The Potter Coven

by flowerchild33

Dumbledore tells Harry everything after the third task and Hermione is determined to help Harry tackle it all. She finds a unique solution that will change their lives forever. She will awaken forbidden magic and great power that will shake the magical world and will definitely offer power that he knows not. The rating is for a reason. Smut with M/F, F/F and multiple relations

25. Events in the Key of Life

Chapter 25 – Events in the Key of Life

With the Board meeting out of the way, Harry was able to focus on his OWL year and just being a normal student. Or as much a normal student as he would ever be, considering he was lord of three houses and member of a coven. While he had been the most outspoken during the Board meeting, the other board members were now taking a more active role in finding new professors, which he was grateful for.

Not long after their return to school, the coven had another distraction from school. Their article about their family and their part in destroying Tom Riddle's soul containers, thus weakening him and allowing the Aurors to take him out with little fuss, had been met with mixed feelings as they had expected. Their mail was scanned by Dobby as it arrived and anything he deemed harmful was immediately put under elf stasis and bundled off to the DMLE. Basic howlers were destroyed before they could even begin. Letters and other packages were handled by Dobby and he actually enjoyed the task, using form letters to reply to the basic thank-you notes. Letters ranting at them about their unnaturalness were put in a box to be used as fireplace kindling, and within a few weeks begin to diminish. A good majority of letters seemed to be people who simply had to write to get their thoughts on paper, and the thoughts were often of two minds about the coven. As a whole, magical Britain didn't like the idea, but thought that under the extreme circumstances what they had done was justified. The fact that their wonderful Boy-Who-Lived was involved seemed to help some with acceptance.

One person who took about a week of contemplation over the holidays to settle his own stomach on the matter was Minister Scrimgeour. Amelia had briefed him completely on the morning after the solstice and he had been shocked to find out the details. To then see it all published a few days later, with only a few specifics of the horcruxes omitted, was a blow he had not anticipated. Giving the public that kind of information was something he would not have recommended. It also led to his office being inundated with letters and demands in the days leading up to and through the new year. Some wanted the coven arrested and sent to Azkaban, apparently not believing or not having read the fact that not a single law had been broken. Others demanded awards and a gilded statue. Rufus waited until after the new year and let some of the furor die down before meeting with Amelia to discuss an award, because even he knew that doing nothing would see a mob at his doorstep before long.

Two days after Hogwarts started the new year, the Minister arrived at the school and was shown to Lord Gryffindor's apartment for tea. All of the coven were there to greet him. They were cordial, but none made overt gestures, all still wearing their school robes from the day. He delivered the news that after much debate it had been decided that all seven would receive Order of Merlin Second Class awards.

Although there had been some discussion of first class, since they had not been in active combat, it was felt the second class was warranted. Not that any of the coven actually cared, the awards were unexpected. Hermione would be only the second muggleborn to receive an Order of Merlin, and the other had been a third class. Everyone enjoyed a lovely tea and the Minister also brought the welcome news that the Wizengamot Judicial Committee had returned from their holiday break and met to review additional charges for the convicted criminal Dolores Umbridge. Since she had committed crimes while already being a convict, she wasn't afforded a full trial. The end result was another twenty-two years added to her sentence for the crimes of attempted escape, stealing a wand, and assault on an Auror. It was more a formality given her other time in Azkaban, but the it was good to know that justice was being served on all counts. With the final details set for the ceremony, the Minister left the coven to their studies. While the news of the awards was startling, it didn't change the workload of their schoolwork so the coven members sent off notes to their families and then returned to more mundane tasks.

January the 22nd was a Monday, but it was also the one month anniversary since Voldemort's death and thus had been marked as the day of the awards ceremony at the Ministry. All of the extended family of the coven was to be in attendance, including the Grangers, who were being provided muggle amulets that would allow them entrance. Sirius had agreed to collect them and apparate them to the visitor entrance. Minister Scrimgeour did take into account that it was a school day and waited until three in the afternoon, so that no classes were interrupted. Still, it was a bit of a rush for everyone to finish classes, return to the apartment, clean up, change to formal house robes, and floo from the Headmaster's office in time for the ceremony. When they arrived, the Ministry atrium was packed full of people and lined with Aurors watching the crowd. The walls were festooned with bunting and a wizard airhorn band played an unusual tune that nonetheless added a festive air. The coven arrived with the headmaster in the minister's office and then traveled to the atrium via lift a minute later, immediately starting a resounding cheer. It was all a bit much for Harry, who looked like he wanted to flee. Instead Susan and Luna each took an arm, while the others gathered around him and led him into the crowd.

The strength of his witches around him was also helped when Harry saw the first rows were occupied by all of their extended family, including Neil Granger who was brandishing a very nice, very muggle camera that made Harry grin. Seeing them, Harry gritted his teeth, took his seat on stage, and proceeded with the ceremony.

Thankfully, Amelia had interceded on their behalf and advised Minister Scrimgeour that the coven could not be away from school for long. He kept his speech brief and then gave each of the witches their medals before finally calling Harry forward. The crowd went crazy and the lightbulbs flashed nonstop until Harry had had his fill. He shook the Minister's hand, allowed his medal to be stuck to his robes, and then returned to his witches. Then a moment of inspiration struck him and he reached for Hermione, pulling her up, while reaching for Luna and gesturing to others. They all took the hint as the coven gathered in a giant huddle and Harry proceeded to snog each of them in turn. Then the witches traded a few small kisses among themselves as Harry continued moving around the circle. They seemed oblivious that the crowd had gone quiet, but the flashbulbs had not. The coven could have cared less. When Harry was done, they all returned to their seats and grinned at their family. Sirius was smirking, Molly looked aghast, Arthur was palming his face, Jean was shaking her head, and Neil was still taking pictures.

With the snogfest done, Minister Scrimgeour regained control with a few more words and called the ceremony to a close as he invited everyone to a brief reception. That was the signal for everyone seated to stand and the chairs disappeared so that everyone could mingle as tables with steaming punch and platters of small cakes appeared. The coven members thanked the Minister before stepping down to talk to their families and letting their medals be seen up close. They were also accosted by a number of members of the press and spoke to them as they mingled, but refused to be pinned down.

After a couple of hours total at the Ministry, the coven all said their goodbyes to their family and made their way back to a floo to return to school. The medals were nice, but they were ready to put the whole business behind them and be a normal coven family.

It was during the last week of January when Harry's attempt at being as normal a student as possible took another turn in the opposite direction. He, Hermione, and Daphne were studying for Potions one afternoon shortly before dinner in their private common room when Luna and Ginny came downstairs. Ginny had seemed distracted when she had arrived earlier and had taken Luna upstairs to talk. Harry was worried, but knew that Luna would help her.

When Ginny reached the bottom of the stairs, she inched her way to Harry's side and obviously seemed unsure about disturbing him. Pushing his parchment back, Harry looked up at her and became even more worried.

"Gin, what is it? Come here."

Harry moved his chair back and opened his arms. Ginny took the invitation and sobbed lightly as she collapsed into his lap. Now Harry was really worried as he stroked her hair. Daphne and Hermione had set aside their homework as well and were now looking to Luna for help.

"Alright Gin, whatever is it? We're all in this together."

"It's my damn Prewett blood! Oh Harry, I know you have enough going on already, but I'm pregnant. Hermione, I'm sorry to take away from you. I know you worked hard on the potions to adjust cycles and you know my cycle was stubborn and we increased the dose and we thought it finally worked, but I still spotted, but in the end you thought it was enough, but leave it to a Prewett, I mean look at mum, she said she wanted a large family of course, but all dad had to do was look at her and she was pregnant, and grandmum was the same, and now me…"

Ginny finally ran out of breath as she buried her head in Harry's chest while he absorbed the information and the grin on his face grew. Although Ginny couldn't see it, the others could. He controlled himself for about another twenty seconds and then he was out of his chair, holding Ginny against him while he whooped happily and spun her around, causing the others to laugh. When he finally set her down, Ginny looked a bit greenish.

"Ooh Harry, I would watch the spinning. Wrackspurts congregate around pregnant women in the first months and make them quite dizzy."

"Sorry Gin. Look, we knew this was a possibility. The potions were never definite. Obviously in Hermione's case, neither was the charm. You all know I want a family of my own, I just get it sooner than I planned. Your mum will probably have my ears, but like you said, it's her family that's so fertile."

Ginny looked at Harry and could see how happy he was. That caused her to start crying again.

"Why am I crying all the time? What is wrong with me?"

"Hormones Ginny. Perfectly normal. I get them too. They've started to settle just a bit."

"Let's all go cuddle on the couches. As soon as Tonks gets home, we need to talk about formalizing ourselves as far as the Ministry is concerned. Especially now that my future Lady Potter and future Lady Gryffindor are expecting. Suse, has Aunt Amy picked a weekend for sure yet?"

Susan had been sending a lot of owls back and forth to Amelia, as well as using Harry's mirror with Sirius. With Amelia's pregnancy becoming more apparent, they had decided to marry over the Easter holiday, which encompassed two weeks, but there had been a lot of wrangling on schedules of attendees and picking a weekend.

"Yes. So, the Express leaves on April 5th, Easter is the 7th. We don't return until the 15th. Aunt Amy was thinking Saturday the 6th, but she has a new class of Aurors swearing in later that afternoon and the last thing she wants is to delay leaving for her honeymoon so that she can do a bit of work. So, they are back to the 13th. I think this time its definite. We actually just talked yesterday."

"Alright, that works. We need to wait until Tonks is here of course, but what about the weekend before for us? That would be the sixth. Maybe we can be excused to leave a day or two early if we get exams done. Then if we do a mid-day wedding and a luncheon, can Aunt Amy make her swearing in after? Then we go to the island for the week, come back for her and Sirius' wedding, have a day off, then back to school."

"Hmm, well, that's a packed schedule. But with all the babies coming, I guess it could work. We'll talk about it with Tonks."

"Whatever you ladies want. I've told you that your mutual decision is first on this. Just tell me where to be and when."

"And what to wear."

"Right, I need to know what to wear too."

Everyone laughed and snuggled a bit closer, temporarily delaying homework a bit longer.

When Tonks got home that night, she was thrilled at Ginny's news and soon agreed to the plan of going ahead with a wedding over the Easter holiday, alternating weekends with Sirius and Amelia. The consorts technically didn't have a formal ceremony, but everyone was in agreement that they were all going to be included. The ladies then decided that April at Potter Manor would be an ideal time for a spring wedding. Being south of London on the edge of the High Weald, the odds were certainly better than Scotland, and Harry hoped that his ladies got their beautiful spring day. Before plans went further, Harry called Sirius on the mirror and then handed it off to Susan as all the ladies tried to gather around it and Harry briefly had the thought that for a summer project he and Sirius should work on making a large wall sized version of the communication mirrors.

After a lot of chatter back and forth, the ladies on both ends agreed to the plans for weddings on both weekends. Amelia's Auror ceremony wasn't until four in the afternoon, so a mid-day ceremony followed by a luncheon would be ideal. She and Sirius were both congratulatory on Ginny's news, but promised to not say anything until an owl had time to reach the Burrow.

With the dates agreed, all of the ladies began writing letters to their families and the wedding planning began. Harry returned to his Potions homework, knowing he would be informed if and when he was needed.

The following day saw the entire coven gathering in the late afternoon and making their way to Madam Pomfrey. She had done an initial exam when Hermione had returned to school, but now it was Ginny's turn. She also checked over Hermione, who was about a month ahead in gestation. Both witches had nausea potions and were admonished on what to eat. They also had a list of potions and specific potions ingredients to avoid. It meant a few adjustments in the potions lab, but other than that, they were able to continue their studies.

Soon January was gone and February slipped by quickly. Everyone was busy with their schoolwork, especially those in OWL year. For Harry, he also had Quidditch. The twice weekly practices were his chance to unwind. Daphne was on the reserve team for Slytherin and flew with the team on occasion, but was never called to play. Ginny had also been on reserve for Gryffindor, but had resigned when she had discovered she was pregnant. That was the biggest sacrifice the pregnancy called for.

The first result of the Board meeting was seen during the third week of February when Professor Binns was dismissed. As expected, he had ignored the Headmaster when first informed. At that point, Harry had arrived in the classroom and activated his Gryffindor signet. He then, as Lord Gryffindor, informed Professor Binns of his death and retirement. The ghost seemed shocked and then gradually faded away. Harry was glad that he seemed to have moved on. In his place, Mr. Dimple had located a professor with unique ancestry by the name of Leland Chichester de Crespo. The man was three-quarters blood of English and Spanish ancestry and had most recently been teaching at an exclusive, small school in Seville. His wife was English and wished to return home, so Scotland was at least much closer and he had welcomed the job offer. Thankfully, although his last name was a mouthful, he preferred to be called Professor Crespo. Though his formal, crisp robes and perfectly trimmed, pointed goatee made students initially wary of the new professor, they soon found that he had a dry wit and bawdy sense of humor that enlivened the histories he delivered. His arrival at the castle was quite welcome.

The next result of the meeting was not as planned. Professor Trelawney had been informed that Divination was being discontinued as a subject come autumn and that she would be expected to leave the castle by the end of June. While this had been done in as professional a manner as possible, she had left the headmaster's office wailing. Then she had proceeded to stop a group of sixth years in the hall and 'predict' the headmaster's imminent demise. Albus Dumbledore was nothing if not forgiving and waved the incident off as Trelawney returned to her classroom. Unfortunately, over the next couple of weeks, her drinking became progressively worse to the point where a fourth year noticed that her 'tea' didn't smell much like tea at all. The headmaster and Madam Pomfrey both talked to her, but she waved them off. The next day she predicted a cataclysm and the destruction of the castle. Her last sentence was delivered seconds before she finished a cup of 'tea', took two steps to the right, and promptly fell down a flight of stairs. When she awoke two days later in the hospital wing and Madam Pomfrey tried to talk to her about the incident, she predicted the women's immediate demise. Dumbledore was standing behind a nearby curtain and just shook his head. Even he had his limits. When Sybil Trelawney was released from the hospital wing the following day, he and Professor McGonagall informed her that she was being let go due to behavior unbecoming of a professor. A house elf escorted her off the grounds. The last Divination class taught at Hogwarts was on February 27th.

Another professor who saw changes due to the Board meeting was Professor Hagrid. The ICW had provided a syllabus for Care of Magical Creatures, years 1-7 and the headmaster had gone down to have tea with Hagrid and carefully explain that the syllabus needed to be followed precisely. Hagrid could still add unique details that he knew about each creature, but he could not embellish with creatures of his own. Although the big man looked downtrodden, he could see that his mentor was resolute and agreed. It was really for the best, as he only had two blast ended skrewts left alive and they had recently turned a strange green color and were smelling quite bad. He didn't think they would live much longer. It was quite sad really.

While his ladies were busy with their major side project titled 'wedding', Harry was busy with his project building the Lily Evans Potter Non-Magical Cottage. He had secured a tiny piece of land just outside of Hogsmeade for a mere 400 galleons. It was an extra scrap of land left from a larger estate and no one really had a use for it, but it was perfect for the project. Once purchased, he left school one weekend and floo'd to the Leaky. Once there, he met with Neil Granger, who he had been sending letters back and forth with, usually attached secondary to notes that were being sent to Jean with wedding details. He needed to visit a public non-magical library in London and Neil had agreed to help him locate one. As it turned out, there was one just a few blocks from the Leaky and they found Harry what he needed quite quickly, providing Harry with a number of stock house plans. The outing went so quickly that Harry and Neil then had time for a lunch of fish and chips and a bit of time to chat with just the two of them, which was a rare treat.

After lunch, Harry said goodbye to Neil and made his way to Diagon Alley and Gringotts. At the bank, he met with Silverclaw, who knew of a squib contractor that Harry could hire. They discussed a few more details with Harry's accounts, which were taking significant hits given the recent expenditures with the ladies, wedding, and the work at the Manor. Still, it would take much more before Harry would ever have cause to even begin to be concerned. And he knew that in a few years he would be back to recouping more in a year than he spent.

With a bit more time before he was expected back, Harry decided to make a quick trip by the Manor. Remus was surprised, but happy to see him. Harry assured him that this wasn't an inspection, he was just missing home. Remus had recently moved into a refurbished bungalow. He had also hired two farmhands and one family, whose head was now working on the orchard. It was just the start of March, but already the fields were being tilled and they were all eagerly waiting for the last frost so that the first crops could be planted. Each of the new hires was a lycan and all were beyond grateful for the opportunities. The Manor had six small iron barred rooms in the basement that the elves had completed for the nights of the full moon and Harry wasn't worried in the least. His orchard manager, Marcus, actually was married with two young magical children and now dreamed that he may be able to afford to send them to Hogwarts in a few years. Harry privately vowed to himself that it would happen. He also made a small side comment to Remus as they walked back to the Manor that there were plenty of good women who would be willing to overlook his illness and Marcus' wife was a good example. He left the matter at the simple comment, but hoped that Remus would take the matter to heart.

Once he was done looking around the grounds, Harry spent a few minutes talking to the elves. The Manor was in top shape, as he would expect, and the elves were all excited for the upcoming wedding. The ladies had decided on the unique and beautiful peony garden on the west side of the Manor to use for the wedding, and Dary was busy tweaking and sprucing to ensure that it was at its finest on the appointed day. Harry knew that if he could, the elf would command the weather to cooperate as well.

With his errands and a bit more done, Harry returned back to Hogwarts with his house plans in hand. That night he and the ladies looked through the plans and decided on a simple cottage that would fit well on the small piece of ground that Harry had bought. While they had initially considered a quite small two bedroom, Tonks had made the point that, while the house wouldn't be lived in, it would have to accommodate good size classes on visits. Then Susan made the point that if it was too tiny, purebloods would take one look at it and automatically assume it was a statement that non-magicals were inherently poor. Harry grumbled at once again having to consider such political implications, but he knew that some would indeed think that. He also agreed with Tonks' assessment.

In the end, the floor plan chosen was much more than Harry had originally thought he would need. Rather than a bungalow, it would resemble more a respectable stone cottage with a detail of a stylized masonry rock chimney in the front, offset against the main rock of the cottage. The front would also feature a porch that would be handy for arriving during Scotland's harsh winters. Stepping inside, there would be a small foyer with a good size closet for coats and boots. A short distance down from the foyer, stairs would lead up to the second story. To the left would be a large living room, that would include a library on the back end. The back of the house would feature a fully equipped kitchen and dining room. Upstairs would feature three bedrooms and two bathrooms. Originally Harry's plan had been two and one, but again the argument to show a prominent non-magical home won out. The cost would be a bit more, but a couple thousand galleons was worth it for the image it would portray.

The cottage planning went for several hours, but then schoolwork had to be attended to. Over the next week, the ladies contributed ideas, but Daphne pushed Hermione and Ginny to focus on the wedding and let Harry have his 'project' instead of taking over completely. The two were not only his two pregnant witches, but also tended to be the two most assertive, which a couple of the others in the coven were making efforts to curb this tendency.

A week after his trip into London, Harry and Sirius walked into Hogsmeade and met the squib contractor at the Three Broomsticks. They went into the pub and talked over drinks. After looking over the plans and discussing details, the contractor was eager for the project and quoted a reasonable price to get started. Harry didn't have the time nor inclination to worry about getting competing bids, so they shook on it and then left the pub to walk out of the village to the property. Once there, Mr. Matthews, the contractor, took a number of measurements and surveyed the sight lines for about twenty minutes. With all of Harry's plans and notes in hand, they walked back to the village. It would take a couple of weeks for him to arrange his sub contractors, especially since he knew Harry wanted some of the work done non-magically. The plan was to take videos of some of the non magical work of different trades and have it played at different times for the classes. He promised to keep Harry updated via owl on the progress. With the plans decided, Harry was happy to have the project underway and wished Mr. Matthews well as he left the village.

As Sirius and Harry walked back into the village, Harry steered them toward Honeydukes. Sirius snapped his fingers as if remembering something.

"That's right, Amelia's supply is running low. She has taken a liking to this special dark chocolate they make with Peruvian cocoa. She swears the taste is unique and I'm certainly not going to argue with her. I had forgotten how moody pregnant women could be, but going through this with Amelia reminds me of when your mum was cooking you pup. She kept all of us Marauders on the hop. The last months especially. I was on a hit wizard mission in Paris and was teased to no end when I made a point of stopping on the way back for a batch of chocolate croissants. For a week though, I swear Lils loved me as much as James. Remus made the mistake of trying to snag a piece of one. It wasn't pretty."

Harry chortled at the image of his pregnant mum facing down a werewolf over a chocolate croissant.

"Well, all my ladies like their chocolate, but Hermione is definitely craving more and I'm just starting to notice it with Ginny."

"How did that news go over at the Burrow by the way?"

"Mixed. One paragraph has Molly going on about not doing things proper, the next she is fussing over wedding details. Then she is discussing knitting patterns. About what Gin expected. I honestly hadn't planned on making things official this quick, but I'll be glad to have it done. Anyone who doesn't like it can take a flying leap off the nearest tower. We're all in love and we even toasted a Dark Lord for them."

Sirius chuckled as they reached Honeydukes and each wizard began making their selections. Sirius of course made his purchase quicker, but then was entertained at the detail that Harry went to in his selections and packaging of items for all six of his ladies. It was somewhat surreal to be shopping with his godson for chocolate for their pregnant women.

"I tell you pup, any man who envies you should just shadow you for a day or so and then see what he thinks."

"I agree. Not that I would change a thing, but being the lone wizard in a coven of seven is not something that just any wizard can take on. And I'm not just talking myself up. I mean, look at Ron. He can't keep a single girlfriend happy."

"He on the other hand is a normal fifteen year old boy. You, my pup, don't do normal."

Harry saluted in agreement as they reached the gates to Hogwarts and said their good-byes. Sirius apparated away while Harry made his way back to the castle. Now that it was early March, the snow had started to recede and the Scottish Highlands were beginning to possibly think about yielding to spring in a month or so. Harry enjoyed the slightly warmer temperatures and a bit of broken sunshine, but he still had a fair pile of homework to be attended to for the day.

As March progressed, so did wedding planning and cottage building. Both of Harry's pregnant ladies were showing progress as well. At close to four months, Hermione was no longer able to hide her condition. At a month behind her, Ginny could still manage with school robes, but without them she was also obvious. Not that either wanted to deny their conditions. Both were glowing and happy as they sailed toward their wedding. With attentive coven mates all around, as well as a mostly supportive castle full of schoolmates, Hogwarts was the most peaceful either could remember it ever having been.

There were some who were unhappy with the changes that were beginning to be seen, mostly in Slytherin, although Malfoy and his goons hadn't returned. Lucius was in Azkaban and the Malfoy fortunes were much diminished. Narcissa had little choice but to sell their large manor and move to a small secondary property. She then used some of the funds to send Draco to Durmstrang, hoping that he could escape his criminal record. Both Crabbe Senior and Junior were dead, as was Goyle Senior. As for Goyle Junior, his mother had fled the country with her children to her ancestral homeland in Germany. There were still other bigots in the house, but they found little support and even the Headmaster was being much firmer with them now. It was one example of the Headmaster's gradually changing viewpoint that was starting to manifest.

Soon the Easter break loomed and the study madness was matched only by wedding madness. The previous two Hogsmeade weekends, as well as two additional weekends that the coven had gotten leave for, had been spent taking care of fittings and various arrangements. Harry had had a vague idea before that weddings required quite a bit to do, but realized over the intervening months that he really had NO idea. He was once handed a sample of two fabrics in two greens and told to pick a shade and he was at a loss since he had to squint to even see a difference in the two. It was typical for much of the planning.

One Saturday outing that he was completely excited for was a visit to a special clinic that was attached to St. Mungo's. It offered a number of specialty medical treatments that in the non-magical world might encompass plastic surgery and a number of other disciplines. For Harry, he went to see an eye specialist. He soon found out that the glasses that the Dursleys had picked up for him from a donate bin years before were all wrong, not that he was much surprised. He spent the next four hours undergoing a series of spells and potions to correct his eyesight. He was still in the middle of the treatments at lunch, so his coven mates brought him a lunch of a big, juicy burger and chips that he ate while his eyes were completely patched. It made the meal messy, but he found it quite fun to have the messes kissed off his face. It wasn't until he heard a chuckle that he realized Healer Friederich was back and laughing at his predicament. It also signaled the end to lunch and another two hours of treatment. By the end of the day, Harry left with special sunglasses to use for two days. After that, his eyesight was perfect and his ladies were thrilled to be able to see his beautiful eyes unimpeded. The cost had been 900 galleons, but it was worth it.

As all of the students were in the final week preparing for exams, Tonks arrived home to the castle one evening and obviously had something on her mind. They all went to dinner and then after, Harry pulled her into his lap on the couch for a bit of a snuggle to see what was going on.

"I've been thinking Harry. Everything is going well at work. We've been rounding up the Death Eaters that fled. And Gringotts has been happy to help freeze vaults since we let them keep half the seized funds. There's still work to be done, but it's not as unknown and dangerous day to day as it was. And I've been thinking, well, that I want a baby. I'm 22 now and I'm ready. I know you've already got two on the way, but the timing feels right."

Harry smiled and kissed her long and hard before pulling back reluctantly.

"I'm alright with that, if no one else has severe objections. Ultimately it is the two of us, unless it impacts the rest of the coven adversely. I've told each of you, that I'm ready for baby making whenever. Just tell me when and I'll gladly contribute."

Luna giggled from across the room while Hermione shook her head at him. Everyone agreed that they were fine with Tonks trying for a baby.

"Well then Harry, I have the advantage of being a metamorph. With the unique control of my body, I can control ovulation. Has come in handy for birth control up until now. Anyway, I thought I'd start the process a few days before the wedding. It takes some time to get ovulation ready, but then I should be fertile sometime during our honeymoon week. I figured that would be a good time for your contribution."

Harry grinned and proceeded to resume snogging her. Eventually Daphne had to separate them and waved his Potions exam work at him, causing Harry to groan as Tonks nodded and pulled herself off his lap.

Finally, after two and a half days of grueling exams, the Easter break arrived. The coven had hoped to leave early so that they could prepare for the wedding, since the Express left on the morning of the 5th and the wedding was the 6th of April, but their last exam was on the afternoon of 4th. Still, they did use Harry's status as Lord Gryffindor to leave via floo that afternoon so that they were at the Manor for dinner. All of the extended family were already there and the elves had obviously been busy, with the entire Manor gleaming and fresh flowers adorning every surface.

As soon as the coven arrived, the list of tasks began with every detail needing attending to. While the ladies began talking to the elves, there were no immediate tasks for Harry, so he took a few minutes and decided to go for a walk outside, making his way toward the spot that was designated for their ceremony. The peony garden was beyond stunning and the weather forecast indicated a sunny if somewhat mild day with temperatures around 16 or 17.

The peony garden was a unique part of Manor that Harry could appreciate since Aunt Petunia had tried to grow the difficult flowers, which tended to only offer a single bloom after three or four years of dutiful care. Thanks to a family diary that Milly had directed him to, Harry knew that the flowers were the legacy of his great-grandmother Aislynn, wife of Henry. In 1918, the couple was married barely a year when a massive storm struck the lower half of the British Isles and especially wreaked havoc on the Potter lands. One victim of the winds of the storm was a walnut tree that was said to be as ancient as the isles. Aislynn was a daughter of the Druid tradition and had wept over the loss of the grandfather of the land, until in a dream she was shown turning the loss into beauty. Her young husband was busy with repairing the fields and such and happily let his wife do as she would. The result was that the tree was harvested by wandmakers and mystics, but the core of the walnut tree was made into a new mantle for the center hearth of the Manor. The hole left from the roots of the tree became a pond and the area around it that was ravaged by the loss was gradually turned into the peony garden, complete with winding patterns in the Celtic form of Aislynn's ancestors. Harry may not have been raised in the tradition, but he had to admit that walking the paths of the garden brought a unique peace to him. In the center of garden, approaching the pond was a large glade surrounded by the profusion of color and fragrance of the massive bushes that only peonies that had been growing for close to a hundred years could offer. It was here where the ceremony would be held.

Harry walked the beautiful stone paths and looked at each bush, carefully pruned so that it wouldn't appear so. The paths had also been groomed and Dary had done an amazing job. The chairs were already set out in the glade, a couple hundred simple wooden chairs that were festooned with sprigs of looped baby's breath. All looked to be in order, so Harry decided to just enjoy his walk as he gazed out on the pond. His great-grandmother had created a unique spot of beauty, a mix of English with her Druid roots. The flowers she had seen and loved as a girl with the paths of Celtic symmetry throughout. Harry enjoyed it for a few minutes longer before returning to the Manor to see what other tasks needed doing before dinner.

Dinner that night was festive, as the extended family hadn't all been together in a couple of months. The various Saturday outings and Hogsmeade weekends usually saw different groupings splitting off. The three pregnant women were doted over at the table and Amelia thought the whole scene was a bit surreal. Her niece would be getting bonded the next day and she would be married in a week. And Susan had two coven mates expecting as well. She knew that all of the coven would raise their children together, so Susan would be something a bit more than an aunt in a few short months. Combined with Sirius' relationship with Harry, it was all a bit boggling and she set the thoughts aside.

After staying up late talking, the coven allowed themselves a brief lie-in the next morning, but then had to be ready at ten when the final fittings were being done for dresses and robes. Especially for the two pregnant witches, who hadn't been measured in two weeks, this was critical. The elves spent the day working on food shipments, preparing as much as they could ahead of time. Although the Potter elves were doing their best, Harry didn't want them to overdo, so he hired an additional dozen elves for 48 hours to help with prep, the wedding, and clean up after.

Harry meanwhile finalized the security details with a security team he had hired. All invitations were portkeys that could only be activated by magical signature. Each could also bring a single guest, but only one. The portkeys were set to deliver guests to the garage, a distance from the main manor. The garage had been cleared out and was a large space that would allow multiple arrivals. It also had a catwalk and security would be stationed on multiple levels ready to lock down the building and provide support from the floor and above should hostiles decide to enter with any of the portkeys. As far as media, Xeno was covering with Luna's great aunt helping and a friend taking pictures. Harry had contemplated allowing others in, but decided Xeno could handle the exclusive and sell pictures if he wanted. Amelia also had Aurors on standby. She couldn't technically provide government forces for a private event, but once an attack happened, she could call them in quickly. Not to mention that anyone who messed up this day was going to have to reckon with the coven members themselves.

After a flurry of activity that lasted through the middle of Friday afternoon, the last items on the checklist were finally completed and the coven found themselves with time to spare. Hermione was beside herself, certain that something had been forgotten or a list had been missed. Harry had assured her that all was fine and that it was time for a nap. Gathering all his ladies, the seven disappeared to their bedroom. The nap didn't come for a while, but when they appeared for dinner, everyone was decidedly relaxed.

The morning of the wedding dawned sunny as promised, although with a bit of a bite to the air that thankfully diminished as the morning wore on. The coven decided to eat a light breakfast in their informal dining area and then Harry found himself dismissed to a guest bedroom on the second floor while the ladies took over the master suite. More specifically, they took over the master bathroom. All the mothers and Aunt Amy joined to help in the preparation of hair and makeup. For those who hadn't been to the third floor yet, seeing the Arabian Nights bedroom and massive bed was a shock. Molly had to be dragged out of the room before she passed out. Amelia had dragged her into the bathroom though, which sent her into a new kind of shock. The elves showed up with a tea service and extra chairs and everyone gradually settled as they marveled at the wonderful tea they were enjoying in a bathroom that was more grand than most homes. Once the shock of the space wore off, preparations began.

Meanwhile, Harry wandered downstairs to check on the rest of the preparations. He didn't need to take near as long to get ready and decided to peek in the kitchen. His toe was barely in the door when an elf he didn't know bustled him out with assurances that all was well and that the 'master needn't bother himself'. Huffing, Harry next decided to check outside where the marquees had been set up for the luncheon the day before. The table settings had not been done yet and he wanted to check on the progress. When he arrived though, he found though that the elves had been busy during the night and once again he was useless. Turning back around, he wandered back into the manor and made his way to the library. As he entered, he found Martin, Sirius, Remus, and Neil. Martin grinned when he saw the look on Harry's face.

"Ah, there you are Harry! Had a look around and found how utterly useless you are at this point of the game now?"

"Um…yeah."

"Well, not to worry. Between the women and the elves you really couldn't do better anyway. Come, something for the nerves."

Harry didn't really have nerves, but he was feeling a bit put out, so he accepted the drink. It was still a bit early in the day, but it was a special day. As he sipped the drink, he found it did calm him and he took a seat by Sirius. The next hour plus was spent companionably with the males of his extended family. At one point they decided to rouse themselves for a couple of rounds of billiards, which Harry was decidedly bad at, but still enjoyed. He tried to keep an eye on the clock, but needn't have worried since Winky popped in precisely at a quarter to eleven.

"Master Harry needs to be getting ready now."

Harry nodded and grumbled as he accepted a couple of slaps on the back and made his way to his assigned guest room to shower, shave, and dress. He did take a bit more time to make sure he was looking sharp, but he was still downstairs by half past. He checked in with one of his security detail and was notified that the first guests had just begun arriving. Harry knew that would be Neville with Ginny's older brothers not far behind. Although Harry wasn't having a best man per se, he had asked Neville and the older Weasleys to act as ushers. He had considered the idea of a best man, but then the decision would have to be made about bridesmaids and the numbers would have to match according to several of his ladies, and with six ladies having to decide, it just got too complicated. This was just another way Harry didn't do normal. He walked out of the manor to the path that led from the garage and saw Neville approaching with Bill and Charlie just behind him. He greeted them and then led them to the ceremony area. The twins and Ron were already there, lounging in chairs, and Harry gathered them.

"Alright, thanks for helping me with this, Ron and Neville both would have been choices to stand up with me, but I've explained about the mess with that. Anyway, you know the path from the arrival building to here. I need you to line the path and help direct the guests along please."

"No worries Harrikins. By the way, any muggles?"

"None that you will have to worry about. Hermione's parents are here already and Amelia will be going with Jean to collect her grandmother and bring her directly. She's the only other family who knows about magic. Found out during second year. Bit of a story, but we'll save that for later. As for Tonks, her dad is bringing his parents directly. Hermione has some other family, but she isn't real close to her aunts and uncle so she didn't mind not inviting them and it makes things easier."

Bill nodded and the guys all convened and decided what points they were going to take up. Soon they had themselves spaced on the path and Harry went back in the house to check on the extended family. All the men were ready, with Ted off to collect his parents. Winky appeared to tell him that Amelia and Jean had just left, so that meant that Hermione's grandmother would be arriving shortly. Harry had met the woman about five weeks previous, on a Saturday trip to have lunch. She knew they were engaged, but nothing else. He had dreaded that meeting for the entire week before, but Bianca Elmont had taken it in stride. Apparently she considered this no worse than 'some of the goings on we got up to back in the sixties'. Hermione had been shocked, while Jean had just laughed and Harry had sighed in relief. Now he headed back to the entrance of the garden to wait for her arrival.

Harry didn't have long to wait when Amelia arrived with Jean and Bianca. The small woman with a cloud of pink-white hair stepped forward to hug Harry and offered her cheek for a kiss. Then she looked around the garden before turning to look at the Manor, letting out a low whistle.

"My, I do say, it looks like you will have no problem supporting lots of women and little ones running around. Quite impressive my lord."

Bianca turned around and winked at Harry as her daughter shook her head and Harry offered his arm to lead her to a seat. Several other early arrivals were already in place, including Minerva McGonagall and Harry wasn't sure if it was a good thing or not when the two women struck up a conversation. Then the pair of classical guitarists began playing and he knew it was time to take his position at the front, where Abel Merrythorpe was waiting to officiate this most unique ceremony. Abel was a long time friend of both the Greengrass and Bones families and was practiced in a variety of different types of wizarding ceremonies, both traditional and contemporary.

As Harry stood waiting, he enjoyed the beautiful but simple music as he watched all the guests filter in. Between the seven of them, the guest list was around 270, helped by the fact that they had many friends in common. Several of the witches also had family and business ties, as pureblood England was really quite small. A good portion of the crowd were school friends who they had just seen days before and represented all four houses. Although there weren't many muggles, there were still some, as well as muggleborns and a lot of halfbloods. It was a decent mix that was the beginning of a promising future.

Harry's musings were cut short as the music changed to announce the arrival of the first of his ladies. Since they were foregoing other attendants, there were no flower girls or ring bearers, which were also uncommon for wizarding ceremonies. Each lady came by house, with Hermione as the future Lady Potter in the lead on Neil's arm. She wore a dress of palest yellow with a gauzy flared skirt that made her appear to float. Behind her was the consort to House Potter, Daphne on Lord Martin's arm. She wore pale blue. Next came the future lady Gryffindor, Ginny on Arthur's arm, dressed in pale green. Behind her, the consort to House Gryffindor, Susan was accompanied on Sirius' arm. That decision was one she had made several weeks before and had brought tears to the marauder's eyes. Susan wore pale peach. After Susan, the future Lady Peverell, Tonks came on Ted's arm dressed in pink. Finally, the consort to House Peverell, Luna was on her father's arm dressed in a delicate blue. Each of the ladies had picked a dress in a unique, spring colored shade that suited their own coloring. Each also was unique in cut and style. Harry was awestruck at all of them, not that he looked bad himself, he cut a dashing figure in a cream suit with pale green waistcoat and a matching pale green half overrobe that offered a unique mix of magical and non-magical style. The green also set off his eyes perfectly.

Officiant Merrythorpe grinned happily at this unique group and opened the ceremony with a few brief words about the unique coven bond that already existed between these seven. Then he cast the spell to show the bond, which brought a gasp from a number of the guests. Any who might have doubted, could not deny the bright nimbus that caused them to shield their eyes. Once the coven nimbus faded, he next cast the spell of binding for the marriage bond and began the more standard Ministry ceremony. Then he proceeded with individual vows as Harry started with marriage vows for Hermione, then moved on to consort vows for Daphne. As he moved down the line, each witch moved into place by his side until all the vows were finally complete. For Harry, he had made sure that the promises he made were essentially the same for all, even if the officials would see the bonds as something slightly different. Once Harry and each of the witches had said their vows, each of the ladies stepped forward and addressed the other five women of the coven, vowing to love each equally. This was something else shocking to the audience, but Merrythorpe had known this was planned. Each of the witches made sure that it was known that this was a true seven way bond. Once all the vows were said, Merrythorpe then had Harry address the audience regarding the coven rings that they each already wore and the significance of them, meaning that no other rings were needed. Once Harry finished, Merrythorpe cast the second half of marriage bonding to seal the spell he had begun earlier. With that final spell and Merrythorpe's declaration, Harry finally heard what he had been waiting for as he was finally told to kiss his bond mates. The next five minutes were spent with round robin kissing that the coven mates manage to restrain themselves from turning into full on snogs just barely. Finally, they finished and all linked hands with Harry somewhere in the middle. They then turned and walked together up the aisle to the cheers of the crowd.

Reaching the end of the aisle, the coven group of newlyweds all turned right and circled the glade where the guests were sitting, taking themselves around to the far side of the peony garden. Here they came around the south side of the pond and their photographers followed, as well as the entire extended family, as pre-arranged. For the next half hour a plethora of photographs were taken with the backdrop of the gardens and pond. While the wedding party and family were busy, the guests meanwhile were directed to the marquees where fountains of elf wine were flowing and small platters of savories were floating around as the sounds of a modern wizard nine piece orchestra played nearby. Once the pictures were done, the wedding party happily rejoined their guests and mingled for a while before calling for lunch to begin. All of the guests enjoyed a delicious three course seated lunch with the light orchestra playing in the background. Sirius and then Neville stood to say a few words to wish Harry and the ladies well before a massive confection of cake that could only be assembled via magic was rolled into the marquee. The seven all drew their wands to slice into it and then pieces were traded all around before the elves took over and all the guests began to be served. Minutes later, Harry rose and thanked everyone for coming, then announced that they had an island waiting for them. The seven all held onto the chain linked to Harry's ring and winked out as their guests cheered and the party came to a close.

The coven arrived a couple of minutes later on the soft sands of Potter Cay and everyone gave a sigh of relief. The wedding had gone well, but they were all ready for a week to relax with just the seven of them. And Dobby of course. The elf had insisted on accompanying them to the island while the others stayed behind to clean up after the wedding. He had already done the initial preparations by bringing all their bags and unpacking them in the newest addition to the main house on the Cay. As another side project, the ladies had insisted that none of the four bedrooms in the main house were the proper size for the coven. The solution was to add a second floor to the main house that was an entire suite. It included a bedroom, bathroom, and dressing suite. It was absolutely huge and utterly amazing, with an entire wall of one way magic glass that looked out onto the ocean. The glass also slid aside to a broad balcony, giving the option when open to truly combine the indoors and outdoors. The new 'coven's suite' was everyone's first stop. After a thorough inspection that assured everything was installed exactly as specified, Harry began to look around for swimming trunks. Then he realized that all the ladies were removing their dresses and laying them out carefully. He drooled as he watched and then realized that they weren't putting on suits of any sort. As Daphne headed back downstairs, she turned and looked at Harry.

"Come on love, it's just us on the island. With magical sunscreen charms, there's no need for suits. We already warned Dobby."

Harry grinned as he looked from Daphne and then to Susan, who was also now naked and heading down the stairs. Happily, he joined them with the others not far behind.

The rest of the week on the island was spent in a flurry of sun, sand, and love. From the first minutes that he lay on the beach, Harry found himself wrapped up with Luna, who was screaming his name and scaring birds out of trees before long. When he looked up after his first round, he saw Hermione and Susan recovering together. Then Tonks joined him and Luna and he found himself quickly ready for another round. At some point he needed to rinse some sand and made his way into the cove, where Daphne found him and they frolicked in the light waves. When they tired, they found blankets waiting under the trees and cold fruit drinks with long straws that would allow sipping while reclining. After everyone napped, Dobby announced that he had caught some fish and Harry wanted to grill it. Dinner was simple, eaten under the stars with his loves. After dinner they all retired to the hot tub and later to their bedroom.

This set a pattern for the next week, as the coven all enjoyed various games, including volleyball and snorkeling. They saw little need for clothes, except for activities such as jet skiing, where some protection was thought to perhaps be necessary. Dobby wasn't seen often, but food, drinks, and supplies appeared whenever needed. Harry wondered some days at his stamina, but figured the coven magic helped. Tonks was certainly doing everything to ensure that her fertile time was well utilized, while the two already pregnant witches were especially randy.

Eventually their week of fun and relaxation drew to a close, although with it they had the upcoming excitement of Sirius and Amelia's wedding. On Friday the 12th, they portkeyed back to the Manor and found all the other elves waiting. The madness from the wedding had been cleaned from the Manor and Harry had to admit that it felt good to be back home.

Immediately after returning, everyone floo'd to Bones Manor for a luncheon with the entire extended family. Amelia was in a state of panic, but Sirius was doing his best to keep her calm. Most of the arrangements were in place and all of the coven put themselves at the couple's disposal as needed for last minute chores throughout the day.

The following day, Saturday the 13th, saw the late afternoon nuptials of the Ancient House of Bones to the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black. The guest list was over 300 and security was tighter than it had been for the wedding the previous Saturday. After the ceremony, a full dinner was served followed by a formal dance in the tradition of the joining of two such notable houses. Everything went well, with only a couple of minor security issues with a few old purebloods who were quietly escorted off the property. By ten in the evening, Sirius and his bride stepped into a side hall and took a portkey to Paris for a week.

While the Potter Coven had enjoyed the break and the monumental weddings, just two days after Sirius and Amelia were wed, six of the seven found themselves busy with schoolwork once again. Four of those also found themselves facing OWLs in just a few short months. They had enjoyed the break, but life moved on.