Zatanna & Raven Pt. 4

A/N: Just a reminder, new chapter here officially means new chapter over on the P atreon now, where my patrons are currently voting on the future direction of this story!

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After a beat, Zatanna ducks her head and gestures to Raven.

"Raven, it's up to you."

Startled at having her big sister defer to her, Raven squirms quietly for a moment before finally coming to a decision.

"… I want to learn to control it. I can't… I can't imagine a world without it. I don't know if I would still be me, if we removed a whole half of myself. I don't know what I'd look like after that, but I know I'd be different… a-and I don't want that. Even if it's what everyone else wants, I don't want to change, just for t-them."

By the time she's done with her heartfelt declaration, Raven has her hands clenched into fists at her sides. Zatanna is looking at the other witch with a sorrowful expression and reaches out to places a comforting hand on Raven's shoulder. Harry, meanwhile, takes this all in… and smiles.

"Then that's what we'll do. You'll learn to control it, here in this library, and we'll show all of them, your detractors and naysayers, how wrong they were about you."

Raven and Zatanna both look at him with wide eyes at that, but only for a moment before they sport matching smiles of gratitude. Really, after everything, were they expecting anything less from him? Especially after last night, heh.

Regardless, now that he knows what they're looking for exactly, Harry can… define the search, so to speak.

"Now, please do not disturb me for the next couple of minutes. I need my full concentration, while I'm communing with the Black Library."

Raven gives him a serious nod, But Zatanna just can't help herself. Adopting a feigned pout, the beautiful American Witch reaches up and tugs at her top a little bit, showing off some of her chest as she licks her lips suggestively.

"Are you absolutely CERTAIN there isn't something we can do for you while you're busy, Harry?"

He's tempted… insanely tempted. Especially with how Raven's eyes light up at the idea Zatanna is presenting, her hands curling in her cloak and her hips swaying from side to side in eager anticipation. But Harry has to shake his head with a sigh.

"It's not that kind of thing, unfortunately. I truly do need my full concentration, or shit can go… wrong. So please… just be patient, okay?"

Even Zatanna gets serious at that, giving him the same nod Raven already gave him. Feeling like he's impressed upon them both the severity of the situation, Harry lets out a low breath and steps forward. In the center of the Black Library's safest area, where the three of them are currently standing, is a table with some chairs on it.

This in and of itself is not an oddity. After all, if you wanted to research something, then a table and chairs was all but necessary in any self-respecting library. What's unique is the hand-shaped indentations on one side of the table. This is where Harry sets his hands, pressing his palms into the indentations and splaying his fingers to connect to the five dots surrounding each one.

Then, he focuses his magic on communing with the Library Spirit. It's his first time doing so, and he's not sure what to expect save for what he read in the notes he was given on the Black Library. As such, he's not surprised when the greedy thing draws on his magic, sucking at it, feeding on him. He quickly firms up his Will to keep it from drinking too much, effectively slamming a wall down onto it after he's decided it's had enough.

However, he's NOT expecting the voice, entirely feminine and silky smooth.

"Oh? A new user? Hello there, handsome. Your magic is… delicious~"

As the Library Spirit communicates with him, he can feel the secondary effect of her words, testing and teasing at his defenses, trying to push through his fortifications. Unfortunately for the Library Spirit, he wasn't that boy in Fifth Year who couldn't muster up a simple Occlumency Shield to keep Snape out of his mind. While Harry certainly hadn't learned an ounce of Occlumency from the Potions Professor himself, he'd grown in the time since… and worked on some self-improvement, one might say.

His own defenses strong, Harry goes on the offense, reaching out and doing the mental equivalent of a backhand across the Library Spirit's 'face'.

"I seek knowledge. That is ALL I seek. You have your payment, now you will obey."

"So ROUGH~ Even rougher than the others. Oooh, you're going to be a fun user, I can tell. Give me more! Make me your bitch!"

The tips of Harry's ears color. Seriously? Why the fuck had none of the notes on the Library Spirit suggested it was… like THIS? Still, he's not about to be stymied by a horny Spirit. Nor is he about to be tricked. With overwhelming force, Harry reaches out and grabs hold of the Library Spirit with his magic. He binds her up in mental thoughts of rope and chain. Unfortunately, he can't gag her… he needs her to be able to speak and ask questions.

"Yes! YES!"

"Be quiet and listen! I seek knowledge from you, Spirit! Not… not this wanton display!"

"But why not both?~"

Why not both? The answer was obvious, at least to Harry. If it were just him, he might have been sorely tempted. But it was not just him. He was here to help Raven, here looking for answers for another, not himself. And on top of all of that, he'd just spent the night with two beautiful women. He didn't need the Library Spirit's help in satisfying his already satisfied carnal urges. Still, he could throw the Spirit a bone.

"Give me what I want, and I may see fit to satisfy your needs, Spirit."

"… So transactional. Very well, what is it you desire?"

Rather than trying to use words to explain, Harry pushes forward what he needs. Raven's situation, or at least all that he knows of it, and the half-Lethifold's desire to become more in control of her other half, to tame the Dark Creature within her. He maybe accidentally lets slip some of his feelings for Raven, and even some impressions of what he and the two American witches had done the previous night as well, because the Library Spirit grows a bit more animated as he shares with her, cooing even over the impression he has of Raven.

"Oh, that poor dear. Let's see what we can do for her then, shall we?"

The Library Spirit wiggles in her bindings, and Harry very reluctantly lets her go, while keeping his guard up as much as possible. He can feel it, as the Spirit stretches herself out across the Black Library. It's a powerful reminder that the Spirit is NOT human, and while she might have a feminine voice, that could just be a trap, designed to lure him in.

Regardless, a moment later books come flying down corridors, entering the center of the library and stacking themselves up onto the table in front of him. Not just one book, as Harry might have hoped, but dozens of books, over the course of about five minutes. All the while, he maintains his connection with the Library Spirit, lips thinned out until the deed is done.

As the final book comes to rest on the top of the pile, he gets the impression of a caress across his mind.

"That one is the one you really want. But if I've judged you correctly, you'll exhaust your other options first. Still, can't say I didn't try~"

With that, the Library Spirit begins to retreat from his senses, ending their communion herself. Harry very carefully does not breathe a sigh of relief that the Spirit isn't trying to force him to uphold his end of the bargain right now. But at the same time, he gets the impression that his hasty words might come back to bite him in the ass, some day.

Regardless, Harry pulls his hands from the indentations and lets his shoulders slump, feeling what the communion took out of him for the first time. It's not that he's exhausted or anything, but certainly, it was a sizable chunk of his energy, not to mention the mild drain on his magic. Still, they got what they needed. The answer must lie somewhere in these books, he's sure.

When he looks to Zatanna and Raven to tell them the good news, however, the words catch in his throat, as he sees them giving him studiously blank expressions. Only then does Harry realize… HIS half of the conversation with the Library Spirit was not only in his mind. While he doubted, they'd been able to hear what the Spirit was saying to him, everything he'd said to it in return was said out loud.

Thinking back on some of the things he'd said, Harry groans and palms his face with one hand while lifting his other up to cut Zatanna off from the comment he KNOWS she's about to make.

"Don't… just don't."

But of course, Zatanna is not his slave, and while she is currently relying on him to help her sister, she knows he's not so needlessly petty to hold one quip against her.

"Wanton display, huh?"

Groaning, Harry buries his face in both hands, causing even Raven to giggle hesitantly, while Zatanna laughs at his expense. Still, the three of them get down to business soon enough, each grabbing a book.

Harry himself can't help but check out the book at the top of the pile, the one the Spirit had pointed out to him. He's glad he did so before Zatanna or Raven could grab it, because the title makes him blanch.

Dark Creature Husbandry: Taming, Training, and Breeding

Seriously? No wonder the Spirit had known he wouldn't go for this. Raven wasn't some… some ANIMAL. Sure, they wanted to help her control her Lethifold Half, and that would likely involve some form of training, but Taming and Breeding? The tips of Harry's ears are red again, as he carefully sets the book off to the side and grabs the next from the pile, digging into that one instead.

With this many books, he's SURE that there's a more reasonable answer somewhere in this pile. There's just… just no way that the answer likes in Dark Creature Husbandry, of all things!

Unfortunately, his conviction is sorely tested over the next few hours as he, Zatanna, and Raven all pour through the books the Library Spirit has chosen for them. It's not that the tomes don't have solutions in them… they do. They're just not acceptable solutions. For instance, one requires human sacrifice, something none of them are willing to engage in. Another method seems more likely to put Raven's Lethifold Half in control of her Human Half, then the other way around.

There are dozens of possible paths forward in these books, as Harry had expected from the Black Library. This was almost certainly the foremost repository of knowledge on Dark Creatures in all of Europe, if not the entire world. That said… he didn't like any of these answers, and neither did Zatanna and Raven, judging by their increasingly weary faces.

Until finally…

"This is it."

Raven's quiet voice breaks through the silence of their shared research, startling Harry and Zatanna out of their current reading. As Harry looks over, he blinks and then blanches again, recognizing the open tome in Raven's hands. A glance over shows that yes… it's gone. The Dark Creature Husbandry book has somehow found its way from his side of the table to Raven's.

Harry doesn't for one second think that Raven snuck it over herself. He would have noticed, and more than that, she's not that kind of girl. Which means… Harry grits his teeth and glares up at the ceiling, no doubt in his mind to the TRUE culprit. Unfortunately, he can't exactly go about punishing the Library Spirit right now.

"Are you sure, Raven?"

Zatanna, excited, hops up from her seat and hurries over to read over Raven's shoulder. Harry watches, clenching his hands into fists helplessly, as Zatanna frowns at what she's reading, her excitement dropping rapidly before she finally looks to Raven and repeats her query in a VERY different tone of voice.

"… Are you sure, Raven?"

In turn, the grey-skinned witch looks resolute as she nods, holding the open book firmly in her grasp.

"Yes. We've… we've already been preparing for this method without even knowing it, all these years. I've been acclimating to you every time you've… acted as a target for my lusts. I'm already half-tamed, by this book's definitions. That means the collar described here should take effect quite nicely… and with it, you'll be able to keep me in check."

Frowning, Harry clears his throat and speaks up.

"Collar?"

Looking at him with wide, hopeful eyes, Raven eagerly nods.

"With the right materials, we can build it. It… it probably won't be cheap. Um, I u-understand if it's too much, Zatanna and I can f-find another way to procure the f-funds and-!"

"Money is no object, Raven. We're allies… more than that, after last night. But are you sure this collar is a good idea?"

"Yes."

Raven's answer is immediate, and she certainly sounds sure, even as she goes on to elaborate.

"The collar will only allow individuals keyed into it to control me. More than that, it's meant to condition me, or rather, the Dark Creature part of me, over time. With it, you and Zatanna will be able to stop me when the Lethifold takes over and force it to obey you. Slowly but surely, you can shape me into a productive member of society, this way."

"Raven!"

Zatanna's cry of alarm matches Harry's feelings… or so he thinks. When Raven looks to her older, adoptive sister, Zatanna's next words make it clear that she's not as bothered by the same parts of what Raven is saying as Harry is.

"… You trust him with this?"

Harry jolts, just realizing what Raven had said and what Zatanna is getting at. Raven had said he and Zatanna would be able to stop her. Not just Zatanna. She wanted him keyed into the control collar. That was… that was a lot.

"I do. We've trusted him this far… and besides, we'll need his help. The collar is NOT cheap."

Zatanna slowly nods, before looking to Harry. It's clear that the American Witch has developed feelings for him, and she trusts him more than she did when she first came to him… but this is definitely a step even further than that, and she's not entirely comfortable. To be fair, neither is Harry. Surely there's another way?

… But no, staring at the books and tomes strewn all over the table after hours of fruitless research, it doesn't seem like another way is presenting itself. From what Raven is saying, the collar will slowly shape Raven into the woman she wants to be, so long as he and Zatanna don't abuse it, not that either of them have any inclination to, he believes.

Eventually, the collar would hopefully be able to be removed. But in the meantime, Raven would be putting her entire being in their hands. It was… definitely more than Harry was expecting to be responsible for. Part of him wanted to say no, to all of it. But that would almost certainly end their alliance, and this budding relationship he had going with the two witches.

He could… he could reject control over the collar, but still pay for its construction so that it was all in Zatanna's hands. But he'd gotten the impression that she was already a little burnt out from being the only one in charge of Raven, all these years. He didn't doubt Zatanna's love for her adopted little sister for even a second, but that didn't mean she didn't have her own struggles.

The final option, him and Zatanna sharing… custody of the collar, might be the best option for Zatanna, but would it be the best for him and Raven? Did he trust himself with that sort of power over the half-Lethifold?

One way or another, a decision had to be made. The weekend was almost over after all, and they would be expected back at Hogwarts tomorrow.

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