The Hidden One

Chapter 20: The Hidden One

Harry woke up to the amazing feeling of two petite bodies pressed to his sides. He blinked as his eyes opened. He stifled a yawn and moved his head from side to side, Astoria was lightly snoring, there was drool dripping from the corner of her lips, bringing a smile to his face, while Iris was totally silent in her sleep. He gently removed himself from the tangle of bodies and hair, not wanting to disturb their sleep. They both mumbled something in their sleep at the sudden loss of his body but didn't wake up, opting to snuggle deeper in their pillows instead.

He looked around the great hall and realised that most of the students were still sleeping. Only a few were awake. The professors were also present and were sitting on comfy chairs in the centre of the great hall. His gaze settled on Daphne and Tracey who were sleeping on the other side of Astoria. They both also seemed to be deep in sleep with their arms draped around each other. Harry inwardly groaned as he slid back, propping his back against the wall. 'Why do I always have to wake up so early?'

Harry wished he had a book to read right now, he felt utterly bored. He absent-mindedly ran his fingers through Astoria's and Iris's hair and thought about what to do next. He could go to the professors and wish them good morning and ask about what happened or he could just stay where he was. Before he could do anything, the sound of ringing bells filled the great hall. Surprised yelps sounded everywhere in the hall. Students grumbled angrily as they were roused from their sweet sleep.

This abruptly woke everyone up. Harry hid an amused smirk as Astoria, Iris, Daphne and Tracey glared at Headmaster Dumbledore who was standing at the centre of the hall. His grandfatherly smile wasn't affected even as he received glares and scowls from the annoyed sleep deprived students.

"Good morning students. I am very sorry to wake all of you up so early. Though you will be happy and relieved to know that the castle has been properly checked. The castle is safe now. All of you are free to go to your dorms. And as a gesture of peace for disturbing your sleep, I hereby announce that the morning classes are cancelled. Now hurry up and go to your comfortable beds." Dumbledore's mirthful voice reverberated through the hall. The students complained to each other about the crazy headmaster and crazier school as they stepped out of their sleeping bags and started plodding on out of the hall.

"Good morning, girls." Harry greeted them as they woke up.

"Good morning, Harry." They mumbled half-heartedly, with heavy lidded eyes they slowly stood up.

"It seems you still need some more sleep." Harry pointed out. They all nodded and without another glance at him, followed the other Slytherins. Iris grabbed his hand and leaned on him as they walked. Harry wrapped his arm around her shoulder.

"I am sleepy." she mumbled. Harry remained silent but steadied her whenever he thought she might fall down during their walk to the Slytherin dormitories. The girls all went to their respective rooms once they entered the common room. Harry was surprised that Iris didn't make any fuss about joining on his bed and just went to her own room. It seemed she was too drowsy to worry about nightmares. And it was basically morning anyway. Very early morning. Do people have nightmares if they sleep in the morning? He didn't know.

Harry took a quick shower and changed into casual clothes of a baggy black t-shirt and loose grey pants, he donned his usual green dragonhide jacket over the t-shirt which was gifted to him by Astoria. He knew he wouldn't be able to go back to sleep, so he decided to go to the room of requirement to practice his aiming.

The room was now expanded. He stood on one side while five dummies were against the wall on the other side. Harry had to squint his eyes to see the heads of the dummies. He pointed his wand in their direction while simultaneously closing his one eye.

In three seconds, five jets of light sped in the opposite direction. The five dummies went down. Now, Harry went off to see the result.

Two dummies had their heads blown off while the other three were hit below their necks. He was aiming for the centre of their foreheads but unfortunately he was only successful for two headshots and even they were hit on the mouth and the cheek.

"Not good enough. Needs more work." he mumbled to himself. For the next thirty minutes, he continued practicing his aim. At last he was able to hit the dummies on head with his spells from very far. Still, it wasn't perfect. He wasn't able to achieve his goal of hitting them on the centre of their foreheads but little progress was still a progress.

He plopped down on a chair and wiped his face on a towel. Harry checked the time. It was 6 a.m.

Still early, he thought. 'A walk outside the castle would be nice.' he smiled and stepped out of the room of requirement.

XXX

Harry along with most of the students had a late breakfast at 10:00 in the great hall. After he was satisfied that he had annoyed Astoria enough by ending every sentence with luv, he left the hall by himself. Astoria and Iris were going for quidditch practice while Tracey and Daphne had something important to talk about which for some reason wasn't meant for his ears. He rolled his eyes at recalling that. 'Is it their time of the month? They don't need to be so secretive about that. It is totally normal and nothing to be embarrassed about. Do I need to have a talk with them?' Harry mused and couldn't stop his laughter at imagining the opening line for the conversation. 'Hey girls, it is totally normal to feel irritated from experiencing cramps and pain in your fanny. I feel the same when I have sudden boners in tight jeans without even thinking about anything sexy.'

He laughed some more. The few students who saw him gave him a wide berth.

But Tracey may just slap him for being so crass and the girls might even be offended by the joke. Good thing he wasn't going to use the joke. He shrugged and walked towards the room of requirement. He was so thankful to the founders for creating that secret room. It was the go-to place for everything. Are you bored? Go to the room of requirement. Are you angry and want to blow up some dummies? Go to the room of requirement. Do you want a place to study in peace? Go to the room of requirement. Do you want some sexy times with Daphne but don't want to do it in front of your jealous little sister or your other best friend who may or may not like you back or the little sister of Daphne who doesn't approve of your pseudo sexual activities? Room of requirement is the best for you.

"Harry!" someone called his name. Harry turned to his left to come face to face with the infamous Weasley twins. They had their normal matching grins as they walked to him.

"Harry our boy-"

"Harry our friend-"

"We want to give you something-"

"Which will help in keeping you safe-"

"Which may also get your sneaky side out-"

"It is a wonderful relic we have-"

"Made by the greatest pranksters ever seen at Hogwarts-"

"Now which you are supposed to have-"

"And also which may or may not be ordered by the headmaster-"

"We present you the 'Marauder's map'." They finished the last line together. Harry was amused by their antics. He had no problems with them even if they were Gryffindors, though Harry realised that he in fact had no problems with anybody from other houses. 'I guess I am a peaceful guy if not bothered. Though I at least dislike Ronald Weasley. That boy just has this stupid prejudice that every Slytherin is evil which I doesn't confirm or deny. But he could at least stop glaring at me when he thinks I am not looking. We are only civil with each other because of our mutual friendship with Jasmine and Hermione.'

They presented him with a piece of a parchment which looked mundane at first but he felt some magic in it. Harry put his finger on it and felt the magic. A smile crept on his lips as he snatched the map from Fred's hand.

"I solemnly swear that I am upto no good." Harry whispered, tapping the parchment with his wand after opening it, missing the shocked looks from Fred and George. The map flickered to life. The ink spread on the paper in a mesmerising way. It was the same beauty as seeing the ink slowly fade into water. Few seconds later, the whole Hogwarts was mapped on the parchment, tiny footprints showing the students and staff in real time. He immediately sought the Slytherin dormitories, the names 'Daphne Greengrass' and 'Tracey Davis' were written in cursive in small rectangular boxes above two pairs of footprints in Slytherin common room. He traced his fingers to the quidditch pitch where Astoria and Iris's name were zooming around.

"Mischief managed." Harry murmured and folded the parchment and put it in his jacket's pocket.

"Thanks boys. This is a very generous gift." he grinned at the twins and walked away without a backward glance.

"How did he know-"

"-to activate the map?"

The twins pondered but shrugged off the question after a few seconds. There were better things to do than wonder why Harry Potter seems to know everything.

Harry went into the room of requirement and sat on an armchair. He spread the map in his lap and started watching for suspicious names or Sirius Black. Harry was grateful that the map didn't show the room of requirement or the chamber of secrets. If it did then the twins would have already claimed this fantastic room. Harry frowned when he saw some Peter Pettigrew in Gryffindor common room. The name oddly sounded familiar but he was sure that there was no student with that name in any house in any year. Harry concentrated to bring back some memories but to no avail. He shook his head as he moved on. He will talk about this with his friends, maybe they would know who this Peter Pettigrew is. He checked the whole castle but unsurprisingly Sirius Black wasn't in the castle. He was just going to close the map when his eyes glanced over Hagrid's hut. There it was. Sirius Black.

Harry's lips twisted in a feral grin. This was going to be fun. So much fun. The wolf had the scent now.

Harry was out of the castle and was running towards Hagrid's hut. Sirius Black was still, he wasn't moving, according to the map.

Harry crouched behind a small hill, overlooking Hagrid's hut. He crawled on his stomach and examined the map. He then looked down, towards the hut. He frowned as something seemed wrong. The map was showing Sirius Black just outside the hut but there was no one except a black dog, he assumed it was a dog as it was just a black speck on the greenery from this distance. He again looked at the map, it still showed the name 'Sirius Black' where the dog was sleeping against the stairs of the hut.

'Is he an animagus?' he thought. 'That is the only viable option or the map is defective.'

Harry pointed his wand at the dog. 'Why not practice my aim in a practical class?'. He closed his one eye and took a deep breath. The distance between them was around a hundred metres. Harry could only see the distinct black small figure huddled against the stone stairs. He kept his hand still and cast a stunner.

'No time to play around. It calls for the use of deus.' Harry thought and teleported to the slumped figure of the dog. Now that he was near, he could feel the magic from the dog. It was definitely Sirius Black. Still for confirmation, he looked at the map. The identity of the dog was confirmed.

He along with the dog teleported right to the exit of the room of requirement. He touched the wall and imagined the room he wanted for the interrogation and torture. He entered the gloomy room with the dog levitating behind him. The room was totally dark with only a small magical lamp hanging from the centre of the ceiling casting a small circle of light in the centre of the room. An uncomfortable looking metal chair was in the spotlight. He pointed his finger at the chair. The dog changed into a skinny malnourished man in the air and was roughly dropped on the chair. Thick iron chains wrapped around his arms, legs and torso. A step away from Sirius Black, a black ornate throne was conjured. Harry quickly sat on it, facing the traitor. Harry rennervated the unconscious man.

Sirius jerked around the chair but couldn't move himself. He was freaking out as he was restrained to the chair. Did the aurors finally catch him? Where was he? His gaze settled on a boy sitting on a throne with his one leg crossed over his other thigh. He had dark messy hair which was somehow properly messy, like it was intentionally done in that way. His emerald eyes seemed to glow. His arms were on the armrests of the throne. His posture was like the kings who were ready to pass the death sentence to the criminal for disturbing their peaceful kingdom.

"James?" Sirius asked dubiously. He knew that James was dead but the boy looked so similar to his best friend with the similar face, though the lack of glasses and colour of his eyes clearly set them apart. A cold laugh filled the small room. Nope, it wasn't James. His best friend's laugh wasn't this creepy.

"Aren't you the reason for 'James' death? Or Azkaban messed up with your head?" Harry sneered, pressing his wand on Sirius Black's forehead. "I have killed people brutally just for trying to hurt my friends and family. What do you think I will do to the person who was successful in killing my parents? Your fate is sealed, Sirius Black. You will die but not instantly. I will take my time. It may be months or may be years before I let you go to the other side. But before all that, just tell me why did you betray your best friend? The thought of betraying one's best friend is so bizarre to me. I can't even understand it. What was the reason to kill your best friend? What was the reason to BETRAY MY PARENTS?"

Sirius Black just stared at the boy in amazement. It was Harry. It was his godson. James's and Lily's son.

"I didn't betray them. I would never do that. It was Peter Pettigrew." Sirius said absent-mindedly as he drank in the sight of his godson. Harry looked gobsmacked for a few seconds and just looked at Sirius as if not knowing what to do next.

"What the fuck!" Harry exclaimed and touched Sirius's forehead with his forefinger. Sirius knew he should reprimand Harry for cussing but remained silent as Harry read his mind. Sirius was agreeable to it and let his shields drop though it was unnecessary, Harry's Deus wasn't affected by the normal magic. Sirius was also amazed that Harry was doing all of it without a wand.

Harry slumped back on his throne and gave a pitying look to Sirius after reading his mind. He waved his hand and the chains disappeared from Sirius's body.

"I don't have enough emotional energy right now to talk with you. I am sending you to my aunt's house where you will stay hidden and recover from Azkaban. We will talk again when I come back there after the school year ends. Goodbye Sirius, for now. I know you want your revenge but I will take care of it. Show this to Petunia and she will treat you like a king. It was good to see you again, Padfoot." Harry managed a small smile as he handed a piece of parchment to Sirius. He took the parchment.

Sirius wanted to ask so many questions but didn't get a chance as suddenly his surroundings changed and he was in the Dursleys' living room.

XXX

Harry walked through the silent hallways. Everybody was deep in sleep at this hour. Harry's work has been done. He patted his pocket. His lips turned into a sadistic grin.

Still, instead of going back to his room where Iris was probably waiting for him, he walked towards the Ravenclaw tower. He had seen something interesting in the marauders map and had decided to inspect it.

He walked towards the entrance of the Ravenclaw room. He stopped in front of it. A small girl with light blonde hair was sleeping on the floor, in front of the entrance. She was just in her pajamas and was snoring lightly with her knees pulled to her chest. Harry's eyes widened at seeing the girl. 

'Interesting.' he mused.

Harry pointed his wand at the girl.

"Avada Kedavra." he hissed. Just as the green light was going to touch her, the girl's eyes opened and she moved to the side, missing the death spell by just a few inches. The floor was scorched where the spell hit. The girl stood on her feet and gave him a confused look.

"You have a lot of wrackspurts around your head. It has taken over your body and is trying to kill me." She said, tilting her head to the side, staring at him innocently. Harry wasn't fooled by the act, he grinned and pointed his wand at her.

"Stop the act Miss Lovegood. Show me your true colours. I haven't had a decent fight since...never. Maybe you will be a challenge." He said in a dark amusement and again sent the death spell at her. Luna gave him a disbelieving look and moved a step to the left, evading the spell.

"Stop it. I don't want to fight." she pleaded. Her request was ignored as Harry continued firing the killing curse at her which she deftly evaded. She pointed her finger at him with her eyebrows narrowed in annoyance. Harry suddenly found himself unable to move. His fingers uncurled on their own without his input and the wand dropped on the floor with a thud. His magic wasn't in his control anymore. As his magic was spread throughout his body, in every cell of his body, the magic overtook his body, taking the control of his body. Luna gave him an irritated look.

"Don't dare to use your 'deus' Harry Potter. I can see it swirling in your body, ready to be unleashed. But consider my warning before doing anything stupid. I need only a second to explode your body." she said frankly. Instead of being angry or embarrassed, Harry just laughed genuinely. Luna released his magic from her hold and gave him an exasperated look.

"You just wanted to see my power." she mumbled, grasping his intentions.

"Correct. I knew you were very unique but didn't know how. Now I know." Harry smiled, picking up his wand and putting it back in the holster and walked towards her.

"And you thought firing killing curses was the best way to find out my secret power?" Luna asked, raising her blonde eyebrows. "What if one of those curses hit me and I died?"

"I sensed great power from you, even greater than Dumbledore. I thought you would be able to manage it." Harry shrugged. "But if you were unfortunately killed due to my curiosity then I just needed to burn your body. Nothing new there. I am a pro at taking care of dead bodies."

Luna just stared at him, not knowing whether he was joking or not. She tilted her head to the left as she saw a rat in his pocket. She saw the magic in the rat.

"Why do you have an animagus in your pocket?" she asked, her eyes wide open, full of curiosity. Harry shrugged.

"Ask no dangerous questions and I shall answer none. It was nice meeting you Miss Lovegood. I always love meeting powerful people. And if the powerful people are cute girls, then it just gets better. Goodnight." Harry smiled as he started walking away.

"I advise you to stop pretending to be weak. Being powerful has perks, you can protect yourself and your family. I have learned that being weak just makes your life more miserable and attracts all wrong sorts of people. Think about it. I am not saying you should reveal your secret powers but that doesn't mean you can't use usual means to appear strong. I also hate seeing strong people bullied by weak and pathetic people. And I definitely hate those strong people who let themselves be cowed by pathetic insects." He stopped at the end of the hallway and looked over his shoulder. His eyes burned with disdain for her as if she was not worthy of the power that resided in her.

"Also, one last thing. Don't use this unique magic of yours on me and my friends. The consequences would be...very severe. Goodnight."

XXX

Harry entered his room and put the unbreakable cage housing the rat on his desk. Iris gave him a dubious look seeing the rat.

"You're still awake." Harry smiled as he picked up the night clothes from the cupboard.

"Woke up just a few minutes ago when I realised you weren't there. So what was the reason to wander around in the middle of night this time?" she asked. Harry shook his head, changing into his pajamas. He smirked as Iris blushed seeing him only in his briefs for a few seconds. Her eyes roving from his torso to his lean legs. He put on his pajamas and climbed on the bed, pulling Iris tight against his chest. Iris smiled contently as she pulled his arm against her chest and felt his body flushed behind her.

"We will talk about it tomorrow. Now let's just sleep." he murmured, kissing her hair. Iris nodded and closed her eyes, easily slipping back into dreamworld due to the comforting presence of Harry behind her on the bed.

XXX

Harry had ordered a quick meeting after the breakfast. Astoria and Iris were sitting on a sofa in front of him. He himself along with Daphne and Tracey were also sitting on a comfy sofa.

"Sirius Back is innocent." Harry said, starting the conversation. He received odd looks from everybody. He rolled his eyes and snapped his fingers. A golden screen floated between them and they saw his conversation with Sirius Black.

"What? You have killed people." Astoria asked him, already freaking out as she heard Harry's confession in front of Sirius Black. Harry mentally cursed himself. He had totally forgotten that Astoria still didn't know everything about him. He was so used to her presence that he had forgotten about the truth.

"I will take care of her." Iris said as she pulled Astoria out of the room of requirement. Astoria gave everyone betrayed looks as she realised she was the only one uninformed about it. Harry looked at Daphne who watched her go with conflicted emotions. She wanted to go with her and tell everything to her by herself but stopped herself, trusting Iris. She was, after all, Astoria's best friend. Sometimes it was easier to listen to best friends than to siblings.

"So you sent him to your relatives house. Do you think they will take care of him? I mean Sirius Black will need proper care to overcome the dementor's effects from his imprisonment at Azkaban." Tracey inquired. Harry nodded.

"Don't worry. Petunia will take proper care of him. She is trained to follow my orders. She will do it."

Daphne and Tracey shared an amused glance at his reassurance. Tracey would have been repelled by the idea of having human slaves if she didn't know the history between them and Harry.

"What about Peter Pettigrew?" Daphne asked, knowing him enough to know that his rage had increased and redirected from Sirius Black to Peter Pettigrew. Harry shrugged.

"I don't know. No one knows about his whereabouts and unfortunately I don't have the power to summon people I haven't met already and who don't want to be summoned. I will take care of him when I find him." Harry lied. Daphne and Tracey glared at him, seeing through his lies. 'Ugh! How do they always know when I am lying?'

"Harry. Spill." Daphne said, giving him a knowing smirk. Harry looked back and forth between them and groaned in defeat.

"I have him. He is a rat animagus. Don't ask what I am going to do to him. I don't think you have the stomach to hear the graphical description of the punishment I am going to give." Harry answered. They both nodded.

"You should know that if Peter Pettigrew is found then Sirius may get free of all charges. I am just suggesting that don't get carried away in your punishment, he may be useful in freeing an innocent man." Tracey suggested. Harry nodded to her.

"Okay. I already have a plan to prove Sirius's innocence. It will take place after the end of our school year." Harry explained.

"Why that long?" Daphne asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Punishment." Harry grinned, bringing down the temperature. Both the girls shivered at the thought. They tried not to imagine what Harry would do to Peter Pettigrew during the whole year. They instantly dropped that line of conversation.

"Let's duel." Daphne suggested quickly. She was always up for some intense duel.

"Sure." Harry agreed.

"So two on one? Or are you both going to take turns?" Harry asked, preparing himself.

"Sorry, but I have some homework to do. I am just leaving." Tracey smiled apologetically and walked towards the exit but stopped at the doorway and sent a desperate look towards Daphne, who just rolled her eyes but nodded. With that the door closed, leaving just Harry and Daphne. Harry gave her an inquisitive look.

"What was that?" he asked.

"Defeat me and I will tell you." She grinned in challenge and took a dozen steps back, her wand was in her hand. Harry fired a stunner at her in acceptance of the challenge which she effortlessly batted away. And thus started the heated duel between them, both of them inhumanely quick with brilliant aims and graceful movements. Firing, jumping, swirling between spell paths. But after 20 minutes of intense fight, Harry won when Daphne stumbled from overexerting herself. She slumped on the floor when the red jet of light hit her.

Harry took a few seconds to catch his breath and moved over to her prone body. He rennervated her.

"I won." he said simply.

"What a surprise." she mumbled sarcastically with a pout. Harry laughed and pulled her to her feet. The sofa materialised and they both plopped down on it. Daphne placed her head on his shoulder while his arm wrapped around her. They remained silent, recovering from the adrenaline high.

"So?" he prompted, impatient to learn what was going on with Tracey. Daphne just leaned to the side, falling in his lap, her head resting on his thigh.

"It was nothing really. Tracey was just overthinking it. At least I hope so." Daphne said, now suddenly feeling apprehensive. She had made fun of Tracey for worrying about it but now she was a little bit scared. 'What if he thinks I betrayed him? Technically, we both are not even couples in the traditional sense so it doesn't matter if I kissed anybody else. There is so much confusion. Why can't it be simple.' she scrunched her face in annoyance. Harry lightly caressed her cheek.

"Daph? What is it? You can tell me anything." he said, staring in her eyes. His emerald eyes were so soft and caring. She decided just to get it over quickly.

"I kind of forcefully kissed Tracey and she kissed me back." she said, he gave her a blank look, "And we both loved it. I mean the kiss, not the forceful part. We both are bisexuals. Though I think we like male partners more than female partners."

Harry was quiet, mulling over her words. Daphne was waiting for his reaction. But he was just silent which was freaking her out.

"Okay." Harry just said with a smile. She breathed a sigh of relief.

"So you are okay with it?" she asked. "I will continue kissing her."

Harry shrugged.

"I am okay. I mean I am going to tease Tracey next time for being a hypocrite. It was she who stopped kissing me thinking that we were moving so fast and now she is the one kissing you behind my back. I am fine with it. It is not like I can stop you both from dating anyone else. I would be a hypocrite if I did that. It's not like we are boyfriend and girlfriend." Harry said thoughtfully, missing Daphne's frown.

"So is it okay for me to go kiss some other boys or girls?" she asked, her tone full of mirth.

"Don't push your luck. I will not stop you but that doesn't mean I can't scare away your partners. Just one glare or a torture spell and they will run away with their tails between their legs." Harry joked, but both of them knew that it wasn't really a joke. Harry was a hypocrite, both of them knew that but didn't mention it.

"Now kiss me. I need your lips." Daphne said over huskily, turning from sexy to funny very fast. Harry gave her a dubious look.

"Didn't you just say that you are going out with Tracey. Doesn't that mean we are going to stop kissing each other. Wouldn't it be cheating?" Harry asked, glaring at her. To be honest, Harry was a little hurt that both of his best friends liked each other. It has its pros and cons. On the positive side, Harry doesn't have to worry about someone new coming between them but on the negative side, he won't be able to kiss Daphne or Tracey and he was getting quite used to kissing Daphne.

Daphne just looked at him stupidly and started laughing. Hysterically.

Harry was again confused. Did he just make a joke?

Daphne calmed down after a minute and climbed on his lap, hooking her arms around his neck.

"Oh Harry, you are mistaken. Me and Tracey aren't dating or anything. We are just kissing and exploring our other side. It doesn't mean I will stop doing sexual things with you. I like it. I love it. I am never stopping it. You, Harry, are mine and I am yours. It's never going to change." She said and kissed him aggressively. Harry kissed her back, overjoyed that he won't have to stop, running his fingers on her back. She pulled back after a few seconds and looked at him intensely.

"There may be many girls who will kiss you but let me show you why I will always be in your mind, why I won't be forgotten. I was your first kiss, I will always be your first in everything." she announced and kissed him back. Harry couldn't help himself due to all the sexual tension between them and dipped his hands below her waist, cupping her cheeks. She moaned in the kiss as she felt his warm and soft hands groping her. Her own hands dipped below and creeped under his shirt, feeling his soft and warm skin.