Chapter 35 - Much Ado About Ginny
With the end of the year fast approaching, Ginny's fears and pressures built up higher and higher. The Monday after the Quidditch match, before breakfast, Ginny tracked down Harry taking the normal route from the Hufflepuff Common Room to the Great Hall and asked to speak privately with him.
After they reached the nearest deserted classroom, and Harry locked the door so they wouldn't be interrupted, Ginny blushed and looked down at her feet now that the moment was upon her. She squeaked when she tried to talk to Harry, unable to look him in the eyes.
After giving her a couple of minutes to start talking, it was clear she needed help so Harry tried to take her hand only for her to pull away and blush even redder than before. A little hurt by the rejection, Harry sat back and tried another way. "Ginny? Ginny, please, talk to me. You wanted to talk to me. I'm right here, and I won't bite." 'Well, I won't bite you. Hermione enjoys it, the kinky girl.' Needless to say Harry liked it, too.
Fighting the extra flush that threatened at his last comment, Ginny nodded slowly and took a deep breath. "Harry, you're right, and thank you. Thank you for so much, really. You saved me in a few ways, you know. First, you saved my life from Riddle. Then you saved me from prison or worse by covering for me, saved me again from the consequences of my foolish actions. Even saved my conscience by taking care of Mary when I couldn't. Then over the summer, you saved me again from falling into my mother's trap, opening my eyes to ethics, and during the year, you and your friends saved me from loneliness, accepting me into your life. You already accepted my Oath, my sincerity, and showed me more of your home life, your clones and your jutsu."
Harry was a little surprised to hear his actions laid out that way, but he couldn't disagree with any of it, even if he hadn't intended all of what he did that way, it did have those effects. He didn't regret it, either.
When he tried to reply, she just shook her head, pleading with her eyes for him to listen instead of talking.
"It's traditional, isn't it, that the man who saves the princess gets to marry her? I had fantasies of the Boy-Who-Lived saving me and we'd be off to get married straight away and live in a castle together. Dreams that I think my mother encouraged with how many of those stupid books she bought for me. She was even talking about when you and I would be together."
Harry's eyes narrowed, angry anew at the woman and Ginny hurriedly added, "I know, Harry, I know it was wrong. And I know you aren't the Boy-Who-Lived, you never were. You're Harry Potter. I understand that now, thanks to you and your friends. The Boy-Who-Lived was only a fantasy from the start, and you are real, and true. Unlike him, you really did save me, saved me from myself, and it was so easy to fall in love with you. But, I was scared. You already have other girls that you love, girls who love you too. I didn't know if I could fit in. I didn't know if I would end up hurting them or you. So I held back, I kept quiet, and now I can't keep quiet any more.
"Harry, please, will you let me be yours?"
Harry thought quickly how to reply. "Ginny, it isn't that simple. I can't give you the answer you want unless I know that my other loves are ok with you joining us. I promised them from the start that I wouldn't hurt them, and I wouldn't add other girls without their permission, because each one is important to my happiness, I love my ladies. I would rather cut off my arm, give up magic forever, just about anything, than to hurt a single one of them."
"So you're rejecting me?" Ginny was nearly in tears, only just holding back the flood.
"So you need to ask them, too. How would you feel if the man you loved brought home another woman, someone you can't stand? That is what I will not do to them, or to you. I hope you understand, this isn't 'Yes', but it's also not 'No'. It's 'Not yet'." Harry searched her face, looking for a sign that she understood.
Ginny took a breath, then another, as she fought to get her emotions under control, before nodding at Harry, then reaching out, taking him in a tight hug and letting go of her fears. He hadn't rejected her, that was what she was clinging to just as much as she was clinging to his body. Beyond that, all she had to do was talk to the others. Surely, they would be able to see that she loved Harry just as they did.
Harry gave her a hand, getting her makeup restored to cover the blotchy cheeks the intense emotions had caused. They got back to the Great Hall where Ginny sat next to Lavender while Harry sat between a concerned pair of Hufflegirls, assuring them that he was fine and everything was ok now.
During the week, Ginny, now a very single-minded young witch, sought out and spoke to Harry's ladies, getting some rather frank replies, and generally working to convince them of her sincerity of her love.
On the Friday, however, her world came crashing down again. Her mother had sent Ginny a letter, just a fairly normal letter about how she would see Ginny again soon and had missed her over Christmas and Easter and couldn't wait to see how much her daughter had grown. For Ginny, though, it was a reminder that summer was nearly upon her and she couldn't put off much longer the time when she would be under Molly's thumb again, and vulnerable to the woman's machinations.
In desperation, she tracked down Hermione and Padma looking for some ideas to help her escape her fate. While they were sympathetic, they pointed out that realistically, there was no chance she would be allowed to leave home so young, which was basically what Ginny felt she needed.
Crushed, she perked up a bit when Hermione added that there was nothing saying how much time she spent at the Burrow, only that she had to get permission to visit her friends. Ginny in her excitement kissed Hermione's cheek and raced off to write letters to her parents and to her older brothers Bill and Charlie.
With that done, she started asking around to see which of her friends, if any, could convince their parents to issue an invitation for her to stay for part of the summer. If she got even half the invitations she felt she could expect, she wouldn't have to spend more than a few nights under the same roof as her mother.
Laughing, Harry said "Of course you can spend some time at the Kitsune Compound but you might want to work on the rest of the invitations first. Then you can spend whatever time remains with us if you like."
Ginny went to kiss him, too, but he dodged and grinned. "You have to talk to the others first, then..." Ginny grinned back, and went tearing around the castle on her mission to escape the Burrow.
A few days later, she had lined up her schedule for the summer. While she was disappointed to have almost two weeks where she had to live under her mother's rules, at least her nights at 'home' were scattered through the summer rather than all in one hit. Molly had made Arthur tell her to reject some of the invitations, concerned at how it would make her look if they accepted them all.
Just as important in her mind, but not as urgent, she had spoken more to Harry's girls about her prospects of joining. While in truth none of the girls were happy that Ginny was so adamant about getting away from her family, in the circumstances, they agreed it was the lesser evil. Percy Weasley was a rule-obsessed fool without a sense of humour. Fred and George had far too much of a sense of humour and no care for who they made the butt of their jokes. Arthur was a joke at the Ministry, head of a department but without the understanding of the people he was supposed to know. And Molly, everyone had heard her Howlers, humiliating her children in front of all their peers and teachers, and her self-righteous conviction that she was always right. Add in the concerns about being drugged by her own mother and yes, they felt getting away was definitely what they would want to do, too.
Her dedication to protecting Harry and because of him, Harry's girls, won their admiration. The way she was prepared to drop everything to help Harry and his friends also showed that she had her head screwed on straight, the girls felt. Such selflessness warmed their hearts, and in a full meeting of the Hogwarts girls, they agreed to give her a go. At the conclusion, Daphne showed her cunning by being the first to volunteer to inform Harry while Hermione and Susan agreed to talk to Ginny.
"Hermione? Susan?"
"Sit down, Ginny." Hermione waited a beat while Ginny took a seat. "We've been talking and..."
"And we're agreed."
"Yes?" Ginny felt her heart racing.
"You can have a chance with Harry, Ginny. We have seen how you are putting us first. You are already showing your love. That's all any of us can ask." Susan gave her fellow redhead a smile.
"I won't let you down!" Ginny pulled the other girls into a hug, bouncing excitedly.
"I expect you won't." Hermione smiled as she pulled back. "Don't forget that you will still need to get approval from Ashley, Michelle, Meaghan, Stephanie and Ella. This is only probationary and if you cause problems-"
"I know! I promise I won't do anything to hurt any of you!" Ginny briefly glowed with the flash of a true Oath.
The trio managed to sit and speak more about the various details Ginny would need to know before her nerves carried her off an hour later to head back to her dorm, her head spinning.
A nervous Ginny approached Harry warily after dinner, then flung herself into his open arms, crying tears of joy, before she got her very first kiss. No gongs that rang through the castle, no flash of golden light or magic, just a sweet, chaste kiss and a very happy girl snuggling in his arms.
Seeing Ginny in his arms the next morning at breakfast, Astoria pouted then took a seat next to him and a grinning Tonks did the same. The girls had recently given Tonks their approval, and told Harry as much though they weren't telling Tonks herself until she asked. They felt it would be premature to tell her when she had yet to say she wanted Harry in that way. It would also have been rude to presume to dictate her life like that, worse if it had any power over her!
Still, they all had fun watching her try to make Harry or the others blush and it was great fodder for joking and fun.
Another way Harry and his ladies had fun had recently started courtesy of Susan and Megan. Leanne Moon had been reminiscing about the times she had friends over for the evenings before attending Hogwarts. She explained the similarity to some of the time the ladies had spent at their private wing at Harry's place, with the pajamas, the games, gossip and laid-back snuggling and friendly atmosphere.
Susan and Megan took that idea and ran with it, pronouncing it the perfect Hufflepuff way to have a party for each other, and naturally Harry would be there to pamper them. Harry's best massages were banned after the first night. They made it too hard to concentrate and promoted a different kind of fun than they had in mind. While the five girls had loved what they had done to and with their Harry, they also loved just laying back in his arms, relaxing and chatting. The second night, they had played some Operation and other Muggle games. Over and between the games, they talked about everything from the difference between Muggle and magical culture, and the relative absence of art in the Wizarding World, to Muggle science fiction and fantasy.
On the Saturday of the next so-called Hufflepuff Party, all of Harry's Hogwarts girls were present. Ginny was reclining against a beanbag in the room up the top of the East Wing that they had taken for themselves when she giggled out of the blue.
Luna looked up curiously at her friend. "Ginny?"
"Oh, sorry, Luna, the way Lavender bent over in front of Harry just then reminded me of what I saw yesterday. You know my 'mother' and her views, right?"
"I think just about everyone in Hogwarts knows her views on quite a number of things." Daphne put in archly, making Ginny, Lavender and Parvati giggle, scoring Daphne another point.
"Yes, well, she and her views would have something to say about what I caught you doing to Harry, Lavender," Ginny continued.
"Though it did look like you both had fun when you came out of that classroom. If I hadn't spotted that bit of white on your upper lip before you licked it off, I don't think I would have known for sure what you two had been doing together. Well, that and having too many brothers who don't lock their doors when they do that. Ugh. Still, you did have this big grin on your face, just like Hermione and the others have at times. Such a scarlet woman!"
Lavender just grinned while the rest laughed. "Such a flirt you mean. And I'm Harry's flirt all the way. Only yours," she added to the Harry nearest her, wriggling and then sitting in his lap, letting him know she had removed her knickers to play it up.
Parvati rolled her eyes at the ridiculous behaviour, noting Harry sensibly didn't complain at having a lapful of Lavender. He had just grinned, letting her settle in and cuddling again.
Naturally, with so many girls present, the subject of fashion came up at a lot of the parties. With Harry well versed on the subject, he was comfortable joining in or letting the girls go depending on the mood. Harry also got tender kisses in thanks for his gifts and his help with their wardrobes.
"I love seeing you wearing my clothes. It tells me that you approve of my taste and skills, and I feel that it helps bring out your natural beauty. While I don't want to display you like 'property'," Harry's voice dripped with disgust for the idea, "I do want to show people just how wonderful you are, and how lucky I feel."
His heartfelt love for them all was shining through, and they spent a few minutes cuddling to show him they felt the same.
With the last class over and done, Harry approached a few of the teachers to invite them to the Compound over the summer if they wanted a break. While Minerva, Aurora, Septima and Remus were all happy to accept, Filius turned him down citing prior plans and Pomona Sprout could not neglect her duties to the greenhouses over the summer. She hoped to find the time, but didn't want to promise anything then have to back out of it later. Binns was out of the question, Trelawney wasn't welcome with the way she behaved like a circus fortune teller all the time, Snape was, well, Snape. Harry respected his knowledge of his chosen subject, but he neither liked nor respected him as a man and wouldn't invite the greasy git into his home. Professor Burbage didn't really know him, but agreed to visit as long as she didn't have to go anywhere crowded. She had enough of that at the school, really. Professor Babbling had planned a retreat for the summer, which was a shame he felt, but to each their own.
Last of all, Hagrid was pleased to get an invite. He had to return Sirius' motorbike anyway, so this would be a great chance to do that. Harry was surprised, Sirius hadn't even mentioned the bike. 'Maybe he thought it was lost forever, who knows.' Harry thanked the large man, and they arranged a date for Hagrid's visit.
With everything taken care of, Harry almost found himself bored for the day and a bit until the train took them home. As a result, he had a lot of tired and well-pampered ladies the following morning following him down to the waiting carriages and thence to the station. Getting on the train, they headed back, excited to hear about the Clan's progress with their research thanks to Roger's inspired question.
There was the usual assortment of privacy and security charms cast on their much altered carriage, opened up into two large compartments for the boys and for the girls, an arrangement that suited everyone better. The boys, and Tonks, were watching Alien for much of the journey, while the girls watched Gone With The Wind for a bit of the classics.
At the station, there was a big crowd, so many students and parents finding each other and crowding the platform as they met up after up to nine months since they saw each other last. Indeed, the years after Harry's were much larger than his own. That was to be expected with the end of the reign of terror creating a baby boom and he wouldn't be surprised if the year after them were as large or larger. That would bring the total closer to the hundred and forty students that Hogwarts was built to hold for each year, up from the forty in his own year.
With everyone finding their families, and saying goodbyes, Harry reminded them that the Clan had invited everyone around for a meeting the following weekend. For Harry's ladies, they would get to visit a couple of times before then, but it was another wrench to the system having to go back to seeing each other only occasionally rather than all the time.
After the meeting, Harry hoped that his loves would be able to stay for a week as planned. It wasn't enough, he intended to be with them for a lifetime (even as he heard a cynical voice in Kin-mum's tones telling him that all young lovers intend that), but it was better than nothing.
A last kiss goodbye for his ladies, something that was taking longer every time, and he was off to Cranleigh and home.
Once at home, Ashley, Michelle, Stephanie, Ella and Meaghan practically pounced on Harry, kissing him and welcoming him home. Harry returned their kisses with equal passion and worked his way into the lounge room. The group sat and cuddled as they caught up, each young lady getting to kiss the real Harry for the first time in months, each one worked up about it and pouring out their love and increasing desire for the green-eyed young man. Ella, Michelle and Meaghan in particular were more urgent in their kisses, their hearts racing as his touch inflamed their passions and relaxed their bodies.
After a time catching up, they headed out to get a somewhat late dinner, Harry and his loves feeding each other like the teen lovers they were.
The next day, at a fairly quiet Monday lunch, Remus looked searchingly at Sirius and Mary then leaned back, waiting. His actions would have gone unnoticed by most people, but Sirius knew him too well and the Clan (and Harry) were too well trained not to pick up on it. With all eyes on him, Sirius stood up and grinned. He did love being the centre of attention. Taking Mary's hand in his own, he gave her his best smile.
"It is my honour, and my deep pleasure, to announce that Miss Mary Davidson and I intend to explore our futures together. It is my intention and earnest wish to keep her happy with me for many years to come." He turned to the lady in question and bowed. "Dear Mary, you captured my heart not through any spell, but through your bright laugh, your quick wit and your willingness to grace me with your company."
Mary just laughed and pulled him down, kissing him quickly before letting him regain his seat. There was some light teasing, mostly from Remus. Sirius hit back, pointing out that even losing a decade to Azkaban, he had still beat Remus to finding a wonderful woman, earning him another kiss from Mary.
Remus just laughed. In all honesty, teaching at Hogwarts meant he hadn't had the time to look for romance, though it had improved his self-confidence markedly. Getting to teach young Harry in Defence Against the Dark Arts was a pleasure. Harry had been interested in learning the Patronus Charm since it was the only anti-Dementor spell, and had got the idea quick enough. The spell was rather draining even for an adult wizard, and with his own ways of dealing with the monstrous creatures, the spell was less of a priority. Nevertheless, Harry and his friends had tried their best to learn the difficult spell, with Harry the first to produce more than the shield variant. Remus had cried after the first time Harry's corporeal Patronus had appeared there in his office, looking out at Prongs, James Potter's Animagus form. He and Harry had talked a little while about his accomplishment, and the symbolism involved, before they had to go their separate ways. Needless to say, the Clan threw a party for the occasion as they did for just about any good excuse.
Bringing his thoughts back on topic, Remus realised that he actually looked forward to dating, his fear of the Wolf at its lowest level since back at Hogwarts. He still refused to expose anyone to the threat of infection, but he was at least willing to entertain the idea of letting a woman close to him, something that had been unthinkable before.
When Mary had to use the ladies' room, Sirius was the recipient of a number of hard looks and a reminder from Hinata that if he hurt Mary, he would regret it. A serious Sirius gulped and nodded. Harry's parents could be downright terrifying when they wanted to be, but Harry was, in some ways, worse. All of Lily's temper and all of the Clan's bag of tricks for finding him and demonstrating the error of his ways. Certain that Padfoot had got the message, the looks melted away and they were back to chatting normally before Mary's return.
That day brought another unpleasant shock beyond the one that Sirius, of all people, had a serious relationship before him. Shortly after lunch, a swan-sized scarlet bird with red and gold plumage appeared in a flash of fire, only to squawk and duck as it was the focus of dozens of weapons. Harry laughed, lowering his weapons, as he recognised the bird.
Remus was already wandering over to the beautiful phoenix, reaching out to run a hand down its back when he noticed the letter attached to Fawkes' leg. Taking out his wand, he ran a variety of detection and anti-hex spells over the letter while he petted the bird. Once done, and with the Clan still on the alert, he untied the letter and retrieved it, absently waving his wand to summon some food in case Fawkes was hungry. Fawkes trilled and vanished in another flash of fire, annoying the Clan that the bird would invade their home like that.
Remus wasn't thinking of that, intent on reading his mail. Obviously it was from Dumbledore or at least sent via the old man, and as Remus read it, his expression grew thunderous.
"What's wrong, Moony?" Sirius asked.
"It's Albus. It seems that he's claiming I broke the employment contract by talking to Harry about more than just his schoolwork. It's nonsense, of course, but he's hinting that if I try to take him to court it would just go badly for me due to my condition."
"So despite you following his ridiculous conditions, he is still unhappy with you?!" Harry was incensed.
"Yes, he wanted me since he was out of other options, but he still didn't want us to get to know each other. I suspect he has a replacement lined up at last, or he would have terminated my position before now. He must have known for months that I was more friendly with you than was good for him. Every month, right after the full moon, he questioned me about our relationship and essentially trying to discover just how much I was teaching you and talking to you. He was most pleased that you learned the Patronus, and most displeased that you asked about your parents so often. He seems to have thought that you wouldn't discover that provision in my contract or that if you did, you wouldn't make use of it every week."
Harry smiled, glad for the time and the stories Remus had shared. "Still, it doesn't make sense. Wouldn't any orphan want to ask that?"
"I'd say he doesn't understand you, Harry, or the more curious mindset of those raised in the British culture," Naruto added. "From what I've seen, it's getting even worse, from his perspective. The Muggle-borns are more curious every year as the societies diverge even further which means they're more likely to ask all those inconvenient questions that stagnant societies don't want."
"Those questions are a threat to the existing social order which has Dumbledore at its top, so he has a vested interest in making the wizards and witches into unquestioning, uncritical drones." Temari pointed out. "Of course, that's the exact opposite of his duties as Headmaster, but we've already seen that he doesn't actually care about those compared to the power it gives him over young minds."
Remus felt a little uneasy at hearing Dumbledore described that way, a remnant of his days as a Hogwarts student who only got an education because of the man, but the evidence fit that explanation all too well. In Harry's first year, he had to deal with a possessed teacher trying to steal an artifact of immense economic and political power. Said artifact was behind a set of traps in his own school, in a location he advertised to hundreds of students. That endangered all of them, staff included, as thieves or Dark Wizards could have held them hostage in order to get the Stone. Then last year, with the opening of the Chamber of Secrets, a deadly hazard to his staff and students, again he opposed anyone trying to get the students out or to get people in to investigate. And this year, Dementors invade the Quidditch stadium during a match, but still, Dumbledore doesn't do whatever it took to get them away from his students.
Just like he didn't do a thing to help out Sirius when he was sent to prison without trial or questioning.
Remus looked up at the others. "Well, he's right that I can't take him to court. All it would take to get it thrown out, if it even got that far, would be for him or Snape to let slip my affliction. Worse, he would have parents clamouring to keep me away from their children, despite the fact that I made sure I was never a danger to them! No, taking the bastard to court would never work. Even if I wasn't a Dark Creature according to them, he's Albus Dumbledore. He's powerful and respected, and we know he's been able to quash a court case before against a wealthy Pureblood. I have no political pull and they don't even think I'm human."
"So Dumbledore is just breaking the law again, and you can't do a thing? Oh, that will never do." Naruto grinned evilly. "I'm sure you can find plenty of ways to express your displeasure at this injury he is trying to give you. Since we are pleased with your performance as a teacher, we could easily find a place for you in the Foundation. You could pass on your skills, engage in some research and generally keep from getting bored while you work on ways to teach the Headmaster the error of his ways. Coincidentally, it will also provide you with the tools to do just that."
Padfoot and Moony shared their own grins at the prospect of pranking the 'leader of the Light'. The Marauders would ride again!
The Clan pulled out all the stops for this meeting, refurbishing a set of rooms for the purpose. With their guests arriving and heading inside, they felt the adrenaline and clamped down on it, too much would only hamper performance, after all.
Once everyone was seated comfortably and refreshments were made available, Tsunade stepped up as their best doctor and lead researcher, taking her place at the podium and projecting her voice to carry clearly.
"Thank you all for coming today. As you know, Naruto and my sister-wives were born with the ability to learn how to use chakra to perform various techniques like this," Tsunade demonstrated one technique by creating a small ball of light above the palm of her hand, "and as we explained, this is the result of our ancestry. We do know how to transfer the abilities to others but that requires the use of chakra.
"Unfortunately, chakra and magic don't get along. Indeed, they fight against each other. This has prevented us from being able to share our abilities with our good friends like Madam Bones or anyone else with a drop of magic in their veins. Until now."
Her audience leaned forward, their interest peaked, as they listened more intently. "With the help of Madam Bones, and the inspired question from Roger Malone over there," Tsunade paused to allow her listeners to direct their attention to the blushing boy, "we have found a technique that will allow the safe transfer of bloodlines to wizards and witches. That will allow recipients to use the chakra and jutsu we can teach. At this point, it is, of necessity, untested. Other trials have shown the concept to be completely workable, and I would volunteer to be the recipient myself, if I could."
This provided some reassurance to parents who heard and shivered at the idea of an entirely untested medical procedure being performed on their sons and daughters. It still left the question up in the air. Would they let their children be exposed to something that was apparently lethal now that it was thought to be safe but with no successful tests? While they could see their children were eager enough, the boys even more so than the girls, they couldn't allow it.
With most of the adult audience thus engaged in conversations and attempts to keep their children from rushing in heedless of the danger, Amelia Bones stood up and strode up to the podium next to Tsunade. She asked for and got permission to address the crowd. "In light of the unknown dangers of the procedure, I can not allow any child to undergo the surgery." She ignored the betrayed look from her niece Susan and continued. "Clearly, the procedure needs to be tested and proven successful and safe, before we can in good conscience allow anyone underage to have it performed on them. In light of this reality, indeed, in light of my responsibility to protect the wizards and witches of Britain, I can not stand by and allow any of you to take the chance.
"That leaves it up to me to go first." Amelia's firm gaze melted into a small smile. "Besides, I have the most experience of their new procedure, and I couldn't ask anyone else to endure it if I will not."
Susan was now looking enviously at her aunt, which was a big improvement as far as Amelia was concerned.
"Once we know it is safe, then that opens up the way for the children to be allowed to do this, if they still want to and their parents agree."
That got Susan to smile at Amelia, which meant it was a success. Time would tell how Susan reacted when she found out Amelia really just wanted to go first. That awareness of life that danger produced was a heady sensation, and her bodyguards had kept danger at bay for so long. Still, it would also mean that Amelia would have a better understanding of what Susan was going through, and that was just as important to her.
Tsunade and the Clan looked at their audience, noting the reactions, and shared a smile with Naruto before taking Amelia's arm. "Right this way, Madam Bones, we can get started immediately." There were a couple of laughs from Harry's friends at the startled expression she wore before she got it under control.
"No time like the present," Amelia agreed, walking to the operating theatre that was in the next room. Tiered seating allowed the rest to get a good view if they wished. While many of the parents wanted to stop their children from seeing what they feared would be a gruesome sight, their children were having none of their protective attitude.
The Clan had no objections to letting the children watch the rather bloody affair. They came from a militaristic society where children were routinely aware of death from a young age, when they weren't trained to become killers themselves.
For the magicals among them, there was both less and more worry among the parents. A lot of magical healing involved eating or drinking something disgusting, but not as much opening up of the body. Still, they had heard horror stories about Muggle doctors and butchers, mostly from an era when the two professions were very similar, and they were afraid this would be like that.
Harry and his clones were cuddling his girls, reassuring them that he had survived this and it was even safer now. Leaning into his side, they took strength from his love and watched curiously. Amelia Bones was led to the centre platform and guided to lay down on the operating table. There, with glass around the platform and the sterile area it contained, the medics in the Clan performed checks on her vitals, getting in last-minute questions and instructions.
Following this was the first variation to the procedure used on Harry. Handcuffs from the DMLE's own stores were applied to the Director of the DMLE, shocking the adult witches and wizards present who recognised them. Another check of Amelia's health followed, then a last test of her magic, failing to produce even a single spark from her wand, confirming that her magic had been locked away. After that, they rendered her unconscious with a Forced Sleep Illusion, supplementing it with a general anaesthetic once she was out.
After that, with her magic unable to interfere, there was the standard array of seals drawn and activated, the transfer of material from the donor, Hinata this time, and the use of chakra scalpels to cut away skin and flesh. The procedure was invasive and bloody, though less so than the parents had expected and feared. It was also far quicker than expected.
Just after two hours after Amelia closed her eyes, Naruto signalled to Harry who carried Susan the quick way to the door to the theatre, keeping her hand as they walked inside and sat next to Amelia's bed. While Amelia was still knocked out, the doctors were watching her vital signs intently. Harry kept an arm around Susan as she held her aunt's hand. She had just nodded when Harry whispered that they would need to get out of the way of the Clan if needed, accepting that and incredibly grateful she could be with the woman who had raised her.
Their friends and allies surrounded them, watching, hoping, quietly whispering wishes for her recovery. The Clan were keeping her unconscious to make sure that the tenketsu and chakra coils were developing right, that the damage done from surgery was healing up correctly and that her chakra pool was filling satisfactorily. All the signs looked excellent on all counts.
Four hours after she lay down and happy that her chakra network had developed correctly, they brought Amelia around, waking her up. Her first sight wasn't the Clan doctors but the wonderful smile on Susan's face and Harry beside her, holding and supporting her. After questions and more physical tests, the Clan were all set to pronounce it a complete success until Amelia stopped them, requesting the bone and muscle strengthening techniques as well since she was already on the table. A smiling Harry got up, hands on her arms and legs as he performed that for her.
Amelia sat up to a big hug from Susan and applause from the audience. She was careful not to hug Susan back too hard after a hasty warning from Harry, and stood up a few minutes later, walking slowly and carefully but under her own power to a recovery and rehabilitation ward that was set up adjoining the theatre.
The Clan were keeping their eyes on their patient, ready to step in if she had needed help, but Amelia proved as strong as they thought after the extensive monitoring. Laying down, she felt an odd pulling sensation took her into a mindscape.
"Welcome, Madam Bones." Amelia heard a gentle voice from behind her, spotting Hinata in her true form, tail, whiskers and fox ears looking natural on her. "We are here in my mind to conduct your initial training. While none of this is real, as such, in that you can't do any permanent damage to anything, including yourself, it is real enough that your learning will carry over."
Hinata paused, creating a comfortable lounge chair for each of them and a low table, then carpet, walls and ceiling, where before there was just a featureless expanse of white.
"What exactly will I be learning, and what about my niece? Won't she be worried about how long this is taking?" Amelia asked.
"Taking your second question first, no, she won't be worried. As far as she is concerned, no time has yet passed. Harry may have mentioned the use of time-dilation illusions? No? Well, that's what this is. While we will be here for what feels like years, only two minutes will have passed for everyone else on the outside. You can't use magic here, the same as your real body, but you can use chakra. Or at least you will. I'll be teaching you how to feel, access, mold and expel your chakra. I'll also be teaching you how to use the Byakugan bloodline that we gave you."
"Byakugan?"
"Oh, yes, there were a number of different abilities that ran in families that cropped up in our world. Hundreds, really. We aren't prepared to give out all our abilities, in part because getting used to them would take you a year or more. In part, well, we are a ninja clan. We share all our abilities with family. In time, once Harry finishes school and can take the time off, we will be able to share the rest of them with him, including our foxy accessories. In no way does Harry have all of the bloodline abilities we wanted to give him. He 'only' has the Uzumaki bloodline which grants great capacity, potency, longevity and stamina, and a talent for fuinjutsu. If his ladies marry him, they will also be family to us."
"Ok, but what is special about the Byakugan?" Amelia wondered.
"For a start, it lets you see more than you could before. Unless specially treated, walls, ceilings, floors, just about anything is transparent to the special sight you will be able to activate. We felt this would be a great advantage to you in your work." Hinata gave a mischievous smile as Amelia was momentarily stunned.
"You mean, I will be able to see through clothes as well? No more wondering if someone has a backup wand or dagger?" Amelia was on the edge of her seat.
"Exactly that. You will probably experience some slight disorientation if you try to see inside any actively magical object, at least, that's been our own experience, but that, and the awareness of the chakra cost for keeping the special sight active, is all you really need to know for now. We can get back to it once you're ready to start learning it.
"First, accessing your chakra and the Basic Three techniques." Hinata smiled. Such an eager student.
While Harry explained to Susan what was happening to Amelia, her aunt was living through it. By the time Harry finished answering Susan's questions, it was already over. Her aunt gave Susan a firm hug, now fully in control of her increased strength, before showing off the Body Flicker and Substitution techniques. Susan had rarely seen her aunt so alive, so happy, so carefree. Seeing her aunt use the Byakugan was a little scary, especially as she now knew her aunt could see through so much, including Harry's illusions.
Still, it would keep her safer, and she was in such a good mood, Susan had to smile too. Her smile widened when Amelia calmly removed the magic suppression without any ill effects. She took advantage of the general mood to ask permission to go next, getting a knowing look and a nod, before she dashed off back to Harry's parents.
Susan was far from the only one looking to get the transfer, nor the first. Hermione and Daphne had both received permission and were slightly ahead of her, their own parents looking on. Unfortunately for their plans, the Clan were not willing to perform the operations yet.
"While the operation appears to be a complete success, there are a couple of other steps that we want to check and a general period of observation to ensure we didn't miss anything." Tsunade was the designated lead on this, and so it was her explaining to the others why they were rejecting their requests.
"We are willing to perform the transfers on those without magic, but please, allow us to make sure it is just as safe as we believe it to be before we implant these bloodlines into witches and wizards." Her voice was as kind as she could make it without losing the note of authority she needed to project.
The children were disappointed, but they did get to see some of the other parents, as well as Harry's Cranleigh girls, undergo the procedure without incident.
Matt and Liz Granger were both happy that they didn't have to wait, and woke up next to each other with Athena holding Matt's hand and Hermione holding Liz's when they were brought around. A few minutes later from their daughters' perspective, and they had been given some basic training including the Basic Three (Replacement, Clone and Body Flicker) as well as some hand-to-hand.
The all-Muggle families were the first to receive the operations but not the only ones. Everyone would get the same base training and a bloodline that acted as a booster for any natural affinity. They would build on that base, working on their chakra control and getting used to their new vitality and agility under the watchful eyes of their doctors and trainers from the Clan. The idea was that, when Amelia proved the surgery safe, they could then do the same for their magical allies.
After that time, they would all have sufficient chakra to start learning the Shadow Clone technique. Arguably it was the most important technique of all in the Kitsune arsenal, able to make the most out of their days. Indeed, while one of them was doing their work, their clones could be doing just about anything.
It was a long week for Harry's witches and wizard friends, awaiting news of any problems with Amelia's recovery, afraid that they would hear that it was unsafe after all. Her bodyguards were kicking themselves now for allowing her to go first. Exposure to danger in her place was their job, after all, but she had been commanding and confident and they just went along, obeying her orders.
That's not to say they didn't have a good time. In fact, there were quite a few parties thrown to celebrate the end of school, good exam results, or just to meet girls, not a minor consideration for Harry's male friends from Hogwarts who had seen the drastic winnowing of their dating prospects with so many young witches drawn to the emerald-eyed wizard.
Harry was their friend, as well as the one who had kept them safe from giant man-eating spiders, a giant snake with a killing gaze, monsters that made you relive your worst memories, oh and stopped the Dark Lord's return twice. With all that, they didn't want to resent him his success with the ladies, so they threw themselves into the dating game, as brave as any Gryffindor, and accepted tips and tricks from Harry and Naruto. When they failed, and they did, they got mutual support and encouragement from each other.
Harry was glad he was spared their troubles, but he had enough of his own. Among other things, Ginny was in the uncomfortable position of being one of Harry's ladies, trusted and liked in her own right, but her family were neither, really.
While Draco was wrong about so many things, he was right when he pointed out that the Weasleys had a bad social position. Being both 'blood traitors' and poor, her family were not well regarded. Their reputation as being staunchly on the side of Light was their best point. Even that had its disadvantages socially when you consider that it had such a high cost in terms of lives. It was only really a benefit in the immediate aftermath of the Dark Lords that came around each generation or so. While their eldest sons, Bill and Charlie were considered good, strong wizards, neither had stayed in Britain, negating any gain they might have represented.
The important bit here was that neither the Clan nor their allies were willing to trust Molly and Arthur with their secrets. For Ginny to get the operation, she would need the permission from her parents. Ginny was not on good terms with her mother, so that meant her hopes rested on convincing her father without giving away the secrets (not that she could and survive) which meant somehow, she had to get permission to undergo surgery that her father would never understand.
A tall order for anyone!
She had an advantage in that her father would generally do just about anything for her that he could. He was limited in what money he could spend on her, but that didn't apply here. The Clan were giving away free operations that were literally priceless. Also, since it would make her happy, that was another point in its favour. She might even be able to get Madam Bones, her father's boss, to tell him it was safe.
On the downside, no responsible parent would agree to a totally unknown operation of unknown danger. That was bad enough, but her mother might also try to ground her or abuse her friends for going along with it. If that happened, well, Ginny knew she had a bad temper, and would probably blow up at her mother which would remove any chance of getting that permission.
That's if Molly didn't outright forbid it from the outset for being new and unknown. Ginny thought she might be able to secure permission if she hinted it would help her get closer to the Boy-Who-Lived, but she felt dirty just thinking about that. It might not stop her from trying but it still felt wrong.
The week spent with Justin's family helped, though. While she was getting far more of an education in Muggle Studies than she could by taking the class at school, she was also shown a loving family that didn't routinely include shouting and threats. Her brothers Fred and George would have called it boring, and no doubt livened things up with their pranking. Ginny considered it a holiday, a good holiday, from the hustle and bustle of Hogwarts, surrounded by hundreds of teenagers, and from her own family with their loud and often chaotic ways.
At the end of it, everyone in the Potter Alliance had returned, even Mark's father who was having a good day, one of his last, sadly. They saw a confident, healthy Amelia Bones putting on a display of strength and flexibility more fitting to a twenty year old witch who had made exercise a priority, rather than the nearly forty year old witch they knew her to be. The Clan were satisfied, their allies were amazed, and the operation was declared fit for all human use.
Thanks to his contribution of the breakthrough that made it all possible, Roger Malone, with his non-magical parents looking on proudly, was the first wizard to undergo the improved process. His parents were with him as soon as he was out of the surgery, by his side the entire time until he went to sleep that night, the whole family now sharing a secret of their own being able to shape and mold chakra.
Some of the Ravenclaw and Gryffindor boys might have been tempted to complain about another 'Puff going before them but those complaints were never voiced. They only had to remember that this was the same boy whose innocent question had allowed them to take the chance and they resolved to congratulate him, and thank him, later.
It was time for their own operations, after all.
Happily for all concerned, they could avoid any jealousy or jostling for position. The Clan's techniques, and the amount of land available, meant they could conduct several procedures at the same time, with others to follow shortly after. Realistically, the limitation was more about families wanting to be there for each other.
In the end, that's how it divided up generally. For example, Daphne's parents went first, just to assure themselves it was safe before they allowed their children to undergo it, and in the process enabling a minor tweak or two to customise procedures slightly to other members of their family.
The experimental seal first used on Harry had been discovered to be all but unnecessary for the adult wizards after their first few days. They knew how to cast their spells already, meaning they didn't have extra magic flowing through their bodies, and they had smaller chakra pools so there was less fuel for the conflicts. The seals still did their job, however, preventing any long-term nerve damage, and that was the important thing.
By the end of the weekend, the Clan were finishing up the final operation, Justin having volunteered to go last despite being just as eager. His Hufflepuff virtues were loudly praised, and he had an extra smile as his stratagem worked.
The boys were over the moon about the improvements they were making. Firstly, they were stronger and healthier. The chakra networks in their body gave them more vitality and faster recovery. Secondly, they were at last able to make a start at learning some of the more interesting techniques. To the amusement of Naruto and his Angels, their highest priority wasn't the Shadow Clone technique or strength enhancement or even throwing fireballs, but Orochimaru's Body Flexibility technique. It had become almost an obsession for the young wizards to learn that one after Harry's ladies had gossipped too much about it in their hearing. The Angels took over training each of the boys in the technique, much to the embarrassment of the males in question when certain natural reactions took place, especially when they started teasing them a little.
Among Harry's ladies, Hermione was the most dedicated student, and she had made her focus the Shadow Clone. Lavender and Parvati had decided to try out the cosmetic techniques, while others were going after the memorisation ones, and so on.
More than a side-effect, this meant that all Harry's friends got to spend more time with each other over the summer as they drove themselves and each other to explore the new vistas opened to them.
Thank you for your responses and for reading. Thank you also to Cloud Zen and Daisy Duck for your hard work editing this story. Lastly, please sign in if you wish to review. It makes it possible for me to answer your questions.