AN: This chapter started off small, with a bit of an information dump. It has since been edited and grown by ten pages, which meant I had to edit it again, just to make sure. So it took a little longer than expected.
Thank you all very much for the encouraging comments you left last chapter. Hopefully this one will spark even more.
Chapter 6 – Until Death Plays it's Part
24th July, Department of Magical Law Enforcement
"I want her dealt with to the full extent of the law. Attacking me in my own home like that in blatant violation of the Decree of Underage Sorcery!" The old Indian man stated imposingly, the iron streaks running through his black hair left no doubt to his age and standing. The mass of cuts across his body left no doubt as to the truth of the accusations.
"I assure you we'll take care of this, Mister Patil." Madame Bones said carefully, feeling slightly sick as a sadistic grin wormed its way onto his face.
"Good, as I remember the penalties for disobeying the Head of House are quite strict in this country." He smiled. "I have already formally disowned her for her assault on my person which I believe makes her nameless... I'm sure you know the laws to which I am referring?"
"Let us assume I do not." The Head of the DMLE answered with a sigh.
"Well, since she's no longer a pureblood or half-blood witch in your societies eyes it's perfectly acceptable that payment for her crimes be in the form of enforced servitude. I'm sure she'd be willing to form the concubine bond over years in Azkaban. I promised the Nott family one of my daughters and they will have her, willing or not. It is matter of honour." Madame Bones was revolted. She knocked over the case recording quill with a frown. "A thousand galleon donation to the DMLE should expedite things, I believe." He added as an afterthought, but his eyes never left hers.
Madame Bones leant back in her chair. "One Thousand Galleons..." She laughed in his face. "If that is truly what you believe she is worth, I pity you." She smiled like a shark as she decided her course of action. For actions spoke louder than words.
"You are refusing my offer then." The man straightened. "Let me be clear with you Madame Bones, I may be a foreigner and I may not be the Head of an Ancient or Noble House, but my daughter goes to Hogwarts and I still have power here and with the ICW. You are just a women with a semblance of authority."
Amelia snorted. "Because you are a foreigner I will go easy on you and explain just how badly you have screwed yourself over. Padma has committed no crime, as she is under the protection of an Ancient and Most Noble House; your attempts to marry her off without her Lord's consent is salvageable only by your ignorance of the situation. Her assault can and will be viewed as simple self-defence against possible criminal activity. She's also been exempt from the Decree of Underage Sorcery for several weeks now so that charge is also a non-issue. Disowning her and indicating your desire to take a young women protected by an Ancient and Most Noble House as a concubine slave..." She laughed. "When I inform her Lord of what you have just attempted... Let me say that I could not have come up with a quicker way of committing political suicide in this country."
Her expression turned hard. "Do not threaten me again, Mister Patil, as you have said I am a woman in a place of significant authority in a chauvinistic, bloodline obsessed society." Her voice dropped to a whisper. "Do not assume I got here by chance or patronage." She smiled. "Good day."
The man in front of her swallowed. Eyes darted from side to side. He half-bowed stiffly and went to leave. Amelia went to follow. For seven years she'd played all sides against each other, getting a reputation as an extremely competent Auror who refused to take bribes and favoured no side. Her appointment was a compromise in a game of favouritism. She was sick of serving this society.
"I hope you pay your twenty galleon fine for attempted bribery on your way out." She yelled after the fleeing man. "Wouldn't want an honourable man such as yourself taken in like a common criminal." She snickered as his pace increased. Her tone lacked any emotion as she turned to the desk Auror for the day. "Dawlish, give me your badge and whatever that odorous man paid you to grant him an audience with me, you are done here. Be glad you didn't pull that stunt with Scrimgeour, he was elected minister last night and..." Her eyes found the Daily Prophet and the Auror shivered as rage ran rampant across her face. Her mind was made up.
OoooOoooO
Greengrass Estate, an hour earlier.
Daphne sat down on the stairs as she felt a quietly seeping sadness. Channelling more magic into her constant Occlumantic shields didn't stop it, so what was causing... The floo chimed. "Allow Entry!" She yelled at the wards as she scampered down the last remaining steps.
The door to the living room slammed open. Padma was trembling, silvery tracts running down her face as she stood there, staring at the floor. "Are you okay?" Daphne asked, "Was there an attack? Is your family oka-" She stepped back as a shard of hurt surged through her. "Do you want to talk about it?" She asked quickly, going for a hug. Sorrow and despair flooded the pair before the threw themselves apart.
Blinking her own tears out of her eyes, she managed a half-smile at her nervous sister in the doorway. Ice numbed everything as she gasped for air. Her hands weren't shaking any more. Smiling, she pitied the fool who believed Occlumency was simply the art of shielding their mind. "It's okay 'Stori." She tried to reassure the girl, frantically reaching for a plan. "My Sister's just had a bad time."
Getting to her feet, she walked over to the trembling Indian girl. "Sister!" Her blood-sister squeaked indignantly. Daphne put it out of her mind, pulling her magic towards her mind as her hand touched Padma. Cold flame burnt away the broiling emotion that channelled up their link.
Padma felt the weight lift from her shoulders as she stood up, a dull happiness replacing the fleeting despair. Her friends would take care of her and Daphne would come up with a plan. She always had a plan. "Thank you." She whispered. "Thank you very much."
The blond Slytherin released the Occlumentic Suppression with a gasp, the chill slowly seeping away. Now her 'sister' was reassuring her with the feelings easing across the bond. But did she dare dismiss the lingering regrets? Blaise would be a definite, but only in bed, Hermione on the other hand... she bit her lip. Could she risk it? Padma's eyes met hers. They both blushed. Mood swings. Blame it on the mood swings.
"Timir." CRACK. The two girls jumped apart, the hands they where holding shoved quickly behind their backs. Damien Greengrass burst out laughing as his daughter and her girlfriend's actions. "Prepare the guest-room for Daphne's friend, she looks like she'll need it." CRACK. The house elf disappeared as Damien guided his youngest daughter to one of the lounges as he gestured for the other two girls. "Now," he said warmly, "I'm sure the two of you have a story to tell." The Indian girl looked away and Daphne didn't move to take her hand away.
Damien sighed as he read the language between them and the story started. They reacted all wrong for a couple, but the last thing he'd do is drive away the last remainder of his love he had over an infatuation, if that's what this was.
"Well, you are more than welcome to stay here for as long as we can host you. What we can't do though, is shield you from any legal repercussions." He put forward gently at the end of Padma's tale. They both smiled up at him and expressed their thanks. "The Ancient and Noble House of Greengrass isn't powerful enough politically to do much for you I'm afraid. We're independents, and not wealthy ones either."
Daphne threw her father a look and smiled. "I think I've thought of a way out if it does come to court... No one can confirm when an oath is made and the Head of an unconfirmed Ancient House has practically no rights over a member of their House if they're under the protection of a Most Noble House." She smirked. "It's why the Blacks could never get Sirius legally or magically when he made friends with James Potter." All eyes turned to her. "What? I'm not the only one who studied that bit of history in third year."
Padma rolled her eyes. "Thank you, both of you."
Damien hugged his youngest daughter and bent down to whisper in her ear. "See, told you there was a good explanation for it, now why don't you go and finish that assignment while I lay out some ground rules for these two." Astoria stared up at him, smiled and scampered off. "I wonder what she's plotting." He mused reluctantly, the girl was being far too quiet.
A flick of the wand closed the door and he raised an eyebrow as his eldest threw up her own secrecy wards, silently. Finishing his off he turned his gaze on the girls. "I am not going to ask how the two of you know each other or how you can both cast wards silently, nor am I going to ask which Most Noble Lord you're getting yourselves involved with." He said calmly. "What I am going to ask is what those silver tattoos are." They both stared at him nervously so he decided to go a little further.
"I also know about the bracer you've been wearing Daphne, I taught you how to break a Unnoticeable Ward remember? And while I appreciate the rune array on the top is the anchor for the mobile ward I was hoping you'd be willing to tell me what it is. I'm willing to allow a lot of things, but if someone or something is going to put either of my daughters at risk, I want to be able to deal with it."
"Dad..." Daphne started. "He wouldn't hurt us, he's not Dumbledore or Riddle if that's what you're worried about." She sighed. "The glove has a rune array on the inside, made of a magically conductive material. When in skin contact, that array works as a foci for a specific shield charm. It's not as good as a second wand, but it works." She shrugged. "The tattoos. It's best if you don't know."
Damien leant back. Veritaserum deniability, he understood that. Now, he didn't recognise them so he was left with what had upset 'Stori. 'Sister'. An honorific, used amongst concubines of the same wizard in the darker parts of Europe and abroad but his daughter would either admit it or tell him that she couldn't say. That implied something possibly similar, but beneficial... Puzzling. "Thank you for being honest with me, but I'd like to meet with Harry at some point."
"Christmas?" Daphne asked. Her father nodded as he started dismissing the privacy wards.
"Acceptable. I'll leave you two girls to it, just explain things to 'Stori, she might be jealous of your new sister." Damien left with a smile on his face as they blushed.
"Your Dad..." Padma whispered afterwards. "How did he?"
"I did say I only took after my mother in looks." Daphne smirked as they got back to the important thing: Snuggling.
They only broke apart when a letter was dropped on their Padma's head by a rather irritated owl. Daphne did her best to reassure her as she cracked open the Ministry seal. "It's from Madame Bones, she's dismissed all charges." Padma said happily before retreating further into her friends comforting embrace. "He disowned me, thank Merlin..." The two carried on reading.
Daphne cackled as she read the last part of the letter. "Oh yes, Lord Black will be showing his displeasure. So will Greengrass if I have any say in the matter." Burning blue eyes met Padma's scared brown as righteous anger battered the fear away. "He wanted you as a concubine. No one fucks with me and mine and gets away with it."
Padma rested her head in the crook of her arm. "You sound like Harry when you say that." The Slytherin girl smirked.
OoooOoooO
Albus Dumbledore receives Ministerial Pardon
by Rita Skeeter
Today Cornelius Fudge, in one of what is suspected to be his last moves has attempted to right some of his previous mistakes, rescinded the warrant out for the Headmaster of Hogwart's arrest and arranged a pardon for Dumbledore and others that have been fundamental to preventing You-Know-Who from regaining his body and returning to his full strength. The esteemed High Warlock had this to say when we questioned him about it,
'I would have loved to have Ministry support for the last sixteen years that we've been tirelessly researching how he could have remained alive if my suspicions where correct. It's only in the last five years that I've found any direct proof he still existed. I tried to get the Ministry involved as soon as I had proof, but a hunger ridden dementor accidentally kissed Barty Crouch Jr. and prevented my claims from being verified.'
The Great Albus Dumbledore went on to elaborate how he and his 'trusted confederates' would continue seeking ways to end You-Know-Who permanently with the aid of the Boy-Who-Lived. We can only hope that...'
"What utter bullshit." Madam Bones announced throwing the paper down to the group of Aurors she personally trusted without reproach. "You've all seen the crimes he used this as an escape clause from, and the law he passed baring non-humans from testifying conveniently dismisses all attempts at bringing in goblin evidence." Her eyes found Shacklebolt.
"Don't look at me." He said calmly. "I have no idea what he'll try to do next, but he spent the entirety of yesterday sourcing enough money to pay off Fudge. I'm not entirely sure how he managed it, he certainly couldn't have convinced the goblins that Lord Black to parted with some of his funds even if Harry showed up in person."
"Wait, you're a spy?" Tonks blurted out. "I thought you were as loyal as the rest of them..." Her eyes flickered between the others in the room.
"As if the Department of Law Enforcement would be incompetent enough not to notice and keep track of a Lord's followers and their actions." Amelia stated bitterly. "Let us hope the Old Bastard doesn't take the charges personally and come after me or Susan." She sighed. "I was disgusted at how easy it was for him to dismiss enough crimes for thirteen life sentences in Azkaban."
"If what you're trying to say is that this government has fallen apart at the edges, that corruption is rampant and you've finally realised that the criminals have been running the government." The pale pureblood loitering at the edges of the conversation said firmly. "There are more pleasant ways of doing it than asking us to swear a secrecy oath."
"Enough, Gawain." Madam Bones said firmly. "I realised that a long time ago but we have bigger problems now. I'm assuming that at least one of you is completely clueless about our Sovereignty with Binn's teaching history." She sighed in exasperation at the entire room full of black looks. "I'll put it bluntly, at the establishment of magical Britain five Lords and their followers forged a treaty in blood and stone, claiming this land as their own Sovereign domain in the eyes of magic. They established our original laws as if they were binding oaths. Any child born here is linked to this magic the moment they tap into or use any magic in this country. Since its creation the magic has been modified and added to in accordance with treaties, power shifts and other incidents. The last modification was made in 1692."
"When Britain ratified the statue of secrecy, but before Clause 73 affecting magical creatures ?" Tonks added.
"Precisely. At some point between those two laws, the knowledge of how and why the land magic should be altered appears to have been lost, banned or fallen out of favour. Knowledge that there was such a magic probably disappeared some time in the last one or two hundred years." Amelia carried on. "Which means that all the laws introduced since then that established pureblood society, guilds, discrimination against the muggleborn..." She trailed off. "Isn't regarded as law by the magic of this country and there are several whose enforcement are considered illegal acts since at that point opinion was firmly based on the magical vs mundane conflict and protecting muggleborns from the hunts."
"This is a problem because the Sovereignty magic is embedded into the very Ley-Lines of this country. It's how Obliviators know where to go and whose memories to modify, it is the base of Underage Sorcery detection, the very essence of contractual magics, including marriage and family magics. It is what has bound the dementors to Azkaban and Ministry control for the last seven centuries." She started pacing.
"The magic feeds off of the lands energy. Therefore, the less it needs enforcing the more powerful it becomes and the less energy it needs to draw." She paused. "It's taken me five fucking years to find that out. Five bloody years to work out how the magic that my entire department is based on works!" The others in the room shivered. Amelia might not have been a Lord with her own aura, but she could intimidate dragon on a day like this.
"I don't quite see how this applies to us. If it's powered by the ley-lines it should be fine, right?" Shacklebolt put forward. "It's not as though they can just run out." Amelia scowled and shook her head.
"If only that where true. How many of you know the tales of Merlin's era? The songs of dragons, warnings of the Sidhe, of Greater Fey. Of shaman and druids? The locations of ancient Groves, burial sites? Ghosts outside of Hogwarts?" She looked around the room. "The only elves there are now are forced to scavenge magic from mortals, there are no Groves, pixies are a nuisance and the nearest living place for Dragons, which our Isle was once famous for... is Romania. To top it all off, the most magical place in Britain, Hogwarts, isn't part of the Sovereignty. The four founders established their own domain with the consent of the Council of Elders in 934." She stopped and laughed shakily. "Magical Britain is dead and as far as I can tell, we've killed it."
"This might explain what's been happening in my department... When was Dumbledore's pardon signed?" Gawain asked nervously.
"Some when before eleven, yesterday. Why?" Shacklebolt supplied.
"At 10:50, yesterday evening the magical detection grid failed in several sectors. No one's quite sure what happened." Gawain shivered. "It was probably the exact same time that our chief legislator managed to break every rule in the book and get away with it. The good news is that the London sector is flickering on and off, so it's fixable. If we can stop the draw..." He snarled. "But I can't tell them, can I?" He turned to his nominal boss. "Why the hell aren't we allowed to tell this to others? I'm Head of the Department, I should be able to tell them what's wrong..." Everyone turned to their boos.
"Who wants to bet that the country's wards aren't tied to the ley-lines?" Amelia asked softly. "And who honestly believes that with a Dark Lord, the blood-purists, Dumbledore and the rest of them that this isn't going to fall?" Amelia glared at all of them. "You are here because I either trust you, or trust your Lord. If this information gets out, local Dark Lords will be the least of our problems, any megalomaniac with the ability to oath followers will come here waiting to carve out his own piece of real estate." They all nodded.
"I think I know why I'm here now." Tonks said softly. "There's a book that lists magical Lords, isn't there?"
"Yes there is." Gawain said nervously. "It's in my department near the book recording magical children. Soon it'll only be Lords and primal wizardry like Life Debts and bonds that will have any authority here."
"There's no need." Amelia stated as he started to get up. "I checked it before we called this meeting. There are only three Lords in Britain. Thomas Marvolo Riddle, the half-blood who goes by the name of Voldemort, Albus Bloody Dumbledore and Harry James Potter." Silence.
"Yeah, that was my reaction as well." She said with a half-hearted chuckle. "If anyone has a better idea than joining one of them and hoping he's powerful enough to salvage something from this, by all means I'm open to suggestion."
Gawain looked around at the group of five. If Amelia was correct and he'd place bets that she was, they ley-lines were capable of a quick recovery as sectors had gone down before but almost always came back up again within days. It would take something major for the magic to fail completely... Or near continuous wear. He stretched his memory, cursing himself for falling behind on the Occlumency his father had taught him and saw the pattern. Quite a few of the failing sectors were where the homes of powerful pureblood families that had children were and the flaws were spreading. Now the sector about the ministry had collapsed for the second time. The first being the incident with the department of Mysteries.
"So..." He started. No one else spoke for a while. "So... Harry Potter."
"Is he even capable of forming a fealty bond with us?" Shacklebolt asked nervously. "He hasn't achieved his Majority yet so the odds of him being more powerful than all of us is rather small."
"As far as I know, yes." Tonks said quietly. "He has at least one adult witch as a follower." The others shuffled nervously. Kingsley was the first to react, it started as a chuckle, then erupted to full blown laughter. They all needed it.
"So you are the reason Dumbledore has been running around like a headless phoenix since the will reading. I should have known. Harry it is." Shacklebolt looked at the others.
"Given a choice between a psychopath, a self-righteous bastard with grand ideas of blood purity and a sixteen year old idealist..." Gawain trailed off. "If Kingsley is in, I'll join his side. There's not many that you'd follow with that overblown sense of righteousness you have." Shacklebolt snorted but nodded in agreement regardless.
"I was always in." Luciena, the silent member of their group added. She took in the others stares as they took in the dark bags under her eyes. "What? He'll kill them all. My life for vengeance. No fucking Dumbledorian forgiveness or imperius claims." She snarled.
"Tonks..." Amelia said quickly before anyone could mention the women's dead husband and son that had been guarding her estate that night. "When can we meet with your Lord without alerting the watchers."
She smiled. "The evening results arrive will probably be the best." She explained. "From what I've been able to gather, Dumbledore is trying to up the competency of his watchers and relying on those who are oathed to him. Most will be occupied with Hogwarts' business that day. Actually, we could always use one of Shacklebolt's watches."
The man in question nodded. "I have only one other watch before then, the teachers review meeting tomorrow. I'll introduce myself to him then and explain out position." The others agreed.
OoooOoooO
31st July, 4 Privet Drive
Harry Potter stared up at the ceiling, munching on one of the chocolates Hermione had sent him for his un-birthday. He'd also gotten a couple of interesting items from the Twins along with some books from Tonks and Remus. The younger Weasley's and Molly's presents were currently in the bin in the back garden.
He rolled over and flipped to the next chapter on breeding magical snakes and how putting a chicken egg under a toad was a completely idiotic idea if you wanted a snake and proceeded to detail the potion that a viper egg had to be soaked in for a month. It then detailed the various alchemical processes that it had to undergo to produce the potent familiar-snake.
Checking the ingredients, he had nearly everything apart from lock of hair...
But then, giving someone a Basilisk was a really stupid idea for a prank, wasn't it?
OoooOoooO
3rd August, Woods in the South East of England
Hannah stared at the body, checking the notice-me-not ward one last time. Her trembling fingers might have messed up the ward, you see and that would not have been good. Pulling the fine bone wand from her second holster she pointed it at the body. "Separare animum." She cast a little reluctantly.
Nothing happened.
She checked her little black book, repeating the spell several times. Still no result. Frowning, she pointed her wand at the corpse with a swish and a flick. "Wingardium Leviosa"
Nothing happened.
She pulled her other wand quickly and the corpse levitated up even with her trembling hands. "Separare animum." Ice flooded through her veins, the addiction suppressed behind a cold emotionless wall as she watched the spirit of the rat rise from its body. The cold touch of it's death caressing her soul.
She felt the slightest curiosity, and flicked to the next spell diagram.
The alarm on her watch went off two hours later, dragging her kicking and screaming back to the cares of the living. The half-animated corpse was blown to pieces by a pulse of anger channelled through her wand.
Hannah Abbott dropped to her knees with a silly smile on her face. A reducto probably would have been a better idea. Still, she noted as she walked back from the local woods. Necromancy spells appear to consume emotion and suppresses the addiction. Perfect. Smiling faintly she worked out a new study plan. At this rate, she'd be off the Dark Arts by term start.
OoooOoooO
7th August 1996, 4 Privet Drive
Harry chuckled as he looked at the parchment. There, in the centre of the protean parchment, was a big table, subjects listed calmly in Hermione's writing down one edge, all eight of their names down the other. Luna and Erin had scrawled some rather bemusing comments at the bottom. Harry didn't care; he was taking the day off.
He still checked on the potions he had simmering in the shed though. Gardening being the sole chore he hadn't given up on after learning how to properly threaten his house mates. As such there was a rather pleasant selection of non-magical ingredients growing at the back of it for the summer. Tomatoes, strawberries, dandelions... Some of them were rarely used in potions, as every living thing had a bit of magic that could destroy a careful reaction, but with a bit of alchemy he was still learning to control, it certainly helped with the taste. No one really wanted to taste the Butterbeak pus in the stronger blood replenishers. He also rather like strawberry calming draught.
That was how the disgruntled, snappish and so very ruffled looking owl found him and glared. "Yeah, I hate the redirection wards too." He confirmed, getting the bird a drink and some treats before slamming the letter it carried with a couple of detection charms. Finding it clear he opened it, noticing the stress lines in the wax seal. His watchers were just so useless at hiding their interference.
'OWL Results for Harry James Potter
Raw results and certificates have been placed in the designated vault, or bundled with this letter if no vault was specified.
Key:
Subject Theory Level / Practical Level / Overall Level
H – Honours. (The subject is believed to have surpassed NEWT level and may trade this in for an Acceptable pass NEWT certificate)
O – Outstanding. (* indicates pupil is working at NEWT level)
EE – Exceeds Expectations.
Results:
Ancient Runes: O*/-/O*
Arithmancy: O*/-/O*
Astronomy: A/A/A
Care of Magical Creatures: EE/O/O
Charms: O*/O*/O*
Defense Against the Dark Arts: H/H/H
Herbology: O/EE/O
History of Magic: O/-/O
Transfiguration: O*/O*/O*
Potions: H/H/H
Total OWLs: 10
The Ministry would like to congratulate you on the work and dedication required to reach an Honours level in a subject, an award only given out in very, very rare circumstance with a maximum of one per subject per year. This year was considered an extremely hard decision to make. In addition, your assessor for Potions, a Mr Edward Monkfish would like to put forward an offer of apprenticeship, though he is sure you could do much better.
Your OWL results qualify you to take NEWT Ancient Runes, Arithmancy, Charms... '
Harry shrugged, entering his results into the table later than the others. Their results looked nearly identical to his own, but with everyone else getting honours in their favourite subjects. He expected it, they'd spent the last five years studying ahead together, with the exception of Neville and the two lower years, so it made sense that they'd know the same spells and have the same weak points.
Looking over the comments he found that Hermione was over the moon at her twin Honours in Arithmancy and Ancient Runes, but Daphne was grouching about not getting one. He sighed and laid back. Life was good.
"What are you dong here?" His aunt snapped, breaking his reverie. "Whatever he's told you, we didn't do it. Been raising him as our own we have, so you can all head back to wherever you came from before the neighbours see you."
"Thank you for your suspiciously specific reassurance." The bubbly voice of Tonks ambled through the house, which explained why the wards hadn't gone off. "Tell Harry his one O'clock is here, would you?"
Harry saved her the hassle, his wand leading round the door frame of the lounge. "Wotcher Tonks. No hard feelings right?"
"You own a building at Twelve Grimmaud Place." Tonks stated quickly. "Don't trust your own wards?"
"You can't use that in he-" Petunia voice stopped as blue light hit her in the throat.
"Sorry about that, never got around to telling them I had an exemption." Harry said with a sigh. "And no, I don't trust anything that can be broken without me noticing. Constant vigilance and all. Go and get the others, my aunt will stay out the way, won't you Petunia?" He fixed the non-magical with his death stare. She withered and fled.
Harry watched the group carefully as they came in. Amelia Bones was the first, and probably the biggest surprise, followed by Remus Lupin who looked better than he ever had before. Shacklebolt he knew. Then two unknowns entered. He kept his eyes firmly on them. The first, with carefully kept blond hair and bluish brown eyes, was nervous and held himself like a pureblood. As reserved as his steps and stereotypically his clothes were there was still a smooth efficiency to his movements. The last was a thirty year old women who had seen better days. Her eyes where haunted and she twitched.
Tonks introduced them as Gawain Robards and Luciena Darrow, Head of the Inappropriate Usage of Magic Office and an experienced Auror. Harry took them all in, as they sat in the non-magical living room on non-magical chairs, while he stood by the window. Then he conjured his own wooden seat.
"If you are here to swear your loyalty to me for this war, you need to know a few things first." Harry started. "To begin with, I am not happy with this situation. I'm a school child, not even seventeen and I'm certainly not prepared to lead or look after a band of followers. Secondly, this a non-magical household, it's where I spent the first eleven years of my life. They were shit. The magical world was very nearly worse and that is saying something. So I will make myself very clear on this subject. The magical world is out of date, decrepit and dying. Hogwarts, which is still somehow regarded as the great pinnacle of education has failed completely. Four centuries ago I would be taking Alchemy at NEWT level. Today it is unthinkable." Harry stood suddenly and started to pace. Emerald eyes burning slightly as the others in the room felt a wave of something was over them.
"Joining me is stating that Magical Britain is going to fall apart. That the prejudice, ignorance and bigotry that your entire world rests needs to be destroyed. If you're not comfortable working with non-magicals, researching Dark Arts or throwing any concept of respect being based on blood or age out the window, you do not want to do this." Harry stared at them all. "I do not want anyone following me to hate it because their reality is falling apart around them. If you want to leave now, do. This goes for you as well Tonks."
"We know." Amelia said nervously, settling her mental shields. "It's why we're here and not at work or talking to Dumbledore." She paused, evaluating the young man in front of her. "How much do you know of Sovereignty or ley-line magic?"
"Nothing, but I can probably rectify that fairly easily. I have better sources than most." Harry answered reluctantly. "I take it this is important?"
Amelia nodded. "I'll explain later, when everyone else has left. Essentially, Britain's Sovereignty is falling apart, the countries wards and the magical base of the ministry itself is starting to crumble. I suspect it won't be long until people like yourself and soul magics are the only things with the power to enforce anything. I am also tired and sick of trying to change this world from the inside out. I will always stand beside my niece." She stood slowly, pulling her wand from it's holster at her belt. "May I?" Harry nodded reluctantly as the elder women knelt.
"I, Amelia Susan Bones, do offer, of my own free will, my wand and loyalty to you as my lord, till death or my family requests my release." Her ash wand was held handle up for a few tense moments before Harry took it.
"I-" Tonks shivered, "Harry James Potter, do hereby..." His eyes glowed and he gasped. "accept your fealty and service." He finished through clenched teeth. "So. Mote. It. Be." He finished, softly, sparks flying as Tonks slid off the couch and everyone was blinded by a pillar of gold energy.
"That... hurt." Harry announced to the room as he got slowly to his feet. "That never happened with Tonks... Hey Tonks, are you okay?" He asked quickly, striding over to her and shaking her shoulder gently.
Blury grey eyes looked up at him weakly. "Next time you try and bond someone more powerful than you, remind me to tell you it's impossible first. Or leave my power out of it, if you could."
Harry snorted, and handed her a pepper-up from his back pocket, she drank it quickly and almost spat it out in surprise. Then steam cleaned her ears out. "I fixed the taste issue." he said with a grin, turning back to the rest of their stunned little group. "You can get up now Madame Bones, I can't believe that the floor is that comfortable."
"Of course." She said quickly. "I was just not expecting that kind of response is all." She looked to Remus, "I believe you wanted to go next." The werewolf grinned and put himself forward.
The others gave their reasons and swore themselves in without further difficulty or collapses.
Harry offered to get drinks for them all, but Tonks did it instead as the small talk began. There was a dull throbbing pain at the back of his skull and it was slowly getting worse despite the adrenaline boost, energy, or whatever it was he felt himself gaining each time someone gave their loyalty. Shivering slightly he took the steaming mug Tonks offered and looked up at the assembled, sipping black coffee as though it where ambrosia. If he was going to do this, he told himself as he organised his thoughts, he was going to do this right.
Clearing his throat he stood. "Okay, since we're actually going to do this, let's start with the basics: I don't want anyone following me to die. Your first job is make sure you're the best you can be. Train each other, share dirty tricks, little shortcuts, the best spells, anecdotes, whatever might give you an advantage outside a duelling arena." He paused. "If in your normal jobs you happen upon marked Death Eaters or people wearing Death Eater robes or masks. Kill them unless they're obviously a non-combatant or you can't get away with it. If that's the case, incapacitate them with bone-breaker. If they have wands snap them, or take them as a secondary weapon." He ran a hand through his hair as he tried to think things through. "I'm assuming you carry potions on you..." He trailed off as Tonks' hair flared the same colour as her cheeks.
"Err, why would we be carrying potions?" She asked. Harry sighed.
"Right. Three potions you should always have at least one vial of on you." He pulled out three vials from his back pocket, just to make a point. "Calming draught, in case you're not a cold heartless killer or someone you need to extract is being ill or to stop someone from using emotion powered magic like a patronus or most Dark Arts." He pointed to the next vial. "Blood Replenishment Potion, if someone's dying and you want to keep them alive, they're probably going to need one so they can make it to a healer." The last one was a near copy of the one he'd given to Tonks earlier. "Pepper-Up potion, because fights can stretch on for a while, and you'll probably need one."
Harry then shocked them all by pulling a knife from an ankle holder. "Moving on, we have an emergency weapon, in case whoever took you down tries to gloat a little before finishing you off. This one's poisoned so I only need to draw blood with it to put them on the ground screaming. If you're going to do that, carry the antidote with you so you don't kill yourself or a friend. If you have any problems getting them, I can spot you some money from the Black accounts. Or I could just put another couple of cauldrons on the boil come to think of it. Shield gloves will have to wait until I have people to manufacture them. You're probably aware of hundreds of other artefacts that could come in useful in a fight. Any questions?"
"Are you sure you aren't Moody in disguise?" Harry stared at Lucrencia and raised an eyebrow. She had the grace to look sheepish.
"Good, other than preparing and eliminating Death Eaters I honestly don't have much for you to do at the moment, so you're stuck in your jobs unless you have any ideas that might be useful. In general, try to keep discriminatory legislation out of the Wizenmoot if you can, protect each others backs and the people Tonks will tell you later." He paused with a brief frown. "Be nice to the goblins and other magicals. Kingsley, as much as you might dislike what's happening, I would appreciate it if you remained as a spy within the Order but I could understand it if you refused. If you do go back with them, get out of there the moment you think they might suspect you. I wouldn't put it past the old man to use compulsion charms or memory modification. Also avoid eye contact with him." After a few more brief discussions in which Amelia parted with her information and agreed to be the proxy for the Black votes. They agreed to meet again on Harry's first visit to Hogsmead and parted ways.
Gawain summed it up for all of them before they apparated away. "Dumbledore makes you feel trusting and complacent, Voldemort scares you shitless but Harry..." The man smiled. "He makes you feel like anything is possible. Rather inspiring to be honest."
OoooOoooO
Same day, The Burrow
Ron snatched the letter out of his sister's hands and scowled, flicking through until he got to the good bit. Here it was, the bit that would pronounce his superiority to the world!
Results:
Astronomy: P/P/P
Care of Magical Creatures: P/A/A
Charms: P/T/P
Defense Against the Dark Arts: A/EE/A
Divination: A/EE/EE
Herbology: P/A/A
History of Magic: T/-/T
Transfiguration: A/A/A
Potions: T/T/T
Total OWLs: 5
You will be able to pursue the following subjects at NEWT level: Divination, Herbology, Care of Magical Creatures.
"I... got five OWLs." Ron blinked. "That can't be right. I... I'm one of the Ministry Six! I have an exemption from Underage Magic and everything..." His mother snatched the offending piece of parchment from his fingers.
"Well." Molly Weasley said with a small sigh. "Ginevra will be able to get new school supplies after all."
"Really?" The small hyperactive girl asked. "IthoughtWeCouldn'tAffordItSo...How?"
Molly rounded on her youngest sound. "Ronald will not be needing his as he has barely scraped the minimum three NEWTs required to return next year. Also the twins have found another backer for their joke shop and spotted us some money." She glared at the younger boy. "We will be having discussions about your work ethic. Without access to that... boy's funds we are on a shoestring budget, so I suggest you have good hard think about your actions young man."
OoooOoooO
8th August, Longbottom Manor
Interfering Umbridge Triggers Worst Results Ever
by Rita Skeeter
Owls have been bringing students their results up and down the country today and many are in for an unwelcome surprise. Defence Against the Dark Arts, quite possibly the essential subject in the days to come has recorded the worst results ever seen. NEWTs were hit especially hard, with one fifth of students managing to pass and only a tenth achieving the top Outstanding grade, none of whom went to Hogwarts.
It is a statement of quality that Magical Britain and the rest of the Magical World uses Hogwart's texts and tests as the basis of their education. The education that was shattered when former Minister Fudge was misled to appointing suspected Death Eater and current missing person Delores Umbridge to the role of Defence teacher. It is believed that she sabotaged the students education so much that there were a grand total of ten students who scored well enough to progress to a NEWT in the subject.
But how did they manage it? Six of them, yes, the Ministry Six, can claim the honour of being trained by Dumbledore himself before he was forced from his office by unfair accusations. In fact he had this to say to us:
'It was simply my duty to ensure that Lord Voldemorts primary target, the symbol of our hope, the Boy-Who-Lived was prepared for any confrontation. He, of course, couldn't rest without an equal level of protection and training for his friends and companions.'
As for the other four, whom our contacts assure us are Slytherins whose parents have high standing in our society, they had a private tutor in the form of Professor Severus Snape. We should all be grateful that such a good teacher has agreed to step aside as Potions Master to teach our children this most valuable skill.'
Neville put the paper down with his eyebrows squished together and his eyes crossed. A frown was most evident on his face. Madam Longbottom looked on in concern as her grandson through the Prophet on the fire and muttered, quite loudly. "Snape? Teach? Why do I still subscribe to that rag?"
OoooOoooO
11th August, Hogwarts
Professor McGonagall brushed the remaining dust off the sixth year's NEWT choices with a frown as she compared them. She didn't know whether to be annoyed or honoured. Eight students had invoked an old rule of the castle, which stated that any resident willing to pay the examination fee could take any exam offered at Hogwarts. It was obviously intended for Professors doing further study and hadn't been used for centuries but it was still on the books.
They had then taken the minimum of three classes required to qualify as boarding students. Ancient Runes, Arithmancy and Transfiguration to be precise. A few other professors had remarked about their favourite students requesting private tuition instead of attending NEWT lessons and she wasn't quite sure what to think of it. That didn't mean she wouldn't treasure Susan's request and push her to the extent of her amazing abilities but it did make her uneasy. Especially when the third leg of the 'Golden Three' had sent in his own choice correction letter. It had not been impressive.
She took in the applications once more, there were three Gryffindors, a Ravenclaw, two Slytherins and two Hufflepuffs. Quite an interesting group, all trying to self-study extra subjects on their own. Well, she hoped they where studying for extra subjects as the letter suggested. Merlin only knows what Hermione Granger could achieve with that much free time on her hands and the castle library at her disposal. Putting it out of her mind she went to do what her oath compelled her to. That is, informing Dumbledore of his favourite conversation subject's course selections.
The old man was alarmed, certainly. But figured that it could be remedied with a small talk in his office at the start of term, when he talked with the Bones girl. He needed Severus to give the boy yet another reason to feel inadequate and an adequate teacher in Defence who hated him was by far the best way to do it.
OoooOoooO
17th August, a park in London
"So." Erin started them all off as they looked sheepishly at each other. "This staying apart thing. It's not working is it? I'm still not sure whether meeting here was deliberate or accidental."
"I don't it was deliberate." Hermione said sheepishly as she looked over at the others enjoying the sunshine.
"Let me get this straight." Daphne sighed. "Blaise and Padma have been staying at mine. Susan's been staying with Hannah and the pair of you have been locked in a room with Rune books and a bunch of old knives for two weeks."
Erin and Hermione looked at each other and blushed. "It sounds kind of dirty like that, but we've made really good progress." Erin squeaked.
"I'll bet you two have." Padma giggled, causing Blaise's cheeks to turn red this time.
"I'm glad we're not the only ones." The Charms mistress replied quickly as the others turned to focus on her. "Me and Daphne were just... seeing how far it went... we didn't do anything exactly." Her eyes flickered around the circle. "Kill me now, please?" Hannah walked over to hug her. Blaise blushed further.
"What did she say?" Daphne demanded as her heart thudded a little faster.
"Erm... not to leave her out next time?" Everyone burst out laughing, and Erin dragged the two nearest girls onto the grass. Giggling, the others quickly started pushing each other over before Padma sitting shyly on the edge was the last one standing. Then Susan reached up and, well, pulled a blushing young women into her lap.
"Mmmmm," Daphne managed to get out after an hour or two of basking in the sunlight. "Not that this isn't nice or anything, but does anyone know why we feel the need to be draped all over each other?"
Hermione raised her head from the girls lap with a faint smile before resting it back down. "Me and Erin think that the marks might be representations of our magic, or a place where it surfaces. So, erm, I think we may have blended our magic and possibly some other stuff, it could just be the power in each other calling out to us. You don't mind if I fall asleep here do you?"
"Go ahead." Daphne replied, sneakily removing her shield gauntlet from under Hannah to run the silvery tattoos through Hermione's hair. Feelings of happiness and content rippled through the bonds as the girl started purring slightly in her lap. "It could just be emotional feedback. We are going to have to do this more often though."
"Do we have any idea what this bond will do?" Someone asked a few minutes later as they reluctantly got back up again.
"We've gone way past what the book said." Hermione replied sheepishly, "But joining magic to cast spells and getting on really well was what it's supposed to do." The others felt a small flush of embarrassment. "I've got a better idea of what Harry being our Lord will mean for us." She blushed as a general sense of curiosity spread down the bond.
"Well, we'll be affected more by his aura, whatever that does, but immune to everyone else's. Theoretically, depending on how strongly we're bound to him, we might also gain immunity to behaviour modification charms and anything else that could mess with our loyalty to him. The books referred to it as the Lord's Aegis. Then there's the Summoning." She blushed and the others felt her mix of embarrassment and arousal. "Where, if he wants us, or needs us, we're drawn to him like a very powerful compulsion, unless he cancels it. If it's powerful enough he might even be able to apparate us straight to him. His other Lord powers will affect us slightly differently, mostly not working at all unless he focuses them on us."
"Sounds like fun." Daphne said idly. "You're going to tell him about the ritual tomorrow?" She asked.
"Yeah, and bind myself to him." Hermione replied. "With the strongest oath I know, if that's okay with the rest of you?" Agreement pulsed along the bond they shared and they got back to catching up and enjoying each others company.
OoooOoooO
18th August, 4 Privet Drive
Harry layered the defensive wards around his room, forging them tight and sound as he checked the magic absorbing barriers one last time. Naturally, his outer alarm wards had to go off just before he started.
"I didn't expect you to be here." He heard Hermione ask someone else.
"Well, I am older than you." Daphne's voice replied gleefully as he got that sinking feeling. You know, the one where you're pinned between a rock and a hard place.
"By two days!" Hermione complained. Petunia was looking nervously out the window at the arguing girls, one wearing loose wizarding robes, the other wearing jeans and a T-shirt. Only Harry recognised the handbag as the expanded carryspace Hermione never left home without.
"Where was the headquarters of the Order?" Harry asked as his eyes caught on the silvery patterns that spiralled up their left hands. 'Getting into trouble is normally my job'. He complained inside his head.
"Twelve Grimmauld Place, and yes, this is Daphne." The blond haired girl looked at her friend.
"What did she say?" Daphne asked. Harry relaxed slightly, it was both good and bad that the fidelius was still working on Sirius' old place. With that and the wards only he, Shacklebolt and Tonks currently held access to it now the wards were attuned to him.
"It's protected by a Fidelius." Harry explained, "It's better to ask for the secret than something that could be faked or taken from someone." Daphne frowned.
"Then maybe we should use the fidelius charm instead of glamours when we get back to school then." She mused softly. "But where are my manners, how are you this fine day Lord Black?" She asked with a rather large grin and a curtsy.
Harry sighed as his aunt's mouth fell open. "Well enough, come in the two of you, I'm sure the living room is free. Thanks Dudley." He said as the small whale of a boy rushed past him up the stairs. His relatives were actually behaving for once, wonders would never cease.
"Thanks for seeing us Harry, I wanted to tell you about the progress we'd made and give you a few things." Hermione said with a smile as she sat down. "I also wanted to discuss something I found out this summer that we need your help with, which is kind of why Daphne's here."
Harry just shrugged. "I probably have about two hours before I really need to start on what I was planning to do today. So I assume this has something to do with your arms?" They blushed.
"Sort of. To start with, I wanted to give you these," She pulled a set of pyramids out her bag. "I haven't been able to work out what they're doing so I figured a parselmouth might stand a better chance. And this." She gingerly pulled a sheathed knife out with her non-silver hand. "Is a prototype blade that you wanted us to make. Be careful with it though, it's got a dark cutting curse layered into the blade." Harry walked over and gingerly took it from her, unsheathed the blade, pointed it away from the three of them and felt its response.
"Reparo," he muttered, fixing the slice he'd taken out of the sofa. "Projected cutting edge, very nice." He examined the runes layered in soft enchanting silver along the edge. "Probably not a good idea to use it as an actual cutting implement though." He finished, sliding it back to the sheath and attaching that to his belt. "Sorry I haven't been able to make a better metal yet, I've had a couple of problems with the finer manipulation of magic. It should be fixed by the end of today though."
"That's good to hear." Daphne said quickly. "But before we talk about what we came here for I... we." She turned sheepishly to Hermione. "Wanted to do something first."
He saw them kneeling and groaned inwardly, not again. "You don't have to do this, I'd rather have friends than followers..." He trailed off.
Hermione smiled back up at him. "We know, but the bond helps us as well as you. You don't want us freezing up because Riddle's aura paralysed us in place like last time do you?" She asked sweetly. Harry sighed. Not because of the words but because it was obvious that neither of them would be happy until he let them do this. But after the bastard was dead he could and would release them.
"Fine." He said sulkily, trying to block out yet another round of oath giving. As it turns out, that was probably a bad idea.
"We, Hermione Jane Granger, and Daphne Milone Greengrass, do offer, of our free will and the consent of our coven, ourselves to you as our Lord forever more." Their eyes met with shared excitement.
Harry's mind was still caught at 'coven' when he muttered his response. "I, Harry James Potter, do accept your fealty and your service. So Mote It Be." Only then did he notice that he didn't have any wands to give back to them and they'd started rising without his say so.
Hermione's tender kiss caught him completely by surprise, as did the sensation of something forming between them that was only strengthened as he started returning it with interest. There was the tingling of a hand running under his shirt and then she released him.
Harry blinked as smirking Daphne took the bushy brown haired girls place and Hermione was treated to the gold and silver light show that marked the bonds formation. Elsewhere five other witches shuddered with pleasure.
"Good, isn't he?" Hermione asked as the blond finally came up for air. Daphne just smiled.
"Coven, when did you two-" Harry frowned, eyes icing over. Perfect memory, once of the minor side effects of mastering Occlumency. "More importantly, did you just bind yourselves to me forever? And giving 'yourselves'? What the hell where you thinking?" He asked in shock.
"That we need you, and you'll need us." Hermione said calmly as she reached out to touch him. "And I love you. I know you might not love me back, but I... don't care." She said softly, turning his head back to look at her. "We all love you. Well, all of us apart from Luna. And Neville, obviously."
"I'm not..." Harry tried to get out before Daphne put a finger over his lips.
"Don't say you're not worthy or won't make a good boyfriend or will get us killed or anything. We want you and you'd better get used to it." She put her foot down and moved to kiss him again.
"You're not jealous or anything?" Harry managed to stutter out once he'd recovered. Daphne smirked and reached for Hermione with her silvered hand, tracing out the outline of the other witches body. "It won't..." He stopped as Hermione suppressed a moan.
"It's why we formed a coven bond," Daphe started to explain, the bushy brunette starting to shiver under her touch. "To make sure we'd be okay with sharing you. So it's all of us. Or none of us." She grinned, pulled Hermione's unresisting body towards her and shared a toe curling kiss in front of their Lord.
Harry gaped, and fled from the room.
"Did you have to do that?" Hermione gasped as they broke up for breath, glaring feebly at the ever-so-slightly-older witch.
"It got him used to the idea didn't it?" Daphne teased, feeling just how much she liked it and how tight the other girl was holder her. "Besides you're the one with their hand up the back of my shirt." Hermione blushed and jerked away.
"That's just because it feels so good to touch you." She muttered. "It's like masturbation but far better." Both girls looked away sharply. "So, think he'll have calmed down yet?"
Harry was, at that very moment, sat on the loo and trying very hard to think of anything else. Normally he'd cite ingredient reactions, or focus on Snape's face or meditate or... Well, you try being a teenage boy and having two girls you've had a major crush on suddenly proclaiming their undying loyalty to you and then making out in front of you! It affected things. Down there.
And no, thinking of what he could demand with that loyalty was not helping matters... Five minutes later he managed to get things back under control and thanking Merlin for Occlumency he started to go went to his bedroom. There where two girls there. Lying across his slightly expanded bed. Fully clothed. Damn.
"Sorry about earlier." Hermione said a little sheepishly. "Daphne got a little carried away..." She trailed off as Daphne's hand reached for her again.
Harry glared at the squirming bookworm and decided to get a bit of his own back. "You know, I could order you to strip and let me take you right now with that bond you offered."
Hermione shivered and started squirming, Daphne just looked up at him through her eyelashes and said a little petulantly, pulling her hand away quickly. "You could, and we'd both enjoy it but it would make the ritual we're planning less effective..." She trailed off, blushing. "We should probably stop the teasing and ordering around before we get carried away."
Harry absently conjured himself a chair and sat down as he stared at the two. "Explain."
"Well, it started at the beginning of summer, when I found a reference to bloodline magic, the abilities a half-blood or pureblood wizard may gain upon his majority and how to begin it." Hermione started quickly at his demand. "Most of them involve sacrificing magical creatures and aren't particularly pleasant. Let's just say that if some people claim to have interbred with harpies or other rare creatures, it's not necessarily the case. I found a ritual that was a lot more pleasant."
Harry laid back with a sigh. "This explains why you had the recipe for the mutagenic. Otherwise the enhancements wouldn't propagate to the next generation. It's still risky, but go on."
"Well, several other research strands I was looking into converged, and it became obvious that if this ritual was performed on a young women upon their majority it could have far, far greater effects than the simple introduction of a special ability. I've double checked the calculations, and if you where to perform it on us it would probably double or triple our resulting magical power if successful with minimal risk if it wasn't."
"I'm assuming this ritual involves me having sex with you at the time." Hermione nodded, not daring to speak. "Thus why you want to be a virgin so the sacrifice of that adds power to it and... I'm not making any mistakes here am I?" She shook her head. "So what's the catch?" He asked finally. "No magic ever gives you something for nothing."
"There's a risk it won't work, as you'll have to directly manipulate and stabilise our cores during the act or the cocktail of potions, ritual and our Majority will kill us. That means that you'll be inside our core at the time, so there could be an exchange of spirit, a bonding. We don't know. All I'm really sure about is that during a Majority all the oaths and contracts that we're part of we'd normally get a choice of whether we want to continue them. In our case, that choice will fall to you, and any bond forged between us at that moment will be permanent and irrevocable. And we'll probably be out of it for a few days from magical exhaustion."
"You've done the same trick Tonks did, haven't you?" Harry asked rhetorically. "Used a bond I didn't really want to justify a slightly stronger one for a large benefit." He chuckled at their expressions. "Not that I hold it against you, I love you both and if I don't go through with this I'd never accept that it wasn't my fault if you died. I just..." He shrugged. "I don't know." Daphne blushed at that and kept trying to look up at him through her lashes.
Hermione grinned and pulled out a scrawled notebook. Somewhat reluctantly he flicked through most of the pages. "Daphne's first then. 19th of October." He mused. "I can be ready by then, but I'll need to fix my own problems tonight." The two girls perked up at that.
"What's wrong?" They asked quickly.
"When I was experimenting to create moonsilver, I had some trouble manipulating the magic involved." Harry looked up at the two girls. "So I took a good long look at my magical core to try and work out the problem. I found that someone had blocked it a long time ago and at some point had been shattered, by the remnants are embedded all over the place and it's made my core look like a pretzel. I don't want to know what it might have done to my magic or abilities." The girls shared a look. Outrage, concern and exhilaration ran through them.
"What can we do to help?" Daphne asked.
"Nothing really, just try not to distract me." He said softly, settling himself down on the floor and making himself comfortable.
"Wait, um. You left these downstairs." Hermione held out the stone pyramids that started hissing all at once.
"Erm, thanks." Harry said. "Can I have a look at them later?" He asked nervously before an idea struck him. "Actually, keep them talking for a second."
Closing his eyes and raising his Occlumency barriers to full he calmed himself down and turned his gaze inwards. There. A couple of the structures inside his barriers, that he'd originally believed were flawed mistakes where thrumming with a small amount of power. Touching the thin threads filled his awareness with an overlay of hissing and meaning. Shock snapped him from his trance. "Of course, the parseltongue gift!" Harry clicked his fingers. "That's why Tom only opened the Chamber in his sixth year. He wouldn't have been able to prior to his Majority. Parseltongue must have been an inherited gift for him."
"Then how did you get it?" Daphne asked with a small frown. Harry paused, that small heavily fortified area just outside his mental landscape and barriers... He had thought that it was some heavily warded ability that the Old Bastard hadn't wanted him to have but now... The parseltongue ability almost looked as if it had seeped through a gap in it.
"I think... I think I've found the source of Riddle's connection to me, and it's behind the last block." Harry muttered nervously. "This is going to be painful. Do Not Disturb Me, especially if I start screaming." Hermione put the pyramids away and took hold of his right hand with her silvered one. He felt a fiery presence burning up his arm as the icy pleasure of Daphne countered it from his left. "Thanks." He muttered before taking the plunge.
The girls watched over him for hours, not making a sound as he occasionally twitched in his trance. Then, there was a sharp wrench on their magic, black blood boiled from his scar and he slumped over unconscious.
Cleaning him up and putting him to bed, they left Shacklebolt with strict instructions to make sure he was okay: They had to go and stop their parents from worrying.
OoooOoooO
There was a beach. Giggling and a beach. Possibly ice cream and children. He snuggled into the warmth as details slipped from his minds grasp like a dream. This was possibly the best day of his life, he'd had a dream and it wasn't seen through Riddle's eyes or a really unpleasant memory. That was a first. To top it off, he could still smell the lavender scent of Hermione's hair. Best. Dream. Ever.
Even if he couldn't remember it. He hoped his first wasn't his last. He shifted slightly, enjoying the warmth as hair brushed against his nose and the duvet he was clutching purred. Harry blinked, saw brown bushy curls, daylight peeking in through the windows and tried to remember what the hell had happened last night.
He remembered, he remembered slowly disintegrating the block after cutting the parseltongue gift free, only to have it smashed from the other side before he was ready. Then the other core thing had tried to burrow its way into his. So he blasted it. With a fuckload of power. Probably about twenty times the amount of necessary power because it disintegrated like a cardboard box hit by an artillery strike. Then the precious shoring and slow regrowth of his core had shattered like anyone's business and then... well... something. Harry blinked.
Checking his core was no simple act with a rather, okay, extremely attractive young witch, in your bed with your arm around her and a whole lot of flesh contact. He was fairly sure he was forgetting something about that. But he found his core first. Noted it. Looked around a bit more. Poked at the edges, identified every element he could and how they patched together. Checked his Occlumency shields which stronger than ever and flooded with power. There was also all those bonds that were loitering around the edges. One for each person who'd sworn loyalty to him along with... Hermione, Daphne and some kind of bond with what felt like Hogwarts.
It was thoroughly confusing. His battered, bruised, malformed mystical core of life was in perfect shape and was a lot bigger than it should have been. If a little on the empty side. He reckoned that it had almost doubled in diameter and large number of its internal structures now seemed to be functioning perfectly behind its shimmering shell.
Speaking of being empty, his stomach was nearly growling. Now to get out of bed, without waking Hermione and steal her wand so she couldn't hex him silly before he found out if he deserved it.
"Morning Master." She murmured and snuggled further into him. Bugger.
"Wait, Master?" Harry asked aloud. The girl in his arm froze as though snapping back to reality. Must have been a dream or something then, Harry reassured himself.
"You're awake!" She yelled, spin round in his arms, stuck her tongue gracefully down his throat and blushed at his obvious response. "Not yet, remember, we had an agreement." She said with a cute giggle and a "Hey!" as he neatly pushed her out of his bed and claimed the duvet to hide his... embarrassment.
Harry was busy trying to remember what sort of agreement ended with a very hot witch wearing a very large t-shirt and panties in his bed. Then he remembered. Oaths, rituals. He was starting to warm up to the idea. "So, I guess you decided to stay the night then?" He asked nervously. "Did anything happen after I removed the block?"
Hermione smiled faintly and blushed as his gaze dropped a little lower. "That was three nights ago, we've been feeding you nutrient potions while you slept and Kingsley had to tell them that you'd caught the flu. Last night I just... felt a need to be with you and I thought you'd called me to you. You can do that, you know." She said nervously. "I hope you don't mind, sharing a bed and everything."
"Not at all." Harry replied. "Now, I'm just going to have a really cold shower while trying not to think of having two of the most attractive witches in the school appearing in my bed because I had an erotic dream." Her giggling haunted him for a while.
Then he'd jokingly set her to researching Sovereignty and ley line magic as a punishment for teasing him so much. A very nervous Harry only realised after she'd left that it'd made her blush a whole lot more.
Then he found three colours of hair on his bed and starting smiling again.
OoooOoooO
27th August, Malfoy Manor
Draco Malfoy, no... Lord Malfoy, head of the Ancient House of Malfoy, faithful servant of the Dark Lord and... He sighed, idly rubbing the mark that had been forged in his left forearm after he had defiled and killed that pathetic muggle. It made the loss of his father slightly easier to bear.
It was hard to believe that almost two months ago the Malfoy name meant everything, power and prestige in the circles of the Light and Dark. His father was there to manage the world while he grew up as a proper pureblood scion with only the Potter brat to blight his name. It had started so well... The first term of his first year was like a dream come true; Potter appeared to be a snake amongst the lions, and Draco was awaiting his time to strike. But then Halloween had happened and a week later he was loitering with mudbloods and putting up a façade of being friends with the Weasel.
He could almost make a patronus from it, the disgust he'd seen on two of the Golden Three's faces every time the red-haired idiot had done something especially stupid. In his mind, that was evidence that the Potter scion was playing a game of his own. Snape had laughed it off when he'd told him. If only he'd had a chance to propose an alliance in the library that day. They'd have ruled Hogwarts together instead of Draco being the mere Prince of Slytherin.
He knew he was brooding over Potter again. But it always came down to him, didn't it? Potter was the reason his father was dead, the reason Malfoy manor was now one of two places used by the Dark Lord to try and train his followers into something resembling an army. Potter was the reason his father was dead, why his master had been vanquished, why snotty arrogant mudbloods still drew breath, why there hadn't been raids, why the Bones family where still alive, why...
Why did it always come down to Potter?
The one person his master had forbidden him to act against. Harass, yes. Annoy, yes. Try and kill or harm? No. The Dark Lord claimed that privilege solely for himself.
Harry Potter would be the safest student in Hogwarts as long as Dumbledore still drew breath.
Yet his master had the audacity to call him obsessed with the brat. Him! Draco... bloody... Malfoy. The man whose father had played the Ministry for fools for the last sixteen years.
They dismissed his accusations, his ideas. Everyone apart from his mother had ridiculed him as he was forced to kneel. Why had his father never revealed what the mark was to him? A corrupt perversion of a loyalty bond that felt like a parasite eating off of his soul. Might have been eating off of his soul for all he knew. He couldn't even harm Granger either. His master had been clear about that: Alive, Unharmed and Unspoiled. The Dark Lord would punish her himself and had been using the Malfoy Library to concoct worse and worse punishments as his wound cracked open at the worst of times. The Dark Mark forced obedience.
He sunk over the balcony, looking forlornly at the gates he had been forbidden to leave. There was a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach as the doors opened beneath him. If one of the others caught him... "Narcissa?" She flinched.
"Draco." The women who birthed him looked back up nervously in his direction. She was dragging a trunk behind her.
"Why are you leaving, mother?" He asked from above her.
She sighed. "I'm leaving before Potter realises how badly Sirius screwed up and reinstates me into the Black family." She looked away. "If the Dark Lord forced me to take the mark, the conflicting oaths would kill me. He might do it anyway, without a name." She shook her head. "I have to leave now, wand or no wand. If you hadn't been marked I'd have tried to take you with me..." She looked down at the trunk. "Are you going to stop me?"
Malfoy snorted. "No." He chuckled hysterically. "It's not as though I could sink any further down the ladder. Good luck." Narcissa nodded and with one last smile at her son, she fled Britain for good.
Malfoy shivered and turned back inside for another hour of being 'trained' by one of the Dark Lords followers who actually had a NEWT in Dark Arts from Durmstrang. In his opinion the man was a sadistic bastard who was worse at teaching them than Snape was at teaching Potter. Unlike Potter though, they couldn't seem to ace the class in spite of the teacher.
But then, in his opinion, the people who killed the Dark Lord's inner circle would happily use a dark cutting curse on anyone who got in their way. But he wasn't going to point that out to the Potion Master and healer that only saw Dumbledore, the paragon of the light.
To be honest, he would have preferred being ordered to kill Dumbledore, the old fool would simply lock him up in Azkaban until his master came to free him. Trying to kidnap Hermione Granger from Hogwarts without harming her visibly while staying clear of Potter was starting to look extremely dangerous.
But he would do it, just to see the look on the brat's face if the Dark Lord carried out some of his more adventurous plans. He was Draco Malfoy.
Besides the idea of Granger with a succubus bound inside of her, being forced to obey his every whim for a taste of his cock was very appealing. She was only a mudblood after all, having a body like that was just sin.
AN: Right, long chapter of long is over and done with. Next up, Hogwarts! My buffer is well and truly gone so the next chapter may be a while. As always, reviews make the writing go faster (I will endeavour to answer any questions via the reply button from now on, only just realised it was there) :p
Thank you all for reading.