The morning after Harry's altercation with Gin, he sat in his dorm room reading a large tome. The bandages on his torso felt completely unnatural after years of Madam Pomfrey's healing hands, or more accurately, her spells and potions. As Harry slaved over the texts, he found himself gaining a lot more appreciation for the skilled healer. The healing spells Harry was studying were putting him through the wringer, and his distracting injuries were no help to the learning process at all.

Once again, Harry gathered his concentration and spoke the incantation, medeorum, to the empty room. Like all the times before, the tip of his wand lit up with a soothing yellow light. The young wizard poured more of his magic into the spell, making the light expand slightly. Harry's heart fluttered anxiously as the light dimmed a bit when he moved his wand. Luckily, the light didn't flicker out.

Unlike his previous attempts, the light seemed to be holding its form well in its expanded state. The past few times he'd tried to perform this spell, the light had completely destabilized right after he added any more of his magic. With the utmost caution, Harry directed the yellow light inwards.

Harry watched with bated breath as the light flowed up his arm, through his veins, and out of his view. Harry couldn't see the light anymore, but he could feel the magic cover his wounds. He could feel the sting of his skin tugging itself together as the spell burned out any bacteria in the area. As the last of the skin knitted itself together, Harry released a relieved sigh. Without a moment of hesitation, Harry sliced through the restricting bandages with a well-aimed diffindo.

As if sensing his newly bared skin, a blue-haired figure burst into Harry's room. Kurumu paused in the doorway, and a lecherous smirk spread across her face. She stalked forward, looking like a lioness about to pounce. Unfortunately for the young Succubus, she hadn't come alone, and her advance was halted by a golden washing pan. The young witch behind the attack stepped into view with a smug grin, and a pink-haired vampire following after her. Harry stumbled over his bed to grab a shirt from his drawer as his friends all invited themselves into his room.

"S-sorry about the intrusion, Harry-kun. We were all just wondering if you were coming to lunch today, since you told us you'd be busy at breakfast," Moka explained, looking away with a blush.

"Maybe knock next time?" Harry said as he tugged the shirt over his head.

"Not sorry," Kurumu muttered. "Very much worth the pan to the head."

Yukari giggled as Kurumu threw the pan aside to reveal a large bump.

Harry shook his head in fond exasperation before following the girls out of his room and towards the lunchroom.

"So, I guess you found a way to heal up those scratches, huh?" Yukari began.

"Oh yeah. I didn't see them when you went to get your shirt earlier," Moka added.

"Yeah. No easy feat, believe me. Took me hours," Harry groaned.

"So you were sitting in your room, shirtless, for hours, and I wasn't invited?" Kurumu raged petulantly.

Harry chuckled. "Next time I'm wounded in a potentially fatal battle, I'll be sure to invite you for the after-party," Harry teased.

As the group approached the cafeteria, they were greeted by the sight of Gin bowing before a group of girls. He spoke a few words, and their confused expressions turned murderous in seconds as they proceeded to slap the werewolf one-by-one, leaving bright red palm prints on his cheeks.

"Seems that Gin-senpai took your words seriously, Harry-kun," Moka said.

Yukari laughed at the wolf's expense. "Good for him. He's getting what's coming to him."

"Yeah, that creep deserves every beating he gets," Kurumu sneered.

Harry shook his head at the sight. His inner Gryffindor was cloying at him to go help the werewolf for reasons that he couldn't conceive of. Gin had been his opponent just last night. He'd attempted to steal Moka from him, and he'd even tried to kill him.

So why do I care what happens to the mongrel? I should be enjoying watching him get what's been coming to him.

Harry shook his head in dismissal before entering the lunchroom with his friends. He put his traitorous thoughts out of his mind for the rest of lunch, enjoying the bickering and soft conversation of his friends. Things were going well enough that Harry almost managed to forget all about Gin. Then, of course, the troublesome werewolf had to go and get into trouble again.

While eating his lunch alone, Gin had been approached by one of his victims and her boyfriend. As the girl loudly proclaimed, she'd heard that Gin was the peeping tom, and she'd brought her boyfriend to kick his ass for her. The boy, looking much more like a pro sumo wrestler than a highschool student, bodyslammed the wolf, sending him directly over Harry's table and through the doors of the cafeteria.

Harry and the girls watched their Cub President get beaten so easily with mixed reactions. Yukari and Kurumu, being the more vindictive of the group, smirked at the sight before returning to their meal. Moka sent the werewolf a concerned glance. She clearly wasn't overjoyed at the sight of the beaten werewolf.

Harry's worries were a bit more varied. Of course, he was concerned about the number of bruises he'd seen on the werewolf, but he didn't know why he felt so angry all of the sudden. It wasn't like he and Gin were friends. They were barely even not-enemies, but Harry found himself glaring at the girl and her boyfriend. Whether it was Gryffindor chivalry or something else, Harry didn't know, but he forced himself to ignore the spectacle entirely.

After lunch, Harry decided to give his studies a break and enjoy the last day of the weekend with his friends. The group sat in the courtyard, cheerfully enjoying each others' company. Moka sat next to Harry, almost attached to his arm as she got her fix of wizard blood. Kurumu sat on his other side, lodging Harry's arm between her breasts in her attempts to turn Harry's attention towards her.

The blush on Harry's face had been steadily spreading for the better part of an hour, and he looked like he might pass out. Completely oblivious to this, Moka and Kurumu continued to not-so-subtly have a Harry tug of war as they conversed.

"Harry-kun, do you think you could teach me that healing spell now that you know how to do it?" Yukari asked eagerly.

"I can barely do it myself, Yukari. Besides, you're our resident genius. I'm sure if you'd like to borrow the tome, you could learn it on your own."

"It's not as fun learning it on my own," Yukari said with a pout.

"I'm sure Harry-kun will teach you as soon as he's had time to practice, Yukari-chan."

"'Course he will. Harry-kun might not see it, but I know you're just trying to get more alone time with him~"

"Shut up, cow!"

"You're just jealous because you're too young for Harry-kun!"

"Nuh-uh!"

"Yuh-huh!"

"Nuh-uh!"

The two continued their petty argument, and Harry and Moka watched from the sidelines. Moka had long since gotten her fill of blood, but she hadn't moved from her position pressed against Harry's side. Harry glanced at the pinkette. Her eyes were gleaming with amusement at the antics of their friends. It was rare for Harry to be able to see her so at peace with all the random scuffles they all seemed to fall into. She wasn't looking at Harry, so his adoring smile went unnoticed.

The other two finally calmed down and started gossiping about some new couple in their homeroom that Harry had absolutely failed to notice or care about. The two giggled mischeiviously as they discussed one tale or another that they'd heard from someone's friend's cousin. Harry huffed a laugh at the girl's quick shift in mood.

Kurumu's genuine laugh brought a smile to his face. It was rare to hear her laugh without a hint of gloating or teasing. Seeing her get along with Yukari, even for a short while, brought up his spirits. Of course, that didn't last long. Kurumu went back to teasing Yukari soon enough, and the two began another playful round of bickering.

As he enjoyed the peaceful atmosphere, Harry began to doze off. Harry's eyes had just slipped shut when a stampede of footsteps and angry yells approached him. The sleepy wizard instinctively whipped out his wand and pulled Moka behind him. By the time he'd blinked the sleep from his eyes, the mob of rowdy students was almost in front of him. Out in front, running away from the mob, was Ginei Morioka. Of-bloody-course.

Harry straightened up and began to walk away, but as the wolf passed him by, they made eye contact. Harry could see the guilt and fear in the bark-colored eyes and his heart seized. Gin's face was battered with bruises and cuts. The speed that he should naturally have was put off severely by the limp in his left leg. The crowd was on his heels. Gritting his teeth, Harry huffed a sigh of defeat and took off after him. Ignoring the calls of his friends, Harry ran side-by-side with Gin.

He looked shocked at Harry's appearance.

"Harry? What are you-"

"Don't. Ask. Hell if I even know. I'm getting you out of this. Come on."

Harry grabbed the wolf and took a sharp right into the forest. With all the fighting he'd done inside it, Harry probably knew this forest better than anyone. Even with the monsters' superior speed and senses, Harry managed to cleverly avoid them and keep Gin out of harm's way. The two hid behind a large boulder, and Harry cast a disillusionment charm. The mob passed right by them. As soon as they were clear, the two ran back to the boys' dorm and hid in Harry's room.

Harry collapsed onto his couch as he caught his breath. Gin stood awkwardly in the doorway. As a wolf, he was very cautious of being in another male's "territory." Harry didn't seem to notice as he grabbed a water bottle and tossed another to Gin. The silence in the room was deafening.

"I know you said not to ask, but… why-?"

Harry sighed. "I don't know, alright? You looked beaten to hell and there was a whole mob after you and you looked… scared. I couldn't just let them get to you."

"Why not?"

Harry looked at the wolf in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"I mean why couldn't you let them get me? Anyone else would've. I tried to kill you last night, Harry. Do you have some kind of death wish bringing me back to your room alone? Why wouldn't you just let them kill me? Why wouldn't you just kill me?"

"Now who has a death wish?"

The wolf was undeterred. "Harry-"

"I didn't want to, okay? Regardless of how much of an arse you've been, I enjoyed our little competition."

Gin looked surprised.

"Every other time I've had to fight someone in this school, which is by the way too many times, they would just up and try to bash my face in. It was fun to fight you, even when it got serious. I know Moka went on about how good of a person I am, but it's bullshit, okay? Last time someone tried to hurt one of them, I wanted to kill them! Something inside of me was telling me to spill blood, and when I did, I enjoyed it. I don't want to be that person, Gin! I can't." Harry's voice hitched at the end.

By the time he was done, Harry's eyes were stinging with shameful tears. Gin respectfully looked away as Harry wiped at them. The wolf stared at Harry from his place at the door, seemingly debating with himself before he slowly approached the couch. Harry watched the wolf's movements closely but made no move to stop him. Gin sat beside the wizard and placed a hesitant hand on his shoulder.

"Look, if it means anything at all, what you did earlier was probably the nicest thing anyone's ever done for me. Anyone who's known you for more than two minutes can tell you're a good person, Harry. Hell, I could tell from the second I met you. Whether you wanted to kill somebody or not doesn't matter to me, and I'm sure it won't matter to your girls either. Besides, this is a school for monsters, man. A little blood lust is expected for us. Nobody here is judging you for that. And… even though I lost, our little game was probably the most fun I've ever had."

Gin smiled amiably at the puffy-eyed wizard. Harry gave him a small smile in response.

"Thanks, Gin."

"No problem."

As Gin got up to leave, the door to Harry's room was thrown open, and three very worried monstresses came charging in.

"Harry, watch out!"

"You won't hurt my Harry-kun, Mutt!"

"Flipendo!"

The startled werewolf was knocked over Harry's couch and out of his window. Luckily, Harry's room was only on the second floor. Hopefully, the monster's naturally tougher body would be fine after the fall. The girls all piled on top of Harry, carefully checking for injury.

"Kurumu, why would you need to check there?"

"Had to be sure!"

Harry managed to calm the girls out of their frenzy after awhile. He hazarded a glance out of his shattered window to see that the wolf had fled.

At least he's not too hurt, I guess.

Harry returned his attention to his chattering friends. "Guys, I'm really fine. Promise."

"Why was Gin here?" Kurumu asked, spitting Gin's name like a curse.

Oh, she's not gonna like this. "Well, we're friends now."

There was a pregnant pause. Everyone stared at Harry like he'd grown another head. Then there was a roar of objections.

"Are you crazy?"

"He's awful!"

"What?!"

The trio clamored over each other trying to figure out why Harry would befriend the perverted werewolf. Harry tried in vain to speak, but the three wouldn't allow it.

"Girls… I-... would you… Girls! GIRLS!"

All of them silenced themselves, shocked that Harry had raised his voice.

"Sorry, but it's been a long day, and I know what happened, alright? I still have the scars to prove it. I know this is sudden, but Gin's been trying to make up for what happened, and we have an understanding. Can you please just… accept my judgment on this one?"

Harry looked at the trio pleadingly. He didn't really have the energy to argue anything after the day he'd had. Moka, Kurumu, and Yukari reluctantly agreed, seeing how worn out their friend was.

"Harry-kun… are you alright?" Moka asked.

Harry remembered the conversation he'd had with Gin, what he'd finally admitted out loud. "I- I think I will be, Moka," he replied with a tired smile.

Despite their concern, the girls restrained their curiosity… for now.

The next morning Moka, Kurumu, and Yukari were approached by a shame-faced werewolf.

"Hello, ladies." The greeting lacked Gin's trademark flirty tone and grin.

"What is it, Gin?" Yukari demanded.

Gin winced at the frosty reception. "I came because there are still a few people I've yet to apologize to." Gin turned to Kurumu and Moka and kneeled with his forehead pressed to the dirt. "Moka, Kurumu. I'm very sorry for my behavior. If there is anything I can do to make up for it, I will do it without complaint."

The two girls observed the apology in shock. This was a Gin that they had never seen before. Moka and Kurumu shared a lingering look before nodding sharply.

"We accept your apology, Gin-senpai," Moka said.

"But if you go back to your old ways or hurt Harry-kun, we'll kill you," Kurumu said.

Yukari nodded in agreement.

All three held fire in their eyes and a promise of pain for the fool who dared cross them.

Gin smiled, hope shining through. "I accept."

The four monsters were soon joined by a well-rested wizard. He took one look between Gin and the three girls and grinned proudly.

"Glad to see you getting along."

No more was said of the promise, but Gin knew that they had meant every word of it. Luckily for him, he had no intention of hurting the new object of his affections.

A/N: Hey guys. I want to clear a few things up. Number one: As you can probably already tell, this a slow-burn fic. The romance is coming guys. Number two: The wizarding world may seem distant now, but it will still play a big part in the story. Number three: From here on, cannon is going to start getting heavily subverted.