Chapter 21

Fiona Macdonald was a very sensible girl. She was smart, well read and able to think calmly and rationally in stressful or urgent situations.

Of course, being confronted by three men who threatened unspeakable horrors on her as well as seeing a large bird and snake appear in fire from nowhere is enough to test the constitution of any human, so fainting was understandable.

She awoke to find herself in a strange room constructed with bare stone bricks and filled with medical beds and privacy curtains. Dudley was there with Harry as a woman in a turn of the century matron's uniform waved a stick over her.

What followed was an in-depth discussion on the magical world.

Fiona was constantly sceptical, but polite enough to hold her tongue. She was hard pressed to argue against what she was witnessing.

Until now…

"He's so gorgeous!" She practically squealed.

It never failed, show a girl a unicorn and they'll forget whatever scepticism they had before. Of course that was Pansy and Tracey's idea and they were smirking smugly at him as they stood outside Hagrid's hut.

Dudley was watching nervously next to him.

"Harry!"

The two boys turned to see Neville, Gregory and Vincent jogging up.

"Hey boys." Harry called back.

"Are you ok?" Neville asked as they reached him.

Harry frowned. "Yeah, why?"

"Why?" Neville was stunned. "Dad said you were attacked by three rogue werewolves!"

"I wouldn't call it 'attacked'… " Harry said with look of disgust. "They didn't cast a spell or touch us."

"They were in the house though?" Gregory asked.

"Yeah, you know that we can't put wiggle security on a muggle house so they had easy access."

"Wait… if there wasn't any magic then how did everyone know you were in trouble?" Neville asked.

"I was not in trouble!"

"You will be!"

The warning from the girls was ignored except for a playful sneer from Harry.

"How, Harry?" Neville pressed.

"Do you remember the mirrors that Sirius and my dad used to talk?" Harry held up his wrist to show his watch. He placed his thumb on the glass face and spoke clearly: "Sirius Black."

They stood there waiting… the boys were looking at each other and wondering if they should take Harry to see Poppy.

"Sirius Black!" Harry was getting irritable. "Alright, that does it." He ran a finger from the bottom of the watch face to the top.

A second later and an image of a scowling Sirius appeared on the small face. "Harry? What the devil was that?"

"A personal feature I added." Harry grinned. "I figured I'd need it if there was an emergency."

"Well it bloody well hurt! I'm in the middle of a meeting here!"

"And I had to deal with three idiot werewolves earlier. We must simply learn to adapt to what life sends our way." Harry said sagely.

Sirius just glared at him. "What's the emergency?"

"I just wanted to show the boys the new watch. Thanks! See ya later!" He then tapped the watch and the image vanished.

"He is going to be… miffed at you." Dudley carefully censored his words.

"Who else has one of those?" Neville asked curiously.

"Just me, Sirius, Remus and Penny. Probably some others. We're still testing them. There are a ton of bugs to fix."

"'Arry! 'Arry!"

Everyone turned to see Fleur, Viktor and several other students from the various schools running up.

Harry was shocked and confused when Fleur grabbed him in a hug. He just stood there awkwardly, looking between Viktor and the boys for help.

They weren't very helpful as they just smirked.

He raised a stiff hand carefully patted her back. "Erm… there, there?"

That seemed to trigger a new reaction as she pulled back and grabbed him by the shoulders, looking him over. "You are well? Not 'urt?"

"Erm…"

Viktor laughed. "Ve heard you vere attacked. Vanted to make sure you vere vell." He explained.

"For the love of- look! It wasn't a big deal! No spells, no physical violence! Just a couple of werewolves who weren't happy about the cure!"

"Three, there were three werewolves." Dudley corrected.

"How did you defeat them?" Viktor asked curiously.

Harry wasn't quite sure how to answer that.

"Classified." Dudley said quickly. "Harry used a new item he made and called in a… specialist."

"Yeah… specialist." Harry chuckled.

"The snake is a specialist?"

Harry and Dudley grimaced as they heard the curious voice of Fiona Macdonald behind them.

"Snake?!" And there was the incredulous Hermione Granger. "Haaarry." It wouldn't take her long to put the clues together.

"We'll discuss it later Hermione." Dudley said firmly. "Let's just say that both Ember and Blinky were part of the rescue mission."

"You're Hermione?" Fiona asked with ill-disguised curiosity.

"Hermione Granger, I'm a student with Ha- well, I'm a student here." She said as she held out her hand. No one was comfortable calling Harry a student when he never attended class.

Fiona was feeling quite intimidated. If it wasn't the beautiful Daphne, the feisty Pansy or the goddess that was Fleur, it was the pretty Hermione and many others.

And they were all hanging around Dudley… she couldn't figure out why that bothered her.

"What's the plan, Harry?" Dudley asked his cousin, completely unaware of Fiona's current internal dilemma.

Harry looked at his watch. "Well, dinner is almost done, so I assume Fiona will need to be home soon before her parents get worried. Sirius can always take you back to the house."

"I meant about Fiona knowing about magic. And the fact that we were attacked." Dudley groaned. He knew Harry liked to be obtuse on purpose at times.

"Seriously! Do you want to see what happened when I dealt with Riddle? That was an attack. Hell, what he did on Halloween in '91 was more of an attack than what happened today."

"Harry! Riddle had you hostage!" Hermione gasped at his attitude. "He threatened to kill the whole of Hufflepuff!"

"Pffft!" Harry said dismissively. "I've been attacked worse by flobberworms."

"And Flint."

Everyone turned to Vincent. "Flint tried to kill Harry."

"Yeah… that one I'll give you." Harry said with a little shudder.

"Goblins too."

Harry grimaced at Gregory's attempt to 'help'. "That was more my own fault. But yeah, that was a bad one."

"The people who kidnapped me. They attacked you as well." Daphne said pointedly. "The whole setup was to get you to Riddle."

"Look, you are all proving my point." Harry sighed. "Today, compared to the crap I've dealt with, was barely a schoolyard argument.

"Ember and I have bigger fights when she keeps transporting me with asking."

Harry really didn't have the heart to chastise his tiny, immortal friend. He just made sure that Phoenix kept tabs on them.

"Alright, that's enough." Neville stepped in, breaking up the discussion. "Harry is just a student. It isn't his job to handle things like this, we should go to Professor McGonagall or Headmaster Dumbledore."

Harry raised his watch and pressed it. "Albus Dumbledore."

"Harry? Is there a problem? I'm a bit swamped in paperwork and meetings."

"Fiona Macdonald. Some adult decisions need to be made about how to handle her parents. One thing: Her memory is off limits."

Albus deflated. "These meetings are about your little adventure today. Bring Miss Macdonald to my office. I will contact Amelia."

Albus closed the connection from his end.

"Thanks Nev." Harry said sincerely. He then turned to Greg. "Why don't you escort Fiona and Dudley to the Headmaster? You and Fiona can talk as she is the one who has been training Dudley to help you."

Nicholas and Amelia took Fiona home themselves with Dudley and explained the situation in full to the Macdonald family. Fiona was the youngest of two children, her older brother, David, was currently serving in the Black Watch of the Royal Scottish Regiment. His posting was currently in Hong Kong.

It was a very tired Dudley that came home to the castle that night as the constant arguing and yelling between the adults took a toll on the two teenagers.

At present, Fiona's father had banned her from seeing Dudley again.

Everyone could see Dudley was heartbroken.

And that was something Harry could not abide.

Fiona had had a very bad night. Her father had ranted all evening whilst ordering her to stay away from Dudley. She had gone to bed in tears and only fallen asleep when she had exhausted herself by crying.

As a result she was fairly dehydrated in the morning when she woke up. She headed down to the kitchen in her pyjamas.

"Morning Fi!"

The redhead froze. That was not a voice she expected. "Ha-" Looking around she saw Harry standing at the cooker and making a fried breakfast.

That was strange.

What was scary was that her parents, Mark and Andrea, were sitting at the table… completely still apart from their eyes which were darting around fearfully.

"Take a seat! I've got everything ready but the bangers."

"What's wrong with my parents?" She asked suspiciously.

"They are stupid idiots who think that just because they are your parents they have the right to completely destroy your happiness for their own small minded ways."

Harry hadn't turned around as he was flipping an egg. He also didn't sound like he was upset, angry or… he sounded quite chipper.

"I meant; why can't they move?" Fiona clarified.

"They got a little pissy last night when I came here and woke them up. Your mum tried to whack me with a frying pan… this one actually." He gestured to the sizzling sausages.

"You broke in and tied up my parents?" She asked slowly and cautiously… just in case. Dudley often said his cousin was insane. She thought he was joking.

"Sure. I was having a bad night. Dudley was having a worse night and I assume yours was just as bad. I decided that as your fools of parents were the source of all the badness, they should suffer too."

"Does Dudley know you're here?"

"Nah, last I heard he was locked in one of my spare bedrooms and trying to come to terms with never seeing you again."

Fiona felt her heart crack a little bit more. She hoped that Dudley felt the same way about her as she did about him, this was more proof that this was true.

Then she remembered that her parents had threatened to move to another country if she ever went near the boy again. She started to sniffle as she tried not to cry.

"No need for that." Harry admonished gently as he put the plates on the table, one for each of them. "Dudley is the last of my family. His mum and dad don't count. His happiness is my happiness. My girls tell me that he is absolutely besotted with you. My boys tell me something quite similar.

"The girls also said that you seemed to feel the same way about him, based on the few hours they spent with you yesterday."

She blushed, she didn't realise she was so obvious.

Harry just grinned triumphantly. "Right, so I want my cousin happy. He wants you to be happy. Your parents want happiness for just themselves."

Harry took out his wand and waved it at the petrified couple.

They slumped slightly as they were released before tensing at the threat in front of them.

"When I am finished with you-"

"Take a look behind you." Harry calmly interrupted the enraged father.

They were all a bit jumpy and turned.

And screamed.

Staring at them at their head height was a massive snake.

"That is my pet snake, Blinky. He's been curled up in your living room for the night. He's the one who saved your daughter from those werewolves yesterday.

"Let me tell you something, Mark: You should be afraid of me." The two adults looked at him sceptically. "I entered your house without anyone knowing. I could easily kill you right now and there would be no evidence." He waved his wand at their plates causing the food to vanish and the plates to become spotless.

"Your daughter is a good person who has been helping some friends of mine. Her happiness is now important to me and my friends. And we won't even mention my cousin.

"I suggest that you take a long hard look at yourselves and determine whether I should bring your daughter back this evening or simply… make you vanish. Phoenix!"

There was a flash of fire and Harry grabbed Fiona's hand before they vanished, leaving a stunned pair of adults behind.

They sat there for a few minutes before they heard a hissing noise. They slowly turned and realised that Blinky was still there… still staring at them.

"What the hell was that?!" Fiona demanded as she found herself in a strange lounge.

"Phoenix Fire Travel." Harry said with a firm nod. "Much better than anything a wizard can come up with."

Phoenix floated down on to Harry's shoulder and began trilling.

"Well sure… but you don't get that nice warm feeling when you do it." Harry grinned at the bird. "Hey!"

Harry stumbled back as Fiona gave him an angry shove. "You know what I meant! What was with the intimidation act and kidnapping?"

Harry gave Phoenix a nod and she flamed out. He then turned to Fiona, completely serious.

"That wasn't an act. That was the truth of the matter. I will not abide the abuse of children… certainly not by their parents."

"But-"

"Tell me, Fiona, how long did you cry last night?" Harry asked, his expression stony.

"I- I-"

"When you came downstairs your eyes were still wet and red."

"I- I-"

"Whilst you were with me or Dudley over the past year, how much danger have you come across? Not counting yesterday's little encounter."

"None!"

"Have you had sex with Dudley? Has he tried to hurt you?"

"Absolutely not!"

"Then can you give me one good reason for your parents to forbid you from seeing Dudley?"

Fiona had been stunned nearly speechless by Harry's blunt and personal questions, but now that anger returned. "They were just scared Harry!"

Harry took a firm step forward. "Yes. Scared. But they were scared of nothing. Scared of threats that don't exist. All I am doing is giving them something to truly be scared of. Me. Hopefully, by tonight they will also be scared of losing their daughter, scared that they will ruin their happiness."

"Fiona?"

Fiona spun around to see a shocked Dudley standing in a doorway. She never realised she had sprinted to him and was hugging him tightly.

Dudley was still shocked.

"Out of the way Dud."

Dudley awkwardly shuffled himself and Fiona out of the doorway to let Daphne and Pansy through.

The two girls were smirking at the sight. "You called, Harry?" Pansy asked.

"I sort of kidnapped Fi." Harry said sheepishly. "Can you sort out some clothes for her?"

He was met with a pair of scowls.

"You handle Master. I'll deal with Fiona." Daphne instructed Pansy as she sent another glare at Harry and marched off to try and separate Fiona from Dudley.

"Well, My Lord? What have you done this time?" Pansy asked with a raised eyebrow.

They knew Harry hated titles. He definitely didn't like it when Pansy, Tracy, Gemma or Daphne called him 'Lord'. He despised when Daphne called him Master.

It was even worse as Severus had started to do the same when he noticed Daphne using it to show her displeasure or annoy him.

"I am simply working to ensure an optimum outcome for Dudley, Fiona and her family." He said as he took a seat in his armchair. If they were going to force these titles on him then he was going to take up the act.

"Uh huh." The sarcasm was strong. "One question, My Lord, where is Blinky?" She jabbed a thumb over her shoulder to where the basilisk usually rested on a conjured dead tree.

"Ah… knew I forgot something." Harry muttered.

Pansy had refused to let Harry go and retrieve Blinky, instead she had sent Gemma. She had then sat there silently staring at Harry… Harry sat there squirming.

Dudley was confused and worried. He wasn't sure what Harry was doing and he was worried that Fiona would take this as a sign and stay away from him.

So Tracey was called in and she took Dudley up to the Ravenclaw Tower to find Luna. Luna and Dudley were unusual friends, he insulted her (unknowingly) and she would smile and take it as a compliment. But if someone else insulted Luna… they had to run and hide and hope Dudley never caught them, it wasn't as if Greg and Vinny would let him get into a fight.

Not alone at least.

Fiona eventually emerged from one of the spare bedrooms that the girls used as a wardrobe. Harry just smiled and said he'd let Dudley know she was ready.

As they reached the Great Hall they were approached by a veela with a stormy look.

*SLAP*

*THWACK*

*THUD*

"HARRY JAMES POTTER! What the devil do you think you are doing?" Hermione demanded as she stomped up and started to tend to Fleur's broken and bleeding nose.

"She slapped me." Harry shrugged as he rubbed his red face.

"And you decided to retaliate by punching her in the face?" Hermione sneered.

"If you can't take it, don't dish it out." Dudley, who had just come up behind them, commented. "Now why would Fleur attack Harry? Is she under one of those mind control curses?"

"No idea, but I doubt it." Harry answered. "She looked livid but she also looked completely in control."

"Salop!" Fleur spat at Harry.

"Fleur!" Hermione gasped.

"You are aware that you are insulting a man in his own home, no?" Daphne asked with narrowed eyes. "One where you are a guest?"

"'E is bastard! 'E… 'E sends me things!" She struggled with her anger and English.

"I don't think I've ever sent you a damned thing." Harry said calmly, but it was clear he was far from happy. "The worst I've sent you is a nasty look."

"Que?"

Harry rolled his eyes and then flicked off a spell. "Let's just wait for a translator."

"I speak perfect French, Harry." Daphne informed him.

"Huh… learn something knew every day!" Harry grinned.

Daphne stepped forward and addressed Fleur in the girl's native language.

"What did he send you?"

Fleur was a bit surprised that the English girl spoke with a flawless Parisian accent, but she quickly regrouped. "He sent me lingerie and photos of himself… nudes!"

Daphne completely and utterly failed to hide her smirk. She simply burst out into hysterical laughter, much to the annoyance of Fleur and the consternation of Harry and her friends.

Fortunately Perenelle turned up. She took one look at the laughing girl, one at the girl with the misshapen nose and one at Harry.

She then knelt next to Fleur with a sigh and fixed Fleur's nose, putting back into its former perfect condition. "What did you do Harry?"

"She slapped me, so I punched her."

"Yes, but why did she feel the need to slap you?"

"The bastard sent me lingerie and nude photos of himself!"

*SLAP*

*THWACK*

*THUD*

"For god's sake, Harry! Stop hitting people!" Hermione shouted in frustration as she now moved to tend to Penny.

"Sure, just as soon as people stop hitting me." Harry was now rubbing the opposite red cheek.

"It's what you deserve for sending those things to the poor girl!" Penny scowled as she healed her own nose.

"First, I have no idea what 'things' you are talking about. Second, I have never sent her a thing! Hell! I've never even farted in her direction! Ow!" Harry glared at Tracey as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Why didn't you hit her?" Hermione asked.

Harry just shrugged. "Because I know Tracey had reason and that she wasn't being malicious. That was a playful tap."

"Well... turn the other cheek!"

"Hermione, he's already been slapped on two, are you sure you want him to turn to those cheeks?" Dudley asked dryly.

Hermione turned red in embarrassment.

"Fleur said you sent her lingerie and nude photos of yourself." Daphne informed them as she finally caught her breath.

Harry calmly drew his wand before sending a flurry of hexes at Perenelle Flamel. "That's right! You keep running! You tell that old goat of yours that I'll becoming for him as well!"

Harry watched Penny run as she laughed, her wand deflecting what she could and reversing what got through.

"So you didn't send those things to Fleur?" Hermione asked suspiciously.

"Do you want to be kicked out of Ravenclaw?" Harry threatened before he stalked off. He had an alchemist to eviscerate.

"'E did not send me zose things?"

"Fleur, if you asked anyone in the school if Harry would honestly do something like that, you would get laughed right out of the castle." Gemma assured her.

Harry's girls had taken the young veela to a private classroom where they were attempting to explain things.

"Do you have those pictures with you?" Pansy asked with serious curiosity.

Fleur reached into her school bag and handed a fancy cardboard box. Inside was some elegant lingerie. Until you inspected them closer to realise the panties had no crotch.

Sitting on top were photos of Harry, nude, but moving so he didn't show the full goods.

"That is not Harry." Pansy said firmly before she incinerated the photos. "Trust me, if you ever see Harry without a shirt on you will understand why those were not real pictures of Harry."

"Pansy?"

She saw the others looking at her with worry.

"A lot of 'detail' was missing." She said cryptically.

The other three Slytherins shuddered.

"How the devil did you get so good with a wand?" Nicholas scowled as he and Perenelle were stuck to the walls of the potion's classroom.

"Necessity." Harry shrugged. "So, I have a few questions." He said conversationally as he sat on one of the student desks. "How did you manage to do this to me despite the vows you took, and what should be your punishment?"

Penny gave him a fond smile. "Nothing we did was with malicious intent. The worst we could be considered to have done is to have made your life more 'interesting'."

"You sent someone nude pictures of my body." Harry scowled. "You've clearly seen it, you can understand why-"

"We applied glamours to Nicholas." She said quickly. "We did use Polyjuice, but we made sure your scars and blemishes were hidden as well as your privates. The whole picture deal was made to be cheesy."

Harry let out a sigh of relief. "Of course, now Fleur thinks I am a bloody pervert. I won't blame her if she takes this up with her government."

"She won't." Nicholas smiled. "We intend to tell her the whole truth. By now your girls will already have explained they are fake."

"How would they know?"

"Because you have spent several days unconscious and in medical care. They were the ones who changed your clothes, as a good concubine or slave should tend to her master."

Harry grimaced.

"Those girls love you, you know?" Perenelle said softly. "Not like that." She said quickly at Harry's black look. "At least, not quite yet. But after all you have done for them, how could they not?"

"It was just a joke, Harry." Nicholas tried to assure him as he and his wife hung, spread-eagled on the wall.

"A joke?" Penny winced, she did not like that calm tone of Harry's. A flick of Harry's wand and the pair were stripped to their under clothes. "You have a class in ten minutes. I guess I'm going to get to enjoy my version of your joke." He smiled humourlessly.

"Harrry…"

"What's up Nicky? Aren't you laughing yet? Can't you feel the anticipation?" Harry said with a mocking laugh. "If you want, we can go the whole hog… you are still wearing clothes after all."

"That's enough Harry."

Harry didn't even turn at the sound of Albus' calm voice. "Really? All the shit I have to go through… I've already lost Ron this time round and now they want to take Fleur as well. Molly, Arthur, Ginny… Gryffindor. I sacrificed a lot when I chose Slytherin and I knew that my friends from Gryffindor would be a part of that."

"I'm sorry Harry." Albus said with sadness for the young man.

Harry didn't even flinch as he felt the spell coming at his back.

"Of all the inconsiderate things that can be done to a person you went and did it to Harry! As if that wasn't enough, it was you Perenelle! He looks to you like a Grandmother! The only way this could have been worse is if Filius had been involved!"

Nicholas and Perenelle Flamel sat in the Headmaster's office uncomfortably as Albus ranted at them. He had been going for nearly twenty minutes. He had been especially hard about the fact that they were part of the group who had taken him to task for trying to get Sirius to betray Harry.

"Look, we realise this was a mistake-"

"A mistake?! Nicholas, say what it truly is! A grave injustice!" Albus had a face like thunder, the air crackled with magic. "Harry gave me all his relevant memories up until he faced Tom in the graveyard for the second time. The boy had intended to complete his mission on his own! Even his memories from the first time showed that I did give him some aid!"

"Albus!" Nicholas snapped. "I understand! Truly." Nicholas calmed himself. "You ranting will not help. Us sitting here and being treated like naughty children will not help. Ah!" He held up a hand to stave off Albus' scathing retort. "We may not be able to fix this, but there are certainly things we can do to try and make amends.

"Now, Penny, if you would go and apologise to Fleur on our behalf, I will endeavour to do something for Harry."

"What do you intend to do?" Albus asked warily.

"That I cannot say. It is protected by oath. But I can guarantee that it will take an immense pressure off of Harry."

"Ragnok… be prepared."

The goblin king sneered at the old alchemist who had dared to enter his chambers. He began to get dressed in his armour as he made plans in his mind. The first being to have anti-phoenix wards installed.

"Nicholas Flamel, you must take Harry Potter to the Glastonbury Tor. There he will find all he needs to legitimately claim this kingdom."

Nicholas blinked at the white robed and glowing woman who appeared in front of him, delivered her message and then vanished.

He began to make plans in his mind. The first being to have wards to prevent people like her getting in.

"Seigneur Potter, I apologise-"

"Don't worry about it, Fleur." Harry said tiredly. "It was in no way your fault or mine. But if those two fools who were responsible don't apologise to you on their hands and knees… let me know and I'll rectify it."

Fleur looked a little confused until Daphne stepped forward and gave a translation.

"Ah, eet 'as been done." She assured him.

"Then take a seat and try to forget what the bastards did."

Fleur was worried as she sat opposite him at the Slytherin table. Harry was usually full of life and bursting with things to do. Even his girls and friends looked worried.

"Lord Potter, could I have a word with you at some point?"

Harry looked up with a frown. "Professor Babbage, is there a problem?"

"No my Lord, I just have a few ideas about my classes and I was hoping to run them by you." She gave him a smile.

"Albus is in charge of the curriculum, you'd get more done through him."

"I did speak to him and he was unable to help. He suggested speaking to you as a means of bypassing the ICW set curriculum."

"Do we need to do this in private or can we talk whilst we eat?"

Charity shrugged and curtsied before taking a seat next to Fleur.

"For the record, if you call me 'Lord' again during this meal… I will tell the Weasley Twins that it is open season on you."

The Muggle Studies professor blushed. "We are in public."

"Yes, but there are no Ministry idiots here and Albus is behaving." Harry smirked. "So, what's your plan?"

"Albus has made it clear that we can't change my class curriculum. If we do that then my students will never pass their OWLs."

"I hope you have a solution because I now have the urge to go and yell at the ICW." Harry grumbled.

Charity just smiled. "We need a new class. We can call it 'Muggle Studies' but rename mine to 'Muggle History'. Muggle Studies will be mandatory for all students. Muggle History will be an elective, as the Muggle Studies OWL and NEWT is."

"So we would need a new teacher."

"And regrettably they would have to be independently funded as Albus is certain the Ministry wouldn't approve." She said unhappily.

"You have someone in mind?"

Her smile returned. "Mister Creevey's mother is working a low paying job. But she is very easy to talk to. She has had a fair few jobs and as a result, she has a good understanding of muggle culture and work."

Harry nodded thoughtfully. "I'll have something drawn up as soon as I get a chance. In the meantime, feel free to make her the offer. Take Aunt Minnie with you, and preferably Albus."

Harry suddenly had an evil smile. "Make sure you get Mrs Creevey to critique their ability to dress like muggles!"

Charity laughed. "If she does that they might not give her the job!"

"Pfft. I'm the one paying her. If she does that I will guarantee her the job."

Charity laughed again. Harry had made her job so much better. Before she had been looked down because she even associated with muggles. Now though, she had third year muggle born wanting to join her classes, and it wasn't because it was supposed to be an easy pass.

"You might want to get together with Bert as well. In fact… consider yourself the head of a new department in the school. Within the next few years your department will be made up of lots of other departments and you will be in charge of them all."

"Do I at least get a pay rise?" She groaned.

"Considering you will be working for me and not the school? Damn straight."

Everything began to return to what laughingly passed for normal. Penny was still distraught over the pain she had caused Harry and only stopped apologising when Harry threatened to have Ember use her for flaming practice.

Nicholas was running himself ragged between classes and his other mission. Harry took pity on the man and sent a request to Yoshiko and Severus hoping they would return.

"Married?!"

The kitsune was clearly on cloud nine as she happily bounced next to Severus.

Severus was trying very hard not to smile.

"I am now Snape Yoshiko!" She squealed before pouncing on Harry and hugging him tightly.

Harry just stood there.

"This is the natural conclusion of what you instructed me to do." Severus frowned as he saw Harry did not look happy.

"Did you do this because I gave you a command?" Harry asked with a bit of worry.

Severus straightened and stiffened. "No. You gave me the freedom of choice. This is what I have done with that freedom."

Yoshiko backed away with an unhappy look. "Aren't you happy for us?"

Harry's bottom lip began to quiver, his eyes to water. "Why didn't you invite me?" He sniffled.

Yoshiko gasped in horror before she hugged him again.

Severus just gave him a disgusted look. He knew full well that Daphne had taught him how to cry on command.

It was only a few days before Christmas and Harry was exceptionally perturbed as he stood in his living room.

"I'm sorry, could you repeat that?"

"Harry, just say what I say: Fleur Delacour, I would be honoured to take you to the Yule Ball." Daphne said with a hint of exasperation.

Harry looked from the increasingly embarrassed Fleur and the increasingly annoyed Daphne. "Is this another 'Flamel Joke'?"

"No Master, it is not." Daphne said firmly.

Harry's eyes widened as he heard Fleur gasp. "You really want that out there?" He asked incredulously.

"I trust Fleur. You trust Fleur. All four of us have been open and honest with her. Now… do as I say Master!" She pointed at Fleur with a manic look.

Harry quickly turned to Fleur. "I'd be honoured!" He said a bit panicky.

"There, wasn't that simple?" Daphne smiled sweetly, as though she hadn't just been a raging loon.

Harry glared at her. "Sit!" He pointed at the couch.

She immediately sat, this was about as much of an order as Harry had ever given.

Harry turned back to Fleur. "Is this what you want?"

"I- Yes!" Fleur said after a moment's hesitation as she realised what was being asked. "Daphne and 'er friends, they…"

She turned to Daphne and the girl nodded before Fleur began to speak.

Daphne translated. "You are interesting and fun, even when you are annoying. You do not act like you are fourteen."

"Merci." Fleur said to Daphne.

"Master, let Fleur take the oath." Daphne was practically pleading.

Harry's first instinct was to immediately reject Daphne's suggestion with an unfortunate amount of vehemence.

But his common sense kicked in just in time. Daphne was bound to him as a slave. It was impossible for her to hurt him in any manner without causing herself pain and death.

There were also other factors that stopped him from a knee jerk dismissal of the suggestion, those factors would soon come into play.

He turned slowly to Fleur. "Do you know occlumency?"

She looked to Daphne curiously.

Daphne explained in French.

"Non, it is not needed for veela."

"Alright…" Harry sighed in frustration. He then made a decision. "Daphne, go and get the girls and Dudley."

Daphne was engaged in an intense conversation with Fleur. She had taken the news about Harry and his time travel with a fair amount of shock.

Dudley just sat there, frowning thoughtfully.

"Dud?" Harry asked hesitantly. "I always wanted to tell you. I just couldn't, you don't know occlumency and I don't know how to protect your mind."

Dudley gave him a curious look before realisation spread across his face. "I'm not worried about that. You told me everything you could."

"Something's wrong."

Dudley didn't look pleased at all. It was clear he was upset. "You… you lived with me and my parents till you were seventeen."

"It wasn't like any of us had a choice. There were plenty of people who would have taken me in and your parents would have been happier." Harry shrugged.

Dudley just growled and sat forward. "You are talking to someone who lived with you for nearly ten years, Harry. For ten years we had you locked in that cupboard. For ten years you worked like a damned slave!"

The girls were now paying attention.

"There is no way in hell that you would have been treated any better when you started Hogwarts. How many times did they try to kill you?" Dudley demanded.

"Easy Dud-"

"No! I have nightmares about this! I dream that everything you've given me is a dream and that I'll be that fat little fucker and you will be trapped in the cupboard again."

"Dudley!" Harry got up and knelt in front of his cousin, placing his hands on his shoulders. "It's true, they treated me badly. They made sure I knew I was hated. But the day we went our separate ways… you and I, we may not have parted as friends but we damned well didn't do so as enemies!

"We had a modicum of respect for each other. That is why I came for you at the Home. That is why I have given you every chance I possibly could. Because I felt you could be better than your parents. You showed me that on the last night we saw each other.

"And look at you now! You are smart, handsome, you have a beautiful and caring girlfriend. You are respected by everyone from Dumbledore to Filch!

"Dudley… I only gave you chances. You were the one who did something with them."

Dudley looked at him, his face set in stone. "I swear, I will be the best that I can be. Whatever you need me to be."