Chapter 17

Explanations and Connections

When Harry finally awoke, he awoke to find himself lying in the hospital wing.

As he looked around, he noticed that all 4 of his best friends were lying in beds around him, although they each seemed to be waking up at the same time he was.

"What happened?" Padma asked, "last thing I remember I was in the library and then...I just felt like you really needed me Harry."

"Me too," Hermione admitted, "it felt like if I didn't help you...you were going to die."

"Bellatrix attacked us," Susan explained, "then she tried to kill me with a killing curse but Harry pushed me out of the way and it hit him instead and-"

They all seemed to be trying to piece together just what happened.

"I felt like all of you were connected to me, helping to try and save me," Harry admitted, "I don't know how or why but I know that if it wasn't for each of you...I would be dead right now."

He felt an immense amount of gratitude to each of them and he swore they could somehow feel just a bit of that gratitude.

"Well whatever it was," Daphne observed, "it looks like we saved you for a change Harry."

She managed to get small laughs out of each of the other girls.

"Let me guess you are expecting some sort of reward?" He asked.

"Obviously, but I'm sure you won't mind," Daphne answered as she got up from her bed and went and sat down on his bed next to him.

Guessing just what she wanted, he leaned forward and kissed her, which she eagerly returned.

It was indeed a really good kiss as he felt particularly connected and grateful to her for helping to save his life.

He found himself responding to the kiss as they continued to make out on the bed.

Finally however they broke apart and he felt guilty as he looked at the other girls for having made out with Daphne right in front of them.

"It's alright Harry, we don't mind," Susan reassured him, "please feel free whenever you'd like."

He was still unsure how they were so okay with him doing such things in front of each other, but looking around, he noticed that neither Hermione or Padma seemed to mind either.

At that moment, Madame Pomfrey came in and noticed that they were all awake as she went and checked them over.

"How long have we been out?" Padma asked her.

"A week," Madame Pomfrey admitted.

"A week!" Each of them exclaimed in surprise.

"We're going to be so behind in our studies!" Hermione complained worriedly.

"Each of you were suffering from magical exhaustion so whatever you did took an enormous toll," Madame Pomfrey said, "of course surviving two killing curses in a row kind of explains that."

"Do you know just what happened then?" Susan asked her.

Madame Pomfrey shook her head and admitted, "only a little, I think it would probably be best if Professor Dumbledore explained it to you when he gets here."

She wouldn't explain any further but continued to check on them until telling them that they would be fine although she did recommend that they stay here for at least a couple more days to try and recuperate while she monitored them just in case, something that Hermione was worried about as it would put them further behind.

However then Professor Dumbledore showed up and after asking them just what had happened to each of them and with them explaining everything that had transpired, Dumbledore was then immediately bombarded with questions as to if he could then in turn explain what had happened to them.

Instead of answering any of them however he first asked them a question in return: "how familiar are you with love magic?"

"Not very," Hermione admitted, "it is truly a fascinating subject but there aren't a lot of books written about it."

"Which is unsurprising as it is very difficult to explain," Dumbledore replied, "I myself have tried studying it along with talking with people that have used it, but had little success in being able to understand it fully. However what happened with each of you, I believe I have a good idea now. When Harry pushed Susan out of the way of Bellatrix's killing curse, he did so out of love for Susan and a desire to save her, even at the cost of his own life.

Ordinarily killing curses kill instantly, but since this was a supreme act of love and sacrifice, it caused an unintentional use of love magic. It afforded Harry here some protection from the Killing Curse, but that alone would not have been enough to save him. However his magic and his consciousness reached out to find help and found it in both Susan and Daphne who loved him enough to risk their own lives and try to save him, using up their own energy and magical power to do so.

Then the second killing curse hit which could have overwhelmed even all 3 of you as weakened as you were by then, but then Harry reached out again to those that truly loved him and found help from both Padma and Hermione. Despite being so far away and not knowing what the danger was, the two of you still could somehow sense that Harry's life was in danger and you did everything you could to try and save him."

"So our love for Harry manifested itself into some sort of love magic that helped protect him?" Hermione observed.

"Correct," Dumbledore answered, seeming pleased they were still following him so far, "it could only be achieved if you each of you had truly loved him and were willing to give your lives for him. That was enough to form a very strong connection with him and with each other to try and save him."

Susan decided to then ask, not seeming to be at all upset by the idea, "so does that mean we're bonded to Harry now?"

Dumbledore chuckled and said, "yes I suppose it does, but keep in mind that each of us humans are connected and bonded to each other, however small. The closer one is to another individual, the stronger that their bond is to that other person. These types of bonds and connections can manifest in many different ways, such as one with a close friend, with a lover, with a sibling, or a parent. Your bond and connection with Harry just happened to manifest itself very closely and strongly in a moment of great need but that bond and connection always existed whether you knew it or not. That being said however, because you just shared such a strong and powerful connection, however brief in a moment of great need already, you may feel more closely connected from now on, and if allowed to be nurtured, can grow even stronger with time, both with Harry and each other. There is however no telling just what that could end up becoming or mean for each of you."

"I would like being closer to you Harry.," Padma said, seeming to like the idea of being more connected with him.

All 3 of the other girls seemed to like that idea too as did he. He wasn't exactly sure just what that meant, but it was rather nice to think of getting even closer to them than he was.

He did however have one other pressing question on his mind though as he asked, "I felt like something really evil was inside me that wasn't part of Bellatrix spell. I felt like it got destroyed when we rebuffed the killing curses though."

Dumbledore looked gravely at him as he admitted, "it seems that unintentionally when Voldemort tried to kill you as a baby, he left something behind, a piece of him that dwelled inside of you undetected. It is much the same as what happened with his diary that you found and I destroyed."

"He left a piece of himself inside me?" Harry asked in alarm.

"Unintentionally yes," Dumbledore answered gravely, "which could have indeed caused you a lot of problems Harry, but it seems that your act of sacrifice and love combined with the love and power that you got from your friends also resulted in it being destroyed. I examined you myself while you were out and you need fear no more of that.

With all of this information about bonds and connections and a piece of Voldemort inside him, what had happened to Bellatrix had slipped their minds until now.

When he asked Dumbledore however, Dumbledore admitted, "I don't know, it seemed that when you repelled her spells it went and hit her instead. Such power could have easily killed her, but we never found her body, and I fear we may not have seen the last of her."

"If she is alive, we'll be the ones to catch her by surprise," Susan insisted.

Dumbledore chuckled and said, "yes, I think you've proven by now that each of you are quite capable and full of surprises even in the worst of circumstances."

Hermione

They stayed in the hospital wing for a couple more days at Madame Pomfrey's insistence, which was only bearable just lying around all day because they had each other to keep their minds occupied.

She also did finally manage to succeed in getting Madame Pomfrey to let them study their course books but only after agreeing not to try and use any magic themselves yet.

As for herself, she was indeed feeling more connected to Harry and to the other girls too. It was also nice to know that she apparently loved Harry that much as did the other girls which made it easier for her to suggest as they finished up their stay in the hospital wing, something she had been thinking about for awhile, but felt it even more obvious that was what should happen as she had had plenty of time to lie around and think about it.

"I think we should move forward in our relationship with you Harry," Hermione announced.

That certainly got everyone's attention as they processed in their minds just what she was suggesting.

"Look it is obvious that we each love you very much Harry and I for one want my relationship to be something more than just friends or kissing friends or whatever we were before. I'd like to be your girlfriend Harry...and I don't mind sharing you either with the rest of you.."

Each of the other girls seemed to ponder this, but it was clear each of them had given this a lot of thought as well.

"I would like that as well," Padma agreed.

"Me too," Susan answered as well.

"Obviously you can't leave me out," Daphne replied as well, "someone has to keep the rest of you in line."

"There won't be any need for that even if I know you are just joking," Hermione answered, "look I think it is probably best to let our own personal relationships with Harry be left up to us each individually, we're each going to be dating him and be sharing him, but we can't just worry endlessly about how each of us is going to feel whenever we do anything. Harry if you want to snog Padma senseless, then you shouldn't feel guilty about how I'm going to react or feel, I'm okay with it as I would expect any of you to be okay with me doing the same. When we progress further to doing more things, it should be decided between you Harry and the girl involved. However we shouldn't feel pressured to do anything we aren't ready for just because someone else has already done that with you."

Each of them seemed to digest this as Susan first agreed by saying, "well I think that you're probably right Hermione about that. If we are going to do this, we can't be jealous of each other or feel like it is a competition, each of us as just as much right and just as much of a claim over Harry as any other."

"So does this make us all Harry's girlfriends now?" Padma asked hopefully.

"It does only if you want it to be?" Harry asked.

"Of course I do Harry," Padma immediately answered brightly, smiling wide at him.

To celebrate she decided to go over and kiss him.

Harry certainly looked very pleased by this result, Hermione thought with an amused smile as he well should be at now getting 4 very attractive girlfriends.

Daphne however decided to admit, "well I should probably warn you I'm going to be ready for stuff probably sooner than the rest of you."

"That is fine," Hermione said, "just as long as Harry is ready for it too."

With that out of the way and each of them now officially his girlfriends, they celebrated by taking turns in having some very long kisses with him.