A/N: I have finally updated! Though unforgivable as this extremely slow update may be, I hope you will continue to read this. Thank you!

DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything!

LET ME BE ME

CHAPTER 9: FINE!

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"Ouch! Careful, will ya!"

"Sorry!" said Harry as his arm snaked around the other person's waist, supporting them.

"Well, watch where you're going next time!" the other person snapped.

"What the hell?! You have eyes don't you? Keep them open!"

"Fine!"

…

"Would you be sooo kind as to let me go? Some of us have classes!"

"What?! Oh, yeah, sorry…"

It all happened in a grand total of twenty seconds. After the person left Harry was still confused. He had woken up late and was unable to let his body adjust to the light. In his hurry out of the room he bumped into somebody. Being a vampire it was almost crucial to let his body get used to the light as his senses were overwhelmed by the sensations coming from it. The light was extremely powerful for his keen eyes and he felt like he was blindly walking towards his classes. Added to that he had an inherited trait of the vampires- born from their love for the night-to hate mornings… To put it briefly, he was not in a good mood, so when he bumped into somebody, his first instinct to protect that person ,as he knew how strong he could be, turned into anger towards the other being.

Muttering under his breath Harry made his way towards class. Slowly his mind cleared enough for him to rethink the confrontation that morning. He realized that even with his befuddled mind he should have had more control over himself. In the first place, he should have woken up earlier, no matter how difficult that was and he should have let his body "soak" into the sunlight. In the second place he should have gone to breakfast and not directly to class even though he did not need the food. This kind of behavior will help the wrong people to figure out what he was and he still wanted the element of surprise. With a promise to himself that things will change the following morning he let the matter go.

However, there were several still unanswered questions, like the identity of the person he bumped into. After a tiny bit of meditation-slash-walking-slash-avoiding walking into walls, to allow him access to the foggy memory, he realized he had run in "the sweet girl". And that in itself raised quite a few questions.

"Why was she skipping breakfast?" As it was quite clear that she did not have time for breakfast, but he reasoned that she probably overslept.

"Why was she in a bad mood?" He admitted his lack of control, but really the only reason his protectiveness was turned into anger was her snapping at him. Then again, he wasn't that happy in the mornings either and being deprived of breakfast can have this effect on a person. All considered, she was awfully angry and her mood only seemed to worsen when -in his confusion- his arm was still sustaining her although from the beginning it was quite unnecessary. He didn't lack modesty but knew very well that no girl nor woman ever complained of landing in his arms, so the vehement reaction caught him by surprise to say at least. Harry again reasoned that maybe she was just in a bad mood that morning or frustrated and afraid that she will be late or, hell, maybe not into guys.

"And thirdly" he thought as he came to the end of the shortcut and happy to see the students still outside the classroom signaling the absence of his Potions teacher "I really have to get her name."

Strangely enough Ravenclaws shared Potions with the Slytherin as opposed to other years when they shared with the Hufflepuff. The only reason he was taking this class, as his head of the house had announced him the evening before, was his new position in the Ravenclaw house. Apparently Snape was intrigued with by his ability to be a part of the most studious students -but mostly by the Headmaster's conviction that he could be a part of his snakes and the way the whole plan blew up in the old goat's face- and so he decided to give him another chance to understand the mysterious art of potion making.

Considering his Exceed Expectations an achievement and confident that he will manage with relative ease due to his new found confidence, Harry walked –glided- towards the group of students without a care in the world. He lent backwards using the wall opposite the classroom as a support all the while looking handsome and a tiny bit arrogant while waiting for the Professor.

He saw Draco smirk from the opposite wall and saw as he elegantly made his way towards him surrounded by his friends. He let his eyes wander trying to find the odd Ravenclaw girl but she was not a part of the whispering crowd gathered outside the door. He considered the opportunity of her not making it to class before him but that was impossible even if he had used shortcuts as it took quite a while for him to clear his head enough to remember which way he was supposed to go…

"You do remember that your girlfriend is not in the same year as us, do you?"drawled Draco referring to his obvious search of somebody.

"How come you know I have a girlfriend? I know news travel fast around here but…" Harry asked as he abandoned his search and turned to look at the blond.

"Please, it was enough time during breakfast for the whole school to know, but we actually found out from the girls over there. Honestly, if they had talked louder, the Whomping Willow would have heard!" answered Blaise for Draco.

"And why are you complaining that you had to work so little to find what's going on?" questioned Pansy as Harry tried to memorize his fellow ravenclaw gossipers but knew that their loud talking was the result of hours during class and library when they were forced to stay quiet or to whisper. There is only so much silence a teenager can endure. He was drawn from his musings by Blaise's answer:

"I'm only complaining of the quality of their screeching."

As the teenagers chuckled the door to the Potions classroom flew open and they slowly filled the room.

Being on the opposite wall the four students had to wait for everybody to enter first. That was when Harry saw a shadow untangle itself from the darkness of a corner and join the students who were entering the classroom. The shadow was hit by the dim light in the hallway and showed its true form, the "sweet" girl. His eyes widened momentarily in surprise and realization. She had been there all the time sitting on the floor, her back supported by the joining of two walls. He hadn't seen her because he didn't think he would find her in dark corners hidden from the world and the arrival of the Slytherins had deterred him in his search. "But mostly importantly, why did she choose to sit there?"

"that girl is just …odd!" Cho's words echoed thhrough his head. Yet, ..he knew better. He knew that even if people behaved odd, their bahaiviour was not to be put aside as though the oddness explained everything... on the contrary, it probably ment they had somethig to hide. And even if he could understand the girl's urge to hide in the darkness , he would try to understand her fully or, at least, to know if she presented a threat. As Harry brushed the door with his fingers when he entered the classroom a brief connection with Hogwarts formed.He felt that he was not the only one to deceive the Headmaster with the owl at the entrance, he was only the one who did it consciously.

„Good morning students! Today you are going to try your hand at preparing an antidote for the Confussia poison. I have no doubt that you all know the properties of that potion, but l am still going to ask, although I am terriby sorry that I have to ofend you with such a question..." Snape trailed off with sarcasm dripping from his voice. Still, he was more polite than usual. A slight tension could be felt in the silence. The substance was a lot less known than the teacher hinted. Of course, some vague information was present, but it mostly eluded them.

"Mr Dunwood, can tell me the effects and the purposes of Confussia?" came the question addressed to a confident Slytherin.

"Yes, I think I can."

„Wonderful. Then you choose a fellow student to answer. You will also judge if the answer was correct and bring further information if necessary. „

The Slytherin's eyes skimmed the classroom.

„Today Mr Dunwood, if you wish."

„I choose Draco Malfoy" was the well-thought choice of the boy. After all, the blond was supposed to be the best in that particular assembly and there were high chances for him to know the answer.

„Mr Malfoy if you wish..."

„Yes Sir, the Confussia poison acts like a Confuscious charm, befuddling the receiver thus rendering them useless. It is stronger than the charm, but it has a more general target domain. For example we can charm a person to be perfectly clear headed except for the conversation he had that morning, so we can focus the spell on a certain moment, a fact that can not be accomplished with the poison. However, while the charm depends on how powerful the caster is, the poison is either effective or a fluke. The power of the potion is, like I said, more powerful than the charm casted by an average wizard."

"Mr Dunwood?"

"I…think the answer is correct and I don't think further information is necessary."

"Mr Potter, add information to the answer or I will transfer the three of you to my second 6th year class."

Harry thought furiously, then forcefully made himself relax. No answer would come to him if he panicked ,after all even if he did not the answer right, his world would not end. Besides, he spotted a loophole in the Professor's wording so he could turn the situation in his favor if he said something, anything related to the poison. Even if it was not the answer the man was looking for, it was still information so he could not transfer them. Then a thought suddenly occurred to him, as well as a foggy memory. By the time he raised to his full height an answer was on the tip of his tongue.

" An added advantage to the potion, is that it can act to a certain person, that means that if you add to the poison a certain person's DNA , from a hair or nail or a few skin cells, even if two hundred people drink the potion, only the owner of the DNA will be confused. "

"That being said, you have the instructions on the board. Begin." Was all Snape said, his lack of criticism meaning that the black-haired teen got the answer right. "I expect more from this class than exploding cauldrons and meaningless bicker. If you display such commendable conduct you will be transferred and will have this class with the Griffindors and the Hufflepuffs. If you are originally in this class and then transfer, you have only one more chance. If you damage another cauldron or cause a disturbance in my class you will have to study Potions on your own. Though, in those circumstances, I would not advise you to take a NEWT in this field…"

The threat was all of a sudden in their faces screaming 'caution'. Nevertheless, the potion was not going to make itself and the students were forced to stop their musings in order to pay attention to the job they were doing.

A/N: Thank you for reading!

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AngelWolfDestiny9090: Thank you! I really can't tell you that now...soon XD. Here's the update!

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