A/N: Well this chapter contains a lemon, and I will warn you that Hermione gets some action - and yes, she is eleven. If you don't like it then don't read; if I get flames for this then I'm going to be pissed. Otherwise, enjoy!

Harry was almost bouncing off the walls with impatience, and everybody in the Slytherin dorms was picking up on it… and steering well clear. He'd been full of energy since the beginning of the day, and the final classes had suffered… unfortunate incidents that closely resembled pranks. Everybody knew it was Harry, but they just couldn't prove it. He was even restless when he taught his Occlumency class the night before, and Flitwick had offered to take over the lesson around half-way through because of it.

What nobody save Tonks and Hermione knew was that his anticipation was because it was the end of the school week, and he could easily disappear during the weekend claiming solitude as an excuse. Hogwarts was more than happy to assist in deceiving the Headmaster and any inquisitive professors. As soon as the students started trickling out of the Common Room to head to bed, casting sidelong glances at Harry as they did so, he moved. Darting into his room he quickly grabbed the invisibility cloak Dumbledore had sent him at Christmas, minus compulsion charms that led to the Mirror of Erised, dropped the glamour, and then disappeared after telling Hogwarts that Operation Roscape was A-Go.

The name was Tonks' idea, and Harry wasn't completely sure she was sober at the time.

He weaved silently around those left in the Common Room and escaped into the dungeon corridor, and then made his way to the One-Eyed-Witch passage. He bumped into an empty piece of air half-way there and had heard a muttered curse, quickly identifying the owner as Tonks. He'd ordered an invisibility cloak for her and Hermione on Monday for this specific purpose, and the invisibility charms would only last another twenty four hours; the maximum amount of time such cloaks could retain the charms. Of course as his cloak was the cloak of invisibility he didn't have to worry about such things.

They only had to wait for a minute before Hermione showed up, and Harry led them quickly into the secret passage. As soon as the entrance closed behind them everybody uncovered themselves and Harry smiled at his two girlfriends as he walked. "Any trouble?"

Hermione rolled her eyes, "Michael Corner was trying to get me to 'study' with him, and I had to escape to my dorm. He even tried to follow me, and Flitwick showed up to tell him off when the alarms went off."

Tonks rolled her eyes, "Idiot."

Harry laughed and took their hands as they walked the last few meters to the edge of the wards. As soon as they cleared he apparated them away, and they popped into existence just shy of the Fidelius. He immediately pulled them over the threshold to prevent any similar portkey incidents as Rose's, and breathed a sigh of relief as he walked towards the front door. Apparation and portkeys were completely locked down after Rose's kidnapping. As soon as they entered they made their way to the master bedroom, and opened it to find Elise raising her wand. She looked over her shoulder and smiled when she saw who it was, and lowered her arm. "Harry, Tonks, Hermione, I was just about to change over the bandages."

The three all moved over to Rose's undamaged side so that they were in sight of her uncovered eye, and Harry immediately formed a link to her mind before smiling warmly. "I missed you too love. I wouldn't miss this for the world." Her eye twinkled and he nodded with a small chuckle before leaning down and kissing her tenderly on the part of her lips that didn't have bandages across it. "I love you too." Tonks and Hermione both kissed her in greeting once Harry had pulled away, and Harry smiled joyously. "Rose says that she can safely say she loves you too – not in love, but she still loves you."

Tonks looked deeply touched, and smiled before reaching down and stroking Rose's cheek, while Hermione sniffled with emotion. "I love you too Rose," Tonks murmured as she kissed her lips once more, and Hermione popped up a moment later after a small sniff to clear her nose.

"Me too."

A tear escaped Rose's eye and Hermione leaned down hesitantly, blushing, and kissed it away before beginning to resemble a tomato blush-wise. Elise, Tonks, and Harry chuckled, and the latter pulled Hermione back into an embrace from behind as the former raised her wand once more. Slowly the bandages unwrapped, and Harry could see Rose looking at him instead of the mirror above her. When the salve was wiped away a beaming grin spread across his face, and he knew that both of his girlfriends to his front and right were grinning too. "You look fantastic Rose," he assured her verbally, "just fantastic." The relief was visible in her eyes, and she looked upwards finally to take in her own appearance. "Now that the swelling's gone and the scar tissue is forming… Rose, you're still a knock-out, just as I swore."

Elise ran several diagnostics before smiling at the group. "I think we can release the paralysis to a degree," she said after a moment, "though only slightly. I don't want any of these wounds to re-open so I'll slow down movement to a crawl and allow one centimeter's freedom. I can release your left arm fully however, just as long as you don't stretch it too much because that could pull on your recovering chest wounds."

Rose managed to look indignant without even moving and Harry laughed as he shook his head. "You'll be able to talk again, love, so stop looking so hacked off." Her chest gave a huff and Harry shook his head with a smile before nodding to Elise. She waved her wand in a complex pattern, clearly designed so that her patients' friends or family couldn't sneakily remove the ward, and Rose turned her head a fraction before her lips curved slightly upwards and parted. "I love you Harry."

Hearing her actual voice for the first time in two weeks was almost overwhelming, and he didn't bother hiding the tears that escaped her eyes as he leaned down and gently hugged her; applying only the slightest pressure to her damaged flesh. "I love you too Rose, very much." He pulled away before kissing her softly, and smiled as she slowly poked her tongue through his lips to taste him again. He pulled away after a moment and smiled before making way for both Tonks and Hermione, and they both smiled at Rose when she said, "I love both of you as well."

Both girls' smiles widened as they leaned down and kissed her simultaneously, and Harry's eyes widened as he watched the three-way kiss occur. He felt himself get a little bit tight in the downstairs department and shifted slightly, much to Rose's amusement as Tonks and Hermione pulled away. Her speech was slow, because of the induced lethargy of her movements, but clearly got the point across. "Look like Harry liked that as much as we did."

Hermione eeped when she saw the slight bulge in Harry's pants before blushing hard and looking away, while Tonks grinned appreciatively. "Well I'm glad we could give him a show," she said sultrily, eliciting a groan from Harry, a nervous laugh from Hermione, and a giggle from Rose. Elise reapplied the bandages as the four talked, and cast several charms on Rose's lips and eye to make sure they kept hydrated as she left them both uncovered.

She bade them all goodbye, and Harry threw her a bag of galleons with a wink as she left. She merely chuckled and nodded her thanks; not even bothering to argue about the amount. She knew that Harry was a stubborn bastard and wouldn't give in. Hell, if she argued he'd just give her more to piss her off. "I told you it would get better," Harry teased his lover, and Rose rolled her eyes with a small chuckle.

"Yes you did, now stop gloating."

Harry buffed his fingernails against his robes and got a slap on the shoulder from a giggling Hermione for his trouble. Seeing his girlfriend laughing once more; happy once more… it was as if the weight of the world had been lifted from his shoulders. Harry was simply content to watch Rose, Hermione, and Tonks interact, and did so for almost three hours before breaking himself away underneath the guise of making dinner. When he arrived in the kitchen he simply cried in relief for several minutes until the tears stopped coming. Sirius came down when he was half-way through making the soup, and greeted him happily, as did Marlene when she arrived several minutes later. They admitted that they'd managed to sit in on Rose's tutors' lessons and learn more about Dark magic, and Harry was more than happy to hear it. Anybody who associated with him needed to know how to handle themselves.

It was just after Harry had spoon-fed Rose the soup he'd made that he found himself completely shocked at a suggestion she made. As Tonks and Hermione got comfortable with Harry on the bed, as that's where they'd all slept during the Christmas holidays, Rose turned her head a fraction and stared at them. "Nym, do you want to make love to Harry?"

Tonks could take quite a fair bit of teasing before she blushed, due in part to her metamorph abilities, but this question had both her hair and face turning bright red. Harry and Hermione were moving their mouths with nothing coming out, and the latter was joining Tonks in the red-face department. Tonks eventually managed a strangled, "What?" and Rose chuckled before looking her dead in the eye.

"I said, Nym, do you want to make love to our boyfriend?" Tonks blushed deeper, but wasn't as flustered this time around. Harry looked down at her as he finally managed to close his mouth, and saw her peek shyly up at him before giving a nod. Harry was actually shocked, but after a moment realized that he shouldn't be. She'd known him for around a month, and she trusted him with her life as well as her heart. "Then make love to him."

Tonks, Hermione, and Harry's heads all snapped to look at the levitated Rose in shock, and found her smiling slightly at them. "Wh-now?"

"Harry, do you love Tonks?"

"Well, yeah bu-"

"Tonks, do you love Harry?"

"…Of course."

"And do you both love me?"

They both nodded, understanding where she was going, and Tonks turned her head upwards to Harry; want clear in her eyes. "Hermione love, come over here and sit down." Hermione moved off the bed and sat down beside Rose, and looked blushingly at the couple still on the bed. She watched, riveted, as Tonks reached up and cupped Harry's cheek before pulling him down into a languid kiss.

"A-are you sure it's okay for us to watch?" Hermione asked weakly, and Rose chuckled slightly before nodding.

"We all love each other, perhaps not in love yet, but we will be soon if we continue on as we are, and I can't see why we wouldn't. One day we'll likely all make love together. I know you're young… but I think you're mature enough to see this. If you don't think you are then feel free to leave – none of us want to make you uncomfortable… but you might want to change into something… looser."

A/N: Lemon Alert! Also, if you didn't read the note at the top, Hermione gets some action. If you don't like that, then skip to the next A/N!

Hermione jerked her head back to the bed when she heard Tonks moan, and blushed right back to the roots of her hair when she saw Harry's hand underneath the teen's shirt and gently moving against her breast. "W-why looser?"

Rose raised an eyebrow and a small smirk crossed her lips. "Because I know that this is going to get you and me very, very hot and bothered." Hermione blushed deeply, but jerked her head back around to the bed when she heard Tonks give a breathy sigh. She couldn't help but stare at Tonks' ample breasts as Harry suckled on one nipple while gently tweaking the other, and her breathing shallowed as she stared; her blush spreading down into her own cleavage, however undeveloped. She nodded slowly and pulled off her robes before taking off her shirt, and Rose took in a sharp breath as her entire top half was bared naked before her. Harry and Tonks turned their heads towards the noise and found a topless Hermione staring almost dazedly at them.

Harry groaned at the sight of one of his best friends' naked torso, and Tonks licked her lips before slamming them into Harry's with renewed vigor. Tonks groaned into her lover's mouth as he reached down and pressed firmly against her pelvis, and her hips jerked upwards automatically in a desperate bid to gain more pleasure. He felt her grinding and smirked into her kiss, but only for a moment before he groaned as she dug her hand underneath the waistband of his pants and gripped him in her sinfully soft and delicate fingers. She gasped when she felt him begin to harden, and he ground his palm into her once more – getting a long, drawn out moan in return. With his free hand he banished his top and Tonks immediately exploited his finely muscled chest; running her left hand all over it and breaking away from his lips to lean down and bite into his shoulder as she gasped with pleasure.

Rose gently reached out to Hermione and touched her shoulder, and she jerked as she snapped her head towards the touch; her eyes wide and her breathing sharp and shallow. Rose smiled kindly at her and motioned her closer before reaching out and brushing her hand over the rock-hard nubs standing proudly out on the small bumps of her developing breasts. Hermione gasped and closed her eyes at the sensation, and Rose smiled softly to herself as she gently traced lines over the bare skin before occasionally running over her nipples and tweaking them lightly; always eliciting a jerking motion accompanied by a sharp breath of awe.

"'Mione love," Rose managed, a slight whine in her voice, "please?" Hermione cracked open her eyes, fighting against the pleasure. When she saw the blush on Rose's face she cocked her head in confusion, but then the words finally registered and she gasped with equal parts embarrassment at forgetting and what her, well, girlfriend she supposed, was asking her to do. She hesitantly reached towards the knot of Rose's hospital gown, and after receiving an encouraging nod in return pulled on it. It fell away to reveal her breasts and Hermione gasped as she tentatively touched and caressed her uncovered one. She'd never seen a fully grown woman's breasts so close, even when seeing her bandages get changed during the Christmas break, and the way the flesh gave way and was so easily molded by her hands was incredible to her.

Rose mewed softly at her young lover's touch, and Harry cracked an eye open once more to see what was happening; tearing his lips away from Tonks' when he saw his two girlfriends touching each other's breasts. Nymphadora looked over to see why Harry had stopped lavishing her with attention, and instantly understood why. She pulled her wand and banished the last of their clothes as she felt her core almost melt with heat, and then jerked his hand to her dripping center as she stroked his cock. Harry groaned at the sudden contact and looked half-liddedly at the young metamorph, who instantly kissed him the moment his head turned.

All thoughts, for the time being, of Hermione and Rose were blasted out of his head when she suddenly pushed his hand aside, slid hers lower to grasp him at the base, and then shuffled up before sinking herself down onto him. Both moaned in amazement as pleasure burst through their bodies; Harry having his cock squeezed by her hot, slick heat, and Tonks as she was filled up and stretched in ways she'd never been before. She'd broken her hymen when she fell down the stairs a few years earlier, so losing her virginity didn't hurt at all; all that was left was a feeling of fullness and completion, and when her ass finally came to rest against his thighs she opened her eyes and looked at him with warm eyes actually shining with unshed tears. "I love you Harry, I really do."

He smiled at her before leaning in to give a kiss, and then broke away before resting his forehead against hers; smiling at her as he stroked her cheek. "I love you too Nym, don't ever think I don't, okay?"

She nodded and wiped at her eyes, and both turned simultaneously to look at their other two loves. Harry was shocked at just how far they had gone; how far Hermione had agreed to go. Hermione had entered the levitation field and was positioned above Rose; knees either side of her head as the injured woman lapped at her, making her moan and shudder every lick. Her arm was outstretched and four of her fingers were buried as far as they could go inside Rose's pussy. Both were completely naked, apart from Rose's bandages, but Hermione was clearly, despite the pleasure clouding her mind, making sure she put no pressure at all on her injuries.

The sight was incredible, and Harry could see both Rose and Hermione shooting him and Tonks glances filled with passion and lust. When he heard Rose whisper, "Look at them 'Mione, look at how Tonks is completely impaled on his cock; one day you're going to have that inside of you too; filled with Harry," he lost it, and so did Tonks. She raised herself upwards until he was almost completely out of her tight channel, and she mewled at the loss before whimpering deliriously when she let the strength in her legs go and skewered herself once more on his length. Harry gasped when, just for a fleeting moment, he felt the head of his cock rub against her cervix, and Tonks tensed up and let out a long moan before hurriedly lifting herself up and repeating the action.

Harry knew he wouldn't last long and mentally started recalling the Table of Elements to calm himself enough to last until she came as well. Tonks bounced frantically on his cock; moaning and groping at her own breasts; pinching her hard nipples almost violently as her breathing came faster and faster until she was almost hyperventilating. He could feel her walls tightening in on him; trying to milk his seed out of him, and groaned as her insides became even hotter; swathing his cock in pleasure he had only ever felt with Rose. She suddenly slowed, easing down on his cock before rising once more, and stared down at him almost desperately. "Inside, please Harry?"

She didn't wait for an answer before slamming down on him and screaming as her entire body went taught and her back arched; her breasts pushed upwards at the ceiling as her insides spasmed around him. The pleasure was so great he couldn't stand it; he could feel the intense heat rushing through him, and bucked up against her before roaring and grabbing her ass; squeezing as he came deep inside of her; the head of his cock pressed up against her cervix; his come blasting right into her womb, and his aura completely releasing itself in his moment of abandon. She shuddered as her scream petered off, and slowly looked down at him; her eyes glassy and filled with amazement and awe. "I-I can feel it coming inside of me i-it's so hot!"

He merely grunted in return as he slowly relaxed and stopped releasing his seed inside of her, and she collapsed on top of him; his cock slowly softening inside of her and their combined juices leaking out of her. Harry lazily turned his head to the side as he wrapped his lover in his embrace and smiled softly when he saw Hermione cuddled up to Rose's uninjured side gently pressing kisses to her exposed collarbone while Rose smiled softly; her eyes closed as she ran her fingers through Hermione's hair.

A/N: Lemon End!

"If my parents knew I did this," everybody heard Hermione mutter, "you'd all be dead and I'd be grounded for life." Rose chuckled while Harry and Tonks outright laughed. Hermione pouted, "I'm serious!" The slight mewing sounds she was emitting as Rose stroked her hair deviated from the whole 'serious' image, but she continued on despite the obvious amusement of her lovers. "I mean… why am I so calm about all this even? I should be freaking out, bad! I've just had a mind-blowing orgasm that I've only read about in Mum's romance books, given to me by a woman nine years my senior licking me who also happens to be my girlfriend… while watching the man I've come to love make love with my other girlfriend… and I feel fine… I feel wonderful."

She was genuinely confused at the state of affairs and Harry smiled softly to her as his aura swathed them all – without any fear on their parts. "Well that book you read about what's accepted in the wizarding world likely changed a lot of your views on what's acceptable and what's not, and then there's the fact that I put polygamy to you pretty snappish so you've had time to think about it. My promise that penetration won't happen until your fourth year likely eased your mind and allowed you to relax knowing that… and you know how I feel about you, Rose, and Nym after the week we spent here at Christmas. You saw Rose naked during that time when we changed her bandages, and I think seeing that so many times made you comfortable."

"But still…" she argued, and everybody smiled at her, "Just two months ago I was an authority-loving, naive, friendless little girl… how can I have changed so much? A lifetime of habits broken so fast?"

"Magic," Harry quipped, and Hermione shot him a mock glare much to his amusement as he shrugged. "Well it's true. Magic can do amazing things and who knows; perhaps our magic likes each other and helps you accept the situation? I don't know, but you have changed, and I believe for the better." Harry suddenly remembered something and looked across at his half-aware-half-dozing lover with a grin. "I am, but the way, one of the men that likes small breasts."

She looked confused for a second before laughing slightly and moving more of her body onto his and snuggling to him. "Although that sounded kinda corny Harry, thanks. I like your chest too if it's any consolation."

Harry just chuckled.

For the remainder of the weekend the four just relaxed and got comfortable with the new level of intimacy they all shared. Tonks was by far the least inhibited between Hermione and herself, and while Hermione asked for more time to think and sort out just what she wanted Nym was more than happy to make love with Rose and Harry. Hermione, likewise, watched at points as she blushed furiously, but didn't bare herself again like she had the first time. Harry, Rose, and Tonks all reassured her that they understood that she just got caught up in the moment when she'd seen Harry and Nym making love, and told her that they would in no way hold it against her if she wanted to wait to become comfortable again with joining them.

Unfortunately the weekend had to end sooner or later, and Hermione and Tonks gave Rose and Harry a moment together alone; they both understood that Harry hadn't fallen for them yet, and nor had Rose. Harry walked over to his girlfriend and smiled softly as he took the seat by her side before gently maneuvering her so that her head was in his lap. She smiled up at him and he stroked her almost bare scalp; her hair still unable to grow back until the scar tissue had established itself completely. "Are you sure you're gonna be okay?"

She gave a small chuckle and nodded, "I'll be fine Harry-bear." He twisted his face at the pet-name and Rose laughed, "Okay, no Harry-bear in the future. I've got to have some name for you… Haribo?"

He stared at her, deadpan. "That's a brand of muggle sweet, love. You knew that too, so don't even try looking surprised." Her cheeky grin was all he needed as an answer; she hadn't intended on hiding it. "Let's just stick to love, okay angel?"

She laughed again and shook her head minutely. "There's so many names for women that sound cute… but you're not cute."

"No," he agreed before pulling up his bicep and flexing it with a haughty look on his face, "I'm a ruggedly handsome stud."

"Harry?" He looked down at her with a grin and saw her struggling not to laugh, "Never say that to a woman you're trying to pick up."

His expression softened and he shrugged. "No problem; I've picked up all the women I'll ever need or want."

Her expression changed to match his and her arm came up to stroke his cheek as she smiled warmly up at him. "That's sweet."

He leaned down and kissed her lips gently, careful to not apply too much pressure to the still-healing skin on the right. "Just comes out when I'm with you or the girls."

"And…"

"And I'm absolutely vulgar and undignified around anybody else," he replied without pause, and she grinned – even if it came across as only a small smile because of the movement restriction spell she was under.

"Aren't you an angel?"

"No, but you are," he shot back cheekily, and she rolled her eyes with another chuckle.

"You'd best leave now before I start calling you snookie-wookums or foofie poops."

Harry's face twisted all over again, "You start calling me that and we're having a trial separation."

"Okay Pookie Bookie Boo Bear."

He stared at her, emotionless for a moment before standing up. "I am leaving right now before you come up with something even more appalling than that. That's just plain cringe-worthy."

She laughed musically before reaching up, and he grinned before leaning down and capturing her lips one last time. "Love you Rose, and you're just as beautiful as always… if anything those scars are going to be like a… a feature wall."

She raised her visible eyebrow, and a small, amused smile quirked the edge of her lips. "…A feature wall?"

He shrugged helplessly as he stood up again and tried to come up with how to explain it. "I… I think it'll make you look kinda ethereal. I mean the scars are going to be pretty thin, and they'll peter our and become fainter as they merge into the healthy skin… so it'll look quite amazing I think."

She stared up at him, surprised at his explanation, and he hurriedly raised his hands and waved them when he misinterpreted her expression. "Not that I think what you went through is in any way a good thing, but I'm just trying to say that your scars aren't going to make you look any less beautiful… just different."

Rose thought about it a bit more and then smiled slightly. "I know… and I've never… thank you. I mean, as Elise told you, I was always a bit… concerned I was too plain to be with you."

He grinned and shrugged, "We're a matching pair now. You've got scars, I've got scars… now we just need to bring 'Mione and Nym into the scar-hood."

She laughed and shook her head, forcing a mock angry look onto her face, "Now look here Mister Potter, you are not to go and try get those two some scars!"

He laughed, "Love, trouble seems to find me, not the other way around."

She knew that from the stories he'd told her, and just lately Nym and Hermione, about his past life, and some of this life too. "Be careful love," she said with a smile, and he smiled back with a nod.

"I will. Heal fast."

"I will," she returned with a smile, and with one last peck Harry walked out the door to join Tonks and Hermione. "Now," he said as he stood in front of them, "I've been apparating because it's easier and I can do it without help, and also to get both of you accustomed to it, but with Hermes we can flame to Hogwarts, and out."

Hermione gasped with remembrance, "Your phoenix!"

He laughed and nodded, "Right. I like to leave him alone as much as I can because he has a life as well, in fact he goes around magical creature colonies for me and communicates with them; builds up trust so that when war hits Britain we're prepared and have allies. Of course the creatures I'm talking about are generally considered Dark; demons, Nundu, basilisks, vampires, veela, Acromantula, lethifolds, chimera, that kind of thing."

"But… aren't phoenixes light creatures?"

Harry nodded, and then held up his hand before calling with his magic. With a flash of black flames Hermes appeared in all his glory; his wings spread regally outwards and his beak pointing up towards the ceiling. "He's a show off, excuse the arrogant arse." Hermes turned to him and cuffed him over the head with his wing for that comment before salvaging what little dignity it still had and turning back to Tonks and Hermione, both of whom were staring at it in awe. "Hermes," Harry continued with a small mock-glare at the egotistical bird, "didn't suddenly show up and ask to bond to me like I told you."

"Well then… how did you bond?" Hermione was clearly confused, as was Tonks if her frown was anything to go by, and Harry smiled.

"We were bonded the very moment Hermes came into existence, however I still can't explain just why on Earth he's such a cheeky little shit to me." He earned himself another cuff over the head for that, and Hermes' icy blue eyes glared at him as he ruffled his feathers. He turned back to his two girlfriends to see what they thought of that, and was highly amused when he saw them both just as confused, if not more so, than they had been before. "Hermione, or Tonks, what is a phoenix?"

Hermione chewed cutely on her lip, and Harry had to resist the urge to lean down and kiss her for it. "A legendary Arabian bird said to periodically burn itself to death and emerge from the ashes as a new phoenix; according to most versions only one phoenix lived at a time and it renewed itself every 500 years."

Harry laughed and shook his head with a grin, "A textbook-perfect explanation. I didn't expect anything less. Information on phoenixes is notoriously hard to come by however; they are elusive to the point of being a one-in-a-lifetime thing, and many people go their whole lives without seeing one in the flesh as the case may be. Phoenixes, however, are actually physical manifestations of magic; concentrated magic that many cannot even fathom. I suppose you could say they are sentient creatures made up of and created by pure magic."

"Well then how are they created?"

Harry smiled and nodded to Hermes, and the bird nodded back before disappearing in a wave of black flames that, although they touched Harry, didn't seem to even faze him. "A good question and one that is surprisingly easy to answer… albeit somewhat unbelievable."

"God?"

Harry laughed and shook his head in answer to Hermione's shocked question. "No, nothing so transcending. They are created by magicals; humans." Both Tonks and Hermione gaped at him, and he laughed even harder. "The look on your faces!"

Hermione developed a small tick on her right eyebrow at being laughed at, but finally managed to calm herself enough to ask the question in the forefront of her mind. "So Dumbledore-"

"Oh no, no," Harry assured her, "most definitely not. Fawkes was created by Godric Gryffindor."

"But… why couldn't Dumbledore have created Fawkes?"

Harry sighed and conjured three chairs before motioning for them to sit after sitting himself. "Dumbledore isn't dark, and he isn't light. If he was light then he wouldn't have sealed my parents' wills which expressly stated that I was not to be placed with the Dursleys, and then put me there. If he was dark then I'd likely be under the imperius right now so that I'd become the martyr he wants be to eventually be."

Hermione opened her mouth in shock, "M-Martyr? But that means-"

"He expects me to die? Yes. I had, please note the 'had', a horcrux in my head; a piece of Voldemort's soul." The expected horrified expressions met his eyes and he grinned before holding up his hands, "I said 'had'. It didn't follow me back into this timeline, in fact I absorbed it in the previous one and gained its knowledge – but that's neither here nor there. What I'm trying to say is that Dumbledore couldn't create a phoenix because he's not aligned strongly enough. One needs to be either Dark or Light to have the ability to create a phoenix, and even then it's hard to do. It took me three weeks to create Hermes; three weeks of constant meditation to gather my aura in such a concentration that it could birth such a being. It left me weakened for months as my magic and aura rebuilt. It's why Hermes is a Dark phoenix; he was created from my aura and magic."

Hermione was almost rabid as she stared at him with wide eyes. "That's incredible!"

"One day I might be able to teach you how to do it," he said off-handedly, and Hermione froze before a gleeful expression burst over her face.

Tonks slapped a hand onto her forehead and shook her head as she glared at Harry. "You know what you've done?" Harry looked confused, but his confusion only lasted ten seconds whereupon he was set upon by an ecstatic, knowledge-seeking young woman. As he apparated them back to Hogwarts she continued the question she'd been avidly asking as if the trip hadn't happened; as he talked with Neville who had agreed to keep lookout and run interference as they were gone she was muttering under her breath; as Harry trained Tonks, Neville, and herself in the Dark Arts her duels, and indeed all of his, were smattered with questions about the sentience of magic and, upon his saying no, it wasn't sentient, speculations and theories about transfiguration of energy into consciousness.

Harry had inadvertently created a monster. Rose thought it was hilarious the next weekend, as he was visiting alone, more of an excuse to get away from the tunnel-visioned girl. "You should've seen that coming," she grinned up at him as he applied the healing salve over her slowly forming scars, "I mean you may have broken her from becoming a horrid person, or one that takes everything authority says as truth, but she'll always be a knowledge seeker."

He stared deadpan down at her and his finger halted mid-motion. "A small reminder would have been helpful, love."

She smirked; the tight, new skin on her right side wrinkling as it slowly got used to movement. "You're an international businessman." It didn't take a genius to get what Rose was insinuating: her silent 'Mr. Smarty Pants' went very much heeded by her lover, much to his pouting as he reached up and poked her nose.

She giggled and Elise walked in, smiling at the scene. Rose's scars had finally established themselves as tissue, though she still kept the compression charms over the right side of her body to keep the wounds pressed together so they wouldn't split open again. It would be another several weeks before they would be removed. Apart from that small fact, Rose was looking far better than she had done the previous weekend. The redness had all but disappeared; the lacerations had begun forming tenuous connections over-top as scar tissue begun forming; the swelling had gone almost completely down, and Harry had made sure that he had told her just how great she looked.

Although she was happy with his words, and believed that he believed them, she knew that the public would be far less accepting. Scarring was all but nonexistent in the wizarding world, quite simply because virtually all injuries could be healed completely with time. She loved that Harry still thought her beautiful and sexy, and that Hermione and Tonks had told her as much as well. The looks in their eyes of genuine attraction and appreciation went a long ways into convincing her of their sincerity, but she knew they were the minority. She was a muggleborn, which was bad enough in British wizarding society, but to be disfigured on top of that? She would be scorned and looked down upon, teased and laughed at, and the knowledge that she only had a small group of people that would still treat and see her as she had been before was a depressing thought.

Harry had been trying to track down just who had hurt Rose, but whoever had done it had covered their tracks very well. Without the magical footprint of the portkey there was virtually nothing Harry could do saves tell members of The Syndicate, his underground group, to listen out for any rumors. Indeed it was one of several reasons Harry hadn't reported the attack to the DMLE. He trusted Amelia Bones, as much as he could a ministerial worker, but if it was an attack from an influential person it could do more harm than good. He was almost certain it was an influential person due to the thoroughness and sophistication of the kidnapping.

He sighed as he finished slathering the last of the salve onto Rose's recovering skin and then cast the appropriate charm to get the bandages to do what they were supposed to, all the while under the watchful eye of Elise. He'd not taken to healing as a topic of study in the previous timeline, but after seeing Rose attacked so brutally, hurt so gravely, he had vowed to never be so helpless to his loved ones again, and Elise had gladly taken him on as a student.

She left after a few minute's critiquing his work as well as giving some pointers, and Harry carefully maneuvered Rose onto the bed before setting up several wards that would allow her to spoon to his back and yet stay safe from any violent movements he made in his sleep. She smiled as she slowly got comfortable; still very tentative in her movements due to the tenderness of her recovering injuries. As her good cheek finally came to rest against the back of his shoulder she sighed. "What am I going to do?"

Harry turned his head a fraction in the darkness, a frown marring his brow. "What are you going to do?" he parroted back in confusion, and she nodded slightly.

"What am I going to do with my life now?" she clarified, "I mean I can't work at Madam Malkin's anymore."

"Why on Earth not?"

She sighed again; however business-savvy her boyfriend was, he was still woefully ignorant of many hard truths. "She would take me back on as an assistant as quickly as you could say 'Merlin', but I couldn't do that to her. The way I look would disgust customers—and don't you try and tell me otherwise," she cut in, feeling his body draw in a breath to begin disagreeing. "I love that you love me, still, but others won't. I'm lucky I have a boyfriend and two girlfriends that love me, and Mistress Erin wouldn't care if my entire face was burned off… but the rest of the world isn't so nice. You know it, deep down, and so do I. I'm not going to hurt the woman who helped me survive after my parents died, so what am I going to do?"

Harry sunk into thought. He felt guilty for not thinking of this issue sooner, but it was also in part due to him wanting to believe that the rest of the world would accept Rose again. It was wishful thinking, now that he truly thought about it. It reminded him once more why he was doing what he was doing; one day he wanted not just Rose to be able to walk down the street and be treated normally, but werewolves, goblins, centaurs; all manner of creatures too. He would not settle for anything less than complete equality being accepted by the majority. "Welllllll…" he drawled out thoughtfully, "there's a lot of things you could do. I mean, you're training to be Potion's Mistress, which is huge, and now that you've decided not to work you've got more time to work on that among other things. You could help out with The Syndicate; work with Marlene down at the Shelter; travel; study; take some correspondence courses at muggle universities… whatever you want to do Rose, I'll do my utmost to make it happen."

He felt her kiss the skin of his shoulder, and then a smile press itself against it. "Thank you."

"No need, it's what lovers do."

Her smile widened and she shuffled minutely to get more contact against him. "I think I'll talk to Marlene tomorrow and ask if she needs some potions brewed. Do you think Mistress Erin would mind continuing with the current schedule?"

"She adores you," Harry fired back with a smile in his voice, "I don't think she's ever had this much fun before when it comes to teaching. We can talk to her tomorrow and discuss what we want to do, okay?"

"Okay," she replied sleepily, and then kissed his skin once more before leaning firmly again him and closing her eyes. "Goodnight love."

Harry smiled in the darkness, his eyes casting a very faint green glow on the pillow beneath his head before he too closed his eyes. "Sweet dreams Angel."