AN: So SO sorry it took me so long to update! RL got in the way. Finally got my computer and internet set up again after moving and other things. Thank you to everyone who messaged and left reviews, they mean a lot and I hope you will forgive my absence!

Harry woke early the next morning and looked around a moment in confusion, before realizing he was back in the bedroom at Ash's house. He lay for a few moments, just staring at the ceiling without really seeing it. He was thrilled that Ash was back, and that everyone was living in her house again instead of being moved from place to place. It was comforting really, having somewhere he could really call home, even though it belonged to someone else. For so long, Hogwarts had been the only real home he had. And now he had a home here with Ash, though in some ways he supposed his true home was Fionn. As strange as that sounded, a person as your home? Shaking his head slightly at his own thoughts, he glanced down at the top of the white-gold head resting on his chest.

The Fae was still slumbering peacefully, in his usual sprawl half-over Harry's body. Together, they took up just barely over half the bed space. And this was not just because they were both small and light of frame. Fionn seemed incapable of sleeping on his own side of the bed. If he wasn't draped over Harry before they both fell asleep, he surely would be by the time Harry woke up. It was a strange sensation to have his wings inside the mattress, but he was grateful to whatever the charm was that allowed his wings to pass harmlessly through the furniture. It would be a lot less comfortable for Fionn to be sleeping on Harry's wings, and getting them tangled in the covers was not fun either.

Turning his thoughts away from the random tangent they had gotten on, Harry sighed softly. What was he going to do? He needed to know what the sensitivity strength was about. And in order to find out, he would have to ask someone. He supposed that if he took the gift he had gotten for Ash, he might, be able to distract her with it if she decided to tease him too badly. He also had to figure out what exactly his feelings were for the Warrior. And what was going on in Fionn's head. Yesterday had been fun, but strange. The look the Fae had given him after giving Laric that strand of beads... They had barely finished their Courtship, had only been mated for a little over a week. Was it normal to go looking for another mate this soon? Or was Fionn... No, that was silly. As anxious as the Fae had been about Harry not wanting him, he couldn't believe that Fionn had changed his mind about him.

Deciding that this was getting him nowhere, Harry began the careful business of extracting himself from the bed and Fionn without waking him. By the time he finally managed it, and had moved his pillow into the path of seeking arms, he was wide-awake. Pausing only long enough to grab the small velvet pouch that contained Ash's gift, he left the room and went in search of his Guide.

She was busy re-arranging things on one of the shelves in the sitting room, humming softly to herself, silver-blonde hair glinting in the faint sunlight. Harry paused in the doorway to watch her a moment, even though he knew what he needed to ask, he had no idea how to say it.

"Lurking in doorways is rude." Ash's voice was bubbly with amusement, though she did not turn around from what she was doing.

"I, uh... I have a question." Harry raked a hand through his hair, and felt his face flushing even though he had yet to say anything embarrassing.

"Only one?" Spinning around to face the doorway, her smile was bright until she noticed the look on Harry's face. "Is everything all right? Fionn's not sick is he? The twins haven't destroyed anything already?"

"No, no! Everything's fine! It's just... I have a question about wings..." He trailed off a little helplessly. How was he going to say this?

"No flying lessons until you've mastered your Fire lessons." Ash waggled a finger at him, the smile returning to her face.

"Er, it's not that..." This was So not going well. Harry shifted his feet and dropped his eyes before just blurting it out. "What does wing sensitivity mean? I mean, in regards to others touching your wings? Like, strengths of sensitivity and stuff?" The faint flush he had felt on his cheeks before, was nothing to the raging fire he felt in his face now. And he seemed to have shocked Ash, as she stood there silently a moment, absolutely still.

"What were you up to while I was gone? Never mind, I don't know if I really want to know the answer to that." Waving him into a chair, Ash moved to sit near him. "Well, you know that compatibility as far as potential mates can be gauged by the feeling you get when your wings are touched?"

Harry nodded silently.

"The fainter the sensations you get, the less compatible the person is. And of course, depending on who you are mated to at the time, the strength of the sensations will change. So someone who was very compatible before you mated to Fionn, may no longer be compatible at all. Because he, or she, may not mesh well with Fionn. On the other hand, someone who was only somewhat compatible before, may be very compatible now if they have qualities that would mesh well with Fionn as well as you. And as you add more mates, more variables will be thrown into it. It's possible to find someone that your wings tell you is perfect for you, but won't really fit as well into your current mateship. But that doesn't happen all that often. And of course, the stronger the sensation, the better the match." Ash paused to see if Harry was following, then leaned forward a bit. "Did you run into someone at the Festival? Do I know them?"

"Not exactly? And, y-" Harry cut himself off. Should he tell her who it was? He'd definitely never hear the end of it if he did... "It was accidental. I was just startled because..." He paused and looked towards the doorway, listening to see if he could hear movement. He did not want Fionn to hear this. "The feeling was so strong Ash. Way stronger than it ever was with Fionn before we mated." He was surprised she was talking about this so seriously, but maybe it was because it was important Guide-duties stuff?

Ash leaned back again and looked thoughtful. "Stronger than during your Courtship as well?" He nodded. "Hmmm... Then I would say, this person is compatible with both you and Fionn on more than one level. Magical, personality, dominance, or some mixture of all three. What was their reaction? Did they notice?"

"He noticed the second time, not sure about the first. And he didn't seem very happy about it." Harry chewed his lip. Should he tell her who it was? Maybe she could help him figure out what he should do. Though just from what she'd said so far, it sounded like he should try to Court Laric. If of course, Fionn wanted him in their mateship? But he was still getting used to having a mate at all, was he ready to try to add another person? And Fionn was so broken still, it might make him think Harry didn't want him anymore if he were to bring it up...

"Not happy? Was he in a closed mateship?"

"No..." Sighing, Harry dropped his head a bit, might as well get it over with... "It was Laric. And he said that I'm too young. And that it wasn't right because he was looking after us. But I didn't even say anything to him! He just shut me down and I didn't even do anything other than look at him in surprise because of the touch! It's not like I had any idea why it was happening, or had any plans of asking him to Court me." A thread of anger laced his words as he remembered. Sure, the Warrior had seemed to be trying to apologize with the toys he won them, but the fact that he had felt the need to refuse him when Harry hadn't even been going to ask anything along those lines still annoyed him.

"Ah! So that's the way of things!" Ash laughed, the silvery notes cutting through Harry's thoughts. "I knew you would end up with a Warrior at some point! Laric is a good choice, he's calm and steady enough to take care of you and Fionn, but has enough mischief in him to keep things from getting dull. He's also old,-" seeing Harry about to object, she held up a finger before continuing. "which means he was raised in a time when honor was more important than it seems to be now. There's no way he would have started anything with you while he was responsible for you. It would have seemed dishonorable to him. Now that you are back under my roof however..." She winked at him and bounced from her chair, pulling him up with her. "You are going to Court him, aren't you?"

"I don't know. I haven't talked to Fionn about it at all, I just wanted to know what the sensations meant first before I did something that might upset him." Hearing the faint sound of footsteps down the hall, Harry hurried to hold out the velvet bag and change the conversation. "I got this for you, thought it represented you perfectly."

Ash snatched it from his hand and pulled open the drawstring. As she withdrew the small unicorn figurine, her eyes widened. The unicorn pranced around in her palm, tossing its mane and making silent whinnies as the slow change from brilliant white to darkest black and back again happened. Her green eyes shimmered a bit, as though she was near tears, and then she was hugging him tightly as Fred and George entered the room. "I love it! Thank you!"

"Mushy stuff before breakfast? I thought better of you than that Ash!"

"Yeah! Though, as long as we don't have mushy stuff for breakfast, we might let it slide this time." George grinned as Ash mock-glared.

"I'll have you two know, there is no mushy stuff before or during breakfast. There might not even be any breakfast if you keep that up."

"Oi! No starving the Vorthr! You're supposed to be watching out for us, not trying to kill us!" Fred looked wounded a moment, and then snickered.

"Ah, but you aren't my Vorthr. Harry and Fionn can have breakfast with me, you two I may just ship off to Gideon and Laric. Or, make you watch the rest of us eat. That might teach you to be nice to me."

"Ash!" Both twins whined in unison and gave her puppy dog eyes.

"Oh very well. I suppose I will feed all of you. Go get ready, and we'll do breakfast and decide where to go. There's only two days left of the Festival now after all!"

AN: Thanks as always to my wonderful beta Nicky Noodle.

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