Shiro Tsubasa here, new chapter yay! This was SUPPOSED to be up this past week, but what can I say? Procrastination and I have a long standing relationship that I would hate to jeopardize. I got very few reviews out of my previous chapter which makes me a sad panda. On the plus side, one review pointed out my paragraphs are still a bit lengthy so I'll try to split them a bit better (though not really possible in this chapter, however future will be done.) He also suggested splitting the speech from paragraphs, if I get enough reviews I'll make the speech their own parts but as of now I plan to keep that how it is. On another note, this chapter is short, unbearably so by my standards. I typically have a self-imposed chapter minimum of 1000 words but this is like 850. If it had been closer I would have padded it out slightly but it was so far that I just didn't feel like it. I know many would say "Then why not describe a ton of stuff to increase it?" My answer to that is that I see no point in doing so, if it's not important I find it a bit annoying to read, especially when it's not any different from the way things have been described hundreds of times. Ironically enough I like vivid descriptions in most circumstances, it's just I find redundancy annoying. ANYWAY! Enough of this ungodly length A/N, enjoy and remember to review! Flames will be used to feed my Houndoom!
Disclaimer: *random fish speaking*: Shiro Tsubasa owns Harry Potter. *proceeds to slap the fish* Please ignore that delusional talking fish, I have no idea where he came from or how he can speak but I assure you he is lying through his gills, I do not own Harry Potter. I never have and never will, despite my wishes to the contrary.
Legend:
"Speech"
'Thought'
§Parseltongue§
*Hogwarts Express, September 1st*
"I'm not feeling well guys, I'll be back." Harry emphasized his point by gripping his stomach and nearly running out of the compartment. As he reached the restroom he called for Nyx who appeared in a flash of black fire. Seconds later he was standing in the Slytherin compartment under privacy wards with multiple wands point at him. "Now is that any way to greet your King?" He questioned in a voice lined with killing intent should someone be stupid enough to finish their cast. At the sound of his voice all of the would-be aggressors lowered their wands with a unified "I'm sorry my lord." Though he was generally a merciful and somewhat kind lord, none of the occupants of the compartment were under any illusion that their life was worth anything to him with the Greengrass heiress being the notable exception. With the threat dealt with Harry offered a slight nod in acknowledgement before sitting gracefully next to his queen. With a kiss to his cheek, Daphne cuddled into his side with a pleased smile on her face.
"I'm so thankful to be out of that damn compartment, between Weasel's constant stupidity and Granger's annoying habit of not shutting up I almost lost it." Harry grumbled as he laid his arm around his girlfriend. "So, anything important I should know?" he asked, mostly looking to the Malfoy heir and the Parkinson heiress, as most of the other Slytherin students were rather useless when it came to information gathering. "Father doesn't have anything at the moment" Pansy answered, her voice at such an annoying pitch that Harry had to stop himself from flinching. 'Note to self: Put a silencing spell on Parkinson too.' From the look on her face, Daphne was having similar thoughts. "My father says Crouch was supposed to take Alastor Moody's place as DADA teacher. He also said that most of the Inner Circle will stand with you if you can take him down, though they have to see it first. As for the ritual he's got some of his contacts looking for it, it shouldn't be too long before it's found." Draco answered in a bored tone.
"That's good to know, if the Inner Circle will back me that means less of a chance of the lower ranks defecting. I plan to start the smaller parts of the plan after Voldemort's death. If things go right then that will happen at his rebirth in front of the Inner Circle. As it stands I plan to reveal Daphne sometime this year." From beside him he feels Daphne stiffen slightly before hugging him. "And here I thought I was just a mistress," Daphne teased. Harry smirks before replying, "Well, I could always take Bones as my wife and you could be the mist-OWW." The rest of the compartment winced as their Lord's head flew forward from the force of their Queen's hand. "That wasn't very lady-like, and here I was going to talk to your father soon, I guess not now." Daphne glares at the comment before realizing what he was implying. "You mean?" "Yes, I have an appointment with your father on the first Hogsmade weekend to make an offer for a betrothal contract." The Greengrass heiress squealed even higher than Pansy was capable of before throwing composure out the window and tackling her soon-to-be betrothed. The rest of the compartment just looked away, not wanting to be cursed for not minding their business.
*5 minutes later*
Having finally extracted his mouth from an over-zealous Ice Queen, Harry bid farewell to his loyal Snakes before flashing back to the toilet. 'I was a bit longer than I planned, but I should be able to play it off.' Distracted by his thoughts it was no surprise when he nearly barreled over someone. Looking up from his location on the ground, Harry spotted a pretty redhead and a blonde with her hair tied in pigtails. "Hello Susan, Hannah. That was my fault, I was thinking." Susan looked in shock at the person she knocked over before hastily apologizing and helping him up, seeing that no one but Hannah was around she responded, "It's alright my Lord, neither of us was paying attention either so it's just as much our fault." Harry gave a nod at the formal apology and bid his Hufflepuff spies farewell before heading back to his "friends."
"Are you alright Harry? You should go see Madame Pomfrey when you get to school." The chiding tone of Granger greeted him as he entered the compartment. 'I really wonder if I shouldn't just have silencing spells placed on all women, this is getting ridiculous.' The Dark King thought with exasperation. Making sure to keep his face neutral he replied, "I'm fine. I think breakfast disagreed with me is all." Seeing that they believed him, he took his seat beside the Weasel and proceeded to slip back into his "Golden Boy" mask. "Want to play Exploding Snap?" came the almost instant invitation from the red headed menace. Politely declining, Harry settled down and waited for the next hour to slip by.