AN: This is not an update, it's the same chapter as before. However I need some help. I'm looking for a WOMAN to write several lemon scenes for this story. I hate to get everyone's hopes up thinking this is another chapter but this is the best way I can think of to get this message out. So any of you women out there who want to give writing a lemon scene a shot contact me. On a good note the next chapter is over half typed and should be finished soon. Those WOMEN, and please women only apply, who want to give it a shot, let me know ASAP. Cheers, Steve
Previously:
With that, Harry and his group headed to lunch. Draco was too shocked to even think of striking back. His whole world had just fallen apart, and he only had himself to blame. Not the he could see it that way. It was all Potter's fault and he would pay. Oh yes he would pay.
The group, now consisting of just the teens, McGonagall, and Sirius retired to the newly married couples quarters to relax and get to know each other better. They knew each other as Professor and student and citizen but not any more than that. Their conversation was interrupted by two flashes of light and flame as Dumbledore's Phoenix Fawkes, and an unknown Phoenix with the same colors flamed in. The pair of Phoenixes had some passengers as each had a snowy owl as a passenger.
"Hedwig!" Shouted Harry happily. "I've been worried about you, I haven't seen you since before we left for the World Cup." Hedwig's replies of barks and wuffs had Harry's eyebrows climbing skyward. As Harry turned to the other snowy owl and started speaking, the rest of the group fell over in shock and laughter. "You are a handsome looking fellow and Hed say's you are alright. However I don't think anyone is good enough for my Hedwig and if you hurt her in anyway your cat food, got it?" Hedwig glided over and landed on Harry's shoulder and then cuffed him upside the head with one wing before nuzzling his cheek with her head.
Still gasping with laughter Fleur asked the question that no one else was able to ask as they were still laughing too much. "Harry what are you talking about?"
"Oh Hedwig told me that this was her mate." He replied. "And I was just letting him know I was going to be keeping an eye on him."
Everyone's laughter stopped at that, as Sirius asked the next question. "Pup are saying you understood Hedwig?'
Harry's eyes went wide as he slowly answered. "I've always been able to get a feel of what Hedwig was implying, but just now I actually understood her like she was speaking English."
Fawkes started trilling softly and Harry's head snapped around to stare at the colorful bird. As the trilling continued Harry's face went from shocked, to upset. The scowl on his face deepened as he quickly glanced to the other Phoenix. His face continued to contort until he was soon sporting a look of murderous rage and suddenly magic was so thick in the air that the others felt that they could swim in it. Fawkes singing had no effect on Harry, but suddenly the other Phoenix started singing. The beautiful song calmed Harry as a sense of peace filled the room.
The effect on the others in the room was nothing short of amazing. Though Sirius had seen a Healer in France and had undergone a long treatment of potions and even a couple of healing rituals, the effects of 12 years in Azkaban were easy to see. Now, before everyone's eye's , the effects just faded away. The premature grey in his hair seemed to bleed away as his now black, wavy hair seemed to almost breathe, as health and vitality seemed to come back into it. The gauntness in his face and the muscle tone he had lost also faded away. His face filled out and his muscles re-gained the strength that they had held before he was imprisoned. The most startling effect however was in his eyes. Those grey eyes had shown the effects of 12 years with dementors more than the rest of his body combined. The haunted look in them always there to see for anyone who cared to look. Now however that look was replaced with the sparkle that was there in his youth. That happiness and sparkle could be seen even with the look of awe that was currently on his face.
Luna, Hermione, and Fleur were all effected in a similar way. All three of them carried the pain of a lonely childhood as scars upon their very soul. The days spent alone watching as other children laughed and played together. The nights filled with tears, wondering why they were different, why they couldn't have just one person to laugh and play with. Those scars were erased as the young women realized they would never be alone again.
The songs effect on Neville was minor, yet profound. A block on the young man's magic was broken. Although Neville had been hiding his abilities, there were still something's he had problems with. The block that was broken was holding back about 25% of his potential. If that wasn't bad enough, it also caused problems with his memory and learning ability. Before he had to work long and hard to learn thing's, from this point onward he would see a marked difference in the time he had to spend on learning and perfecting new spell's. The biggest thing, to him at least, was his memory of the night his parents were "attacked". He knew he had been there as his grandmother had told him so. However, since he was so young he had never remembered any of it. Now, however, he had a very clear memory of his parents fighting four people that he knew from the records to be the Lestranges and Barty Crouch Jr. His parents were both fighting well and holding their own, when suddenly they both just dropped their wands and started screaming while clutching at their heads. Their opponents were all momentarily stunned and just stared as the two Aurors fell to their knee's screaming. The Death Eaters stunned his parents and bound them, probably for later interrogation, when Bellatrix LeStrange seemed to shake herself and just stop. Neville's last memory of that night was of one of the LeStrange brothers cursing up a storm before he cast the Imperious curse at Bellatrix.
While Sirius's changes were probably the most profound, Professor McGonagall's were probably the most noticeable. Her hair, long streaked with gray, turned back to the brown it must have held in her youth. Even in the tight bun she always wore the fullness and vitality were easy to see. On her hands and face the lines and wrinkles of age and time just melted away, giving the witch who was only in her late 60's, but had looked closer to 80, a look that any 40 year old woman would kill for..
Harry was too busy listening to Fawkes to even notice the changes in his friends, or himself for that matter. He would later discover that the scars from a lifetime of abuse were gone. As was what little remained of the scar on his forehead. The one that marked him as the Boy-Who-Lived., a title he hated almost as much as he hated Dumbledore at this point. The lingering effects from long term malnutrition were washed away in the beautiful song of the unknown Phoenix. The song's final gift, and it was a gift, was to perfect the occulmency shields he had been working on all summer. His mind was now protected by the Phoenix Song itself. Nothing and no-one not pure of heart would be able to penetrate his mind. Boggarts would get nothing from him and dementors would actually feel pain from his presence.
As the unknown phoenix's song softened and came to an end the others came back to themselves with a feeling of contentment and peace. Seeing the profound changes in Sirius and McGonagall, plus feeling the changes deep within themselves led to everyone but Harry being speechless.
As Fawkes and Harry finished their talk, Fawkes laughingly told Harry that he would probably need a bucket of ice water to rouse his friends. Looking to his still stunned friends, Harry thought about it, then demurred. Padfoot and Neville were one thing, but a professor who was a Master of Transfiguration, a half Veela, the brightest witch of her age, and a relatively unknown female made a group of people he thought it would be wiser not to anger. Not to mention that two of the aforementioned were his wives and he enjoyed their nocturnal activities far too much to endanger THAT!
After finally getting everyone's attention, Harry began the explanations, while idly wondering why it seemed he was constantly explaining things lately. "What we have all just experienced is called the Phoenix's Blessing." He began. "The Phoenix's Blessing can have many different effects depending on the people involved. Firella, who is Fawkes mate, performed the blessing for reasons I'll explain later. As for the effects, most of you already know of the physical effects which you can see. All of us will have better mental clarity and much better memory recall. All of our magic will be stronger as well." At this Harry had to pause as everyone started jabbering.
Neville finally got tired of all the commotion and bellowed "QUIET!" After which a pin drop would have been loud. "Sorry everyone," he continued in a more normal tone, "but as Harry is the only one who can explain this, I'd like to hear what else he has to say. So please continue Harry."
Harry smiled and nodded to Neville as he picked up from where he was interrupted. "Your magic itself is not stronger. It is more that it is better aligned is the best way that I can explain it. This also means that it will seem like you have more magic as you will be able to cast more spells before becoming tired. In actuality the alignment of your magic just means that you will use it more efficiently, making it seem like you are stronger. However as a result of this all of us will need new wands." At this point Harry paused as if to gather his thoughts. However everyone noticed that he was turning very red in the face and was for some reason looking very embarrassed. Turning to Fawkes he said, "Do I have to tell them this?"
Fawkes trilled laughingly, while Hedwig again nuzzled Harry's cheek from her perch on his shoulder. Firella trilled a calming tune that seemed to make Harry relax, but also caused him to sigh in defeat.
"Lord Potter whatever it is" stated McGonagall "it cannot be bad coming from a phoenix."
"It's not bad per se" said Harry "just hard for me to explain." Here he sighed again and decided to start from a different angle. "OK the younger of us will notice a marked change in our mental maturity. Come to think of it so may Padfoot." The glare Sirius shot him actually made telling them this easier. "As you may have noticed" Harry continued "the eldest of us are looking younger." Sirius and McGonagall both looked confused at this so Harry conjured two full length mirrors, one in front of each of them. While McGonagall and Sirius were looking at themselves in shock, Hermione was looking at Harry in shock.
"Harry" Hermione sputtered "you just conjured those mirrors without a wand and without a sound!" Her shock and awe was obvious to everyone.
"We'll have to work on that later, all of us." Harry said. "The aligning of our magic may allow us to do some wandless magic. Merlin could do quite a bit, but most of his magic was done with chants and using his staff."
"Bloody Hell!" McGonagall's shout brought them all back to the discussion at hand. "You said you could explain this Lord Potter?" It was hard to decipher the inflection in her voice. Sadness, longing, hope, fear, and pain all warred to express themselves in her voice.
"Yes Professor" Harry said "I'll try my best. You and Sirius will both continue to de-age, while the rest of us will seem to rapidly age over the next month. You see the Phoenix's Blessing is very powerful. Phoenix tears heal physical wounds yes. However they are produce due to sadness and pain. The Blessing is produced out of love and hope. It heals things that are not always visible. However something's that it does heal are very, very visible. Fawkes and Firella know something's that need to happen and they also need our help with something. The help they need required us to have undergone the Blessing. I will explain what they need shortly. I need to finish the rest of this part before I lose my nerve."
Everyone nodded their understanding that yes, there was something else discuss, but yes this part of the explanation needed to come first. "You are correct Lord Potter, please continue." Said McGonagall.
"OK basically all of us will either age or de-age, as the case may be, until we reach our physical, magical," here Harry paused blushing so badly the rest were afraid he would catch fire "and sexual peak."
The silence that came from that statement was so profound it was actually loud. "Um, Harry did I hear you correctly?" Asked Sirius. "Did you just say we would be at our sexual peak? You do remember the side effects from me being exposed to the dementors for so long?"
"Yes Padfoot, I do remember." Harry stated with a smile. "The Phoenix's Blessing can actually cure that. Meaning you are no longer going to be sterile, you will be able to have children."
The look of shock on Sirius's face made it plain he had no idea what to think of that. He had long ago come to terms that the closest he would ever come to being a father was being Harry's godfather. While not the same it was the best he could ever hope for. Now it seemed he was given another chance at not just being a godfather, but possibly one day a father as well.
"Lord Potter, what is the reason for this?" Asked McGonagall.
"For the next month the women will not be able to get pregnant, nor will the men be able to get anyone pregnant. Since phoenix magic is the magic of life, the magic will use our ability to reproduce for the next month as a means to maximize our bodies and our magic." Harry replied.
Harry paused here to allow everyone to process what he had just told them. For several minutes he just closed his eyes and relaxed. Allowing the jabbering of his closest friends, family, and confidantes to wash over him, soothing his rather frazzled nerves. His day had started rather abruptly and hadn't slowed down since. He hadn't told them the rest; about his sister, and wasn't looking forward to finishing that conversation, no matter how much he longed to have his family together. It took all his willpower not to jump up in shock when he overheard Sirius and McGonagall.
"Minerva, I don't know how to say this so I'm just going to blurt it out. I would be honored if you would join me for a private dinner this evening." The anxiety in Sirius' voice was obvious to anyone who was listening. Which luckily for them was only Harry.
Minerva was shocked. Not only because Sirius was being, well Sirius. But because she was actually considering it. Before the age difference would have stopped her cold. The age difference really wasn't that much considering the age that magical lived to. However as she had taught him in class, it made things different. Not to mention that she KNEW she looked much older than she actually was. While she was only in her mid fifties she looked much closer to 80, well at least she did until a few moments ago. She knew back when she first started teaching that several of her students had crushes on her. But for some reason she seemed to age much faster than others of the same age, and as time went on she had resigned herself to being alone. Now however Sirius wasn't a student and she was apparently going to be young again. For once in her life she decided she was going to go with her feelings. As she was coming to this decision she noticed that Sirius shoulders had started to slump.
"Sirius," Minerva hurried to say "I believe I would be more than happy to have dinner with you."
The smile that graced Sirius' face lit up the room and actually caused all the other conversations to come to an end. Sirius and Minerva started looking extremely embarrassed so Harry decided to save them and continued with his explanation.
"All of our lives will be greatly expanded." Harry continued, drawing everyone's attention back to himself. "From the time we reach our maximized state we will live another 200 – 250 years, baring accidents. Most common illnesses and diseases will have no effect on us. Any injuries we do receive will heal much faster. That is about it for the major effects. There will still be some minor effects that will differ from person to person."
Everyone just sat there quietly, contemplating the changes they had undergone and those yet to come.
Hermione then asked the question that the youngest members of the group were all thinking. "Harry, how are we going to continue school when we all look way too old to be here?"
"It may be best," McGonagall started "if all of you withdrew from normal classes and hired private tutors. Lady Black is already of age and will graduate this year. Lord Potter has stated that he has all the memories of his ancestors. Can I assume this means their magical knowledge?"
"Yes." Said Harry. "I have their knowledge of magic, but I still have to learn how to cast the spells. I know the incantations and wand movements but that doesn't mean I can just throw the spells out there. Not to mention I need to learn how to fight. All the magical knowledge in the world is useless if you don't know when and how to use it."
This last statement caused everyone to stop and think for a moment before they realized he was right. Knowledge is great but if you don't know how to use it, and even more importantly, when to use it; well you wouldn't last very long in the real world, much less a fight to the death.
"You are very correct Lord Potter, and that is something that has not been taught here at Hogwarts for many years." Stated McGonagall, she then continued from where she had stopped before. "Lady Potter and Miss Lovegood are both at the top of their respective classes; and as a matter of fact if it wasn't for the fact that the school charter does not allow for it both of you when have been offered the chance to move ahead a year or even two. The only one I'm not sure about is Lord Longbottom. The subterfuge that you and your family have maintained protected you yes, but it leaves me at a loss on how to gauge your skills and knowledge."
Neville smiled at his stern Headmistress, actually with the de-aging she had gone through, she didn't look that stern anymore. And was she holding Harry's godfathers hand? "Professor while I doubt I'm anywhere near Hermione or Luna's level, I'm sure I'll be able to hold my own. So I not only agree with this idea, I think it is the only way to go. Not to mention that since Luna and I are soon to be wed, I have no desire to spend hours a day in class away from her. I would much rather hire tutors and have our classes together."
The smile that Luna gave him, made Neville vow to himself to do anything in his power to see her smile like that again. His new goal in life was to make Luna smile at him like that as often as possible.
"Very well then." Said McGonagall with a smile. "With one on one tuition I believe you will all easily outpace your current classmates. You will then be able to take your OWL's and NEWT's as soon as you feel you are ready. And if you are wondering the reason the school charter does not allow for anyone to skip ahead a year is because the student would still be underage when graduating. However since all of you will be either of age or emancipated due to marriage this rule does not apply to you."
The group discussed the idea back and forth for far too long in Harry's opinion. He knew it was something he was going to have to get used to as one of his wives was VERY obsessive that way. And while it had probably saved his life more than once, and probably would again, it was still as annoying as hell sometimes. He as startled from his musings by a soft touch on his arm as Fleur got his attention. She was nodding towards McGonagall, who had just begun speaking.
"Lord Potter" She started.
"Please Professor, it's Harry, Hermione and Fleur." Harry said. "No more of this Lord and Lady stuff. As we are no longer going to be students and it looks as if we are going to be allies in many things, please let us drop the formality." Harry's words were almost pleading by the end, and those that knew him best were smiling. As they knew that he had always longed to be just Harry.
"Very well Harry, I would also ask that you call me Minerva." She replied with a smile. A smile that showed just why Sirius was interested in her after all these years.
"That may be difficult Minerva." You could see Harry almost rolling the name around on his tongue as he spoke. "I've had three years of calling you nothing but Professor." His cheeky smile caused everyone to chuckle.
Later, when she had time to think about it, Hermione would wonder why she said what she did. But at the time it seemed like such a simple thing. "But Harry, you don't seem to have a problem calling the Headmaster, Albus."
Harry's reply shocked everyone, and not just because of the language he used. "Albus fucking Dumbledore doesn't deserve any fucking respect."
The shouts of "Harry language!" came from several different directions, with Hermione's being the loudest.
"Not this time Hermione." Harry replied with venom. "That fucking monster, no monster is too good for him. That lying, manipulative bastard is a god damn blight on every witch and wizard in the world. Every day he draws a breath is one day too fucking long. And if I have anything to say about it today will be the last day he draws a breath. If I have to hold a fucking pillow over his fucking mouth to do it!" Harry was screaming at the top of his lungs at this point. His hair and robes were whipping around him furiously as if he were standing in the middle of a hurricane.
"Wow pup, calm down before you hurt someone who doesn't deserve it." Sirius' words were half joking, but had the desired effect as Harry simply dropped back into his seat. It wasn't until a few seconds later that everyone noticed that he was sobbing into his hands and that the feeling of magic waiting to be unleashed was still thick in the air.
"OK Harry, please tell us what you know." Luna's soft voice seemed to be what Harry needed to pull himself somewhat back together. If any of the Ravenclaw's could see her now, they wouldn't even recognize Luna, her focused look of concern, along with the changes in her body due to the Phoenix's Blessing, was nothing like the dreamy mask she had always shown the world.
"I'm about to give you a crash course in phoenix's and what that black hearted bastard we call the leader of the light has done to them." Harry said with a snarl. "And let me tell you now, if he is the leader of the light then I'm going to be the next Dark Fucking Lord! I will never follow anyone like him!" Harry's reply didn't shock any of them as they had all figured out that the Manipulative Old Bastard wasn't as lily white as they had thought. None of them were aware of just how dark he was though.
AN: Well this took forever and a year to get out, well six months anyway. This chapter just didn't want to be written. Then someone had a great idea I tried to add and I couldn't get it to work so I had to tear it all apart and start over. Couple that with only being able to type a little at a time before the pain makes me stop and you can see kind of why this took a while. This chapter was supposed to be a bit longer but this seemed like a good stopping point to at least get something posted. Also sometime in the next couple of days, hopefully, I will be putting up a story that isn't a story but more of a storage place for scenes or bunnies that need to get out of my head so I can work on other things. I'm sorry this chapter doesn't have much action in it but the next one, which is hand written btw it just needs to be typed, has a little more action and a little humor. Until then Cheers! Steve
As always if you could let me know if you like it, hate it, or just don't care it would be appreciated.