Disclaimer: Not mine!

Author's Note: Here's another long chappie for you as a reward for all those reviews! I'm still amazed! And quite speechless, if you hadn't noticed!

34. CLASSES

About at the same time Tom also went to bed, though sleep was as far from his mind as it could get. Instead he thought back to the information he had got from the nurse after she had led Severus and him to her office:

The nurse pointed at two rather uncomfortable-looking chairs that stood in front of her desk that although loaded with papers, folders, ink bottles, diagrams, books and empty potion bottles still seemed to emit an air of order: "Take a seat. I just need to find Harry's folder."

Soon after she banged what seemed to be the biggest folder on the table and took a seat in her swivel chair.

"Does this whole folder belong to Harry?", Severus asked surprisedly, eyeing the thickness of it warily.

"This and two others", the nurse clarified, "That boy spent more of his time in the infirmary than in the Astronomy tower... So, we need to discuss which changes have to be made. Harry is not to drink any potion regardless of which nature: Even a healing potion could have a negative affect right now since Harry's body would have to change it into something the baby can digest with out taking harm and that again wouldn't be good for Harry's health, understood?", she said sharply and the two wizards nodded, "Severus, I need you to make all these potions for Harry", she handed him a rather long list, "Those are potions especially used during pregnancies and I want to be prepared when Harry gets himself into trouble again."

"Some of those will take me a while", the Potion's Master frowned in thought, "Can't you ask 's to provide you with them?"

"Not without drawing attention", Madam Pomfrey gave back, "A school is not supposed to encourage teenage pregnancies and since some of the potions are only for pregnant wizards it would be rather suspicious."

Severus nodded in understanding and after going through the list again, mentally enumerating all the ingredients he would need to purchase or look for in the Forbidden Forest, pocketed it.

"Okay, the second point would be your classes", the nurse skimmed through to the folder till she found the correct page, "Severus, I assume you know which potions are not to be brewed even near Harry? Good. Just don't let him drink any potion and look to it that he inhales no toxic or damaging vapours. Professor Riddle, when you decide to make a practical lesson pair Harry with someone who knows what they're doing and take care that he isn't hit by any curses, especially not to his abdomen or back because that could provoke him going into labour or internal bleeding. Otherwise try to make him use his magic so that he doesn't develop an overload, but prevent him from releasing too much of it at a time, meaning don't make him lose his temper. Clear so far?"

The two men once again nodded and Madam Pomfrey continued: "I also need you to brew some potions against sickness and nausea as well as Nourishment Potions, Severus, they are listed at the bottom. I need them as fast as possible so that Harry can gain weight and come nearer to what he's supposed to be weighing. He's not supposed to use any spells altering his appearance long-termly or wear a glamour for more than an hour. It's more or less normal for him to get dizzy a lot and even faint from time to time since his body is still adjusting to the changes and because of his general poor health. I allowed Harry to both continue Quidditch and his Material Arts lessons and as long as he is careful it should give him an outlet, but that doesn't mean that it is no risk. I also plan to teach him some basic healing spells and let him help me here so that he uses more of his magic and isn't completely helpless should something happen. I gave Harry a book on male pregnancies and it would be good if you read it, too, Mr. Riddle."

"I bought a few books as well", Tom returned, "And I have a question on something that I read."

"Ask away", the witch inclined her head, "Though I don't claim to be an expert on this either."

"Most of those books contended that male pregnancies are extremely dangerous for the 'mother' and that the mortality rate is more than fifty percent...", he trailed of unsure how to word his question that had been tearing away little pieces of his heart constantly since he had read this the first time- Harry couldn't die!

"Professor Riddle, the chances are indeed high, I won't deny it", the nurse looked grave, but still managed to glare at him, "Given Harry's poor health to begin with it is most likely that he will die giving birth or lose the child. I would have agreed on an abortion immediately, but it is Harry's decision and since he decided to keep the baby the only thing left for us to do is try to make it easier for him."

"So he will die?", Tom said evenly, only his mask as a Dark Lord keeping him from bursting into tears.

"I didn't say that", the nurse argued, "When you use Avada Kedavra how high are the chances the victim will survive it? Harry is special. I'm sure that if he really wants to he can pull through and belie all those statistics, which brings me to my last point. You are to make him happy, am I understood? He may not ever feel unwanted or hated or even just slightly disliked if you don't want him to die. Anymore questions?"

"What about...", Tom asked, but the nurse spoke up once more before he could finish his question: "Sex. I knew I forgot something. As long as you don't hurt him, apply pressure to his abdomen or tear him, it should be fine at least for the first few month. We have to see how good he will be taking to the pregnancy before deciding it for sure. Anything else? No, well I'm always here if you have anymore questions and I'll see you on Saturday."

She had shooed them out then and Severus had gone down to start on the potions while he had stood there for a moment, the realisation hitting him that Harry was really pregnant and might very well die if he wasn't careful. The last few words still resounded in his head now, as long as you don't hurt him... or tear him. What was he supposed to do now? He knew that Harry had never told anyone about their sex-life not even the nurse, from how she had answered, and that Harry never complained, but the fact remained that he kept hurting his small husband no matter how hard he tried not to. It wasn't entirely his fault, he reasoned, while he tossed from side to side, he always thought, Harry was prepared sufficiently and how was he supposed to know otherwise when Harry never showed his feelings in that aspect, but just accepted it? But there had to be a way to make him open up a little, maybe a spell or a potion... As soon as that thought entered his mind he got up and walked hastily over to where he stored his personal books.

Surprisingly enough they were not all on Dark Magic but rather covered a variety of subjects amongst others Mind Magic. He remembered that there was a chapter in the book describing ways to facilitate Leglimency and though he had no intention to really invade Harry's mind there was sure to be something that would crack his shields. After searching through it for a while he found something suitable. It was a potion, but one that wouldn't even come near the baby but focus its energy on Harry's conscious. It was even stated that it would neither interfere with other potions nor cause the wizard in question any harm and was therefor often used with rape victims who had got pregnant so that their psychiatrist could better respond to their patients' needs.

He conveniently ignored the small note saying that the potions needed the consent of the patient and his own sarcastic inner voice telling him that this was the perfect potion for Harry.

After scanning the recipe he noticed that he would have to start now for it to be ready in time for Sunday since it needed to simmer for twenty-four hours and had to be administered about eight hours prior since it only destroyed the mental shields gradually and so he set to work immediately, thankful that he didn't need to ask Severus for any ingredients.

The Potion's Master wouldn't approve, he wasn't even sure that he approved, but desperate situation called for desperate measures and after all he only did this to help his Harry- even the empath had said that it wasn't good for Harry to keep everything bottled up inside.

The next morning he had to use a concealment charm to hide the dark circles under his eyes even after he had taken a Pepper-up Potion and a shower. Still he was rather satisfied with his work. The potion was simmering in his walk-in closet and since Harry had his own now he didn't need to fear Harry would come across it anytime soon. He had finally come to terms with his decision, persuading himself that it was all for the best, and he had the sixth years Defence class directly after breakfast meaning he could walk Harry there, without seeming too possessive.

All in all he was in quite a good mood as he walked into the Great Hall and it only got better when he spotted Dumbledore's empty seat.

He had been early as was his habit and only Professor Sprout, already with dirt under her fingernails, and Severus were already sitting at the teacher's table, the later one looking slightly more grumpy than usual since he, too, hadn't got much sleep because he had worked on the potions for Harry.

Gradually more or less awake students and teachers filled into the hall, starting on their breakfast without much conversation. Finally Harry entered, accompanied by the other Gryffindor boys except Ron, who had arrived a bit earlier with his sister and his new-found girl-friend, Hermione Granger, who glared at Harry as he dared to laugh at something Seamus had said.

The smallest Gryffindor boy shortly after excused himself from the group and made his way over to the Slytherin table, but was intercepted only half way there.

"Harry", a vaguely familiar voice called him from behind and as he turned around he came face to face with Sophie Sweetin surrounded by the Ravenclaw perfects; he raised his eyebrow enquiringly at them, "We discussed the information you gave us yesterday", the tall girl continued, "And we all agreed that we might have been a bit too quick to judge you and that our behaviour wasn't really worthy of the house of Ravenclaw. We also decided to believe you since the only chance we have against the Dark is you and if you really betrayed us, which we now very much doubt we might as well side with you from the beginning. So going from this, the house of Ravenclaw declares its allegiance to you and we will help you to the best of our abilities."

"The Ravens will take you under their wings", Luna declared dreamily and Harry sent her a grateful look.

"As you mentioned yesterday, Ravenclaws are renowned for their logic", Michael added, "So we will keep an eye on Professor Riddle and inform you should we find anything of importance."

"Thank you", the Gryffindor inclined his head respectfully, keeping back his laughter.

The Ravenclaw delegation turned around as a whole and walked back to their seats, a few of them sending small smiles in Harry's direction, who returned them whole-heartedly before he continued on his way. He kissed Blaise and Draco in passing wishing them a good morning, but not leaving them the time to respond or return the greeting before he made his way up to the head table, where he greeted Rudolphus and Rabastan in the same manner and then slipped into Tom's lap and another piece of parchment into Severus' hand that comfortably rested on his thigh.

"Good morning, Tom, why didn't you sleep well?", he asked concernedly, half turning around and caressing his cheek.

"Good morning, sweetie", he whispered the endearment in Harry's ear, "You know, normally you ask first whether or not the other person slept well before asking why..."

"Ah, but that would be boring", Harry chuckled, "And don't evade the question."

"Would you believe me if I told you that I missed you so terribly that I couldn't sleep?", he asked, accepting the cheese sandwich Harry had made for him.

"Most likely not", Harry gave back, "So do I get my answer or not?"

"Most likely not", he teased, kissing Harry's neck, "But I can tell you it's nothing bad and you'll find out in a while. What was with you and the Ravenclaws, anyway? And did you sleep well?"

"Oh, I had a talk with them yesterday because they were treating Tanea unfairly and now they decided to spy on you to help me, not that I told you of course- that wouldn't be very conducive, would it? And yes I slept fine, thanks for asking."

"I have a feeling I don't really want to know why they decided to spy on me", Tom murmured just as the morning post arrived.

A bunch of owls immediately scooped down to the teacher's table and landed in front of the Dark Lord, either sticking out their legs, waiting to be relieved of their weight or just dropping whatever they carried on the table. The last owl to arrive carried the newest edition of the Daily Prophet and impatiently hooted till Tom had paid her before taking off again.

"Oh, seems like I got my chocolate", Harry exclaimed happily after he had freed all the owls of the packages they were carrying, "Ten galleons say they published the information from my History exam."

"You're right", Severus murmured from his right, pointing at the huge headline, "Seems like they got the information from a reliable source..."

Harry chuckled, while he opened the first package, revealing a box of chocolates: "This is great!"

"You shouldn't eat those, they might be poisoned!", Tom snatched them away from his small husband, who pouted and scowled at him: "They think you're allergic to it, why would they poison it? And I'd really like some chocolate now, please?"

"And why would I eat something, I'm allergic to?", the red-eyed professor demanded to know, "And if you really want some chocolate you can ask Dobby."

"Because you don't know you're allergic to it, duh", Harry rolled his eyes at him, "Every time you eat chocolate the reaction is so violent that you pass out and forget everything."

"You had too much time, didn't you?", Tom asked exasperatedly, "At least let me check it first, okay?"

Harry nodded, smiling up at him and settled more comfortable in his embrace, cradling a cup of steaming hot coffee in his hands, while he decided which package he should open next when a rummaging from one of the boxes with little holes in the top caught his attention. Carefully he drew the box closer and opened it coming face to face with a greyish fluffy Niffler, who peered up at him through black beetle eyes.

Harry cooed at it, gently lifting it out of his tiny prison: "Look at this, Tom, isn't it cute?"

The Dark Lord looked the small creature over disdainfully.

All he could come up with was that it probably had a lot of flees and would pass sicknesses to Harry, who had started to pat the little thing: "You don't intend to keep it, do you?"

"No, it would most likely rake up our rooms", Harry sighed, "But you could still be a tad bit nicer, it surely wasn't very comfortable in that box..."

"I didn't put it in there", he defended himself, "Now, eat your chocolate while I dispose of this... thing."

"It's a Niffler, Tom", Harry scowled darkly at him, "And I don't want you to dispose of it."

"Fine, I'll give the Niffler to Hagrid while you eat at least your chocolate", he corrected, "I wasn't planning to kill it, you know? Just to banish it to the Forbidden Forest", he slid out of his chair, making Harry sit down in it.

Harry sighed, leaning back into the soft cushions, taking the box of chocolates with him. He had just finished the second piece, when the nausea started again.

"Harry, take this", a small vial was pressed in his palm, but as he looked at the Potion's Master he was once again eating his breakfast as if nothing had happened.

He downed it quickly after reading the diligently written label 'Anti-Nausea Potion', feeling at least slightly better and not like he would throw up anytime soon: "Thanks", he whispered back and got up, "I'll see you in class, Professor."

"Where are you going, Harry?", he was half-way across the hall as Tom caught up with him and circled his slim waist with his arms, "Don't I get a reward for getting rid of that Niffler?"

Harry turned around in the embrace, ignoring all the stares he received: "Do you think you deserve a reward despite being so nasty earlier, Tom?"

"Oh, I think I do", Tom smirked down at him, "After all I got you chocolate."

"What would you consider adequate, o, chocolate provider of mine?", Harry practically purred.

"A kiss, should do for now", he smirked down at the small boy.

"Well, then come down a little", Harry beckoned him closer and Tom obediently lowered his head so that Harry could reach up to him, "Here you go", Harry kissed Tom's nose teasingly, immediately pulling back.

However, Tom did not even think about letting him go and pressed the slight boy closer: "Tut, tut, tut, I know you can do better than that...", and without further negotiations he scooped down and once again ravished Harry's mouth in front of the whole school, "I'll walk you to my class, wouldn't want you to get lost on the way, now would we?"

He slung his arm around Harry's waist and led him out into the hallway before anyone could join them, using the empty corridors to snog his husband twice before they finally reached his classroom.

He really needed to get a grip on his lusting or he would go too far sooner rather than later and scare Harry away. Just as he was about to ask if it was okay for him to kiss Harry, the petite boy swayed dangerously and went deathly pale, seconds later he just collapsed, only his fast reflexes catching him before his head hit his desk.

"Harry", he called alarmedly, crouching down next to him.

Harry didn't give a sound and just lay motionless on the ground, though it seemed like even the last bit of colour had drained from his face. Not knowing what else to do he conjured up a wet towel and began to carefully dab Harry's pale skin with it.

"What happened?", Harry groaned after a while and his emerald eyes fluttered open.

"You fainted", Tom answered, "Are you feeling okay or would you like me to bring you to the infirmary?"

"Not again", Harry murmured annoyedly and turned around to his side, his hands rested against his stomach, "Can you get me some water, Tom, please?"

"Sure thing, lovely", the tall man conjured a simple glass, filled it with water from his wand and then helped him sit up so that he could swallow more easily, "Anything else I can do for you?"

"No, no, I'm fine", Harry assured him quickly and got up from the floor, sliding into the next best chair, "It was nothing really."

"If you say so...", he murmured disbelievingly, but dropped the subject, unwilling to make Harry angry yet again, "Let me catch you up an what you missed so far, though from the essays you wrote, which were pretty good by the way, I gathered that Mr. Malfoy and Mr. Zabini kept you up to date. I have copied my notes on the lessons so you can just look them through and if you have any questions you can ask me, okay, Harry? Also I spoke to Madam Pomfrey and I want you to train with either Boot or one of the Slytherins since the second part of this lesson will be practical. I will also perform a shielding charm around your abdomen to ward of any stray curses, but if anything should happen or if you don't feel well, I want you to tell me immediately, alright?"

Harry shrugged his shoulders uncaringly, Tom scowled at him, though he seemed more worried than angry and then with a wave of his wand opened the door for the other students. Draco and Blaise purposefully strode in as the first ones, their heads held high and faces impassive, beating Terry Boot and Padma Patil, who had planned to sit next to Harry and sat down in those chairs.

"You alright there?", Blaise whispered from his right, noting the unusual paleness and slightly damp skin from the towel.

Harry nodded, relaxing when he felt their presence next to him and noted that a group of Ravenclaws had taken the seats behind them while Ron and Hermione took seats in the very back, something totally uncharacteristic of the bookworm. Neville had given up on Defence and Harry was sure that only his parents influence had enabled him to stand up against his grandmother's high expectations as had most of the Hufflepuffs, who had mostly chosen Charms or Herbology as their main classes.

"Good morning, class", Professor Riddle greeted them indifferently and in a voice that suggested a lot of detention should someone decide to return the greeting, "I hope for you that you've all done your homework, which was on... Mr. Weasley?"

The red-head stared back as hostily as he dared as he shrugged his shoulders: "I did do it, Professor."

"Ah, but that was not the question, was it?", Tom mocked deceivingly sweet, "And I sincerely wonder how you accomplished it without knowing the subject? You see, Mr. Weasley, your last few essays were good, but they might have been more interesting to read if it wasn't only a shortened version of what Miss Granger wrote. And with shortened I mean that you left out every second sentence. Care to explain that to me?"

"I didn't cheat", Ron said stubbornly, "Everyone knows that Hermione never allows anyone to copy her work."

"Oh, well then I sincerely apologise, Mr. Weasley and of course Miss Granger", the red-eyed man scoffed, "I'm sure, then it won't be a problem for you to name your sources, Mr. Weasley, and summarise what you wrote for those unfortunate ones not having the privilege of being here during the last few lessons."(1)

Ron gaped like a fish out of water: "I used my school book and the last homework was on... on cursed objects."

"Your school book, I see", Tom shuffled through his papers till he found Ron's homework, "And a dictionary, I take it? Maybe you would like to give us a synonym for malignant? You used it in your essay... No? Well, then since you obviously can't prove to me that you didn't cheat, you'll find your grade appropriate", he handed Ron's and Hermione's parchments back, both with a Slytherin green T on it before handing out the other papers.

"Professor, you graded my essay incorrectly, it obviously should have an O on it", Hermione said snottily.

"Miss Granger, I assure you the T is correct", Tom answered without turning around, "Since I must assume that you assisted Mr. Weasley in his fraud. Maybe you should convince him to not hand his homework in today- not, of course, that I think this was anything more than silly coincidence..."

"This... This is unjust", Hermione screamed enraged, "I did nothing wrong. I'll go to Professor McGonagall."

"That's where I was yesterday", he informed her coldly, "And she totally agrees with my decision to also take 100 points from you, however, if you don't believe me feel free to go, otherwise I would advise you to sit down again so that we can finally commence."

"What have you got?", Draco hissed in Harry's ear, not waiting for an answer before he snatched Harry's parchment from the thin fingers, "An O? Bet Smart Ass wouldn't like that, would she?", he smirked impishly and before Harry could prevent him from doing anything the blond's arm shot in the air and to flip exaggeratedly, "Professor Riddle, Sir, why did Harry get an O?"

"Mr. Malfoy, I don't know what you're complaining about, you got one as well, is there a problem with that?", Tom asked irritatedly, particularly when he saw his husband duck his head and try to hide from the sneers thrown his way, "Five points from Slytherin for asking stupid questions and delaying the lesson."

"Sorry, Sir", Draco said absent-mindedly and squeezed Harry's hand under the table, "I'm sorry, Harry, I didn't think."

"Well, today's lesson will be on vampires, since you skipped them in third year", Tom started in earnest after everyone except Ron had handed in their homework, "Would anyone like to hazard a guess why you didn't cover them then? Mr. Finnigan, perhaps?"

Seamus looked more surprised then anything, especially since no-one else was trying to get the teacher's attention, not even Hermione, who seemed to be sulking: "Maybe, because they are too dangerous for little midgets?"

"Not exactly", Tom returned, "Another guess, Harry, perhaps?"

"Please, Professor, could you call by my last name?", Harry asked pleadingly.

"Why would I, we are married, Harry", he really didn't see the problem.

"You're still my professor", the small boy argued, "Please, Sir?"

"No, now answer the question", he couldn't always give in, he reasoned, trying to ignore Harry's sad face.

"Vampires like veelas, giants, dwarfs, merpeople and elves are classed as non-humans and not as creatures like for example werewolves", Harry said flatly, "This is so because you can actually converse with them and because they have human features. On top of that vampires and werewolves don't exactly get along."

"Good, Harry, five points to Gryffindor", the green-eyed boy didn't even look up, "Now, I want everyone to think of ways to win a fight with an belligerent vampire. You can work in groups, but in the end I want a different possibility from everyone. You have ten minutes."

"Harry, what are you doing?", Blaise whispered urgently, "It doesn't look like Defence."

"It isn't", Harry answered shortly.

"What about the vampires?", Draco whispered from the other side, "We're supposed to talk about them, not do... whatever you are doing."

"And Tom is bloody supposed to respect my opinion", Harry hissed dangerously, "First he says that I can stay in Gryffindor since he's my teacher and now he just changes his opinion..."

"Time's up", Voldemort called through the class and made a picture of a aggressive-looking male vampire appear on the blackboard, "You can present your solution sequentially. Why don't you begin Mr. Thomas."

"I thought that since it's practical common knowledge amongst Muggles that you can kill a vampire by driving a wooden peg through its chest, I'd just conjure one up and try to stab it", Dean said calmly.

"Provided that you can conjure up a wooden peg and are able to stab a vampire in a blood lust with it before it sucks you dry, that's a possibility", Voldemort nodded, "Mr. Finnigan."

"Holy water?", the Irish boy said questioningly, "Though I guess it's pretty unlikely that I would have something like that with me."

It continued in that way, everyone giving more or less reasonable answers, till Hermione responded in her usual know-it-all voice: "Sinesanguine, it's a curse that will cause a vampire to bleed to death."

"Indeed, Miss Granger, it is the defence given in the book you undoubtedly read", the professor returned, "However, this curse is very painful for the vampire receiving it and they will most likely be even more aggressive towards you, which would result in your death so we will look for an other solution. Thank you, Miss Granger, your solution please, Miss Lovegood", Hermione crossed her arms over her chest, grumbling under her breath.

"I have an amulet made of Silverhorned Mouse-skin", she sighed dreamily, "It will protect me."

"I doubt that very much, but anyway...", Tom trailed off and called on the next person in line, Terry Boot, who suggested using Solifer in order to produce artificial daylight.

"Very good. Mr. Malfoy?"

"I would conjure up some garlic", Draco said imperatively, "Then get rid of the vampire and after that immediately take a shower. It's no wonder vampires can't stand garlic, it smells awefully."

"Thank you, Mr. Malfoy, make sure you remember that method", Tom had already focused on his husband, "Harry?"

"Wait a minute", Harry didn't look up and just made a shooing motion with his hand, "If you interrupt me now I'll have to start all over again."

"And what exactly are you doing, Harry?", he scowled down at the delicate boy, "And why are you doing it in my class?"

"Not now, Tom", Harry murmured absent-mindedly, doing what looked to be a pretty difficult calculation in one corner of his paper, "Go amuse yourself elsewhere..."

The Dark Lord would have liked to gape right now if only because he had nothing better that would express his surprise sufficiently, but, alas, Dark Lords don't gape so he settled for crossing his arms over his chest and staring down at the working boy, trying to find out a.) what he was doing, b.) why he was doing it and c.) what he had done to provoke it.

"Yay", Harry exclaimed happily after he had compared his results with the ones Simon had written down for him, "Did you want something, Tom?"

"I want an answer to my question and I want to talk to you after class", he returned.

"I was doing maths because you are being an idiot and I don't see why I should fight a vampire in the first place", Harry answered.

"Forgoing the insult and the fact that you ignored me, why wouldn't you fight a vampire?", he sighed acquiescently.

"Why would I?", Harry gave back, "What is the situation? Or do you expect me to believe that a vampire would just attack me because they feel like it?"

"That is not the point, Harry, say... It's just hungry", Tom almost groaned, "Could you just answer the question?"

"Well, then I would let them drink", Harry stated matter-of-factly, "I don't see the point in fighting with someone who's just trying to save his or her own life."

"You can't just let a vampire drink your blood, Potter", Hermione sneered from the back row, deciding that it was once again time to flaunt her knowledge, "Even you should know that, though I guess it's not so easy to memorise such simple facts with being brainwashed..."

"Might I inform you, Hermione, that I can very well let a vampire drink a bit of my blood and that I have not been brainwashed", Harry answered coldly.

"Harry, what would you do if you didn't want the vampire to drink your blood?", Tom seized the control back, "And, Miss Granger, Gryffindor just lost five points and if you speak out of turn again you will spend the weekend scrubbing cauldrons or doing something as equally unpleasant."

"I would talk to them, but should that for some reason or other fail, I would use Cateraqua to conjure up a waterfall all around the vampire and then try to find a solution that is acceptable for both of us."

"And how is that supposed to help?", Hermione spat contemptuously.

"Please, explain the theory that caused you to give that answer, Harry", Tom sighed, "And detention for you, Miss Granger, I have warned you. Ten points from Gryffindor."

"Most vampires are deathly afraid of flowing water", Harry said calmly, "They are not afraid of lakes or swimming pools, but rivers, waterfalls and sometimes even rain scare them. So this spell would confine them to an area."

"Finally an answer", the red-eyed man muttered, "Mr. Zabini."

"My grandfather was adopted by a vampire", the Italian boy shrugged, "They would never attack me or someone close to me."

"Whatever, the second part of the lesson we will train those techniques. You can use the one you suggested or if you didn't come up with an usable one you can just chose the one you like best. Please form groups of two. Mr. Zabini, just imagine yourself in a position where you have horribly offended a vampire and your family connections don't help you. Miss Lovegood, let's assume that you lent your reliable amulet to a good friend of yours. Oh, and Mr. Thomas perhaps you can chose another method, which you can actually try out without stabbing Mr. Finnigan. Begin."

With a flick of his wand the desks levitated to the sides making space in the middle, while the students split into pairs. Draco offered training with Padma, who had been trying to get his attention since the beginning of the lesson (he had ignored her skilfully) so that Harry and Blaise could work together and Harry sent him a grateful smile.

The rest of the class was spent trying out the different ways and if it hadn't been for the water-soaking charm Tom had used on the floor, they would have had to swim by the end. Ron, at Hermione's urgent suggestion had tried the incantation described in the book, but had only proceeded to cut his finger and had been complaining about how much it hurt getting on everyone's nerves till Tom told him to pack his things. The Dark Lord then sent Hermione down to the dungeons, where she should ask Severus for her detention. Suffice to say, she wasn't very happy about this.

Draco instead of using garlic had settled for the daylight spell and Padma trying to impress him had tried to do the same, although her result seemed to be little more than a Lumos.

"Class is over", Tom, who had been walking through the room, correcting or making suggestions, called, "As homework I want you to make a list with the characteristics of vampires and decide which solution you would prefer to use in which situation. Class is dismissed, Harry, come here."

The small Gryffindor obediently walked over after he had packed his things and crossed his thin arms over his chest.

"What has got into you?", Tom asked after the last student had left the room and after he had locked the door, "Is there a reason why you were so disrespectful or is it just hormones?"

He regretted the last few words immediately when Harry's eyes not only shone with anger but also with hurt: "Yes, there is a reason. You treated me like my opinion didn't even count, Tom. You kept calling me Harry, though I asked you not to do so..."

"What is so wrong with this?", Tom hissed back, "I have called you Harry in front of the Death Eaters, in front of your friends, in front of the whole school and now I'm suddenly not allowed to call you Harry in my class? What is the logic behind that?"

"Tom, I do respect you", Harry whispered, "But I want you to respect me as well. I was always good in Defence against the Dark Arts- the only thing everyone accepted me to be good in besides Quidditch- I know we're married and I know everyone else knows, but I don't want them to think that I only get good marks because I'm sleeping with the teacher..."

"Oh, Harry", he hugged the petite boy reassuringly, "I didn't know it meant so much to you. I will call you Mr. Potter from now on, okay? But you should know that you have a lot of other qualities than Defence and Quidditch and that you really deserve those marks... Your answers today were really good."

"Thank you, Tom", Harry sniffed, "And I'm sorry I was so cheeky..."

"No, Harry, don't be sorry", he gently kissed along Harry's jaw-line, "I should have listened to you and I'm sorry what I said about you being hormonous- that wasn't very helpful. But tell me, would you really allow a vampire to feed from you?"

Harry smirked up at him: "I already did", he freed himself from the light embrace, "I'll see you at lunch, Tom, can't come late for Severus' lesson", leaving a-not-quite-gaping-but-being-near-it-Dark-Lord-behind.

"Everything alright between you two?", Draco pushed away from the wall.

Harry nodded sending him and Blaise a grateful smile: "Thanks for waiting."

"It was understood", Draco and Blaise swept down in a deep bow, "We forwent the shining armour, but we're still two devilishly handsome princes charming, coming to your aid, fair maiden."

"You do know that it's not a good move to piss me off, don't you?", Harry shoved them playfully, "You can look for another fair maiden to save- or scare to death. And now if you will excuse me, I have a Potion's lesson to attend to."

"What a coincidence", Blaise exclaimed, quickly catching up with the delicate wizard, "So do we, don't we, Sir Draco? Let us be your companions for this adventurous journey..."

"Coincidence, Sir Blaise?", Draco called incredulously, "It's clearly without ambiguity fate that made us meet in such an unholy place to protect the brave, but slightly diminutive Sir Harry, who is off to challenge the Lord of the Dungeons and Poisons..."

His mouth continued moving, but no sound escaped and as Blaise tried to inform him of this he found himself in the same predicament: "Don't complain", Harry shrugged disinterestedly in response to their glares, "I warned you. Besides, at least now Severus will have a reason to take points from me."

This reasoning didn't appease them in the least and so, if it had made a difference, the would have fallen into an accusing silence during their short and not so adventurous journey to the Potion's class room.

"Mr. Potter, I see that you still have not learned how to tell the time", Severus sneered at the green-eyed boy as he walked into the classroom followed by two sulking Slytherins, "Ten points from Gryffindor. Mr. Malfoy, Mr. Zabini, please take a seat."

The three boys sat down at the only table still free, Harry once again in the middle and the two older boys began to poke him in the rips to make him reverse the spell, but the Gryffindor only swatted them away and continued unpacking his things.

"The recipe is on the board", Severus scowled at everyone, who had been looking more or less expectantly at him, "I want a batch of this potion from every table by the end of the lesson and yes, Miss Granger, that means that you work in groups and not that you brew a potion and assume it is the only one worthy of my attention."

"Does one of you know what this potion is supposed to do?". Vince had turned around in his seat and now inquiringly looked at the blond Ice Prince.

"It's a Blood-Replenishing Potion", Harry murmured, as Draco obviously couldn't answer, "Blaise, would you please stop sulking and fetch the ingredients?", the dark-skinned boy inspected his fingernails uncaringly, "Well, then not. Let me do all the work, why don't you?", Harry scoffed and got up, "It's not like it will influence your marks."

"What is wrong with you two?", Pansy glared at them through narrowed blue eyes, "You should know better than to let Harry even near the walking encyclopaedia..."

Two silent heads snapped around to where Harry was fetching their ingredients. Hermione had timed it so that they reached the boomslang skin at the same time and rudely shoved Harry to the side, who tripped over one leg of the table and fell to the floor with a small cry, curling up around his stomach.

"Watch it, Boy Hero, not everyone loves your ass as much as You-Know-Who", she hissed down at the pale boy, stepping on his hand as she made her way back to her seat.

"Granger, a second detention, today at eight o'clock with Mr. Filch", the Potion's Master spat angrily, "Mr. Potter, let me see your hand."

He quickly ushered Harry into the now empty storage room, pushing the door as if by accident so that it was only slightly ajar. The small boy, had tears shining in his eyes. The black-haired man carefully pushed Harry's sleeve back, examining the damage done.

"It's not broken", he assured the trembling boy softly, "I'll bandage it up and then it should be fine. Anything else wrong?"

"I'm fine, Severus", Harry smiled a little, "Are you okay?"

"Why wouldn't I be?", Severus asked surprisedly.

"You seem tired and bitter", Harry muttered, "I don't want you to be like that."

"I just stayed up long last night", the Potion's Master murmured, "But thank you for worrying about me, Harry."

"Not a problem", Harry smiled gently up at the thin man, "Would you like me to help you with your potions? I know you have a lot of additional work because of me..."

"If you want to...", he fixed the last bandage, "However, you know that I like brewing potions and I like helping you. Now, let's go back, okay, Harry?"

He replaced his indifferent mask and strode back into the classroom. Blaise and Draco- Pansy had freed them from their Silencing Spell- were sedulously preparing all the ingredients, while the water was boiling in the cauldron.

"Mr. Goldstein, add some sandalwood- I don't want my classroom destroyed just yet. Five points from Ravenclaw", Severus stalked through the rows of working students, "If you hadn't noticed your cauldron is overflowing, Mr. Macmillan, five points from Hufflepuff. And Miss Granger, this is not a let's-throw-everything-we-have-into- that-shining-little-copper-thing-lesson so why, pray tell, did you feel the need to grind wormwood?"

"Because it belongs in a blood-replenishing potion, Sir", Hermione stated snottily.

"Oh, well good you mentioned it, because obviously I'm totally incompetent when it comes to potions", the dark-eyed professor returned sarcastically and Hermione's face turned a furious red, "I just thought that thistle would look just lovely... Five points from Gryffindor. Mr. Potter, would you care to enlighten us, why the recipe clearly says thistle and not wormwood?"

"Because if you use wormwood the potions is more likely to explode", Harry said softly, "And you don't trust such dunderheads as us to understand the fine art of potion brewing, Sir."

"Don't use such foul language in my classroom, Mr. Potter", Severus snapped, but for those who knew him well enough a small glimmer of amusement was evident in his black eyes, "Five points from Gryffindor."

"You okay, Harry?", Blaise asked concernedly, "Let me chop this, okay?"

"I'm fine ", Harry smiled at him, "I'm sorry, I made you angry..."

The two boys mentally rolled their eyes as Harry once again took all the blame. They both had embosomed the younger boy with the vibrant green eyes and too many secrets and though he was in Gryffindor, most Slytherins had come to expect the boy-who-lived in the company of the two best-looking Slytherin boys (at least if you could trust Pansy Parkinson's hit list of the most eligible bachelors).

"We shouldn't have made fun of you for being so small", Draco answered while he handed the next ingredient to Harry, "After all we all were little once..."

Harry growled warningly at him, but the blond just threw an arm around the small shoulders and ruffled the black hair, laughing at the indignant look he received.

(1) My English teacher always says that so if it's wrong you can blame him...

Do you want to review? I'm sure you do...