Upon arriving back at the Bones House after having left Hogwarts for the summer, Harry was immediately set upon by Dobby, who he had heard from Amelia was now working for her.
"Might Dobby take Master Harry's things to his room?" Dobby asked respectfully.
"Sure, but I'm not your master Dobby." Harry tried to say.
"Dobby works for Mistress Bones and Master Harry is under the custody of Mistress Bones so that makes Master Harry also Dobby's Master." Dobby claimed as he used his magic to make his stuff disappear, presumably to the room that Amelia had left for him.
"Thank you Dobby." Madame Bones answered, having just appeared with Susan, the 2nd person she had just apparated after Harry.
"See you in another second." She claimed as she went back for Pansy.
"Wow it certainly feels good to be home." Susan announced as she gazed around.
"It certainly does," Harry replied, before saying quickly, "I mean to be in your home too, I didn't mean to presume that..."
"Nonsense, I'm flattered that you think of my home as your home now," Susan replied, "and the way I see it, why shouldn't you?"
He nodded and waited for the other girls to get there.
After Amelia finally finished transporting them all, they went to go check out their rooms, which should already have their stuff in it as Dobby had already moved it all.
They found that Amelia had evidently told him where to put each of their stuff.
"I just figured I'd mix things up a little, and decide who goes with who but if you want something else you are free to change it," Amelia explained.
Nobody had any objections so the room assignments she had made were as follows: Susan was sharing her room with Pansy, Su with Gabrielle, and Fleur and Harry had their own rooms.
After getting settled and after Susan had visited her pet flying horse Pegasus and her house elf Susan decided to ask, "Aunty, I was wondering if we could maybe go shopping today, I think I need a bigger bra."
"Okay I think we can do that." Amelia replied as she looked over at the girl, "It appears you've definitely inherited the Bones' family genes..."
"Some girls have all the luck." Pansy complained, although quietly enough for no one to hear but him. While Pansy already had a decently sized chest herself for her age, Susan had definitely grown a lot in that department during the last year, something he had definitely noticed.
"Well we might as well all go shopping then," Amelia concluded, "in case anyone needs anything."
This time they took the Floo network, popping out of the fireplace of Madame Malkins, the clothing store. While the girls all looked at bras and underwear, Harry decided to slip out in case they did not want him there or be labeled a pervert.
This took him to the broom store across the street where he quickly spotted the newest broom out, the Firebolt. It was a gleaming piece of workmanship that while he was not actually a Quidditch player and only flew occasionally on Susan's broom, it was still a sight to behold.
As he viewed its specs listed on a small stand next to it, he realized that Susan would no doubt be salivating over this broom once she saw it, as indeed two 10 year olds were currently doing staring at it through the store window beside him.
"Harry?" A woman's voice asked.
He turned and found that it was Tonks, now sporting long platinum blonde hair and wearing tight black Muggle clothes.
"Tonks," Harry replied happily, "fancy meeting you here."
"I was just doing a bit of shopping." She answered before looking over at the new Firebolt next to him, "Blimey, that would be an amazing broom."
"Did you ever play?" He inquired.
"Yep, in my 3rd through 6th years," she replied, "I was a Beater on the Hufflepuff team until my last game 6th year. I ended up getting hit by a Bludger hard enough that I suffered a concussion and ended up having amnesia. Couldn't remember anything I'd done for the last 10 years. It all returned a few weeks later but after that I decided it would be better to give up playing."
"Sorry to hear that." He commented.
"It's all right, truth be told I still don't remember the incident itself." Tonks said, grinning, "So what brings you here anyway?"
"Doing some shopping with the girls but they are errr... buying special clothing right now." Harry said blushing.
Tonks laughed, "Who would have thought? A boy with 5 young women all to himself and he's still afraid he might see their knickers."
He clamped up at that, still too embarrassed by just what Tonks had said.
"So you want to go with me and help pick out a broom?" Tonks offered, seeing his discomfort.
"Sure." He answered as they both walked inside.
The shopkeeper spoke up before she could say anything, "Don't tell me, you want to know how much the Firebolt costs?"
"No actually I was looking to buy another broom." Tonks replied.
"Sorry its just it seems everyone keeps coming up and asking me about it." The shopkeeper replied, "I've finally just started telling people if they have to ask, they probably can't afford it."
"While a Firebolt would be cool to have," Tonks admitted, "I'm looking for something around the middle price wise, not too expensive but still something that I can rely on to last me awhile and can take a bit of battering. I'm an Auror you see and I sometimes need it to travel when apparating isn't a possibility."
"Right, I do believe that a Cleansweep 7 would be a good possibility in that case." The shopkeeper suggested, "Since you're an Auror I'd be willing to give you a discount, I know it'll be put to good use."
After he and Tonks had talked it over with the shopkeeper, Tonks finally decided to buy the Cleansweep 7 and they headed out with her new broom just as the girls were all coming out of Madame Malkins.
"Hello Tonks." Su replied, recognizing her immediately.
Tonks started to smile but then stiffened a bit when she saw Amelia who was bringing up the rear, evidently still nervous around her boss.
"Hello Madame Bones." Tonks said, sticking out her hand woodenly.
"Good afternoon Tonks," Amelia replied warmly, seeming to be laughing on the inside due to how nervous Tonks sounded, "I'm glad to see that you've apparently been keeping Harry busy."
"Did you just get a new broom?" Susan asked excitedly, looking at what she could see of Tonks' new broom currently mostly covered up. Tonks graciously pulled her broom out of its long narrow bag and allowed Susan to look it over.
"If you'd like to, you can join us as we finish shopping." Amelia invited Tonks.
"I'd like that Madame Bones." Tonks answered respectfully.
After going shopping, they finished up with having some ice cream at Florean Fortesque's Ice Cream Parlor while Tonks regaled them all with a story about how she had caught a thief that had somehow gotten stuck in a tub of butterbeer.
Of course this only led to Amelia telling one of her own back when she was an Auror about how she had caught 3 thieves that had gotten drunk stealing firewhiskey.
"It wasn't hard for me to catch them, they had all passed out by the time we got there." She said, finishing the story.
Afterwards Tonks looked at her watch and declared, "Well its been fun but I've got to get going, I'm scheduled to be on duty in an hour."
"Bye Tonks." Susan said, followed by the rest of them as Tonks got up and left.
"I like her," Su admitted once she was out of earshot, "she's cool for an Auror."
"You saying Aurors aren't usually cool?" Amelia asked in a mock stern tone.
"I didn't mean it like that, its just most of the Aurors I know are really strict and no fun, like Scrimgeour or Moody." Su claimed.
"It's a tough job, and it tends to wear on you after while." Amelia replied, speaking from experience having started out as an Auror herself.
"True, but I still don't see why they can't all be like either you or Tonks." Su asked.
"Well I certainly like Tonks too, she's young and has a lot to learn, but we're lucky to have her, we simply don't have enough good Aurors." Amelia claimed.
After finishing up their ice cream they Flooed back to the Bones manor.
Upon arriving, they all went to go put their stuff away and Harry waited for a minute before going to ask Susan if he could have a ride on her broomstick, being a bit eager to after going broom shopping with Tonks earlier.
He found Susan alone, Pansy evidently having already gotten her stuff put away and gone somewhere else.
"Come on in Harry." She told him looking up after he had knocked on her open door.
Entering he found her currently still putting away her stuff into her chest of drawers.
He was about to ask about riding her broom when he noticed that one of the new bras that she had just bought had fallen on the floor.
"Um, one of your um...things fell on the ground." He said nervously, pointing.
"Could you pick it up for me please?" Susan asked as she was now organizing her clothes.
Bending down he gently picked it up with two fingers, careful not to touch it anymore than he had to.
When she saw him hold it out to her and saw his face she laughed.
"What's so funny?" He asked.
"You, its a bra Harry not a dungbomb set to explode." She answered jokingly.
"I just didn't want you to feel like I was doing anything wrong." He said, heavily blushing now.
"I seriously don't have a problem with you touching one of my bras." She replied, "After all you're going to see me practically naked in one all the time when we're married."
As the thought of just what Susan would look like naked entered his mind, if it were possible he blushed even redder.
Not able to resist laughing again, she said, "Your face is as red as a tomato!"
"Sorry," He mumbled, hoping that she had not guessed what had gone through his mind, "I can't help it."
She finally decided to take pity on him however and said, "Alright Harry sit down on my bed and we'll talk about this. I don't want you to have to feel embarrassed about this kind of stuff."
He nodded slowly, sitting down on her bed but still feeling out of place.
"I've already had the talk and gone through all of this last summer." He tried to tell her.
"I think we'd better make it a slight continuation of that." She suggested as she held up her bra again, "This, of course, is a bra. They come in different sizes depending on how big your breasts are. They go from AA cup to... well I don't really know how big they can get, but I know they go down the alphabet.
As you go through puberty they get bigger but each girl is different on just how big they end up getting and when they stop growing."
"You've probably noticed that I'm bigger than all of the other girls in our year so I am already a small D cup. I would say that based on how big the women in my family normally end up being I still have some growing to do though."
At that moment, Pansy came back in, and when she saw them she asked. "Um, did I disturb something?"
"Not at all I was just telling Harry about bra sizes." Susan admitted.
"Oh," Pansy grinned, "and how is that going?"
"He's still kind of nervous." Susan replied, "I'm trying to get him comfortable enough to ask questions."
"Well I can see why he might have problems, little Miss Busty." Pansy answered.
"All right so I'm already big, but not that big," Susan claimed, "Not yet at least, Fleur is already a double-D, and my aunt is an F-cup."
Harry's mind was reeling as he had had no idea that they could get that big, according to Seamus Finnigan back when he was in Gryffindor, a double-D was the biggest bra size a girl could have. Evidently he was wrong, although he really shouldn't have trusted a 13 year old boy to really know anything anyway.
"Yeah, but you probably aren't done growing yet, and are the biggest in our year, everyone is already jealous of you." Pansy replied.
"I'm older than most of them, and there is a lot more to a girl than her chest size," Susan countered, "and you've got nothing to scoff at at your age, a B-cup is actually bigger than both Gabrielle and Su."
"Gabrielle I think is catching up to me." Pansy told her, "All Veela I've heard tend to be rather well endowed and she's only just started going through puberty. I would honestly be shocked if Su got any higher than a B-cup, even fully grown, so that's not a very fair comparison."
Susan turned to Harry and decided to explain. "The thing is Harry, girls tend to worry a lot about their changing bodies as they go through puberty, I'm guessing even more so than guys, breast development being one of them, if they are too big, too small, if they're unnatural, etc. It can be pretty embarrassing asking about them and voicing your concerns however, which is why I decided I'd try and make you feel more comfortable when we bring stuff like that up, we're close enough by now that you shouldn't have to feel like you are doing something wrong being present while we do. It's okay to ask questions or make comments, we aren't going to think negatively of you if you do."
"Well I have to admit I've been holding back whenever Harry has been around which is most of the time." Pansy admitted before addressing Harry, "I really don't mind if he knows, neither would any of the girls I'm sure, this is kind of what you get for only hanging around girls, especially girls that you are going to one day marry."
Through all of this, he had chosen to remain silent, not trusting himself to speak before deciding to ask Susan, gesturing over at her chest, "Are they heavy?"
"Not really," she admitted, "a witch's bra usually has a spell on it to drastically reduce the weight of them to where you can barely feel them and make sure they are properly supported. If I were to go without a bra for a long time maybe."
"Couldn't you also just use magic to make them smaller or bigger?" He asked.
Pansy grinned and said, "I'd imagine it would be every wizard's fantasy to make them, in their opinion, the perfect size whenever they wanted but unfortunately it isn't as simple as that. Otherwise I'm sure you would have a lot more bigger chested witches. Body modification potions are extremely expensive and you would need a very skilled potion maker to make them. I doubt even Slughorn or Snape could do it. Still, if a witch really wants it, and has the money, they can. For example Draco's mother, Narcissa, I know hers aren't natural."
"There has been a lot of rumors spread over the years that the Bones' family simply buy their large chests but we just grow them naturally." Susan explained, "Most men don't really seem to know anything though according to my aunt. If you're a double-D or higher, they just naturally assume they have to be fake."
He briefly told Susan about Seamus' thoughts on breast size, causing her to laugh.
"Like I said, they don't really know anything." She replied, "Sizes beyond that really do exist and they are a lot more common than you would realize, nor do you have to be fat to have them. They can be a pretty large cup size if they are not that big of a girl and have them not be absolutely gigantic, I'd put myself in that category actually."
"Do you like having them?" He asked.
"I don't mind if they get bigger as long as you don't," she replied, and smiled as she glanced down at him, "and it looks like you really don't."
"Sorry..." He tried to say.
"Like I've said before Harry, I really don't mind." She replied.
"I want you to know if they ever reach a size that bother you I'd be willing to pay for the potion to have them reduced." He announced.
"Thanks Harry but I should be just fine." She told him, "magical bras really work wonders."
"You do realize that if you are going to go offering to buy expensive potions body modification potions you might end up getting some offers." Pansy replied.
"I wouldn't have a problem doing that, but only if you really wanted them." Harry told her, "I think you are all beautiful just the way you are and I wouldn't ever pressure you into anything."
"Thanks Harry, just the way to answer it." Pansy responded approvingly, "We'll see in a few years after going through puberty how I feel and if you care to admit you want any changes."
"I'm perfectly happy with the way you all are now, just simply letting nature take its course." He answered.
Pansy asked then, possibly trying to gauge if this was true or not, "Well what physical attribute do you like most in a girl?"
As he thought about it, he knew that there was really no safe answer as it might suggest which girl he liked most. If he said their chest, he would be favoring either Susan or Fleur, if he said their butt it would be either Fleur or Pansy, if he said hair it would be Su. Truth be told he had learned to like each of the girls no matter what, they were all beautiful only in different ways.
"He's too smart to answer that question," Susan informed Pansy after waiting awhile.
"You're right." Harry replied with a small grin, silently thanking Susan for helping him out with the right answer.
"Girls usually like to be told how beautiful they are," Susan explained to him, "especially if they are a bit insecure, which Pansy will have to admit she is. I'd suggest you just tell her what you like about her."
Grateful for Susan's help, Harry decided that it would be all right for him to mention what he really thought of her.
"Well Pansy has the most beautiful green eyes I've ever seen, and she has a much nicer body than she realizes, I love everything about it, her hair, her face, her figure." Harry claimed as he looked at Pansy, "While she may not have the type of beauty most guys would notice yet, she only gets more attractive every day in my eyes and with time, I expect her to leave many guys drooling at the sight of her."
Pansy and Susan seemed impressed by his appraisal of her, and Susan nodded approvingly.
"Thanks Harry." Pansy answered, seeming to be touched as she kissed him tenderly on the lips.
"What about me Harry?" Susan asked gently.
"What guys probably notice first about Susan is of course her chest," He began, "but she really has the whole package, a body that girls would kill for already yet she never tries to rub it any of the other girls' faces. She isn't the type to try and show it off, but somehow that makes her all the more attractive to me. What I think gets me the most about Susan is when she smiles and her entire face lights up."
This earned a kiss from her as well, and he finally started to feel more comfortable about discussing such things with them.
It was then that he realized that they just wanted to be reassured about just how he felt about them physically, and for him to feel comfortable around them as they continued to go through puberty and share their experiences.
He supposed that it was only right as they all got closer to their eventual wedding that they have such a level of closeness and honesty, without taking it any further sexually until they were older and more responsible.
Finally Susan left to go find the other girls and involve them on the discussion, where they all decided on just how far they would be willing to go in that regard. It was quickly determined that as a rule they would all wait at least a few years to go beyond kissing, but to be much more open regarding physical changes, especially with Harry.
To this he was suddenly treated to a barrage of shaving various body parts, menstrual cycles and other stuff he would have never guessed knowing about girls and was more than a little bit freaked out at first by.
Still it was all rather informative and would hopefully make him not feel so awkward when they did bring stuff like that up.
DUELDUELDUEL
Amelia had only just had the opportunity to look through her first file at work when Scrimgeour unceremoniously entered her office, something most unlike him. The fact that he would do so without waiting for her permission alone was cause for alarm, and what he said first immediately proved to be correct. "Sirius Black has escaped from Azkaban!" He said breathlessly.
"What? That's impossible!" She exclaimed in complete shock.
"The human prison guards only just realized it this morning when they were doing roll call." Scrimgeour announced.
"When was the last time anyone saw him?" She demanded.
"From what I gather yesterday morning at roll call." Scrimgeour said, wincing as he said so.
"So you're saying he could have been missing for 24 hours and no one noticed it until now?" She asked angrily.
"Like I've said before, those Azkaban guards are incompetent." Scrimgeour claimed, "They just sit around, thinking the Dementors will do all the work and keep the prisoners at bay."
"Unfortunately we haven't been able to get anyone better for the wages they currently get," Amelia replied, "Fudge always seemed to think they weren't even necessary as long as we had the Dementors. I could never get him to increase the prison budget for it back when the DMLE was still over the prison system. He's had his nephew in charge of it for quite awhile now, and his nephew is even worse, laziest piece of rubbish ever, probably figured he could have a job without really having to work and let the prison run itself."
"Fudge is an idiot," Agreed Scrimgeour, "and he'll likely try to pin it all on you for failing to recapture him, mark my words."
"Like Merlin he won't!" Amelia insisted, "If he does I'd be happy to post the many letters and memos I sent to him requesting better prison guards and for better training of them and also point out just how long the prison guards even realized he escaped. Right now though let's focus on catching Black, he could be anywhere by now."
"He probably didn't even survive, most likely drowned or died of hypothermia." Scrimgeour replied reassuringly, and not without logic. "He'd have to swim for miles to get to the nearest mainland."
"We will not assume anything of the sort." She reprimanded him, "We underestimated Black during the war with Voldemort, we will not do so again. Unless we actually find a body, we will act under the assumption that he is still at large. Do I make myself clear?"
Under her fierce gaze, Scrimgeour backed up a step and quickly replied, "Yes Madame Bones."
"I'll be heading to Azkaban personally to find out what I can from there. In the meantime I want you to muster every able Auror, every able body, to go and search for him, I don't care if you have to beg for people from other Departments, I want him found."
Scrimgeour, knowing she meant business, quickly hurried to do what she requested.
She then immediately created a Portkey.
Portkeys normally had to be approved to be used into or out of Azkaban and required certain security measures known to only herself and two other people as a carefully guarded secret.
In emergencies, however, such as this one, she would likely be creating quite a few of them for the Aurors once she got back from Azkaban.
When she got there, she immediately found Moody, already currently supervising the search.
"What can you tell me about the situation?" She asked without hesitation.
"Not a whole lot." Moody replied gruffly, "The prison guard louts are still in a panic, I've had them flying overland looking for anything but it's likely he already managed to reach land and get out of the anti-apparition wards we have set up. He could literally be anywhere by now."
"We've just got to expand the search." She said, knowing that it was entirely possible Moody was right, "Do we have any idea just where he might be headed?"
"I actually have a pretty good idea and you aren't going to like it." Moody admitted grimly, "I had him interrogated a few months ago. An item with his family crest on it turned up in a raid, it turned out to be a cursed item and injured the Auror handling it."
"Gleeson?" she asked, recognizing who he was referring to, Gleeson had only just been cleared to work again a week ago, he'd been in a coma for several months after the incident.
After Moody had confirmed her suspicion, he continued.
"I figured I'd try and see if I could get any info from him about it. He denied knowing anything about that, just kept on insisting that Harry Potter wasn't safe and kept asking if he was protected. I figured that he had just gone mad and chose to ignore him, but with him having now broken out, it appears he may have been trying to find out the security around the boy."
"One of the guards heard him muttering in his sleep, "he's at Hogwarts". Probably meaning Harry. I think it is a very real possibility that he broke out of prison with the intention of finding and killing him. In his deluded mind he might very well believe that the boy was responsible for his incarceration and want revenge."
This caused her to back up a step. While she would love to dismiss this as simply Moody's paranoia, she knew that she couldn't, the evidence he had already provided to her was already enough for her to have cause to fear. While Black did not currently know his whereabouts at her house, when Harry returned to Hogwarts Black was bound to come after him.
What with Dumbledore's recent security failures and refusal to beef up security, there was every reason to believe he just might succeed. She could never allow that to happen, and if it wasn't Black it would be Lucius Malfoy. The beginnings of a plan began to form in her mind.