Chapter 21: Practice, Innuendo, and Confrontation

"Harry!

"Yes! Faster!

"Yes, oh yes!

"Ow... oh, no, no, stop," she gasped as Harry lifted up his head.

"What's wrong?" He had a slight smile on his face, and just a hint of red on his lips. She loved him even more then. This didn't disgust him- she didn't disgust him. But he also loved her and respected her. She said stop and he stopped. She knew that he could use their bond to force her to do probably anything he wanted. In spite of this, he always listened to her and almost always did as she asked. And really, when they got up later than she might have wanted, it wasn't because she wasn't having fun. Harry was right- starting the day off in a good mood made everything better.

She got her thoughts in order as the pain faded and her heavy breathing slowed.

"It was nice, but..."

"But?" He smiled at her as his hand was caressing her stomach.

She could feel her blush. Why did he have to be so damn good at this?

"Pansy... are you embarrassed?" He asked in a faux whisper, and she wanted to glare at him, she really did.

"I told you this was going to be a bad idea."

'It didn't seem like it to me."

"Well, it wasn't at first. When my orgasm hit, it triggered a cramp." There he was smiling at her again. Then he just had to go and kiss her navel, and despite her annoyance, she felt like purring.

"I'm sorry."

"Men are supposed to find that gross."

"A little blood? Pshh, those men clearly aren't made of very stern stuff." She groaned while he chuckled.

"Harry, I love you, I really do, but let's just wait another day or so before next time."

"If you insist, milady."

'Part of me does, at least.' Another part of her, though, was thrilled that he wanted her seemingly all the time.

"But I insist that we spend a majority of next weekend in the shower."

He really was incorrigible.

Hermione had finally agreed on a night to set aside all of her other work to join Harry and Pansy as they worked on the Patronus Charm. They stopped at an empty class room after dinner one night, and Hermione immediately pulled out a book, quill, and parchment. Harry and Pansy only had their wands with them.

"Alright, Hermione, it looks like you decided to read up," he said with a grin. "I assume you know the basic idea. Wand movement isn't important. The incantation is Expecto Patronum. But the most important thing is the emotion behind this spell. A Patronus feeds off a positive memory. And the memory needs to be strong. Deep. Significant."

Hermione was taking notes about what he said and Harry had to smile.

"I'm not going to ask for an essay on this, so you might as well just grab your wand and give it a go."

"That's it?"

"I'm much more of a practical, hands on teacher."

Pansy smirked to herself. Sometimes it was harder to get his hands off of her long enough to cast the spell when they practiced. Of course, she had plenty of positive memories now and was able to consistently conjure a misty shield. Her guardian was still to come, and while it was usually some sort of creature, she thought that hers might end up being a wizard with messy hair and intense eyes.

Hermione stood and walked to the middle of the room. In a firm voice, she said, "Expecto Patronum."

A bit of white mist came out, but the spell quickly faded.

"That's a good start," Harry said as his friend looked discouraged.

"Barely anything came out."

"This is a very advanced spell you want to learn. You can't expect to get it perfect immediately."

"Yours was more powerful than that on the train."

"I also had been practicing the spell for about three weeks by then."

"Yes, but you were able to force the Dementor back."

"Hermione, this isn't a contest. I'm not here to grade you on how quickly you learn the spell. Just relax.

"Take a deep breath.

"And try again."

Hermione cast the spell again, and the light was a bit brighter, but once again, she was unable to hold it for more than a couple of seconds.

"That's good."

"It didn't seem very good to me," Hermione grumbled.

"Hermione, this is a really hard spell. If you want to get better, you just have to practice it a lot. The more you do it, the longer you'll last and the more powerful it will feel."

"That's all there is to it?"

"You didn't really think I was going to tell you to read half a dozen different books to learn the theory, did you?"

"I expected a bit more than just being told the basics and then repetition." She looked a bit put out to Harry, and he frowned at her for a second. Obviously, he and his friend learned this sort of thing very differently.

"If you want a bit more advice, I'd recommend trying to use different memories. Find one that feels particularly strong and the spell should feel more powerful as well. Don't be afraid to use a whole bunch of them."

"What do you mean?"

"As logical as you are, I'd guess you would probably focus on one or two that might seem like the most significant to your mind. You need to turn that part of your brain off and follow your heart. Emotions aren't logical."

Pansy watched as Hermione tried again. Harry had admitted to her that he was thinking of snogging her when he tried to fight off the Dementor, but the next time he tried practicing the spell, he found it was much more powerful when he thought of the joy and relief of boarding the train with her. She had some of her own best luck when she thought of seeing Harry's arms outstretched as he caught her. It was no surprise that both cases focused on the two of them being together.

The third time, Hermione's spell faltered even faster than the second.

Harry noticed she seemed a bit dejected, so he quickly told her, "Good work." When she looked at him ready to scoff, he asked, "That was a different memory, wasn't it?"

"Yes," she admitted.

"Good, then it seemed that one didn't work as well. Put it aside and try another."

Hermione tried a couple more memories with similar results before Harry called for a stop. By then, she was sweating and panting a bit.

"Alright, that's good for now. This brings me to my final two things for you to learn tonight. First, this spell takes a lot out of you, so don't try to cast it over and over too many times or you will feel very drained. Second, don't practice this alone. If you overdo it, you're likely to cause yourself to pass out. I learned that the hard way."

Granger didn't pass out, but she did end up riding piggyback on Harry the last couple of floors up to the Gryffindor tower. He was amused by it. Pansy had to carry the other girl's bag and was feeling pretty annoyed. Did she really need to lug around half a dozen books with her on a day when she had only three classes?

When they reached the common room, Harry marched in cheerfully still carrying his passenger. This earned more than a few laughs. When he carefully set her down and they saw how sweaty and tired she was, people were giving her interested looks. Then Harry, of course, had to make things worse.

"Hermione, you look terrible. What have you and Harry been doing tonight?" Ron asked. Harry noticed that Pansy was once again overlooked.

"I was giving her some private tutoring," Harry said with a cheeky grin. He got a whistle in response. "It was a very hands on lesson."

Fred and George started throwing out rude remarks. Hermione was too tired to argue, especially over how loud it got.

"I had to help her find a very happy memory." There were more laughs. She groaned, but even more than she wanted to stop him, she just needed to sleep.

"I think I might have worn her out."

Thankfully for Harry, Hermione was starting to doze off.

He walked across the room to where Parvati and Lavender were giggling at his antics.

"Excuse me fair ladies, might I ask a favor of you?"

"Of course, good sir," Parvati answered all too quickly, her eyes smiling.

"Dear Hermione needs help getting up to bed. As it seems I am not allowed to carry her up there myself, I was hoping that you would be able to lend a hand."

"I suppose we must. If we left her down here, who knows what you might do to her while she sleeps."

Several people laughed at the Indian girl's comment, but Pansy was watching her intently.

"I assure you, milady, that I am a gentleman."

"Are you really?" Parvati held out her hand. As Harry leaned over and kissed it, Pansy saw the flush come over her. This would not do, not at all.

Pansy looked around the room at various reactions. The sound all dimmed out for her as her mind focused on her targets. The weasel was red and looking more than a bit angry. His jealousy was going through the roof, although whether that had to do with the exhausted bookworm or merely with Harry's ability to flirt with girls was hard to tell. His sister had looked hurt that Harry might have been paying that sort of attention to Granger but now was staring daggers at Patil. Brown looked amused but there was a hint that she wished she had thought to engage Harry in playful banter first.

Patil, though, was the primary target. The girl was far too attractive and far too pleased with herself for flirting with Harry. She took his arm and walked across the room, loving the attention from the room, but mostly from Harry. Pansy knew he wasn't really interested in her, but she was not willing to let even a crack form that might cause her problems in the future.

Moments later, after Granger was led upstairs, Pansy went into their private quarters. She heard Harry following her while people were still joking in the background. Once the door was closed, she grabbed him and took him directly to the bedroom.

She spent the next couple of hours taking her frustration and jealousy out on him. All told, it was a truly wonderful night for Harry.

The next morning, both Weasley and Granger were late for breakfast. This left Harry and Pansy sitting alone for once. Their quiet meal was soon interrupted though, as Parvati and Lavender came bouncing down the aisle with mischievous looks on their faces.

"Harry, do you mind if we borrow Pansy for a bit? Pretty please?" Parvati asked with her eyelashes all a flutter.

"Umm..."

"It's nothing serious, we just need her for a bit of girl talk," Lavender added.

He looked past them at Pansy, who rolled her eyes but dismissed him with a motion of her hand. Harry actually felt a little lost at having to separate from her.

"I guess I'll just go talk to Neville then."

As he walked away, he already could hear whispered voices and giggles. It was the strangest thing, but for some reason the sounds from the three teenage girls were a bit frightening.

"Hey, Neville, mind if I join you?"

"Sure Harry. Why aren't you sitting with Pansy?"

"Girl talk, apparently."

"What does that even mean?"

"Nev, if I ever find out, I'll let you know."

"Okay, umm..." Neville looked unsure of something. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"What happened to Hermione last night?"

"Oh, that. She wanted me to try to teach her the Patronus Charm."

"What's that?'

"It's the spell used to drive off the Dementors."

"You mean like what you used on the train?"

"Exactly."

"Why did she pass out?"

"It's a pretty advanced spell and it can take a lot out of you. I thought I had stopped Hermione from practicing it too much, but I guess not."

"Oh. People were talking and joking about, you know...

"That you two were doing something else."

Harry laughed.

"No, no, nothing like that."

"But, you were saying last night..."

"I was just goofing around," Harry said as he shook his head. "Don't get me wrong, Hermione's cute and all, but she's not my type. Besides, she's my best friend. I don't think she''d be safer with any other guy in the school than me."

"I understand," Neville nodded and Harry started to wonder.

"So, Neville, let me ask you something.

"Why are you so interested in whether or not I left Hermione's virtue intact?" Neville grew pale as Harry's eyes looked at him fiercely.

Meanwhile...

"So, Pansy, we were wondering..." Parvati began.

"Since you are Harry's shadow," Lavender said, unable to stifle a giggle.

"Just what happened last night? And more specifically, what did he do to Hermione?" Parvati looked absolutely ravenous for this information.

"You expect me to spill all of my Lord's secrets?" Pansy said with disdain trying to mask her amusement.

"Well, after what he hinted, is it really a secret?"

"Tell you what, ladies," Pansy couldn't help but smirk. These two gossips were pretty fun sometimes. "Let me hear the theories already going around first and I may be persuaded into spilling the beans."

"Ooh, great," Lavender said with a squeal of delight. "Well, one idea is that Harry had his way with her and he was simply too much man for her."

"And look at him," Parvati said, with a longing glance down the table at Harry. "He's definitely too much for Hermione."

'Too much for you too, bitch,' Pansy thought.

"Right, but you were there too," Lavender continued. "So maybe both of you had your way with her."

Pansy raised an eyebrow at that. She was not considering any threesomes, Harry was hers dammit. But if she ever did, she would certainly pick someone of much higher quality than Granger. Ugh.

"Anyway, I don't like either of those ideas," Parvati said. "Everyone knows Harry and she are best friends. I think maybe she's starting to realize that her appearance is not the best. She is too proud and stuck up to come to us girls, so she went to Harry to have him help her get in shape. You know, shed the baby fat so she could start trying to turn some poor boy's head.

"But if she really wants to do that, she should really come to us, because her hair, the way she dresses, really, everything just needs so much work."

At times, Pansy really wanted to hate Patil, but in this case, she was absolutely right. Pansy pitied whatever guy might end up dating the uptight bookworm.

"That does sound reasonable, actually," Pansy said. Parvati looked gleeful and Pansy put a stop to that immediately. "Too bad it's not correct, though."

"Oh, well..."

"I told you that wasn't it," Lavender replied. "It's more fun to come up with wild ideas anyway. The gossip is so much better if people think Harry is a stud and Hermione is secretly a total slag for him. They say it's always the quiet ones, you know."

Lavender laughed and Pansy joined her.

"Fine, then," Parvati huffed. "Lavender's favorite theory is that Hermione was auditioning for Harry's harem."

Her friend looked scandalized that she would reveal this.

"And since you are already a member, Hermione had to measure up to whatever Harry's standards might be. Or be willing to do just as much, if not more, than you are," Parvati finished and looked critically at Pansy.

"Then why would only Granger be sweaty and worn out?" Pansy asked, not liking the way she was being looked at suddenly.

"Strip tease," Lavender answered.

"What?"

"Harry made her do a strip tease. You know, a sexy dance where she takes all her clothes off," Lavender said.

'That could actually be pretty fun,' Pansy thought. The other two girls looked a bit flushed, and Pansy sadly realized that they were both probably thinking of taking their clothes off for Harry too.

"Sorry to disappoint you girls, but thankfully for me, I did not have to see Granger naked last night."

"Oh." They both did actually looked disappointed at that.

"So, no harem then?"

"No."

"But, you'll tell us if he does start one, right?"

Several nights later, Hermione talked Harry into a second practice session for the Patronus Charm. He chose a class room much closer to the Gryffindor common room and had her stop quicker than he had previously. Thankfully, this time Hermione required no assistance getting back to the common room or the girls' dorm. She still looked sweaty and tired though, and Harry noticed more than a few snickers as they came back that night.

Once he and Pansy turned in for the night, he asked her about it.

"Please tell me you set them straight about the Patronus practice?"

"Now where would the fun be in that?"

Harry groaned.

"Just so you know, I told Neville exactly what happened that morning."

"You're no fun sometimes."

"I don't need Hermione getting mad at me for people gossiping about me taking advantage of her."

"Look, Harry, if I'm going to have to be around Granger, then you're going to have to let me get her to loosen up. She could do a lot worse than people thinking that she's secretly getting snogged by the great boy who lived. Hell, people could think she does something like that with Weasley when you're not around.

"And let me tell you, that would do some serious damage to her reputation."

"Please, don't make me imagine that," Harry whined.

"Why not? Jealous?"

"No, come on," Harry looked down at her and saw that she was clearly enjoying this. "They may be two of my best friends, but that doesn't make me an idiot. They argue all the time, and not in a cute way either. They would make a terrible couple. The only question would be whether Ron would make her cry or punch him first."

"That's true," Pansy said as she rubbed her head against his chest, trying to get more comfortable. He responded appropriately, by wrapping an arm around her. It was so easy to get Harry trained just right.

"Just to take my mind off that terrible image, I've actually got a little gossip for you."

"Really? That's surprising. You haven't been talking to Patil and Brown while I wasn't looking, have you?"

"You're the one they borrow for girl talk, not me."

"It would be odd to see you gossiping with them."

"Yeah.

"Anyway, the interesting thing happened when I was talking to Neville. He was more than a little curious about what I was doing with Hermione. Me thinks young Mr. Longbottom might have a little crush on dear Hermione."

Pansy at first wanted to say something mean, but she held it in. Granger and the squib might actually sort of work as a couple in a gross, pitiful way. As long as she didn't have to see them doing absolutely anything physical, that is. That thought might turn her stomach. The chubby little weakling and the bossy know-it-all mess. Yuck.

But, it might get the weasel to act even worse, and that would be wonderful. One of these days, she would be rid of him.

"I guess she could use something to distract her from trying to work herself to death," she finally said in response.

"That would be nice."

"I still hope one of these days we can find the ministry's Department of Terrible Ideas."

"And blow it up?"

"With all the morons in it."

"I love you Pansy."

"Harry, would you stay behind please?"

It was October 15th and Harry was literally counting the days. Two weeks till the full moon. Pansy made him re-read from the ritual book every night before they could have fun time, but it was going to be so worth it.

Today, however was once again Defense with Lupin. He was becoming most people's favorite teacher, and Harry grudgingly admitted that the practical portions of the class were far better than the two previous years of nonsense. But he still was nothing but distant with the man, and staying after class was not going to be pleasant.

As everyone else filed out, minus Pansy of course, Harry gathered his things and tried to take a deep breath to calm himself. Thankfully, it was the end of the day, so hopefully Pansy would help him relieve the oncoming stress he could already feel building.

"What can I do for you, Professor?"

"Hermione told me that you were teaching her the Patronus Charm."

'Of course she did,' he thought.

"She asked me for advice and I offered to help tutor her on it. I wondered if you needed any help yourself. Perhaps you could show me how far you've gotten with the spell and I might be able to give you some advice, or arrange extra practice."

Normally, this would have been useful and Harry would have been thrilled to accept. But it just had to come from Lupin of all people. Only Snape would have been worse.

"No thank you, Professor."

"Come now, Harry. If you're serious about learning this spell, I would be glad to help."

"Why?"

"What do you mean? I'm your teacher, that's why." Lupin looked confused, as if he assumed Harry would jump at this opportunity.

"None of my other teachers have ever offered me extra lessons."

"Well, after the train, I thought you would be interested."

"That was a month and a half ago."

"Yes, but I didn't know you had been practicing all this time. Your practical work in my class is excellent, although your written assignments are merely mediocre. What I've heard from the other teachers is that this is typical for you. I'm curious. It seems like you could do much better in your grades. So why don't you?"

'Are you supposed to be my guidance councilor now?' Harry held his tongue at that, but it was a close call. Instead, he decided he'd had enough of this conversation.

"How well did you know my parents?"

That threw him for a loop.

"I know you went to school with them."

"Yes, I did, Harry," Lupin's voice was low. He seemed to be struggling with what to say. He eventually sat down behind his desk and let out a sigh.

"I knew them both very well. Your father was one of the best friends I ever had. He was like a brother to me. Your mother was a singularly kind and generous person. They were both outstanding people." The teacher looked sad and lost in a memory.

"Then I guess you knew me as a baby too?"

"Yes, I did. We were very close friends. It was a wonderful thing when you were born, even in such a time of darkness."

Harry saw Pansy approaching him. She could tell he was upset, and he knew she probably wanted him to stop what he was saying, but he couldn't.

"So then what happened?"

"It was a terrible loss. When your parents were killed, I..."

"You knew Sirius Black too."

"I thought I did," Lupin sighed. "First the loss of your parents, and then he killed my other friend, Peter.

"Within a day, they were all gone."

"But you weren't gone. So what happened?"

Lupin looked up at Harry, and saw his scowl. "Harry, you have to understand, I..."

"Twelve years." Harry stood, his voice full of an icy rage. "The only child of your supposed best friends was left an orphan. And for twelve years, you didn't care.

"So don't pretend to care now. It's too late for that, you fucking bastard."

Harry didn't look back as he stormed out of the room. He could feel Pansy following him and a blast of angry accidental magic slammed the door shut behind them.