I do not own anything from the harry potter universe, unfortunately.

"Normal Talking"

'Thoughts'

"Parseltongue"

So… you remember how Harry thought that the date was great? Yeah, he didn't think that anymore. For you see during their little lunch break Harry had let it slip that Blaise had suggested hitting up Gladrags and the girls all gained a predatory glint in their eye. Hermione in particular had always been insisting Harry go clothes shopping since second year after she learned all he had were hand-me-downs.

Susan and Daphne didn't know that bit… at least not yet. But they still had the same smile that Hermione wore. So now Harry was being all but dragged by the girls towards the clothing shop and some men that they passed seemed to recognize his predicament. The looks of pity they gave Harry and solemn nods made him feel as if he was going to a funeral.

The women they had passed had recognized the looks the girls had and those with husbands looked at said husbands wistfully as if lost in memories. They obviously didn't know that he was actually on a date with all three girls but even so, a boy being dragged by girls into a clothing store was enough for them.

When they had entered Harry was surprised to see just how much like a muggle clothing shop it was. There were racks of clothes along the walls, one side being more feminine while the other had more masculine clothing. There was also an assortment of clothing in ringed displays along the length of the shop. It mostly seemed to be exactly what the shop suggested, wizard wear. But Harry saw that there were small sections that had muggle-style clothing. With so many students coming through here it must've become a necessity, especially with Muggleborns.

"So, what are we looking for?" Susan asked and Harry went to answer but Hermione was faster.

"Anything and everything. He needs a whole wardrobe." She stated as that seemed to make Susan and Daphne even giddier as they led him towards the men's side of the store.

"Don't I get a say in this?" Harry asked and Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Harry, you wear hand-me-downs, you need guidance in this sort of thing." Hermione said rolling her eyes completely forgetting in her excitement that there were two others who were not privy to that information. A fact she became very aware of seeing Harry flinch and the other girl's eyes narrow.

"What do you mean hand-me-downs?" Daphne asked looking between them as Hermione's own eyes widened as she looked to Harry wanting to apologize but Harry just shook his head.

"It's nothing." He answered but that didn't satisfy either of his two other dates.

"Harry, you know you can talk to us. If this relationship is going to work there can't be lies or secrets, especially with this kind of relationship." Susan said though making sure her voice was low when she let that last part out so no one else would hear. Daphne nodded her approval and while Hermione agreed as well, she still was looking at Harry doing her best to apologize with her eyes as she reached for his hand.

He flinched a bit but still allowed their fingers to gently lace together. This was only the first date and if it wasn't for Demona's encouraging him through their bond when they asked he probably wouldn't even be here. He was greatly enjoying his time with the girls, more than he thought he should or even deserved. But still, he wasn't ready to bear his heart out about his true past, he had spent too long locking it up.

But seeing their concerned expressions he could relent on this one thing.

"My muggle relatives didn't feel the need to… spend money on me. So, they just gave me the old clothes of my cousin." They hadn't been that nice with their wordings, but it sufficed. Hermione knew a bit already but still, she hated hearing about it. Daphne and Susan looked quite miffed at the information, but Daphne quickly got control over herself.

"Well, I'll spend money on you. C'mon… let's see how much of a cutie we can turn you into." She said she was better at reading subtle hints and expressions than Susan so she could tell how sour the subject was. And while she wanted nothing more than to sit him down and have him open up to them, he wasn't ready.

To be honest Daphne had felt it was a small miracle he even agreed to the date in the first place. She didn't have the heart to tell Susan that they should wait a little longer, but she fell victim to her own excitement as well.

So instead of letting a funk settle over their first date she directed their attention away from the subject and got them back on track. Hermione had stuck by Harry's side holding his hand to assure him.

"Harry, I'm sorry… I wasn't thinking…" she whispered to him as the four made their way to the more muggle section.

"It's… okay Hermione." Harry replied, he wasn't jumping for joy at Hermione's slip up, but he wasn't going to all of the sudden hate her. He had told Blaise after all, so telling his dates wasn't too much of a big deal and he hadn't told them anything of value. Though he knew that now a question would always be on the tip of their tongues until he answered them.

'Not yet…' He thought and quickly did his best to banish the worry that had set in as Daphne and Susan began to finger through different shirts, pants, and jackets. Hermione gave Harry's hands a squeeze before joining the other two. She had wanted to give him a kiss to further display her sincerity but opted against it seeing how many people were around.

It didn't take long for the date to get back into a comfortable rhythm as the girls began to hold shirts against Harry. Some of the choices made Harry and the girls laugh at the absurdity.

"No words, Harry doesn't look good with words on his shirt." Susan said taking away a shirt that had some quote of some kind away from his chest. Then daphne came over with a solid long sleeve green shirt.

"Oh, green's a good color." She stated using the chance to press the shirt against him which was more of an excuse to touch him. Hermione nodded and held up a yellow shirt it was nice, but she still scrunched up her nose.

"It's nice but… I don't know." Hermione wasn't as versed in clothes as the other two girls but there was something not clicking.

"It's just not his color, too bright." Susan said holding up a similar shirt but this time purple. "Much better!" she said throwing the shirt over her arm which already had about six pairs.

"What's wrong with bright colors?" Harry asked confused.

"Nothing really, just not for you." Daphne said picking a few black and white shirts out "But we have to be sure to keep your Dark Lord persona in mind. If we didn't Jones would just drag you back here on her own." Daphne said playfully as Harry groaned, Jones just had to make that joke, didn't she. After apparently becoming satisfied with the choice of shirts they moved on to pants.

"What's your size?" Susan asked walking over to some folded pants.

"Um… medium?" Harry answered and Susan looked at him before nodding her head side to side as if half agreeing with him. She grabbed a few pairs and Harry felt Daphne put her hands behind him as she pushed him toward a changing room. Well, more of just a booth with a curtain.

Susan had pulled the curtain closed after placing the picked-out clothing on a bench. When Harry was alone, he looked around, it was just a wooden little box with a large mirror. However, Harry didn't know what to do, was there a certain order he had to go through or maybe a certain combination.

"What do I wear?" Harry asked and could practically feel the eye rolls.

"Just put on whatever shirts and pants and we'll see how they look." He heard Susan answer.

"I thought you already did that."

"This is different."

"How?"

"Just do it Harry, please." Susan said as Harry looked towards the shirts and pants. The pants weren't all that different so he just took one pair and laid it out. He then took one of the shirts they had chosen and laid it out as well. Quickly taking his current outfit off he set it aside carefully before donning the new set. The pants were a bit loose but he was rather scrawny, he took the belt from Blaise's outfit and put it on.

Opening the curtain, he adjusted his shirt as the girls took in his appearance. All three wore matching smiles.

"Purple is pretty good on you." Susan said looking him up and down and Harry couldn't help but blush at the attention.

"It goes well with your eyes." Daphne said also nodding.

"Okay next." Hermione said as she waved Harry back into the changing room.

'How many times am I going to have to do this?' Harry thought but just shook his head and simply changed his shirts out and stepped back out.

"Green's good, maybe a darker shade though." Hermione said receiving nods from the girls.

"Next." Susan said with a smile slightly clapping her hands.

"I'm not a dress-up doll you know." Harry mumbled receiving giggles in response.

"Right now you are, so go on." Daphne said a playful smirk on her lips as Harry sent her a playful glare. He again copied his actions as he took on a dark blue shirt with long sleeves. For a moment Harry idly marveled at how nice the fabric felt. He was so used to rough sleeves and worn fabric that this was like putting on silk. Opening the curtain again the girls looked at him with smiles though he noticed Daphne was missing.

"Where'd Daphne go?" Harry asked.

"She went to go find some jackets you might look good in." Susan said as she once again looked Harry up and down.

"Have you not changed pants yet?" Susan asked and Harry nodded.

"They're all pretty much the same so I didn't think I needed to." This had got an eye roll from Susan.

"You should still try them on, I know that not all the pants are the same shade." She said as Harry looked back at said clothing items.

"They look pretty close."

"Close is not the same mister Potter. Now change." Susan said her best authoritative tone as Hermione giggled and Harry just closed the curtain again and changed this time trying on a different slightly darker pair of pants. He stepped out again and now Daphne had returned with four jackets three of them black one of them white.

"Oh, red's pretty good, though maybe don't wear it until Christmas time that way you can match the red and green color scheme." She said playfully as Harry rolled his eyes.

"More clothes?" Harry asked a bit apprehensively as smiled.

"Don't be such a baby, it's just a few jackets. You know we should get you some Wizards wear as well." She said adding the last part as more of an afterthought as she turned to look at some of the robes on display. Susan nodded her agreement as she too began to examine some nearby robes.

"Yeah, you know these wouldn't look too bad." She said pulling out a set of robes and Harry just closed the curtain again. He changed again trying on a few different shirts and a few different pants. He was still subjected to a few wizard robes, thankfully he wasn't forced to wear anything from last century as he had seen many older wizards seem to wear. Instead, Daphne had picked out what looked more like medieval-style suits that had cloaks.

"Oh, now you look like a prince!" Hermione said when he had tried on one of the robes. It was black with a mix of silver and blue designs that embroidered the length complete with a tie and a pair of sleek black trousers. He was also adorned with what felt like a black cape that was decorated with greyish silver fur around the collar.

"You kind of do." Susan said with an obvious smile and slight blush as she helped him adjust his tie.

"I don't like it." Harry complained childishly, the fabric felt so restrictive every time he lifted his arms, he felt like he was about to rip it by accident or something.

"Don't be such a boy, come on give us a little twirl." Daphne said a smile and blush to match Susan's on her face as she twirled her finger. Harry just groaned but complied slowly turning in place. Finally satisfied the girls had neatly gathered all the chosen clothing options setting only a few of them back. They also grabbed a few pairs of shoes for him, two pairs of casual and one formal.

"Hello, ladies you find everything you needed?" The clerk asked an elderly man who had two younger ladies helping him out behind the counter. Most likely those ladies were the reason he even had the modern muggle section in this shop.

"Yes sir, thank you." Susan said as she began to place the clothes they had chosen for Harry upon the counter. Looking through it the elderly man seemed a bit surprised before looking back towards the group and taking notice of Harry.

"Is all this for you?" He asked and Harry nodded he chuckled a bit before flicking through the clothes and tallying everything up.

"You have some good friends there young man, I remember when my Muriel would take me shopping with her, the worst and best days of my life." The man said with a healthy chuckle. Harry just smiled a bit shyly as the three girls just looked very pleased with themselves. After tallying everything up he faced the group again.

"Alright, that will be one hundred and thirty galleons for everything." He said and Harry blanched at the price, it was just some shirts and pants with four jackets! Was it the fancy robes? However, while Harry was trying to wrap his head around the price and how it was so much the girls just nodded their heads like they expected that price.

When Daphne began to pull out a few pouches she had shrunk down Harry came back into the moment and he grasped her hands.

"Wait, you don't have to pay for this." He said not liking that she was trying to spend so much money on clothes for him. Having the girls pay for something so expensive wasn't sitting well with him at all.

"It's fine Harry, like I said before, I'll spend money on you."

"But it's so expensive."

"Actually, I expected it to be more." Daphne said with a shrug, Harry couldn't understand how she was so calm about this price tag. Seeing his confusion and concern just made her smile as she patted his hand which still grasped her own.

"Seriously Harry don't worry about it. I want to." Daphne said as she gently escaped Harry's grip though she didn't mind him touching her hand at all. Harry still didn't like it but didn't want to argue either. So reluctantly he nodded as Daphne proceeded to pay for the clothing and the man began to place the clothing into an apparently bottomless box.

The group left with Harry carrying the box under his arm as the girls began to make their way to another store.

"Where are we going now?" Harry asked as he followed the girls.

"Well, we got you some clothes so now we need to get you a haircut." Susan said playfully pulling on a few strands. Harry's nose scrunched up a bit at the insinuation.

"My hair's not that long." Harry said as he heard Daphne scoff.

"Okay, whatever you say."

"It's not."

"Harry, a little touch-up isn't going to kill you." Hermione said bumping into him with a smile.

"Touch up, they might need to use the severing charm just to get through all that." Daphne said ruffling his hair as she led the group into another shop. Harry missed the sign but based on the fact that there was a line of chairs on both sides of the shop with counters lined with scissors and other hair care products he knew he was in a barbershop or something.

"Hello, how can I help you today?" A woman asked at the front desk as the girls pulled Harry forward. They didn't have to say anything because as soon as the clerk saw Harry her eyes widened, and she nodded.

"Say no more!" She exclaimed though the girls hadn't said anything but did laugh.

"It's not that bad!" Harry cried out indignantly but still let himself be led towards one of the chairs. After being sat down and draped with a towel he felt the woman's hands begin to start their work.

"Any preferences?" She asked and Harry just shrugged.

"Trim I guess?" He offered halfheartedly.

"Oh no, you're not getting out of that chair with just a trim." Hermione said as Daphne came over with a magazine in her hands. Harry couldn't see what the title was, but he did see what looked like a muggle on the cover with a rather modern haircut. Must've been a muggle magazine meant for the students like the muggle section in the clothing store.

"How about this one?" Daphne said leaning the magazine over to Hermione who examined whatever it was.

"No, we don't want it too short." She said as Daphne continued flipping through.

"What about what I want?" Harry challenged but shrank back at receiving rather unimpressed glares from the girls.

"Don't you trust us? I promise you will look great." Daphne said before flipping through a few more pages before stopping.

"Oh, this one!" Daphne said showing the other girls who all smiled and nodded. She then brought the magazine to the hairdresser who looked at the picture.

"Okay, yeah I can do that." she said as she began to grab some scissors.

"Wait can't I see?" Harry asked as he looked to Daphne who looked thoughtfully at the picture and then back to him. Harry rolled his eyes "Please?" he asked nicely this time. Daphne smiled and flipped the magazine.

The Hair cut wasn't that bad actually. It had rather short lengths on the side all around but began to fade into longer locks as it came to the top. It'd be the shortest that Harry ever really had his hair, but he wasn't all that opposed to it.

"So, did we pick alright?" Daphne asked and Harry smiled at her and the others.

"It's not bad." He said as he felt the hairdresser get to work on his hair the locks being cut off being banished before they could even hit the floor. It was a few minutes and Harry patiently waited for it to be over and by the time it was his head felt lighter. When the hairdresser held a mirror for him to examine his hair he saw that it was pretty close to the picture he was shown.

The sides weren't quite as short as he saw on the picture, but he suspected that was because the hairdresser was using just scissors and a few spells and not the buzz cutters that muggles would have. Other than that, he had to say it was really nice. Thanking the woman, she led him back to the front desk after banishing the few remaining strands on his person. When he got closer the girls looked up from the magazines they picked up and their eyes widened. All three gained a slight dusting of pink as they took in his new style.

"It's so much better than I thought." Susan said coming up to examine him.

"I can see your eyes so much better now!" Hermione said grabbing Harry's head and tilting his head up and down and to the side to examine the hairdressers' efforts. Susan decided to pay for his haircut even if he again wanted to pay for it, but it was only a few sickles this time, so it wasn't as bad as the clothes.

"See was that so bad?" Daphne asked still admiring his new haircut.

"Not entirely." He mumbled out and Susan just giggled at his childishness. The date was then most unwelcomingly interrupted when he heard a pompous voice cut through the air.

"Ah, isn't that adorable? They going to spoon feed you and wipe the drool off your chin as well?" Harry growled as he turned to see Malfoy and his troop coming towards them. It would seem that Malfoy was having yet another moment of forgetfulness or had just gotten over his intimidation after Harry's first task.

"What do you want Malfoy?" Daphne asked slightly surprising Harry with how well she shifted into the cold and slightly dangerous Slytherin persona.

"Oh, nothing much, just wondering if you're going to be shopping for his bib next? What's the matter Potter, didn't your mum teach you to dress yourself?" Malfoy asked and Harry immediately felt anger begin to bubble inside of him and Demona was roused from her nap in his shadow feeling his anger. Draco or one of his troops had spotted the group during their shopping spree.

"Why don't you go have one of your trolls go and polish your wand. Or better yet why not ask daddy to do it for you? Isn't that what your good at, running to daddy for all your problems." Daphne countered putting an emphasis on the word wand so that Malfoy could catch on that she wasn't talking about his actual wand. Malfoy caught on to her meaning as he scowled and glared intensely at her.

"Why don't you go run back to yours? Oh… wait…" Draco said trailing off at the end and Daphne's eyes narrowed dangerously. Harry didn't understand what Malfoy was talking about, but Hermione and Susan sure did as they gained scowls of their own.

"Leave Malfoy… before I do something I won't regret." Daphne said her voice low and dangerous. However, Draco didn't take the hint as he just pressed on.

"How is your dad anyway? Does he still shit his pants at every passing shadow, or have you invested in some diapers for him?" Malfoy sneered as Daphne's scowl morphed into a look of pure murderous rage. She went for her wand but before she could draw it she felt a hand grasp her own and she whipped around to see it was Harry stopping her.

She went to say something but stopped seeing the look in his eyes. They seemed to glow as his eyes narrowed dangerously at Malfoy and she took notice how shadows and flickers of flame began to pool at his feet pouring out of his own shadow.

"She told you to leave Malfoy. So, leave." Harry said surprising all who were present with how cold his voice sounded right now. Harry was already very upset with that jab at his dead mother that Malfoy had made. However, when he heard him begin to insult Daphne's father, he didn't have to understand the situation for him to realize that he didn't like that. No, he hated it. Maybe it was Demona's influence but he felt rather murderous at this moment, and he wasn't holding it back.

"What are you going to do Potter?" Draco challenged as a deep menacing growl ripped through the crowd making Malfoy reel back in surprise as Demona began to slowly manifest in wispy shadows behind him. Her smoldering eyes all but burned a hole through Draco's soul as they peered at him with a predatory glint.

"Do you really want to find out?" He asked his voice seeming to have another one layered over it when he asked that question. Draco had finally taken the hint and turned tail his own group had already scampered off without him. Harry didn't loosen up or relax until he felt hands gently rest on his shoulders. Looking to his sides he saw the concerned looks of his dates looking at him.

"Harry, it's alright." He heard the voice of Susan the Hufflepuff girl giving his shoulder a reassuring squeeze as Hermione did the same with his other. He quickly took a couple of deep breaths and soothed Demona who melted back into his shadow. The girls quickly led Harry away from the prying eyes of those who had witnessed the event.

The group had entered one of the carriages and began making their way back to Hogwarts. Despite Malfoy's presence at the end, it was still a wonderful date that the girls and Harry thoroughly enjoyed.

"You know… that was kind of hot." Daphne said causing Harry's eyes to go wide as he blushed furiously. Susan and Hermione had matching blushes but it was from their agreement with her statement.

"I just… he shouldn't talk to you like that." He said as Daphne reached over to grip his hand.

"It was very sweet, thank you." Daphne said as Harry just smiled a bit shyly, a rather stark contrast to how he acted in her defense before.

"Though, Harry how did you do that? You didn't use a spell." Hermione asked, she recognized the shape of the wolf-like creature from the first task, as well as those shadows when he got into his fight with Ron.

"Oh, it is from the book which I can't talk about." Harry said as Hermione looked confused for a moment before understanding.

"The one that burned me?" Harry flinched at that.

"Yeah, sorry about that." She waved him off.

"It's fine Harry, so is it a spell?" She asked as Harry thought about how to describe it. He couldn't talk about the spell itself or its procedure, but he could talk about Demona herself.

"It is a spell that I can't describe, but it is no longer necessary since she's always with me." He said and was relieved as the girls seemed to understand his words.

"Always with you?" Susan asked and Harry nodded instead of explaining he just looked at his shadow.

"Demona." He called out and at his call, his Hellhound began to manifest partially in her wispy smoke form just making up her head though shrunk down so she could fit in the carriage. The girls took in her appearance with wide eyes.

"She's not dangerous or anything." Harry said as all three girls just gave him flat stares. "Okay, she's only dangerous when I want her to be." He amended as he reached out his hand and Demona allowed a bit of her snout to manifest fully so he could pat her.

"What is she exactly?" Hermione asked curiously as always.

"A Hellhound." Hermione growing up in the muggle world heard the word Hell and she whipped her head to Harry.

"What!?" She said suddenly scooting as far away from the hound as she could.

"Hermione it's fine really. It's just a name I don't think she's actually a demon." Harry said as Daphne gave him a bit of an unbelieving glance.

"You named her Demona." Daphne commented dryly Harry had the decency to look sheepish.

"It's the first thing I thought of. Here." Harry said grasping Hermione's hand and could feel how tense she was. He gently urged her hand forward and coaxed her fingers open before having her place them on Demona's snout.

"See, she's nice." He said as he let go when Hermione began to tentatively stroke the hound's snout. He urged the other girls to do the same as they did hesitantly. Through their bond, Harry could feel Demona's contentment at the attention she was receiving.

"Is this dark magic?" Hermione asked more curious than abrasive. Harry shrugged not really knowing, after reading and learning with the Grimoire the concept of dark and light magic just kind of fell away except for the Unforgivables.

"I don't think so, I mean she's just as dangerous as the severing charm or Incendio. I guess she doesn't fit the criteria for a light creature so…" He trailed off Hermione looked like she wanted to press the subject but decided against it and Demona went back to Harry's shadow.

The group traveled the rest of the way to Hogwarts just talking about random subjects until they arrived at the castle. Dinner was still a few hours off, so they decided to go back to their dorms and change into some more casual wear. Just like last time Hermione and Susan both rewarded him with a kiss on each cheek making sure no one saw them as they went to their respective dorms and when they reached the Slytherin dorm Daphne pecked his nose just like last time.

Upon entering Harry saw just a few scattering of students not many just lazing about. The two separated and Harry went towards his room where he opened his trunk and took all of his old clothes out and tossed them in a pile on the floor.

Taking the clothes that Daphne had gotten for him out of the box and began to fold them as neatly as he could into his trunk. Treating every shirt and pair of pants like they were made of gold. He was a bit apprehensive when Daphne had paid for these clothes at first, but he found that thinking back on her act made him feel warm inside.

'I'll spend money on you.' Her words echoed in his head as he smiled. The whole day filled him with warmth, talking to Susan and how she what she said in Honeydukes. How Hermione had called him princely, at least roughly. The whole date made him feel… wanted. A feeling he wasn't necessarily used to, but he found he greatly appreciated it.

Even still he couldn't completely shake those nagging voices in the back of his head, the ones that screamed Freak over and over in his head at times especially when he felt happy. But Demona was here, she always was able to chase those haunting thoughts away with their bond. Looking down at his shadow he could feel her warming him just adding to the already good feeling he had from the date.

Finishing putting his stuff away he quickly changed to simple pants and one of his new long sleeve shirts that were purple in color and kept Blaise's hoody. Walking back over to the common room he looked around not having anything to do he thought about heading to his classroom to get some extra practice in. He was going to need to really push himself if he had even a hope of attempting the Protego Diabolica spell.

He still had a few hours until dinner was served but he didn't want to leave Daphne behind so he sat on one of the couches to wait until she came out. He didn't have to wait very long as she came back out wearing some simple pants and a hoodie. She still had her makeup and as she approached Harry could still catch the whiff of her perfume.

"So what do you want to do now? Dinner's still not for a little while yet." Daphne said as Harry rose.

"Well, I wanted to get some practice in with my spells. Do you wanna come?" Harry asked but Daphne just shook her head.

"Thanks, but I think I'm going to have some girl time with Susan and Hermione." Harry nodded and both left the common room, but Daphne went towards the Hufflepuff dorm to meet Susan while he went towards his classroom. It was an uneventful trip, and he entered his classroom without issue. However, he did have to pause when he saw one of the snakes he conjured before the first task resting in the center of the room.

"What are you doing here?" He questioned seamlessly switching to Parseltongue as the snake, a boa constrictor, raised its head. He had gotten a bit of extra practice in using his ability.

"Speaker I've come with news; it is about the man who smells of cowardice and death and bears a mark." He tried to think of who that could be but didn't draw any conclusion.

"Does he have a name?"

"I hear the other warmbloods call him Igor at times." Igor Karkaroff, Now Harry knew what she was talking about.

"He was speaking to the potions master here. The smell of fear was strong upon him, they were speaking about a long-lost master stirring. The potions master quickly dismissed the coward and told him not to speak of this again." Harry nodded after the snake gave her report, Igor was scared of something and she had mentioned a mark of sorts and a thought entered Harry's head as he became worried.

"The mark, do you know what it looks like?"

"Yes, he showed it to the potions master, it was a skull with one of the noble serpents entwined with it." Igor was a death eater, that was the mark of Voldemort. How a Deatheater became the headmaster of a school boggled Harry's mind. But he was more concerned with Snape being somehow connected to it. Harry had just begun to trust the professor, even if it was slight, so he hoped that he wasn't involved in anything.

"The potions master, how did he take the news? Could you tell?"

"He seemed upset to me speaker, perhaps angry even. Human emotions are odd but I believe that is what he expressed." That made Harry feel a little better, at least Snape seemed to be displeased with the news. Harry wondered if he should confront Snape or at least ask him about it. He probably couldn't just go right up and ask him he would have to make it seem like somehow Igor let it slip, since he was a Deatheater it shouldn't be too hard to spin a believable tale.

"Speaker I have more news." The snake said getting Harry's attention again.

"What is it?" Harry wasn't sure how many more info dumbs he could take.

"The Elder one, he seems to be concocting something. I heard him muttering around his office about you Speaker. He spoke of dark magic, I am afraid I wasn't close enough to properly hear him but he spoke of the 'right path' and somehow getting you back onto it. I was able to hear more than that, but I did sense something within his office." At the snakes' words, Harry felt himself become upset, remembering the words of Voldemort in his dream. It seemed there was more truth to what he said than what Harry wanted to believe.

"What did you sense?"

"Your magic Speaker, I could not find where it was. It was near his desk I am unsure as to the nature of this object." That confused Harry but he was worried. Harry wondered if it was this object that caused his odd behavior in Dumbledore's office the last time he visited. Whatever it was he didn't want Dumbledore to have it, not after all he had learned.

"Thank you for bringing this to me. I want you to gather all the others and get into the Elder one's office. Find the object and bring it back to me, can you do this?" Harry asked and the snake nodded and slithered off to a crack in the wall.

This was all a bit much, not only was there a Deatheater in the school but he was also one of the judges in the games. Probably why he sided with crouch when they said all that crap about dark magic, just to spite him in some way. Though this thing with Dumbledore was honestly scaring him.

Dumbledore had always seemed so grandfatherly to him and Harry had always turned to him in his times of need. The words of Voldemort had definitely laid the seeds of doubt within his mind.

'But that could've been his plan… to turn me against Dumbledore.' Harry thought but it was weak at best. That feeling he had in Dumbledore's office happened before the dream ever occurred. He wanted to talk to someone about this, anyone. He thought of Sirius for a moment, but Harry didn't even know where he was and didn't want to risk sending Hedwig unintentionally giving his godfather away if someone recognized her and traced her back to him. He had always been the one to contact Harry so at best he would have to wait for Sirius to contact him before he could tell him anything.

As he thought about it a sudden image flashed in his mind of Hermione, Daphne and Susan. Harry shook his head startled for a moment before feeling an urging feeling come through his bond and looked down seeing his shadow expand to form the silhouette of Demona who looked back at him.

"You think I should talk to them?" He asked receiving an affirmative bark from Demona and Harry began to feel unsure.

"I… I don't know. I trust them, I do. But… I don't even truly know what's going on, what if I put them in danger?" He asked and a feeling of reassurance flooded him as Demona's eyes flared in the shadow. Then an image of when he had faced Draco filled his mind.

"Malfoy isn't anywhere close to Dumbledore or a Deatheater." He tried to argue and felt a flood of annoyance as he suddenly felt his feet being pulled out from under him and he fell firmly on his rear as Demona manifested and laid her large head on his chest forcing him to the ground. Harry for his part let out an oomph and a wheeze as she lay there unwilling to let Harry up until he agreed with her point of view.

"I-It's not like I don't want to talk to them… It's just dangerous." He tried the weight of her head making it a little difficult to talk. She then did something like a long-drawn-out yip but being a Hellhound the sound was rather unsettling.

"I put… enough people in danger… as it is. Can you please get… off me!" Harry said and demanded trying with no luck to lift the Hellhound's massive head. It went like this for about ten minutes before Harry began to tap the ground in submission.

"Fine!... you win!" He cried out as Demona let out a snort of triumph and lifted her head. Harry took in deep gulps of air as he glared annoyingly at Demona who looked as smug as a Hellhound could. Then he remembered the image Demona had put in his head.

"Hey, since when could you do that?" Harry asked, "You know put an image in my head?" he asked as Demona just tilted her head to the side. She wasn't any more aware of why as he was, but he had a guess. "Maybe you're becoming more in tune with this dimensions magic. The Grimoire said you'd get there eventually." He said lightly stroking the fur under her chin as her large tail began wagging back and forth; creating a noticeable gust of air as she did.

"Can I at least do some practice before I bother them with this?" He asked as Demona simply melted back into his shadow. He chuckled as he got his wand out and began to train with his super casting. He wanted to be able to use this type of casting at least five times without becoming tired or exhausted before he even attempted the next spell.

Meanwhile at the same time as this was going on Daphne had collected Susan and Hermione both of which had changed into more casual clothes with Hermione letting her bushy hair free from its confines. The girls had made their way toward their usual bathroom to discuss.

"So, what do you think?" Susan asked as they situated themselves.

"It was amazing, except for Malfoy of course." Hermione said smiling widely thinking back to the date. It had truly been a great experience for her, it was her first date and she was very happy with how it went.

"Agreed, though Hermione," Daphne said looking towards her bushy-haired friend "I let it go at the time because I didn't want to ruin the date, but what is going on with Harry wearing hand-me-downs?" Daphne asked her eyes narrowing slightly as Hermione looked a bit guilty at being reminded of her slip up.

"It's… it's not my place to say. I'm sorry." Daphne didn't look pleased but nodded.

"He lives with muggles?" Susan then asked and Hermione tentatively nodded since Harry had told them that. "That's surprising…" she admitted.

"You didn't really think that he lived in a castle and slew dragons on the weekends, did you?" Daphne asked her playfully as Susan blushed.

"No of course not! But I didn't expect him to live in the muggle world." Susan said huffing and Hermione looked between them.

"Are you talking about those books written about Harry?" Hermione asked reading a few of them herself she had always doubted the validity of those works and after meeting and getting to know Harry she was sure they were rubbish.

"Oh yeah, there Susan's favorite." Daphne said with a smirk as Susan groaned.

"Daphne! No, they are not!"

"Pretty sure you still have a copy of volume six, isn't that the one where Harry was said to be forced to swim in an enchanted lake totally naked to pass a test or something?" Daphne asked playfully assuming a thinking pose while Susan buried her burning red face in her hands.

"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!" Susan cried out desperately as Daphne and Hermione laughed though Hermione had a dusting of pink on her face as well, she remembered reading that scene. As Daphne got control of her laughter she looked up curiously.

"Maybe that's why our letters never got through to him." She said thoughtfully as Hermione looked towards her.

"What do you mean?" She asked as Susan looked up but was still fanning her face.

"Susan and I tried to send Harry letters over the summer, if we couldn't get to him in school, we'd do it outside of school. But our owls always ended up coming back to us our letters still with them. Maybe it's because he was in the muggle world." Daphne said as Susan nodded slowly.

"But I've written him loads of times, Ron did too. We've never had any problems." Hermione said thoroughly confused.

"Well then I don't know what happened, it always seemed like my owl got lost or something." Daphne said as Susan spoke up.

"Yeah, mine too."

"Jones said hers got through, but she never received any replies." Daphne said.

"Wait, Megan Jones? The seventh year? Why would she be writing him?" Hermione asked, Harry had only met Jones this year why would she had written him at all before.

"She wrote him as a kid after he defeated the Dark Lord. A lot of the older students did actually. But from what I know from Jones none of them ever got any replies, but the letters were definitely delivered." Daphne said thinking back to what she had heard from Jones when she brought up her own mail trouble involving Harry during second year.

"Harry told me he's never received any mail from the wizarding world except his Hogwarts acceptance letter." Hermione said confused. This got both of the others attention.

"How is that possible, he's the boy who lived. He's famous all over wizarding Britain he has fan clubs out there. Just from what Jones told me we can safely that all the older students since Harry's first year have sent him letters. He honestly should've been swamped." Daphne explained as Hermione's brain began to work. It made perfect sense and yet Hermione was sure Harry hadn't even known about the Wizarding World until his Hogwarts letter had come to him.

But if what Daphne was saying was true that begs the question, what happened to all of Harry's mail and why hadn't he received any of it?

_SCENE_

Welp Here is chapter 8 a finish up of the date which again I hope I did well in and an introduction between Demona and the Girls plus Harry is starting to become suspicious of Dumbledore more and more. With good reason as well wonder what Dumbledore is going to try in order to get Harry back to the "light". Let me know what Ya'll think but until next time this has been your Average, Ordinary, Everyday Fallen Angel.