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Hogwarts Shuffle! Chapter Ten
09/07 - Saturday (First weekend of term)
Things had settled into a pattern by midweek, Gabby had thankfully learned to sleep in her own room most nights though she still got up in the early hours and crawled into bed with Harry after having a bad dream. Harry knew what that was like and as long as he was aware of her being there and why, he let it slide. Even Ginny seemed to understand that once he'd explained it to her.
Classes were a blur but nothing really worth commenting about, to the Hogwarts veterans it was business as usual, minus the normal tension of someone or something trying to kill Harry. In the mornings Ginny would wake Harry (and Gabby) with a smile as she set out his clothes for the day, at meals she would always seem to beat him to fixing his plate with all his favorites. Sia and Rina had a bad habit of feeding him off their plates as well which always seemed to make Ginny jealous, but it was only for a split second and she had learned to mask it well with smiles.
The male population of the school, while still obsessed with Harry's girls, had learned their lesson for the most part about fanatical behavior. Harry had only had to hex two Ravenclaws when he found them cornering Ginny on the way to the Great Hall for dinner. Ginny let it be well known that she could take care of herself but secretly she greatly enjoyed him playing the white knight for her.
There had been one instance where it was actually Rina who came to Harry's rescue on their way to the potions classroom. Though her response to something Harry would rather have ignored was...troubling.
"Potter! Who do you think you are, hoarding all the best looking girls to yourself?" A Slytherin seventh year had accosted him. He had backup in the form of two more sixth years, but Harry would have talked his way out or, if need be, cursed his way out and settled things on his own.
The problem was that he was walking with Nerine, Sia had a detention with Snape so they were on their way to pick her up. While the man was finally teaching his preferred subject, Defense Against the Dark Arts, he was still a potions master and kept a lab in the dungeons for his use. Sia had been talking in class and was assigned to scrub out some of his messier experiment failures.
"Guys, you should know by now I didn't seek this out, and honestly I don't see what they see in me either. But it's their choice and I back them even if I don't know what I'm going to do yet." Harry said, trying to diffuse the situation.
"Harry..." Rina said quietly, "I don't like what they are saying."
"Listen here Potter, you may be big stuff with the Headmaster but we don't buy into your bull. What makes you so special that you get to be the King of Devils or Gods? It's a crock of shite is what it is! Why don't you let me show her how a real man can treat a lady?"
"You..." Nerine said quietly but instantly all of their eyes were on her, softly glowing with electric blue magic, "You insulted Harry...You aren't worth the air you waste...perhaps I'll relieve this plane of existence of your burden..."
"Rina!" Harry said trying to calm the girl down, he could feel the malevolent energies in the air and really, REALLY didn't like what he felt happening.
"Harry, would you please duck. This will get messy."
Harry tried again to reach out to the girl but was stopped cold by her glare at the other boys, he ducked down by the wall and begged her, "Rina, please don't kill them..."
"What is this little bitch going to do to us Potter? I'll teach her her place!" The seventh year said as he drew his wand.
Harry gave up and covered his head as the girl lifted off the ground thanks to the crackling magic that surrounded her.
"I'll return you to the elements you are made of, removing the hydrogen and oxygen leaving only carbon dioxide to pollute the air. Even that is too much of a burden on this world for your lowly lives!"
A great blue fireball rocked the dungeons, blowing out an entire side of the castle as the boys screamed and begged for mercy. As the smoke cleared and the last bits of daylight shone through the new hole she'd created Nerine drifted lazily back to the ground before her magic subsided and she turned, smiling to Harry. "I'm sorry, I may have gotten a little carried away there...they really shouldn't insult you like that..it isn't very nice..." She said suddenly shy and quiet again. Harry didn't know whether to be freaked out or proud, he did know there was going to be a reckoning for destroying part of the castle.
"Potter!" Snape called as he came out into the hall with bits of stone still falling from the ceiling, "I'll see you expelled for this!"
Sia just sighed from behind him, "Oh Rina, what did you do this time?"Harry, Rina, Sia and Snape now sat in Dumbledore's office with the King of Gods and the King of Demons, discussing what had happened.
"Now see here Headmaster! This girl nearly destroyed the entire castle! She's obviously too dangerous a creature to keep here!"
Forbes was crying...he was so proud! "Oh Rina! You were magnificent! You didn't even kill them!"
The girl blushed and looked down, "Harry asked me not to..."
Dumbledore was all twinkles as he observed the scene, "Now your majesty, a great deal of damage was caused and three lives were nearly taken."
The King of Devils laughed, "I know, isn't it wonderful? Rina controlled her magic so well! If this had been a year ago I doubt this castle or that charming little village would still be standing." He pulled her into a hug, "Daddy is so proud of you princess!"
She blushed and looked away again, "Daddy..."
Snape interjected, "This is not about the damage that could have been caused, three boys were nearly killed! Hell, all of us were nearly killed! Headmaster I implore you to expel these girls as well as Potter for this travesty!"
"Now Severus, she appears to be quite sorry for her outburst, in the end there was no harm done."
"NO HARM? The dungeons lay in ruins! The castle is only still standing thanks to Magic!" Snape screamed.
Eustus nodded, "Accidents happen, and she controlled her response rather well. As it is my Magical Repair team should already have finished restoring everything. In fact I bet they made it better than it was before!"
"As I said this is NOT about the amount of damage!" the overgrown bat shouted, spittle flying. Harry noticed a dull blue glow at Rina fingertips and quickly took her hand in his, the girl blushed scarlet all the way to the tips of her rather long ears, and the glow left her immediately, but neither let go.
"Severus, I think in the interest of inter-world Cooperation we will have to chalk this up to a misunderstanding. As I understand the three Slytherins are in good health, and as King Eustus has said, there is no damage done." Albus said with a grin. Harry had noticed that the old man had slowly been returning to the grandfatherly figure he remembered from his first year, rather than the all powerful wizard that faced Voldemort down at the ministry last year.
"I demand that they be removed from this school!" Severus stated.
"And I have received many such demands for your removal Severus, yet you still remain. Let us look past our past mistakes and try to move forward. The knowledge of what we have done in the past should temper our actions moving forward. Don't you think?" His eyes were in full sparkle mode as he looked over the tops of his glasses at the man.
Professor Snape slumped as he was reminded of his own failings and the fight died in him, "Very well...headmaster."
"Oh my little Nerine-bug I'm so proud of you!" Forbes said crying again as he hugged his daughter.
"Daddy please stop, you're embarrassing me!"
Back in the Royal Tower the kings pulled out Sake and Rum, the elves provided snacks and a Wireless was playing on full blast in the corner. Both kings were drunk and declaring how proud they were of their daughters, causing no end of embarrassment.
Hermione seemed quite put out at having the alcohol in the common room, luckily none of the students were imbibing so she let it slide. After all, this was their embassy so the normal rules didn't quite apply. Luna was talking quietly with Neville in a corner of the room and Harry sat on the couch with Nerine and Sia on either side of him. Ginny and Gabby were on the other couch, giggling at something or another they were talking about and stealing glances in Harry's direction. Harry himself was fighting a blush as both girls were wrapped around his biceps, their breasts pressing into him.
"Harry my boy!" Eustus cried loudly, "Have you decided to marry my daughter yet? It's obvious she loves you so much! I'm sure she'd be happy to show you just how much if you let her!"
"Daddy!" Sia said with an outraged blush.
"Come now Eustus, Nerine defended his honor so readily and so well! Obviously he is going to take her to his bed tonight." Forbes replied before taking another shot of alcohol.
"Daddy...please..." Nerine blushed, neither girl let go of Harry though.
"So have you decided yet Harry?" Eustus asked, suddenly very intent.
"Um...your majesty I..." he began.
Eustus interrupted him, "Oh no, that won't do Harry. You still won't call me by name? Or call me Daddy! That won't do!"
"Daddy..." Sia hissed angrily.
"What about Rina, Harry? I know you like her, I can see it in your eyes."
"My Lord I..."
"No! You must call me Daddy as well! I can't have my son referring to me as 'Your Majesty' or 'My Lord' all the time!"
"Your Majesty, that's enough!" Rina cried out. Her father cringed and quickly went to his knees in front of her.
"Nerine-bug, please..don't call me that! Call me daddy. Please?"
"Father, that will be enough drinking for you tonight." Sia said staring down the larger man.
He cried and fell to his knees as well, "No! Sia please, you can't do this to me."
Rina sniffed and looked away from the cowering king at her feet, "I won't call you Daddy again for two weeks if you don't stop. I think it's time for both of you to leave."
"Yes Father, I think the party is over for you. Leave us and Harry alone. Now!"
Both kings stood up and looked around in panic, "But SiSi..don't you love your Daddy anymore?" Eustus asked in distress.
"I'll love you more when you leave! And don't just pop in on us whenever you want either. Send a message warning us ahead of time." Sia said with a scowl. "I'll talk to you later."
Forbes waved and the Wireless shut itself off leaving the room suddenly quiet. "Rina..."
"Goodnight Father." The blue haired girl replied icily.
Both kings grabbed hold of each other crying, "They don't love us anymore!"
Sia got up off the couch and began pushing her father towards the door, Rina followed and did the same. As they neared the entryway both kings looked at them pitifully. "Please don't call me that SiSi."
The Princess of the Gods looked up at her father and kissed him on the nose, "Goodnight Daddy." His eyes instantly brightened.
"We'll let you know when it's okay to come back." Nerine said as she gave her own father a hug, "Goodnight Daddy."
The kings looked at each other and smiled, "They still love us!" They hugged and cried as the girls pushed them out the door, sealing the portal behind them and walking back over to Harry, plopping down on either side of him and retaking his arms, just as he was calming down.
"Wow..." Neville said from the corner, "You really have them wrapped around your fingers don't you?"
Sia grinned evilly, "Daddy is wonderful, but he is overly demonstrative."
Rina nodded, "We are only children, so when they grow tiresome we have to remind them of it."
Ginny was laughing and Hermione looked thoughtfully at her, "Does that work on your dad Ginny?"
She nodded, "I'm his little firefly, I'm the only girl so I think it works just as well. You should try it sometime."
"I don't know if my mother would be proud of me or berate me for behaving like that...although there was this book I wanted to buy next summer..."
Harry looked pitifully up at Neville, "Does that work for guys too? I never got to try it."
Neville shook his head, "I don't think so, but then, I don't think my Gran would ever fall for something like that even with my Dad."
Ginny grabbed Gabby by the hand and announced to the room, "We're taking the bathroom, no peeking!" She said the last with a mischievous look at Harry before dragging a smiling Gabby up the stairs with her.
Harry watched the odd pair go in contemplation, they had been getting closer over the past week and he approved, but it was strange how quickly Gabby seemed to go from a rival to a best friend for the other girl. The analytical part of him figured that whether she was doing it consciously or not, she was probably trying to befriend the smaller girl because she knew it would make Harry happy, rather than being jealous of her.
There wasn't even anything to be jealous of, not really. Yes, there was a part of him...an admittedly growing part, that enjoyed the way her small body belied her age. When she would climb into his bed after a bad dream he knew part of him enjoyed it more than just helping a friend out. When they were alone Gabby wasn't so shy and quiet any longer, he could actually see her personality, and had even managed to get her to smile once.
Thinking about the girl lead him to questions he'd been meaning to ask, "Nerine?"
The devil princess looked up at him from where she had begun studying Ancient Runes with Hermione, a smile spreading slowly across her face the way it did every time he said her name. "Yes Harry?"
He got up from his chair and sat on the couch as he motioned her over to him, the other girls followed them and sat down, while Luna found that she had nowhere left to sit and decided to sit in Nevilles lap instead causing the boy to blush. "You probably know Gabby the best right?"
She nodded, "The research she was involved in took place in the Devil realm, we grew up like sisters.."
"Was she always so...quiet?" he asked.
Sia shook her head on his other side, drawing his attention, "I remember visiting and playing with her like any other little girl. It wasn't until...well until..."
"Until someone close to both of us died..." Nerine said looking sad. Any time one of the girls looked down Harry couldn't help himself but to try to make it better. The quickest way to do so was to pull them into a hug, which he did. The girl blushed hard but he left an arm behind her, rubbing small circles into her back and causing her to shiver. She didn't pull away.
"So she was normal...can you tell us more about how she...was...created?" he struggled with wording the last part, having learned this whole thing was a sensitive subject.
Hermione had somehow acquired a notebook and biro, and was waiting anxiously to take notes. She had heard about a magical research project and was itching for the details.
"I don't know if we can tell you about it Harry..." Sia said apologetically.
Nerine shook her head, "Actually, I asked daddy earlier if I could tell all of you. I thought you deserved to know the truth..."
"What is the truth?" Hermione asked quietly.
Nerine began, "The power of the Gods and Devils is great, destruction on a massive scale, large scale magical construction, and amazing healing abilities. But some things still remain outside of our ability, namely stopping several terminal conditions and being able to bring back the dead..."
Sia nodded, "Because so many children with great magical potential never live past their tenth birthday, finding a way to bring back the dead was one of the major reasons for this project."
"There were three beings created using the best of the Gods and the Devils abilities. The first, they took someone who already had passed her magical maturity and had a very strong ability, and they infused her with extremely large amounts of magic." Rina continued.
"But because her body was not made to channel that much magic she lost control...she...she blew up..." Sia said looking a bit disgusted with her worlds research.
"Wait! Blew up?" Harry asked in outrage.
Sia nodded sadly, "When she lost control of her magic, she took out the entire research facility and all of the staff. The research had to start over almost from scratch."
"Merlin..." Neville said, sitting back on the couch. Luna lost her balance and fell back against him, causing him to catch her around the waist so she wouldn't tumble off the side. Both blushed but neither said anything.
Nerine took a quick breath and looked down, "The second one...they took someone who already had amazing magical potential and cloned her before she had reached maturity, so that all the magic they infused her with would have the chance to strengthen her body."
"Liquoris." Sia said softly, unshed tears in her eyes as she looked at Nerine.
Luna immediately understood, "She was your clone, your sister."
Rina nodded, "My twin, she was amazing. We grew up as sisters, but she was always gone being tested, poked and prodded. I knew how much the tests hurt her but she was always so loving and happy with me. I loved her every bit as much as if we had been born together."
Harry gave her another hug, this time leaving his arm around her for comfort, causing her to smile and lean into him. "So is she the one...?" he trailed off, not wanting to say it.
"Yes, Liquoris was stronger than me, but I got so sick...she was even worse off. Our fathers were afraid they were going to lose her, it seemed obvious that simply infusing that much magic into anyone, even a clone, wasn't going to work. So they created Gabby, using genes from both of our royal families."
Hermione's head shot up, "So you mean Gabby is a sister to both of you?"
Sia nodded and smiled as she heard two giggling voices echoing from the bathroom upstairs, "Yes, I always wanted a sister and while Rina and I are very close, it wasn't the same until she came along."
"But," Hermione interjected, "If they didn't create her until they knew Liquoris might not make it then how is she 15?"
"She was grown to the physical age of ten at the research facility, and then allowed to grow normally so she would go through her own magical maturity. As far as law and magic are concerned she should be considered 15." Sia answered.
"She should be..." Nerine said softly, Hermione didn't miss that but didn't say anything yet. "So Gabby grew up in the facility, Liquoris was allowed to go back and forth but Gabby only got to stay there. Sia and I would visit when I wasn't deathly ill. Gabby see's Liquoris as her big sister even more than either of us, so it was harder on her when she...passed on."
"I'm so sorry, I haven't lost a sister but I lost my parents...and my godfather...I know it must have been hard." Harry said quietly, now getting his own hug from Sia on his left and Nerine on his right. He cheered visibly at the contact.
"Thank you Harry, it wasn't as hard for me as it was for Gabby though. After Liquoris...passed on...Gabby went into her shell. Her power seemed to lock itself away and her aging stopped along with it. The tests showed she was nearly as far above us magically as my father is above the headmaster. But before she could go through her maturity it all just became muted and quiet. They think that our magic is closely linked to our emotions...and as she was emotionally stunted so too was her magic. That's why they sent her to live with the Delacour family. They hoped having a normal life would bring her out of her shell."
Hermione took offense, "That's horrible though! From what you said about the first girl, and after seeing what you did to the castle just because those boys were being mean to Harry...its like she's a walking nuclear weapon just waiting to go off! And what would they do if she suddenly had her magic back?"
Sia looked at the girl sadly, "They would take her back to the facility and start testing again."
Harry had that look in his eyes again, that dull glow was starting to build at the thought of them taking Gabby away to treat her like a lab rat. Nerine quickly began rubbing his back and speaking quietly to him until he calmed down. "I won't let them take her..."
Nerine spoke to the group again, "Part of the reason she was allowed to stay here though, is because she showed so much interest in you Harry. They think you might be able to bring her back out of her shell, in fact you already have. She hadn't smiled in years before now."
Harry got up and began pacing, "That's not right though! How can they use me like some sort of test environment, let me care about her, and then plan to take her away when her magic wakes back up! We can't let that happen!"
"I agree with you Harry, I always hated what they did to those girls. But you have to understand, if she gets her magic back she will likely go through maturity and if she gets sick...or worse loses control of her magic. The facility is the best place for them to treat her." Sia told him.
He deflated and plopped back down onto the couch between them. "This all seems so surreal. I thought my life was bad but at least I had a chance at a loving family, she was created with the soul purpose of being a test subject."
"What can we do?" Hermione asked the girls, pleadingly.
Both princesses shrugged, "We hope for the best, and we love her the way she deserves." Sia said.
Nerine nodded, "She's our sister, like Liquoris, and I want her to know we love her. Even if that's all she has to hold on to when they take her back to the facility..."
"This sucks..." Neville said, unknowingly pulling Luna closer to him who smiled softly at his embrace.
"She's already becoming a powerful witch though, maybe her true power won't resurface and they won't have to take her away?" Hermione asked.
"I don't think we'll be that lucky." Luna said into the silence that followed Hermione's hopeful statement.
Upstairs Ginny and Gabby undressed quickly and ran into the bathroom, forgoing the showers and jumping straight into the pool. Well, Ginny did, Gabby slowly followed her in with her thinking face on.
"Ginny? You are Harry's servant?"
The girl went wide eyed before she giggled a bit, "No...I mean...I serve him because I want to, not because he makes me. But I guess it could still look like that. He saved my life and I'm trying to repay him any way he will let me. Making his plate to eat and setting out his clothes is the least I can do.."
"Serving Harry, makes you happy?" Gabby asked as she floated on her back in the hot water, her small breasts not even bobbing in the current the way Ginny's did.
Ginny blushed and looked away for a moment, "I don't know...I think happiness is being needed and wanted by the ones we love. I love Harry and I want to make him happy, when he lets me do these things for him it makes me feel warm and happy inside too. I'd do anything for him."
Gabby nodded and went quiet for a while, "I want Harry to need me too. Big sister always talked about him and she was always so happy just thinking of him. I am happy thinking of Harry."
Gin was caught now between wanting Harry to herself, and wanting the girl she'd somehow begun thinking of as family if not as a little sister, to be happy as well. "I think he does need you, I've noticed he doesn't have bad dreams when you sleep with him."
Gabby nodded, "Mine too, I like sleeping with Harry...but sometimes I don't want to sleep...I like it when he touches me."
Ginny blushed at the admission, but was feeling a connection to the girl. "I-I like it when he touches me too...I understand..."
"You have bad dreams too." Gabby said matter of factly.
Either the water was too hot, or Ginny was mortally embarrassed as she blushed even deeper, "Yes..." She answered quietly.
"You should sleep with Harry when you have bad dreams, its very nice."
Ginny began giggling at that, wondering if the girl was trying to set her up, "Then maybe we should both sneak in to his bed next time. Try to get him to touch us..."
Gabrielle surprised Ginny by giggling loudly with a devilish smile on her face, "I think we should, but I'm not sure Harry will survive."
Ginny splashed the girl, who splashed her back in outrage and the two started a war, splashing and laughing together for the next five minutes before they tired out and both floated together in the middle of the pool. Ginny reached out and grabbed Gabby's hand and squeezed it. "I'm very happy you are here Gabby, I'm sorry if I was scary before."
"Not scary, just loud." Gabby said in monotone as she thought hard about it. Both girls began giggling again and couldn't stop, as one would start to subside the other would burst out and they both swallowed a fair amount of water trying to catch their breath.
A/N: Sorry to those who got ALLBOLD chapters, I've figured out the bug I think. I know it was annoying (happened to chapter 10 also). Should be fixed in 9 and 10, and going forward.
OMG another chapter! I'm writing these one at a time now, I've run out of backlog incase you didn't notice. While Shuffle! didn't win the contest of what I'd write next, its the one I have been trying to focus on anyway and I'm glad to get another couple of chapters out. Hopefully I've gotten past my writers block.
Someone commented on not knowing enough about the crossover to help, and not having long enough chapters or them coming out fast enough to get addicted. I'd like to say I'm going to write them longer and faster to solve that problem, but I can't promise.
I'll try though.
GML