The weeks after the incident with Gin had been peaceful. Unfortunately for Harry, pure exhaustion from pointless fights seemed to be the only way he slept nowadays. With all the extra energy he had, Harry couldn't seem to stay asleep. So, with all the extra time, he had been able to dig into his tomes with renewed vigor. If there was one thing that Hogwarts had taught him, it was that peace times were practice times. No one likes performing a spell for the first time when they're fighting for their life.

Harry sat in his room late at night with only his bedside lamp to light the pages filled with old magic. The words seemed to reach out to Harry, black ink leaping off the page to curl around his mind and hands. Harry smiled to himself at the feeling. He wondered for the briefest of moments if this was why Hermione always studied so much.

The brainy witch had always amazed Harry with how long she could keep her head tucked away in a textbook. If she could see him now, she'd grin wider than the Great Hall. Harry chuckled. If Ron ever saw him reading a book for so long, he'd probably check to see that he hadn't been brainwashed.

Harry smiled sadly at the thought of his friends. He wished he could speak to them. If this school had a floo, he wouldn't have to worry about the safety risks of an owl. Harry turned the page with a melancholy sigh. If he could talk to his friends, he might actually be able to sleep at night instead of flipping through spellbooks. The page Harry had turned to was blank. Harry frowned, thinking he was at the end of the book. Before he could turn again, ink began to appear along the top of the page.

Harry threw the book away from himself. It landed perfectly on the same blank page. His heart pounded just a bit faster in his chest at the sight. In his experience, nothing good came of sentient books. Harry whipped out his wand, the word, incendio, on the tip of his tongue.

Before he could burn the book, the words "Floo Powder" seeped up from the paper. Harry gasped. The book had read his mind! He didn't want to risk another Chamber of Secrets incident, but if he was right about his suspicions… any risk was worth it. Harry carefully placed the book back onto the bed and waited.

Below the title, the words "instructions" and "ingredients" formed. Harry couldn't believe his luck! This book was like the Room of Requirements in written form! Still cautious, Harry waited with his wand at the ready for the book to finish the page. If this book wasn't cursed, it was a stroke of luck he'd never expected. With this, Harry could finally speak to his friends and the Order again!

When the page was complete, Harry read over it closely, his eyes devouring the page like a starving man. The primary ingredient, floo flower, was the only one he seemed to be missing. Harry launched himself off of his bed and dug through his trunk to find a book labeled "Magical Flaura of the Japanese Monster World." When Harry finally found the book he kissed the cover. He was so close to finally seeing his friends' faces again.

Harry searched the book on magical plants. He stopped on the section labeled "Teleportation." He hadn't known that there was more than one plant that allowed for teleportation. Curiosity got the better of him, and he flipped through the pages of the book.

The first plant was, of course, the floo plant. It was found in Northern regions, and it bloomed in the winter. The next plant was called a "hakkā plant." Its most popular usage was to bypass wards. Harry kept the name in mind. The next plant was called a "nogareru flower." Its ashes could be used to create an apparition cloud or "escape bomb."

Harry skimmed through the chapter quickly, taking a few mental notes as he read. When he was done, he returned to the floo page. If the plant was anywhere close by, he might be able to make the powder by tomorrow. There was just one little problem with finding the plant.

"Where the bloody hell is this school, anyway?"

Harry groaned. Well, I didn't exactly expect this to be easy, did I?

Harry shivered lightly in his thin school blazer. The sharp winter air cut through to his bones, and Harry wasn't exactly packing a lot of body fat to warm himself. The daily walk to the main school building was getting colder by the day, and he was going to have to start wearing more layers if he wanted to make it to the end of the year.

"Aww. Are you cold, Harry-kun~?" Kurumu teased. "Let me warm you up!"

Harry blushed as he tried to avoid another bone-crushing suffocation attempt from the succubus. "I think I'll be alright, thanks!"

Harry dodged out of Kurumu's way as she lunged at him. The lecherous youkai pouted when she found her arms empty. "You're no fun, Harry-kun."

As per usual, Moka leaned into Harry as they walked. "Can I have some blood, Harry-kun?"

"You're gonna suck me dry at this rate, Moka," Harry joked.

Gin barked out a laugh. "I knew you two were screwin behind our backs!"

"Gin!" the duo exclaimed with matching blushes.

"Why so shy, you two? Sheesh, you act like a couple of virgins," Gin laughed.

Harry sent a stinging hex at the wolf's arm and walked a bit faster as he tried to calm his flaming face.

"Wait, are you?!" the werewolf exclaimed, clearly amused at his embarrassment.

"Please stop saying things like that," Moka squeaked.

"Can't hear it. Nope. Can't hear a thing. None of this conversation is happening," Harry muttered.

A sudden gust of warm air on Harry's ear made him jump and whirl around. A too-pleased werewolf stood behind Harry with a cocky smirk. "Sorry, but you're not allowed to check out of the conversation, Harry-kun~. Besides, you never answered my question," Gin teased.

Harry blushed and turned back around. "Hey, would you look at that, a school building! This conversation can end now. We all have a club to get to, don't we? Good old club room, can't wait to go. I'm sure Ms. Nekonome has missed us so much since yesterday. We should go see her."

Harry speed-walked into the building in an effort to avoid further embarrassment, but no such luck. Kurumu and Yukari had decided to join in on the teasing, and by the time they were in the club room, Harry's face strongly resembled a Weasley's hair. Luckily, they let the issue drop when they got inside.

As soon as everyone was settled, Gin walked up to the front of the room with his game face on. He pulled a stack of pictures out of his pocket and hooked them up on the chalkboard for everyone to see. All of them were ordinary photos of girls at their school.

"Alright, guys, we've got a big story this week. 8 missing girls. One after the other. Today marks the eighth girl in a month. Now, it's not exactly weird for people to go missing in this school, but these numbers are high even for Youkai Academy. I've collected some information on each of the girls, but Yukari and Kurumu, I'd like you to look into them with fresh eyes. You two are, after all, our resident kid genius and detective." Gin smirked, clearly remembering Kurumu's Sherlock stint well.

"Moka-"

"Um, I'd love to help, Gin-senpai, but I promised Ishigami-sensei I'd model for her this week. Please call me if you need extra hands, but I'm afraid I'll be too busy to be much help," Moka interrupted guiltily.

"Alright then, Harry. I guess it'll just be you and me chasing down leads today." Gin smirked, and a not-so-innocent look formed on his face.

Harry blushed and looked to Moka pleadingly.

Moka shrugged and shook her head. "Sorry, Harry-kun. I promised." The vampire reluctantly picked up her bag and walked out of the room.

Damn, now I'm stuck with him for the rest of the week.

"Moka, come back, save me please!" Harry cried.

"Aww, cheer up, Harry-kun. Gin-senpai'll take care of ya~"

"Stay back, you fiend!"

"Come on, Harry-kun, time to start looking for a lead!"

Gin pulled the struggling wizard along behind him as he left the room. Of course, he(and everyone else) knew that Harry wouldn't have allowed Gin to drag him along if he was actually opposed to it. But it was still funny to see him flailing around like a drowning fish in his mock attempts for freedom. With how exhausted the wizard was looking recently, it was nice to see him acting so lively.

Gin and Harry spent the better part of the afternoon talking to the friends of the missing girls. They were asking about any odd behavior or strange new friends. None of them had anything to report, unfortunately. They had been at it for hours with no results, and Harry was starting to get hungry.

"You wanna take a break for lunch?"

Harry raised a brow at the question. "What are you, a mind reader?"

Gin shook his head. "Nope. Super sharp ears. I can hear your stomach rumbling before you can."

"Really, now? That must suck."

"Why do you say that?"

"BECAUSE YOU HANG OUT WITH REALLY LOUD PEOPLE!"

Gin winced and clamped his hands over his ears. Harry laughed at the werewolf's expense. While he laughed, Gin stuck a foot out in front of him. Harry jumped over the offending limb and smirked playfully.

"Sorry, my furry friend. Seeker reflexes."

"What's a seeker?"

"My quidditch position. Do you not play quidditch in Japan?"

"What is that, a sport? You never struck me as an athlete."

"Hey, I'm fit," Harry whined in mock offense. "Besides, what sport do you play, fetch?"
Gin pouted. "Oh, that's just hurtful."

"Yeah, it's a sport. You play on broomsticks."

"How's that work?"

"Ok, so there are seven players on each team, right? Then there's the snitch, the quaffle, and the bludgers. The seeker-"

A shrill scream pierced the air. It was coming from the main building. A look of understanding passed between Harry and Gin. The boys sprinted for the building. Gin leaped from window sill to window sill, quickly ascending the building. Harry muttered an "ascendio" to reach the third-floor window the werewolf left open for him. The wizard clumsily shot through the window and into the room.

Inside was the art teacher, Ms. Ishigami, and Moka. Ishigami's trademark bandana was removed to reveal at least a dozen snakes, each with their fangs buried into a different part of Moka's body. Both looked confused, but Ishigami was furious. "Why aren't you turning into stone?! I've pumped you with enough venom to put down a giant!"

Two of the snakes let go of Moka without warning and plunged their fangs into Harry and Gin. Gin panicked as the bite on his leg quickly rendered the limb useless. Harry and Moka were both puzzled to see that nothing was happening to them.

"So, it's both of you?! This is unacceptable. You both need to die!"

"Diffindo!"

The spell cut clean through Ishigami's hair-snakes, sending blood everywhere. Ishigami cried out in agony as the snakes fell to the ground, dead.

"MY HAIR! NO, NOT MY HAIR!"

Harry paid little mind to the disarmed(dishaired?) teacher and ran to his friend, who looked like she was about to tip over. Harry caught Moka just before her legs gave out. Gin growled angrily and transformed. The stone that covered the lower half of his body shed off like scales. The pissed off werewolf lunged at the teacher.

"Moka, are you alright? What happened?"

"Harry, I'm so glad you're here! I came here to model for Ishigami-sensei, but while she was painting me, she ran out of paint. A-and while she was gone, I looked in her cabinet for the extra paint, and I found this creepy looking statue. It looked just like one of the kidnapped girls, and she was crying! So, I tried to sneak out, but Ishigami-sensei caught me. She sent all her snakes after me, and I thought I was a goner. I just don't get it. I should've been solid stone with all her snakes biting me at the same time… and so should you."

"I don't know what just happened, and I don't know why we're both not stone. What I do know is that your teacher tried to turn you into a living statue for her own amusement, and I can't let that slide."

Harry let Moka stand on her own, and turned to see a still- transformed Gin hovering over a beaten Ishigami. The werewolf felt the weight of Harry's stare and slowly backed away from his prey. Harry's mouth set in a firm line, and his eyes locked onto his target.

He heard the whispers beckoning him forward. The soft calls for revenge were so much louder after he acknowledged them to Gin. He could hear them clearly, but he would not be overcome. He knew better now. Whatever they were, wherever they came from, Harry wanted nothing to do with them.

Harry stopped inches from Ishigami. The medusa shrank away from the enraged wizard. She was vulnerable, and she knew it. A vulnerable monster was a dead monster. She would accept her death with grace. She wouldn't fight.

"Open your eyes, Ishigami. I'm not going to kill you. Heaven knows you deserve it, but I'm not. You won't die today, but I won't allow you to hurt anyone ever again. Viperafors."

Ishigami gasped as her body began to shrink, and her legs disappeared. In seconds, the art teacher was a small, brown snake. Harry levitated her out of the window and tossed her out into the forest.

"Good riddance," Harry spat. "Wish I could've done the same to a few of my Defense teachers… and Snape."

The wizard turned to find both of his friends staring at him in awe.

"What? It's not like she's going to tell anyone."

Gin laughed and shook his head. Moka beamed at the confused wizard and leaped into his arms. Harry wheezed as the vampiress choked the life out of him in gratitude.

"Moka… can't breathe… stop."

"Oh! Sorry, Harry-kun!"

Harry gasped for air as she released him. Moka blushed lightly, embarrassed for her lapse in control.

"What was that all about?"

"Oh, don't worry about it, Harry-kun. Thank you."

"Hey, I helped him," Gin protested lightly.

Moka gave the wolf an exasperated look, but he didn't seem to mind. If Harry was being honest with himself, it was good to see the cocky grin back on his face instead of the beaten grimace it'd been a few weeks back. Moka seemed back to normal, too if her sniffing at his neck again was any indication.

"Harry-kun, can I have a little sip, please? You smell so yummy."

Harry sighed. "Go ahead."

Moka giggled happily. "Capu-chu~"

Harry blushed. Some things never changed.

"So you guys weren't even a little stiff after she bit you?" Yukari asked, eyes sparkling in amazement.

"Nope, not even a little. It was so weird," Moka commented.

"That's my Harry-kun! Nothing stops him, not even a medusa!" Kurumu cheered.

"But why is the question," Yukari insisted. "Medusas are super powerful, and one as old as Ishigami-sensei should've had them both paralyzed within seconds. The only monster better at paralyzing their prey are basilisks. If she-"

"Wait did you say basilisk?" Harry interrupted.

"Yeah?"

"Maybe it's something like immunization. You know, like the flu? I got bitten by one paralyzing monster, and the others don't work anymore?"

Silence followed. Everyone stared at Harry like he'd grown another head. Then, there was chaos.

"You were bitten by a WHAT?"

"HUH?!"

"How are you not dead?"

The group continued yelling over each other in a frenzy. Harry couldn't discern one voice from another. He could barely hear his own thoughts with the ruckus they were making.

"One at a time, guys… Come on, guys. Calm down."

Harry sighed, and cast a sonorous charm. The loud noise made everyone immediately clutch at their ears and quiet down. Harry canceled the charm a second later.

"Could you all speak one at a time, please?"

"How are you still alive?" Gin demanded.

"Phoenix tears," Harry answered simply.

This caused a whole other cacophony, but Harry held up his wand in warning. The group quickly quieted down again.

"How the hell did you get phoenix tears?" Kurumu exclaimed.

"My headmaster had one."

"Ok, we'll just leave that for another conversation. How did you end up running into a basilisk? Those things are so rare it's ridiculous," Yukari said.

"Well, obviously our Harry here's a trouble magnet," Gin answered.

"That's a bit of a long story. Erm, long story short, a dark wizard that really wants me dead possessed my friend's sister and opened a centuries-old chamber to make the basilisk in it that his great-great-grandfather or something hatched beneath the school kill muggleborns."

"Ok, but how did you manage to run into it?" Gin asked.

"And what do you mean wants you dead? He's still trying to kill you?" Moka asked.

The group stared holes in Harry's head at that question.

"Harry, why are we only hearing about all this right now? Have you been hiding this from us this whole time?" Kurumu asked, her voice strained by hurt.

"I-" Harry's throat tightened. He had hoped he could keep them out of this. Keep them safe. If he told them about what was happening in England, they would try to help him. They'd put themselves in danger, and it would be his fault.

"Harry, please talk to us. Whatever it is, we can help you. Just please tell us what's wrong," Moka spoke softly.

"NO!"

The others jumped at Harry's voice.

"No, you can't. I don't want your help, so please stay out of it," Harry begged. "I won't let all of you put yourself in danger for my sake. It's bad enough that I'm known to care about you in the first place. If he ever found out about you, you'd be in terrible danger. It's best if you just let me handle it, alright? This doesn't concern any of you-"

A sharp sound echoed throughout the room. Harry raised a hand to his stinging cheek and looked up at Moka in confusion. The vampire had streams of tears dripping from her eyes, but they were sharp nonetheless.

"Shut up."

Harry's mouth snapped shut. He didn't move, didn't breathe.

"You shut your mouth, Potter Harry. If you think we're just going to stand by while you put yourself in danger going up against some evil wizard that can control a basilisk then you've either lost your goddamn mind or you don't know us at all! Now we're all going to sit here, and you're going to tell us what's going on. Right. Now."

Moka took a deep breath, wiped the tears from her eyes, glared at Harry one last time, and planted herself in the seat across from him once again. Harry saw that Moka wouldn't let him slide on this, so he prepared himself for the long, difficult conversation to come. If they wanted to be involved, they'd have to know what they were up against.

"I guess I'll start with the day all of this began, Halloween, 1981..."