A/N: Here's the new one. Kinda heavy on conversation at the end of this chapter. Got a bit of drama as well. This was a chapter that I was kind-of dreading writing, but it wasn't the reason for not getting it up sooner (I had planned to do so yesterday, 10/13/24) but ADHD kicked in and I instead decided playing FFXIV was more important. FC needed me to help level some sprouts as well.

WindyCitySlayer1: You can't see me doing it, but I'm tapping the side of my nose at you.

RonaldM40196867: I've waited for my acceptance letter from Hogwarts for the last 23 years since I picked up the first book when I was knee high to a grasshopper. The thought of being able to use magic enthralled me.

supremebandit: Thank you for sticking around, hopefully this chapter helps to keep you around some more.

TeaDrinkerKnight: Here it is, my friend!

Elchabon: Thank you, please stick around if it pleases you.

Krieger Techpriest: (Chp 6 review) Uh, yessir. Hoe phase.

thor94: Hope I didn't disappoint with a lack of Sirius interaction. This is the first time I deviated and changed my storyboard up. I had a confrontation planned, but as I went to type it up, I decided to move it a few chapters out as a flash of inspiration struck me and the mental image I conjured made me excitedly go "Oh! Let's do that instead!"

: Thank you for your kind words

BoltSamIam: All very good questions. You'll see some answers to some of those questions in the next few chapters.

pengamat cerita x 3: (Chp 1-3 reviews) Thank you for your kind words (hope Google Translate was accurate), and a lot of people have the same sentiment about Naruto sharing too much too soon. It's a character flaw. I still have more of his back story to get to as well! 2 years traveling with Jiraiya and 2 years in Ilvermorny (we touch very lightly on his time in Ilvermorny this chapter).

Chapter 9: Grim Tidings

Naruto didn't have any trouble keeping watch all night. As he had said, he had been trained to do so. Even after four years of informal training he still practiced and retained the skills he had developed in his time at Mahoutokoro. The professors had taken shifts keeping an eye on the students. All the faculty had approached at some point during the night and tried to convince him to sleep, his adamant refusal to do so had earned him an invitation to speak with Dumbledore in the morning when classes were underway. He had an inkling of what it was about, but agreed to meet up when he was sure everyone was safe during the daytime hours.

He did have a pleasant morning as the sun just started casting its first rays of light over the horizon. During the night, Hermione had moved closer in her sleep and had made herself comfortable using his thigh as her pillow, the fluffy object long forgotten. He idly brushed her hair comfortingly, ensuring that she slept pleasantly. His other hand had been grabbed by Daphne in her sleep, her grip was shockingly strong. He smiled fondly at them both. Especially since Daphne's bedhead rivaled Hermione's hair in bushiness at this point. The large pool of drool that had soaked into the pillow of the Slytherin beauty was hilarious to him as well. He would keep that in his back pocket for teasing material in the future.

His left hand started to vibrate with his morning alarm, waking Daphne up as that was the hand that Naruto had cast the enchantment on.

"Mmm… What's wrong?" she questioned confused with being woken up this early.

"Sorry," Naruto said quietly. "Set my alarm by habit. You can go back to sleep."

Daphne seemed to process the words as she blearily looked around. The bedroll was not as comfortable as the dorm beds, and she was clearly not fully rested because of that. Seeing Hermione's head using his right thigh as a pillow seemed to convince her that was a great idea as well as she moved closer to do so.

"'Kay," she agreed as she settled her head on his thigh. "Don't you have training this morning?" the sleepy question was asked with an adorable yawn.

"The Headmaster cancelled it last night. Said it wasn't safe," he said as he stroked her hair as he was doing with Hermione.

"Ah," was her smart response. She hummed with a smile, "Keep doing that. I love you-" and she was out again.

Naruto smiled a bit melancholic, knowing that she was going to say more and that wasn't the end of the thought. He knew that it was too soon for any of them to be having such strong emotions for each other. But he was a hopeless romantic at heart. His godfather had rubbed off on him in that aspect. Despite that man being a complete whoremonger, he was a romantic at heart as well. No one believed him when he said that his "hoe phase" was his own doing, not his pervy godfather's influence. Naruto owned up to all his faults and never blamed anyone for his shortcomings.

It was about an hour later that everyone was roused by the faculty. They were advised that they could all go back to their common rooms to bathe and get ready for the day. Naruto had teased Daphne and Hermione about how it's not every day that he gets to spend all night surrounded by beautiful women. Daphne rolled her eyes good-naturedly while Hermione blushed, but still greeted him with a chaste kiss. Daphne decided to tease Hermione a bit by kissing Naruto on the cheek thanking him for being her brave knight, watching over her all night. Hermione's brows furrowed, but she didn't say anything or react wildly, which bummed Daphne out just a bit as she was hoping for more of a reaction.

The friends all agreed to meet up later but split to go to their own common rooms to get ready for the day. Breakfast was a gossip-filled event with students talking about the hot topic of the day – Sirius Black. Luckily the chatter wasn't overly loud as it gave Naruto time to doze a bit to try to recoup some sleep. His dozing was interrupted by Dumbledore asking if he had time now to speak with him. Naruto agreed and he rose from his seat and followed the elderly man out of the Great Hall.

Dumbledore just led him through the halls for their chat instead of going all the way up to his office.

"What was it that made you feel the need to stay up all night to keep surveillance?" the wizened man asked.

"Do you want my honest answer?" Naruto asked with a raised brow to the headmaster.

"Please."

"Lack of faith and trust," Naruto stated matter-of-factly.

"What would cause you to have a lack of faith and trust?" he asked with a grandfatherly tone.

Naruto ran his hand through his gravity-defying hair, "Where do I start? Your Ministry is weak, they accept bribes from old money families to have incidents swept under the rug. There are still dark wizards that roam free after supporting that Voldemort guy and spout off his hate-filled rhetoric, they even pass it down to their kids. It seems none of the faculty here does anything to stomp it out, too afraid of those same old money families to do anything against them. There's no self-defense taught, no dueling club to help the students who face prejudice be prepared to defend themselves in the real world. You and I both know that attacks on muggleborn and half-bloods are a daily occurrence, and yet nothing is ever done to curtail it."

Dumbledore didn't say anything as Naruto ranted at him, venting his frustrations. Just nodding along, absorbing all his issues.

"I've been in this country for three months and I'm appalled at how the Ministry just turns a blind eye to the bigotry and racism. Even you and your own staff do it! While I'm sure some of them aren't to blame, as they're not prejudiced or hold racist beliefs, the fact that you can let students like Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, and Parkinson to call their fellow students mudbloods without punishing them-" Naruto reigned in his anger and took in a deep breath before letting it out shakily. "Is it any real wonder that I don't have any faith or trust in your faculty to keep my friends or I safe?"

Dumbledore just drew in his own breath and let it out. He then turned to the worked-up blonde student. "What would your solution be to this?"

"Bluntly? Grow a pair," how American of the blonde. "You're the headmaster! Discipline people! Detentions or expulsion for students. Put professors on notice. Honestly, doing anything is better than what's being done now!" the exasperation in his voice was palpable. "The majority of half-bloods and muggleborn are beat down emotionally and most purebloods are emboldened in their actions every day! The cycle of hatred continues uninterrupted. What good does holding the title of Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot and Supreme Mugwump if you're not going to advocate for the greater good?"

By the end of his rant, Naruto was panting. He had been bottling up his emotions from his observations for way too long and it finally bubbled over. "I can understand where you're coming from, Mr. Uzumaki. If I can come up with a solution by the end of the day, would that restore some of that trust and faith you've lost?"

The blonde let out a breath, "Depends on what the solution is. Getting those that don't know how to defend themselves accustomed to just defending themselves would go a long way in my eyes. No one should ever be at the complete mercy of others."

They separated soon after. Naruto joined up with his friends for their classes. McGonagall would be happy to know that Naruto managed to stay awake through History of Magic. The struggle was real for the whole hour and a half lecture. That evening during dinner, Dumbledore announced that the dueling club that had tried to be reopened the year prior, was going to be done again this year. Again, it was for any that wished to do so and was not mandatory. This time he stressed that it would behoove those that wanted to build up confidence in their casting to take it as it would be on Wednesdays and Fridays after dinner for two hours. It was also going to be supervised by Professor Filius Flitwick, who had spent a lot of time on the dueling circuit before accepting his position at Hogwarts. He had also volunteered Naruto as club head coach due to the blonde's specialized training for this exact thing.

Naruto wasn't put off by this, and gladly took the position. He could see that Dumbledore was putting a lot of responsibility on his shoulders. It was obvious that it was due to his opinion that he had expressed, but Naruto didn't care. This way he could work to make sure that his peers would be ready for the real world. He'd already seen some of the worst of it on his trip with his godfather.

A week later saw Harry stride out with his team to the Quidditch pitch, it was their first game this season. And they were kicking it off strong with the rivalry game with Slytherin. Despite the Slytherin team still having the Nimbus 2001s from the year prior, none of the Gryffindor team was nervous. Their practices had shown that they were running better than they ever had. Their physical training that they joined Naruto in every day had them fatiguing slower than ever, allowing them to keep playing as hard as they could for the duration of an average match, without slowing down. Fred and George were able to bat the bludgers harder and more accurately. Wood's reactions never slowed the entire time. Angelina, Alicia, and Katie all seemed to be able to read each other's minds and could confidently pass the quaffle between each other without even a glance to make sure they were expected to be. And Harry was able to pretty much decide exactly when he wanted to grab the snitch as he was able to keep an eye on it without giving away he knew exactly where it was at all times. He had picked up that Malfoy like to react to the other seeker's movements and use the superior speed of his broom to close the distance. But Harry had improved his flying to be able to push his older model harder and faster than Malfoy could.

All of this was to say that Gryffindor had no doubts in their minds that they were winning this match. As they sat on their brooms, poised, waiting for Madam Hooch to start the game, Malfoy was glaring at Harry. Even being Potions partners for two months wouldn't have fixed the bad blood Malfoy had for Harry. Harry looked at him in indifference anymore, no longer hating him for him simply being antagonistic to himself.

The start of the match had Harry simply sitting, waiting for the release of the snitch. The cold rain and winds made for miserable weather to play in. He started to fly around the pitch above the rest of the players, keenly aware of Malfoy shadowing him from a couple dozen feet behind him. The snitch had been released just a couple of minutes prior, and he could see it exactly in the air, flitting around the Ravenclaw view box. He listened to Lee Jordan announcing the play by play. Wood had instructed him to not grab the snitch until they had a lead of at least fifty points but would prefer a lead of eighty points if they got there.

Harry performed a barrel roll as a bludger was sent his way, hit by one of the Slytherin beaters. The rain didn't allow him to see exactly who it was, but he heard Lee call out the current score of 70-10 in Gryffindor's favor. He decided that he would leisurely start to make his way towards the general area the snitch was in, while keeping his head moving, pretending to be looking.

He had to double take and almost took another bludger as his eyes caught sight of a big black dog that sat near the corner of a mostly deserted section of benches. Blinking his eyes and rubbing them to make sure he was seeing what he was seeing, when he reopened them, the dog was gone. Not entirely convinced he started back after the snitch. He decided that he'd go after it to get back in the castle as soon as possible. Just before he was going to dive at the snitch, a cacophony of shouts and screams erupted.

Harry's eyes widened as he looked behind him. Flying onto the pitch were a dozen dementors. Malfoy's eyes widened in just as much fear as Harry was feeling, but he reacted by losing his grip on his broom and falling roughly eighty feet to the rain-soaked ground with a squelch upon impact. The dementors had started to swarm around him, their target evident. His scar flared painfully and he could hear the scream in his head from the first incident on the Hogwarts Express.

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" a lone voice echoed out over the din of the student body. Harry was treated to the sight of an enormous nine tailed fox charging at the swarming dementors. The fox did much like it had done on the train during his last dementor encounter. Only this time the maw of the fox encased the form of two of the dementors at once before the nine tails lashed out, batting a dementor each away. The evil, undead beings cried out in agony as the fox crashed heavily into the final dementor in a blinding flash of warming light.

His scar's pain fled almost instantly as his eyes landed on his blonde friend, who was holding both of his wands and was chain casting the patronus at the retreating dementors, ensuring that they would not turn around and attempt to attack Harry again. Harry hesitated just a moment more before his eyes locked on the snitch only a dozen feet away. A hasty acceleration and lunge had the snitch in his grasp as Madam Hooch's whistle signaling the snitch had been caught and the game was at its end.

"A-and Potter gets the snitch! Final score 240 to 20, Gryffindor!" the crowd did not go as crazy as they would normally. It was clear that the student body was still in shock at what had occurred. As Harry started to make his way down to meet up with Madam Hooch, he glanced at Naruto. Even at this distance, his face was a rictus of fury that was directed at the faculty viewing box. Hermione was right next to him, grasping his right hand and petting up and down his arm trying to soothe his anger. When he was about 40 feet from touchdown, an unexpected gust kicked up, throwing Harry off balance enough that when it hit, he was knocked off his soaked broom, suffering a similar fate to Draco, only to a lesser extent. Unlike Draco, however, his broom was swept up and blown away out of the Quidditch pitch. Lying on the ground in pain, gasping for the breath that was knocked out of his lungs, his teammates surrounded him, asking if he was alright.

When he was able to get enough air in, he gasped out he was alright. Hearing how he sounded, though, both Wood and Madame Hooch said that he would need to go see Madame Pomfrey. He protested that he would be fine, but neither budged. He did manage to convince them that he would go after getting changed, which they reluctantly agreed on.

Harry and the Gryffindors entered the locker rooms to get changed out of their rain-soaked robes into their everyday wear. As he was finishing up, Wood announced that they'd celebrate back at the common room before exiting to shout the same into the girls' locker room. He exited after getting changed and grabbing the umbrella that he had on hand. He was greeted by Naruto and Hermione waiting for him to exit, Ron was nowhere to be seen. Hermione advised him that Ron had volunteered to go find his missing broom for his best friend. Harry informed his other two friends that he was being directed to the infirmary due to his fall.

"Hopefully Madame Pomfrey doesn't keep you overnight. I'm willing to bet that Malfoy is going to be staying all night as well," Hermione remarked.

"That could be classified as torture, I'd bet," the tall blonde remarked, his tone clearly still indicating he was unhappy.

"Are you still pissed about those dementors?" Harry asked as they started walking back to the school.

Naruto huffed but pulled Hermione tight against his side to quell his anger. She smiled at this action, not at all put off by the P. D. A. he did at every chance he had. "Not so much the dementors as it was the inactions of the teachers. I know that the Patronus Charm takes a bit of skill to cast, but I would have expected at least Dumbledore, Flitwick, McGonagall, Snape, and Vector to know it. And not only know it but cast it in your defense. So why was it that I was the only one who acted? I swear, it wasn't even a week ago that I spoke to Dumbledore about that exact thing!"

"To be fair," Hermione chimed in, not wanting any bad blood between her boyfriend and the faculty, "you did cast thirteen Patronus in succession, most witches and wizards can only cast one."

That seemed to placate the blonde by stroking his ego. "That's… fair, I guess."

"Definitely impressed me," came a familiar voice from behind the trio. Glancing back, revealed Daphne, walking under an umbrella and dressed up beautifully as she did. "I'm also impressed that you two are dry as can be and not using an umbrella."

Naruto grinned as she pulled up next to him and Hermione before willing his water banishment spell that covered him and Hermione like an aforementioned umbrella to expand its circle and catch both Harry and Daphne in its semi-sphere of influence.

"Modified water banishment charm. Learned it as a kid in Japan, crazy how much rain we receive over there," Naruto commented.

Daphne and Harry both lowered their umbrellas as they heard the rain stop pelting them when the spell covered them both.

"You have to teach me this," Harry commented, already thinking of how nice today would have been if he had that spell for himself.

"Same for me," Daphne smirked at Naruto, who agreed to both their requests. It was a foregone conclusion that he was going to teach Hermione it as well.

"Let's pick up the pace and get Harry checked into the infirmary. I got things I wanna do," Naruto declared as he increased his pace a little more, but not so fast as to make his friends struggle to keep up.

While sitting in the infirmary, Ron had showed up looking grim, and holding a cloth bindle, the straw of what looked to be a broom poking out a bit. With deep sadness, he passed it to Harry, who opened it, and his face became aghast, "Sorry, Harry. It got swept into the Womping Willow… and you know how it hates to be struck."

"No…" Harry bemoaned, looking at the shattered remains of his broom that he had received as a present on Christmas his first year of school. He started to spiral into a sadness that he didn't think he could come back from.

"Hey, no worries," Naruto said optimistically. "Now you've got an excuse to buy yourself a Firebolt, right? You'd been talking about it for ages."

"Have you seen how expensive those things are?" Ron questioned. "Harry's vault is fairly stocked, but I don't think that spending that much on a broom would be wise." Ron commented as he had seen the contents of his vault the year prior.

The blonde looked confused. "What do you mean? He's the heir to the ancient and noble house of Potter. He should be able to buy the whole school Firebolts. And I'm not just talking the Quidditch teams."

Harry looked at him like he was stupid. "My parents only had the one vault, I'm told. And while it decidedly has more in it than most, it's not filled with that many galleons."

Naruto looked skeptical. "I think you need to make some inquiries. If you look back at how old the Potter family is, it wouldn't make sense for you to have just that one vault. I'd bet there's probably five or six in the Potter name."

"But Professor Dumbledore said that they only left me the one."

"Harry," Naruto said gravely, "I wouldn't believe everything Dumbledore says. He's an ancient wizard. 112-years-old. I'd go so far as to say that he's scheming something."

"Naruto!" Hermione gasped out, nearly offended on Dumbledore's behalf.

"I'm just saying!" Naruto placated, raising his hands up, showing his empty palms. "Listen, I need to go speak with Lupin about something. I'll meet you all back in the common room for the party, okay?"

The original trio nodded as he left to go meet up with Lupin. It wasn't too long of a trip after taking a couple of hidden short cuts that he had discovered the last couple of months. He strode into the classroom and up to the attached apartment that was at the front of the lecture hall, but up a small staircase. He knocked three times, announcing his presence. When the door swung open, a more than usual disheveled Lupin answered the door. He was surprised to see the enigma of the third years.

"Naruto!" he said. "What a pleasant surprise. Need my assistance with anything?"

"Professor Lupin," he said in a friendly tone, "are you a werewolf?" Snape's actions and assignment when he filled in for Lupin the last couple of classes had him thinking if there was some reason for that, and came to one conclusion that made sense to him.

The shock that passed over his professor's eyes told him all he needed to know. "Please, join me," he beckoned Naruto in, a slight tone shift was easily detectable to Naruto's ears. This conversation was bound to be a long one.

It was several hours later, that Naruto made his way down to the Great Hall for dinner. When he arrived, his spot was unoccupied and Harry was decidedly not being kept in the infirmary overnight. He sat down between Hermione and Daphne. The silvery-blonde and her best friend Tracey both having decided that they liked sitting at the Gryffindor table rather than the Slytherin one. The atmosphere was just better, and Tracey wasn't treated as a second-class citizen.

"That must've been a long talk," Ron commented on the obvious as Naruto sat and tucked into a plate that appeared before him.

"It was. But it was a chat that I had to have with Professor Lupin. Personal stuff, so don't worry too much about it," Naruto waved off.

The chatting that went on was pleasant. When dinner was over and the Gryffindors were heading back to the common room to celebrate the quidditch win, Naruto invited Daphne and Tracey along to party, not so much to celebrate Gryffindor's win over their own house. The two agreed, citing that it would be fun to see the common room for the first time ever.

Naruto only ran into a problem with the temporary entrance portrait of Sir Cadogan. Ever since Sirius Black's attempted break in last week, he had volunteered to be the control of entry to the common room. Naruto had to argue with him to let Daphne and Tracey in as guests only because they wore the Slytherin robes.

Eventually after swearing a knights' oath – whatever that was – with the painting, was he allowed entry with his guests. The ladies were surprised at how warm and inviting the common room was. None of the Gryffindors even batted an eye at them. Butterbeers were thrust into their hands by Fred and George who were making sure that everyone was having a good time. He led the two over to his and Hermione's favorite corner. He sat down in a plush chair while the two sat on a couch. Hermione decided his lap was the best place for her to sit, which she did sideways, her legs thrown over one of the arms, as Naruto wrapped his opposite arm around her shoulder, pulling her into him. She sat with her head curled up under his chin.

The four chatted while Harry and Ron mingled with the main group in the main area of the common room. Somehow, probably Fred and George, some fire whiskey bottles got passed around. Naruto's little group ended up with one of their own to be passed around between the four. When it was killed off, Naruto had stood up effortlessly with Hermione in his arms, who he proceeded to replace in his spot as he announced he had to hit the head.

"So Hermione," Tracey said, the fire whiskey loosening her lips, "tell us how good of a kisser Naruto is."

"Oh my god," she gushed back. "He's just the best. I swear, I never want to stop when we start a snog session."

"How far have you gotten?" Daphne asked in amusement, knowing it'd only been a week.

"I've felt him up and let him feel me up," Hermione said, not ashamed at all. Also an effect of the fire whiskey.

"You know, I've heard rumors about him," Tracey said as she leaned forward, making the others lean forward too. "Hear he's got a monster below his belt and knows how to use it."

Daphne giggled at this, "I heard the same. Heard he's been pulled into a few abandoned classrooms and broom closets by some of the upper years. Allegedly some Ravenclaw girl was the first to test him out, and he left quite the impression on her that she couldn't help brag a bit."

Hermione had gotten suspiciously quiet, not that the other two noticed. Her brow furrowed, not having heard the same. Granted, she wasn't a gossip and was usually the last to hear about anything that entered the gossip zeitgeist. She decided to just listen to the two.

"Did you hear just how big he is? I think the Americans call it a bitch breaker," Tracey grinned to her friend.

"Bitch breaker?" Daphne giggled at the term.

"Yeah! Evidently it means that he can break a woman from being bitchy and make her docile or something," Tracey explained.

The tinkling music of Daphne's laugh was joined by Tracey's giggle-snort, "I wouldn't mind confirming that for myself."

"Your dad would kill you!" Tracey cackled out.

Daphne laughed in response, "A girl can dream, can't she?"

Their laughter did nothing to ease the sense of dread in Hermione's stomach. The fire whiskey had changed her mood from happy to anxious about her new, budding relationship with Naruto. Her thoughts raced as she tried to rationalize it. Surely these rumors were from before she started dating him, so did it really matter? Would he break up with her if she didn't have sex with him? Would he if she did? Should she have sex with him soon? Or would that make her look too desperate? Should she tell him not until marriage? But what if he didn't want to get married? Did she want him to be her first? Did she want to marry him? Was she good enough to marry him? Her thoughts continued to spiral as the anxiety ramped up.

"Oh, looks like Dunbar's trying to get herself a taste," Tracey stated, her eyes focused across the common room. Daphne and Hermione both turned to watch as their fellow third year Fay Dunbar had cornered Naruto on his way back from the loo. She looked up at him with her face flushed, and eyes half-lidded. She was grinding up against him enticingly, her hand was noticeably groping his groin over his jeans. Her long, straw-blonde hair in its customary twin ponytails swayed as she squished her tits into his chest as she rubbed her body against his. They couldn't hear what was being said as she looked up at the taller male. The look on his face was a crooked grin. Whatever he said in response to her had her giggling, before reaching up and pulling him down to a short, powerful kiss. That single action caused Hermione to gasp out. Her gasp broke Daphne and Tracey out of their trance as they remembered that Hermione was there, and that she had just watched the boy that she was dating get kissed by a classmate.

Hermione's eyes started to well up with tears as her body didn't know what it wanted to do. Run back to her dorm? Confront Naruto? Hex Fay? Just cry? Daphne saw the unshed tears and leaned over, taking Hermione's hand into hers, causing the brunette's brown eyes to meet her green.

"This is the reality of the magical world. Witches and wizards are attracted to power. I'd bet he's married and has half a dozen or so mistresses by the time he's twenty-five. Before you make any stupid decisions," Daphne warned, "talk with him. I know for a fact that his view of sex and love is different from yours or mine. We're almost adults, we can have conversations."

Hermione sniffled, as her tears had made her nose start to run a little. She nodded in agreement as she wiped the tears from her eyes. "Okay."

Daphne smiled at her most recently made friend, "I'm not going to lie to you, if I had my way, I'd be in the same shoes as you, dating him, hogging him to myself. But my future husband is being chosen for me, and I can't do anything with him without risking my future. So, do me a favor and give him a chance for both of us, okay?"

Hermione smiled at her and nodded in agreement. They separated as Naruto finally made his way back to the group. "You ladies ready to head out? I'll escort you back to your house, so you don't get in trouble for breaking curfew. I'll make sure I'm the only one who gets punished."

"Sure, that'd be great," Daphne answered for both her and Tracey.

"I'll come too," Hermione said as she stood up.

"You sure?" Naruto asked politely. "I'll be more than happy to do it alone. You don't have to risk detention yourself."

"I want to."

He nodded in agreement and led the way across the common room to the entrance.

The trip to the dungeons where Slytherin's common room and dorms are would have normally taken a good fifteen to twenty minutes, but utilizing some secret passages and cutting through some classrooms with multiple entrances cut the trip down to just under ten. Naruto and Hermione watched as the Slytherin girls spoke the password, and a long, enchanted snake sculpture rose out of a small aqueduct that ran along the floor and positioned itself into an arch, revealing the entryway to the Slytherin common room. Tracey thanked Naruto for getting them back to the common room as she stepped into the entrance and made her way down yet more stairs. Daphne shared a small, meaningful look with Hermione, before she stepped up to Naruto and placed a small kiss on his cheek and thanked him as well for being a gentleman. She then followed her best friend into their common room.

"Alrighty, let's head back, we're gonna be pushing our luck with Filch," Naruto said. Her only response was a nod at his suggestion. When Naruto grasped hold of her hand, he felt that something was wrong. "Everything alright?"

Hermione just walked along and said nothing for several minutes. When they were about halfway to their common room she finally spoke up, "Do you know somewhere we can talk? Preferably alone. It's important."

Naruto nodded. "Sure."

Naruto then led her to a classroom that was long unused, practically ensuring that they wouldn't be disturbed. When he magically locked and charmed the door against sound getting out, he turned back to see Hermione looking down in deep thought, a melancholic look on her face. He stepped up and grabbed her hand with his left, before using his right hand to tilt her head up to look at him. Upon seeing the unshed tears, he knew something was deeply wrong.

"What's wrong?" the question was soft and filled with care.

Hermione swallowed hard, feeling a bit cottonmouth-y from the alcohol. "I… I saw Fay kissing you… and groping you on your way back from the loo in the common room."

Naruto had the decency too look sheepish at the mention of it. "Ah, yeah… That did happen, no denying that."

Hermione was bit incensed at the way he said that, "Is that all you can say about cheating on me?"

Naruto drew in a deep breath before exhaling through his nose. He wandlessly cast a scouring spell that removed the dust from the desks in the disused classroom. He then transfigured a few desks into a couch for them to sit on. "This is my fault. I should have had a conversation with you sooner, but I've been over the moon this past week with you, that I just kept procrastinating on it."

Hermione just sat and stared intently as he seemed to gather his thoughts with what he wanted to say to her. When his glowing cerulean met her eyes, she could see an emotion that she couldn't place.

"I'm fucked up," Naruto said, catching her off guard. She moved to protest. "Nah, I really am, even by wizard metrics. I guess I can blame it on a number of things like the environment I grew up in, but ultimately it's because I liked the feelings it came with. Tell me how close I am with this guess, Hermione. When you picture a relationship, it's a monogamous couple, maybe they have a couple of kids. Either the natural way or adoption. They live in a house together, send the kids to school, love each other, hardly ever fight, grow old, and die together. Pretty close?"

Hermione nodded, not sure where this was going. "Yes, very accurate."

Naruto nodded. "I don't have that same vision when I picture my relationship. I'm able to separate the emotional aspect of sex from the act itself. I'm sure you may have heard some rumors floating around about me. That I'm sleeping with quite a few of the upper year students?" Her nod confirmed that for him. "That's true. I don't think sex needs to be emotional. It can just be physical. Some ladies approach me and ask if I can help them, so I do. They want some stress relief, or just like sex, and I'm the same."

Hermione blushed a bit at his admission and a bit in anger, "How long have you been doing that?"

"About a year. My friends back in the states Gwen and J.J. introduced me to it. We were friends with benefits. We had a very stressful second year at Ilvermorny, and that was the most fun way of getting it out of our systems. They got into a relationship, and they preferred the addition of a man to help. So I was the sometimes third in their relationship. We just helped each other out."

"That's obscene," Hermione remarked.

A small chuckle escaped Naruto lips, "That's what made it feel so good."

"When was the last time you had sex?"

"A week and a half ago?" Naruto asked himself, before nodding as his mental math worked out.

Hermione was hurt as that was before their first date, but after he had asked her on their date to Hogsmeade. "Who?"

Naruto shook his head, "Sorry, I don't kiss and tell."

Hermione shook her head back at him, "Why not? Don't I have a right to know as your girlfriend?"

"When did we establish that we were boyfriend and girlfriend?" Naruto asked curiously.

"When you asked me out and then took me on a date?" she answered incredulously. "And then you continued to date me for the past week?"

"Okay, I can see how in your definition of a relationship that would check out. And again, that's on me, I should have communicated my definition of a relationship more clearly," he breathed out a sigh. "I honestly never explained that I needed to hear if we're exclusive or not. Since we didn't, I defaulted to my normal view of relationships and intimacy. It's just sex. Blame is solely on my shoulders, and I apologize again."

Hermione looked a bit put off by that. "What's your problem with monogamous relationships?"

"I don't have a problem with monogamous relationships, but I don't think it would work out for me personally. I just can't see me being with just one person for the rest of my life. I'd rather have multiple people to share in the experience."

Hermione had a frustrated look on her face and looked like she wanted to say something but wasn't sure how to word it.

"Plus," Naruto continued, "if I don't find a way to break this curse, there'll be even more complications. I'm going to stop aging at some point, and anyone that I'm in a relationship with will continue to do so. They'll grow old and die, and I'll be left alone. It's not fair to them or to me. That's why I can't be monogamous. If I'm non-monogamous, I won't go through that pain alone. I'll be able to see my loved ones off with a support system. Does that make sense? I feel like I'm rambling."

Hermione was contemplating his words, mulling them over in her head. "I think I understand your reasoning. But why would you date anyone then? Or get married for that matter?"

Naruto shrugged, "I'm just a romantic at heart. I like the idea of binding myself to someone else, having someone to consistently share experiences with. There're still stigmas to bastard children in the magical world. I've dealt with issues regarding my non-pureblood status my entire life for the most part. I don't want my kids to have to deal with extra stigma over bastard status because I never married their mom."

She knew he was telling the truth about that, bastard children were stigmatized heavily, faced issues with succession rites, were seen as lower. Constantly being taken advantage of. Hermione hated being reminded of the backwards views of the magical world. "Why ask me out?"

Naruto scratched his cheek. "I think you're amazing. So much smarter than I am. You're not afraid of hard work and study. You treat everyone with kindness unless they treat you badly first. You try so hard to make everyone a friend that will give you the opportunity. There's also a stupid, selfish reason. It's because I can see you." Her confused expression made him clarify. "Remember the conversation we had on the Hogwarts Express? Your aura is one of the two lightest I've ever seen, so I can see you without having your aura shroud your features in a color. And you're just so damn beautiful. Any guy would be amazingly lucky to have you. And I wanted to be the one who did."

Hermione felt like she had him in a "gotcha" moment. "What if I decide that I also want to see other men?"

"I wouldn't stop you," his answer shocked her. "You're your own person, I don't own you. Even if we were married, I know at the end of the day you'd come back to me. Just like if we were in a relationship, I would always come back to you."

Her brain shut down at that. So he wasn't hypocritical like she thought he might be. She nodded to his answer. "I… I need time to process this. I'm still hurt by what I witnessed, and I don't know how I feel about this."

Naruto nodded and looked at her with kind eyes. "I understand. I know it's a lot to take in. You know I don't lie, and I'm always truthful with you. If you decide that you don't want to be with me in the end, I'll understand. I don't own you after all. I just hope we'll continue to be friends."

Hermione stood up then, followed by Naruto who dismissed his transfiguration of the desks and released his charms on the door. They then made their way out and back to the Gryffindor common room. With the skillful short cut navigation of Naruto, they arrived back at the painting of Sir Cadogan without incident. Upon their entry they discovered they were the only ones still up. They made their way to the stairs to the dorms, where Hermione paused, causing Naruto to pause as well.

Neither said anything for a moment. Hermione then stepped forward, reaching up and pulling him down into a kiss. Wrapped her arms around his neck, while he wrapped his around her waist and lifted her up, pressing her against him. Naruto returned her to her own feet as Hermione started to pull away.

"It didn't feel right after a week of goodnight kisses," Hermione stated.

"I can agree."

"I don't know how much time I'll need apart to process, but I promise to give you an answer," she confirmed to him.

"I understand. I'll respect however long you need, and I hope we'll remain friends after this," Naruto said, stroking her cheek fondly. They finally separated and went to their separate dorms. Sleep was slow to come for both, and the sleep that engulfed them was not as normally restful.

End Chapter 9

A/N: Before anyone comes at me at Naruto's explanation of his views on relationships, let me say that I tried hard to put myself into the shoes of a 16-year-old rationalizing his weird view of relationships. There are logical leaps that a more mature and experienced person would not make, so give him (and me) some grace on that. His attitude toward relationships will also evolve over time, as people do. Give the 16-year-old trying to be a 30-year-old some slack.

As I mentioned up top, very dialogue heavy chapter. Sometimes it's unavoidable. This was one of those times.