Chapter 1: The Paradigms

Rating: M AU Post-Hogwarts

Disclaimer: The usual – I own nothing, I see nothing, I hear nothing, I was not even here. Just playing in JKR's sandbox again.

Author's Opening Note: This is sequel to 'HP and the Laws of Love', which is itself a sequel to 'Pansy Invictus'.

In another story, some reviews objected strongly to the idea of polygamy. However, as I stated in my profile, I do not agree with the concept of polygamy either, but in conflict there are stories to be told. This is one of them.

Warnings: Some serious nastiness is apparent

May 2015

Harry Potter was exhausted. All was not well. Actually, many things were going very well, but not everything, so it would be more accurate to say that not all was well.

Of the things going well, the first was Harry's family, or rather, families. His six grown-up wives had 22 children between them, while the three Harry married to save their lives were not yet of age. There were definite signs that three more children would soon be added to the 'tribe'.

One task Harry had set for himself was to ensure that each and every one of his children would have a happier childhood than he himself had experienced. When he swore to himself that this would be the case, he had not realized how much work that task would entail.

After having six children between them, Daphne and Tracey informed Harry that, although they very much appreciated his help in creating and legitimizing their offspring, they felt it unnecessary for him to assist in putting more under their roof. As they had both been disowned by their families for their 'preference' for each other, and both being avid fans of Tolkien's works, Daphne (having been teased for most of her life for her petite stature and so being derisively called a dwarf) have named her two boys after dwarf kings, and her daughter was called Maria, being the closest 'normal' name to Moria while not having a suitable dwarfish female name, and not wanting Balin to claim lordship over his younger sister. Tracey's little Mariposa had Arwen and Sam for company.

Luna had presented Harry with three she had insisted be named for under-appreciated geniuses, and Gabrielle had two daughters she had named for her Veela relatives. Ginny Gabrielle and Luna, the three senior 'Potter' wives, were all expecting, again.

Harry Potter was often exhausted, just remembering the names of his offspring. If the Ministry's plan was for him to be responsible for repopulating the magical world after the second Voldemort War, he and his wives were doing their best. If the plan was also to keep Harry almost too busy to interfere with political skullduggery, that was pretty close to being a success as well.

Harry had also set himself two other tasks, to have his children be comfortable in both the magical and muggle worlds, and that they be as self-sufficient as possible. In the former quest, he made sure that each child was learning to prepare a healthy meal without the aid of magic or elven assistance (this took some negotiation with the family's elven population to allow unregulated access to the kitchen), and to wash dishes and do other housework in both mundane and magical fashion. Washing the dishes by hand also allowed Harry to have some one-on-one time with each child in turn, and this soon became a favourite time of the day for him and for them (how much time did they get to spend alone with their father, otherwise).

He tried to pass on his love of flying and quidditch to his family. Many enjoyed the flying, but not the rough-and-tumble of the game, and that was okay too. He smiled whenever he remembered Luna's little Maleva at one and a half years, toddling along with a whisk broom held between her little legs, trying to leap into the air.

As for things not going well, that also involved the family.

Tracey and Daphne and their children began being 'too busy' to attend family gatherings. To maintain the semblance of legality under the parochial laws of magical Britain, Harry still occasionally spent the night at the house referred to in the family as the DT's, but was usually accompanied by Lady Potter or occasionally by Lady Black. How many beds got occupied, and by whom, was the business of nobody outside the family.

Ginny was happy that Harry was no longer 'sharing' with the two, but Harry could not help feeling that he had been used. He had married the two of them so that no children that he helped create would have the stigma of illegitimacy, and their mothers would have the protection of the power and reputation of the Black family, as concubines of that house. Now that they were themselves established in their own businesses, and Harry's work in the Wizengamot was reducing any problems with their status, it seemed that he was now considered superfluous by the two Slytherins.

Pansy had gone and had a 'talk' with her old dorm-sisters, but this did not help. IF anything, the relations became for distant.

Four of Harry's children and his three youngest concubines were all attending Hogwarts, with two more pending in the next fall's sorting, along with their cousin Frida Weasley.

Molly Weasley had never really recovered from Fred's death in the War, having been already traumatized by her brothers' deaths in the first Voldemort War, and the fact that most of her children had named a child in honour of their fallen brother did not help her coming to terms with it as it was a constant reminded. Consequently, in an effort to assuage their mother's feelings, each got a nickname that did not say 'Fred' every time. Hermione's Frida and George's Ricky already noticed that when they misbehaved and they were called by their first names, Granma looked like she had just been hit with something hard and unpleasant.

When there was a Weasley family gathering, only Ginny's children would be invited, with the transparent claim that there just wasn't enough room at the rebuilt Burrow. She would attend gatherings at Potter Manor, but stuck closest to her own grandchildren. When Ginny called her on this, and said that in her opinion, all Harry's children were her children too, Molly responded that they were not all her grandchildren. Harry and Arthur had to pull the two irate witches apart before words were said that could never be un-spoken.

The presence of the three young concubines in the extended family was, to say the least, awkward. Betty was only a year older than Harry and Ginny's oldest daughter, and no matter how many entreaties and threats were made, there were persistent rumours at Hogwarts and throughout the wizarding world of pedophilia and child abuse. Some rumours claimed that all abused children become abusers themselves (and everyone knew Harry had been abused...). Harry knew that his children did not accept the rumours as fact, as he had given an order, as the Head of Two Ancient and Noble families, that if it were the case, his children were ordered to kill him. As a 'Family Order', it could not be disobeyed without them losing their magic and their own lives, and as he and they were still drawing breath, he knew that they had rejected the rumours as false.

Harry had even checked on the laws surrounding the marriages to the three sisters. Their mother had suggested the marriages so that the girls would not be executed with the rest of their family, and Harry had agreed, but refused to consummate the marriages until the girls were of age and only if they agreed. Betty was now a year away from that milestone, and the sense of awkwardness was growing within the family.

Harry had checked with Hermione (Dr. Hermione Granger-Weasley), who was now working in the legal department at the Ministry of Magic. After checking, she found that things were even worse than was originally suspected.

When the father of the girls had planted the bomb that had killed a number of Ron's teammates, and emasculated him, the law required that he and his family were all to be executed. Only by marrying, and under the paternalistic and parochial laws therefore no longer belonging to the father's family, were the girls saved from joining the execution of their parents and their brother.

If Harry released the girls from their concubinage, the fine-print in that particular law would find that both he and Hermione (who had advised him on the law) had intentionally perpetrated a fraud to circumvent the law, and thus were guilty of being accessories after the fact. As such, they and their entire families (all of the Potters, the Blacks and the Weasleys) would also be executed.

As a powerful member of the Wizengamot, Harry and his allies had tried to get this law overturned. The rationale that this law was unjust, because it punished the innocent for the acts of others, was met with unexpected and fierce resistance.

Although they had managed to push through changes to the laws to recognise other sentient magical species as having rights, largely eliminating the legal biases in favour of magical persons of so-called pure-blood, putting major restrictions on obliviating muggles, and prohibiting abuse of house elves, on this law the Wizengamot would not budge. Harry and Hermione looked at all the precedents, all the arguments, and all the reasons for repeal, and the members would not overturn the law. Even when those members were questioned on their reasons, they could not explain themselves, but they just would not vote to repeal.

Harry Potter was exhausted after a day of futile arguing, and came home to a very tense house. Uncharitably, he thought "What the hell is it now?" Pansy, Lady Black, and Ginny, Lady Potter, met Harry at the floo as he arrived. After years of experience, Harry no longer lost his balance completely when exiting the floo, although he did stumble a bit still.

Pansy, as always, came straight to the point. "Harry, we have some serious problems, and I have just received a very strange invitation from an owl I have never seen below."

She led the other two into her private study (and the headquarters of her information gathering agency). Sitting in the room we Harry's two oldest children. Marigold and Marcus were both in 4th year at Hogwarts, with both following in their mothers' Houses at Hogwarts.

Harry raised his eyebrows. "So what's so important, and how are the kids involved?"

Marcus gritted his teeth, and spoke. "Papa, we have discovered at least one source of the nasty rumours, or I guess, two sources. Now it may be accidental, so we don't want to jump to any conclusions, but Mama taught us to keep our eyes and ears open because things are not always as they seem." At Harry's questioning glance, he continued "Betty and Kitty. I heard some of the Slytherin boys talking about how they were going to 'bag' Kitty, or as they called her, Potter's whore. I followed them, carefully keeping out of sight with your cloak, and they cornered her near the library. She stunned them before they could attack, but then spoke to them quietly, and I couldn't hear what she said to them, but when she finished they all laughed, and the boys nodded as they walked away, saying 'That will get the old bastard for sure'."

Pansy looked at her son, and asked quietly "Their names? Marcus, their names."

"Angus McNair, and Edward Yaxley"

Pansy and Harry nodded as they recognised the names of the grandsons of two of the primary Death Eaters. Their fathers were two of the most conservative (aka, anti-Potter) faction in the Wizengamot. One of them had tried to accost Marigold in her second year, but she applied a muggle technique that her Aunt Hermione had taught her (passing on some of her own father's Royal Navy training), and his subsequent limping was not solely due to the broken ankle.

Marcus continued "Gus and Ned were joking as they came back to the dorms, laughing about how Kitty told them that she and Betty had been the ones spreading the rumours of child abuse."

Harry looked towards Pansy, who nodded and said, "They will be advised of the error of their ways. Subtly, as always."

Ginny shook her head in disbelief. "Do you remember when Betty was having those nightmares when she first got her period, and had bad cramps before Poppy got her onto the potions? She would wake up in her dorm screaming 'Harry, don't!'. When Poppy took a look at her to check her for any problems, she claimed that some of the older girls had been telling her how much her 'first time' was going to hurt, and she was dreading her 'consummation day'."

"Poppy called Pansy and me in to meet with Minerva, and told us this, so we could help her if this happened during the summer. Apparently, since McGonagall got the top job, she told Poppy to check for any evidence of abuse – I think she still feels guilty about leaving you with your relatives. She said she felt bad apparently not trusting you, but she could not in good conscience show any favouritism, so every and all rumours gets checked."

Marigold said, "I have heard that the other girls in her dorm started questioning Betty about what she had said, and she answered 'What do you think really happened?' You know how the Hogwarts rumour mill would have taken off with that."

Pansy commented, "The nightmares did not worry us so much, but her question to the other girls sounded like there was some other agenda. Maybe I'm being paranoid, but then that's my job. Anyway, I can see how that would get the rumour started."

Blushing, Marigold spoke again. "There was also a rumour floating around the girls' dorms, that Betty was, shall I say, 'amusing' herself, like girls in the dorm often do." Harry blushed at hearing his eldest daughter bring this topic up – no father really wants to know how well-informed his daughters are on such matters, much less that they may have put their information into practice. "Anyway, word was that Betty could go at it for an hour at a time, and the Slytherin girls were complaining about how noisy she was."

Marcus nodded. "The rumour wasn't restricted to the girls' dorms either. It was a favourite topic of discussion with the Slytherin boys, too. A lot of the boys seem almost intimidated by her, well, stamina. I mean, an hour?! The guys are in absolute awe of her. And of you, Dad"

Harry looked at his eldest son, silently mouthing, "What?"

Smiling at her brother's confirmation, Marigold continued. "Apparently, and this is just rumour you know, but she claimed, Daddy, that she was getting ready for her impending consummation with you, and that you were so virile that she need to be able to keep it up for at least an hour, which is rubbish."

Harry was puzzled by this last remark, but looking at his wives, he could see that they were desperately trying not to laugh. "What do you mean rubbish, Mari?"

Marigold gave her father the look that all teenaged girls practise to perfection, indicating that one of her parents was the dumbest thing since moldy cheese. "Daddy, I'm not stupid, and I'm not deaf! The most you and Mum last is about twenty-five minutes, and you and Mama Pansy manage about a half hour. Maximum. I think there's something up, like she's going to try to shag you into unconsciousness, or screw you stupid, or something like that."

Harry looked at his wives, and asked "She already told you this, right?" Ginny and Pansy nodded as they broke into hysterical laughter at his embarrassment. He smiled ruefully, and said "I suppose it's not the worst reputation to have," at which point Ginny threw a cushion at him.

Pansy smirked, and said "Harry, you must know it's not just the guys in the dorms who are obsessed with sex and talk about it a lot. It's the number one topic in the girls' dorms as well. By the way, the last time Betty was injured in a game of quidditch, after fixing the broken fingers Poppy checked her out, rather thoroughly I might add. Anyhow, no evidence of abuse or damage what-so-ever. No hair on the palms or knuckles, no failing eyesight. Nothing. Perhaps some calluses on the fingers, but that could have come from holding the broom while flying, no?"

By this time, the others in the rom were laughing. Except Ginny.

Ginny looked at her husband. "Harry, you know I have been uncomfortable with 'The Sisters' as part of our marriage. But I swear that this is none of my doing, and I would never try to undermine your trust in them. However, Pansy has looked into the matter, and is worried, and she knows what she is doing, so I am worried too."

Pansy looked at Harry, and continued to explain. "I know we have spoken about it, but Betty and Kitty seem to hang around together, and not mix with the other kids. Lydia mixes and plays with the others, but Betty and Kitty give her a look. I'm not sure to describe it as distain, or contempt. It's quite unsettling, and I'm getting more and more worried about it."

"On top of this, Rosemary and Katherine, Kitten and Kitty have been arguing over who has the right to their nicknames, as they are so similar. Yesterday, they had drawn their wands and Gabbi has to stop the form hexing each other. We tried to talk to them about changing the nicknames, something like calling Rosemary 'Pussycat' now that she's older and mostly grown up, and Katherine 'Katie', or 'Trina', but neither one was having any of it. Both insist vehemently that they had the name first. It's gotten to the point where most of the family doesn't use either nickname, because of the hostile reactions of the two. I think we are going to have trouble there."

In a desperate effort to change the subject, Harry looked at Pansy, and asked "You say you got a strange invitation from a strange owl?"

She nodded and handed him a parchment, bearing seal that Harry had never seen before.

It read:

To Lady Black, Lady Potter, and Lord Potter, Lord Black, etc.

It would be to our mutual advantage to meet to discuss matters of personal and national import. It would be best if all three of you attend.

Unless it is inconvenient, I suggest meeting at three hours of the clock, in the afternoon of Tuesday next. Please let me know if this will be acceptable.

I suggest meeting at the 'Pork and Prime Minister' pub in London, which is located one block from the headquarters of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). I should warn you that this locale has televisions continually showing reruns of a muggle comedy show from some fourty years ago, and it can get a little rowdy. This will suit our purposes well. The floo coordinates for the fireplace in the back room are attached below.

In expectation of your acceptance, I have reserved a room at the back of the pub, under the name 'Black'.

So as not to catch you by surprise, I should let you know that I and my colleagues are aware of Lady Black's operations, and are in full agreement with its purpose and function. Some of my associates will also be in attendance.

I also can see, by the charms on this missive, that your children have informed you of the suspected source of the rumours at Hogwarts. This is one of the topics for discussion.

In anticipation of a fruitful meeting, I remain your humble servant.

Tiberius James, Fourth Earl of Ogden

Harry grimaced. "Damn. I had hoped it would change the subject."