Chapter 24: Gryffindor vs. Slytherin

Harry ended up introducing Pansy to the filling yet somewhat disgusting muggle wonder known as fast food after they left Godric's Hollow. If he had the foresight to have had more muggle money on him, he probably would have taken her somewhere better. Really, pretty much anywhere would have been classier than McDonald's. But it was already nearly three in the afternoon and they were starving. Despite the mediocre quality, fast food is thankfully fast. He could always take her out somewhere fancier in the future, which he thought of later that night. Thankfully, she didn't seem to mind- they'd had a trying day after all.

He showed her the flat where he'd stayed for the summer and went over the wards surrounding the place, which he had a better grasp of now thanks to Runes and the books he had been reading. They were pretty secure here, although Harry had a couple of ideas that could make it better if they decided to stay there in the future.

Pansy's queen size bed was still sitting out in the middle of the living room, after Dobby had taken it there just before they got on the train two months ago. It hardly seemed like it had only been two months. Harry now felt like his life was divided in two, before and after Pansy came into it. They spent most of the evening just talking, relaxing and listening to some of his mother's albums. Pansy started the process of teaching Harry how to dance. It was fairly embarrassing, but Harry feeling like a fool did at least lighten the mood after the events at the cemetery. He was able to avoid stepping on her toes for the most part. Her smile and laughter made it worthwhile.

Harry considered, but eventually discarded, the idea of introducing her to the Brightwells. Better to wait was his eventual conclusion. Besides, his paranoia decided that he didn't want them to know that he could come here when he should be away at school. They didn't expect to see him until the Christmas holiday break. That should give him enough time to have things taken care of and then he could introduce Pansy without worrying as much about someone finding out where she was.

They ended up sleeping in the next day until Dobby woke them with smells of the breakfast he was cooking. He had been surprisingly quiet since his work went on only about ten feet from where his humans slept. It made Harry realize once again that the talents of house-elves were clearly under appreciated. They ate, showered, and changed into fresh clothes that Harry had packed the day before. Once they were done, Dobby took them back to Hogsmeade.

They made their way through the village largely ignoring the students around them. Harry and Pansy were each scheming in their own minds. Dobby had revealed that he could have taken them directly to their personal quarters at Hogwarts. After getting over his surprise, Harry had refused, not wanting anyone to know that. It seemed that while you couldn't apparate directly into the castle, the house-elf ability was not hampered as it was, technically, not apparition. He wondered how few magical people must not realize this, as these humble creatures they all looked down upon had a powerful loophole that could get around anti-apparition wards. This could make all the difference for the future.

For her part, Pansy was now starting to spin an idea or two about how to deal with the Dursleys. Dobby could be a great help. She had no doubt that the elf would be willing to help her get revenge on the nasty muggles who had hurt the Great Harry Potter sir. The question was just how much she could trust him to not tell Harry everything. Keeping a surprise for his birthday had worked well over the summer. A secret like this would be a much bigger deal. She decided to scheme on her own for awhile. No need to make Dobby hide something from Harry for any longer than necessary.

Soon enough, they were entering the Great Hall just in the middle of lunch. There was a larger than expected amount of people still in the castle, and Harry immediately noticed the quiet that fell over the room as he strode down the aisle towards Hermione and Ron. There were a lot more stares than usual.

"So, what did we miss?"

Harry felt like screaming 'I told you so!' as soon as he heard about Sirius Black breaking in to Hogwarts. Halloween was officially cursed as far as he was concerned. Pansy was able to convince him not to gloat only by suggesting they return to the seventh floor where they had met. She wanted to see if they could find that special room again.

The door was missing when they arrived, but after Pansy paced trying to remember what happened to cause the room to appear. A moment later, there it was.

"That's still a neat trick," Harry chuckled. He followed her inside and found the room looked just as he remembered it from five months ago.

"I remember how the room was different the second time, when we needed a table to sit at," and as Pansy said that, the room shifted and a table appeared in front of them. "Okay, how about a room to practice spells?"

Once again, the room changed around them. It grew a lot larger, leaving them plenty of room.

"Wonderful, now I want to try something out. Let's see if we can tell how much the ritual might have strengthened our magic."

"Good idea. We need to find the right type of spell though," Harry wondered aloud and several targets appeared across the room from them, all of them holding replicas of wands. "Disarming, I guess?"

"The physical effect should be noticeable enough to see a difference," Pansy said as she walked over next to him, drawing her wand.

"Ladies first," he said as he stepped back.

"Expelliarmus!"

The wand was blown out of the target's hand and the dummy flew back a few feet.

"It's too bad we didn't try something like this before hand, just to have an idea of where we were. Did it feel different?"

"A bit more powerful, yes. Not enormously so," she answered as she looked thoughtful. "I guess its possible the ritual's magic might still be working, although I hadn't read anything that suggested much of a delay."

"I'm sorry," Harry said, "I hope you're not too disappointed."

"No, it was definitely more powerful, just not... amazingly so." She looked over at him with a grin. "I think that night was pretty wonderful anyway."

"Me too," he said as he stepped over and kissed her. "I guess it's my turn."

Harry lazily flicked his wand and fired the disarming spell at a target about twenty feet away.

A moment later, the splintered remains of the dummy slammed into the far wall, at least twenty feet from where it had been.

He stood there in an awkward silence as she turned to look at him.

"I assume that felt more powerful to you?"

"Uh, yeah... a bit."

"Just a bit?"

"Well," Harry looked over at her, somewhat embarrassed. "More than a bit."

"Can you be more precise, Harry? This is important. You have a lot of enemies out there.

"We have a lot of enemies out there."

"It's hard to say," he shrugged and saw her look of annoyance. "It's not like I've cast this spell recently. I'd say it was a lot more powerful than a year ago at the dueling club. How much though? I'm not sure. Twice as powerful, maybe. But I've been practicing magic a lot since then, so..."

"So, you're not sure how much of it might be from the ritual."

"Yeah," Harry admitted. But then he looked back at her, "I have an idea. We should try spells we have practiced lately."

"Such as?"

"Imperio!"

Pansy felt a calm presence wash over her. She could feel Harry's magic pulsing through her and it was wonderful. He called to her, to come to him, to embrace him, to kiss him. She didn't think she could have resisted, even if she wanted to.

Seconds later, the spell ended and she whined as he stopped kissing her.

"Do it again," she growled at him.

Once again, the spell completely overwhelmed her, and once again she was in his arms.

"I don't think you're trying to resist," Harry said with a grin as she felt him release her once again.

"Harry..." she took a deep breath. "That was definitely a lot more powerful. I could feel the spell, not just telling my mind what you wanted me to do. It was like my whole body felt it. And..."

"And?" He prodded as she blushed.

"It felt really, really good. I know the curse is supposed to make you feel good when your willpower falls away, but this was a lot more than just that. It...

"Actually, it felt a bit like the ritual itself did, when the magic was coursing through my body."

"Oh, well I think I want to try this out then. Hit me with it."

Pansy took a deep breath to calm herself and pointed her wand at him.

"Imperio!"

Harry could tell the magic was different. Pansy was more powerful and with it she called to him to come to her this time. He wanted her, and the magic wanted him to want her. He knew then what she meant about it being reminiscent of the ritual a few nights ago. He stepped over to her and took her in his arms. But once he felt her, he easily shook off the spell.

He kissed her anyway.

She tried pulling away from him, and he could feel her ending the spell, but he kept on kissing her. Pansy dropped her wand and threw her arms around him. They collapsed onto a bed that appeared nearby and snogged as if their lives depended on it.

A few minutes later, Harry finally sat back and smiled at her.

"So, that definitely did feel different from when you'd cast it on me before."

She smiled back at him and pulled him down to lay beside her. "Was it harder to resist?"

"At first, yes."

"Only at first?" she smirked at him. "It seemed like you did the opposite of resist."

"As soon as I touched you, I threw it off completely. The rest was just me doing what I wanted."

She laughed.

"We were supposed to come here to get some work done, you know. We can do this," she stroked his cheek and her lips were on his again, but only briefly, "when we get back to our room tonight. Now get up."

She climbed off the bed and Harry reluctantly followed.

"Time for the next test. Let's see how our work on the Patronus charm is going."

"That is certainly something we've practiced a lot lately. Alright, Pansy, let's see what you've got." She kissed him then stood a few feet away after finding her wand on the floor. She winked at him.

"Expecto Patronum!"

The light that burst out of her wand was bright, probably brighter than ever before, and it seemed to fill the room. It didn't take a shape just yet, but Pansy did not seem to be having any trouble maintaining the spell. On and on it glowed before she lowered her wand.

"I could tell that was more powerful. How do you feel?"

"Not nearly as drained as before," she answered. Her breathing was only mildly heavier, a far cry from the panting that came after the first couple of times she was able to produce a shield even a third as powerful as what he'd just seen.

"Good."

"Your turn."

Harry stepped into the center of the room.

"Expecto Patronum!"

White light exploded and they both had to shut their eyes.

Pansy held a hand up to shield her vision as she blinked to try to get the spots to go away. Then she looked up to see it. Harry's Patronus. It was enormous. And powerful. She could feel his magic, his joy seemed to fill the air. It felt just as wonderful as his Imperius curse had, only slightly different. More pure, somehow. She saw his smile.

"I guess I've got this spell down now."

The next few days were nerve-wracking. Pansy was worried what Lupin might have done after following them to Godric's Hollow, but thankfully, it seemed to have just depressed the man even more. There was no further sign of Sirius Black, but the mood in the castle in general was more tense. With the first quidditch match coming up, Wood the maniac had scheduled practice almost every night- and to make matters worse, the weather was alternating between cold and stormy. Thursday evening, it was both and Harry looked absolutely miserable when he got back to their quarters, soaked to the bone and his teeth chattering.

Pansy knew just the way to fix him up. She had made sure to have the contraception spell memorized backwards and forwards by now. One shag in a nice warm shower later, Harry was as good as new.

Saturday morning, it was hard for both of them to get out of bed, despite being woken early by the crashing thunder outside. For one thing, they were both still tired from the night before as Harry was seemingly insatiable and Pansy put up little resistance besides the occasional remark that there might be more to life than sex. She wasn't really going to argue that point with much conviction though as she was just having way too much fun letting Harry prove otherwise.

But more importantly, at that moment they were far too warm and content to get up. They stayed under the blankets, snuggled up as Harry tried to decide if he wanted to reveal his contacts today.

"It would be much better to not have to deal with glasses in that mess," he said as he gestured towards the rain beating against the windows.

"True, but it would let one of our secrets out of the bag as well. Maybe you could wear them with the clear lens glasses instead?"

"That wouldn't help that much. I'd still have water blurring things for me."

"If the visibility is bad enough, you could take the glasses off once you get on your broom. You're often flying around fast enough that it might not be easy to spot, especially in this weather."

"That's a pretty good idea. I think there's a charm that might help too. I was looking into this early this summer, but then other things started taking priority."

"Other things?" She had an amused look on her face.

"You know, pretty girls and monsters. What else would a teenage wizard be distracted by?"

"What other pretty girls are distracting you?"

"Oh, are we feeling jealous, my dear?"

Pansy answered with a growl.

"You mean you haven't noticed all the other naked girls in my bed?"

"Don't change the subject."

"Fine, I won't. I need your help finding a charm to keep water off my glasses. Oh, Dobby?"

"Yes, master Harry?" The elf popped in happily as usual.

"Can you get our copies of the Standard Book of Spells for Pansy and I? Unless you know a way to keep the rain from causing me problems with my glasses."

"Of course Dobby can do that!" he excitedly shouted. He closed his eyes in concentration and a moment later snapped his fingers. "Master Harry's glasses will stay clean for the next week."

"And by staying clean, that will keep the water off, or keep them from getting fogged up?"

"Yes, master Harry!"

"Brilliant, Dobby!" Harry laughed. "Wait a minute, if house-elves have a way to keep things clean for a week like this, then..."

"Please don't tell master Harry," Dobby whispered. "It's a secret."

Harry and Pansy looked at each other, puzzled.

"Alright, Dobby, we will keep this a secret for you. Thanks for the help." Dobby left as Pansy shook her head.

"I don't think I'll ever understand house-elves."

"Well, this does save us some time, so..."

"So?"

"Well, normally, I might expect a good luck kiss from my girlfriend before the game."

"Too bad you have a secret girlfriend."

"Yes, so we'll just have to have some secret fun before we go out among the poor sods who don't know our secrets."

"What type of fun were you thinking of, my Lord?"

"Well, if a kiss brings good luck, then shouldn't a shag bring a giant amount of good luck?"

"Are you saying you need a lot of luck to beat Malfoy at quidditch?"

"How dare you insult my honor so," Harry said in his silliest faux-posh accent.

"Then, you don't need any good luck do you?'

"Maybe just a bit to keep the dementors and lightning strikes away?"

"I think we can come to an agreement. No good luck shags though," Pansy whispered into his ear.

"Why not?"

"There has to be something for you to look forward to after your victory."

An hour later, Harry walked into the Great Hall with a smile on his face. He had absolutely no nerves this morning- there was still a lot Pansy was willing to do for good luck that was this side of shagging, and he had visions in his head of a private celebration later that night. He was enjoying his breakfast when he noticed Wood's nerves were rubbing off on the rest of the team. Angelina, in particular, looked ready to slap someone.

"Hey guys, relax, we beat Slytherin the last two years easily. They don't have a chance this year either."

The twins looked at Harry as if he'd grown a second head.

"Where did this confident young man come from who looks so much like our old friend Harry?"

"You might remember him as a ball of nerves before our other matches?"

"Just look at it this way, guys, " he replied, "they'll have a lot more trouble trying to foul us all the time in this weather."

"We still have to play in this weather, though."

"It can't be any worse than the last practice Wood ran us through on Thursday," Harry chuckled. "I'll try to keep it under three hours long, for one thing.

"As soon as I can spot the snitch, we'll be headed back inside. There's no way in hell I'm losing to Malfoy- not even in that mess outside."

This seemed to stir Wood into action.

"Harry's right. We should have won the cup the last two years. This is our year. Let's go out there and destroy the snakes!"

Much of the table responded with a cheer around them. Pansy noticed with irritation how much the Weasleys in particular wanted to beat her house.

Now, it was true that she disliked many of her supposed classmates, but she disliked almost as many Gryffindors as well. More importantly though, she thought that Slytherin cunning was a much better virtue than the brash and foolhardy Gryffindor bravery. Harry certainly seemed to combine the best of both and was always willing to listen to her ideas. She was proud of how much he liked her devious nature.

As the crowd made its way out to the stands, she noticed the familiar blonde hair of Narcissa Malfoy who was apparently willing to brave the weather to cheer for her son. It hadn't escaped Pansy's notice of how much time the older woman was around to supposedly see her son- and yet she somehow kept running into Harry. Then flirting with Harry. Pansy was still annoyed a bit by this. Jealousy of the idea of Mrs. Malfoy trying to seduce Harry was being replaced with other things in mind. Schemes, if you will. She just wasn't sure if the idea she had come up with was great or terrible. It might have been both.

Then Pansy noticed the magical charm that she and other adults were using to act like umbrellas overhead, keeping them dry. It was a bit of magical force that didn't seem to be buffeted by the wind like a real umbrella would be. And that was something worth being jealous over today.

She was sitting with the Gryffindors, just as she and Harry had discussed over the summer. Her green scarf wrapped around her neck in the sea of red and gold around her. It would have been something to see, you know, if not for the downpour going on. Thankfully, the match was soon under way as she strained to look for the snitch, hoping Harry would keep this as short as possible.

"Sometimes I wish Harry didn't play quidditch," Granger said next to her. Thankfully, Weasley was on the other side away from her. The two gossips, Patil and Brown, were on Pansy's other side. "I wouldn't be out here otherwise."

"That I can definitely agree with," Pansy said.

"I have so much work to do this weekend. I really don't need to catch a cold out here."

"Harry did suggest you manage your time better," Pansy said with a knowing look.

"I have been, but getting sick would cause problems for anyone. If this game went on for very long, we could all catch pneumonia."

"Harry won't let us down," Patil said.

"He's never lost yet," Brown added.

"I've enjoyed his other matches more though." Pansy saw the look on Patil's face as she watched Harry's distant flying form. She did not miss the fact that the girl was rooting more for her boyfriend than the team. A cheer went up around her as Gryffindor had scored first.

She could see Harry flying with a purpose, scanning the pitch high and low for the snitch. She was glad to give him some incentive to get this dreadful game over with as soon as possible.

There was so much warmth over in the distance.

Calling to them.

Young souls.

Filled with promise, hope, enthusiasm. Joy even.

It was delicious.

And there was so much hunger.

The fools wanted only the one capture. Only one kiss. Only one to feed so many.

Why?

When there were so many to taste so close.

A feast. A feast to feed the hunger.

So many to kiss.

So many to devour.

To feed the endless hunger.

Black would not be enough.

Not ever enough.

Black tasted bland. Thin, weak. Like gruel.

The freshest, the newest prisoners. They always tasted the best.

Black didn't taste very good, even when he was new.

But there... there was a taste that called to them.

The fools had blocked them from going there. But the fools weren't here now.

The fools couldn't stop them.

And with that realization, the call was heard again. Louder. Much louder.

The taste was too strong. Too strong to not answer.

One of the fools was there. One fool to try to stop them. Not enough.

Not nearly enough.

A mere snack. Just a small taste.

Never enough.

They keep calling.

It was time to answer. To find the new taste.

The feast would begin.

Pansy was starting to shiver. 'Dammit, Harry, hurry up and catch that stupid snitch.' Did she mutter that to herself, or only think it?

On either side, people were squishing together for warmth. Patil and Brown. Granger and Weasley. The person who should have been keeping her warm was out there on his broom. It was more than just frustrating. She wanted Dobby to run a warm bath for her. She might not climb out for a week. As long as there was room for Harry in there with her, he wouldn't object.

What was the score anyway? She thought Gryffindor was winning, at least the last time she heard. With the howl of the wind and the crashes of thunder, it was hard to hear any announcements that might have been coming from Jordan, which was just as well really. He was a rather obnoxious older boy in Gryffindor. Being obnoxious, of course he was friends with the Weasleys.

Was it getting colder?

She saw him then. Harry was streaking across the pitch, and with a flash of lightning, she saw the little gold ball he was chasing. Malfoy was trying to catch up to him, but even on the faster broom, Harry's skill was out of his league. The snitch was more erratic than usual- probably the wind buffeting it about.

Just as Harry was reaching for it, she heard the screams.

So many new tastes.

The screams began and they were delicious.

The empty hours waiting were almost worth this.

The hunger was fading, if only briefly.

There were some older tastes as well. Some were still worth feeding from.

But more than that, there were the young.

So fresh.

So full of life.

They wanted to drink them all in.

And their screams filled them with the desire to taste even more.

It was a feast unlike any they had enjoyed in so long. So very long.

Buried in all of that food, all that desire to feast, the meager taste of Sirius Black was easy to miss.

There was a small young one on a broom. Pale. It had lived such a soft life. A life without want. Its scent called out. It screamed and flew away as fast as it could.

Nearby was another on a broom. Not as small, not as soft. But still just as tasty. Then it pulled out a wand.

And terror came to those who were used to being the cause of fear.

She heard the screams all around her. Within, she heard her own scream. She remembered the pain. She remembered his shadow standing over her. She remembered his voice, his orders. To become closer to Malfoy. She shuddered just thinking the name of the vile worm. The anger, the pain. The humiliation.

But she also remembered Harry. How he had come for her. Held her. Fed her medicine. Watched over her, wand in hand, all night.

And she remembered him catching her as she fell.

Harry on his broom. His arms around her again.

And she could feel them.

His warmth.

His love.

She never heard the words of his spell. But she opened her eyes and saw his Patronus once again. It was just as majestic as she remembered. Maybe even larger. The light seemed brighter than any light could be. It drove away the darkness.

The screams faded.

A dragon.

She didn't know what type of dragon it might have been. She never bothered to learn the different breeds. She wondered if Harry had. Regardless, it was simply massive. The glowing white wings stretched across the entire section of bleachers she was in. Everyone around her had become quiet and she noticed smiles on the faces of those closest to her. Granger had tears streaming down her face.

That was when she saw him, floating on his broom just in front of her. Then he smiled for a second.

She noticed screams off in the distance, and she could tell Harry did as well. He turned and directed his dragon with his wand. It flew across the stands, bathing section after section with its light. The people were silenced by its power, while the dementors fled with their terrible screeching, pained by Harry's Patronus. Pansy saw Narcissa Malfoy staring across at Harry. Her eyes shone with something like desire.

Pansy knew that look. And it almost made her think of her schemes before two things stopped her.

First, a silver phoenix flew across the pitch from the other side, driving off the last of the dementors before approaching Harry's dragon.

Then the dragon disappeared.

And Harry fell almost right on top of her. Thankfully, Longbottom was sitting just to her front, and the pudgy boy made a nice soft spot for Harry to land. His broom shot off somewhere as it left his control. Harry was breathing but out cold.

Pansy screamed for Dobby, who appeared and was quick to take his master to the hospital wing.

Just before they left, she noticed how his wand was still clutched tight in his hand. He was still trying to protect her, even as he passed out from exhaustion. Again. Hopefully it was just exhaustion.

His other hand was clutched around a wriggling golden snitch. There really was no way Harry was going to lose to a Malfoy.