This story is a work of fiction. The characters in it are copyrighted by Scholastic books and J. K. Rowling. Any others are in my imagination, as is their sexuality. I hope you enjoy the story. Flames will be read and placed into the Goblet of Fire for further incineration.
I stayed up all night after Harry finally fell asleep. My mind was racing through the thoughts of Harry and Ron and I thought I'd finally figured out why Ron was acting towards me the way he had been recently. I also needed to do a LOT of other things.
To ease my mind, I went down to the common room and pulled out the second book, which I began to translate into English. The cover came out Necromonen vash. "Darkest Magick," I whispered. I then began to work on the pages, using the lists that Hermione and I had compiled. Again, around one out of every three words was in the ancient language of magic, which I could understand. The rest still eluded me, despite my best efforts.
Around four in the morning, I felt a jerk of pain, and could have sworn I heard someone-or something-scream. I held out my hand, summoning my ice wand (Michael had my fire wand, a decision I regretted at that point) and raced to the top of the tower, whence I thought I heard the scream.
A sensation of dread came over me as I approached the top of Gryffindor tower, and a purple haze clouded my vision. It only grew stronger until I reached the top step, and then it suddenly vanished altogether. I stepped outside, and the night air immediately made me regret that I hadn't dressed more. My light sleeping trousers were not nearly enough to keep the chill out, but I had to endure.
There was a half-moon shimmering down through the occasional clouds, and I used its faint light to look around. I saw nothing. No movement other than that caused by the breeze, no sounds. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. I moved to the center of the tower where I'd come to practice with my swords on that first night, and a few times since. The moment I stepped on the stone, my feet felt warm again, but dirty. It felt...wrong...defiled somehow. I needed more light, and with that thought, a glowing ball of light appeared over my right shoulder. It wasn't overly bright, but as I needed more light, it gradually brightened to almost a small sun.
In that light, I could see the marks I'd carved so unwittingly into the stone were now smashed and covered with soot and rubble. They smelled of magic to me, though cold and dead instead of living, fiery magic as I was used to sensing throughout the castle.
I bent down to examine some of the soot when I heard a voice bellow, "Don't touch anything!"
I jerked up, wand out, and whirled around to see that Professors Dumbledore, MacGonagall and D'Angelius were all standing there. MacGonagall stared at my light with a look that said all too clearly "why am I NOT surprised?"
"Professor," I asked Dumbledore with a sigh of relief, "did you hear something, too?"
"Hear something? No, my dear boy. Michael, here, came bursting out of his quarters and tried to see me, running into Minerva in the middle of her rounds. The two came to me immediately, and Michael told me of a problem here on the roof."
I risked a surreptitious glance at Michael, who winked at me. He knew what I was thinking.
He approached the ruined sigil and bent closer to examine it, poking my little light with the tip of his wand to move it closer to where he wanted it to be. It was MY turn to gape in surprise as he manipulated my spell away from me so smoothly. I was beginning to understand why Voldemort feared this man.
"Well, Mr. Arico, it seems your ward has done its work well." I looked at him blankly. "Didn't you know? I admit, centering here might have been an oversight, but it still did surround most of the castle itself. And that was sufficient."
"But such a ward, sir," I began.
"Would require a lot of power, I know," he interrupted.
"Actually, sir," I said with a smirk, "I was going to say such a ward wouldn't go off for just anything. It would need a very powerful trigger."
"Indeed it would," he agreed amiably. "Minerva, will you fetch Mr. Potter for me?"
"I'll go, Professor," I volunteered. "Prefect's duty and all." I even managed to say it with a straight face. There are times I amaze even myself.
"Yes," he agreed. "That will be fine. And perhaps you might want to put on some clothes, Mr. Arico," he asked with a twinge of amusement.
I hurried downstairs to the dormitory and woke Harry quietly, pulling on a shirt while I did so. He was actually on the verge of being awake, and my touch jerked him up immediately. He sat up and I looked at him whilst he got his bearings. A little thin, but then, so am I. And I like them lean. Harry had nice, nickel-sized nipples that were a caramel color against his pale skin. Aside from a little bit of tufting under his arms, he was still hairless (aside from his crotch, but then, we've discussed that) and in the darkness of the room, his skin glowed. The miniscule light from the moon caught his eyes as he turned to me, and for a moment, they glowed a reptilian green. I shivered and held out a shirt. "Professor Dumbledore wants to see you Harry," I whispered.
He nodded and rose out of bed, grabbing his shirt and sliding on some slippers. "What's wrong," I breathed, "you look peaked."
He shook his head and whispered, "tell you later."
I nodded and led him up to the roof.
As we approached the roof, Dumbledore asked, "How's your scar, Harry?"
Harry muttered under his breath, so low that even next to him, I couldn't make it out. "Sore, sir."
The Headmaster nodded sagely. "Did you dream of Voldemort tonight?"
Harry nodded again. "He was on his way here. He heard that we had a book of magic here like he'd never seen before, and he wanted it for himself. He figured this night assault would be a good time to kill me and Matt while we slept."
I looked at Dumbledore and grimaced. "Go on, Harry," he said.
"That's about it, sir."
"Who was he talking to?"
"Wormtail. Voldemort knew he couldn't get into the castle, but he could get Wormtail in easily and he could change back to a human from there. He has this magical hand that I saw him crush a stone to rubble with."
I nodded. "I've seen that hand, too, sir."
Harry looked at me in surprise. "Harry, did Voldemort touch down?"
He shook his head. "No, he flew directly over the tower on a broom."
Professor Dumbledore nodded, and held up the charred remnants of a broomstick. "This explains all the soot." He sighed. "So much for secrecy."
"Sir," I asked, "how did he know about the book?"
Dumbledore's eyes glinted dangerously. "I don't know, Matthew, but I plan on finding out. Go to bed, both of you."
Harry and I nodded and headed downstairs. "Well," I said as we descended, "that explains why you looked ill when I woke you." We entered the common room on our way to the dormitory. "I'm too awake to sleep," I added. "I think I'll stay here for awhile."
"Me, too."
I shrugged and flicked the fire to life in the fireplace and sat down close to it, enjoying the warmth. "Have any thoughts about Ron?"
"Not really."
"You know, Harry, I think he feels the same way about you."
He looked at me intently. "What makes you say that?"
"The way he's been acting lately."
He shook his head. "That's not enough."
I slumped down, defeated. We sat in silence by the fire. "Wait! I have an idea! You're still in Divinations, right?"
"Yeah. Why?"
"Do you have a crystal ball?"
"Yeah. We had to get our own for this year."
"Cool. Get it. I need to look something up."
I clapped my hands together, and when I opened them, a book sat in my palms. I shuffled the pages as I heard Harry summon his crystal ball. "Accio crystal ball!"
I found the spell I needed just as a small little crystal whizzed down the stairs and into Harry's waiting grasp. "Set it down, Harry." He did and I held my hand out over the ball. My hand glowed slightly with a white-blue light, and the crystal ball resonated with the same light. "We need the truth, not what it seems. Show us Harry's best friend's dreams."
The light faded a moment. "Inno dath mare," I commanded. The crystal flared into bright light. For a moment, Ron's face was clear to see, then it faded away.
In the light of the crystal, I was standing in a small bedroom, wearing black robes with glowing red eyes. Even taller than I normally am, and much meaner-looking. And behind me, tied down to a bloodred bed was Harry. He was bound spread-eagle and naked with a look of absolute terror in his green eyes.
"You're mine, Harry," I said, my voice deep and menacing. "I'm going to enjoy this."
"NOOOO" screamed Harry at the top of his lungs. "HELP!" He struggled against the bonds holding him, but I only laughed and ran a finger down his naked chest, stopping to twist his nipple painfully. He screamed again, and I slapped him hard enough to click his jaw shut with an audible snap. "Hush, Harry," I said almost gently. "This will hurt enough. Why make it any worse?"
The door burst open, and Ron stood in the blight. He had a wand in his hand which he aimed at me. "Avada Kedavra," he yelled. A bright green light struck me in the chest and I screamed before falling over, dead.
Harry cried in relief as Ron cut the ropes binding his arms and legs and used his own robes to cover Harry's nudity. He pulled the weeping Harry into a hug, consoling him and telling him that I would never bother him again.
When Harry looked up at him, he lowered his face until their lips met. Both of them eased into the kiss. It was so soft, so loving. Ron's hands moved down Harry's bare back...the crystal faded into darkness.
"Wha-what happened," a shocked Harry asked me.
"I cut it off. I don't think the rest was entirely necessary to see. Do you?"
"Well, I did kinda want to," he said with a blush.
"Why don't you find out for yourself," I suggested.
"I dunno..." he said. "I'm not sure I should..."
I smiled gently. "Sure you should. Go on, Harry. Let him know how you feel."
He took a deep breath and nodded. I gave him a wink and he smiled weakly at me. As he started moving up the stairs, I noticed his step became more firm, his carriage more secure. He'd made up his mind.
Once he was out of sight, I activated the crystal ball again. In the pale light of the setting moon, I saw Harry enter the dormitory and move to Ron's bed. He quietly slid the curtains aside and through the crystal, I heard Ron whisper, "Harry, is that you?"
Harry answered that it was and sat down on the edge of Ron's bed. "Ron," he whispered, "there's something that I've been wanting to tell you."
Ron sat up. He looked at his best friend's face and could see the struggle, even in the dim half-light. "What is it, Harry," he asked gently.
Harry looked into Ron's eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. I could have sworn I could almost hear his heart, it was beating so strongly. He jerked forward and planted his lips on his best buddy's. He then jerked away and said, "I mean, erm, well, maybe tomorrow, then," as he started to stand.
Ron's hand snaked out from the covers and caught Harry's arm, pulling him back to the bed. As Harry gaped, Ron pulled their heads together and it wasn't long before the two were snogging like experts.
I smiled and let the globe's glow fade. It was getting close to dawn, and I wasn't overly tired, so I decided to sit back and play with the fire. I'd always had a fondness for fire. As I sat in the comfy chair, I cupped my right hand and pulled a string of the flame away from the fireplace. It came to rest in my hand, glowing and pulsating like a living thing.
For a while, I just played with it: I changed its color, expanded and shrunk it, made it dance, split it and juggled, etc. Finally, I shaped it into the pattern I'd seen on the tower roof, and it resisted. I tried to force it into that pattern when it exploded silently, but with a force that knocked me over backward. It also blew out the fire.
"What the hell was that," I asked no one in particular. At that point, I stood, righted the chair and went up to the dorm to get dressed.
Harry's bed was empty when I got up there. I had a brief surge of worry, but when I opened the curtains to Ron's bed, the two of them were intertwined together, fast asleep. I sighed in relief, grabbed some clothes and went back downstairs.
I moved all the furniture to the sides of the room and began to work some of my forms-without any weapons, of course. I allowed myself to become lost in the technique when I realized the sun had risen long ago and people were coming down on their way to breakfast. I waited patiently, then joined Lee Jordan and the Weasley twins on their way down. I needed to talk with them...