Deepest Desire

Chapter 8. Deepest Desire

Harry and his friends were sitting by themselves in the compartment of Hogwarts Express, heading back to London.

Tracey and Daphne were busy talking with each other, planning to meet each other on holidays while Harry had a book open in his lap.

"Did you see Hermione's face when she saw the list of top first year students?" Daphne asked them, a smirk taking over her lips.

"Yes. She looked as if someone had kicked her puppy." Harry replied, turning to the next page.

"You shouldn't make fun of her. She was absolutely sure that she was going to be ranked number one, imagine how disappointed she felt when she was ranked fourth after us." Tracey admonished both of them.

Daphne just shrugged.

"She shouldn't have been that presumptuous and overconfident."

"True." Harry agreed with her. "Being confident is one thing, but underestimating others is another. I can't imagine how she even thought that she could even rank number one while I was in the same year group as her."

Daphne and Tracey coughed which oddly sounded 'modest' and 'hypocrite'.

He ignored them and went back to the book.

"Harry? Will you visit us during the holidays?" Tracey asked, looking at him expectantly, trying to change the conversation.

Daphne had the same excited look as Tracey.

"Sure, when you both are at one place, send me an owl and I'll be ready. Then you can summon me with the necklace after my reply." Harry smiled, flipping to the next page.

He had just found a very interesting spell in the book.

"What is stopping me from summoning you whenever I want?" Daphne asked with a teasing tone.

"You can, but don't complain if I decide to stay at your house and sleep in your bed cuddling with you. If you're going to summon me for no reason and no prior warning then you must be ready to make my stay comfortable." He droned without looking up from his book.

"Sure. I'm looking forward to sleeping with you." Daphne replied, not backing down.

"If I remember correctly, then the last time we slept together it freaked you out. I'd rather sleep with Tracey who didn't yell at me to remain on my side of the bed." Harry quipped, finally looking up and staring at Daphne.

"Are you never going to forget that?" Daphne asked, rolling her eyes. "You can't fault me for freaking out, it was the first time in a long time when I shared a bed with someone and on top of it, you being a boy, just escalated the situation."

"Whatever. If you're going to summon me then be ready to become my cuddle buddy." chucked Harry.

"Sure." Daphne agreed, now seriously considering it.

Tracey was ignoring them for the moment, making plans for the day when they will be together. An excited smile bloomed over her face.

~xXxXx~

Harry helped Tracey and Daphne with their trunks. They stepped out of the Hogwarts express and looked at the sea of people.

Daphne and Tracey's mothers were standing together. Astoria was also present with them.

She was apparently searching for the girls and Harry since she quickly found them and waved at them to come over to her.

Tracey and Daphne hugged their respective mothers while Harry stood there and observed others.

Hermione and Jasmine were happily reuniting with their parents, babbling excitedly among them. There was a large number of ginger heads at one spot, a plump woman fussing over them. Draco was standing next to his father while his mother had her arm around his shoulder.

Family. What a privilege.

He was hugged out of nowhere, getting pulled out his reverie. His hands instinctively wrapped around someone's back. He wasn't going to deny anyone his hugs. Even if it was a stranger.

It wasn't a stranger.

"Harry! How're you?" Astoria's excited voice was full of liveliness.

He smiled softly as she untangled herself from him.

"I'm fine, Astoria. How're you?" asked Harry.

"I'm fine too. I'm very excited to start Hogwarts after a couple of months." she said and they started conversing with each other about that.

After bidding goodbye to his friends, he went to the muggle side of the platform. Standing there was his uncle Vernon. He lowered his gaze when he saw Harry coming towards him.

"Vernon." Harry nodded. His uncle nodded back, leading Harry outside where his car was parked.

The ride to the Privet Drive was filled with pin-drop silence. When they reached their destination, they unceremoniously entered the house.

The TV was on. Petunia was sitting on the sofa, watching a cooking show. When she saw Harry had arrived, she dropped to the floor on her knees, her head lowered.

"Master." She greeted him in a low submissive voice. Vernon joined his wife on the floor.

Their heads bowed in subservience.

"It feels good coming back home. I'm pleased to see that you haven't forgotten your place. I also feel a little disappointed that I won't have to teach you your place. Whatever. Same rules as before. Don't enter my room. I'll come down when I'm hungry." he said and without another glance at them, he went to his room.

The couple on the floor sighed in relief. They were afraid that he might like to hurt them after not seeing them for so long.

Harry closed the door and scanned the room.

There was a window opposite the door. A big comfy bed on one side of the room. A desk and chair on the other side of the room. A cupboard stood against one wall. Overall, his room was just good and comfortable. Not too shabby, not too grand.

He placed the enlarged trunk under his bed. Picking out some clothes, he left his room for a shower.

After freshening up and eating in the dining room, he went back to his room and laid down on his bed. He stared at the ceiling.

He was very bored and wasn't in any mood to read any book.

'I can watch TV.' he thought, running his fingers through his hair. 'Nope, not in the mood.'

He pointed his index finger at the ceiling.

A stream of golden lights flooded from his finger. The lights struck the ceiling.

With a flick of his hand, the golden mist turned into golden paint. The whole ceiling was now painted gold.

Harry peered at the ceiling. Slowly, the paint shifted and turned into different colours.

After 5 minutes, the ceiling felt like a giant velvet screen on which a beautiful painting was drawn.

There was a giant crystal throne on which a man with dark hair and luminous green eyes sat. He had a smirk filled with confidence and his face showed that he had no worries in the world. He was wearing a delicate and gorgeous black robe, there were white trimmings all over the robe. Under the robe was black shirt and black pants, accentuating his attractive physique.

His arms were wrapped behind the waists of two beautiful women who were sitting on the armrests on either side of him.

The woman on the right armrest had an hourglass figure. Her body was covered in a pretty red dress emphasising her chest and hips. Her rosy lips were turned up into a mischievous grin. Her dark eyes were alight with humour. And her arms were folded in her lap. Her long blonde hair was done in a single long immaculate plait which snaked down her one shoulder.

The girl sitting on the left armrest was a little shorter than the blonde-haired woman. She had a warm and kind smile on her face. Her brunette hair was flowing over her shoulders. She was covered in a good looking white dress. Her one arm was around the green eyed man's neck while the other was on her side.

The three of them looked content with their life.

Sitting on her knees, on the floor beside the throne was a pretty lady with pale skin.

She was wearing a black robe which covered all of her body. Her hair and eyes were the darkest shade of black Harry had ever seen. Her face didn't show any happiness or sadness. It was unreadable. Her hands were crossed in her lap elegantly.

Grey stairs led to the pedestal on which the throne sat. The gold background suddenly changed into grey, showing the colour of the walls of the room.

Harry checked the picture for any imperfections and when he found none, he smiled.

"My heart's deepest desire." he said to himself.

~xXxXx~

The time passed quickly. Harry only left his room for bathroom breaks and food.

Otherwise, he was always in his room, playing with magic and reading magical books.

He really wanted to use his wand, but knew there was a trace on it which would alert the ministry, so he just read theory and practised wand movements with a wooden stick.

He could remove the trace with his magic, but it might still alert the Ministry. So Harry decided against it.

Many would think why did he even need to work hard for wand magic when he could do anything with just his thoughts.

The answer was that being all powerful was sometimes boring. He knew everything about his magic, or at least he thought so, which he finally decided to name.

He would call his magic Deus. It was pretentious calling his magic 'God' in Latin, but he was out of ideas and liked the sound of it.

Deus basically made him a god, albeit without immortality. He could ask his Deus to do anything and it would do. There was no limit to Deus. But there were always people who had more will power and strong minds.

Deus could instantly kill beings with weak minds with just a thought, like Harry did with the troll, but he couldn't kill strong minded people with just a thought. Their minds and their souls would fight his compulsion.

He would have to pour out Deus in the physical world to affect them. So, even if the souls of the strong-minded people could shrug off his compulsion to leave their body, they don't have any protection against Deus when it left his body and took a form in the physical world.

The magic of others couldn't stop his magic, but physical barriers could.

Let's say that he fired his Deus at a wizard, while the wizard's shield charm wouldn't help him, a conjured wall would still stop his Deus.

Even his Deus mists were stoppable if a strong wizard trapped himself under an airtight physical barrier.

The key word here was 'strong'. There were only a few wizards who could maintain a physical barrier against Harry's hammering mists.

With Deus, Harry could do anything, he could create a portal to the moon, he could teleport anywhere, he could bewitch anyone's mind, he could make them do anything.

But before going to Hogwarts, Harry had decided he would try to use his Deus as minimum as possible and try to learn everything about wizard magic. After all, it was better to have two different powerful weapons instead of only one.

~xXxXx~

July 31st finally arrived.

His birthday.

Harry was very angry that he didn't receive any letters from his friends. He could have sent letters to his best friends, but he was prideful. If they didn't deem him important enough to keep contact then he wasn't going to beg for it.

There was also the important point that he had been busy reading different books. He had kept himself busy so he wouldn't have time to feel hurt.

He also knew that both girls were safe due to ouroboros necklace, banishing the thought of them being in danger.

But today was his birthday and they still hadn't contacted him. He was mollified at the thought that maybe they were planning a surprise birthday party.

Following breakfast and going back to his room, he opened up another book on spells and started practising the incantations and wand movements with a stick. After fifteen minutes, he was suddenly yanked from Privet Drive and deposited inside Daphne's room.

She was standing before him with her arms crossed and a glare directed at him.

"I'll give you one chance to explain why you aren't replying to my and Tracey's letters." she said coldly.

Harry tilted his head and thought of a witty comeback but decided against it.

Hearing Daphne's cold voice confirmed that she wasn't lying or joking.

"I didn't receive any letters." he said simply and sat on her bed.

"What? How?" She uttered dubiously.

"Wait a second." he sighed.

He concentrated and simply thought. 'Give me back my stolen letters.'

Suddenly, a stack of letters appeared on the bed from nowhere.

A moment later, a pop heralded a house elf's arrival. Without warning, the house elf froze and fell on the floor, courtesy of his Deus.

Harry crouched over him and pressed his finger on his temple, scanning his mind.

'Poor elf, he has suffered so much at the hands of Malfoys.' Harry thought grimly.

He freed the elf from the bond, making him an unbound elf.

Harry could have made him his slave, but seeing that the elf's dream was to be free he decided against it.

'Let no one say that Harry Potter isn't kind.' Harry thought. He also could relate with the elf's dream of being free. Though he still didn't want the elf trying to change Malfoy's plan, so he removed the elf's memory regarding the cursed diary and his arrival at Greengrass Manor, sending him back to Malfoy Manor where he would realise he was free and would hopefully leave the blond pricks.

Daphne watched this entire event in silence. But when the elf popped away, she couldn't contain her curiosity anymore.

"What the hell is happening?" She finally asked.

Harry patted the place beside him, asking her to sit.

Daphne dropped beside him.

"That was Malfoy's house elf. He was the one who stole my every letter. He thought that if I didn't receive any letters then I wouldn't want to go back to Hogwarts since I'd think that my friends have abandoned me." Harry informed her, rubbing his forehead.

Truth be told, the elf's plan was working a little. He felt abandoned when he didn't get any letter from his best friends, but he would still have gone to Hogwarts though.

Daphne, sensing his mood, pulled him in a hug.

"And here I was thinking that you'd abandoned Tracey and me." groaned Daphne.

"Never." Harry responded passionately, gripping her tight.

Daphne smiled, pulling back.

"Was this a prank from Draco? If he was behind this then I'm going to freeze his bits." She mumbled angrily.

Harry chuckled and shook his head.

"No, the elf was doing this on his own. It seems that Lucius Malfoy is planning a disaster for Hogwarts and the elf wanted to save me." Harry revealed in a cryptic voice.

"What?"

"Don't worry, I'll take care of it." He reassured her.

He wasn't sure what that cursed diary would do. He was going to let that event happen to understand what the purpose of the diary was. Entertainment was needed and this might be it. Although he was going to monitor the diary closely so no one would get hurt.

He wasn't concerned about others but only about Daphne and Tracey.

He wasn't going to make the same mistake twice. He had decided to ignore Quirrell and in the end both Tracey and Daphne were roped into the incident. This time would be different.

"If you're sure." Daphne answered uncertainly. She wanted to press him for answers, but decided to trust his judgement.

"Oh! I totally forgot, Tracey is miserable. She thinks you're avoiding her because you don't like her anymore." Daphne glared at him.

Harry rolled his eyes at her. She knew it wasn't his fault, but was still blaming him because Tracey was sad.

When the matter concerned Tracey, Daphne didn't use her logic.

"As if I've the power to dislike Tracey. I don't know if anyone can really dislike Tracey." He smiled, shaking his head at his friend's stupidity.

"True, but Tracey doesn't believe that. She's coming here in an hour for your birthday party. We both had planned to bake a cake and celebrate your birthday between the three of us and Astoria. I summoned you early just to give you warning, if Tracey isn't back to her normal self then I'm going to hurt you." Daphne said coldly, jabbing her finger on his chest at every word.

"We'll tell her the real reason why I didn't reply to her letters. And if nothing works then I'll just give her a big hug and a kiss. She'll be fine after that." He chuckled, rubbing his chest where Daphne had jabbed her finger for who knew how many times.

"Whatever, I don't care what you do, I just need her to be her normal self. Now you've one hour of free time, you'd go back to your relatives or you can stay here. It's up to you."

"Definitely staying. I'm at the home of my favourite person after all." Harry laughed.

Daphne grinned at hearing that she was Harry's favourite person. Her smile was replaced by a scowl with his next sentence.

"Astoria, oh dear Astoria, where are you?" Harry said loudly, leaving her room.

"Prat." she mumbled fondly.

~xXxXx~

Harry and Daphne were playing chess on her bed while Astoria was cheering for Harry.

"Whose side are you on?" Daphne asked in an annoyed voice.

"Harry, of course." Astoria grinned at her.

Harry had a smirk on his face. Before they could start their usual yapping, the door opened.

Tracey entered the room. Her gaze locked on the trio and she gave them an unsure smile.

Harry jumped off the bed and charged at her. She didn't have any time to react as Harry hugged her.

Then he tightened his grip on her waist and picked her off her feet, revolving on his heels.

She squeaked as her feet left the floor.

"Harry! Put me down." she giggled.

He gently put her down and held her by her shoulders, his lips curved in a delightful smile.

"Tracey! Long time no see." he grinned, placing a loud kiss on her cheek.

Tracey's face shifted into different emotions. There was joy, there was confusion, there was embarrassment. Her face finally settled into a glare.

"Why didn't you reply to my letters?" She asked.

Harry shook his head and led her to the bed where the sisters were watching them with amusement.

Harry and Daphne then told her about the elf who stole their letters.

"Oh! I'm so sorry, Harry, that you thought we abandoned you. I'll never do that." Tracey said sadly.

"I know. I should have visited you to clarify the situation, but I was just being stupid in thinking that if you don't want me then I also don't want you." Harry smiled awkwardly, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment.

After clearing their problem, the trio and Astoria enjoyed the day by playing with each other and celebrating Harry's birthday.

~xXxXx~

Today was 27th August.

There was a little girl sitting on her small cot.

Her bed wasn't the only one in the small room. There were two more which were currently unoccupied. The beds were the only furniture in the room.

They were placed parallel to each other. Two beds against the walls while the third in the middle of the two beds.

The girl was sitting on the bed which was placed against the right wall. She had dull emerald eyes and dark red hair. She was staring at the letter which was dropped in her room by a strange owl.

Her gaze shifted from the letter. The owl was still on her bed, just a foot away.

She quickly slid off the bed and looked under her bed.

She snatched her bag and rummaged through it, looking for a paper and a pen. She hastily wrote the note, agreeing to go to the school of witchcraft and wizardry. Then she tied her agreement on the owl's leg.

The owl hooted a farewell and flew away out of the window.

A small smile crept over her lips for the first time in so many years.

She finally knew her last name. She finally had her identity.

She wasn't just Iris.

She was Iris Potter.

It may have not been a big deal for anyone else, but for Iris it was a hope.

If Hogwarts knew her last name then they must know about her family. There must be someone who would want her, who would take her away from this wretched orphanage.

The smile slowly dimmed just like her eyes.

'But what if they abandon me like others because I am a freak?' she thought sadly.

The small rays of hope which were finally able to pierce her clouds of sorrow were suddenly snuffed out.

~xXxXx~

The next day came with a stern looking woman. Her eyes widened in surprise when the woman saw the 11 year old girl.

"Merlin!" She exclaimed.

Iris just stood in front of the lady and tried not to squirm. Did she already do something wrong?

"Hullo!" She said in a small voice.

The woman tried to maintain her emotions, but wasn't totally successful.

"I had my doubts and thought it was just a coincidence, but seeing how you look just turned the world upside down." said Professor McGonagall.

"What do you mean?" Iris asked, feeling dreadful.

"No one knew that there was another Potter alive. It will cause an uproar in the wizarding world." Professor McGonagall mumbled to herself.

"Do you know about my family?" Iris asked in a hopeful voice.

Professor smiled sadly.

"Yes, we will talk about them, but let's get out of here first."

Professor then asked her to hold her hand. Iris did so.

Suddenly, Iris felt that her body was squeezed through a thin pipe, the sensation lasted only a few seconds, but it was enough to make her puke.

Professor smiled sympathetically and led her to a house.

"Where are we going?" asked Iris.

"There are two types of orphan students in Hogwarts. Firstly, we have orphans whose fees are taken care of by Hogwarts management. Secondly, there are those whose family had left behind a huge sum of money. Seeing your parents were of the latter group, we are here to ask for the vault key from your brother."

"I have a brother?" Iris gasped in pleasant surprise, giddiness bubbling in her stomach.

"Yes. His name is Harry. Let's go meet him." The professor knocked on the door.

Iris was filled with trepidation. What if her brother didn't like her? What if he was a horrible person?

The door opened, revealing a tall woman with a long neck. She looked at them, her eyes widening at the sight of Iris.

She stumbled back.

"Lily?" She asked.

Iris shook her head.

"I'm Iris. Who's Lily?" questioned Iris.

"Your mother. You look exactly like her." Professor replied instead, her voice laced with sorrow.

"Mrs. Dursley, we are here to see Harry. Is he home?" Professor McGonagall asked.

"Yes. I'll go get him." She said hastily and went back without inviting them in.

"That was your aunt – Petunia Dursley." Professor McGonagall answered her unasked question.

Iris just nodded, not knowing what else to say.

Two minutes later, her aunt returned with a boy. The boy had bright emerald eyes and black messy hair which oddly made him look prettier. He was wearing a green t-shirt and black pants.

He stiffened seeing her. He looked at her from head to toe.

She was a skinny red-haired girl with dull green eyes. Her clothes seemed as if they were second hand, maybe even third-hand.

"Who's she?" Harry asked the professor.

"She is your little sister."

Harry looked back and forth between them.

"If this is a joke then it is a very poor one." Harry said, though he knew that the professor was telling the truth.

He looked back at the girl who was squirming in her place with her head bowed low.

"It is not a joke. I came to know about her after receiving her Hogwarts acceptance letter."

Harry sighed and asked them to come inside. He led them to the living room. They both sat on a sofa. He sat in front of them.

The trio remained silent for at least five minutes.

The silence was suffocating.

Harry's mind raced with different thoughts throughout this time.

"What's your name?" Harry asked the girl.

"My name is Iris Potter." Iris tried to smile, more of a grimace. He gave her a warm smile, making her blush.

"Where do you live?"

"In an orphanage."

That answer brought another long silence.

"Sorry to disturb your reunion, but I am on a schedule. I need to take Miss Potter to Diagon Alley. I needed the key to your vaults to pay for Miss Potter's school things." Professor McGonagall interrupted.

"Of course. I'll be back in a minute." Harry said and went to his room.

He came back with a key.

"Would you mind if I join you? I'd like to spend some time with my long lost sister." Harry said half jokingly.

"It won't be a problem, Mr Potter." Professor agreed.

~xXxXx~

The three were walking in Diagon Alley, Professor McGonagall in front while the siblings a couple of steps behind her.

Iris was tense, she didn't know what to do. She never had a brother, she never had any family, how was she to know how to interact with him.

Harry had the same problem. Though his outer demeanour showed that he was relaxed, internally he was anything but that. He wanted to ask her hundreds of questions, but didn't know where to start.

"I will give you back your money when I become an adult and have a job." Iris whispered anxiously.

Harry tilted his head at her and couldn't stop a smile taking over his lips.

"What is mine is yours. You don't have to pay anything back." He replied.

Iris started to protest, but silenced herself seeing his mild glare.

They continued walking in silence. Iris noticed that many people were staring at him and whispering to each other.

"Why are they staring at you?" She asked.

Harry rubbed his forehead, preparing to tell her the whole history regarding Voldemort.

He told her about Halloween night, when their parents died saving Harry and presumably her also. He told her about how he defeated the dark lord when he was one year old.

"But that doesn't make sense." Iris interrupted him.

"Here is your first lesson about the Wizarding world, the people here aren't logical." He said, rolling his eyes.

Iris wanted to ask him why he was with their uncle and aunt while she had been dropped off in an orphanage, but knew that he wouldn't know the answer.

Hearing from him made her realise that she wasn't supposed to even exist in the wizarding world. No one knew there was another child of James and Lily Potter. No one knew whether she had been present in the Potter Cottage on that fateful night. And if not, then where was she?

"Do you hate me?" She blurted out. Harry gave her a look which made her feel stupid.

"No. Should I?"

"I don't know." Iris murmured helplessly, wringing her hands.

Professor McGonagall was listening in to their conversation from the start and felt sympathetic. She didn't know what was happening. Did even Headmaster Dumbledore know that there was another Potter?

Harry stepped closer to her as they walked and put an arm around her shoulder.

"Everything will be alright. We'll have a very long conversation when we get back home."

Iris mustered a small smile, leaning into him..

Then the time was spent shopping for her school materials after acquiring gold from Gringotts.

Harry had already done his shopping with Tracey and the Greengrass sisters so he was quite bored following his sister. He was adamant that Iris should have more clothes when she protested about spending too much.

In the end, they both left the shop with dozens of clothes for Iris.

Harry sighed in relief when the shopping was finally done.

Professor McGonagall dropped them in front of their house and went back to Hogwarts to discuss the matter with Dumbledore. She also said that she would inform the orphanage about her disappearance and would take care of it. She told Iris that her things from the orphanage would be at her new home.

Harry took Iris into his room and they stood in the doorway.

"What you are going to see will be kept as a secret and you won't tell anyone about it." He said without looking at her.

Iris tensed, but agreed.

In an instant, the room changed dramatically. The size was still the same, but there were two single sized beds instead of one. One on the right and the other on the left. There were two bedside tables beside each bed. There were two cupboards in front of each bed against the wall.

Iris rubbed her eyes to see if she was imagining things.

She wasn't.

"How did you do that?" She asked in wonder.

"Magic." Harry smirked and sat on his bed.

Iris climbed on her own bed in daze and picked her bag which was somehow exported from the orphanage. She also put the newly bought books and clothes on the bed.

She then spent her time arranging her clothes and books in her cupboard.

Harry meanwhile was reading his book. How the hat didn't even consider Ravenclaw for him was a mystery.

Iris found it odd that when later she and Harry went for dinner downstairs, her aunt and uncle seemed afraid of him.

She didn't comment on it.

She also met her cousin Dudley who was quite fat and had terrible table manners.

Her relatives didn't try to converse with her and dinner was an affair of silence. When it was over, Harry and Iris went back to their room.

He divided the room in half with a black curtain so they would have their privacy when needed.

The next few hours were spent talking with each other. Iris told Harry about her life at the orphanage which wasn't really good. Iris could see the anger seeping out of him after hearing the years of bullying she had to endure.

Iris was pleasantly surprised that it felt very good to have someone angry for her. Eventually, Harry pulled the curtain and they both went to sleep.

~xXxXx~

Harry was troubled with the recent events.

He suddenly had a little sister, he suddenly had a responsibility. Fates must be laughing at him now. He wanted freedom and was free until now with no familial relations and no adult supervision. He was free to do anything, but now he had a responsibility to take care of his sister.

But why wasn't her existence known? Why was she at an orphanage instead of Privet Drive? Harry didn't know if it was better that she was in an orphanage instead of at the Dursleys.

He was pretty sure that Iris wasn't at the house when Voldemort attacked them. He didn't remember any cries of another child when Voldemort had killed their mother.

Then, where was she on that night? With those questions in his mind he fell into a restless sleep.

At 2:50 am, he was woken up by a stifled scream.

"Don't go. Please don't go. I'll be a good girl. Don't leave me, Harry." A cry echoed in the room. Harry leapt from his bed and went through the curtain.

Iris was writhing on her bed. Her eyelids were fluttering. Her cheeks were wet from tears.

"Please, Harry, don't leave me back at the orphanage." Iris pleaded in her sleep.

Harry sat on her bed and shook her shoulders.

"Iris, wake up. It's just a nightmare." He said softly.

Iris opened her eyes suddenly. She sat up and took deep breaths. After a minute, she guiltily looked at Harry.

"Sorry for waking you up." she murmured in regret.

Harry shook his head and smiled at her.

"No worries. Let's go back to sleep." He said and laid beside her.

"Uhm, Harry? This is my bed. I mean it is technically your bed as you created it with magic–" Iris started before Harry pulled her beside him.

"I have a very bad habit of cuddling. You've been warned, little one." He grinned at her.

Iris blushed when Harry threw his one arm around her and wrapped her within his grasp, pulling her close to him.

"Little one?" she asked.

"Yep. It is your nickname."

"I don't like it." She scrunched her nose. Sure, she was a head shorter than him and was younger than him, but still she didn't want to be called that.

"Tough luck, I don't care." Harry smiled, patting her cheek.

Iris was annoyed, but couldn't help smiling and cuddling against him.

"Goodnight, Harry." she mumbled on his chest.

"Goodnight, little one." He said softly, caressed her head.

She made an irritated noise at hearing that nickname, but Harry ignored that.

'Maybe being responsible won't be that bad.' Harry thought and fell asleep.