Boarding the Hogwarts Express was something Harry looked forward to generally. While he was quite happy home with the Tonks, Hogwarts was special to him. It was the first place he ever felt like he belonged, and it was the place he could spend the most time with the Sphinx Club, who were largely responsible for everything good in his life. Harry was very unsure if he would have ever been able to tell anyone about the abuse he had suffered at the hands of the Dursley's without the guiding hand the Sphinx Club provided, and he certainly would not have been anywhere nearly as intelligent as he currently found himself. That intelligence had also brought forth opportunities he believed he wouldn't have had otherwise, his burgeoning dueling career being foremost among them. Harry didn't know if professional dueling would be a career path he intended to take, but it was certainly proving to be an option.
Centering himself back on the hear and now though, Harry and Hermione settled into their spots in an empty car on the Hogwarts Express, while they waited for the others to arrive. Harry needed to put on a good face for the girls, so he elected to try to not think about the events of the World Cup, although he knew they would come up. Four of them had been present, and that would certainly cause questions from the other two, if only to make sure they were okay. Harry could live with that, he didn't enjoy hiding information from them, nor was he a good enough liar to do it for long.
Unsurprisingly, Susan was the first one to make it to their car, where she immediately crushed Harry into a hug, and Harry gave her a kiss. "There's my favorite red-head. Have you been okay? Aunt didn't give you too hard of a time?" Harry asked. Susan needed more encouragement than the other girls needed usually, Harry was more than happy to give it.
"No, Auntie's been fine. She was worried sick after what happened, but it wasn't something we could see coming." Susan said. "I don't know what I would have done if you weren't there though Harry. I'd have completely frozen up without you."
"Don't sell yourself so short. You're pretty amazing, I'm sure you'd have done just fine." Harry said. "Now, no more negative talk about my girl, okay? No one's allowed to do that. Not even you."
Susan laughed and pulled him close into another hug, giving him another kiss before pushing him back into a seat and sitting on his lap. "Sorry Hermione! I need him for a bit!" She said, before beginning to snog him senseless.
Harry wouldn't complain about his situation, no he rather enjoyed it actually. Susan seemed more forward than usual today, that was for certain. Had something about the events of the World Cup flipped some kind of switch in her? He knew she had more… adult interest in him, but this? This was new.
"Ooh, that looks like fun. Do I get a turn?" Came a voice from behind Susan. Harry looked over and saw Daphne stepping into their car, putting her trunk into the compartment above their heads.
"I dunno, I'm having a really good time here." Susan said, settling herself deeper into Harry's lap. That caused… certain reactions in Harry that he wasn't prepared for. "Seems he likes it too."
"Well, I'll just have to give him a taste of what I can offer then." Daphne said as she pushed Susan off of Harry. Daphne then captured Harry's lips with her own giving him an equally passionate kiss. Daphne though, ever bold, grabbed Harry's hands and placed them upon her backside. Harry froze for a second, unsure of what to do. Daphne noticed and pulled away for a second. "Feel free and feel around Harry. I know you talked with Susan and Hermione about… getting more physical. It should be pretty obvious that I've been on board for a while."
Harry gulped as she came back in, and took a moment to squeeze. Her butt was… soft. It was a sensation he hadn't ever experienced before, this kind of sexual tension. It was welling up inside of him, and it was certainly showing by the noticeable tent in his jeans. It was hidden from the outside world though by Daphne, who was straddling him over the bulge. She pulled away after another moment, and gave him a very self-satisfied smirk. "You're lucky the other girls are watching Harry. You'd be leaving this car a man if they weren't." Daphne said, wriggling herself on his lap.
"Oh please, don't stop on our account Daphne, if you're so ready for him." Another voice said. Padma this time came into the car, with Luna following shortly behind her. Padma boldly came and sat right next to them, leaning over and stealing a kiss from the dumbfounded Harry.
"Call me on my bluff why don't ya." Daphne said, getting off of Harry and sitting on his other side with a bit of a blush on her face.
"Who said I was calling your bluff? Maybe I just wanna watch." Padma said, and everyone in the car, barring herself and Luna flushed a deep red.
"Voyeur." Daphne said, sticking her tongue out at her romantic rival.
"Happily." Padma said, taking it in stride, leaning her head against Harry's shoulder. "Hello love. How was your summer? Did you miss me?" Padma asked.
"Of course I missed you. It's a shame you can't make it for more stuff during the summer, but being so far from home probably does that." Harry said, avoiding the other topic for now. It would come up eventually, he couldn't escape it. He could however delay it.
"That's good. Hermione and Susan mentioned that you all had had a conversation about fooling around a bit more. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised since you all shared a tent at the World Cup. I'm letting you know that I'm also okay with getting more physical. I'd love to feel your hands on me." Padma said. "Did that sound weird? I talked about it with Parvati to figure out the words to say. That's what she told me to do."
"It didn't sound too weird, but I'd rather hear what Padma wants to say about it, not what Parvati told her to say." Harry said, trying to bring himself down to Earth. That was proving difficult, all the blood wanted to be… elsewhere.
"Well, I.. I want to do more with you Harry. I love you dearly, and expect that I'll be spending the rest of my life with you. We're also… at the age that we would start doing things like this, so I want to try." Padma said, and Harry could see the start of a blush on her face.
"Well, it seems like all of you are in agreement on that then." Luna said, a smile on her face as she looked at her sister-girlfriends. "Sorry Harry, I don't think I'm ready for anything like that yet. I do like the kisses though, can we do that?"
"Certainly Luna, and don't feel like you have to rush this. Honestly I'm kind of stumbling blind here. You girls really need to take the lead on pacing." Harry said. "You doing okay Luna? I haven't heard from you since… you know."
"Oh, yes. I'm fine Harry. Father was very worried when I got home, but I explained what happened and my being fine seemed to calm him down. He sent me on with a book on self defense spells I believe he expects me to put to practice. Do you think you could look through it and teach me Harry? You're a much better teacher than a book, and nicer to look at too." Luna leaned forward and kissed him on his lips, a much softer and sweeter affair than any of the other girls had given him today, something which Harry was thankful for. Something to calm down his raging hormones was just what he needed.
"I'll be happy to Luna. Give me the book whenever and I'll go through it, I would imagine I already am familiar with most of the spells in it anyway." Harry said, smiling at his youngest girlfriend.
"I suppose that does bring up the Elephant in the room… What happened at the World Cup?" Daphne asked, and that caused a freeze to be placed over the car. Harry, Hermione, and Susan tensed up a bit, but let out a breath and relaxed.
"It was… frightening." Harry started, leaning forward in his seat a bit and interlocking his fingers. "Flames and smoke in the middle of the night, then getting attacked by men in masks. If I hadn't been used to dueling by now, plus my experiences with the Troll, Quirrell, and the Basilisk… well I'd probably have completely frozen up. The aurors questioned us about what happened afterwards, and we talked to some of the other people who were waiting with us. Apparently a group of Death Eaters, or people using their iconography wanted to cause a scare. They apparently killed roughly a dozen muggles, and a few wizards. It was awful." Harry shuddered a bit as the image of the night came flashing back. He still occasionally saw that skull and snake when he closed his eyes. Something about the image struck him, although he didn't know exactly what.
"How are you handling that?" Padma asked. "How are all of you handling that?"
"Well, in terms of scary, I'll admit being possessed by Tom Riddle and nearly getting eaten by a Basilisk was probably higher. Harry, Mr. Black, and Mrs. Tonks were with me the entire time, so I felt like they had a pretty decent handle on things. It was still terrifying, but… I felt like everything was going to be fine. Harry was there, he'd saved me before, I knew he'd do it again." Susan said. "Auntie had me see a counselor before we came back, to make sure I was holding up well with it. The counselor seemed to agree that I had a good enough handle on the situation. I guess after a few events like this you just kind of get used to it."
Harry could agree with that sentiment, although it didn't feel great to do so. Hermione spoke up next. "Similar here really, although I couldn't see a counselor for muggle reasons. After dealing with the Troll in my first year, and the Dementor attacks earlier this year, this seemed… well almost manageable. I felt like I was prepared for something like this. I knew enough self defense spells from Defense and what Harry had taught me, and well, Harry was there. Harry's scary powerful, I know that. He does things easily that adults can't do at all. Like that Double Patronus thing from June, summoning two corporeal patronuses is something some of the most talented Wizards of the last century can't manage. Harry did it at 13. Nevermind the magical exhaustion afterwards, that was after a full day of classes. Plus he keeps getting stronger. Harry threw spells all night at the camp and was only as tired as I would expect someone who was woken up in the middle of the night to be."
Harry flushed a bit at the praise. "No, I was pretty spent. Plus Sirius and Mum did a lot of the heavy spell slinging. I just stunned a few guys."
"Ignore him, Harry was amazing." Luna said, speaking up. "He came and made sure the Weasley's and I were alright, even when he probably should have been more focused on getting himself out of trouble. Then he kept me safe the rest of the trip. Just like with the Dementors. Harry's always there to keep me safe."
Harry was having difficulties processing what he was feeling about this statement. He knew he was happy that the girls felt safe around him. That they felt like he could protect them, even if he knew they were capable of protecting themselves. Hermione and Susan were far from pushovers in the spell slinging department, capable of giving Neville, who was Harry's primary sparring partner a run for his money. Luna was a bit behind them in terms of skill and ability, but she was also younger than them, and less developed. It was a comparison that was unfair to her, but she still was exceptional. Luna was possibly the weakest magically of the girls, although it wasn't by much, and likely once everyone was done developing, she had every chance of being closer to the top than the bottom. Daphne and Padma had yet to really find a time they needed to show their stuff in that regard, but Harry knew they were capable as well. What Daphne lacked in power, being more comparable to Luna than any of the others, she made up for in craftiness. Her mind allowed her to think through situations faster than anyone, and while she may not compare as favorably to the other girls in terms of raw magical output, she wasn't a slouch, still being above average in that department. Padma however was a genius at Charms. Her ability in that field outstripped even Harry's, and her power was nothing to sneeze at either. She was probably the midpoint of the girls in terms of strength. With Hermione and Susan above her, and Daphne and Luna below her. If Harry had to choose only one of them to be by his side in a duel, he would want Padma.
Harry however, also felt incredibly embarrassed by the praise that was being hoisted on him. He didn't feel it was really deserved. He was good, he would give himself that. Tournament victories and his grades kept him aware that he was an exceptional wizard, but he was fairly certain he was a big fish in a small pond. Sure he compared favorably to those immediately around him, but certainly there was someone he hadn't come across that was in a realm beyond what he could reach. Shaking his head though, he refocused on the here and now.
"Well, maybe all of you should join Luna in learning some extra self defense spells. I'd like a normal year, but it seems that something like that isn't likely to happen." Harry said after a moment. "You're all outstanding witches, and I won't say I wouldn't be opposed to having some more practiced dueling partners." He added with a cheeky smile.
"Oh, you'd like that wouldn't you? Seeing us all sweaty after a grueling duel, helping us up after you knock us down. Getting right up behind us to correct a wand movement." Daphne said, teasing a bit.
"While I do think that would be enjoyable, I am serious about this. I dunno, something about what happened at the World Cup scares me, and given… my connection with Voldemort, I feel like I'd be a target for them if they keep doing stuff. My first instinct is to push you guys away, handle all of this on my own. But… I saw what happened the last times I did that. Luna and Padma pulled me out of it then, and I figure it would happen again. I… I want you all to be safe. I want to protect you always, but… well I'm one guy. I can't be everywhere. I'd feel a lot better if I did everything I could to make you as prepared for whatever destiny throws at us." Harry said.
"Well, you know I'm in. I've been watching you practice dueling for long enough that I've been interested myself. I'll take this as my opportunity to get on your level with it." Padma said, leaning her head on his shoulder.
"More things I can use when Malfoy thinks he can lay a hand on me? Yes please." Daphne said, mirroring Padma's actions. "I'm a Potter girl after all."
"I already said I was going to try more, so no worries from me!" Luna said, pumping a fist in the air.
"Well, after the World Cup, I suppose it would be foolish to not at least try to be able to defend myself better. Count me in." Hermione said.
"Auntie suggested pretty much the same thing, so yeah. I'm here for it." Susan said.
"Good, I'll go through Luna's self defense spell book and take some notes. Maybe add to the list if there is something I think it's lacking. That can wait until this weekend though. For now, I'd heard one of the prefects mention something big was happening this year at school. They didn't know what though, any ideas?" Harry asked, looking to the rest of the group. Daphne, Susan, and Luna were incredibly informed individuals when it came to events in Wizarding Britain, for various reasons.
"I know Auntie's been having some issues with some international thing that's happening soon. Worrying about security and the like, but that's all I've got." Susan said. "I asked her what was going on, and she said she couldn't tell me about it. That's pretty normal for her though, given her position, so I didn't question it too much."
"Father heard something as well, several experts on magical wildlife were needed for a job with the ministry. Father turned it down, since we had the Quibbler to run." Luna added.
"Nothing of note on my end. Business as usual in the Greengrass estate, nothing the Wizengamot seems keen to talk about, and nothing in the papers." Daphne said, a bit annoyed. "I imagine they'll tell us at the feast, although I do wonder why bother to keep us in the dark."
"Maybe it's a fun surprise." Padma said.
"Hogwarts' version of a fun surprise makes me a bit concerned, given our first year had a corridor that spelled certain death in it that didn't even have a sign posted." Hermione countered.
"Whatever it is, we'll tackle it together. All six of us, plus the rest of the club." Harry said, a smile on his face. "Now, We've got another few hours on this train ride, at this point someone's usually sitting in my lap, who is it gonna be?"
"Mine." Hermione said, setting herself on the spot. "Everyone else got snog sessions, it's my turn."
Harry happily obliged.