then…" And the girl broke down into tears. "They'll find out about…about…" She wailed and fell to the ground. In shock, throwing the blades hard into the ceiling, Harry jumped up and ran toward her, gathering her up in his arms.

Walking over to the couch, Harry sat the girl down and let her cry. He made to give her space, but she clung to him as if he was the only thing keeping her alive, the only thing left that was real. And she cried herself out, before she drifted to sleep.

Harry held her for as long as she slept, and within the hour, she was back awake, but it wasn't the Cleo that he knew, not the happy, sweet girl that was always the blast of sunshine that was necessary to the world he and Blaise lived in. No, this was someone completely different. A lost soul, if Harry had ever seen one.

"What will they find out, Cleo, what will they find out?" Harry asked. She was shaking, still, in a heartfelt pain that was the sign of mental burden too much for her to bear alone. "Cleo…baby…little sis, tell me, please, what is going on?" Harry pressed on. She looked up at him, her shimmering eyes locked on his own. She looked at him, and reached her hand up and slid it across his cheek in an action she was much too young to do, a caress of gentleness, of consolation, of sadness, the touch of a sibling and a lover all in one.

And then her eyes were gone, and she was looking down, her strawberry-blonde hair, which she had been allowing to grow and wearing it in a style like Blaise's, obscuring her eyes. "My brother's name is Akarinth, Akarinth Abbott, stupid name, and even he knew it. He went through school called Ace, and was good at Defense, damn good. He left the school and became an auror. And in the end, he was recruited by the Unspeakables.

"His favorite color was copper, and he hated Quidditch, but he was pretty good at it. It was one of the reasons that he became an Auror, because of the Quidditch stuff. He was more into muggle rock and roll than the tripe that passes for Wizarding music. He loved all of that, and he really loved to sing." She was silent for a few moments before she spoke again. "He used to sing this song to me, before…before…well, I remember it well. 'Cry me a river, bleed me a sea, just a drop so I can see how Heaven will be. Eternal dreams, bitter-sweet, just to taste a forever I will never see.' I will remember it forever, and the first time he ever sang it to me."

Her eyes looked up at him unsteadily. "He came home one night, incredibly scared and tired. The entire fiasco resulting in the Kissing of some Bratty-Couch-Junior guy had him stressed out. He was near tears when he came home, and I was there. I had had a nightmare, and was up on the couch, waiting for him. I must had drifted off, because all I remember is waking up to him sitting by me. I had told him about my dream, and he had carried me into the room. And that was when he sang that song to me."

Harry was watching her, and piecing it all together, but held his tongue. The girl's eyes were shimmering bright, and were amazingly sad, to the point that he was almost crying himself. "He would do that, that cheek thing, every time…every time. The first time, I cried, and he cried after. But after that, it became a regular thing, with him coming in after a bad day at work, or even, coming in after a good day at work, and feeling him touching my cheek." She was crying slowly, tears falling from her eyes.

"Cleo…baby…what did he do?"

"He would…he…he used to say he was showing how he loved me." He stopped moving completely, as did Cleo, before he lifted her up and held her tight to him, crying into her hair. His body shook, his chest heaving and falling as he held her to him, as if he was trying to hold her to the world, hold her to make her real, as real as he could. He was willing the life into her, willing it from him into her, as he cried.

His tears became hers, and he held her to him as she held onto him as well, as if becoming one person. "Harry…no one knows, and I can't let them find out. Don't tell anyone, please, I'm begging! Please, older brother, please." She was pleading with him. He looked at her for a long moment, before he wiped his eyes and held her to him tightly. And he nodded into her hair, the tears stopping, but his chest still shaking silently for her. "I…I love you, Harry." And she began to drift off slowly, the shaking of his chest rocking her to sleep.

"And I you, Cleo." He stroked her hair for a moment, before leaning back against the back of the couch. He looked up to the roof of the room, seeing the knives buried to the guards in the ceiling. He smirked for one moment before he simply sighed and closed his eyes, and he too drifted off to sleep.

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Walking into the Common Room, Ginny Weasley was near tears. She had run into Padma and Parvati in the hallway. Parvati had been becoming a good friend of Ginny's the last year, her and Lavender taking the younger girl under their wing, and even hooking her up with Michael Corner. But since the Harry situation, Parvati had fallen off from her friendship with Ginny, as well as Lavender. The twins had cursed at her, after stopping Bella from choking her.

However, as the redhead entered the Common Room and looked to the scene on the couch, her breath caught. Harry was laid back on the couch, holding a sleeping Cleo to him. The girl was wrapped tightly around him, her legs around his upper waist, and her arms around his neck, with his around her waist, his hair and hers swirled and everywhere.

Ginny's eyes narrowed. She had never liked Cleo. The girl was a brat to her, and was very likely to break in and completely shut Ginny down when she was feeling at her best, mentally. Cleo was the bane of the girl's existence, after Blaise, Bella, and everyone else in the higher years that hated her. The small girl was smart, but rash, and two rash people rarely get along.

And another reason Ginny hated Cleo was, she was the only remotely younger girl that seemed to get any of Harry's time outside of any school environment. If anything, Ginny was jealous, and she knew it. Jealous that this girl was there. That this 'new' Harry had only arrived now, this caring, powerful, different Harry that had appeared this year, and not during her first year. It wasn't fair, in the mind of Ginevra Weasley.

Seeing the two on the couch as it was, she sighed and ran up the stairs in tears. Right as she left, Colin Creevey entered. Taking a picture of the running girl, he looked to see what had gotten her so worked up. Colin had been crushing off of Ginny for some time, thinking anyone who was good enough to like Harry so, anyone that was taken with him the last year, was more than good enough for him. He looked to the couch, and took a photo of the two sleeping on the couch.

The flash of light didn't wake Harry, but there was a flash, and the magical flash atop the boy's camera was impaled by a small throwing knife. The flash was right where his heart was. Colin swallowed loudly before running away from the scene, camera in hand, and eyes darting about, shocked and near tears.

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Awaking later that night, Harry lifted Cleo off of his chest and tried to set her down. She started to stir and shake. He sighed and lifted her up into his arms, and he walked from the Common Room. He knew that Hermione had the shift nearest the Common that night, and knew exactly how the girl's mind worked, the way she patrolled. So taking the direction she wouldn't be at the time, he began to walk away, down the corridor, until he got to one door. He looked around, and opened it, carrying Cleo with him through the doorway before he closed the door behind him. Walking across the room, he opened the door and walked out onto the balcony. Harry had found this spot once, while wandering the castle.

Looking out to the sky, he sighed and watched the stars. And he was silent for some time, when he heard Cleo begin to sing.

"Cry me a River,
Bleed me a Sea,
Just a drop so I can see how Heaven will be.
Bitter-Sweet,
Eternal Dreams,
Just to taste a forever I will never see.

Rising to grace,
Falling from Hell,
Finding my soul in you.
Losing more and more of my self,
Your absence breaks my heart in two.

Just for a bit of rain,
To cool the eternal pain,
Lips meet for but a touch.
Beneath the moon I declare,
The stars as my witness,
My angel,
I love you so much."

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