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Chapter Text

Harry stumbled slightly by the corridor wall, people snickering their insults aloud. They were never afraid to gang up on him; he was only a boy with murdered parents but with exceptional grades he'd worked hard to get. Hard work to prove them wrong about muggle raised people-- no matter how horrible said muggles were. And that was a fact; muggles despised wizards and Harry had seen it through Aunt Petunia's shrill eyes and her sharp tongue that was never afraid to throw shades at his witch mother. 

"Watch out, Harry. You don't want to tangle into a position you don't like!" One of the seventh year Ravenclaw boys, Michael Corner, cat-called, his friends smirking behind him. Humiliation colored Harry's cheeks but he kept moving, just diagonally away from the seventh year boys. 

Harry knew he wasn't bad looking but if this was what actually good looking people had to go through, he'd have jumped into a hole and died long ago. Harassment was one thing that ticked Harry and the whole school knew of it for some reason. It must have been Pansy Parkinson, the "Gossip Bitch Queen." 

He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't realize when he crashed into a black-haired, pretty Asian girl. Corner laughed louder, a hint of jealousy echoing in the forced laughs. 

"Oh I'm so sorry!" The girl said, bending down to pick up Harry's Ancient Runes books. "I should have realized you were distracted and moved out of the way." 

She got up and helped Harry put it back into his bag. "I should have payed more attention." Harry said quietly, causing the girl to have to lean in slightly. "It's my fault. I'm sorry." He slung his backpack over his shoulder awkwardly, the girl sending annoyed looks to her friends who were muttering things like 'clutz' and 'idiot.' 

"Ignore them." The girl said firmly, loud enough for her friends to hear. "They're not like this in on daily, I promise you. My names Cho Chang, by the way." 

"Uhm.. hi, Ms. Chang. My names Harry Potter." She smiled slightly at the use of formal name basis. 

"No need for that." She laughed. "We're barely an year apart. You can call me Cho, Harry." 

"A-alright.. Cho." Cho smiled and pulled Harry's hand along. "It's your break, right?" Harry nodded. "Great! You can walk with me, alone." She stressed the last word with a big smile as her friends made their way to her. 

She quickly walked out of the corridor, pulling Harry aside to an empty classroom. She respectfully pulled out a seat and let Harry sit down. 

"I saw how those boys treated you." Cho said sadly, her voice holding back a hint of anger. "You would have thought that they would leave a sixth year alone." She sighed and sat down on a desk, pressing out all the wrinkles from her knee length, navy skirt.

"I'm used to it." Harry said, holding back a shrug. Cho gave him a sympathetic look. He realized what that statement might have looked to an outsider-- a strangled way of saying he needed help. Harry kind of did need it but he really didn't need it. He was fine on his own. 

Cho hesitated as if she was looking for a way to say something but seemed to give up on it. She stretched out her hand and Harry took it gratefully as she led him out of the abandoned room. 

"I'll take you to your class. Potions, is it?" Harry just nodded. He wasn't one for words. "Your class is close to mine-- animal healing. It's an AP, so they don't really mind lateness." Cho tugged his arm benevolently when Harry started to slow down. 

"Come on. They're not going to be here." Harry didn't bother to tell her he couldn't give a single care in the world if they were there. It would be humiliating, yes, but Harry was known to be the one everyone hated but loved to bother. Pansy especially hated him for the all the attention he 'hog up.' He'd flipped her off when she'd said that. 

Harry quickly pushed himself into the dead silent room, glad that there was no teachers in the class. Snape had been MIA since last week so they'd be expecting another teacher. 

Harry took a quiet seat in the back and stared at his desk, not wanting to look up. If he stood in the shadows than maybe they'd not bother him.

The chatter stopped as soon as a stern looking woman came through the door. She had a single, black braid running down her back, her eyes pyscothically sharp for her young age.  

She banged her hand down on the desk, making Harry jerk slightly. She smirked at his reaction. "Hello, everyone." She announced, "My name is Draza Rosier, and you will call me ma'am unless you love the feeling of detention for a week looming over your head." 

She looked around expectantly. Nobody said a word. She turned around and pointed her wand at the board. The Hieroglyphic alphabet appeared on the board. 

"The magical ancient Egyptians held a lot of power in their hands with the understanding of this alphabet." She said, a manic smile spreading across her face. "This alphabet makes some of the darkest spells.." She spun around, a smirk on her face. "But that is a conversation for another time." 

She wiped out a golden liquid from her robe pocket. "This is the unforgivable spell, Imperious, dissolved into liquid. The person who shall drink the contents of this bottle will follow your orders for more than the actual wand spell unless it is cast using Ancient power." 

One of the people in the front, Ron Weasley, raised his hand high. "That's an illegal spell, liquidated or not!" 

The veins on Rosier's forehead seemed to tick slightly. "Yes, Weasley. Which is why dunderheads like you need to know the dangers of this before you get killed by the outer world reality." She said cruelly. "You will thank me later." 

She walked over the heiroglyphics and vanished it. "You will be practicing how to force a spell into a liquefied state. We will start with stupefy for safety measures."

The class spent the rest of the time period trying to trap stupefy into the bottle with no prevail. Hermione Granger moaned that she had gotten close but Rosier declared Harry's was better, even though only a seventh of the contents looked like liquid. 

Harry rushed out of potions class with seventy galleons buried deep in his pockets, Weasley throwing jealous looks his way. Gryffindor had gotten a hundred points and Rosier had promised to tell Dumbledore about Harry's capabilities and the rest of Gryffindor that Harry was the only reason they would be getting the house cup next week. 

He slowed down around the deserted hall and pulled himself down, resting his head into his knees. The magic had really drained him and his sight was spinning; atleast he didn't need to wear those damned glasses anymore. And if he really wanted to be honest... the jealous looks had gotten to him, too. He hated being watched, especially with hatred.

In Harry's drunk-like state, his eyes failed to comprehended the glowing red eyes watching him from the end of the hall. 

Chapter Text

Harry!" Cho called, stopping him from  walking away from the Hogwarts grounds. Harry stopped underneath the tree and looked back, a curious look on his face. 

She stopped, breathless. She whispered softly, as if she going to tell him a secret. "There's a masquerade ball happening in Nora Club and the Nott's invited you and others.. the dark ones, to be specific. Tonight." She said, looking at him expectantly. 

Harry inclined his head. "Are you going?" Cho asked, her voice full of hope. 

He slowly shrugged his shoulders, hesitant. "The Slytherin's seem to hate me. They'll have a field day if they find out I trespassed into their territory. They'll tell everyone." 

Cho rolled her eyes. "They respect you, Harry. Your a Potter, one of the last out there. Their parents would be most displeased if they did. And anyway, they invited you. It would be stupid if they got angry." 

He shrugged. "Clubs and me.." Harry sighed.

He tilted his head, and looked at her. "I don't know Cho.." 

Cho looked down. She seemed almost embarrased. "I'm sorry, Harry. I guess we won't go."  

Cho looked taken aback by Harry's smirk. "I dont know.. do I want to rain on the Slytherin's parade?" Cho grinned. 

"You'll go with me?" Harry nodded, throwing his bag over his shoulder. 

"See you at the entrance hall tonight. Don't get caught." She nodded, running back to her friends who were giving her confused looks. Harry didn't look back. 

Through out the day, Wealsey bugged him about his growing excitement. 

"Take that look off your face, Potter." He said, annoyed. Harry rolled his eyes. 

"Mad that I can actually walk around happy while you have to eye every flashing galleon with jealousy which prevents you from being, too?" 

Harry thought he heard Ginevra Weasley laugh. He tried to stop from smiling at her. He failed. 

She smiled back. 

 Harry tapped his foot impatiently on the floor as he waited for Cho to be done. He'd thrown on something and transfigured a few things but Cho was taking hours. Girls and the need to fix everything up. 

Harry wore a black mask that covered most of his face except his thin, pale pink lips. He had no sleeves and boots that reached up a bit over his knees, leaving the rest of his thighs bare. Black pants started a bit over them. The top of his waist outfit was a bit lose but it was just a black t-shirt and elbow black satin gloves so that was fine. 

Cho came an hour over the time they were supposed to come, so it left them thirty minutes to get there. She had the outfit of a Katana fighter, one of those Chinese Empresses, but her mask was blood-red and black and was lined with rubies. 

"If your expecting me to take you by your elbow like your some type of formal mistress, than forget it." Cho didn't seem bothered by that and smirked slightly before pushing him towards the doors. 

"You know how to apparate, yes?" Harry blinked but a grin soon overtook his lips before he grabbed her by her elbow. He shook his head. "I met you yesterday. Yesterday. This is crazy." 

Cho laughed. Harry took her with a snap.

The club was crazy. There was so many types of weird clothing that Cho and Harry easily blended in by the hallway of the rooms. 

Cho grabbed two glasses of alcohol from the tray that was being passed around by the club hosts' maids. She pushed one in Harry's hand. He gave her a blank yet horrified look. "I'm underage, Cho." 

She blinked. "You are?" 

"I'm turning seventeen in July." She rolled her eyes. 

"That makes no difference. Carry on." Harry shook his head stubbornly and pushed the drink into her hand. She shrugged. 

"Suit yourself." She said before downing both glasses and grabbing again from the tray. Harry watched in horror and fascination as she downed each glass before she was raging drunk. 

Cho stumbled against his arm. Harry tried not to pull back in disgust. She tried to say something but her words were slurred so she settled for eyeing one of the guys infront of her. 

Harry tapped the particular boys back after hiding Cho's eyes in his shoulder. The guy turned around. His eyes were blazing blue. 

"Hi." He said, grinning. Harry tried not to blanch at the look the guy was giving him. 

"Uhm, hi. My friend here.. uh, she's drunk and she keeps looking at you." Harry said, trying not to let his guilt show. The boy tilted his head before smirking. 

"Drunk, you say?" He said before grabbing her by her elbow. Harry lashed out, pinning the boy's wrist and warning, 

"If I you do anything to her, I'll personally drown you and then find you after you've died and drown you again." He let the boy go. 

The boy dragged Cho away towards the drinks, easily balancing her on his arm.

Harry suddenly felt cold, as if something... was watching him. He turned his head to the rooms and his breath hitched.  

It was Voldemort. He somehow just knew it. But not quite like him. This man had wavy, jet black hair and one of his eyes were sparkling blue, and the other blood red. The rest of his face was masked, thank goodness, so Harry wouldn't have to find out the hard way if the rumor that you would die instantly if you looked Voldemort in the face was true. 

Harry turned around in horror, and ran towards Cho. The guy gave him a suspicious look. 

Harry pinned down the boy's wrists from where they were set around Cho's waist and pulled her towards him. Cho struggled for a bit before going slump into his arms, her head pressing against his chest. 

"We're going to have to go." Harry said, walking to the exit. The boy ran forward, demanding, 

"Why? The party barely started!"  

"I'm sorry, uh..." 

The boy shrugged. "Felix Rosier II." 

Harry scratched the back of his head. "Uh, right, Rosier, we really have to go. If you don't mind, of course?" 

He nodded hesitantly. "There's day two after Hogwarts year ends, remember to come." 

Harry looked away, knowing he wasn't going to. He dragged Cho through the exit, but stumbled back when someone pushed her away and pulled him up to their chest. 

"EXCUSE ME!?"