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Room of Requirement

3 Hours

3 Short Hours

3 Short Bloody Hours

That was the amount of sleep Harry Potter got over the night. It should've been more like 6 hours by the time he finished his school work but no, the adrenaline that ran through his body had other ideas. He still had no idea how he did what he did with Katie, enjoying his first kiss, flirting shamelessly and finally being confident. He put a lot of his confidence and strange behaviour behind the adrenaline that ran through his body. It was strange really, one moment he was a barrel of nerves and the next he was sweeping her off her feet.

Strange

He stretched his body as the sheets that surrounded his body tightened slightly. He loved this bed, he could've sworn it was alive as it moulded around his body perfectly but that didn't help his quest for a good night's sleep.

After a number of hours just laying there he decided to start his exercise regiment that Fred and George had set up for him which would hopefully bulk him up slightly, hoping that the ability to hit back without the aid of a wand would be a advantage against a skilled opponent. He imagined a boxing bag and began to punch, his full weight went into the punch, loving the way that the bag crumpled slightly, imagining the face of Ron then Seamus and then Dean.

As the time passed he began to sweat massively as he felt the drops of perspiration stream down his thin chest. Deciding to take a short shower he grabbed a towel, relaxing under the boiling streams of water.

After the shower he made his way down to the Great Hall, knowing that the twins should be present by this time, giving in to the interrogation that was about happen.

Great Hall

"Here's our boy, or should I say man after what I've heard from Angelina" Fred smiled as he greeted Harry to the table after he heard from Angelina what Katie had told her.

"Swept of her feet, she said"

"We just 'talked' she said" a twinkle developed in Fred's eye.

"Are you going to tell us what happened then?"

Harry stayed silent for a number of seconds, knowing that the pause was driving them insane. "Come on Harry, tell us" George pleaded.

"Fine" he sighed, a small smile graced his lips. "It was a very pleasant date. I took her on a picnic like you suggested, taking your advice when it came to how to act around a woman"

George looked at him strangely for a moment, thinking it was impossible to follow all their advice after just one day of learning from them. "You couldn't have done everything we taught you, there was so much to learn"

"Ere" he paused "I tried to take all your advice, maybe not going overboard"

"Was there any 'action' involved" Fred winked suggestively.

"There may have been" he answered him, a small blush formed on his cheeks, letting the twins know that this was still the nervous boy they had known for a number of years.

"How much?" George asked quickly.

"Why?"

"Well" he trailed off slightly before he found his tongue "we may have had a small wager". Harry looked at them sternly, not liking the fact that his love life was up for betting. "Hey, don't look at me like that" he kept up the glare "Fine, Fine. It won't happen again" Fred dipped his head in defeat as Harry held a smile inside.

"Even though it's none of your business, me and Katie kissed and that's as far as it went"

"Way hay, pay up Fred" George celebrated as he stuck out his hand.

"Damn it" Fred muttered as he dropped the five galleons into his brother's hand.

"What was the bet, exactly?" Harry asked.

"Oh, nothing important" Fred replied quickly, knowing that Harry wouldn't be too happy when he heard the specifics of the bet.

"Fred thought you'd end up bedding Katie on your first date, I disagreed"

Fred tried to lose Harry's glare as he felt him gazing as whole in the back of his head. Harry didn't look happy about that, the way that he thought that Katie was that easy to get into his sack. He may be learning from Fred and George but that didn't mean that he would act like them, he knew his morals which wouldn't be moved.

"You guys need to grow up when it comes to the way you think about women" he lectured the pair as he got his point across. They ducted their heads like naughty school boys being told off for doing a bad thing. Thankfully the gaze of Harry was interrupted as Hermione sat down beside Harry, breaking eye contact as he focussed on his friend.

"Hey Harry" she yawned "Where were you for dinner?"

"Homework" he answered simply as he looked at the twins who seemed to have thrown themselves into a conversation with a couple of 6th years.

"Harry" she sighed, knowing it would end up this way. "I told you to do it earlier" she lectured.

"I know, Professor" he drawled tiredly, hearing the tone of voice so many times.

The minutes ticked by as breakfast went by, all the students tucking into their food and chattering happily. He noticed Katie, Alicia and Angelina join the table a couple of feet away from him. He caught her eye for a moment; a giggle seemed to erupt from her chest which caught the attention of her friends immediately.

"What are you looking at Harry?"

"Nothing" he smiled as he averted his gaze. Unfortunately Hermione saw what he was looking at before he changed his point of view.

"What happened with you and Katie yesterday?" Hermione inquired as she was reminded of Katie's strange behaviour at dinner that night.

"We hung out, it was nice" he told her like it wasn't anything new. Fred and George seemed to give a short laugh as they listened to the conversation covertly. Hermione on the other hand knew that Harry was saying less than he knew, hoping he would confide in her at a later date.

Greenhouse

"Is everyone present?" Professor Sprout stood at the front of the class as she looked at the students that looked up at her. "Good. Now take out Magical Water Plants of the Mediterranean textbook" she commanded.

The students in this class comprised of a mixture of Hufflepuff's and Gryffindor which unfortunately for one student was a recipe for disaster, especially with the number of students who had it in for him. To avoid most of the stares from the students he sat near the front which was greeted with a smile from Hermione, happy that he was taking learning seriously for once.

"Look at page 54, the Green Orchid will be what we're studying today" Sprout spoke again as Harry folded the book to the page.

'The Green Orchid, the plant that loves to kill'

Harry was intrigued straight away, the short description seemed to imply something more as he saw the recognisable hand of Hermione raise in question, or answer seeing as he hadn't been listening for a couple of minutes.

"Yes Miss Granger, you have an answer for me" so he hadn't been listening.

"The Green Orchid is a plant that is found in Asia. It lures its victim into touching it by the smells it gives off, spurting gas or 'perfume'" she highlighted this by symbolising it with her fingers "like some wizards and witches have described it. When the victim gets to close the plant will attack its victim by placing its petals around the mouth, finally blowing a large amount of poisonous gas into the victim's mouth and killing the person instantaneously. They've been used to assassinate famous figures through the ages"

Great, something else I have to worry about

"Very good Miss Granger, 10 points to Gryffindor" she replied happily as a number of students shared the delight of some points. "Of course these" she raised her wand to reveal a number of Green Orchid's, smaller than the plant that sat in the book. "These won't kill you but if you get to close they will knock you out for several hours"

This was proved a moment later as a small Hufflepuff boy got a little too close to comfort as the plant seemed to dance for the boy as he seemed to lean in, mimicking the movements that Hermione described down to the smallest detail. Before anyone could stop him he had his lips sealed around the petals of the plant which was the final stage. A second later the boy was falling to the ground.

"Idiot" Ron muttered to his 'friends' which got a laugh for his comment. Harry just shook his head, now that he was out of the gang Ron now took the reins, always wanting power and now having it. He wasn't quite sure if that was a good or bad thing.

"Miss Dane, Williams, take Eden to the Infirmary, tell Pomfrey that I will be there after class."

As the boy got dragged from the class Harry heard the unmistakable laugh of Ron Weasley and his minions once again. He was going to have to put him in his place.

I'm gone for a couple of days and Ron's already making 'friends'. At this rate he'll be worse than Malfoy.

As the lesson dragged on he noticed a number of giggles when it came to him. A number of girls seemed to be looking at him, avoiding his glance as he looked directly at them. His confused expression seemed to get the attention of Hermione who'd been trying to get a sample of her plant for the past 5 minutes.

"They're looking at you because you're being classed as a 'bad boy'" she muttered, not looking directly at her friend "Supposedly some girls like that"

Harry listened quietly, hearing a hint of jealousy in her tone for whatever reason. He tried to brush it off as he looked at the girls again, confusion sweeping his features. "Bad Boy?" he asked confused.

"Yes Harry, bad boy" she huffed. "Because of your recent behaviour, battling a dragon single handed and revolting against your friends does that Harry" she continued. A goofy smile covered his face, realising all these beautiful ladies were in the palm of his hand. Bit unfortunate he wasn't looking at girls his age at the moment, needing experience for the moment.

He was knocked out of his state as Hermione wacked his arm, taking her attention of her task to whack the delirious boy that sat beside her "Stop smiling like that. I know the way your brain works" she warned him.

"Correction, you knew the way my brain worked" she smiled.

"Whatever" she muttered as she switched her attention back onto the task.

"Is someone jealous?" he teased.

"Ha" she gave a snort which got the attention of several nearby students.

He liked to tease her, he'd discovered several things he liked doing. This gave him the perfect opportunity to do just that so he leant in and whispered to her "Your mouth says no but your eyes say yes." She froze for several seconds at the proximity of Harry, her best friend.

Silence

That was what greeted the pair as the lesson continued without incident. When the lesson ended he decided to end the silence, changing the subject completely from the teasing before. "Library tonight" he asked, making her jump slightly as she walked beside him.

"What?" she whispered.

"Library tonight, after dinner. I want to go over some books in the Library, you know learn some stuff"

She seemed to look at him strangely for a moment, slowing down the walk in the process "Yeah, sure. If that's what you want"

"Of course. I think I need the skill to survive this Tournament" he began to walk at a normal pace, making Hermione pick up her pace to stick by him. All the way to the next class she thought one thing.

What has happened to Harry Potter?

Great Hall

The lessons had flown by after that initial slow moving lesson. He had Transfiguration before lunch and then had to sit through two hours of Divination. Transfiguration wasn't that bad apart from once again the giggling girls that seemed to stare and giggle every time that they saw him. Professor McGonagall never kept her eyes on him for more than a couple seconds a time. In fact when they were given assignments she only looked at Hermione, choosing to avoid eye contact to the young man that brought her to her knees, quite literally.

Divination seemed to be becoming more and more of a useless lesson as time went on. The predictions of his upcoming death were really beginning to annoy him (not that he didn't agree), he just wanted to learn something, something that may help him in the future, maybe delay the ending of his life. This never seemed to come and he noticed that Hermione didn't seem to be so interested in the subject.

I'm going to have to drop this next year, if I live that long

That is what led him to here, the Great Hall once again as all the students dug into their food greedily. Fred and George were sitting beside and opposite him, giving him some more helpful advice as the tutelage continued which covered most of lunch as he ate outside the castle with the twins and Hermione. She wasn't so happy about what was going on as they taught him there trade, leaving after a number of minutes. In the break the twins told him about the products they were working on, a form of magic called Occlumency which protected your thoughts. He decided to research that piece of magic in great detail, hopefully with Hermione by his side.

As he was brought back from his thoughts he caught the glimpse of a Durmstrang student staring at something beside him, Viktor Krum to be more precise. As he followed his line of sight he saw the target of the stare, or the person, Hermione Granger. She wasn't looking back but he could see a tint of red cover her face.

"Hermione" he whispered as she looked up "Why is Krum looking at you?" she looked up to see Krum and blushed, dropping her head once again.

"It's nothing Harry" she muttered as she picked at her salad. He decided he wouldn't push her seeing as this had happened on a number of occasions but just the other way around.

He knelt in and whispered so that the twins wouldn't hear. "If you need to talk, I'm here" he spoke, letting the information sink in for a few moments as he ate a piece of steak.

"Ok" she seemed to smile slightly as Harry gave her the option to open up to him instead of forcing her too. Fred and George were oblivions to the conversation between the pair as they ate. A surprising fact hit him when he entered the hall, that was the fact that his bad boy charm extended to nearly all the years as girls of all ages twisted their hair around there fingers when he was around. They even unbuttoned a couple of buttons from their shirts to give him a peak according to Fred and George, the information of which came from a semi-reliable source, well Fred and George to be more exact.

The time flowed by as he ate his food, thoughts of what he still had to do flew through his mind.

Learn Spells

Exercise

Homework

"Heads up" Fred muttered as he saw the recognisable figure of McGonagall flow down the passage. Harry shook his head as he realised the warning was aimed at him. Looking up he saw McGonagall aiming right at him. Now what?

"Mr Potter" she seemed uncomfortable to say his name "Professor Dumbledore would like to see you"

He sighed loudly, getting a little annoyed with being at everyone's beckoned call "Right now" he muttered.

"That would be preferred Mr Potter" she replied sternly, trying to desperately keep her gaze on him.

"Okay" he stood up slowly, noticing the smug look that Ron was giving him "Lead the way" he said as she began to walk out of the hall. The last thing the group heard was Harry saying 'Have you been working out, Professor'

"I'm so proud, George"

"Me too, Fred"

"You guys are children" Hermione spoke to the two misbehaving boys. The twins did the one thing that proved to her the mental age of the twins was 5, sticking out their tongues at her. "Children"

Dumbledore's Office

"Lemon Drop, Harry" Dumbledore greeted the young boy that sat in front; a mask seemed to cover Harry's face. He looked calm but inside he was anything but, feeling the butterflies fluttering in his stomach. He didn't really want to be meeting the Headmaster so soon after his changes and the fact that he doesn't trust the old man as much anymore. He knew that Dumbledore was very perceptive when an individual was sitting in front of him. He hoped that the lessons in body language would help in that area.

'Body Language is half the battle when trying to lie successfully'

Harry was seated upon the chair that sat opposite Dumbledore who sat behind his desk, looking at him intently, kind of freaking him out in the process. Fawkes seemed to be out as his perch stood without the fiery coloured Phoenix.

"No thanks" he muttered. He had a theory why Dumbledore offered lemon drops on every visit, thinking that the sweets had a calming draught mixed into the sugary goodness which would explain Dumbledore's state, always calm. "I don't mean to be rude Professor" I do "but I was planning to do my school work"

"Oh yes, the never-ending pile of school work" Dumbledore chuckled as he sucked on the lemon drop.

"Yes Sir. I would like to complete it and complete it well, especially with Professor Snape breathing down my neck" he thought he would use Snape's proper title, just to show some respect.

"Yes, that would be a good idea" Dumbledore mused, knowing that Severus would only accept pristine work. "But today I was giving some disturbing information Mr Potter" the old Professor played with his beard. "Today I was told about your living arrangements; the part about you not living with your other dorm mates was most distressing"

Of course, that's why Ron looked smug

"I'm sorry Professor but I can't live with them anymore" he said, seeing a way that he could get out of this without letting Dumbledore know his true reasoning.

"Harry" Dumbledore sighed "You need to keep your friends close, even if they've mistreated you in the past. Everyone deserves a second chance" Dumbledore told him in his grandfatherly tone with that damn twinkle in his eye.

This was where the lie would start as Dumbledore walked right into it. "I can't live with them Sir because of the things they do in our dorm" he left it open to what was happening.

"Harry" the Headmaster clearly sounded confused.

"I shouldn't say Professor, especially to the Headmaster; I'd feel like a snitch"

"Harry, you can tell me anything?"

He looked up at the Headmaster, trying to look as genuine as possible as the Headmaster gave him the old Grandfather routine. He sighed just to add effect to the situation "I haven't got anything against their lifestyle Sir but when it's forced on me twenty four hours a day, it becomes a problem"

"What lifestyle Harry?"

"Well" he paused as he shuffled his weight slightly "I'll put it this way. I like girls and they like..." he trailed off, hoping the Headmaster would catch on which thankfully he did.

"Boys" Harry nodded solemnly, keeping up in the act in the process. Dumbledore meanwhile was a little shocked at the situation, even if he didn't show it.

"They share beds with one another Sir. I hear the grunts at night, Sir" he shivered to add effect, showing Dumbledore what he wanted to see.

Dumbledore couldn't believe that a whole dorm was filled with Homosexuals, not that it was a bad thing seeing as he was the same way. "I never thought that they that way. Mr Weasley loves Quidditch, just like Dean and Seamus. I may have expected this from Mr Longbottom but not the others"

"It's all for show, Sir" drop head "Ron likes Quidditch because of the uniform we wear. He owns stacks of magazines with male Quidditch players adorning the pages; you can ask Mrs Weasley if you don't believe me"

"I may do that, Harry" Dumbledore mused out loud.

"Dean's relationship with Parvati is fake, a cover to show that he's a man, Sir" he lied to the Headmaster. "Seamus wears a thong throughout the day, saying that it provides 'easy access' for when the time arises the 'get funky'" insert shiver "They have a leash for Neville"

"A leash" Dumbledore mouth seemed to open in shock.

"Yeah, the same thing that's used to walk dogs. I'd say it's cruel but he seems to like it"

"Oh my"

Harry was done however has he continued his story "They usually swap partners, Sir. It's like a rotation except for Sunday"

"Sunday?" Dumbledore inquired, his sense of intrigue taking over.

"They use the same bed, Sir. It's not a sight I want to wake up too, if you can understand"

"Of course, Harry" Dumbledore replied, mistakenly licking his lips as he imagined the scene of 4 healthy boys in a bed together.

"Sir?" he tried to get the Headmaster attention, placing the final nail in the coffin.

"Yes Harry"

"I would warn Viktor Krum" raised eyebrow from Dumbledore "They plan on getting him alone and 'hitting it', there words, not mine"

"T...T...Thank you for the warning, Harry" Dumbledore spoke as he showed the first sign of information overload.

Harry looked at the aging Professor, seeing that he wasn't taking it to well, that gave him the perfect opportunity to change the direction of the conversation."You can see why I can't return there"

"Yes Harry, obviously" Dumbledore thought for a moment, trying to get over the shock to get back to where Harry may stay. "Where are you currently sleeping Mr Potter" he inquired.

Do I lie or tell the truth

Harry went over the decision several times before picking one "I'm sleeping with Fred and George, there sleeping habits are much quieter, unless you count the snoring from George" he gave a small laugh at the joke. Dumbledore laughed slightly but not with the same gusto that he would usually do.

"I think it would be fine if you stayed with the two Weasley's then. I'll talk to Mrs and Mr Weasley about this"

"Just don't say that I told you it. It would be sooooo embarrassing" he pleaded, knowing that this would be a lot funnier if he wasn't seen as being involved in the situation.

"Of Course Harry. I would never mention that the information came from you and can see why it would be problematic if it came up."

"Thank You, Sir" he looked up to see Dumbledore looking into space. "Could I leave sir?"

"W-W-What, Yes, sure" Dumbledore muttered "Thank You for telling me Harry. My door is always open"

After the confirmation he could leave he stood up and began to vacate the office before adding one last thing "Thank You, Sir for understanding my predicament" and left, counting his blessings that that had worked.

Harry Potter 2 – Hogwarts Staff 0