Disclaimer: I am just a mere visitor in the sublime world constructed by the brilliant mind that is J.K Rowling. Anything that rings a bell is hers.

Chapter 38

I pushed the large doors open, a huge smile on my face.

"Nonno! So you've heard the good-"

"This better be a load of bullshit and you better denounce these rumours this very instant or by the Founders the Dark Lord need not worry about Potter again unless to choose the pike that he would be using to hoist his head after I severe it-"

"Severus…" Nonno's gravelly voice cut through Sev's highly entertaining and hypocritical little rant, what was that about a pike? Nonno turned away from the sullen man that was leaning against the pillar on the far right of his chair. "Kyrianna, please have a seat."

I walked towards my chair, and dug into the ice cream sundae that was waiting for me. There was an eerie silence that permeated the room. Just then the door opened and Minnie walked in,

"Severus, Albus…Bane." She nodded at each of us and I gave her a chocolatey smile. OK, now that the whole gang is here, let the fun begin.

"Kyrianna, it has come to our attention that you and Harry are now an item." There was a very prominent scoff emitted from Sev. I really don't know what his deal is, he was more hormonal than a teenager. First he treated me like a complete stranger, then when I explained what was going on with me he's all understanding and even signs on this whole article thing for me, and then he goes back to ignoring me completely and now suddenly he gives a fuck again.

"Well?"

I turned to Minnie, who seemed to be trying to keep a passive face. Oh, they were waiting for conformation.

"It's true."

"Severus wait-"

Sev had already walked halfway to the door and stopped at Nonno's words, Nonno turned to me,

"What's true Kyrianna?"

"That Harry and I are 'an item'."

I frowned a little at the term, I never fully understood it. Were we on display? For sale? Were we supposed to be together all the time because we are now referred to as a singular entity? I didn't like it. Nonno smiled at my contemplative look but Minnie cut in,

"You ought to refrain from spreading such rumours of pregnancies and such Bane. It might appear to be all fun and games but the humour quite depletes when people are beheaded."

"I have no idea what you are talking about Minnie Zia? Me? Spread such awful rumours about myself? Why in the name of the Founders would I do such a thing?"

Nonno laughed at my little dramatic prose and leaned forward, his chin resting on his knuckles, "I think you get your flare for the dramatic from your grandmother, she once told me that she had fallen down seven flights of stairs and had a serious head injury, when I had rushed to her side she had only a sprained ankle. Something about softening the blow and making me feel relieved that she was not injured grievously and worry less. Of course she also was very spoiled and she wanted this packet of cherry flavoured-"

There was a snap of a shut door, and I turned around to find the room empty, Sev had left.

"Well…" Minnie sent a nervous glance to Nonno and he continued looking unfazed, "Well I, your grandfather and I, actually your Grandfather, Severus and I, well really even Mona and-" She let out a sigh and turned to look at me, "You are mature..."She shook her head, "You are old enough to be dating. And I know that you must be feeling a whole lot of confusing notions and…urges." Oh no, this wasn't The Talk! I scooped a whole glob of ice cream into my mouth. "You must fight these-"

"I think what Minerva is trying to say Kyrianna is that we trust you. And we trust Harry. You two are old enough to be in a relationship but you must not forget that you still have a responsibility as a student. Also, if the time comes that you need to ask us questions on anything, anything at all. We are here. It may be hard to imagine but I was once your age and understand how lost one can get in the moment," Oh fuck, Nonno please stop there. "It is the ones that find their way in these moments that we deem wise, and most of all it is the partner we choose with an ingrained moral compass that directs us on our right path that speaks of their true character. I have complete faith in your wisdom and Harry's character." He smiled at me, his blue eyes twinkling. I returned his smile with ease; take note parents, that's how you deliver The Talk.

I stood up and kissed Minnie on her cheek and hugged Nonno, "Oh…and why don't we just keep this between the three of us and the Hogwarts population."

He laughed, "Oh…I am not going to be the one to inform your brothers Kyrianna. I do believe they are the type to shoot the messenger. Another thing that must come from your grandmother's side. We were sixteen and I was teaching her how to use a bow and arrow, I'm actually quite proficient in it you see, and she didn't keep…"

I heard the soft click of the door as Minnie left and I sunk into my chair, a wide smile on my face, eating up his words and bathing in his natural glow. I wonder whether I would speak about Harry like that a hundred years later. I smiled to myself, a weird thought crossing my mind, most unnatural. I didn't want to speak about Harry like that a hundred years from now. I wanted to speak to Harry like that a hundred years from now.

"Hello Augusta. Violet."

The two ladies smiled down at me, their eyes brimming with question.

"Hi Ky. Or should I say Kyry"

The smile dropped from my face, "No…no-"

"Yes…yes!" The fat lady said with glee. "I actually prefer Harianna, but I suppose we must save the pretty names for the little one."

Violet laughed, "I won't be so upset with Kyry, I heard two Hufflepuff second years call you Thotter."

I shook my head and muttered the password as the ladies continued teasing me.

"Fat lady having a go at you too?"

I walked over to Harry, it was just about midnight and he was sitting at his armchair near the fireplace, quill in hand, a stack of books opened on the table. I plopped down on my seat opposite his and kicked off my shoes, hoisting my feet onto his lap and pulling a book towards me,

"They're calling us Kyry."

I felt his hands knead my heel gently, "Well it's better than Thotter. Did she tell you about Thotter?"

I nodded at him, reading the line about Silencing charms and its duration. I pointed to it and he began to read and I smirked at him, "They're all kind of stupid, if I were them, you know what I'd call us."

He passed me a side long glance from the book, placing my heel on his thigh and picking up his quill again, "King and Queen of the world?"

I laughed, "Good point. But if we had to be King and Queen of the world, it would be so because I inherited the crown, not because I married you." He chuckled softly and I leaned back in the chair, "Pornton."

He set the quill down, closing his eyes and opening them slowly, a huge grin on his face, "Pornton?"

I shrugged, "Well if they must call us something, let it at least be funny."

He hooked his shoe under my armchair and pulled me closer,

"You do put the porn in Pornton."

I smiled and leaned close, "Oh the charming things you say Mr Potter." I pressed my lips to his gently and took in his scent, uninhibited by cologne. "Your essay Harry."

"Fuck the essay." He breathed into my ear, his hands pulling me to him. Oh…I could get used to this.

"Can you believe she banned organised groupings?"

Mi and I were at our usual seats in Ancient Runes, which was arranged so we could face each other rather than next to each other. Professor Babbling promoted healthy discussion when translating and we had already finished our set for today. I dawdled into the demiguise I had drawn,

"I don't find it surprising at all actually. I was waiting for the counter attack."

"I think this goes a little beyond your little game of…tic tac toe?"

"Tic Tac Toe? Well if that's the game we are playing, I'll be the first to get my ducks in a row. Anyway how hilarious was Sev in Potions today. Granted he's being a prat outside the classroom-"

"Ky, he's our potions master, you can't call him a prat!"

"And here I thought I was censoring it for your sake, I was actually going to call him-"

"Miss Thornton, your demiguise is looking less like a demiguise and more like a fwooper. You're ruining your runes by dawdling on them."

I laughed at Professor Babbling but she didn't join, did she not see the humour in it? "Perfect as always Miss Granger."

We stood up and made for the door.

I smiled as Mi tried fighting off the red, "You really shouldn't interfere with your symbols. It changes the whole order of the-"

"You think she intercepted Hedwig?" I cut in before Mi went any further.

Hedwig had turned up hurt in HOM and Harry was adamant that had never happened before. He also got a letter from Sirius saying 'same time, same place'.

"I think so, but there's nothing we can do about it. I wish Snuffles didn't take these kinds of risks."

"I don't think there's much to worry about. It's not like she would know what that means."

"Well either way he should refrain from doing such irresponsible things."

"Oh come on Mi, do you blame him, the poor guy is cooped up in a house he hates for doing a crime he didn't commit. If I was him-"

"Oh we all know what you would do Miss Hop-across-continents-and-barge-into-impenetrable- mansions." She shook her head, "I do feel sorry for him, don't get me wrong. But this is not the time for us to be worrying about Snuffles going AWOL."

We entered the Devils Lair and took our seats next to the boys.

"Umbridge put Trelawney on probation." Harry whispered quietly to Mi and I. He was sitting in his usual place on the right of Ron. I sat on Ron's left and Mi sat on my left.

"Who?" I whispered and Ron laughed whilst Harry rolled his eyes,

"Honestly woman, do you pay any attention when I speak? She's the divination teacher, the one who's always predicting my death?"

I smiled, "Ohhhhhh… the one Mi walked out on."

"Oh you remember that Hermione walked out on her but not that she predicts my death on a regular basis?"

"Well it's not like she's trying to do you in, merely predictions."

Ron laughed and Mi nudged me to keep quiet as Umbitch walked in. She made her usual announcement in her high pitched grating voice. I didn't bother to take out my wand much like the rest of the class. I opened to a random page, it didn't really matter, wasn't like I was going to read what she prescribed anyway.

"Miss Thornton." I glanced at Mi, and she looked at me confused. OK, so I really didn't do anything to get her attention.

I slowly lifted my head up, "Yes."

"Professor Umbridge."

I gritted my teeth but smiled at her, "Yes, Professor Umbridge."

"Please gather your things."

I glance at Mi again, to ensure that I was definitely not in the wrong. Her confused expression deepened.

"May I ask why…Professor?"

"Well I was just affording you the courtesy of taking your things with you to your new place. Miss Brown, please gather your things and move to Miss Thornton's place."

"Hold on Bobby." I directed a quick glance to Bobby and she hovered in her place. "I don't understand. Why am I being relocated?"

She coughed her annoying cough and smiled that demon smile, "I don't see why that should concern you."

"Well I am the one having to change places for apparently no reason whatsoever." I tried my hardest to keep the edge out of my voice. I felt Ron shuffle next to me, straightening up for the impending show.

She giggled, "Oh there is a reason Miss Thornton. I prefer my students to be clear of distractions." She pointedly glanced to my right, and I know that she was looking at Harry. "I would hate for your concentration to ebb because of distraction."

"How kind of you Professor, but merely reading this mundane drivel hardly warrants one tenth of the concentration of a five year old." I could feel Ron trying to stifle his laughter and I heard Mi gasp. But my patience, which was nothing to show off from the start, was wearing thin and quickly. I watched as her eyes narrowed making her look like a near sighted toad.

"Detention. Now please stop disturbing the class and wasting Miss Brown's time and change seats."

I remained seated , this was ridiculous, I heard Harry emit a sound and looked to my right. Harry had stood up from his seat but Ron, with his long legs, managed to knock the back of Harry's knees with Harry's chair and get him back on his seat.

"Do you want another detention?"

I quickly stood up, not threatened by another detention, but the fact that Harry was going to blow his very loosely closed lid. I gathered my things with a wave of my wand and walked to the front, tossing Harry a warning glance which he returned red faced. He looked like he was literally biting his tongue and tasting lemon. I dropped down in Bobby's seat which already stunk of her perfume and was right in front of Umbitch. The class shuffled back to their books.

"Oh, another detention Miss Thornton. I told you, there would be no wand waving in my class."

I forced my head down, realising that my retaliation didn't just put me in the firing line anymore, wary of the emerald green eyes that watched our interactions. I took a deep breath and began reading the page, hoping that my turning the other cheek can be imitated by one very furious Mr Potter.

A/N: So this was kind of a glimpse into Harry and Ky's relationship and her guardians take on the whole thing. They are lucky they don't have to go through the sometimes awkward getting to know each other phase but they are allowing themselves to expose different sides of themselves to each other, sides they hide from the world. I hope you enjoyed that,

Please review!

Kalina