Unveiling Secrets: A New Path for Harry Potter

The ministry's official investigation into the duel that led to the death of Lucius Malfoy was brief, which Harry was very grateful for. The fact that one of the aurors guarding against another possible intrusion by Sirius Black had witnessed the Malfoys arriving as well as seen the duel itself, well, that just made everything so much easier.

All of the old traditions had been followed, as Pansy had made sure Harry knew exactly what to do. Defeating Malfoy was only one step of the process. Making sure he was too out of control to yield was another. The fact that that same lack of control made the fight that much easier for Harry was a blessing too.

Everything was helped along a lot by the fact that the now-widowed Lady Malfoy had confirmed the entire official story and was not exerting any pressure against Harry.

Only Harry and Pansy knew that this was because Narcissa was glad the bastard was dead too. She was clearly hoping that this might help her regain her influence over Draco and guide him away from the arrogant, foolish path his father had led him along all his life.

Harry would have been inclined to wish her the best at her task of trying to rehabilitate her son, but he had a feeling one of these days Draco was going to say or do something that would make his name go to the top of Harry's list of people that needed to be gotten rid of. And the fact was that all of the Malfoys were already at the top of Pansy's list. But for Harry, Sirius Black, the betrayer of his parents, was the one person he now thought of killing the most.

Parkinson and Malfoy had been first because they had harmed or threatened Pansy. Now that he was not as worried about her safety, it was time to start considering how to deal with other enemies.

But a battle had been won, and a respite was earned. Harry wanted nothing more than to make sure his relationship with Pansy was as strong as possible. The rest of the Death Eaters could wait.

The rest of January was unpleasant at times. The fearful looks from the year before returned as the students who had praised Harry as the hero who drove off the dementors now saw him as someone who had won a duel to the death right in front of them.

Not that any of them had left or looked away. Hypocrites.

Hermione defended him to a few people in Gryffindor, arguing Harry's own point to her that everyone had loved him as the supposed killer of Voldemort all those years ago. And if Harry's accusation was true, as Hermione claimed it was, Malfoy had unleashed the monster that had terrorized the school the year before.

At least it wasn't the entire school this time, but there were still plenty of whispers behind his back.

Pansy was much more angry about this than Harry. He had lived through it last year anyway. And now he had Pansy on his side (and in his bed at night), so he cared very little what almost anyone else thought of him. Hermione, Ron, his quidditch teammates- they all supported him and that was more than enough.

Some of the girls, though, were even more appreciative of Harry now. Specifically the purebloods who saw just how powerful he was and how he could defend himself against possible threats to House Potter. That sort of thing made him much more attractive as a possible future husband. Pansy saw Greengrass definitely was interested, and she knew that the fact that the cold and aloof girl was showing that much (at least to the trained eye) was shocking.

On the other hand, that the giggly Brown thought Harry was even more dashing now wasn't surprising. But the look of desperate longing that Patil often sent his way was. It fascinated Pansy and made her sure to keep a much closer eye on her.

Little Ginny Weasley's admiring glances were to be expected. Lucius had nearly gotten her killed last year, after all. Harry was even more than a hero- now, he was also bringing overdue justice to her malefactor. Pansy had to laugh though; Harry seemed most often oblivious to the way he affected the girl. Either that or he had gotten a lot better at ignoring her embarrassment and near constant blushing.

As for herself, Pansy found plenty of time for her studies as Wood had soon begun scheduling three practices a week, and not even watching Harry was reason enough to brave the January cold. She conceded that the next match being on the sixth of February meant the team would need to be prepared, but from everything she'd heard, Harry's new broom had just about guaranteed them victory. Hufflepuff hadn't been much of a team in years, and Gryffindor was undefeated with Harry playing. Considering that he'd had to deal with attempts on his life in three of his matches, and Snape refereeing for the other, it was a ridiculously impressive resume.

"Hey, Pansy, I need your help." There was obviously a reason he had waited to bring this up until they had returned to their quarters for the night.

"About what?"

"I got a letter from Kathryn Nott today."

"And...?"

"And, I'm not sure how to respond. I've been thinking I should try to not drive up any interest from her but don't want to be too rude either. I mean, it's no more her fault that she's the daughter of a Death Eater than it was yours. But at the same time, well, I mean, it's really blatant what she's after."

"You."

"Yeah."

"Okay, well let me read it and we'll see what we can come up with," she said as Harry gratefully handed over the letter. "Alright, let's see...

"Blah, blah, wonderful to get to know you at the dance. My life is boring, waiting to find a husband, blah blah."

"She didn't say actually say anything about a husband. I'm sure I would remember that."

"I'm just cutting through the bullshit and translating for you, Harry. Trust me, I know exactly what the life of a little pureblood lady is supposed to be like."

"Right, sorry. I won't interrupt again."

"Heard about the dementors at the quidditch match, wish I could have been there to witness that, blah, blah, so glad you weren't injured when dueling Malfoy, you'll have to tell me all about it, Theo wouldn't say much, blah, blah...

"Oh, now this is interesting- mother trying to arrange to come see one of your quidditch matches."

"Why is that interesting?"

"It tells us a couple of things. Her mother is the one trying to arrange this. Normally, the father would be doing so, which suggests a couple of possible reasons. First of all, the fact that you just killed one of his old colleagues is something that could have made the Nott patriarch nervous to be around you. The fact that you openly called Lucius Malfoy a Death Eater is something little Theo is bound to have written home, if they didn't hear it any other way. Secondly, when a mother is arranging events socially for the child, it is almost certainly going to pertain to trying to arrange potential matches for said child."

"Great, so they are working towards trying to interest me."

"Definitely."

"Dammit, that's the last thing I want. What the fuck do I do?"

"Be less charming?" Harry didn't seem to be amused, but she smirked at him anyway.

"Pansy, please, be more helpful."

"I don't know, it might be funny to see what you come up with..."

"Please, I'm begging you here. I'd offer to do anything you want, but I already do that."

"Well, that does sound intriguing. And no, you don't do anything I want. If you did, I'd never have to be around that ginger slob again."

"That ginger slob is my friend. And Ron is more than just that."

"Really?"

The snarky raised eyebrow wasn't really needed to convey her sarcasm, but Pansy's patience with Ron had been much lower since returning from the holiday break. Harry had been spending more time around him, as he was excited (and plainly envious) of the new broom. Harry even let him take Sheila out for a ride, something that Pansy needled him about regularly. Wasn't Harry supposed to be overly protective of his ladies?

Then she pointedly asked him one night if he was going to let someone else ride her. That got Harry's back up, and he proceeded to shag her for the rest of that night. After the third go, he realized that she had just wanted some more angry sex- and honestly, it had been so good that he couldn't even be upset about it. But he did warn her not to ever mention Ron anywhere near the topic of sex, which she answered with a sneer. He should have known that her disgust with Ron would have made that an obvious point he didn't need to bring up.

Hell, Pansy was even openly siding with Hermione, someone else that Harry knew she didn't think much of, in their ongoing feud over their animals. It was up to at least twice weekly that cat would chase rat through Gryffindor tower, and no one found it funny anymore. Ron had been castigated by many of the girls for keeping a gross pet and was having to leave Scabbers in his dorm more often than in the past.

But for now, Harry needed Pansy's help much more than he needed to be bothered by her mocking of his friends.

"Please?" Harry used his most pathetic expression and even kneeled before her in supplication.

"Alright, but I expect one hell of a Valentine's Day."

"Thank you, thank you, thank you." Harry bowed even lower before her and was now kissing her feet. No, wait, that was her calf, oh...

He was going to start repaying her favor immediately.

It was a good thing she didn't have anything else she needed to do that night.

The mood throughout the tower was reminiscent of Dobby- excited and hyperactive. The day of the match with Hufflepuff had arrived, and Pansy was at least glad that the weather was remarkably pleasant for February. Sunny and crisp, with a light breeze that made it only cool rather than frigid.

It was one of those days that Harry was naturally going to be sociable, which made Pansy more frustrated than she knew she should have been. But the last couple of weeks had seen the two of them being particularly close. Everything was so much better between them after that day in the bath when she had come clean. Her fear of Harry's reaction had been over blown, but he knew that she still wanted all of the Malfoys to die, including Narcissa. She had a feeling that could some day become an issue between them again, but things were good now. It helped that Narcissa hadn't attempted to correspond with him, nor had they seen her on the most recent Hogsmeade weekend.

Her thoughts were broken by the noise of the crowded common room. She grinned as she noticed Harry yawning while Wood was giving what he must have assumed was a pep talk. The rest of the team seemed relaxed, but Harry looked like he wanted to go back to bed. Pansy was sure that he did, actually, and she might have even let him get some more sleep too. Maybe she shouldn't have woken Harry quite so enthusiastically this morning?

As the captain's coaching kept droning on and on, Pansy laughed to herself as Harry's head slumped against one of the Weasley twins.

"Harry really isn't much of a morning person," Granger said, as she sat down next to her. "It seems a bit worse lately though."

"You're one to talk," Pansy answered. "I thought you promised him you would make sure to set aside enough time to keep from getting burnt out?"

Granger did have circles under her eyes this morning, and Harry had commented on it last night before Pansy thoroughly distracted him.

"I know, I just have had a lot of work to do this last week. The holiday break got me out of my schedule. Plus, Ronald's constantly nagging me about Crookshanks. How is it my fault that he won't keep his nasty little rat locked up?"

"Oh, you know I agree with you about that. Vermin shouldn't be treated as pets. I'm not sure why McGonagall lets him get away with it.

"I just hope Harry doesn't fall asleep on his broom today."

"Harry is far too excited by flying to do that."

"I know Granger. It was a joke."

Seriously, this girl was supposed to be smart?

Well, she was buried in a book as usual.

"I really don't understand why you're taking that class." It was a muggle studies book, and just from the couple of weeks she'd spent with Harry away from the magical world, she could tell even more from everything she'd heard that the class was very out of date. Which made it just that much more pointless for someone like Granger to be wasting so many hours of her life on it.

"You know Harry won't think less of you if you drop it, right?"

"I'm not taking the class to try to impress Harry. You've got me confused with all these other girls." Granger actually looked insulted by her comment.

"And why is that?"

"Why is what?"

"Why aren't you interested in him?"

"I do like him, just not like that."

"Do you prefer witches then?"

"What!? No."

"Then why not? Harry is attractive, wealthy, magically powerful, fairly intelligent, and he can even be charming and funny sometimes."

"Do you want me to be interested in him?"

"I'm just curious. The fact that all these other girls have crushes on him makes sense. The fact that you don't is confusing. Especially since you have such a huge advantage over the rest of them because he's your best friend."

"I don't, I just..." Granger trailing off, lost for words, was even more unusual. But it didn't keep Pansy from noticing her look over to Harry and then Weasley.

"Oh, I see."

"What?"

"Let me guess. You've been best friends with two different boys these three years here at Hogwarts. And you haven't decided which of them you're more interested in. At least that's the better option."

"That's not...I... wait, what do you mean by 'the better option?' Better than what exactly?"

"Well, better than the idea that you prefer Weasley over Harry. I can't imagine any woman would have such terrible taste in men."

Granger looked away and Pansy snorted.

"Seriously, Granger? The rude, slovenly idiot that constantly argues with you? Have you no self-respect?"

"I have plenty of self-respect," she huffed as she got up and walked away, a stack of books in her arms as usual.

"Wow." Pansy was conflicted. On the one hand, this gossip would be so delightfully hilarious in the hands of Patil and Brown. However, Harry would almost certainly be upset with Granger being humiliated.

If only he wasn't such a nice guy. Shaming her now might help her in the long run.

Wait a minute. Why would she want to help Granger in the long run? Harry really was too much of a nice guy if he was rubbing off on her like this.

A round of laughter brought her attention back to the quidditch team. A blanket had been wrapped around Harry and the Weasley twins were now carrying their sleeping seeker towards the door as the rest of the team followed. Even Pansy had to admit it was pretty funny.

Much of the tower was now making its way down to the Great Hall. Normally, Pansy would have fallen in with the class gossips, but that temptation regarding Granger was too strong. Instead, she made her way just behind little Ginny Weasley and some of her friends, all of whom were either giggling about Harry being asleep or gushing about how cute he was. The Weasley girl was actually quieter than the others about the topic, until they started talking about other things her big brothers got up to, which was the sign for Pansy to disengage from her eavesdropping.

By the time they were actually sitting down to eat, she found herself preparing a plate of food for Harry who was trying not to doze off. It was kind of amazing that he had slept through being carried down all those stairways. When she elbowed him in the side and told him to eat up, he smiled and mumbled a thank you.

The rest of the meal was as boisterous and loud as any other quidditch Saturday.

An hour later, Pansy found herself sitting with Patil and Brown again as the match began. Granger was still in a snit about her earlier questioning, and Pansy couldn't help a cheshire grin slipping out when she saw that the bookworm was sitting just a bit further apart from Weasley, head still in a book while waiting for the players to come out. The weasel and the other boys were as clueless as one could expect, but when Granger looked up and frowned at Pansy's knowing gaze, her resolve was truly tested about not revealing this terrible secret she had uncovered.

Pansy swore to herself to hold it in for now, but she thought that Harry would probably be of little help for once. He would not be of much use dealing with the pitfalls of teenage romance, especially one that would be doomed to failure like Granger and the weasel. At least Harry was smart enough to see that folly and not be in favor of watching it play out, which made him smarter than his best friend. The earlier Granger could see this nightmare of an idea crash and burn, the sooner she might be almost tolerable, and for Harry's sake, that was a worthy goal for Pansy to work towards.

Especially if Granger's conceited intellect led her to pissing Harry off every now and then, because even a month later, Pansy was still thrilled with learning how much fun sex was with an angry Harry.

As she expected, the Hufflepuff team proved to be no match, as Gryffindor was already up by a hundred points when Harry caught the snitch. Pansy allowed that his new broom was pretty impressive compared to what the rest of the school rode, but she refused to concede to Harry's idiosyncrasy. She would always only call it a broom and never by name.

Harry teased her a bit about being jealous of Sheila, which she rejoined him by reminding Harry of his Christmas morning erection when he received the broom. It wasn't enough to really get either of their knickers in a twist about, but even play fighting like that led to some fun times in the bedroom. Sometimes even on the couch, when their passions flared quickly enough.

Harry's early absence from the party wasn't too remarked upon- he did need to take a shower to get clean and warmed up, not to mention having a nice, wet victory celebration with Pansy. But they kept it quick and she let him go back to the party by himself as she wanted to get an essay for Defense finished up, and she knew that chances were good it would last the rest of the day anyway.

However, the more than an hour long disappearance of the Weasley twins was definitely noticed, especially as they returned with arm loads full of sweets and butterbeer. Pansy had joined the party by then, and Harry gave her a butterbeer and a brief smile as the crowd around him kept most of his attention. At least all of Gryffindor was back on his side after the tremendous flying display.

And of course, the interested girls were either more flirtatious (like Brown and Patil) or sighing wistfully from across the room (like Weasley). Pansy had been a bit annoyed when the three chasers had all kissed Harry when the team won, and Bell at least was starting to look at Harry as something other than the just the team's little brother. But it had all been a brief in-the-moment celebration, and at least Wood seemed to be straight, otherwise she might really have to worry. The captain had looked ready to carry Harry off on his shoulders after the win.

Granger was off in a corner reading the same thick muggle studies book from earlier. Someone really needed to get that girl to lighten up. Not that Pansy had any idea what to do about that situation, but if she was going to insist on being interested in that ginger moron, then Granger was on her own.

She did spot Longbottom looking over Granger at one point, but that shy, pudgy little squib was only marginally better than the weasel. At least his manners weren't atrocious, but he was like the inverse of Harry, especially this year as Harry became more outgoing. Watching him struggle with spell work in class, Harry at times tried to help him. It was that nice guy part of Harry's demeanor. Pansy was still distrustful of Longbottom though, as he couldn't have been raised without the type of knowledge that Harry had clearly lacked. It was obvious to Pansy in just that first hour of really getting to talk Harry, and she still thought that if he had truly been a friend, he would have mentioned something, anything, to Harry about magical society.

But even in that distrust, her mind started to whirl with ideas about possibly trying to stir something up with Granger and Longbottom. It was a dirty job, but getting rid of at least one Weasley was a goal for the rest of the school year. The girl was in the background often enough that she wasn't a priority, and the twins were at least useful to keeping Harry's attitude positive. But Ronald, ugh, she couldn't see him as anything but useless.

The night had come and eventually Pansy had gone back to their quarters. Harry followed not too long after, and they ended up making love before heading to the bathroom together. It was a cold night out, with the wind howling outside their windows. Soaking in a warm tub would really hit the spot for both of them.

Harry was behind her with his hands cupping her breasts and his face nuzzled into her neck. They had only a couple of candles for light. Pansy loved when Harry did things like this, her inner romantic feeling relaxed enough to come to the fore. She couldn't imagine a better end to a long day.

"I learned something interesting today, and keeping it secret has been almost painful."

"Oh? Then let me unburden you, milady."

"I was talking to Granger earlier. I wondered why she's never shown any interest in you."

"You asked her that? You know I'm actually relieved that Hermione doesn't want to go out with me. That's kind of a rarity these days."

"Don't get such a big head, Potter."

"It's not ego, I've been finding it annoying. Miss Nott is one thing, at least I don't have to interact with her on a daily basis. I'm a bit frightened by Lavender sometimes."

"Yes, she can be a bit forward."

"That's one way to put it," he snorted.

"Anyway, back to your best friend. I solved that mystery- she likes someone else."

"You want me to guess who?"

She murmured in agreement as Harry's breath tickled a particularly sensitive spot at the top of her neck. She reached up and pressed his mouth against her with one hand; Harry's physical response was almost enough to make her want to get out of the tub.

"Wait. Don't make me lose focus. I want your help on this."

"Really? I guess I should feel honored. So, who is it?"

"I told you to guess."

"Well, other than Neville I haven't spotted anyone else interested in her. And I wouldn't be guessing if it had been him, as that would be a simple answer, just give them a little helpful push together. So-"

"Harry, you're thinking too much. If she doesn't like you, then..."

"Oh, please God no. Not Ron."

"Ding ding ding! We have a winner!"

"Pansy, that's a terrible joke."

She answered him by being silent.

"Please tell me you're joking."

"I would tell a much better joke than that."

"That's a bomb just waiting to go off. They have trouble just doing an assignment together without him insulting her or her biting his head off. How on Earth does Hermione think that is the basis for a relationship?"

"I have no idea. I asked her if she didn't have any self-respect."

"And I'm sure she didn't find that insulting, either."

"Well, I found it insulting that she would be attracted to that buffoon rather than you. So, the feeling is mutual."

"Great. Why are you telling me this?"

"Firstly, because I was so very tempted to tell Patil and Brown but I held my tongue for your sake. I knew you wouldn't want her humiliated like that."

"Thanks."

"Secondly, this is just too insane to not say something.

"But thirdly, I thought that it might be good to have this get out. Some embarrassment now could save her in the long run. Fourthly though, I know you've thought about her and Longbottom together. If you have any ideas about making that work, it would be far better for her than Weasley."

"I see." Harry buried his face in her neck again while he considered the issue. It made it a lot harder for her to think about anything else though.

"This is just great, I think you've given me a nightmare. I can just imagine it, them breaking up after the second date and both of them demanding I side with one or the other as they are no longer going to be on speaking terms."

"You really think they would make it to a second date?"

He could see her smirk in his mind despite the darkness.

"They are both very stubborn, so maybe if they didn't crash and burn too spectacularly on the first go round."

"That's a big assumption, Harry."

"If I wake up screaming tonight, it's all your fault."

"And I'll be sure to comfort you."

"You're going to have to comfort me before hand too. I don't know how I'll be able to get to sleep now."

"I'm sure I can think of something to take your mind off it."

"I hope so."

She turned in his arms, and Harry was soon thinking much happier thoughts.

It was nearly pitch black when he woke. He wasn't sure what it was, but there was something that triggered one of his senses. Harry closed his eyes and focused on listening.

There it was again. A scratching sound, coming from somewhere.

Harry sat up and grabbed his wand from the nightstand.

He got up slowly and quietly walked across the room. The sound was coming from out in the main sitting room area.

"Harry?"

"Shh, go back to sleep."

"What is it?"

"I just thought I heard something."

"Come back to bed."

"I'll just be a minute."

Pansy moaned sleepily. Harry stepped through the doorway.

The fireplace had gone dark hours ago. The wind was still blowing strong outside, but the windows were on the outer wall, the opposite direction from where he heard the noise.

And there it was again. It sounded like someone scratching at the door, trying to get into his private quarters.

"Dobby?"

"Master Harry sir?" he yawned. For once, even the elf was sleepy.

"I think someone's trying to get in. Stay with Pansy, keep her safe."

"But master Harry-"

"Just keep her safe Dobby. It's probably just someone who had too much butterbeer. Or one of the older students, I saw a bottle of fire whiskey."

"Be careful, master Harry."

"I will."

He saw Dobby to head to the bedroom and then waited for the sound to come again. His wand in hand, he was ready to stun first and ask questions later. He stood near the door and listened.

Finally, once more the scratching came.

He opened the door and immediately cast the spell.

"Stupefy!"

Unfortunately for Harry, the spell sailed through the air, hitting no one. He was confused for a second until he looked down and saw Scabbers trying to climb through the portrait hole, into his quarters. Harry reached down and grabbed the rat.

"You don't go in here. You need to go back to Ron's room. Just be glad I found you and not Crookshanks, or you might be a midnight snack."

He felt the shadowy figure's presence loom over him before he saw it.

But a second later, a knife was slashing towards him and Harry dropped the rat as he tried to turn away and bring his wand back up.

There was a splash of blood as his left forearm was hit, and the sound of terrified squeaking as Scabbers made a run for it.

"Depulso!"

Harry fired in front of him, and the figure, which appeared to be a man as it was flung through the shadows, crumpled near the far wall of the Gryffindor common room.

Harry looked down at his arm and saw that while it was bleeding, it didn't appear to be too bad of a cut.

Peering back towards his attacker, he saw the figure seem to meld into the darkness. A second later, a very large shadowy figure bounded away, heading for the exit.

Harry staggered after it, but by the time he got through the Fat Lady and into the hall, whoever, or whatever it was, was gone.

Stepping back into the common room, Harry's shouted spells had apparently awoken a few people and he saw Percy, the head boy walking over to him.

"What's going on Harry?"

"I'm not sure, I heard someone trying to get into my quarters, or at least that's what I thought. I found Scabbers scratching at the door and then someone had a knife. He slashed at me, I cast a banisher at him- at least I think it was a him. But whoever it was got away."

"You didn't get a good look at this person?"

"No. It was too dark."

"Could it have been Black?"

"Maybe, I guess. But he didn't try very hard if he was going to kill me."

"Alright, stay here Harry. Professor McGonagall is on her way. She'll want to know just what you saw."

"Probably should get Madam Pomfrey too."

"Right."

"Oh, yeah. Accio Scabbers! Could you give this guy back to Ron?"

The next fifteen minutes were rather boring, but at least it gave Harry's adrenaline a chance to wear off so that hopefully he could get back to sleep soon.

McGonagall and Pomfrey both arrived in short order, and he told his story as the healer fixed the wound to his arm. The aurors had been alerted to a possible Sirius Black sighting, but Harry admitted that he couldn't tell for sure that it had been him. Logically, it must have been, but something about the situation didn't make sense to Harry. Black could have done more if he was as intent on killing Harry as everyone else seemed to think.

Finally, he was allowed to go back to his quarters.

He smiled as he saw Pansy still sleeping, with Dobby hovering nervously nearby.

"Thanks for watching over her, Dobby."

"Are you alright, master Harry?"

"I'm fine. We can all get back to sleep now. Good night, Dobby."

He slid back under the covers and curled around behind Pansy. Good thing tomorrow was a Sunday. He felt like he could sleep for days.

For a moment, his thoughts wondered if it had been Black, and just what the little missing piece of the puzzle he wasn't seeing could be. But Pansy was warm and soft, and soon he drifted off into the land of nod.