Disclaimer: Not mine.
A/N: Hey, what's up everyone?! It's another chapter, and on schedule too! If at all possible, chapters will be out weekly, but it's more likely that they'll be out bi-weekly instead as I get settled into the routine of things at school. Once again, a special thanks to the Queen of Duct Tape, who is quite possibly, the most fantastic reviewer in the universe :-D Her reviews are guaranteed to amuse and delight. Also, this is kinda random, but I was re-reading my story online, and I realized that not all of chapter 5 had been uploaded. Or maybe it had and it just wasn't showing up for me. But either way, I re-uploaded chapter 5, so you may want to go look- it doesn't have an effect on anything. Anyways, enough of that, here's the next chappie, and once again, thanks for the reviews!
The Little Child to Lead Him
Chapter Twelve
Harry walked into the great hall to grab an apple before heading to the music room to meet Daphne and Draco. His plans were interrupted however, by five shrieking girls tackling him in a hug, just inside the doorway.
"Hey now, what's all the fuss?" He laughed as he steadied himself with a hand on the doorframe.
Ariella giggled. "We wanted to say thank you!"
"Yeah," Shonda chimed in. "Professor Flitwick was impressed by how much we've improved that he gave us 25 house points total!"
"So will you eat lunch with us today?" Marie looked up at him pleadingly.
"I'd love to, but I'm meeting Daphne and Malf- all right," he amended at Allyn's look. "Draco, to work on some scales and singing stuff."
"Oh, okay," Marie nodded. "But we'll see you for dinner?"
"Of course," he grinned, lightly chucking her chin. "Now, would you guys mind letting go of me?"
"Sorry," they all chimed, and let go of him before dashing back to Gryffindor table. Harry followed them calmly, grabbed an apple from the table, waved to his friends, and turned right back around and left.
"Where's he going?" Ron asked to no one in particular.
"Singing practice with Draco and Daphne," Allyn answered.
"He's really into the singing thing, isn't he?" Dean looked thoughtful. "I wonder how good he is. I know the rumours going around are that he's pretty good, but again, they're just rumours."
"Well we'll be able to hear him sing at the winter showcase at any rate," Seamus shrugged.
"Winter showcase?" Lavender looked at him curiously.
"Yeah, all the performance type of groups will be putting on a show for the school, and family and friends to see. The theatre group, dancers, musicians, and singers will all have a number of acts to show off what they've learned. I think my professor's going to talk to yours about having all the fashion students work on the costumes, and the art students do scenery."
"Oooh!" Lavender and Pavarti squealed excitedly, and immediately began discussing ideas for costumes; never mind the fact that they didn't know what the theme of the showcase might be, or what the different groups were planning. Many didn't even know about it, as some hadn't had their elective classes yet.
"Took you long enough Potter," Draco drawled from his seat at the piano. Daphne was standing next to him, one hand splayed over her lower rib-cage, and the other at her back.
"Had to grab some food so I won't starve," he held up the apple core for them to see.
"We're going to have Dobby bring us some snacks after we finish," Daphne chided him lightly.
"I was hungry," he nearly whined as he vanished the core.
"I understand that, but some types of food and drink aren't good for your vocal cords, like milk or chocolate," she informed him. "Now come on, lets do a few warm-up exercises, and then we'll move on to the scales from class."
"Sure, but what were you doing when I walked in?"
"Breathing exercises, which we'll teach you also in a bit. All of these things will help you improve your singing control; tone, pitch, intonation, and overall sound and range."
The following hour was, in all honesty, one of the hardest for Harry. Sure he'd sung along with the wireless, and to Rose, but that was without having to do the technical stuff. This was like singing bootcamp; the musical equivalent of all the training he'd done in preparation for the fight against Voldemort. Throughout the forty-five minutes, Daphne would guide him through some of the exercises while Draco accompanied them on the piano, and then they'd switch. This was so Harry could sing along with Draco, and learn how to stay on key.
"Are we done yet?" Harry said with some difficulty as they finished the last of the breathing exercises. Never had he thought breathing could be so tough, or that they're were rules for how to breathe when singing.
"Yeah, yeah, call for Dobby," Draco rolled his eyes as he sat back down at the piano as Harry called for Dobby and told him to bring a sample of food for them.
"Play me a tune Dray," Daphne sighed whimsically as she hopped up onto the piano.
"Of course love," he chuckled, and launched into a melodic piece. A few bars in, Daphne grinned, sat up straight, and began singing in her clear soprano, a song he was familiar with called 'The Prayer.' Harry found himself captivated by her voice; he'd heard her sing before in chorus class, but she really put her heart into this song, not to mention she'd been doing the warm-ups for the better part of an hour. And when Draco joined in, singing the male counterpart and harmony, Harry was just floored. They were both extremely talented separately, but together, they were phenomenal!
"Wow," Harry just stared once they finished. "That was just…I don't think I can even describe it."
"We'll take that as a compliment," Daphne laughed as Draco put his hands on her hips, and lifted her down.
"Next lesson, we're going to work on that song with you," Draco smirked. "First though, we need you to learn Latin, Italian, French, and Spanish. A lot of the great classical songs are in those languages, so you need to learn them."
"And how am I supposed to do that?!" Harry looked panicked. He was hardly an expert in the English language; how was he supposed to learn four others?
"Simple Harry," Daphne said as she walked over to him. "Draco's going to transfer the information to you using a technique that's somewhat like legilimency. He'll connect his mind with yours, and for lack of a better explanation, copy his knowledge of the languages, including how to speak it, understand it, and read and write it, and transfer it to you. He and I are both fluent in all of them, but he has a better accent for them then I do."
"Now, hold still Potter," Draco said as he grasped Harry's face in his hands and locked eyes with him. Harry felt a…wave…go through his brain for a couple minutes, and then Draco was pulling back.
"You know," Daphne got a mischievous look on her face. "If someone had walked in on you doing that, they would've thought you two were getting ready to snog."
"Oh Merlin, Daphne!" Draco quickly backed up, looking ill. "Please, you'll make me sick, and I haven't even eaten yet."
"Well I'm so sorry," she rolled her eyes and sauntered over to them, and linked her arms through theirs as they left the music room, Draco grabbing half a sandwich to munch on as they walked to charms. They walked in silence for a few moments, until Draco broke the silence by asking Daphne to give a review of what they'd done in their last charms class. Daphne launched into an explanation…in French. Even though he knew that he'd been given the knowledge of how to speak French and all, it was another matter entirely to hear himself speak it out loud as he joined in the conversation.
"Harry!" Hermione waved him over as he, Daphne, and Draco entered the classroom.
"I'll see you guys later?"
"I'll be busy doing work, and the cooking class this evening," Daphne shook her head. "But Draco's taking the business class, so you'll see him."
"All right, tomorrow then?"
"Sure, we'll have another practice tomorrow after lunch during free period," Daphne smiled, and went to sit with by Blaise.
"Potter," Draco nodded to him, and went to join Daphne. Harry went to join Ron and Hermione, and as he sat down, Winky appeared a moment later informing him that Rose was sleeping.
"Harry…" Hermione said slowly, looking at him curiously.
"Hermione…" he mimicked her.
"Were you speaking in French when you walked in?" She asked him in French.
"Yes, I was," he answered, also in French.
"And when did you learn French?"
"I don't know," he looked at his watch. "Roughly ten minutes ago?"
"How?!"
"Malfoy- he did some sort of information transfer, mind-to-mind, kind of like legilimency. I also now know Spanish, Latin, and Italian. It'll help me with singing, since a lot of songs are in those languages. Or so Daphne says. Either way, doesn't matter much to me."
"Hey, you guys want to switch to English?" Poor Ron looked completely confused by their conversation, as he didn't speak a bit of French.
"Sorry mate," Harry apologized, and turned his attention to Professor Flitwick who was walking in.
"Malfoy, wait up!"
"What Potter?" Draco paused for a moment before continuing to walk.
"I thought we'd head to the business course together," Harry answered as he fell into step beside Draco.
"Let me take her," Draco offered, and reached over and took Rose from the harness without waiting for an answer. "Hello beautiful."
"Everyone's going to think you've turned into a Hufflepuff if they see you like this."
"As if that's possible," Draco said haughtily.
"Why are you taking this course anyway?"
"What do you mean?"
"Don't you have advisors, and bankers, and attorneys to handle all of that for you?"
"I have one account manager at Gringotts, and that's it. There were a few others, but they were all…associates…of my fathers," Draco gave him a significant look. "I'm sure you get my meaning."
"Yeah, loud and clear."
"So obviously, after the war, I had to fire them all. And besides, I want to take a more active role in Malfoy Incorporated. I don't want to just let everyone else handle everything, because this company represents who I am publicly, and if the company does poorly, then if reflects badly on me. My family's reputation is already besmirched thanks to my father, so I need to do everything in my power to reverse that. Which is why funding your orphanage will be a good thing. If I align myself with you, people will think I can't be that bad, since you're the 'boy-who-lived-to-defeat-the-dark-tosser'."
"Is that the only reason you deign to be seen with me?" Harry raised an eyebrow in question as they entered the classroom.
"No. I like Rose," Draco said matter-of-factly, a smirk on his face.
"And Daphne makes you as well," Harry added with a grin.
"The bane of my existence," he gave a dramatic sigh.
"You know you love her anyways."
"As a sister. Nothing more than that. We tried the whole relationship thing a couple years ago at our parents' request, but neither of us had any romantic feelings toward one another."
"I wondered. You two are always flirty with each other."
"Jealous Potter?" Draco shot him a sideways look. "You could always try, I wouldn't be surprised if she likes you. Or rather, that she could like you if you'd make a move."
"I think if she wanted to date me, then she'd let me know. You should know better than anyone that she's not shy."
"No, but she was still raised as a pureblood woman; you wait for the man to initiate the courting. There are specific guidelines purebloods are taught to follow when courting. I've got an extra copy of the book somewhere that you can have."
"I'm not interested in dating," Harry was quick to say.
"I didn't necessarily mean in regards to Daphne," Draco rolled his eyes. "In general, if you're a wizard, you should have a basic idea of these customs. They're not followed so strictly like they were several hundred years ago, but almost all wizarding families, pureblood or otherwise, follow some of them to some degree."
"Oh," Harry coloured, feeling slightly embarrassed.
Draco just chuckled, and rifled through the diaper bag for a bottle as Rose started fussing. The two boys sat in a companionable silence while they waited for the instructor to show up. More students continued to file in, though not too many. Apparently, not many students were interested in owning and managing their own businesses. Precisely as the clock chimed eight o'clock, a goblin stepped through the door.
"Greetings students," he gave them a smile that was rather creepy looking. "My name is Griphook, and I am a head teller at Gringotts. My qualifications for teaching are a financial mastery from the Tropluck Institution, as well as being a teller at Gringotts for forty-three years. Now, first things first, a roll-sheet will be passed around; please sign your names. This will allow me to know how many of you there are, as well as who you are. Some of you will have estates you need to learn how to manage," Griphook glanced at Draco and Harry. "And I can give you your actual portfolio to work on and learn and to manage. Those who don't have an actual portfolio will be given a fictitious one to manage. Any questions?"
Harry raised his hand. "If we're planning on starting a business, will we learn how to do that in theory, or will we have the chance to actually begin the process of starting a business and getting it off the ground and running?"
"If you have the means to start a business, then yes, you will be able to actually start it in this class. If you do not have the financial means to do so, you may start a fictitious one instead."
After answering a few more questions, Griphook dismissed the class. The only homework he gave was for them to read over their portfolios, which they would receive via owl by dinner the next day, at the latest. Before they could begin to learn how to handle their estates, they needed to become familiar with them; what stock or property they owned, what investments they had, any money that was being made off of said investments, and so on.
"Peace and quiet," Harry muttered to himself as he sank into a chair in front of the fireplace after business class. None of his year-mates were there, and not too many other Gryffindors either; just a few fourth years in one corner, and some second years playing gobstones in another area.
"Harry!"
"I spoke too soon," he muttered as he shifted Rose to his other arm, and opened his eyes to see his year mates filing in. They'd all had an elective class in the second evening slot, while his had been directly after dinner. It wasn't that he didn't want to see his friends, but he'd been enjoying the calm atmosphere of the common room, sitting in front of the fire. His friends settled themselves in the chairs around him as he asked, "So how were classes?"
"Oh it was so fascinating!" Hermione immediately spoke. "There's just so much more to healing than I ever knew! And it incorporates elements from all the fields of magic, so if I chose to study it in college, I'd still be learning more about charms, potions, herbology, and transfiguration, in addition to healing itself!"
"I think he gets the point Mione," Ron rolled his eyes as he made to cover Hermione's mouth with his hand. "The politics class was kinda dry, but Percy's teaching it, so I guess I'm not surprised."
"Percy's teaching it?"
"Yeah, and I have to call him Professor," Ron rolled his eyes as Harry laughed.
"How about you guys?" He looked to his other year-mates.
"Fashion was really interesting," Lavender smiled brightly, but luckily for Harry, she didn't elaborate.
"How was…business, right?" Dean asked.
"Yeah, and it was good," Harry nodded. "I think I'm gonna really learn a lot, and hopefully get my business started."
"Well that's good. Hey, where do you suppose you'll set up your orphanage?" Pavarti asked.
"I don't know," he frowned. "I haven't thought too much about it. I've got a couple of options I suppose though. I can either buy some land and build one, or take over a current one and improve it, or buy a couple of houses or something and turn them into smaller-scale orphanages or something. I might even looking into building a small complex with dorms and a primary school, and other stuff. I don't really know. Guess I figure it out once I start looking at my financial portfolio."
At that moment, a tapping was heard at one of the windows in the common room. One of the fourth years opened it, and a screech owl flew in, over to Harry, and dropped a rather thick envelope in his lap before flying back out the window. Harry looked at it in confusion, and it took him a few moments to process that it had Gringotts' seal on it.
"What's that?" Neville asked, startling them all. He stood at the edge of the group, looking rather dirty, as he'd just come from one of the greenhouses, no doubt. If you needed to find Neville, you had only to look as far as one of the greenhouses.
"Oh hey Neville," Harry greeted him. "I'm assuming it's my financial portfolio, for my business and financial class. Griphook, that's the instructor, said we'd get them by dinner tomorrow at the latest."
"So that's going to tell you just how much you're worth to the world, huh?" Lavender said teasingly.
"I guess that's one way of putting it," Harry laughed. "I'm gonna head to my room. I need to start looking over all of this before the next class, and judging from this packet, I'm going to have a lot."
His friends bid him good-night, and he made his way to his room, Rose in one arm, and his portfolio in the other. Harry threw the portfolio on his bed, and walked into Rose's room, where he gave her a bottle, changed her nappy, and put her in her pyjammas. That done, he sat down in the rocking chair, and rocked her to sleep, singing her lullabys that he'd learned from his Aunt. After she'd been sleeping for a good ten minutes, he transferred her to her crib and covered her with a blanket. Stretching his arms above his head, he headed back into his room, and changed into his own night-clothes. Grabbing the envelope, he got comfortable and opened it up, and began looking through it.
"Whoa," he let out a soft exclamation of surprise as he looked at the first page, which listed his net worth. He had, of course, known that he would never have to worry about his finances; his parents, and Sirius, had made sure of that with all the family inheritance he had received access to upon turning seventeen. His father had been an only child, and thus had received a large inheritance from his parents, while his mum had received a fair amount as well. His parents had invested some of that money well, and those investments had continued to produce income over the years. Combine that with the fact that the money had sat in vaults at Gringotts collecting interest, and he was even wealthier than he'd imagined. He had roughly two hundred million galleons total, and that didn't include the properties he owned, which consisted of number twelve Grimmauld place, the former Potter estate in Godric's Hollow, a large portion of acreage about five miles outside of Hogsmede, and a small manor in Ireland.
"Looks like I'll be able to easily afford the orphanage, several of 'em if I want," he grinned, happy. Deciding to finish looking over everything in the morning, he closed the portfolio, set it on his nightstand with his glasses, and turned off the light.
"What's that?" Ron asked as he sat down across from him at breakfast.
"Just my portfolio from Gringotts," Harry answered, and focused his attention back on the papers in front of him; he was looking over the Potter family investments and stock listings. It was quite early, and no one else was in the Great Hall yet; food hadn't even been set out yet, but Winky had been able to get a pot of coffee and a mug for him. Rose had woken him up for a five o'clock feeding, and he'd just decided to go ahead and get up.
"Oh," Ron nodded dumbly, barely awake. Harry fought back a laugh as he saw Ron just sit there, looking like a zombie.
"What are you doing up so early anyways?"
"Early? I thought it was time to get up?"
"Nope, sorry mate, it's only half past five."
"But my alarm went off," Ron looked extremely confused, then started frowning. "Ooh, that Irishman. He was acting funny last night, and kept sniggering at me."
"Just go back to sleep," Harry chuckled. "You've got a good two hours more before you'll be wanting to eat."
Ron didn't appear to really be listening; he just stood up and headed for the door, muttering nonstop about 'Seamus the Irish-bloody-wanker'. Harry gave another chuckle, and turned his attention back to the portfolio to finish looking at the Potter family investments. It wasn't long before a brushing noise interrupted his reading, and he looked around to see Duchess slithering in.
"Your daughter needs you," she hissed.
"What do you mean? Rose is right here," Harry looked down at Rose, and then at Duchess, confused.
"Your adopted daughter then," Duchess would've rolled her eyes if it were possible.
"What's wrong?" Harry immediately stood up, grabbed his portfolio, and headed for Gryffindor Tower at a fast walk.
"Well I don't know. Hogwarts just told me to get you."
Harry cursed, in parseltounge, and picked up the pace to Gryffindor Tower. He entered the common room, called Winky and gave Rose to her, and ran up to the first year's girl dormitory. Inside, all the other girls were awake, and crowded around the bathroom door, calling for Allyn to come out. He looked around to see if anything looked out of place, and noticed blood on Allyn's bed.
"Why do I get the feeling this is not something I want to deal with?" He groaned, guessing where the blood might've come from. The others heard him and turned around.
"Harry, she's not coming out, and she's not talking to us, and we don't know how to open the door," Ariella blurted everything out in one breath.
"It's all right girls," he soothed them, as they were all worried and slightly panicked looking. "Just give me a bit of space, and I'll talk to her."
"Okay," they nodded, and moved to Shonda's bed, sitting together.
"Allyn," he called through the door.
"Go away!"
"Allyn Louise Williams-Potter, I am not going away, so either make sure you're decent and let me in, or I will unlock this door myself," he warned her. "You do not want me to unlock this door myself or there will be consequences."
There was no reply, but the lock clicked open a moment later. Harry slowly opened the door, and felt his heart twinge when he saw her. She was sitting on the floor, back against the wall, and knees pulled up against her chest. She was just wearing a nightgown, and her face was streaked with tears. She didn't look up at him, or even acknowledge that he was there.
"What's wrong Lyn?" Harry kept his tone soft as he sat down next to her.
"Nothing's wrong!" She cried. "I'm just being stupid. It's nothing."
"Well it's obviously something if it's got you in tears and locking yourself in the bathroom," he lightly grabbed her chin and forced her to look at him. "You can talk to me, love."
"I went to be kind of early last night because my stomach was hurting," Allyn finally started to explain a few minutes later. "I woke up this morning, and there was blood on the bed. At the orphanage they talk to all girls ten and older about…periods…and all that, so of course I knew about it. But I didn't think I was going to have them so soon, and I panicked, and didn't really know what to do, and oh this is so embarrassing!" She dropped her head into her hands and started crying again.
"Shh, it's okay," Harry pulled her into his lap and wrapped his arms around her, rocking her back and forth till she calmed down. "Feeling better now?"
She nodded, "Yeah."
"You feeling okay enough for me to go get my friend Hermione? She'll be able to help you, and tell you what you need to do for your…period," Harry felt himself blushing; he did not want to be having this conversation! He could only imagine what would happen when it came time for Allyn to need a bra. He would definitely need to enlist Mrs. Weasley for that.
"Yeah," Allyn nodded again.
"All right, I'll be back in a couple minutes then," Harry smiled, and stood up after shifting her off his lap and back onto the ground.
"Is she okay?!" The other girls asked as soon as he came out. He held up a hand to stall them, and called for Dobby to come grab the soiled sheets on Allyn's bed, and replace them with clean ones. That done, he turned back to the girls.
"She's fine, I'm just going to go get Hermione, the Head Girl, to come talk to her and help her out," Harry assured them, and left the dorm and headed up the staircase to Hermione's room. He knocked, and wasn't surprised when the door opened almost immediately, revealing Hermione, already dressed for the day.
"Harry!" She looked both shocked and confused as to why he was there.
"Hey Hermione," he grinned. "Listen, I need your help with one of the first year girls, Allyn. She's started her period, and is kind of panicked about it. Will you come talk to her please?"
"Well of course. But tell me, how'd you get involved with the situation?" She asked him as she closed her door, and followed him down the stairs.
"Allyn's my adopted daughter, another stray if you will," Harry laughed at the look of surprise that crossed Hermione's face.
"And you're just telling me now?"
"Yeah, I know, I should've told you guys earlier," he sighed. "I don't know why I didn't. I guess I just wanted time for both her and I to adjust to the new relationship without having to deal with Hogwarts, and the rest of the world butting in."
"It's fine Harry, I understand," she nodded. Ever since it'd gotten out that 'The-boy-who-defeated-Voldemort' was a father, he'd been getting hundreds of daily letters, and requests for interviews, and pictures of Rose, and so on.
"Thanks," he gave her a smile as they came to the landing where the first-year dorm was.
"I'm glad you finally told me. This explains all the times we've seen you two together. We were wondering if you were developing romantic feelings for her," Hermione laughed as she walked into the room.
Harry stopped mid-step when she said that, shocked beyond belief. He'd never have guessed they thought that about him and Allyn. Well, he'd definitely have to tell his friends now. Shaking his head to clear it, he entered the dorm, and was mobbed by the other four girls, who were still worried, and just looking for a little comfort. So Harry was pulled onto Shonda's bed, and the girls gathered around him while they waited for Hermione and Allyn. It wasn't too much longer before they came out, Allyn looking better, though still embarrassed. The other girls made room for her, and she climbed up on the bed to join them, curling up against Harry's side with his arm around her.
"Oh that's such a cute picture," Hermione chuckled, and pulled out her wand, and accioed Harry's camera, and took a picture of them. "You know, you should get a family picture done some time, of you and your daughters, or even of just them. They're going to grow up before you know it."
"I know, and it's on my list of things to do over the winter break," he nodded, while fighting back a yawn. He looked at the girls around him. "All right you lot, you all need to get moving, cause I'm getting sleepy just lying here, and if I don't get moving soon, I'll fall asleep."
"Good idea," Marie giggled.
"No, not a good idea, cause I have class at nine."
"Well you can sleep till eight, and then get up for breakfast," Ariella pointed out.
"Yeah, but I'd better do that in my own room if I'm going to," he shook his head when they pleaded for him to stay. "You guys know as well as I do that I shouldn't really be here. Guys aren't supposed to be in the girls' dorms. I'll see you guys down at breakfast though."
"All right," they nodded, and got up and went to their own beds. Hermione watched the whole scene, amused.
"I'll see you at breakfast Harry."
"Yeah, and thanks again Mione," he gave her a quick hug, and she left.
"Thanks Papa," said Allyn as she walked with him to the doorway.
"Hey, that's what I'm here for," he kneeled down to her level, and she slid her arms around his neck, hugging him. Harry pressed a kiss to the top of her head.
"I love you," she said shyly, looking down at her feet.
"I love you too, Lyn," he managed to say back, his voice rough; he'd never had anyone say that to him before that he could remember. Harry pulled Allyn in for another hug as he got his emotions back under control. "Hey, how about you and I have lunch together today? I'll have someone watch Rose, and it'll just be the two of us."
"I'd like that."
"Good. Then I'll meet you in the entrance hall at the beginning of lunch," Harry informed her, and with a last smile, stood and left their dorm, and headed to his own room. Another hour of sleep wasn't sounding like a bad idea at the moment.
A/N: Okie doke, that's it for the chapter. Hope you all enjoyed it. Some moments with our favourite Slytherins, and then I threw in the thing at the end because I just thought that would be funny. It actually happened to my best friend, Michael- He was babysitting for this family, and they had a twelve year old daughter. Well, she went to the bathroom, and found blood in her underwear, and of course, panicked. Michael called me, and I had to explain to the girl what it was- she knew, but like a lot of girls' first times, panicked a bit. So yeah, I thought I'd throw that in, add some humor. If you liked it, I'd love to hear from you, and hopefully the next chapter will be up in two weeks.
