Harry arrived for breakfast about as cheerful as he could remember. And he’d ever had a few hours sleep. Two hours, admittedly, but he felt like he’d be able to get through the day.

From what he had worked out, having two girls was a fantasy most men shared, but few ever approached. For an extortionate price, more than enough to buy an extremely nice car, Kate and Rhiannon would team up for an evening.

“Morning,” he greeted everyone, and found himself looking forward to his first lesson of the day.

“Morning,” they chorused back, in any one of the three languages they all claimed as a mother tongue.

He took his seat next to Gabrielle.

“You smell of Kate,” she announced, and before he could react, she continued, in a voice full of complete awe, “and another girl!”

Silence spread over his table as everyone turned to look at him.

He reached beside himself, picked Gabrielle up bodily, and plonked her on the table before him.

“Gabrielle,” he said softly, but firmly. “I’m not mad at you, as I’ve not told you this before, but I am telling you now. Please keep what I do to your self. You can talk to me about it in private, if you’d like, but I don’t need everyone knowing about it. Understand?”

Gabrielle nodded firmly.

He hugged her close, and lightly stroked her hair. “I do love you,” he whispered.

She buried her face in his neck. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.

“It’s okay; I just want you to stop.”

“I will,” she promised.

“Way to go, boss,” Smasher grinned.

“Don’t you start,” Harry said dourly.

“Potter,” Snape’s voice hissed from the table. “One hundred points from Gryffindor for leaving school, and detention for a month, now, can we stop talking about your whore and get on with breakfast?”

Harry turned his head slowly and stared at the now-bald potions professor. Snape met his eyes for a moment. There was no magic, no sign of Legilimency, just two people looking at each other.

Snape paled and sat back down.

“The points are irrelevant,” Harry said softly. “They are a means of utilising peer pressure to enforce good behaviour. As I no longer think of myself as a Gryffindor, you are punishing innocent students. The detentions I will attend, as long as they are arranged around my other lessons.”

“One hundred points to Gryffindor, for putting up with a biased sadist for a potions master for your school careers,” Melissa said sharply, in a direct confrontation with her shocked head of house.

The arrival of the food distracted everyone, and allowed the moment to pass.

Gabrielle shifted so that she could eat while sitting in his lap.

The lessons flew past, without giving him much time to talk to some of the people who he knew wanted to talk to him, one on one. The only person he spent real time with was Gabrielle, and that was going through the work she’d done over the previous week.

The detention was done cleaning armour, without his wand. He cheated, and he didn’t really care that he had. His necklace was used to clean everything, and he spent the rest of the time thinking things through, before he headed to bed.

---

Gabrielle poked her tongue out of the corner of her mouth as she concentrated on her letters. It was important that each one was as good as she could make it.

She still remembered the time she hadn’t tried as hard as she could. Harry hadn’t said anything, but he had felt disappointed, and had blamed himself for not making things clearer for her.

The disappointment had cut through her, and she never wanted to feel that way again.

She kicked her heels happily as she finished the sentence. “You should go out with Harry,” she said to her sister.

“Excuse me?”

“Harry, you remember him, tall, good looking, gorgeous green eyes, and by all accounts, great in bed.”

“Gabrielle!”

“You didn’t smell him this morning,” she said absently, starting to the next sentence. “That was two very satisfied girls he left last night.”

“Speaking of which, since when have you become a blabber-mouth?”

Gabrielle smiled as she curled an f into an l. “Everyone should know that he’s great in bed.”

“Do remember that this is a school full of humans,” Fleur pointed out. “They treat things differently.”

“Which is why you should date him,” Gabrielle returned to her original point. “You didn’t sleep with that celery that you allowed to escort you to the ball, and he was shocked when you said that chocolate was better than sex.”

“Contrary to your belief,” Fleur said icily, “I’ve never actually tried the latter.”

Gabrielle looked up for a second and shrugged. “So he can show you a good first time.”

“I’m not interested in him,” Fleur replied.

“Of course not,” Gabrielle replied. “The last thing you want is a strong smart man, who’s rich, charming, and can keep someone like Kate happy.

“Your problem is that you can’t handle a man not falling at your feet, and the fact that he thinks you’re a stuck up bitch.”

“Gabrielle!”

Gabrielle finished her paragraph and read it over, making sure there were no misspellings or smudges. The thought of the hug that she’d get for it filled her with joy. “Which is understandable,” she continued, “as you’ve acted like it.”

“I haven’t… Well, maybe a little,” Fleur admitted.

Gabrielle smiled. “Acceptance is the first step, my dear sister.”

“Brat,” Fleur muttered.

“And he does like blondes,” Gabrielle added.

“He does?”

“Yeah, he had a sexual thought when he finally got over his silly human prudishness and he undressed me when he was drunk.”

“What!?”

“Yeah,” Gabrielle continued, “He wouldn’t even be in bed with me, so it was a big step forward for him. He’s a really good drunk, who just wants to love people.”

“I meant about the thought!” Fleur screeched as she stood up.

“Oh, that. Don’t get your knickers in a twist. He was thinking about undoing your dress.”

“Oh,” Fleur said, deflating back into her chair.

Gabrielle gave the first T of the new paragraph a dramatic upward slant, and added a curlicue. “And let’s not mention how capable of love he is.”

“You’d know, you little leech.”

“I’m not a leech. Sure, I take love from him, but I give him everything back. He is the first man I have ever met who loves me as the girl I am, not the Veela I will become. And when he sends me how much he loves me, he makes me glow. I shouldn’t be able to glow for years yet! And let’s not even mention how much he teaches me.

“And he got Mama to agree to allow me to get my ears pierced this weekend.”

“That’s not fair,” Fleur grumbled.

Gabrielle waved her free hand airily, “if you’d met him when you were eight you’d have been bitchy and driven him off.”

Fleur grunted.

“So, are you going to talk to him?”

“I might,” she said grudgingly.

“Fleur and Harry sitting in a tree,” Gabrielle chanted happily, “F – U – C – …”

“Gabrielle Anne Delacour!”

---

At three am, Harry slipped out of bed, got dressed, and walked out of his room. Smasher and Crusher shared the room to his right, while Hermione had moved to room on his left. He nudged Smasher and Crusher into wakefulness.

“Boss?” Crusher asked sleepily

“Come with me,” he ordered. They slipped out of the ship, along the gangplank, and up to Hogwarts.

The doors swung open for him silently. A light to the left appeared, and he followed it.

“Boss,” Crusher said softly. “We’re heading toward the Professors’ quarters.”

“No,” Harry contradicted. “We’re in bed. You checked on me at three and half past three as you do every night, and I hadn’t moved.”

“Okay,” Smasher agreed. The light stopped by a single door.

Harry took a deep breath. “Wait here,” he ordered.

“Are you sure?” Crusher asked. “We can do this, it’s not a problem.”

“I will never ask my people to do something I wouldn’t do myself,” Harry replied.

Crusher and Smasher both gave him a smart salute.

Harry pressed on the door, and it opened.

“Whisky?” Snape offered to his surprise. The professor had managed to grow his hair back, and had a half-empty bottle next to him on the arm of the chair he was sitting in. His legs were crossed at the ankle.

“Thank you,” Harry replied, as he took the unoffered other seat.

“May I ask how you got in to my room?” Snape asked.

“Hogwarts agrees with what I am doing,” Harry explained. “I’ve recently started to feel her on a more conscious level. I think she’s been a bit lonely for a few centuries.”

Snape nodded slowly. “I thought about running, but I have nowhere to go – your mobs of Death Eater arm hunters have seen to that, and Albus simply wouldn’t believe what you are about to do.

“I did think about fighting, but I think I’d like to die with some dignity – the power you displayed at the second task was legendary, and I suspect that you could stop a Killing Curse.”

Harry pulled out his wand absently, and raised a brick wall between the two of them, before vanishing it. “Why stop when you could block?”

Snape nodded slowly. “You do know that I’m not going to tell you anything? And that I do hope that you die soon, and that I hate you?”

Harry nodded. “Torture isn’t my thing. You can take your secrets to your grave.”

“It is my own fault,” Snape mused. “If I had been paying more attention, I would have realised that what you had was confidence, not arrogance. And that the idea of a magical maturity was preposterous.”

Harry nodded in agreement. “I’ve never said that was what occurred. I just let the rumours spread.”

“Very Slytherin,” Snape agreed. He drained his whisky. “You decided to kill me when I insulted your girlfriend.”

“I’d been thinking about it for a while,” Harry said. “Mainly because of the way you attacked my people, but today showed me that you had no intention of ever changing, and that you should not be around children. But really, it’s because I hate you as well, and as you taught me, if you have power, you use it for the benefit of your friends and the detriment of your enemies. You’ve had a lifetime of unchecked crimes, and that’s going to stop tonight.”

“Melissa has taught you well. I am set in my ways. You are going to dispose of my body?”

“I am,” Harry agreed.

Snape stood, “Well, let’s get it over with.”

As the professor turned, Harry moved. His left hand covered Snape’s mouth, while his right hand, with Lisa’s Christmas present, explored between the gap between the sixth and seventh rib from the bottom of Snape’s chest.

Snape tensed, and started to struggle.

“Shhh, shh,” Harry crooned, as he dug the knife in a little deeper.

Snape seemed to freeze, before he collapsed against Harry.

Harry calmly wiped the knife clean, sheathed it, and cast a charm to immobilise the dead body – stopping blood from escaping. He levitated Snape’s body, and walked out the door.

“We didn’t hear a thing,” Smasher said, his eyes on Snape’s dead face.

“He knew I was going to kill him,” Harry explained in a monotone voice. “He decided to go with dignity, and without being forced into giving up his secrets.”

“This never happened,” Crusher assured him.

“Go back to the ship,” Harry said. “I’m going to get rid of the body, then deal with things.”

“We can do that, boss,” Crusher offered.

“Not as well as I can,” Harry said, as he walked out. As before small lights appeared before him, allowing him to make his way to the Forbidden Forest.

It took him ten minutes to reach Aragon’s lair. “Aragog,” he called.

“Human,” the giant spider called. “What do you want?”

“I bring a gift,” Harry called. He floated Snape over.

“Still warm,” Aragog noted. “Our thanks.”

Harry nodded and turned to go.

“Wait,” Aragog called. “You want nothing in return?”

“Just get rid of the body,” Harry said. “That’s it.”

Aragog nodded slowly. “A partnership. We get bodies, you get no evidence.”

Harry smiled briefly. “I’d appreciate it if I didn’t have to kill your children on my way out of here.”

Aragog clicked sharply, and the shapes that had been closing in on Harry pulled away.

Harry offered a faint salute, and then walked toward Hogsmeade. As he had the night before, he Apparated to London, and banged on Kate’s door.

“Harry?” she asked, as she appeared, wearing a white man’s shirt with most of the buttons undone. Her hair was bed-tussled, but she still managed to look beautiful.

“Hi,” he said softly.

“Come in,” she ordered, after looking at his eyes for a few seconds.

He allowed himself to be dragged in, placed on the couch, and a glass of wine placed in his hand.

Kate sat on his lap. “Talk,” she ordered.

“I just murdered Snape,” he said softly.

Kate stiffened, before she took a deep breath. She turned, so that she was straddling his lap, and raised his head so that she could meet his eyes. “Why?”

“Because I could,” he replied. “Because he called you a whore.”

“I am a whore,” she pointed out evenly.

“No, you’re a lady of negotiable affection. A whore doesn’t live in luxury; a whore doesn’t look after herself like you do.”

“I sell a lot more than a whore does,” she whispered. “And stop trying to change the subject. Tell me what happened.”

Harry sighed, and tried to look away. Kate’s hand tightened on his chin, stopping him.

“For the past few weeks I’ve been feeling a lot more from Hogwarts. She’s been unhappy about a lot of things, he was one of them. Something Hermione said the other night struck me as well, that he was a sadist who shouldn’t be allowed near children. I thought about how he’d treated me, how he’d acted at the Second Task, and realised that she was right.

“Dumbledore was never going to sack him, and so, when he called you a whore, I decided that I had to do something about it. So, half an hour ago, I slipped out of bed, walked to his rooms, had a brief conversation with him, and then stabbed him through the back and into his heart. I then gave his body to the Acromantulas.”

Kate nodded slowly.

“Describe Hogwarts.”

“The castle?”

“The being.”

“She is the castle,” Harry said slowly. “She’s elemental. Hard, unyielding, beautiful, loving.”

Kate smiled briefly as her fingers softened, and she stroked his cheek gently.

“So you killed an evil man.”

“It’s not that I killed him, it’s the way I did it,” he tried to explain. “It was premeditated, it was murder. It was no crime of passion, no duel, just me covering his mouth and stabbing him.” He wanted to look at his hands, look at the appendages capable of killing someone so easily. But he couldn’t look away from her eyes.

“Do you expect me to cry any tears for him?”

“No, I don’t expect anyone to.”

“Do you think that anyone at your school will be upset?”

“Dumbledore, maybe.”

“How do you think your parents would react?”

Harry met her eyes properly. “I’d tell dad,” he whispered. “He’d sit down with me, and we’d discuss it like I have with you. He’d be upset, and I’d explain why I did it, and how I did it. He’d be torn, and eventually he’d admit that he understood. He’d make me promise never to do anything like it again, and we’d agree not to tell Mum.

“It would be something we shared, and it would change our relationship, so that, like with Mum, we were friends now, not just father and son.”

Kate took his right hand, and placed it on her shirt, over her heart. He could feel her heart thudding.

“Harry,” she said softly. “I want you to promise me that you will never murder someone again.”

“I promise,” he whispered.

“You did the wrong thing,” she continued, “but so many people will benefit from it. Your punishment is to look after your friends and to make as many people happy as you can. For the rest of your life.”

He nodded, feeling a tear drip down his face.

Kate reached around with her free hand and pulled his head against her shoulder, her other hand keeping his hand against her chest. He buried his face against her shirt and started to cry.

---

The next morning, he walked into Hogwarts, feeling a little better. He sat next to Gabrielle, who touched him, looked at him with huge eyes, and then wrapped herself around him, hugging him tightly. He could feel how much she loved him, and it actually awed him a little.

“Thanks,” he whispered into her hair. He felt rather than saw the smile she gave back.

“Harry,” Professor Dumbledore called. “Have you seen Professor Snape this morning?”

“Why would I have?”

“He’s gone missing.”

Harry shrugged. “No, I’ve not seen him since breakfast yesterday.”

Dumbledore nodded slowly.

After a few more moments with Gabrielle, he gently eased her off him, and nodded to Melissa.

At his little table, he looked at her. “As my barrister, you should probably know that I killed Snape last night and fed his body to the Acromantulas.”

Melissa didn’t react visibly. “That’s a hell of a bomb shell,” she said, keeping her voice neutral. “Doesn’t Dumbledore know everything that goes on in the school?”

“He knows what Hogwarts tells him. She helped last night.”

“So no one knows?”

“Smasher and Crusher, Gabrielle might, Kate and you. I may tell Hermione.”

“No one who is not fanatically loyal to you knows?”

“Well, Aragog, but we came to an agreement.”

Melissa’s lips twitched. “Next time, don’t tell as many people. You’re probably lucky this time. I take it Crusher and Smasher are providing alibis?”

He nodded.

“Then it never happened. How are you dealing with it?”

“Badly, but Kate helped a lot.”

“I thought you’d split up with her?”

“It’s complicated.”

“Relationships normally are,” she agreed. “Right, I’ll get back to my boyfriend, and you can deal with your other sister.”

Harry smiled, as Melissa walked away, allowing Hermione to enter. She was looking at him strangely.

She sat down slowly. “I’m a very light sleeper,” she said softly. “I heard you leave at three this morning.”

He nodded.

“First two girls at the same time and then killing Snape. I’m not sure I know who you are anymore.”

“Harry,” he said softly. “Older, with blood on his hands, but still the same boy I was.”

“No, you’re not,” she said. She held up her hand. “I’m not saying that’s a bad thing, but you are not the same boy. Talk to me, Harry. Explain what happened the other night first.”

“Kate wanted to see me. When I got to her apartment, she sat me down, and introduced Rhiannon. She was the girl that Skeeter overheard her talking to. Rhiannon and Kate said that they owed me, and that they refused to be in anyone’s debt.

“They stalked toward me, I protested for around fifteen seconds, trying to tell them that they didn’t need to do this. And then they kissed me. My protestations went straight out the window, and a good time was had by all.”

Hermione’s lips twitched. “A good time was had by all,” she mimicked. “I thought you weren’t going to see Kate again?”

“It’s complicated.”

“Okay, Snape?”

“I walked into his room and stabbed him.”

Hermione recoiled slightly.

“Yes,” Harry agreed, “it was despicable, it was murder. I try to console myself with the idea that I’ve helped a lot of people and that Hogwarts is proud of me, but at the end of the day, it was me with my hand over his mouth while my knife tried to find his heart.”

Hermione paled dramatically.

Harry didn’t allow her to look away. “There are justifications for what I did, but inside me, where it matters, they don’t count. I know what I did, and I will live with that for the rest of my life. Kate made me promise never to do it again, and I won’t. She gave me a penance, and that I will fulfil.” He looked at her, hoping she’d understand, that she wouldn’t turn her back on him.

“I don’t understand,” she said softly, “I can’t understand. The act might have been murder, but he asked for it a hundred times, every time he made a student cry, every time he acted unfairly, every time he insulted your parents, or the people you love.” She lurched forward and hugged him. “But I trust you, and I accept, now, that sometimes you have to do bad things to make good things happen.

“Don’t do it again.”

“I won’t.” He cradled her against him, rocking her slowly.

“How the hell are we going to explain this?” Hermione asked. “It looks suspicious.”

“We made up after the other nights events? I’ve promised not to do it again.” he suggested.

“Have you?” she asked.

“Honestly?”

She nodded.

“No, if a situation came up again where I had the chance of two girls, I’d take it.”

Hermione smiled faintly. “So it is a male fantasy?”

“I don’t know about fantasy, but the reality was amazing.”

She laughed softly and released him, before she turned and walked toward Viktor. “Harry’s promised not to do it again,” she informed him, a little loudly, as she sat down. “Two girls,” she sighed loudly.

Harry took his seat, next to Gabrielle. He looked up, to see Fleur smiling. She was looking radiant. He caught her eyes. “You should smile more often, it looks good on you.”

Her smile turned up a notch, and he nodded at her, wrapped an arm around Gabrielle, and settled down for his breakfast.

There was an investigation over the next few days, lead by Kingsley, and the purple-haired Auror – who he discovered was named Tonks – but with no body, no witnesses, and everyone who had a motive with cast iron alibis, there was no where for it to go.

Saturday dawned bright and early with the sort of bright spring day that reminded you that summer was around the corner.

Gabrielle dived on his bed at the unconceivable hour of five in the morning, and for once he gave in, and let her under the covers. He slipped out of bed and pulled on a pair of jeans, while she watched in sleepy-eyed amusement. He climbed back into bed, rolled onto his side, and closed his eyes.

When he awoke, she was watching him sleep. “Morning,” he rasped.

“Morning,” she said happily. “Ears pierced today!”

“I know, I’ve not forgotten. Why don’t you get dressed, then we’ll go early and have breakfast in town.”

“Okay,” she agreed, gave him a quick hug, and then scampered out, her white nightgown flowing with her.

He shook his head, and made a mental note to talk to Michael about what had happened. A scalding shower later, and some clean clothes, and he felt up for the day.

He wandered outside, to find Lisa with her dad, Ben. “Morning,” he greeted them.

“Harry,” Ben called delightedly. “Lisa tells me that you’ve got nothing planned for most of today?”

“Noooo,” Harry said slowly, nodding as Smasher, Crusher, Nasher and Thrasher joined them.

“Excellent,” he said cheerfully. “I’ve entered you in a small Muggle competition. Think of it as a test.”

“I don’t want to,” Harry said firmly.

“A competition?” Gabrielle gasped. “You have to do it, Harry,” she said rapidly. “Please, do it.”

“Yeah, boss,” Smasher agreed. “You never get to have fun, this will be it.”

“Having my arse handed to me will be fun?” Harry demanded. “Are you all nuts?”

“Possibly,” Lisa said, “but how else are you going to know if you’re any good.”

“Harry,” Hermione said firmly, as she joined them.

Harry smiled, knowing that she’d be the voice of reason.

“You are going to enter, we all want you too, and I’d love to stand here and argue, but I’m hungry and want my breakfast.”

“Hermione,” he protested.

Gabrielle cheered and jumped into his arms. “Hogsmeade!” she ordered. “The sooner we eat, the sooner I can get earrings!”

“You’re paying for breakfast,” he grunted at Ben.

Ben grinned. “No problem. I’m in the senior competition, so I’ll show you the ropes.”

“And I’m in the girls,” Lisa added. “It will be great! Get moving, I’ll meet you there, I’m gonna grab a few of our friends who’ll love to watch.”

Harry just groaned. It was only as they walked, that he realised that every single one of his friends were wearing Muggle clothing. They had all known about it beforehand.

Breakfast was a raucous affair, with everyone having a great time. Fred and George, with girlfriends, had dragged along Katie, as well as Lee. Hermione and Viktor were joined at the hip, as were Christophe and Melissa, Fleur was chatting with Adrienne’s boyfriend, while Adrienne was talking to Chloe.

As they finished breakfast, and Harry had spent a few enjoyable seconds flirting with Rosmerta, they made their way to the hairdressers.

Gabrielle took one look at the needle that was going to be used, and hid behind Harry.

Harry turned to her, dropping to his knees. She hid against his chest. “It’s not that bad,” he said.

“Easy for you to say,” she mumbled. “You’re not having that thing jabbed through your skin.”

“I thought you wanted this?”

“I do, but I didn’t think it would be like that!”

“It’s perfectly safe,” the assistant said.

“I’ll tell you what,” Harry said, as he stood. “I’ll go first.”

“Really?” Gabrielle gasped.

Harry nodded and took the seat. “Just my left ear, please.”

Gabrielle took his hand with both of hers, and watched. There was a sudden movement, and a sharp pain, followed by a dull ache.

“That wasn’t that bad,” Gabrielle said in a relieved voice. “I can handle that.”

Fleur passed him a small silver stud earring as the assistant cast a charm on his ear. Gabrielle grabbed it, and climbed on his lap so that she could place it through the hole.

“There,” she announced, “you look very sexy.”

Harry shot her a reproachful look, as she giggled.

“Ready?” the assistant asked.

Gabrielle gulped. Harry lifted her off his lap, stood, turned, and placed her back down. He took the needle from the assistant, used his wand to cast a numbing charm on Gabrielle’s right ear, and then, in a smooth movement, reached out, braced her ear gently, and made a small hole in it. He cast the other charm on her ear, and then added the diamond earring. He did the same thing for her left ear.

“Why the numbing charm?” Hermione asked. “It’s supposed to hurt.”

“No one hurts Gabrielle,” Harry said softly. “Better?”

She smiled happily and nodded.

Harry looked at the crowd. “How many of you can’t Apparate?”

Katie, Lisa, Hermione, Gabrielle, Nasher and Thrasher all raised their hands.

“Viktor, you can take Hermione?”

“Wait up,” a new voice called. Harry looked up, to see Cedric and Cho jogging toward them.

“Sorry we’re late,” Cho said, “There’s something nasty going on Ravenclaw, some bullying. I had to use your name in vain, Harry.”

“Oh?”

“I just said that I’d get you involved if it didn’t stop. There’s a strange third year girl they’re picking on.”

Harry frowned. “That should really be dealt with by the professors.”

“Yes, but you’re much scarier than they are,” Melissa said. “Cho, tell me about it later, I’ll deal with it. And in the future, bring these things to me first; it’s what I am here for.” She paused. “And I’ll decide if it’s worth getting Harry involved in.”

“Oh, thanks,” Cho said. “Sorry, Harry.”

“Cedric, can you Apparate Cho?”

He shook his head, “not on my own, but if Christophe will help?”

“Sure,” Christophe agreed.

“Vik, you okay with Hermione?”

“Ja.”

“Angelina, Alicia, you can take Katie?”

“We will,” they agreed in unison, before giggling.

“Ben, you’ve got Lisa, Smasher, Crusher, help your apprentices.

“And you,” Harry said to Gabrielle, who was holding on to his hand, “you’re with me.”

Gabrielle smiled happily.

“Where are we going, Ben?”

“Outside the Birmingham NEC.”

“Where?” Melissa asked blankly.

“Ben, go, I’ll follow then set up a beacon.”

Ben nodded, hugged his daughter, and vanished.

Harry swept Gabrielle into a fast waltz, and mid step, he followed the faint trace of magic he could feel. They continued the dance seamlessly as they appeared in a small clearing. He took his wand out and set a pulsing beacon going, as he dipped Gabrielle.

The others started appearing in groups of two and three, and everyone arrived as Harry and Gabrielle finished.

“Tell me,” Lisa said to Hermione, “were they mid step when they left?”

Hermione nodded. “And they didn’t miss a step?”

“Not that I could tell.”

“He’s a git,” Hermione said fondly.

“My car’s over here,” Ben said excitedly.

Harry reached into his wallet and pulled out a card. He handed it to Melissa. “Go get everyone tickets,” he said. “I’ll be with Ben and Lisa.” He leaned and whispered a four digit number to her. “They’ll be a cash machine inside, get money with Hermione and make sure everyone has a great time.”

Melissa pecked him on the cheek and took the card.

As they all wandered away, Gabrielle perched on Smasher’s shoulders, Harry turned to Ben and Lisa. “Am I ready for this?”

“No one is, the first time,” Ben said, “but you’ll learn quickly, and you’re good enough to be here.”

Harry took a deep breath and then relaxed. “Okay, let’s do this.”

They jogged over toward Ben’s car, a Ford Escort estate. He opened the boot and pulled out three large bags. Lisa picked up the smallest, and Ben threw the medium one at Harry.

“It’s full contact,” he explained, “but you will be wearing semi-contact, closed fingered gloves, feet pads that cover your entire feet and toes, shin guards, mouth guard and most importantly, a groin guard.”

Harry nodded.

“In the ring, you’ll be wearing my club uniform, and if anyone asks, you’re a Black Belt.”

“Am I?”

“Yeah, you are. Admittedly not formally, but you can do every move needed.

“The bouts are judged on points. You get points for punches to the body, front side or back of the head, kicks to the body, full sweep – and if you do sweep, your hands and body can’t touch the floor. Kicks to the head, jumping kicks to the body get you more points, and the most points is for jumping kicks to the head.

“Illegal moves are dropping to the floor to avoid being hit, hitting the opponent in the back of the head, on the back, the neck or the shoulders, or the groin. No elbow strikes and spinning back fists either.”

Harry nodded again and shouldered the bag. They entered the huge building, to find an almost electric atmosphere inside. Hundreds of people were sitting in bunches around the stadium. The floor had four rings set up, as well as four sets of judges’ tables.

He followed Ben to a corner, where he completed his registration. With a degree of reluctance, he put his Aunt and Uncle’s house down as his home address – realising that a magical castle in Scotland probably wasn’t acceptable, and he had no idea where Sirius lived.

“Ben, do you have a mobile?”

Ben nodded and pulled a large phone out of his bag. “Cheers,” Harry said, and went to make a few phone calls.

When he got back, they separated, with Lisa going to get changed in the ladies, and him and Ben in the men’s.

The atmosphere was more nervous in the changing room. Harry stripped quickly, putting the clothes he was wearing in the bag.

A couple of kick boxers were shadow boxing in the corner. Their movements were sharp and crisp, and lightning fast.

“Ignore them,” Ben said, “they’re trying to psyche you out.”

Harry swallowed and nodded slowly. He didn’t admit that it was working. Back out in the stadium, they wandered around with Lisa, while Ben pointed out some of the best fighters that he knew.

“You’re unknown, Harry,” Ben said softly. “You’ll be able to use that for a match or two, but after that, people will start to get to know your style. You’ve practised enough, you know the moves, and all you have to do is do them now. Don’t take this lightly; people will be going for your head.”

“Okay,” Harry nodded.

“And you will have to remove your necklace.”

“I can’t do that,” Harry said firmly.

“You can’t wear it in the ring; it could hurt the opponent or you.”

“How about if I put a notice-me-not charm on it, and then make sure that it’s padded from the front, so that no one gets hurt, but it doesn’t protect me.”

Ben thought for a second, and then nodded. “That’s fair,” he agreed.

“It’s time for my first match,” Lisa said, bouncing on her toes.

They walked over to her ring, and as Lisa’s name was read out, there was a loud cheer from the crowd. They all looked up, to see that their supporters had grown in numbers. He spotted Sirius, and Kate – to his surprise. Every Beauxbatons and Durmstrang student had turned up now, as well as the rest of their Hogwarts friends.

And to his complete shock, in a dapper tartan suit, was Albus Dumbledore.

Dumbledore nodded to him.

Harry turned and hugged Lisa. “Knock ‘em dead!”

“Will do, boss!”

She bounced to the ring, and vaulted the high ropes easily.

“Always a good idea to do an entry,” Ben murmured, as they manned her corner. “It gives the impression of confidence that can be unnerving to the opponent.”

With a ring of the bell, the competition started. It was obvious from the start that Lisa had the upper hand.

“Amateur,” Ben sighed. “Not many girls go for this sport; Leece’s loved it all her life. When her mother died, it was what we did together to get over it.”

The fight was short lived, and ended with a brutal knee to the other girl’s stomach. She was unable to continue, and Lisa was pronounced the winner, to another huge cheer.

“You’re up next, ring one,” Ben said, after they had congratulated the bouncing Lisa.

“Boss,” Lisa said, “show off, go for the flashiest entrance you can think off. Use the psychological advantage it will give you, get the boost from the crowd.”

Harry wrinkled his nose and nodded. He took the mouth guard Lisa offered, and bit into it firmly. His opponent was called first, and he vaulted the ropes a lot like Lisa had earlier. There was some applause from the crowd.

As Harry’s name was called, he jumped onto the rim of the ring, grabbed the top rope, and used it to pull himself up. In a smooth continuous movement, he balanced on the two top ropes around the corner, before executing a perfect back somersault with twist.

The crowd, led by his friends, roared their approval, but he didn’t pay attention to them. He fixed his eyes on his opponent, and didn’t look away as the referee explained the rules.

He retreated back into his corner, and waited.

The bell went, and he moved forward, into the centre of the ring, and had to jump back to avoid a sharp kick to his ribs. The opponent followed it up with a series of punches aimed at his body, then his chin.

He dodged; keeping his head up, trying to remember everything he had been told.

The next punch knocked him back against the ropes, and for a second, he saw stars. He danced around, shaking his head to clear it.

“Stop thinking,” Ben roared.

Harry cursed himself under his breath. That was a silly mistake to make. He shouldn’t be planning what he was doing that precisely. He should be reacting and trusting his instincts. That was what he had trained for.

The opponent rushed in, confident now. Harry didn’t think as his right hand shot out, at a forty-five degree angle from his body, aiming up. Years of practising every night meant that his body knew what to do. It knew how to twist his torso, it knew how to use every muscle in his body to get the maximum power. All the work he’d done coalesced into the single punch that landed directly on the tip of his opponents chin.

His opponent lifted four inches off the ground, and fell flat on his back.

There was a second of silence, as almost in slow motion, he appeared to bounce, before he lay still.

“Yeeeeaaaahhhhhh!” Sirius’s voice rang out, before everyone in his cheering section appeared to go mad.

The ref didn’t even bother counting; he was on his knees, checking the fallen fighter was okay.

Harry raised his hands and grinned.

The roar was louder, as he removed his mouth guard, vaulted the top rope, and strode over to Ben and Lisa.

Lisa jumped at him and hugged him tightly.

“Not bad,” Ben said. “You froze to start with, but I wouldn’t have wanted to be hit by that punch, I didn’t even see it!”

Harry spun Lisa around excitedly. “Adrenaline is running through me,” he said, “man, this is an incredible feeling.” He put Lisa down, and jogged over to guy he had knocked out. He was looking a bit wobbly, as he was helped to his feet.

“You okay?” Harry asked.

The man looked at him, and then nodded. “I didn’t even see it,” he confessed. “You punch like a fucking horse!”

“Practice,” Harry said with a shrug, and almost flinched as his opponent hugged him briefly.

“You’re fighting Damon next, kick his arse!”

“I’ll try,” Harry said. “That was my first fight, and I practically froze.”

“You took a good hit and then you retaliated with a beaut. You probably won’t get that chance with Damon, he has a better defence than me, work his ribs, and throw a lot of kicks.”

“Thanks.”

The guy nodded, backed away and gave Harry a deep bow, before he turned. Harry returned to Ben and Lisa.

“Sportsmanship always goes down well here,” Ben said approvingly. “We should go and watch your next appointment.”

“Damon,” Harry said. “Good defence, I need to work his ribs and kick a lot.”

Ben nodded. “Sounds like a plan.”

Damon was a tough little bugger who ground out his win on points. The other guy looked frustrated as he left the ring.

Ben was the next to fight, and Harry could see the difference. He was fighting in the full adult league, and the fight was fast and furious. Punches and kicks flew out at every angle, Ben won in the third round, when a roundhouse right caught his opponent enough to give Ben a chance to throw a few more combinations.

It wasn’t long before Harry was back in the ring, his entrance the same as before. As the match started, Harry moved forward a little slower, not wanting to make the same mistakes again.

Damon threw a few punches at him, and a few kicks, which Harry blocked easily. He tried to keep his dodging to a minimum, as he didn’t want to open himself to a kick to the ribs, head, or anywhere else.

He threw a few punches back, before sending a series of kicks, working his way up the body as fast as he could, before pulling back safely.

Harry was quite content to win this on points, so he took his time, made sure to block, and threw as many punches as he could at Damon’s ribs, mixing up the combinations, throwing in kicks at irregular intervals.

The end of the round surprised him, he’d been having fun. He bounced over to his corner and sat on the stool.

Lisa removed his mouth guard and squirted some water into his mouth. “You’re doing great,” Ben said. “You’re up on points already. Keep it going.”

“That’s the plan,” Harry agreed, as he spat the water out into a bucket. “I’m in no hurry.”

The bell rung, and he moved back into the centre of the ring. This time, he let Damon come to him, and practised his counter-attacking and defence.

At the next break, Ben looked at him. “You’re going to win in the next round.”

“I am?” Harry asked in surprise.

“Yeah, you were treating the last round as a practice session. It was driving him nuts that you could practically ignore him, and score points at will.”

“Oh,” Harry said slowly, and shrugged.

Ben was right, Damon came firmly on the offensive, and pushed him back. He had to defend as hard as he could, with hardly a chance to counter.

He didn’t consciously see the hole in Damon’s defence, but his sub-conscious did. He rammed his knee into Damon’s side, avoiding the padding, and then as Damon’s eyes flickered in pain, he attacked again. Two jabs were followed by a hook straight into the same spot. He felt something crack, and stepped back.

Damon dropped to one knee, holding his hand up.

“Cracked rib,” Harry said he spat out his mouth guard into his hand.

“Broken,” Damon muttered. “Fuck, you punch hard.”

The Ref turned and raised Harry’s hand, to the cheers that he heard for the first time. He looked up at his crowd, and smiled and waved. They seemed to be having a great time. He could see plenty of drinks and snacks all around, and people were sitting in groups.

“They all for you?” Damon asked.

“Friends and family,” Harry replied. “It’s the first time most of them have seen anything like this.”

Damon nodded. “And this is your first competition?”

“Yeah, didn’t even know I was fighting until Ben sprung it on me this morning.”

“Fuck me,” Damon muttered as they walked to his corner. “All this without training?”

Harry shook his head. “I trained for around five or six hours a day for a couple of years, and now have it down to about an hour of fitness a day and an hour of fighting.”

“Why?” Damon asked.

Harry shrugged. “I had an attempt at my life, and had to hire bodyguards. I hated being helpless, so when Ben offered me the chance of learning to fight, I took it. I go to school with Lisa.”

Damon nodded. “Ben’s the best,” he said. “You had a great teacher.”

“Lisa taught me all the basics, Ben came along afterward, kicked my arse, and then taught me the rest.”

“I’d laugh, but I think I need to go to nurse. Nice meeting you, Harry. I’ll look forward to a rematch.”

“Definitely,” Harry agreed. He turned and grabbed the top rope, using as a spring to vault forward over the ropes. He span in mid air and landed on his feet.

“Wooo,” the cheer came mainly from his female section.

“Shit,” one of the nearby competitors muttered. “Look at the babes in the crowd. The blonde and the brunette especially.”

“The blonde’s dating and the brunette’s mine,” Harry said casually.

The competitor turned aggressively, then saw Harry and Ben, and backed away.

“Stuart, he’s a creep,” Lisa muttered. “He hit on me last year.”

“And he’s your next fight,” Ben said. “And you are going to win inside eleven seconds.”

Harry blinked.

Ben smirked. “I’ll tell you later.”

Ben and Lisa both won their next fights, Lisa had some trouble with a girl who made Millicent Bulstrode look small, but her speed and power eventually got through.

Ben fought a monster, the guy was close to seven foot tall, and had a huge bushy beard. The fight went down to the wire, but a late flurry from Ben meant he went through on points.

Afterward, the man gave Ben a huge bear hug, before wandering off.

Harry realised he was having one of the best days of his life. No one here cared that he was the Boy Who Lived, that he was rich and famous in his world. All they cared about was how good a fighter he was, and that was something he earned on his own – not even inheriting it from his dad – like his Quidditch skills.

This was his and his alone.

He did his jump and somersault into the ring, and bounced into the centre for the now standard instructions.

He moved back to his corner, and listened as Ben whispered something urgently.

With a nod, he waited for the bell, and then launched himself forward. About four feet from Stuart, he jumped, scissored his legs, and rammed his right foot straight into Stuart’s chin. Stuart didn’t have time to do anything, before he was thrown back into his corner, his legs akimbo and his arms wide.

The roar from his friends was the biggest yet. He turned, to see them on their feet, jumping up and down and cheering. He waved at them, and walked over to Ben and Lisa, spitting out his mouth guard.

“Told you,” Ben said with a smirk. “You’ve started slowly the last two matches, so he thought that was your style.”

“Do I have a style?” Harry asked.

“Not yet,” Ben smirked. “You won’t be able to do that again.”

“But you did it to the nicest person,” Lisa said happily.

“We’ve got an hour now; let’s go have something light to eat with the others.”

Harry took off his gear, and pulled on a pair of tracksuit bottoms. He signalled to the others that they were coming up, and they exited the ring.

As he climbed the stairs toward the stand, Gabrielle threw herself off the top step, and must have travelled ten feet across and down before he caught her. She was vibrating with excitement.

“That was brilliant,” she cheered. “Amazing, fantastic.”

“And not bad,” Michael’s voice said.

“Michael, Marie, what are you doing here?” Harry asked.

“We got an excited message from Fleur,” Marie said, “and it sounded like fun. You were all doing really well.”

“Did you see the bruiser Ben was fighting?” Harry demanded. “Man, he would have squished me!”

Ben, Marie and Michael looked bemused as Lisa burst into laughter and Gabrielle cheered before giggling hysterically.

“In joke,” Harry explained. “I’m doing all right, but these two are the real champions,” he continued. “I’ve got beginners luck on my side; they’re winning the old fashioned way.”

“Don’t put yourself down, boss,” Lisa said, as they moved back up stairs.

They were met with another cheer, as all three of them were hugged, patted, and kissed on the cheek. Well, apart from Kate, who went for the lips.

Sirius looked at Gabrielle. “If you don’t mind?”

Gabrielle smiled and held her arms out to Christophe, who took her. Sirius bounded forward and heaved Harry high into the air. “Sweet Merlin, kiddo,” he exclaimed. “I’m so proud of you I could burst! That last kick, no one here actually saw it. It was like magic, only no magic we could do!”

“Sirius is right,” Fred and George said.

“Erm, not to put a dampener on things,” Harry said, as he looked around. “But well, aren’t most of you afraid of Sirius?”

“Not when Fred and George vouched for him and Melissa explained how she is going to clear his name next week.” Adrienne said. “And Professor Dumbledore backed it up as well.”

Harry nodded at the Headmaster, who was smiling and hanging around at the back.

“There were a few palpitations before that,” Katie admitted. “And screw Quidditch. That looks like the sport for me. Imagine fighting Malfoy, I could legally kick his arse,” she said dreamily.

“You want to learn?” Harry asked.

“I think most of us do,” George announced. “I mean, apart from getting into your shape.”

“Sounds fun,” Michael purred, interrupting George.

“Later, sweetie,” Harry purred back.

“Tease.”

“Not if I follow through,” Harry retorted.

“Harry,” Cedric called. “You do know that you’re flirting with a guy, right?”

“Not just a guy,” Harry returned, “an amazing guy.”

“Flattery will get you everywhere,” Michael said.

“How about in to your bed?”

Michael stumbled for a moment.

“And the winner,” Gabrielle cheered. “Harry James Potter.”

Everyone burst out into laughter as Michael pouted, then grinned as Marie nudged him.

“So,” Harry said, “are we all blending in?”

“Hermione is scary,” Fleur announced. “We’ve all been told what to do, and follow her lead. It’s been fun.”

Hermione smiled modestly.

“Right, then let’s hit the cafeteria,” Harry said.

“The grub’s pretty good at these competitions,” Lisa said.

“Great,” Smasher said. “That popcorn’s good, but I need real food. How else am I going to ensure that Gabrielle continues to get the best seats?”

“An important job,” Harry agreed, as they all headed to the far side of the stand. The noise level was high, as he walked between Kate and Fleur. The others were a few steps behind them. He was detecting some animosity between them, and wasn’t sure why.

As they reached the bottom of the stairs, Stuart jumped out, a sneer on his face. “I don’t know what you’re playing at,” he spat. “But you won’t get away with it, you cheat.”

Harry rolled his eyes, but before he could respond, Fleur and Kate stalked forward, each with an identical prowl, and he realised he was about to see something special. He grabbed his hidden necklace and sent a message to the others telling them to hang back.

Fleur and Kate circled Stuart slowly. Fleur was faintly using her Veela power, while Kate was using all of her experience.

Each of their steps blended into next one, and without doing anything, they screamed passion and eroticism.

“Cheat?” Kate asked, her accent a little deeper than normal. “He has no need to cheat,” she finished, as she trailed a nail over Stuart’s chest.

“He is ‘onourable,” Fleur purred, her head and shoulders going back, while her eyes were deep and mysterious. “He simply walked through your feeble defences.”

“And you walked into it,” Kate finished. She stood in front of him, artfully posed in a way that drew the eyes to her figure, and didn’t let go.

Stuart was sweating hard, panting, as he stood, completely entranced.

“Run away, leetle boy,” Fleur ordered, her voice going harsh.

“Or stay,” Kate invited, her voice as cold as liquid helium. “And we’ll tell you what we see, those secrets you think no one can see, like how you spend your nights, dreaming of things you can’t possibly understand.”

“Go,” Fleur finished, her voice sharp as a knife.

Stuart suddenly turned and ran, sprinting as fast as he could.

Fleur and Kate looked at each other for a long moment, before they both turned to Harry.

“What ever problem you have with each other, leave me out of it,” he said firmly. He knew better than to make any statements to just one of them. “And thank you. It was a privilege to watch two beautiful woman use different techniques to do the same thing.”

They both smiled at him, and the tension lifted, and the others flooded down.

“Kate,” Lisa said, bouncing up to her. “Can you teach me to do that?”

Kate laughed softly. “Fleur might be a better teacher,” she admitted.

“Oh no,” Fleur replied. “Kate doesn’t even have Veela power to back her up.”

“And you can see where Harry got some of his charm from,” Michael agreed. “Impressive, both of you.”

“Don’t worry,” Harry said, as he jumped forward, turned, curled his legs, and smacked into Michael’s chest, with one arm going around his neck. “I still love you most.”

“Git,” Michael said, as he dropped him.

“Apart from you,” Harry finished, as he swung Gabrielle high into the air. “Now let’s eat,” he said, putting her down, and waltzing her onward.

Gabrielle laughed, her head going back as she looked up, trusting him to lead her completely.

They arrived at the doors, and Fred and George opened the double doors dramatically, allowing them to dance in.

Harry counted heads, and walked to the front, where the till was installed. “This lot are all with me,” he said. “Total it up and I’ll pay for the lot.”

“Harry, we are quite capable of paying for ourselves,” Hermione said, stamping her foot.

“In fact,” Viktor said, “this one’s on me. No arguing or I’ll sic Hermione on you!”

“No,” Harry cried, dropping to his knees and hiding behind Gabrielle. “Not that, anything but that!”

“Quiet, you,” Hermione ordered. “Yes, we’re paying. Now, everyone grab a tray and load up.”

There was a rush toward the start of the queue. “You sure about this, Vik?”

Viktor smiled. “You have any idea about how much I get paid?”

Harry shook his head.

“Yes, I’m sure. And dating Hermione, well, let’s just say that I’ve learnt a lot about Muggle culture.”

Harry nodded and smiled.

“Come on, let’s fill up,” He said to Gabrielle. “Thanks, Vik.”

Viktor smiled broadly. Harry grabbed two of everything he got so that Gabrielle had food, before they joined, Kate, Sirius, Hermione, Fleur, Christophe and Melissa at a table. Viktor turned up a few minutes later, a happy look on his face.

“Not bad,” he said to Hermione, passing her the receipt. Hermione looked and smiled, then gave him a quick kiss.

“So,” Harry said, as he started to eat. “Fancy transferring to a French team next year?”

“Way ahead of you,” Viktor smirked.

Harry laughed. “I’m glad you’re here, Kate.”

“Nice earring,” Kate said approvingly.

“Fleur chose it.”

“She has taste,” Kate admitted. “I didn’t expect you to take my dance lessons and do that with them.” She grinned. “The first time we danced, Harry kept his hands about a foot from my body.”

“Hey,” Harry protested, before he smirked. “It was closer to two.”

Gabrielle patted him consolingly, and then went back to devouring her food.

“I have to say it, Harry, as the only one here who knew your parents. Your mum would be a mess about now. Pride, fear, anger, protectiveness, they’d all be warring. Jimbo would be competing with me to see who could cheer louder.”

Harry smiled at him. “The competition will be harder this afternoon; we’re into the quarter finals now. I’ve lost the element of surprise.”

“You’ll do great,” Melissa predicted. “We didn’t expect you to get this far.”

“I’m happy,” Harry said. “It’s been fun. Each fight has been different. And I’ve only really been clocked in the first fight.”

Gabrielle paused in her eating, and turned so that she could run her hands over his face. “Bruising,” she announced.

“Thanks.”

She beamed at him and went back to the more important issue of food.

Harry wasn’t that hungry, he was however, thirsty, and he made sure he drunk plenty.

Melissa and Kate got into a conversation, as did Fleur and Hermione. All around him people chatted and laughed, and he just drunk it in, enjoying the atmosphere.

Gabrielle moved onto his lap, and he cuddled her close.

He had no idea how much time has passed, when Lisa tapped him on the shoulder. “We need to go and start to get ready,” she said.

Harry passed Gabrielle to Hermione and stood. He winked, “I’ll be back to join you shortly when I loose, and we can cheer the experts.”

“Right,” Lisa muttered.

Half an hour later, Harry found himself in a real fight. The guy he was fighting was as good as he was. Kicks and punches were being exchanged rapidly, and he’d taken several to the face and head, that had his face feeling like it had been tenderised.

He’s got a few shots of his own in, and was determined to only loose if he was knocked out.

In the last round, his opponent had his guard in the wrong place for a fraction of a second, and Harry summoned up his last resources and kicked straight up, following it up with a couple of knees to the side, then a vicious punch to the ribs, and finished with a knee-kick combination that sent his opponent to the floor. The other guy got up quick, and the round ended with a flurry of action from both sides.

When the bell rung, they looked at each other, and hugged. “Who won?” Harry asked.

“No idea,” The other guy said.

The ref took them into the middle of the ring, while the judges conferred. After an interminable amount of time, the ref suddenly raised Harry’s hand.

A huge cheer went up from his cheerleading section, and he sunk to his knees, exhausted.

“You better fucking get to the final,” his opponent muttered. “Good fight.”

“Hardest I’ve ever had,” Harry agreed. “I got lucky.”

“You make your own luck.”

Harry turned, and climbed through the ropes, too tired to vault them. He almost collapsed as Ben and Lisa caught him.

“That was a bruiser,” Lisa announced. “Your face looks like shit.”

“Thanks,” Harry muttered. He took a deep breath. “Half an hour, and I’ll be fine.”

“You’ve got an hour,” Ben said, as he laid him down. “Have a nap.”

Harry was out before the words were finished.