Meanwhile, Pansy had been planning a birthday surprise for Harry. She had also been researching in her family's library, specifically from the type of books that her parents would not have wanted her to read. The Parkinson family made a portion of its wealth in the slave trade, and wizards had magical ways to control people. Ruthless, amoral wizards like her father were particularly fond of the family magic, which had made him an obvious choice for Voldemort to recruit.

But now, Pansy was looking into ways to subvert her father and she would not dismiss anything she could find, no matter how dark the magic might be at this point. With Edmund Parkinson scheduled to return in a couple of weeks, she was beginning to get desperate. Lucius Malfoy might have been out of the way, but her mother had commented on more than one occasion how Pansy was growing into a beautiful young woman- although she always said so with a healthy dose of disdain- and her father would use her physical maturity as a sign that she could soon be bargained away. In a way, she had to hope that he would still view the Malfoys as the most obvious (aka most wealthy) option, since that would mean he would have to wait till the next year for Lucius to get out of Azkaban. The strike against his reputation would be an opportunity for her father to get an even better deal out of Malfoy, and Pansy was both furious and ashamed to think of how she represented little more than a form of currency to her parents.

She had found a few things that could help tie her to Harry, either strengthening a bond that already existed or using a bond to protect her, but nothing to create a bond in the first place. At least nothing that could legally be used on a pureblood heiress like herself. Even if she could use the Imperius curse, magically compelling her father to sign a betrothal with Harry would not work as her father could easily contest it with the Wizangamot. And with what she knew of how corrupt it was, it would be quite possible for her father to buy a victory.

One the night of the 30th of July, Pansy gave up the search in the library and retreated back to her room. She knew her mother had gone to bed drunk a bit earlier than usual, and Leddy had agreed to help her tonight. While many purebloods treated house-elves as servants not worth noticing, Pansy had observed how Harry's much more benign treatment of Dobby had led to the elf basically worshiping the Great Harry Potter sir and being quite willing to go beyond the usual level of duty and obedience. As a true Slytherin, Pansy used this knowledge to develop a much stronger bond with Leddy this summer. Hopefully, everything would pay off well tonight. Pansy sunk into the hot water of her bath tub, letting the warmth soothe her frustrations away so she could give Harry a birthday worth remembering. Little did she know that the only birthday celebration of any sort he'd had was when Hagrid brought his Hogwarts letter.

Harry took a long nap that evening. Dobby had demanded that he work with his magic extra hard then rest after dinner. The little elf had been ready to dose his master's food with a sleeping agent if necessary, but Harry had gladly gone to his room after eating. Miss Pansy had told Dobby of the help she required to give his master a birthday surprise, and Dobby was delighted to help. Just saving him from the Malfoys would have been enough to win Dobby's loyalty, but Harry also treated him with kindness and respect. Any other house-elf would have adored Harry. Dobby swore to do everything to make his master's life as happy as possible, and if need be, he would gladly die to protect Harry. Dobby had already had more happiness in the last month than all the years of his life before. Dobby was quite happy that miss Pansy seemed to want to make his master happy as well.

Harry awoke feeling quite refreshed. Of course now that it was nearly eleven, he wasn't sure why Dobby had sent him off to bed so early since he now felt like he could stay up till dawn. But Dobby said little other than suggesting that his master should take a shower and get changed. After getting clean and feeling even more refreshed, he found that Dobby had laid out a rather nice outfit, one that he had purchased earlier this summer once he finally had the chance to get a wardrobe of his own that consisted of something other than enormous hand me downs from the Dursleys. The house-elf was being strangely subtle, which made Harry nervous for a moment before realizing that Pansy must have given him some sort of instruction. On his own, Dobby would normally be bouncing off the walls, but Harry had learned that the elf definitely could keep secrets.

Harry read for a bit on the couch till Dobby came bouncing over to him. Looking up, he saw his friend looking at the clock on the wall approaching midnight before Dobby said, "Almost time to go master Harry!"

He was just able to set his book down and stand up before Dobby grabbed his hand and they popped away.

It took just a moment for Harry's eyes to adjust to the darkness before he recognized Pansy's bedroom. Only candlelight lit the room and as he turned he saw Pansy sitting at a small table with a birthday cake.

"Happy birthday Harry," she said in an unusually soft voice. Her eyes beamed at him and Harry was almost overwhelmed. He cleared his throat before answering her.

"Thank you."

"Come sit. I hope you like chocolate cake. Dobby said that you would like this and I had Leddy make it for you. Thank Merlin for house-elves as I do not know my way around the kitchen."

"I could teach you if you like. You seem to do pretty well in Potions, cooking is similar in a lot of ways."

"You know how to cook?"

"I was forced to learn at a young age."

"Why?"

"The muggles I grew up with treated me like a house-elf."

"Oh," she said, quickly trying to hide her surprised expression. "I guess that's why you treat Dobby so well. It's a little hard to believe... everyone always assumed you must have been well looked after."

"If only. And now that I have Dobby taking care of me, my years of cooking experience will go even more to waste. It's a shame that Snape is such a ridiculous idiot, I'd probably do very well with a decent teacher. From what little I've read, my mother seems to have been quite good at Potions when she went to Hogwarts."

"Have you read much of her diaries then?"

"Not too much. I started to really tear through the first one before I stopped myself. I realized I wanted to savor them. This is really the first I've ever learned anything of value of my parents."

"I think I understand. Well, make a wish and blow out your candles."

"So they do that in the magical world too?" As Pansy nodded, Harry looked at her briefly over the candlelight. He knew just what to wish for as he closed his eyes and blew.

"I wonder if there are any differences between magical and non-magical birthday parties?" he asked as Dobby cut rather large pieces of the cake. "I've never really been to either one before."

"You haven't?"

"I just missed Ginny's birthday last year when I stayed with the Weasleys for a couple of weeks."

"Well, I was hoping tonight would be your best birthday ever."

"It already is."

"Really? But we haven't gotten to the presents yet."

"You didn't have to get me anything. You already gave me my freedom."

"I might have something else you'll enjoy too, but let's eat first." The cake was truly delicious and Harry complemented Leddy's baking skills. Pansy looked curiously at Harry and she decided to risk asking him the upsetting question that was bothering her. "I'm guessing the muggles didn't ever celebrate your birthday?"

"No. I guess this must be the third time I've ever had any sort of celebration. I don't remember anything of the one that I assume my parents would have had when I turned a year old. When I turned eleven, Hagrid showed up to give me my Hogwarts letter. He also brought me a cake that he'd made. Before that night, I didn't know anything about magic."

"Your muggle relatives didn't tell you anything?"

"No. They told me my parents were unemployed drunks who died in a car crash." That made Pansy gasp. "Apparently they thought that they could beat the magic out of me. Once Hagrid showed up, Petunia, my mother's vile sister, let her nasty side out. She was jealous and bitter as hell at my mother. It's hard for me to believe they were related; I sometimes wonder if one of them was adopted."

"I'm so sorry Harry. My parents are awful, but I at least had a few decent birthdays as a child." Pansy had a couple of quick thoughts that she should make those awful muggles pay for Harry's childhood. But tonight, she had other plans and she refocused on making up for Harry's missing birthdays. Ideas for future birthdays also began to swim through her mind, and Pansy felt incredibly flushed. It was a good thing she decided to go with nothing more than candlelight- she could not let him catch her blushing. She had a reputation to protect after all, and Harry could not be allowed to know just how much he was affecting her. At least, not yet.

"It's alright. I just thought you should know so that you'd understand why I appreciate your help so much. Besides, if I can't trust my partner, then who can I trust? Any luck with new ideas on getting you out of here?"

"Sadly no. I assume you don't know much about family magic?"

"No."

"Well, magical families tend to pass knowledge down through the generations. Many of the old families have certain types of magic that they've focused on. Among my family's books, there are several about all sorts of bonds. There are many ways to create or strengthen bonds, whether they be between spouses, siblings, parents to children, even slaves or servants."

"Slaves? Are those still legal in the magical world?"

"Yes. Only in certain cases- wizards don't want to bring too much attention from the muggles. The Parkinsons made a fair amount of money from the slave trade a few hundred years ago."

"Interesting. I wonder where the Potters made their money?"

"There's probably something about that in history books somewhere. I'm glad you're not the type to hold my family's past against me."

"I'm sure some members of my family did terrible things generations ago too. If I believed in guilt by association, I'd have to hate myself for being related to the Dursleys. Besides, I want to get you away from your family."

"Anyway, there are a few ways I've found to create enslavement bonds as well. Unfortunately, those aren't of use in this case."

"Unfortunately?"

"The only ones I've found would allow me to enslave you but not vice versa." Pansy looked at Harry's stunned expression and continued, "Being your slave would be much better than being Draco's wife. At this point, I'm also worried that my father might come up with an even worse match. There are unmarried rich old men out there. Being used" Pansy said with a shudder, "by some disgusting old pervert might even be worse than becoming a Malfoy."

Harry felt nauseous and prayed that his birthday wish would come true. He'd die before he let Pansy face such an awful fate. "I... er..." What the hell do you say to someone who would consider willingly becoming your slave? Harry found himself unable to look at Pansy, he felt ashamed to have ever complained about his own life. At least he'd never worried about being sold off to be someone's sexual play thing. "Pansy, I swear I..."

"Harry, don't. Let's just enjoy tonight. I..." Harry looked up at her and saw Pansy trying to calm herself. "I shouldn't have gotten us onto that topic."

Harry stood up, pulled her from her chair and wrapped his arms around her. He felt her taking deep breaths and he slowly rubbed her back, trying to soothe her and himself at the same time. Her face was a bit wet, buried against his neck, but Harry did not want her to realize that he felt her tears. Pansy was clearly trying to hold them in and he admired her strength; he would not make her feel weak.

"I guess I should suggest a new topic," he said, desperately trying to think of something to distract them. "Hmm, do you like quidditch?"

"Don't be such a boy, Harry," she answered with a chuckle.

"Sorry," he said. He had started to panic and couldn't think of anything at all, but her chuckle let him know that maybe this was working. "I guess that's why you're in charge of the brains department. But I did have a thought or two about quidditch. If you don't mind my pathetic boyish nature, that is."

"Alright."

"I assume you go to the quidditch matches like most people at school?"

"Yes, but I skipped a few. I've had to go to the Slytherin matches, obviously. I saw the match first year when you caught the snitch in just a few minutes as well. You should have heard Snape's rant that evening." Harry felt Pansy laughing against him and was thankful that this was working better than he had hoped.

"Well, next year, I hope you'll come to all my matches. I'd like to think of you rooting for me, even if you do have to sit among the Slytherins."

"If things go well, maybe I'll be sitting with your Gryffindor friends."

"That would be nice." He imagined Pansy's green scarf among the sea of Gryffindor red and felt delighted by the idea of her cheering him on. It also reminded him of something he wanted to ask her. "Pansy, will you be my girlfriend?"

She pulled back and looked up at him. Pansy saw an innocence in him, right next to his determination. She felt lighter than she could remember. Despite her worries, she realized that she was safe here with Harry. Tonight, she could just feel like a girl in love. And she admitted to herself that she definitely was falling in love with him.

"I thought I already was. You don't think I'd snog just anyone do you?" She smirked up at him with a raised eyebrow and he smiled back at her.

"I just wanted to make it official."

"And what does making it official mean exactly?"

"I guess it would mean telling other people. With Ron and Hermione out of the country though..."

"And it would not be a good idea for me to tell my parents about my new boyfriend either."

"I guess it won't be official till we go back to Hogwarts then. I'm still glad I asked you though."

Pansy smiled at him. "I'm glad you asked too."

Harry leaned down and kissed her. It was just as wonderful as the previous kisses, and she felt like she would never get enough. She made him stop though and said with a smile, "It's time for the presents."

Pansy walked over to the night table next to her bed. She bent over, and Harry stared hungrily as her dress slid up showing off almost every inch of her legs. Of course, Pansy knew exactly what she was doing and felt a thrill pulse through her at the idea of him watching her, wanting her. She took more than a few moments longer than necessary to retrieve a wrapped package and finally turned back around. Pansy was delighted at the desire she saw in his eyes.

As she handed him the present, Harry felt the need to sit down on the side of her bed. "I hope you like it. I couldn't very easily sneak off to go shopping for you, so I had to improvise a bit."

He carefully undid the wrapping paper and inside a fairly flat box, found a framed picture of Pansy. She was wearing the same light blue dress from their first snogging session earlier this summer. The photo Pansy was particularly flirtatious and kept hiking her skirt up or bending over. "I love it." Harry said with a smile.

"Well, it's also charmed so it won't be quite so fun if you have company and even stops moving if muggles are around."

"That's brilliant. I haven't heard of charm work like that."

"Well, part of it is simple, but I had to do a bit of research to find out how to get it to not move in the presence of muggles."

"Thank you Pansy. It's wonderful. You're wonderful."

"Show me how wonderful you really think I am," she said in a breathy voice as she pulled him onto the bed with her. Their hands were grabbing each other in a frenzy as they began to kiss. Pansy rolled Harry over onto his back and climbed on top of him, kissing and sucking at his neck. "I have several rituals and spells I've found that mean we'll need to wait before doing certain things. But, there is something I can do tonight."

Harry groaned as he felt Pansy reach down and begin to undo his pants. He leaned up and kissed her, then she pulled down his pants and felt him through his boxers. He heard a husky murmur come from Pansy before she pulled down his boxers as well. Both teens were more excited than anxious, and Harry moaned as she began to stroke him. He saw her looking down in fascination and lust at what her hands were doing to him and this turned him on even more than the actual physical act alone. Before long, he felt himself approaching his climax and he forced himself to watch her face. As much as a part of him just wanted to close his eyes and revel in it, another part needed to see Pansy. As he came, he saw her expression become almost feral, a grin that was both hungry for more yet satisfied with her success.

After struggling to catch his breath, Harry managed to gasp out, "Wow" before falling back against the pillows.

Pansy chuckled and he heard her cast a quick charm to clean them up. She lay her head on his shoulder and he wrapped his right arm around her.

"That was your other birthday present."

"That was amazing." Harry panted for a moment before asking, "When is your birthday?"

"December 21st," she answered with a giggle. It was a surprisingly sweet sound from her, and it reinforced all the ideas that had been swimming through his head for the last several weeks about everything he wanted to do for her. As much as Harry wanted to rescue her from her parents, he also wanted to try to save her from the pain she'd carried with her, the pain he'd recognized in her eyes on that very first day. Everything in his own life was so much better since she came into it; he felt incredible when he thought of her, as if he could fight off a family of basilisks if he needed to. More than anything, he wanted to bring joy back to her.

"I'll have to come up with a really great present for you."

"Yes, you should. I guess you can tell that you haven't been the only one studying this summer. The family library tends to look rather dignified, but that facade crumbles if you look at the right shelves."

"It sounds like you should bring those shelves with you when you leave here."

"I'm already planning on it."

"Thank you, by the way."

"You're welcome. Sadly, we can't do anything more tonight, as there are a bunch of rituals that could be very useful in the future."

"Sex rituals? I love magic," Harry said with a throaty rumble that made Pansy laugh.

"Of course. There is power in all of the old pagan ideas: sex, blood, death. Pain and pleasure. Love, even."

"I'm glad I found you to be the brains of our little enterprise."

"Damn right you are, Potter." He shifted over her and kissed her.

They snogged for nearly half an hour but Pansy convinced Harry to put off doing anything further sexually with the promise that when the time came, the rituals she had in mind would make it worth while. She assured him that even if they did have to have sex in an emergency to protect her from a betrothal, there were still magical options that could help them. Eventually, it grew late enough that even their arousal and enjoyment of each other began to lose the battle with the need for sleep. Harry muttered something about needing to go home but he recognized that he wanted to stay there, with Pansy in his arms. And Pansy felt the same.

"I want you to stay. Stay the night with me, Harry. I've arranged for the elves to wake us early and to make sure we aren't caught. Dobby can take you home in the morning. Hold me," Pansy almost begged. Harry saw the reflected need in her eyes, the same need he felt to hold her, and he gladly slid under the sheets next to her. "Thank you."

He cupped her cheek and looked deep into her eyes, "Thank you. You've already made this birthday beyond amazing. I think all the ones I've missed were worth it for tonight. And I want nothing more than to stay here with you."

She kissed him once more, then lay her head down and snuggled against him. She sighed in contentment and quickly fell asleep. Harry's hand stroked softly up and down her back just a few times before he too drifted off.