A/N: Thanks to everyone who has reviewed! And to my sister for undergoing the very arduous task of proofreading this long chapter.

This chapter is about 11 000 words so it's much longer than the previous chapters (3000-6000 words). I wanted to really explore the interaction between Natalie and Harry though later chapters will be just as long.

Chapter 11- The Room of Requirement

Natalie sighed as Hermione rushed frantically out of the Great Hall. A few seats away from Harry and her, Lavender was making a spectacle of feeding Ron chocolate cake from her fork, cooing and kissing him in between bites.

"Bloody disgusting," muttered Natalie, glaring at Ron and Lavender. Many other students at the Gryffindor table were also shooting the couple very annoyed and exasperated looks.

Since the Quidditch match two weeks ago, Ron and Lavender's desire to remain connected at the lips had never wavered. Seemingly every free moment outside of their teachers' eyes, whether in the middle of the Gryffindor common room or behind students in the Great Hall, the couple appeared to make it an obligation to have their faces plastered together.

Watching Hermione's retreating form, Natalie could not help but worry. Hermione gave off the pretence of treating the couple with the utmost scorn and disdain, but whenever they kissed, a hurt expression flickered over her features before she composed herself and marched away. Natalie knew that at these times, Hermione preferred to be alone; she would approach Hermione later and try to talk about Ron.

One of the few positive consequences of Ron's foolishness was that Natalie and Hermione had become much closer. With Hermione not talking to Ron and Harry splitting his time between the two quarreling friends, Natalie and Hermione spent far more time alone, not including the Arithmancy and Ancient Runes classes they took together as well as the evenings and mornings in their dormitories. Surprisingly, Hermione was very open with Natalie regarding Ron. She did not hold back in her anger with his ignorance of her invitation to Slughorn's party as well as her suspicions that Lavender represented a conduit for him to hurt her. Despite Hermione's fury, Natalie still sensed the girl's insecurities about her appearance in comparison to Lavender. Ron's infatuation with the attractive, blonde-haired Gryffindor clearly aggrandized those fears despite Natalie's repeated claims that Hermione's amazing wit and intelligence made her into a far more well-rounded, beautiful person than Lavender could ever imagine. But Natalie was glad for Hermione's implicit trust and reliance on her; whereas Harry may have been her first real friend and may be morphing into something more, Hermione was quickly evolving into a sister.

"I thought they'd wait till after supper to do that sort of thing," commented Harry dryly.

"They probably saw Hermione having a good time with us and decided to spoil the fun," said Natalie scathingly.

Harry frowned at her. "Well, I hope that's not the case."

"He might just be enjoying the attention," noted Natalie with disdain. "It doesn't matter because Hermione left."

"She isn't handling them that well," remarked Harry sadly. "Everytime I've been with her when they started snogging, she's left almost immediately."

"How can you expect her to handle it well?" asked Natalie, her voice rising. "She invited him to Slughorn's party – and now, apparently because of some stupid kiss that happened two years ago, Ron's decided to stomp on her feelings all over the school with that troll."

"No need to snap at me," said Harry defensively. "If I haven't told you already, I agree with you – Ron's in the wrong."

Natalie took a breath. "He's just so insensitive – Hermione did nothing to deserve this."

"Well Ron's usually not like this," said Harry with a frown. "I'm sure he'll eventually see what he's doing."

"By the way, don't tell Hermione about Krum," added Harry anxiously.

"I wasn't going to," said Natalie, resting her arms on the table.

Harry gave her a relieved smile. He reached for the treacle tart near Natalie, but accidentally brushed his hands over her arms, causing both of their cheeks to turn a bright pink. The familiar surge of nervous energy pulsed through Natalie as she lifted her arms from the table with an abnormal jerk. Harry retracted his hand as if it was a drawstring without taking the dish of treacle tart. For a few long seconds, each of them seemed a burn a hole in the table with their eyes, scared and nervous about the other's thoughts.

Finally, Natalie sighed. She could not deny the existence of a sexual tension between them, but she could not bring herself to confront Harry about these awkward moments. She was not yet fully certain whether he actually had feelings for her. He generally seemed very uncomfortable with any type of contact, a consequence of growing up with hostile and likely abusive Muggles. And, though Natalie frequently told herself to allow for the slightly scary, but increasingly exciting opportunity that Harry reciprocated her feelings, she could not help but feel inadequate. From Hermione, she had learned that he had dated the very attractive Ravenclaw, Cho Chang, last year; Natalie knew she had nowhere near the looks, nor the athletic skills of that girl. And then there was, of course, the much scarier subject of her identity. She hated thinking ahead, but Harry would eventually find out her mother was the same woman who had killed his godfather.

Giving a shaky laugh, Natalie pushed the treacle tart towards Harry. "You want some?"

Harry smiled weakly at her, though his gaze was directed at a point past her shoulder. "Yes, you know how it's my favourite dish."

Natalie was torn between laughing at their obvious edginess at one another or reprimanding both herself and Harry for their childish refusal to address the obvious discomfort. "After three months, how could I not know?"

Harry laughed nervously. "Yeah, I suppose so. Where do you think Hermione's gone off to?"

Natalie chose not to comment on the rapid change of subject. It seemed he also noticed the awkwardness of their exchange. "Probably our dormitory, though, she can't go to bed because I think she and Ron have Prefect duty tonight."

"Really?" asked Harry, genuine surprise on his face.

"Yeah, I think it's the first time since he and Lavender got together that they have duty."

Harry swallowed his forkful of treacle tart. "I hope they don't kill each other on the patrol."

"They just might," noted Natalie with an amused smile. "I imagine Hermione has a few spells she'd like to try on him."

"Getting rid of those birds was a bloody pain," muttered Harry, giving a shudder.

"They seemed pretty vicious."

Harry snorted, spraying a few crumbs of the treacle tart onto Natalie's plate. "Ron still has the scars to show it."

"As he should," stated Natalie, moving his crumbs away with her fork as she finished her chocolate cake.

"Oh, sorry about that," said Harry sheepishly.

Natalie waved her other hand at him. "Don't worry about it. Oh, hey, Neville."

Neville walked from behind Harry, dropping himself onto the seat Hermione had vacated. Every time she talked to Neville, Natalie's stomach churned in a combination of dread and guilt. His parents always came to the forefront of her mind.

Harry nodded at Neville who started dishing large chunks of Shepherd's pie onto his plate.

"Late supper?" said Natalie, ignoring the tightness in her stomach.

Neville smiled shyly at her. "I was helping Professor Sprout in the greenhouses with some plants for her Seventh year class."

"Wow," said Natalie, looking very impressed even though she knew Neville was easily the best Herbology student in their year and perhaps in the school. "Have you ever thought of taking your NEWT's a year early?"

Neville blushed. "It would be too much work… I barely have enough time as it is."

"Herbology's a breeze for you mate," said Harry, smiling. "I don't think Seventh year work would take that much time."

"And you would also be able to learn more advanced material next year," pointed Natalie.

Neville shrugged though he looked slightly interested. "I do plan to go into Herbology after Hogwarts, but if I started now, I'd be almost three months behind on material. And I'm barely passing Defense as it is, so I need all the time I can have."

"Too bad Snape's teaching the subject," said Harry bitterly. "I'm almost convinced that he'll try to teach us the Dark Arts by the start of next term."

"I hate his favouritism," added Natalie, frowning. "At Durmstrang, none of the teachers were like him – they never showed blatant preference for any particular group of students."

"Basically if you're associated with me, he marks you out," said Harry darkly.

Neville laughed. "Though I think after our first Potions class, he had it out for me. I'm just glad that at least with DADA, it's harder for me to make a mess of a spell than with a Potion."

Harry also laughed. "Yeah, I also remember that class. He must have underlined our names on the class-list beforehand."

"The grudge against you, Harry, is really strange though," commented Natalie thoughtfully. "It's so unfair that he dislikes you so much because of your father."

Harry shifted in his seat. "Well, it is what it is. I don't like it either but he's always a git with me."

Natalie noticed his squirming in the few times she had mentioned Snape's intense dislike, bordering on hatred, for Harry. She considered asking Harry about the grudge later.

"That reminds me," said Neville thoughtfully through a mouthful of Shepherd's pie. "Are you starting the DA this year? I still have my coin."

"Dumbledore's Army- the organization you guys ran last year to help with DADA?" said Natalie, smiling at the hopeful expression on Neville's face. She gathered that he wanted for the DA to start much more than he let on.

Harry also seemed to notice Neville's barely contained enthusiasm for he gave him a sad smile. "I don't think so Neville. Snape, as much as I hate him, is sticking to the curriculum and if we do start it, it can't be a secret. Snape will be pretty pissed and a lot more students will want to join."

"Because almost every non-Slytherin girl in the school wants Harry Potter to teach them," noted Natalie scornfully.

Harry nodded. "Yeah – you were there for Quidditch tryouts – that was a complete raucus. It will be harder to coordinate, but Neville, if you need help, don't hesitate to ask me. We can always use the Room of Requirement for practice and I always like a good duel. And plus Natalie here is no slouch either – you remember our first defense class."

Natalie smiled at the warm, inviting tone underlying Harry's words. He knew exactly what to say and how to pick his words.

Neville looked a bit deflated, though he smiled at the two of them. "I understand – it seems kind of pointless anyway to start the DA this year. I'll probably take you up on your offer for Defense help Harry – I reckon you're a far better teacher than Snape ever could be."

Harry nodded, smiling encouragingly at Neville. "You've improved quite a bit from last year. And not many people can say they took on Voldemort's most powerful Death Eaters, outnumbered 2 to 1 –"

"– And lived to tell the tale," finished Natalie as she poured herself a cup of coffee.

Neville blushed, though Natalie could tell he was pleased. "Oh well, Harry and Hermione were brilliant. I just had to make sure I wasn't hit."

"Where is the Room of Requirement anyway?" asked Natalie, trying to remember whether Harry had told her the specific location.

"On the 7th floor, across from that portrait of Barnabas the Barmy," answered Neville. "There's no door, so people usually just walk past it – you have to walk 3 times across the corridor, imagining what you want and a door should appear."

"I'll show you sometime," said Harry, grinning at her.

"Definitely," agreed Natalie, trying not to blush under Harry's disarming grin. "I've never heard of a room like that."

"It's pretty amazing," said Neville fondly. "It can get anything you want."

"And we needed a room like that with all the people we had in the end," remarked Harry.

"How did you manage to get all those people together?" asked Natalie, slightly amazed. Though Harry had mentioned the secret organization he, Ron and Hermione helped to create last year, he had never specifically explained how all those meetings were coordinated.

"It was Hermione's idea – the Protean charm," replied Harry. "She gave each of us coins and when we decided on a meeting, the coin would become hot with the specific date set on it."

"Those meetings were brilliant," continued Neville. "Practically saved my life."

For the rest of the meal, Neville and Harry reminisced about the DA. Natalie was surprised at the entire range of topics Harry had taught them; it was essentially a crude representation of what she learned last year along with the Patronus charm Kalissa taught her. Unfortunately, as both Harry and Neville recalled with considerable sourness, the now 7th year Ravenclaw, Marietta Edgecombe, eventually betrayed them to Umbridge, but she was assured by Neville and Harry that the jinx Hermione orchestrated to ruin the traitor's face could not be missed.

Once Neville had finished supper, the three of them headed back to the common room. When they entered through the portrait hole, the common room was pretty crowded, not unexpected for a Friday night. Natalie could not spot Hermione, but she supposed her friend's absence could be explained by the nauseating image of Ron and Lavender immersed in another snogging fest in the armchair by the fireplace.

"It was nice chatting to you two," said Neville, yawning. "I'm going to go to sleep – there's only so much Ron and Lavender I can take for one evening."

Harry and Natalie laughed as he exited to the dormitories. "I really don't feel like going to bed, but I don't want to see Ron and Lavender keep smashing their faces together either," said Natalie, shaking her head at the pair. She and Harry sat down at an unoccupied table in the corner opposite Ron and Lavender. Many of the fourth year and fifth girls in the common had begun to shoot Natalie scathing glares. Though it annoyed her immensely at the beginning of the year, the naivety of those girls now only amused her.

"Neither do I," agreed Harry. "Do you think Hermione's in your dormitory?"

"I should check up on her," said Natalie, frowning. "I hope she knows she has Prefect patrol later."

"Come on, it's Hermione. She'd never forget that," said Harry, grinning. "Especially if she knows she has to spend a full hour with Ron at her side."

"I'm starting to think that maybe one of us should go with them for Ron's safety," said Natalie jokingly, though she considered that might be a reasonable proposal.

Harry chuckled. "I could always use my invisibility cloak to accompany them, but I'm sure Hermione would realize the presence of a third person."

"Have you used your invisibility cloak this year at all?" said Natalie, trying to remember if she had seen it.

Harry scratched his head. "Actually, I don't think so – I mean I used it on the train to spy on Malfoy, but since then I haven't really had a reason to sneak around the castle."

Natalie smirked at him. "And you needed a reason in previous years?"

"Not really," answered Harry absently. A thoughtful expression suddenly flashed over his face before he looked at her excitedly.

"Everything alright, Harry?" said Natalie confusedly.

"Why don't we use the cloak tonight?" said Harry, glancing at his watch. "It's almost curfew now and you said you wanted to see the Room of Requirement."

"There are aurors and prefects patrolling the castle," said Natalie uneasily.

Harry waved her off. "The cloak will hide us and I can use my map to find out where everybody is. No one will be able to enter the room once we're in."

"The map your father and his friends made?" said Natalie, remembering that astounding piece of magic Harry showed her.

"Yeah," said Harry, moving restlessly in his chair.

"The map shows the location of everyone in the castle," said Natalie contemplatively

"With all the hidden passageways and shortcuts as well," added Harry intently.

Natalie considered Harry's plan. It sounded fairly safe. With the map, they would be able to avoid all teachers, aurors and prefects and in case they did come across another person, they would have the cloak as insurance. Natalie was very curious to see exactly how the Room of Requirement operated and the enthusiastic look on Harry's face was very persuasive.

"Will we both able to fit under the cloak?" said Natalie.

"We should be able to," replied Harry. "I mean in the summer, all three of us were able to."

Natalie nodded before smiling at Harry. "Alright let's go – it'll be a nice change from the common room."

Harry beamed at her. "I'll go get my invisibility cloak."

Natalie raised her hand to stop him. "I want see how Hermione's doing first. I guess you don't want to put the cloak over the two of us when we're in the common room and it would look suspicious if I went to your dormitory. I'll go outside after I see Hermione and you can come meet me with the cloak on."

Harry nodded at her slowly. "That sounds fine, but don't let Hermione convince you that this is too risky."

"Of course not," said Natalie, winking at Harry. "Do you honestly think so lowly of me?"

Harry shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. "You were the one who was worried about teachers, aurors and prefects."

"Yes, I was and for good reason," said Natalie crossly. "I'm going to go to my dormitory to see Hermione – I'll see you in about ten minutes outside the common room."

Harry nodded at her before he stood up and walked to his dormitories. Natalie followed him, taking the staircase to the girls' dormitories. Once she entered the 6th year girls' dorm, she found Hermione lying on her bed, reading their Charms textbook.

When she stepped into the room, Hermione looked up with a small smile on her face. "You took a long time with supper."

Natalie shrugged her shoulders. "Neville came along and he and Harry told me about the DA – the Protean charm was pretty smart."

"Ah," replied Hermione. "I actually got the idea from the Dark Mark – how Voldemort summons his Death Eaters."

"It sounded familiar," acknowledged Natalie, grinning as she sat down on the edge of Hermione's bed.

"By the way," began Natalie casually, "you realize you have Prefect patrol in about five minutes with –"

"– Ron," said Hermione darkly.

"Yes," said Natalie, looking at Hermione intently and noticing the puffy, redness of her eyes as well as the dark circles under her eyes that seemed to be widening each day. "You alright? You didn't eat much at supper."

Hermione turned her head away from Natalie's scrutinizing gaze. "They're still attached at the mouth, downstairs?"

Natalie gave a hollow laugh. "Of course, though I imagine he'll have to separate from her when he goes on patrol."

Hermione sat up, resting herself against her pillows. "It's only one hour and we don't have to talk to each other. After we're done, he can go back to eating her face and –"

"– You can go back to brooding in your dormitory about them," finished Natalie with a wry smile.

"I do not do that," stated Hermione indignantly.

"I don't blame you, anyway," said Natalie, ignoring Hermione's statement. "I would be angry in the exact same way."

"He can kiss who ever he likes," said Hermione earnestly though her voice was shaking slightly.

Natalie slid over the bed, placing her hand on Hermione's leg. "Hermione, I know how you feel about him –"

"– And I know how you feel about Harry," interjected Hermione with a smirk.

Natalie's cheeks turned a bright pink. Hermione had almost instantly noticed the sexual tension between her and Harry once it appeared. "Well, it's good that we both know each other's feelings about those two boys," said Natalie, trying to contain her embarrassment.

"But the point is," continued Natalie, regaining her composure, "that Ron hurt you and you have every right to be angry with him."

Hermione took a deep breath, closing her eyes. "Yes, he did," said Hermione, looking as if it very much pained her to admit the simple truth. "And I am furious."

Natalie smiled at her. "You just have to be –"

"Patient," repeated Hermione in frustration. "We've been through this before."

"But this is the first time you've actually told me your feelings," said Natalie, pleased at Hermione's confession.

"Well, it's hard to be patient," snapped Hermione. "He's being such a git and everytime I see him, I just want to hex him so badly."

Natalie wondered whether she and Harry actually should accompany Hermione and Ron before quickly deciding Hermione could control herself. "He'll come through."

"Yeah, Harry says the same thing," said Hermione before checking her watch and standing up from her bed. "I have prefect patrol now with the idiot."

Natalie walked with Hermione out of the room, causing the brown haired girl to look at her with a quizzical expression. "Is Harry in the common room?"

Natalie fidgeted nervously with the sleeve of her jumper. "Er well, he actually wanted to show me the Room of Requirement."

"Now?" asked Hermione, raising her eyebrows at her.

Natalie nodded weakly. "We'll be using the –"

"Invisiblity cloak and map," finished Hermione. She crossed her arms in disapproval. "You realize how risky that is. If you get caught, you'll surely cost Gryffindor points and get detention."

Natalie looked away from Hermione's stern gaze. "I want to see how the Room operates – it's really one of its kind."

"Can't you do this tomorrow?" said Hermione in exasperation.

"Harry seemed pretty excited with it and I want to see the room," said Natalie lamely, realizing how unconvincing her excuse sounded.

"And you can't deny him," said Hermione, her lips twitching slightly.

"No, I can't," said Natalie, sighing. "I'm getting the feeling that you're enjoying this."

Hermione considered her for a moment before rolling her eyes and sighing as well. "Fine, go. Just remember when you're caught not to come asking me for help."

"I wouldn't dream of it," muttered Natalie.

"And I think it would do you two some good to spend some time alone – that Room has some potential," said Hermione with a sneaky grin before she walked down the stairs into the common room.

Natalie shook her head before following the brown haired girl down the staircase. She pushed through a group of fourth year boys that Hermione was reprimanding for playing with Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes products. With a relieved breath, Natalie noticed that Ron and Lavender had finally separated. She supposed Ron needed to go to his dormitory to freshen up before the patrol. Lavender sat alone in the armchair with her arms crossed, looking smugly at Hermione. Her hair was completely disheveled and her Muggle clothing was protruding and sticking out in an assortment of odd angles. As she walked past Lavender, Natalie gave her a disgusted glare, slightly startling the blonde-haired girl. After navigating through throngs of first years and second years, she finally exited the portrait hole.

As she waited for Harry, Natalie began to straighten out her clothing. She was never one to fuss obsessively over her appearance. She picked clothing that fit her nicely without being too revealing or hugging her body too tightly, never bothering to wear any makeup or trying to straighten her usual wavy hair. But over the past few weeks, she was paying attention to details she would have never considered before; she found herself always looking after meals to check that there were no stains on any of her tops, constantly straightening out her jumpers, not wanting them to appear loose and baggy, desiring for the first time for some tops with slightly lower necklines and that were tighter fitting and most noticeably, briefly considering whether she should buy a potion to straighten her hair. Natalie shook her head in amazement at the reason behind this newfound fascination. She had no idea that combination of jet black hair, green eyes and spectacles could change her behavior so much.

While Natalie continued to run a hand through her wavy hair, twirling it around her fingers, somebody tapped her shoulder. Not hearing the portrait hole open, Natalie immediately swiveled her body, her wand pointing at an empty space in the wall.

Suddenly, Harry appeared behind her back out of thin air with a sly grin on his face.

"Oh, Harry that was you," exclaimed Natalie, turning to face him with an annoyed expression. "I must have not heard you enter through the portrait hole."

Harry shook his head, looking at her strangely. "I was here before you came."

"You were?" asked Natalie, her voice unusually high pitched.

Harry chuckled, though he still bore that odd expression on his face. "Yes, and I have to say you do fiddle with you jumper quite a bit."

Natalie averted her eyes from Harry's gaze, trepidation filling her. "Well, I am a girl." She desperately hoped Harry had not read too much into her self conscious fidgeting.

"Yes, you are," said Harry, the strange expression leaving his face. "But I don't know why you're adjusting your jumper. It looks very nice." He then turned his body from her, pulling out the map from his pocket, leaving Natalie to stare open-mouthed at his back. Even she would not be able to rationalize to herself that his comment was completely platonic.

"Shall we go now?" asked Harry, rotating his head to face her again. His cheeks had a somewhat flushed appearance.

"Yes, of course, before Ron and Hermione come out," said Natalie, still flustered.

Harry unfolded the cloak in his hands. Natalie gasped at the sheer beauty of the object. A transparent, sparkling silver flowed elegantly across the garment that had none of the creases and ruffles she had seen in other invisibility cloaks at Durmstrang.

"Pretty, isn't it?" said Harry proudly as he moved closer to Natalie.

"It looks like it hasn't worn out at all over time," noted Natalie in admiration.

Harry nodded. "Yeah I know and I suspect it's been in the family for a long time." He quickly thrust the cloak over both of them, beckoning for Natalie to slide close to him.

As she moved to Harry's side, she realized with a sudden lurch how close they were. Her right leg was leaning onto his left leg. Their shoulders were firmly planted side by side and her head was only inches away from Harry's mouth. She could easily see the slight stubble sprouting around his chin, the small pimples above his eyes, the rich, pink colour of his lips and the soft creases defining his mouth. Natalie feared she might be numbed by the electricity coursing through her. With their bodies locked together, Natalie could feel the heat radiating off him. The full bodied, salty smell of sweat, grass and dirt emanating off Harry's skin, hair and robes held a freshness that Natalie found very enthralling.

Harry gulped. "Let's go," he whispered in her ear, his breath sending ripples of exhilaration down her spine.

Natalie nodded, looking at the map in Harry's hand. Most of the prefects were still in their common rooms as were the teachers in their offices. Nobody was on the seventh floor though on the staircase closest to them leading to the seventh floor, a person with the name, Savage, was standing.

"Who's that?" whispered Natalie, pointing at the dot with the name, Savage.

"Auror," answered Harry, frowning. "It looks like we'll have to take the other staircase then. It's the longer route, but the Aurors are trained to pick out people under invisibility cloaks."

"That's fine," whispered Natalie.

They began to walk away from where Savage stood. However, Natalie had never moved before under an invisibility cloak, let alone with another person alongside her. She clumsily stepped into Harry's path, causing him to bump into her back, sending them both staggering sideways. Harry managed to keep his balance, but Natalie fell to the ground with a distinct thud. Her feet poked outside of the cloak. Thankfully, nobody had come out of the portrait hole and she imagined Savage was too far away to hear the sound.

Harry smiled at her as he picked her up with his hand.

"Sorry about that," said Natalie, very embarrassed. She slid herself back under the cloak, stretching her fingers which tingled under Harry's touch.

They resumed walking more cautiously along the corridor to the other staircase. To avoid any students still lingering, they took a few of the hidden passageways before arriving at the staircase and climbing it. Once they reached the portrait of Barnabas the Barmy, Natalie turned her gaze to Harry.

"So, what do you want the room to be?" asked Natalie.

"I was thinking, I'd let you decide that," said Harry, grinning at her.

Natalie scratched her forehead. "I really don't know what I would like to see. I suppose after hearing you and Neville, I would want to see a proper training room."

Harry gestured to the blank wall. "Go ahead. Walk three times with me, thinking of what you want."

Natalie nodded, focusing on the exact image she wanted the room to recreate. With Harry at her side, she paced back and forth three times, trying to concentrate on as many details as possible. After the third pacing, a door materialized in the wall to Natalie's relief. Harry winked at her as they opened the door and entered the room.

Natalie gaped at the sight before her. It was exactly as she pictured the training arena in her mind. The room was about the size of the Gryffindor common room except far more majestic in Natalie's opinion. As she envisioned, charcoal grey walls rose vertically to a high, domed ceiling. The topmost edges of the walls met clear, moonlight windows that gradually curved upwards, ending in a strip of dark blue running across the entire center and apex of the ceiling. Beams of moonlight highlighted various sections of the room Natalie had pictured including two shelves stacked with Defense books on either side of a roaring fire alongside the back wall, various practice dummies standing erect alongside each wall, a pile of cushions in front of them, numerous alcoves and corners that would be useful in a duel and a smooth, elegantly polished oak floor perfect for sliding and slipping.

"This is definitely different than the room we used," noted Harry, looking around in admiration.

"It's the room I pictured," said Natalie with a shrug.

"Really?" said Harry, somewhat astounded. "When we used the room last year, we didn't have a specific image in mind but just that we wanted a room to practice defense."

"I suppose an imaginative mind really does take full advantage of this room," commented Natalie airily, sweeping her hand dramatically around the place.

Harry laughed. "I definitely don't have that type of imagination."

"What do you want to do?" said Natalie, eying the dummies. "Seeing that this room is designed for DADA practice, I say we take full advantage of its capabilities."

"How about a duel?" suggested Harry, eagerly.

"I was thinking about target practice on those dummies," answered Natalie coyly, "but I can't say that it wouldn't be interesting to face the great Harry Potter."

"You're probably better than me anyway – almost sent me flying across the room in our first Defense class."

"Still annoyed about that are you?" said Natalie with a sly grin.

"So a duel?" said Harry, rocking excitedly on his feet.

Natalie had to bite back a laugh at his excitement. "Alright. How good are your non-verbal spells?"

Harry frowned at her. "I'm improving, but I'm nowhere as good as you. Don't go easy on me though."

Natalie snorted. "You're selling yourself short, Harry. Trust me when I say I'm definitely not going to underestimate you."

Harry laughed. "Let's spread apart. I'll go to the right wall and you can stand at the left wall."

"Alright," answered Natalie, waving her wand so that the cushions arranged themselves against the wall to ease their falls.

They moved to their respective positions. "So I suppose we should do this formally," said Natalie, bowing to Harry.

"Very well, Miss Malkae," jested Harry, also bowing.

Natalie did not know whether she should send a curse at Harry as soon as their wands were raised. Although the prospect of dueling Harry seemed like a very intriguing challenge, she could not help but feel a twinge of dread at trying to harm the boy who had been the source of thoughts and dreams far more pleasant than she could admit.

Thankfully, Natalie did not have to make the decision. Harry sent a rather weak stinging curse that Natalie easily deflected. Judging by the strength and slow timing of the curse, she supposed he was having second thoughts about the duel.

"Come on," said Natalie boldly, trying to ignore her own hesitancy. "Those types of spells aren't going to harm me."

She quickly blocked a stronger Stunning spell from Harry. He dodged the rebounded spell with amazing ease.

Natalie pointed her wand at his diving figure, focusing firmly on "Aeronaugio" in her mind. The magic coursed through her shoulder and she heard the mass of air zip out of her wand.

Harry somehow sensed the air approaching him. He again ducked his head, causing the mass of fast moving air to hit the wall with a resounding clang.

"That certainly wasn't a weak spell," commented Harry wryly.

"I'm pretending that you're Malfoy," said Natalie with a rueful grin. "It's actually doing wonders. By the way, trying to dodge those curses is giving me time to aim at you."

Harry looked at her with a determined glint in his eye. He waved his wand rapidly, shouting "Impedimenta!"

"Protego!" responded Natalie, taken aback by the quickness of his casting. The spell hit her shield with surprising force, sending her staggering slightly.

Another jet of red light came hurtling towards her. This time, Natalie ignored her own advice, jumping out of the way of the curse before she had to conjure another shield to fend off a powerful petrifying curse. Harry definitely seemed to have moved past his initial apprehension.

Deciding that she needed to surprise him, Natalie pointed her wand at a point above his shoulder, imagining the Aguamenti spell in her head. A jet of water flew straight ahead, getting blasted by Harry's array of stunning spells so that water splashed all over the room.

Taking advantage of Harry's momentary pause to fend away the flashing water, Natalie fired two stunners, one after the other at Harry. One was directed at him and the other a spot she knew he would move to avoid the first spell.

Harry neatly moved his body away from the first stunner. The second stunner caught him on the shoulder, sending him into the wall. He grimaced, rubbing his arm.

"Harry, I didn't break your arm, did I?" said Natalie worriedly, rushing across the room.

Harry lifted the apparently injured arm without any hindrance, giving her a triumphant smirk.

"Why you little devil!" cried Natalie, diving into an alcove and narrowing missing a set of stinging curses.

She rested her head against the wall. "Harry, I honestly didn't expect you to play dirty."

"You're too good for me to win fairly," replied Harry innocently from somewhere across the room.

"What a load of rubbish!" exclaimed Natalie, trying to pinpoint exactly where Harry was.

She sent a reducto curse in the direction of where he last was, hoping that it would at least draw him out. She heard a loud explosion in that corner, seeing some stones fall out of the wall. Looking around, Natalie finally saw Harry in an alcove diagonal from her, his wand pointed at the book shelves.

Natalie looked at him in surprise, but then shrieked furiously at seeing a few of those books banished towards her at lightning speed. She jumped out of the way, conjuring a shield to block Harry's subsequent "Impedimenta".

"You shouldn't do that to books!" shouted Natalie. "What would Hermione think?"

Harry roared with laughter. "She'd definitely try to hex me."

A thought suddenly occurring to her, Natalie picked up one of the books, throwing it nearby Harry. She cringed inwardly at Hermione's reaction. Before Harry could send the book banishing towards her, Natalie waved her wand in a figure eight motion, visualizing the book transforming into a big, loudly snorting pig. To her pleasure, she saw the book first enlargen and then quickly morph into a large pig, obscuring Harry's view.

"Where are you now?" asked Harry, standing on his tiptoes to find Natalie who had run to a side where she could get a clear shot at Harry.

Natalie laughed before sending an "Aeronaugio" that Harry again managed to sense though this time the curse caught his diving legs. It contained enough energy to send him flying against the pig who snorted into his face.

"Ahhh!" yelled Harry, pushing away from the pig.

Natalie, not being able to contain her laughter, fired a stunner at him. He saw her, blocking the stunner and returning fire with a badly aimed Jelly legs jinx. Then, after rolling under the pig, he started running madly towards Natalie with a wide smile on his face.

"Aaaaah!" bellowed Harry, charging towards her.

Natalie dropped her wand in complete surprise. "Harry, what in the world –"

Before she could complete her sentence, Harry playfully tackled her feet, causing her to fall to the ground

"Harry!" shrieked Natalie, as she rolled under him. Her face was burning, her heart hammering against her chest as Harry's thighs straddled her, his hands resting against her shoulders.

"Harry, what are you doing?" cried Natalie, not bothering to hide the apprehension in her voice. She had envisioned this position many times in her dreams but never in this type of scenario.

Harry smiled hesitantly at her, his face also very red. "It was a good tactic, wasn't it?" He lowered his hands onto her stomach, confusing Natalie even more. And then suddenly, Harry tickled her.

Natalie initially stared at him in utmost bewilderment before she broke out into fits of laughter, shaking and squirming under Harry's tickles.

She could not believe this was happening. It was if the balloon of tension enveloping them whenever they touched had popped. Harry had no trouble running his hands across her chest and stomach, trying to throw her into even greater bursts of laughter while she playfully obliged under his grasp.

"Harry, you're going to make me cry," said Natalie, for once not being bothered by the shivers and goosebumps his touch was giving her. She decided to return the favor, wrapping her hands around Harry's back and twisting them over so that she was positioned over his chest.

"I'm not nearly as ticklish as you may think," said Harry though Natalie could easily see the uneasiness on his face.

"We'll see about that," whispered Natalie huskily in his ear, amazed at her own recklessness. She thought she saw Harry shiver. Then, ignoring the frantic warning her mind was giving her, Natalie let her hands slide slowly down Harry's body from his face to his chest and finally to his abdomen, pressing her fingers lightly to feel all the subtle, ridges, undulations and curves. His eyes widened, staring directly into her clouded brown eyes as his body gave a few shudders that only seemed to intensify her desires.

"And now the grand prize," said Natalie, unable to keep a seductive tone from her voice. She had no idea where this sudden surge of bravery was coming from. Perhaps, Harry's own physical launch at her spurred a release of all the repressed desires within her.

She tickled his stomach, trying her best to reach all the sensitive spots. Fortunately, Harry had lied about not being ticklish for he erupted into even louder and more prolonged burst of laughter than Natalie. She discovered a spot just above his stomach and below his ribs which caused his usually deep, roaring laughs to morph into high, pitched giggles.

"Stop it," exclaimed Harry, turning his head to the floor to muffle his laughter. "I might just wet my pants."

"You might already have," said Natalie, giving him a cheeky grin, "judging by those giggles."

Harry finally squeezed himself out of Natalie's hold, resting himself against a leather settee that seemingly appeared out nowhere. Natalie moved to his side, letting her head also fall against the edge of the settee. Both of them had extremely flushed looks on their faces and were breathing heavily.

"That was definitely interesting," commented Harry with a goofy grin on his face.

"What the duel or our tickling fight?" asked Natalie, starting to feel very extremely embarrassed at her uncharacteristic behavior during the tickling.

"Both," answered Harry. "I have to say you had me beat after you transfigured that pig."

Natalie gave a shaky laugh. "I should probably change it back." She waved her wand in the same figure eight motion at the pig, now picturing the opposite transformation with the proper word for the countercurse. The pig stopped snorting, shrinked rapidly, took on the light brown colour of the book, before transforming back to the rectangular shape.

"Brilliant," muttered Harry, looking at her in admiration.

Natalie blushed. "What exactly were you intending when you came charging at me like a maniac?"

Harry shrugged his shoulders though a red tinge outlined his cheeks. "I figured you had me cornered behind the pig. My best chance was to try something you wouldn't expect."

"And you decided to run at me like a wild bull?"

"Yeah," said Harry sheepishly. "It did the trick though, didn't it?"

"As crude as it was, it did shock me. But I hope you realize Harry that you don't win a duel by tickling the other person."

"Oh, I know," said Harry, breaking into another fit of laughter. "That was a spur of the moment decision. I thought it would be some fun."

"It was," agreed Natalie, her face returning to its burning red colour. "I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable with, um, the way I tickled you."

Harry waved her off. "There's no need to apologize for that."

Harry looked at her with a strange expression. "Besides, that's the first time an attractive girl has touched me like that." He raised a hand to his mouth, apparently shocked he had said that.

Natalie raised her eyebrows at him, her body going rigid. "Well, er, yeah," spluttered Natalie. "I guess I really don't know what to say." She had no idea as to what to say or think. Was that a real sign he liked her or simply the confession of a teenage boy who enjoyed girls running their suggestively down his chest?

Harry shook his head again, an uncomfortable smile on his face. "Neither do I."

Natalie nodded, beginning to berate herself for the way she had touched Harry. Surely, he must have realized she had more than friendly feelings for him now.

"We're both sweating and out of breath," said Harry, breaking the silence before it stretched awkwardly.

Natalie inwardly felt a burst of gratitude for the change in subject. "Is there a loo around here?"

"I think it just appeared," noted Harry, pointing a door on the wall to their right.

"Amazing," muttered Natalie. "I'm just going to freshen myself up. That was quite a workout."

Harry grinned at her. "You're definitely better than some of the Death Eaters we saw at the Ministry."

"I suppose I'll take that as a compliment," quipped Natalie.

Once she entered the bathroom and shut the door, Natalie let out a deep breath. Her body was still tingling, holding onto the remnants of Harry's thick, calloused fingers, remembering the way his chest oscillated and shivered under her touch. She could not shake off the unsettling sensation of watching herself rake her hands over Harry's body. A wild, insatiable desire filled her chest at that moment; that desire, which only manifested itself in her dreams, extinguished all the screams of caution in her mind. She had to feel Harry, satisfy her cravings and understand him. Natalie again shook her head, trying to clear her mind of all the inappropriate images popping into her head. She suspected Harry's initiation of contact had somehow triggered a release of all the repressed emotion within her, though she feared she would not be able to control herself if he again came at her.

Before she could endure any more disquieting thoughts, Natalie washed her face. She tied her hair into a ponytail and straightened out her jumper and jeans before exhaling loudly again and opening the door.

Harry had moved onto the settee, his arms clasped in his lap. He appeared to be staring contemplatively into space, not hearing the creaking of the door, nor Natalie's footsteps.

When she dropped herself onto the other end of the settee as far as away from him, Harry jumped, finally noticing her.

"Deep in thought?" said Natalie with a small smile.

"Yeah," said Harry slowly, his eyes turning from her.

"You don't want to freshen up?" said Natalie, feeling slightly hurt at the distant tone in his voice. The way he reacted to her hands suggested romantic feelings but his comments and tone afterward seemed to suggest otherwise.

"Nah," replied Harry, his lips twitching. "I've been sweatier."

"Typical," answered Natalie, rolling her eyes.

"You know," began Natalie, searching for any type of topic to ease the sudden awkwardness. "I was surprised you didn't use one of the Prince's curses."

"I should have tried you a couple," agreed Harry, a smile slowly forming on his face. "It would have been nice to try Levicorpus on you."

Natalie scoffed. "As if it would have caught me."

"That's true. I don't think I actually hit you with a jinx," said Harry pensively.

"You knew what Levicorpus was though, before you came across the Prince?" said Natalie, recalling him telling Ron about seeing the spell before.

"Er, yeah," said Harry, running a hand nervously through his hair.

"You saw one of the Slytherins use it?" asked Natalie knowingly.

"Not exactly," said Harry, lowering his eyes to the floor. "My father used the curse."

"Oh," said Natalie, stunned. "How do you know that?"

"Um, well, you –"

Natalie sighed. "Harry, if you don't want to talk about it with me, you don't have to." It was clear that Harry, for some reason, felt distinctly uncomfortable revealing how he knew what the spell was.

Harry shook his head frantically. "No, no, it's not like that. I trust you, but it's just that I'm not very proud of what I saw."

"Oh," replied Natalie, taken aback. "Sorry for the snappishness. But your father used the curse, didn't he?"

"And the question is why I wouldn't be proud of my father?" said Harry with a dark look on his face.

"Yeah," answered Natalie cautiously. She was curious about what his father did, but she knew from personal experience, how powerful a motivating factor shame could be.

"Listen, Harry, if you're not proud of it, then you don't have to feel obliged to talk about what your father did."

Harry raised his eyebrows at her, evidently surprised at her statement. He seemed to look at her more closely before smiling grimly. "It's not a big thing and there's no reason why I shouldn't tell you. You know the grudge Snape has against my father, right?"

Natalie nodded. "Is this the reason why you're always so reserved when you talk about that grudge?"

Harry stared at her in astonishment. "So perceptive."

"I didn't have to be that observant to notice you squirm, Harry," Natalie said pointedly.

"I guess I am obvious then," said Harry, frowning. "Anyway, I think I told you about the Occlumency lessons I had with Snape last year?"

"Yes," said Natalie, nodding her head for him to continue.

"Well, during one of those lessons, he decided to keep a memory of his in a pensieve," explained Harry. "When he went away, I shouldn't have done this, but I looked at the memory in the pensive. It basically showed Sirius and my dad bullying and humiliating Snape in front of most of the students of Hogwarts. I think the memory occurred after their Defense OWL – my dad and Sirius just decided to pick on Snape for the fun of it. One of the hexes my dad used was 'Levicorpus' to levitate Snape upside down."

"Oh," exclaimed Natalie, feeling a slight pang of sympathy for the surly teacher. "You didn't like their actions."

"Of course not," said Harry, scowling. "They behaved like arrogant bullies – that's something I'd expect of Malfoy and not my father or godfather."

"It sounds cruel, Harry," said Natalie soothingly, "but that was just one memory you saw. Sirius and your father probably grew up quite a bit after that."

"I know, I know," answered Harry in frustration. "But it doesn't change the way they behaved. Deciding to hex someone simply because they 'existed' is wrong."

"You know how it feels to be picked on like that," noted Natalie, giving Harry a sad smile.

Harry blinked at her. "Yeah, I do know about being bullied," Harry said slowly, staring at her with an unreadable expression.

Natalie shrugged her shoulders. "I saw your uncle and cousin, Harry. It doesn't take a genius to figure out what they're capable of. Getting back to James and Sirius, hexing another person for fun is wrong, but they were fifteen-year-old boys. From what my mother told me about your father and godfather, they turned out to be great people. I'm sure they were different than Malfoy and your cousin."

"I suppose so," said Harry, giving her a brief nod of the head. She could tell by the contemplative look on his face that he was mulling her words in his head. After a slight pause, he spoke again. "I guess I was just shocked at how Snape was kind of right about them, but they must have changed. That wasn't the worst part of the memory though."

"What was?" Natalie asked.

Harry began to fiddle with the cushion on the settee, twisting it within his hands. His expression became far more distressed. "My mum defended Snape and she really seemed to hate my dad. Within that memory alone, he must have asked her three times to go out with him and all three times, she outright refused."

"Oh," said Natalie, very much surprised by this detail. "Well, speaking as a girl, I wouldn't have liked to see somebody bully another person just for their own pleasure and I would dislike that person even more if he made a spectacle of asking me out."

"I know," said Harry quietly. "I would feel the same way."

Suddenly, Natalie realized why Harry appeared so tense about his parents' fight. "You don't think she loved your father."

Harry nodded earnestly at her. "They were in fifth year and by that time you would have thought they would have been at least friends by then. And they weren't very old when I was born so –"

"You're worried they only got married because your mother was pregnant with you," finished Natalie.

"Yes."

Seeing Harry's slouched shoulders, the despondent drooping of his head and his clouded eyes, a familiar urge rolled through Natalie to move over and wrap her arms around him. But after their recent encounter, she feared he would not enjoy her putting her hands all over him again.

Natalie sighed. Harry clearly believed in the possibility that his parents were only with each other because of him. Even though she believed that scenario to be far-fetched, the fear of being the source of his parents' unhappiness held a sharpness Natalie could not fathom. Ignoring the stern, reprimanding voice in her head sounding suspiciously like Minerva, Natalie slid over the settee, next to Harry.

She placed her hand on his shoulder. "Harry, have you talked to anybody else about this memory?"

Harry swallowed. "Sirius and Remus. They said my parents only started dating in 7th year when my dad decided to change his behavior for my mum."

"Harry, you have to remember it's only one memory," said Natalie, deciding to rub his shoulder lightly. "Let's say Ron and Hermione do end up together after all this mess. If we show their children the memory of Hermione sending those canaries at Ron, how do you think their children would react?"

His eyes cleared slightly, understanding appearing. "I reckon they'd wonder how their parents would ever get together."

"Exactly," enunciated Natalie. "They wouldn't see all the good memories of Ron and Hermione, not realizing how much they actually do care for each other."

"And furthermore," continued Natalie, "from what I've heard and what you said in that memory, your mother was a strong, independent woman. She wouldn't have let herself deteriorate in an unhappy relationship. If she felt your father wasn't a good person, she wouldn't have even decided to go out with him in the first place."

"You do make a lot of sense," said Harry pensively, placing his hand on Natalie's leg. The distressed look of frustration began to leave his face. "I can't see my mum giving him the time of day if she still thought he was an 'arrogant toerag.'"

Natalie laughed. "She actually used that insult?"

"Yeah."

"I think I'll try that on Malfoy one of these days."

Harry laughed, rubbing her leg. Natalie had to close her eyes to ignore the shivers racing down her spine. "Thanks a lot, Natalie," whispered Harry, his vibrant, emerald green eyes pouring into her murky, brown ones. "I've actually never talked to Ron and Hermione about this."

A wonderful, exhilarating infusion of warmth entered Natalie. Harry actually trusted her and more importantly, he valued her company. Perhaps, because she had never become close to anyone at Durmstrang, nor had she felt fully integrated into Hogwarts, his simple word of thanks provided Natalie with a complete, wholesome satisfaction.

"I should be thanking you for telling me," said Natalie softly, holding his gaze.

Harry smiled at her, a subtle, gentle curving of the lips, accentuated by his bright eyes and glowing expression. "You've been listening to me go on and on about my troubles – I really don't want you to think that I have great emotional issues."

Natalie chuckled, thinking of the irony of the situation. They both seemed to have emotional issues. "I enjoy talking about these types of things."

Harry's smile widened. "If you want to, you can talk to me anything bothering you. I'm not experienced with these emotional chats, but I'll try my best." He gazed at her warmly, a sincere, inviting tone underlining his words.

Natalie's smile faltered. "Bothering me?"

Harry apparently did not see the hesitant look appear on her features. "Yes, I do notice things about you as well," said Harry, concern entering his eyes. He seemed to take her silence as a sign to continue. "You never talk about Durmstrang and even though you talk a lot about your mother, I don't think I've ever heard you mention your father."

Natalie took a sharp intake of breath, abruptly pulling her hand away from Harry's shoulder and tearing her gaze from his eyes. A familiar heaviness rose in her stomach, churning and bubbling as it pushed and scraped at her insides. She could sense the shadow of her mother draping itself over her. Black tendrils extended from the black, haired leering face towards her, reeling her in away from Harry's deep, reverberating laughter, his rough, yet soothing touch and his piercing gaze that intoxicated her to no end. Her eager wonder to accompany him to this very room, her unnatural exuberance and burst of desire during the tickling, her patience and desperate concern for Harry's own worries were distant, discarded memories, ready to be forgotten and hidden behind her mother's specter. But a new, sharper sensation cut itself through the boiling heaviness within her stomach. As if another tendril had sprouted from her mother's hideous smile, containing steel, icy blades that carved through her chest, climbing into her throat and ripping at it, threatening to spill over into her mouth.

"Natalie," said Harry, very surprised. "Are you alright?" He reached out to touch her with his hand.

She suddenly noticed his presence, immediately jerking her body away from him, staring at him in shock. And with a terrifying lurch, Natalie knew that unfamiliar sensation. Guilt. Before she could conceal the guilt as a persistent, nagging worry in the corner of her mind, but now, as Harry displayed his sincere concern for her unknown, mysterious problems, the guilt rose with tremendous force, no longer succumbing to Natalie's will. It crystallized a horrible truth in her mind that only encouraged the heaviness in her stomach to fester and grow. Harry cared for her. He wanted to know more about her, about her past and who she was. Yet, she could not tell him and it was undeniably cruel, deceitful and wrong of her to hide from him.

Harry stood up from the settee. "Natalie, I get it," said Harry, his eyes dropping to the floor. The hurt tone in his voice was enough to lift her out of her frightened reverie. "Like you said, you clearly don't feel comfortable telling me about whatever's bothering you. You shouldn't feel forced."

He stared at her fearful expression. "I'll wait outside and let you compose yourself," said Harry, his jaw clenched.

"No," gasped Natalie, using all of her energy to utter that word.

Harry looked at her in confusion. Natalie pushed herself off the settee, stumbling as she moved to Harry. Seeing the wounded expression on Harry's face and the disappointment in his eyes, a wild, desperate worry for him returned to her. She could not let him be entangled with that image of her mother, could not let him fall with her in the relentless spiral of dread and guilt.

"Harry, we can talk about my problems," said Natalie, trying to rid herself of the dazed look.

Harry moved his arms away from her reach. "Natalie, you don't have to talk about anything," said Harry coolly.

Not caring about what Harry thought, she wrapped her arms around his waist. "I do want to talk about it."

Harry's expression softened slightly. "Listen, Natalie –"

"No, you listen," said Natalie, pulling Harry with all her might back onto the settee. "We are going to sit down and I will tell you as much as I can about the things you said."

"And we will start with Durmstrang," said Natalie firmly, making sure her eyes stared directly into Harry's green orbs.

"Alright," said Harry throatily, his eyes clouded.

Natalie took a deep breath. She genuinely wanted to tell him about Durmstrang, but with the second subject about her father, she did not know what to say. A part of her wanted to release this secret, unleash it from her, but another voice told her it was her burden. This was the same voice that spurred her protective, intense concern for Harry.

"I never had any friends at Durmstrang," began Natalie, earning a wide eyed look from Harry. "I mean I had people who I enjoyed studying with, but nobody I could trust like you or even Hermione. It's not that the people were particularly malicious or cruel like the Slytherins here, but I was always an outsider. And I never really got off with anybody or found myself in a situation where I could get closer to somebody – I guess I have to thank Dumbledore for bringing me along to see you. I was shy, nervous and I had Kalissa so though I was lonely, I didn't overly crave for friends."

"You have friends here and we're not leaving you," said Harry fiercely, pulling her into a protective hug.

"Thanks Harry," said Natalie as she returned the hug, ingratiating herself with his scent and the full reassurance his presence brought her. For some reason, the shivers and jolts, she would have expected to be extremely powerful, did not seem as sharp or vivid.

Once they pulled back, Harry looked at her with a curious expression. "When we first met, you seemed tense, though I thought that was probably you disliked me. That first night especially and the day after, you were a bit edgy around everybody."

"I suppose I probably gave off that impression. Before met, I wasn't very impressed with all that Chosen One nonsense," said Natalie with a wry smile. "And I didn't have the greatest start to Hogwarts, but that first night, I have to say you really cheered me up by telling McGonagall the truth about what happened. I was expecting you to side with Ginny and that this would be just like Durmstrang."

"Lying to get you in trouble would have been wrong," said Harry with a shrug. "I did notice that when I saw you with Dumbledore, you didn't really believe in all that nonsense the Prophet was spouting. I hope I've grown on you though."

"Oh you definitely have," said Natalie impishly, having to hold herself from adding 'In more than one way.'

"They didn't pick on you at Durmstrang, did they?" said Harry, a dark expression on his face.

Natalie had to stop herself from laughing at his furious look. "No, of course not. Durmstrang is different from here – I'd say they're not as caught up in the pure blood mania –"

"Really?" asked Harry in surprise. "Because I remember Malfoy going on about the place…"

"That's probably because of the emphasis their curriculum places on the Dark Arts,' said Natalie. "Anyway, the reason why they don't mind Muggleborns or Muggles as much is the war with Grindelwald – you know who he is?"

"Yeah, but I thought Dumbledore defeated him."

"Dumbledore did defeat him, but he did most of his terrorizing in Bulgaria – where Durmstrang is. He was like Voldemort in that he wanted to create a world in which wizards ruled over Muggles, so he thrived on the obsession with blood purity. But after that war basically destroyed the country, it showed everybody there the dangers of being too obsessed with blood. As a result, there's no real group that displays hostility to non pure bloods and magical creatures, so I guess you could say the students there are more tolerant. Of course, they have very exclusive cliques and groups since a lot of the kids there have known each other since they were children – I suppose that's what caught me. I really grew up in England and not in Bulgaria so I was basically already a stranger by the time I entered my first year."

"You have us," said Harry with a determined glint. "And I can tell you're definitely not a stranger to Hermione or I or even Ron for that matter."

"Harry, you're too sweet," said Natalie, realizing each of them still had their hands wrapped around each other's waists. Despite the position, Natalie could not detect any tension within her. She enjoyed being under Harry's grasp and if she could, she would rather have him holding her for the rest of the evening.

Natalie then remembered the second topic Harry had mentioned. "I should tell you about my father now, shouldn't I?"

"If you want," said Harry, looking at her cautiously. "It took me so long to talk about your parents so I understand."

Natalie nodded. "I do want to tell you, but I need to get my thoughts sorted out."

Harry nodded, taking his hand off her. A surge of disappointment filled Natalie at the loss of his touch. But taking her once again by surprise, Harry placed his left arm around Natalie's shoulders, letting her head rest against his shoulder.

Natalie breathed once again. She considered letting Harry know her identity. It would be immensely relieving to share the secret. But the tendrils of guilt needling into her sent her sprawling once more. She had managed to resist the guilt from cutting through her anymore with the protectiveness she felt over Harry. Yet, the guilt had already torn through her conscience, making her realize Harry would have to accept her, hiding his identity from her friends. She could not place any more stress on him, add more to his worries. He needed to know about her father but not her mother.

Natalie let out the breath before lifting her head to look at Harry. "My father was a Muggle called David Claggerton. I've never seen him or met him – he was killed by Death Eaters."

Harry gripped her closer to him. He looked at her not in pity but with a sad, knowing expression, a compassionate gaze that comforted Natalie. "I'm so sorry," whispered Harry.

Natalie's eyes were quickly becoming wet. Harry had been so good to her. He deserved to know who she really was, but she could not force him to come to terms and keep such a secret.

"Bellatrix Lestrange killed him," whispered Natalie, shocking herself. She felt the tears breaking through as she forced herself not to say anything more. Shuddering and shaking, Natalie whispered once again, "Bellatrix," as if muttering that word would erase all the pain for her father's death, all the shame drowning her and always forming a barrier around her and now all the guilt that threatened to claw itself way out of her body, revealing it's source to Harry.

Harry brought to her to his chest, pressing a kiss against her forehead. "We'll get her, I promise." Natalie finally released herself, burying her head further in Harry's chest. The tears were coming hard and fast, her body now convulsing terribly as she cried into Harry's t-shirt. Harry's hands remained firmly wrapped her around her, his head in her hair.