I don't draw and ain't British.

I am sorry these chapters are coming out so late at night, I could not work on them at all until around ten tonight - had to watch the grandmother and am doing something for an upcoming family thing - preparing a video montage, which took a long time. I was also sick since last Thursday until Tuesday, which severely limited my writing ability, hence why there is no SW crossover chapter this month. Instead there will be a Patty on only gift, a Ranma/Lord Marksman and Vanadis crossover out tomorrow over there.

The poll results this month were: Thanks in part to my own votes and those of some of my beta readers going toward it, Semblance of Hope won first place with 1453 votes total, despite a measly 111 here on fanfic. It gets no love, but at least I have some idea of why at this point: I don't pander to the normal RWBY fandom in how they see Ozpin, the RWBY quartet, and of course the Pyrrha/Jaune romance. FILFy teacher won second place once more, bringing in a total of 1307 votes with 480 votes coming in from fanfic.

In other news, I would like to ask for help to find a fic I read waaay back in late March. I can't remember the name of it, but I was desperate for DxD crossovers and it was a Naruto one (they are EVERYWHERE). Naruto was turned into a devil at the same time as Issei, but took it relatively well, and had come from his world, not born into the DxD. Later as they meet the Occult Research Club, he asks what a web browser history is, since Issei had implied he might have been attacked for it with his last dying breath. They obviously all make fun of it as Issei comments about what kind of porn he had seen. Since it didn't seem to be an OP Naruto it looked interesting, but I can't find it now for some reason.

Warning! This is a huge chapter, not quite the largest I've created, but certainly up there. There is a reason for this. This story will not be up to be updated in November so that I can concentrate on ATP - I am shooting for a Thanksgiving Day update - and I wanted to get all of the little 'daily life' stuff finished in this chapter, so that from now on I can push forward with the man plot(s) of DxD. In a way, you could call this the final chapter of the first arc of this story. That isn't to day important stuff doesn't happen though…

Key: Italics - thoughts and discussions on the Ddraig's mental plane. Bold - emphasis, and dragon-speak. Underline - direct quotes from a song, and the written word

Warning there is a lemon in this chapter. As Always it is marked by brackets {}.

This has been beta-read by Nad Destroyer and by Michael in it's entirety NOW. Please join me in thanking him for making thie chapter better than it would have been without them.


Chapter 9: Enemies, Issues, Experiments, and a Very Merry Christmas Break

Harry woke up the morning after his double date with Akeno and Rias somewhat groggily, though he was able to get up at his normal time despite that. Climbing down the base of the ladder leading up into the attic he paused as his nose detected the smell of someone already cooking. Heading down to the kitchen, Harry found Kala already there, her scent having been covered by the smell of the sausage she was currently preparing. She turned as he entered the kitchen, smiling slightly. "Did you have a nice date?"

Harry nodded, moving over to stand beside her, and grabbed a small sausage off the plate that she had already finished cooking, watching her closely out of the corner of his eyes for any sense of jealousy or anger or anything else, as he occasionally did. Yet Kala didn't show any of those emotions; she hadn't ever, as far as Harry could tell. At times there had been a sort of look of resigned acceptance on her face, but, for the most part, Kala seemed to have accepted the fact that he had basically friend-zoned her and instead devoted herself to other things.

Primarily, she helped Asia with her education, cooked for them all, and, for some odd reason, continued her pastime of editing 'romance' novels. Kala spent time with the other kids, but not as much as with Asia. Harry felt that Kala wanted to make up for what could've happened to the girl if Kala had stayed with Raynare by helping her as much as possible. Despite not taking the plunge and becoming a devil, it was safe to say that Kala was fitting in somewhat better than Mittelt, given the short Fallen's tongue, although Mittelt was making inroads into becoming just as much of an otaku as Rias was.

"It was good, if not for the bit of violence that preceded it," Harry replied after he finished chewing. He then went on, gesturing for her to move over so he could use part of the kitchen counter. "We'll be expecting a lot of company this morning,"

Kala pouted somewhat at that, but nodded and made way for him. "Violence?"

"I'd rather explain it all only once, if that's all right?" Harry demurred, then asked, "What did the kids get up to?"

"Oh my God, it was such a hustle last night." Kala rolled her eyes. "There was a positive battle royale over that game Koneko brought over. Eventually they agreed to take turns, and, surprisingly, team KA, or Kunou and Asia, won hands down. You should've seen Koneko's face when she and Lily lost; it was hilarious. Asia, of course, played a healer, and Kunou was a berserker. No one else had figured out that combination, and you can imagine it was quite devastating. According to Lily it was cheating, and decided to retaliate by starting a pillow fight. That little kitsune is viscous with a pillow in her hand," Kala ended with a laugh.

Harry chuckled. "I can imagine." That was his only real gripe about Koneko and her influence on Lily and, by extension, Kunou: she was most definitely a gamer girl and routinely brought games over to play, even on school nights, which had led to quite a few arguments between him and the little ones. Still, since he actually heard what Rias had said was Gasper's voice occasionally over Koneko's phone as they were playing, he was willing to give them time to play. After they finished their school work of course.

Harry laughed, and the two fell into a comfortable silence. As they moved around one another, Harry occasionally caught himself watching Kala's face, watching her in her concentration as she worked on expanding the breakfast's menu or tasted this dish or that. Since she had joined them, Kala had become caustic; sassy; intelligent; somewhat caring, given her relationship with Asia; an excellent cook; and a good conversationalist. All of that in a body that was quite literally rebuilt for sin after Kala fell. Even the long skirt and blouse combination she was wearing currently could not do much to hide that fact, and her face, framed by her long blue hair and highlighted by those yellow eyes, was beguiling.

There is some still some attraction there, Harry admitted to himself, but there are so many problems with going that route, it's not even funny. First of all, there was the problem that he was already in a relationship, and, whatever Rias and Akeno often said about harems being normal in their society, he couldn't see getting into a relationship with someone else when you were already in one being at all healthy for anyone concerned. On top of that, there were the issues that Harry and Akeno were already having, which both of them had basically tiptoed around yesterday.

Then there was Akeno. Even if Akeno was over most of her issues with the Fallen, she still clashed occasionally with Mittelt, and sometimes Kala got roped into it too. Though at least the two of them seem to respect one another as true masters of their chosen art: one cooking, the other tea preparation.

Setting his own beliefs and Akeno and Rias's issues to one side, there was also Kala. Harry knew that Kala still held hopes of joining their relationship sometime in the future. However, he wasn't certain if that would be healthy for her, given Kala's past. Kala had told him that she had fallen because the man that she thought had loved her had instead simply lusted for her, which he had proven by going behind her back to bed another woman. Because of that, Harry did not think that she would be able to handle being one girl of many in a relationship. No, best to remain as friends.

They were about halfway through finishing up breakfast when Harry heard the sounds of running feet and, with a nod towards Kala, moved away from the kitchen out into the hall. Harry smelled Kunou rushing down the second story hallway, and laughed as she ran along on all fours followed by leaping down the stairs and growling. "I am the mighty carnivore! Feed me meat and only meat! No vegetables ever!"

Harry caught the little blonde girl out of the air, holding her upside down for a moment as he gently shook her. "I don't know. You don't look all that mighty to me. Are you certain you just want meat? You'll never grow big without vegetables. Or sweets, either. But I suppose we'll have to take back all those little pancakes and Danishes, then; give them to someone else.…"

"No!" Kunou whined, wriggling in his grip as Harry began to tickle her, still holding her in the air with his other hand. "No! Little girls need their sugar too!"

Kunou's partner in crime quickly joined them, leaping down to try and attack her father playfully from the steps. "Gao! The great hunter pounces on her prey!"

"Great hunter, hmmm?" Harry grabbed her in turn with his other hand and tucked both kids underneath his arms like sacks of grain, carrying them into the kitchen despite their squirming. "What do you think; do we have anything to feed these little monsters?"

"Well, I'm sure we can find something," Kala said with a smile, reaching over to pat Kunou on the head and then moving to pat Lily, only to pull back as Lily mock-bit at her causing Kala to chuckle.

By the time the two kids had calmed down enough to be sat down at the kitchen table, Asia and Koneko had joined them, with Koneko somehow simply appearing at the dinner table, looking with wide eyes at the amount of food. Harry shook his head when she looked at him and said simply, "We're expecting guests."

"But first," Harry said, kneeling down next to Kunou, "I think it's time for you to call your mom, isn't it?" Every morning Kunou would call her mother, Yasaka, and spend some time talking with Yasaka, as would Harry. Yasaka liked to be kept apprised of everything going on in school and in her daughter's life, of course, and bitterly resented the fact that she couldn't, come to visi at least t, although she and Rias had talked at length about the idea of setting up a teleportation tunnel, so to speak, between Kyoto and Kuoh. That would, in turn, be one of the bases for the mutual defense alliance between Rias and Sona's houses and Yasaka's people.

Kunou nodded and pulled out her cell phone, handing it to Harry with one hand as she continued to chomp down on food with her other.

Chuckling, Harry set the cell phone to one side and took both of her hands in his. "Slowly, the food's not going to go away. And remember what I told you about manners?"

Kunou pouted but complied, seeing as manners had been drilled into her from a very young age by her mother. "It's not my fault I'm hungry in the morning; I'm a growing girl!"

"Be careful you don't grow this way!" he said, moving his hands to either side and tickling her again.

Moments later Rias and the others arrived, and Harry shook his head slightly, staring at both peerages as they filed into his house, Sona's bowing to him formally before heading excitedly into the kitchen, which had already been enlarged by Asia's activating some of the enlargement talismans set around the table. "Why exactly did you all choose my house for this meeting again?"

"It's because the food is far better here," Saji replied bluntly, smiling flirtatiously towards Kala and bowing over her hand as he accepted a plate from her. "No offense to everyone else, but, let's face it, Kalawarner-san is by far the best cook among us."

That was true even if it hurt Harry's pride just a bit, along with Rias and Akeno's. Kala was simply a better, more experienced cook than any of them, with a far wider repertoire. By this point she had Koneko and most of the other youngsters among both peerages eating out of the palm of her hand thanks to the sheer number of sweets they knew she could make. In contrast, Harry had not won himself any points with any of the girls when he put his foot down on the amount of those sweets she would make every week.

As the rest of the two peerages and the younger kids intermingled, Harry, Rias, Sona, Akeno, and Tsubaki removed themselves to the basement for some peace and quiet while they talked. Once they were all together, Harry and his two lovers explained what had occurred the day before, while Rias spread out the map of Japan they had once more updated with the information they had gotten from Onmyodo government. "…So they are going to be searching for anyone performing magic outside of known Devil, Fallen, and Church territories," Harry finished.

Carefully, while Tsubaki and Sona watched with interest, Rias placed a thin veneer of color over the map magically, showing the territories of the Three Factions within Japan according to Rias's brother. The Church was easily the least represented power, having only four tiny enclaves. The Fallen, according to Sirzechs, should have had only four too, if far larger holdings. Yet, according to the Onmyodo and the Youkai Association, they had five, a discrepancy all of them noticed instantly.

The Devils had twelve holdings, all of which were larger than the Fallen's holdings, each one marked by a more detailed symbol to denote the clan holding that territory. Yet, even so, at least two sightings of magic had occurred within their territory. "Two places where magic has been seen are in Devil territory, and two occur in that area," Rias said thoughtfully.

"Indeed. Two minor clans and one major clan," Sona said, smirking over at Rias as she pointed at the image over one of those, that of a giant claw done in orange in the center of an orange circle. "The Bael clan.…"

"Right." Rias rolled her eyes. "I'll pass on the information about that one, I think. Sairaorg will get a kick out of dealing with any such issue, believe me."

Harry reflected on that and then smiled. "Going from what you've told me about your cousin, I have no doubt he would. But that still leaves three we might want to follow up on."

"And I think we should," Sona said with a smile, pointing at one of them. "I will take this one. The Netari Clan and my own have some fiscal ties."

"A mixed team, I think, to take this one out," Rias said with a scowl at the one that was supposedly in Devil territory according to the Onmyodo and Yasaka, but which her brother had stated was not owned by them. "Rogue, secret operation, or not, that one is something of a discrepancy."

"However," Sona said thoughtfully. "I'm not willing to take our entire peerage on these missions, not until our own defensive working is set up, and we just haven't been able to devote the amount of time it would take to do that just yet." The work emplacing the array was done, so all that remained was to empower it. But that was at the least a full twenty-four hour job for all five of them: Harry, the two Kings, and the two Queens. And it would be incredibly debilitating for all of them, considering it amounted to basically pumping the array full of magic for that entire time.

"I'll be staying here too," Harry said.

The others looked at him in surprise save for Rias, who simply nodded, looking upstairs at a particularly loud giggle from someone near the doorway to the basement. "You want to watch Lily and the others. Perfectly understandable." Indeed, Rias found his protectiveness attractive.

At that point Loup spoke up from where he had followed them down, not having spoken before this. "I'll go too."

They all turned to him, and Harry cocked his head. "Why?"

"Want to figure out where I stack in terms of skill and strength against other devils and such," Loup grunted.

"All right," Sona said calmly. "How about, Tsubaki, Tomoe, and Garou-san take that one," she said, gesturing down at the point which was most probably a rogue devil area. "That will give them enough combat and magical skills to fight or retreat as need be."

"I would like some representation in that group as well," Rias said with a frown. "I'll send Kiba with that group, replacing Tomoe-san. But that still leaves them short an air assault portion. Indeed, none of us are very good in the air yet." Despite all of them having wings, even the natural born devils, Rias and Sona, didn't actually use them in combat very often, let alone well. That, of course, made Mittelt and Kalawarner worth even more than their Holy weapons.

"I can help with that. I'll provide some of my explosive talismans and my old Firebolt," Harry said.

"Then Akeno will come with me along with Mittelt, I think, and hit this one," Rias said, tapping a marker that denoted the area of one of the smaller clans.

"You realize they might raise a fuss?" Sona asked.

"They might, but if so, I can deal with it," Rias replied, her face turning grim. "In point of fact, I'll tear them a new one for not being able to police their own territory! Hopefully it won't be anything more than a few stray devils having banded together, like in the place Tsubaki will be examining, but we'll see."

"You won't be taking Koneko?" Sona asked in surprise.

Rias shook her head. "Koneko and I talked about it last night, and she said she'd prefer to stay here." She nudged Harry in the side lightly. "To be honest, I think she feels as if she's failed her Onee-chan position by not being there to protect Lily when she was in trouble. Until she gets a chance to do that, I think she'll want to stay close by. Besides, between our two groups, Sona's needs the most help in gaining combat experience." She then smiled brightly. "Besides, Lily and Kunou invited Koneko and Asia to a picnic party with some of their younger friends."

"I am not prepared to bring Saji or Ruruko on real combat missions," Sona said, pushing her glasses up her nose as she stared down at the map. "Saji is strong but lacks any kind of fighting instinct, and the less said about Ruruko the better in terms of her combat experience. I think I'll leave them behind along with Momo, leaving her in charge. I will then take Tomoe, Tsubasa, and Reya with me."

"And while we're gone, what will you be doing? Simply spending time with the kids? I get the impression parents and adults wouldn't be welcome at their little picnic," Rias teased with a smile as she looped one arm with Harry's while they followed the others up the stairs.

"I'll be down here working on a more advanced family clock while they're gone," Harry said in reply. "I've gathered all of the reagents and physical parts for the main clock and the watches for myself, Yasaka, and two more .

"One of which is for me, of course," Rias said with a smile, pinching his side lightly.

Harry understood her point, nodded equably, and then said, "The other will probably go to Loup, since, given the fact he's only taking three classes and each of them only meets once a week, he's got more free time than rest of us."

Loup turned to look at Harry and was about to nod when Harry went on, mock-glaring at him. "And yes, that was envy you hear, Loup."

The other werewolf smiled at that, while Rias frowned. "We need to think about that. I hate to say it, but I think school is taking up far too much of my time which could be better used in other pursuits." Though she had fought tooth and nail to come to the human world and become a normal student, she now was forced to admit that it was cutting into time she should be using to better her chances at remaining free from Riser.

"We'll think about that in the future too," Harry said with a nod.

At that point Akeno asked about the clock and what making it would entail. The two of them spent several minutes talking about the theory behind the clock before Rias decided that it was time for them all to go. She gave Harry a kiss on the lips, followed by Akeno, and the two of them then gathered up everyone else from outside and left.

At that point Koneko took charge of Lily and Kunou, shooing them up the stairs to get showered and changed. Kala and Asia talked quietly as they cleaned up after the meal. Harry joined them and at one point asked Kala was going to be doing today.

"Considering it's unlikely that all of us will come together again for a large meal, and the kids will certainly eat their fill at the picnic, I figure to have a nice afternoon and evening in. Maybe read a good book, if such a thing could exist which didn't have so many mistakes or insipid insults to the written language," Kala said dryly.

"Maybe you could find some if you tried to broaden your horizon beyond those bodice rippers of yours," Harry replied, nudging her in the side with his hip and then smiling at Asia, who had gone bright red at the mention of Kala's books. "Should I be worried about you being a bad influence on our precious little nun here?"

Kala shook her head with a smile, putting a companionable arm around Asia's shoulders. "Don't worry; I won't make you read them, Asia." She then whispered in the nun's ear, causing her blush to increase tremendously. "Not until you're ready, anyway.…"

"I, I um, I need to get ready for the picnic!" Asia squeaked, pulling away and racing for the steps up to her room so quickly she tripped as she left the kitchen.

The two of them finished cleaning up, and then Harry went down into the basement, where he stood for a moment staring as he began to count out the parts and different spells he would need to create the clock. Considering the fact that each name would need a different point me spell cast on magicless steel, the wood would need to be empowered, the reagents that needed to be added, and the layers upon layers of spells to denote the various places and, worse, emotional and physical states people could be in.… "This is going to be a long day," Harry reflected before metaphorically rolling up his sleeves and getting on with it.

OOOOOOO

In a small but well-appointed throne room in his estate in hell, Diodora leaned back, his eyes wide and unseeing as he stared through the eyes of his Giant Slug familiars. One of them, in particular, had his attention as Sona, Rias, and the majority of their peerages boarded a subway. None of them even looked twice at the man sitting on a bench nearby who was attempting to reorganize a sheaf of papers which had obviously been knocked out of his hands a moment before. His look and general appearance simply allowed him to blend into the background, which was exactly how Diodora had designed it. "Where are they going? Look closer!" he ordered mentally.

The slime-turned-man did so, seeing the different destinations they were all buying tickets for, and Diodora slowly began to smile. The nearest one of those was an hour and a half away. That would give him three hours to play with. Excellent! I must have Asia! And with this opening, I will.

Part of Diodora's mind still niggled at one other issue, though: how Asia hid so routinely from his senses. The only time Diodora's slugs had caught a glimpse of her was when she was walking around town, and she was almost always guarded by devils and other supernatural beings even if she herself didn't give off the spiritual glow of a devil. Yet, where she stayed and spent most of her time, none of his slugs could figure out. They weren't suited for actually following anyone, but, even so, they should have seen a hint of where Asia was hiding. They hadn't, which was worrisome.

But really, where she had been hiding was immaterial. Whatever was going on, it was an opportunity for Diodora, and he was more than willing to jump on it, even if he didn't know everything that was going on.

OOOOOOO

Rias, Akeno, and Mittelt arrived in an area in Kyushu where their information implied that the Khaos Brigade might have one of their bases, if the use of magic in the area was any indication. It was in an old temple dedicated to Amaterasu, but, even so, it was in territory claimed by the lesser Torgumada clan, as far as Rias knew, anyway. But this was not the case, or rather, the Torgumada clan did own it but her brother didn't know that that clan had developed strong ties to the Phenex clan. This caused a slight unintended consequence…

Sitting at a café, Yubelluna sipped at a double mocha Frappuccino, sighing luxuriantly. Ahh, me, the things humans come up with! I wonder how many devils honestly understand how much we, how much the entire supernatural world, owes to humans. Food, clothing, fashion, TV, electronics, the list goes on and on! Oh, many have figured out magical means of producing electronic devices and so forth, but fashion? Food? In those areas we can only copy them. It is a very rare devil indeed who has been able to create originals in those realms without taking inspiration from humans.

She stretched, happily feeling the sun on the back of her neck and slightly bare shoulders, ignoring the few boys and men who were staring at her in awe. She ran one hand through her hair as she smiled, looking down at her coffee. Although calling it coffee was sort of like calling the River Nile big. Moments like this, when she had time to herself, were few and far between, and she wouldn't even have had this one if Riser hadn't been embroiled in an argument that afternoon with his older brother on who should have taken their younger sister into their peerage and had instead sent Yubelluna alone to check in with the Torgumada clan's members here in their territory on Earth.

Riser had argued that, as the younger of the two, it was his duty to help train her up, but that and even the modicum of affection Riser felt towards Ravel was not the real reason why he had wanted the younger girl in his peerage. Riser had wanted Ravel to complete his collection—adding a little sister figure to his peerage would have made Riser have at least one type of nearly every girl or cosplay outfit out there. I don't honestly think he would have touched her or anything like that, but it was still a selfish desire on his part, whereas Ruval simply took Ravel on in order to train her up. Pity, I would've liked to have helped in that department. She does have, what do people in Japan call it? Her tsundere tendencies? But Ravel is a sweet girl for all that. But at least I got a free day out of it.

Stretching her arms above her head, she smiled indulgently as she heard a few moans from nearby men, wondering if any of them would have the courage to come up to talk to her. She rather doubted it, and it wasn't as if she would be able to encourage them to do so anyway, given the constraints placed on her by her being part of Riser's peerage/harem. Shaking that thought off, Yubelluna smiled, tapping one perfectly manicured finger against her currently purple-painted lips. Now, what to do with the rest of my day?

Her thoughts were derailed, however, when she saw a flash of crimson hair out of the corner of her eye, the kind of hair color that normally would be well beyond normal human hair coloring without some serious work. Idly turning in that direction, she recognized Rias Gremory and sat forward so abruptly she banged her knees on the table. What the hell is she doing here?!

Pushing to her feet quickly, Yubelluna grabbed up her coffee and then hurried after the Gremory girl. As she followed Rias, she noted how grim she and the other girl who Yubelluna recognized as Akeno Himejima looked. They both look as if they are ready for war? What the heck is going on here? Are they here to try and forcefully take this territory away from the Torgumada? No, it's too far away from Kuoh. But it could serve as a bolt-hole, maybe? And who is that other girl with them, the one with the interesting fashion sense?

As they moved through the small town, Akeno murmured, "Rias-chan, I trust you've noticed?"

"That someone is following us? Yes, I did. We'll pull into an alleyway around this next corner and confront whoever it is. Hopefully it's just some young boys interested in our looks, but it could be one of the Torgumada clan who somehow spotted us, though I didn't think any of them would have recognized us," Rias replied, biting at her ahoge.

Mittelt snorted. "Seriously? You must be one of the most recognizable devil bit… girls there's ever been!" she corrected herself, rolling her eyes.

Akeno laughed at her King's pout at that, but the three of them still moved into a nearby alleyway, waiting until they sensed someone with magical energy coming around the bend, then they stepped out to confront whoever it was only for Akeno and Rias to stop and stare. "The Bomb Queen? What are you doing here!?" Rias gasped.

"That's my line, Gremory-sama," Yubelluna shot back, crossing her arms and staring down at the only slightly shorter and younger woman, hiding her surprise at being noticed with the ease of years of dissembling. Looking at Rias, Yubelluna could understand why her King was so obsessed with her. That chest alone would do that, and, if you add in Himejima, its two for the price of one. "What are…the two or three of you doing here?" She looked at the young, oddly dressed, blonde haired girl, frowning. "I don't recognize this one. Have you added to your peerage, Gremory-san?"

"Of course I have, but what are you doing here? This isn't Phenex territory," Rias asked, regaining her footing quickly.

"The local clan is allied with the Phenex, and I was sent here to follow up on a few contracts that they were unable to fulfill, but the Phenex clan could," Yubelluna replied.

"And take a day off?" Akeno asked dryly, gesturing down at Yubelluna's hand where she still held the coffee mug from earlier.

"Yes, actually," Yubelluna shot back sharply. "So imagine my surprise when my time off is ruined by seeing the three of you. You're not here to try to horn in on a fellow devil's territory, are you? That would mean indirect conflict with another Pillar clan."

Rias scowled indignantly. "No, of course not! We're here to remove a problem that they probably should've recognized."

"A problem? A that takes you and your Queen and whoever the blonde child is away from your own territory?" Yubelluna asked in surprise.

Rias explained about the Khaos Brigade and the fact that they, or at the very least other stray devils or rogue gallen, might have a staging ground in the area. Yubelluna scoffed at first, but Rias pulled out the map they had created of likely areas for this kind of thing, and the older woman stared at it thoughtfully.

"This is either a very elaborate hoax, or you're telling me the truth." Biting her lip, Yubelluna looked between Rias's grim face and the other two. "You know that as a temporary representative of the territory's owners, I can't let you just use magic willy-nilly on their property."

"Are any of them even around besides you?" Akeno asked quizzically, cocking her head to one side.

"No, but you know that's beside the point!" Yubelluna muttered, then sighed. "I'll have to go with you, I suppose."

Rias smiled. "Then we'll be happy to have you, but might I suggest you stick to long-range attacks if you can? If they get close enough to us, let Akeno and myself deal with them."

"Not this one?" Yubelluna asked, inwardly wondering about Rias's confidence. It sounded tested, for one thing, and much more certain then she would've anticipated from a woman so young, especially one facing what Rias was going to face in a few months. But, then again, Rias has always sounded confident. It's just I find myself believing that confidence is warranted now for some reason.

"Mittelt will be supplying air cover for us," Rias supplied but didn't elaborate, instead turning away. "Now, come on; let's get going."

Soon enough after that they came in sight of the stairs leading up to the small temple they were here to investigate. There Rias quickly used one of the pre-prepared talismans to cover all of them with a Notice-Me-Not field, trusting that, as an item, it wouldn't trigger any alarms around the area and would also cover any further magic they performed from those with senses to notice it.

The temple was barely in sight at the top, but, even so, that was enough for Mittelt. She scoffed the instant she spotted it and shook her head. "That place is no longer holy to anything! And I can sense a few other Fallen there too." She looked over at Rias. "Are we positive this isn't a real 'secret' Fallen base? One that's, you know, allowed?"

"I don't know," Rias said thoughtfully. "But if it is a secret base, it's one my brother's contact didn't know about, and I got the impression that his contact was rather high up in the Grigori, possibly even Azazael himself. If it's just rogue Fallen, on the other hand, then that will be on the Governor General's head." She paused, thinking. "hmm, he could be using us to clean up his messes, taking out an unauthorized base."

Yubelluna nodded, her eyes narrowed in thought. "That would be rather like the reports and rumors I've heard of the man. He's lazy, but intelligently so, and is an expert at making use of the other people."

"I suppose since we're cleaning up the people who might want to start a war I can't complain overmuch, but if that is indeed the case, I'm going to punch him in the nose if I ever meet him," Rias muttered. "Akeno?"

Akeno began to mutter under her breath, using an Onmyodo spell, her fingers moving this way and that and then thrusting forward. Her eyes quickly changed, glowing light yellow as she stared towards the temple. "There are twenty-nine life sources within the temple area, Buchou," she said formally.

"How many Fallen did you sense, Mittelt?" Rias asked, her words now coming out crisp and certain even as she used another spell on herself, as did Yubelluna.

"Seven," Mittelt said promptly, pulling on a pair of black gloves that covered her hands up to her elbows, reflecting internally that at least this pair matched her Gothic Lolita outfit, unlike the pair she'd first worn after trying to use her Light Spear power after being turned into a devil. As a devil, her own Light Spear spell could hurt Mittelt if she tried to grasp it with her bare skin.

"They have a bounded field up, too," Rias said. "It starts a few steps below the temple proper, and I would assume it goes all around the temple itself. I can also see an aversion ward." The term 'bounded field' was used occasionally to describe the alternate dimension spell that Devils and others used to create tiny pocket dimensions which were based off small (normally, anyway) areas of the real world. Anything that happened in the pocket dimension would not be reflected in the real world, sort of, but not quite like the spells they had used to create the training area under the ORC's clubhouse.

"The aversion ward is geared towards non-magicals, though, so shouldn't stop us from getting closer. And we should probably keep the bounded field up to cover us," Yubelluna reported, working smoothly with the others despite not ever having worked with any of them before.

"Agreed. Mittelt, wait for us to launch the first attack, then take to the air," Rias said, already gathering her magical power in one hand. "I think that in this instance we shouldn't even try to talk to them. Shock and awe, ladies; let's do this!"

The fight that followed could hardly be called that. It was more of a rout, really. The instant they entered the bounded field, Rias destroyed the main temple area with a single blast of her Power of Destruction. As the Fallen and other rogues attempted to rally, Mittelt flew down, cackling madly, followed Yubelluna and Akeno who dealt with the few survivors.

As the last enemy went down, disintegrated by a small low-powered Power of Destruction spell, Yubelluna nodded approval. "This was a well-run assault," she said in congratulations to Rias. "I honestly didn't expect it from you," she went on, her eyes narrowing now as she wondered what this meant for the future.

One of the ways that Rias could get out of the upcoming nuptials with Riser was to challenge him to a Rating Game. Everyone knew that it would be down to that in the end, but everyone also knew that Riser's peerage had both experience and numbers on its side, as well as individual power in a few cases. It would be a farce, or so everyone assumed before this.

Now Yubelluna didn't feel that way at all. Both Rias and Akeno had shown new ways of using magic as well as individual skill that she had never heard they might possess. That and the inclusion of Mittelt, a Fallen Angel with Holy magic? That, right there, could be a threat, and a big one to everyone but Riser. Eventually, she knew that Riser would simply bear them all down, using his power of regeneration to simply wear them out until then, but, even so, she was much more worried about that fight now than she had been before.

"You've grown," she said simply, looking at Akeno and Rias. "A lot more than I ever anticipated you might and certainly far more than my master has."

"And will you tell him that?" Rias asked, her gaze intent and straightforward as her blue eyes captured Yubelluna's purple.

"It is my duty to do so," Yubelluna said, looking at her with a frown.

"But will you do so if I offer you a chance to be free?" Rias asked, stepping up to the other woman and taking her hands in her own. "To be free and not a slave without becoming a Rogue? I know how Riser treats you, how he treats all of you! I've even seen pictures of it, for Maous' sakes!"

Yubelluna's eyes widened at that, and then her eyes narrowed. "Your brother, I presume?"

"While Nii-sama can't exactly be seen as using his position as Maou to interfere beyond a certain degree, that hasn't stopped him from helping me any way he can," Rias acknowledged. "But, in this area it's actually just me listening to rumor and then using my own familiars to follow up on them to see if there was any truth to them. I could wish that my own parents believed my words about that, but they don't. Which will leave me to do something about Riser, personally. Now, answer my question," she said softly yet very determinedly. "If I can figure out a way to free you without you needing to go Rogue, would you do it?"

Inside, the portion of the spell which bound a devil's peerage to him and which also instilled a certain amount of loyalty within the lesser devils to the King started to fight at the very idea of not informing her King about a threat like this. But Yubelluna was strong enough to push it aside. She couldn't have done so if Riser was nearby, of course. But he wasn't even on Earth at the moment, and she nodded slowly, tears coming to her eyes unbidden. "I would be willing to give everything I am, to do anything to get away from him!"

Rias squeezed her hands tightly as Akeno and even Mittelt looked away, not wanting to see the woman in pain. Even Akeno, who rather liked to see people in pain, physical or emotional, found the cause of Yubelluna's pain distasteful. "Then stay silent. Akeno and I will clean up the mess here. You can put this as a feather in your cap: you came upon them and wiped them out from a distance. That should gain you some respect from Riser and from the clan who owns this territory. Simply do not tell him about us, our growth, or Mittelt's presence at all. And I will convince him in turn to put up a little…wager…on his side of things when it comes to it."

Yubelluna's eyes widened at that, but she understood what Rias meant and nodded her head. "I will do so, but do you really think you can beat Riser?" she asked tremulously. "His power of regeneration is amazing even among his own family."

"There are ways around it and ways to manipulate Riser into situations that work against him," Rias said calmly. "I've come up with dozens of scenarios to do both. All that remains is for him to prove his stupidity, and I think we both know that Riser can be relied upon to do that."

That caused Yubelluna to laugh somewhat wetly, and she nodded her head firmly. "Most definitely! All right, all, I will agree to that. I won't tell them anything about the three of you being here, but you better clean up your magical residue before you leave. And I don't know any spell that can do that."

"We do not know one either," Akeno said with a laugh. "But I do know ones that can muddy the issue too much. After we use those, you'll just have to cast another spell to create an explosion to cover the damage when the bounded field comes down."

"I'll prepare the usual gas leak memory charm, then," Yubelluna said dryly, already flying into the air and moving back down towards the town to do so.

OOOOOOO

As Rias, Sona, Tsubaki, and their teams attacked their three targets, there were eighteen other battles going on throughout the Japanese islands. The Onmyodo government was pissed off in the extreme. They took neutrality very, very seriously and, just like every other wizarding government, treated the Statute as the next best thing to religious writ. The Onmyodo government never wanted to be in a war ever again, knowing all too well the cost of them, and, while they had only a limited understanding of the real balance of power between them and the Three Factions, they knew enough not to want to get involved in the cold war between them any further than they already had to.

To that end, teams of fifteen to thirty Shinsengumi, the name for Onmyodo police division, headed out to follow up on the rumors of magic going on throughout the country which didn't impinge on known Faction territory. They took losses, but, thanks to a series of precautions, they still won every fight.

That and the fact that most of the people they were attacking were grunts, rogue devils, excommunicated exorcists, and of course magicians (magic users who had made contracts with Devils) and scattered Sacred Gear users, though none of them had powers that were worth much. The Khaos Brigade lost quite a lot of its numbers then, having foolishly believed that bringing them together into Japan, where they knew they could suborn a few of the locals, would be a good idea in the long run.

That bit them on the rear now. They also lost several bases which they had been using to funnel food and other material to the secret base of the Khaos Brigade, which was situated on a small, supposedly uninhabitable island off the coast off Hokkaido's coast named Benten-jima. Again, that position had been chosen because none of the Factions were very strong in Japan, with the Devils being the only ones that had any real strength, and even that was new, coming about in the last seven years or so.

That wasn't to say that the wizards missions or the that every mission from Kuoh went off without a hitch. The problem for the devils came from the one target they were most certain about being just a routine rogue devil acting out.…

Sitting across from her boyfriend on the train, Tsubaki stared at Kiba, who was in turn looking out one of the windows beside him, his face set in a grimmer line than she had ever seen before. There was something obviously bothering the young man, but for the life of her she couldn't figure out what it might be. As her fellow peerage members became involved in some kind of portable gaming device, she moved over to sit next to Kiba, taking his hand with his her own. He turned away from the scene to smile wanly at her. "What's wrong?" she asked softly.

"Nothing is wrong," he said. "Just looking forward to this mission, that's all."

The look she gave him spoke volumes, and he sighed. "I suppose I can't fool you, can I?"

"We've been together for a number of months now. I like to think I can read you quite well," Tsubaki said mildly. But there was nothing mild about the glare she was giving him now, and Kiba reflected that Tsubaki had certainly learned how to communicate nonverbally very well from her King. "What's wrong?" she asked again.

Kiba winced. "I…had wanted to go with Sitri-sama on the mission against the target labeled 'possible Fallen/Church secret base.' I have a…past with the Church. But Buchou, Harry-san, and Sitri-sama all vetoed it," he said, and then sighed again when she didn't stop giving him The Look. My word, Harry was right when he said that look needed to be highlighted. He hesitated several times but then went on. "I… Do you know, have you ever heard rumors about the Church's Holy Sword Project?"

Tsubaki's face paled, and she quickly wrapped an arm around his shoulders, squeezing hard. "You were involved with that? I'm so sorry; I didn't know!"

"No reason you should," he replied smoothly, shaking his head. "I am not exactly very open about it, after all. But, I have a major issue with the Church because of it. I am able to control myself around Asia simply because, well…"

"She's one of the sweetest things to ever walk the Earth," Tsubaki said with a smile. Despite some misgivings about the fact that Asia still believed in God and had made no hint that she wanted to join either peerage, Asia had still made a very positive impression on everyone concerned.

"Yes. That," Kiba replied with a smile before becoming more serious. "I have moved past quite a bit of my anger thanks to Harry. Yet I still blame the Church for what happened to my friends, for what happened to me. To hear about these excommunicated exorcists which might have taken up with the Khaos Brigade or with other strays like Raynare, well, it brought up bad memories, ones I wanted to excise."

He sighed. "Yet I can't say the leadership trio was wrong in saying I shouldn't be involved in it. And if it does come down to it being a real base, just not an official one, well, my inner demons might make me a liability to any diplomatic solution.

"I see," Tsubaki said with a nod. "But you won't fly off the handle if we run into ex-Church members?"

As Kiba looked at her in surprise, she went on calmly. "I am technically in charge of this mission, after all and we don't actually know who is using magic in this area, only that someone is. If we believe that the base is too strong or if there is something complicated going on, I will pull us out and simply observe rather than allow us to attack."

From his seat nearby, Loup grunted at that, and Tsubaki turned to glare at him. "That goes double for you as well, Loup," she said coldly. "If I believe that the enemy is too strong for us to fight, we will simply observe and then come back another time."

"That's a shame," said Tsubasa, the young, blue-haired girl tapping the long item bundled next to her which contained the Firebolt Harry had given them. "I'm anxious to see what this baby can do!"

"But those are my orders," Tsubaki said coolly.

"Ain't arguing, Tsubaki-chan!" Tsubasa said with an airy wave, causing Tsubaki to roll her eyes.

Kiba smiled as he leaned back while the others argued with Tsubaki, grateful that she had not pressed him into making that promise. After all, if it turns out that these people are affiliated with the Church rather than rogue devils as we all think, I might not be able to keep it.

The group of five piled out of the subway at their target destination and made their way through the streets calmly, cloaking themselves slightly with the Devilic equivalent of a Notice-Me-Not as they slowly approached the area of the town in which they were interested. Soon Tsubaki halted their progress and sent her familiars, four swallows, up into the air, sending them forward as she stood in the shadows of an alleyway.

Following on their heels, Tsubasa took the Firebolt out and, after taking a moment to figure out how to control it, rocketed into the sky, disappearing high up in the air. From there she used a pair of binoculars to watch the four sparrows make their way towards the seemingly abandoned warehouse that was at the center of the area where there had been strange sightings and two people had gone missing.

"There are no defensive spells on the area beyond an aversion spell to keep nonmagicals away," Tsubaki said softly as she felt what her for familiars were feeling. "Nor any visible guards. It's evident that whoever is here either lacks manpower, thought, or felt that anonymity was the best defense. And Tsubasa is on the rooftop now. I'll send my swallows around the area to make certain."

On top of a nearby rooftop he had climbed while they waited around, Loup nodded, staring through his own binoculars at the far rooftop, seeing Tsubasa waving the broomstick above her head after having dismounted. "She's signaling an all clear," he grunted. "Let's go."

The remaining team members moved across the rooftops to the target destination, having quite a bit of difficulty making the last jump even with their enhanced physical abilities because the roofs on either side of the warehouse was in pieces, barely standing upright, and their footing was horrible. This area of the city was not so much rundown as almost abandoned. Tsubaki idly wondered if that preceded the installation of the powerful aversion spell or if it was because of it. Judging from the evidence around her, though, Tsubaki decided that it was more likely that the aversion spell had simply been the final straw which broke the camel's back.

As they joined Tsubasa, she made certain that they all understood they had to be quiet, gesturing down into the building. "I hear voices down there, some kind of chant, I think, and a lot of different conversations under it. Can't make any of them out."

Kiba's eyes narrowed in suspicion at that. The only faction that used chants in any way was the Church, and that was a sign that the people behind the magic in this area weren't what they had thought. He gestured to the locked maintenance hatch to one side. "Is there any chance you could get that open?"

"Not noiselessly. Most of its rusted," Tsubasa reported.

Tsubaki, however, scowled at her boyfriend. "We all know that chants are a sign of the Church rather than a rogue devil. Remember what I said, gentlemen, ladies. We are not here to do anything but observe if the enemy proves to be too strong."

"I understand, but we need to know more, surely? Unless your familiars can get in there and spy for us?" Kiba asked, seemingly calmly. But Loup didn't like the way his scent had changed and looked at the younger man closely, watching his reaction coolly.

Tsubaki hissed but shook her head. Tsubasa's familiar was a bear, and her own swallows were a little too obvious to use inside a building. And Kiba's own familiar was yet another bird. Darn it, we should have thought about familiars too when we made up these teams!

"Could we silence the area around it?" Tsubasa asked Tsubaki, breaking her out of her stasis.

"Good thinking. Let's create a bubble of silence and then simply cut our way down. Certainly you've got a sword that would be sharp enough for that?" Tsubaki teased her boyfriend in an effort to lighten the mood.

"I do indeed," he said with a smile, though it was a bit too eager. "Let's do this."

With Tsubaki creating the sphere of silence, Tsubasa made to help Loup lift the cut-away portion of the maintenance hatch out as it was being cut, not letting it fall inside and thus out of the bubble of silence. Eventually their way was clear, and Kiba leaped down first, landing lightly in the darkness below in what looked like a small storage room. He gestured up into the light coming in from the chopped away hatch, and the others followed, with Loup bringing up the rear.

Outside of the storage room they found themselves stepping out into what looked like a small walkway high above the floor of the warehouse. This segment of the warehouse was in deepest shadow, the windows all covered over, but down below they could see at least three dozen people moving around in a lighted area. Six of them were kneeling together to one side in a circle, their voices rising in holy benediction, while the others were moving around, either talking, eating, or moving small crates. A few of them even looked like simple scientists, setting up what looked like a laboratory in one corner, easily the most well-lit area in the warehouse. There were only seventeen of them or so, but the men opening up crates were setting up house and parts for at least three dozen more bunk-beds.

With Tsubaki still maintaining the cone of silence around them, the group retreated into the darkest corner they could find and observed everything as best they could. "Can we get close enough to overhear what they're saying with a spell?" Loup asked, his normal reticence gone now.

Tsubaki shook her head. "I'm not strong enough to divert that many people's attention from so close. We'll have to rely on our own ability to stay out of sight."

Loup nodded and, without another word, moved in and far more silently than anyone his size should've been able to. Kiba nodded and instantly moved after him, his sword having exchanged itself for a small, matte black dagger of some kind. The two girls blinked in surprise at the suddenness of the move before Tsubaki whispered, "Damn it. Tsubasa, stay here and wait with the Firebolt just in case. I'll move forward through the shadows to the left. We can at least cover those two idiots."

The two men got closer along another gangway and began to move forward, pausing here and there as Loup tested the floor of the gangway in front of them with Kiba putting his own feet down where the larger man did first. Eventually they paused about halfway towards the excommunicated exorcists with Loup shaking his head. He looked back at Loup and pointed down at the gangway, shaking his head to indicate it became weaker from there going forward. Without another word Kiba slowly knelt down and laid out on the planks, sticking his head over the edge. Loup nodded and simply crouched before shifting into his werewolf form.

This was the first time Kiba had seen Loup in his werewolf form, and it was a revelation. The man grew both in his shoulders and in height, his jaw and face changing dramatically into something approaching a wolf-like muzzle, but shorter, complete with fur sprouting everywhere. But the greatest difference was with his hands, his fingers elongating and the nails sharpening.

For all of that Loup crouched there in the dark calmly, staring down at their prey, his ears cocked visibly as he listened attentively. Kiba too tried to listen in, tried to hear anything over the drone of the ongoing chants from below, only to find it impossible. With that avenue of information closed, Kiba examined each group he saw down below, trying to push away the growing migraine the chanting was causing.

The six exorcists chanting below wore full plate armor, of all things. It covered them from head to toe and, worse, every inch of them was lined with Holy Scripture, with lines of cloth running from their shoulders down with further holy writ on them. At their sides sat short-hafted war hammers. They chanted with all the fervor of true believers, calling on the power of God for grace and for piety, in part of what looked to obviously be some kind of daily ritual.

Needless to say, this chant was acting on the devils like the sound of a dentist's drill would on normal humans. Worse, if the devils tried to attack, the chant would act like a curse, weakening them, slowing down their reaction times, and causing Devil powers to no longer work. And the fact the chant still worked for them was odd, something that Kiba realized only peripherally at the moment, since it implied they still believed in god.

Loup, on the other hand, wasn't affected at all. He would've been had the chant been something specifically against the beast or the inhuman, but, even then, not much, considering he had not been raised in the Christian faith. Chants like this and other things of similar nature wouldn't work on those who did not come from those religions, like holy crosses against vampires who had been Jewish or Buddhist.

Perhaps it is a good thing Loup-san didn't take my King's offer to turn him into a devil. At the time Tsubaki had been rather philosophical about it, while Sona had been somewhat irritated. She had wanted to bring in a normal boy to offset Saji's rather over-the-top flirtations and had been impressed by Loup's natural abilities and his personality. But Loup wasn't one to jump into anything without thinking it through first.

Looking around slowly Kiba felt the other people in the warehouse were not nearly as dangerous feeling as the group of armored exorcists. There were the twelve scientist-like people in the corner, running tests on something he couldn't see in a large, green vat of some kind of liquid. They too looked like true believers, monks in their case, save that they wore scientists overalls to go with their tonsured heads and rosaries. But they didn't join in the chanting. The ones doing the moving and preparation all looked like excommunicated exorcists.

That was all he could tell by looking at them, so Kiba concentrated hard, trying to listen past the droning to hear any snippets of conversation going on from the others he could see down below. It was hard, his migraine growing, but he persevered.

"Why they sent the Hospitaller squad in first, I don't know," said one exorcist to another, twitching his head at the group of armored exorcists.

"They're the best when it comes to hunting down devils, moron. Put up with it for now. And remember not to say anything in front of them they can take badly. They're a touchy damn bunch, and, well.…"

"Yeah," said another voice, the three men seeming to understand what they were talking about without anything else needing to be said.

While Kiba was having such difficulties, Loup concentrated on trying to overhear the scientists. The murmur of their voices was barely discernible to Kiba, but Loup easily overheard them. "I wonder what the Father will think about all this. We've gathered so much data, and just from one of the three swords. With all three, perhaps we really can create artificial holy swords before our attack on the devils in Kuoh."

At that Loup ears twitched upright, like a dog on a scent, and he leaned forward just slightly, hoping to hear more.

"I just hope that the fallen can produce his army for this. The Father is taking a huge risk coming out like he plans to. Especially since the fallen was involved in the theft of our little tools over there."

"Tools!" said another voice, sounding a little manic as he moved over to the scientists, pushing them aside and reaching into the device they were using. He pulled out a sword, a longsword, its blade gleaming even in the dim light of the warehouse, with a short hilt and a guard that offered little protection yet climbed up the blade in a crisscross pattern. Ignoring their shouts of outrage he turned back to his fellows even as he disappeared. "Tools, you call it! This is the real deal! One of the Excalibur blades: Excalibur Transparency!"

At that near-shout Kiba nearly lost it, but, unbeknownst to him, Loup had moved back to his side. Before Kiba could do anything, Loup gripped his shoulder hard, hard enough for his bones to creak under the strength of the werewolf's grip as he pushed the younger man down onto the gangway. As Kiba slowly settled down, the werewolf leaned in close to whisper into Kiba's ear. "They mentioned something about a father and working with a fallen of some kind. The father might be coming here, possibly to inspect the base? He might be accompanied by more of their troops."

At that point the rusty gangway they were standing on began to creak alarmingly, the weight of two of them standing in the same area being too far much for the old piece of metal. It wasn't enough to make them think it was going to give way, but it was enough noise to draw attention from below. "What's up there? Someone shine a light!"

Cursing inwardly, both of them moved in different directions, crouching down as much as they could, but their sudden movement also made creaking noises, and more flashlights stabbed up at them.

Tsubaki and the others saw this happening, and she scowled. "That's torn it! Attack!" she shouted in a loud voice, carrying throughout the warehouse.

With that Tsubasa leaped into the air on the Firebolt, zooming forward to get above the group of exorcists below, and dropped several talismans, cackling madly and drawing the eyes of everyone in the place.

Many of the exorcists pulled out guns and began to fire on her, as did the monks. The monks though used fully automatic machine guns which they pulled out from their lab coats somehow. But they found their bullets arrested in midair, at least for a few seconds, by Tsubaki's magic.

Then the six Knights Hospitaller below began to roar out their chant in loud voices, sound amplifiers in their helmets activating to cause the music they were singing to reverberate throughout the entire warehouse. And immediately the curse of God came into effect. Tsubasa nearly fell off the Firebolt, grabbing desperately at the broom and wobbling in the air until she crashed into a girder. Tsubaki lost control of the spell she had used to stop the bullets, and they continued their journey upwards, one of them nearly smacking into Tsubasa's thigh and the rest impacting the roof and ricocheting for a bit. And Kiba groaned, his Sacred Gear-summoned sword falling out of his grip, his power suddenly leaving him as he slumped to his knees.

But Loup let out a howl. It, too, reverberated around the area, pushing back against the sound assault of the exorcists. Then he leaped down among them. No choice but to fight now!

"Begone, foul beast!" shouted one of them. "Back into this the pit that spawned thee!"

A warhammer whirled around towards where Loup's head would be when he landed. But he simply lifted his hand and smashed it to pieces, lashing out with a punch that caved in that warrior's chest plate, hurling him backwards.

The others all turned, bringing their own hammers to bear, and two of them got through, but neither were silver plated, and, while Loup's healing factor was nowhere near as good as Harry's, he was still a werewolf. If it wasn't silver, he could heal from anything physical, if not magical. He grunted under the impact but took them, reaching forward with both hands to grasp the heads of the hammers as they were pulled back, crushing and then hurling them into their owners who had abandoned them to his grip.

With three of their fellows incapacitated or dead, the two remaining split up, circling Loup even as they continued to advance.

But without three of their number, much of the power of their mantra had been lost, and Kiba leaped down, stabbing towards one of the shooters with a sword that looked more like a large spear than anything else. Four of the others, however, pulled out knives and moved towards Loup, shouting, "We'll take the beast; you take the Devils!" to their armored fellows. Since Kiba could tell their blades were silver, that made far too much sense to the Knight.

As Loup leaped towards one of armored Hospitaller, the other one turned aside, pulling a shield off his back and moving to engage Kiba. On the shield was embossed the holy cross, white with a gold outline, which told Kiba what order these armored fellows originally came from. "Avaunt, devil! Your end is nigh! The Holy Lord and His light go with me, and you shall not prevail against me!"

As the man progressed, he brought with him an aura that seemed to impact Kiba, and he fell back stumbling as his sword disappeared. "No devil's magic can fight the power of the True Faith!"

Kiba stumbled back again, then seemed to shrug and reached down to his pouch, pulling out the sword Harry had given him that morning from the mokeskin pouch Harry had let him borrow rather than simply creating one. "In that case, I suppose I'll just have to use something else."

With that he charged forward. An instant later, to the knight's astonishment, the Sword of Gryffindor carved straight through the haft of his warhammer and deep into his armored chest before being pulled out, twisting around to take another man's wrist off as he made to stab Kiba in the side.

A quick counter-blow sliced that man's head from his shoulders, and then the other three devils were there. Tsubasa had recovered enough to fly and swooped down to hurl down the last few talismans before simply flying down and smashing into and through some of the scientist-monks. Tsubaki, embarrassed by how her magic had been negated, began to launch long range magical assaults. Her shout of, "Wicked Cutting Tree!" launched dozens of wooden spheres with edges that made steel look weak to cut down nearly every scientist-monk there.

At the same moment Loup gasped, a sword blade cutting into his side. "Hah! Got you!"

Grunting, Loup went to his knee, staring around him as Kiba suddenly leaped up high, dodging an unseen foe, having somehow sensed it coming when even Loup's senses hadn't picked up the invisible exorcist. A wide area attack lashed out from Tsubaki, who was staying up on the remains of the walkway, but it hit nothing, and she cried out in shock as a bullet from an unseen gun impacted her shoulder, the pain of the blessed bullet hurling her to the side, cutting her magic off abruptly.

Tsubasa dodged wildly in midair as the remaining exorcists began to fire up at her. There weren't many, but one of them was still invisible, firing as he moved around, and, with Tsubaki down, they had lost a large portion of their ranged firepower. Kiba was busy dodging bullets, unable to close, and, as far as the exorcists knew, Loup was dying.

But while Excalibur Transparency was a magnificent weapon, it wasn't silver. And for werewolves, unless you got them in the brain or the heart (and even there, with Harry, you'd have to do both), it didn't matter. Loup crouched, one claw grasping at his bleeding side, gathering some blood even as his wound closed, then rolled to the side as the last armored Hospitaller tried to bring his warhammer down on the back of his head. The blow glanced off, and his return blow hurled the man back several feet, but he remained on his feet.

Sniffing as deeply as he could, Loup twisted and flung out his hand toward where he smelled a man where there didn't seem to be one. The blood hit, outlining the back and side of the exorcist using the holy blade, and the next instant a flung sword from Kiba slammed into the man's chest.

With him down, Kiba and Tsubasa closed with the last two remaining exorcists, Tsubasa coming down on them like a hawk. At the same time Loup turned to the armored knight, catching his warhammer. Even as he started to wrench the last armored knight's head off his shoulders, he shouted, "We want prisoners!"

This proved in vain, however. Only one of the scientist-monks was still in one piece after a few more seconds of combat, and he quickly bit down on something in his mouth before starting to shout at the top of his lungs. "You may have won today, devils, but your end is nigh. The true Son of God will, will, will see to your demise. The flames of war will burn you all to ash as well as those two weak to see to their holy duty!" With that he finally collapsed, his mouth foaming.

Tsubaki moved over quickly, trying to use what few healing spells she knew to keep him alive despite her shoulder burning like fire, but to no avail. Whatever poison he had taken had caused his heart to explode. The only way to bring him back would've been to bring him back as a devil, and none of them had the ability to do that. "Darn it!" Tsubaki snarled, her uninjured hand coming up to her shoulder. "We're nowhere closer than we were to figuring out what this base was for."

"Wouldn't say that," Loup said laconically, changing back into his normal body and moving gently around Tsubasa, reaching down to one of the men Kiba had killed and pulling out the holy sword the man had been using. Then Loup turned back to Kiba, moving and dropping the sword in front of him with one eyebrow raised at the intense expression on his face. "Holy Sword Project, right? Means you want to destroy this?"

His hands clenching on the hilt of the Sword of Gryffindor, Kiba looked down at the blade and then to the one in his hands, remembering the advice Harry had given him when they first began to be friends slowly shaking his head. "No, I don't think so. I think I'm over my anger at the actual swords, but you mentioned something else they were saying?"

Loup nodded and moved away, looking at the device the scientists had been using to analyze the sword, which Tsubaki was also examining. As she'd feared, it was dead, and she shook her head at Loup. He nodded back and then said, "This place, a temporary base. A gathering point and hiding spot before they moved to the main objective. In Kuoh."

Tsubaki's eyes widened behind her glasses, and she slowly nodded, a little disturbed by the fact that a Holy Sword, ostensibly stolen, was sent ahead of their real numbers. Then again, if it was guarded by those Hospitallers, then it makes sense. "So by attacking here we might well have halted their plans?"

"That might be the case," Kiba said, looking over at Loup.

He shrugged ignorance. "Said there would be others. This was just the best people. They called themselves, 'holy sword hopefuls.."

Kiba twitched again at that, glaring down at the men around him. "Now, that is a pity. If I had known that I would have attempted to…make their deaths far more agonizing," he said mildly, something that caused more than one shudder to go around the others.

"Wait a moment," Tsubaki said thoughtfully, looking at Loup. "You just said they were expecting other people here?"

Loup nodded, and Tsubaki smiled vindictively. "Kiba, how much can that pouch of yours carry?"

"As far as I know, there's no limit so long as we can fit whatever it is into the opening," Kiba replied. That bag had been something that Rias had bought in the Onmyouji section of Tokyo. She had bought one 'bookbag of holding' for herself and smaller carry-on pouches for the others of her peerage, a gift that had a very high upside to it.

"Good. Search for anything incriminating, interesting, or simply expensive. Tsubasa, you and Loup help him. Kiba and I are going to be a little busy. But first, Tsubasa, give me all of those talismans Harry-sensei gave you. I have a plan," Tsubaki said, a grim smile on her face.

OOOOOOO.

At first Kunou and Lily were a little reluctant to invite the youngest two members of Sona's peerage to their picnic. After all, they had only met most of the Sitri group once before. But Ruruko seemed fun, at least. In Lily's opinion, Saji was a boy, enough said. Boys seemed to either be bullies, boring, or just not Daddy, the twins, Teddy, or Daddy. And yes, in Lily's mind, her father deserved a second mention in that list. Because of that opinion, Lily couldn't care less about them. She was still kind of undecided about Loup, but since he was a werewolf and had brought Kunou (her bestest friend ever!) with him when he moved in, Lily was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.

Luckily for Lily and Kunou, Saji seemed more concerned with staying and flirting with Ruruko or Momo and attempting to flirt with Koneko and failing miserably. Koneko, in turn seemed happier having fun with the kids, who had brought several toys to play around with, happily donated by their various parents who were grateful for a day's off watching their own children. First they played a game of hacky-sack which, astonishingly, Asia had been incredibly good at, garnering many an admiring glance from some of the kids, though Lily suspected that Saji's approval of her skill was a little beyond what her second big sister's skills really deserved.

After that they had played Frisbee, and Koneko looked up from where she had been talking to Momo and paused, blinking. Seeing the Frisbee game going on, she burst out laughing, one of the very few times Lily had ever seen her do so. But given the fact that Kunou and Lily kept on racing after the Frisbee on all fours, despite both of them being in their human forms, this could be excused. And she kept laughing as the two girls and their friends all competed for the Frisbee until the other kids had to head home.

Lily growled at her as she dropped the Frisbee at Koneko's feet, having had to use almost all of her willpower not to pick it up with her mouth. "What're you laughing at, Koneko-nee?"

"Little puppies and kits acting their age," Koneko said, still smiling brightly at Lily both because she was in good spirits and because of the '-nee' bit there. "Though you can't seem to remember you're human," she teased. "Humans run only on their back legs, you know?"

Her eyes narrowing, Lily whipped out a magical cat toy from one of her jeans pockets, a fuzzy mouse that moved off on its own when she dropped it to the ground with a little squeak. It had been for Crookshanks at one point, but he hadn't liked it. Lily had wanted something to use if Koneko got a little too big for her britches, and she always carried it with her, just itching for an excuse to use it. Now she watched Koneko visibly stop herself from leaping on the toy, twitching in place before glaring at her. Lily glared right back, twitching her fingers this way and that and sending the cat toy skidding away.

Somehow feeling the tension, she was a Kitsune after all, Kunou moved over, hugging Lily from behind and poking her head out from one side of the slightly taller girl. "What's wrong?" she said innocently. "We're just having fun, right?"

Koneko and Lily slowly nodded, and Lily held out the toy's strings to Koneko, who took it and then held up the Frisbee before pausing, her somewhat limited magical senses tingling. She looked around and frowned. Most of the kids had left around forty minutes ago to head back home, escorted there by Momo, who had just returned, but that wasn't what had caught Koneko's attention. Instead it was the look on the silver-haired girl's face as she was staring around them that made Koneko tense. "Someone just set up a bounded field," she reported tersely.

At that Koneko immediately took charge, pushing Lily gently away and dropping the cat toy. "Defensive formation. Lily, Asia, and Kunou into the center, everyone else pointing outwards. Get ready to use that portkey of yours," she said to Lily.

Lily's eyes widened, nodding thoughtfully as she raised a hand to her necklace.

"None of that, now. We wouldn't want anyone to take any precipitous actions," said a male voice. A second later a young man, perhaps ninteen or twenty years old, walked down the path leading to the large grassy area the picnickers had been using. He had green hair and an aristocratic face with a slightly European cast to his features. His amber eyes were somewhat offsetting, as was the fact he was dressed in what looked like a king's costume from a play.

Yet, for all his good looks and his smile, Lily took one look at him and backed away quickly, her hand clasping around her necklace, not liking his eyes at all. Kunou too moved backward, frowning at the man.

"None of that," he said peaceably, holding up his hands. "I come in peace and all that. It's just that this is a conversation that we wouldn't want non-magical beings to overhear, that's all. My name is Diodora Astaroth, and I am here to speak to Asia if that is all right."

Momo hissed, pushing Ruruko and Koneko backwards with her hands as she bowed formally. "Lord Astaroth, we were not informed of your arrival in our territory. I'm sorry, but neither my King, Lady Sitri, nor Lady Gremory are here at the moment, so we cannot welcome you as your title demands."

For all her formal words, Momo was tense, with her mind going a mile a minute. Did he have the area under observation? How?... Familiars! It must've been some kind of familiar, one who can morph into a human shape like Lady Rias's bats! We'll have to think about that in the future, add keeping such as that out to our defensive scheme, or did the others already think about that? Whatever, the problem is that he must know that they aren't here, so whatever his words, he's here to do something that he knows Lady Rias and Sona-sama would not approve of. And it's connected to Asia-chan!? Fuck! We need to get a word out to Potter-sensei.

"That's quite all right," Diodora said with a smile as he moved forward, seemingly uncaring of the fact that Lily and Kunou were now being pushed backwards behind everyone else and that Koneko was clenching and unclenching her fists, crouching very slightly on her legs in preparation to spring one way or the other. "My business has nothing to do with the Gremory or Sitri clans. I wish to talk to Asia Argento. And, since she hasn't been claimed by either of your peerages, this really has nothing to do with any of you."

"Don't talk about Asia as if she's some kind of prize!" Lily said, now getting a little angry, her hand dropping from her necklace as her anger overrode her flight instincts. She stepped forward, grabbing at Asia's hand and squeezing it. "She's got friends! We might not be one of your devil peerages, but…"

"Was I speaking to you, you filthy little half-breed?" Diodora asked, his tone matter-of-fact but also utterly dismissive, his eyebrow quirking as Koneko growled. "Really, you animals are overreacting. I'm just here to make an offer. What happens next is fully up to Asia."

"Sticks and stones may break your bones, but names will never hurt me again!" Lily growled, crouching down now as she slowly shifted into her werewolf form. Beside her Kunou took courage from her response and shifted into her own kitsune body, her one tail waving in the air as small lights started to glimmer along its length.

"Ano," Asia said, moving forward from the peerage. "Um, you look familiar, sir. Have we met before? How do you know about me?"

"To have been forgotten by such a fair maiden, that makes me rather sad. Do you not recognize me?" Diodora said, bowing floridly. "I was the young devil you healed so many months ago. You saved my life, dear lady, and I wish to simply repay the favor by making you a devil and the next best thing to immortal."

Asia tried to keep control of her temper, but the slurs the young man was tossing her friends' way made that battle almost impossible. "I don't think so," she said at last. "A wise man once said that you can tell a lot about a person by how he treats those they believe to be their inferiors. The way you're talking about Lily and Koneko tells me all too much about you. I do not think I want to be part of your peerage, nor I do think I want to see you again. I am not sad that I healed you—you were in danger of death, and healing those in need regardless of their race is why God granted me this power. But that does not mean that I wish to go with you."

"Now, if that is all," Asia went on, ignoring for once the wince her use of the word 'God' had given everyone around her save Lily and Kunou, "please leave us alone? We were having a lovely picnic day before you arrived."

"So sad, to be so rejected. Still, I will accept that rejection as being honest and coming from the heart. But I am afraid that I am not willing to accept simply being so. I did say everything was on your shoulders, and I meant it. What happens next is your own fault for not coming peaceably, my dear."

With a click of Diodora's fingers, a full peerage suddenly appeared from behind an illusion spell all around them. All but one were women, and all of those women were wearing what looked like sexualized versions of a nun's outfit. Asia was horrified at the sight, blushing furiously, but most of her horror wasn't because of the over-sexed version of her own favorite clothing. No, she recognized at least two of the girls, having seen them from afar during her time in Rome at the Vatican.

"So, please, hand Asia to me or,…" Diodora said, but he was interrupted.

"Absorption Line," Saji suddenly shouted, having hidden one hand behind his back as he summoned up his Sacred Gear. From the little, vaguely draconic-looking gauntlet, a thin line of what looked like rope made out of magic lashed out. This was Saji's first real attack with his Sacred Gear: Absorption Line. It was an attack which drained the target of its magic to various degrees. Slamming into Diodora with all the force of a whip, the attack drained some of his magic and sent the Astaroth clan heir stumbling backwards slightly as he began to feel his magical power being drained away.

At the same time his peerage rushed forward, and the battle was joined.

One of the women was a statuesque brunette with immensely long legs, legs that were shown off to an almost obscene level given the outfit she was wearing, a black latex version of a nun's outfit. She had two swords strapped to her thighs, and, as she charged forward, magic roared up one of her sword's edges while some kind of green energy did the same around the other. Her eyes swept across the defenders, and, when she looked at them, some kind of power, possibly a Sacred Gear of some kind, activated, and Koneko and the others found their movements slowed while the woman's own sped up in turn.

Another girl had short cropped hair and a nearly boyish figure. She also had painted tears on her face and dead eyes, and she leaped into the air and flew into the battle without even the use of her devil wings. Wrist guards appeared around her hands and forearm, and she began to fire down with what looked like energy blasts of some kind, green and yellow blasts that looked something like a large crossbow bolt. They struck, forcing the defenders to separate, and now many of them were freed from the brunette's power while Momo and Saji now felt its full power, like they had all been dipped in molasses.

Then the other devils attacked too. Many of them looked reluctant, almost broken, but others were almost manic in their attacks.

"Lily, go!" Koneko roared, slamming one fist forward into the face of one of them, then leaping towards an older woman who had seemingly made a beeline for Lily for some reason. "Get out of here!" she shouted at the two kids.

Unfortunately, Lily was a Potter, and one thing Potters did not do very well was run when their friends were in danger. Instead, Lily barked out, "Kunou, back away slowly with Asia between us! We'll tag team anyone who comes after us!"

The kitsune nodded grimly, the flare of pure magical power in her tail glowing even stronger, ready to fire. "Okay, but don't expect much from this!"

At the same time, the two Koneko had pegged as Rooks charged towards her and Ruruko. One of them was a massive mountain of a man, the only man in the peerage, wielding a weapon that looked like an oversized Indian sword and wearing something that made him look like a eunuch from a Middle-Eastern harem. The other was a woman who looked like an Amazon, almost, thanks to her size, the image completed with a set of bikini armor, sword, and shield, and Koneko snorted as she crouched, her knuckles creaking as she prepared to meet them. "Dragon Quest called; Female Warrior wants her outfit back."

"Who?" the woman barked back even as she brought her sword around.

Even though she was being slowed by the Queen's power, Koneko was still fast enough, thanks to her training, to keep up, and she brought up one fist, shouting out, "Boost!" as she did.

The Boosted Gear appeared around her arm, Harry having given it to her that morning prior to some training the two of them would've been doing this evening. Harry had wanted her to bond with Ddraig and, honestly, the Boosted Gear had asked to be let out of the house for a time. Harry hadn't thought that being part of what amounted to a mostly girls day out in the park was something that Ddraig would've found fun, but Ddraig's desire to be let out of the house for a bit paid dividends now.

"Boost!" roared the gauntlet, smashing into and shattering the woman's sword before Koneko's punch finished its assault by slamming into her chest and hurling her away with a cry of agony. Koneko then leaped up over the sword of the other opponent, flipping herself in the air, and coming down on one leg, lashing out with a kick, thankful for the martial arts training she had been getting from Loup recently. The kick caught the large male Rook in the side of knee, shattering it and dumping him to the ground before a pile-driving blow to the chin sent him flying backwards.

With that done, Koneko charged forwards towards the one she thought must be the Queen, who had just knocked down Momo with a magical blast and was now racing towards the threesome of Asia, Lily, and Kunou. Lily and Kunou were pulling Asia along while the older girl continued to look behind her, but had stopped as one of the Diodora's peerage had gotten in their way. That girl was now down, a look of surprise on her face as Lily had borne her to the earth, and a hard punch to the face had actually knocked the older woman out.

Even so, there were others closing in now, with several pinning Saji in place as Diodora took vengeance for his preemptive strike. An instant later a vicious magical blast threw Saji through a tree with a cry of pain. With that done, the Astaroth King turned his gaze on the others, and the three fleeing were slowed suddenly, the brunette Queen's power crashing down on them.

It would've gone poorly for all of them at that point if not for the fact that two other people had noticed the bounded field going up.

Kalawarner had been heading back to the Potter's house, hoping to show Harry some of the annotations she had made to a few of the romance novels. These came in two varieties, and she thought the ones where she basically trolled the plot would amuse him greatly, even if he wouldn't bother with the second variety, where she made corrections and changes to the lovemaking scenes. After hearing him talk about it that morning she knew that Harry would appreciate a laugh after working on the permanent family clock. Flying over the park she, of course, noticed the bounded field and entered it just as the fight turned against Koneko and the others. Seeing this, she instantly joined in.

"Holy Spear Barrage!" she roared, gesturing down with both of her hands, her wings flapping and flaring as spears of light that looked more like large pinions appeared all around her and then shot down towards the ground. Four of Diodora's peerage died under the barrage the holy spears slamming into and through them.

Under the cover of this, Lily grabbed at Asia, twisting around and pushing her away from Diodora as she shouted, "Now, Kunou!"

The little fox kit howled, "Foxfire!"

From her tail came a blast of blue light so bright it was like a small solar flare. Later in life this was the spell which was habitually the first attack spell kitsune learned, but Kunou was far too young to concentrate it enough to do actual damage. Even so, she could create it like this in the diffuse form. It seared the eyes of Diodora and the others attacking breaking the Queen's magical spell, and Asia and Lily were away, with Kunou moving after them as Lily turned to body check another pawn, bearing the nun-turned devil to the ground with a growl.

Behind them Koneko yowled in frustration more than anything else, watching as Lily simply forgot her portkey entirely. They'd had a chance just then to get all three of the noncombatants out of here, and Lily hadn't taken it! I'm going to give that girl a stern talking to!

Rubbing at his stinging eyes, Diodora tried to intercept Asia and the others, only to be intercepted in turn by Kala. In her hands a long spear of Light magic flashed towards him from one side. But Diodora simply blocked it with a magic shield and then lashed out with a hard physical blow that sent her flying. However, Kala had gained Asia enough time to run away, disappearing around the corner of the park and out of the bounded field.

From a nearby bush, Issei stared at all this. He had been passing through the park hoping to see some good-looking girls and feeling somewhat sorry for himself. While he had started to break off ties from his two friends, he still hadn't figured out how to get girls to be interested in him and was still stained with the pervert label at school, which still made his life a kind of living hell. His parents had also found a large portion of his porn collection recently, and his mother had quite literally burned it in front of him, so he had no wish to go home.

As he was wondering what to do he had felt something, like a cold wind blowing down his spine, as well as some kind of pressure in his head as if he was getting a bad migraine. But for all that, he couldn't find anything to actually explain it, despite looking around everywhere.

He'd then spotted Koneko and the others and had moved in their direction only to pause as he realized that they were the only ones in sight at all. There should've been at least a few other people around the park on a Sunday like this. Feeling somewhat fearful, he had hidden in some bushes and watched as the green-haired pretty boy showed up. Issei didn't understand everything that was said, but it was clear that this guy was after the pretty foreign girl named Asia, who was some kind of ward of Harry Potter. No one was at all certain about their actual relationship, but she had been seen around town in the company of Harry and Lily often enough for rumors to begin. But, regardless, it was obvious that Asia didn't want to have anything to do with him.

When the man's soldiers, or whatever they were, appeared a moment after, Issei had nearly lost it, blood gushing from his nose as he stared at each of them in turn, avidly committing each of their bodies to his long term memory for later use. However, when the spells began to fly, that had broken Issei out of his momentary stasis, and he kept hiding for a time, watching.

But when Ruruko went down nearby, her leg nearly cut in half under her by some girl with a sword he leaped forward. Before the attacking girl could finish off Ruruko, he brought down a large cob of wood he'd found on the girl's back. The blow wasn't very hard, but it certainly disoriented the girl enough for Ruruko to retaliate with what looked like a tarot card, its edges so sharp it cut into the other girl's neck from one side to another.

The first girl dropped her sword, and Issei picked it up, looking around wildly. "Ruruko-chan, w, what's going on here!? My imagination isn't nearly at this good, and there aren't enough oppai around for this to be a dream."

While Ruruko blinked and then began to shiver at the pain of her wound, Koneko looked at him from where she had just dealt with the Queen, with help, admittedly, from Lily and Kunou. They had turned back to the fight when Asia had raced out of the bounded field, and the two little girls had distracted the Queen's gaze just enough for Koneko to close in and give her a Boosted shot which slammed into her back, shattering her spine. "Pervert."

With that one shot delivered, Koneko ignored the sight of Issei collapsing into a black mood. Right now there was something that needed to be said, and Koneko turned and glared down at Lily and Kunou. "Why didn't you use the portkey?!" she growled, her voice actually angry for the first time since Lily had met her.

"I couldn't just leave!" Lily said. "By the time I thought of it, I couldn't get to Kunou, and Asia was too far away."

Koneko growled at that, then slowly nodded, ruffling Lily's hair. "Grrr.… Heart is in right place, but not head. At your age, you should run, and you had the perfect opportunity to do so right after Kunou used her spell."

"Um, she's right, Lily. We should have run away," Kunou said tremulously, now looking a little shocky as she stared around them. Lily wasn't, for some reason, but, then again, Koneko knew this wasn't the first battlefield she had seen.

As lily wilted, Koneko nodded firmly. "Now, use portkey and head home! Tell Harry-sensei what is going on. I'm going after Kunou and the others. The rest of you finish up here!" Without even waiting for a reply, Koneko turned and dashed off, hitting the edge of the bounded field just as the last attacking enemy went down under a magical strike from Momo, who winced as she moved over to help Ruruko, feeling at her own side where a very nasty burn could be seen.

Issei was already kneeling beside her trying to staunch the flow of blood even as he wept about how Koneko had been so mean to him. The sight caused Momo to smile and she reached over to pat his head like a dog that had just done a trick. "We'll tell you later, Hyoudou-san. Suffice to say there is a lot more going on in this world than most people learn, and you might no longer have a choice about joining this new world."

OOOOOOO

With Kalawarner always getting in his way, Diodora was unable to catch up to Asia at first as Kala continued to try and attack him, but she couldn't get through his defenses. There was just too much of a difference in power, and, as Asia stumbled right before reaching the front gate, Kala found herself smashed to one side as her blade shattered just as they came near the edge of the wards around the Potters' home. The magically infused blow caught Kala in the side, snapping some ribs as she was hurled away.

"Ah, this has cost me dearly, Asia-chan," Diodora said, a look of manic, barely controlled fury on his face. "You have cost me my entire peerage, I feel. But don't worry, you will most definitely pay me back for that."

Diodora leaned down to grab at Asia again, but she thrust her hand out, shouting, "Stupefy!" The attack spell slammed him away but didn't do anything more. That was enough though for her to turn, leaping through the gate onto the front walkway. She then gathered her legs under her and moved to help Kala up, desperate to get the wounded Fallen away from their tormentor.

The spell had hurt slightly but done nothing more than surprise Diodora and knock him off-balance, such was his Devil-given magical resistance. Now he snarled, so angry he couldn't even feel the magic in the air around him for a moment. "You bitch! You will learn your place soon enough!"

He reached for them, his anger so palpable he didn't even hear the sound of running feet for a moment, but he turned at the last second to grab at and redirect Koneko's blow. "Boost!"

"Boost!" the Gauntlet roared, and the blast of concentrated magic went over Diodora's shoulder. He brought his arm down to smash Koneko's elbow in a magically infused blow that shattered it despite her Rook-given durability, but, even as he did, Koneko twisted to bring her shoulder into his chest, thrusting forward and pushing him up off his feet, hurling them both into the wards around the Potter house. "You won't touch her!"

"You vile WRETCCCH!" Diodora shouted, only to begin to scream as the Potter wards came into effect.

Kala had been read into the wards by this point to what was called the 'friend of the family' level. This was why she had been able to enter them when Asia grabbed her and pulled her over the ward line. So long as someone else who had authority over the wards, which amounted to just Koneko and Harry at this point, was in the house, she could enter freely. Harry was in residence, so the wards didn't do anything to her.

In contrast, Koneko was the most trusted person behind Harry himself when it came to the wards. She was the only one so far who could read other people in and take the kids out from under them. She couldn't modify them, but she could bring them up to a wartime footing if she was inside the house.

On the other hand, Diodora was most definitely not wanted. Not only did he enter the warded area without permission, but he meant harm to someone who was read into them, in this case both Kalawarner and Asia, and who was now currently on the property. So they reacted as they were intended to in order to expel him, with extreme prejudice.

There was a feeling of pressure in the air like a massive storm, only more centralized, as the magic of the wards appeared a bright yellow, teal, and vibrant pink dome of energy. Then that magic concentrated around Diodora, more and more of it blasting into every inch of his body all at once. The effect was like he was doused in kerosene and set on fire while at the same time being hit by a Bombarda and a Lightning spell all at the same time.

Diodora was a powerful young devil, a true heir to one of the 32 Pillar Clans. Yet he could not stand up to the power of Harry's wards now, and he screamed as those wards did their work, horribly burning him from head to foot and hurling him off the front walkway and back out onto the street in a mass of blackened and burnt flesh.

Inside the house Harry had been nearly finished with his work with the clock when he felt the portkey from Lily and Kunou activate, bringing them through the wards. At that feeling he turned, dropping everything and raced up the stairs from the basement, cursing.

"Daddy, there's this man trying to take Asia away!" Lily shouted from where she and Kunou had sprawled after coming out of the portkey, with the younger Fox girl holding her stomach and whimpering.

"Don't worry, honey; I'll handle it," Harry said, ruffling her hair even as he shifted to race past, feeling the wards activate. Outside, he found Kala and Asia nearly at the door with Koneko sprawled near their edge. On the other side of the wards a body was smoldering, smoke rising from its form.

Yet, even as Harry reached Koneko, the wounds from the wards were being replaced. Not healed, but the skin beneath was simply being scabbed over, almost, by what looked like a tattoo of some kind. It looked like snake eating itself in a circle in uncounted repetitions of that symbol, covering every inch of his skin that Harry could see. Which, since the wards had flash-fried most of the attacker's clothing off, was quite a bit.

That, however was secondary. He looked at Koneko, her arm bent at an unnatural angle despite Ddraig on her forearm. He saw Kala holding her side, and he saw Asia's frightened face, adding them onto Kunou's earlier shivering look and his daughter's look of anger and coming to two simple conclusions. One, they had waited overlong to set up the defensive matrix, and two, this man, whatever or whoever it was, was going to die. Still, best to at least have a name for the man who will soon be a corpse.

With that in mind, Harry asked coldly, "Who are you supposed to be?" cracking his neck as his fingers began to twitch. Pointing at Asia and Kala, he lifted them both up off the ground and gestured them back into the open doorway, before gesturing at Koneko too.

"No!" yowled Koneko, trying to fight the spell that was holding her in the air even as her arm hung limply. "Let me fight!"

"Later, luv," Harry said calmly, all too calmly to those who knew him. "I have no doubt there'll be other times. You've done enough for now."

With that he closed the door with finality behind her as he stepped forward out from underneath the wards deliberately, staring as Diodora pushed himself to his feet. "Now, I can't have that. Sectumsempra." The cutting curse lashed out, but, before it could hit, one of the spell tattoos on the man came alive, lashing out and smashing the spell to splinters as if it had been a physical thing. But the curse's splinters still cut into the odd draconic thing, lashing it to pieces and causing it to disappear, leaving a small spot of skin visible underneath for a second before it was replaced.

"I am Diodora Astaroth you, you filthy magician, and I will end you!" Diodora snarled, pushing to his feet as Harry analyzed what had just occurred. Diodora's face, too, was covered by the odd Ouroboros tattoo. Even his eyes seemed to have little tattoos etched into the iris, somehow, which told Harry this was some kind of spell rather than a mere living tattoo and possibly not even something the man controlled, either.

"I am Harry Potter, and you aren't the first one to say that kind of thing to me. Let's see if you've got the weight to back it up." With that Harry moved. Spell after spell lashed out from one hand even as he weaved a more serious local spell with his other, his fingers moving furiously. This was one spell he had not had the time or inclination to train with to get to the point where he didn't need to use gestures or words, and he finally shouted, "Let my enemies be held here by the grace of the Amaterasu: Web of Scattering Light!"

It was a more comprehensive anti-teleportation spell than anything his own people had ever come up with: it simply said no one could leave, period, which stopped any teleportation spell, not just the types the user knew about. But it was an active spell. There was no way to create a ward array quite like it, and it was very draining on most people's reserves. Normally the Onmyouji would have had to have several dozen people cast it as part of a group enchantment.

Harry didn't even feel it, and he continued to lash out, spell after spell hitting Diodora as he stumbled backwards.

But the tattoos protected the man, and he too began to lash out with spells, though his were unformed, simple blasts of Devilish magical power barely formed into attack spells. "You think a jumped up werewolf mage like you can stop a Pureblood devil like me!? When I am empowered further by my mistress!? I will kill you! I, Diodora Astaroth will kill you! Then I will rip those wards down and take Asia-chan and break her right here so the rest of these filthy half-breeds can watch!"

Harry's ire was already quite high, but if any of his old enemies had seen him just then, even the stupidest would've run away as light began to emanate from his eyes. "Thank you for making the stakes so clear," he said, his voice an odd alloy of what a glacier of magma could have sounded like if given voice, stepping forward even under the barrage of the other man spells.

Now, some of these took the form of snakes, many headed hydras, and dragon shaped attacks. All of them were made of pure magical energy, colored black and dark green, which implied that they were also curses to Harry's eyes. Yet while Diodora seemed to control his spells, the tattoos moved under their own power and seemed to have a mind of their own.

Twice Harry used spells which bounced off inanimate objects to attack Diodora from behind, only for a few snake tattoos to come alive and bat them aside. Even more interestingly, conjured attacks, hurled spears, metal, or transfigured items shattered against them, leaving the dragon tattoo things unharmed. Conjured water also didn't do anything, but lightning seemed to shock or paralyze them. This made Harry change his normal tactics somewhat as he continued to analyze his enemy's defenses.

Harry used his own cutting spells, blasting spells and other direct-type attack spells to destroy them as they came until one of them nearly got through. Then he cast a protective shield around himself and then cast another Bombarda spell at Diodora's feet that blinded him for an instant even as more of the attack spells hit his shield.

Following his earlier thoughts, Harry used the instant to sprint past Diodora then attack him from behind. Diodora didn't turn in time, but one of his tattoos moved to take the shot. All right, so I do need to get through those tattoos rather than around them. His speed isn't anything to write home about and the power of his spells is nothing, about as powerful as Bellatrix or Macnair, but not Riddle. But those tattoos are something of an ultimate defense, still I did see that first one fade away before it was replaced, so if I can't get sneak attacks past them, then I have to simply overcome them.

With that thought, Harry changed his tactics again, shifting into his werewolf form. He kept attacking with one hand, but stopped defending himself, using his superior speed to dodge what he could and his insane healing ability to deal with anything he couldn't heal from. At the same time he started to create an area effect spell from the local magical school. It was ready, and he shouted, "Kaji! (fire)"

From all around where Harry had been moving, dozens of fire spears appeared and shot toward Diodora, only for Harry to add a bit more to it, creating an air spell to fan the flames. Diodora tried to cancel the fire or put it out, but he had no ability with element-type magic, and his own spells just went right through the flames suddenly all around and on him. He leaped into the air, but not before he lost a few more snake tattoos on his arms and legs.

"Good. So area of effect and my more powerful spells will work to get rid of those things." For a few minutes Harry and Diodora exchanged spells as Harry pushed Diodora this way and that. Diodora's spells hit Harry at times, but, while they hurt like blazes and started to burn some of his clothes away, Diodora couldn't conjure or transfigure things, so there was a sharp limit to how much he could hurt Harry.

Diodora, his ability to think severely impaired either by his anger or as a side effect of the tattoos' magic flooding his system, didn't seem to realize this. He kept on attacking with his magic as much as possible, blasting out spell after spell, the power of which was impressive, but nothing else.

In return, it was only the snake tattoos protecting him that kept Diodora in one piece. Indeed, without them, Harry's third or fourth spell would have killed Diodora despite his Devil-granted magical resistance. However, despite being an ultimate defense, they were still finite. Eventually they started to disappear, and Harry noticed this, while Diodora, still in a fugue, did not.

Harry doubled up on his attack spells then, using a spell chain to send several Bombarda, two lightning attacks, and then two Sectumsempra at Diodora. The first four wiped out several tattoos' worth of snakes; the next two caused a few to lose control, falling out of position. The first cutting spell sliced through a final snake, and then the last cutting spell impacted Diodora's forearm, slicing it off cleanly. Whatever magical resistance Diodora had was, again, no match for Harry's pure power. Diodora's arm fell to the ground, already starting to turn into black flames for some reason Harry didn't understand.

"GAHHH!" Even as Diodora screamed, his splattered blood changed into dozens of snakes, flashing toward Harry like so many bullets, while the blood flowing from his stump formed into a giant dragon figure. Harry, however, simply sprinted forward under the attack. Then, as another spell chain lashed out point blank, Fragarach was in his hands, stabbing forward. The ultimate weapon of the Irish pantheon went straight through the other devil, piercing him from one side to the other.

Yet, even so, Diodora grabbed Harry with both hands, a flash of Devil flame appearing in them and searing Harry in a blast of power, sending him backwards. But his healing factor was easily up to the task, and Harry came back on the attack remorselessly. At the same time, mist began to form all around them.

Soon Saji and Issei arrived, having had to carry the injured Ruruko and Momo. The four of them watched in awe as Harry simply, brutally, overwhelmed Diodora. A hammer fist of energy that looked like a giant fist made of a lightning bolt hit slammed Diodora from above, forcing many of the snakes to form up to block it, while another created what looked like a metal porcupine from the ground as Harry intoned a single word: "Kinzoku (metal)!"

With his control of the metal apparition, Harry sent it upwards, the metal points stabbing into Diodora from behind even as it was melted and torn away by the defensive tattoos. In reply, Diodora lashed out with the blood dragon that had appeared from his cut hand, seemingly stabbing Harry with it, the fangs ripping into Harry's side. "HAH! I got you that timEEGH.…"

Diodora's words cut off in a gasp as Harry smoothly stabbed him through the heart, appearing next to him. The original Harry Diodora thought he had hit had disappeared, proving it had been an illusion all along. Harry had, in that second before that blood creature attacked, created his illusion and covered himself with it so smoothly and so accurately that, even had Diodora been watching for it, he wouldn't have been able to seen the exchange occur. Then he had simply sidestepped, letting the mist all around them cover his presence like the physical representation of his old Invisibility cloak that it was and canceled the anti-teleportation spell to teleport forward himself, getting in closer before his illusion could fade. Then, with most of the tattoos now having disappeared, Harry had stabbed Diodora before he could react, the blade piercing right through Diodora's heart.

That black morass of magical energy dissipated with a silent roar, and Diodora gasped, suddenly falling forward as all his energy left him.

"Wh, what are you!" Diodora gasped, blood pouring from his mouth as the spell which had been sustaining him disappeared, taking with it all of his own magic, the blood spear emanating from his arm splashing down into a massive puddle at his feet. "Wh, why?! I only wanted what was mine! My plan, my pain, my need to make her fall, to make her join the other, to be mine, to corrupt, to twist, her innocence, mine!…"

"Asia was never yours!" Harry growled, but before he could say anything further, Koneko had stomped up, her arm and body healed from her wounds by Asia. She had come out of the house a few moments ago and simply watched the fun until now.

But instead of letting Diodora monologue and hopefully give up some information, she brought the Boosted Gear down on the man's face, shattering it and quite a lot of the road underneath. "Fuck you, pervert!"

Harry quickly held up a hand, creating a shield in front of the both of them to protect them from the bits of brain matter and skull. "A little bit of overkill," he said calmly, pulling out Fragarach from the corpse and watching as it slowly began to fade away. "But I suppose there is no such thing as overkill in a fight. However, you get to clean that up, and I expect the rest of you to make certain that no one witnessed this fight or recorded anything about it. At this time of day there shouldn't be anyone around, but, even so, we made a lot of noise just then."

And I am so glad that the detection bubble Rias and Sona set up has the exact opposite effect when it comes to the Onmyodo government's ability to track magic, he thought ruefully. They had discovered that in the weeks of work they put into the new defensive working, and it proved to be, basically, the only portion of the old spell they were going to reproduce in the new working. The last thing we want is to use up any good will we've been able to build up with them by having such a flashy fight.

Koneko winced at that, then nodded. "It'll be good to practice repair and memory spells, I suppose. Akeno-sempai and Buchou always handle those."

From behind Koneko, Asia, who had just healed Ruruko and Momo in less than a second, fell to her knees, all of her adrenaline leaving her at once, and she began to sob, staring at where Diodora had been.

Harry at first thought Asia was weeping for the man in question, sad at any death, but she wasn't. "I, I was truly damned, then. I fell from God's grace because of a devil's plot! "

"No!" Lily shouted, rushing forward to hug her from one side as Kunou did the other while Harry changed back into his human form, quickly transfiguring some clothes as he heard more than one gasp from the girls of Sona's peerage and a groan from Saji and.… Is that Hyoudou with them?

Setting that mystery aside, Harry moved toward the trio of girls as his daughter continued to speak. "You thought you were doing the right thing! You saved someone that was hurt! How would that ever be a bad thing, whatever he was?"

"But, but even so, others might come after me," Asia murmured, looking around at them all, easily remembering how they had looked before she had healed them, how Diodora had been overwhelming them before Koneko smashed him into the wards, and then those utterly terrifying black Ouroboros tattoos. "I'll, I'll leave. I can't ask you all to keep protecting me like this!"

"You can, because that's what family is," Harry said. Asia and the others looked up at him as he knelt down in front of Asia, and he smiled, ruffling her long blonde hair. "I was going to wait tell you this, Asia, until the papers actually arrived, but wanted to ask you if you wanted to be adopted into my family before this. Nothing that has happened today makes me want to second-guess that. This will be your home, Asia, no matter what anyone else says or wants or tries to do, if you want it to be."

Asia gasped at that, staring up at Harry with shock in her eyes. "But, I, I'll be bringing so much trouble. Doing that, it would be as bad as, as spitting on your hospitality over the past few months."

Harry simply shook his head. "No, you won't. I've said it before to others around here, but I'll say it again: Just because you are a target does not mean you're in the wrong. Just because other people want to use you does not make you the cause of their greed or lusts. It is always about the abuser, never the abused," he said firmly, now putting his arms around Asia and pulling her into a gentle hug as he knelt in front of her. "I will never regret this offer. The only question you have to ask is, is this something you want?"

For a moment Asia just trembled in his arms, the memory of the fight and how the Church had so violently rejected her going through her mind. How she had been forced to fend for herself for a time before the Fallen had moved in, only to offer her false hope. How she had felt that she had found a place to belong here, only to have Diodora appear and try to tear it away. Then she looked around at the friends who had defended her, who still welcomed her, who wanted Asia to be part of their lives despite the trouble she caused, who wanted her to grow with them.

Then the dam broke, and, as she thanked God for this second chance, she threw her arm around Harry's waist and sobbed into his shoulder. "Yes, yes I want to be part of the family, please!"

Later, after Asia had stopped sobbing, Harry entered the house with her still clinging to his side before slowly disengaging, letting Lily and Kunou take her away to the bathroom to clean up. All three of them, and, indeed, all of the others seemed to need it. Thankfully, Sona's group all have their own homes where they can go to get cleaned up. With Asia being looked after and all of their wounds seen to by Asia earlier, Harry nowlooked at Koneko and asked simply, "What happened?"

Koneko replied as succinctly as she could, gesturing around to the others, and especially to Issei, who had rather shamefacedly come in with the two from Sona's peerage to explain their parts in the fight, but was staying by the doorway, Looking out of place and rather lost. When she was done, Harry patted her head for several minutes, gently running his fingers over her ears as they popped out, causing her to turn into a purring mess, pressing her head into his lower chest like the cat she so resembled. "You did good, Koneko. You did everything right, although we will need to work on communication. You should have been able to call the minute this Diodora fellow showed up."

"Electronics won't work under a bounded field, Professor," said Momo, shrugging her shoulders as she looked at Harry, trying to banish the sight she'd had of him after he transformed to his human form but before he had remembered that his clothing had been burnt away. "Once the bounded field went up, we had to either reach you magically, something none of us are able to do, or leave the bounded field and find you that way, which we couldn't until after the fight was finished."

"Understood, but we still should've thought of what to do in a situation like this before, if that is the case. I never heard that about bounded fields, which means we do, indeed, need to work on communication," Harry replied dryly.

Then he sighed, and gestured with the crook of his fingers, his face going stern as he gently pushed a mutely protesting Koneko away. "Lily, come here, please."

Asia and the two youngsters had returned quickly, having just had a quick wash rather than a bath. Now Asia was sitting with Ruruko in the sitting room, drinking some fruit juice as they unwound from the fight further. Lily and Kunou were sitting there too, sharing a few tangerines, having worked up something of an appetite and waiting for the talking to be done before they could eat. Kunou was still looking a little shaky, though Lily wasn't, having been through numerous similar experiences in her young life, though she'd never had to fight on her own like this before, unless she counted running away from the crazy ex-exorcists.

Yet at the tone in her father's tone, Lily gulped and slowly moved towards him. He took her into the kitchen and sat her down at the table, then knelt in front of her, looking at her in the face levelly. "Do you understand what you did wrong?" he asked softly.

"Nope," Lily said, crossing her arms defiantly. "I helped my friends. What's wrong with that?"

"You did. And there's a part of me that's very proud of that. The rest of me, however, is a little furious right now," Harry said honestly reaching forward to poke Lily gently right above her crossed arms. "Lily, you are going to be barely eight years old soon, despite how mature and tough you are for your age. That means you shouldn't have to fight!"

"But Daddy!" Lily began only to stop as Harry held up a finger.

"Ahh, I'm not finished." Lily pouted but fell silent, and Harry went on. "If you had left immediately, there's a chance that the portkey could have gotten you through the bounded field or whatever other spell Diodora had tossed up. The Devils don't seem to know how portkeys work unless they have experience with them, so there was every chance you could have gotten away easily. Then I could have arrived within a minute of your escape and completely stopped the fight from happening in the first place."

Lily pouted at that, but slowly nodded, conceding her father's point, if very, very reluctantly. "Lily.…" Harry sighed and reached forward, gathering his daughter into a hug as he stood up. "Lily, I am proud of you. You fought when you didn't have to, and you fought for the right reasons. But the fact is, you shouldn't have had to, and if you had thought things through, you wouldn't have, and our friends wouldn't have gotten hurt as they did. And you know it, too."

When he saw Lily's pout deepen, he leaned in, whispering intensely. "This isn't like it was for me in Hogwarts when no one was willing to fight, forcing me to look after myself, Lily. You have me, Koneko, and all of the other adults around here to fight for you. You shouldn't have to fight for yourself, not yet. Don't go rushing into that kind of thing, Lily. You have your entire childhood to look forward to. Don't try to grow up before you have to."

"Now," he said, letting her escape back into the sitting room as he moved to the cookie jar. "I don't think Asia has any kind of favorite food, but she can be the tiebreaker between the three of you. And Koneko,…" he said, turning to the entrance into the foyer. "I think you earned quite a few cookies today."

"I don't fight for cookies, but they do help things along," she said promptly, catching the cookies that Harry tossed through the doorway leading into the kitchen, the cookies having been propelled by a small spell.

"Pizza and ice cream!" Kunou shouted.

"Vote for it, and I'll call it in," Harry said with a sigh, waving them off. With many a laugh the two girls grabbed Koneko and the returned Momo and Ruruko—who had stepped out to head back home to shower—and pulled them into the sitting room, where they went into a powwow. Issei, not having been invited to join, stayed where he was, looking even more out of place

Hearing a chuckle, Harry looked over at Kala, who had returned from a quick shower at her apartment and now stood, propping up the entrance to the kitchen from the foyer with her shoulder. That this gave Issei a chance to perv on her rear was not lost on her, but the blue-haired fallen didn't even look in his direction as she asked, "All done remonstrating with her?"

Harry sighed and nodded. "I think the problem with being a Potter is that we're all too ready to step in and fight. And I don't think I've done her any favors in that area. Darn it."

"I hope you weren't too hard on her. She is, after all, young and impetuous," Kala said, looking over into the sitting room where the girls looked to be ready to come to blows about the idea of ordering pizza instead of katsudon as Koneko set up a few games, with Asia and Momo talking quietly to one side of the others.

"I just wish I could convince myself that this was the last time she'll try to fight when she should try to run back to me," Harry said with a sigh.

Kala looked at him closely, then asked, "Not going to get all depressed again about how you weren't around when she was in danger?"

"Considering I was working on something that would enable me to know when she is in danger again, no, I won't," Harry said with a scowl. "Besides, it has actually been a relatively calm few months since then. At one point, when we were talked into attending a conference in France, there were at least six attacks on myself and Lily in a span of three weeks." He smiled a little coldly. "They only stopped because Tonks and I ended up killing the vast majority of the people involved."

Kala nodded, having no need to ask who Tonks was. The 'scatter-brained if badass cousin' showed up rather prominently in many of Harry's stories of the war against Riddle and right before it. "What were they trying to kidnap her for?"

"To uses in a ritual against me and everyone who fought Riddle. They never seemed to have any other political agenda, if that was what you're wondering. They simply hated me for getting rid of Tommy boy, who they'd wanted to follow so they could lord it over the nonmagicals. Heh, as if they could have pulled that off even if I wasn't around. They would eventually have run into the Three Factions and gotten their asses handed to them. They were a truly stupid bunch, but stupid with magical powers, no empathy, and absolutely no sense of morals."

Kala winced. "Right. That is a nasty proposition."

"Heh, you're telling me." Shaking his head, Harry turned his attention to Issei at last, waving him in from the foyer. "Well, Hyoudou-kun, go on in and join the party. No need to stand on ceremony. But no questions just yet, if you please. Rias should be here this evening, and she should really be the one to explain all this to you."

At that Issei blinked in shock. "You, you call Gremory-sama 'Rias,' Potter-sensei?! And, and you have a ward like Asia, and Koneko-chan enjoyed you rubbing her head, and you're known to be friendly with both Himejima-sama and Shitori-sama, and then there's the blue-haired hottie! I'm so jealous; you've achieved my freaking dream!" Issei actually began to tear up at that, raising a forearm to wipe away his tears as he continued. "You probably play with those oppai.… Ah, I mean…no! Perverted thoughts out!" he suddenly shouted, smacking his forehead as the girls around him looked at him askance.

"And you were doing so well, too." Rolling his eyes, Harry gestured for Saji, who had just come out from the bathroom, to push the other young boy into his kitchen and asked calmly, "Do we have to call your parents or something? You'll probably be here for the rest of the day and well into the night."

"Ahh, I'll do it," Issei said, now looking kind of embarrassed. "I don't suppose I could use your phone?"

Harry nodded, gesturing over to where a phone was plugged into the wall. Hmm, need to think about buying a cellphone for Lily. I'm not certain she won't abuse the privilege, but she really should have some way to contact me at need, though it wouldn't have helped today. Since electronics didn't work in Hogwarts and other magically intense areas, Harry believed Momo when she said that the bounded field would have disrupted any attempt to call out of it.

Issei called home and told his parents he was going to stay in a new friend's house. The response was as he should have expected. "New friend! You're not just saying that because you're going to be over with your other perverted buddies, are you?" his father asked.

"No, dad. In fact, this is kind of the study session with Potter-sensei. I'm trying to bring my English grades up, and I've met a lot of other students that're trying to do the same. He's having us all over, although going to his house was kind of a sudden thing, or else he probably would've called you and told you about it himself," Issei lied easily. It wasn't the first time, after all, though this one was for a much better cause.

"So you're making friends! Friends who aren't perverts?"

"Yes, dad. Friends who aren't perverts, and a few of them are even girls!" Issei replied, wondering when his parents had begun to look down at him so. (Answer: for years; he was just noticing now.)

"Oh, honey!" his father said before Issei could hang up, shouting so loudly that Harry with his werewolf hearing could still hear. "Our son's becoming a normal teen!"

"Happy day," shouted a female voice in the background. "I'll prepare some red bean soup."

"I thought that was only for girls at a…certain point in their lives, shall we say?" Harry said with a smirk as Issei finally hung up.

"God, that was so embarrassing," Issei muttered, one hand on his face as he moved into the sitting area.

Since this area had been modified via talismans to enlarge itself at need, it still fit them all comfortably. Harry conjured up and then took possession of a second sofa, and Koneko quickly moved into his side from where she had been preparing a game. Looking up at him with soulful eyes, she practically sat on his lap, causing Issei and Saji look on jealously. "Head pats?"

Laughing, Harry began to gently stroke her hair. "Well, you certainly deserve it today."

Asia took over Harry's other side, asking hesitantly, "Um, is this all right…Father?"

"Call me whatever you feel most comfortable with, Asia," he said, smiling slightly as Lily and Kunou pulled out a large bean bag and sat directly in front of the TV screen, Kunou having finished moving on from the traumatic fight. After all, none of their friends were seriously hurt, and the bad guys had all lost, so, from their point of view, everything was right in the world.

"Just not Daddy," Harry went on with laugh. "From a girl your age, I think that would sound a little wrong."

Asia laughed too, even if she didn't understand the joke, while Koneko nodded seriously, and Saji and Issei both had blushes on their face and looks of relief in their eyes, too. Issei, however, looked around at them all and asked simply, "I know you said earlier you wanted to wait for Gremory-sama, but I would really, really like that explanation now, sir! I would really prefer to know what's going on now!"

Sighing, Harry looked over at the other devils, who all shrugged or just nodded in Issei's direction, Ruruko looking at him thoughtfully. "All right, kiddo. How to put this bluntly yet without overwhelming you?… We'll start with the obvious, I suppose. One, magic is real,…" Harry began.

OOOOOOO

When they returned and had heard of the attack, Rias and Sona were utterly furious. Rias's rage was a hot, elemental thing, while Sona became colder by far. "We will have to add some means of stopping familiars from being able to get in and simply observe us in the future," Sona said, her eyes glinting dangerously. "Perhaps a means to make the owner of any familiar caught like that feel pain, or link the familiar to the owner and force them to feel its pain as we expel it."

Momo nodded immediately. "Yes, Mistress. I've already thought about that, and I think I've come up with a solution. Technically speaking, familiars acting in such a manner are acting upon the will of their masters, which means that there is indeed a will there to be spotted by intent based wards, correct? So it stands to reason that, if they do so, we can feel that intent through them, can't we, and have the defensive working expel them because of that?"

"That and some anti-animal wards. There are numerous wards designed to keep all manner of animals away. I think will work very well," Harry said with a nod and a wink towards the silver haired girl, who blushed slightly and looked away. "Working them into the existing structure shouldn't be too difficult."

Rias chuckled at that, her anger slowly leaching out of her and her aura disappearing, while Akeno still looked mildly furious that she had missed all the action. Looking at Asia, she smiled down at the girl, reaching forward and pulling her into a hug, the younger girl's head coming to rest on Rias's stomach, not her chest, thanks to the fact that she was sitting down with Harry and Koneko still, something Asia was quietly thankful for. "Asia, I want to reiterate what Harry has no doubt already told you. This was not your fault; it was this Diodora being an, an utter leech! He simply wanted you. That doesn't mean it was your fault, and you are still welcome in Sona's and my territory."

"Thank you, Rias-sempai," Asia said, hugging the older girl back. "Everyone has told me the same thing already, but it's still nice to hear."

"Good," Rias replied, stepping back and looking over at Sona. "But we still need to talk about this further."

Harry nodded and stood up, reluctantly moving away from the two girls who were still sitting by his side several hours later since Rias had arrived. "I think we should adjourn to the backyard, if that's alright with everyone."

Leaving most of Sona's peerage behind along with Loup and a few of the others, including Asia and Kiba but not Koneko, Harry led the others into the backyard. But Kiba stopped Harry as he was exiting, nodding down to his pouch. "Do you want the sword back?"

"Was it useful?" Harry asked interestedly. He hadn't heard any details yet, the fight which had occurred here in Kuoh having grabbed everyone's attention the instant they had heard about it. "And what about my old Firebolt and the talismans I gave you?"

From nearby, Loup grunted, and Kiba gave him a mock glare. "For most of us, yes they were very helpful. Loup was fine without them though."

Loup nodded at that, and then turned to Sona and Rias, addressing the fact that they had both offered to turn him into a devil. "Sorry, not going to be a devil. Too much hassle."

While Rias simply nodded and followed Harry outside, Sona sighed but nodded her head at that, falling into step with the far taller werewolf. "Entirely understandable from your perspective, I'm sure." Loup didn't have many desires. He wasn't greedy, he had no huge dream he wanted to achieve, and he had seen firsthand how Light Magic could impact their abilities. So it was logical, even if she didn't really like it.

Outside they found that Harry had created numerous small Bluebell fires around the area to give them some light, since it was now fully dark out. Sona took a moment to admire that as well as the various wards that kept other people from noticing or even having any interest in anything going on in the backyard of his house. They were subtle and quite powerful in their own way, though the power of the rest of the array made those more subtle wards pale in comparison.

However, she quickly turned her attention back to the main discussion as Harry conjured up some chairs for them all, with Kala coming up behind her, tapping the shorter Sona on the shoulder. "Wine?"

"Yes, thank you," Sona replied absentmindedly, and Kala went around, pouring drinks for everyone else before sitting down next to Harry on one side, while Rias and Akeno sat on his other. Rias smiled across at Issei who had followed them out. He had heard about how Rias had resurrected him and wanted to ask her some questions, but Rias unfortunately had other things she wanted to speak about before getting to that. "We'll get to you eventually, Issei-san, but unfortunately there is one point that we need to discuss before that, okay?"

Issei nodded, staring around him at all the exotic beauties and trying desperately to keep his thoughts to himself, but the contortions of his face made Akeno smile. "Ara, someone's hurting himself by keeping all those…thoughts…inside," she said with a laugh. "That's not healthy, you know, Hyoudou-kun."

Eventually it got to be too much, and Issei quickly turned to Harry, pointing at him. "Damn you! You really do have a harem, don't you?! All pretty boys should just die!"

Harry raised one eyebrow, then shook his head sadly. "I have no idea what you're talking about, Hyoudou-san. However, I feel I should remind you the you need to convince girls to have any interest in you in turn rather than just trying to grope or spy on them. A relationship is always a two-way street."

That made Issei wince and subside, and Harry smiled kindly. "Why don't you go inside and we'll call you when were ready to talk? The least we can do while were talking about serious things is let you have some fun."

Issei nodded at that, and he headed back inside rapidly.

"Did you tell him anything?" Rias asked.

"The barest outline: magic is real; devils, etc., are real; you saved his life and have been hoping that he'd show some growth before bringing him into your peerage proper," Harry replied.

"That last is true, as far as it goes," Rias said with a sigh, pulling at her ahoge. "But I still shouldn't have left him out in the cold like that. I should've brought him in regardless of his lack of ability with magic. He's still part of my peerage, part of my responsibility. If he hadn't gone into this blind, he could have been better prepared for it."

"Perhaps. But this way, he's built some independence and has shown a bit of willpower, too, to actually join in the fight despite the supernatural nature of it. At least two of your peerage, Sona, seem to be quite interested in him because of that."

Sona rolled her eyes. "That's nice, but we have more important things to deal with then Hyoudou-kun."

"I know. I was just acknowledging that I made a mistake there," Rias said primly, looking over at Harry and then at Koneko, who had rather reluctantly been pulled out of the ongoing party inside to join them. "What was the name he gave again?"

"Astaroth," Koneko and Momo replied as one.

Rias scowled, leaning back and looking over at Sona. "That's what I feared you said, but they are a Pillar clan! In fact, my Nii-sama's best friend is from that clan. In fact, if my memory isn't playing tricks, isn't Diodora the name of the clan heir?!"

"It is. They aren't part of the Pureblood faction and are supposed to be staunch believers in your brother's domestic policies of meritocracy. Indeed, they control the most popular training center for the promotion test to rise from low class to middle class devils, " Sona said with a frown of her own. "There are going to be some severe political repercussions there." She paused as the others waited for her to continue, and she did so, still thinking things through. "However, we might actually be saved by the fact that neither you nor I were here, and he was the aggressor."

"True," Rias said with a nod, watching in amusement as Harry fought back a grimace at the political talk, no matter how brief it was. The two of them had had several long discussions about that, the need to retain a public persona, and the phrase noblesse oblige, and she saw no reason to rehash them here. "That will turned a possible feud between our families into a diplomatic incident at the most."

"I think we need to do this officially," Sona said decisively. This was politics, and that was much more her area of expertise than Rias's. "Investigate everything, write up formal witness reports, and send it all off in triplicate to Beelzebub-sama, Lucifer-sama, Serafall-neesama, the head of the Astaroth clan, and then to our own families. Make it clear to everyone involved that this came at us out of the blue, that he was the aggressor, and that we are not going to demand any payment from the family. Diodora's loss of life along with the death of everyone in his peerage and therefore the loss of face to the clan now that it has to look for another heir will be enough."

"Actually, I have a question about that point," Harry interjected. "I understand that devils aren't very fertile, but this is an entire clan. Surely there are others the clan heads can choose to name their heirs. Why is it such a big deal?"

"Being a clan heir means much more than blood," Rias replied sadly, thinking about her cousin Sairaorg. "To be heir of a clan, you need to show that you have talent with the family magics. In this case, it would be a certain ability with blood-based spells. In the case of the Gremory Clan, it is teleportation arrays, in the case of the Bael clan, my mother's clan, the Power of Destruction. Gremory magic is based both on blood and on the ability to calculate internally the magic and distances involved, as well as some other things. Anyone can learn how to create an array, but Gremory arrays are better, more versatile, easier to use, etc. But even more interestingly, my father can teleport different parts of his body or create arrays so quickly he can use them in battle."

She smiled somewhat grimly. "I'm working on that part, myself, but it's why my position as Heir is so important. Milicas has shown no hint that he has that inherent ability yet, hence why he can't be named heir in my stead." Then she laughed. "If he had, it would have made my own position much more pleasant."

As Harry nodded, Rias turned back to what Sona had been saying, nodding firmly. "That's the best thing we can do for certain. Although, I think we might need more evidence, at least for Ajuka and our siblings."

Harry stood up, smiling blandly. "I'll go get my pensieve. I'd also like your opinions about the odd magic I saw him use."

As Harry was gone, Koneko described what portions she saw of the magic curse or whatever it was that helped Diodora survive for so long against Harry. But it wasn't much of a help: tattoos, after all, were well-known to be used to apply spells occasionally. Though being able to hide them underneath a layer of skin and then have the tattoos coming alive to protect the individual wearing them was something else.

After plunging into the pensieve for time, Rias came back, shaking her head. She didn't have any greater idea what that spell had been than Harry did, but she did know one thing for certain now. Pulling out her purse she flashed a credit card at Harry as well as a check book. "How much for that pensieve, Harry? It is simply too damn amazing not to have a copy for my own!"

Sona nodded agreement, also pulling out her own purse. "I have no doubt that Beelzebub-sama could come up with a Devilic version, but for now that device and what can be seen within it, as well as the fact that the memories can be tested for falsehood, will save quite a lot of trouble in the long run."

"I don't know what they sell for on the open market. I'll have to think about that one. I also only have the one, I'm afraid, though I can send a message to Hermione to find another one if she can. I was already going to have to contact her for something else anyway."

Rias nodded, leaned up, and kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you, Harry." Then she turned to Koneko, enveloping her in a hug. "And very well done, Koneko-chan. Like Harry said, I think you did just about everything you could. And you even used the Boosted Gear! That's amazing in itself!"

"Which, I think, takes us handily to Hyoudou," Harry interjected, smiling at the scene as Koneko leaned against her King's hug while Akeno offered her own congratulations.

Issei soon came back out, and Rias smiled politely at him. That was it, a polite smile. It was somewhat friendly, but not very, but combined with the fact that she was leaning back in one of Harry's conjured wooden chairs and had her legs crossed in front of her as she looked at him, it was enough to send his mind into an ecchi direction. "Issei-san, I understand that Harry and the others explained to you some of what this new world you are part of now entails, but I will give you a more detailed outline. But, before that, do you have any questions?"

"I have one major one and then a few just about, well, being a devil, I guess," Issei said, scratching at the back of his neck trying, and failing, to keep his eyes from wandering.

"I'll cover the ones about being a devil first, if that's all right?" Rias asked with a smile. "After all, as your King, it is my place to help you through this difficult time. I'm sorry I did not approach you sooner, but I honestly felt that allowing you to grow on your own, to maybe even just go back to your old life for a time, would be the better thing for you. That was my mistake, and I apologize for it."

Issei waved that off bashfully, while his mind went off course to a perverted idea of how Rias could make it up to him. The fact that this contorted his face in several interesting ways as a blush rose to his cheeks and a little bit of blood dripped from his nostrils was not lost on anyone, and Akeno chuckled throatily. "It seems as if someone is in need of some punishment~~."

Shuddering slightly as a chill went down his spine at those words, Issei came back to the here and now. "Ah, um right, my questions about being a devil, right. Potter-sensei said I don't eat souls or anything and I've seen my wings so I guess, well, I just want to know what the difference between a devil and a human really is?"

"You'll find that you're stronger and faster than most humans. On the emotional side of things, you will find yourself giving into your desires more often than a normal human would, your sins, pride, greed, gluttony, envy, lust - which in your case I assume would be the main one - sloth and wrath. They will be stronger in you, their influence on your actions stronger. But these can be overcome with a strong will or a simple desire not to give in."

Seeing that Issei just nodded, not understanding what that meant Rias went on. After all, I doubt that Hyoudou-kun will be effected overmuch by that change, he already is a creature of lust. "As a Devil you will have access to a magical core within you. It is a small one for now and will remains so unless you train it up, with which you will be able to use magic. We don't eat souls anymore to gain power, thank the Maous, heh, quite literally actually." She laughed, before moving on, seeing the joke had of course gone over Hyoudou's head. "You can instead enhance your magical power through two means: one constant training, and two, creating contracts with humans."

After she finished, Issei nodded slowly. "All right I understand that, but what's the point? What's the point of getting stronger? I mean, unless fights like this happen all the time or something?"

"Hopefully not," Harry, Rias and Sona all said as one, causing Akeno to giggle, and the three of them to look at one another. "Being attacked like this in our own territory should be something that is very rare indeed," Rias said looking away slightly somewhat embarrassed since that hadn't proven to be true up to this point, had it? On the other hand, once our defensive working is finished that will indeed become the case. "But I won't lie and say that our world is very peaceful. There is always the threat of conflict at the very least between the Three Factions for one thing, and of course there are rogue devils and other aberrations."

"The other reason to enhance your personal strength is to rise in Devil society. You will have more power over other people and yourself, more opportunities, money, wealth, a better place in society." Seeing Issei was losing interest, Rias sighed and then reluctantly played her trump card. This feels rather manipulative, but I can't argue it will be effective given his perversions. "And of course, you can also become powerful enough to split off from my family and form your own peerage."

"Which many a devil has turned into their own personal harem," Akeno said next to her. Just like her King, Akeno knew what would motivate Issei. "I understand that is something most men would find very interesting~," she said teasingly, her eyes twitching over towards Harry, who chuckled, but leaned back and continued to watch events silently.

"Sign me up!" Issei said swiftly, throwing an arm into the air like he was trying to answer a question in class. "Right there, that right there! Heck, you should've led with that! If I can create my own harem, then I'll become the strongest devil there's ever been! For the oppai!"

He shouted the last words like a warcry, causing Tsubaki and Sona to sigh. Akeno laughed aloud, her shoulders shaking and sending her breasts to jiggling in such a way that grabbed even Harry's attention for a moment while Rias's face started to twitch. "Well, that is nice," she said simply, gritting her teeth before smiling, "however, I have to inform you that if you're looking to add myself Akeno, we're both already in a relationship."

Staring between them Issei blushed, blood now pouring down from his nose and Akeno shook her head quickly, knowing precisely where his thoughts had gone. "Not with each other, but with a man. So do keep your lecherous thoughts to yourself Iss~ei-kun~." The teased, once more shifting enough to set her breasts to moving, giggling as Issei's eyes tracked the movement. Akeno decided she rather liked being back in the position of the sole teaser for some reason, and resolved to milk this for all it was worth.

Before Issei could recover from that, Harry leaned forward his emerald eyes grabbing Issei's like that of a gorgon. "And Asia and Koneko are my now my daughter and my surrogate daughter respectively, even if Koneko is also part of Rias's family," he said, smiling and subtly reaching down to squeeze her hand but not breaking his glare on Issei, his face set into the most forbidding look he could make it. "So if you even look at them cross-eyed, I will come down on you like a ton of rectangular building things."

That line, delivered with that face, caused everyone there who had read the Terry Pratchett books in his class - which was all of them at this point - to laugh.

Recovering first, Sona interjected her own thoughts on this matter. "For myself while I am not in a relationship with anyone, I have no desire to be in one either. My requirement for a perspective swain is simple however: you must beat me in a game of chess to prove you are my intellectual equal."

Issei winced at that, nodding and already mentally giving up on Sona. After all, not only did she have the best grades of anyone in the school, she was known as a champion Chess-master in their age group. Indeed, she had beaten chess masters twice her age in matches which had been actually publicized, or at least so the rumors said.

"All right, well, with all that I'm happy with being a devil." And he was. Anything that led him to his dream of a harem was good thing in his opinion even if he had to die to do it. Besides he didn't remember dying very well, so who cared? "But, what about why they were after me in the first place? Potter-sensei said I had some kind of secret power it me, but he didn't go into any detail."

"That would be because this is the secret power you had in you," Harry said softly, tapping the gauntlets still on Koneko's forearm. The Nekomata had been asked about the attack here in Kuoh by Sona and Rias about the odd Ouroboros tattoos she had seen but after that, she had been busy creating and sharing her memory of the fight falling silent after the discussion had turned away from that. "This is the Boosted Gear, Ddraig the Great Welsh and it's one of the most powerful Sacred Gears out there, a Sacred Gear created by God which can kill other gods."

"But," Harry went on looking up at Issei. "Before we could rescue you, it had already been extracted by Raynare and her bunch. None of us knew how to place it back into you and then Rias had to revive you as a devil before your spirit fully passed on. Yet because it had been extracted in such a manner, other people have been able to use it, myself, Koneko and even my daughter, though she only used it to roughhouse with Koneko."

"Roughhouse?"

"You saw my daughter transform into a werewolf didn't you?" Harry asked, as a ring appeared on his finger. The jewel on the gauntlet seemed to glow for a brief moment as his ring touched it.

"Oh yeah," Issei said with an internal shiver. While he wasn't into lolitas (they didn't have oppai) seeing a pretty little girl change into an oddly human-like werewolf creature had startled him out of his skin. "That makes sense I guess. So what you're saying is that even though it was mine originally, I can't use it now?" That hurt: knowing that he'd had that power, and now didn't, hurt since it could have helped him gain the harem he wanted.

"We don't know yet," Harry said with a smile. "It depends on Ddraig's opinion."

"Wait, you just said it was a tool. I mean, it's just a gauntlet, how can a gauntlet have an opinion?" Issei asked. "It's a very cool gauntlet, but still…"

"Hey!"Shouted the gauntlet, the words emanating from the gauntlet."I resent that remark, punk!"

Issei twitched backwards in his seat shouting "The gauntlet talked!" the others looked on in interest.

"You're a quick one!" the gauntlet replied with a chuckle. "And this was supposed to be my destined user this time around?"

"Apparently," Harry said with a cavalier shrug. "This whole Sacred Gear business seems far too random to my mind."

"Too true," Rias muttered shaking her head yet still staring at the Boosted Gear. "Still, I think it is fair that we at least let Issei try to bond with Ddraig."

Harry nodded agreement, and looked at Koneko, who nodded and slowly pulled the gauntlet offer hand. She held it out to the boy, with some reluctance it had to be said. The thing had been fun as heck to use and she was interested in the power it offered.

Tremulously, Issei took the thing in his hands, staring down at it. "All right, so I just put this on and use it then?"

"Ha!" Shouted the gauntlet. "No boy. You send your soul into the gauntlet to talk to me first. You must impress me before I let you wield my power."

Koneko had done that last weekend under Harry's guidance, and Ddraig had been impressed by her desire to defend her family and friends, although the matchup wasn't quite ideal. Koneko lacked a true killer's instincts, and was conflicted about her heritage to a degree that took away from her power. Harry was a better match but his style of combat wasn't one that lent itself to brute force like Ddraig was used to, so he understood that Harry would not be the best choice if Ddraig wanted to be used at all. And despite his confinement, Ddraig still enjoyed fighting.

There was also still the bit about the fact that he owned Fragarach, and had taken a lot of his magical strength from items which have been created from Manannán Mac Lir. That god was from a pantheon that Ddraig had clashed with numerous times back when he had his original body. Indeed, his body still bore some scars from those clashes.

Issei blinked. "Um, how do I do that?"

"Close your eyes and concentrate. Think of yourself as a sort of light globe like these," Harry said gesturing up and around at the Bluebell flames that were giving them all some light. "Then think about forcing that sense of self into the gauntlet."

Issei tried multiple times, but couldn't seem to get to it, and Rias sighed. "I don't think he has enough magical power yet, Harry. We'll have to build that up until he's capable of actually communicating with the gauntlet."

"Ara, I suppose I can help with that," Akeno said, to which Kala added her agreement. The Fallen had, like Koneko and even Tsubaki, not said much during the discussion, having little to add when they moved beyond the discussion about the battle here in Kuoh. Here though she did speak up. She still felt like she owed Issei something for the decent advice he had given her.

"Or I can help him now," Harry said with a sigh. With his ring on the large green orb of the Gauntlet, Harry's other free hand resting on Issei's forehead. "This might feel weird, but don't try to fight it." With that, Harry used his power over souls to reach out and almost drag Issei's into the gauntlet.

Harry appeared in Ddraig's realm, with Issei clinging to his hand before falling to his knees as they arrived, staring around them. The area hadn't changed much since Harry was here last, though a lot of the images in the air seemed to have been replaced by Issei's memories, most of which Harry made a point of not looking at after seeing a few out of the corner of his eye.

"Hmmf, so he's really that scrawny, I was hoping that was just from my perspective as the gauntlet." Ddraig grumbled, leaning his massive head down. "Not much to look at, is he?"

"Gahhh!" Issei shouted, before shaking his head. "Dragon! Oh! Um, right…wow, he's a lot bigger than I expected."

"That's what she said," Ddraig replied dryly, causing Issei and Harry both to blink at him, Then Issei laughed while Harry smacked his forehead.

That joke seemed to bolster Issei, and he stood up, pointing dramatically at Ddraig. "Okay, listen up Ddraig! You were supposed to be my power and I figure that with that you and I should be able to get along so I can get my harem! So throw whatever test you want at me, I'll beat it!"

"Right, well I'll leave the two of you alone," Harry said with a bland, if twitching, smile. "I'm sure you've got lots to talk about."

Exiting the gauntlet he looked around at the others. "They're talking now. I suppose we'll have to see what happens, but if he can't use the Boosted Gear, how are you going to train him?"

"Pawns are supposed to be jacks of all trades pieces, okay at a lot of things, but not great at any. Still, skill can make up the difference there. I'll pay Loup to extend the lessons he has been giving Koneko to include Issei, and Kalawarner and Akeno have already they'll train Hyoudou-kun in magic. Beyond that, I think a month or so of taking on clients, as many old clients as we can hand off to him and a few days spent making his own as a base before switching entirely to training," Rias replied.

Harry nodded, but before he could say anything Issei's eyes flew open. He fell away from Harry's hand, shaking his head and growling while the gauntlet lit up once more. "Enough!" The gauntlet bellowed. "There's nothing in that boy's head but this fixation with those large mammary glands you humans have." Ddraig's bellows paused and he went on in a more ruminative tone. "I've never understood the attraction of those. Now a fine tail on the other hand, that I could find attractive. Still, even setting his monkey fixation on udders aside, there was nothing about combat nothing about training in there, only perversion."

"How dare you! Oppai are a gift from the Gods, a blessing given to man for our viewing pleasure, not to mention everything else we can do with them! I refuse to listen to this blasphemy that tails of all things, tails, are more attractive!" Issei roared ,grabbing the gauntlet and shaking it, while Ddraig roared back.

The two of them were so loud that those inside the house heard him, and Saji began to nod along to some of Issei's points. But he still shook his head when Issei paused for breath, allowing Ddraig to get in a word edgewise. "Yes, oppais are important, but they're not the most important thing, the most important thing is…"

At that point Loup reached around the shorter man and put a large hand over his mouth. "Best say nothing," he said, gesturing around them to the girls who were all looking disgusted at what they were hearing.

Cocking an eyebrow Harry shook his head slowly while Akeno tittered and the others slowly moved their chairs backwards as he spoke loudly to be heard over the shouting. "So your objection isn't the fact that he's a pervert, but that his fixation is on something that you don't understand?"

"Not just that!" Ddraig said seriously, turning his attention away from Issei as Koneko grabbed the gauntlet from the pervert's hand and handed it back to Harry. When Harry took the gauntlet, Ddraig's voice appeared in his head rather than from out of the gauntlet. "He is untried, he doesn't have much of an ability to concentrate, and frankly, I think the two of us are just not compatible any longer. I might deign to be wielded by him like this, like I have with Koneko and yourself Potter, but nothing more. Honestly, being that fixated on oppais, and not tails? What's the point?"

Harry nodded slowly, replying in the same manner. "All right I've discovered some new things here. You're a pervert, but for something different than oppai, and that this and your stance on training means you have having no compatibility with Issei any longer. I take it the way you spoke there that our way of using you limits your power?"

"Somewhat yes. My powers normally enhance the wearer's body to a certain degree, Each Boost have a somewhat permanent effect on their strength. As it is, once you remove my gauntlet from your arm, you revert to your former strength. I also have to ask you why, if you're so concerned about your daughter being attacked, why you haven't Blessed her yet." Ddraig asked, sounding quizzically.

"Blessing?" Harry asked, quizzically. "What's that?"

"All gods or even demi-gods as you might be can bless people, places, things, giving of their own power in a way. I'm not certain who it actually works, but it is why heroes of old sometimes took on aspects and powers from their patron god." Ddraig replied. "Wait, you didn't know?"

"Of course I didn't know you, you perverted dragon, GRAH!" trying calm down, he asked, "So, how do I use these Blessings? And how would it work?"

"How am I supposed to know?" Ddraig grumped. "I'm not a god, why would I know how your magic is supposed to work."

With a frustrated scowl, Harry pulled the gauntlet off and let the ring disappear into his mental space once more, scowling and shaking his head. "Right, something new to research, if I can even find a starting point. Ugh, I'm going to set that to the side for now, let's head back inside, I think I need some wine, and that bottle's empty."

While Rias and the others looked at him quizzically before standing up in turn Koneko brushed past them all, heading inside first, but not stopping heading straight for the kitchen sink. "What's wrong Koneko?" Kiba asked looking up from where he had been sharpening the sword of Gryffindor.

"Need to wash my forearm," Koneko grumped. "Perverted gauntlet."

OOOOOOO

Later, Issei found himself walking home with several of Sona's peerage as well as Kiba, something that displeased both of them, since Kiba would've preferred to spend some private time with his girlfriend on the way home. Sona remained behind to talk about what they had all learned along with her Queen, pulling her away from that pleasant pastime.

Sona was astonished, as was everyone else, that Rias had been able to suborn Yubelluna, but after getting over his own surprise, Harry pulled Rias into a sideways hug. "Good for you. I hope that you can free her and you can kick Riser's rear so hard if sticks even with his regeneration ability. But I think," he said, looking over at the others before his eyes fastened on Tsubaki, "Tsubaki, that your assault was actually the one that yielded the most information."

"A holy sword, the knowledge that it and one other were stolen from the Church, and the fact that someone unaffiliated, seemingly, from the Khaos Brigade is attempting to cause a war to erupt within the factions by attacking us here in Kuoh," Tsubaki said dryly. "Yes, I rather think our mission was important too."

She went on to describe how they had set up numerous bombs and other traps in the forward base, while Harry examined the holy sword thoughtfully. He could sense some kind of power in it, but it was very rarefied if it was there at all. He had wanted to keep it, but Rias and Sona both vetoed that idea, with Sona explaining how even Harry's possession of it might spark the war they were so afraid would restart, since he could be seen as an ally of theirs.

Instead, Sona would send it to her sister, who would pass it on to the Church. How that would be accomplished, she didn't say, despite Rias and Harry both asking for clarification. There were secrets and friendships there that it wasn't her place to talk about. She was also deeply concerned about the Hospitallers being involved, but was willing to pass that on as well and hope the Church could figure out if they had been dupes, or if the Church itself had someone inside wishing to bring about a new, open conflict with the other factions.

"Don't put any hope in that trap you planted with my remaining talismans actually springing," Harry said as the tale finished. "I'd lay odds that whoever this is will call ahead with some code phrases or whatnot and won't be caught out so easily."

"That was understood, but it was worth a try. We didn't find any other leads to any other bases or anything more about this 'Father' character," Tsubaki replied, scowling.

Harry nodded at that, wondering. If they had gotten the names of any of the people they fought, I might have been able to question their spirits. Like it had given him the ability to commune with Ddraig, Harry's ring, meant to embody the rat Manannán had used to ferry souls to the land of the dead, might well have given him the ability to pull their souls back from that land in order to get answers.

"That kind of preemptive strike might, in fact, have stopped their plans going forward. That and the Onmyouji attacks on their various other places may well cut into their numbers too much for them to attack us here as they wanted to," Rias mused.

"And we will all be working on the protection array tomorrow," Harry said firmly. "I want that up and running as soon as possible."

"How?" Sona asked simply. "The defense works need an entire twenty-four hours charge from all five of us, and none of us can be absent from school for that long."

"We could just take a few days off," Rias shot back, looking at her friend reproachfully.

"Certainly, all four of us plus Harry could take a day off. That wouldn't look suspicious to anyone, including the principal," Sona replied sarcastically. "Our friendship with Potter-sensei is well known, but taking days off at the same time he is, without any paperwork in advance or sign that we're sick? The rumors that would abound on that scarcely bear thinking about."

Harry was about to bark that he didn't care about rumors, but, at the look in Rias's face, he subsided. He might not care, but Rias and the others were still young women in high school. They needed to be aware of rumors, and Harry needed to realize that. Plus, the principal is starting to become a mite suspicious of how much time Rias and I spend around one another, the wanker. Still, that doesn't mean we are without resources. "Actually, I have a plan.…"

OOOOOOO

"My Lord, I have a report from my trip to,…" Yubelluna said as she opened the door to Riser's private quarters, only to pause as what she was seeing. Inside was Riser's bedroom. This was a gigantic edifice, fully in keeping with the Riser's ego, with a bed that nearly filled the entire expanse from one side to another. Riser often boasted that it was big enough for his entire peerage and had to be, because he would be damned if he had to hop from bed to bed every night to seek satisfaction.

That was what he was doing right now. He was taking Ni from behind as he was making out furiously with Isabela while the others busied themselves rubbing their bodies against his or simply lay there, waiting for Riser to turn his attention on them.

None of them had even heard her interruption, thankfully, and, closing the door again, Yubelluna shuddered at the look of ecstasy on Isabela's face's, disgust rising from deep within her. She knew the youngest four pawns didn't enjoy what Riser did to them—and who could blame them, considering two of them were barely eleven! But the magic of the peerage, the magic that connected the Evil Pieces to the King's Piece made them enjoy it when he did, just as it did Yubelluna past a certain point.

The two Rooks and the Knight, Siris, though, they honestly loved him or, at least, seemed to act that way. Yubelluna wasn't prepared to bet on whether that love was real or was artificially created through the peerage bond to Riser simply because the three of them were closet masochists, who got off on how he treated them, and that that had segued into what they thought was love. Mihae, the Bishop, and the others she was uncertain about, save for the second Knight. Karlamine, Yubelluna knew, would hate Riser with every fiber of her being if the magic that bound her to him didn't make that impossible.

Still, Yubelluna had a report to make to someone in the Phenex clan and left Riser's wing to seek out his parents, finding them in the solar. This was a room filled with books and other odds and ends, including what looked like a globe of the world that dated back to the 1500s, an original treatise by the explorer Marco Polo, and, somewhat bizarrely to Yubelluna's tastes, a child-sized Nazi flag signed by Adolf Hitler himself.

Glancing over that last item Yubelluna shuddered slightly, thinking that for all the evils devils could do, humans could all too easily match them. But the idea that Hitler had been a client of the house of Phenex would probably have made far too much sense to too many people who knew the man and how many assassination attempts he had lived through. Thankfully, the buffoon had squandered his Phoenix tears and had indeed died by suicide, of all things, when the Soviets took Berlin.

Lord and Lady Phenex were going over some notebooks of some kind, but looked up as the statuesque Yubelluna entered. "Yes, Yubelluna? What is it?"

"Lady Phenex, Lord Phenex," she said, bowing formally. "Lord Riser assigned me to talk to the Torgumada Clan in their territory in Japan and to take a few contracts there that they had been forced to pass on to House Phenex due to lack of resources. I discovered something there, however, that was of such import that I felt it deserved a formal report."

Lord Phenex set aside the notebook he'd been working on and nodded slowly. "I can tell by your tone this is serious. Just tell us what you found."

"And was our son with you?" Lady Phenex asked. "That was supposed to be his job."

"I am afraid not, Lady Phenex," Yubelluna said regretfully, her voice and body language matching that emotion with the ease of long practice. "Lord Riser was busy trying to convince his older brother that he should take over Ravel-sama's training this afternoon and told me to go without him."

"AH yes, we did hear snippets of that argument," Lady Phenex said with a sigh, gesturing down to the pile of books in front of them. "Unfortunately, this has been keeping us busy."

Yubelluna nodded but had no interest in learning what 'this' was. The sheer number of books and the fact that all of them seemed to be handwritten notebooks implied that there was something large going on with some of the contracts of the family, and, as the Queen of Riser, who was merely second in line for the heirship, she had no need to know what.

"Indeed," Lord Phenex said with a sigh, looking down at the books as well, his face displaying some irritation, but with a glint of good humor underneath it. "The only time we've actually seen any of our children today was at breakfast, when we agreed to pressure Lord and Lady Gremory to allow Riser to actually start to woo Rias before her nineteenth birthday. It makes good sense; after all, they will be married, so there needs to be some kind of connection between them."

Yubelluna nodded, gritting her teeth and wondering if she could get word of that to Rias somehow. Although I'm not certain she needs it, she thought, reflecting on the confident look and air that Rias had had when speaking about how she was going to deal with Riser. Now that she was near her King—indeed, she could feel his presence in his room wing of the mansion—those thoughts came far harder, but Yubelluna powered through, banishing them into the back of her mind as she began to explain what she had found.

"You say there were stray devils and fallen working together?"

"Yes, mistress," Yubelluna replied to Lady Phenex's question, which came immediately on the heels of her finishing her tale. "It was quite obvious the moment the battle began that I was seeing members of at least two different Factions there. They mentioned how I was picking a fight with the Khaos Brigade," she said distastefully, "as if that was supposed to mean something. But really, none of them were worth all that much. Even the strongest stray devil among them was barely up to taking a single one of my explosions. And the fallen were all killed in my initial assault. The shock of my attack did more than even my own powers," she admitted after a second. "But, even so, it was nothing even remotely close what I would call a real battle."

"Still, it is telling that this Khaos Brigade was able to open…a recruiting center? A base?"

"I would estimate that it was a recruiting center, Lord Phenex, and one that had only recently been opened. Before I destroyed all the physical evidence I tried to search for things like supplies, weapons, and other things to show that they had been in residence for a long time, but I did not see anything of that nature," Yubelluna replied.

"Very good, Yubelluna," Lord Phenex said with a growl in his voice, his large hands squeezing rhythmically on the side of his chair in thought. "We'll pass this on to the Maous. They need to know that this Khaos Brigade is recruiting strays, at the very least, even setting aside the idea that they were willing to try and set up such an operation within a devil clan's territory."

"But not one of the more powerful ones," his wife said thoughtfully. "Indeed, they chose the land of a very minor clan."

"True, yet it needs to be investigated anyway. And we will need to make certain our own territory is looked at very closely as well." Clan Phenex did not have many holdings in Japan save for a string of nightclubs, but they had quite a bit in Germany. Even after World War II there were still families and individuals there who had contracts with Clan Phenex. They also had holdings in America and one or two contracts in Canada, but that was a relatively recent thing and had been accomplished by the heir of the family, Ruval.

"But that is for us to deal with," Lord Phenex said, looking back at Yubelluna. "Well done, I can see why my son chose you as his Queen. You may go now."

Yubelluna nodded her head respectfully at that, then, when she was out in the hallway, she allowed her body to show the shudder that she had been feeling at those words of praise. Oh, if only he had never done so; if only I hadn't been so eager to join the peerage of a Pillar clan member.

Heading back to Riser's wing of the mansion, she didn't see any of the other servants, and then found that the orgy was still going on. Shuddering in disgust, Yubelluna silently closed the door for a second time before moving into her own room, which was often left unused, given Riser's constant demands at night. I might be punished for not joining in if Riser thinks of it, but even that would be better than taking part, she thought, pulling off her gown and getting changed into her night things.

Again, the thought of her—Rias with her confidence, her newfound abilities, and that young-seeming Fallen Angel she had—entered Yubelluna's mind, and she found herself smiling honestly for the first time in a while at the thought that maybe, just maybe, her life was going to change for the better sometime soon. I can only hope, she thought, as she slipped into bed, falling asleep to dreams of freedom.

OOOOOOO

"Oh, come on, Grayfia-chan! You have to let me go!" Sirzechs whined, waving the report Rias and Sona had submitted to him and to Serafall in one hand. "It says here that she was able to deal with Diodora despite not being there herself, but, even so, she needs her nii-sama! I want to congratulate her, if nothing else."

"No," Grayfia said sternly, smacking Sirzechs on the head with a paper fan that, nonetheless, struck like a cannon round, sending him stumbling forward. "You need to be here to deal with the aftermath of that event. You and Ajuka both need to meet with Lord Astaroth to discuss this and to show the memories of the attack, once Ajuka has come up with a means to read them," she finished, gesturing to a series of small glass containers to one side which contained Koneko Toujo and Momo Hanakai's memories of the battle against Diodora. "Leviathan-sama is busy dealing with something else, some diplomatic mission to the Church, and you know how lazy Asmodeus-sama is. You need to help handle this, before it becomes a major diplomatic incident!"

Sirzechs continued to whine, moving around Grayfia as if in an effort to get past her to the teleportation room. So busy was she in corralling her husband, Grayfia didn't notice Milicas sneaking in and snatching up one of the scrolls which would allow him to access the teleportation array to Earth.

As the young boy snuck back out, he saw his father wink at him over Grayfia's shoulder and giggled. Mother might not have given me permission, but once the human holidays come around, I'll be free, and Dad says it's better to beg forgiveness than ask for permission!

OOOOOOO

Unfortunately for Harry and his wishes, Sona and Rias had duties most of that week they weren't willing to skip out of. Most of these included speaking with the principal about some long-standing contracts that the two of them were seeing to as part of their ongoing educations in their families' businesses. This was somewhat nerve wracking for Rias. The principal might be human and might not be a magical, but, for all of that, he would have spotted that something was wrong instantly if they had tried to get something by him.

That was without the fact that the principal was indeed growing suspicious about Harry and Rias. They had never been caught doing anything in public, but the rumors that the two of them were emotionally involved was almost as popular among the students as the one that had him with Akeno, though, in that case, they had nearly been caught a few times. Harry had finally had to tell them both that there would be no flirting on campus outside the ORC clubroom, and even there only if Harry had apparated in, so that no one knew he was there.

This, however, allowed Harry to not only spent some time with his daughter and Kunou but also to go over the entire array again with Tsubaki, the only one of the four devils who had any free time that week. Tsubaki had proven to have a very analytical and detail oriented mind, much like Sona but with somewhat better eyesight into runes. Between the two of them, and with the help of Momo and Asia, they modified the defense working to exclude any familiars within the area whose master or mistress had negative thoughts towards those under its aegis.

Moreover, this waiting period meshed well with Harry's own cover, because the one thing he had dreaded since taking up the teaching job had arrived: federally-mandated multiple-choice tests. Harry could change or replace every other test in the book, but there were three mandated tests the Japanese government demanded all schools use for assessment purposes. He visibly dragged his feet on the issue every day in classes, to the point where the kids, even the previously nervous freshmen, were just laughing at it, not one of them afraid or anxious about them anymore when he finally started to give them out on Thursday.

Since the government only mandated the week in which these tests could be given instead of the day, Harry was able to get away with that with the principal's approval. Harry's immersion theory of how to teach English might be nouveau in Japan, but it was certainly working. Now it only fell to the students to show the educational system that this was the case.

Then the day dawned, and Harry created his illusions.

"Good grief. It is almost too exact," Tsubaki said as she moved around the illusion of herself in the ORC clubhouse, staring at the illusion Harry had created of her thoughtfully. "If I,…that is, will you be able to change its clothing for gym class on Saturday if our last round of calculations proves the most accurate?" They had redone the arithmantic formulae for the upcoming ritual and had found that the amount of time they'd need to charge the defensive working had gone up, making for a total of thirty-one hours.

"I would have to redo the illusion at that point," Harry said with a shake of his head. "I know what you look like in that clothing, but I can't change the way the illusion looks once it's cast. But this illusion will move just like you do and will cover the body double entirely. That plus Rias's earbuds and my voice changing spells, and there we are."

"This is almost scary, Harry-sensei," she said, addressing him by his name alone for the first time. "Very scary."

Harry shrugged, not in unconcern, but in understanding. "The Tuatha Dé Danann were some of the best known gods and goddesses for illusions. The link between them and the fey were more like two sides of the coin rather than as two separate entities."

"That makes some sense, I suppose. Still, the lifelikeness of this is startling, Harry-sensei," Tsubaki said.

"Yet also very useful, don't forget that," Rias said with a smile, kissing Harry on the cheek as she moved past him. Her smile widened as she felt Harry's arm wrap itself around her waist for a brief second before letting go.

Akeno did the same, then looked at the illusion of herself thoughtfully, hefting her own chest experimentally as she stared at the model. "Mah, do I really look like that?"

"Yes," said every other woman there, causing Akeno to pout and look down at the illusion's chest before bouncing in place, the illusion doing the same across from her. Nearby, Saji and Issei both looked on with blushes on their faces as Harry closed his eyes, his whole body twitching for a second..

"Ahem. Anyway, ladies, let's go over the plan one last time, then we all need to be going," Harry said, regaining control of himself. He looked over at Koneko and Asia. "Do you know your part in the plan?"

"Nn," Koneko said, giving him a thumbs up. "Watch the kids, get them to school on Saturday, and then tire them out as much as possible both Friday and Saturday after school."

Later that day, none of the students noticed that anything was off about any of the five participants of the ritual. Covered in an illusion that made him look exactly like Harry, Loup moved around the classroom. When he spoke he sounded like Harry thanks to a another series of spells on his voice-box and a magical earpiece donated by Sona that carried Harry's words to him in turn. "All right, you all know what to do here, but I still have to tell you how to fill in the little dots. Please use your number two pencil; shade them as dark as possible and only in the dots themselves. You are free to write out any little notes or work you need to do to the side of the question booklet, but please keep your answer sheets as clear of such things as possible. Write your name and student ID number clearly at the top, one number per box and one character per box."

Many of the students in that first class giggled at Harry's drone, so unlike his normal tone when he was teaching, but that changed when he went on, his voice shifting back to normal. "None of you have a reason to be scared of this, and I know you'll do me proud. Now get to work!"

With that all the students of his first class that day nodded and turned to the test, starting to scribble their answers down as Harry returned to the front of the room and sat down at his desk, pulling out some paperwork. Actually, Harry had finished the paperwork the evening before. Loup was simply reading a magazine behind it. Harry had told him to get up every few minutes to walk around the classroom to make certain that the students weren't talking to one another and were keeping on task.

This was especially true since this was Friday, and that meant that Harry's class would have the Perverted Trio as well as Kiryuu later on. All of them would have to be watched to make certain that Matsuda didn't help the latter. Issei, however, when it came to it, simply nodded in his direction and bent to his work, looking more than a little terrified. Loup wondered what that was about, but decided not to question it or the fact that Akeno had been spending quite a bit of time this past week with Issei, getting him up to snuff on magic, magical theory, and, of course, helping him in his regular classes. Rias had told Issei that she expected everyone in her peerage to have at least a B average, and since Issei had been low C/high D before this, that was going to take some work, even in Harry's class.

No one noticed the five illusions, and the ritual they had started at dawn of that day continued without letup as Harry turned his attention away from Loup and what was occurring in the classroom to his own surroundings. And it was a Ritual with the capital needed. This was not a spell, a simple runic array, or even an enchantment. This was a pure mix of three distinct magical styles: the Onmyodo; European magic; and Devilic magic, which was called Ankhsera.

Although, Harry thought to himself, we might not have been the first to mix all three of those together. Currently he stood at the top of a communications tower, one of five points spread across the city. After all, the entire Ritual is based on a pentagram, and that is a symbol that is used in all three magical styles. Or could all magic have originated from a single point? Certainly the pentagram was around long before the Norse runic language was developed, which is Europe's primary runic tongue thanks to its efficiency and durability. But it's not as old as Egyptian, and that style looks somewhat like Ankhsera, which Rias and the others told me is somewhat similar to that used by the Fallen. Perhaps there is something to that whole Tower of Babylon story.

There'd been some argument about which point they would each be assigned to, though Akeno and Harry's positions had never been question. The elements an individual was closest to mentally might not have much of an effect on their actual abilities, but it did have an effect on how one centered oneself and prepared, and, since the five of them were pumping magic into the array from these points, they were doing just that. This was why Harry was standing on top of the metal point high at the top of a large radio tower near the edge of town. Runes—here they were primarily Norse—had been etched into the metal, down along its length, and away, covered by illusions from the Onmyodo school so as to not interfere with the magic of the actual ritual itself.

Akeno stood on top of an old shrine, staring down at the shrine's environs, a small thin smile on her face as she continually began to pump magical power into the array. She wasn't feeling the drain yet, but they'd only been at this for four hours or so. Akeno knew she'd begin to feel it soon enough. Although that will not be the first problem I run into. That dubious honor will go to my back when it starts to bother me about sitting in place for so long. We really should have thought about bringing along some chairs. Everyone thinks big breasts are so fantastic; they never think about how many back problems they give me.

Trying to take her thoughts off of that inevitable reality, Akeno looked around her once more. I had wanted to move in here at one point when we first came to Kuoh. I thought that perhaps I could bring in more contracts working as a shrine maiden. Yet I am very glad that Rias talked me out of it. Looking at this place, I can just tell that living alone out here would not have been pleasant—far too much like the house I lived in with my mother.

She smiled as she saw a few more runes activated as she continually pumped power into the array, the light of them slowly moving outward as Akeno's magical powers continually drained into the working. The runes here had been etched into several scattered statues around the temple as well as along the grounds connecting them all, and slowly she could see the sporadic lights beginning to look more and more like a spider web of magic.

She smiled, however, as she saw the fox statue nearest the temple light up like a Christmas tree, glowing like one of those fancy shaped lightbulbs. I wonder what young Kunou would think of that one.

That thought, however, brought Akeno back to an issue she had been thinking about on and off since this ritual had begun. After all, she didn't really have to truly concentrate all her mental faculties on this: once body and mind had settled into the routine, pumping out magic like this was relatively easy for any devil. Harry was probably having a tougher time of it, especially considering that he had to keep up the five separate illusions.

This left Akeno a lot of time to think about her and Harry's relationship. She had been thinking about this on and off, of course, but since the triangle date with Rias she had begun to think about it much more seriously, a process which had accelerated in the last week since Akeno had begun to teach Issei. In many ways Harry is my ideal man, yet in others he is so far removed from what I want in a boyfriend it isn't even funny. The question is, are the pros enough to keep outweighing the cons?

Elsewhere, Rias stood in the somewhat murky depths of a pond, the runic array embedded in the floor of the pond beginning to awaken due to her power. Given Sona's control of water, Sona and her peerage had been the ones to emplace these, but the array here was mostly European, the Norse runes able to withstand being emplaced into granite slabs much more easily than Onmyodo or Ankhsera runes.

Mittelt had found a full body dive suit for her along with a formfitting helmet. Devils could hold their breath for far longer than humans, but they still needed some air, and she was going to be down here for a very, very long time. Indeed, Rias found herself inordinately grateful for the added work of walking Kalawarner under Harry's illusion through the answers on the test as well as everything else she was doing throughout the day. At least listening to that gave her something to concentrate on other than the slow tug on her magic as she continued to funnel it through the wards around her.

Tsubaki too would have liked a little more of a distraction from her surroundings. She was standing on the point designated for earth in the array, though in her place there was no special significance with that. Her problem came with the fact that these runes and, in particular, the point of the star she was standing on top of, were on top of a rather…specialized shop. One which had a second story for viewing many of the videos it sold below. Through the rooftop she could hear some of those movies, and she had yet to stop blushing since her arrival. Darn it! I wish there would have been some way to shift this point, but no, all the sides of the pentagram had to be equal! Around her, the Ankhsera glyphs activated slowly, taking her power a little more easily than the runes of the other two magical styles, and would covered in turn by talismans to hide the runes.

Sona, on the other hand, was having a much easier time of it. She stood on top of an apartment building, and, like her Queen's location withing ther array, there was no special significance to it. She and Rias had argued the point about where the two of them should go, but, in the end, after working it out with the Devilish equivalent of Arithmancy, it had been decided that it would be better for the ritual to have Rias, whose mental element was water, see to the water point in the pentagram.

Here, most of the enchantment was Onmyodo based. Around those runes, Ankhsera wards had been used to hide both sets. As always, a different runic language and array had been created to do that task, to make certain that they didn't interfere with one another. At around two in the afternoon, she smiled thinly as her body double, Momo, set her pencil down in Harry's test before standing and bowing with the rest of the class as Harry left the room, replaced by the mathematics teacher.

With that she fully turned her attention to something else, staring ahead of herself in her real body as she used her connection to her familiar to fill out some paperwork in the student council room. Only a crane could be so precise with its beak like this, and she would probably have to redo some of the signatures later on, but it would still save her time, and the payoff for getting this particular paperwork done was enough to make the strain on her mental faculties worth it.

Unfortunately for all involved, the final version of the equations they had worked out for how long it would take power the ritual proved to be less than accurate. The ritual wasn't fully finished twenty-four hours later as the sun rose on Saturday but now it was taking some concentration from Sona, Rias and their Queens to continue to pump energy into the array, exhaustion slowly taking hold. Once school was done their peerages helped immensely, with Kiba coming by both Akeno and Rias's ritual points. He dove into the water and helped Rias actually set up a waterproof portable DVD player in front of her, so she could have something to watch (anime, obviously, a One Piece arc). With Akeno, he brought her something to read and sat with her, talking for some time, joined later by Issei, though he didn't honestly understand all of that they were doing. Sona and Tsubaki got similar aid from their own peerage, and the ritual continued.

The ritual continued until all four of the devil girls were really feeling it, their magical cores slowly getting closer to empty. Even Harry was starting to feel it by this point, his mind straining to keep up the illusions until school ended, where upon he released them with a huff, causing Loup and the others he had covered with them to gasp as they suddenly noticed that they were back into their normal forms rather than the ones they had been wearing all day. Having met up with them all in the clubroom, Loup looked at the other doubles and nodded brusquely. "I will go check on Harry; you should check on everyone else."

Hours after that, the ritual finally ended. Harry and the others, separate but now in communication, could feel that the defensive workings' equivalent of a generator was full, and it was time to end it. "Ready?" Harry asked through his second set of com-beads. The girls all responded in the affirmative, though all of them sounded on the brink of collapse. With that Harry cut his palm with a silver dagger, wincing at the stab of intense pain this caused, but it was the only way to actually open a wound long enough for fresh blood to be absorbed into the ritual's array. He knelt down now, smearing his blood into the glowing runes around him one after another, his blood actually sizzling slightly.

The blood portion of the ceremony/ritual they had created was in itself a mix of the three different magical schools. Blood Magic was proscribed in Europe as being too Dark, but that was a massive falsehood. Blood forcefully taken was indeed a core part of many dark rituals, but blood freely given was another story. Harry had long hypothesized that the clue to how he had survived the Killing Curse as a baby could be found in that, in the willing sacrifice of his mother's blood, which both Riddle and Albus had hinted at, though the precise ritual was unknown. Blood was the basis of a lot of Devil works, and the local Onmyouji had their own brand of blood wards which required a symbolic sacrifice of liquid vitae.

"By the blood in my veins, I do claim this marked territory and defend it from those foreign to this land. With this word and sacrifice, let my awareness and my power flow. Scutum et conscientia, Majikku kara subete o sagashidashite mamoru (seek out and protect those within from magic)," Harry intoned. Elsewhere Rias and Sona did the same thing, though they spoke in the original Devil tongue rather than a mix of English, Latin, and Japanese as Harry had to. Tsubaki and Akeno intoned the words as Harry did, but as they were not 'rulers of the land' in terms of the ritual, they didn't sacrifice blood into it.

As the last words echoed over the com beads, the entire array lit up like a solar flare going off. For those who were involved in the ritual it looked as if a globe of magic, bright as the Aurora Borealis, had appeared in the air around and above Kuoh before settling down over the area and disappearing into the ground. The defensive array settled into place around the entire town, sliding over the previous detection bubble smoothly, so much so that only truly gifted magic users would've felt it at all. Indeed, for those within its environs the feeling was almost like a fresh, warm breeze flowing over them, a subtle, welcome heat in their minds.

That didn't really matter all that much for most, though, as, the instant the ritual was completed all four young women buckled, collapsing forward. Only Rias was able to retain her feet, and only did so because of the stand holding the portable DVD player. Even so, she was able to get up out of the water where she found Loup waiting for her, having been sent to check on her by Harry.

Harry, too, nearly collapsed, but quickly Fragarach was in his hand, changing into a tall staff which he used to prop himself upright. "Well," he wheezed. "That, that was…more than I expected. I wonder if we, for all the time we spent creating that working, really understand what we just did."

OOOOOOO

As it happens, a foreign magic-user was attempting to enter the town as the ritual was completed. A large, yet very svelte, black cat leaped down from the truck she had been hiding in, escaping quickly out the door of the storehouse's loading area. Outside she looked around, willing her fur to not rise and not to hiss at nothing in particular as the feeling in the town hit her. Nya, what in the heck…

She looked up as she sensed a human coming towards her and turned to see a young boy who quickly leaned down, petting her. She could have gotten away, but let it occur. Such things always, of course, had occurred in this form, and she reveled in it. After all, she was a cat, and there was no cat who didn't like her fur petted appropriately. "Who's a good kitty; who is a good Kitty?" the boy said, ruffling her fur just the right way, then finding the collar the black cat wore, just as much camouflage as her current body was. "Are you lost, kitty?"

At that point the black cat meowed, butted her head against his hand, and then slinked off, entering a nearby alleyway. The boy, about twelve-years-old or so, hesitated but did not follow. A tiny spell sent into his mind made him stop and then forget he had even met the cat as she bounded into the darkness, hiding there for a moment as she concentrated once more on what the heck she was feeling. What is that?! I come all this way to check on little Shirone, and I sense…what is this? Some kind of defensive work?

After a moment the feeling of shifting spellwork ended, but the power that she had felt was now replaced by something worse. Something or someone was watching her, and she looked around wildly, wondering how the heck someone had snuck up on her. That should've been impossible, given her abilities.

But there was no one there. No one in the alleyway, no one on the rooftop above, no one hiding in the shadows. She would've sensed them whatever spells they were trying to use to hide their presence, that was part and parcel of being a sage. But, despite that, the feeling of being watched was intense.

Slowly the cat pulled back into a deep, dark alleyway and then shifted into her normal body, or, rather, her normal human form her ears and tail covered by an illusion. In this form the black cat was a beautiful, if rather short, young woman with a voluptuous figure. She had long black hair going down her back and hazel eyes with cat-like yellow pupils. She wore a black kimono tied by a yellow obi marked by a large set of golden beads.

Any devil would have been able to tell you who this was in an instant. After all, for a time she had been the most wanted criminal in all of Hell. This was Kuroka the nekoshou, who had gone insane and killed not only her King, but the rest of her peerage as she attempted to harness the power of Senjutsu, the energy of the world around her. She felt the odd watchful feeling get even worse, then, and scowled. Something weird is going on here! Shuddering, the wanted criminal Kuroka swiftly changed back into her cat form, and the feeling of being observed faded back to where it had been. But there was also a feeling now of danger waiting for an excuse to happen to her, and she shuddered once more. Right. Need to check in on Shirone and get the heck out of here! If whatever spell this is can see through my illusions and shape shifting, I do not want to be here for long.

Knowing the direction Kuoh Academy was in, Kuroka took to the rooftops, the little cat making leaps that should have been impossible for its small frame and moving far faster too. Since it felt like the hounds of hell were on her tail, Kuroka had no wish to wait around. It might prove deadly for her health.

Halfway to her original destination, Kuroka paused, staring at a splash of white hair in the distance. Moving in that direction, she found her little sister moving through the town with three other girls. One of them was a blonde-haired girl, who Kuroka could smell had some inherent magic in her. The redheaded little girl looked around eleven, although there was something a little younger about her face, so maybe it her body was just a little tall for her age? And then there was the little girl beside her, who was most definitely a fox kit.

What the heck is this? Isn't that young Kunou!? Kuroka had seen Kunou and Yasaka from afar at one point shortly after she had gone rogue in the first place. What is she doing here? We should've made a much harder effort to renew our spy services in the Youkai Association.

Instead, Ophis had ordered the Brigade to find some other way to open a portal to the dimensional gap. She was not one to throw more money away on a plan that had failed and knew that, so long as Yasaka was on her guard, attempting to force her to work for the Brigade would cost them too dearly to be of any aid against Great Red.

Something else interested her about the scene, though, not just Kunou being here when she should have been kept under lock and key by her mother. What Kuroka was really interested in, though, was little Shirone, who was showing her emotions more openly and certainly with more happiness than Kuroka had ever seen in Koneko in the few times she had been able to check up on her. I don't know what's going on here, but I like that, at least! Maybe little Shirone can break out of her shell enough to learn senjutsu.

Wanting to see more of this and wondering what had caused it, the black cat kept to the shadows in the trees and followed. But the feeling of being watched instantly began to build up quickly, and, within a block, Kuroka couldn't go on, backing away. Some of the feeling faded instantly with that, but the moment she attempted to retake the chase, the feeling came back, accompanied by something like static electricity building up all around her. Okay, I can take a hint!

Even that told her something, though. So, whatever that is, it's defending them well. I guess I can allow that. For now, I am so out of here.

With that, she raced back the way she came, the feeling of being watched still with her. Eventually she was back to the same truck that she had taken into the town, and she hopped into it. She moved quickly through the boxes until she found a small corner, where she settled down for a few seconds before the truck started moving. We might need to rethink how to spy on the Gremory and Sitri heirs after this.

OOOOOOO

That night Kala and the others threw a party for the five magic users. All of them had felt the array go up—even Issei had felt a little shiver go down his spine at first before the feeling of the wards echoed within them. Kala and Mittelt had cooked like champions for them all, producing an almost five-star meal that everyone enjoyed, all save the five heroes of the day. All of them were just too exhausted to really get into the food.

Harry, in particular, was eating almost mechanically, his hands moving automatically and his eyes staring straight ahead. He hadn't even complimented Kala on the food as he normally would have, but she didn't take it personally. Magical exhaustion like that impacted the mind more than the body, after all, and Harry had been forced to sustain a series of illusions at the same time. So it was very clear that Harry's mind was no longer quite all there and why that was so.

Thankfully for Harry and the others though, Asia and Koneko had done exactly what Harry had ordered: they had tired out Kunou and Lily to the point where the terrible twosome was too tired to make trouble. This meant that the meal was much more sedate than it would have been otherwise, and everyone was able to take in enough food for them to be comfortable before repairing to the sitting room.

There Akeno promptly moved toward a large beanbag that Harry had bought a few days ago. It was one of Lily and Kunou's favorites, but Akeno claimed it now, flopping down into it face first, her eyes already closing. Rias made a beeline for one of the sofas, while a yawning Lily followed after along with Kunou as Asia put in an anime for them under Rias's request. They were going to finish Castle in the Sky, which Kunou hadn't seen until Rias had brought it over Thursday night, and they hadn't finished it since.

Sona and Tsubaki looked at one another, then Sona shook her head. "Harry-sensei, I'm afraid we're just too tired to get home, be it by a spell or feet. Could we rest here as well for the evening?"

Harry nodded tiredly towards another sofa. "You're welcome to bed down here for a few hours," he said with a sigh. "I personally am going to do that very same thing."

In point of fact, Harry was dreading the effort it would take to get up the stairs to the second floor, let alone the struggle it would be to climb the ladder into his own room. I wonder if I can bed down in that little bed of Kunou's?

Fitting action to thought, Harry did just that, waking up about forty minutes later, hungry once more and his head somewhat clearer. He headed downstairs and found that the remaining people had fallen asleep where he had left them. Sona and Tsubaki were curled up around one another on one sofa, with Sona being the big spoon in the arrangement, and Tsubaki was actually drooling. Her glasses were also askew, her hair undone and flowing everywhere. There was no sign of the rest of Sona's peerage, thankfully, or else Harry would have had trouble walking around their bodies.

Akeno, too, was stark out of it on the beanbag, a large heavy blanket pulled up around her. On the sofa Rias was cuddled up with Lily, snoring away peacefully. So she snores. This is important information, he thought to himself with a quirk of his lips. Kunou was still awake, if barely, judging by how her eyes were straining to stay open as she watched the TV.

"We were just about to separate them," Kiba said in this soft voice, moving up behind Harry. Harry looked at him, and Kiba explained. "Koneko already left. She said someone else could take her bed tonight here. Asia is busy cleaning up the kitchen, and Kala and Mittelt are going around the town with a few of Sona's group, checking to see how far the feeling of the array went and to make certain that no one had seen anything, just in case."

"Smart thinking. Who thought that one up?" Harry asked.

"Me," Kiba said with a shrug. "It seemed obvious, when I thought about it, that the only real way we'd know if the cover spells worked was to have the working on at full power."

"Good point. As for the girls, if you think you can get one of them up into the kids room, you can put Tsubaki up on the topmost bunk, and Sona can take the lowermost."

Kiba smiled, patted Harry on the shoulder and moved around him, moving towards where Tsubaki lay. He gently extricated his girlfriend from her King's grip, lifting her into his arms as Loup came over to scoop Sona up into his arms. "I'll put Akeno up in Koneko's bed, then, after grabbing a bite to eat. She'll be sore if she sleeps the entire night in that beanbag."

By the time Harry came back from that little chore, the boys had finished, and both of them told him they were heading to bed too. Kiba would head home, and Loup up to his bed. Koneko would be sleeping back in her old room at the Gremory house tonight, allowing Asia to retain her room.

This left Harry alone to move over to where Kunou had watched the three men with bleary eyes as her movie had finally ended. "You know you could've just paused it," he whispered, reaching down and pulling her into his arms, letting her nuzzle against his neck and shoulder.

"Didn't want to," she mumbled. "Are you going to leave Rias and Lily-chan there?"

"I think so, yes. They look a little too peaceful for me to try to move," Harry said dryly. "Which means you get to sleep in my room with me tonight."

She smiled sleepily at that, an expression which widened as Harry bussed her cheek a little. "Now come on, let's get your teeth brushed, and we can all get back to bed."

Several hours later, Rias woke up just as Harry had, her stomach rumbling slightly at her. It wasn't often that Rias found herself waking up with clothing on, but, considering the fact that she remembered having gone to sleep in that same manner, she considered that a minor detail at the moment. Instead she concentrated on the feeling of a little body curled up against her side and the fact that her back and shoulders were hurting something fierce. She opened her eyes and looked around, finding herself still on the sofa that she had lain down on after dinner with Lily curled up next to her under a blanket that covered her to her chest.

She smiled down at the girl, then gently extricated herself, heading into the kitchen. There she found several sandwiches made up on the table under a preservation charm. She ate four of them with apple juice before heading back to the couch. She moved back over and found that Lily had woken up and was sitting up on the sofa, looking around blearily. "Do you want to head up to bed, Lily-chan?"

Shaking her head with a little grunt, Lily stood up and moved over to Rias, pushing her from behind until Rias, rather bemused, was back laying down on the sofa. Once there Lily lay down on top of Rias, her head pillowed against Rias's chest. Rias chuckled and made no protest as Lily whispered, "Comfy." Then Lily did something that startled her. She leaned up and kissed Rias on the cheek before nuzzling back down. "Goodnight, Rias."

Soon afterward Rias fell asleep again, too, but with a massive smile on her face.

The next morning Rias woke up to the sound of someone moving around nearby. Gently shifting her body around so she could let Lily down onto the sofa, she slipped out of the covers and headed into the kitchen, where she found Harry working on breakfast. He looked over at her with a faint smile. "Given how much Kala's taken over the cooking, I was actually quite surprised that she wasn't here already, but at least this gives me a chance to cook for myself for once."

Rias chuckled at that, moving over to join him. "What made you wake up so early, Harry? I would've thought you'd be as tired as the rest of us still are. And is Kunou still sleeping?"

"Kunou is up; she's talking to her mother in my room." Rias nodded at that, knowing that Yasaka and Kunou made a point of talking over the phone at least once a day. "As for me, my mind is still tired," Harry went on with a sigh, tapping the side of his head, "but my body isn't tired at all. It wants me to be up and about."

He paused for a moment, then went back to cooking as he continued. "Yasaka told me this morning that she has prepared a formal meeting for the twenty-first for the signing of the treaty between the two of your families, myself, and the Youkai Association. I understand that she and Sona have been talking, and it just kept getting a little more formal and in depth?"

"That's what I've heard too, though I was worried the meeting would be pushed back until after New Year's. The twenty-first? Well, I am free, certainly, and if Sona's been involved with the planning and the treaty itself, she'll be free too. Though I'm surprised. I would have thought she'd still be here," Rias mused, looking around.

"Oh, she is. Sona and Tsubaki are both upstairs asleep in the kids' room," Harry replied.

"Really? Remind me to go up there after we're done making breakfast. If I remember correctly, Sona's sleeping habits are almost as embarrassing as mine.

"Yes," Harry said, his tone taking on a deeper timber to it that caused a shiver to go up and down Rias's spine and then to…other places. "You mentioned you like sleeping naked. You didn't try to take off your clothing once asleep, though, for which I'm thankful."

Rias chuckled throatily. "Are you, or are you disappointed?" she said, dropping the vegetables she had been cleaning and moving around him to hug him from behind.

Harry rested one hand on where her arms went around his waist, and smiled over his shoulder at her. "A little of both, I suppose." With that, he moved in her grip until they were facing one another and then leaned down to kiss her. She returned the kiss, but both of them were so tired mentally that they couldn't really become excited enough to move beyond that.

After a moment the two of them pulled away and went back to cooking. "What else did Yasaka say?" Rias asked.

"Nothing much, though the two of us did flirt a bit while waiting for Kunou to finish brushing her teeth," Harry replied, looking at Rias thoughtfully out of the corner of his eye. "Are you sure you're all right with this?"

"There goes that human part of you again, Harry," Rias said with a low laugh. "I am…all right with sharing. So long as you didn't flirt with her first and the two of us can get along. I know I can't have you all to myself, and you know that she doesn't want to be the primary wife in this arrangement.

Indeed," Rias said thoughtfully as her hands moved automatically, cutting up one piece of vegetable after another as she prepared to create a breakfast omelet. "I feel somewhat less jealousy toward Yasaka than I do for Akeno, even at this point."

She saw the grimace on Harry's face at that and sighed, but didn't say anything. Neither Harry nor Akeno had come to her to ask for advice, and she felt that that was only fair. After all, while she had pushed Harry into trying to accept Akeno in the first place, their relationship was their own. All that mattered to her was that there was as little jealousy as possible between herself and Akeno and that they were happy with the way the relationship was going. She could tell that Akeno and Harry were slowly moving away from one another, but she wanted the two of them to solve it without her trying to come in and push them together again.

Harry eventually spoke up, though. "Akeno and I might not be working out, Rias. If we do break up, will you and she be alright?"

"If it isn't working out, just let it happen, one way or the other. As for Akeno and me, our friendship will survive whatever happens. That was one of the most important things to me all along, that our jealousy wouldn't push us apart. I don't know how it will go if you do break up, but she and I will, at the very least, be able to talk about it, whatever happens," Rias said. She then moved over to start cracking eggs, saying brusquely, "Now, since it's Sunday again, I think we should do your normal, monthly 'magic is awesome day' this evening, but I also want to take the girls over to Mittelt's this morning for a fitting for when we go to Kyoto. Beyond that, do you have anything you want to get done today, or can we all just take it easy?"

OOOOOOO

Truthspotter Morimoto stood in front of two other men, kneeling across from them at a small table as they sipped their tea. One of the people he was currently sharing a table with was an elderly woman, rail thin with bags under her eyes, wrinkles, and stark gray hair. For all of that, she was very aware of her surroundings, and her movements were calm and smooth as she sipped the tea.

By her side sat an immensely obese man, yet with a very alert eyes set into his large, fat face as he read the report of the attacks on the Khaos Brigade aloud before picking up his tea again, waiting patiently as the Truthspotter and the woman took in what he had just reported. "Sixty-two dead, seven of whom we lost in the attack on what we thought was the Shinra mansion. Well below what could've been."

"Yes, but we lost over thirty in two missions. The others were spread out along all the others. Both of those missions happened in Hokkaido. Further, we found nothing at four other possible target points. It was obvious that they had some means of communicating," Iori said. He would normally not be part of what was a meeting of policy makers, but since he had played a role in discovering the problem and he was respected for his talents, he had been brought into this meeting despite technically being outside the governmental body.

"Indeed. They were warned of our attacks, but did not have enough time to do anything for the majority of their holdings," the fat man replied to the Truthspotter's points. "But despite that, or perhaps entirely because of that, the most concerning to me is the attack on the Shinra mansion. Not a single clan member was discovered there, and no papers, books scrolls, or anything else. The entire place had been scrubbed clean."

"The other two Jugondo clans are not in contact with them?" Iori asked.

"No. All three of them kept to themselves for the most part. Oh," the fat man waved his hand. "They had some intermarriages, of course, and they routinely sought outside marriages, but once an individual is part of any of those families, they disappear from the rest of society. Perhaps we should've looked at that aspect more closely. The Himejima clan has informed us that they are not in contact with the Shinra clan, but they are refusing to help in the search. The Miroku clan is willing to help, so long as we pay them."

"They are mercenaries," Iori said with some irritation in his tone, "but good ones for all that. And remember, they have ties with the Youkai Association—ties of blood, in some cases. They are the only one of the three that has gone that route since the old days."

"True, whereas the Himejima clan is blood purist, an aberration among our society that has made them even more isolationist then the other two, and the Shinra clan is the most militant of the three," the fat man said with a sigh. "But they are hiding behind their own Notice-Me-Not wards."

"Which," the woman interjected for the first time since Iori had sat down, "are almost as good as our own. We have amped up our defensive arrays, our memory-minders are hard at work covering up what little magic got out during the battles, and the secret of magic is still safe. Yet, while that is the most important thing, we must find the Shinra clan. Is there any way to track them? Any way to break the arrays that they were able to construct?

"Doubtful, Lady Tosa," the fourth man at the table said. He had remained so silent that Iori had almost forgotten his presence. He knelt to one side of the others, a full foot away from the table, his head down bowed toward the ground and his sword on the ground next to him. He also wore armor, this and his sword marking him as one of the Shinsengumi.

But the woman's question was directed at him, and he looked up from his bow, a small golden badge gleaming on one of his shoulders for a moment as he did. "The Shinra know as much as we do about how to create such wards, and it is without doubt that they have been planning this for some time. That house that we raided was long abandoned, my lords, Sir Truthspotter, and looked like it had not been lived in for years. If we are to find them, we need to figure out a way to track them, then triangulate the position of their hiding place from that."

"You're speaking of blood magic," the fat man said bluntly. "Use the blood of the two dead Shinra to track the others. That is blood magic, and that is illegal and immoral."

"Perhaps we need a second perspective on this," the Truthspotter posited delicately. "Bring in the foreigner, Potter-san, and have him work on this?"

"No," the fat man said with a sharp shake of his head.

"No," the thin woman said.

The glare the other man was giving the Truthspotter spoke volumes of his own opinion.

"But," the woman eventually conceded, "if it becomes apparent that the whatever their goal is, they are willing to break the Statute of Secrecy for it, then we will have no choice but to bring in Potter to try and help us find them. Until then, I think we need to lift the ban on blood magic in this one instance."

The fat man winced, glaring at her, and for a moment the room fell silent as the two more senior officials were locked into a battle of wills. Eventually the fat man slowly nodded. "So long as all propriety is considered, I will allow this. The Shinra clan represents a clear and present danger to our way of life and cannot be allowed to run free."

Iori coughed delicately. He wasn't uncomfortable being witness to this, given that he had access to anyone involved in the government at every level. "Forgive this humble one for speaking out, but I believe we need to think of some remuneration for Harry Potter and the two devils who accompanied him. Without their aid, we might have lost a station to the Shinra's machinations or, worse, would still have been blind to what was going on. Our neutrality would have been compromised irreparably."

All three of his listeners tensed at that, but it wasn't at the idea of paying back what was owed. No, it was the idea of their neutrality being broken in such a manner, or assumed to have been broken, at any rate. That would've caused no end of trouble, and they could well have been dragged into the ongoing conflict between the Three Factions. That was something no one who knew anything about any of the Three Factions wanted.

"Very well, you are correct. We will think of a suitable means of paying them back. Knowledge, perhaps, or some magical items?" the fat man replied, trying to downplay it even so.

"I will see to paying the younger Himejima back. She saved my life, and it is only right that I do so," Iori said formally.

The elderly woman nodded at that. "That only leaves the Gremory girl and Harry Potter himself." She thought for a moment, then smiled thinly. "I think I actually know precisely how to pay young Potter back. It can also be a test of his character at the same time, just in case the blood tracking does not work. Though it will take some time to set up. The Gremory girl is much easier to deal with."

"The New Year's is the time for gifts," Iori said with a smile, which the others returned.

OOOOOOO

With the array in place, Harry could now spend more time with Lily and Kunou after school before meeting with Akeno, Asia, and Rias for their lessons.

Asia threw herself into her work even more than before, both learning what she needed to in order to go to school and magic. She wanted to make her new father proud and be ready to step into class in January after the Christmas break. The story they had decided to use would be that Harry had started to adopt Asia, a daughter of an old friend who had died in an accident. But the adoption paperwork had taken several months more because of the change of residence to Japan.

After that the three lovers would sometimes have time to hang out for a little while or simply head home to join the family. Yet it was now the girls who had a lot of demands on their time.

Rias spent some of her personal time preparing spell-enchanted jewels for future use, as well as working on creating the 'teleportation tunnel' that would be placed between Kuoh, the ORC clubhouse, and Yasaka's mansion in Kyoto. It was a massive undertaking, given the distance, the defensive spell-works on both sides it would have to bypass, and the fact that it had to be a permanent creation rather than a one-shot like a portkey, not to mention the security issues on the 'tunnel' itself.

The one-time Harry made a joke about portkeys being better, Rias very sweetly pointed those facts out, to which Harry had to concede, and then she mentioned how portkeys were not kind to their users. Then, still talking in her sweetest tone of voice, Rias threatened to tear off his man bits the next time he made a joke out of it. Since this tunnel was going to be one of the main things she, as the Gremory Heir, would be bringing to the finalized alliance with the Youkai Association, Rias had to make it as perfect as she could. Work on this cut into the time she could spend with her peerage and with Harry, though she still spent every dinner with Harry and his expanded family and every Sunday with her peerage, including Koneko, allowing Harry that time to spend with the two youngsters and Asia.

Akeno spent her time training with the rest of the peerage, in particular Mittelt and Kalawarner. The last was not aligned with Rias, but was with Harry, and, through him, Rias and her peerage. Akeno wanted to become as good a flyer as the two experienced Fallen, but it was slow going. She also trained with Issei, which eventually led to another issue after a few weeks.

During this time, alas, the elementary school that Lily and Kunou went to also ramped up their work. The end of one semester was behind them now, and they had moved on to another, which, of course, meant an entirely new set of Japanese kanji that they had to learn how to write, which made for more repetition, something that neither girl was at all happy about. Even with Harry and the others helping, it was simply a lot of repetitive homework sheets, and their other classes hadn't let up either.

If there was one thing that was pre-determined to get on Lily's nerves, it was being bored, especially with schoolwork. And Kunou still wasn't used to schoolwork, so the idea that it could be less than fun came as a severe shock. Thus it was that both girls threw temper tantrums, as young children sometimes do, over the next few weeks. At one point Rias and Kalawarner saw him dealing with one of these and came away impressed anew at how Harry handled being a single father.

Harry looked down at his crying daughter, ruffling her hair with one hand but saying nothing until she had raged herself out for a moment. Then he knelt down to her, looking into her eyes seriously. "Lily," he said calmly, "do you think you're the only one that has ever had to do work that they don't want to?" Lily frowned at that but didn't reply, and Harry went on. "All of your fellow students are doing the same thing. It's not just you."

Lily glared at him for that, but he simply raised an eyebrow and wagged a finger in her face. "None of that," he admonished. "I normally let you have your way in a lot of things, but remember what I said the first day you went to school back in England? That I expected to you to do your best, and I expected you to do your work? Do you know why?"

Lily's nose scrunched up at that, but, slowly, she nodded, the memory coming back to her. "Because there was a time you didn't. Because there was a time you didn't know things you should, you want me to know everything I can."

"Pretty much," Harry said with a nod. "It was a long time ago, so I can understand if the story has passed through your mind. It's so small after all he can only contain so many things," he teased, ruffling her hair.

She scowled and batted his hand away only to find her hand grabbed in his and pulled up into a hug. She tried to squirm away, but Harry held her firm and she sighed and allowed herself to be hugged out of her bad humor. "Now, you waited until we were home before you threw this temper tantrum, so I'm not going to punish you for it. But I expect you to do your work for the rest of the week without further fits. If you don't, there will be a loss of privileges and even timeout time, understood?"

Suitably chastened, Lily nodded her head and went back into the sitting area where Asia and Kunou were sitting down with their own work out on a small work desk there. Harry had bought that a few days after their initial shopping trip for Asia, and it had come in handy numerous times since.

Rias came over, hugging Harry from behind, poking her head around his shoulders and smiling as Lily picked up her thrown bookbag from where she had hurled it against the wall with as much force as a nearly eight-year-old werewolf could and joined the other two at their work. "That was impressive."

"There's more about fatherhood then the pats and hugs," Harry said loftily.

"No," Kala drawled from the kitchen where she had moved to restart dinner after coming out to watch the fireworks. "There's diapers when they're younger, temper tantrums, assassins, kidnapping attempts, and other daily threats. All the little things."

Kunou's temper tantrum was somewhat harder to deal with. She threw it as they were going home, tossing her bookbag away and growling angrily at Harry when he commented that the kids should do their homework as soon as they got home. She was angry and sad and feeling somewhat betrayed by the fact that school wasn't in fact all fun and games now, the workload finally a little bit beyond what she was prepared to do. She even tried to smack out at Harry.

But he dealt with it by picking her up despite her protests and little fists flailing on his head and shoulders and walked her home, where he put her on the stairs in a timeout, with a sticking charm on her rear to keep her there. Afterwards, after she had stopped whining and complaining, Harry sat her down at the dining table in the kitchen, kicked Kala and Asia out, and talked to Kunou quietly and calmly, explaining why it was bad to throw temper tantrums in public, why temper tantrums as a whole were bad, simply because they didn't do anything and because they didn't help anyone.

He finished up by calling Yasaka, telling her what it happened, why, and how he dealt with it. Then he handed the phone over to Kunou who then had to deal with her mother doing the same exact thing: explaining why temper tantrums are bad, how she was very proud about the work Kunou was doing but not proud about the temper tantrum, and why she should apologize to Harry.

Harry hugged her when she gave the apology and then prepared her favorite meal for dinner showing that he accepted her apology. After that he informed the two girls that if they kept their work up for the rest of the week, the three of them would go running, with the two girls deciding on where they went. Both girls were interested in this, since Harry hadn't had time to go running with Lily since Kunou had arrived, there just being too many demands on his time to spend an entire day running, which was what running really meant to werewolves. Exercising was one thing, rough-and-tumble another, but running through woods was just plain fun! Kunou, too, was very interested in it, missing the forests back home somewhat and having always liked running in her fox-form.

Not wanting to make it seem as if he was leaving her out, Harry asked Asia if she wanted to come with them, but the former nun shook her head. Asia had already made plans that day to go to a cooking competition with Kalawarner in the next district over. The two of them, Mittelt, and Tsubaki were making a day of it, Tsubaki being the one among Sona's peerage who did most of the cooking for them all. Asia had also decided that it was time to get some new bras and wanted other girls' opinions. Naturally, this was not something she was going to ask her new father about.

To Harry's surprise, Rias and Koneko were able to get free for that Sunday as well. The two of them showed up that morning for breakfast, joining the trio at the kitchen table. "I'm not going to change my plans for you, Rias," Harry warned even as he smiled at the redhead. The two of them had had a family style date just this past Friday to celebrate the end of Rias's problems with setting a security protocol on the teleportation network in Kuoh and to Hell. Now that that was done, she could add it into the spell she was working on to create the teleportation tunnel between Kuoh and Kyoto.

"Wouldn't dream of asking you, Harry," Rias said with a grin, waving over the two girls. "I've not yet gone running with you either, after all. It sounds like fun."

To her astonishment, Lily looked at her, then slowly allowed an evil looking smile to appear on her tiny face. "Sure," she said chirpily, something Rias immediately felt was suspect, "Why don't we take Rias along with us, and Koneko too!"

Chuckling dryly at his daughter's amusement, Harry nodded. "If you want to come with us, Rias, Koneko, I'll be happy to have you." When both girls nodded, he stood up, pushing his empty plate across to Lily. "In that case, Lily can clean up while I go and put a few spells on the bike and hitch up the sidecar."

Harry's happiness at Rias coming along on what he felt was a family outing took a decidedly erotic turn later that day after they had reached the park where they would be running. This was a national park, not one of the small city parks, and it had around forty miles of crisscrossing trails, all of which the kids were eagerly looking forward to explore. Lily led the other three off, still chattering excitedly as they pored over the map while heading into the girls' changing area. Harry entered the men's changing area, changing into a pair of shorts and a muscle T-shirt.

When he came out, it was all he could do not to stare. All of the girls wore exercise clothing. In the case of the younger trio, this was somewhat tight T-shirt, so as to not flap around as they ran, and yoga pants. The children's yoga pants were slightly baggy rather than formfitting, even in Koneko's case, though her teenage body still filled them out very well.

Rias, on the other hand…wore a tight cut off T-shirt which gave a tremendous view of her under-boob. Underneath it was clear that she had opted for a sports bra for the day, but there was only so much even one of those could do to hide the size of her chest. She wore yoga pants too, but hers were skin tight, hugging her curvaceous rear, wide hips, and thighs like a second skin.

Knowing precisely the effect she was having on the man, Rias smiled, winking at Harry. One thing that she had learned over the past few months as they dated was that Harry had a distinct preference towards skintight clothing rather than frilly things. She experimentally bounced on her the balls of her feet and watched Harry's eyes flash with lust before he turned away, his nearly inhuman self-control exerting itself again.

Chuckling, Rias stopped her teasing and moved over to lean down over the girls shoulders as the three of them decided on the first trail they would run.

"Do you think we can get away with changing forms, Daddy?" Lily asked, looking over at her father.

Harry nodded slowly. "Let's get about a mile in from the parking area, Lily, and, once we can tell there are no people around, I'll cover us all with a few Notice-Me-Not spells. Then we can all transform," he said, kneeling down and ruffling both of the little girls' hair, smiling as Kunou pressed her head into his palm, letting loose a little rumble of joy.

"That means you too, Koneko," he said, winking at the taller girl, who nodded. She was still not quite used to taking her nekomata form in front of other people like this, but she was getting there and enjoyed it quite a bit. Although, in her case, the added speed and endurance gained by the change wouldn't be as much as it would be for the two little ones.

For her part Rias frowned, suddenly wondering if maybe she had bitten off a bit more than she could chew here.

That quickly turned out to be the case three miles later. Kunou had transformed into her full fox form and raced along on all fours next to Koneko and Lily, who had both transformed. They leaped and gamboled through the forest, racing away from the more beaten paths quickly, with Koneko in the lead at Harry's request. She had nodded proudly at that and then had just taken off, her tail lashing behind her, showing the way. Lily, in her werewolf body now, raced after her, sometimes on all fours and sometimes just running flat out, faster than most humans or even many devils would've been able to move. Rias, to her dismay, quickly began to fall behind as did Harry, who took up the rear position as he normally would when in the woods, just in case Lily got hurt, though in this case he had three other people to watch out for. Despite still being in his human form, he kept pace easily, showing no sign of the strain Rias was feeling.

That was both because of his werewolf given endurance carrying over and because the view in front of him was simply tremendous. With every step, Rias's pert, yet soft looking behind danced in front of him as they moved through the words. Even as Rias began to forget entirely that Harry was there, simply concentrating on keeping up, Harry began to get more and more aroused. The one time Harry came even with Rias as he came around a tree, he saw her sweaty face and found that just as desirable as the rest of the view, while his eyes trailed south, watching her breasts bounce with every step she ran, though they didn't bounce as much as they should have. Even if she had been wearing the same bra Rias was, a human woman would have been bouncing to the point of being painful with a chest Rias's size, but as a devil, her body was simply better in nearly every way than a normal human's.

About an hour later, Koneko found a massive area of boulders leading up to a rock face, which she began to climb with all the agility and skill cat-girls were known for. The other two followed quickly, with Kunou transforming into her kitsune body. Rias waited at the bottom of the boulder area, scowling as she looked up at the top of the rock face.

"I could just fly up," she muttered, then Rias suddenly found herself turned around, and pressed against a tree. Harry's face filled her view for a second before he was kissing the living daylights out of her. Rias moaned in surprise and arousal, finding her body responding without any input from her brain. Then his hands were filled with her rear, picking her up and grinding the erection he'd been dealing with for the last few miles against her core.

"Do you know," he said, leaning back just far enough to whisper against her lips before claiming them again, pulling back once more after a few sordid seconds to finish his sentence. "What you are doing to me!? Dammit, I am only a man! I don't have limitless self-control, woman! If the kids weren't here.…"

Rias chuckled, filling in the blank there easily before she moaned. Her arms and legs went around Harry, humping back against him. However, her eyes were still open, and she looked over Harry's shoulder as he began to work at her neck and saw the kids still climbing up the rock face. "But they are here," she said regretfully, pushing him away lightly and gesturing over his shoulder.

Then she giggled, kissing him lightly before pulling back, that sexy little smirk Harry so loved on her face. "But I think we can safely count this as a point to me in our little teasing game, Harry. But we really can't do anything right now."

Their flirting game had continued to develop over time, as had Akeno and Harry's, if to a somewhat lesser extent, since the two of them had already heightened the level of play about as high as it could go outside the house. When they started keeping score, Harry couldn't quite say, but they had, and he couldn't argue that Rias had won this round. "I still say I'm handicapped by the fact that I can't use exercise clothing to flirt in gym class like you and Akeno can to me," Harry muttered before moving away, looking down at his erection, and sighing as he began to cast a spell over it to hide it from anyone looking. "But you're right: this was a point to you. Beware my response, milady."

With that slightly ominous note, Harry left her there, moving over to help push the kids up the rock face. Kunou, especially, needing some help now that they had reached the rock wall and were out of boulders.

Rias giggled, then, as he turned to her, she moved up towards him, stepping up into his clasped hands and then scrambling as he lifted her up. If she shuddered and let loose a breathy little moan as his face rubbed into, first, her chest, and then down into her stomach and further, only Koneko had enough awareness to realize what the smell was when Rias and then Harry joined them. She looked at the two of them with her eyes slightly narrowed, but turned away and led the kids off, with the two lovers following. The fact that she and the kids conspired to run Rias so ragged she collapsed and had to be carried back had absolutely nothing to do with her irritation at their activities, whatever Harry said later.

The very next day, Harry, in an effort to make up for the fact that Akeno had not been able to join them, took her out on a date to a French restaurant, knowing that she like that kind of thing. Rias made no effort to join them, simply kissing him on the cheek when she heard about it after school and telling him that she wanted to spend some time with Kiba to try to find a present for the three month anniversary of his and Tsubaki dating, and then spend the evening with Kunou, Mittelt, and the others at her place instead of at Harry's, which had a much bigger screen with which to watch a Patlabor marathon.

Rias was actually feeling a little guilty. She had sort of been neglecting her Knight for the last few months, though, given the fact that he had a girlfriend now, Kiba actually hadn't noticed. But she wanted to make up for it now.

Harry was surprised when Akeno came by to pick him up this time. She was dressed in a sequined gown which hugged her figure and showed off an incredible amount of décolletage and leg, making Harry's inner male sit up and pant. But, then again, he thought to himself, both of them can do that to me any time they want.

When he walked down the stairs towards her, he found Akeno already talking to Lily, who was preparing to go over to Rias's place for the evening. "You'll love it there," she said with a smile, ruffling the redhead's hair. "Our screen is quite a bit bigger than the one you have here, and, I think, and though this just might me saying it, Buchou's popcorn is little better than Harry-sensei's."

"I'll believe that when I see it," Lily said haughtily. Then she grinned over her shoulder at Harry, moving to the side. "You two have fun, now, and don't stay out too late," she admonished, waving a finger at them.

Both of them laughed, and Harry leaned down to kiss his daughter's cheek. "You have fun with Rias too, lovey. I'll see you when I get home, okay?"

Lily nodded and moved off to where Asia was about to activate the teleportation spell to take them to Rias and her group's home. The permanent array had been installed that very morning, with much of the same security features that Rias would later put on the teleportation tunnel between the academy and Kyoto. Harry had aided the process by agreeing to cover for her absence at school via an illusion, and, between a mask over the illusion's mouth and Akeno fielding anyone trying to interact with it, they had gotten away with the little scheme.

"You clean up very well," Akeno said with a smile. Harry was dressed in a good brown blazer over a black shirt and pants combo tonight and had even attempted to comb the infamous Potter hair for the night.

"And you are gorgeous tonight. But, then again, you could make a paper bag look good," Harry said, smiling as he kissed her lightly.

Akeno smiled back, then watched Harry and the others as they said their farewells before stepping outside with Harry, her wings flaring from her back. The one, more sickly-looking Fallen Angel wing still looked a little weak to Harry's eyes, but exercise and the fact that Akeno was no longer forcefully rejecting her Fallen heritage had allowed the wing to slowly come back to life. Certainly it allowed her to fly, and she was getting far better at that aspect now, which she showed to Harry by flying up into the air and waiting for him. That this allowed Harry to look up her skirt for a second was not lost on Harry, who chuckled at her games and climbed aboard his Firebolt. Harry had started to fly on his own with his magic, but he wasn't nearly as fast as he was on a broom yet.

The two of them flew together through the air towards the French restaurant where Harry had made their reservations, coming down into a small alleyway before making their way to the front of the restaurant. They moved inside arm in arm and were seated in a small alcove to one side of a large fish tank that filled one wall. Harry watched the fish for a time and smiled over the table at Akeno. "Since I was the one that found this restaurant in the first place, would you mind if I ordered for us?"

Akeno shook her head, and the two of them made small talk for a time as they waited for the waiter to come by. After they had ordered, Harry asked, "How does Issei's training go?"

"Very well, if somewhat slowly due to the starting point I had to work with," Akeno said with a chuckle, her perfect face showing a little flush at the memory of that training and how she got the best out of Issei, mainly through a certain method of inspiration and, of course, punishment in the form of her lightning magic and a whip. She had yet to have to use the whip, alas, but it was always available, and Issei's reaction to the threat was hilarious. "He is quite easy to motivate and seems determined."

"He still wants to build a harem, I suppose?" Harry asked dryly.

"Can you blame him?" Akeno said. "All humans are ruled by their desires. He's simply being honest. Not like you."

"I prefer to be in control of myself, thank you," Harry replied, his tone even dryer. "Besides, you know why I prefer to be in control of myself. I told you and Rias both about how I was when I was young: just willing to do enough to get by, no knowledge of the world I'd found myself plunged into, no control over my life."

"I understand that and even applaud it, but it has colored our relationship," Akeno replied. "With you it's always about being equal, never about allowing me in the driver's seat or even assuming it yourself." They had tried a few times to bring some domination and submission into their make out sessions. Harry had even allowed Akeno to tie his hands behind his back at one point as he sat on a chair in the occult research club's room. But it was like putting a bonnet on a lion: you knew the lion was still there; nothing had changed.

Harry was willing to try to play the submissive but simply couldn't act like one. There was none of the suspenseful tension, the reluctant arousal that Akeno was looking for. Instead it was simply a game to him, and a sense that he could break out of it at any time he wanted, which was, in fact, the case, only made it worse.

"If only you would allow me to bring in some handcuffs, maybe then your attempts at submission would become the real thing," she said teasingly.

"Akeno, I'm sorry, but there are just some things that don't turn me on. I can't change that. Add to that the fact that your lightning spells cause pain a little too much like the Cruciatus, and.…" Harry shook his head, sighing and Akeno nodded wry understanding.

He had told her and Rias about how once, during the war against Riddle, he had been captured and tortured by the man himself, only to be rescued later on by his friends. It'd been him or Ron that would have been captured at the time, and Harry had chosen to take one for his friend, hoping to rely on his werewolf given durability, which had in fact seen him through despite the fact that Riddle's use of silver torture weapons had left him with several scars. Akeno had even applauded his choice at the time. She might have been selfish in what she wanted in life and wanted to be in a relationship where her lover's priority was her and vice versa, but Akeno was also a loving friend and would have been willing to have given her life for a friend just as Harry had.

"I know, but your priorities are so.…" She waved her hand, trying to think of how to explain. "This is difficult," she said eventually, gesturing between them. "At times, it's perfect, when it's just you and me, out like this. Yet even tonight, you made me wait by the door for a few minutes while you helped get the kids ready to go over to Rias's and my home. I know I'm letting that the little things get to me, but that is sort of a small representation of a larger problem."

Harry sighed. "I know, and I can't change that. I've made concessions on this point already. I've made time for you when I could have spent it with Lily and the girls. In fact, up until a few weeks ago I hadn't really spent all that much time around Kunou since she had moved in. There were just too many demands on my time." Some of that, admittedly, was because Lily had been his priority thanks to the werewolf issue, but that was only part of what had weighed on Harry's time. He hadn't even been able to spend all that much time with Asia one on one, certainly not since telling her about his plans to adopt the young, blonde teen.

"I told you when we started dating that you had to be open to the idea that my family is my priority, Akeno, just like I had to accept, respect, and even help your plans for the future. We've talked numerous times about your dream, and I've even helped you with your songwriting." Not writing the songs, admittedly, but Harry had a decent ear for rhymes and tunes and made for a good sounding board.

"True, and you've been a great help. It's not about the future, it's about now that's bothering me, Harry," Akeno said with a faint sight. "I still feel constrained, almost trapped by your preconceived notions of what you want in a girlfriend. I'm not like Rias. I don't want kids, not yet, not soon, maybe not ever; I don't know. That thought is so far in the future I can't even think about it now. But I don't find it fun to have a date night including your children, I don't like minding my words or actions, I don't like not being able to tease, taunt, and let out my sadistic side in the little things I do. Whenever I'm with you and around them, I feel I have to act in a certain way, and I don't like it."

"I'm sorry you feel that way. If I've ever implied by word or look that you needed to curtail yourself, to become someone you aren't while around the kids, I apologize; it wasn't intentional. But as to time, I can't compromise any more than I already have," Harry said softly. "I'm sorry, but I can't. My family is my main concern, and I love spending time with them."

Akeno nodded. "Nor would I want you to. You've already met halfway with me to date me like this at all," she said gesturing around the restaurant with a faint, somewhat melancholy, smile. "But I've been thinking about this over the past few weeks ever since I started training with Issei."

Harry's eyebrows rose then as he made the connection. "Ever since you stepped in and were in control of everything. Ever since you started to…to get your jollies through his training? Not certain how to put it delicately."

"Ever since I had an outlet for my frustrated sadist side and realized how much I needed it," Akeno supplied, nodding, her eyes alight with delight. "How much I realized I missed being the one in control, the one teasing and taunting, not an equal but a superior. It's domination of a more subtle sort than we tried. It felt good to be in control, to cause fear and arousal and pain all in equal measure."

But she went on more seriously, her delight dimming somewhat. "But then, there is emotionally."

Harry winced. Both of them knew without talking about it that the two of them had not been as close emotionally as he and Rias had been before they started dating, which may have been a mistake. They had grown far closer since, but there was no doubt most of their affection towards one another was physical beyond a certain point. For Harry, he was leery about sharing more of his heart with someone who, by her own admission, liked to cause pain and didn't want to be part of a family. For Akeno, it was the fact that Harry couldn't make her his priority, wasn't open to her fetishes, and was, frankly, too large a personality for her to ever feel like she was in control.

The food arrived then, and both of them made a conscious effort to move back from their conversation, concentrating on the meal and smaller, less important topics. Yet, even so, Akeno's mind was still working on the issues facing them. It had come to the point where the problems in the relationship between them were always on her mind whenever they were together. That told her that there had to be some kind of change.

There were only two questions Akeno needed to really answer. The first was, what did she want, and could Harry provide it with the way he was now? After a moment, Akeno understood. She wasn't really looking for love, not like Rias, nor for a real long term relationship. She wanted to be selfish, wanted to be her lover's one and only, something Akeno realized she should have figured out before they began dating, because she could never have been that. She wanted to experiment, to let loose her inner Dom and Sadist and maybe vice-versa, but even domination wasn't one of Harry's fetishes. Having been a prisoner and a pawn in other's games, he had no desire to treat others like that.

The second question was, what did she feel towards Harry? There is an intense attraction there, but it's mostly physical, Akeno admitted to herself. There is friendship but…but no deeper affection, not enough to overcome all the other issues.

"Harry," she said at last as she finished her linguine, no teasing in her tone. "I.… In many ways you were what I needed when we became friends. You, you helped me through a lot of my inner devils, let me realize things about myself, accept things about myself that I needed to in order to grow as a person. But that was mostly done even before we became a real couple. That first date was really the final straw in many ways. And now, now you're not what I want in a boyfriend."

Slowly nodding, Harry agreed. He had long felt that their relationship had not been going anywhere, constrained by their different desires, needs ,and simply the time they could spare one another. Harry knew he felt affection towards Akeno, but that emotion had been there when they started dating; it hadn't deepened since. He was sad, and a part of Harry blamed himself for it, but he could understand and accept the end of their relationship, since what Akeno said was true for him as well: she wasn't really what he wanted in a girlfriend either.

"And the longer we try to make this work, the more we'll start to resent one another for making it so difficult." Harry reached over and took Akeno's hands in his, squeezing gently as he stared into her eyes. "Akeno, it was an honor and a privilege to help you as you say I did, to go out with you as I have. You are an incredible young woman: strong, intelligent, vivacious, and one hell of a flirt," he said with a wink, causing her to giggle. "Don't take the fact that our relationship failed as a mark against you, okay? It's just, we're both two very different people, and we don't have enough in common to overcome our differences."

Akeno laughed, shaking her head and for some reason feeling lighter than she had been a moment ago. "So we're finished?" At Harry's nod, she stood up, moved around the table, and leaned in, kissing Harry lightly before pulling back, but not before deliberately pressing her chest against his side. "Pity, we could have been fantastic,~" she said teasingly.

With a wry chuckle, Harry nodded agreement before reaching into his mokeskin pouch and pulling out a small package. "I was going to give this to you tonight, and I don't see our breaking up a reason to change that. Here."

Taking the box, Akeno moved back to her seat as she began to open it. Inside she found a pair of wireless headphones, the kind that stuck into your ears. "They are Bluetooth and magically change in a few ways," Harry explained when she looked up at him. "You can link up to the MP4 player at home from wherever you are in Kuoh, and they will mold to your ears if you hold your hands over them and say the word, 'Mold.' I took the idea from those headsets Rias acquired."

Next to the headphones was indeed an MP4 player, which Akeno curiously linked her new headphones to, sticking one of them in her ear, not bothering to mold them to her ear just yet. On the player were several songs that she and Harry had sung to during their first date, along with hundreds more that she didn't recognize from England and America. "Thank you, Harry. I'll treasure it," she said, an honest smile of happiness on her face despite the mental turmoil of the last few minutes.

The two of them continued their date, and Harry walked her home where they exchanged one final peck on the cheek before Harry bid Akeno goodbye, reminding her not to take their breakup personally. "It always takes two to tango, after all, and our problems came from both of us equally."

Inside, Akeno found Rias cleaning up after the party. She had already sent Asia and the others home, thinking it would have marked her as a poor host to accept any offers to help, though Asia had offered to. She looked up as Akeno came in, cocking her head in confusion before she caught the confused look on Akeno's face. "Akeno, what's wrong? I didn't expect you for another hour at best."

Akeno sighed and moved over to her friend, enveloping the taller girl in a hug and explaining what had happened. After that Rias ushered her into a chair and got out some of their ice cream, and the two shared the icy treat with lots of cinnamon and chocolate mixed in with the original rum raisin as they watched a romantic comedy and talked about the breakup, Harry, boys in general, and what this meant going forward. Thankfully, Akeno wasn't jealous of Rias in this. As she put it, "I'm the normal one here, like you once said. You're the sport, wanting to have a family so young." They were also two very different people, and, in the end, as Harry had said, Akeno and Harry didn't have enough in common to overcome the differences. Eventually they fell asleep there, leaning against one another on the sofa, still friends despite this change, which was the most important thing to them both.

OOOOOOO

When he arrived at school on Monday, Harry was a little concerned about how Akeno would act, now that they had broken up. Would she retreat entirely behind her Yamato Nadeshiko mask or start to let out her inner sadist a bit too much out in the open? A part of him even wondered if she would be sad and distraught, though Harry knew that was not Akeno's way.

He needn't have worried. Akeno came to school wearing her headphones hidden under her hair and smiling. She went back to teasingly flirtatious during class and even aimed a few semi-sadistic taunts at both Harry and a few other boys, even two girls, leaving them all a blushing, stuttering mess. She still looked the Yamato Nadeshiko besides the headphones, but she also let out her real personality alongside that, and Harry was happy for her.

As Harry was reflecting on this and walking out of the main building, a voice called to him from down the nearby hallway to his left. It was Sona, and her voice was even more formal and stiff-sounding than it normally was in public. "Potter-sensei, may I speak with you for a moment?"

Somewhat nonplussed, Harry nodded. With work on the defensive working done, Sona and he had quickly drifted away from one another's company. Sona had all of her own magical training and her duties as head of the student council to do, and the two of them had never been as friendly, even then, as Harry and Rias had been before he became the ORC advisor. It was clear to him that she saw him as an interesting magical resource, but with reservations about making full use of it, for some reason, which Rias said was because of her own pride. He thought that was silly, especially since her Queen, just like Akeno, came from an Onmyouji family. But it seemed to make sense to her, and he wasn't going to insist she learn from him, especially since it gave him more time for everything else he was up to at the moment.

But he nodded and followed Sona towards the student council room. There he found the rest of her peerage present and raised an inquiring eyebrow. "Can I help you in some way, Sitri-san?"

"I want to pay to join the magic classes that you are conducting with Rias and Akeno," Sona said bluntly. "For myself, Tsubaki, and my two Bishops."

Harry held up a hand quickly. "Realize that whatever you're offering, I don't honestly have a lot of time to spend actually teaching the two of them. What little time I do spend doing so, I go over things that they are to have read on their own, help retrain them to cast spells silently, and I fight them occasionally in the training arena so they can use a spell learned in a book in a real combat setting and get used to what they can and cannot do."

"That is more than fine with us," Tsubaki said, stepping beside her King in a moment of solidarity that was unmistakable. "Both of us learn far better from simply reading on our own than we do in actual classrooms, Potter-sensei. And if we are allowed to join the training, that will do a far better job than simply rote learning."

Harry looked at her thoughtfully for a moment, nodding slowly as he remembered that the two wizards who had apparently joined the Khaos Brigade had come from Tsubaki's clan. The girl hadn't shown any response to that when they had told her, which had been somewhat telling, but he knew it had affected her. Hearing about some of the spells that those two had cast, Harry had seen the look of anger and resigned avarice in her eyes.

"All right, but you realize you don't actually have to pay me for this? You could've simply asked." Then he smiled. "And, before you ask, no it's not exactly altruism, because having you as an ally helps protect my family."

"It might not be altruism, but it is close enough to spit on it," Sona said dryly. "And you know that my peerage and myself have never been as close to you as Rias and her family have been, even from the beginning. No, this is something that had to be paid for. My pride would not allow me anything else."

"So Rias told me. I find it rather silly, but.…" Harry shrugged "There is a thin line between pride and dignity, and I think it's different for everyone. All right, how are you thinking of paying for it?"

"You have seen both Rias's and Akeno's familiars, as well as my own. What you do not know is that most of ours are on the low-end of the power scale. There are others out there that can be bonded with that can truly enhance an individual's combat abilities or help in other ways, if that is in your mind. What I have done is secure a date and time frame for my peerage here to take you and yours to the Familiar Forest. I had to say that you were our allies, which was why it took so long," Sona muttered to herself, shaking her head before going on. "There you and all of those in your household who wish to can search for your own familiars. I believe this opportunity, since most of the animals you find will be magical in nature, will pay for lesson. Don't you think?"

Harry slowly nodded, thinking about what he had been told about the familiars that Rias and Akeno and the others had. He had even seen Koneko and her little white cat, which had, of course, been a big hit with the girls. Asia had squealed about it for quite some time, enough to hurt his and Lily's ears slightly. "Yes, I believe it will. When shall we do this?"

"Tomorrow, after school," Sona said simply. "As I said, I had to secure a specific date and time."

Nodding, Harry held out his hand, and Sona shook it formally. "Then I believe we have a deal. I'll bring along copies of my magical books tomorrow, and you can start going through them whenever you wish."

Sona nodded back and, when Harry left, exchanged a grin with Tsubaki. "Most excellent!"

Later that evening, Harry explained to Lily and Kunou what they were being offered that evening after dinner, which Rias and the others had not been able to join for once. Akeno was again on her tea ceremony contract, and Rias had to take over the training for Issei, which she had done with alacrity. She hadn't spent nearly as much time with Issei as she normally would for a member of her family, but, given everything else she had been busy with, this was somewhat understandable. That had caused Harry some serious misgivings when he first heard about it, but since Rias and Akeno had never let jealousy get in the way of their relationship, he didn't think he had a leg to stand on there. He still voiced it, of course, but Rias had simply said, "Don't worry; he's so not my type!"

After Harry had explained everything, Koneko brought out her little white cat, Shirou, setting him on the table in front of her as she stroked his head with one finger. "Good Shirou."

Sitting next to her, Kunou leaned in, rubbing noses with the little kitten, while Lily looked on. "I prefer the little Oni," she said with a grin. She still had one of those watching her whenever she was at school, which Harry was immensely thankful towards Akeno for. "They're like squish toys only they can try to talk back to you."

Rolling his eyes, Harry said, "I take it you two are on board with this idea?" With her eyes gleaming like large jewels Asia's opinion hardly need to be said, and she was leaning against Koneko's other side as she stared down at the little cat, asking questions about it in a small, excited voice.

She looked up and shouted, "Yes!" along with the two little kids, and he laughed.

Later that night, Rias came by, looking tired. "Harry?"

"Welcome home," Harry said from the kitchen where he was just putting away some groceries. He stuck his head out into the foyer where Rias had put one half of the protected teleportation tunnel between the Potter house and the clubroom. He took one look at her and wordlessly poured her a glass of wine before escorting her to a sofa in the sitting room, where the kids were once more trying to finish off their homework. From the scowl apparent on the two girls' expressions, Rias could tell immediately that it was once more a repetitive writing homework sheet. Harry had warned that that was coming up.

"How did it go?" Harry whispered as he sat her down next to him on the sofa. Koneko and Asia were nearby as well, though they weren't doing homework. Instead, they were talking quietly, writing down some kind of list or other. Harry hadn't asked what that was, and, judging by the flushes that he spotted occasionally, he didn't want to know.

"It was trying. I had to be very hard on Issei occasionally to get him to concentrate on actual training rather than…you know," she said, gesturing down at her body. "It's funny, every time he looked at me I felt, not dirty so much as amused and then annoyed. But it just showed the difference between how you look at me and how he looks at me," Rias finished, leaning against his shoulder.

Harry nodded and put an arm around her shoulders, squeezing gently. After a few moments, she spoke up again, not looking at him. "You said welcome home earlier."

"I did," Harry said, kissing the top of her head. "Is it so surprising?"

"Not surprising, simply very gratifying, I suppose. It made me very happy, Harry," she said, nuzzling further against his shoulder.

The two of them talked about Sona and her offer, which Rias was very happy to hear that Harry had accepted. They talked for a time about Rias and her own experiences getting her familiar, but, for some reason, despite mentioning the man who had helped her, the Familiar Master, she didn't go into detail about him. Harry was a little worried about that to be honest, but decided to set it aside for now, simply enjoying the family atmosphere for a time.

The next day, after school, Harry picked up Lily and Kunou from their elementary school and then headed back to the Academy. There the three of them joined Asia, who had already arrived thanks to the teleportation tunnel. Loup was with her but would not be joining them. Harry had asked him whether or not he wanted a familiar, but the man had shrugged and shook his head. "Maybe some other time. I have no need for pets at the moment. Besides, I'm more of a plant guy."

Despite the fact that they could make him stronger, Loup wanted to concentrate on his own studies and training. Since he had found a martial arts master to train him to an even higher level a week ago, that made sense to Harry, but now he made certain that the offer to take Loup to get a familiar in the future would remain open.

Sona simply nodded. "Actually, it will be easier to get Loup into the Familiar Forest than it was for you and your daughter, Harry-san, given the alliance we're going to be signing with the Youkai Association that Loup is a part of. Just give me some heads-up on when you want to go, Garou-san," she said, nodding her head formally to the older boy.

The college student smiled at her, and Sona fought back a blush. Occasionally Loup had gotten that reaction from her, something about his stolid yet reasonably intelligent presence had gotten through her defenses. And, by the smile in his eyes, Loup seemed to know it. He took her hand and, when she made no move to resist, raised it to his lips, kissing it gently. "Thank you for the offer, milady," he said equally formally, then stepped back, moving to sit down in a chair to wait for the others to return.

Sona shook her head while, in the background, she heard Saji growling angrily, but put it out of her mind. The boy already had a few of her peerage members interested in him. Sona had known for a while now that she wanted to be in an exclusive relationship, and there was no chance that Saji would go for that now that he was a devil and didn't have to. She stepped backward and moved to activate the teleportation array set into the center of the student council room, which, she thought as she did so, was rather amusingly created by Rias and her father as part of the setup that allowed them to stay at the Academy.

The two of them had argued throughout the process, and then Rias had literally pushed her father through the teleportation array the moment it was finished. The look on the older man's face had been most amusing. I wonder how they will react to everything that's occurred here? In particular, Rias and Harry-sensei's relationship.

However, when Sona activated the array it glowed blue with the power of her family's magic, since she herself had done the energizing portion of the set up for this part of the teleportation web. "Please step into the circle," she said, looking over at the young girls and smiling at them as they stood up. Tsubaki, Tsubasa, and Saji stepped forward to join them. "The rest of my peerage will remain here."

Nodding, Harry took Lily's hand with one of his own and Kunou's with the other before stepping forward, with Asia taking Lily's other hand.

The four of them walked into the circle with the five devils, and all nine of them disappeared from Earth for a time.

They reappeared in a special section of Hell called the Familiar Forest. They stood in a small glade in that forest, but Harry could feel the pressure of the trees all around them, heady with its sheer size. He and Lily immediately began sniffing, the scents of the forest filling their noses, and Harry took a step forward, looking around him thoughtfully. "This place, this is part of Hell?"

"Hell isn't what the name usually implies," said Tsubasa, looking at him quizzically. "Hasn't Gremory-san told you anything about this?"

"She told me about it, but seeing and, in our place, smelling," he said, waving a hand at the two youngest girls and himself, "is believing far more than simply hearing stories."

"This is no time for awe!" said an unknown male voice. "You're here to hunt familiars, right? Well, you better get started! Those familiars aren't going to catch themselves. Listen to me and you can't go wrong, I'll show you the strongest, from the greatest wyvern, to the sneakiest, the downtrodden magic squirrel! Is magic your game? A bugbear would do nicely! How about flight? A mighty Roc for you! I am the Familiar Master, and I've caught them all!"

They all turned, and Lily gasped, taking a step backwards, her eyes wide and her mouth gaping. Kunou also reacted poorly, quickly hiding behind Harry, grabbing one of his legs, and staring out around it at the odd looking young man in front of them.

Harry could understand the young girls' reticence. They had been into the Pokémon series for a while now, and they had both taken to nagging Harry about actually buying the games. Harry had put his foot down at that, saying that they were time wasters and that the two of them had more than enough other things to spend their time on. Luckily for him, he'd won the argument, if only because Koneko didn't have a copy of those games, finding collecting-type games stupid.

The man in front of them was dressed like the main character of the Pokémon series, Satoshi grown up wrongly. He had red shorts, a red bag on his back, and a red cap on his head, twisted backwards, with a blue-and-white shirt with some sort of little creature on it finishing the look. He was overweight and kind of bulging out of the clothing in places.

"That is one of the more disgusting things I've seen in the last few years," Harry said frankly. He looked over at Sona, who was looking at the man, who just nodded.

"This is the Familiar Master," Sona said, gesturing to the man. "He can help you decide on what animal you are best suited for and then show you the appropriate sections of the forest to look for them."

"I see," Harry said with a tight nod, his eyebrow twitching a little.

Lily, though, was shaking her head. "Oh my God, he has ruined Pokémon for me!"

Kunou nodded, making no effort to move from where she was hiding behind Harry.

Tsubaki simply nodded, understanding where the girls were coming from. The two Rooks, though, were grinning at their misfortune, having gone through much the same thing and thinking of it as something equivalent to a rite of passage.

Asia smiled, stepping forward. She was never one to judge people by their covers and so simply took the man at face value, given Sona words. "Hello," she said brightly. "I think that we all have a kind of an idea of what we would like already, so maybe you could tell us some more about the process of gaining a familiar?"

"Of course, dear lady!" the man said, stepping forward and holding out his hand to her. She shook it, but he then took hers and bowed over it as Loup had Sona's earlier, kissing the back of it. "For someone as beautiful as you, I could do everything!"

He stepped forward a little, invading Asia's personal space somewhat, but not enough that she would step back away just yet. Harry, however, began to growl a little, his fingers twitching.

"How you catch a familiar is simple," the Familiar Master said, gesturing around the forest while still retaining a hold of Asia's hand as he spoke in a near singsong. "As you move through the forest, keep an image of what you want in a familiar in your mind. Do you want something small, cute, and fluffy to cuddle up to, or do you want something powerful, able to help you in a fight? Keep that image in your head, and when you see a creature that matches that description, send out a magical pulse. It will be like a magical handshake, and it will tell the animal you're interested. If it is interested in you in turn, it will come to you. If not, it will go away, and I'm afraid your compatibility will have proven to be insufficient."

Asia tried to gently take her hand away, but found the Familiar Master holding it a little too tightly. "For you, lady, I think I would recommend something in between: a tiger of some kind or perhaps a wolf, soft and fluffy but also dangerous to help protect you and your precious virtue."

The way he said those words made Asia's smile falter entirely, and she tried again to pull her hand away, but Lily took the Familiar Master's attention, causing him to release her. She stepped forward, staring out around the forest. "You listed a lot of animals before. Can we really find a wyvern here? Or some kind of Roc?"

"Of course!" the Familiar Master said, giving her a thumbs up as he finally released Asia's hand. "For certain you can find any magical creature within this forest. Though you're a little young to be searching for a familiar, aren't you? Well, don't worry, ladies; I can see you right. Would either of you like to ride on my shoulders?"

Growling, Harry lashed out now that the closet pervert had let go of his adopted daughter's hand. A Stupefy caught the Familiar Master, throwing him backwards. He smacked into a tree on the other side of the clearing, and Harry quickly conjured up a series of ropes, pointing and directing as he did, tying up the man in as unpleasant a manner as possible.

By his side, Lily shuddered, stepping forward to take Asia's hand. "Right. The moment we get home all of my Pokémon stuff is going in the trash!" Kunou nodded agreement to that, even if it would mean she would have to replace her bedding.

Tsubaki pulled out a camera, taking pictures as she chuckled. "Mm, a pity you and Himejima-san are no longer together. If you were, I predict she would be very interested in your ability with rope."

Harry shook his head, amused at how quickly the news that he and Akeno were no longer together had spread through their little community. "She was the sort of person who would tie you up rather than be tied, I'm afraid."

Looking around the forest, Harry shrugged, transforming into his werewolf form, startling Sona and the others of her peerage. Good grief, he's even taller now, Sona thought, staring up at the now even taller Harry, while Lily and Kunou both transformed too.

Kunou, however, was still clinging to Harry's leg and lifted her hands up pleadingly. "Carry me?"

Harry laughed and lifted her up into his arms and onto his shoulders, feeling her tail flapping against his shoulders as he did. "All right there, Kunou-chan?" he asked with a chuckle before looking over at Sona as Kunou nodded above his head. "Are you all going to stay here?"

"Yes. The more people you have to a party, the less likely the more intelligent animals are to come forward." Sona looked over at her Rook and Pawn.

Harry nodded and gestured to Lily. "Lily, why don't you lead us off? But stay in sight, okay?"

As Lily nodded, Asia moved to his side, smiling and taking the large werewolf by his hand, squeezing. "Thank you," she said, gesturing over to where the Familiar Master was tied up. "I do not like to say bad things about someone else, but he was giving me a very odd feeling."

"No worries, Asia," Harry said, rubbing her hair, while Lily swirled around in place, slowly coming to a stop and pointing in a random direction into the forest, which she promptly began to enter.

Kunou smiled, laying her head sideways on the soft fur of Harry's head as she looked around, though her thoughts were on the man she was currently using as transportation rather than the forest. Before Kunou moved in with Lily and her family she'd never spent much time around anyone who treated her quite like Harry did. Her own extended family was standoffish, formal at the best of times, and those of her own generation were resentful of the fact that she was the daughter of the Kyuubi no Kitsune. All the other men she interacted with were either servants or treated her very formally as 'befit her station,' except for Loup, and, while being friendly, he didn't treat her like this, like just another member of a family.

The young kitsune didn't really remember her dad other than the fact that he had a wide smile, a beard, and a deep rumbling sort of laugh that made her smile. In that, she was somewhat envious of Lily but couldn't imagine not having a mommy or the idea of not seeing her again as Lily did. But she really liked Harry, who was always willing to pat her on the head or hug her or cajole her into doing something, just like her Momma did. And, for some reason, being around him made her feel warm and protected. Is this what having a daddy is like?

Soon enough, however, she grew bored of deep thoughts and being a passenger and patted his head, indicating that she wanted down. Then she was running ahead, staying within sight along with Lily, but moving through the forest with her at a brisk pace, pointing this way and that as they spotted animal tracks or animals themselves. They hadn't seen anything truly magical yet outside of a few multicolored birds, which looked interesting, but weren't anything that two of them could see themselves bonded with.

Harry and Asia followed more sedately behind them as they moved deeper into the forest.

Elsewhere in the same forest, a giant animal began to stir, her enhanced magical senses telling her something. "Interesting. Someone has come into my forest who bears the scent of The Thief on him. The magical signature is there!" There was a deep sniffing sound, and the voice, female for all its depth, turned querulous. "Though not so much physically, oddly enough. But still, it is enough for me to be curious."

About an hour went by as the four of them trooped through the forest, treating it like they would a day in the park, but none of them saw an animal which grabbed their attention. All three of the girls had specific ideas of what they wanted, and Harry pointed out a few animals, but they all shook their heads. Occasionally one or the other would try to send out the magical pulse thing that the Familiar Master had mentioned, but no animals responded.

At one point, though, Lily paused and stared down at a track on the ground, kneeling and looking at it thoughtfully, sniffing the air. "It smells like a giant cat, but not quite," she said, looking over at Kunou.

"Really?" she said, sniffing at another track. "I think it smells more of a bird."

Harry came upon them at that point, and, hearing that, he began to smirk, reaching down to ruffle their heads and causing them both to look up at him, only now realizing that he and Asia had caught up to them. "Why can't it be both? After all, Lily, you and I both know of one animal to whom both of those scents might be attributed."

While she stumbled over the meaning of the word 'attributed,' Lily paused, thinking, then also began to smile up at her daddy. "Oh, that would be great! Which way do we go!?"

With his better trained nose, Harry leaned down, sniffing, and then pointed in the proper direction. "Follow me from now on, okay? These particular animals can be very dangerous."

The three girls followed, Asia and Kunou looking quizzical and the two original Potters almost giddy, with Lily practically skipping. "This is going to be awesome!" Lily said, repeating herself more than once as they moved through the woods.

They soon came upon a small rocky bluff, standing up out of the regular forest by a few meters, its cliff face going straight up. "Time to go climbing, girls," Harry said, gesturing to Lily to lead the way. Of the three she was easily the strongest, thanks to her werewolf body, and Harry wanted to bring up the rear.

Her vaguely wolf-like face split by a grin, Lily scrambled up the rock face, leaning down to help Kunou up a little until she could get up to where the handholds were more numerous. Below, Asia watched in surprise as Harry offered his back, but dutifully got on, and then was surprised anew as he simply climbed up after younger girls. He occasionally had to give one or another girl a boost upwards, but, for the most part, they were able to make it themselves.

As the top there was a giant nest perched on one half of the rocky plateau. In the nest lay an adult gryphon. It was truly a magnificent example of the breed. Its plumage was white, its fur golden, and its wings flapped about powerfully. Though there were scars on its pelt here and there, its head was unblemished, the eagle eyes intense as it stared at them. The gryphon looked at them intently, while numerous loud cheeping noises came from below it, and five little gryphon heads poked out from under their mother's bulk.

Harry whispered softly, "There are many animals in the world that are prideful creatures and are much more intelligent than you might think. The gryphon is one of them, and, like the hybrid hippogryphs I've met in the past, you need to show it deference and respect."

Asia gently got off his back and, with Harry leading all four of them, bowed from the waist.

The little ones all looked at them, and then their mother nodded her head once. Another scent hitting him, Harry turned quickly, looking over his shoulder as another gryphon floated through the air to land nearby on silent wings. At Harry's urging they all bowed once more before waiting for a response, and the patriarch waited a second before nodding his own head in return. But his eyes were hard as he stared at Harry, the werewolf form obviously being known to them. Looking down at the girls, Kunou was looking at them in awe, and Lily's eyes were sparkling. She looked up at her father and asked, "You think I can?"

"Go ahead, love. The only thing you can do is see if one of them wants to be your familiar now."

She nodded and stepped forward, bowing again as she did. The male lifted his wings back to a resting position and settled down, nodding his head to her once more, and she took several steps forward until she was almost to the nest. There Lily stopped, bowed again, and asked, "I would like to partner with one of your little ones, please? I want to form a familiar bond," she said, looking at them all. As she spoke, Lily gathered herself and, with an effort of will well beyond a normal nearly eight year old girl, sent out a magical pulse, the magic around her glowing briefly, green and white.

For a moment the gryphons simply looked back, then the mother looked down at its children, who still looked at Lily. Eventually one of them began to crawl up out of the nest, rolling out and falling onto its rear for a moment before righting itself, its wings getting away for a second before it could figure out how to fold them back again.

It was a little thing, about half the size Lily would be in her human body, with gray and brown-striped wings. It moved forward, and Lily got down on all fours, the two of them sniffing one another. Then it nodded, its beak opened, and a long tongue flicked out to lick her face as Lily in turn pulled the little creature up into a hug, turning to her father with a triumphant smile.

Harry bowed again formally to the two adults. "Thank you for this. I will make certain that your youngling is taken care of as best as I can."

They nodded back and remained watching the foursome as Harry used magic to get them back down to the ground. Asia blinked as she floated in the air, asking, "Harry-san, why did you not use magic on the way up?" She was uncertain about calling Harry father or any of its derivatives, even though that was indeed how she saw him. None of them seemed to quite fit.

"It's a sign of respect, once more, Asia," Harry answered with a smile, lifting the two girls into the air next to her and looking down at the gryphon as it looked at him and then Kunou before nuzzling back into Lily's chest. "Gryphons are magical creatures, and they can sense magic like other magical creatures. This was their territory, and, if we had used magic without first making their acquaintance, they would never have accepted Lily and might well have attacked us."

"How do you know that?" Asia asked curiously.

"I had a very thorough Care of Magical Creatures teacher, even if his idea of interesting beasties was a little crazy at times," Harry replied dryly as he set Kunou and Lily on their feet. The little gryphon cub hopped out of Lily's arms and walked next to her, looking around them with interest. It was obvious that this was the first time it had been let out of the nest, and Harry nodded to himself. It would be a good idea to find other young familiars like this for the girls, so they can both grow in turn.

In contrast to how they had gone about finding the gryphon, Asia's familiar found them. Several minutes after they left the gryphons' territory, a small dragon creature about as long as Harry's forearm swooped out of the forest. Before Harry could do anything but try to grab at its tail, the little thing was wrapped around Asia's shoulders, nuzzling his head against her cheek. Asia squeaked, but then stilled and raised a hand, stroking the little creature's scales. "Oh, you're so pretty! What are you, little one?" she cooed.

"Some kind of small dragon," Harry said, looking at it thoughtfully, leaning down to do so. It turned, its eyes seeming to narrow, and an electric bolt shot out from its forehead towards Harry, who quickly conjured up a small magic shield to block it. "That was interesting," he said dryly. "A magic-using dragon, then."

"No, Raiter!" Asia said sternly, tapping the little dragon on its nose. "No fighting with Harry-san!"

"Raiter?" Harry asked, tilting his head.

Asia blushed, poking her fingers together. "Rai for lightning and ter for Potter," she said, a little embarrassed.

"I think that's a fine name," Harry said with a smile, ruffling her hair even as the dragon glared at him. "You might want to think about curbing its territorial tendencies, though. There aren't many of us boys around, but I can't say any of us would like to be shocked every time we come near you."

Harry paused, then smirked. "Wait, what am I saying? Let Raiter handle Saji and Issei's advances. That'll make me sleep a lot better at night."

Asia's blush renewed at that, having realized by now that both boys were not simply being nice to her, but were, in fact, trying to flirt with her. She wasn't certain how she felt about that, but could understand her new father's position.

Another hour went past as they continued to explore the forest. All of them were having a lot of fun, as Lily and her new familiar filled the air with different names and responses to said. The little gryphon was just as opinionated as Raiter was protective, shaking its head firmly whenever it didn't like a name.

"How about Titan, then," Lily said, flinging her hands up in the air. "That's a strong name, right?"

At that, the little creature paused then nodded its head firmly.

"Awesome!" Lily said pumping her fist in the air.

At that point Kunou was starting to be a little concerned that she wouldn't find a creature capable of becoming her familiar here. Maybe they smell my fox scent and think I'm just another animal? she thought to herself. At Harry's urging she had begun to send out magical pulses every few minutes, but nothing had responded just yet.

However, just as she was about to start whimpering at being left out of the fun of getting a familiar, she paused as a small noise drew her attention to one side. As the others turned in that direction too, and before Harry could stop her, Kunou moved quickly, having heard what amounted to a small whimper. She knelt down, poking her head through a bush, only to find herself face-to-face with an odd-looking young puppy. It looked like a cross between a Chow Chow and a Akita, with the mane and face of a Chow Chow, but the body of an Akita. It had thick shoulders, the mane made it look almost like a lion, but not quite, and it had large poofy ears, drooped now as it whimpered.

Kunou's heart immediately went out to the little thing, and she held out her arms, pushing them through the bush. "Oh, are you lost?" she cooed, pulling it against herself. It struggled for a second, but then caught her scent and sniffed loudly before nuzzling into her chest, whimpering a little as its stomach began to growl at them.

Harry pulled out some beef jerky and handed it to Kunou, who started to pull it apart, holding the little pieces out to the animal in her arms.

As it ate, Harry knelt down nearby. The little creature looked up at him and the others, turning its nostrils towards them one after another before going back to eating without any further care. "Is it just me, or does that look like a third eye on its forehead there, hidden behind the folds?"

"It is!" Kunou said with a smile, rubbing the back of the creature who now rumbled at her contentedly, its tail beginning to wag as it licked her palm clean with an oddly forked tongue.

"It's a magical dog called a Bai Ze," Kunou explained. "I've seen pictures of them. They're really intelligent, able to talk to people in their minds once they grow up, even use illusions; they can even fly!"

The little puppy soon finished its food and then began to lick Kunou's face enthusiastically. In reply Kunou threw herself around it, instantly in love with the little puppy.

"Well then," Harry said, slapping his hands together. "I think you've all found your familiars now, so let's head back."

"You haven't, Daddy," Lily said. "Don't you want one?"

Harry winced a little, then shrugged. "If one had come to me, I wouldn't have turned it away, but it was more about the three of you then me." With that he turned them all away and began to lead the way back to the clearing, able to follow back along their trail through the woods easily, even if he couldn't remember the clearing well enough to apparate them there.

However, as they went, Harry became aware of a deep thrum in the air, then a sort of thumping sound.

Frowning, he gestured for the kids to a halt, staring into the forest around them. "What is this?"

A few heartbeats later he was able to place the sounds as the flapping of large wings and turned in the direction the sounds coming from, frowning deeply. "Kids, I want you both to go over with Asia. Head a little over that way and hide behind one of the trees," he ordered. "Something is coming, and we don't know if it's friendly or not."

Normally Harry would simply have ordered his daughter to use her emergency portkey. But, since they were in an alternate dimension right now, he wasn't certain it would work, considering its destination was back home. Something else to think about for the future, Harry thought grimly.

Asia nodded and gently pushed the two younger girls along, while her new familiar unwound itself from around her shoulders, hovering in the air to one side as they moved into the hiding place, then hovering over their heads protectively. The gryphon and even the Bai Ze also scrambled to either side of their new partners, fur on end.

The flapping of the wing grew louder and louder, soon accompanied by the sound of wind being propelled through the trees. But, even so, Harry was not prepared for the sight of the animal creating the noise as it slowly floated down to land in the forest ahead of them, knocking trees aside as if they were toothpicks.

It was a dragon, but this one was on a scale with Ddraig in his mental plane. Its scales were multicolored, and its head was larger slightly than Ddraig's, though that might be because of the number of spikes jutting out. Its wings were massive, its body looked like it was built along much the same lines as Ddraig, though with slightly larger back legs, and its tail had what looked like plumage on the tip, a riot of colors like those found on a peacock.

Its head reared back on its long neck as it stared down at Harry, scowling. "You," it bellowed, causing Harry to be thankful that the creature was actually intelligent enough to form words. He did not want to fight this thing with the kids so close. Or at all, if Harry was honest. He would if he had to, but talking was just as good in his opinion.

"You!" The voice boomed again, and this time Harry decided it sounded female. "You smell like the thief! And so does someone else here.…"

"I'm sorry, who is this thief you speak of, Miss?…" Harry asked, trailing off, making the term a question.

The dragon glared down at him, but then Raiter zoomed into the air, growling angrily. It seemed to talk to the large dragon, who turned its head in the direction it had come from, seeing the three girls hiding in the woods there as easily as an eagle would a fat mouse. Unlike with an eagle and a mouse, though, the dragon was not a creature of pure instinct and knew what it was seeing. "Here for familiars? I suppose I should, at least, respect that, and I'm not here for the children. But you, you smell of Ddraig! Where is he? Is he bound to you in this life? If so, bring it out!"

"No. My name is Harry Potter, and Ddraig isn't bound to me, as you put it," Harry said. "But I do have access to him in a way. But I won't give you any more information if you're going to make demands and threats like that, and even without the courtesy of telling me your name."

The dragon leaned down to glare at Harry from right in front of him. But eventually she nodded, and the giant dragon slowly started to shrink, a flash of green and red energy encompassing her body as she did.

Soon enough it stood no larger than a horse. It was still dangerous, like a giant bomb waiting to go off, but not as intimidating. "This will make it easier to converse, I suppose," the female dragon said thoughtfully. "As for my name, I am Tiamat! Do you know of me, werewolf?"

Harry slowly nodded, having heard that name before from a list of mythical dragons he'd read after learning about Ddraig's existence. "It is an honor to meet you, Tiamat."

"Hmmf, the honor is all yours, werewolf. But now that the pleasantries have been seen to, let us get back to more important things," Tiamat said haughtily. "I said I was not here for the youngsters, and I meant it, though one of them also seems to smell of Ddraig. But you will tell me what I want to know! Where is the thief!?"

Harry explained the unusual circumstances which had placed Ddraig in his current predicament and how both he and his daughter had occasionally worn the gauntlet, getting to know the spirit within.

The chromatic dragon stared at Harry, then slowly started to laugh, its laughter a booming noise even in its smaller form. "Ddraig, no longer even soul-bonded to his prison, but still caged and used as a tool! That is irony in its purest form, especially for a thief."

"He seems to be enjoying himself," Harry said with a shrug, but then asked quizzically, "Why do you call him a thief, though? That surely doesn't match any of our interactions, even if the old fellow is kind of forgetful about some things."

"What would you call an individual who first wooed you, then stole your treasures away, only to have them be destroyed in battle?" Tiamat growled.

Harry winced. "Ah, a mix of a woman scorned and the dragon's ire roused, that's pretty bad," he said judiciously. "Your anger is perfectly justified in that case."

"Of course it is," Tiamat said with a chuckle. Then she frowned at him, sniffing the air. "You both smell of Ddraig, its scent wafting to me as only a dragon's scent can to another dragon. But you also smell of ancient Light magic, a very odd combination of blood, poison, and moon-based magic. That is beyond bizarre, Harry Potter."

Harry shrugged and conjured up a chair for himself, leaning back as he gestured the others forward, excitement welling up inside him at this odd opportunity. "Well, I suppose I can give you a brief summary of how my various oddities came to be. But it will have to be very brief, or we'll be here for a week."

Resting back on her haunches, Tiamat nodded. "It's been a long time since I conversed with anyone other than the four Maou, who occasionally drop by to speak to me. This should be interesting."

Tiamat listened intently, hearing about how Harry had fought a basilisk, surprisingly rather awed. The poison of those creatures was such that even a dragon would not care to tangle with one unless it had to, and certainly would never do so while underground. That poison also became deadlier over time. Harry's interaction with a phoenix was again interesting.

Afterwards, she looked over at the three children—counting Asia as a child too, though few humans would have—and then nodded thoughtfully. "So you came here for familiars. Very well, your story was fascinating enough to interest me more, Harry Potter. I will make you a deal. I will become your familiar, but we will not have the normal Familiar/Master relationship, so get that thought out of your head."

She glared at him, but Harry simply nodded, and she went on, her pride appeased. "We will instead create a contract like that between a mage and a king. Both of us will be able to call upon each other's magic. I will gain some knowledge of your spells, and you, with training, will gain access to some of mine. Mostly element based magic, but there are a few spells I can give you access to that have been long forgotten by most. But," she said, leaning forward to glare at Harry from a few inches away. "I want Ddraig! He owes me! Give me access to him. That is my price."

Harry nodded thoughtfully, understanding what kind of deal the Dragon Goddess was offering him. "I can try to get you in touch with his spirit inside the gauntlet when we return, though I would prefer you not to try to destroy the gauntlet itself. Ddraig has become something of a friend, and I would not like to see his soul or his physical form damaged beyond repair. And I'm afraid even your current size is a bit large for me to think about taking you back."

"I can shrink myself farther, although it is unpleasant being even this small," Tiamat said with a shrug. "Do we have an agreement?"

"I agree," Harry said formally, holding his hand out, which the dragon carefully shook with one of her claws.

Back at the glade where they had teleported into the Familiar Forest, Sona looked up as she heard noises in the forest coming towards them. It wasn't the first time they had heard such, of course, and Saji and Tsubasa had gotten some practice in fighting a few of the beasts that had shown up. Many of them seemed to want to take a bite out of the Familiar Master. Whether because he was tied up and helpless or for more personal reasons, Sona wasn't willing to contemplate. She left that to Tsubaki and Tsubasa.

She turned in that direction, as did everyone else, only to slowly gawk as they saw Lily leading the others out of the forest. The little gryphon at Lily's side was fascinating and an amazing catch, but the little Bai Ze was startling. The dragon around Asia's shoulders was equally surprising and gratifying. It showed the potential the future of any alliance between House Potter and the Youkai Association could give her family.

The sight of the small dragon, which could only be Tiamat, winging its way over their heads? That was enough to make even Sona's legendary self-control, created over years of dealing with her sister, to snap, and she gaped in shock, growing a little faint as she stared from it to the other animals and then back to Tiamat and Harry Potter. Oh, by the Maou, thank you, Rias, for dragging me into this friendship. I'm going to have to do something very nice for my friend in the future.

"Um, why is my gauntlet telling me to run away?" Saji asked hesitantly, staring down at his Sacred Gear.

"Because it knows trouble when it sees it?" Tsubasa asked in wry amusement.

Once introductions were finished, Sona teleported them all back to the student council room. Loup looked up from where he had been reading a textbook, standing up only for his eyes to widen as he stared at the animals. Then he shook himself and asked, "So, successful, were we?"

Harry chuckled at that, and then looked at Sona and Tiamat in turn. "So, how do we do this?"

Sona walked them through the familiar binding ritual, and each of them performed it in turn. Afterward all of the animals changed into immaterial forms, as was part of the familiar bonding ritual. After all, you couldn't always have your familiars with you physically, but they could follow along like this, able to be summoned forth at need.

With Sona accompanying them, ostensibly to inform Rias how it went but really to watch the meeting between Ddraig and Tiamat, Harry headed home. He found Kala and Rias in the kitchen, preparing dinner, and, after announcing himself, moved in that direction with the girls following. Immediately after the door closed behind him, both Kunou and Lily called for their familiars, holding the young creatures in their arms and showing them off proudly for everyone.

Raiter had not gone astral like the others, and now stood proudly on Asia's shoulder. Thankfully, the little chromatic dragon didn't have problems with girls and made no move to try and spark any of them, though Loup had an issue at first.

"This is amazing," Rias said honestly, reaching down to slowly run her fingers through the Bai Ze's mane-like fur and nodding her head to the little gryphon. The only other gryphon she knew for a fact had been made into a familiar belonged to Grayfia, and that was saying something.

Though Rias didn't like how it was staring at her ahoge for a moment, there. Hmm, might want to keep my distance from Titan's beak for bit, at least until he's trained not to bite without his lady's say-so. "But you didn't find one for yourself?"

"I did, but it came with some conditions."

"Oh dear," Akeno said, placing one hand on the side of her face as she stared at Harry, very deadpan. "Why do I get the impression that this is another way your life has taken an unusual turn, Harry-kun?"

"Because you understand my luck?" Harry asked with a smirk, winking at her.

Watching her Queen chuckle at that, Rias reflected that the two of them seemed to have moved on from their aborted attempt at dating very well. It wasn't that they didn't have regrets, Rias could see that, but more like they both realized they were better as friends rather than lovers. "What do you mean, Harry?"

With a small smirk of mischievousness on his face, Harry contacted Tiamat, who abruptly came out of her invisibility field, standing on all four legs behind him, her head moving around the room to lock eyes with the people all around her. "Allow me to introduce Tiamat, a dragon goddess. She and I have come to an agreement of sorts, even if it isn't the original familiar bond. However.…"

"However, my price has yet to be met, Harry Potter. I can smell the thief here even stronger than it was on you. So pay my price now, or I will simply take it!" Tiamat said, cutting Harry off impatiently.

While everyone else was still gawking, Harry retrieved the gauntlet from Koneko, who had been training with the Boosted Gear that evening. Then he lay it on the sofa in front of Tiamat, who leaned forward, sniffing it. Even though no one was wearing it, the jewel of the gauntlet began to glow immediately in response to Tiamat's proximity. "This is indeed Ddraig, the Great Welsh. Yet how his spirit was trapped within, I cannot say. How can I talk to him?"

"I think I can help with that. Put one of your claws to the gauntlet." Harry concentrated for a moment, his ring appearing on a finger as he channeled the power over spirits again. He placed the ring onto the jewel even as Tiamat began to channel her spirit into the gauntlet, needing no further instruction. Soon after, Harry reached out and in some fashion helped the process along.

Harry and Tiamat appeared in a very different plane than the one Harry was used to seeing. Half of it looked as it had whenever Harry had visited with Ddraig here. The other half looked much like the Familiar Forest, only with several giant volcanoes in the distance, dormant, but rumbling. The sky was a bank of nearly impenetrable fog, which Harry supposed was in connection to this plane.

"Hello, Ddraig," Tiamat said, stepping forward almost delicately, her head weaving this way and that and glaring as the great red stood up, looking worried. "You're looking well enough. Being trapped here seems to suit you."

The two dragons began to circle one another, Ddraig's eyes visibly roving over Tiamat's body as he began to move to match Tiamat's movements. "Hello, Tiamat. You're looking as striking as ever. Are you still sore about your lost items? Why do you blame me for that when it was Albion searching for a fight that destroyed them?"

"Oh, I don't know, perhaps because of how you stole them from me! You wooed me, seduced me into thinking we could mate, then stole them away in the night!" Tiamat snarled, her mouth gaping open as a pilot light appeared within. "How dare you at as if it was nothing, as if it was Albion's fault, when the theft was yours?"

At that sight Harry decided to get the hell out of Dodge. In here there was no way anyone could do any permanent damage to one another, which he knew from long experience. If Tiamat wanted to wale on Ddraig for a bit, that was no skin off his back.

He returned to his mortal body, swiftly looking around at the others thoughtfully, but making no move to remove his ring hand from where it was resting on the gauntlet underneath Tiamat's claws. "I think they flirted for a bit and then started to fight. I could not tell you if they were trying to kill one another or…other stuff," he said, looking over at the girls, who were busily showing the two animals around the house but were close enough at that point to overhear him. Harry idly hoped that the two of them could be house trained and, moreover, would understand the need for that, given how intelligent they were. I'm going to have to give those two a lecture about how a pet is a big responsibility, won't I?

"I think that might be a very thin line with dragons," Rias mused. "It certainly matches how much violence there was between them all when they roamed the earth, though I'm no expert on draconic mating rituals, obviously."

It was indeed a thin line, and when Tiamat eventually came back from her out of body experience she was practically purring like a giant cat, her large eyes half-lidded and her tail twitching lazily. "Oh my word, yes, that was most pleasant. I acknowledge that payment has been given for our contract, Harry Potter. Just don't call me too often when you don't need me for combat, however. Being this small is rather like being a size sixty and trying to wear a size six would be for a human female."

"Good, so how do we do this?" Harry asked.

A bonding between equals like that between Harry and Tiamat was somewhat different than a normal familiar bonding. Unlike the others, she could choose not to respond, and her body didn't go entirely immaterial, simply invisible, disappearing from anyone's senses, but still there. Further, while for a normal familiar the ceremony was simply about touching their animals and reciting a spell that shared their magical essences with the familiar's partner, Harry had to mix in some of his blood to create a contract between himself and Tiamat as the two clasped hand to claw, Tiamat doing the same.

Further, both of them gained a visible sign of the contract between them. Tiamat's shoulder turned green, like Harry's eyes, marked with a circle of black, within which was the image of a sword which flowed into the image of a fog bank of some kind. Harry, in turn, gained a tattoo on his upper arm. In his case, the crest was of a dragon in a circle, the tail of the dragon like the odd crest that marked Tiamat's own tail. The whole crest changed colors whenever Harry moved.

After that, Tiamat disappeared without another word, somewhat exhausted from her exertions. Surprisingly, Harry could tell both how she disappeared and feel where she had vanished to. Somehow she had teleported straight back to the Familiar Forest, using her bond with Harry to get past the wards around his house and to use the Gremory/Sitri teleportation array to cross the dimensions in the same breath. Interesting.

"I am going to head in to talk to Ddraig, just to make certain that he's still alive in there," Harry said, the ring once more appearing on his finger as he tapped the gauntlet.

This time all the changes to the mental plane were gone, but there was one big exception. Every other time when Harry appeared, Ddraig would be looming over him. Now, Ddraig slumped, his scales almost gray, and he could barely move his head to looked up at Harry. However, there was something else, almost a grin on the dragon's face. That combination could only have one reason, and Harry chuckled. "Tired you out, did she?"

"You are a bastard, Harry Potter," the dragon said almost admiringly. "An utter and complete bastard! Why the hell did you agree to bring her here!?"

"You are complaining far too much for a man who just got laid." For a moment, Harry led some of his own frustrations in that area show on his face. Just because he wanted to take things slowly didn't mean he didn't have urges, after all. "As for bringing her here, it was necessary to seal our pact."

At that, Ddraig subsided. "Yes, well, we were able to bring our discussion to a successful conclusion," he muttered.

"In other words yes, you did get laid," Harry said, his momentary frustration at his own predicament going away for a moment. "Well done. Do I have to figure out a way to, you know, bring her around for the draconic version of conjugal visits, or what?"

"Not if you want me to able to do anything else!" Ddraig replied, looking horrified at the idea, which caused Harry to laugh even as he disappeared. "Bastard!"

OOOOOOO

Hermione blinked, staring at the letter from Harry and bringing up her hand to squeeze the bridge of her nose. "Padma, dear, when did Tonks say she was heading to Japan?"

"Um, sometime in December. She wanted to be there for Christmas. The twenty-third or twenty-fourth, I think," Padma replied, looking up from where she had been reading a cookbook. "You know how Tonks is about plans. Although, unlike us, she's going the magical way, so she doesn't have to be a slave to the plane companies or whatever you call them."

"First class or numerous portkeys and MACUSA and their irritating probes, which would you prefer to deal with?" Hermione retorted. When Padma remained silent, Hermione gestured her over to read the message from Harry. "Well, apparently Harry wants us to send him a book on blood adoption. He's adopting a former nun, of all things, and anything we can find on 'anything that sounds like Blessings.'"

Padma blinked and read the note over her lover's shoulder, wondering what the heck that was supposed to mean. "Well, I suppose I can contact Parvati. She can search around India's magical quarter for us, though honestly, that sounds off. 'Magic that could have come from a god or anything that is attributed to a god'—weird. What in the world could Harry have run into to wonder about that?"

"It's nothing life-threatening, or else he'd sound much more harried and less confused. I would presume that he just wants to follow up on something or other." She smirked then and pointed to the most important part of the letter. "But look. He says, 'Feel free to use up to two hundred galleons!" Now that could buy a lot of books, don't you think?"

"Yes, but I think we should check the Black family library and my family's connections first," Padma said repressively. "Harry certainly didn't include that note with the intent of giving you a bookgasm."

"If he didn't, then he shouldn't have included it at all," Hermione replied with a huff.

OOOOOOO

Over the next two weeks, Harry and Koneko walked Asia, Lily and Kunou through how to care for their young familiars, while Loup set up little areas in the backyard for them: a tiny climbing tree for Titan, a nest in a tree for Raiter, and a kennel for the little Bai Ze, who Kunou had decided to name Okuri-Inu. It was a big responsibility, but the girls, with Asia helping the youngsters, took to it well enough. Going to school without them, though, was hard, and talking the two little ones out of bragging about their new pets at all was even harder.

And as the kids bonded with their familiars, life continued for the rest of the extended community. At the same time, everyone could tell that the dynamic of the group had changed. Akeno was no longer dating Harry and spent more time training Issei in magic. Yet at the same time she seemed more comfortable with the kids, now embracing her image as the teasing older girl figure without feeling like she needed to try and be more to fit in with the group.

Finally the day came when school let out for Christmas break, and the three groups, the Gremory and Sitri peerages and Harry's family, prepared for their trip to Kyoto.

Harry and Rias picked up Lily and Kunou from school. Both kids were in fantastic spirits, and both of them rushed over to Rias rather than Harry for once, pulling at the tall girl's hands until she knelt down in front of them and pulling out the tests they'd just gotten back. "Do you remember our bet, Rias?" Lily asked, grinning widely, a sign that should have made Harry rather worried.

"I remember it," Rias said with a nod and a smile. "And this is very well done. One hundred percent for both of you." Given this was a kanji writing test, that was very impressive. Kunou had hated writing kanji since the first time she'd had to do so in school, and Lily had loathed them too for many reasons.

Staring down at the two girls, Rias sighed but nodded, then winked at them both, standing upright and moving to Harry's side. "All right, a bet's a bet. however, before we get to that, I think Harry needs to take a picture of your test and send it to Yasaka, Kunou-chan. Why don't you both hold up your tests in front of you and give Harry a big smile while he gets out his cell phone?"

Shrugging, Harry nodded and obeyed the suggestion, kneeling down in front of the two girls, pulling out his cell phone, and holding it up to his face as Rias took a single step back and to the side so that she was directly behind him. The two girls grinned, holding up their tests and beaming at Harry as he took the picture. But as he did, he felt something settle over his head and heard Rias whisper, "Sorry about this."

As whatever it was settled into place, Harry felt a spell wash over him, coming from Rias. At first he thought about throwing it off, but, looking down at the little munchkins staring up at him gleefully, he realized that he had just been pranked somehow, but that it seemed to have been in a good cause. With that in mind, he stood up, looking back over his shoulder at Rias, but when he opened his mouth, an entirely different voice came out, and his words certainly weren't what he'd wanted to say. "Ooooh ahhh, yeaaah…"

Everyone in the elementary school's playground area stopped and stared at Harry as, with a black Afro on his head, he began to sing the same song that he and Rias had danced to on their first date. Rolling his eyes, Harry decided to just go with it, reaching out to grab Rias and dance around with her even as he sang the entire song start to finish. The two girls bounced around on either side of Harry, whirling and twirling to the dance with the noise of their giggles rising, almost louder than the song.

As they did, Rias whispered into his ear about the spell. "Sorry, but I thought the kids needed some motivation to give this last test their all, and they both decided they wanted to see you in an afro. They are kind of funny looking after all, and Lily said she'd found the music video to 'Flyers' and thought it was one of the funniest things she'd ever seen. So…well, I wanted to give them a little present if they did well enough, and.…"

She trailed off, looking at Harry closely to see if he was all right with this, and he winked at her, still dancing with her while the kids gamboled around them. The spell ended as the song did, and Harry laughed, once more in control of his voice. He looked down at his grinning daughter and then to Rias in his arms. "Oh, I do love you, Rias!" he said, leaning down to kiss her, forgetting for a moment the fact they were in public, let alone in front of a lot of people who knew that Rias was his student.

Rias's eyes widened at that, but she kissed him back just as joyfully before pulling back and, trying to ignore the afro still stuck on his head, said simply, "I love you too." Then she remembered where they were and stared all around them at the shocked expressions and the numerous cell phones people had brought out to take pictures of the singing Potter. "Darn it! Now I'm going to have to erase everyone's memories about this."

She sighed and held up a few fingers, concentrating and sending out a spell that caused everyone who had been looking at them in the last five minutes to still, their minds going blank. Then she erased the last five minutes from everyone's mind there besides the two kids, Harry, and herself. Sighing, Rias went around making certain that none of the cell phones had uploaded any pictures to the Internet, erasing the pictures as she went. But not before collecting a few for herself: those pictures would be a tremendous start to a scrap book, after all.

Meanwhile, Harry knelt down in front of the two girls, looking at them as he pulled off the afro, squishing it gently between his hands. "And was there some purpose to that?"

Lily scuffed her feet. "Well, that date that you and Rias took me on was really fun! So when Kunou and I were having trouble, Rias decided to give us some incentive."

"And you decided you wanted to see me an afro?" Rias had told Harry that a few minutes ago, but he wanted to hear it from the kids too.

"Kunou wanted to see you dance," she said, throwing an arm around her suddenly shy friend. "I wanted to see you in an afro. It's even funnier in person than it is in the videos," she said with a giggle.

"Anyone who has ever seen an afro could tell you that one, I think," Harry said with a laugh. "Although now I know a way to punish you for your next temper tantrum," he said with a gleam in his eye as he picked Kunou up and set her on his shoulders. He took Lily's hand and moved to join Rias, who had finished her work. "The next time you throw a temper tantrum, you'll have to go through an entire day with an afro."

Lily winced, and Rias shook her head, moving beside Harry and covering them with a slight Notice-Me-Not, linking hands with him as they walked down the streets. "That would be far too cruel, Harry."

The quartet walked sedately to the Potters' house, where Rias had to leave them. Rias had a small meeting to get to with Sona, after which the two of them would bring the defensive working to a higher level of watchfulness along with Harry. After that, she was going to spend the entire evening and night talking to Gasper through his doorway. That way he wouldn't feel bad about being left behind when the others went to Kyoto with her tomorrow.

However, right now, those thoughts were not prevalent in Rias's mind. Instead she was looking down at the hand she was holding, the large, calloused, altogether masculine hand clasping hers not tightly, but tenderly, gently, those eyes looking down at her, eyes of emerald that she could get lost in. Drowning, that's a good way to describe falling in love.

Lost, Harry thought as he looked down at her, staring into those blue eyes that he had become lost in, the mind behind them he had come to treasure, the smile that he had so come to love. He leaned down, kissing her first on the cheek and then whispering into her ear, "I meant what I said earlier, Rias. I do love you." With that he kissed her hard on the lips, pulling her into a hug.

As they pulled back for air, Rias whispered, "I love you too." Then it was her turn to pull him down into a kiss.

They were unconcerned about the two girls giggling and watching them until Lily patted her stomach as it gave a little rumble. With more important matters to see to, Lily took her daddy's hand, tugging at him slightly. "Come on, Daddy! I'm hungry, and it's been a long time since lunch!"

"And growing girls, of course, need their food," Harry said with a chuckle, pulling away from Rias and looking at her tenderly. "Do you have time to come in before your meting?"

Rias shook her head, smiling at the kids and Harry. "No, Sona and I have a lot of little things we need to get to tonight, and you know it, Harry. I'll see you all tomorrow for the trip. And, maybe after the formal ceremony, the two of us can have some…time together?" she asked, giving the last words a particular little accent to give them added meaning.

As he nodded, something in Harry's eyes not only said he understood that meaning but also sent a pleasant shiver through Rias's body, the loving kisses they'd shared and that look working to get her body to respond. "I think I'd enjoy that." Then a wicked smile came to Harry's face, and he touched her lips with his fingers. "And I'll make certain you enjoy it too. In fact, I'm certain of it."

That caused Rias to blush hotly, understanding exactly what he was implying, and Harry laughed before turning away, taking the two girls' arms again and leading them inside. "See you tomorrow, Rias, but I do believe that is a point to me," he said over his shoulder.

"Yes," Rias said with a shake of her head, "Yes, see you tomorrow, Harry." Darn it, he's right. That was a point to him. Still, wait until he sees me in the dress that Mittelt has designed. Then we'll see who's ahead in our game.

Inside, thankfully, Harry found Kala already cooking, talking to Asia about the upcoming trip and places to see in Kyoto. She had promised the girl that she would show her around, having been in the ancient capital a few times before, especially during the early Edo period. Koneko was also there, with Kalawarner helping her to learn how to control her chopping better so that she didn't destroy the cutting board in her efforts.

Kala looked up as Harry entered the kitchen, the two girls racing ahead into the sitting area, tossing their book bags, and shouting, "Freedom!" in one voice. "I take it the kids had a good day?"

"Yes," Harry said absently, leaning against the door jamb, flipping open his phone, and sending the picture he had taken earlier to Yasaka with the comment, 'I think we can safely assume that your daughter has settled in nicely into the elementary school. Not just because of her grades, but because she felt courageous enough to link her test score to a prank she wanted to see Rias play on me.'

Yasaka replied with, 'Oh, tell me more,' and Harry resignedly did so while also fielding questions from Kala. She would be staying over tonight to help with the kids in the morning, since Koneko and Asia weren't packed yet either. Asia had never had enough clothing to even warrant owning luggage, and Koneko had never needed to before.

He spent about an hour talking with Yasaka via text as well as helping prepare dinner. Then, after dinner, he shooed the kids upstairs to start packing for tomorrow. That this included Asia and Koneko greatly amused him.

But the next day, despite all of his best efforts the night before, Kunou was still running around like a chicken with its head cut off. She was grabbing up bits of homework, drawings, and a few projects she had made in the nearly two and a half months since she had moved in with Lily and the others. "I want to take everything!" she shouted, trying to grab at a picture that had fallen behind the dresser, growling irritably at it. "I want to show Momma everything!"

Harry chuckled, ruffled her hair with one hand, and gripped the side of the wardrobe with the other, pulling it away from the wall easily. Lily quickly moved in, reaching over Kunou and picking up her picture and several other things before turning and putting them in her book bag, which had been loaned to them by Rias: it was the same bag of holding in the shape of a bookbag she had bought in the Magical Row.

Kalawarner looked up from where she had just finished stuffing the last of the clothing into a bag for the two kids. Somehow, during the night, Lily and Kunou had woken up and thought it was a good idea to go through their clothing and rearrange things, then stuff it all inside again. The fact that this had removed the two dresses Mittelt had created, which had wound up stuffed underneath one of the beds, was not lost on her. "And we're ready here, despite the fact that someone here wanted to hide their pretty dresses," she said, glaring ominously at the two girls.

The young Potter growled, while Kunou simply shrugged philosophically at that, although of course she wouldn't have used that word. "We have to dress up sometimes," she said to Lily, "and this is one of them. I told you we'd be found out."

Lily huffed. "Traitor." She had not liked the etiquette classes and other things that Rias had been teaching her, on and off. But since even her father had said she had to go through with it for this event, she knew she wasn't going to get anywhere.

When Loup, Koneko, and Asia joined them, Koneko holding both the girls' bags under one arm, Harry held up a finger and then began to count through a list of things, with all of the girls nodding appropriately as Loup watched stoically. Asia squeaked at one point and ran back into the bathroom to grab her shampoo, but, other than that, they were all set.

The Potter household plus Kala left soon afterward, with Harry locking the door and then raising the wards to a wartime footing before heading off with the others. As they did, Kala looked around her as she felt something in the air. It was like a warm sunbeam right behind her, or perhaps a sort of eager, crackling feeling in her mind. "Is that the spell?"

"The defensive ritual? I don't know if we can really call it a defensive ward any longer, given how much we put into it, but yeah, that it in the air. We brought it up to a high level of alert last night.

"Make sense since we're all leaving, I suppose, though our not being here also removes the most important targets of any attack," she said with a nod. "Will you all be able to feel it if it collapses due to an attack while we're away?" Kala only had the vaguest idea of how strong the defensive working was at this point, but she knew there were a lot of beings out there who routinely could tear such things down.

"Oh, yes," Harry said with a nod. "Even in Kyoto I think we'll feel it as if we just got hit in the head with a warhammer."

"It hurts," Loup said laconically. "Being hit like that, I mean."

Harry laughed, thumping the other werewolf on the shoulder, and the younger man smirked at him, pushing his shoulder playfully.

Soon they met up with Rias, Sona, and their peerages at the train. Sona and Rias had rented an entire train car for them, though, given the size of their party, this was a necessity rather than a luxury. Thanks to that and further examples of prior planning, the train ride was uneventful, with Rias, Harry, and Kala dealing with the two younger kids, and Asia gleefully taking part in a board game with the friends she had made among Sona's peerage, along with Issei and the others.

For his part, Issei honestly didn't know where to put his eyes. This wasn't the first time he been around either peerage, but being surrounded by such beauties with only three other boys to share it with? This was almost like the Academy in miniature, then raised to the next level, since not a single girl here could be called anything less than beautiful, if in very different ways. There had been no change in his specific fetish, however, and as such he found his eyes straying a few times to Akeno, Kalawarner, and Rias in particular. Their oppai, those magnificent, bouncy, full oppai, calling out to him.

The one time that he let his eyes linger a little too long on Rias, a growl from Harry, who was sitting nearby on the other side of Lily and Kunou from Rias as they helped the two kids read a Magic School Bus book, caused him to shiver and turn away rapidly. "Dammit! Stupid sensei, hogging such wonderful oppai!" ge grumbled under his breath.

By this point he had learned that Harry and Rias were dating, and, indeed, that Harry had been dating both Rias and Akeno before he and Akeno broke up. He liked to imagine that his own manly presence had caused Akeno to have seconds thoughts, and, in a way, he was correct. It just wasn't for the reason he thought.

"Oh, did you see something you like~?" said a teasing voice into his ear, causing him to blanch and turn to see Akeno sitting behind him, leaning over his chair. Her breasts pressed into the back of it as she did so, and she smirked wickedly at him. "So bold Is~se~i, staring at a taken woman's chest."

"I didn't, I mean, they're just so, erm, I mean, but,…" he stuttered, and Saji reached over and patted him on the shoulder. The two of them had actually become something like friends, despite the fact that Saji hadn't had much respect for Issei at first. However, the lengths to which Issei went to train himself, to improve his magical reserves under Akeno's direction, impressed Saji. Issei would never be an in your face powerhouse without access to the Boosted Gear. But after having built up his reserves to the point that he could train with it, Issei had proven to be quite adept at magical manipulation.

He had even come up with seven spells of his own by this point, which was something of a rite of passage for Devils and another difference between devil and human style magic. Devils could create spells to do whatever they wished, given time and thought, without the trouble humans had to go through to do the same thing. Humans had access to far more spells that did a lot more than most devils used magic to do, but, at its base, devil magic was based off imagination and will, while the human method was based on will and knowledge.

Akeno continued to tease Issei until Ruruko stopped her, smacking her on the arm and pulling Issei away. "Don't listen to the sadist, Issei-kun. Although she is right; you shouldn't be looking at Rias like that."

"I think it's romantic," said Momo, whispering a little as she looked over to Harry and Rias, who had now shifted from reading with the two girls to playing a board game with them. Asia, who had finished her own game, moved over to join them, followed by Ruruko.

Rias laughed, cackling madly as she pointed at the two little girls. "You think you can beat me at monopoly! Prepare yourselves for disappointment!"

"Bring it on!" Lily shouted back. "My little chariot will beat your thimble any day!"

Issei and the others, listening to this, laughed before turning back to their own conversations.

After arriving at their hotel and putting their clothes away, Harry took Kunou, Lily, and Koneko immediately into the Youkai Association's territory. There he was quickly ushered through and into the forest, where he immediately transformed into his werewolf form, followed by Lily, Koneko, and Kunou, the latter two shifting into the natural bodies.

Orienting himself, Harry pointed down one of the paths leading deeper into the woods. "That way to the palace," he said, looking down at Kunou and ruffling her long tufted fox-ears tenderly, causing her eyes to close in bliss. Head pats really were the best, and Harry was just as good as her mother was in finding those soft spots. "Why don't you lead us off, Kunou?"

Kunou nodded and raced ahead, calling out, "Okuri-Inu!" and her familiar appeared. "Come on, Okuri; let's run!" The Bai Ze puppy yipped and raced after his owner, panting happily, while behind them Lily did the same. Titan didn't like to run for running's sake, but it was good training for him.

With the two animals racing or sometimes flying beside them, the two girls raced out ahead of the older Koneko and Harry, who kept them in sight with ease. About halfway to their destination, though, a large fox with yellow-white fur and nine tails flapping wildly behind her came out of the woods in front of them. Yipping happily, Yasaka changed into her natural body, whereupon she ran to her daughter, picking her up and squeezing her tightly. "Kunou-chan!"

Yasaka had not liked being away from her daughter at all. Talking on the phone had been nice, and talking with Harry, sharing stories every morning and sometimes in the evening as well, had been good too, bringing them closer. But talking to Kunou like that had not been a substitute for actually being with her daughter in person.

Holding her now, Yasaka could tell that Kunou was a picture of good health and happiness, which was deeply reassuring. Still, I am seriously looking forward to a time when I can simply teleport from Kyoto to Kuoh to see her whenever I want.

For now she simply yipped happily, squeezing her daughter and rubbing a cheek against her hair, as she smiled at Harry. "Thank you for watching out for my daughter," she said, bowing from the waist formally, then winking at him as this displayed quite a bit of cleavage, given that she was wearing simple exercise togs. "I knew she was all right, but I was sort of afraid she would have acted like a brat at some point and forced you to take action, especially with that prank she talked Rias-han into."

Harry laughed as Kunou pouted, "I was a good girl!"

"Most of the time," Harry said with a nod, ruffling her hair again and then looking down at Lily with a wink before turning to Yasaka again, pulling her attention away from Okuri-Inu. "I have something for you," he said, holding out a new watch.

Yasaka took it, staring down at its face, which now had eleven labels on it. These were home, school, Potters', playing, studying, afraid, angry, happy, asleep, and in danger. The last one took up two spots on the watch, the background beneath them being painted red as well. The area around afraid was orange.

"I've tested it as much as possible when they were at school and other places. I wanted to make certain that it didn't give me a false reading if they were taking tests or were angry or frustrated at something normal in class. It worked very well," Harry reported.

"Thank you", Yasaka whispered. Setting Kunou down, she removed her old watch, replacing it with the new one and smiling. "Thank you very much, Harry." With that she ruffled her daughter's hair and gestured back the way she came. "Come on. We've made some changes to the castle, and I want to hear everything about going to school and the attacking dragons. And," she said, looking over at Koneko, "there are a few people here that I think you should talk to, Koneko-chan, hence my asking Harry-han to come with you when he dropped Kunou-chan off. They are other nekomata like yourself, and I think talking to them could be enlightening."

The girl blinked, then slowly nodded at that, her tail twitching slightly behind her. "That would be nice."

Harry held up Kunou's luggage. "We bought Kunou a new dress for tonight's occasion, if that's all right?"

"Perfectly fine. In fact, if you brought Koneko's along as well, I think that would be a good idea. I think the discussion she's going to have with her fellow nekomata is going to be a long one." Koneko cocked her head at that but shrugged and followed the others.

Harry looked at Yasaka quizzically. "What is that all about?"

"It is the first sign of my proving that my own side of this alliance will be fruitful for everyone involved. Koneko isn't just a nekomata, she is nekoshou," Yasaka said.

"Yes, I've heard, though I don't understand the difference," Harry interjected.

"The difference is, nekoshou can use what is known as Senjutsu, the energy of the world around us, to power their magic and physical abilities," Yasaka explained as she fell into step beside Harry, watching Koneko move forward to herd the youngsters and their animals ahead of them.

The sight of the Bai Ze at her daughter's side brought a smile to Yasaka's face, understanding what it implied. Access to the Familiar Forest would be a major force multiplier for her people. Many of them used familiars now, but none were magical in nature, able to help them in a fight. The fact that her young daughter was able to bond with such a potentially powerful animal would also show those who were still skeptical about the alliance concept that there was a lot to be offered by the devils, if they were careful about it.

But Yasaka's tone was serious as she went on. "According to the official story of what happened to her sister, Kuroka went insane when she tried to use Senjutsu, but that's so much shit, I think. I don't know for certain, but if she did, then she was probably self-taught. The nekomata will first tell Koneko that there's no hard feelings about the pogrom Kuroka's actions caused and then will introduce her to their leader, who is another nekoshou. It will be up to her if she will learn Senjutsu at that point."

Harry nodded thoughtfully, wondering how Koneko would take that, but unless she came to them for advice, he wasn't going to push. Koneko very much liked living with Lily and him but also liked her independence, and the topic of her sister was still a very touchy one for Koneko, even though she had hinted a time or two about what had happened there.

For his part, Harry also had questions. He wasn't certain he believed the party line at all about what happened with Kuroka. But, even if he didn't, there was no way he would ever forgive someone who left a family member behind as Kuroka had.

The two parents talked quietly for a while as Kunou chattered away happily at Koneko and Lily, gesturing down this or that path as they passed and telling them about interesting places in the woods. She wanted to show them a waterfall in particular, and Harry had to promise her that, yes, they would stop by there sometime tomorrow after all the official stuff was over. Sona, Rias, and he had agreed to make this four day trip. This would allow them to both build connections and, of course, to explore the ancient capital.

When they reached the castle, Yasaka allowed Lily and Kunou to run inside before introducing Koneko to several nekomata, including an elderly grandmother type and a fit, older man around Harry's age, who nodded at her and held out his hand. Koneko looked at Harry and at his reassuring smile, smiled in turn, and moved towards them before being gently led away.

This left Harry and Yasaka alone, and Yasaka wasted no time in hugging herself against Harry, her arms going around him tightly. "So,…" she said with a chuckle, leading him into the castle, "What was it like, really, living with two little girls instead of one. Oh, no, wait, I'm sorry, it's two little girls, two older girls, and Loup-han, isn't it? All in one little house too."

"You're not the first one to point that out to me," Harry said with a chuckle of his own. "Rias and I, however, have come up with a solution that we'll start to put into motion when we get back."

"You and Rias-han, hmm? Since when did that become serious enough for her to have a say in what happened inside your household?" she teased.

Harry simply smiled, and Yasaka nodded, nuzzling into his side. She stood at five feet five inches, so Harry was a good bit taller than her. Indeed, even Rias was six inches taller than she was, not that Yasaka cared at all about that. "I take it there's been a development there?"

"Yes," Harry said, but he didn't go into any details, making Yasaka pout slightly. "Seriously, Harry-han, thank you for watching out for my daughter. It would not have been safe here. Even with the attack she had to endure from that Diodora-aho, she was much safer with you, given how I was busy digging out people who don't agree with my peace first policies. There was a lot of trouble here, and it meant a lot to me, knowing she was safe," she said, leaning up to kiss him on the cheek.

But Harry had turned, and she wound up kissing him on the lips. To Yasaka's surprise, though, Harry didn't pull back, simply holding the kiss, not deepening it but not retreating either. "Now that was surprising," she murmured, a wicked little smirk on her face as she raised a hand to push her blonde hair out of her eyes, her long foxlike ears and tails all twitching in humor. "Was there any reason for that?"

"Well, Rias and I talked a few times, and, while I can't say it still doesn't bother me about being the center of this harem thing, I'm not going to say that it isn't pleasant flirting with you. If something more develops, then we'll take it as it comes," Harry said with a faint sigh, though his eyes were shining with good humor and more than a bit of desire.

Yasaka nodded, moving away a bit to look at him thoughtfully. "Being the center bothers you more than the multi-relationship part of the arrangement?"

"Exactly. I don't really care overmuch any more about dating multiple women, but it is the fact that I am the center of these disparate relationships that bother me. I suppose you could call me a chivalrous feminist. I think that men and women should be equal," Harry replied seriously, then he smiled and winked at her. "But it wouldn't be gentlemanly not to respond to your advances, would it?"

Yasaka barked out a kitsune style laugh at that, kissing him on the cheek accurately this time. "All too true. I'll talk with Rias while you're here, of course, and you as well. Remember what I said, Harry, all those weeks ago: I'm not interested in being, and, indeed, I really can't be your primary lover. But I am very interested in you. Talking with you over the phone these last few months has definitely solidified that.

Harry nodded and watched her face with interest as Yasaka visibly shifted her mind onto some other things, her ears slowly lowering as a small frown appeared on her face accompanied by a wrinkle on her brow between her rounded eyebrows. "Did Rias-han discover anything more about this Diodora person who attacked?"

"He had an obsession with nuns and making them fall. There didn't seem to be anything else about his attack. He simply thought that Asia was his, and we all vehemently disagreed with that statement," Harry replied. Rias had found that out within a day of her and Sona submitting a report on the odd attack.

"Nothing about my daughter, nothing political?" Yasaka asked, worrying at her lip.

"Nothing," Harry said with a shrug. "We're a little worried about the spell that was on him that made him so hard to take care of, but we haven't received any information from Rias's brother or Sona's sister on that."

Yasaka barked amusement again, her seriousness fading once more. "Be glad you haven't. Both of those devils are hardcore imouto-otakus. I don't honestly know which would be more embarrassing, but it would be close. Still, tell me more about the kids and the elementary school. There's been no hint of bullying or my daughter running into issues in class?"

The two of them talked about the kids for about an hour before Harry picked up Lily from where she and Kunou had been exploring in the woods, having escaped the castle somehow without any of the servants noticing. But neither of them could fool Harry's nose. He could have found Lily on a wet rainy night in a storm even without the use of magic, which he didn't bother using this time.

The two of them headed back to the hotel, where they met up with Rias and the others, who had been sightseeing with Loup playing reluctant tour guide, with Sona beside him, asking questions of the stoic werewolf. The two Potters joined them quickly, with Lily explaining to Rias about the forest and what she had seen. "You should go and see this big waterfall! It's so cool, and it's got silkies in the water, and they were so nice once they saw Kunou!"

Harry watched the others, and when Lily fell silent, racing ahead to talk to Asia and Mittelt, leaned toward Rias, whispering, "Is it just me, or could there be something going on between Sona and Loup?"

"I think they're both interested in one another, but Sona doesn't want to be with anyone who isn't smarter than her. That pride of hers again," Rias replied with a huff. "And Loup doesn't want to be a devil, which is another issue. So they're both kind of being held back from doing more than flirting a time or two. Although, I think they could be good for one another."

"Like you and I are?" Harry asked, taking her hand in his. They were in an entirely different city, and, with Rias wearing a normal skirt and blouse combo rather than the uniform of Kuoh Academy and Harry wearing equally informal clothing, they could get away with that kind of thing in public without even a low-powered Notice-Me-Not.

Which felt quite good, Rias thought, squeezing Harry's hand back and leaning into his side, whereupon he pulled his hand away from hers and looped his arm around her shoulders as they followed the others. "No," she said, leaning into him. "I don't think they have enough in common to be a permanent item like you and I hope to be. But I think they could have a lot of fun together."

Harry nodded and said, "Speaking of fun, do you think that after the ceremony tonight you and I could have some time for a date just on our own? It's been a while since we had a romantic type date."

"Since that day with Akeno, actually, and yes," Rias said with a smile. "I think that would be a fantastic idea."

"I'll make us a reservation, then," Harry said with a smile, then said, "I told Yasaka about what we've talked about, by the way."

Rias nodded. "That's fine. Like I said, I don't honestly feel jealousy towards Yasaka, and if she does become involved with you, I will be fine with that."

"Really?" Harry asked, still uncertain about that aspect of things.

"Really," Rias said with a warm laugh at how concerned he was about her feelings.

That evening the two peerages and Harry's family dressed up before making their way through the hotel, ignoring the looks they were getting from many of the other hotel guests and workers. Not, Harry reflected, that those looks weren't warranted.

Sona was in a formal Chinese dress called a hanfu, done in dark blue and marked with a design of aqua at the opening, bottom, and sleeves. It showed off her spare, trim frame without revealing anything and fell to just below her knees, the blue of it contrasting with her hair and bringing out the paleness of her skin. She had a necklace of pearls and a bracelet of beaten gold around one wrist along with a hairclip with the image of her family's crest on it. Her peerage was similarly garbed, the only difference being in their jewelry. Saji wore the male version, called a shenyi, but without the outer heavy layer. Yasaka had told them to wear formal garb that was easy to move in, for some reason, and this was what Sona and Mittelt, who had created all their clothes, thought of as a compromise.

In contrast, Rias and her family were a little more varied in how they were dressed. Rias wore a formal European dress in black and red. It covered her from head to toe with a tight neckline and what looked like a corset ensemble, bringing attention to her chest but not showing any of it, coupled with a frilly skirt that came to just below her knees. This she could actually dance in, something she had tested, figuring that that was in the cards for her and Harry later. The arms and shoulders were relatively simple in design, marked only by some stitched designs corresponding with her Family's crest. Her hair was done differently, her normal ahoge having been tamed, her luxuriant red hair falling like a crimson waterfall down her back. She wore no jewelry, like her friend, other than a pair of earrings, small gold ones.

Akeno wore a white dress—which set off her black hair magnificently—with a plunging neckline that was just this side of indecent, but that was simply because of her body shape rather than the dress itself. Mittelt wore her normal Gothic style dress, but this time done up in red with a longer skirt, no neckline to speak of, and her shoulders covered. Koneko also wore a dress, black in her case, a somewhat form fitting Cheongsam. Her dress was shorter than the others, coming down to just above her knees, leaving her with a full range of movement.

Kiba wore a black blazer, white shirt, and black dress pants. Issei wore a similar tuxedo in dusty brown with khaki pants and a red tie. All of them also wore sashes of white around their waists with the image of the Gremory clan sigil on them, a crimson rose on a black background surrounded by a red circle.

Slightly more dressed up then the two younger men, Harry was in a formal tuxedo, and Rias had to admit that he cleaned up very well. In the center of his neck was an emerald stud marked by the symbol of a lightning bolt etched into the emerald, matching the mark on his forehead. Harry had decided that this would be the formal mark of the Potters going forward. Lily and Asia both wore the same glyph on necklaces around their throats, but otherwise were like night and day.

Asia was dressed in a simple white gown that looked like a very formal version of a nun's habit, its very simplicity making her stand out. Her necklace, done in silver, stood out on her modest chest, and her long blonde hair was done in an intricate braid down her back. Lily was dressed in a miniature version of Rias's skirt, coupled with a slightly less form fitting blouse, also done in black, with stripes of yellow as accents. Her necklace, which was a ritzier version of her normal one, was gold and hung free on the outside of her dress. Her hair was done up in a neat little bun.

Alone in not wearing a mark of clan or family, Kalawarner stood by Asia. She wore a somewhat formfitting businesswoman's suit which was quite simple save for the fact that it was the shortest dress there. Her blue hair was swept back, now, from her face, and she wore earrings and matching bracelets from a collection the others, save Mittelt, didn't even know she had.

Outside, instead of having to walk into the Youkai Association area and then into the woods, they found a limousine with a man dressed in a butler's outfit, bowing to them as they exited the hotel. "Ladies and gentlemen, Lady Yasaka sends her compliments, and we are supposed to take you directly to the mansion."

In the lead of their combined troupe, Rias nodded to the man. "Thank you, but I do hope that your limousine has enough room for us all."

"It does my lady, trust me," he said dryly.

Rias nodded and entered, reaching back to help Lily in, the little girl grumbling at the fact that she had to wear at a formal dress. The young redhead hated it. She hated how it restricted her movement, and she complained that it itched, but all the adults were convinced that that was just a childish attempt to get out of wearing it. Even Harry didn't believe her and kept on saying how cute she looked.

The limo was both larger on the inside and, once they were all onboard, performed a feat Harry hadn't seen since the last time he had been on the Knight Bus. It accelerated into traffic, somehow stretching and squeezing through other cars, through back alleys, and then even trees. It zoomed through the Youkai Association's forest until it came to a juddering halt in the palace's courtyard.

"Ooh wee!" Lily yelled, throwing her arms up in the air. "Can we do that again?"

"Maybe some other time, lovey," Harry said with a smile, while more than a few of the devils were looking queasy. "Now, up you get."

With Rias, Harry, and Sona in the lead, the large group was led through the palace into a section Harry hadn't seen before, then further into the meeting hall. There they found a crowd of Youkai. Both sides of the room were lined with Youkai of all types and races. At the far end Yasaka stood with her extended family and her advisers behind her. Among them were Kunou and Loup, with Kunou's Bai Ze familiar sitting on its haunches next to her. As the Kuoh delegation entered, music began in the background: formal and stilted wind and string instruments for the most part. In the center of the room was a large pillar on which was a formal scroll and a long quill with a black feather.

Yasaka was dressed in a traditional Miko outfi, over which was a magnificent white coat, so white it practically shimmered, held closed by a red ribbon and a golden crown, the outfit doing nothing to take away from her curves or her beauty, though only a hint of her cleavage could be seen. On top of her hair, which was tied in a ponytail that reached all the way down to her legs, she wore a small, golden crown inset with a single, perfect pearl. The gold of her crown merged with the light blonde of her hair, which in turn segued into the white and yellow of her nine tails behind her.

Altogether, Harry decided she looked incredibly beautiful, while Rias nodded her head in recognition, keeping a slight pout off her face with difficulty. She had actually wanted to dress up in something similar, being very much a Japanophile, but Mittelt had talked her out of it. It would've been awkward, the diminutive Pawn had said, if they were both dressed in the same style.

Under the direction of two servants, Harry and his family along with Kalawarner moved toward the front of their side of the room. Rias and her family were moved to one side of Harry's, while Sona was directed to stand on his other side, a few feet separating each peerage from his family.

With a small smile on her face, Yasaka stepped forward, one hand rising, and the music halted immediately. "We are gathered here to sign an accord between the Youkai Association in my name as Kyuubi no Kitsune and the clan of Gremory in the form of its Heir Rias Gremory, clan Sitri in the form of its heir, Sona Sitri, and House Potter in the form of its head of house, Harry Potter. The rights and responsibilities of all those involved are known to many of us here, but not all. This is a formal full alliance between our people and clans. Our people," she said, turning to all of the Youkai to either side, "will receive access to both Kuoh and the Academy, and to Hell beyond. We will have all the rights of a citizen of Hell and the defense of the Gremory and Sitri clans." She turned back and looked at Harry, Rias, and Sona. "Do you agree to this?"

"I, Rias of clan Gremory, do vow that this is the case. We will protect and defend you as we would our own," Rias said formally. All four of them had discussed the wording for this moment and knew what they had to do and say.

"I, Harry of the house of Potter, do vow that this is the case. I will protect and defend any who need it as if they were my own. I also formally agree to take the apprenticeship of Kunou, daughter of the Kyuubi no Kitsune. I will train and defend her as if she was my own."

That caused quite a bit of noise from the crowd of Youkai from either side. The idea of a kitsune, with the inherent magical potential one of those had, apprenticed to a foreign magical was one thing. Apprenticed to Harry Potter, The Man Who Conquered, that was an entirely different story. Even here Harry's fame preceded him somewhat.

While everyone involved knew that Kunou's staying with Harry and his family was more about being friends with Lily and wanting to go to school, this bit of public claptrap would make it seem as if there was more going on between them. And, when it came to it, Harry would indeed teach Kunou as much magic as he could, as he would with Lily when they showed they had enough control of their magic.

"I, Sona of clan Sitri, do vow that this is the case," Sona said just as formally as her friend. "We will protect and defend you as we would our own. We, in turn," Sona went on, taking over the ceremony smoothly, "will have access to the Youkai Association, be it for magical resources or training purposes, and your members will defend us in turn. Do you agree with this?"

"I, Yasaka, the Kyuubi no Kitsune, do swear this," Yasaka said. As she spoke, her nine tales flared behind her in a cascade of magic, a light show that few there had seen before.

Rias stepped forward in turn. "For my part, the house of Gremory will create a teleportation tunnel between the Youkai Association here in Kyoto and Kuoh Academy. You will be able to freely use it to come and go. We will use it to be able to call upon one another for defense and eventually for trade. Do you agree that I should do this and that it is a just payment for the alliance?" she asked, looking at Yasaka as murmurs began again.

That kind of magic was beyond anyone there. Creating a permanent teleportation structure between such geographically disparate locations? Moreover, it served as a potent sign that they would indeed have access to Hell and, specifically, all of the magical merchandise and other things that could be found there, the Familiar Forest being one of them. They would have to go through formal channels and set up times and even probably purchase access to it, but they would have that access. And, since Lily, Asia, and Kunou had their familiars next to them, it served as a potent sign of what they would gain.

Yasaka nodded her head, moving forward to clasp arms with Rias. "I do swear and formally read Rias of the house of Gremory into the wards of the Association, so that she may perform this working."

Once she was read into the wards, the faint feeling that all of them had been dealing with since coming into the forest, a sort of tingling feeling against their skin, dissipated for Rias. She took a quick single step backward, winked at Yasaka, who smiled back, and then raised her arms. Magic began to flare around her, her aura coming out entirely and then beginning to drip from her fingers down to the ground in something that looked almost like a liquid, where under her directions it began to create a circle, filling with sigils as the onlookers watched.

Closing her eyes, Rias concentrated as she reached out to the feeling of where she could sense the Academy, so far away, and the portion of the tunnel she had already prepared there, grimacing, a bead of sweet appearing on her forehead. Reaching that far away while also creating the portion of the array where she was standing was like trying to write up an essay in Japanese with a magnifying glass while you had to balance the reflected light off hundreds of tiny mirrors. Even if you had already put the paper down on your table and written your name there, that didn't really help all that much beyond giving you a target. It was utterly exhausting, mentally and magically.

I would never have been able to do something like this at the beginning of the school year, if I had even thought to do it over such a distance. Rias frowned at that, wondering suddenly about a certain feeling she'd had occasionally when she had taken her peerage out past Kuoh's limits those first few times. Could something have been done to me to keep me in Kuoh, some spell that I was able to overcome? That makes a little too much sense, if I'm honest.

Shaking that thought off as she could feel the enchantment slowly starting to get away from her, Rias bore down, and slowly but surely, as the rest of them watched, she completed the spell. The circle of Ankhsera sigils, centered around the glyph of the house of Gremory, spread until it covered half the floor, causing the other people there to move backwards, and then, slowly, Rias lowered her hands, the spell finishing and her magic aura cutting off with an almost visible snap. She did not, however, allow herself to stumble, opening her eyes, bowing, and through sheer force of will keeping herself from keeling over. "It is done. Would someone like to test it?"

Loup and two other people from the Youkai Association took a step forward, obviously having been chosen for this beforehand. Rias explained how Yasaka could open the doorway for them, and she did so, holding her hand over the center glyph. There was a flash of magic as the three of them stepped from one portion of the circle into another, inner portion, and they were gone only to come back an instant later.

"It works!" shouted one of the three, a giant bull Minotaur of a man, thrusting his fist into the air. "It works! And we could even go from the clubroom there down into Hell! We appeared in a small house somewhere."

"That is a house on the edge of Gremory territory where it abuts the territory of House Sitri," Rias said, looking over to her friend as she stepped back to where she had been standing. The looks of concern and pride she saw on her family's faces and that of Harry and his family warmed her heart.

Sona nodded and came forward. "If you wish to go anywhere from there, you will be met outside by a few of my family's servants, who will arrange transportation."

Eventually that would include servants from house Gremory too, but Rias wanted to keep this alliance on the down low for now. She wanted to drop it as a bombshell when the inevitable occurred and Riser tried to push things forward.

There were some shouts and even a few cheers now as Yasaka moved forward, lifting up the quill and holding it up to where the three other signers could see it. "Then all that is left is citing the formal contract. This is a blood quill. It is a magical item that will drain some of the signers' blood out to bind our magics into this alliance. This is the last chance any of us will have to back out from this. Is there anyone who wishes to at this time?"

For a moment the hall fell silent, tension ratcheting up. After all, there was a big difference between putting your spells or money on the line and then then putting your life there. Everyone there knew that if someone broke the agreement or even just ignored it, their magic would demand compensation, up to and including taking their lives.

Seeing that item, Harry winced inside, having had an issue with one of them when he was younger. Umbridge had tried to force him to use one, and the next instant he had thrown her out of the hall into a wall and then dragged her to see the headmaster. They'd had a bit of a confrontation about that, but, with the blood quill in his hand, the ministry had not been able to do anything. There had also been a few times where people had tried to force him to use them to bind his magic to this or that agreement.

But, for all of that, Harry stepped forward resolutely, holding out his hand. "I'll go first, if no one objects."

There were more mutters at that, but they were all approving ones, and more than one member of the Youkai Association actually nodded their heads towards Harry in a formal sign of respect. Yasaka simply smiled and handed the quill over, allowing her fingers to linger on his for a moment before pulling away and stepping to one side. "I will go next, then."

"And I third," Rias said stepping forward followed immediately by Sona, having beaten her friend out only by a mere second. The two of them moved to flank Harry, and together all three of them read through the agreement before they all signed, one after another, wincing slightly at the twinge of pain as their blood was extracted and added into the scroll. After they had finished signing, the four of them held their hands over the document and formally intoned, "We accept and bind ourselves to this alliance!"

The parchment glowed and then split itself into four copies, the copies hovering in front of the individuals who had signed them, and Yasaka smiled, grabbing her own. "With this, this ceremony is finished!" she shouted, turning to her people. "Now, we party!"

Immediately the Youkai roared in delight, and the music stepped up as dozens of Youkai moved out from the walls into the center of the room, dancing to the music. Other Youkai came in from the doorways to either side of the hall, pushing along carts of food. The change of atmosphere was so abrupt and sudden it took many of the devils by surprise, but Harry simply laughed and turned, bowing to Lily with a flourish. "Can I have the honor of this dance, my lady?"

Lily curtsied, giggling at her daddy's overacting. "I would love it, dear sir." She had to stand on his feet as they danced around to the first semi-formal dance, but she still had a lot of fun.

Then it was Kunou's turn. Having just danced with her mother, she found herself in Harry's arms, being whirled around as the music picked up. She laughed joyfully, flinging her arms around his neck. "Faster, Harry, faster!"

To one side Harry could see Koneko dancing with several other nekomata, their dances a sign of agility and body control than most couldn't match save for a few monkey Youkai, who quickly joined them in a riotous romp that looked half tango, half break dancing. Asia, Ruruko, Saji, and Issei were also dancing together. Issei seemed to be looking elsewhere, but was on his best behavior, a series of threats from Kiba, Loup, Harry, and Rias having warned him what would happen if he acted out here in no uncertain terms.

Akeno, too, was enjoying the night and the attention of several men at first. But soon after one of the people who were playing instruments began to sing, she quickly became the center of attention for the entire party. The moment the song ended, Akeno strode out of the crowd of dancers, pointing at the singing girl, a female Kappa, dramatically. "You think you can sing? Watch and learn," she said haughtily, throwing her hair back over her shoulders as she began to sing No Roots, dancing at the same time, attracting even more attention from the male side of the audience, and enjoying every moment of it. She loved to show off like this and then shut people down. And if they got too pushy.… Akeno shivered, hoping that someone really did try something. Punishing them would be the perfect cap to her night.

Harry danced with Yasaka after Kunou, then Sona of all people before handing her over to Loup, getting a furiously blushing glare from the girl as he did. Then he moved to the side, watching Asia and Kalawarner dance together. He also watched several other members of Sona's peerage dancing nearby. Mittelt, of all people, was also dancing away, all of her designs having proven to be a big hit.

While Harry was watching all this with a smile, Rias and Yasaka found themselves standing next to one another while Lily and Kunou argued with a few other kids about something from an anime that even Rias hadn't seen, it being aimed at a much younger audience. "How is it?" Yasaka said, leaning in and shouting into the other woman's ear.

"How is what?"

"Being with Harry," Yasaka elaborated.

"It's wonderful," Rias said honestly. "Going out with him has been a dream."

"And you would truly not be unhappy if I pressed my own suit? He seems amenable and said you were, but I wanted to make certain," Yasaka replied.

"I am all right with it," Rias said with a nod. "I've come to know and respect you through our discussions, and I know you share Harry's and my love of family."

"That is important for certain, but there is something else we need to talk about. Harry has mentioned how he wants us all to be equals to you as well, correct?" Rias nodded at that. "That means we must care for one another as well. Which means well…something like this," Yasaka said, smirking as she leaned in to kiss Rias on the lips briefly before pulling back.

Rias blushed, staring at her in shock for a few seconds and then around at the crowd, but no one seemed to have noticed. Turning back to Yasaka, she slowly nodded. "Um, we'll have to talk about that," she said, watching as Harry and Kunou danced again, saying something to one another as Kunou danced while standing on Harry's feet. "Um, I can't say I'm totally against it, but I've never, that is.…"

"Just think about it, Rias-han. After all, there might be a time when we're both sharing his bed, and it wouldn't do for him to be doing all the work," Yasaka said, her lips twisting into a vulpine grin.

Rias blushed again, then laughed, shaking her head and throwing her magnificent mane of red hair this way and that. "There is absolutely no chance of that, trust me."

Yasaka chuckled too, and then turned away as Kunou raced up to her to ask her a question.

Harry and Kala were dancing now through a slow song, talking quietly. They had, of course, talked about a lot of things over the past few months, their friendship becoming quite a lot firmer than their previous quasi-relationship had been. Kala could have pushed things now but knew it would be a bad idea. Akeno still had a few issues with her fallen heritage, and even attempting to replace her in their relationship would be a very bad idea for the larger group dynamic. There was also the fact that, despite not having an outlet for her lust, Kalawarner was actually happy with the way things were and was terrified of ruining it. She had found a place for herself here that didn't involve using her body or obeying orders. She had found redemption of a sort in teaching Asia what she knew about magic, cooking, and languages, and had found a home with her new friends. All of that allowed Kalawarner to push down her Lust, the sin which had caused her to fall losing its power over her.

After the dance was over, Harry let her go, and Kalawarner moved toward Momo, joining a line of limbo dancers, of all things. Harry watched her head off, wondering how that would go for a moment before turning away his eyes and finding Rias through the crowd. She had just finished speaking to the kids, and Harry moved in that direction only to be interrupted by Lily. "Daddy, can I sleep over with Kunou tonight?"

"Why would that be any different than the two of you sharing a room at home, Lily?" Harry asked quizzically.

Lily huffed, rolling her eyes as if Harry had questioned the most obvious thing in the world. "Silly Daddy! That's at home; this is here. It's that simple."

"I'll think about it, Lily," Harry said, looking up at Rias. "What do you think, Rias? Should we let Lily stay here rather than the hotel room? And Koneko and Asia, I presume?"

Lily nodded, missing entirely the double meaning in Harry's question and the look in his eyes as he looked at Rias. She felt herself flushing under that gaze but still nodding her head, pasting a thoughtful look on her face. "Well, she was quite good throughout the ceremony, so I think she has indeed earned a treat. Besides, we don't have anything planned tomorrow until after lunch, so Kunou can show everyone else around the forest if they want to."

As Lily cheered and waved Asia over to join them, Rias looked back at Harry and held out her hand. He took it and turned to bow towards Yasaka. "The party and, indeed, your hospitality have been amazing, but Rias and I wished to have a date night tonight, and we really should be going if we're going to meet the reservation I set up."

"You two have fun," Yasaka said with a wink. "I'll tell the others where you've gone." Then she frowned, looking over at Akeno, who was singing her fourth song in a row to a crowd of onlookers.

"Don't worry about Akeno's reaction," Rias said with a smile towards her friend. Akeno caught her eye through the crowd and waved, then turned back to start up another song. "She's actually quite happier single and able to tease and flirt to her heart's content." Although I do dread the questions she'll no doubt ask me later.

Nodding at that, Yasaka smiled and wished them well again before walking them to the door. Harry and Rias left the mansion and then walked sedately through the forest, lit up as it was with numerous Foxfire lights for them as they moved through it, exiting into the Youkai Association's area of the city and then out into the city proper. They kept talking quietly, simply basking in one another's presence. If Rias leaned against Harry a little too much, exhausted from her earlier magical exertion and the party afterwards, Harry didn't care, putting an arm around her shoulders as they continued on their way.

The restaurant Harry had chosen was a theme restaurant like the one they had gone to with Lily for their first date, but it wasn't an anime theme. Instead it was based on the swinging sixties, with music that harkened back to that age and a dance floor to one side of the actual sitting area. Rias laughed aloud as she entered, seeing that, and turned in Harry's arms to give him a kiss. Harry had chosen this restaurant before they knew about the after party they had just left, but he knew that Rias loved to dance. "Although, we are little overdressed, aren't we?"

"Bah!" Harry replied, waving that off. "Let the plebeians talk, my dear. It's pure envy. They could only dream of looking as good as you."

They were led to the table and promptly ordered a bottle of wine and some appetizers, Rias having worked up quite an appetite earlier. Then they settled in to talk, at first about Lily, Kunou, and the etiquette lessons Rias had forced the two girls to start taking from her. These weren't tough, but were kind of tedious. Yet Rias was adamant the girls learn how to move and act in high society, and Harry too.

Harry had been against it at first, it harkened back to the British Wizarding world and how he had always been an outsider there. There was also an aspect of himself that still wanted to be 'just Harry'. It was this kind of mindset he'd had in his first year at Hogwarts, the part of him that wanted to blend in and just be normal rather than extraordinary.

But Rias had, instead of simply getting angry or yelling at him for not trying, explained. She told Harry what Devil high society was like, how it could benefit his family, how it could harm them if ignored, and what doors it could open for Harry, Lily, and even Kunou. She had ended the argument, if it could be called that, by saying that the way Harry and his daughter acted would reflect on how they were treated by the real powers in the society he had joined by getting involved with her. That in the future they would no doubt be part of that high society, like it or not, and they had to know the ropes.

After the food arrived, however, the talk turned away from the kids to the future. Rias explained some of her plans for the future in terms of how she wanted to run the family, her plans for her peerage, and other things of that nature. Harry, in turn, explained how he wanted the future to go. How he would like to remain a teacher and get Lily and Asia through college while researching more about magic and mixing the three styles of magic he had learned. The defensive scheme's power and breadth of ability proved that combining the three disparate schools could produce some amazing results in larger workings.

As they began to finish the food, the talk turned to flirting. Harry worked his leg up Rias's inner leg under her skirt. Rias played with her hair and licked her lips every time she took a bite. The looks in their eyes slowly changed from joking and laughing to lustful and loving.

They were nearly finished eating and were wondering if they should try to finish the wine bottle when a British rock band called The Struts began to play. Harry grinned and stood up, holding out his hands to Rias. "Do you know this tune, Rias?"

"I think I do, yes!" Rias said with a laugh, allowing Harry to pull her onto the dance floor.

As they did, with Harry holding Rias close, to her utter astonishment Harry began to sing. "Your eyes follow like a spotlight, two eyes like the sun.…" Rias pulled back in surprise, but Harry didn't let her go. "Go ahead keep your distance from me, soon you're going to come."

Blushing, Rias giggled and began to sing back, having hard this song before. Her voice wasn't nearly as good as Akeno's, but it had its own rough, scratchy charm in Harry's opinion. "When you flick your hair like you don't care and you're asking where I'm from.…"

"That game that you're running baby, you've already won," Harry replied, dipping her and then twirling her out to the furthest extent of one arm, their hands clasping before he pulled her back. "I need to know, know, know what do you need, need, need? What do you like, like, like? Because I'm going to be it tonight!" Harry and Rias sang together.

They split off for a second, still facing one another as they danced, Rias swaying her hips magnetically as he simply moved his body from side to side rhythmically, concentrating on singing. Unlike this morning where Rias's spell had given him the voice of the singer from Flyers, his voice was his own, and it was all over the place. Despite that, the words were heartfelt as he stared into Rias's eyes, emerald on topaz. "You could be cool, you could be shy, say what you want, say what you like, 'Cause ooh, your body talks, your body talks. Ooh, ooh your body talks. You could pretend you don't want it now, but I read the signs from your head to your toes! Yeah you don't need to say a word 'cause Ooh, ooh your body talks!"

At the next line the female singer took over as did Rias, raising a hand to Harry's lips, touching them and pushing him back, the two moving step for step as Harry's hands fell to her waist. "Your lips are a conversation, that face is a song. If it's my imagination, stop me if I'm wrong. I need to know, know, know. What do you need, need, need? What do you like, like, like? Because I'm going to be it tonight!" she sang, the last word a promise as she found herself once more pulled against Harry as they twirled around.

They both sang the last chorus together, holding one another closer and closer as they twirled in place, their smiles becoming tender and loving even as their voices dropped to a whisper. "You could be cool, you could be shy. Say what you want, say what you like. 'Cause ooh, your body talks, your body talks. Ooh, ooh your body talks. You could pretend you don't want it now. But I read the signs from your head to your toes. Yeah you don't need to say a word, 'cause, ooh, ooh, your body talks!"

As the chorus repeated, Rias and Harry leaned together, kissing and making the rest of the world disappear for a few seconds until the song came to a close. As they parted, Harry whispered, "I love you, Rias."

"I love you too, Harry. Now…take me back to our hotel," Rias murmured, her heart in her eyes and the meaning of those words very, very clear.

{Lemon start}

Harry smiled that gentle, loving smile again and kissed her one last time before pulling her towards the exit, ignoring the cheering from a few onlookers. The two moved down the streets, stopping occasionally to kiss, their kisses becoming more and more ardent as they got to the hotel. They powerwalked side by side through the hotel's entrance area, laughing as they reached the elevator. They had to stop for a moment as a few other people got on with them, but the instant they all left, the two lovers were all over one another again, Rias's lips finding the pulse point on Harry's neck while Harry licked and nibbled at her ear, nearly causing her legs to collapse out from under her. The dinging of the elevator at their floor stopped them for a moment, though they paused twice more along the hall to kiss almost frantically.

Somehow they were able to get the door to Harry's room open, then Rias was leaning in, kissing him hard and pushing him back against the wall of the small entryway area, pressing her entire body against his. Harry groaned into her mouth, opening his mouth and thrusting his tongue out, meeting her own as it attempted to enter his mouth and kissing her hard as his arms went around her, his hands down to her rear and lifting her up. As her legs went around him, Harry moved them backwards until her back slammed hard enough to cause a thump against the wall of the small entryway. Harry ground against her and pushed away slightly to nip at her collarbone over the dress she wore, pulling the dress away slightly to get at the skin underneath and reveling in its silky smooth texture.

"This isn't quite the kind of setting I would've chosen," he said as he pulled back, one hand lifting from her rear to search for the dress's zipper under her hair. "But I suppose we could just teleport from here back home, couldn't we?"

"No, we'd have to head back to the mansion," Rias moaned, her hands falling from where they had gripped Harry's shoulders for a moment to thump against the wall, as Harry had found her left collarbone, one of her most sensitive spots. Then she growled, grabbing the back of Harry's head and pulling him away from her neck to glare down into his eyes. "Enough stalling, Harry Potter! Love me!"

"Rrrr, your wish is my command, milady," Harry growled in return, pulling her away from the wall and turning so that the two of them were facing deeper into the hotel room. With Rias still clinging to him with her legs and now peppering his face with kisses, he moved them over to the bed where he gently laid her down.

Harry then stood back, undoing the emerald stud around his neck, putting it in a pocket, and then pulling off his tuxedo and shirt. At the same time Rias reached behind herself and unzipped her dress, pulling it forward and off, revealing the fact that she had worn a skintight red bra underneath. Reaching down, she undid her skirt and kicked out of it, her breasts jiggling slightly, her hips and then her thin waist coming into view as her legs kicked in the air for a moment before sending the skirt flying to land on the TV and hang there.

When she pulled her bra off, Rias fully arrested Harry's attention for a moment as he simply gawked at her body and, in particular, at her breasts. Despite their size, they jiggled only slightly as she pulled off her bra, once more showing the inhuman amount of perkiness they had. Her large pink nipples were already hard, calling to Harry's mouth to suckle on them. Those breasts, which he had felt before, both skin to skin and through various types of clothing, still had the ability to stop all his higher brain functions. Harry might not have been obsessed, but he certainly had a fetish.

It was only with a shake of his head that Harry was able to stop himself from diving on her right then. Pulling off his pants, Harry threw them to the side and then slowly removed his underwear, standing for the first time entirely naked in front of Rias.

Now it was her turn to pause in the process of pulling off her panties, which had already been marked a little by her wetness. Rias took in his body from top to bottom, noting once more the number of muscles he showed, the thinness of his waist, and the six-pack, the sight bringing a smile to her lips. Then her eyes traveled further down to rest on the growing erection Harry was sporting, and she couldn't stop herself from licking her lips hungrily. Something inside her, the same thing that had been so affected by the earlier kissing, was ignited further by the sight of him so naked and ready for her.

Rias blinked, however, as Harry reached down and cupped his own crotch for a moment, his hand glowing blue as he cast a spell, the blue of the spell transferring itself into his privates causing him to shiver and his balls to glow a bright blue along with a thin band around the base of his penis. "What was that?" she asked quizzically.

"That was Caeruleum Sphaera spell. It kills the sperm within my balls and will continue to do so for forty-eight hours," Harry said wryly, still shivering. "It's not exactly pleasant, but it's the best birth control spell I know. Ginny asked me to learn it after Lily was born."

Rias blinked, then snorted. Her snort turned into a snicker and then full blown laughter. Rias threw her head back, smacking the bed to one side of her with a hand as the other propped her upper body up. "Blue Balls? The spell is called Blue Balls?! I wonder what came first, there, the spell or the phrase!?"

Rolling his eyes, Harry sat next to her, but when she didn't seem able to stop laughing, he decided to add to it and began to tickle her. Rias twitched away, then growled and tackled him backwards onto the bed. "You of all people shouldn't try to start a tickle contest!"

Sitting on his thighs she began to tickle him, only to find herself rolled to the side as Harry wrapped his arms around her. She then found herself pulled up into a kiss which took her breath away and reignited her excitement. She found her lower lips, slick with her juices, rubbing hard against Harry's shaft. But the feel of that and the feel of her bare breasts pressing into Harry's hard chest reminded Rias of something she had wanted to try before they moved on to the end game. She slowly pulled away from Harry even as he sat up, following her, moving them both to the side of the bed until he was sitting on the side with Rias in his lap, Then she pulled away further, shifting downwards.

The feel of her hard nipples rubbing against his muscles caused her to gasp, her mouth open as she stopped, just rubbing them there for a second before pushing Harry's hands away when he attempted to pull her back up into a kiss. Instead she resumed her journey backwards and down until she knelt on the ground between his legs, looking up at him. Reaching forward, her hand grabbed his shaft, slowly working up and down its length while staring at it in marvel.

Harry's cock was at least seven and a half inches, maybe a little more—Rias having no idea how to measure such things—but it was thick. Very thick. Thicker than any of the toys she had seen in Akeno's room the few times she'd been in there; perhaps a few centimeters smaller in diameter than a water bottle. Rias could get her hand around it, but with a little difficulty. His head was a little larger and slightly more purplish in hue, filled with blood as it was right now. The shaft pulsed with blood, a few veins standing out on it starkly.

"You don't have to do that, you know," Harry said, understanding what she intended.

"Why ever wouldn't I?" Rias asked. "After all.…" She paused, moving forward and actually licking at the underside of his cock for a moment. "How *lick* can I know if I *lick* like doing something if I *lick* don't try it first?" she mumbled, her tongue moving up and down the shaft, finding the scent of it a bit intoxicating.

Harry shrugged, keeping his eyes from rolling back with difficulty. It had been a very long time, after all, since he'd had anything more than the handjob Rias and Akeno had given him during the incident with the plugsuits. Even later that very night he hadn't been able to get off again before the kids had returned, though he had gotten Akeno off again.

"I tried to get Ginny interested in it, but while she loved me going down on her, she didn't really enjoy the reverse. She'd have to cast a spell on me to make me taste better, she said, even after I changed my diet and found a spell to do just that. She just was very rarely interested in doing it on her own initiative."

"Well, I am not Ginny," Rias said tartly, glaring up at him and gripping his shaft just a bit too hard, her devil strength helping her there. "And I'll thank you for not comparing me to someone who'd cheat on her husband and was all right with not having a good relationship with her daughter again, Harry Potter!"

"Duly noted!" Harry said, holding up his free hand in peace before lowering it to gently move it through Rias's hair, playing with her hair and then her ears for a moment before kneading her skull in such a way that she began to moan. "I just wanted to make certain that you were doing this of your own volition rather than trying to impress me or something."

Rias shook her head, not saying that Yasaka had mentioned specifically how she had flirted with Harry about this very topic during their conversation earlier that evening. She hadn't told Rias what Harry had replied with, though, which was rather telling, Rias thought. But that was for later, as was the fact that Harry kept himself a little too tightly in control at times.

Returning to the task at hand, Rias slowly licked up and down Harry's shaft for a moment, getting used to the taste, which was somewhat meaty, almost heady, but not unpleasant at all, sending a tingle down her body. Then Rias moved her mouth up to the top of his shaft, her mouth opening fully as she engulfed his cock's head. Her tongue licked at it as best she could, swallowing some of his pre-cum, and found the taste all right. Not fantastic, but certainly all right. It felt like a bit of thick cream to her, which was okay too. Concentrating, Rias moved forward, taking more of his cock into her mouth, but found she could only get barely two inches past the head before she began to choke.

Harry released her head at once, and Rias pulled back, looking up at her man and shaking her head. "That wasn't you, that was me. I suppose this kind of thing takes practice."

"I suppose so," Harry said, a growl in his tone and some of his teeth showing. "But since the only practice you'll ever get is with me, I'm fine with that."

Rias laughed, licking at his head again even as she pushed his legs a little further apart and moved up further into his lap. "Was that a proposal, Harry?"

"No, Rias, that was a promise," Harry said softly, his hand tugging lightly at her hair, arresting her movement and forcing her to stare up into his eyes so she could see the sincerity there. "I told you I love you, and unless you fall out of love with me, to my mind that means this: between us, it's forever."

She nodded wordless agreement, small tears of joy appearing at her eyes for a moment as Harry went on. "But when I propose to you, I will endeavor to make it as romantic as possible." He then smirked perhaps the sexiest smirk she had ever seen on him. "Not when you're kneeling between my legs, trying to take my cock into your mouth."

Rias shivered at that, blushing hotly, but she found she actually liked the dirty talk and resolve to reply in like kind as she moved further up until his cock was slapping against her chest. Capturing his cock between her breasts, Rias smirked up at Harry, moving her breasts up and down. "You compared me to Ginny earlier, but could she do this? Could that shrew who left you and Lily do this to your cock!?" she asked, trying out more dirty talk and once more finding she liked saying it as much as she liked hearing it.

Harry shuddered then shook his head. The feel of Rias's breasts was simply amazing. They were like slightly firm marshmallows or soft pillows of silk, but warm and undulating and altogether amazing. Even so, Harry kept control of his tongue and replied as best he could. "No, she definitely didn't have your chest. Then again, I don't think I could name five women who do! Your breasts are as magnificent as the rest of you, after all."

"Oooh, that was nice, Harry," she cooed. "Both dirty and romantic at the same time!"

Harry, however, refused to just be a passive lover. He sat up, hunching forward so that he didn't have to use a hand to prop his upper body up, and reached down, grabbing at Rias's breasts and playing with her nipples as she continued to work them up and down his shaft, staring down into her eyes all the while. "And what about you? Do you like this?"

"It's different," Rias said, moaning and throwing her head back as Harry tweaked her nipple. He kissed her on the lips before pulling back. "But I could get to like it, I think. After all, while I might have had a vibrator, I certainly never did this with it!"

"Again, the only practice you'll ever get with me, so I'm fine with that," Harry said with a laugh. He leaned down to kiss her again before pulling back, concentrating on the motion of his hands on her breasts, not messing with her rhythm, simply playing with them as much as possible.

For a moment there were no further words spoken. The sound of Rias's breasts up and down Harry's shaft—a "shlick, shlick" noise—resounded through the hotel room, further arousing both of them as Rias's body responded to the pheromones Harry was giving off now. Her panties were almost drenched by this point, her juices dripping through them. But she didn't look away from Harry's eyes as she continued to work his shaft.

How long she kept at it, she didn't know, but it was actually starting to hurt a little. Thankfully Harry eventually began to feel it seriously. "Rias, I'm close," he said, his voice a cross between a growl and a moan.

With that Rias plunged down, breaking eye contact for a moment as she wrapped her lips around his head. She ignored the faint pain from the friction between her breasts and moved her breasts even more forcefully up and down Harry's cock, her eyes rolling back slightly to look back up at him.

That sight was so amazingly dirty and beyond anything he'd felt before with anyone, Harry couldn't stop himself from coming even faster than he'd thought. Throwing his head back, Harry's hands left her breasts to touch his shaft right below her lips, pushing his fingers between her breasts and her mouth to do it. His fingers glowed briefly, but then before Rias could ask, Harry came.

Rias gasped, then moaned in shock and lust as Harry came into her mouth, spurt after large, thick spurt of cum filling her mouth. She eventually had to move away, unable to swallow as he continued to come, covering her face. Rias swallowed, then grimaced, blinking and shaking her head. "Oranges?!" she asked incredulously as Harry gently reached down to her face, wiping away his cum.

"That was the spell I just cast. After all, it would be kind of rude after you went to all that work to reward you with something nasty tasting," Harry said with a chuckle and a relieved sigh.

Rias laughed and moved up his body kissing his stomach and then his pecs as she went, only to find herself grabbed from around the middle and twisted until she was flung down onto the bed. As Rias giggled and bounced slightly on the bed, Harry moved down her body, kissing her jaw and then her neck and collarbone, reveling in the taste, the texture, the pulse of her body under his touch. "My turn," he whispered throatily.

Kissing further down, he lavished attention on her sternum followed by the top of her breasts, his hands kneading and fondling, first her breasts, then her sides, before he wound his way downwards, torturing her with how slowly he was moving as Rias's fingers wound through his hair, anticipation adding to her already intense arousal.

When Harry finally clamped down on her nipple, Rias gasped, her fingers clawing into his head while he licked and suckled. But he didn't stop there. After lavishing loving attention on both her nipples, Harry pulled away from her grip easily and moved downwards again, kissing her taut stomach, licking, nipping, even leaving a hickey there before moving down again until he was face to face with her panties.

Red like her bra, they were now stained with her juices, and Harry slowly peeled them off, lifting her legs up into the air to do it. When he threw her panties away, they landed somewhere near the entryway with a noticeably damp plopping sound, which caused her to blush in embarrassment.

"Don't," Harry intoned, kissing up her leg from the heel. "You've nothing to be ashamed of, believe me." Kissing both legs and then her thighs, Harry gently parted them to look directly at the treasure between them.

Rias's pussy was marked by a closely trimmed thatch of red hair, slightly darker than the hair on her head and much finer. Her cleft, glistening now, was marked by tiny, engorged lips to either side of her open, nearly pulsing slit. At the top of her pussy was a small, glistening nub of flesh, which Harry let his nail gently touch, causing Rias to buck up off the bed. Smiling at that, he leaned in, licking and kissing.

"AHHH! Harry, oh Maou, oh, right there, Haarrry!" Rias moaned. She wanted to say something sexy to continue their dirty talk from earlier, but the sensations she was feeling were just too much.

Even as Rias bucked and twitched, Harry held her down by gripping her thighs, grinning as he continued to work. First he rubbed his fingers up either side, touching her pussy's lips lightly, then he ran his tongue down the center of her cleft—not penetrating, simply tasting—then around and up. Another lick on her clit caused Rias to cry out. Then Harry plunged a single finger into her followed by his tongue.

He alternated between finger and tongue for a few moments while his other hand held Rias down, then pulled his finger out, getting a breathy, "No!" from Rias, only to start using his Parseltongue ability. His tongue began to vibrate as he sang the song from earlier, stabbing his tongue deep into Rias's pussy at the end of every word.

That pushed Rias over the edge with a vengeance. "AHHHHHHH!" Rias screamed as she came, her juices spurting out from her pussy, a sight Harry had never even read about before, covering his face and even some of his chest before soaking the sheets of the bed under them.

As Rias's legs let go of their grip around his head, Harry pulled back and turned, moving to the edge of the bed in order to get up and find a dishcloth. Rias's juices were tasty, but he figured she wouldn't like the taste and opted to wipe them off.

But before he could do more than sit on the side of the bed, Rias twisted around and crawled into his lap, kissing Harry hard on the lips as she ground her pussy, now drenched from her orgasm, against his cock, which had never gone down from his earlier state of arousal. Rias looked him in the eyes as she moved up his shaft, balancing herself there for a moment with her legs, trembling though they still were from aftershocks.

Then, with their eyes still, Rias leaned down and kissed him again before lowering her body down onto his shaft. She grimaced, but forced her body down entirely, squealing a little into Harry's mouth at the pain. Harry quickly pulled back in surprise, his hands quickly moving to hold her still as he said, "I thought you said you had played with a toy?"

"I did!" Rias said through gritted teeth, whittling away the pain. "But, well…that blood is supposed to be important, if you see what I mean."

"To whoever marries you? Proof that you are unsullied?" Harry said in disgust. "Dammit, your people and mine, so backwards at times!"

"Exactly," Rias muttered, then giggled. "You know, I was so into this and loving every moment of it that that aspect didn't even cross my mind until right now. Even if I somehow am unable to force Riser into a Rating Game or a duel, I doubt he would be interested in marrying a woman who was dirtied by another man.

"Luckily, I'm not going to have to count on that," she said, her giggle becoming a dark sort of chuckle before she became serious, leaning her forehead against Harry's. "No, this had nothing to do with politics, nothing to do with the future or even my family. This is about us, a sign that I want to spend my future with you, Harry Potter! Now and forever, lover, like you said."

"Now and forever," Harry repeated, then added, "my love," before leaning forward and kissing her hard, his hands moving up and down her back, one hand eventually moving down to rest on her rear, squeezing. He held her still like that, kissing the living daylights out of her as she slowly got used to his girth inside of her and the pain subsided. When she slowly nodded while still kissing him, Harry released his grip on her rear, and she began to move up and down, slowly at first, then with more vigor.

Harry let her control the movements for a few moments, then raised his hips as she lowered hers, causing her to moan aloud. "Oh Maou! That felt good! More!"

"As the lady wishes!" Harry said with a laugh, leaning down to take a nipple into his mouth and nibbling at it gently. His other arm went around her waist, moving her even harder against him as his hips began to piston up and down, thrusting his cock into her.

The sensations were too new, too overwhelming, and Rias couldn't handle it for long, throwing her head back and literally screaming as she came again, her juices bursting out of her once more in a geyser, soaking Harry's lower body and the sheets underneath them.

As she clamped down on his shaft, Harry grunted, holding off his own orgasm with difficulty. But Rias seemed to take this as a personal insult, and her movements became even harder, now grinding her hips from side to side and around in a circular motion as best she could, forcing Harry to come a few moments later.

With the Blue Balls spell in place, Harry had no reason to pull out, and he slammed up into her one last time before he came, causing Rias to come again at the feel of the hot liquid bursting within her. She could actually feel his cock moving with each spurt, each jet hitting her deeper, filling her to bursting.

"Bloody cheeky minx!" he rumbled, his hips still lifting up and down slowly.

Rias laughed throatily, then yelped as Harry twisted them around until she was laying down, Harry's cock still within her as he propped himself up above her, looking down. Rias's face was sweaty, her hair plastered to her face to the side of her face, her neck, and her forehead. Her breasts were glistening with sweat and heaved under him, calling to his hands, and he did not deny them, playing with them with one hand gently as he slowly moved within her, some of their mixed juices leaking out with every move.

"Gah,…" Harry moaned. "Fuck, you're so tight, and wet, and soo…good.… Bloody hell, that's the only word to describe it."

Rias moaned too, raising her hips and grinning wickedly up at him. Despite her sweaty appearance, she wasn't tired at all and wanted to revel in this sensation as much as she could. "You're not done, are you, Harry?" In response he growled and thrust harder into her, his hand moving to tweak her nipple. "Mmm, I didn't think so," she said, laughing at him even as she moaned the words. "Come on, Harry; give it to me!"

They stayed in that position for a while. Harry worked his hips against hers, generally letting her rest her body despite her attitude, exchanging tender kisses and heated lip-locks occasionally. Then, sensing Rias had recovered, Harry grabbed one of her legs, pulling back from the kiss and looping her leg over one shoulder, twisting her body as he began to hammer into Rias even harder.

Rias began to moan with every word out of her mouth, gripping his arm with one hand and the bed with the other, her nails digging in slightly, but, thankfully, they weren't sharpened, else they would've had some explaining to do or repair spells to use at some point. She came again in that position, her body quaking and shaking and her breasts heaving to and fro.

Harry let her rest for a few minutes, but then, when Rias had recovered sufficiently, she moved to take charge again. Pulling Harry down into a kiss, she locked her hips around his waist and rolled them both to the side until she was on top of him. Pushing herself upright, Rias moaned his name, easily one of the sexiest sounds Harry had ever heard as she began to move her hips. "Oh, Haaaaarrryyyy, so good.…" With that she started to bounce up and down on his waist, doing most of the work now and letting Harry concentrate on her breasts and nipples, in particular, as the night continued.

One thing Rias was not was a passive lover, and the two of them exchanged positions several times with both of them coming several times as well, until finally Rias began to lose energy. Harry, however, was still good to go, his shaft having shown no sign of diminishing despite having come deep inside Rias several times.

This was why Rias found herself back lying down on the bed, her legs splayed to either side as Harry gripped her waist, doing all the work now as Rias simply had no more energy. She simply moaned aloud, "Fuck, Haaarry! Oh Maou, yes!"

Finally it seemed that Harry had had enough as he came inside her one last time. Pulling out and rolling to the side, his cum and her juices began to drip out of her like someone had removed a spigot.

Rolling to the side slightly, Rias moved until she was half on Harry and leaned up, kissing him once on the cheek before nuzzling into his shoulder. "That was amazing! And thank you for using that Blue Balls spell," she said with a tired giggle. "I don't know any anti-pregnancy spells like that. Getting devils pregnant is very, very hard even for other devils, but after a night like this, heh. I don't want to be pregnant just yet, Harry."

Harry nodded, one eyebrow rising in unspoken query.

"After high school," she replied to that unasked question.

"Really, Rias?" Harry asked, blinking in surprise. "What about college? Wouldn't a child interfere with that?"

Rias shook her head. "While Akeno and the others are free to go on to college if they want to, I don't think that's in the cards for me. I plan to be head of my family, and learning how to do that will be a full-time job. I will take a few courses online—estate management and such like—but I'm already quite excellent at manipulating money, as you well know."

Harry chuckled at that. He had checked his bank account balance last night and had found that all of the investments Rias had made had shown a profit or would be showing a profit this quarter.

"No," she said, smiling and looking down somewhat in awe for a moment as she noticed that Harry's cock had already begun to rise again. "No, in the future my family will be my life, its business my business, and our children my delight."

"Mine too," Harry said with a smile. "Though I thought you wanted to be a teacher at one point?"

"Yes, I do love being around kids. Maybe when our own are older I'll go back to school for that," Rias with a nod. Then winked. "Though I bet I could pull off the schoolmarm look now. Glasses, a sharp business suit, and a nice tight skirt. What do you think about that one?"

"I think, you minx, that you obviously haven't had enough yet," Harry said with a chuckle, leaning down. As he kissed her, Harry twisted them around until Rias was on her back once more under Harry, and he was between her legs. She laughed and linked her arms around his neck. "Just love me, Harry Potter, now and forever!"

{End Lemon}

End Chapter

Woot. Just… woot. I didn't anticipate that this chapter would be so long, And I honestly am a little annoyed by it. But there were so many little and large things I wanted to do here, it the length just crept up on me. I suppose I could have ended it after Akeno and Harry broke up, but that felt too negative even with how Akeno took it.

I had been really torn about what to do with Akeno from the get go. I like her as a character, but she is not really someone that Harry would be interested in as she is at this point. I think I pushed her character growth along, but even so there were some fundamental issues that could not be solved. On top of that, like Rias has said, what normal 19 year old would be thinking about settling down, be willing to share time with a child, or multiple children in this case, in her boyfriend's life? And of course there was also the whole sharing with another woman thing, which I think in this fic is much more in keeping with Rias's personality than Akeno's. In Seven sins terminology, Rias is drawn to lust, pride and greed, plus a bit of envy Akeno to lust, some envy, a whole lot of wrath and a healthy dose of jealousy.