"Come on Harry! You'll be late again and 'Mione will kill us both!" the red-haired boy called to me.

"Yeah, well! Excuse me, but I don't recall asking you to wait!" I retorted, risking mortal peril by tugging his shoes on as he hopped down the stone steps.

"It's about time you two got down here!" the brown haired and red haired girl stood below the steps.

"Sorry, 'Mione." The red-haired boy apologised, quickly kissing her cheek.

"Hmpf. You should be." The brown haired one –'Mione?- sniffed in mock anger while the red-haired girl giggled.

"Oh, come off it, Gin! You're just as bad as I am over summer! In fact, I get up before you do!"

The red-haired girl –Ginny?- glared in response and punched him on the arm. Hard.

"Ow!" he cried.

"Jeez, Ron! You're such a girl sometimes! Grow a pair, already…" she muttered while –Ron?- shot her a glare that promised retribution. I laughed fondly. They really would never change, would they?

"Harry! There you are! I was waiting…" the blond boy called to me, voice trailing off into a soft murmur as he practically sprinted the five meters that separated us in his rush to glue us at the hip.

"Sorry, Dragon, I didn't mean to keep you waiting." I heard myself apologising as I ruffled his hair fondly. 'Dragon? Is that his name?'

"Hey! Took me hours to get my hair to look like that…" he pouted prettily, attempting to smooth out his hair with his hands. I just laughed, and ruffled his hair again, assuring him that yes, it was a lost cause, before we came to a stop before the brown-haired boy and blond girl.

"Hello, Harry." She said dreamily. "The Nargles said you would be coming. You look positively azure, today." She smiled softly. Ah, good. That's a good thing.

"Morning mate." The boy said, rubbing the back of his head nervously.

"Hey, Nev!" Gin greeted.

"Hi Luna!" 'Mione reached and hugged the girl good morning.

"Shall we-" I was cut off by two identical voices.

"Harry!" they crowed, and I turned in the corresponding direction long enough to allow my eyes to widen in fear before they completed what appeared to be a lunge and collided with my person, knocking me to the floor with two identical red-heads on me.

"Ow…" I groaned softly, pushing myself up on my elbows, which was, unfortunately, as high as I could go.

"Sorry Harry-" one began.

"But we couldn't-" the other continued.

"Resist! We-"

"Missed you so much-"

"When we were on our-"

"Mission so when we saw our-"

"Favourite Ickle Brother we just-"

"Had to-"

"Hug you." They finished together.

"Whatever, Fred and George." I shook my head at them, getting up gingerly.

"But, I'm George." The one I just knew was Fred said.

"Fred…" I warned softly. "Has that ever worked on me?"

"No…" he muttered.

"And our asking you how hasn't either. You never tell!"

"It's uncanny. Creepy too…" they shuddered.

"What have I told you about speaking of sensitive things in the middle of the hallway for all within earshot to hear?" a beautifully familiar voice drawled.

'Severus? No. Too old. This man's at least 40, my Severus is going to be 15 forever. But it is him…?' I thought in confusion.

"Sorry Professor…" we all muttered. He nodded and moved on, robes flying behind him impressively.

"Bloody greasy git…" Ron snarled.

"Wha-?"

Tenebris woke with a gasp. What were these? These dreams that seemed so much like memories. So real…

He looked at the clock. It was 4am. He reached over to his bedside table and pulled out his sketchbook, flipping through the various images of his dream-people's faces, past the group portrait from his first dream and to a fresh page, where the elder face of Severus took life.

His alarm interrupted his final stroke, almost making him ruin the perfect drawing in his shock. "One of the plusses of having an eidetic memory, I suppose. I have perfect recall."

He turned the alarm off with a soft thunk as he pulled his body out of bed to get ready. 'I have Survival Skills in half an hour.' He thought as he stepped into the shower, before getting dressed and moving to the small piece of paper. He pulled out his diary and cast a spell which would transfer all the information from the paper which had his timetable on it to the book. In a flash, on each page on the corresponding days was his timetable, repeated on all days apart from holidays.

'Hmm… meet in the entrance hall. Okay.' He thought as he jogged to the location, where a large group of both male and female, light and dark students were standing.

As a Dark Elf, he was very tall, already 5'7" and still growing, so he stuck out a little among the subs but not yet among the doms. He was only young in their eyes, after all.

Yet, despite his smaller stature, they all moved out of his way to allow him to pass to the front of the room, bowing their heads respectfully while the dark creatures muttered 'my lord' or 'lord Umbra'. He inclined his head in response.

"Excuse me?" a soft tenor sounded from behind him, and he turned to see the 'Light Lord' from last night standing before him, a mere 6ft, wringing his hands together. "Um… hi. My name is Apollo Micheals." He extended his hand to shake, which Tenebris accepted, albeit a little firmly.

"Tenebris Potter-Peverell." He replied by way of introduction.

"I-if I may ask, you're a Dark Elf, yes?" Tenebris nodded slowly. "So, um… aren't they supposed to be taller?" Apollo asked after a decent stretch of 'thinking time'.

Tenebris laughed softly. "I am only six human years of age," he said, smiling when the other boy's jaw fell open in shock, "so I have not yet grown fully as others who attend here would have. I was accepted due to my mental and magical prowess. I can assure you, Little Lord, I am no push over." He said, smirking softly at the blush that decorated Apollo's cheeks at the nickname.

"Yes, well… congratulations on becoming the Dark Lord." He said, smiling faintly.

"Thank you. Congratulations on becoming the first submissive lord for the light in almost 100 years." He replied, smirk widening at the shock on the others face.

"How did you know about that?" he hissed.

"Your secret is safe with me, and if you ever find yourself in the position where you need some help, I am willing to assist you." Was all he said. "Now hush. The teacher is here."

"Okay, class! My name is Professor Meritus. I teach Survival Skills and Rituals here at Arcane Academy. We're going to start off slow. All I want you to do is follow the course through the forest and back here to the finish line. Off you trot!"

"I don't trust him. Not one bit. Something's in there, I know it." Tenebris muttered to Apollo, whose eyes widened in fear.

"What? What's in there? Oh, god, please don't leave me alone in there! I'll die and then I'll-"

"Hush, Little Lord. I will be there for as long as you can keep up." Tenebris replied, before taking off at a fast pace to be the first person into the forest, Apollo gripping the back of his hem in his fingertips as though for security. "May I ask why you are so attached to me all of a sudden?"

"It is as you said. I am a submissive, you are an exceptionally, if not unprecedentedly, powerful dominant who has offered both his assistance and protection to me. I am going to be clingy, if only a little." He replied with a slightly haughty tone that made Tenebris laugh. "But I am willing to share. I can understand that someone such as you would not be satisfied with only one or even two mates. And I am not going to let you go, even if I must wait a few years for you to finish your schooling." He added, making Tenebris' breath catch in his throat.

He was about to reply when a small twig snapping, barely audible, caught his attention, making him stop dead and wrap an arm behind him around Apollo's waist to hold the other boy firmly against himself as he tried to hide his 6ft frame behind Tenebris' still growing 5'7" one. Tenebris tilted his head softly as he listened carefully.

-snap!-

He turned faster than any human could see and shot a quick spell into the bush, making a rather large acromatula charge at them.

"Incendio!" he intoned, flicking his right-handed wand and burning the creature to ash in seconds. "Are you okay?" he asked the submissive that seemed intent of strangling his shoulder if the grip the other boy had on it was anything to go by.

Apollo turned his head quickly to meet his eyes and nodded once.

"Good." Tenebris replied simply as he began running again quickly, Apollo once again holding just the edge of the back of his shirt.

The next thing they came across was a fire spirit, which Apollo dealt with using Aguamenti.

A herd of what appeared to be wolves were distracted by Avis.

Several Confringo's, a Reducto and a Diffindo destroyed the blast-ended skrewt.

Apollo answered the Sphinx's riddle 'I do not breathe, but I run and jump. I do not eat, but I swim and stretch. I do not drink, but I sleep and stand. I do not think, but I grow and play. I do not see, but you see me every day' with 'a leg', earning him much praise from Tenebris, making him blush for the short run to the finish line.

"Ah! Now here's something you don't see every day. The new, young and powerful dark lord of our school running through the forest with the light lord attached at the hip! How did this come to be?" the professor exclaimed as he congratulated them for being the first back, early by half-an-hour.

"Mutual benefits. We are the two most powerful members of the student body, respectively, and both decided it would be in our best interests if we were to work together. Play off the other's weaknesses, as it were." Tenebris replied smoothly, Apollo's fingers tightening momentarily in gratitude.

"Ah, yes! That makes sense." Professor Meritus said cheerfully. "You're both here half-an-hour before schedule, so I suppose you can hit the showers early then!" he grinned.

"I beg your pardon?" both intoned softly.

"Muggle phrase…" he replied absently before walking away, muttering something or other about 'damn purebloods' and 'shitty literature'.

"Okay…" Tenebris drawled. "Right then." He said as they walked into the change rooms together where his duelling robes were waiting.

"Thanks." Apollo called as he turned to return to his dorms while Tenebris headed for Duelling.

"Don't mention it." He called over his shoulder, missing the thoughtful look that crossed Apollo's face as he walked away.

"That just might work…" his sensitive ears managed to catch the words before they were too far away for Tenebris to hear what Apollo had finished the statement with, much to his displeasure.

Duelling was rather uneventful, all things considered. They just went over the rules and things, and Tenebris, who had already read the book they were given for the class, 'Duelling without Disorder', pulled out a spare piece of parchment and began to draw Apollo on it. By the time the class was finished, he had placed the sketch in a small leather folder that held a sketch of Severus and Anisuke in it.

By the time breakfast rolled around, he was in his school uniform and once again seated at the head of the table when Anisuke approached him, arms linked with a fox demon.

"Good morning, Anisuke. And who might this be?" he greeted politely, his interest already piqued.

"My name is Chariton Evergreen." Chariton had fiery red hair, unlike the gingers from his dreams, and chocolate brown eyes, with two soft white-tipped ears and a matching tail. About 5'10", he stood over Anisuke's 5'5" frame.

"The pleasure is all mine, I assure you." Tenebris replied, kissing the now blushing fox demon's hand softly before inviting them to sit beside him.

"Pardon my intrusion." A voice from not too earlier that morning interrupted their conversation and Tenebris turned to see Apollo standing behind him, a carefully indifferent expression on his face as he thrust a book into Tenebris'.

"What's this for?" Tenebris asked, not even bothering to keep the amusement and bemusement from his voice.

"I refuse to have an uninformed partner. Please read it before our next class." Was all Apollo said, before turning and sweeping away to his own seat, across the hall.

"What was that all about?" Chariton asked. Tenebris liked this boy. He didn't have the slight arrogance and swagger that Apollo did, nor did he have the incurable timidness and sweetness of Anisuke. He knew when to hold his tongue, but was not afraid to voice his opinions. In the same way, he knew when to submit to a dominant's, namely his (Tenebris'), will and when to challenge it.

"We have Survival Skills together, and decided it would be mutually beneficial to combine forces for that particular elective." Tenebris replied as he eyed the cover. Only now did he understand the double meaning behind 'partner'. Thankfully, both subs accepted the answer. One thing Tenebris was exceptionally, if not slightly frighteningly, good at was reading people. A mere greeting and he knew everything there was to know about you. Even he found it disconcerting at times.

"What have you got first, Tenebris?" Anisuke asked pleasantly as he delicately cut a piece of the bacon over 60% of the table were content to tear into with hands and teeth.

"Um… I have Potions, a break, Arithmancy, Ancient Runes, Lunch, Dark Arts, Break and Dinner, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Transfiguration and Charms." Tenebris replied.

"Wow! So when's your curfew?" Chariton asked, obviously interested.

"1:00am. As a Dark Elf, I require a maximum of four hours minimum of one hour of sleep each night to properly function, but I can go 112 hours without sleep before I 'crash and burn', as the saying goes."

"Cool! My curfew is 9:00pm." Anisuke said.

"Mine is 10:00pm," Chariton added to the conversation. "I have a theory that it has something to do with being a submissive. Doms and subs are on separate sides of the dorms, and subs must be two to a room 'for security reasons'." A slightly bitter edge took to his tone.

"Am I correct to assume that the both of you are roommates?" Tenebris asked softly, not wanting to upset or further the fox demon's obvious indignance at what would obviously seem like the school believes subs cannot handle themselves, which they most certainly can.

"Yes." Anisuke answered in place of Chariton, who was silently glaring at the plate before, as though willing his toast to burst into flames. Tenebris covered the boy's hand with his own, causing him to blush and look up quickly.

"I don't think this is the school saying that subs are weak and cannot protect themselves. If anything, it is a thinly veiled attempt both at discouraging the more unpleasant dominants this school no doubt houses and at encouraging co-operation between subs to present a united front. As I said, there are some doms who will view themselves as superior to subs that could probably easily kick their asses into next week, and might try something. There is 'safety in numbers', as my mother likes to say. So, why don't we stop attempting to make the innocent breakfast spontaneously combust, and instead review each other's timetables?" he asked, smiling kindly.

"Yes, I'd like that." Chariton muttered softly, ever so slightly twisting his hand so his fingers interlaced with the dominants.

"What do you have then, Anisuke?" Tenebris turned his gaze to the other boy, just in time to catch him shooting him a grateful smile while glancing meaningfully at the now placated, if not happy, Chariton who was munching away on a hashbrown liberated from Tenebris' own plate.

"I have Potions with you!" he said happily, to which Tenebris smiled again. "Then I have healing, rituals-" here Tenebris interjected.

"I know the teacher for that. His name is Professor Meritus and he is very kind, if a little happy-go-lucky. Please, excuse my interruption." Tenebris motioned for the grateful sub to continue.

"Then break, Lunch, Light Magic, break and dinner. Then I have Defense Against the Dark Arts with both of you until 9, which is my curfew." He smiled happily at remembering them all off by heart.

"Well done. That is a nice, well-rounded set of electives. I am glad that you will be in my Potions class." Tenebris smiled as the boy grinned in return. "Chariton?"

"I have Arithmancy, break, Inheritance Studies, Ancient Runes with you, lunch, Dark Arts with you also, break and dinner, followed by Defense Against the Dark Arts with both of you, as Ani said."

"Aw! I'm jealous that you have so many lessons with Tenebris!" Anisuke whined softly.

"Why don't we highlight all the classes we have with him?" Chariton suggested, already reaching for the aforementioned dominant's schedule.

"Great idea! Then we can compare!" Anisuke gushed. It was now that Tenebris realised both had forgotten he was there, much to his amusement.

"I have ten with him." Chariton stated, ever so slightly smug.

"I only have five…" Anisuke pouted.

"It's okay. We can spend our free time on Thursdays together if you wish." Tenebris said reassuringly, patting his hand softly.

"That would be gr-" he cut himself of as he looked at the clock. "Sugar! Chariton we have to go or else we won't make it to our next class. Bye Tenebris!" Anisuke yelled over his shoulder as he dragged an exasperated, muttering Chariton out of the hall.

"Well, I thought they'd never leave." A dry voice sounded from behind him, and Tenebris turned to see two more beautiful subs standing behind him.

"Hello. Who might you be?" Tenebris asked, a slight edge to his voice in defence of Anisuke and Chariton.

"I am Silas Winters, I am a were-tiger." The one on the right said, with a small yet respectful bow. He had dusky blond hair and gold eyes, with a tanned complexion and a tall, 6'4", lithely muscled build.

"I am Octavius Magister, I am a Caligantia-Praegistrigiae demon. I can take away your senses completely, sight, feel, smell, taste, hearing, all gone, and replace them with anything I want." He had rich brown hair and almost black-purple eyes. He was only 5'11", but had a well-muscled body with a strong jaw and almond shaped eyes.

"Pleasure. Tenebris Potter-Peverell, at your service." Tenebris shook hands with the pair, slightly wary of them.

"Nice to meet you." They both said, bowing once more before sweeping from the hall.

On his way to his first lesson, Potions, which he shared with Anisuke, he was accosted once more.

"Tenebris! I wish for you to meet my roommate." Apollo called to him. He barely suppressed a groan as he turned, before stopping short at the sight before him.

A boy, with sky-blue eyes and white-gold hair stood before him at a statuesque 6'1". He had flawless golden skin and sinewy muscles that made him look like a blond Adonis.

Veela.

Goddammit.

"Pleasure to make your acquaintance. My name is Gabriel Rosewood." He said, freaking curtseying and smiling in a heart-wrenching way.

"Nice to meet you." Tenebris replied through gritted teeth. "I was just on my way to potions, so if you gentlemen would excuse me…" he said, attempting a hasty yet polite retreat.

"Oh! What a coincidence!" oh, dear. What now? "We were just on our way to potions! Come, we can go together." The Veela made quick work of hooking his arms through Tenebris' right and began leading him in that direction. "Don't worry, we'll drop you off at your class before joining ours next door. Oh, aren't you excited for the school year? I get the feeling this one's going to be special." He said, staring meaningfully at Tenebris out of the corner of his eye.

Tenebris almost choked on his own oxygen when Apollo took a page out of the other's book and wrapped himself around Tenebris' left arm.

'Okay, seriously, they have got to stop. Maybe if I ask nicely? And transparently? No, that won't work. I dunno if- oh! Here's my class.'

"I'm afraid this is my room, gentlemen, but it was a pleasure meeting you." Tenebris said cordially, gently kissing the back of both the boy's hands before beating a hasty retreat into his classroom, sitting next to Anisuke in the back row.

"Are you okay?" Anisuke asked softly. "Y-you have other's scents all over you." He stated quietly, almost downtrodden, making Tenebris laugh softly.

"Don't worry, Little One, I shan't ever forget you." He promised.

"R-really?" Anisuke asked softly.

"I swear it." Tenebris said solemnly, before nodding his head meaningfully in the direction of the front of the classroom. "Now, if I'm not mistaken, I do believe the teacher will be coming shortly." He said softy.

As if on cue, a man threw open the doors with a flourish, letting them bang against the wall loudly which caused the members of class still day-dreaming to jerk in their seats, and one fell out, much to both the professor's and the class' amusement.

"Well! Now that we've had a laugh, let's start the year, shall we?" he asked, rubbing his hands together almost conspiratoriously as he winked at a girl sitting in the front row who obviously had no idea what was happening. "Let's start off basic, okay? Veritaserum!"

The room filled with cries of 'What?', 'No way!', 'No fair!' and 'You can't be serious!'.

"As a matter of fact," the man said, grinning and glancing meaningfully at Tenebris, who refused to acknowledge the look. "I am Sirius!" he announced, laughing at his own pun which no one else seemed to find funny. "Sirius Black, at your service!" he gave an overdramatised bow to the class, causing the boys to roll their eyes and the girls to giggle. "Isn't that right, Tenner?"

"You call me that one more time, and I swear to god you will never have children Sirius Black." He deadpanned, a completely serious expression on his face as he gave the man a death glare.

"R-right. Well, I can see you're all acquainted with my loving, forgiving, handsome, powerful, smart, incredible, awesome, kind, merciful, and did I mention forgiving, wonderful-"

"Get. On. With. It." Each word was punctuated with a deepening of his glare, which could have made a basilisk doubt its own future.

"So, class. Today we are going to be brewing the Volubulis Potion! So grab your ingredients and off we go!"

"Okay, I'll start the base if you grab the ingredients." Tenebris said to Anisuke, who jumped up with a chirped 'yep' and bounded away.

"Aww! He's a cutie!" an all-too-familiar voice cooed next to his ear, and Tenebris turned his head to glare at his godfather from close proximity.

"Sirius…" he growled in warning.

"Okay, okay, I get it! Go away! I know when I'm not wanted…" he said, raising his hands in the universal 'all right, you win' gesture and backing away. "By the by, claim him before somebody else does." He said quickly before turning to run before Tenebris could cause him serious bodily harm.

"For the love of Merlin…" he groaned, dropping his head on the desk as the potion heated up and thumping his forehead repeatedly.

"What was that about?" Anisuke asked shyly as he returned with several bundles in his hands.

"Nothing!"

He said that way too fast.

Thankfully, the class was over before he knew it, and he rushed to pack up.

"Come on!" he whispered harshly Anisuke as he dragged the poor boy out of the classroom by his hand and hauled ass out of there before his 'dear darling godfather' could commit suicide.

"Tenebris! I can't go that fast!" Anisuke called after him, already breathing harshly.

"Okay…" Tenebris mutterd before a solution hit him. He grabbed Anisuke and put the other boy on his back piggy-back style before taking off down the hall at a blur.

"I knew you were holding out on me!" Apollo's voice broke into his reverie as he set Anisuke on his feet in the library, and he turned to see the boy standing next to the veela from earlier. "That's so sweet…" his voice went from indignant to cooing as he smiled at Tenebris.

"Y-yeah, well… don't get used to it. I expect better if you want to have any hope at all." Tenebris stated harshly, inwardly wincing a little at the flicker of hurt that flashed in the other boy's eyes before determination took its place.

"Of course." Apollo nodded solemnly. "But since we're here, why don't we sit together?" he invited, an invite which Tenebris accepted, outwardly happy to but inwardly still wary of Apollo's roommate, Gabriel.

Something about the boy just rubbed him the wrong way. Although, that was probably the way he had to constantly inwardly shake himself to escape the allure the boy was obviously attempting to capture him with.

That wouldn't end well. For either of them.

Arithmancy and Ancient Runes were boring. They had to do a quiz to see what material the Professor, who taught both subjects, would need to cover, and Harry already knew everything so he finished in under ten minutes and spent the rest of the periods subjected to the calculating gaze of Professor Miryana.

She was creepy. Tenebris could swear the woman didn't blink. Ever.

After that he had lunch, which was spent partly in the company of Chariton and the rest in his room, avoiding both Gabriel and Sirius, both of whom were looking for him, the reason for his seemingly random pauses, quick darts and alarmed squeaks at shadows.

Now, Dark Arts class was interesting. The first thing their Professor, Professor Talibae, did was pair them up with a random person. Tenebris was paired with a kind, if not overly-friendly, Flower Faerie who was all summer-sweet smiles and beds of roses, until an Incubus made a rather interesting comment which resulted in Nightshade berries and vines attempting to bludgeon him.

So that was why she, a light creature, was in the Dark Arts class. Yes, Silvaera would make a great friend, Tenebris decided to himself as he told the Incubus off, as the Dark Lord for the school, in front of the whole class, earning him one cowed boy and several appraising glances and a glomp from a Nightshade Faerie.

During dinner, which he spent brooding and answering questions with short, curt one word answers, he pondered who exactly, out of the whole school, he wanted to single out and make a part of his group.

It took a while for him to get an obscenely long list of possibilities, and even longer for him to cut it down to a reasonable amount. Which was still too many. Ugh.

By the time his long day, dinner being followed by DADA, Transfiguration and Charms, the only upside of which was that DADA was shared with both Chariton and Anisuke, he almost collapsed into bed with a groan and, figuratively, died to the world.

Of course it wouldn't last.

He was in a dark room, concrete everywhere and the stench of so many things he couldn't bear to put a name to choking him, as he stood, shackled face-first to the wall.

His wrists were tied together above his head while his legs were split unbearably wide, bound at the ankles.

His back ached, and he could feel blood pouring from the dozens of welts and cuts the belt and whips had left there. Another fluid dripped from his agonised body, and he closed his eyes and thought of being somewhere else, anywhere else, as coherently as his pain-clouded seven-year-old mind could muster the energy to be.

After ten minutes, he heard the doors open, and footsteps descend the stairs and multiple male voices spoke, not even bothering to hide the topic of conversation from the now trembling youth.

"How much?" one of the seven unfamiliar voices asked the man he recognised aurally as his uncle.

"120 each, for half an hour." His uncle replied.

"We'll give you 170 each for a full hour." Another voice joined the debate.

"190." His uncle shot back.

"175." A third voice spoke up.

"185." His uncle negotiated. He heard murmurs of agreement and the sound of money being exchanged. "Where do you want him?"

Now he was terrified. What was he going to do? Harry shook in terror, sobbing so hard that no noise came other than the rattle of chains as his cried-out eyes couldn't muster another tear of two for the cause. It hardly mattered. He was sure that by the time these men got their money's worth, he would have cried again.

He had been right. He had cried, until he couldn't anymore.

And he never cried again.

Was there any point?

A/N: OMG I feel so mean! But onto the topic; do you think I should at least outline all his years at Arcane, go in fine detail for each day or just skip to the ultra important bits? Also, Harry WILL be returning to Hogwarts, so there's no need to worry about that! (why do you think I'm giving him the flashbacks?) and Snape and Draco will be in the pairing. But who else from Arcane? I have several more OC's I can introduce later but the four right now are probably going to be the main ones. Not sure about Gabriel but the other three will probably be in it.

Lastly; how many? I'm thinking seven excluding Harry, cause it's a magical number and I have a dirty mind and like Harems (hehe) but I'm open to any and ALL suggestions, I take everything into account :)

3 The World in Black and White