The Weakness of the Ouroboros Necklace

Chapter 15: The Weakness of the Ouroboros Necklace

Harry returned to his room and sat on the chair in front of the desk. He sighed as he rubbed his face with his palm. Another tired sigh escaped his lips. He turned the chair so he was facing the door of his room. He snapped his finger and Iris materialised in front of him. She gasped as she realised she wasn't in her room anymore but was in Harry's.

"Iris." he said impassively. She turned to look at him. Her heart stopped for a moment. Harry was sitting on his desk chair and was staring at her. His gaze was cold and emotionless. His usual playful smile was absent. The terror seized her body. She had never seen him look at her that way. The warmth and love deprived look.

"Bi...Big...bro..ther," she stuttered, not knowing what to say to bring back the warmth in his emerald eyes. He nodded towards the bed. She immediately complied and sat on the bed. Her palms were sweating, her hands were shaking.

"Why didn't you call me immediately when you realised you were in danger?" he said in the same emotionless voice. Her breath hitched in her throat. Why was he acting like this? Shouldn't he just hug her and console her like he always does? Her eyes started brimming with tears. Her vision blurred.

"I...thought...I would...be able..to...handle him...and...didn't..want...you..to..hurt..him." she sniffled. She wiped her tears to look at him, expecting to see his worried gaze but there wasn't any expression on his face. She heard him grinding his teeth in anger. Rage replaced his emotionless mask.

"You didn't want me to hurt him?" he asked, his voice calm and dangerous. She nodded. His lips turned into a vindictive smile.

"It seems you were unsuccessful. I just tortured him into insanity. I also ripped and mutilated his body. Blood is flowing from him like a river from a mountain. Crimson blood is dripping on the floor from his desk at this very instant. Though he is alive right now. But I don't know how much time he has? I am sure he could be saved." Harry laughed mirthlessly. Iris cringed. Her face paled at his description. She was trembling in fear. He stood up and walked towards her. She was stuck at her place. She wasn't sure if it was Harry's magic or the betrayal of her terror seized body. He kneeled in front of her, on the floor and took her shivering hands in his.

"Tell me Iris, do you hate me? Do I disgust you? Do you still want to be with your 'big brother'?" he asked in a mocking voice. "Let me tell you some more of my sins. I killed a Slytherin student last year. I also killed Professor Quirrell. I shot a spell which pierced his heart. Blood erupted from his chest like a lava from a volcano. I don't feel even a little bit queasy or guilty. Do you still want to be with me?"

She wanted to say yes, she wanted to say she would be with him whatever happened but her frozen body betrayed her again. She opened her mouth but she couldn't form a response. He gave her a mixture of pitying and angered look and she knew she had made a big mistake. She knew she should have answered yes instantly. She knew that he mistook her fear for disgust. She cursed her unresponsive body. She wanted to slap herself.

"Weak. Pathetic." he whispered but she heard him, she didn't know whether he was telling that to her or to himself. Tears flowed down freely from her eyes. She was hyperventilating. She wanted him to hug her, she wanted his warm embrace, she wanted him to comfort her but he just shook his head in defeat and backed away and sat back on his chair.

"Go! Save that rapist. Get him to the healer. Go now and get raped and I won't come to save you. Weak, you all are weak. You all are pathetic. I work hard so that I can save you. I experienced pain so that you all could be safe, did you think it was easy to make that ouroboros necklace? Do you think I just imagined and a part of my magic was captured in it? NO! I had to cut it away from me so that it wouldn't come back to me. It felt like severing my arm with a kitchen knife. BUT I did it anyway because I wanted to keep you all safe, so that you won't be in pain or in any danger. I felt the pain equal to cutting my body 4 times to create those 4 Ouroboros necklaces. Why?" he yelled but by the last sentence his voice faded to whisper.

"Go, take your morals away from me. I don't want to see you right now. Take your disgust away from here. Leave me alone." he whispered. Two minutes later, Iris was still on the bed, sobbing her heart out.

"I said GO!" Harry yelled. Iris scampered out of his room. Harry took a deep breath then groaned and rested his head on the chair's headrest. He stared at the ceiling with guilt building inside him. 'I may have overdid it.' he thought, 'Was this really the right time to channel my 12 year old self and throw a temper tantrum?'

XXX

Astoria was feeling uncomfortable seeing Iris at the heels of Professor Lockhart. So instead of going down she went towards the library where Harry was and informed him about Lockhart and Iris. Harry told her to go to the common room. She nodded as he left for Lockhart's office. Again, instead of going to the Slytherin common room, she went to the seventh floor. The room allowed her to enter. She saw Daphne and Tracey engaged in a heated duel. For a second she stopped to admire them. Daphne was obviously superior with her graceful dodges and her crisp wand movements but Tracey wasn't bad either. She was dodging and shielding, she was jumping and firing. Astoria shook her head to clear her thoughts.

"Stop!" she yelled. Tracey and Daphne stopped instantly and turned towards her. They frowned seeing her worried face. Daphne and Tracey wiped the sweat from their faces with a clean cloth conjured by the room.

"What happened, Tori?" Daphne asked, coming towards her. Tracey followed behind her.

"Professor Lockhart asked Iris to his office. I feel apprehensive about that." she said, tugging her loose black curls on her shoulder. Daphne patted her shoulder.

"Don't worry. Iris has the necklace. She can call Harry if she is in any danger." Tracey reassured her.

"Yes and I find it very stupid that Lockhart can be harmful. He is just a spineless moron." Daphne joked, her hand still on Astoria's shoulder.

"I have already told Harry about it and he went after Iris." Astoria informed them. Tracey and Daphne exchanged wary glances. Their earlier carefree nature was replaced by dread.

"Let's go. We will wait in the common room for them." Tracey suggested and the trio started for the Slytherin common room.

They were sitting in their usual place, looking at the exit of the common room waiting for Harry and Iris for the last 20 minutes.

Iris suddenly crossed the room swiftly, rubbing her bleary eyes. But she didn't come from where they were expecting her, she came from the boys dormitory where Harry's room was.

"Iris!" Astoria said and ran after her, towards the girls dormitory. Daphne and Tracey felt conflicted. They wanted to go and console Iris but they also wanted to know what exactly happened. Their curiosity won over their sympathy and they walked to Harry's room. The door was wide open. They peered inside to see Harry sitting on his desk chair, his elbows on the desk and his head pressed in his hands.

"Harry?" Tracey said as she and Daphne entered the room. He looked up at them and forced a smile on his face.

"Tracey, Daph? What are you doing here?" he asked, turning around on his chair to face them, his elbows on the backrest, his chin resting on it.

"What happened? We just saw Iris running from here with tears in her eyes." Daphne questioned as she sat on the bed.

"Yes, I haven't seen Iris crying since when we joked about exchanging her with Astoria." Tracey nodded and sat beside Daphne. Both looking expectantly at him. Harry gulped and turned his gaze away from them.

"I just had a fight with her." he said simply. Daphne and Tracey waited for him to say more but he didn't.

"Just that? Oh come on, that is totally normal. Siblings fight all the time. Just watch Tori and me for that. You don't need to worry. Everything will be alright." Daphne assured him. Harry shook his head and snapped his finger. A golden screen floated in front of the two girls.

"I don't want to talk about it but I am sure it is not a normal fight. Just watch the memory." Harry said tiredly and rested his cheek on his hands. Daphne and Tracey watched Harry summon Iris to his room on the screen. They watched him yelling at her and informing her about Lockhart's fate. They gasped when he described the method to create the special Ouroboros necklace. 

Tracey was pale, she covered her mouth. That was the third kill for Harry. When will he stop? She didn't know what to say to him. Daphne meanwhile was rubbing her forehead, headache already forming.

"Harry." Daphne said in exasperation, "You can't expect everybody to be ruthless and ready to kill another person. It doesn't mean that they are weak or pathetic. It just means that they are good people unlike you and me. Also when were you going to reveal that you mutilated your magic to create these Ouroboros necklaces?"

Harry flinched at that. When he had said Iris was 'weak and pathetic', he had also included Astoria and Tracey in it.

"I know and I am sorry if I offended you. I was just angry and I didn't mean everything I yelled at Iris. I was scared because of the weak link in my necklace. Also, I was never going to reveal how painful the process to make the necklaces were. Let's just ignore it, please." he told them.

"What weak link?" Tracey asked, joining in the conversation. She decided she would ignore another murder. She was getting used to it now. It wasn't as if Harry hurt someone innocent. He just defended his sister's chastity. It was the right thing to do. Right?

"There is another ability hidden inside the necklace. My necklace can protect you all from magic attacks. If Lockhart fired a stunner at her or even if he fired a killing curse on her then the necklace would protect her. The spells would just disappear after touching her."

"WHAT?" Daphne exclaimed in shock. Tracey was staring at Harry in wonder. Did he just say that the necklace would protect against any spell? Even a killing curse?

"Yes. It will protect you against any spell whether it be light or dark spells. When I said you guys are the most important people to me, I wasn't kidding. The necklace basically makes you invincible against magical attacks. I didn't reveal its true function to you because I didn't want you to act cocky and get in trouble. But it still isn't perfect. It cannot protect you against physical attacks. So if a transfigured or conjured knife pierces you, then you will still bleed and will die. When Lockhart bound Iris with a conjured rope, I was angry and feared the outcome of the meeting if I wasn't present there. He just exploited the weak link unintentionally. Then he announced that he would have...have...sex with her. Imagine my fear. That my necklace's only weak point is that it can't protect against physical attacks. So if Astoria hadn't informed me and Iris didn't summon me then Lockhart could have raped her and I wouldn't be able to protect her. Just imagining that starts a fiery rage inside me."

"But you know that Iris would have called you, Right? I don't think she would have just lied there and let Lockhart do anything with her. Iris isn't stupid or mental." Tracey said softly. Harry nodded.

"I know but...I think I was just scared and I rarely get scared. I just keep thinking what if Astoria hadn't informed me? What if I wasn't able to be there at the right time?" Harry said in frustration, his fingers pulling his hair. Tracey stood up from her place and walked to the chair. She held his hands in hers and pulled him towards the bed, sitting him between her and Daphne. They both hugged him from both sides.

"It is done. Don't worry. Everything is alright. Just relax Harry." Daphne said, squeezing his shoulder. Tracey hummed in agreement and ran her fingers in his dark hair.

"Whatever happens, Daph and I will always be by your side. Everything will be fine. Give some hours to Iris to dampen the ache in her heart and then go and apologize to her. Okay?" Tracey smiled, placing a kiss on his cheek. Harry nodded and had a small smile on his face.

XXX

Iris was lying on her bed. It was 10:00 in the night. She hadn't eaten dinner. She didn't want to see Harry's cold eyes. She couldn't bear to look at him with that expression. So, she had decided against going to the great hall with Astoria for dinner.

Astoria had tried her best to cajole her out of her room but Iris just didn't want to go out. She was dreading meeting Harry again. Will he abandon her for that? Will he be angry at her forever? She sniffled recalling his words. Weak and pathetic. She was just that. Weak and pathetic. She buried her face in the pillow, trying to go to sleep but her mind was filled with thousands of thoughts. Did Harry think she was repulsed by him? That wasn't true. She still admired him, she still...loved him. She knew that she didn't agree with Harry's method. That she didn't want him to kill Lockhart but that didn't mean she was repulsed by him, that she hated him. That was impossible. She didn't even know if she could hate him. He was the only family of hers. He was the only one she loved. Will he forgive her if she changed her ways? Will he forgive her if she becomes cruel? Will he forgive her if she learnt the killing curse and cruciatus curse? Will he be proud of her for that?

She sobbed on the pillow. She was sure that she couldn't be cruel even if she tried. She didn't have the stomach for that. Does that mean she will always disappoint him?

A hand combed her hair. She jerked away and sat up. Harry was sitting beside her. His eyes were full of concern. She didn't know if she wanted to grab him in a tight hug or run away from him so she didn't have to disappoint him again.

"Little one." he greeted her with an apologetic smile. Her chest filled with warmth. He just called her 'little one' and not Iris. Did that mean he forgave her? He opened his arms. She crushed into his chest like a fish needing water. She pressed her face in the crook of his neck, her arms wrapped around his shoulders. She couldn't stop the heart wrenching sobs that escaped her. She just clung to him and cried to her heart's content. He didn't interrupt, he had his one arm around her waist and the other on top of her head.

"I am sorry for yelling at you." he said when she pulled back to see his face. She shook her head, he stopped her protest by putting his finger on her lips and he shook his head.

"I am sorry." he said again. She just nodded. A smile spread on his face. She smiled back and caressed his cheek. Did that mean he forgave her? A hope blossomed in her chest. A rumbling sound came from her stomach. Blood rushed to her face in embarrassment while Harry chuckled.

"Are you hungry?" he asked. She shook her head. Her stomach betrayed again by producing an embarrassing sound. She groaned and covered her face with her hand. She gasped as she felt Harry's warm hand on her stomach, underneath her shirt.

"This, here, contradicts you." Harry smiled smugly.

"Okay. I am hungry. Fine?" she huffed. Harry laughed as he ruffled her hair.

"Take some clean clothes. We are going to my room. While you get a much needed shower." he said, scrunching his nose dramatically, "I will ask an elf to prepare something to eat for you." She rolled her eyes at him. Sure, her face and hair was a mess but she definitely wasn't stinking. She nodded and went to the cupboard to find some clothes.

XXX

Plenty of delicious food was piled up on a conjured small table. Harry meanwhile was propped against the headboard of his bed, a book open in his lap. Iris was in the bathroom taking a quick shower. Few minutes later Iris stepped out of the bathroom in light pink shorts and a loose black t-shirt. Her hair was still a little wet. She looked at the food hungrily and then back at Harry whose gaze was in the book. She grinned and sat on a chair in front of the table and started eating her late dinner. When she was done, she sat beside Harry and looked at the book. It was about something called 'Fidelius Charm'. Harry closed the book and put it on the bedside table.

"Junky!" he called and an elf popped up in the room. "Clean the table and take away the utensils."

Few seconds later, the table vanished along with all of the leftovers, plates and the elf himself. Harry turned to the side and looked at her.

"Okay, I will now explain why I was angry with you." he said. She nodded, she bit her lower lip. Her nervousness was visible. Harry chuckled as he again propped his back on the headboard of the bed.

"Don't worry. I am not going to yell or something. I will just explain why I exploded." he reassured her. She nodded though her nervousness didn't faze a little bit. Harry sighed.

He pulled her and placed her on his lap. His hands on her waist and on her cheek. She felt a little better. If he was caressing her cheek like usual then that at least meant that he wasn't going to tell her how disappointed he was in her.

"I overreacted." he began. His hand cupping her cheek, his gaze soft and penetrating at the same time.

"Tell me little one, did you ever wish that you had a family, a someone who would love you no matter what, a someone who will stand by you till the end?" he asked her. She just nodded, she was sure if she started saying anything, she would break down into tears. Family was the only thing she ever wanted. She knew she wasn't unique in that desire. All the children at the orphanage at least had the same desire. But she knew that her chance of adoption was quite low. Who would want a little girl who can make things explode when she is angry or sad. She shook her head, no need to remember the past.

He smiled as his hands roamed in her hair which was now totally dry. She could imagine that Harry did something with his Deus or his normal magic. She sometimes couldn't distinguish which was which.

"You see, I had the same wish. I just wanted someone who would love me no matter what. Who won't shy away from me. I needed someone like that. Then I saved Tracey from a horrible fate and me, Tracey and Daph started our own version of family. At least that's how I think of them. They are my family because I knew I had none before but wanted one. They became my dearest. Then miraculously, I found out that I indeed had a blood family. A long lost sister. I was overjoyed and angry at the same time."

He paused there. His hands were on her shoulders.

"Because that created a new situation in my life. I already had a family in Daphne and Tracey and didn't need a new one. I was polite to you in the beginning and thought it was enough. That my friendliness was enough. That I didn't need to make a deep connection with you. But that first night when you had a nightmare and asked me not to leave you in your dream, I felt my heart tearing into pieces. I was sad for you. I was angry for you. But most of all I felt a connection with you. You see, when I was little and was beaten and thrown into the cupboard, I didn't pray 'Don't leave me' like you but 'Please someone come to me, someone help me'. You reminded me of little me and I swore I would protect you, I swore I would give you anything you would want. I finally had a family. I would not lose it. Now imagine what I would have felt if Lockhart had hurt you. Imagine my heart's condition if he was able to do what he was planning. I would have been devastated. I would have felt like I was the weakest person in the world, the most pathetic person who couldn't even save his own little sister."

Iris had her eyes down. She couldn't bear to see the fear in his eyes. She finally saw that he wasn't only angry at her but was angry at both of them. She also finally understood why Harry disliked their relatives. They had abused him. His hands were on her shoulders and he pulled her towards him, their bodies pressed tight against each other, her face only an inch away from him. 

"Imagining that just makes me angry. Really really angry." he whispered. "When you said you wanted to be by my side forever and I agreed. I wasn't kidding. My forever is not metaphorical. My forever is literally forever. I want you by my side forever. I want you to sleep beside me forever. F-O-R-E-V-E-R. Be that 200 years or 20000000 years."

Iris was confused. She was glad obviously with his confession but she didn't know what he meant with 'forever'. He smiled smugly as if he could see her thought process. As if he knew something no one else did.

"Okay." she said dumbly. Harry shook his head in amusement. He gently touched his lips to hers and her senses exploded. She could only feel his lips, warm and smooth. His hands were on her hips. She couldn't believe she was earlier fearing that she would sleep alone tonight, that she would be deprived of her nightly kisses. Harry would never do that to her. She didn't even know when she started grinding her arse on his crotch but that made him stop. He gently pushed her away at a shoulder's distance and grinned mischievously.

"That is enough for now. No need to start doing this so early." he laughed and placed her beside him. She pouted and climbed back on his lap. He gave her an unamused look. She pulled his hands and put it on her shorts where her arse cheeks were. She saw his eyes glaze and she smirked in triumph. He shook his head and pulled back his hands.

"Iris." he said in an exasperated voice.

"What? You do that with Daphne, why not me? Am I not good enough? Is my arse not as good as Daphne's?" she said in a faux sorrowful voice. Harry sighed at her antics.

"She is almost 13. You are only 11. I don't know why you even like it. Or maybe you are just an early bloomer." he said in a thoughtful voice.

"Yes. I am an early bloomer. Now let's continue this." she said excitedly and started rocking her hips against his. They both groaned in pleasure. Harry suddenly flipped so he was now on top of her. Iris didn't mind as he was still between her legs but he wasn't moving anymore. He leaned and placed a sweet kiss on her lips. He scooted a little and lied beside her.

"No fair!" she grumbled. Harry chuckled and positioned them in their usual position. Her back against his chest. His one arm wrapped around her, her own arms pulling his hand against her chest.

"You little minx. You distracted me. I didn't even tell you why I was angry with you. Now listen." he said. "I am again sorry for calling you weak and pathetic. I didn't mean it. I was just angry. I know you are a good person and you can't make yourself hurt anyone but sometimes you have to."

Iris nodded. She understood that. She would kill anyone if it saved Harry, even if it would later make her go insane with guilt.

"I am not telling you to hurt anyone. I am just asking you to let me do that. I am very proud that you are still so innocent and good but sometimes you have to do bad things. I was angry because you had the chance to call me but you didn't. I get that you wanted to 'save' me and didn't want any blood on my hands but that is not your decision. I already have blood on my hands and I don't mind it a bit. I can kill without a little remorse. I am just that way."

She couldn't see his face but knew there was fear on his face. That a little part of him expected her to be repulsed by him. Expected her to push him away. But she wasn't disgusted. She knew it was wrong to hurt others but Harry wasn't hurting innocents. She forced herself to believe he was right. She squeezed his hand in a reassuring way.

"I just want you to promise me that when you think you are in danger you will summon me no matter what. I can't bear to see you hurt. I finally found you and I am not going to lose you ever again. Can you promise me that?" he asked tenderly.

"I promise, big brother. I will never again make the same mistake as before. I will call for you whenever I suspect that I am in danger." she said, entwining her fingers with his. She felt his relieved breath on her neck and a shiver passed down her spine.

"So when can we start doing these things like you do with Daphne?" she asked in a husky voice as she scooted her hips back, pressing it against his hips. She could feel his boner pressed on her arse cheek.

"Iris!" he laughed. "Stop doing that. And no we are not going to do this now. We will wait until you are 13."

She quickly turned so she was facing him.

"Impossible. I am not waiting that long." she exclaimed in shock. He grinned as he patted her cheek.

"Okay, we will start when you prove that you are actually an early bloomer and are not just pretending to be a grown up."

"And how will I do that?" she asked, pressing closer to him, her hand snaking down towards the bulge in his pants. His hand stopped her advance and pulled it back to her chest. He gave her an amused look.

"When you start growing a pair of boobs." he said, touching her almost flat chest. It wasn't like a boy's chest. There were two soft mounds there but it couldn't be seen or noticed without being naked. And Harry had seen Tracey naked once when she was eleven and he knew that Iris was already developing way faster than others. He was pretty sure that she was an early bloomer.

"First of all, you are a pervert. Secondly, what if it takes two years for them to get enlarged. Will I have to wait for that long? It seems worse than before."

"First of all, who was the first one trying to touch my private part? And if you don't remember, you always press my hand on your chest when we sleep, so nothing new there. Secondly, if you took two years to develop your breasts then it's bad luck for you." he grinned, placing a kiss on her forehead. She looked thoughtful, deciding which was the better deal.

"Okay. I accept." she said after a minute.

"I am glad."

He then spent about 15 more minutes explaining to her in detail about the specialities of the ouroboros necklace. He explained to her about the weak point of the necklace and Iris was again reminded why Harry was so angry. Lockhart could have done any physical thing to her if Harry wasn't present. She was in awe of her brother. He had made a powerful artifact which could save them from direct spells.

"Goodnight, little one." he smiled, placing a last soft kiss on her lips. She smiled and turned around, lying in her usual position against him.

"Goodnight, big brother." she yawned. She still touched her butt against his hips but it was a light touch. She wasn't pushing against his hips anymore. Still, Harry drew his hips a little back. She also shifted to remain in touch with his hips. He groaned against her neck but didn't try to move anymore, understanding the situation. Iris giggled. She wasn't going to budge on this. No pun intended. This was their usual sleeping position, Harry spooning her from behind, she wasn't going to change it just because he had a boner right now. It wasn't her fault that he had a boner. Was it? She could have sworn she heard him whisper 'little cunning minx' just before she closed her eyes. 

The disappearance of Lockhart was explained by his note. No one questioned it. But the Hogwarts staff was fuming. Lockhart hadn't fully finished his contract at Hogwarts before going on an adventure to get inspiration for his new book. The students didn't really care. Lockhart wasn't particularly imparting any knowledge to the students so it didn't matter if he disappeared just a few months before the year's end.