Chapter 2: Chapter 2: Harry''s Journey to Control Emotions

    For Harry, next few days passed quickly as he threw himself in his extracurricular studies once more, doing his best to sharpen his mental abilities. With his accidental discovery of manipulating emotions, those skills were too important to ignore, and not only because it gave him the ability to strike back against the people around him, but also he could see its possible applications in the combat territory. A rush of unfounded confidence or a flood of panic could be the distinction between victory and failure.

    The other thing that occupied his attention was Hermione. Her attempts to act like nothing had happened was quite enjoyable, especially with the way she occasionally blushed without an apparent reason, trying to keep her gaze away from his waist level. Harry did his best to act naturally, allowing her to come to terms with it, not because he was feeling generous, but because pushing her at that stage would be counterproductive.

    Instead, he did his best to ignore Umbridge''s and Malfoy''s attempts to enrage him. He wasn''t afraid of detentions or point-loss, but he wanted Hermione to believe that her ''assistance'' had a positive impact on his anger management. Though he was careful to keep his mood shift limited to two days. There was no point making Hermione''s job easier, after all. Not after all the things she had done this year, treating him like a toy to be manipulated.

    It was the reason he was currently on feet during the defense class, describing the similarities between a pink frog and Umbridge after her off-hand remark about Hagrid. "Detention, Potter!" she shouted, for once her patronizing, ugly smirk absent. It was a surprise to discover that occlumency also helped him to come up with better insults. Keeping a cool head helped him to bring his creativity much more. He couldn''t wait to use those skills against the ugly bat that claimed to be a potions professor.

    A minute later, Umbridge dismissed the class. Harry was the first to rush out of the classroom, sparing a glance to check whether Hermione following her. "Good," he murmured when he made sure it was the case. He moved through the corridors at a quick pace, enough to prevent Hermione from catching up before he arrived at one of the sections of the castle that were practically deserted.

    "Harry, wait up," Hermione shouted. Harry ignored, instead stepped inside a classroom, his wand already in hand, establishing a temporary ward over the room. He had been impressed with the impact of the spell he used on Hermione a few days ago, but he was aware that catching her with a direct spell was a risky move, so he looked for alternatives. Another visit to the restricted section, and he discovered a way to saturate a ward with his desired effect. Unfortunately, it wasn''t something with a lot of practical applications, a medium-power spell enough to destabilize the spell matrix, but it was perfect for his purposes.

    He had just finished establishing the confundus ward, a bit stronger than the underpowered variant he used on her earlier, but still quite weak, when the door swung open and she stepped inside. He was barely able to hide his wand. "You are supposed to keep your temper in check," Hermione managed to say as she struggled to catch her breath.

    "I know," Harry said, trying to sound regretful. "I tried, but her repeated insults against Hagrid was too much."

    Hermione sighed even as she pulled a seat close. "Harry, what are you going to do. You cannot continue to antagonize her."

    He suppressed a desire to lash out angrily, looking thoughtful instead. "I''m doing my best, and I was really successful for the last two days, but it seems like my anger is back in its place today."

    Hermione was smart enough to catch the implications of the timeline, something Harry was able to ascertain without delving into her mind, clued by the deep blush invading her face once more. "Umm, have you repeated... the thing I taught you?" she managed to murmur, her voice barely above a whisper.

    "I tried," Harry said dismissively. "But somehow, it didn''t give the same effect when I was alone." He didn''t know whether to laugh or get angry when Hermione nodded, showing that she believed his ridiculous excuse instantly. It was convenient for his purpose, but it was annoying to see the proof of her low opinion about him like he was stupid enough to fail masturbation. Even with the confundus ward, it should have been a tall lie to sell, but she believed it without a blink.

    But he shrugged dismissively as her emotional conflict pushed itself to the surface once more. Her apparent dismissal of his abilities paled against the possibility of receiving another hand job. "I see," she murmured. "Harry, you need to try more. With Dumbledore gone, there is no one left to protect you against Umbridge. You need to keep calm and stop provoking her."

    It was a struggle to keep the sneer off his face. It wasn''t like that Dumbledore did anything to actually protect him when he was here. He might have missed the significance of many of the events that happened to him when he was a student, but going over them once again with the help of the occlumency, he could see that neither the teachers nor Dumbledore did anything to actually protect him, preferring to sit on their thumbs and dawdle. Not when there was a deadly basilisk roaming the corridors, nor when he had been conscripted to a deadly tournament in an obvious conspiracy. Even more, they were perfectly willing to convert the school to a trap to Voldemort, uncaring of the potential consequences, like Hermione almost become in the hands of a troll. "I know, Hermione," Harry chose to say after a brief struggle. "I''m doing my best, but it''s simply not working."

    She nodded. "Have you tried to use some kind of aid. Maybe some magazines? I don''t think the magical world has them, but maybe some of the boys had acquired them from the muggle world."

    "Too risky. Can you imagine the disaster if Umbridge catches me with something like that."

    Hermione nodded. "Good point. It would be a disaster." She stopped for a minute. "But how are we going to solve the situation."

    He decided to act conservatively. "Okay," he said, trying to sound like a teacher that was agreeing with the student''s proposal, not because it was a good idea but he was bored of her irrational arguments. The tone almost worked. Hermione''s hands hovered around her panties for a second, boosting his hopes that she was about to push forward, but her shame turned out to be stronger than her desire to please what she had seen as an authority figure, and they fell on her sides once more. "Walk a bit closer at least."

    Anxious to fix what she had seen as a mistake, she took several steps, until they were just three feet away. It was much better than earlier, but he wanted her even closer, so he pointed at the desk next to the one he was sitting. Her steps were much slower this time, but nevertheless, she followed his direction and sat down next to him. "Is this okay?" she asked, her voice trembling, but a peek into her mind showed that arousal played no small part in that.

    "Much better," he said generously, and a large smile bloomed on her face. He loosened his grip around his girth and slowed down the pace, as even with the occlumency, it was hard to restrain from cumming, not when a spectacular pair of breasts were in reaching distance, begging for his attention.

    He let a minute to pass in silence, then used his free hand to grasp her breast. "Harry!" she exclaimed, caught flatfooted with the sudden movement, but giving no indication that she was about to forcibly pull back.

    "What," he answered in a flat tone even as he squeezed her tantalizing flesh. "It''s only fair, right?"

    "What fairness!" she said, the second word coming much louder as he squeezed her breast harder.

    "The last time, you played with mine, so I''m playing with yours this time," he explained, avoiding the fact that he was the one that asked her to do so in the first place. Her mouth opened, about to raise that subject, but Harry had a good way of preventing it. His fingers shifted place, capturing her nipple between them. He squeezed, enhancing the sensation of pleasure with another mental push, turning her words into a surprised moan that echoed between the walls. "Careful Hermione, we don''t want someone to hear the noise and pay a visit," he said, unable to prevent a smirk from invading his face. Thankfully, Hermione was too distracted by her own reaction to notice.

    She looked alarmed at the prospect of getting caught at that state, which had the added benefit of silencing her for a few seconds, a time he leveraged to sank his fingers deep into the embrace of her supple flesh, careful to reinforce the impression with rushes of pleasure with each repeat. It seemed to work as he desired, as Hermione continued to keep her mouth closed even after overcoming her shock, proving that the pleasure was getting to her as well. Her lips parted open a couple of times, but only to let out muffled moans.

    His arousal rising, Harry started to pump his shaft harder as the desire for a climax started to get more and more acute. In his mind, he was playing several scenarios, from ripping her panties off roughly to using her breasts to relieve himself after pushing her on her knees. But his desire to play safe was stronger. After all, she was always around. There was no need for hurrying when he could enjoy each stage to their full extent.

    Still, that didn''t mean he was willing to finish it without a bit of mischievousness. He pointed his shaft to her midsection before exclaiming. "I''m here!"

    She looked relaxed for a second, happy that her ordeal was finally over, then noticed where his shaft was pointing towards. "Harry, no!" she shouted, but it was too late, as the first droplets were already soaring towards her, and Harry intended the rest to follow the same path. Soon, despite her desires, her stomach was covered by his seed, and a considerable amount landing on her panties.

    "Sorry, Hermione," Harry said sheepishly. Or more accurately, trying to look sheepish, but unable to suppress his smugness as the male joy of covering a sexy female with his seed filled his veins. "Let me help cleaning," he said, and reached for his wand, conjuring a napkin before leaning towards her body. Before she could even understand what he was doing, he was already at her belly, giving a cursory wipe before moving to her panties, and started to caress her clit, barely bothering to act like he was cleaning.

    "Harrr-YYY!" she tried to say only to collapse into another cry as he teased her clit mercilessly while boosting the sensation with his mental skills once more. Unfortunately, he wasn''t able to push her into a climax, but the rush of pleasure he was able to attain was still better than he could have reasonably expected.

    He pulled back. "Sorry Hermione," he said. "You''re all clean now."

    "It''s okay," Hermione said after a moment''s indecision. It was far from okay, of course, but her mind addled with a mixture of guilt and pleasure, she wasn''t in a position to articulate, or even process, why it was not exactly okay.

    "Thanks, Hermione," Harry said. "You''re really my best friend." A statement that would have been more sincere if one of his hands weren''t still around his shaft, caressing it idly as his eyes explored Hermione''s body. "I better go before someone finds us. See you in the common room."

    "See you," Hermione mumbled as Harry quickly dressed and left. A persistent smile was on Harry''s lips as he closed the door and left her alone in the classroom, his mind already turned to next problem, the best way to learn the limits of his new power.