Just playing in Harry's sandbox... I'll try to return him when I am done. No promises though! ;)

Please be warned that this chapter has some mature content(though nothing graphic) read at your own risk.

Chapter Seventy-five

Little Scars

The next day was a Saturday on the calendar. To Taylor it was the day she said goodbye to Mrs. Briggs. While it was true she wasn't allowed to attend the kind old witch's actual funeral, Taylor knew that it was today somewhere outside Hogwarts.

Her heart was heavy as she helped Hermione and Ginny that morning in their dorm room to brew up a potion that would strengthen the wards they had guarding the Dark Magic books, as well as help conceal them from anyone searching for them.

It was a true testament to how distracted the shorthaired Gryffindor witch was that she didn't question either Hermione or Ginny's explanation that the boys had gone to see Hagrid that morning.

Taylor spent the morning trying to remember the sunny afternoons she had spent at Briggs Cottage sitting under the oak tree, as Mrs. Briggs sat in a lawn chair nearby. They were simpler times. She would brush a tear off her face and stare at the cauldron that was bubbling on the floor of her dorm room before another memory would take her far away again.

The potion wasn't finished until after lunch was over, but Taylor didn't really care. She didn't feel hungry, just immensely sad.

Even after they packed the potion away and went to the Great Hall for the memorial service for the two Slytherins, Taylor's grief kept her from noticing anything beyond the rearranged seating in the Hall, as the tables were vanished and chairs were set up much the same way they had been for Cedric Diggory's funeral.

Harry, Ron and Greg joined the three witches when they entered the Great Hall and they all sat together towards the back.

Taylor gratefully accepted the Hufflepuff's comforting arm around her as the Head Mistress addressed the entire school, as not a student was missing. McGonagall spoke more about the tragedy of Morden and Ward's deaths and the need for their fellow students to be strong and rise above petty differences. To stand together against the evil that was beyond the castle walls. She also spoke about the need for compassion and friendship in these dark times, so that the souls that were wounded by such tragedy could heal. The Head Mistress's eyes found the Gryffindor witch, with the Head Boy's arm around her sitting with her brother and friends as she said this, it was her quiet tribute to Mrs. Briggs for the underage witch.

The Sorting Hat sang a song at the end talking about unity, strength and love. Then the Great Hall emptied in silence except for the scraping of chairs and the treading of their feet.

The five Gryffindors and Head Boy made their way up through the school by a roundabout way to avoid the crowded hallways. They had just come out on the fifth floor when Taylor finally asked.

"So how is Hagrid?" Even distracted as she was she didn't miss the uneasy look Ron sent Harry before her brother cleared his throat and answered.

"Good."

Taylor narrowed her eyes as she carefully took in the guys' appearance for the first time. They had their school robes on, that they had all worn to the service, but beneath their robes she could see that their clothes were dirty. Her brother had a bag slung over his shoulder and a corner of the invisibility cloak peeked out of it. It was their overly innocent expressions that gave them away.

Stopping, she stepped away from the Hufflepuff slightly as her voice dropped dangerously. "Just where have you three been this morning?"

Harry and Ron quickly pulled their robes closed but the Hufflepuff wasn't fast enough and Taylor saw a rip in his jeans as she surveyed the wizards once more. White hot anger flared in her stomach as intuition told her where they had gone.

Stalking towards her brother she poked him hard in the chest with her finger as she growled, "What the bloody hell do you think you were doing in the Forbidden forest? Do you have any idea how dangerous that was!" She knew she was right, as surprise showed clearly on his face before his eyes darkened in anger.

Taylor cut him off before he could say anything, "Shut up Potter! You are lucky I don't hex your unmentionables off for pulling a stunt like that!"

"Taylor! We…" The Hufflepuff began before his witch wheeled and pinned him with a look that made the words die in his throat.

"I'll deal with you in a moment, Hufflepuff!"

"Porter you are being unreasonable!" Harry started again and he met his sister's angry glare.

"Me? Unreasonable?" Taylor demanded as she itched to draw her wand to alleviate some of her pent up emotions.

Harry could see it in his sister's eyes that she desperately wanted to have it out with him and he shook his head. "Taylor, we did what we thought we needed to do. Just like you have done many times!" He was glad to see some of the anger leave her eyes only to be replaced with worry. "Come on, we have things to talk about."

Harry led them to the Room of Requirement again and found it the same as it had been yesterday.

Starting her restless pacing once again Taylor demanded, "Alright Potter spill."

Ignoring the angry looks he was getting from his sister, Harry told them about how Ron, Greg and he had gone into the hidden passage down near the dungeons and followed it out to the Forbidden Forest without finding a single ward in place. When they reached the forest they could see where the ground was clearly trampled from a lot of people coming and going from the tunnel exit. They followed the path through the woods until they came to a small clearing that again showed signs of being used for some time. They found nothing there to indicate exactly who had used the clearing. Though they had found where a fire had burned on more then one occasion, as well as a place where it looked like maybe a chair or small table had sat.

"A fire to brew potions and a table to chop the ingredients up," Taylor said darkly.

Harry merely nodded before continuing to explain the two less visible paths that had led into the forest. One had led along a tiny stream for a ways and then to a grove of elder bushes.

"Sounds like they were gathering potion ingredients," Hermione said thoughtfully.

The other path wound deep into the forest where they eventually lost it. Harry finished with a slight shrug of his shoulders to indicate they didn't have any idea where it led or why it petered off.

Taylor waited for her brother to continue for several long seconds before she broke the silence. "So where, and with what, did you fight?"

"What makes you think we were in a fight?" Ron asked carefully.

Taylor wheeled as her wand flashed into her hand and the robes the guys were wearing vanished leaving their dirty torn clothes in full view. Hermione and Ginny gasped as Taylor's voice asked coldly, her wand still pointing at them, "Alright. Who whipped your asses then?"

Harry knew that there was no getting around telling them now. He should have insisted that they take the time before going to the Great Hall to at least clean the mud and dirt off their clothes and fix the rips, but they had been late and had needed to run to make it to the Hall on time as it was.

"It's not exactly as bad as it looks," Harry began to explain and saw all three witches raise their eyebrows at him skeptically. "We were on our way back after we lost the trail and well…"

"Three centaurs showed up and told us to leave the forest and not come back again. They were really mad. We tried to tell them that we hadn't been there before but they wouldn't listen." Ron finished for Harry.

Harry glanced at his sister and noticed she was pacing again, though it looked more like a cat stalking its prey than pacing.

"Go on," Taylor's voice was low and dangerous.

"We would have probably been fine if another bunch of centaurs hadn't have shown up. They looked even angrier then the first ones. We ran for it then, just barely made it into the tunnel entrance…" The Head Boy's voice trailed off as he could see the anger in his witch's eyes.

"So… what did you manage to learn? Nothing!" Taylor snapped as she raked a hand up through her hair. She couldn't believe her brother had been so careless.

"Sure we did!" Ron cried indignantly. "We learned that someone from the school has been using that passageway out of the school for a long time and that they've been brewing potions and goodness knows what else out there in the forest."

Taylor listened as the others talked about who it could be that was using the passageway. When they stood to leave Taylor continued her pacing, ignoring them.

"Taylor?" Harry asked a little tentatively. He knew his sister was still furious and didn't want to set her off.

"Just go Potter! If you think you can manage not to get yourself killed between here and the common room."

Harry flinched a little at the sharpness in his sister's voice, even if he knew he did deserve it. He hated it when she did exactly what he had just done. As angry as she was, he knew he was getting off lightly. He went to the door and opened it, Ron followed and he was pulling the Hufflepuff with him.

When the door to the Room of Requirement closed, Ron said, "Trust me Hunter. You don't want to be in…" his voice trailed off as the wall beside them shuddered and a muffled crash could be heard. "It would not be healthy to be in there right now."

"Ronald what makes you think you are off the hook just because Taylor is still in there?" Hermione asked in an incredible McGonagall-ish stern tone, and he flinched.

"Same goes for you, Harry James! You both are in trouble! Do you think we are going to let you get away with being so careless?" Ginny snapped at her boyfriend pinning him with a deadly glare.

"What about Greg?" Ron asked pointing at the Hufflepuff a bit desperately. "Aren't you going to yell at him too?"

Both witches turned together and looked at the Head Boy as they shook their heads. It was Ginny who spoke. "Nope! We'll leave him to Taylor."

Both Gryffindor wizards gulped and gave an apologetic look at the poor Hufflepuff before they were led away by their own witches.

Sweat poured off of the witch as she sunk to the floor once again, breathing heavily. She had no idea how long she had been abusing the Room of Requirement with her furious spells as she worked through the pent up emotions inside of her. Anger was the strongest and took up a large portion. There was also a feeling of desperation, that fueled many of her spells, and then there was the fear that seemed to eat away at her, making her get up time and again.

Staggering to her feet once again, Taylor's wand slid easily into her hand and she fired powerful silent spells repeatedly at anything and every thing that the Room presented. This was much more satisfying than pounding her fists against tiles and when she was once again too tired and out of breath to continue she would just sink to her knees.

When finally too tired to continue she stood and with a wave of her wand returned everything to its proper place before turning her wand and drying her sweat soaked clothes, as well as a cleaning spell. Picking up her discarded robes she pulled them on and opened the door to leave, startled to find someone waiting outside.

"Hey. I… well when you weren't there for supper I thought I'd come to make sure you were all right." The Head Boy said a little hesitantly as he took in her flushed face.

"Hey," Taylor said with a bit of a smile. She was physically tired and emotionally drained but at the sight of the Hufflepuff she felt a renewed energy, as a different fire than the one that she'd had most of the afternoon flared out from the pit of her stomach.

Catching his hand in hers she turned back towards the Room of Requirement without another word. A few seconds later a door appeared in the wall again. Opening it she pulled the Hufflepuff in behind her and shut the door.

The room had transformed into a cozy little room with a fire in the fireplace and a large sofa. Pulling the Hufflepuff to the sofa she pushed him down onto it.

"Taylor, I'm sorry I didn't tell you about our plan to go to the Forbidden forest. At the time I just wanted to keep you safe, I thought you'd try to go and…" The Hufflepuff's voice trailed off as his witch dropped her robe to the floor and knelt on the sofa, swinging her leg over his and settled on his lap straddling his legs, facing him. He wasn't sure what she was going to do until her hands wrapped around his neck and she brought her lips to his.

"Shut up and kiss me," Taylor breathed before she touched her lips to his.

The Hufflepuff complied as his hands wrapped around her back and he pulled her roughly against him. He sought to deepen the kiss and groaned when his witch responded immediately and their tongues danced intricately together. Only the need for air made him break off the kiss, as his lips trailed along her jaw and then down her throat. His hands roamed her back, as hers tangled in his hair and tipped her head back to give him better access to her neck.

He moved his lips across to the other side of her neck and then slowly back up to her ear, nibbling on her ear lobe and hearing her breath suck in between her teeth. Moving his mouth back to hers he caught her lips in a demanding kiss that she answered completely. Needing to feel her even more he slid a hand up under her shirt and heard her suck in her breathe again as his fingers touched the soft skin on her lower back.

Desire, hot and potent, flooded his veins as his fingers slid up his witch's back causing her to shiver and drop her lips back onto his in a demanding kiss of her own. Breathing hard he pulled away from her lips again, groaning as the witch shifted in his lap and then repeated the grinding motion more slowly.

Taylor was acting purely on instinct. Already she was far beyond anything she had ever experienced before. Never had she been so bold as to sit astride anyone, let alone the Hufflepuff, whose eyes had darkened and sent a thrill straight to the heat that was gathering low in her belly. She ran her hands thru his hair and thrilled at the feel of his lips as they traveled down her throat once again. His hand that was under her shirt made her only want to feel his warm skin under her fingers, so sliding her hand down his side she tugged his long sleeved t-shirt free of his jeans and with a trembling hand touched his heated skin beneath.

In one fluid movement the Hufflepuff turned and laid her down on the sofa, his lower half still between her legs and some of his weight settled on top of her as his mouth claimed hers once more in a searing kiss that left both of them gasping for air. As his lips left hers once more to trail down her neck, his fingers grazed up her side tracing intricate patterns as it went.

Sensations she had never felt before assaulted Taylor. The Hufflepuff's body laying intimately with hers caused her to shift her hips and the answering groan from the wizard made the heat gathering low in her belly to spread out through her limbs, encouraging her to tug the long sleeved t-shirt out his jeans and slip both hands beneath. A shudder went through his body as his mouth claimed hers once more, his kiss demanding. Nothing though prepared her for the feel of his hand cupping her small breast in his warm hand. Even through her bra, the sensation made her gasp and arch her body up against his.

"Merlin help me witch," the Hufflepuff's voice was almost a growl, "do you know what you do to me?" His mouth crashed over hers as he shifted his body and she could feel him pressed against her hip, as his hand once again closed over her breast, kneading it gently.

A shiver traveled through her as she realized what she was feeling was desire. He wanted her. He wanted her in the most intimate way and she was sure she wanted him.

It wasn't difficult to pull his shirt up with her hands to his chest and then up farther, pulling his arms free he dropped the shirt to the floor holding himself up. Taylor sucked in her breath as she gazed openly at his toned chest and broad shoulders. A sprinkling of dark hair in the center of his chest drew her hand and she slid her fingers through it and then spreading her fingers she continued up his chest to his shoulder and down his taut arm that held him up off her.

Her eyes were then drawn a little lower to his stomach and the jagged scars there, that even after all this time remained slightly red. Her hand trembled slightly as she reached out to touch them.

"Don't…" his voice was suddenly pained and she looked up into his darkened eyes to see worry there, and even a little fear. Staring into his eyes she moved her hand until she touched his stomach and gently ran her fingers over the scars there, tracing each one tenderly.

"I love you, all of you." Taylor whispered as she saw his eyes lose their worry and desire fill them once more.

Lowering his body onto hers once again he kissed her, but this time it was tender, as he moved his lips gently against hers. Taylor slid her hands around to his strong back, loving the feel of his skin under her fingertips. She ran her hands up and down his back as his kiss became more demanding. His hand once again found its way under her shirt, his fingers drawing circles on her sensitive skin, made all the more so by his roaming hand.

Breathing hard once again he released her mouth only to trail his lips down her jaw and to her neck nuzzling and kissing it along the way. When he lifted his head again his darkened eyes met hers and he seemed to be searching for something. What she wasn't sure and then she felt it, his hand was at the top most button of her shirt. It paused there as if he was waiting for her permission.

Desire, potent and overwhelming, claimed her and she tipped her head back arching her chest against him. A low moan rumbled in his chest as his fingers fumbled with the button before reaching behind him he pulled his wand out of his pocket and with a flick removed her shirt. His mouth returned to her neck as his hand roamed freely up and down her side, brushing against the outside of her breast before sliding all the way down over her jean clad hip to her thigh and back up again. His lips moved from her neck to her collarbone and then slowly down the center of her chest to the top of her economical practical beige bra.

Taylor had ceased to think as her skin caught fire along the route of the Hufflepuff's lips, tingling from the contact of his hand as heat pooled low in her belly and she rocked her hips against him once more. His mouth came back to hers in a searing kiss, that had her hands once again tangled in his hair and she wrapped her legs around his, wanting to get as close to him as possible.

When they finally broke apart, gasping for air, the Hufflepuff finally heard the voice in the back of his head screaming that this was wrong, that something was wrong. He knew his witch and this just wasn't how she normally acted. His chest heaving, he tipped his forehead against her collarbone as his hand stilled its exploration of her body.

His voice was thick, almost choked, as he whispered, "We need to slow down. We need to stop before this goes too far." He felt her body go still beneath him and he wondered if she even stopped breathing. Lifting his head up he looked into her eyes and saw the desire fade from them to be replaced by hurt and fear.

"Oh, Taylor, love, don't look at me like that."

Panic flooded her eyes next and she began to wriggle to try to get away from him, pushing at him with both hands. Catching her wrists in his hand he forced her hands above her head and rested more of his weight on her, effectively trapping her where she was.

"Let me go!"

"Not until you tell me why you were so… willing. You do know that you were playing with fire don't you? A little bit more and… Is that what you really want?"

Taylor looked up at the Hufflepuff who was staring at her, searching her eyes and her face once again, except now the dark desire had faded replaced by a guarded expression.

"Just let me up!"

"No. Not until you tell me what this was about."

"I thought that was obvious Hufflepuff."

"So you wanted to have sex with me?"

Hurt flared in her eyes at his blunt words. "No! Well yes, but…"

"Taylor there is no halfway, you either do or you don't."

Closing her eyes she felt despicable hot tears well up in them, her voice a choked whisper, "I wanted to feel… needed. Loved. I just wanted to belong to someone."

Greg felt his heart break and he released her hands, but he didn't move except to drop his head back onto her bare shoulder. He was disgusted with himself. He had let his own desire cloud his judgment to the point of taking advantage of the witch he loved. Nearly allowing that desire to… he swallowed the lump in his throat with difficulty.

"Oh Merlin, Taylor. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

He felt her stomach start to spasm and knew she was going to cry. He felt like a complete git. Pushing up off of her, he sat back down on the sofa, picked her up and sat her in his lap, pulling a blanket that he saw laying over the back of the sofa, around her bare shoulders and wrapped his arms tightly around her. He was glad at least that she didn't seem angry with him, as she rested her head against his chest and cried softly. He held her until she stopped crying, his chest wet with her tears. He was very aware that neither of them had a shirt on, though the earlier desire was easily kept at bay. His own self-condemnation was enough to control his libido. He despised guys who took advantage of girls. He knew at least one of his roommates who would have gladly taken advantage of the situation and then laughed about it later. He wasn't like that, it wasn't that he didn't want to go all the way with this girl, he just didn't want to under these circumstances.

"I'm sorry Greg."

He heard the hurt in her voice and he kissed the top of her head. "You don't have anything to be sorry for. It's me who should be apologizing. I know what you have been through the last couple of days and I should have realized right away that something was wrong. I'm sorry. My only excuse is a weak one. I'm just a horny teenage wizard." He could feel her smiling against his chest. "Can you forgive me?"

"You prat…" she said halfheartedly and he felt her sigh. "I'm sorry Greg. I just wanted to feel loved. I…"

The Hufflepuff put his finger under her chin and lifted it up so that he could see her eyes. "I do love you witch. I love you so much you make me crazy."

"But you don't… want to…"

The Head Boy sighed as he looked up at the ceiling for a few moments before looking back down at her hurt expression. "Taylor, of course I want to make love to you. Why do you think it was so easy for me to ignore all the signs that this wasn't the right time? Merlin witch, stopping was about the hardest thing I have ever done."

"Why? Why stop?"

His heart tightened at the innocence in her eyes. Sure his witch might be able to perform Dark Magic and was brave beyond anyone else he knew but still she was completely innocent and inexperienced when it came to things like these. It made him want to protect her all the more, even from himself.

"Because, I don't want you to rush into this. I don't want you to have sex just to try to prove that you belong to me or anyone else. Right now you are hurting and you would live to regret it if we had gone all the way. You can't run from the hurt and doing this would have been wrong. When we do make love, I don't want it to be for any reason other than because we love one another. I don't want either of us to regret it, for any reason."

He was glad to see some of the hurt leave her eyes, if only to be replaced by sadness.

"I'm sorry. I really screwed this up didn't I? I told you I suck at relationships."

A smile ghosted his lips at the way his witch worded her apology and wondered if she even knew the double meaning in her words. "No, you wanted to feel loved. You were just a little… overzealous, with your approach."

"So if I asked you to kiss me again… you would?"

"Witch…" Greg could feel desire curl through him once again as his witch slid her hand up his chest gently. "I always want to kiss you. We just need to keep it under control. I'll spend half the night now in a cold shower as it is." Lowering his head he caught his witch's lower lip with his and nibbled on it until she sighed and he captured her mouth and kissed her thoroughly, his hand slipping up into her hair and holding her gently in place.

Taylor's heart melted at the tenderness of his kiss, his warm skin against hers as his left hand massaged her head. When finally they broke apart he rested his arm on her shoulder and she noticed the jagged scars on it. Lifting her hand up out of the blanket that was wrapped around her, she traced her finger over the scars and felt the wizard go completely still. Looking up at him, she could see worry in his eyes again. Lowering her gaze to his arm she lifted it and brought his forearm up so she could inspect the scars closely. Then softly she kissed each one, dragging her lips the whole length of each scar before she looked back up into his eyes. Raw emotion filled his eyes, fierce, powerful and somehow slightly wild, and his mouth came down on hers in a demanding kiss that seemed to convey all that she had seen in his eyes.

Breathing hard, they once again broke apart, his eyes traveled down to her exposed shoulders that the fallen blanket now left uncovered. He could see her bra, and wasn't at all surprised to see it didn't have any lace or frills on it. That just wasn't his witch. His eyes narrowed as he caught sight of something, a couple of some things actually. He quirked the side of his mouth at the double meaning of his thoughts before he sobered. With a glance up at his witch's eyes he moved his hand down near her left breast where a thin red line showed at the top of the cup of her bra.

"What's that?" he asked causing his witch to look down and he pulled the bra down slightly to see a thin red lightening bolt scar there.

"Just a scar. I've had it as long as I can remember. I forgot it was even visible above my bra actually."

Greg looked up at his witch for a long moment as an uneasy feeling he couldn't place came over him, but he couldn't see anything in her eyes to explain his unease. After another moment he gave himself a mental shake and looked at the other thing that had caught his eye, something he had missed before when he had looked at her. Around her neck was, of course, his necklace he was glad to see, and her necklace also, as well as numerous pale, little scars. He lifted his hand and ran his finger over one. He couldn't feel them on her skin though he could see them.

"What are these scars from?"

Taylor could feel her face suddenly heat up. She knew exactly what scars he was talking about. When he lifted his eyes to hers once more she caught her bottom lip in her teeth. He waited as she chewed on her lip for a few seconds.

"They are from… my necklace." She could see confusion in his eyes and he glanced back down at the scars before looking back up at her.

"Your necklace? But how…?"

Taylor closed her eyes and sighed. She had never even told her brother this, not that he'd ever seen the scars, still…

"When I use Dark Magic my necklace gets hot," She opened her eyes and looked into his blue ones, "On simple spells it doesn't burn, but on more powerful spells or ones like my shield the other day with the Manticore, it burns into my neck leaving behind those little scars."

The Hufflepuff stared at her shocked. It was a few moments before, "It hurts you to use Dark Magic?" his eyes fell back down to her neck where the necklace hung against her breastbone and he could see that they were, in fact, perfect matches for the pendant on the necklace she had said her aunt and uncle had given her. He could even see, on closer examination, two that looked a little red still, one from the Manticore shield and one from the shield she had produced in Shacklebolt's office.

A/N Well... what did you think? Hopefully I didn't offend anyone. That was not my intent but Taylor and Greg are 16 and 17 so them doing something like this isn't a real stretch(or unheard of in the muggle world at least!) My point in writting this wasn't to have a sex scene but to show just how much Taylor was hurting... that she wanted to not be alone. I'd like to know, now that you have read this if I should change the rating to M? (there will be at least 1 more scene where this will come up again) Please let me know what you think!

Thank you! To all who have taken the time to leave a review! I am sorry I didn't reply to them in a very timely manor but life has been busy! Hopefully this chapter makes up for my tardiness! Thank you as well for reading! And thank you to my wonderful beta barbc(who I forgot to thank in the last chapter!) She makes this story readable! Well until next time, cytpotter.