Chapter 10 (2/2)

No! She wanted to tell him. There was a tinge of worry and uncertainty in his voice as he asked that. She was just surprised by the way he was acting. But no voice could come out of her mouth so she shook her head frantically. She could bet every galleon in her vault that she was blushing.

”Shy then?”

Then he repremended her for looking down again and asked not hide here eyes away from him. Shocked by what he could have meant by that, she looked up. To make matters worse, he brought his face closer to hers and she could feel his breath just inches away from her mouth.

Then he said something that completely floored her. He said her eyes were beautiful. She could feel heat coming off her ears, face and her neck. He further closed in and she could almost feel his lips upon hers. Her heart was pounding violently against her c.h.e.s.t. Almost subconsciously, she parted her lips a bit and inched forward, quite possibly giving him permission to kiss her. She couldn't understand what was happening to her and while her mind was shouting at her to back away, her body was did not want to.

A smirk slowly grew on his handsome face and his electric blue eyes shone with mirth, ”You look very cute when you blush, Potter.”

Then he backed away and released her chin. She felt a bit disappointed, though not wanting to admit why.

He just said goodbye and left after that. Iris kept standing a there for a few minutes and dumbly went back inside her room. When she reached her bed, she let her body fall into the bed, hiding her blushing face in the pillow. ”How will I ever be able look at him with a straight face again?”

(ROTS)

It felt so good to embarrass Iris that Edmund skipped on his feet as he walked out of the Cauldron in the alley. He was in a very good mood. Bouncing on his feet, he decided to explore. The accounts were being handled by the goblins and Vulpis family was almost bankrupt. Furthermore, with Aldrich now dead, his uncle and Alrair were not much of a challenge. But before he did any of that, he needed to up his training in magic. He could easily pass as a jounin with the amount of skill he possessed with chakra. But his magical skills were sorely lacking. Making a decision, he went to the book shop and showered galleons from his trust vault to buy many books. He still had a few hours before the Express left the station.

(ROTS)

The figure closed in and opened it's mouth. Immediately, Edmund remembered what it was. A dementor. Of all the things to attack him, a dementor was one of the last things he wanted to face. Soon, the dementor's action started to affect.

'Don't hurt him! Please! He's your son..'

'Disgraceful..'

'Ed!..'

'Demon brat..'

'You are the kyuubi!..'

'Look around you... so many dead.. what will you do now.. Naruto!..'

'Goodbye old friend..'

'...descendant!'

Edmund immediately snapped back and snarled, ”Get away from me you disgusting scrap of cloth!”

”Katon: Rasengan”

A red colored fiery spiral of chakra formed in his hand and he slammed it into the dementor's face. The dementor screeched as it was thrown back and hurried away from Edmund. His rasengan had scorched the wood around him. Thankfully, he had powered it down to prevent any of the wood catching fire.

A man rushed towards him from another carriage. Edmund was panting, his breath trembled due to the after effects of his encounter with the foul being. The man took his arm and helped him up. Taking him back to his cabin, he helped him sit down and asked, ”A dementor did this right?”

Edmund looked up. The man was around Snape's age and had a gentle but worn out look on his face. Nodding his head, he replied, ”Yeah, it was a dementor alright. I used an incendio to drive it away. Stupid shit brought some bad memories with it.”

”Well, seeing you are rather out of it I'll not reprimand you for you language young man,” he then took out a piece of chocolate from his overcoat and continued, ”here, eat this. It will make you feel better.”

”You keep chocolate in your pocket? Either you are as barmy as the headmaster is for sweets or you have woman you want to impress,” Edmund joked good naturedly.

The man gave a barking laugh, ”You are funny. Eat it and stay inside till the train starts moving.”

Edmund nodded as the man left. His thoughts went back to the dementor. The last word he heard was not in english, it sounded japanese, and very real to be just a memory. It was gruff, and deep, like it belonged to something big. He'd think more about it later in his dorm. For now, he needed to enjoy the chocolate in his hand.

”Hmm... it's a bit too sweet.”