When dinner came around, Rory could tell that her conversation with Harry after class was still on his mind. He sat beside her, as he always did. And while he ate dinner and chatted with their friends, he had one hand resting on her knee. It had started there at least. But as he drew lazy circles on her skin, his hand had moved up her thigh and his fingers occasionally- and very intentionally- danced just beneath the hem of her skirt.

As if that teasing weren't enough for him, his hand occasionally came from beneath the table to twirl the ends of her hair around his fingers, ghosting those same fingers across her neck under the guise of brushing her hair behind her ear.

And casually as ever his hand would go back to rest on her thigh and his teasing would resume.

Harry was being exceptionally discreet, even casually keeping up with the conversation around them. But Rory felt like she was going to jump out of her skin if he kept this up. Her bra felt too tight, her skin felt too hot, and the ache between her legs was becoming unbearable.

"I know what you're doing," Rory whispered in his ear.

Harry chuckled. Again, his hand left her leg and he brushed her hair behind her ear. He leaned in close to her. The warmth of his breath on her skin made her give an involuntary shudder.

"So it's working then?" he asked.

"You've made it very difficult to eat dinner," she said.

"I can see that," he said. "Your skin is covered in goosebumps. Are you cold?" Rory chuckled. "The opposite maybe."

"How long are you planning on teasing me" she asked.

"I dunno," Harry said. "I guess it depends on how long you're going to let me before you decide to abandon dinner and come upstairs with me."

That sounded like a wonderful idea at this point, but she was not going to give in to him so easily.

"Maybe I want dessert," Rory said casually.

"So do I," he said. He pressed a kiss to her cheek. "But I thought having a taste of you might be all I needed."

"Fucking hell." The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them and she quickly covered her mouth as if that would somehow reverse time and make them not have come out at all. She glared at Harry who was biting back laughter. She was glad he was so amused with himself.

"What are you two whispering about over there?" Matilda asked across from Rory.

"I'm just giving her a hard time," Harry said.

"Yes," Rory said. "So hard of a time in fact that now I'm going to force him to come help me with my ancient runes flashcards for my exam tomorrow."

Harry groaned and stood from the table with Rory. "Too late to apologize then?"

"Quite," Rory said. "See you later."

Harry took her hand and they walked from the Great Hall together.

"You're horrible," Rory said as they walked quickly up the stairs.

"I didn't realize you were going to react so loudly when I said that," he replied.

They were winded by the time they got to the fourth floor and Rory stopped to catch her breath as they waited for the staircases to move to lead them upstairs. A nervous energy was dancing through Rory. These stairs were taking too long. Her clothes were feeling too tight, her boyfriend was standing too close and was too cute.

"You alright?" he asked.

"Yes," she huffed. "I hate these stairs. I feel like they're taking longer than usual today." As she said it, the path in front of them became open, finally, and they walked up.

The trek to the blessedly empty Gryffindor Tower had never felt longer. Rory eagerly pulled him through the common room and Harry chuckled as they reached the stairs.

"I didn't think I'd wound you up so much," he said.

Rory scoffed. "I am not wound up."

Harry stopped walking and spun Rory into his arms. He kissed her deeply, slowly. Her legs turned to jelly and she held fast to him to keep her footing. He'd called her bluff. If she couldn't get her hands on this boy soon, she might implode.

They stumbled a few feet backward and Rory found herself pinned against the wall of the stairway. She was glad to know she wasn't the only one who probably feeling a bit impatient. Harry's arousal was more than evident with their bodies pressed together like this, and it only stoked the inferno that was burning inside of her. She couldn't help but grind her hips against him, the delicious friction between them providing relief, but also frustration.

Somehow their lust-fogged brains managed to make it up the stairs to her hallway while barely separating from each other. She couldn't even get the door open before the brakes were off and she was on him. She was almost painfully turned on at this point. Harry pinned her against the door and their kissing turned into a frenzy. One hand clung to him tightly while the other searched frantically for the doorknob somewhere behind her.

Harry was being no help with the door. One hand was being used to simply keep the two of them upright and the other had drifted beneath her skirt, between her legs.

"Merlin, these are completely soaked through," he said kissing her neck. She shivered at the press of his lips on her skin. Her fingers curled against the front of his robes and his fingers slid into her knickers and traced her clit. Her whole body went taught like a wire. She had to give up her search for the door handle to grab onto him. "I feel a little bad about teasing you so much now." His teeth grazed her skin as he worked between her legs. His fingers pushed into her. She buried her face into his chest. Harry Potter was trying to kill her. He had to have been. "I can feel how badly you want me."

There was no guarantee that the dorms were empty right now. Any of these doors could open and they could be caught, but Rory was right on the edge. The part of her brain that was telling her that she shouldn't be riding her boyfriend's fingers right outside of her bedroom was drowned out by her body begging for release.

"I think I'd love to taste how much you want me," he said.

Rory took in a mouthful of his robes to muffle the sound of her moans as she came. As good as she felt, she still wanted more from him.

She trembled as Harry extracted his hand from her knickers. She lifted her head and saw his fingers glistening with her wetness. He brought the fingers to her lips and she dutifully took them into her mouth. She sucked the taste of herself from them. His eyes always seemed to go a little wide when she did that. It didn't take a genius to know what he was thinking as he watched her.

Harry took his hand back and then kissed her again. His tongue swept her mouth and he pressed his body into her again. She resisted the urge to run her fingers over his cock and instead finally made the sensible decision to open her bedroom door. Even connected at the lips as they were, Rory managed to get the door open. She grabbed his tie and pulled him into the room. Harry kicked the door closed behind them. He paused just for a moment to lock the door and then he grabbed hold of her and led her to the bed.

She didn't even get the opportunity to pull off her cloak. Harry laid her back on the bed, immediately reached beneath her skirt, and pulled her underwear off. A second later, he disappeared between her legs as promised.

Rory let out a shuddering breath and then didn't seem able to catch her breath again after that. How was he so good at this? He was good at a lot of things, but this in particular seemed to be at the top of his skill list when it came to making her feel good.

Even when she coming and her fingers were tugging so hard on Harry's hair that she thought she might yank it out, he didn't stop until her legs were shaking and she thought she might pass out.

Harry kissed her and she reveled in the taste of herself on his lips. Her tongue searched his mouth for a taste of more. She grabbed his belt and started to undo it, not breaking the kiss. Harry's cock was straining against his pants and he sprang free as soon as she got the zipper down. She could feel him leaking precum as she stroked him. He shivered and let out a groan. He took her bottom lip between his teeth and bit gently. Rory felt a sting and it sent a wave of heat rolling through her.

Harry pushed her hand away and he guided himself into her. She felt his body tense as he stretched her.

"Fuck," he grunted as buried himself completely in her. He wasn't going to last long, but that was fine because Rory wasn't either. He withdrew from her almost completely before slamming back into her hard and deep. A pitiful noise crawled from her mouth and Harry buried his face in her neck. She grasped hold of his back and she could feel his muscles taught with restraint. "Do you know how good you feel, Rory?" He moved in her again, his body still tense, but his movements so deliberate. "And here I was wanting to take my time with you."

"Don't," she said, rocking her hips against him, forcing him deeper. She moaned softly. "Fuck me, Harry." He thrust into her again and then again, less restrained now. She could feel every delicious inch of him. "Harry."

"You like that?" he panted.

"Yes." And it came out like a refrain each time he moved. She was going to come and she was going to come hard. It was building, threatening to take her over. She moved her hips in time with him, both of them desperate and frantic.

Rory saw stars when she came this time and it felt like those same stars danced across her skin. She was only vaguely aware that Harry was coming as well, the intensity of her own pleasure drowning out all her other senses.

His body stilled and his forehead rested against hers. Rory's eyes were closed. Her body still clenching around Harry. She was spent, they both were, but her body was still desperate for more. Harry kissed her as he pulled out of her. A chill ran through her and she ached from the emptiness she now felt.

"Shit," she chuckled.

"What?" he asked.

"I asked if you'd be able to survive winter break keeping your hands to yourself and now I'm wondering if I will," she said. She wasn't certain that she'd be able to survive the night without him right now. He chuckled and kissed her again.

Harry got himself cleaned up while Rory went to the bathroom and changed into pajamas. When she came back into her room, Harry was lounging on her bed, which he'd also tidied up. She climbed onto the bed and sat astride him. Put his hands on her waist.

"Something on your mind?" he asked.

Rory always had about a thousand things on her mind. But right now, none of them seemed important enough to voice.

She shook her head. "I'm just not finished being close to you yet." She kissed him, chastely. Dinner was likely over by now and with the last day of classes being tomorrow a locked door was not going to stop anyone from getting in here to study or get to bed early.

Harry took her hand and stroked the back of it with his thumb. He was smiling softly at her.

"Is there something on your mind?" she asked him.

"There is," he said.

"What?" she asked.

"Does finding ways for us to sneak around during break count as practice for you?" he asked, a laugh creeping up as he spoke.

Rory smacked him on the chest playfully and kissed him again. She was so happy. She was stupidly, ridiculously happy. And even though being around Harry sometimes made her feel nearly feral with desire which meant the holidays were going to be torturous she still couldn't wait to spend it with him and the rest of their family.

"I wasn't very successful with that last Christmas," Rory said. But then she thought it over. "Well, it's more that I decided to take a risk and hope it all worked out."

Harry raised an eyebrow at this. "What do you mean?"

"Well, divination isn't a science. Even with me. The further out I try to predict something the more difficult it becomes because there are so many moving pieces and decisions and variables. But peering just a little into the future to see if I can pull you into the bathroom to fool around is much easier, but there are still a lot of variables to consider, and therefore, different outcomes," Rory said.

She'd never had to explain this out loud to anyone before, so she felt a bit mad, but she pressed on. "So, that night, for instance, I could see that most of the variables lined up with me wanting to fool around. But I also knew there was a strong possibility that someone would get up, which was fine because there was a solid chance that we might not get caught."

Harry frowned. "You can dance around it all you like, but it sounds like you knew we were going to get caught."

Rory felt very sheepish all of a sudden. "I knew there was a strong possibility that things would not go in our favor."

"Do you know how long it took me to be able to have a normal conversation with your dad after that?" Harry asked. "I had to spend Christmas morning getting 'the talk.' I had to hear Sirius say 'intercourse' and laugh about Madam Pomfrey giving him condoms."

Rory bit back a laugh.

"Oh, it's all funny to you, I see," Harry said. "But I suffered because of your decisions."

"Yes, I'm sure a blow job is definitely the worst thing that has ever happened to you," Rory said.

Harry pouted. "Okay. Fair point."

Regrettably, Matilda was still seeing Draco. But things were better. There was a lot of sex. Obviously, that was why they were seeing each other after all. But there was also a bit more talking. No more wordless fucking against the stall door. "Do you like that? I bet that feels good. Say my name." Draco Malfoy was demanding, and Matilda didn't mind that so much.

Matilda was still a certifiable idiot. Outside of their bathroom trysts, even if she could see his good side, his personality was just not appealing to her. There were times when Draco kissed her and she felt her heart ache for it to be Neville. But more kissing, more of everything quieted that noise.

She did feel like Draco was, weirdly, her friend. They spoke more often, but didn't say much. But what they did say was loaded.

"My mother wants me to stay at school for Christmas," Draco said tonight.

Matilda chuckled. "That's my plan."

"Is it?" Draco asked, his tone surprised.

Matilda couldn't imagine going home and spending Christmas alone in that horrible house. The moment she graduated she was going to sell it.

"Yes," she said.

"I thought you'd spend it with Longbottom or Rory," Draco said. His tone was always harsh when he mentioned Neville. But over the last few weeks, he'd gone from saying "Lupin" to "Rory" and not even sounding irritated about it. Matilda knew they were friends now. She liked it. It would make it easier when she inevitably had to come clean about this.

"No," Matilda said. "Neville is always busy at Christmas. And I'm sure Christmas with Rory is just going to be me third-wheeling while she and Harry tongue each other in the middle of the sitting room."

Draco chuckled. "No self-control with those two then?"

"Not as if we have room to talk," Matilda said. "Otherwise we wouldn't be screwing in the abandoned bathroom waiting for Myrtle to scream out our business to everyone."

"I'll take you to the prefects bathroom next time then," Draco said. "If you're worried about being discrete."

Matilda scoffed. "No way is it more discrete to go to the Prefects bathroom."

"It will be when they're all gone for Christmas," Draco said.

Matilda looked away from the mirror where she'd been adjusting her makeup and looked over to Draco. He was leaning casually against the stall door, his hands in his pockets.

"Something to think about," Draco said.

Matilda would be thinking about it, unfortunately.

"I'm leaving," she said. "Wait a bit to come out."

"I'm not an idiot, Cerbus," he said.

Matilda could not say the same about herself. She left without another word. She'd taken no more than two steps from the door when she heard her name. She spun and saw Neville there. Her blood turned to ice.

"Neville," she said rushing over to him. She had to get him out of this corridor right now.

"Must've been pretty desperate to use that toilet," he said with a laugh.

"What are you doing in this part of the castle?" she asked.

"Oh! I was with Professor Sprout. She was showing me-"

He stopped short. His gaze went behind her. Matilda looked back and saw Draco step out of the bathroom. He spotted her and smirked before walking in the opposite direction.

"Mattie, what's going on?" he asked.

Matilda couldn't think up a lie. She just shook her head.

"He-I-" But Neville could see the truth written all over her face.

"Merlin, I knew it," he said shaking his head.

"You knew?" she asked.

"I knew there was probably someone. You've been sneaking off and lying to me and Rory about what you're doing. She thought you just wanted some space from us so we'd stop asking you about your mum, but I knew," Neville said. "Never imagined it'd be Malfoy though."

"It's nothing like you think it is," she insisted. "We're only-"

"Telling me that you're only sleeping together is not going to make me feel better," Neville said. Matilda could swear he was going to cry. She'd never seen him so angry and frustrated and disappointed in her before.

But Matilda was frustrated too. "Rory's more right about what I've been doing than you are, you know?"

"So you two just hanging out having a chat then?" Neville asked.

"Neville, I went through the worst thing that ever happened to me and you decided for me that I would be better off without you," Matilda said.

"And Malfoy's the better alternative?" Neville asked.

"Malfoy doesn't get on my ass about my parents or how I'm dealing with it," Matilda said. "Sometimes people have fucked up families. Sometimes bad things happen to people and sometimes they just want to move on from it."

He looked so exhausted now. "I'm sorry, Mattie. I messed up. But this screwing around with Malfoy isn't going to make it any better. I mean Rory is going to—"

"You're not going to tell Rory about this. You're not going to tell anyone about this," Matilda said. "The second Rory finds out this is going on, she's going to tell Harry, and he—"

"Why are you talking like this is still going to be happening?" Neville asked. Matilda paused. "You can't seriously be thinking of letting this go on. Are you mad? What if he's—"

"He's not a Deatheater," Matilda said. "I'd have seen his Dark Mark if he had one."

Matilda didn't know why she was lying. She'd had the same thought at the beginning. But this was easier. If Neville didn't think Draco was a deatheater, then she was just having sex with a boy who was the worst, but probably not evil.

Right now, she didn't know definitively either way if that was true.

A tear fell from Neville's eye and he wiped it away quickly.

"I don't know why you're doing this," Neville said. "Matilda—"

"I love you," she said. She wiped tears from her face. "Don't you love me?"

"Of course I do," Neville said putting his hands on her shoulders. "Matilda I've been in love with you forever it feels like."

"Then what's wrong with me?" she asked. "Why didn't you just stay with me?"

"I wanted you to take time to take care of yourself," he said. "Your mum just died and—"

"My mum died and then I lost you too," Matilda said. "Or did you not even consider that?"

Neville faltered, fumbling over his words, but ultimately said nothing. Matilda had nothing else to say either. So she walked away from him and walked back to Gryffindor Tower, alone.

"When's the last time you slept?" Sirius asked.

Tonks looked up from the files on his table. "I slept last night. I sleep every single night. At least four hours. Six if I'm lucky."

The weeks following her meeting with Aurora had not been kind to her. In addition to questioning every single member of the Servants of Pythia (and getting absolutely nowhere) that they had in custody from the Stirling raid, she'd been filling out mountains of paperwork, reviewing other people's paperwork, and reviewing every single lead that came into the office.

"You're going to fall apart," Sirius said. "You need a break."

"I agree," she replied. "But I also feel guilty for taking any time away from figuring out who their current ring leader is."

"She'll be home tomorrow night," Sirius said. "Will you feel better keeping a constant watch on her?"

"Yes, actually," Tonks said. "And anyway, I'm being forced to take time off from Christmas Eve until the second of January."

"And will you actually do that?" Sirius asked.

"I'm having my junior Aurors take direct transcriptions of all the interviews so I can review when I get back," Tonks said.

"Suppose there are worse things you could be focused on," Sirius said. "You're no good to anyone if you're not sleeping enough. We can have Aurora give you a rundown on how well her mental health dealt with minimal sleep."

"Point taken," she replied. "Is there more coffee?"

"It's two in the afternoon and you want coffee?" he asked.

"Unless you want me to fall asleep at the table," she said.

Sirius rolled his eyes and rose from the table just as there was a knock on the door.

"Expecting someone?" Tonks asked.

"No," he said, but then he seemed to remember something. "It's Saturday isn't it?"

"If it's not I'm incredibly late for work," Tonks said.

Sirius walked over to the door and opened it confidently now. On the other side of the door was Remus. Her relief at seeing him was quickly overshadowed by concern. He always looked thin and pale and tired but ow Remus looked more haggard than Tonks had ever seen him.

"And here I thought Tonks looked like shit," Sirius said.

"Real nice," Tonks huffed. "Let him in unless you're keen to let him freeze."

"She's in a mood," Sirius said ushering Remus inside. "On account of the sleep deprivation."

Remus sat down at the table beside her.

"I'm very busy working," Tonks said trying to keep her voice light. "Tea? Coffee?"

Remus shook his head. "Would be wasted on me. I'll be lucky if I make it up the stairs. I'd have gone straight to Grimmauld Place except—"

"No one's seen you for two months and you don't want to make us hunt you down for your inevitable scolding," Sirius said.

"Something like that," Remus said. "Surprised the scolding isn't coming now."

"Sirius is right. You do look like shit," Tonks said. "No fair to have a go at you when you're likely to fall over."

"Considerate of you," Remus said.

"Mostly because it won't be fun if you fall asleep mid-scolding," Sirius said. "There's no joy in that for us."

"Good to be back," Remus said, rolling his eyes. He yawned. "How's Aurora?"

Sirius and Tonks exchanged a look. How much were they going to unload on him before he even got the chance to sleep?

"Is she alright?" Remus asked, clearly disturbed by their silence.

"She's fine," Sirius said.

"But?" Remus pressed them on. "Is it the Servants of Pythia?"

"You should have a rest before we get into all that," Tonks said. "Trust me."

"How can I sleep when you've responded like this to the question of how my daughter is doing?" Remus asked. He looked to Sirius. Co-parenting mode was activated. "What's happened?"

"She's fine. Really. She's going to Slughorn's Christmas party tonight wearing a dress that I am not entirely comfortable with—"

"She's not very tall, so it's probably going to be longer on her than you're thinking," Tonks said.

"She had it hemmed. She tried it on," Sirius said.

"Oh. I'm sure it will still be lovely," Tonks said.

"Stop trying to change the subject," Remus said.

"Remus, she's fine," Sirius repeated. "She was struggling a bit after what happened this summer."

"Obviously," Remus said.

Sirius looked to Tonks again. There was no easy way to explain this to him, to be gentle about it.

"Rory was in contact with the SOP," Tonks said.

Remus seemed to think he misheard. "What?"

"One of the members reached out to her, and she asked them to help her figure out how to better control what she can do," Tonks said.

"Is she mad? Why on earth would she do that?" Remus asked.

"Because she's scared. Because she doesn't feel safe. She doesn't feel like she can defend herself," Tonks said. "And we've all obviously told her we're more than capable of keeping her safe, but Merlin. Last year she was helping teach her peers how to defend themselves and now she can't even take the class herself because she's too traumatized. She's feeling lost and helpless."

"Didn't she talk to anyone? Say anything?" Remus asked. "I mean Harry—"

"She didn't even tell Harry this," Sirius scoffed. "That's how deep this goes. I think we can all agree that she trusts Harry more than anyone in this room, and she didn't tell him. He found out after Tonks and the Ministry requested the meeting."

"She didn't tell him so that he could he wouldn't get in trouble and have to lie if she got found out," Tonks said. "That and she knew he would talk her out of it because she knew it was a bad idea."

Remus shook his head. "I don't understand. She could've talked to someone. She could've—"

"She usually talks to you," Sirius said. The room was silent, his unsaid words hung in the air: but you weren't here.

Tonks had been thinking the same thing, but it was absolutely not her place to comment on it. Tonks had her own reasons to be upset that Remus had gone. Rory would tell him exactly how she felt when she got home from school tomorrow night. In the meantime, she had to get Remus to relax or he'd stay up all night getting all the details of what happened, and he didn't need that right now. She could only imagine how exhausted he must be after what he'd been up to.

"It doesn't matter what she should've done or could've done. It's over with. She's talking to us now. She's not in touch with them anymore," Tonks said assuring Remus. "But she was going through a lot and probably still is and is going to be thrilled that you're home now. I'd tell her tonight at the party, but I've elected not to go."

"Oh, no. Did you get roped into the party?" Sirius asked.

Tonks nodded. "Nearly did, I was invited, and then Scrimgeour said that it would be good for me to attend, which is basically a directive, but I said if he wanted me to take time off, I'd need today to finish working."

"I've never been so happy to be unemployed," Sirius said.

"It's not that great in my experience," Remus said.

"That's fair, but lucky for you, I'm unemployed and stupidly rich and you know I'm more than happy to be your sugar daddy," Sirius said with a wink.

"I think that's my cue to actually head to bed now," Remus said getting to his feet. "We can talk more when I get up?"

"I'll be here," Sirius said with a nod.

Remus got up from the table and walked upstairs.

"You alright?" Sirius asked.

She looked over to him. She nodded. "I'm fine. Didn't think I would be but…"

"But what?" Sirius asked.

"I'm just so goddamned relieved he's back in one piece," Tonks said.