Chapter Thirteen
Hover through the fog and filthy air
On Monday, the third of August, Harry smiled after his shower and tackled Susan, a rounder, heavier breasted Susan, now that the girls had DONE as the trainers said and were in fact putting on the correct amount of body fat. Susan, still wet from the shower, giggled and squealed as Harry dove face-first into her lap after pushing her, face-up, onto the bed. While she was putting on the right amount of body fat for a growing young woman, she was by no means fat. She still had her marvelous flat stomach, Harry found, with his hands and eyes. Other parts were BUSY finding other things.
Once Susan was babbling semi-intelligently he crawled up her body and sank a considerable length into her. Susan's eyes snapped open and she grinned like a maniac. "Oh yes, Harry. I always wanted a pony!" To everyone's amazement he came in moments. Not to be deterred, he went right back to work on Susan's fifth orgasm of the morning as soon as his hips unlocked. Padma looked at Hermione. "We have to do something nice for your mum. That was a brilliant idea. He loves us
this way." Hey!
Daphne rolled her eyes. "Yes yes, Harry, you love us all ways, but you come like a beast now that we're, erm, better cushioned, let's say."
Susan being a pervert seems to have helped too. I'll give you a pony Susan.
Aiieeee! Slower, Harry! You can't just stuff a tree in a witch all of a sudden. Oh! Well, you can maybe. Faster, Harry!
Hermione smirked and rubbed her round little arse. Tracey left a handprint on the other cheek. "Don't be a witch. We know he's hypnotized by that."
Hermione pouted outrageously but nothing could really upset her. After the birthdays, the Coven had settled into an exercise, work on projects, study, play, sex routine that was massively satisfying. She stretched her arms over her head and instantly had a witch locked on each nipple. She giggled; well, maybe an exercise, sex, work on projects, sex, study, sex, play, sex routine. Just because Harry wasn't always buried in you didn't mean it didn't still count as sex, right?
Hermione snapped her head around when Susan howled and pulled at Harry's arms. She grinned and pulled Su and Morag to the bed by her nipples, where they pushed Harry up Susan and between her breasts that they held firmly together. He grinned and gave a couple of thrusts. Susan pulled her head up and took him in her mouth at the top of the stroke. She was barely able to concentrate as Eliza had dived on her slit and was BUSY licking her clean and into another orgasm. She shouldn't have worried as Jamie and Jasmine, two Squibs, locked on a nipple each and Susan hummed a scream which very nearly drowned her as Harry exploded.
Harry was in a panic and was just leaning down to perform mouth-to-mouth when Christine
Mulligan fastened herself to Susan's lips and battled for a dose of Harry.
Pansy watched from the foot of the bed. Tracey eyed her speculatively. "So--all Harry's, then?"
Pansy was scandalized "What? Of course! How could you even ask?"
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The group finally tumbled down to breakfast and Harry looked at the letter on the silver tray by his plate. He opened it and frowned.
Nym looked over and took the letter. She remembered to vocalize for everyone's benefit. "A warning from the Underage Use of Magic Office. When did you go back to Privet Hell, Harry?"
"Nym, you know I haven't. What's going on here?"
Otto appeared with an elf in a very bedraggled pillowcase. "This elf used magic at your relative's home, Master."
Harry frowned at the shaking elf. "What is your name?"
"Dobby, sir."
Harry smiled. "Just Harry, Dobby."
The elf launched into a tirade about the great Harry Potter and Harry was forced to finally stop him. "Dobby!"
"Yes, great Harry Potter, sir?" "Why were you using magic at my relative's house?"
"The great Harry Potter must not return to Hogwarts. Evil young Master has bad things planned for Hogwarts. Oh no--Dobby spoke against Master!"
Harry watched, astonished, as the elf twisted and squirmed and then began to punch himself. Nothing would stop him. Harry got desperate. "Otto, stop him!"
"I cannot, Master. He has been instructed to punish himself for thinking ill of his master. I can release him."
"Do it, Otto!"
Pop! Dobby the elf was gone. Everyone looked around the table at each other. Hermione asked, "Anyone know what happened there?"
Everyone shook their heads and Hermione smiled. "Research, then!" Harry tossed a croissant at her. Parvati had a thoughtful look on her face. "So where did the Ministry mail come from?"
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Otto answered, "The mail point, ma'am. Only family owls can penetrate the wards. The elves retrieve the other mail every morning."
Marie Caldwell frowned. "Harry, all your mail for all those years must have gone there. That Gringotts letter getting to you was a mistake or something."
Otto nodded. "There is much mail, ma'am." Marie grinned. "We can sort it!"
Otto snapped his fingers and sacks, bags, and boxes of mail appeared, nearly filling the hall. Marie looked amazed. "Or maybe not."
Su walked over to a box. "You know, there are some charms we could use." Marie smiled again. Harry groaned. H
Toward evening Harry looked up from his copy of the Prophet to see the girls bringing one medium-sized box of mail. He folded away the paper with the headline about the nine Ministry raids and looked at the girls. "So?"
Marie--as sorting the mail had been her idea, she was in charge--smiled. "We checked it all for curses after the first one went off and missed us, fortunately; got rid of the junk, prepared form letters for you to sign for the birthday, Christmas, and Voldemort Deathday gifts and wishes, and these are the ones we think you should see for yourself."
Harry gulped and Marie laughed and produced a Time-Turner?. Harry sighed and Marie passed the chain around. They vanished and the parents and relatives chuckled. By the time the chuckle died the group was back.
Sirius smiled. "So?" Harry handed him a stack of wizarding photos. "Wizards are insane. Witches too."
Sirius looked at the photos and gulped. Magda looked at the pile and flipped the photos over. "Oh, addresses too. You're sure you don't want to look up a few of these, Harry? This one is hot!"
"And older than my mum, and her parents sent that to try to contract me to her when I was two or so, Magda."
Sirius and the fathers laughed. Dan asked, "What's so funny?"
Hermione huffed. "Apparently protocol says that Harry has to turn each witch down face to face. They're allowed to try to convince him not to."
Dan blinked and looked at the photo on the table nearest him. The witch was doing a fairly good strip-tease. "Oh my."
"Dan!"
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"Daddy!"
Melba stopped laughing after a moment. "Invite them all here at the same time. They won't stay, or even try--well, probably--especially after they know about the Coven. Well, some might, but they might be handy too."
Harry was aghast. "Some of those are from Dark families, Melba!"
Lester snorted. "So do that loyalty charm or touch them, shag them even, peruse their abilities and knowledge, Obliviate them, and send them home if they have nothing to offer or don't need your protection."
Sirius grinned until Magda looked into his eyes from an inch away. Harry's smile grew slowly. Hermione was looking at him opened-mouthed and then her mouth snapped closed and she smiled too.
Emma put her head in her hands. "It must be your fault, Dan. She's a complete perv!"
"Mother! Harry and I just agreed we had no intention of shagging these, but other than that it sounds like a plan."
"Yeah, well, you weren't going to do Pansy and Narcissa either, Hermione, or Harry wasn't-- somebody wasn't. Look how that worked out. Pansy walks around here with Harry dripping out of her every time she gets him still, and Narcissa is your sex slave, or milk cow, and I still haven't seen a wedding."
"Mother!"
Harry quietly went to find his hammock. The men and boys of the Coven followed. Remus opined, "Well, that went well."
Dan laughed. "Harry, you're going to have to throw the biggest wedding in history someday."
Harry shrugged. "As soon as Hermione says go, Dad. I'm not going anywhere else."
Dan was still stuck on the "Dad."
Lester shook his head. "Melba will settle them, or at least not let it go too far. We had a few dust- ups like this too."
Harry nodded. "They're fine--well, at least Hermione is. She isn't really even mad. Women are strange." That got a sincere round of nods.
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Wednesday, the twelfth of August, found Dobby sitting in the kitchens of Potter Castle and Otto chuckling at him. "You have already accepted the Master as your master. Why don't you just come stay here where you belong?"
"I haven't, I haven't!" Dobby banged his head on the table. Otto sighed. "The wards accepted you, youngling. If you had not acknowledged him, even you
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would not have been able to get in here. I renewed the elf wards for Master's grandfather. As long as I live and am bound to the Master, they will stay active. Your former master is not stronger than our young Master."
Dobby nodded miserably and then gasped and popped away. Otto shook his head. H
In the private dining room Narcissa was on her knees under the table getting her breakfast. Hermione was in her favorite position "milking" Narcissa's now swollen breasts. Hermione had been surprised when she got a mouthful of warm milk, but now she was addicted. Harry was attempting to read the paper. The Coven snickered at the crumpled fistfuls of newspaper he held. His growl and Hermione's muffled scream came nearly simultaneously and a few minutes later Narcissa rose from under the table on Hermione's hand and immediately turned around and backed onto Harry. Harry groaned and smiled; she was like a furnace.
Nym shook her head. "Nearly time, Aunt Cissy. You'll need to be seen shopping in the Alley, then you can come back for lunch and we will do Paris this afternoon via Ravenclaw's townhouse before you get tea and then go home to Uncle Lucius with your Master dripping out of you."
Narcissa's knuckles whitened on the edge of the table before she stiffened and thrashed a little. Harry grunted and froze and she collapsed onto the table in front of him on her chest with her now seven-month belly suspended and supported by Harry's warm hands. She finally recovered and pushed herself up. "Thank you, Nym. Morgana, is it normal to be this horny? I wasn't with Draco."
The Coven snickered at Narcissa Malfoy saying "horny". Never mind that she was currently impaled on the object of their desires and had just been naughty-talked into an orgasm by her niece. Narcissa extracted herself and gasped as Pansy cleaned her quickly, then locked onto Harry. "Thank you, Pansy. Now who wants to come shopping and watch me be a complete bitch?"
Harry shook his head. "Why do you do that, Narcissa?"
"Cissy, Harry." Narcissa favored him with a pout. "Because, dear, being nice would be out of character and the people in the shops will remember me if Lucius gets curious and asks around."
Harry pulled her down and kissed her before several of the girls, including, Pansy dragged her away.
Megan Jones sat on Harry. "Just to keep little Harry warm, Harry." Harry lifted her with a hip-thrust. "You don't need an excuse, Megan." H
At lunch, in one of the dungeon cells, well lit and cleaned to sterile standards, Narcissa suddenly remembered the diary and the mumbling she had overheard from Draco. She looked across at Nym, tied to a barrel and getting punished for her NEWT results--fourteen Os and ten Es--and sighed, Harry had just gotten her into a series of orgasms and was just about to drive that magnificent cock into her. Narcissa nodded. She would wait. Nym would be out cold in a minute anywaaaaaayyyyy, oh Merlin! She hadn't asked if she could come. Ah yes! oh gods! Narcissa howled, "Thank you, Mistress" when the cat landed none too gently on her very excited sex and came again. Hermione smiled and stroked again just as Narcissa unclenched. She didn't even
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bother to say anything, as Narcissa wouldn't have been able to respond.
Later, when all three witches were lying in the afterglow and Harry was just lying on the cushioned floor stroking whatever they put within his reach, Narcissa rolled over onto his chest. "Harry, look in my head. Draco is planning something with some enchanted diary he found when Lucius moved his Dark objects ahead of those Ministry raids. The thing is horrid. It reeks of Dark magic."
Harry pulled her up and kissed her and was instantly in her mind. He heard Draco's mumbling and looked at the diary. He stored the memory away as Nym and Hermione kissed and he deepened the kiss with Narcissa. Narcissa pushed herself away. "No, Harry. I need to rest or tea will be talking only, and I want to go back to Lucius smelling of you, like Nym said."
Harry blinked and then laughed. "If he hurts you, I'll kill him." "He won't, Harry. He wants this baby too much. After the baby comes I'll probably have to run."
Harry nodded. "As soon as he acknowledges the child you're leaving there anyway. Sirius will be waiting."
Hermione nodded. "You'll need a different escort this afternoon, Narcissa. I think Harry broke Nym."
Nym looked up with glazed eyes. "He still owes me for my Os; they should have had citations, Ne."
Narcissa laughed. "Rest, Nym. He can force you some more tomorrow for those."
Nym's beatific smile followed by gentle snoring brought a laugh. Narcissa smirked. "Another convert."
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Tea turned into a free-for-all in the master bedroom. Narcissa got her wish. She left smelling of Harry and thoroughly worn out. She knew Lucius would be too BUSY to notice, making his plans for the Heir, but she would know. That's all she needed.
Harry and the Coven eventually wandered down for dinner. James laughed at his exhausted son. Harry scowled at him. "Narcissa days are hard, Dad."
Sirius barked out a laugh. "We noticed, pup. Speaking of which, are we still going with all these witches coming here on Friday the twenty-eighth?"
Harry shook his head and tried to connect the dots of that segue again. Remus chuckled. "Don't bother, Harry. I've known him twenty years and I can't follow him all the time either."
Magda grunted. "He gets better, though. That was at least on the topic of witches." Harry smiled. "Yes, it was--and yes, Sirius, why?" "Just wanted to make sure to have the day free to watch the fun, pup." "Grrrr."
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"Save it for the ladies, Harry. Yikes!" Sirius took off bobbing and weaving with Harry in hot pursuit and using curses to herd him. H
The nineteenth of August found Harry and the Coven, along with parents and siblings, cruising the now substantially revamped Knockturn Alley with the item managers from both Harry's Slytherin facilities and Sirius's Black facilities across the street giving them the tour. The crones, hags, hookers, and normal denizens of Knockturn faded back out of sight.
Harry was leading the way out of Knockturn when something made him turn toward Borgin & Burkes. He looked at the shop long and hard but he couldn't determine what the feeling was. The thought occurred to him that he should look into who owned all these buildings and see about purchasing them. No sense in only half the Alley looking smart while the other half looked worse than Diagon. Nothing should look worse than Diagon. The only building in it that looked like it had been built by someone who knew the words "true" and "square" was Gringotts.
Harry reached the intersection and kissed the groups of Coven members as they prepared to head off for their shopping. "We'll all meet back here at one for lunch and ice-cream and then we'll see what else we need to do today."
"Yes, Harry." Harry shooed them all away giggling and offered his arm to Hermione. She turned toward the book store. Harry smiled and Hermione smacked him on the arm gently.
"There might be something new, Harry."
Harry nodded. "That they haven't sent you yet because they forgot the standing order, Ne, I'm sure." He got a delicate pink tongue for his comment.
They entered the store and found it mobbed. "What the bloody hell is this?" "Harry, language!"
Ron, trailing Neville, came up to the pair at that moment. "Gilderoy Lockhart's book signing. The witches are mad for the git. Don't see it myself."
Hermione snorted. "The fiction writer?"
Neville looked to where his mum and grandmother were standing in line and delivered, "His stories faithfully recount his adventures," completely deadpan.
Harry and Hermione blinked. She had read one of Lockhart's books and knew that the charm he supposedly used wouldn't have worked on a Banshee. She had gone on a tear after that and annotated every mistake or section that was false in the books. Harry had pointed out that he himself could make magic do almost anything. Hermione countered with the fact that unless Gilderoy was Harry from a parallel universe, then only Harry could actually do that consistently that she knew of. Harry had dropped it at that point. Hermione was furious that the "fake's" books were on the book list.
Just at that moment Gilderoy looked over the crowd and saw Neville and then Harry. His eyes
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rounded and he leapt from his seat. "Ladies, aren't you fortunate! Here in this store with you are Gilderoy Lockhart and both of the Boys-That-Lived?. A banner day!"
Gilderoy charged out from behind his table toward Harry and Neville but suddenly oriented on Hermione and got a lecherous look on his face. "Hello, my dear, and you are?"
Hermione drew back but Gilderoy pressed her. When he reached out and touched her he froze. Harry growled at him. "No one touches her, faggot. Outside!"
Gilderoy had no choice as the wand under his chin was nearly lifting him off the ground--that is if it didn't break the skin and stab through the roof of his mouth and into his brain as it was threatening to do. The store exploded in scrambling witches and Harry carried or very nearly carried Gilderoy out into the Alley and flung him to the ground. "Duel!"
In the madness no one-- Lucius Malfoy, who had shielded Narcissa with both magic and his body, least among them--noticed Draco Malfoy slip the diary into Ginny Weasley's cauldron. Draco had watched that in disgust. He was directly in mad Potter's path but his father never moved a finger to help him. They would pay--mad Potter, the pure-bloods, all of them. The diary said it just needed to be at Hogwarts in the possession of some weak-minded person. Draco smirked; who could be more weak-minded than the witch daughter of blood traitors?
Gilderoy nearly fainted in relief. "Dueling is illegal, young sir, as I'm sure these fine Aurors will tell you."
"You laid hands on a witch of my house without her permission and not in her need. Defend yourself."
Gilderoy looked to the Aurors. Kingsley Shacklebolt nodded. "Duke Potter may demand immediate satisfaction." His eyes were fixed on the Potter Ring on Harry's left hand. The Ancient and Noble house could demand whatever it wanted. The only one who might perchance gainsay him was The Black and he was standing over there grinning like a madman.
Harry growled and Gilderoy nearly wet himself. His eyes lit on the iron-grey hair of Madam Bones. "Madam Bones!"
"Gilderoy. Surely an accomplished adventuring wizard such as yourself can easily defend yourself against a schoolboy? Auror Shacklebolt has told you exactly correctly. Who you thought you were, accosting a young witch you didn't even know, I have no idea, I'm sure."
Gilderoy turned and looked into the glowing green eyes of Duke Potter, and when the shield slammed down around them his bladder let go. Nervous chuckles coursed through the wizards at the sight of the dark, spreading stain.
Gilderoy threw up a shield that was blasted to pieces with a Stunner. Sirius breathed a sigh of relief. Harry wasn't in a killing mood, it seemed. Lucius nodded and smiled. "Very powerful, Narcissa. The Heir will be magnificent." Narcissa smiled smugly. Draco felt ill. The crowd ooohed and ahhhed and Hermione thanked her stars that Harry was using a wand.
What, Ne? I'm just having some fun. Harry! I thought you were going to kill him.
I still might, Ne. As an example so the rest learn to keep their hands to themselves. That doesn't stop it being fun, though.
Daphne rolled her eyes in Madam Maulkin's. Just humiliate him, Harry, Aunt Amelia will take care of the rest.
Susan smiled in Eeylop's. She'll be so happy you called her Aunt Daphne! Daphne huffed. Hufflpuffs! But they all felt her smiling.
Morgana, will you all pipe down? I'm in class here and it's hard to watch Harry and listen to you all.
Oh, how's that going then, Nym? Boring, Padma. All orientation to the Ministry today. Now shhh!
Harry grinned and his eyes glowed more. Gilderoy very nearly voided his bowels. Harry threw a tickling hex at Gilderoy that he ducked, very nearly breaking the dueling barrier. The crowd moaned and leaned back. Not a foot moved, however. Harry got serious. With the exception of the Stunner he had used first he threw all the first through second year curses, hexes, jinxes, and charms from the Hogwarts syllabus and then started in on the twins' jokes.
In desperation Gilderoy used his best magic. "OBLIVIATE!" Harry didn't even dodge; he swatted the spell away with a glowing wand and continued casting.
In fairly short order, Gilderoy was an odd-looking creature with no hands, colored pink with moving green polka dots. Harry walked over and picked up Gilderoy's wand and the dueling shield fell. The creature hared off with Shacklebolt and his partner in pursuit as the crowd clapped and cheered. Harry gave Gilderoy's oddly light, flexible wand to Madam Bones. "My House is satisfied."
Madam Bones nodded gravely. "Your Grace." She dropped a tiny curtsy and Harry bowed minimally from the shoulders.
The Magical Law Enforcement squad looked at her hard, ice-blue eyes and then chivvied the crowd away. They missed her saying, "The DMLE, however, is not satisfied, Your Grace."
Sirius growled when Lucius smiled like an idiot and put his hand possessively on Narcissa's bump. Narcissa waved frantically behind her back. With the mood Harry was apparently in, this could go horribly wrong if Sirius the chimera did something too Gryffindor. Sirius turned away.
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Nine o'clock in the morning on the twenty-eighth of August 1992 found Gilderoy Lockhart chained to a chair in Courtroom Ten and a capital crimes trial proceeding against him. Not only had he Obliviated the real people who had DONE the deeds he claimed as his own but he had helped them to their demise in several cases by totally Obliviating them and leaving them in hazardous situations. Or so Madam Bones maintained. His questioning by Veritaserum was enough to put him away for life. In his case, two years in Azkaban. Gilderoy was but a light snack for the Dementors; he had no chance of living out his hundred and twenty-year sentence.
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After lunch Harry sat nervously with his parent's portrait in the sitting room. Lily sighed. "It will be fine, Harry. We'll be right here. Touch them, look through their minds, Obliviate them, let them down easy, and let them go. No hard feelings."
James nodded. "That's right, Harry."
This gentle encouragement lasted right up until the door opened the first time and a pretty but obviously worried witch walked in. "Judith Allen Cranston! What the bloody hell do you mean seeking a contract with my son? You were my roommate, you witch!"
Judith Allen Cranston went over backwards like she'd been poleaxed. James shouted and Harry cushioned the floor. Harry looked at his mother. "Really, Mum? 'Touch them, look through their minds, Obliviate them, let them down easy, and let them go, no hard feelings', remember? What happened to that?"
Lily blushed. Harry blinked. "I didn't know portraits could do that."
Lily sighed. "I thought it was her when Sirius showed me the picture but I wasn't sure when she kept that veil on. I thought I could maintain my composure. I was wrong but I'll be okay now. Levitate her on that chaise, Harry, and Enervate her."
Harry levitated Judith but took advantage of the situation and gently probed her mind. He frowned. "Uh, we have a problem."
James rolled his eyes. "What the hell could the problem be now, Harry?"
Harry huffed. "She needs protection. A lot of first-borns and half-bloods do, if what's in her head is true."
James rubbed his hand through his hair and growled. "Fine. Wake her up and make her a vassal, release her from the damn proposal, install the wards on her house, and give her a trunk. Let's not have another go-round of Harry-buggers-the-world."
"James!" Lily was incensed.
Harry, meanwhile, was thinking of the family book that Hermione was paging through in the library. It covered vassals. Harry smiled. "Thanks, Dad!"
Thirty minutes later Judith, a brand new Potter Vassal, was speaking to Lily as the next witch was shown in. This time she was Obliviated and left feeling that she had enjoyed agreeing not to pursue the contract. She didn't know why, but she knew she was happy about it. That Michael Olsen had no reason to be hesitant now!
OHHOHHOHHOHHOHOHHOHHOH0HHOHHOHHOHHOHHOHHOHHOHHOHHOHHOHHOHHOHHO
September first dawned bright and clear. Harry smiled at the sun as he finished his run. It was going to be a great day!
Are you going to make sixteen more vassals, Harry?
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No, Hermione. Ne, stop pouting. It's ridiculous. We should just help them.
Phhtt! Like they're going to let you do that when they find out you have a coven. Well, some of the wizards might.
Nym! Aren't you supposed to be doing PT?
Hah! These people are like marshmallows. I left 'em all behind twenty minutes ago, Harry.
Love you, Nym.
The witches froze. That was the first time Harry had ever said that in public. Well, it was only them in here, but still!
Nym's blazing smile could be felt by them all. Well, that's good for another two or three miles at a sprint.
Harry smiled and started his cool-down stretches. He could feel the witches smiling. H
At nine Harry, in a splendid mood, stepped out of his trunk, shrunk it, put it in his pocket, and opened his bedroom door in Privet Hell.
Vernon was waiting. Harry blinked. "Good morning, Vernon. Love to stay and talk, old chap, but really don't have the time. Sorry, really." What the hell? Vernon had stayed home from work?
Vernon's head was an amazing shade of purple. "You weren't in that room, boy! I won't have you using that unnaturalness in this house, I told you!"
Harry looked at him, stunned. "Fine, just going then. See you next June." Harry used a little mind magic and urged Vernon to step forward from his position blocking the stairs. Vernon took one step and Harry was behind him, down the stairs, and out the door.
Constance brought the bus up right on time and it had hardly stopped moving before Harry was on board. He collapsed next to Hermione. "Hey, Ne. Vernon is going to pop his cork when I come home in June."
"This isn't your home, Harry." Hermione sniffed, looking daggers out the window at Vernon and Petunia, in the yard of Privet Hell.
Harry pulled her into a hug. "Easy there, killer." Hermione's hissed "Someday!" was disturbing on many levels.
Lisa shook her head. None of them were seeing the obvious. "Harry, it will dawn on Vernon and Petunia that they don't have to put up with this and the solicitors will get involved. You'll probably have a restraining order against you within a month. We have to think about what we'll do then."
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At King's Cross, slightly before ten, Harry watched as the crowd gathered at the entrance to the platform and then led the girls in, sailing up and through it at a fast pace. The parents followed, smiling. Harry liked his entrances.
Harry made it through and strode down the platform like he owned it. Hermione, on his arm, rolled her eyes the whole time. Harry finally stopped in the middle of the platform and began to kiss the crying Squib girls goodbye. The witches stood around with wry expressions. Morag's brogue expressed it all: "Like you'll not see him in five or six hours, you daft bints!"
Elizabeth looked down her nose. "No sense of romance, Morag." H
Meanwhile, as Harry got everyone kissed goodbye and a compartment picked and expanded, Dobby was outside blocking the entrance to the platform. Ron and Neville were caught outside as Ginny passed through just in front of them and made a beeline for the train.
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Ron and Neville struggle with the barrier for a moment and then the thought of the flying Ford Anglia dawned in Ron's desperate mind.
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On the train Ginny was making a complete ass of herself, sitting next to Harry and flirting outrageously. She had been waiting a year for this opportunity. Sure, Neville was the primary Boy Who Lived, but that didn't mean she couldn't practice with Harry. He was soooo cute! That hair and those eyes!
Millicent sat watching the steam pressure rise in Hermione. Harry, knowing Hermione wasn't mad at him, was polite to Ginny but unresponsive. This simply made her more and more outrageous as time went on.
The car got quieter and quieter until Ginny stood, stepped between Harry's legs, and reached into the overhead rack with both hands, her barely-there breasts level with Harry's eyes. She was amazed to find herself on the floor of the car in short order with Hermione Granger looking into her eyes from an inch away. "What exactly do you think you're doing, little witch? Hasn't your mother taught you the ways?"
Ginny couldn't say a word. She had seen that ring on Hermione, she knew what that meant. She wasn't about to be bossed around, though. "Harmless flirting, Hermione. Really, don't be so tense!"
"Daphne!"
Ginny's head swam as Hermione's incensed, glowing brown eyes were rapidly replaced by an amused Daphne Greengrass's face. Ginny howled in protest as her dress was unbuttoned. Daphne looked at her. "The Mistress will judge whether you are worthy of the master. If she thinks you are, you can get your first dose now. That is what you wanted, correct?"
Tears started down Ginny's cheeks as Hermione dumped her purse and no support was forthcoming. Harry sighed. "Stop."
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Ginny found herself alone on the floor. Harry picked her up and re-buttoned her dress. "Ginny, do you know the way things work? Has your mother talked to you about this?"
Ginny sniffled and nodded. Harry sighed. "She wasn't telling you stories, Ginny. Hermione has to approve of you even talking to me in anything other than casual conversation."
"Harry!"
The urgency in Hermione's tone snapped Harry's head around and he looked at the black diary on the bench. It reeked of Dark magic. "Ginny, where did you get this?"
"Diagon, Harry. When you dueled Lockhart. It was in my cauldron when we got home."
Harry took out a handkerchief he conjured in his pocket and picked up the book. "This is a Dark artifact, Ginny."
Harry waved and his trunk moved to the floor and opened. He climbed down inside. Hermione looked at Ginny. "You will be punished, Ginevra, make no mistake. I'll speak to Harry first, but you will be punished."
Ginny looked around at the other witches and nodded.
Harry returned and the strained milieu returned to limited normality. "I put it in the library. We'll look at it later."
The chorus of "Yes, Harry" brought an eyeroll. So, Ne? She has to be punished, Harry.
All right, but nothing that leaves marks. And try not to make her come. Something about her.... Last year I was very attracted, now I don't know.
She looks like your mother, Harry. Ewwww! Erm, hello, Nym, but ewww! How's class?
Nym could be felt laughing. Fine, Harry. I'll see you tonight with the notes and we'll go over what I learned with the group.
See you then. Be careful.
Ginny did not enjoy her time nude on the spinning X-shaped cross at all. Sure, Hermione never hit her with that whip, but she was ill for the rest of the trip between the spinning while the train moved and the suspense of hearing that whip swish and feeling the air from it blow gently, terrifyingly over her back, thighs, and shoulders.
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Ron and Neville, meanwhile, had figured out how to make the Anglia invisible and how to follow the railroad tracks. The Express nearly hitting them had sobered them both right up, and then a few minutes later they ran out of gas or something and landed in the Whomping Willow. "Godsdammit, Ron! This was stupid! We should have just waited and told our parents." Neville was enraged now
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that the tree had flung the car to the lawn.
"Oh, now you have ideas?" Ron wasn't exactly happy either.
The car shook, rattled a bit, and suddenly the boys found themselves on their arses on the lawn. Their trunks were ejected from the boot and the car took off for the trees. Ron leapt up and took two steps before he froze at hearing the voice behind him. "Well, a grand entrance, to be sure."
Neville looked around and nearly melted in relief. "Padfoot! Erm, Lord Black. What are you doing here?"
"Shhh, Harry doesn't know. Come on, you two. Professor McGonagall? will see you after dinner."
Neville and Ron's faces fell comically and Remus chuckled as he stepped from the shadows. "Mr Lupin! You too?"
Remus nodded in answer to Ron's question. "Now come along, the Sorting has started--and not a word to Harry or Hermione."
H In the Great Hall Harry looked around again. "Where the hell is Neville, Ne?"
"Wherever Bilius has led him, no doubt, Harry. Really, we have to do something about that. Neville needs a girlfriend, a smart girlfriend."
"Lavender?" "Still just playing, Harry. Something about him is off. Well, for me anyway."
Harry sighed and then smiled as the doors opened and Neville walked in followed by Ron. Neville had never been so embarrassed in his life. The whole school was looking at him. He hurried to a seat and sat across from Harry.
Minerva frowned and called, "Ginevra Weasley!" Ginny approached the stool confidently and put the hat on. "Ah, easy. SLY--" "NO!"
"What? It's all here, girl! Ambition, cunning, guile. Getting your brothers blamed for all that mischief. You will be formidable. Oh, what's this? Oh well, he doesn't care which house you're in. And he has plenty in Slytherin. He is its lord, after all."
"No! Please, Mr Hat?"
"William, my dear. All right, if you don't want to be there. It will make it hard for you to succeed. Better be...Gryffindor!"
Ginny thanked the Hat, hopped off the stool, and nearly skipped to the Gryffindor table to raucous
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applause. Millicent sent a knowing smirk at Hermione, who rolled her eyes.
Dumbledore made his customary announcements about the Forest, magic in the halls, and banned items and then introduced the new Professors who would be sharing Defense Against the Dark Arts. Remus and Sirius swept their hoods back and Harry sat gaping. The Marauders high-fived each other.
That night in the trunk was interesting too. Nym reviewed her notes and classes. The girls gave her the read-aheads for the next day and then they looked at the diary under the warded bell jar Harry had put over it.
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Neville looked at Ron in the darkened hallway of the fourth floor on the way back from McGonagall's? office. "That was brilliant, Ron. Detention for us both and letters home!"
"Like you said no, Nev!"
Neville turned to glare at Ron just as they both saw someone step out of the shadows of a suit of armor, wand in hand. Neville's wand was out in a flash. Ron's wand followed but it was snapped about three-fifths of the way up its length and hanging by a thin pink thread.
Draco cursed his luck. How had they both turned at exactly the wrong moment? He fired up his sneer. "What's that, Weasel, Pygmy Puff heartstring? You should be glad you broke that. Well, maybe not, you've always seemed a little soft."
Neville collected himself quickly. "What do you want, Malfoy? Why are you up here and not in your slimy little hole in the dungeons?"
Malfoy's sneer grew. "My business is my own, Longbottom. Yours seems to be finding your pet a new stick; one from the Whomping Willow should do." He spun on his heel and left.
Ron was still looking at his broken wand with a fallen expression. "What am I going to do now, Nev? I can't tell my folks about this. I'm already in so much trouble!"
Neville shook his head. "I don't know. Maybe the school has spares."
Ron shook his head. "I'm not asking McGonagall? anything. She looked like she would happily boil us in oil."
H
Morning came too soon for Harry on the second. But he leapt out of bed and raced downstairs anyway. He skidded to a halt at the bottom of the staircase and looked at the crowd waiting in front of the doors. His huge grin brought a chuckle. Exercising was very nice that morning, not so harried as it was last year, and Harry spent much of it gently teasing those who obviously had not kept up the program on their own.
Albus watched from his tower and smiled. Neville was there, being serious and thoughtful, leading the group of students. His sidekick Potter was the class clown. Very good! Hmmm, might have to give some thought to keeping the Weasley boy away from Neville. That incident yesterday had been a disaster. Obliviation squads had had to be called out! The Ministry was in an uproar, which
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Malfoy would use to his advantage with both Fudge and the Board. Albus sighed and turned back to his office.
Down on the path around the lake Harry chivvied the twins. "Didn't run a step all summer, did you? Well, we'll fix that." With a wave of his wand the twins were no longer in charge of their feet. Their Doppler-affected screams brought General laughter as they faded away ahead of the group. Hermione cocked a brow. Harry shrugged. "Modified Tarantallegra. I wanted them to run, not dance. I'll take it off when they lap us."
"Dancing is good exercise too, Harry." Harry groaned as the witches twittered excitedly. The group picked up the pace, shooting looks at Harry after that groan.
Later, at breakfast, Hermione barely smiled at the Howler Ron got. Harry nearly had to leave, he was laughing so hard at her vicious internal commentary about "Bilius' stupidity". Harry rose and, as was now customary, kissed the Coven on their way and wandered to his first class. Well, as much as you can wander when under tow by Hermione. In class, the Coven automatically took their seats around Harry and Hermione and light scuffles broke out among the wizards as they tried to get seats close to them. Obviously this year was going to be a little different. Harry sighed and hoped the wizards remembered the rules.
Dinner found Marcus Flint being a walking reminder of the rules. He was walking around with a poodle's head and was only capable of barking shrilly. Albus had to use all his years of experience not to put his head in his hands. He should have known this would happen when he left that coven operating.
Harry smiled every time he looked at the Slytherin table. Eliza scowled. She'd had Flint right where she wanted him, disarmed and about to be nutless, when Harry had shown up and started Transfiguring things.
Minerva heard the tinny laughter from her brooch and Sirius's tie and a tiny smile escaped her. H
The fifth of September found the Coven settled into school and back at Potter Castle. The investigation of the diary was proceeding very slowly, among other projects. Neville was absent, as he was in the first of a month of detentions for the flying car thing. Ron hadn't been given a trunk; there was no overcoming Hermione's wrath, especially after the idiot ran around with that backfiring, malfunctioning wand. Hermione had offered to fix it and he had refused, saying wands couldn't be repaired. Hermione had gone on a diatribe about the core being salvaged and finding a new wood, but Ron had ignored her and gone back to stuffing his face. The Coven, those not researching the diary in the breaks from Nym's classes, were pulling orders for Daphne or researching other things.
Harry sat up and stared when a disembodied leg hopped into the sitting room. Hannah came in behind it, mumbling, and Stunned it. She looked up at the frozen tableau before her and blushed. Her partner, Victoria Jones--no relation to the other Joneses, possibly--a buxom blond University first year Squib came in behind her. "What? It got away from us. Harry, you do it."
"Beg pardon?" Hannah smiled. "We're making Frank Longbottom a leg for Christmas, Harry. Every time I try that
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Tarantallegra spell of yours it hops away. We've no control over it."
Harry stood and walked over to the Stunned leg. Tracey sat watching with Galleons in her eyes. Eliza looked at her. "He'll never charge much."
Tracey nodded. "We'll make it up on volume. We can do legs, arms, and hands that work." Hermione interjected, "A working head for Bilius." Tracey grinned at her. "We have the magic, we can rebuild them. Muhahahha!" Katie Bell looked at her. "You need to shag Harry more and quit watching telly."
Tracey brightened even further. "Good idea!" The situation quickly got out of hand after that.
A little before curfew, not like it mattered to them with Filch and Mrs Norris being Harry's ardent fans, Harry was escorting the girls while he toured the castle. He would drop a group off at their dorms and then go to the next via some seldom-used path. He didn't know exactly why, but sometimes he just needed to walk the halls.
Near the Ravenclaw dorm he heard a muttering voice. "Kill, kill them for master. Master has returned but why hasn't he come to see me? I have felt him. Kill!"
Harry looked at Hermione, who was apparently on the verge of some kind of fit. "Ne!"
"Oh gods, Harry, what was that? I heard it in your head!"
"Wasn't me!"
Hermione blinked. Parvati looked around at Lavender, who shrugged. "We hardly heard anything. Some rustling, maybe a hiss, hard to say."
Hermione frowned in thought as Harry nervously herded the girls to Gryffindor along the most direct route possible. Pillow talk that night between them was all about what had been said until Hermione fell asleep in Harry's arms with Parvati snuggled in behind him and Lavender snuggled into her.
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The next two weeks or so passed fairly quietly. Remus and Sirius settled into teaching and were having a great time. They were student favorites, even among the Slytherins.
Sirius had also used his influence as The Black and Harry's as Duke Potter to save Arthur Weasley's job after the car incident played out a little more and Arthur had to admit it had been his although he had never flown it, only experimented on it to see what was actually possible.
Ginny and the twins had reported that their mother was unhappy with Dumbledore over his failure to support Arthur.
Classes were good, with the Professors asking for and receiving high quality work from the Coven.
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Augusta was very pleased with their progress, as were the other Professors. Trelawney was pouting that she didn't have any of the Coven in her classes. Minerva was inordinately smug about that.
Ginny Weasley was seriously tired of Hermione "the Bitch" Granger. Every time she glanced in Harry's direction those brown eyes were the next thing she saw. Seriously, the witch had problems! Ron was in complete agreement, but he was so BUSY keeping Percy off his back studying that he didn't have time for much else. Besides, if he moved a hair out of place the twins and Percy were all over him, so he would be no help in any plan to circumvent Hermione. Luna flat-out told Ginny to leave Harry alone. It had been scary, one of those few moments when Luna was completely lucid.
The twins were contemplating an offer from Daphne to wholesale whatever pranks they developed. Oh, not whether they would accept it--that was a given. They were trying to get their production and quality control up and running. Lee Jordan and the other older Gryffindor wizards found themselves working in disused classrooms for IOUs. Fred was having a discussion with George about licensing and moving the production to a real facility. Tracey was facilitating that discussion. She was approaching the point where she would need Angelina, Alicia, and Katie to start absorbing Fred, George, and Lee's time. That would put them together as couples and make it even harder for them to meet production, thereby making the licensing deal more attractive. Two birds, or six, with one stone maybe. Tracey was pleased; it was all very Slytherin.
The parents had gotten in on studying the diary, along with Nicholas and Perenelle. Nicholas was convinced the thing was at least an attempt at a Horcrux, a soul container that had to be filled with a horrible ritual that involved a cold-blooded murder. Nicholas wouldn't say whether it was Riddle's or not, but Harry had a feeling. The thing had Riddle's name on it, even.
Harry was kept well away from the diary after that one observation. The Coven didn't want him even near something that Dark lest it affect the continuation of the line. Lily agreed, so Harry had to watch through a warded, leaded window into the cell in which they had the thing.
They were just up to the point of writing in it using an animated quill charmed to follow one Harry was holding. Well, Harry was at that point. The Coven had more tests they wanted to run.
Millicent was talking to Hermione about Ginny having this diary and having possibly written in it already. Harry was considering that. They really needed to move faster on this.
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On the nineteenth Hermione stepped into the study at the castle and nearly wet herself when the Coven and family leapt up or canceled Disillusionment charms and yelled, "Surprise, happy birthday!" She blushed and the inner circle laughed. She had been so BUSY she had actually forgotten it was her birthday.
Nym pulled her into a hug first, then she got passed around until she ended up in Harry's lap. Harry smiled. "Happy birthday, love you!" He kissed her and she settled against his chest. This very public declaration of his love was all she needed. Of course, that wasn't all she got. Books, clothes, a very thoroughly planned makeup kit with Lavender and Parvati's note promising to show her how to use it, and later after the 'rents and siblings had left, a Time-Turned? evening alone with Harry. Harry started on a bearskin rug in front of the fire and drove her gently, slowly, and lovingly out of her mind. No homework got DONE that evening.