X-x-x-x chapter 14 -the other side(s) x-x-x-x-x-x
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It was a wonderful and sunny autumn day. Hedwig really liked to fly the long distance in such a nice weather. It wasn't too cold and it was not too hot – simply perfect for flying. Her first stop had been her friend's werewolf. The nice and polite man had always a bit of water and owl treats for her when she arrived. Her Harry liked the man and saw him as family so she liked doing this journey for him. Even if Remus' mate was a dunderhead or was the term bubblegum-head? Her hair would at least match.
Hedwig had left Grimmauld Place after a few treats and a beak of water and headed off to the blond family. The beautiful owl did not like the manor. The other owls were too snobby for her liking. Such arrogant creatures with absolutely no reason for it. They were mediocre at best and Archimedes was so much better company.
Her last stop was McLane and his crew. She glided through the open window and waited on her perch for the man to enter. It was his office and the man spent most of his time in here but never met his clients here, so there was no reason to worry about the unusual bird in the mixed mundane-magical firm.
*.*
"Ah Hedwig. Let me relieve you from your letter." The man who stepped up to her perch was in his mid-fifties and in contrast to his magical colleagues he showed his age. His short hair was well groomed but flecked with grey.
Patiently the snowy owl waited for him to read and answer the letter. She had water and treats in her bowls so she did not have to stay hungry or thirsty for her stay.
A sudden laughter startled her. Hedwig blinked and peered at Mr. McLane.
"Oh, Harry. Only you." The man muttered. He was obviously amused by the letter.
He opened a programme on his tablet and sent messages to several people on his team.
"Don't worry, girl. Your master is not in trouble." He chuckled at the owl and petted her soft feathers.
"You mean not more than usual, Lennard. What is the young man up to now?" The woman who had entered his office unannounced was small and thin and seemed to be in her thirties but Lennard McLane had studied law together with her. Sometime he envied her for her magic which let her age more slowly. She took the offered letter and skimmed over its contents.
"We need to make a press release as positive as possible. Harry is mated to a Nightshade. His former potions and defence professor Severus Snape." He as the muggle in the team saw immediately the negative aspects. A homosexual relationship was mostly frowned up in the mundane world even if the acceptance spread further but slowly.
"Don't worry, Lennard. In the magical world it's the best what could happen to someone. This is the stuff of the best sold romance novels. With the right reporter and a few well placed words no one will refuse the Saviour his happy eternity. I have already spoken to my contact about his phoenix form and his immortality. Bonded to a nightshade in addition and you will cause a new hype out there."
"While I'm glad that your side will take this happily. I doubt Harry will thank us for a new wave of fans." Lennard McLane pointed out.
"Griphook already told me that all of his mail goes through a curse breaker at Gringotts and then with a Gringotts mail chest to his home to his house-elves who sort the mail and only then it will reach him at Hogwarts."
"So, you want to delay his wrath?" Lennard smirked at his colleague.
"It's positive press and not as he thinks negative one. It's good for his future plans if he want to change a few things in the society. This way everyone will be eager to see him in political power."
"And you can evade the mundane side. They are wizards and will mostly spent their lives on this side. Or you can sway the old by stating that they are honouring the last wish of their grandparents and family traditions and the young folk with a nice romance." a new voice quipped in. The young man was in his late twenties short dirty blond hair and was tall and muscled.
"Richard, good to see you actually punctual." The witch smirked.
"Ow, Natalia, you wounded me. It was only once."
"Six hours, Richard." The woman narrowed her eyes.
"I had been on to something." Richard Smith, the squib in the team grinned lazily.
"Alright, my friends. I will leave the press to you. Make sure to talk to Mr. Malfoy and Mrs Tonks before you release any information to the press." McLane instructed.
*.*
"Poor Harry, can you imagine what hype their bond will cause? Soulbonds are quite rare despite the amount of magical inheritances." Narcissa cooed.
She looked around her. Luckily after the war she was able to rekindle her relationship to her sister's family and her heart was at peace with her family – except her son, Severus who she saw as brother-in-law and Harry who had become a nephew to her. The Tonks with Remus Lupin in addition had come for tea and to discuss Harry's newest adventure.
"That's only because other beings than Nightshades are able to mate with someone who isn't their soulmate as long as they are compatible above fifty percent in their magic." Andromeda stated dryly.
"Harry wrote that his law team will take charge of the media circus that will occur. But if I estimate Mrs. Natalia Quasar correctly it would not be the subdued version he hoped. She knows how to convince the press to milk this as positive as possible." Remus chuckled.
"She's a closet romantic if I ever saw one." Tonks grinned.
"She has only the best in her mind for Harry." Narcissa smiled.
"I don't disagree, but I think Harry will disagree with her opinion on what the best for him is." Lucius put the letter he was reading aside. He had just received the response from the mentioned counsel.
"Let us cast the media circus aside. I think it's the best what could have happened to Harry." Andromeda smiled imagining the couple.
"Not to mention Severus. He has waited for his soulmate for almost twenty years." Lucius added.
"Oh, we need to meet with Molly and throw them a party for when they come home for the holidays." Tonks grinned like a maniac and changed colours at blinding speed.
"I don't know if I should warn them or help to plan." Remus chuckled. Lucius smirked in response. The women in their round where too busy scheming to notice the exchange between the two wizards.
"If I know both of them well enough they would rather stay in Hogwarts than attending a party in their honour."
*.*
Back at Hogwarts a certain quartet had quite other problems yet. Again they distracted themselves from each other with discussing other topics...
"Is it me or is Harry behaving a bit lovesick? I mean he spends most of his time in his rooms when he isn't in class. He is not even at every meal in the Great Hall." Pansy giggled.
"That's not quite unusual for Harry. He likes his privacy and often loses his appetite with all the staring in the Great Hall." Hermione defended her best friend.
"Hermione, Harry has it bad for his bond mate and is not even able to recognise it for love and not some side effect of hormones and spells. Did you not notice how they interacted with each other when we visited them in their rooms." Draco smirked.
"Hard to tell, they are spending much of their time alone in their rooms." Ron mused.
"The sex has to be great." Pansy smirked.
"Pansy!" Hermione cried out scandalised.
"What? Professor Snape is a Nightshade and they are bonded now. How do you think sexual magical beings complete their bond?" Pansy giggled.
"Nightshades are not sex-obsessed, Pansy. Besides I don't think Harry would survive his timetable and workload if he would have been mated to an incubus." Draco chided the girl playfully.
"Let's not discuss this out here. We don't need to read it in the papers tomorrow. Harry won't thank us." Hermione sobered them up.
The quartet sat outside at the Black Lake, doing their homework and enjoying the last warm days. They had a privacy ward around them but Hermione did not want to chance to get the proof that her wards were not of the same league as Harry's.
"Why not? It would certainly be positive press. The wizarding world is craving for stories like this." Pansy asked bewildered.
"In Harry's eyes any day without him in the news is a good day." Ron snorted.
"He should change his view if he wants to succeed in the political field." Draco replied.
"He knows this, but that does not mean he likes it." Hermione smiled and cast a tempus charm.
"We need to pack up and return to the castle." Draco concluded and put his books back in his bag.
Ron and Pansy exchanged an uncertain look.
Their very first Basic Sexual Magic Class started in about half an hour.
*.*
The new classroom was close to the seventh year tower and it was the same room for all sexual magic classes. Instead of the usual interior of a class room there were comfortable office chairs instead of the usual harder chairs of the school. The desks were bigger and the whole room was more similar to a very strange combination of classroom, office and living room with a touch bedroom. The furniture was kept in warm wood tones. And the walls were decorated in calming but creative designs of light pink and blue.
The incubus professor stepped in front of the class.
"Good evening, everyone. My name is Alan Keith and I'm going to lead you through the fascinating world of sexual magic. I'm sorry about the current design of this classroom but my beloved Helena is on a Feng Shui Trip right now... Pink is for love and blue for calmness or something like this." The professor scratched his cheek with one of his claws sheepishly.
"You, my dear, are a philistine!"
Helena Keith – or like Harry liked to describe her: The squirrel on energy potion – had just decided to walk through another door to join them and looked not pleased.
"It's apricot not pink. It's warm and cosy and it's not simply blue but turquoise for a lively and relaxed atmosphere. Best basic for topics that are uncomfortable for most students. Not everyone can be that lucky and have a magical sexual creature as bonded."
"Back to the topic. My beloved mate Helena and I will teach you Basic Sexual Magic together, so you have a male and a female contact. Usually she just teaches Ritual Magic but in mixed groups it's always better to have both gender." The incubus forced the topic back to class.
"Basic Sexual Magic or short BSM will be not only about the most important spells and basics like the flow of magic during sexual stimulation but also cover the basics of the other fields." Helena continued without repeating the explanation about the privacy spells.
Hermione looked around for the first time since class had started she noticed the other students. Beside the four of them there were of course Blaise and Seamus. But only three other couples were present as well – Twelve students out of a pool of at least forty. That was not even the half of the seventh year students and statistics told very plainly that even of the low amount a few would drop out.
In the end they had learnt about the cleaning and protection charms just in case some of them would already like to experiment, but they had been kept on a theoretical level and had just gotten tasks to get to know their partner.
Homework this day was an essay about their daily routine as it was now and how the new closeness had taken changes to their usual routine before – or as Pansy had dubbed it more bluntly: A completely authorised chance to rant and complain.
*.*
Severus watched his mate with an expressionless face as he was staring nervously into the fire.
Harry's restless foot was tapping on the ground as sigh of his nervousness.
"Calm down, Harry. They are your family, friends and allies. They won't abandon you." Severus was finally fed up of the strange silence of the young man.
"Yes, I know. They will be happy for us both. I'm just worried that Mrs Weasley and Remus will be offended that they did not hear about this earlier and what Mr McLane and his team will make out of this..."
Severus refrained himself from rolling his eyes and walked over to Harry. In a swift movement Harry was trapped on the couch between his arms.
"No one, not even the rest of the wizarding world will resent you for being my mate. It's considered a great honour to be chosen by a magical creature as veelas and nightshades. You won't lose your fans."
"That's what I fear, Sev.."
Severus stopped any further reply with a kiss. Harry responded greedily but before things could get more heated they were interrupted by a well-known "Pop".
"Dobby, Winky what are you doing here?" Harry blinked but did not move out of his bonded's embrace.
"Negotiations." Both house-elves said together.
X-x-x-x-x-x chapter 14 end X-x-x-x-x-x
AN: Hi guys. Thank you for all the nice and encouraging reviews and pms.
I'm not giving up writing any of my HP stories but I'm a bit stuck with Soulbooks because I need another style and not many opportunities to write in the last weeks.
Weather in Germany is quite hot and dry right now. Not quite the perfect climate to sit in front of a computer. Next will be Soulbooks, in a new style – I hope.
I also hope that this chapter isn't littered with mistakes. I have only proofread it once.