The next morning came earlier than either of them wanted, but Harry forced himself to leave once Leddy told them that Mrs. Parkinson was awake. Once he got back to his mother's flat, Harry went back to bed. He had unfinished dreams about Pansy that were calling to him. He smiled to himself as he drifted off, realizing that he had a girlfriend. The Dursleys had been wrong about yet another thing- apparently there was a girl out there that would want a freak like him. His dreams of lying in bed with Pansy shifted into them traveling to Surrey and gloating over how wrong the bastard relatives had been, with him now having wealth and a gorgeous girl on his arm. Harry wanted Little Whinging to burn with envy, to know just what the supposed delinquent actually was and what lying scum the Dursleys truly were.
Pansy's dreams, on the other hand, were the most pleasant she'd had all summer. Recently, she'd been dreaming of Harry and all sorts of naughty things she planned to do with him one of these days. However, she was also occasionally plagued by nightmares of her father selling her off to various awful husbands to be. One night it might be Malfoy, the next Zabini, the next some faceless old lech. She would inevitably wake from these nightmares feeling nauseous and tear through as many books as she could, researching for anything that might help. Sadly, she kept coming back to the need to owe Harry a life debt to permanently break from her family. To make sure it would not be contestable, she would need impartial witnesses as well. A couple of wild ideas came to her, but they were very dangerous. Plus, Pansy didn't want Harry to resent her for forcing them into a life or death situation, although that option felt more likely as the summer went on. But that night, and long into the next day, she dreamt only of how right it felt to be in his arms.
The next couple of weeks passed in a blur as both teens researched, practiced magic and finished their summer assignments. Pansy had added another spell for both of them to learn and attempt to master, Arresto Momentum. It was designed to save someone from a fall of a great height, and after the unusual amount of danger Harry had already encountered during quidditch matches, he agreed with her rationale for needing to learn the spell.
On one of these days, he also read a very interesting story in the Daily Prophet, one that had him desperately needing to speak to Pansy. He had come to trust in her advice, and the story shocked him so badly that he knew he needed a second point of view before he could figure out what to think of the escaped criminal, Sirius Black. Thankfully, her mother went out that afternoon and left Pansy home. Harry had Dobby take him there as soon as she was alone.
Pansy noticed immediately how upset Harry was, but she had not seen the paper yet. "What's wrong?"
He handed it over to her and let her read while he paced around her room, trying (and failing) to calm himself down.
"Had you heard any of this before?" she asked as Harry continued to pace.
"No."
"Crap." She took a deep breath.
"Well, I guess I should fill in the back story as I know it. Sirius Black was close friends with your father when they went to Hogwarts. The Black family were the sort of purebloods that flocked to the Dark Lord. Blood supremacists, muggles haters, etc. Supposedly, Black rejected that type of thinking; he was in Gryffindor after all. I didn't know this part about him being the secret keeper, but I had heard that he betrayed the Potters. I knew the part about him killing the muggles and Pettigrew, but from what I've overheard, Black must have been a spy as he was not known to be a Death Eater before your parents were killed."
"And no one would ever bother telling me things like the fact that my parents were betrayed. Of course not, why should I be on my guard against betrayal? It certainly hasn't ever happened to the Potters before, has it? I fucking hate wizards!"
Pansy pulled him into a hug, forcing Harry to stop pacing. "I'm sorry Harry. Someone should have told you all of this before." As angry as he'd been, she was surprised (and quite pleased too) at how quickly he seemed to relax in her arms. "What can I do to help?"
"I just..." he started and stopped, letting out an angry growl. "I can't think clearly about this. What should I do?"
"For now, you should just let the ministry work. If the Dementors catch him, he'll face a fate worse than death."
"Good, he deserves it." She could feel his anger as he shook even as she wrapped her arms tighter around him.
"I agree," she said while thinking that Black deserved all the pain in the world for hurting Harry, forcing Harry to grow up with those abusive muggles. She would not let anyone hurt him again. Harry was quickly becoming everything to her- first a partner, someone that wanted to run away as much as she did, then a boyfriend, as their hormones drew them together in an interesting new way she'd not really considered before. But now, she could admit to herself, he was her love. It hadn't taken long, but she knew that his kindness and nobility had drawn her in, just as she could feel their similarities in his pain and sarcasm. When he said that he would do anything he could for her, she saw in his eyes just how much he meant it. She saw his devotion, and even though neither of them had the courage to say the words yet, she was sure that he loved her too.
Lost in her thoughts, Pansy didn't notice that Harry had wrapped his arms around her as well. For several minutes, they just held each other. Harry breathed in her scent and let his feelings for her calm him. Even after years of abuse and isolation, he was starting to understand his emotions and knew that seemingly everything good was now tied directly to Pansy. He closed his eyes and let her wash over him, forgetting everything but the wonderful girl in his arms.
"Do you know much about Dementors?" she asked after a few moments.
"Only what I read in the paper." He chuckled to himself and said, "I guess I should start researching how to deal with them. I'm bound to run into problems with them this year. God forbid, Harry Potter have a normal year at Hogwarts."
"You're probably right," Pansy grinned against his neck and began to nuzzle against him. "Hopefully, it won't be too unpleasant this year."
"Well, I do have a year with my girlfriend to look forward to."
"Oh. You think I'll keep you around all year?" she teased.
"I'm pretty sure that I'll be able to convince you," he said as he lifted her face to his and began kissing her. Surprisingly to Pansy, he was more delicate than she expected. He kissed the corner of her mouth, down along her jaw, over to her ear. She happily recognized that this was not just a boy with hormones running rampant. She grabbed his wild hair, moaning as she felt his lips against her neck, and soon they were on her bed, happily lost from all stress and worry.
Half an hour later, she lay against him and had to agree that he would be able to convince her to keep him around all year. She remembered why Harry was here though, and thought again about what to do about Sirius Black. Harry was right. Knowing his luck, he would almost certainly run into the Dementors sooner or later. Aware of the abilities of the horrible creatures, she thought that they both would be in trouble if they were exposed to them.
"There's a spell that drives Dementors away," she told him.
"I guess I should probably learn it."
"We both should. Dementors force you to relive your worst memories, I don't think either of us wants to experience that."
"Definitely not. Do you know what it's called?" Pansy summoned the paper over to her and flipped through it. "Wandlessly, well done."
"I've been wanting to show that off. Are you proud of your apprentice?"
"No. I'm proud of my partner." He kissed her deeply and she felt just how proud a part of him was.
"Good, but let me read for a second." He grinned as he watched her intensely searching through the Daily Prophet. "Here it is, 'the Patronus charm is the only known method of dealing with the Dementors. Stay away from the creatures and let ministry personnel deal with them as they search for Black.' It seems like it is a fairly tough spell to learn."
"Great," he said with a snort. "I better start working on it immediately. I'll teach it to you as soon as I get it down."
"I'm glad you're confident you can learn it."
"I don't have much choice, do I? It's not like I can count on Dumbledore or McGonagall or any other of the teachers. As much as I love Hogwarts, sometimes it feels like the whole place is a death trap for me."
"No dying for you on my watch, Potter. I can't run this partnership very well without a partner."
He kissed the top of her head and said, "Yes, dear."
Regardless of the joking tone, she wanted him to know just how much she meant it. She was not going to lose him. Harry was going to be her hero and she would move heaven and earth to keep him. If she could, she would force Black to face all the pain he'd caused her love. She now had another name added to her list of people that needed to feel her wrath. And that wrath was most keenly focused on those who hurt Harry.
"Thanks for this," Harry said as he started to stir. "I should probably get back home before your mother returns."
"You're welcome."
"Any word on when your father will arrive?"
"I know that I'm supposed to go to Diagon Alley with just my mother next Thursday as he won't be home yet by then."
"That's good I guess. I might just have to swing by the alley that same day."
"I'd like that, but we'll have to be careful about how we act."
"I will. I'll start work on the Patronus charm tonight."
"Have you got Arresto Momentum down?"
"Mastered it yesterday. Dobby's been so busy throwing things around the flat that I think I might start playing darts with him. Although he would be disappointed at the lack of a mess darts make compared to breaking things against my shield. I'm pretty sure both of us could cast Reparo in our sleep by now."
"Well, you boys have fun." She straightened her clothes as he put his shoes on, preparing to leave. She grabbed him for one last kiss. "I'll miss you."
"We'll have to talk our elves into helping us out for another evening rendezvous."
"I didn't know you spoke French."
"You've already experienced all the French I know," he said, waggling his eyebrows with an amusing gleam in his eyes.
"Well, you've learned that much well enough. The French tongue does seem to suit you," she said with a smirk. "I might have to teach you the language too."