Midnight Duel, Midday Love
The Morning after the Night Before
By Draco664
The Morning After the Night Before
Cho strutted into the room, looking at her boyfriend tied to the chair. With a wicked grin, she walked over and took hold of the front of his robes and tore them to the waist. She ran her fingernails down his chest, making him quiver with anticipation.
Finally, Cho tore off his underwear, releasing Harry's erection from its confines.
Through his gag, Harry groaned mixed with both frustration and relief from the discomfort of exceedingly tight underwear. When Cho removed her robes to model the latest in a string of brief lingerie, Harry's eyes nearly popped out of his head.
Once more, Cho stood in front of her captive audience, slowly dancing to the soft music that filled the room. She threw her head back and opened her mouth to let out a low moan, and ran her hands down her body. Slowly, her hands cupped her small breasts, now daintily covered in dark grey, semi transparent silk.
Her hands continued their slow journey down her taut stomach, over her hips and around her thighs. With a coy smile, Cho turned and gently caressed her buttocks, then wiggled her bum less than a foot from Harry's face. The tight silk panties felt good against her skin.
She stepped forward to put more distance between them, then bent at the waist, her legs locked straight. At full stretch, she grabbed her ankles and looked between her legs at Harry, now almost crazy with desire.
Cho could smell the sweet, dewy scent of her own arousal, and the knowledge that Harry could as well made her even more aroused.
Cho stood up straight and slowly lowered herself onto Harry's knee, taking care not to touch his erection.
Smiling, she ran a finger down one of his damp cheeks, then leaned in and placed a delicate kiss on the end of his nose.
"You know," she whispered huskily. "You really shouldn't have bought me all these wonderful things if you didn't want me to model them for you." she told the struggling young man.
With that she slipped off his knee and knelt in front of him. With a wicked grin, she leant in and lightly nipped at his right nipple. Harry almost shot off the chair at her touch. With the most self-satisfied smile, Cho finally bobbed her head and ran the tip of her tongue from the base to the tip of Harry's erection. His muffled groan told her just how successful she was at teasing her boyfriend.
Suddenly standing up off Harry's knee, she walked around behind the chair and lightly brushed the backs of her fingers down each side of his neck. Harry's entire body shivered at her faint touch. Cho reached around and gently took the gag from Harry's mouth.
"Untie me, please!" he pleaded, his voice rough from lack of water. "I have to hold you."
Cho shook her head and picked up a glass of water from the nearby table and placed it to Harry's lips, slowly tilting it as he drank.
"Sorry." she said when he had finished. "I'm having far too much fun."
Harry growled. "You have been torturing me like this for the last hour. If you keep this up, I'm going to explode, then I'll be of no use to anyone." he complained.
"That sounds like a challenge." Cho giggled. "Besides, I've still got over half of your gifts left to model for you. It would be rude of me to stop now."
"No it wouldn't! No it wouldn't!" Harry blurted. "You could save some for next time!"
"Hush now, my love. Just sit back and relax." Cho whispered in his ear before kissing and gently sucking on his earlobe. She smiled and once more went next door to change into yet another sexy outfit.
It was an hour and a half later that Cho finally tried on the last outfit Harry had bought her. Both were more than ready for the frantic coupling that then occurred, though Cho didn't release Harry from his bonds. And then again after she did.
Harry slowly woke, his left arm numb to the fingers. With his right, he fumbled for his glasses.
Frowning slightly, he turned to find Cho's beautiful features in perfect repose, her head lying on his left shoulder with a small soft cushion under her neck. Cho's warm breath gently caressed the side of his own neck. Harry looked down the bed over her bare back, down to her partially covered buttocks, and smiled.
Waking up with a loved one was even better than falling asleep with them, he thought.
Luxuriating in the warmth the pair shared, Harry looked out of the bedroom window, the overcast sky preventing the sun from casting any shadows on the world. Yesterday had been one of the most enjoyable days of Harry's life. The sheer number of people he had links to was staggering.
With what felt like a permanent smile, Harry gently tucked a stray lock of dark, silky hair behind his girlfriend's ear. Cho stirred at his touch, a soft moan escaping her lips. Harry just looked at her, marveling at her beauty, as she calmed and again resumed her steady breathing.
For almost half an hour, Harry simply watched and waited for Cho to wake. As her eyelids flickered, Harry whispered, "Good morning, my love."
Cho's glorious eyes opened, tiny grains of sleep still in the corners of them. She smiled back at him. "Good morning yourself, handsome."
Harry leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. "I thought you were going to kill me with frustration last night."
Cho giggled lightly. "It certainly didn't kill you. You were very attentive after that."
Harry put his right arm around her and drew her closer, smelling the faint scent of her hair. "Do you feel like a shower?"
Cho reached up with her left hand and cupped his cheek. "Only if you join me."
An hour later, washed and dressed, the pair made their way to the kitchen hand in hand. Sirius was already up, dressed in a thick robe, sipping coffee and reading the paper. He turned to face the new arrivals.
With a pained expression he said, "Couldn't you two keep the noise down last night? You kept Moony and I up for hours."
Harry and Cho glanced at each other, both blushing furiously. "Sorry, we-"
Sirius snorted, unable to suppress his grin.
Harry rolled his eyes. "You bastard."
Sirius chuckled. "Come on, breakfast is served. Help yourself."
The pair sat and began to eat. House elves popped in and out to keep the platters full and the coffee hot.
Sirius looked up from his paper. "Oh, by the way, Cho. Your parents have given you permission to stay with me for the rest of the break, if you wish."
Cho lit up, delighted. "Thank you. I had enough trouble convincing them to let me stay just last night."
Sirius nodded. "I think they were worried that Harry would steal you away from them."
Harry looked up, wanting to say something in his defense, but was obstructed by the mouthful of sausage he had just eaten.
"Don't speak with your mouthful, Harry." Cho gently chided.
Harry chewed and swallowed. "I'm not stealing you!"
Cho smiled at him warmly. "You are, but not in the way my parent's think."
Sirius nodded. "Moony was pleased to see you again, Harry. He was sorry he hasn't been able to make time to visit."
"What has he been up to?"
Sirius growled deep in his throat. "He has had to travel abroad to get a job. Even then, it doesn't pay much. I offered to let him live here with me, but the stubborn bugger will have none of it."
Harry tilted his head to one side. "Why not offer him a job?"
Sirius frowned. "What do you mean?"
Harry sighed. "He's proud, Sirius. He needs to prove to himself and everyone else that he doesn't need charity to survive in the world. Being a werewolf is difficult enough, but the stigma attached makes it even more difficult to actually live."
"Yes, I know. He jumped at the chance to teach at Hogwarts in your third year not because it was a source of regular income, but because he had the opportunity to hold down a full time job."
Harry nodded. "So offer him a job. He's a smart fellow, he could do almost anything."
"Like what? He'd spot any attempt at charity immediately."
Harry frowned, then lit up. "I assume you've invested the money awarded to me?"
Sirius winced. "Not yet. It is sitting in several hundred Gringotts vaults."
"So ask him to manage our investments. Since as an Unspeakable you don't have time to look after it, and since I'm still your responsibility, you need someone to look after mine too. Give him a percentage of the profits. That way, the harder he works, the better off he is. We both get something out of it, and he gets to stay nearby."
Sirius grinned. "You sure are a Potter. Best of all, he is helping himself by doing something he loves doing, helping others."
Harry blushed. "Besides, I'll probably need him here, to finish my schooling."
Sirius barked a laugh, ignoring Cho's fierce gaze at his outburst. "What makes you think you are not going back to Hogwarts?"
Harry frowned. "The fact that I attacked another student with magic."
"That's right." Cho added. "Dumbledore told me that he had no choice." She turned to Harry. "He even started crying. I couldn't believe it."
"He what?" asked Sirius, disbelievingly.
Slowly, the tear disappeared into Dumbledore's silvery beard. The ancient wizard stood once more and again looked out of his window.
"I just can't do this, Miss Chang." he said with a shuddering sigh. "For a long time now, I have felt the weight of the world on my shoulders. I have always thought myself up to the challenge, but not now. No matter what decision I make, I know it will be wrong."
Dumbledore turned back to face the silent witch.
"I just don't have the strength to do this. For too many years I've been serving the wizarding world to the best of my ability. But it would appear that my best is no longer good enough."
Cho swallowed nervously.
"Please, return to your house common room. I shall organise for you to visit Harry tomorrow."
Cho slowly stood and walked to the door. She turned to find Dumbledore slumped in his chair.
"Good night, Professor." she whispered.
Sirius nodded soberly. "That must have been when I called him." Harry's godfather sat deep in thought for a few moments before looking up at the pair and shook his head.
"Dumbledore will probably want to explain everything to you, but you are not going to be expelled. Let's just say that the Marauders struck again."
Both Cho and Harry lit up at the news. "What did you do?" Cho asked.
"Hermione called me in a panic after finding out that you were going to be expelled. I contacted Moony and got him to apparate here straight away. Moony and I looked at the problem and noticed that it was one of perception. You attacked Ginny and put her in the hospital. So we changed people's perceptions. Several of the gossips of the school 'accidentally' overheard Albus, Arthur and I talking about you. About the way you and Ginny hatched a plan to capture Pritchart, but it didn't quite work because she sprung the trap too early."
Harry frowned, confused. "That sounds a bit far fetched."
Sirius shrugged. "According to Albus, the school was alive with speculation. Not a single person seemed to think that you should be expelled. In fact, several parents owled him to say that if he did expel you, they would pull their own children out of Hogwarts in protest."
"Why didn't he come and visit yesterday?" Harry asked.
Sirius shrugged. "From what Cho said, it's possible he feels too embarrassed to visit. He was planning on expelling you to cover for Ginny."
Harry tilted his head to one side. "Cover for Ginny? Why?" he asked levelly.
Cho put her hand on top of Harry's own. "Because Mr. Weasley would have had to resign if it came out that his daughter was a rapist."
Harry swallowed and looked down at his plate, thinking deeply. Sirius and Cho just watched, waiting for him.
"What was Mr. Weasley's reaction?" he finally asked.
Sirius shrugged. "I wasn't there, but Snape told me that he wasn't going to have anything to do with it, and that he was insisting that Ginny be charged. Snape said that it was only when he pointed out that Arthur's resignation would harm you just as much by bringing the Ministry to its knees that he agreed."
Harry sat in silence for a few more moments. "Do the other Weasley's know?" he asked softly.
Sirius shook his head. "As far as I'm aware, only Arthur knows. Although Ron and Hermione both sat with Ginny for a while after she was put in hospital, I suppose it is possible that they know as well. Other than that, both Dumbledore and Arthur are insisting that it be kept from the others for now."
Harry nodded. All three at the table jumped at the unexpected sound of a Wheeze going off.
Dudley appeared in the doorway, his face blackened with soot, but with a huge smile on his face. "Harry! These things are great! Oh, and why didn't tell me you invited Lisa yesterday?"
Harry gave his cousin a wry smile. "I didn't Dud. I think you can blame Sirius here. And wipe your face."
Dudley sat down with a satisfied sigh, wiped his face with a napkin and started helping himself to breakfast. "I tell you what, her eyes nearly popped out of her head when she saw me there. It was the first time I'd ever seen Miss "In Control" Lisa Turpin completely speechless. You were right, she had no idea that I was related to the famous Harry Potter."
Cho looked surprised. "Lisa Turpin? From Ravenclaw?" she asked.
Harry nodded. "Didn't you see her here yesterday?"
Cho blushed and shook her head. "I was too busy focusing on you."
Harry just looked at her, his green eyes conveying just how much he loved her.
Dudley made retching noises at the pair, but his smile defused any tempers. Sirius grinned at him.
"So, Dudley, I heard that Hagrid gave you a pigs tail the first time you met."
Dudley stiffened, but nodded. "Yeah, it cost Dad a small fortune to have it removed. He took me to a private clinic in London."
Harry smiled. "What about the ton-tongue toffee you ate?"
Dudley chuckled a bit at that memory. "I found the same thing in their starter pack that Mr. Black had. It wore off quicker this time though."
Cho poked Harry in the ribs, making him jump. "Sounds like you tormented him as much as he tormented you."
Harry was about to respond, but Dudley beat him to it. "Don't you believe that. I was awful to him for years, at least up until the summer after his forth year at Hogwarts. I deserved everything I got and more."
Cho looked at Dudley in surprise, but said nothing. Harry nodded at his cousin thankfully. "Are you going home at all this Christmas holidays, Dud?"
Dudley shook his head. "I was going to spend the time at Smeltings, and visit Xavier's place for a few days, hopefully to meet with Lisa. Mum and Dad aren't expecting me home. If I can, I'd like to stay here until school goes back."
Sirius looked at Dudley in surprise, but nodded his approval.
The four at the table consumed the breakfast laid out for them in silence for several minutes. A rhythmic thunk of wood on wood signaled the arrival of Professor Moody, his artificial leg leaving tiny marks on the polished wooden floor.
"Mad Eye!" Sirius greeted him. "Breakfast?"
Moody nodded and moved to one of the dozens of empty seats that surrounded the mahogany table. "Just checked the wards around the Manor. I don't think I've ever seen a better set up for defense."
Sirius grinned. "I know. Sometime in the Malfoy line there was an impressive attempt to make the place impregnable. Took me a long time to break the blood magic on the Manor too, but I think I got everything."
Dudley looked nervous at that, his knife and fork shaking in his fingers. "B-blood magic?"
"It's OK, Dud." Harry reassured his cousin. "It just means that only people from a certain family could do certain things. This house used to belong to a family called Malfoy. Only those of Malfoy blood would have been able to access certain parts of the house, or possibly order the defenses to work."
Dudley frowned. "Malfoy, Malfoy, do you have someone in your year called Malfoy?"
Harry nodded surprised. "I used to. How did you know?"
"From your nightmares. You would shout in your sleep sometimes. I think I remember you shouting the name Malfoy sometimes."
Harry nodded, impressed. "Yep, Draco Malfoy was in my year, but I'm in the year below now. His father Lucius was the one who framed me. At the hearing that cleared me, they gave Sirius and I half each of the impounded assets of the Malfoy family and Voldemort's money."
Dudley looked around the massive house. "You own half of this?"
Sirius shook his head. "I got the house, and a fair bit of gold besides. Harry got nearly all the gold and other properties."
Harry frowned, looking at Sirius. "Just how much did we actually get? What properties do I own?"
Sirius stood and walked over to a wall. With a wave of his wand, the wall shimmered and disappeared startling all at the table, even Moody.
"Grindelwald's grave! I didn't see that!" the ex-auror shouted.
Sirius nodded. "I'm not surprised. I found this place by accident." He stepped into the revealed room, and sat at a large desk. "The wall is real, this room is not. This is where Malfoy kept all the records of his dealings with Voldemort. It was an absolute treasure trove of information." Sirius said absently as he rummaged through one of the desk drawers. With a small cry of victory, Sirius withdrew a sheaf of parchments.
"Here we are." he said, standing and returning to the breakfast table. The wall shimmered and became solid once more.
Moody was impressed. "So that room isn't behind the wall, it's elsewhere?"
Sirius nodded. "If you know how and where, you can get into it from four places from within the Manor, one for each of the sides of the room." he said as he leaved through the papers. "I've only managed to find three so far." Finding the ones he wanted, Sirius passed them over to Harry.
Both Harry's and Cho's eyes widened as they looked over the documents for several moments. With a gasp, Cho covered her mouth. "Harry! You own my parent's apothecary!"
Harry blinked. "I do?"
Cho nodded and put one of the papers on top of the pile. "Look, here. The row of shops in Diagon Alley that includes my family's was originally bought by a syndicate. It would appear that you are the sole investor left alive in that group."
"Left alive?" asked Harry.
"Well, from the names, you left them all at that ambush site." Cho replied with a vaguely worried expression. It faded quickly when Harry nodded and scowled at Sirius' snort of amusement.
Dudley grinned at Harry. "Let me get this straight. You own the shop that your girlfriend's parents run? Wicked! Tell them you'll raise the rent if they don't let you go out with her."
Harry rolled his eyes, ignoring Cho's semi-serious spluttering. "Dud, her parents are letting me go out with her. She spent the night here."
Dudley's grin didn't waver, but he appeared to give that some thought. "Well, I don't suppose you own Lisa's parent's home too?"
"'Fraid not, Dud." Harry said with a smirk.
Dudley shrugged. "Ah well, you can't win 'em all." he said, helping himself to more sausages.
The five sat and ate in silence for a while, Harry and Cho leafing through the documents Sirius produced. Moody suddenly stiffened, then relaxed. "Company." he said shortly.
Sirius grinned and looked up as Allison Sanderson entered the room. The former Death Eater looked a little confused, but on seeing Harry's godfather, she visibly relaxed.
"Sanderson! Welcome. Come and join us for breakfast."
Allison gave a shy smile, and moved to sit next to Sirius. "Good morning." she said to the others. A chorus of "Good mornings" greeted her.
With a wry smile on her pretty face, Allison said to Sirius, "You know, it took me half an hour to find my way down here from the apparition room. This place is huge."
Sirius nodded. "I know. Allison, this is Cho Chang, Dudley Dursley, Harry Potter and Alastor Moody. Guys, this is Allison Sanderson, one of my minions." he said with a maniacal grin.
Harry looked at the new arrival with a faint frown throughout the introduction as the others laughed, his head tilted to one side. Realisation dawned, and Harry gasped softly and covered his mouth.
Allison swallowed and nodded. "Yes, Mr. Potter. That was I."
"I'm sorry." Harry said simply.
Allison waved his comment away. "I made some silly decisions, and I've been given a second chance."
Moody, Cho and Dudley looked at Harry questioningly. He simply raised his eyebrows while facing Allison, who sighed and nodded her accent.
Harry took a deep breath. "The night Voldemort attacked the ministry, he and his Death Eaters tortured one of the recruits in a ritual, for not having enough loyalty. I just recognised her."
Cho looked horrified. "What did they do to you?" she asked.
Harry put his hand on Cho's own. "More than what happened to you that night." he said simply.
Allison looked up at Cho. "Something happened to you?"
Cho nodded. "Harry captured me that night, brought me back to V-Voldemort's lair. He spent four hours branding patterns into my skin with a curse while Voldemort watched before my portkey brought me back."
Allison looked sick, while Dudley looked at Harry in horror. "You did what?" he demanded, half standing.
Cho reached out and grasped Dudley's hand. "It's OK, Dudley. Harry used a curse that would brand the victim, but not cause pain. As a matter of fact, he cast a binding spell on me first so I didn't give away the fact that I was not hurting."
Harry's cousin still looked furious. "He still captured you." he spat.
Cho shook her head. "Sorry, I was unclear. Harry was there when I was captured. It was Wormtail who actually insisted that I be taken back with them."
Dudley closed his eyes and took a deep breath before sitting back down. "Sorry Harry. I really shouldn't automatically think the worst of you."
Harry waved the apology away. His response was interrupted by a burst of green light in the fireplace. Professor Snape's hawk-like features appeared in the flames.
"Black! I need you. Malfoy has disappeared."
Draco swore to himself as he tripped for the third time, barking his shins on the rocks littered on the uneven ground. Even with a lit wand, it was tough and slow going, making his way down the dark, filthy passageway. As much as he was used to the claustrophobic dungeon corridors around the Slytherin common room, this dank damp tunnel was filling him with nervousness.
The blonde boy shook his head. It wasn't the passageway that was making him nervous, it was what awaited him at the end.
Draco stood and bent over to rub his shin in an effort to stop the stinging pain. Not for the first time, he cursed Mask for not giving him the ability to contact him. Mask had always maintained control of their meeting times and place.
He hoped Mask would find the scribbled note left at their regular meeting place soon. Given what he knew of the man, he would be sure to stake out the meeting place before they met. Draco just hoped he would do so long before their next scheduled meeting, in three days time.
Several minutes later, Draco stumbled out of the end of the tunnel into a basement. Without looking around to get his bearings, he activated the portkey he found wrapped in the bundle of parchment he received on Christmas Day.
The tug behind his navel was more painful and violent than any other portkey he had ever used.
It was almost an hour later that Draco returned to the same place from which he left. His platinum blonde hair plastered to his head with perspiration, the only surviving Malfoy fell to his knees, then onto his side. A muffled thump echoed in the small basement as his head landed on the hard floor.
Finally surrendering to the overwhelming desire to cry out, Draco moaned in agony. He clutched at the inside of his left forearm, sucking in a lungful of air through clenched teeth. Glad he was alone, Draco whimpered to himself desperately hoping that the pain would soon subside.
It didn't. The burning in his arm grew. Draco bit his lip in an attempt to distract his mind from the pain. Spots appeared in front of his eyes. He finally remembered to breathe, and drew in a ragged breath of life-giving air. Darkness gathered at the edges of Draco's vision, and the Slytherin started panicking.
That was how a frantic Dumbledore and Snape found him less than half an hour later, lying unconscious on his side, gripping his arm.
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