Massage

The next day, at nine but six in the morning, the five Sly occlumants went to the Headmaster's office. In the Dueling room he taught everyone to perform the talking Patronus and then to Bond as a Clanship, and although the affinity between them wasn't as much as the three Gryffs had, they got it too.

The shield the five of them formed was massive, truly amazing, and Albus had Ariel move into the adjacent room for a while so the older four could test curses through it. They finished destroying the wall, they had the time of their lives.

Albus was amazed at the guys' temperament and said, "You are able to simultaneously generate enough love to Bond and hate enough to enjoy casting killing curses. You're going to be invincible, guys."

They tried the Mind Bond in pairs. Not all of them made it. Deborah didn't make it with anyone, not even her boyfriend. Sev and Jack with everyone except her, and Ariel with just the two of them.

They also practiced Tracking between Sev and Jack, counting on maybe the latter should protect the former in the summer. They also took the opportunity to talk about the proposal of Alice, Frank and Genevre.

"I agree that they should be the next to learn Occlumency, I'll teach them how to do it myself, and try to Bond with you, Prince," Albus told him.

"I thought that I should previously transmit the power of the Forest and my talent for Occlumency through a joint ritual, which would also reinforce the affinity between the four of us before beginning the instruction," Sev replied.

"I agree that we do it like this, there is no time to waste."

Then they went to class. Sev thought, (Lauren, finally. Of the ten regular Sly fifth-years, there were five left.) From that day on Sev sat with Anthony and his two classmates girls in the front row of Sly in all subjects. (Lauren does it in the second, but she's never behind me, but behind them, so no one suspects that she intends to attack me from behind.)

The first thing he asked Lauren was how she hadn't thought about the spies at the Ministry who might have found out his address.

"Ah… that. Sorry," she apologized. "The spies in the Ministry are introduced and controlled by Malfoy, he is the liaison with them, you should have guessed that already."

(Of course, Lucius always told me about his rackets with the Ministry in letters, boasting about the influence he has there,) Sev realized.

"If they were to find out something compromising about you, he would Obliviate them and put them under Imperius so they could eliminate the data," Lauren continued. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner, it was just so you didn't worry about one more thing."

(Lucius, willing to go out of his way for me, even using an Unforgivable. Malefic Sly turned. Luckily, that won't be necessary at the moment.

(I try to tell her all the new news without excessively losing concentration in class, because it doesn't suit any of us. Since I decided to get the NEWT from Medimagia, I have to get six Outstandings, and Lauren four, for Defense and Herbology.

(She still doesn't come to the Great Hall at least for this first week, until things calm down little by little, and of course, she doesn't stop at the Dungeon Room at all, she spends almost all her free time in the Library studying. It is there that she often meets Lily, but never me, since I have taken the habit of staying at home, in the bedroom or my corner of the Common Room, to disturb the escort as little as possible.)

The Common Room is much quieter now. Suddenly, the Slys have become responsible. Most rush the time to also study in the Library, and when it closes, they usually take advantage of the hour until curfew to practice Duel in empty classrooms.

Even when they come home at ten o'clock, they continue to study in the Common Room or the dormitories, and the conversations are kept low so as not to disturb those who do it, especially me, since everyone knows that the only absolutely safe place for me it's my house in the dungeons.

My corner is always free, both with my back to and in front of the window, but now the others often sit near me, to study at the same time or chat from time to time if I invite them to do so.

I have not received a letter from Mum, from which I deduce that she has not heard the news. Better. )He soon knew why. On Tuesday morning he received a response from Lily's family. In which they tell me that the four of them went on a trip on Sunday and Violet took my gift to a jeweler to have it appraised yesterday, and indeed, it costs a fortune.

Wow… I don't need to work anymore. She suggests that I Summon smaller, simpler jewels so that they can be sold, since not many people can afford to pay that much for a superfluous item.

In any case, on Monday night I received an answer from Professor Belby. In my letter I did not raise the hot topic at all, I tried to convey professionalism and confidence to him. However, apparently, the mediwizard, although he does not mention it, has already been duly informed of what really happened by my dear Poppy, and has not been influenced at all by the news published on Sunday and Monday.

He appointments me, at any time I can, without the need to notify him in advance, at his office in St. Mungo's, of which he already gives me the location, so that I don't even have to ask for him at the hospital reception, and I must introduce myself to his assistant no need to mention who I am, just that I come from Hogwarts.

He understands the mess I'm in and makes himself available to me without any commitment until we talk about it. Discretion, he must be Sly. I'll consult with Albus.

"Is it convenient for me to accept the scholarship?" Sev projected to the Headmaster.

"Yes, St. Mungo's is a relatively safe place. And you would not be facing the public, but locked in the laboratory, and a collaboration like this will help clear your name. But you must not give your address under any circumstances."

(Despite the fact that they did not manage to take pictures of me nor have journalists reappeared at the school, my image has also spread, through a portrait made by one of my malefic classmates. It is very bad, I don't look alike at all, but I'm still unmistakable because of my long hair.)

Dumbledore suggested, "Cut your hair, Prince."

"Never ever. That never."

"Ugh… then at least pick it up when you walk through St. Mungo's or down the street. Either way, you would have had to do it to work in the lab."

(No… like girls… What a shame.)

On Tuesday he had a Horcrux session with Dumbledore. They both used the Time Turner after lunch to go back to nine. First they went to Sev's bedroom so he could teach him how to open the hidden space. Then to the Headmaster's office, where they pored over the chapters on the creation and destruction of the evil objects, and then took a passageway from one aspect of the Room of Requirement, the community dormitory, to Hog's Head's back room, in Hogsmeade.

From there they traveled Apparating to Little Hungleton and took the path that led to the old Gaunt house. (Of which now barely the walls remain standing, the roof has collapsed and it is littered with rubble.)

They looked for the ring among the rubbish and after a while Sev found it. (Here it is, the gold ring with the Resurrection Stone set in it, and according to what Albus believes, from the timeline of events, it is the first Horcrux created by Riddle, when he was still a student at Hogwarts. So when we destroy it, we will destroy half of his soul. Take that!)

"I don't think it's convenient to destroy it immediately, as Voldemort will be aware that we're doing it," Dumbledore said. "The events at the school are too recent and he would link both events, which would put you in greater danger.

"Then we'll take it back and hide it at Hogwarts. I'll take care of it.

(I haven't even touched it with my fingers, I've fished it out with my wand, and I put it in a pocket of my robe. Anyway, I'm just going to carry it with me for a little while. I'm not going to let Albus touch it or know where I hid it.

(In fact, he doesn't protest at all that he doesn't know where I'm going to put it, as he should if he assumes only the two of us know the secret. That denotes that he still feels tempted, and more so having it as close at hand as in the school itself. We'll never know for sure, but I'm probably saving his life.)

They Apparated to Hogsmeade again and returned to the school through the passageway, arriving at the Room of Requirement in time for lunch. (I make him go away and I hide it in the Espionage Training Room. That way, if anything happens to me, it's in Lauren's hands.)

I keep it in the humble closet drawer I Summoned, with a note for Lauren in case she happens to stop by before seeing me in class this afternoon and I'll tell her everything. There it is, half of Voldemort's soul tucked away in a cabinet drawer in my custody. You don't know who you're up against yet, little Riddle.

He returned to the Headmaster's office, and Albus took advantage of the time they had left to show him the next memory that appeared in the chronology of the events. A memory of Dumbledore himself, when he went in the year '37 to tell an eleven-year-old Tom Riddle that he had been admitted to Hogwarts.

(What a fool, already as a child, it would have been better if they had left him where he was, how much suffering we would have saved ourselves. I leave the basilisk thing for another day. For today we have had enough.)

That afternoon, he told Lauren everything in class. (Releasing myself of much of the tension I suffered during the hectic morning.)

She asked him when he finished, "Do you know what you need?"

"Yes, Lauren, rest. It's six in the evening, but for me it's eleven at night."

"Take a nap until dinner with the Restorative Potion and tonight I´ll escape to your bedroom, we´ll hide in the secret place and I´ll give you a good massage. I'll leave you like new."

Sev thought, (Wow… I've never had a massage, wonderful. And besides, that's how I open the secret place and not Jack.) "Okay, I'll wait for you there. My bed is the one by the window."

So from after school until dinner time he slept an hour that was worth three with the Restorative Potion.

Over dinner Jack asked him, "Did Albus teach you how to open the hidden space?"

"Yes, Jack. I'll tell you how tomorrow," Sev replied.

(Let him suspect what he wants about whether I'm going to be there with Lauren tonight. He's going to have her whenever he wants and today I well deserve to be taken care of. Five hours of Time-Turning to get half of Voldemort's soul.)

That night he went to bed as soon as people started coming back from the Library and the first thing he did was write the reply letter to Lauren's, at dictation, while he cried bitterly.

Lauren, gorgeous:

I've spent so many years blind to how you felt about me that I feel like I'll never be able to reciprocate everything you give me, and a Crucio runs through me every time I think about how I've ignored and rejected you for so long.

For me there was only Lily in that aspect of my life, but at least I should have been your friend when you tried to get close to me, especially since September, in Potions. I rejected you, I despised you when you were only asking me for help with the subject, while you went out of your way to help me in a much deeper and more crucial way. I forced you to embarrass yourself and that ruined our chance to meet in public, condemning you to almost another year of solitude.

For me it has been a blessing to discover how you really are. I will never forget the best birthday present of my life, a week after it, your letter that you secretly passed me in the greenhouses, every time we go there I remember it. Nor your emerald look on that first night in January, which didn't let go of mine for hours.

Those first few weeks that we met more often, a feeling arose in me that I never thought I would be able to experience for anyone other than Lily. I fought against it, because I believed that I should not allow it, but the heart has reasons that reason does not understand and it prevailed, above all my prejudices and my resistance.

Fortunately, all that has changed and now I also feel free to feel and express what I feel, and what I feel is that I love you as much as if I had since I was a child, more than myself. I can't conceive of the world without you, I put your life and your happiness ahead of mine, and I would gladly die in exchange for you not losing either of them.

For this reason, I want to make something very clear to you: I will never forget you, whatever you do, whatever happens, whatever you are, I will always be there for you, in the way you want and when you do.

So for now I'm going to let you try it with Jack without intruding, but remember: I have a reliable way of knowing if you're suffering, and if I ever find out that you're not happy, I'll fight for you, to get you back, and to be the one to do it, because I know that what you feel for me is much deeper than for him and I'm not going to let you give up on me when you can have me.

Sev

He put the letter in an envelope and the envelope in the pocket of his dressing gown. Then he tried to concentrate, do his homework for that day and study. Around eleven, Jack and Anthony went upstairs to their bedroom, but not to sleep right away. Anthony was studying and Jack was reading a book, their Lumos showing through the curtains of their canopies. At twelve Anthony's went out, but Jack continued to read. Sev turned off his as well.

I hope Lauren doesn't come too early. Luckily my bed is closer to the door than Jack's, if she sneaks in he won't know. The one who is going to find out when she go in to see him is going to be me, as Lily told me. Better if I go to bed early and wake up early too, so I don't find out and don't suffer. How I hate the lack of privacy.

Jack's Lumos went off at half past twelve, and within ten minutes he heard his regular breathing. Okay, he's already asleep, let's see how long Lauren takes now. He opened the curtain on the side of the door, to see her shadow among the shadows as she entered.

She arrived at one, without making the slightest noise. My panther... She closed the door behind her and walked towards him. "Good night, Severus."

"Hi gorgeous. How much I've missed you. Three days have passed since Saturday and it seems to me that it has been a month."

She sat down on his bed, next to him. "Oh... Are you better than in the afternoon?"

She does not touch me or say anything affectionate to me, Sev lamented to himself. "I am. The nap has done me good." I'm lying, I'm knackered.

"Have you been waiting for me for a long time without your Lumos?"

"One hour. Jack turned it off a half hour ago and fell asleep within ten minutes."

"Brilliant."

She doesn't want Jack to know anything, that's why it took her so long to come and she's so careful. He will never allow it, and I, to allow everything, being that I love her much more than he does.

"Let's go?" Lauren asked.

"Sure, let's go."

All a mere formality. For not letting me down in a bad way, Sev thought.

He climbed out the other side of the bed and slipped into his gown.

"Do you have the Time Turner?" she asked.

"I don't."

"Well, take it, to sleep enough."

Oh, she wants to sleep there with me. Excellent. "Okay."

Sev took the Time-Turner out of his bedside drawer. Finally for something that isn't an obligation, but a pleasure, and I'm already regretting offering it to Jack. Now, every time he asks me, I'll know they're going to meet. Lily was right, how much damage am I going to do myself. He put it in the pocket of his gown.

"I brought my alarm clock," Lauren said.

To leave on time to her room. "It was not necessary. I have one too."

"Better if yours doesn't disappear, and leave the curtains drawn."

In case Jack wakes up, so he doesn't get suspicious, Sev deduced. How tactless you are being with me, Lauren. I'm already doubting whether to give you the letter. I am risking my life, and you only worry that he does not suffer, and I, to allow everything.

"It's okay, Lauren. Are you tired?"

"I have taken Stimulant for a couple of hours."

I don't want to take. I'm going to sleep as soon as possible so I don't think. "Okay."

Sev came around the bed and took her hand, leading her to the wall where the space opened. He mentally conjured, as Albus had taught him, and turned on the Lumos to see the door that had appeared.

They entered. It was a medium-sized bedroom with two four-poster beds, identical to the other one, a small window in the center of both and under it, the nightstands. In one of the side walls there was another door, the bathroom. Lauren and Jack's love nest. I'm not going to project to her, let her teach him if she feels like it so much.

"It's a closed space. You don't hear anything from outside, and once inside, no one can get in," he explained.

"Brilliant."

"I'm going to light the candles."

"Don't. First the Time Turner," she warned.

"Sure. How far back do we go?"

"I want to leave at six."

With which I am also going to have to wake up at that time. Well, I will study in the Common Room. Sev sighed heavily. I'm sick of this. "There are five hours left, if you want to sleep eight and you have taken Stimulant for two, we have to go back five, the maximum."

"Yeah."

"Come."

He moved closer to pass the chain around their necks. He turned the mechanism five turns. Eight in the evening. It became day at the window. She is wearing a beautiful dressing gown, red with patterns, closed up to the neck, oriental cut. I had never seen it before, she has put it on for the first time for me. I'm about to cry.

"Do you see? The candles were not necessary," Lauren said.

"Of course." Today my day is going to be thirty-four hours. It wasn't a good idea, it's making me feel terrible.

"Which bed do you prefer?" she asked.

One with me and one with Jack. "I don't care, Lauren," he told her jaded. "They're the same. The one on the left, so that the light from the window bothers me less when I sleep." And to not see the other bed. How right Lily was.

"Come on, go. Take off your clothes and lie face down."

"Okay." She is not going to give me a kiss, or a hug, nothing. She doesn't want to be tempted. How sick I am of this. She will surely not sleep with me either, she will go to the other bed. Sev did as Lauren had asked.

She got to him. On the opposite side to where I have my head turned.

"I remove the pillow, because of the position of your neck," Lauren explained.

"Sure."

He felt her get on the bed kneeling on either side of his body. She gave him a massage for more than half an hour. Sev moaned with pleasure and she only communicated to tell him from time to time, "If it hurts, let me know."

Indeed it hurts. "Nothing, you do it perfect. It is true that you are leaving me as new. Don't be surprised that I fall asleep."

When she finished she got off the bed. He told her, without turning to her. I don't even want to see the other one. "Pass me the pillow and the wand, please. I'm going to sleep."

"Do you sleep with your wand?"

"Always."

She gave them to him, and he drew the curtain on his side and got into bed, adopting his usual posture.

"Pull the curtain if you don't mind." I'll give her the letter tomorrow, when I don't have to see her when I wake up.

She didn't do what he asked, and it took her a long time to ask, "Will you leave me room in bed so that I can hug you while you fall asleep?"

"Sure, Lauren."

He backed away to the corner. I'm about to cry. Why is everything so difficult? She's taking time to get in, she is taking off her gown. Hopefully she's not wearing anything underneath and I can feel her skin. But it wasn't like that, she was wearing pajamas. She hugged him from behind, putting her hand over his heart.

"I have a letter for you in the pocket of my gown," he told her. "Read it when I fall asleep, please."

"Of course."

Sev was crying silently, without her noticing. Let's see if she gives me kisses on my head or my neck. No, she does not. Well, I'm going to try to relax and settle for what she gives me, which is a lot. He finally managed to fall asleep thinking, I can't wait for summer to come to be with my Lily, she will not let me down.