Harry stared absently at the table covered in notes. Income might become a bigger issue than he had originally thought. Taking care of himself would have not made a dent in the Potter family finances.
But with a troll son, the numbers changed. Harry couldn't bare the thought of leaving Goran here all summer, alone. He had lost his clan after all, and basically lost his species. And if Harry had learned anything from working with the ministry through Nagnok, it was that corruption was everywhere.
Considering how their hero was abandoned by the magical world, Harry didn't want to think about what they would do to a 'Dark Creature' near their kids without supervision. And constant bribes would REALLY start hurting his future plans.
He idly spun his wand through his fingers as he looked over some random research notes. He knew that he was going to make a home someday... apparently that someday was by the end of the year. Goran needed a safe place to go home to when Harry was not at school.
Leaning back in his chair, he watched his friends, all working on their own projects. Hermione was working with Daphne trying to adapt Harry's Stasis charm to be easier for others to cast. Apparently all the extra movements and words created a series of stages for learning the final spell. Since Harry could actually SEE his mistakes, he hadn't bothered on making a longer, louder version for younger students... he would have to keep it in mind in the future.
He had heard that Tracey and Padma were still working on beauty and makeup charms. He would probably invest in what they create, since the beauty industry was so popular in the non-magical world. Harry suspected a good amount of the charms could be adapted for disguise work as well. Susan and Neville had taken up another project of Harry's, finding better non-lethal attack options.
Harry glanced at his hand. In a way, he still felt they were covered in blood. The trolls were not human, but they had intelligence. If he had some better methods of restraining them, maybe he could have given Goran friends instead of graves. Neville had surprisingly volunteered, helped by Susan of course, and together they were gathering information about hexes and charms to restrain a person, by magic, mind, or body.
Harry gave a small grin. Compared to everyone else, Terry was working on learning how to make his own Quidditch equipment, even floating rings so that pickup games of Quidditch would be possible. Harry had helped out a little, just so he could stop thinking some of the darker thoughts. Sometimes working on a silly project could really relax a person.
He sighed, looking back at sheets of notes. Harry had sent paperwork to Nagnok to begin searching for the largest amount of cheap land for sale he could find, preferably a dump or spell-cursed area. Sure it would take time to cleanse, but Harry felt the free materials and cheap land would balance that nicely.
The real problem was the wards. Harry had looked at the goblin's offerings, and had felt annoyed. They didn't seem as covering as the red network in his own home, and he wanted any new home to be AT LEAST as safe as his old place. Not to mention that the goblins charged a LOT for those wards of theirs, and Harry needed funds as it was.
He wasn't worried about the break in that Hagrid had mentioned, although the large man seemed shocked that he had mentioned it at all... Great guy, but not great at being subtle, really. Harry assumed that the thief had employed social engineering to get in, not ward breakers.
Security is worthless if you open the door FOR them, after all. And the bank is DESIGNED to let lots of people in all the time. Slip-ups will occur.
Of course, the only other wards Harry had seen was the series around Hogwarts. They weren't perfect, but they were bloody complex... layers of domes, spinning threads that crossed and twisted, alerts and charms woven like vines throughout it. It was almost an organic defense, grown as generation after generation of Headmaster increased and complicated each ward.
Not really practical for a home though.
Harry glanced at his arm, watching the green ropes where his threads used to be. After the strange shifting he had done during the troll attack, his power seemed to flow much smoother, thicker. It was almost worth the pain he had gone through, in a way.
He guessed that shifting hurt so much because of all the odd wards around Hogwarts, although it may have been due to the amount of power he had used to move like that. Either way he had decided to hold off on shifting until he could have Wisdom do some research on wizard transportation spells.
Once again, he moved his personal fears and worries to the back of his mind. Still, he had been researching wards for hours now, and maybe he should take a break.
Standing, Harry stretched. Seeing Daphne's raised eyebrow, he grinned. "Been staring at wards too much, taking a break. Either of you two want to go on a walk?"
Hermione barely raised a hand, still buried in a book about spell creation. "I'm good Harry, I think I am close to a breakthrough really." Her other hand was writing notes with a pen into a notebook.
Daphne stretched, causing Harry to blush and look away. She smirked. "Sure, down to the lake?"
He grinned and they headed up the stairs of Merp 2. Goran was out in the woods with Hagrid being introduced to the local delicacies... uh, creatures. Harry sighed. At least the boy would be easy to feed.
~~~Core Threads~~~
Daphne took a deep breath. The October air was crisp, and walking near the lake let quiet sounds of water relax her. After the study session with Hermione, this was a relief. That girl seemed to bury herself in whatever challenge she finds and refuses to let up.
She looked at the boy walking with her. Harry was... well, interesting. Slightly dangerous. Kind of cute... uh, reserved. Yeah.
The look in his eyes when he commanded her to warn the Great Hall had sent shivers down her spine.
Still... "Potter, do you think the trolls were sent to the castle?"
He gave a lopsided grin that made her squirm a little inside. "Why Ms. Greengrass, I doth protest thy formal language of a most extreme nature."
She rolled her eyes. "Harry then. I mean, those were mountain Trolls, not a lot of mountains around here. Someone had to have let them in, right?"
Harry sighed. "I think so. I didn't feel who was around when I noticed them entering the front entrance. I am not sure what they hoped to accomplish, but I couldn't risk waiting to find out." He gave a small frown. "I doubt it was intended to target me, even though I took the most damage. It wasn't likely intended to push forward Death Eater ideals either, since there was no signs, warnings, or other notes claiming responsibility, which terrorists tend to do when trying to push fear."
She pushed a strand of blond hair behind her ear. "Well, assuming the one responsible was not aiming for random fear, then they were either creating a mess to attack leadership at Hogwarts, creating a distraction so they could do something at Hogwarts, or testing the defenses of the school for a future event." She gave a slight head shake. "Although the testing thing seems... oh. They could be trying to get Aurors stationed here at the school so that an event elsewhere would have less people responding to it."
Daphne noticed him giving her a huge grin. "What?"
He chuckled and his eyes glittered slightly. "You know Ms. Greengrass, I am quite lucky to be surrounded by such intelligent women."
She raised her nose. "Of course you are, Mr. Potter. And you shall be grateful of such an honor, of course."
His grin widened. "But of course, my Lady. I surly count my days as filled with joy and fortune to be such honored at a time as this."
Daphne rolled her eyes, fighting to keep her cheeks from blushing. Something about 'My Lady' sounded... nice. "So, what should we do if this incident was not random?"
Harry seemed to almost collapse into a serious expression. "I have started tagging students with threads, and offering ropes to my closest friends." He gave her a look. "I... I would be grateful if you would accept one."
Ah. Daphne tried to control her face. "By rope, you mean your magic, yes? What are the... effects? Benefits? I must still represent the Greengrass House as members of the Gray party, the neutrals. I can't... I mean, even if I wanted to, I can't commit too much to one side or the other."
Harry seemed to also have troubles looking at her. "Well, I first discovered the effects near the start of the school year really, when I was showing my friends my mind scape. It acts like an advanced version of Occlumency, mental defenses. Several of my closest friends helped me test the benefits."
He held up some fingers. "First, sorting memories becomes easy, and they stay sorted. You can create mental constructs to automatically sort for you, although I am the only one who has done that so far. Time moves faster in your mind, so you can train and practice and learn stuff faster there, including reading books and stuff." He tapped his forehead. "Secondly, with a rope I can create a door between our mental worlds, so others can join in. It allows mental communication if I act as a hub, and Hermione thinks I may be able to share ideas or training directly someday by just handing a copy of a memory to someone."
His face grew serious. "The biggest benefit, security wise, is that I can feel your location, a general status of being, such as afraid or hungry or whatever, and in extreme emergencies I can shift directly to your location, like I did with the trolls."
Her eyes were huge. "Wow... my family taught us basic Occlumency, but that sounds beyond master level... does it hurt?"
Harry blushed. "Actually, the problem is the opposite. Well, not the mental connection bit... See, to connect to your own mind you need at least one rope of magic, and most people don't naturally develop those, just threads and hairs." He looked away. "The process of settling the core doesn't hurt, but it feels... personal. ESPECIALLY when I sync your wand back up."
Looking back, he saw her raised eyebrow. "Oh, after I setup your magical core, the wand can't connect the same way. So I allow the wand to connect to you fully. It is literally the best connection you can ever find, and I can do it with any wand really." He grimaced. "Although due to the... feelings... I really prefer to only off that to women. It is... well. Awkward."
Oh, that eyebrow could raiser higher. Neat. He coughed. "Anyway, Hermione suggested we stop adding people until we can make sure we trust them. I talked about it with the others a bit, and we think you and maybe Tracey would be interested in being the first Slytherins invited."
There was a slightly awkward pause. Daphne looked at Harry. "Are there side effects?"
Harry shrugged. "Well, Hannah's core was pretty messed up, so when I settled it she had a pretty hefty power boost. Neville... well, most of his issues were really due to his wand, so he saw a LOT of improvement there." He tilted his head. "Without me holding the connection, most of my friends can only visit their mind scape for about an hour in real time, although how long that is internally changes based on how much you practice. Hermione can stay for 5 hours in her mind for each hour outside, now."
She raised an eyebrow. "How long can you stay there?"
Harry shrugged. "Never reached a limit. And one hour can last for... well, I'm not sure. I think I stayed a week in a few minutes. I sometimes go to my mind instead of sleep, so it is like an eight month break where you don't need to sleep, eat, or drink."
He grinned. "I still do though. Eat and drink I mean. Wrath even combines my memories of tea to make new blends."
Daphne seemed to be trying to grasp onto something stable, mentally at least. "Wrath?"
Harry nodded. "I created some mental aspects, or parts of me. Jim, Wisdom, and Wrath. I may have to create a new one just for surveillance though." His eyes darkened. "We were lucky. Jim wasn't supposed to be watching my thread network when he saw the trolls, he was just... there. Right time. Even then, they had been within detection for about an hour before they got into the hall."
He rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Well, it makes sense I suppose. Can't really require the DA to monitor so much stuff all the time and handle local defense. And infiltration I suppose."
Daphne sighed next to him, as she sat in the grass, looking over the lake. In the distance, a tentacle was throwing what appeared to be mer-people, spinning like skipping stones. Harry sat next to her, giving her a chance to think about it.
"Potter, I will need to think about this. Let me talk to Tracey and get back to you on it, ok?" Her light blue eyes had a note of pleading in them he didn't remember seeing before.
He gave a smile. "Of course, Daphne. If you have any questions, let me, Hermione, or Padma know."
She blinked. "Padma?"
"Made a mountain of puppies. I like her inner world. Lots of baby animals."
NOW there was a gleam in her eyes Harry recognized. Baby animals? Heck yeah!
They watched the lake and enjoyed the quiet. Well, mostly quiet. Apparently it is harder to skip mer-people when they start stabbing with tridents.
~~~Core Threads~~~
Professor McGonagall was sitting through another meeting about those damn trolls. Well, not Goran, of course. The dead ones. The worst part was she couldn't really object to how much everyone was reacting.
Mountain Trolls in a school, for Merlin's sake.
Thankfully for everyone, Harry had somehow found out, taken care of it... violently. Half the people in each meeting didn't even argue the idea, as if it was NORMAL for 11 year olds to kick troll and take names.
Well, normal for the Boy-Who-Lived. Sadly at this rate, it may well be true.
Thankfully this meeting was simply a staff one, so Minerva was USED to being annoyed with most of them.
"The boy probably brought ALL the trolls, trained them, and then tripped as they killed each other."
She sighed. "Thanks Severus, we will keep that in mind."
Everyone paused suddenly as Albus Dumbledore rose to his feet. "Trolls have been known to trip. Severus has my complete confidence."
He then sat on the table.
Minerva tried NOT to sigh. Too much sighing had to be bad at some point. "Thank you Albus. Are you implying that you agree with Severus that Harry was secretly gathering trolls?"
The man smiled, eyes glittering. "Well, he is a bit young to be gathering as a single father. But I suppose everyone sows their wild oats at some point." He held open a huge pouch. to Professor Sprout. "Watermelon dear?"
Filius Flitwick gently rested his hand on Dumbledore's shoulder. "Albus, Harry is not the natural father of the troll. He is acting as a parent only. I am fairly sure that he is not attracted to female trolls."
Albus gave a knowing nod. "I must say, I didn't realize the boy was homosexual."
Everyone paused for a moment. THAT was a mental image. With a light cough, Professor Sinistra leaned in. "Headmaster, Professor Flitwick was trying to imply that Harry Potter is likely attracted to other humans. Based on his expressions, likely women."
Albus gave a regal nod, turned to Severus Snape and held open the sack. "Severus, care for a watermelon?"
With a sneer, the man focused on the group. "That Potter brat is likely gathering more dark creatures as we speak. Expulsion should be the BEGINNING of his punishments. Maybe something with a bit of blood to it."
Caretaker Filch gave a ragged and dark grin. "Aye, bring back some of the good punishments, the old stuff. I still oil my chains, and the screws are ready when needed."
A very tired and stressed Minerva glared at the man. "Thank you, Mr. Filch. I will keep that under advisement." Her eyes slightly glanced toward the greasy man spewing anti-potter propaganda. Probably unprofessional to think about such things. Oh well.
With considerable effort and only one accident involving a watermelon, Professor McGonagall tried to get through the meeting without turning anyone into a shoe.
~~~Core Threads~~~
Harry had worked through several books about warding at this point, and was narrowing his focus down to one book that mentioned a strange sounding but VERY useful charm. The Fidelius charm.
From the description, it did three things. First, it bound a location and marked it. Second, it moved everything inside the marked area into an alternate dimension, a pocket reality, only accessible if a secret is known. Third it actively created a field where knowledge of reality could only be kept or remembered if the secret was known.
Harry had been studying it for hours now. The benefits were huge. Secured areas were unreachable in any form or method if the secret is unknown, the secret had to be willingly given or it would delete itself from the memory of anyone who found it. Only the secret keeper was able to write, speak, or think the secret. It acted like a virus, spreading from person to person, leaving very small changes.
Not only was your home protected from almost ANYTHING, at least anything that didn't damage reality, but even the existence of the home vanished. So no one would even think to TRY and find it.
The downsides were huge though. If the secret keeper was known, they could be emotionally forced to tell the secret. Torture and such of a physical or magical nature would prevent the secret being stolen though. Casting the charm was rough as well, although most of the power was used by moving the area into another reality, which is why it was heavily restricted on how large an area the charm could protect.
Still, the memory and secret part was cheap to cast... and Harry could see uses for this. If he could modify what the secret was, then just about any information could be protected pretty darn well. Maybe he could even make himself his own secret keeper?
No, it doesn't look like it. Making one's self the secret keeper broke the charm, since it kept trying to both give the secret and take it away until it ran out of energy.
But what if one of his aspects held it?
Harry grinned and went back into his notes. Information security would never be the same after this.
~~~Core Threads~~~
Tracey was looking at Daphne like she was a flamingo. "So... Harry offered to rope us?"
"NO! Merlin, just... just listen when I speak, ok?" Stupid blushes. "He would connect us with magic, and teach us a couple of abilities he has. It would protect your mind from Professor Snape and others who use Legilimency to read minds."
She tilted her head. "Uh... but won't it feel weird? I never heard about having other people's magic in you." She gave a slow smile. "It sounds a bit dirty."
Daphne gave an exasperated sigh. "EVERYTHING sounds dirty to you Trace. Now listen, the part I am not sure about it that he has to 'settle our cores' so we can access our own mind worlds."
Tracey raised an eyebrow. "Settle our cores, huh?"
Daphne's face was now fairly red. "Look, it just SOUNDS wrong when I say it."
She grinned. "But it sounds right when Haaaary says it."
Tracey received a pillow to the face.
~~~Core Threads~~~
Susan and Neville were going through a fairly large set of texts, building a list of non-lethal spells along with which book to find details.
Neville nodded. "Add Impedimentia. It seems to do random effects for a set amount of time... freezing motion, binding, pushing, tripping... The varied nature makes it hard to prepare for."
Susan nodded. "I definitely think we should have Expelliarmus. Auntie says it is mandatory, since it attempts to remove any item the target thinks of as a weapon. You have to cast it several times though if they have more than one wand or sword or whatever."
Neville grinned as he wrote with these new 'pens'. Quills were miserable compared to these. "Tongue Tying and Jelly-Legs curses should be added. Both affect the body and make battle harder. Especially if there is lots of dodging, or they are bad with silent casting."
Susan pulled her book closer. "Most wizards are pretty bad with silent casting. It is why Auror training has gotten longer after they leave Hogwarts, and even then some don't manage it." She pointed a finger at a page. "Incarcerous, creates animated rope that can tie someone up. Don't know if it can do cable or chain as well, but we should look it up."
Neville paused on a page. "Levicorpus seems useful for several things. It grabs a person and allows you to levitate them. Locomotor Mortis seems like an older version of the Leg-Lock curse. Still useful."
Susan paused. "We should reorganize these. Lets make a list of all the spells with similar effects. Anything that paralyzes a part of the body in to column A, everything that allows forced movement into column B, anything that affects the mind into column C."
Neville pulled out more parchment and began re-listing. "To make it easier to remember?"
She shook her head. "To see if Harry can combine some of them. If they seem so similar, maybe he could make a really simple to cast version and a really strong but slow one. You know, something not well known. It would give Aurors the edge in battle, without having to slaughter everyone."
Neville grinned. "Wouldn't have the same cancellations either, so they could be used in real battles to gain prisoners and enemy information."
Susan grinned and wondered how long it would take for Neville to realize he had forgotten to be shy.
Hopefully a while.
~~~Core Threads~~~
Padma was working on a new skin cream that would use small amounts of magic to perfectly match undamaged skin and then set itself, creating a cover-up that wouldn't wash off till dispelled. She had also gotten Fred and George Weasley's help setting the counter charm to something non-standard to prevent accidentally (Or in the case of mean people, purposefully) messing up the look.
The problem was that she had accidentally gotten some on her finger and then on her lip.
So now her mouth was sealed shut.
She mumbled in annoyance, waiting in the Hospital Wing until Madam Pomfrey could decipher her terrible scribbles and cast the counter, "Kittens Rule."
She really should have waited for Tracey to get back before fiddling with the prototypes.
Padma tried to grumble quieter as she retreated to her mental world. If she was stuck here for five minutes (WHICH IS FOREVER, MERLIN), then she might as well hug a kitten.
Madam Pomfrey nearly had a heart attack when she finally got the counter-spell and found Padma in what appeared to be some sort of self induced coma. Thankfully Padma managed to distract her long enough to get away, claiming daydreams and kittens.
Thankfully it was close enough to the Truth that Padma could pull it off.
~~~Core Threads~~~
Harry nervously sat in a chair in Merp 2, facing an elegant beauty and a woman full of innuendos and energy.
"So Harry, going to tie us up?"
Daphne flushed slightly and swatted Tracey's shoulder. "NO... I mean, no. Not that kind of rope. Shh."
Harry had a glowing face. "Ahh... Sorry to disappoint you, Tracey."
The girls eyes dropped before going back to his face. "Oh, I'm sure you..."
Daphne THANKFULLY got a hand over the girls mouth and gave an awkward eep. "SO POTTER, uh... Ready to do that rope thing you talked about?"
Tracey grinned as Harry seemed to blush more, and pulled the hand from her mouth. "Oh my, Daphne. So Forward."
Harry tried to focus. "So we should have probably done this without Tracey, huh?"
Daphne didn't get a chance to answer. "Nothing wrong with an extra pillow, Harry."
Ah, so Daphne DOES know the silencing spell. The two blushing children tried to ignore the hyperactive girl. Harry cleared his throat. "So now that we have made this as awkward as possible, shall we move on?"
Daphne gave a relieved smile. "PLEASE, feel free. The sooner this is done, the sooner I can pretend none of that happened."
Tracey was wiggling her eyebrows. She found this whole situation FAR too funny for Harry's tastes.
Harry gently placed a palm on both their foreheads and his eyes glowed. "First, allow me to introduce you to my world."
~~~Core Threads~~~
Daphne felt the soft palm on her skin and felt a tingle run through her body. Somehow it felt more intimate because of the tenderness, the softness of the touch. As she tried to stay calm she saw Harry's eyes begin to glow...
Green. Deep, crystal green, with ribbons of white creating deep patterns. Waves. Stripes. The world began to fade. Gently at first, she began to smell... stone. Freshly chiseled, etched with runes over the course of months. Her fingers felt slightly rough, like she had spent the day carving some masterpiece. Her ears heard the echo of a deep cavern, and her skin felt cool with the earth's breath flowing over it.
She was falling into those eyes.
~~~Core Threads~~~
Tracey always felt being outrageous protected her. If everyone else was off guard, if she could control where the conversation was going, she had power. She was protected.
She was scared. Scared of doing this. But Daphne was set on this, and Tracey trusted her.
Harry's hand felt cool on her skin. As she tried to stay still, his hand seemed to settle her, like a stone holding her in place in the world. Suddenly she was no longer worried about the future, or alliances, or grades... there was only now.
As she felt the calm soak into her body, she could feel... safety. She looked up...
Green. Harry's eyes were like an ocean, slowly rolling over her without covering her mouth or nose. Just relaxing on a beach as the warm salty water rolled along her body, pushing and pulling her across the sand. Her ears could almost hear seagulls as her fingers flexed to touch the grains of sand.
Her mouth started to turn into a real smile, carefree... as the waves began to gently pull her toward some distant island.
~~~Core Threads~~~
Harry had a smile on his face as he sat at a white metal table. Jim was away, training his Duck Avengers to act more like ninjas for future mind missions. Wisdom however said she would have some time to join them after she finished organizing the Ward information Harry had gained today.
As he watched, both girls arrived. Daphne wearing an almost black shirt with blue streaks, Tracey with hot pink. Tracey looked at the shirt with an appraising eye. "Oh my... this is nice." She raised an eyebrow.
Daphne squirmed a bit. "Bit revealing though, isn't it? Especially compared to a robe."
Tracey grinned. "Oh you haven't BEGUN to see revealing yet."
Harry coughed, pushing two cups of tea forward. "Sorry, I had to pick clothing out for each of you. Until you remember to think of yourself with clothing... well, it can be a bit awkward." He tried not to notice the other two blushing. "Anyway, the color I chose because it matches the color of your own cores."
Seeing Daphne's raised eyebrow, Harry raised a hand, green cables creating a complex pattern. "I can see magic as threads. As guests in my mind, you can see them as well if I wish it."
Tracey reached out and tried to touch one of Harry's ropes. He obligingly moved one over for closer inspection. "I... I still can't touch it."
Harry shrugged. "Unless you will it, magic pretty much doesn't touch anything. It's why science has a hard time believing it exists, since it doesn't naturally interact with the world. Or at least, that is MY opinion on why science can't seem to handle it."
Daphne looked down. Her core had... streaks. The blue looked like water almost, but the black looked like hard stone that somehow flexed. Like obsidian. Her core was... beautiful. Chaotic though, like it was fighting itself.
Tracey was poking Daphne, trying to make her core move. After a couple of swats she looked down at her own... it was pink, like a blushing cheek, and almost tube shaped. She frowned. That... didn't seem right somehow.
Harry gave a smile. "So who wants their core stabilized first?"
Tracey raised her hand. "Please... something looks wrong about mine. It... just wrong."
Harry gave a sharp look, eyes glowing a fierce green. "Oh... oh. Yes. One second." He raised a hand absently and both girls heard a woman call. "Be there soon Harry!"
Daphne paused. "Um. Potter, who was that?"
He looked away from a slowly blushing Tracey. Having his eyes look inside her made her feel... interesting. "I have created avatars in my mind. That was Wisdom. She organizes my mental library and helps me research."
Half way through his words Daphne saw a fairly attractive librarian walking up from some sort of door into the grass... grass? The world had a crystal blue sky with clouds, green grass everywhere... wow she had been distracted.
The librarian smiled. "Hello Daphne, Tracey. Thank you both for helping Harry get the information I need, it has been very useful." She affectionately ruffled Harry's hair. He rolled his eyes.
Tracey relaxed a bit. "Well, we didn't know we were passing it along, but glad to help!"
Harry waved Wisdom closer. "Do you recognize what this core shape means?"
She leaned closer to a now nervous Tracey with analytical eyes. "Well it is very unstable. If she received a huge shock to her system, or if she cast a spell too powerful or for too long, her core could collapse."
Daphne gasped and held Tracey's arm tightly. Tracey's face went pale. "My Gran Gran died that way. She tried to stop Death Eaters from hurting my mom." Her eyes started to tear up. "She didn't make it. Without her magic, she was too old."
The crying girl was hugged by Daphne, who was looking at Harry with desperation. "You said you could help, right? You can fix this? RIGHT?"
Harry gave her a solemn nod. "Of course. Tracey, please stand."
Holding back sniffles, she stood with Daphne's arm around her. Harry motioned her back. "I don't want to have anything happen during this, so give a bit of space, ok Daph?"
With her quick nod, Harry reached forward to Tracey, a hand on either side of her face. Gently raising her to look into his eyes, he smiled.
Tracey could feel his hands calming her again. The tightening in her chest was gently relaxing... Oh that smile. Her heart fluttered slightly, her skin tingled... suddenly warmth spread through her skin. Every inch his hands touched on her face began warming as if relaxing on a hot beach in summer...
POWER. Her whole body was being hugged, her SOUL was being held tightly and gently. Her body twitched slightly as her muscles tried to somehow be even MORE embraced by this... this WARMTH. Things were shifting in her, moving... it was like a kink was gone, like a strained muscle was relaxing. Her body was... so relaxed.
Daphne watched closely, her chest tight with worry as her best friend was being almost cradled by Harry Potter. His power flowed like green ribbons, surrounding her, holding her... as the light faded, she rushed back in and hugged her. "Are you ok? Are you hurt? Anything?"
Tracey's face was almost glowing. "Now THAT was... wow." Her eyes got a mischievous glitter. "Harry, you're hired."
His face was blank. "What?"
She grinned past a stunned friend. "Whatever you just did, do that forever. Daily. WOW that felt awesome."
His blush was epic. Daphne wasn't far behind. "So... I assume no pain then?"
Tracey looked down. Her core was now a perfect sphere, with three pink ropes and lots of pink threads... it almost looked like a pink furry bunny or something. "Honestly, I feel like something that was hurting for years just got better. And I didn't even KNOW it!" Her eyes were starting to glisten a bit, but she didn't seem to notice. "Harry, if you ever need a favor, let me know."
Harry grinned and squeezed her shoulder. "Anytime, Tracey."
Tracey nodded. "Now do that amazingness to Daphne. I want to see her face."
Daphne almost eeped before swatting her friend. "Shush you."
Harry grinned at the relief he could feel from both girls. "So Daphne, what do you want to do with your core? You seem to have two colors. Do you want to blend them, or make them more separate?"
She looked down, stepping away slightly from her friend. "I'm not sure... what do you think?"
Harry shrugged. "Combining would be easy, but I bet there are cool things each color can do the other can't... or can't that well. I would keep em."
Daphne took a deep, slightly wavering breath and stood tall. "Then try and keep them separate, please. I wouldn't want to lose an advantage in the future."
Harry had a soft smile on his face as he reached out and cradled Daphne's cheeks. He barely registered her blush as he began to focus.
Oh Merlin he is RIGHT THERE... oh that smile... His hands touched her face and she could feel her whole spine tingle, like someone had just played an amazing song that somehow shook her soul. His skin was so warm it was like a hot cooking stone.
It was like a wall of soft stone collapsed on her. Soft sand, warming her, wrapping around her limbs, her arms, her thighs... warm, slightly pulsing... Harry's heartbeat? Against her skin she felt emotions of care, of warmth, of affection. She felt as if the world was falling away as those green eyes slowly filled the universe. She gave a small sound, a sigh? a moan? It felt amazing. Somewhere in her chest she felt something pulling, tugging... just gently massaging her, as if she were covered in warm oils and being rubbed to tenderness.
She almost passed out.
As she refocused on the grass below her, she realized there was a giggling... Oh Merlin. "Tracey, you saw nothing, heard nothing, you were never here."
Poor Harry looked painted red. "Um. That was... well, that was new. Never felt like that before."
Tracey was poking Harry in the ribs with her elbow. "If it felt even half as good as mine did, you probably broke her. And based on your expression, hers was probably AMAZING."
Daphne apparently also learned how to blush from masters. "I was just tired or something. It... caught me off guard." Tracey was still giggling. "SHUSH Tracey."
Tracey paused and gave a small gasp. "Oh... Oh Daphne, it's beautiful..."
Daphne looked down... It was an obsidian ball, with two large, thick ropes that almost looked like columns of stone from a Greek coliseum. Between them was a pool of blue water, which curled into a stream that barely looked like a rope at all. The black had lots of thread spikes, and the blue had rivulets of threads that flowed gently.
Tracey's finger barely touched her side, trying to follow the pattern. "It looks... almost like a rock garden."
Harry interrupted and gave a hesitant grin. "Just a side note you two, there may be an issue. Just a small one."
Both girls were now focused on Harry... who seemed to be carefully studying the ground. "Uh... so the part I told you about, the one that was awkward because it felt... interesting. That is the next step."
Daphne felt her mouth go dry. "Um. So we haven't started that yet?"
Even Tracey seemed a bit taken back. "Oh." She rallied. "Well, what is it? What do we do next?"
Harry waved his hand, his wand appearing in it. "Well, both of your cores are massively different now than they were. Your wands won't connect the same way, so they won't work for you now. The next step is to help your wands connect with your core again."
Tracey gave a grin. "Well, I went first last time, so why not again? What do I do?"
He nodded. "Hold your wand out. Just imagine you have it and it should show up."
Tracey hesitantly held her hand out... and frowned. Her wand was there, but she couldn't feel ANYTHING. It was like... a stick.
Before she could start really freaking out, Harry reached out and gripped the tip of her wand. Suddenly her arm felt... oh. Small kisses were running up the inside of her arm... Her eyes got huge. Looking at Harry, whose eyes were closed, she tried to hold in the odd noises her body wanted to make. As the kissing reached her armpit she let loose a small 'EEP', and made sure NOT to look toward Daphne... oh. It's not stopping at her shoulder...
She almost whimpered as the kissing moved down her chest and reached her core... and it felt like her real lips were being given the softest of kisses. Her eyes actually fluttered close...
"One down."
Her eyes snapped open. "WAIT, How many times do you have to do that?"
Harry was looking at her wrist, his face... well, red was an understatement. "Uh, your wand has twelve strands. So eleven more times."
She gave a small whimper and her legs twitched. She was going to have to keep her thighs tense or... this was going to be rough.
~~~Core Threads~~~
Daphne was concerned. They had both finished the wand binding, but neither one was moving and their faces were almost blood red. "Tracey... everything go ok?"
Tracey paused before a huge smile crossed her face. "Ye... yeah. You know, that was... Thanks Harry." Her face had some sort of... hunger in it? She looked up at Harry, who seemed relieved that she was not hurt... or actively trying to kill him. Holy Merlin that was intense.
Tracey grinned. "You know Harry, I will probably need another wand in a few years. Would you mind helping me then?"
Harry couldn't speak, but gave a short nod. Tracey's smile was pretty big, before it became a bit... predatory. "Now Daphne, I believe it is YOUR turn."
Daphne felt her mouth go dry. From the noises earlier, she had felt it was likely the whole process hurt or something, but neither of them were saying anything. Still, if Tracey could handle it, so could she.
Harry hadn't gotten up yet. "Just... give me a second."
As he gently sat beside Daphne, he gestured for her to lay down. "If this is ANYTHING like it was with Tracey, you will probably will want to be laying down for this."
Seeing Tracey's emphatic nods, she laid down, and held her right arm out. As Harry grasped the end of it, she felt a heat in her hand... did he just! Looking up with narrowed eyes, she saw his eyes closed, and mouth FAR away from her... AGAIN! Oh... oh. As the warm sensation moved up her arm, she could feel... fingers rubbing small circles, gentle kisses... was that a lick?
When it reached past her shoulder she gave a near inaudible squeak. Down her chest, toward her core, fingers, gentle lips... her mind was starting to give her TERRIBLE thoughts as she tried not to move, not to think. CERTAINLY not to look toward Tracey. Not even a bloody WARNING!
Thankfully it was near her core, as she wasn't sure she could handle much more of...
OH MERLIN.
It felt like hands were holding her head gently as someone kissed her deeply, stroking her hair. For a moment she actually tried to get closer, to return... oh. Wow.
Her partially glazed look turned to Harry. "S... So. How many more times? You said eleven, right?"
He was staring at her wand, slightly shaking. He coughed slightly. "Each... uh. Each wand is different. Yours has 18 threads, so..."
Bloody Hell.
~~~Core Threads~~~
Two blushing witches and a wizard sat on a bench near the golden lake, sipping tea.
Tracey HAD meant to tease Daphne... but... well, yeah. Apparently there was a bit more of a connection there magically than either had suspected. She cleared her throat. "So... was that normal?"
Harry shook his head. "When I first did this, I had just turned 11, it was almost accidental. But it was only a few weeks ago... I am not sure why it felt so different this time."
Daphne coughed. "Uh... did you know them before you matched their wands?"
He shrugged. "For a few minutes. Not even a day."
There was a pause. Tracey leaned slightly into the boy, who was wedged between the two. "How did you feel about the girls when you did it?"
He wiggled a bit. "Back then, it was just strong friendship, some mild attraction maybe. Except for Terry... that one felt weird. Couldn't do this for guys again after that."
Daphne had a thoughtful look. "I thought you did this for Neville?"
Harry's blush got darker. "Couldn't handle it, so I tried passing it through Susan's magic."
Tracey noticed the blush. "Did... did it make it better?"
He shook his head. "Worse. Never felt a woman like that before. Very awkward. And that was just my side, I am sure those two felt... things."
Daphne saw Tracey's look. They had to get onto a new topic before this degraded. "WELL, how about some training? You said something about our own inner worlds?"
Harry had a smile on his face as he fought through his embarrassment. Even now he had trouble looking directly at either of the girls. "Well, over here then. These are the doors, each connected to another mind." He waved at two near each other, with snake motifs. Each of the other doors had their own school symbol. "These two are yours. I used to just use the initials, but now that there are so many I just put each persons name on it. If you want to visit someone's mind, just knock on it and see if they let you in."
As both girls went into Daphne's door, Harry took some deep breaths. Wrath stepped out from behind him, an amused look on his face. "Growing up so fast, my Master."
Harry sighed. "I don't know how old I am anymore Wrath. Time moves so fast in here, and I control my body, age, and such. I certainly don't THINK like a child... at least, not all the time."
Wrath nodded, handing Harry some tea in a small cup. "They are both attractive young ladies."
Harry rolled his eyes. "They are too young. So am I. Though I must admit, their magic is... beautiful." He sighed and started walking toward Daphne's door.