Previously:

"Y'know," he whispered, "this is almost like having a family. Here, with the Marauders and Sirius and Dumbledore. I might not know all of them really well yet, but it almost feels like a family. All the banter, pranking, and everything else just feels right." He shivered. "I don't want to lose this. I know we'll eventually go home and it'll be nice to see everyone, but will it be worth it?"

She didn't answer. She couldn't answer. Really, what could she say to that?

With Harry's words in their minds, they drifted off to sleep together.

Chapter 4: Degrees of Control

Harry awoke with a faceful of bushy hair.

What the hell? he thought. He tried to move his hands to push away the hair but found them trapped under something. Getting frustrated, he pulled his hands away from whatever was holding them.

Suddenly, he heard something grumble in protest. Pushing the hair away, he blinked repeatedly to clear away the spots in his eyes that had been caused by the sudden influx of light.

Oh, he thought, Hermione. She must have forgotten to go back to her bed. At that thought, Harry blushed, realizing that he had just slept with the girl he fancied.

He looked down at her and realized that Hermione looked quite nice when asleep. However, he decided that that was dangerous to think about when she was literally lying on top of him, so he forcefully shoved the thoughts away.

That was when he noticed the source of the light - his curtains were open. But that meant that… Shit! Someone had seen them! Damn, there was going to be a lot of teasing at breakfast.

He put his arms around her again and slightly shook her.

"Mmhm... Go 'way," she swatted at his arm sleepily.

He shook her a little faster.

"Wait… 'Arry?" she mumbled, "What are you doing in my bed?"

"Your bed?" Harry asked, "This is my bed, and I'm pretty sure we accidentally fell asleep last night while we were talking."

Hermione blushed. "Yeah… that makes sense. You're a pretty good pillow, Mr. Potter," she teased through her blush.

Harry chuckled. "And you're a pretty good blanket. I think we should get up, though."

When Hermione showed no signs of moving, Harry had assumed that she had fallen asleep again. He tried again. "Someone's already seen us like this. My curtains were open when I woke up."

Hermione's eyes shot open and she hopped out of bed like it was on fire.

"Oh no," she breathed. "They'll all think that we're dating now!"

Harry laughed. "Shouldn't have snuck into my bed then," he teased. Hermione scowled at him.

"I'm going back to my dorm," she said as she kissed him on the cheek. She left him with his mouth hanging open and a blush coloring his cheeks.

Did she just…? he thought. Not the time to think about that.

Shaking his head, he began to get dressed.

A few minutes later, Harry made his way to the common room, only to see Hermione waiting for him at the bottom of the stairs. He offered her his arm and she gladly took it.

"Hermione," Harry asked hesitantly, "why did you go to my bed last night? I mean, it's not that it wasn't comfortable, but you could've waited for the morning. I'm just wondering why."

Hermione sighed. "I really couldn't sleep. I felt really terrible about the things I said yesterday. I shouldn't have snapped at you. I know this will sound a little cheesy, Harry, but you're my best friend. You know me better than anyone else. I don't like being on the outs with you. An added benefit was that you're a really nice pillow."

Harry soaked up the explanation, only blushing slightly at the end. He squeezed the hand that had slipped into his surreptitiously. "Ready to go face our maniac friends?" he asked, only half-joking.

Hermione chuckled. "With you? Sure. Just don't blush too hard. They'll think that something happened that didn't," she said, smirking.

Harry flashed her a grin and started dragging her out to the Great Hall, pulling her in such a way that she had to stumble and catch her balance before she could match his pace.

As they entered the hall, Hermione giggling hysterically at something he had whispered while walking and Harry smirking, all conversation quieted.

Sirius stood from his seat next to Remus at the Gryffindor table and started to clap. "Woohoo! Great job, Harry! You got the girl!"

This stopped Harry in his tracks, and Hermione, still out of it, ran right into Harry, making him stumble. There was a collective intake of air in the hall as they waited for the couple's response.

Harry and Hermione, who was now attentive again, looked completely flabbergasted.

Sirius chuckled. "Come on, are you seriously telling me that nothing happened last night?" he implored.

Hermione blushed fiercely and Harry was lost for words. What was Sirius thinking? Right in the middle of the Great Hall?

Hermione seemed to recover faster. "SIRIUS ORION BLACK!" she exclaimed. "WE DID NOT SLEEP TOGETHER! HOW DARE YOU INSINUATE THAT HARRY AND I WOULD DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT!" At this point, it looked as if Sirius was shaking in his boots. The rest of the hall had a hearty chuckle at his expense.

"Hermione, maybe this isn't the best thing to be yelling in public…" Harry protested weakly, interrupting her diatribe.

A glare from her cut him off quickly. She huffed indignantly and plopped down at the table next to James.

Harry regarded Sirius with eyes narrowed, examining his smug smile. "She was right, Sirius. Nothing happened. We're just friends, but now the whole hall's gonna think otherwise." He pinched the bridge of his nose. "I really don't like rumors and stuff like that. In the future, could you please keep this part of our lives out of the center of attention?" he asked, a hint of annoyance seeping into his voice.

Sirius looked slightly repentant, though amusement was still prevalent in his features. "Sure, Harry. Nothing happened. Come on, mate. Sit down and grab some breakfast." He sat back down in his seat.

Harry was getting irritated. He sat down next to Sirius and Hermione, flashed Hermione a small smile, which she returned, and turned back to Sirius. "No, I'm being serious. Please don't do that again. Now, I'm sure that the whole school thinks that we slept together non-platonically. Just think about what that would do to her reputation. Please be more considerate in the future."

Sirius looked dubious. "Are you really telling me that you two aren't together? I mean, I'm not accusing you guys of fucking or anything, that was more of a joke, but you seem so… uhm… coupley, I guess." Sirius frowned. Lowering his voice so only Harry could hear, he continued, "Maybe I shouldn't have announced your temporary sleeping arrangements to the hall, I will agree that that was dumb, but are you sure that she doesn't like you back?"

Harry sputtered, his anger muffled by his shock. "Like me back? What?"

Sirius grinned at him and stuffed a piece of bacon into his mouth. "Oh, Harry," Sirius cried dramatically, albeit quietly, "You've got it bad, and you don't even know!"

Harry glowered at him. "Of course I know, you idiotic git, but why are you proclaiming this two seats down from her?" he whispered fiercely.

This brought Sirius up short. "Uh… Oops?"

"What are you whispering about?" Hermione asked curiously, noticing the boys whispering. Sirius winced as Harry glared at him. "Now Sirius, there won't be any more of that silliness that we all witnessed, will there?" she asked brightly, her voice slightly cracking when she said 'silliness.' Sirius looked sufficiently cowed.

"Sorry?" he tried. Hermione reached across Harry and patted Sirius on the arm comfortingly.

"Just don't do it again."

Harry sniggered and Hermione smacked him on the arm absently. Sirius raised an eyebrow at Harry. Harry shrugged and stuffed a piece of toast into his mouth.

Hermione grimaced. "Harry… you're eating like Ron."

Harry winced while swallowing. "Ouch, Hermione. That's harsh."

"But true," Hermione interjected.

Sirius chuckled.

"Not true!" Harry cried indignantly. "Ron has the worst table manners. Worse than Dudley." Hermione raised an eyebrow. "I mean, he's a great friend and all, but I really can't watch him eat. Are you seriously comparing me to that?"

Sirius frowned. "Mate, I'm sure she was just joking. No need to get all worked up over it."

"Joking. Joking. You think she was JOKING? You just don't joke about that. That's the mother of all insults to one's manners!" Harry nearly shrieked.

Sirius looked flabbergasted. Harry caught Hermione's gaze and they stared at each other impassively for a few seconds before breaking down into laughter.

Sirius scowled. "Oh, I get it. You guys were having me on."

This just made the hysterical couple laugh harder. All around them, people looked at them with eyebrows raised.

Their laughing even somehow managed to tear James away from his conversation with Peter regarding Quidditch. "You okay, guys? Need the hospital wing? Don't want anyone to die from a busted gut!" James exclaimed, reaching around Hermione and slapping Harry on the back with a fair amount of force.

"Ugh, James, that joke was crap," Severus stated blandly.

"Oww…" Harry moaned, his laughter abated.

Sirius laughed. "James, you can be funny sometimes, but really, I agree with Batman. That was really bad."

Severus scowled at the nickname. "Shut it, Siri. You know I hate that name."

Lily smiled sweetly at him. "Aww, Batman's getting all riled up!" she teased.

Severus slumped slightly as he adopted a strained smile. "Sure," he agreed weakly, knowing that he couldn't argue against her.

This caused everyone to break down laughing again.

"Do you feel it?" Dumbledore asked as a thick red beam of pure stun energy erupted from the tip of Harry's wand.

"Wow," Harry breathed, "That was incredible!"

Hermione shivered. She could feel it too.

"Try it again," Dumbledore suggested, "but this time, try to narrow the flow of magic through your wand. It should be less powerful."

"Stupefy!" Harry incanted.

A slightly narrower beam of magic shot forward and impacted with the training dummy, sending it flying backward into the wall with a bang.

"That's hard!" Harry exclaimed breathlessly.

"Yes. It does take a lot of concentration. We're lucky that you two are the exception, not the norm, as controlling your magic in such a way is a rather difficult thing to teach. Most magicals don't have to learn this, as their power level makes it unnecessary. There is nothing to fear, as they are incapable of casting with that much power."

The Room of Requirement was configured in a way similar to how the DA had used it. The practice dummy that had been blasted into the wall repaired itself and slid back into line with the other two dummies.

Harry looked pensive. "Who do you think taught Voldemort? I mean, he's got to be pretty powerful, yeah? I doubt he could've learned control like this alone."

Hermione frowned, considering the question herself as Dumbledore sighed. "I am afraid that it is quite likely that my counterpart was the one to teach him. You see, the general practice is that when a student is discovered to have tremendous magical power like the two of you, the so-called "Leader of the Light" is usually tasked with teaching the prodigy control, and also keeping them from straying to the Dark Arts. It is highly probable that your Dumbledore neglected the latter. It is unlikely that he did it purposefully, however. He would've wanted Tom as a successor, not a Dark Lord." Harry and Hermione nodded, resigned. "Furthermore, I taught this Tom Riddle to control his power. I was making the same mistake as my counterpart until I realized what was happening, and saw the tell-tale signs of his impending fall. I then gave him the lecture on what would happen to the mental state of a Dark Arts user."

Hermione looked perplexed. "Didn't you say that it was likely that our Headmaster wasn't the cause of Riddle's fall? You pointed out that if it had been, he would've redeemed himself."

Dumbledore looked startled. "Ah. Forgive me. Let me elaborate. Now, all of this is theory as I'm not actually from your world. This is all guesswork." The couple nodded. "Right. So, Grindelwald was rising during Tom's school years. I noticed when I was training him, that Tom was exhibiting a few of Gellert's mannerisms. I looked into it and discovered that he was also training under Gellert. Luckily, I was able to pull him away from my old friend's influence, but your Dumbledore was likely unable to. So technically, it wasn't totally his fault, and that was probably what he latched onto to justify his actions and reassure himself that the "Greater Good" was the right path. However, knowing what I was like back then, I think that it is highly likely that it was his influence that caused Tom to seek out Gellert for additional training. That's very likely because back then I, and by extension, my counterpart, preached second, third, and even fourth chances and only learning light spells, and ignoring the dark completely. I think that he thought that he was neglecting a whole portion of magic. As a child muggle-raised in an orphanage, that was unacceptable to him. Admittedly, he was bitter originally, and even opened up the famed Chamber of Secrets, but was stopped before anyone was killed and quickly repented by saving the life of another student. And-"

Dumbledore's explanation was cut off as Hermione interrupted him. "Wait - no one died when he opened the chamber?"

Dumbledore nodded and Harry and Hermione exchanged a meaningful look.

"Professor, in our world, the attacks stopped when Myrtle Warren was killed by the basilisk," Harry explained.

Dumbledore's brows furrowed as he considered the new development. This blew all of his theories out of the water. "I still think that my counterpart didn't change because of a lack of guilt. Maybe the source of the changed circumstances is less of Tom not turning dark because of him, maybe it was that he was dark in the first place."

Harry accepted this without question. The Severus Snape here was a perfect example of someone being fundamentally different. Hermione, however, was not so easily convinced. "Are you sure? He did still open the chamber."

Dumbledore looked slightly exasperated. "Just remember, I don't have all the answers. These are all theories. I really wouldn't know, as I've never even stepped foot inside your world. Everything I know about it comes from you two and Professor Black."

"How much has Sirius told you, by the way?" Harry asked curiously.

"That is neither here nor there, Harry. Now, we've gotten very far off track. You were here to learn how to control your power. Let's get back to it. Hermione, let's see you try. Throw a stunner. Don't try to limit it. You need to get a feel for your power."

Hermione stepped up and adopted a dueling stance and stuck her wand arm forward. Slashing her wand in a movement resembling an acute angle, she incanted: "Stupefy!"

The result was similar to Harry's second try. A beam of red magic, not quite as wide as Harry's, shot forward and knocked her dummy into the wall with violent force.

"Good!" Dumbledore praised. "Do you feel the magic flowing from your core through your wand and out?" When Hermione made a vague motion resembling an affirmation, still too shocked at her own power to form a coherent response, Dumbledore continued. "Try again, only try to construct the passageways slightly. Try to press on them."

Repeating the motion with a call of "Stupefy!", a significantly narrower beam shot out and instead of making the dummy fly through the air, it only stumbled backward a few yards before collapsing.

Dumbledore clapped his hands together looking positively gleeful. "Fantastic! Absolutely marvelous! Such control so early in!" Hermione glowed with pride and Harry high-fived her enthusiastically.

"Harry!" Dumbledore called, "Try again! Let's see if you can do as well as the lovely Miss Granger!" Hermione blushed as Harry stepped up.

He gathered his magic in his wand but didn't release it instantly. Instead, he focused on pulling some of it back. He was slightly successful because where the tip of his wand was previously glowing a brilliantly bright red, it had dimmed significantly.

"Stupefy!" he yelled, waving his wand. A large red orb shot out of his wand and hit the dummy. It only staggered back a single foot before crumpling to the ground. Breathing hard from the mental exertion, he turned back to face his best friend and his mentor. Both looked completely gobsmacked.

Hermione recovered first and glomped him, radiating pride. Harry was unable to keep his balance, so they both fell to the floor with a harmonious 'oomph'.

"That was incredible, Harry!" she gushed. "Wow! Down to an orb and on your third try!"

Harry grinned up at her bemusedly. "I'm sure you'll do it just as easily next, Hermione. You're not called the brightest witch of the generation for nothing, after all." She beamed at him, and they continued hugging until a cough could be heard from above, reminding them that they weren't alone.

Hermione's face flushed bright red as she scrambled off Harry and stood quickly. Getting to his feet, Harry's face was just as red as Hermione's. Looking at Dumbledore, they noticed that his eyes were twinkling even more than normal.

Harry shifted awkwardly as Dumbledore cleared his throat. "That was absolutely incredible control, Harry. That type of control this fast is practically unheard of," Dumbledore praised. "Try again, Hermione. See if you can copy Harry's progress."

Hermione stepped forward again with a determined expression. "Stupefy!" A very thin beam of red energy shot out and knocked the dummy a few feet back before it collapsed again.

"Great progress!" Dumbledore exclaimed. "Let's try something else." He conjured two large wooden cubes. "Try the levitation charm."

Since she was already in position, Hermione went first. With a swish and a sharp flick, Hermione called out the incantation. "Wingardium leviosa!" The cube shot up dangerously fast and splintered as it impacted the ceiling. Hermione stared dumbly at the damage, lost for words.

Dumbledore flicked his wand with a silent Reparo and the cube reformed, looking like it had just been conjured. "Try again, but limit your power. I know that this type of energy feels slightly different, but power control is no different here."

"Wingardium leviosa!" The cube shot up once more, but instead of splintering, it just thunked loudly against the ceiling.

"Good! That isn't perfect but it is progress. You try, Harry."

Harry stepped forward. "Wingardium leviosa!" The result was similar to Hermione's first attempt, the block violently impacting the ceiling and splintering.

With another Reparo, the block was reformed again. "Wingardium leviosa!" It shot up quickly again but stopped abruptly just shy of the ceiling. Hermione's eyes shot to Harry, and she could see him struggling and sweating under the effort of maintaining control over his turbulent magic. His arms shook and his muscles tensed.

Eventually, he released the spell and sunk down to the ground, mentally spent. "Wow," he breathed. "How is that so exhausting? I thought we were more powerful."

"This isn't physical or magical exhaustion, Harry," Dumbledore explained patiently. "This is mental exhaustion. Your mind will strengthen as we practice. If it really bothers you, occlumency strengthens your mind. It isn't required though, as occlumency makes one relive all of their memories."

Harry looked slightly uncomfortable while Hermione looked eager until she saw Harry's expression. "Harry?" she asked softly. "What are you afraid of? You don't have to answer, but maybe it will help to talk?"

Harry sighed heavily. "I'll talk to you about it later, Hermione. Thank you." Hermione gave him a small smile. He looked up at Dumbledore. "I remember you saying something about the Dark Arts and the mental state earlier, could you explain that? I need a break from this training."

Dumbledore nodded, and with a thought, the room reconfigured itself, looking like a copy of the headmaster's office. Dumbledore sat behind his desk and motioned towards the two chairs in front that had appeared. Harry and Hermione sat down quickly.

"The Dark Arts are certainly powerful, but the only use for them is violence and dark rituals. Do realize, however, that just because the ministry declares that something is dark, doesn't mean that it is dark. The Dark Arts are powered by negative emotions. Hate, anger, jealousy. To power your spells, you need to use your emotions in a way similar to a Patronus, only instead of positives, you need negatives. Another thing is that you need to mean it. Just having negative emotions isn't always enough. For example, for the killing curse, Avada Kedavra, you need to really, really want to kill the person. The other thing about the Dark Arts is that it muddles your mind. The inherent darkness of the magic eventually drives the caster insane. For example, my old friend Gellert Grindelwald used to actually be quite sane. However, he began to use the Dark Arts and became increasingly irrational because of it. He was never fit to be a ruler. He didn't even mastermind his own rise. He would never have arisen if it wasn't for his advisors. Sure, he was powerful, but he was mostly a figurehead. But as the darkness seeps into your mind, it makes it easier to cast darker curses. That is why he was able to throw around dark curses with ease. Normally, one would need to immensely concentrate their negative emotions, but those exposed to the Dark Arts are so concentrated with them already that they can let loose a torrent of dark curses without a care in the world."

Hermione blinked. "That was… surprisingly logical. I'm not sure what I expected but it wasn't that."

Harry nodded in agreement.

"It is surprising," Dumbledore agreed, "but you've had enough of a break. Let's get back to work."

"That wasn't a long break!" Harry protested.

Dumbledore smirked. "Well… I did say that this would be rigorous."

"You did? When?" Hermione asked.

"Repeatedly," Dumbledore returned.

Harry groaned loudly.

You sure it wasn't just in your head? Harry mused bitterly.

"So…" James prompted, "where are you two going for the Yule Break?"

Harry glanced at Hermione, non-verbally asking her opinion. She raised an eyebrow, indicating her impartiality. He huffed, expressing his irritation over him having to make the choice. Hermione scoffed, meaning something along the lines of; Fine. Like you could ever make a logical decision anyway. Harry chuckled and Hermione made up her mind.

"We could either stay in the leaky cauldron or remain here. I think we'll remain here. Less hassle," she explained quickly.

Silence reigned.

Sirius spoke up. "That's really creepy, y'know." Everyone nodded in agreement.

Harry looked at him, bemused. "What?"

"That whole non-verbal thing. It makes it seem like you're Soul-Bonded or something," he clarified.

Harry disguised a laugh as a cough. "You've got no idea how many people say that. Also, what's a Soul-Bond?"

Hermione scoffed indignantly in response to Sirius' question. "Soul-Bonded? Are you barmy? Those things are only in cheesy romance novels! Hah! Like Fate would play matchmaker. How have you even heard of that term? Digging around Mummy's library?"

James barked out a laugh while Sirius looked shocked.

Harry simply smirked slyly. "Hermione, how have you heard of that term? Were you reading some "cheesy romance novels"? Purely for educational reasons, of course," he remarked, gently elbowing her.

Hermione blushed. "Well… There was one…"

Harry sniggered.

"Oh shut it!" she commanded imperiously, smacking his arm. "It was Ginny's! She practically forced me to read it! And… it was a book! I wasn't going to turn down a book." As he continued to laugh, she smirked, having found a great way to get him back. "And don't you act so high-and-mighty, mister. I've seen those "Quidditch Magazines" you and Ron share sometimes."

This shut Harry up rather quickly while Sirius and James dissolved into hysterics.

With a mock-contemptuous air, she sniffed disdainfully and turned towards James, who was using Sirius as support. "Yes. We shall be staying at Hogwarts for Christmas."

While she waited for the rest of the group to recover from their laughter, she turned back to Harry, who was looking decidedly pale and smacked him on the back of the head, bringing slight color back to his face.

"Harry," she said softly. "I was only teasing you. It's perfectly natural. I don't think any less of you."

He nodded jerkily, clearly still embarrassed.

Who wouldn't be embarrassed? He asked himself. The girl I fancy somehow knows about those… uhm… things - er - dirty pleasures.

"Er… Hermione… Mind telling me how you know about those?"

She blushed. "I was… up in your dorm one time. You happened to have left them out."

Harry raised an eyebrow and was about to comment but James interrupted. "Nonsense, Hermione! You two should come to Potter Manor for Christmas! My parents would love to have you."

Harry looked to Hermione once again, looking for her input. Rolling her eyes fondly, she responded in the positive. "Sure, James. We'd love too. We just have to talk to Sirius first."

Sirius perked up at this. "What?"

Hermione looked startled as if seeing him for the first time. "Oh… Oops. I meant the other Sirius. Our Sirius."

Sirius scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. "Right… forgot about him…" he trailed off.

An awkward silence took hold until James broke it cheerfully. "This is going to be awesome. I can't wait to see Mum and Dad's faces when they realize that they have a grandson! Oh, Sirius, I forgot to tell you that Lord Black is staying over for Christmas too!"

Sirius paled.

Hermione, looking concerned, spoke up. "Sirius? What's wrong?"

Sirius collected himself. "Lord Black - erm - Grandfather, is really scary. He'll give me a pretty stern talking to for running away from home."

Harry looked slightly confused. "Our Sirius said he ran from home when he was sixteen. Aren't you fifteen?"

Hermione looked at Harry patronizingly. "There are differences from here and home, you realize."

Harry shrugged sheepishly.

"Anyway," Hermione said, "why is Lord Black staying at your house, James?"

"Uncle Arcturus is really cool. He's also great friends with my dad. They fought in the war against Grindelwald together."

"Really cool?" Sirius asked shrilly. "He's the most intimidating guy I know!"

James was nonplussed. "That's what makes him so cool!"

Severus and Lily had been silently observing the conversation. "James?" Severus started.

"Yeah?"

"You gonna invite Smith to Christmas?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," James insisted, cheeks burning.

"Oo-ooh! James has got the hots for Alex!" Sirius sang.

Hermione snorted.

Alexandria Smith was a very headstrong Gryffindor in their year. She had just transferred from Ilvermorny.

"James," Hermione teased, "you'll never be able to handle her. She's really stubborn."

"Yes, I know!" James retorted testily. "Also, you guys don't need to discuss this here, in the open!"

Lily rolled her eyes. "Please. There's no one around here to hear us. We should know. We've got the map."

James said a bad word.

Hermione took the job of smacking the back of his head.

Pointing at the map, Lily exclaimed, "Look! Professor Black is approaching us!"

Once he entered the group's line of sight, Professor Sirius Black was distracted by a very loud Harry Potter.

"SIRIUS! Can we go to the Potters' for Christmas?"

Older Sirius chuckled. "Sure, pup. As long as Hermione's okay with that too." Hermione nodded happily.

"You should know," started younger Sirius, "Grandfather will be there too."

Older Sirius paled dramatically.