See first chapter for disclaimers/warnings/summaries.

RECAP:Harry and Megan Jones are newly claimed Alpha and Sub, still waiting to complete their bonds, but the weekend is over and they are now returning to daily life at Hogwarts, starting with breakfast.

"Harry!" Hermione's shriek made him wince. "You're alright! Where were you? What happened? Why didn't you tell anyone you were going away to-"

"Harry!" Ron's voice joined in the babble. "You had us worried." His blue eyes narrowed, suspiciously. "Where were you? What's going on?" He turned to look Harry from head to toe.

"I want to know too!" Ginny joined the fray. "You just disappeared and no one knew where you were. McGonagall didn't even know and I thought that you might've been-" The rest of her sentence was muffled as she threw her arms around him and hugged tight.

He flinched. She didn't let go. After a moment, he cleared his throat. "Er." Harry said, eloquently. He knew he would have been missed, but knowing it and seeing it was something else entirely.

She finally released him, but her dark eyes promised one of those serious kind of conversations that Harry always tried his best to avoid. "I'm fine, Ginny, everyone." He ducked his head. "I was just…really tired."

"Tired?" Hermione pursed her lips. Ginny and her exchanged a meaningful look.

"Yeah. Remember a few weeks ago?" He snapped. Their scents had spiked sharply and he didn't like the look passing between them. They knew something that he didn't think he'd like and it seemed like they weren't about to tell him.

The bushy-haired witch frowned. "Harry…" She trailed off warningly. Ginny frowned.

His actions seemed to be confirming whatever their silent conversation had been about. "I already visited Madam Pomfrey." Harry said, hastily. "I'm fine. She couldn't find anything wrong with me." He hoped his voice didn't sound too off. He was already noticing it seemed to hold a new, almost musical quality to it and he didn't think there was much he could do to disguise it. The best thing to do was avoid speaking as much as possible.

It shouldn't be too hard. He'd managed to do it for a while anyway.

Hermione looked as if she'd like to say something more, but she didn't get the chance as the Twins made their morning appearance and the usual bustle of chaos settled down at the Gryffindor table. Ron pulled her down to sit beside him and Ginny took her other side, effectively trapping the Head Girl from continuing her interrogation.

Before Harry had to wonder where he was sitting, he felt a warm hand on his shoulder and then Jennifer was in his line of sight, her smile bright and cheerful as she calmly inserted herself between him and his friends. "Morning Harry. Pass the toast?"

He nodded, slowly, reaching forward to lift and pass the heavy tray to her slender hands. "Morning."

"Thanks."

"…welcome." Harry stared down at his empty plate, wondering if he'd be able to handle eating anything today. He was sort of hungry, but his mind was mostly stuck on the fruit that he remembered Megan feeding him and suddenly, it seemed like too much hassle to deal with food. He hoped Megan was faring better than his sudden bout of indecision.

"Morning, Harry." Neville smiled as he passed him to take his usual morning seat. "Good to see you again."

"Morning, Neville." Harry answered, automatically. He smiled to himself at the genuine smile that had touched Neville's face, nearly all traces of shyness gone.

"Harry!" The Weasley twins chorused.

And that was all the warning he had. Harry was all but physically lifted and rearranged as the twins inserted themselves beside him, one on each side, prompting all the others to have to move and shuffle to regain their original seating order with the new additions. Jennifer gave them a dirty look when they elbowed her out of the way and made room for themselves.

Harry made himself smile, hoping that he wasn't about to be in some sort of trouble, because the smiles in their eyes did not quite touch their eyes and he was suddenly reminded of the fact that technically, the twins shouldn't really have been back at Hogwarts. They should have graduated and he was fairly certain they hadn't flunked or failed anything.

"Harry." Fred whispered in his left ear. "We were worried. You shouldn't disappear like that."

"Very worried." George agreed. "No note or warning, nothing. Don't do that again. It's a bit—not Harry." He flashed another toothy grin. "But don't let us weigh you down, have some breakfast. Eat some fruit."

"And toast. Toast is good. Tea?" Fred asked, politely.

Their voices were very quiet and very serious. There was absolutely no hint of humor between them and that alone was rather unsettling.

Harry gulped. He'd never heard the twins break out of their twinspeak before. There was something vaguely terrifying about it in a way that he did not want to examine. "Moring, Fred. George." He said, softly. "I'm actually not very-"

"Morning, Harry." They both repeated the greeting, in unison, effectively cutting off his protest. "Eat."

Harry wished he could turn invisible as the taller redheads began to reach around him and the table, filling his plate in their usual way. He was starting to wonder if it was some odd quirk of theirs, but knew better than to call them out on it. He liked having someone to worry over him, every now and then, it was nice.

It made him feel wanted.

Just like Megan did.

He hoped she was enjoying her breakfast. He snuck a glance at the Hufflepuff table and smiled when he saw her surrounded by her fellow students, everyone happy and chatting cheerfully. That was good. She looked perfect there, as if she belonged—and she did, he was sure—and somehow, just seeing her as the center of attention, made his morning. They weren't fawning over her or anything, but they were all taking turns asking questions and speaking in turn and Harry could tell. He didn't blame them for gravitating towards her, because there was just something special about Megan.

Lucky him.

Against his better judgment, he snuck a glance towards the Slytherin table, squinting to make out faces, so his eyes would adjust through the glass lenses. He spied a sleepy, yawning Draco sandwiched between a cheerful Blaise and Theodore Nott. Pansy was sulking at the far end of the table and directly beside her, Millicent was happily overfilling her breakfast plate, much to Tracy Davis's dismay.

Harry wondered how she could eat so much, when he caught sight of the Greengass sisters sitting together, opposite of Millicent. They were an entirely different story altogether and he almost wondered how they could be sisters as Daphne was pale, lithe and blonde in every way that Astoria was thin, auburn-haired and nearly the exact same height.

From what he could see, it looked as if Astoria was filling both of their plates and Daphne was reading a section of the Daily Prophet to her. As if sensing his eyes on them, the blonde paused—her lips stopped moving—and turned her head in Harry's direction, not looking away from the newspaper scrap until the very last second. It was just enough time for Harry focus on his own plate, hoping his ears weren't turning the shade of red that he could feel.

In addition to the blush, he could now feel a sharp-eyed gaze lingering on him and he hoped that it was Snape rather than Daphne. Snape, he could handle, Daphne, he didn't think so. A flash of movement at the opposite end of the Gryffindor table drew his attention to Parvati, who raised both eyebrows at him and gestured to his plate, mouthing the words 'eat.'

Suppressing a groan, Harry reached for his pumpkin juice and took a hasty swallow. Parvati shook her head at him and gave him a look that had Harry picking up his fork and stabbing it at the sausages near his toast. Once satisfied that he was eating, Parvati returned to her own meal. Harry chewed and swallowed mechanically, even though the meal tasted like sawdust.

He was halfway through his third mouthful when he realized that the weighted stare had moved and he looked up and over at the Slytherin table just in time to find himself staring straight into Daphne Greengrass's hazel eyes. He nearly choked. She held his gaze for a moment, then smiled—pleasantly—before returning her attention to her younger sister.

Harry swallowed. He wished breakfast was over already.

The morning blurred through. Harry didn't remember much of it. Transfiguration was a bit odd. He was privately excused by McGonagall at Madam Pomfrey's orders and with Dumbledore's explanation—and so was given two essays to write instead. Harry had accepted with a grateful smile that the stern witch hadn't called him out on his lack of magic, nor had she made a big deal of handing him an alternate assignment.

It didn't seem that anyone but Hermione noticed that something had happened and even Hermione seemed to be a bit off, looking a bit pale and on edge, as if she were suspicous of everything. He almost thought to ask if everything was alright, but a certain wildness in her gaze ahd made him flinch and that very reaction had him keeping what little bit of distance between them that he could. Ron didn't seem to have noticed anything, but Harry knew that the redhead could be dense at times and he hoped that he was simply overreacting. There couldn't really be anything wrong with Hermione, she was almost his rock.

Almost.

Harry pushed that away for later thought. He didn't want to deal with her and the questions that were sure to come, as Hermione's best way of avoiding questions was to ask more questions. Harry certainly didn't have any answers to give her and so he'd simply done his best to avoid being in that sort of situation.

He'd avoid it as long as he could. Charms was about the same, just extra essays and no deliberate special attention and Harry knew that the Headmaster had certainly had a hand in it. It felt like favoritism, but it helped, so Harry didn't complain. He wasn't up to it. He wondered how he'd fare in his other classes as bonding apparently hadn't done anything for his missing magic and he was missing it more than ever now.

When class let out, he trailed along with the others and slunk into the DADA classroom to find a rather shocking surprise. Daphne Greengrass was sitting at the desk to his left—right where he normally sat. He gulped. She didn't acknowledge him as he cautiously eased himself into his usual seat and snuck a glance around the room, realizing that Astoria would not be in this class.

A whiff of citrus curled through the air and Harry swallowed, unable to help the deep breath he'd just taken. He wasn't sure if the scent was coming from Daphne or someone else, but when he thought to take another careful look in her direction, the tall blonde greeted him with a warm smile that immediately sent his nerves packing. Harry managed a tiny smile in response, before hurriedly focusing on his things, just in case Hermione was paying closer attention than he wanted. The looks she'd exchanged with Ginny had his hackles up in the very worst sort of way. It was none of their business what he did—it wasn't like they'd really cared that much, lately.

His thoughts were jolted elsewhere when the classroom door banged open to show a certain, scowling professor.

Terius entered, his face set in the same scowl as he'd worn back in the hospital wing. He snapped out orders and soon everyone was standing and the desks were moved to the side and stacked and he was setting things out on the floor before them. "Today is going to be a practical example. I trust you will all be sure to pay attention and keep you awareness about you at all times. Today's example will feature a protection spell, known as a protection circle or tattoo, depending on how you wish to view it. It can be transferred to another surface, such as skin—the reason it is noted as a tattoo—or it can be placed in the main room of a house to protect all who enter and those who reside within its walls. I will repeat this again—pay attention!" Sea-blue-grey eyes roamed over every student, nailing them where they stood, a silent reminder that nothing was to go wrong during this class period.

Nothing did.

They learned how to create a temporary protective tattoo that would guard the wearer from harm or provide additional defenses to a home when a spouse was traveling. Harry had to admit there wasn't anything dark about the ritual, just the fact that blood was required from the one leaving the home or the possible protector and then from the ones left at home or the intended wearer. It was rather brilliant and Harry tucked the thought away for later use, remembering a vague memory and the taste of something deliciously exquisite…

"Class dismissed!"

The class ended too soon, it seemed and Harry began to pack up his things. He felt awkward in the classroom, having occasionally felt the professor's gaze resting on him and being unable to do little more than recall the final, cold words spoken in the hospital wing.

"I do not acknowledge you, because you do not acknowledge yourself."

It echoed hollowly in his mind and sat heavily in his stomach as if he'd eaten something that didn't agree with him. He didn't know what to do about it and his Dragel instincts didn't help much in their general consensus that he apologize to get into the good graces of the older man.

"I can't believe we have to learn this as if it's real magic." Hermione fretted. She was looking a bit paler than usual and the sudden burst of temper colored her cheeks with a bit more life than usual. She swiped at her bushy curls and readjusted her headband. "Honestly, blood magic is so unpredictable, suppose the protector was protecting someone that didn't want to be protected and the entire ritual was tainted, resulting in a-"

"Oh come off it, Hermione." Ron sighed. "It doesn't matter. It was kind of cool." Hermione fixed him with a glare and continued to grouse about it all the way out of class, so caught up in her fumings that she didn't search out Harry the way she'd been doing for the past week.

Harry was somehow jostled to the corner and he was about to leave when he felt a tug on his sleeve. He tried to see who it was, but in the same way he'd been shuffled to the corner, he found himself standing outside in the hallway as everyone else hurried on to their next class. He scowled and then reached down to adjust the strap on his bookbag before, charing forward and directly into Daphne Greengrass who was watching him now, with a curious expression on her face. He blinked at her, unsure of whether he ought to say something or not—after a discreet look around showed him that they were the only two standing in the corridor.

"Hello," she said, calmly.

"Hello," Harry managed. He looked around them again, unable to fight the feeling that something wasn't quite right about the situation, but mostly because he didn't know what to do about it, rather than from any real spine-tingling danger. "Hi," he heard himself say, a moment later and knew he was blushing when his ears tingled with warmth.

The second greeting produced a useful result though, because Daphne's solemn face shifted as she cracked a smile—a ghost of a smile really—and inclined her head down the hallway, inviting him to walk with her. "Hi," she echoed. "Shall we?"

After a moment's hesitation, Harry did.

They walked together, slowly and in near silence until Daphne spoke up. "You really should talk to him."

"Him? Him who?"

"Teacher Terius," Daphne inspected her fingernails, deliberately not looking at Harry. "I'm almost certain you don't really know, mostly because I think you're very nice. Very kind, at least." She stopped and he came to an automatic halt beside her. "He's only following your cues—he is a Pareya after all—and you couldn't possibly know that, at least, you should, but I do not think that you do." She tapped a finger against the left side of her mouth, as if in thought. "Whatever the case is, you should speak to him."

"I have nothing to apologize for," Harry said. His eyes narrowed. "And I didn't do anything."

"He's well into his first century," Daphne said, dryly. "I think you could make an exception." She wrinkled her nose and began to walk again, leaving him behind. "I did not mean that you ought to apologize, I merely meant that you might want to speak to him. He could help you, if you were so inclined."

"Help me?" Harry scoffed. "He hates me!"

Daphne's head gave a little shake and she disappeared around the corner.

Harry stared after her for a good minute, before he realized he ought to be walking and that he could have caught up with her. The moment he rounded the corner, the corridor was empty and he mentally scolded himself for the missed opportunity. He couldn't help thinking about her all the way tothe next class though and as he made it his seat, he couldn't help thinking that Daphne had very brown eyes.

"Daphne Greengrass?" Megan hummed, thoughtfully. She sat in the center of her bed, braiding her shoulder-length hair, a length of ribbon between her lips. She was clad in a pair of simple, white cotton pyjamas, with black socks. "She's tall and very smart." She took the ribbon from her mouth and began to tie off the braid. They were back in her room again, she'd simply waited for Harry after the meal and then brought him up to her room without any ceremony.

Relieved to be away from everyone and everything, as well as pleased to be with his Alpha again, Harry hadn't protested. He'd found that the shared room was empty and that there were actually large hanging curtains at the corners of the room, allowing each girl to pull them to section off their bed for additional privacy. Megan had smiled at his inquiring look and said something about good grades and polite requests.

Harry had been glad for the extra privacy and Megan's quiet company. He'd taken first turn in the shower, thanks to the private en suite and then he'd arranged his books on the desk, along with his homework, when Megan had asked. She'd spoken of her own day and the classes she'd attended as well as the assignments due, then asked him in turn. That was how they'd come to be speaking of Daphne Greengrass and he couldn't help asking what she knew of the Slytherin girl.

"Tall?" Harry echoed. He sat cross-legged at the foot of her bed, watching as she expertly twisted and wrapped the ribbon around the end of braid and then tied it off into a neat little bow. He supposed Daphne was tall, he could distinctly remember his face being level with her chest and finding that it was best to simply stare up at her face instead. He couldn't shake the image of her eyes from his head though and the more he thought about it, the more confusing it was. Something about her eyes tugged at him and he didn't know why. "Anything else?"

"That depends love," Megan leaned over to kiss his cheek, before she slid off the bed and moved over to sit at the tiny vanity set to complete her nightly toilette. "What else do you want to know?"

Harry bit back a sigh of frustration. He didn't know. He only knew that there was something niggling in the back of his mind and he wasn't sure what it was yet. "I don't know—I just—isn't there anything?"

Megan was quiet for a moment, lips pressed together as she slathered a thick night cream over her pale skin and then dabbed on a bit of lip balm. "She's smart, but most of the Slytherins are, they have to work extra to make up for the usual prejudices, I suppose." She walked over to the bed and began to turn the covers down. They would have to snuggle to fit comfortably, but she didn't think that Harry would mind that. "She's very kind, she's helped a few badger firsties on a bad day and she certainly never had to. There was no obligation of any sort. She speaks French and Italian, though she isn't either and she is very good at negotiating. I suppose it's because she's a Beta." Megan plumped up the two small pillows that had replaced her single pillow. The elves were very astute. She patted the left side. "Right or left?"

Harry gave a faint shake of his head, then crawled forward to take the right side. "A Beta? What do you mean?" He slid halfway under the covers, sitting up, braced against the headboard.

For a moment, Megan stared at him and then she turned out the light and crawled into the bed, sitting next to him, their arms touching. "I'm sorry, I thought you knew. She's dragel, like us. I'm not sure what element, I've never had the chance to look her in the eye, but she's a dragel and her rank is a Beta." Megan was quiet for a moment, before she hummed softly. "She's actually not bad, I mean, if you're asking my permission, I do agree. She's lovely. Smart. She would make a good Beta and I don't have any issue with her Slytherin affiliation."

"And you didn't think to mention that earlier?" Harry couldn't help saying. "Try saying that first next time!"

"You can smell it on it," Megan said, simply. "I assumed you knew, because I thought it was obvious. My apologies. I'll make sure to—as a matter of fact, I won't. I'll simply tell you now. There's about ten of us total, I believe, here at Hogwarts. There's more of us elsewhere as in not here. Let's see now, there' Millicent Bulstrode from Slytherin, she's a Pareya, I believe—a Protector—that's what Pareya means, in Gryffindor, we have Jennifer Dawn who is also a Pareya and she is a fire type—take care not to burn yourself, if you are interested in courting her, I think she's alright. She's nice enough. I don't know her that well, in all honesty. I believe the Patil twins are Pareya also, Earth types, if I'm not mistaken and a bit of other creature in them—I don't believe they're pureblooded dragel—they smell like something else," Megan ticked off her fingers in the darkness.

"Ten of us?" Harry repeated. He slowly eased down from bracing against the headboard to slipping beneath the sheets. He turned to face Megan, happy when she stretched out a hand to card through his hair.

She chuckled. "Yes, ten and maybe more. I haven't kept a direct count, I only know that with the exception of Mr. Theodore Nott, I am the only dragel Alpha, besides Severus Snape, who resides in Hogwarts at present. Draco Malfoy and Daphne Greengrass are the only Betas present. I believe there is a Rheyo or two."

"What's a Rheyo? Do I need one? I know I need a Beta, I mean—I do, don't I?"

"Yes, you do. Preferably before you take on any other Bonded mates." Megan tugged gently on a curl of hair. "A Beta is something of a peacemaker between us, they keep me from smothering you too much and you from stressing over me."

Harry scowled in the door. "Too much stress."

She chuckled again and slid down to join him beneath the covers. "It helps to ease the stress and they are usually thought of as a second-in-command of sorts in a Bonded Circle. A Rheyo is simply an elected Beta, meaning that if there is more than one Beta, which happens in large Circles, then the other Bonded elect a second Beta of their choosing and they hold the title of Rheyo. Some Betas are simply more inclined to be Rheyos than others."

"Why do they have to have different names?" Harry grumbled. "Why can't they just-"

"It's Nevarean, love," Megan settled herself as comfortably as she could manage and looped one arm around Harry's waist, drawing him closer to her. "Nevarah is the realm in which dragels reside, Nevarean is their native tongue. You would not have to speak Nevarean to live there, but the common terms—things like titles and such—are spoken there, very much in the same way that the wizarding world uses latin."

Harry snorted. He didn't complain when Megan pulled him closer, though the entire situation was very new to him. It was awkward, enjoyable and foreign all at the same time. They would have to stay close, due to the bed's size, but at the same time, he liked being near her and the scent that continually surrounded her. The feeling of being so close to someone who genuinely cared, was an entirely different story. He could practically taste her sincerity and it made his chest ache.

Stubbornly pushing away the irritating thoughts, Harryfocused on sleep and nothing else, thinking only of the warm arm that Megan had wrapped around his stomach and the softwhuffling of her breaths over his head. His face was half-nestled intothe curve of her neck and he was warm and comfortable. Sleep came for him and he didn't fight it.

A/N: This chapter took longer than I expected, but at last, it is here. I hope you enjoyed it, dear reader. I appreciate your support on this fic. Megan is really fun to write and it looks like they might have found a Beta in Daphne Greengrass. Hmm. Thanks for reading!

-Scion