Harry had to laugh, thinking of how he and Draco had complained about Snape. They had called him a harsh taskmaster, claimed that he was pushing them too hard and that he would burn them out.
When it came to pushing, Snape had nothing on Barty.
True to his word, the Dark Lord sent Barty to train Harry and Draco in fighting.
Every day the man would come and would spend between one and two hours fighting the two boys, knocking them unconscious time and time again.
It seemed that his years in Azkaban and imprisoned in his father's home hasn't affected his skills. In their first fight, he had knocked Harry and Draco both out in under ten seconds. The only reason Draco even managed a single spell was that Barty focused on Harry first.
He would attack them, flinging spell after spell, crushing through their shields like they were nothing. When they were inevitably knocked out or incapacitated, he would resuscitate them, tell them what they had done wrong, and start all over again.
"But it's impossible! You're so much better than us!" Draco moaned, exasperated after Barty announced they would be attacking him again.
Barty just looked at them and smiled. "How do you think I got to be this good? By fighting people worse than me? No. Bella, Rabastan, and Rodolphus trained me. And the Dark Lord, of course. You won't improve by punching downwards. And what will you do if you have to face a team of Aurors? Whine about how they're too good, and they should let you go?"
"Could you at least heal these?" Harry said, pointing out the cuts and bruises covering his arms.
"Na. They'll teach you. Burned hand teaches the best and all that. Ready? One, two, three"
A bunch of rocks flew at Harry while Barty spun around and unleashed a torrent of hexes at Draco.
Harry managed to raise a shield and set to vanishing the rocks before they could impact.
Barty was swinging back and forth, between Harry and Draco, ducking and weaving. He avoided all of Draco's spells entirely and had Harry on the defensive.
Draco fell, as the ground beneath his feet rumbled and shook.
Harry managed to dodge a few of the jets of light streaming his way, but eventually, something impacted.
He flew back, a good ten meters and lay on the ground, winded.
Barty leaned over him. "What did you do wrong?"
"I took your bait. Jumped left instead of right" He wheezed.
"True. But I meant before that. Early on in the fight. What did you do wrong?"
"I allowed you to put me on the defensive?"
"Also true. But why did that happen? What did you waste your time on?"
Harry just looked at him, getting his breath back.
"You vanished the rocks! You had a perfectly good shield, and you still took the time to vanish the rocks! I was vulnerable right then, attacking Draco, but you wasted your chance. Why?"
"I-I thought they would break my shield!"
"Even if they would've, they would've been slowed down by it. They wouldn't have damaged you, not really, and you might have been able to take me out"
"But-"
"Yeah, yeah. It would've hurt, but not too bad. You can't wait for a bloodless victory"
Barry walked over to Draco and spoke to him for a bit. After a few minutes, he announced again. "Ready? One, two, three"
By the time they were done for the day, they were sweating and covered in dozens of small cuts and bruises.
"You said it's Severus who's been training you guys, right?"
They nodded, too tired to speak.
"He's been going easy on you. I'll have a word with him. By the end of the year, I expect you each to be able to stand against me for at least a few minutes"
Groaning, they trudged back to the manor.
"A year of this!" Draco exclaimed, startling a peacock. "And Snape will be worse, mark my words!"
"Yeah. But it'll be worth it, won't it? If we get as good as they are?"
"I guess. It's just bloody annoying, getting our asses handed to us every day. And don't get me started on apparation!"
Harry snorted. Their failed attempts at learning how to apparate were beginning to frustrate him as well.
Every day, Lucius would take the boys to the Eastern Ballroom for a while. He had drawn a large circle on the ground, a good hundred meters away from where they would stand.
And every day, they would focus on the circle, trying to force themselves to appear in it.
So far, neither of them had managed, but Lucius assured them that it took time and that once they had managed to apparate for the first time, it would be much easier in the future.
In the meantime, they just practiced. It was starting to feel like they were spending all day on training. Although, they definitely were improving. They were lasting longer against Barty than they had at first, and they both were capable of casting at least Lumos wordlessly. Draco had managed to get the summoning charm down wordlessly as well and had moved on to trying to manage a stunner, while Harry still focused on summoning.
All in all, they needed a break. And the Quidditch finals was still almost a month away.
"I really can't thank you enough, Narcissa"
"Harry, dear. It's nothing, please. Don't make such a scene"
"It isn't nothing, you've gone to all this trouble!"
Narcissa hugged him tightly. "Harry, hosting a birthday party for you is no trouble at all. Go, celebrate"
Harry started walking away.
"Harry?"
He turned back to see her staring at him, her throat moving like she wanted to say something. Eventually, she asked. "My cousin. Will he be joining us today?"
Harry shook his head. "He doesn't feel up to the crowd. He wants to meet in a few days, get lunch together in Diagon"
She nodded slowly.
Harry walked away and joined his friends by the food.
There was a cake, which just so happened to be a life-sized replica of his head. It was pretty creepy, eating his own face, but damn did it taste good.
He slid into a group, winding his arm around Pansy's waist.
"Hi guys"
"Harry! Happy birthday! I gave your gift to the elf"
"Thanks, Daphne," he said, grinning at her, and leaned in to kiss Pansy.
She leaned away, just for a second, before moving her head towards his.
' The fuck?'
"Hey, Harry. Did you see the paper this morning?"
"What?"
Blaise looked a bit uncomfortable, before plunging onwards.
"Someone-burned down that place you lived in. It's all over the prophet, it was definitely a magical fire, they say"
"Really?" Harry tried to look surprised, but inside he was laughing hysterically.
' If only you knew, Blaise'
For a second, he thought he could smell the smoke.
"Yeah. Really. They say there were over fifty deaths!"
"Wow," he looked at Daphne. "Sorry Daph, But I think that beats your present"
They all laughed.
She squirmed under his tongue. He lightly rubbed her nub of flesh, making her moan.
His other hand roamed, feeling her curves, the indentation between them. He stroked her as he ran his tongue along her flesh.
Her legs started shaking, and as her juices flooded out Harry knew she was in the grips of ecstasy. The ecstasy that he had given her.
She arched her back, and with a shuddering moan, hissed out his name.
He stood up. An idle part of his mind wandered about what would happen if Narcissa walked in. His thoughts stopped when he looked down.
Her legs were still spread, invitingly. He could see the moisture hanging on her lips. Calling to him.
He wanted nothing more than to just do it. Stick it in. He could see her tensing up at his stare.
' She knows what I want'
He gripped his cock and took a step forward.
"Harry"
He stopped, her voice cutting through his reverie.
He looked at her.
"I-I can't. I'm not-not ready. Not for-for that"
' Bitch! You're mine!'
She moved, getting on her hands and knees in front of him. She came forwards until she was at the edge of the bed.
"But-but it's not the end of the world. There's other stuff I am ready for"
' Fucking bitch!'
She took his cock in her mouth, ass jiggling as he thrust forward.
He gripped her hair, used it to pull her forward until he could feel her breath against his skin.
She let out a choking noise.
He thrust again, pulling her forward.
Time stopped. There was nothing but sensation.
Her tongue caressed him, and he pulled her taut against him, letting out a cry as he released his seed.
He relaxed his grip, and she pulled off him, coughing a bit as she swallowed.
For a second he just stood there, basking in the afterglow and staring at the droplets leaking down her chin.
"Happy birthday, Harry," she said in a monotone.
He sat down next to her, the bed pushing her up slightly as his weight was added.
He put his arm around her, and she flinched.
"Babe? Are you-alright?"
"Fine," She said, in the same monotone, face resolutely aimed away from him.
"Pansy? Babe, what's wrong?" He said nervously.
"Do you care about me?"
"I love you! Pansy, tell me what's wrong!"
She turned to him, and he was shocked to see tears in her eyes.
"Do you care about me, or just about my body?"
"I-of course I-"
"Cause it seems to me" she went on, ignoring his words totally, "that you just care about my body. You only tell me you love me once I've made you cum. You keep pushing, wanting to go further than I'm comfortable with, and-"
She burst into tears, great wracking sobs that shook her body.
"And-and you scare me sometimes. You-you look like-like you want to-"
She was almost crying too hard to speak.
"Like you want to hurt me. But-but only w-when you want to go further than I do"
"I don't want to hurt you," Harry said, thrown off his stride completely.
' Liar'
"So-so then w-why do you?"
"What?"
"Look!" She almost screamed, moving her shoulder towards him.
The scratches he had left stood out brightly against her pale skin.
"Why. If you don't want to hurt me, why do you? Why do you look like you want to?"
"I-"
"You look at me the same way you looked at that girl!"
Honestly puzzled, Harry asked "what girl?"
This seemed to infuriate Pansy. "That Ravenclaw! Sue! Remember!"
Harry nodded.
"I saw how you looked at her! The same way you looked at that rabbit when I found you that time! I can't have you looking at me like that, I can't! It-it-it freaks me out!"
She started sobbing again.
Snape's voice spoke in Harry's mind. ' You may feel a heightened desire to cause her pain'
He had brushed Snape off, thinking there was no way he would ever hurt Pansy.
Suddenly, Harry felt very cold all over.
"Pansy, I-"
"Please, Harry. Just… don't. I love you, but you scare me"
She started putting her clothes back on, sniffling away.
"Maybe-maybe we should just take a break"
' Bitch! Don't you dare!'
Harry cleared his mind.
"You're right," He said, fatigue filling his voice.
"Harry, I still-"
"I'll let you know when I have more control over myself," he said, and now he was the one speaking in a monotone.
A tide of bitterness rose in him at the sight of relief crossing her face.
"Still friends?" She said, quietly.
"I don't know what the fuck we are," he said, running a hand through his hair.
"Harry-"
"Please. Just-go. Ok? Just go"
She walked out, shooting a regretful look back over her shoulder.
Harry collapsed back onto the bed, splaying his limbs out.
' Fuck it. Fuck it all. I'll find someone else, someone who doesn't care if they think I'm crazy or not. Fuck her'
"So Harry, how's your vacation been treating you?"
Harry looked away from his godfather's eager face.
' Merlin, this is bloody awkward'
They were sitting at Fortescue's, waiting while the owner sorted out their orders.
A few tables away sat a healer, carefully watching Sirius.
Sirius had explained that there would be a healer coming with him, that he wasn't quite ready to be out with Harry on his own yet.
But Harry hadn't been prepared for how damn weird it would be.
' The Dark Lord said to form a relationship with him. Just don't get too involved'
"Been ok. Had its ups and downs" he said, idly running his finger along the table. "We're going to the finals. Lucius got us tickets, in the top box! It's gonna be great!"
"I'm sure. Wish I could be there. How did the party go?"
"It was good," Harry said, not exactly enthusiastically.
"Just good?"
"The party was great," Harry said, sighing. "But, Pansy broke up with me"
Sirius clucked his tongue sympathetically. "Women. Hearts colder than a freezing charm. I remember my first break-up. Took me a while afterward, but I got back into it. You learn from your mistakes"
' Yeah, right'
"Other than that, what've you been up to?"
"Mostly just relaxing. Flying a lot, hanging out with mates. Draco and I've been practicing dueling, so that's been fun. Otherwise, not much. Just taking a break"
' Two hours dueling practice a day with a dead man, at least half an hour trying to apparate, trying to cast spells wordlessly, meeting the Dark Lord every few days. Burning down my old home. Just taking a break is all'
"Dueling? One day, I'll have to show you a thing or two"
"Yeah?"
' No way you're better than Snape or Barty'
Noticing Harry's incredulous look, Sirius chuckled. "You're looking at a man who survived fighting Bellatrix Lestrange, Antonin Dolohov, And even old Voldemort himself. At different times, of course"
Harry gaped at him.
Sirius laughed then. "It was par for the course, in the war. Most didn't survive those fights, though. You had to learn very quickly"
"I'm sure"
' Maybe he could have something to teach me'
"So what, you guys just been fighting each other? You need a teacher, otherwise, you won't improve"
"Actually, Snape's been helping us out with that. At school only, but still"
At the mention of Snape, Sirius' face darkened.
"Snape-"
"You know him?"
"You could say that. He's your head of house, isn't he?"
"Yeah. Why?"
Sirius looked at him closely. "How's he been treating you?"
Puzzled, Harry answered. "Good? I mean, he doesn't show favoritism among Slytherins, but he's been great. Really helpful actually"
Sirius looked totally taken aback.
"Why? What did you think?"
"Nothing. Just wondering. I was at school with him"
Sirius' eyes took on a misty look of remembrance. Quickly, Harry tried to change the subject.
"Have they still been questioning you about Azkaban?"
Fortescue arrived with their ice creams before Sirius could answer. Harry got a large sundae, and Sirius got a simple chocolate ice cream.
"I think they're finished now. The last thing they were trying to find out is how I knew when the shifts changed. They try to keep them random, you know"
"Oh?"
' Of course, I fucking know. I also know when exactly the next breakout will be. And it's gonna be big'
"Yeah. They don't want people figuring out the routines. Makes it easier to try to break out in between shifts"
"So what did you tell them?"
Sirius swallowed a large spoonful before answering.
"I said, you spend twelve years in a place, you figure things out quickly. Like they used to change the routines every three months. So I got used to that"
There was silence for a bit. When Sirius next spoke, his voice was solemn.
"How are you feeling? It can't be easy, everyone knowing what you went through. And then, the place burning down"
' It's not easy, but I chose it. And I laughed as those muggles screamed for rescue'
"It's-weird. My friends-they didn't know details, most of them, but they knew it wasn't a good childhood. I just-I don't want people looking at me with pity. I don't want to be that guy"
Sirius was nodding encouragingly. Harry went on, surprised by how easy it was to talk.
"And when it burned down? I won't lie. I was happy. I mean, I didn't want everyone there to die, but-but it makes me feel better. Knowing that it's gone. If that makes me a bad person, well-"
"It doesn't".
Sirius seemed to think for a few moments before carrying on.
"I've had dreams. Not really nightmares, but close. About killing Peter. Ripping him to shreds. And-and I've dreamt about seeing the Wizengamot suffer. You know, they sent me to Azkaban without a trial? At least, not a real one. The healers, they say these dreams aren't healthy, but they're normal. To be expected. The important thing is just not to act on them"
' Too late for that'
"Enough of this morbid crap" Sirius said, slamming his hand on the table. "I owe you a birthday present. Thirteen years worth, in fact. Let's go shopping"