I'm A Slave For You-Chp55

I'M A SLAVE FOR YOU

The sun shone brightly into the condo window, illuminating the dark bedroom. Aaron blinked at the light and woke up, stretching his lazy bones.

"Another day has come," Aaron sighed to himself as he slowly got out of bed, checking to see if any owls have sent him the Daily Prophet or letters from home. As soon as he stepped out of his room, he was greeted by Harry who was lying on his couch in the living room reading The Quibbler.

"Good God, Har! Have you ever heard of knocking?"

"Good morning to you too."

It was a normal routine nowadays for Harry to just climb into his dorm through their connecting verandah every morning since Harry started his semester in Kym. As Aaron promised, Kym also had a system of sorting the students in four houses, namely Leprechaun, Selkie, Banshee and Changeling, based on the Irish mythological creatures. Leprechaun is almost like Gryffindor, but more towards cheeky intelligence attributes than chivalry, while Selkie is almost like a mirror image of Ravenclaw in terms of attributes. Changeling would more or less fit the criteria of a Hufflepuff, although less on the quiet, hardworking and diligent attitude and Banshee would be a less dark, less cunning and less discriminate version of Slytherin. At least unlike Gryffindor and Slytherin who view each other and everyone else as life-long enemies, the houses in Kym were more civilized to each other and often engage in healthy competitions, and sometimes even become best buds with each other, and unlike Hogwarts' black, crinkled old Sorting Hat, Kym's Sorting Hat was clean, tidy and white in colour, as if it was perpetually in a condition where it had been bought off the shelves a few hours after display, and it had a name to go with it: Mystic. It was also more talkative than Hogwarts' Sorting Hat and would ask trick questions to further evaluate the person's attribute more before sorting them into his/her house. But just as Hogwarts' Sorting Hat said that Harry would've been suited to be in Slytherin, Mystic sorted Harry (after a rather long-winded chat) into Banshee, and he was welcomed heartily amongst his fellow Banshee classmates.

"Do you really have to climb in through the verandah all the time?" Aaron said as he ruffled Harry's hair. "We're not exactly living on the ground floor or anything. What if you get hurt or worse? And there is such thing as a door, you know."

"But that's the beauty of verandahs," Harry grinned. "I get to come in without the hassle of waiting outside forever for you to open the door, and you don't exactly want me to wake you up from your beauty sleep, do you?"

"Good point. My blood sugar level will drop dramatically if I'm interrupted from my sleep. It's not pretty," Aaron chuckled, then looked around for any sign of the papers. "Is the Daily Prophet in yet?"

"There, on the coffee table," Harry replied, pointing without looking up from his Quibbler. "Lola just brought it in."

"Thanks."

Aaron and Harry were like peas and carrots as the days went by, almost always seen together except during lessons. Aaron was in Leprechaun and just the attributes of his house, he was cheeky but intelligent, and a master of elemental magic and Potions. If he were to be in Hogwarts and in Slytherin, he would've been the teacher's pet, but as Harry had initially had his impression on, he was like a male version of Hermione, only a little better. During his stay at the school condominium, Aaron had introduced Harry to some of his closer friends, namely Judith Cecelia Light, who revealed to be in the same house as Harry; Rachel Yearne, a bespectacled 3rd year Selkie with bluish-black hair and small stature; and Rebecca Levi, a 3rd year redhead with a brighter shade of green than Harry in her eyes and was the same house as Aaron.

"Aren't you supposed to get ready?" Aaron asked as he picked up the Daily Prophet and scanned through the headlines. "We're going down to Sidhe Street today with the girls, remember?"

"The girls?" Harry asked, looking up with that tragic dreaded expression on his face. "You mean Judith is coming as well?"

Despite being in the same house and in the same condo, Judith still behaved cold towards Harry and made no effort to be friends with him. In fact, whenever Aaron would try to get them together for their group activities, she would either refuse to join vehemently or would glare Harry down whatever chance she got, as if he was a stain that just wouldn't go away, and always give him the silent treatment, refusing to even utter a word to him. Harry had tried to make the effort sometimes, but she would have none of that. She would turn away deliberately whenever he came her way and whenever they were in close proximity, she would either shoot cold, icy glares at him or shove him away, snapping at him to stay at least 3 feet away from her. She even slapped away sweet tidbits and stomped them to pieces right in front of everyone whenever Harry tried to give them to her as peace offerings, and showed no remorse in doing so, further making their relationship worse.

Rachel and Rebecca, on the other hand, were in good terms with Harry. Both of them were Muggle-born like Aaron as well, and were always seen together just like Aaron and Harry. Rachel, just like the attribute of her house dictated, is a very studious girl who would always be seen with a book in her hand, believing in the motto that 'All work and no play make Jane a good girl'. She strived to excel to the point of perfection, making it her lifelong mission to succeed in being the cleverest witch in the whole wizarding world, and viewed Aaron as her formidable rival. She claimed to know Hermione as well from her scouting through student magazines on gifted students and self-proclaimed herself to be Hermione's next rival, despite the fact that she and Hermione had never met. Rebecca was more of a polar opposite of Rachel: out-going, optimistic, jovial and always have a way of cracking joke without making it sound like you have heard it a thousand times before. She claimed to have this sort of bubbly nature thanks to growing up with a house full of sisters, with only her father as the only male presence in the household. She had a red ribbon tied around her neck that she refused to take off except during baths as a symbol of a promise her fiancé made to return to marry her as soon as he returned from his Quidditch Cup Tournament Season, and it gave Harry almost the nostalgic feeling of Severus' promise to keep in touch with him.

"Oh, come now, Harry," Aaron laughed as he punched Harry lightly on the knee. "She's not gonna bite. Why are you so bloody afraid of her?"

"Not yet anyway," Harry rolled his eyes. "Seriously, what does she have against me? It's like as if I've committed a crime against humanity or something. She's treating me like I'm scum."

"You just don't know her well enough. Give her time. She'll warm up to you sooner than you think."

"Yeah, well, in my case, I'd rather if it's later than sooner."

"Yoohoo~! Rise and shine, boys~! Sidhe Street awaits~!"

Aaron and Harry chuckled as they heard the familiar yodeling of Rebecca outside Aaron's door. If anyone could get them in the mood to get up and going, it was definitely the jovial little redhead.

"Well, shall we?" Aaron jerked his head towards the direction of the door.

"I'll get dressed," Harry said and was prepared to make a dash to the verandah to get to his own dorm when he felt the familiar tug at his collar.

"Door, please, Har? Like everyone else?"

Harry grinned sheepishly. Old habits die hard sometimes.

--:--

As soon as they were in Sidhe Street, Harry took a long whiff. It had been like forever since he walked around in a crowded area like this. The last time he was surrounded by people and the noise of a busy commercial area was with his Grandpa Albus and Severus when they were shopping in Hogsmeade and Honeydukes for items as per requested in the school list for the Kym school term. It felt good to have something that somewhat reminded the boy of home.

"Ooh, check this out!" Rebecca squealed as she pointed at a pinkish gothic-lolita dress that was displayed in a shop that sold Muggle novelties, making it a big hit among the wizards and witches. "I didn't think they would sell these. You should get this, Rach. You might look good in it."

"I have no interest in cosplay, thank you very much, Becka," Rachel replied, her eyes glued to the book entitled 'Trials and Tribulations of Modern Life Sorcery'. It was a wonder she could even navigate at all among the crowd with her face buried in those pages.

"You should really stop cramming all that knowledge into that tiny head of yours," Aaron chuckled as he got them some butterbeer to go. "A human brain can only hold so much."

"Technically we only used about 3% of our brain, Turunen. I'm trying to beat the odds."

"Well, the odds that you really need to beat right now are the odds of you getting a boyfriend, Rach," Rebecca rolled her eyes in defeat. "There is more to life than numbers, figures, information and facts, you know."

"I am not going to waste my time swooning over men that are intellectually inferior to me."

"Whatever. You know, Percy," Rebecca turned to Harry, being the only person amongst them to call Harry by his other name. "Maybe you should get this for yourself."

"Hey!" Aaron protested, pulling Harry close to him. "Just because you can't make Rach your personal Barbie doll, doesn't mean you should make Harry one either!"

"Come on, Percy!" Rebecca insisted with a determined sparkle in her eyes, ignoring Aaron. "You are too beautiful to be a boy. With this outfit and a bit of hair-elongating potion, you'd pass off as a cute girl anytime!"

"Ah ha ha…" Harry chuckled awkwardly, "Well, I wouldn't…"

"Well, well, well, if it ain't the high and mighty Judith Cecelia Light."

The quartet turned to see Judith surrounded by three bratty-looking boys. They had been trying to look for her ever since they found that she had left for the Sidhe Street trip without them, but they hadn't expected to find her being cornered like this. Judith, on the other hand, looked like they were the last person she would want to see.

"Uh-oh," Aaron muttered. "Looks like we've got trouble."

"What do you want, Drenzel?" Judith scowled as she stood her ground, not wanting to be seen weak.

"Nothing much, really," one of the boys she addressed as Drenzel replied, giving her a jeering look. "Just to see how far you have fallen."

"Hey, get away from her," Aaron approached the group, with Harry tailing behind him, trying to shield Judith from them, but Judith pushed him away harshly.

"Mind your own business, Aaron! I can take care of myself!"

"My, my," Drenzel said as he stole a look at Aaron, regarding him a little, "you sure picked a rather interesting fellow, but probably nowhere near my dear Jared," he smirked as he saw Judith's shocked reaction and faked a surprise look, "Oh, you didn't know? Your turf in the business is mine now, and so is your dear little boyfriend. Do you honestly think he genuinely liked you?"

"So what if he's your boyfriend now? I never really liked him anyway."

Harry was surprised at this revelation. The business?he thought. Was she in the business? Are those her colleagues?

"Of course you don't. You like men who are of blood relations to you, of course. 'Sides, you look just as nice being the way you are, going through life through your pussy."

"I said leave her alone!" Aaron growled as he pulled out his wand, aiming it at Drenzel. Harry could see the seething anger on the young man's face, but was taken aback to see Judith disarming him with her own wand.

"I told you I can take care of myself, Aaron! Cool it!" Judith scowled as she turned back to Drenzel. "You better watch your mouth, Drenzel. You have no idea who you're talking to!"

"Or what? You'll tell your daddy on me?" Drenzel gave her a challenging look. "Your daddy got you into this mess, Light. And it's probably good too. You were, after all, such a whore back in the business."

"What the fuck are you talking about?!"

"Oh, like, I dunno, the times you were cozying up with Shade, and also those two fag slavers Onyx and Tyrone, and also the fact that you got the boss himself to give you a pussy-job and all. What? Your brother's cock not enough for…"

"That's a lie! That's a filthy lie!"

Without warning, she jumped onto Drenzel and gave an all-out brawl, although she was soon outnumbered by Drenzel's other two bratty friends and was starting to draw attention towards themselves. Harry, Rebecca and Rachel (who finally was distracted from her book) jumped in as well and used their wand to separate them before they dragged Judith away, making a run for it. The bratty trio gave chase until they were within the proximity of Kym's Gamekeeper before they stopped and yelled profanities at them.

"Just go back crying to your Master, Light, and probably give him a bedtime fuck or something!"

Judith was tempted to turn back and whip out her wand but Aaron grabbed her hand and held her back, frowning.

"Stop it, Judith! Don't do that! Do you want to be expelled?"

"Doesn't give him the right to fucking insult me!!" Judith snapped at the young man, her face red with fury.

"No, it doesn't, but it doesn't give you the right to go waving your wand all over the place. I don't want you to get hurt and end up being revoked of your limited freedom."

Judith, after glaring long and hard at the bratty trio who walked off laughing and back at Aaron and Harry, scowled and gave one kick at Aaron's shin before she stomped off ahead of everyone else. Aaron growled and gave chase, coming up behind her and dragged her into a secluded alley to talk. The girls could tell that they should not interfere with this and nudged at Harry to come away with them to give the two some space, but Harry, after seeing this new side of Judith, didn't want to miss out the chance of finding out more about her. He made up an excuse, saying that he wanted to grab something to eat before sneaking over to the alley and hid in one corner to listen in to them.

"Stop acting like a spoil brat that got her favorite toy taken away, Judith," Harry could hear Aaron scolding Judith in a somewhat suppressed tone, like he was fighting the urge to yell at her. "You're a 3rd year, for crying out loud."

"You told me not to act like a slave, to let loose and be myself, so I'm not," Judith scolded back, slamming her fist against the wall she was pushed up against, "and now you're implying me to act like one. Make up your damn mind, Mudblood!"

"Do! Not! Call me that!" Aaron spoke through clenched teeth. "Within the school grounds, you may not be, but to the outside world, you are. You could have been whipped or caned for that display."

"I don't care! I don't fucking care! I never asked to be in this mess! And why shouldn't I call you that, Mudblood? Since you said before I should let loose and be myself, I should be calling you that, shouldn't I? Filthy little Mudblood."

"Do not try my patience, Judith," Aaron pushed her closer against the wall, if that was even possible. "You will not like the results."

"What are you gonna do, Mudblood? You're gonna beat me up? Rape me? I don't give a fuck. That's what I fucking do anyway. It's my job after all."

Harry could tell by the tone that she was really pushing it, that she was really tempting fate, seeing that the dangerous tone Aaron gave her meant business. He wanted to step out to stop this fight but was surprised to see that instead of slapping her, Aaron press a hard, devouring kiss to Judith's lips. Harry could tell from Judith's facial expression that she was taken by surprise as well. The kiss was hard and demanding, and powerful enough to render any lover helpless. Harry couldn't help blushing at upon seeing that kiss, involuntarily awakening his own primal urges as his mind's eye was seeing Severus in Aaron's place and himself in Judith's place, kissing with abandon as they made out like the world was theirs and no other.

Too bad the kiss didn't result in what Harry had expected it to be. As soon as Aaron released his oral hold on Judith's now red and swollen lips, she breathlessly slammed him against the other wall and slapped him hard before storming off. Harry quickly hid out of sight before he was caught spying and eavesdropping on them. As soon as she was out of sight, Harry took this as a cue to leave as well when he was stopped by a sad voice.

"So you heard everything, huh, Har?"

Harry cringed, awkward at being found. He waited until Aaron came up to him before looking down, embarrassed, "S…Sorry…I didn't mean to…"

"It's alright, Har," Aaron chuckled bitterly. "Maybe today is not a good day for this. I didn't want to just kiss her, you know. I wanted to devour her. I was blinded by images of her in my bed…but I would never hurt her."

"I know. I can tell by the way you kissed her, you really love her."

"I suppose you're curious as to what all of that was about."

"Yeah, but I have learned that unless told to, do not ask."

"You sound like you are familiar with…the business."

"Well…" Harry scratched his chin hesitantly, "I guess I should tell you my side of the story first, since I haven't really been honest about you about my background life."

Aaron nodded in agreement before leading Harry to one of the nearby cafes to drink on it. They seated at somewhere at the far end of the shop and ordered the café's famous tea and crumpets before Harry told Aaron everything, from the day he was raised by the Dursleys to the day he was sold to the business, then from the day he was bought over by Severus all the way till he was here in Kym.

"And that's the gist of it," Harry said as he finished his tale, finishing his drink and asking for a refill for the umpteenth time. Aaron looked as if he had just heard the tale of the century.

"Wow…I…I guess…I guess I don't blame you for keeping me in the loop about your life."

"It's alright. I'm fine with it. As long as I have the thought of being able to return to Severus' arms after this whole ordeal is over, I'll keep my faith on Severus and hold out for as long as it takes."

"Then I guess it's fair enough for me to tell you my side of the story. Can you keep it a secret from Rach and Becka? They know about Judith being in the business, but they don't know anything further than that, and they're better off not to."

"Only if you keep mine as well."

"You have my word," Aaron nodded, took a sip of tea before he sighed and began, "well, first off, Judith here is the black sheep of the family. She is the odd one out with ties to half-bloods and Muggle-borns, people that her pure-blood family would never associate with. Her entire family hates her and they rather not have anything to do with her. Her father is always punishing her over the littlest things she does, possibly just because he hates her for being a blood-traitor.

"Everyone was against her at that time, except Terran. He was her elder brother. He was always there for her and always took care of her, comforting her whenever things go wrong in her life. At first, Judith thought he truly cared for her, that he didn't care who she was and loved her like an elder brother should. She was wrong."

"What do you mean, she was wrong?"

"Turned out he didn't really love her at all. He hated her just like everyone else, but at the same time he lusted over her because she was…vulnerable and…well, to him, beautiful. Not that I'm saying she isn't, but he took it in the wrong sort of way. After he won over her trust, he…he made her his fuck toy."

Harry almost choked in his tea at upon hearing that.

"Like I said, he's just as sick as the rest of the family. Day after day, night after night, he'll drag her down to his room and have his way with her. She knew no one would believe her, not even her own family, because of her being a blood-traitor, and he made her believe she was worthless and no one will ever save her. So she quietly submitted and became his little bitch, getting fucked almost every day and satisfy his every crazy sexual fantasy."

"But…But what does it have to do with her being in the business?"

"You see, her father found out about their secret affair. He caught them doing it in the guestroom when Terran forgot to put an anti-unlock charm on the door. He grabbed her and threw her into the stables, making her starve for days at end, and when he finally let her out, he dragged her by the hair to the dog shed to make her watch as their…their pet dogs tore Terran's body apart like meat."

"W…Why?" Harry breathed in shock. "I thought…I thought they hated Judith and would've done the worst on her…"

"She thought the same way too, but they thought she seduced Terran to do it, and they were disappointed at Terran, thinking he was weak to fall for a blood-traitor's temptation when he was the eldest and should be the strongest, so punished him as the family saw fit. But the worst wasn't really over. They were so frustrated over Terran's so-called 'weakness' that they didn't realize they have no choice but to hand down their inheritance to her at the event of their death. They tried to find suitable inheritance to counter that but unfortunately, she was the only pure-blood in the family they have left because to their elitist mind, everyone else was what they call…'tainted'.

"They fretted over it for some time, until finally someone came in by the name of Bartemius 'Barty' Crouch Jr. Your Grandpa Albus might know him through his father, Barty Crouch Sr. who works in the Ministry of Magic, but basically he offered to take Judith as his wife-by-contract, so that technically, even though at the event of her parents' death, she would be inheriting their fortune, Barty Crouch Jr. will be the one who has full control over the money as her 'legal guardian'," Aaron twisted his face in disgust at upon saying that, "but in reality, she is basically sold as a slave to him. She is studying right now only because her parents and her 'husband' allowed her to, but once the semester break begin, she would be dragged into the business to be trained and to serve that bastard's every whim and fancy, even as far as entertaining other guests as well, thanks to the public property factor. Those guys that bothered her just now are probably her colleagues in the business."

Soon it was time to go back to Kym. All the students stopped and finished up whatever they were doing reluctantly and followed the Gamekeeper back to their carriages. Aaron and Harry caught the last carriage which can only hold two people, which was fine for them, and on the way back to Kym, Harry turned to ask Aaron the question he had been itching to ask.

"How did you know Judith? Does that…have to do with the scar on your neck?"

"You're a rather observant little tyke, aren't you?" Aaron chuckled humorously as he massaged his neck where the scar was. "Yeah, but she doesn't know what was the real reason behind this scar. I told her it was because of an accident back at the Muggle world."

"So…what did happen?"

"Judith used to regularly show up at the park near my neighbourhood back then. She may not know it, but I have always observed her ever since the first time I saw her, sitting there like a lost puppy licking her wounds that her father inflicted on her. I pretended not to know about it at first and approached her out of sincere friendship. It was a rather rocky start, but she soon gained enough of my trust to tell me all her dark secrets. But when she stopped going to the park and when I got the offer letter to start anew in Kym, I knew I had to find out before it was too late.

"Unfortunately, I was too late. She was already sold to Barty Crouch Jr. and the papers were already signed for her to become his wife-by-contract as soon as she is of age. When she was at the business being trained, I barged into the house, demanding to make the agreement null and that she were to be released and be my wife instead, but I underestimated Barty Crouch Jr.'s powers. He may be the son of a Minister in the Ministry, but he was no couch potato either. I was hit with the Sectumsempra curse and barely managed to escape alive with all the wounds covering my body. All my wounds healed—I had to lie to the medi-wizards that it was a duel gone wrong—except the one on my neck, but it served me as a reminder how I at least tried my best.

"Not a day goes by that I worry that sooner or later, Judith will become further and further away from until I could no longer save her from her plight. I told her to try and cut loose at school, to behave normally so that she could escape from the terrors back home, but she used her limited freedom given to her to make her reputation even worse. She is well-known as the Ice Queen and Rebel Beastess of Kym because of her attitude problem and her lack of anger management, due to the fact that viewed everyone else besides me as worthless trash who would never understand what she had been through. I am able to put up with her because I know about her and…well, Rach was able to because she could just wave it away with her books and Becka because she is just too bubbly for her own good."

"Then why does she hate me with such a vengeance?" Harry scratched his head in confusion. "We've only just met that day and she treated me like I was a plague or something."

"Maybe it takes a slave to know a slave," Aaron shrugged. "One thing about her is that she has very sharp eyes. Maybe she knew right from the start that you were a slave, and it reminded her of her plight."

"I…I guess that explains it…but all I want is to be her friend."

"Give her time. She'll pull through. In the meantime, I have to figure out a way to get her out of this predicament and have her as my own. I am willing to do anything, and I mean anything, for her."

"Seeing that you cheated death for her, I believe you will. I'll help if you want."

"Thanks, Har, but I think this is my fight. I'll ask for help only when I truly need it."

Hearing that determined tone, Harry knew better than to push his luck. The rest of the journey back to Kym was spent in comfortable silence as they looked out of the window, each to their own thoughts. Before they knew it, they were soon within the school grounds and were on their way back to the condo. Aaron followed Harry to his dorm because he wanted to have another helping of jam tarts that Harry had made, but when he opened the door, he stopped at his tracks and smiled knowingly.

"Maybe the jam tarts can wait. See you later, Har."

"Huh?" Harry was surprised at Aaron's sudden change of mind, but when he turned around to see Severus sitting at the verandah of his dorm, he barely even realized Aaron had left as he squealed in delight and jumped to hug the older man.