Chapter 6 - Voluntary

Minerva found herself reluctantly trudging toward the infirmary, only this time she was cursing Albus' name under her breath. He'd apparently left Hogwarts, without even informing her of that fact, leaving Minerva to deal with the situation she currently found herself in. Albus might have been able to talk the Minister of Magic out of visiting Potter in the infirmary but she didn't bother trying. The fact that he'd turned up at Hogwarts with an entourage, including a reporter and a photographer, saw Minerva not wasting her breath trying to dissuade Cornelius from his clearly focused goal here.

Harry Potter was on the front page of a newspaper today, and Fudge was obviously planning on the same thing happening tomorrow - with of course himself standing right next to the lad. Potter may have had some input into the words appearing below his picture today, but the inclusion of Rita Skeeter meant that wouldn't be happening tomorrow. The article would say whatever she, and Fudge, wanted it to, no matter what was said by Potter - or anyone else.

Also like today's front page, the picture would lend credence to whatever words that followed. She couldn't help but feel Mr Potter was about to be right royally shafted yet, when she examined her feelings, Minerva found she didn't really care. That thought was her first warning bell as the group entered Poppy Pomfrey's domain.

-oOoOo-

A lot of the time, the piles of books in front of Harry and Hermione were there for mere cover. They were slowly working their way through Tom Riddle's memories, being disgusted and astonished in almost equal measures.

'Riddle had the ability to do so much good in this world, yet he wasted all that potential on his ruthless obsession to seek power for himself.'

'Harry, there was simply no good in Riddle. We've seen the memories, not once did he ever consider any other option. Even when he sought out his uncle in Little Hangelton, it was to increase his own power base. Seeing that his Uncle Morfin would be a liability in his plans to woo the pure-bloods, and his father's origins becoming known an absolute disaster, he didn't hesitate to take care of the entire problem. He was only seventeen yet murdered his unknown father and grandparents, before framing his uncle for the crime. He effectively wiped out all of his family in one go, simply because they could handicap those carefully laid plans for his future. I know you're worried about using this knowledge but you will never be Tom. There is so much good in you, that simply couldn't possibly ever happen. You see opportunities to do good everywhere, Tom didn't even look - far less consider that an option.'

Leaning over, he gave his betrothed a gentle kiss. 'Voldemort made anchors for his soul out of inanimate objects, I simply gave mine to you to look after for me. Hermione, you are my anchor - now and forever.'

'That's a task I'm more than happy to accept. I even like the timeframe, forever with you sounds wonderful.'

They didn't get to seal the deal in what was becoming their usual manner - SWALK - before being interrupted. McGonagall was back, bringing friends.

There were no introductions offered for the five people accompanying her though, to be fair to McGonagall, the blonde witch wearing far too much make-up showed her brass neck by simply taking over.

"Hello, I'm Rita Skeeter! I write for the Daily Prophet. But, of course, you know that, don't you? It's you we don't know. You're the juicy news. What lurks beneath Hogwarts inside the fabled Chamber of Secrets. You'll take us down there, won't you..."

Rita was startled out of her carefully prepared introduction when her acid-green Quick-Quotes Quill, which had been furiously scribbling away on a floating notepad - clearly writing far more words than Ria was uttering - burst into flames. That this also set fire to the notebook didn't seem to bother anyone. As the items took only a couple of seconds to become fine ash -before then disappearing - all eyes were now locked on Harry.

"Sorry about that. Last year I was almost killed by something that wrote by itself and I couldn't see its brain. Not a mistake I want to make again, my magic must have gotten away from me." With no wand in his hand, Harry was being believed by the group.

"Miss Skeeter, I have no idea who you are. I simply won't read the Daily Prophet. The new Steward of House Potter though will be searching through back issues, looking for mentions of me. You see, today's article in the Quibbler is the first time I've ever given an interview. I'm led to believe your newspaper pretends to have quotes from me on a regular basis, that will be stopping."

Seeing the possibility of his intended good press going up in flames too, Cornelius attempted to play peacemaker here. "Now Harry, a bit of free advice. It doesn't do to upset our friends in the Press."

"Oh, that's okay, Minister. Miss Skeeter here is not my friend. My real press friend already has a second interview from me. In it, we talk about how the British Ministry of Magic is the only ministry in the world to issue a kill on sight order against a pureblood Head of House - one who was never even granted his legal right of a trial. This is the same Ministry of Magic who thought it was a good idea to surround a school with dementors, an action that almost cost me my life on THREE separate occasions."

The only person Harry or Hermione had ever seen wearing a monocle then interrupted. That she was a witch just made this particular choice of eyewear all the more strange. "Excuse me, Mr Potter. Are you claiming Black is innocent? Oh, excuse my rudeness, I'm Amelia Bones, Head of the DMLE."

Harry just continued staring at her. "DMLE?"

"Department of Magical Law Enforcement."

"Sorry, Miss. Dumbledore made sure I didn't know anything about magic before I came to Hogwarts. The standard of teaching here is so bad, I probably won't know much more than I do now after I leave. So does that make you the person responsible for the kill on sight notice on my innocent Godfather?"

Cornelius spoke before Amelia could get her gander up. "Harry, we spoke about this. Black confounded all three of you."

"No, Minister. You took the word of a Death Eater rather than listen to us, simply because he was saying the things you wanted to be true." Turning his attention back to Bones, Harry then asked a rather impertinent question. "What exactly is the Dark Mark?"

Harry Potter was nothing like Amelia was expecting, Susan had said he was almost cripplingly shy. Coming from Susan, who had more than a touch of shyness about herself too, Amelia thought she would have to coax any answers she wanted out the boy. Deciding to play along and see where this led, she gave his question the textbook answer. "The Dark Mark is Lord Voldemort's trademark, he brands his followers with it and it's cast into the sky after battles."

Shaking his head, Harry's frown let everyone know what he though of that answer before he'd even opened his mouth to reply. "I wouldn't even give that an 'acceptable' grade. The only bit of that I agree with is he designed the mark as his motif, though he's certainly no Lord. Tom Marvolo Riddle is the offspring of Merope Gaunt, an impoverished pureblood, and Tom Riddle - a local muggle she used a love potion on."

Although he'd not been introduced, both Harry and Hermione recognised Macnair from his visit to Hagrid's while attempting to execute Buckbeak. More importantly, they recognised from Tom's memories that he was an Inner Circle Death Eater - which was why they were pursuing this topic. Macnair looked as if he as trying to lay a dragon-sized egg after hearing that about his master's blood status, though the rest of the company appeared just as shocked. Harry pushed on toward their objective.

"The Death Eaters don't fight battles, the cowards ambush or murder people in their sleep - using that disgusting mark to then lay claim to their kills. That mark isn't branded or tattooed on either, really poor research by the DMLE. Then again, an innocent man has a death sentence on him so no surprise there. Hermione, on the other hand, is a fantastic researcher. She misses nothing - care to set them straight, Hermione?"

As Hermione took over the narrative, it was now Harry's job to keep an eye on Macnair.

"Riddle's Dark Mark is a bastardisation of the Protean Charm. It links him to his followers, allowing Riddle to contact - and even punish them - through their mark. You see Riddle binds his followers to him using soul magic, and what is the one thing that's universal to all forms of soul magic?"

The answer hit Amelia like a sledgehammer. Where seconds before she'd been turning red with anger, her complexion now had a distinct grey parlour to it as the implications of this hit home. If this girl's facts turned out to be true, it would shake the very foundations of their society. Amelia muttered what the girl was obviously alluding to. "Soul magic has to be accepted voluntary. A person's soul can't be fooled with a curse or potion - the magic simply wouldn't take."

This news getting out could spell disaster for Cornelius, and some of his close friends. He was now regretting inviting Rita along, and wondering how much her silence on this matter would cost those friends. He had no idea Harry was nowhere near finished yet.

"Riddle is a parselmouth, and used parseltongue magic to administer and then control those who wear his Dark Mark. Dumbledore thinks I inherited my parseltongue ability the night Riddle hit me with the killing curse. I suppose I really should thank the Ministry, they actually helped me too - in a roundabout fashion. Being attacked by dementors has been unlocking some of my parsletongue abilities, and I had already been attacked twice before I met my godfather."

It was now time to reveal why they had brought this matter up. "There is a spell, cast in parseltongue, that proves my Godfather is no Death Eater. He actually invited me to cast it on him." Harry was of course lying through his teeth, though there was certainly a spell that accomplished what he claimed. Riddle had delved deep into his ability as a parslelmouth, practically creating a new branch of magic. Harry had no intention of telling anyone in this room about the knowledge he and Hermione shared.

Before any of them could even think to object, Harry drew his wand and, pointing at the ceiling, hissed a spell into the air. Macnair immediately dropped to his knees, clutching his forearm while clearly in agony. The commotion that kicked off only stopped when the flash of the camera reminded everyone there was a press presence here.

"Mr Potter, what are you implying here?" Amelia had her wand out but was unsure who to point it at, not a condition she was in anyway used to. She wanted answers, and was determined to get them. Amelia had no way of knowing Harry and Hermione intended for her to have those answers from the instant Macnair walked into the infirmary.

Poppy's wand was currently scanning Macnair, and the results were confusing her. "He's clearly in great pain but I can't discover what's causing it. It's definitely radiating from his forearm though." Since Macnair was clutching onto that forearm as if his life depended on it, that last bit didn't require a healer to figure out.

"This would be Riddle's method of controlling his slaves. Make no mistake, that's what they were to him. His Dark Mark on their arm bound their very souls to him - and any other parselmouth who knows the right spells." Turning to Macnair, Harry asked the Dark wizard a question. "What is your name?"

"Walden Macnair."

"Are you a Death Eater?"

"Yes."

Fudge was trying to stop these questions, his proclaiming of this being "Preposterous" were being ignored. No one else missed Amelia's wand was now trained on the kneeling Macnair.

Harry pushed on with his questions. "Have you seen this curse used on your fellow Death Eaters before?" Again their knowledge told them the answer before they asked the question. It was all about taking their audience with them. Macnair's 'yes' saw Harry explaining to that audience how the curse worked.

"So you know a truthful answer will result in a slight lessening of your pain, where a lie or deliberate omission will see that pain increase?" Receiving another affirmative answer saw Harry get ready to ask the real questions.

Minerva had stood quietly in the background, waiting to see how things developed, but now felt she had to say something. "Mr Potter, you are torturing this man. I won't have this inside Hogwarts' walls. Stop this at once."

Ignoring McGonagall, Harry asked the big question. "How many people have you killed or tortured as a Death Eater?"

Struggling with the question, Macnair finally gave an answer. "I have no idea of an exact total. Certainly more than fifty and probably less than a hundred."

Looking around the room, Harry's gaze locked with everyone in turn before he asked a question to the room. "Anyone else think this murdering bastard deserves any mercy?" As he'd expected, no one objected.

"Tell us of any names you know that were murdered or tortured by you - and the names of any Death Eaters who helped you?"

With a roar of defiance, Macnair's wand was in his hand and a green curse was leaving it. Amelia's stunner appeared to hit an invisible barrier and she found herself helpless to interfere.

Instead of hitting Harry, the green light appeared to be drawn into Harry's wand, leaving him unharmed while Macnair's agony clearly increased. Harry had to shout to make himself heard over the Death Eater's screams. "Don't worry, and don't try to interfere. He's basically committing suicide here, and there's nothing any of us can do to prevent it now. Anyone casting an offensive spell at the person who has you under control like this will see that curse rebound on them. He knew this before he cast it."

What Harry didn't say, and would never mention, was that Macnair's magic was currently being siphoned off and supplementing his own. That Macnair had chosen this route was totally unexpected. Once Harry had cast the original spell though, there was then no way for anyone to disarm Macnair. As the last of his magic left Macnair, the curse he'd cast rebounded from Harry's wand and stopped the Death Eater's agony once and for all.

Macnair's body slumped to the floor in total silence, a silence that Harry eventually broke. "How did my godfather end up in Azkaban, without a trial, while this piece of shit kept his job in the Ministry of Magic."

"Mr Potter, you just ended this man's life. Aren't you even a little sorry?"

Harry didn't get time to answer McGonagall's jibe, Hermione exploded all over their Head of House. "Didn't you just hear this animal admit to murdering and torturing so many people he couldn't give an exact count. Even by his lowest estimate, he was responsible for wiping out more people than there are students in our current year group. Had the job been done properly when Harry defeated Voldemort as a baby, today would never have happened. Your generation let the entire country down, so don't stand there implying my Harry is some heartless murderer. Didn't you listen, the murdering bastard deliberately took his own life - rather than name those who helped him with those murders."

Harry's arm went around her waist as Hermione rested her head on his shoulder, trying to control her anger. Using their rings to talk privately was now becoming almost second nature to them, and Harry was sure he knew what had sent his betrothed off on a rant.

'Hermione, we've seen the memories and know Macnair needed to die.'

'I know that, Harry, but the bastard fired a killing curse at you. What if that spell didn't work? I can't lose you.'

Hermione was left shuddering at that thought but kept up her verbal conversation too. "It's Malfoy all over again. Little bastard curses you in the back but McGonagall and Dumbledore make like it's your fault. The quicker we leave Hogwarts, the better."

With a dead body on the floor, Amelia had some procedures the law required her to run. As Poppy confirmed what they all already knew, Macnair was deceased, Amelia approached the couple.

"Mr Potter, although I witnessed everything that happened, the law states I must examine your wand. Could I please borrow it for a moment?"

Handing it over, they weren't surprised when Amelia cast a charm to determine the last spell cast. Since it clearly wasn't the unforgivable killing curse, Amelia handed Harry his wand back.

The photographer was ecstatic. "I have a picture of the Boy-Who-Lived surviving a killing curse - again."

Amelia was desperate to ask a question, though suspected she wouldn't like the answer. "Mr Potter, did you block that killing curse? Any spell that has the ability to do that, I want to know about it."

"I'm sorry, but that particular spell would only be blocked again in very specific circumstances. You need to be a parselmouth, know the spell, have cast the spell on a Death Eater Riddle marked before they then choose to fire that curse at you."

Fudge was almost shredding his bowler hat between his hands as he nervously played with it. "Amelia, what are we going to do about this?"

Quick as a flash, Harry was on him. Here was a golden opportunity to try and help Sirius again, with no Dumbledore to interfere this time. "Granting my godfather a trial would be a start. 'Sirius Black Innocent' is certainly a better headline for all of us than 'Ministry Death Eater tries to Murder Boy-Who-Lived'. A better headline for me and the Ministry, I'll leave you to work out the deal with Miss Skeeter here."

"Are you so sure your godfather is innocent?"

"Mrs Bones, I'm not offering to fund a new wing at St Mungo's here - I'm simply looking for justice. Use truth serum, ask him any question you want about the murder of my parents and Pettigrew's faked death. To be honest, I shouldn't really need to ask for this. Any self-respecting government would be determined to get to the bottom of this matter. That the Ministry of Magic haven't is a national disgrace and embarrassment. Then again, when you have Death Eaters working there - like Hogwarts has Snape."

No one missed the not subtle in the slightest dig at Lucius Malfoy, or the dig at Snape. Rita though thought she had found a method of getting back at Potter, after the brat had the cheek to burn her lucky quill. "Do you actually know where Sirius Black is?"

Seeing the obvious trap, Harry easily sidestepped it. "The Stewards of houses Potter and Black work very closely together, however none of us have seen Sirius since the night he was here. I don't know where he is, and am prepared to take an oath to that if required."

Using Poppy's floo, Amelia arranged for a couple of aurors to step through and remove Macnair's body. She then had some harsh words for Rita. "Miss Skeeter, this is now an active investigation, and the usual reporting rules apply. I'm certain you know those rules off by heart so I will just go over the important parts. Macnair's death will be kept quiet while my aurors go over his life with a fine-tooth comb. Should this story leak before that happens, I'll have both of you up on charges. I also want the film from that camera, we might need it for evidence. It will of course be returned to you, in time."

Rita appeared as if she was about to object when Harry sweetened the deal. "I can guarantee you exclusive interviews with myself and my godfather, after his trial of course. I'm sure arrangements could also be made to offer you an exclusive on the trial too."

Amelia's nod saw Rita accept the deal, until her photographer threw a spanner into the works. "What happens when we go back to the paper with nothing?"

That was why Harry and Hermione once more found themselves leading a group toward Myrtle's bathroom.

McGonagall didn't accompany them though. She remained in the infirmary, needing all her Gryffindor courage to approach her friend. "Poppy, could you run the same tests on me that you did on Potter and Granger?"

-oOoOo-

Albus arrived back in Hogwarts just after Cornelius and Amelia had left. Not only did he miss speaking with them, it would seem he missed another opportunity to take a trip down into the Chamber of Secrets. He discovered this when the one person he actually wanted to miss deliberately sought him out, Rita Skeeter.

Rita had hung back, determined to have a little discrete nosey around the infirmary later. Spotting Dumbledore though was just too good a chance to pass up. "Headmaster Dumbledore, would you share your thoughts on the news Sirius Black, Harry Potter's godfather, is about to be given a trial he should have received all those years ago?"

Normally, hearing that would have set Albus off to try and rectify this potential disaster - but today wasn't normal. Discovering Harry had claimed his Lordship, and appointed a Steward to House Potter, meant that Sirius being free was irrelevant. Since he'd already secured Remus' promise that Harry would be on the express come September, Albus felt he could be generous here.

"I know that Harry is convinced his godfather is innocent and we can only hope that this trial proves that. Justice should, and always will, prevail."

Carefully writing that down, Rita couldn't believe the opening the old wizard had just presented her with. She didn't hesitate for a second. "Headmaster, Harry is also convinced Severus Snape is a Death Eater. Should there be another trial for Snape, one that looks at the facts rather than just having you vouch for the wizard?"

Albus looked over his half-moon glasses and bestowed his most piercing stare on the reporter. "Miss Skeeter, to win a war we sometimes have to do things that are rather distasteful. Without Severus Snape's assistance, I seriously doubt whether we would have defeated Lord Voldemort. That was why I vouched for the wizard, he played a vital part in the last war."

Rather than closing Rita down, that statement actually piqued her interest. Albus soon realised he'd said far too much, to entirely the wrong person, as he now faced a barrage of questions Albus Dumbledore didn't want anyone knowing the answers to. Today's revelations must have taken more out of him than he thought. Quick as a flash, his wand was in his hand and Rita forgot all about meeting Albus Dumbledore. She also forgot her intention to 'bug' the infirmary, looking for some juicy gossip. Rita headed out of the castle, just as Albus had instructed her to do.

Walking away, Albus thought it was sometimes good to be one of the most powerful wizards in the world. It certainly helped him when taking care of problems - like Miss Skeeter.

Even with Remus' promise, Albus had another method for ensuring Harry Potter was in the castle next term. Though loath to use it, he had long ago resigned himself to do what needed to be done - no matter how distasteful it might be to others. Reaching his office, Albus then found three members of the school board waiting on him - with a load of questions of their own. Some days you just couldn't catch a break.

-oOoOo-

At the Gryffindor table, Luna was now treated like visiting royalty by the Weasley twins. They had thought getting Colin to flood the school with pictures of the basilisk was a great prank - since Dumbledore clearly wanted the entire episode kept quiet. Seeing those same pictures in a newspaper, with an accompanying story that gave Dumbledore a sharp kick up the arse, was simply brilliant in their book. Since Fred and George were becoming more and more responsible for setting the tone of their house's opinion, she was welcomed with open arms by the house of the lions.

Luna was easily having her best week ever inside Hogwarts. While Ron certainly kept an eye out to see no one was troubling her, Neville now spent every spare moment he had at Luna's side. She initially worried that Neville was taking Harry's request too seriously, to the detriment of his other friendships, until Luna made a couple of startling discoveries. The first was rather baffling, as it seemed Neville didn't really have any other close friends. The second discovery though almost blew her mind, Neville apparently liked spending time with her.

To a very lonely girl, this was a real shock. The more she got to know Neville however, the more she began to understand. He too was a lonely person, someone searching for a good friend. Just the thought of having a good friend, and spending at least some of the summer together - with their other friends - had Luna smiling more than she ever had before.

Watching the little blonde sitting beside Neville wear a smile had Ron mentally nodding in satisfaction. Harry had asked that he keep an eye on Luna, Ron took some pride in the fact he and Neville were doing such a good job. His gaze moved further down the table and settled on his sister.

It must be hard for Ginny to see pictures of that beast all over the school, and now in a newspaper. The Weasley brothers at Hogwarts all knew they had let their sister down when she was a first year, that was a mistake that would never be repeated.

With Ginny though, the trick was always how to keep an eye on her without the youngest Weasley thinking you were checking up on her. Ginny might be the youngest and smallest Weasley but all her brothers were well aware that - when it came to temper - their sister had received an adult-sized dose. Having that temper focused on you was definitely something to be avoided.

Looking around from chatting to Colin, Ron suddenly realised that Ginny had caught him staring. Her slight smile told Ron he wasn't in any trouble so his attention turned back to the food on his plate. With his responsibilities taken care of, Ron set about devouring the wonderful meal before him.

-oOoOo-

Harry was desperate to let Sirius and Remus know the latest developments, only to discover things that would affect them had also been happening elsewhere too. After reading Remus' promise to Dumbledore, Harry's initial reaction was rage. Hermione was there though, like a soothing blanket to cover the flames of his anger.

'Think about this Harry. No Dursleys, Sirius free, spending the summer together - this deal buys us all of that and more. Dumbledore won't interfere with our summer now, or Sirius' trial, and hopefully we can keep him busy trying to replace all the staff we're going to poach from Hogwarts.'

These were all things Harry wanted so Hermione was succeeding in quenching his temper, she then tried to look ahead.

'If this allows us the chance to get our school up and running for the First of September, wouldn't that be worth a little compromise? We're already intending that most of our classes would be tutored, that tutoring doesn't have to take place within Hogwarts.'

This idea intrigued Harry. 'What do you mean?'

'I could see us turning up to take creatures classes with Hagrid, and probably transfiguration with McGonagall. The rest of the time we could spend at the new school - including living there...' Hermione's thought process was disrupted as Harry kissed her.

'You are a genius, I could live with that...'

They were interrupted by a clearly worried Madam Pomfrey deliberately seeking them out.

"This is a tricky situation, but I think I've found a way around it. Harry, if that job offer is still open, I will accept - and start immediately."

Although confused at what brought this on, Harry was always going to say yes to Pomfrey.

Nodding her acceptance, Poppy proceeded with the next part of her scheme. "As the school's new healer, my employer is entitled to ask me for my medical opinion on any potential new staff members. The trick here will be getting you to ask me the right questions."

At that, Poppy placed a piece of tartan both of them instantly recognised on the table. Having spent three years seeing their Head of House wearing that tartan, it would have been hard not to. Catching on immediately, Hermione asked the question Poppy was desperate to answer.

"Madam Pomfrey, we are considering offering a position to someone you appear to have recently examined. Could you give us your medical opinion on Professor McGonagall's suitability to teach children in our new school?"

While they saw Poppy relax at being asked the right question, both Harry and Hermione also spotted tears in the corners of her eyes. "Minerva is currently in St Mungo's, being examined by a mind healer. Her mind had been manipulated so severely, and I suspect so frequently, I didn't even know where to start unravelling the mess my examination found. All I do know is, that for the sake of her health - and possible sanity - she can not return to Hogwarts. After a summer convalescing, I would hope she would be once more ready to take up the mantle of being a transfiguration professor - just not in any school controlled by Dumbledore."

Harry didn't need Hermione pleading with him to help, he was always going to do so. "I'll have our Steward contact her tomorrow. Even if she only wants to spend the summer convalescing at our home, before seeking work elsewhere, she will still be more than welcome to join us."

He could actually feel Hermione's agreement over their bond as she whipped out a piece of well-worn parchment and wrote their latest task onto it.

"What's on the to-do list now?"

"Arrange portkeys for professors, arrange visit and job offer for Mcgonagall, meeting with goblins to arrange finances for school, meeting my parents, Sirius' trial - when the Ministry announce a date..."

Stopping, the next item had clearly made Hermione think of something else. "Harry, if the Headmaster is going to leave us alone this summer, does that mean we can invite Ron to spend some of the summer with us?"

This had Harry smiling, here was a bonus none of them had thought about when discussing the implications of Remus' deal with Dumbledore. Since Remus would be contacting Neville's gran and Luna's father, neither of whom would be privy to their actual location, Harry wondered if the same deal would be acceptable to Arthur and Molly.

They intended to set up communications through Gringotts, something neither Dumbledore or the Ministry could interfere with. By citing these measures were being put in place for Harry's safety, the young couple now thought there was a very good chance Remus would be able to convince the Weasley parents that Ron should join them too.

-oOoOo-

Ron was walking down the corridor when a strong pair of arms swiftly dragged him behind a tapestry, one that hid a secret alcove behind this textile work of art. His first thought was to reach for his wand but the hardy hands that now held him pinned against the wall denied Ron that option. He was about to shout for assistance when his lips were suddenly covered, by another pair of lips.

Having someone else's tongue in your mouth was definitely a new and strange experience for Ron, though not entirely unpleasant. His arms were still glued to his sides, however it was Ron himself who was now holding them there. One of the girl's hands - Ron was certain it was a girl - had moved up to the back of his head, offering encouragement for him to kiss her back.

Her other hand though had moved further south, providing even more encouragement for him to respond to her kissing. That hand was now performing an invigorating kneading action on his left buttock - Ron was certainly feeling energised by it. So much so, both his hands were now performing similar actions to his 'attacker's' derrière.

His mystery girl eventually broke the kiss, but leaned in to nibble at Ron's ear. "With the lights out, there is only us. No preconceptions, no judging each other before we ever reach this stage."

Ron found himself being kissed again, though this time he was an enthusiastic participant. When the pair of hips his arms were happily wrapped around added a grinding motion against him, Ron almost lost his mind.

He could actually hear the satisfaction in her voice. "I certainly want to do this again, do you?"

Spinning the girl around, he let his actions answer that question. Ron was now the one pressing his secret kisser against the wall as they snogged each other.

It was a good while later she held him close, and again whispered intoxicatingly in Ron's ear. "Remember how much we enjoyed this, no judging to spoil it."

With one last kiss, she was off. As she slipped out past the tapestry, Ron was certain he spotted a flash of green Slytherin edging on her robes. A goofy grin was splitting his face though. Ronald Weasley just spent the best fifteen minutes of his life, being thoroughly kissed and getting to run his hands over a girl's backside. That this mystery girl might turn out to be a Slytherin was not going to spoil his enjoyment of the event - or dent the grin he was currently wearing.

Better yet, his secret kisser had promised him they'd do this again. Ron had to wait a little while before he snuck out from behind the tapestry. His embarrassing problem might have gone down since his mystery girl left, but his grin was still every bit as wide and goofy.

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