Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to the Harry Potter Franchise or its characters. All characters used are the property of their respective owners.

This Story is Rated M for violence, language, & sexual themes.

Harry Potter & the Dance Macabre XXV

Hogwarts School of Wizardry and Witchcraft

25 September 1996

It was breakfast time at Hogwarts and Harry was sitting with his friends at the Hufflepuff table, Harry was wedged between Hermione and Daphne with Tonks standing behind him and Susan, and Hannah opposite. The rest of their friends and family were scattered throughout the table, eating breakfast or preparing for that day's classes. A fluttering of wings indicated that Owl mail had arrived, the group at the centre of the table watched as Hedwig flew in with a package tied to its leg. She landed gracefully in front of Susan, allowing the said girl to remove its burden before hopping over the table to receive attention from her familiar and his girlfriends, who appropriately fawned over her as Susan unwrapped her parcel.

Inside the parcel was a small red rose preserved under glass along with a note:

Susan,

Would you do me the honour of accompanying me to Hogsmeade this weekend?

-Harry

Susan blushed and drew the note up to her face, smiling shyly. Harry raised an inquiring eyebrow to which Susan nodded. Hannah plucked the note out of Susan's fingers and read it, glancing over the paper at the boy in question. "Potter, three girls, aren't enough for you, you have to try and seduce my best friend too?"

"Jealous it's not you?" Harry asked.

Hannah scoffed and blushed, turning away shyly. "As if."

Harry reached across the table and scooped up Hannah's hand into his. "Anytime you'd like me to take you on a date, as friends, I'd be happy to oblige."

Hannah rolled her eyes but also smiled. "Merlin Potter, you're such a sap…"

Harry grinned as he sat back down, and Hedwig hopped up onto his shoulder. "It works."

"Don't get a swelled head Harry," Hermione admonished him as she glanced around him to where Daphne was sitting. "Not a word from you…"

Daphne pouted. "You never let me have any fun…"

As Harry chuckled to himself, he felt a tap on the shoulder. "Good morning Professor Weasley."

"Good morning Harry, the Headmistress would like to see you."

Hermione and Daphne both glanced at him sharply; Harry raised his hands placatingly. "It wasn't me, I swear, I've been a good boy this year."

"Uh-huh…" Both girls replied in unison.

"Apart from trying to seduce or marry everything in a skirt…" Hannah muttered.

Harry pointed the finger at Hannah as he stood up. "That is a slight exaggeration."

"Slight?" Hannah replied with a smirk.

Harry threw his hands up in exasperation and followed Charlie out of the Hall. As they walked towards the Headmistress's office, Harry noticed that Charlie was watching him with a fond smile on his face. "What… is it, Professor?"

Charlie almost laughed, shaking his head. "It's nothing, well mostly, I just thought my brother must have been insane to throw away his friendship with you. From all the stories I've heard you're the best friend he's ever going to have."

Harry shrugged. "Ron made his choice; I made mine. He was always jealous of Hermione and treated her poorly because of it; I wish I'd ended my friendship with him during our third year at Hogwarts."

When Harry noticed Charlie's inquiring eyebrow, he briefly explained the argument over Harry's Firebolt and how that caused a rift between Harry and Ron and Hermione. "Looking back on it now, I realise I was in the wrong, and I should have listened to Hermione. But I let Ron convince me otherwise. If I could do it over again, I would have chosen Hermione over Ron, sorry…"

Charlie waved it off. "It's fine. I know what kind of person my brother is, there is a good person buried under his immaturity, but it's buried deep. If and when he grows out of it, he's going to have a lot of regrets, the biggest one being not keeping you and Hermione as friends, but that's his fault, not yours."

"Thanks, Ch… Professor Weasley." Harry said as they arrived at McGonagall's office.

Charlie laughed. "When it's just us, you can call me Charlie."

Harry smiled and nodded. "Thanks."

Harry bid the second eldest Weasley farewell and climbed the stairs to the Headmistress's office. He knocked and was asked to come inside, he smiled when he saw Professor McGonagall sitting behind her desk, but his face darkened when a familiar someone stood up out of one of the chairs opposite. "Harry Potter, I have never been more disappointed in you!"

Harry glared at Molly Weasley as she came barrelling towards him. "Missus Weasley! I am not just Harry Potter anymore. I am Lord Potter of the Most Noble and Most Ancient Houses of Potter and Peverell and heir to the Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Black. You will address me as such, or I will take this up with your husband!"

Molly looked incensed at being dressed down in front of McGonagall, and her face turned a bright shade of red because of it. "How dare you! I raised…"

"You raised nothing, except your own children Missus Weasley, neither Hermione nor I are your children, we visited your house for two summers, once between our first and second year and once between our third and fourth year at Hogwarts. That does not constitute raising us, Hermione has loving parents, and while my parents are dead, that does not mean you can try and replace them. I am not a Weasley, and I don't plan ever to become one by adoption or marriage. I love Hermione, and I am going to marry her, I love Fleur, and I'm going to marry her and maybe one day I'll marry Daphne as well. I will not marry your daughter, nor will Hermione marry Ron. We don't love them, I love Ginny like a sister, but that's all she'll ever be to me."

Harry turned away from Molly and looked over at McGonagall. "Is that all Headmistress?"

There was a smug grin on Minerva McGonagall's face as she watched one of her favourite students verbally tear into Molly Weasley. The latter had come to the castle today to deliver a personal howler to Harry's face. But something she hadn't counted on was how much Harry had changed being surrounded by strong and beautiful women like Hermione, Daphne, Tonks, Fleur, Susan, and their respective families and Sirius. He wasn't a timid little boy like Arthur, who she could bully into doing whatever she wanted. Harry Potter was growing into a fine young man, someone Lily and James would be proud.

"No, thank you for your time Lord Potter," McGonagall replied.

Harry gave her a quick bow and then departed before Molly could protest. Once he was gone Molly rounded on McGonagall. "I was not done with him!"

McGonagall maintained the smile on her face as she observed Molly over her glasses. "But he was done with you; you can't bully Harry Potter into doing what you want, he's outgrown that tactic. Now I think you should leave before I summon his Godfather to share his thoughts on what you tried to do here today."

Molly Weasley paled at the thought of summoning the ire of Sirius Black and hastily departed, leave Minerva McGonagall to the business of running Hogwarts.

Harry was slightly late to his first class, which was Potions, but a note from the Headmistress saved him a reprimand from Professor Haywood. After class Harry, Hermione, Daphne, and Neville were walking back upstairs for lunch when Harry told them what had happened in the Headmistress's office. "I can't believe her! No, I take that back, I can believe she'd do that, I'm just extremely disappointed."

Daphne rolled her eyes. "Don't be Hermione, according to my parents. Molly Weasley has been like this since she married Arthur Weasley and realised the family money was gone. She's tried three separate times to try and pair me off with one of her sons so that they would inherit the Greengrass fortune, and now she's trying the same thing with Ginny and Harry."

"I'm surprised she never Owl'd my Grandmother about Ginny and I," Neville opined.

"What, she wasn't one of your many conquests?" Daphne asked teasingly.

Neville blushed and looked away from Daphne's piercing sapphire eyes. "N-no, I'd never risk incurring the anger of her older brothers. Besides, I'm not the right gender."

Daphne smiled fondly and nodded. "True."

As the four walked towards the Great Hall, Ginny came sprinting out and almost ran into Harry. "Oh Merlin, Harry, I'm so sorry!"

Harry blinked as he helped steady Ginny by grabbing her shoulders. "Ginny, what's wrong?"

"My mother! I just got a letter by express Owl post. She was apologising to me for not being able to change your mind about getting engaged to Hermione. She said she came to the castle this morning to have it out with you, but you were insulting, and then you left before she could make you 'see sense'. She's crazy and…"

"Ginny, stop," Harry began, causing the youngest Weasley to stop speaking. "You don't have anything to apologise for. Your Mum is the one who came to yell at me this morning, not you. I don't hold you or your brothers responsible for what your Mum does. It's fine."

"It's not though. I don't like you that way, I only like…" Ginny paused, looking around to make sure they were the only ones in the Entrance Hall. "I only like girls, well, specifically, Luna."

Harry smiled gently and patted Ginny on the head. "We know, and it's ok. You are and always will be my little sister. Your Mum's crazy ramblings won't change that, that's on her, not you."

Ginny smiled brightly up at him, giving Harry another hug. "You're the best; you know that?"

Harry continued to smile as he returned the hug. "I'm not sure about that, but I'll take the compliment regardless."

Ginny rolled her eyes as she slipped over to have an arm around her shoulders. "Hermione's right about you, you're a goof."

Harry laughed. "I accepted a long time ago to stop that sentence at, Hermione's right."

"Quite right, too," Hermione added.

Ginny broke away from them and joined Luna, who was sitting with the Weasley twins. Harry groaned and shook his head, chuckling to himself. "Luna is conspiring with the Fred and George; I almost feel bad for whoever pissed her off…"

"Having Luna upset with you can't be that bad, can it?" Hermione asked.

Harry shrugged. "Not sure, I can't decide who it would be scarier to have upset with me, you or Luna…" Harry paused when he caught Hermione, giving him, 'the look'. "Never mind, forget I said anything…"

26 September 1996

Riddle stood in front of a table in the Chamber of Secrets, before him was a large piece of parchment on which he'd drawn a ritual circle. He was currently studying a book from the Nott Library on the Arithmancy of Soul Rituals and applying what he was learning to the parchment.

Stone grinding against stone heralded the arrival of his lackey, not that Theodore Nott would ever call himself that, Riddle opined. Nott strut into the Chamber, only pausing when he caught sight and smell of the Basilisk carcass. Nott held his nose and moved passed it to where Riddle was standing. "Report."

Nott reluctantly knelt in front of his master, kissing the hem of his robe. "I have been in contact with Cyril Greengrass."

"Good, how long until the circle is prepared?"

"Another week or two, the modifications you've requested are complicated, the potion will be ready before the circle, My Lord."

Riddle frowned, pacing in front of Nott. "We cannot leave Greengrass under Imperious that long, he is too strong for that. And once its broken we risk being discovered. We must move quickly, but we cannot rush. When will you meet with Greengrass?"

"I have arranged a meeting with him in a week."

"Good, continue with the tasks I have assigned you, report to me when everything is in place," Riddle replied, turning back to his diagram without a second thought for Nott. A minute or so later he left, leaving Riddle to scheme in peace.

Harry was preparing for bed when he heard a knock at the door, he emerged from the ensuite bathroom shirtless, wiping the remains of some shaving cream off his face. He was slightly puzzled, Fleur would not have knocked, and Hermione and Tonks would have identified themselves. Harry eyed his wand, which was sitting on his bedside cabinet but instead continued to the door. "Daphne?"

Daphne was standing at the door of Harry's room, clad in a silk robe, her long pale legs shone in the moonlight and the dying embers of the fire behind her. She smiled shyly. "Are you going to invite me in?"

Harry eyed her warily as he stepped aside, allowing her to walk in. She looked around as she wrapped her arms around herself. "So, um, would it be ok if I spent the night, here, with you?"

Harry blushed and rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, I suppose,"

Daphne walked towards the bed, wrapping her arms around herself protectively. Harry took a deep breath and moved over to the bed, putting it between himself and Daphne. "If you don't want to… I'm never going to force you to do something you don't want to do Daphne."

A small smile graced Daphne's lips as she watched Harry, giving him a penetrating stare. "What exactly do you think is happening tonight?"

Harry's blush deepened. "I thought, I mean… I thought you wanted us to sleep together tonight."

"Yes Potter, sleep, just sleep, not anything your perverted mind can come up with!"

Harry raised his hands placatingly backing away from her. "W-whoa, I'm sorry, I didn't, I shouldn't have…"

Daphne laughed, walking around the bed to peck Harry on the cheek. "I'm messing with you, Harry; I want us to do that, just not tonight. I want to be comfortable being in the same bed as you first."

Harry's shoulders relaxed as he smiled at her. "You're a no-good tease, Greengrass."

Daphne grinned. "I know, but you wouldn't have it any other way."

Daphne dropped her robe over the back of the chair of Harry's study desk. Underneath was a small green shirt with a Snitch flying about. Harry smiled and raised an eyebrow as they climbed into bed. "I hope that's not a sign you're in love with Malfoy?"

Daphne rolled her eyes. "No way, I just thought it was cute, it doesn't have anything to do with you…" Daphne blushed realising what she said. "You didn't hear that."

Harry grinned. "Of course not."

"Go to sleep, Potter."

27 September 1996

Harry woke up the next morning with a weight on him. He looked down and found a head of blonde hair resting on his chest. It wasn't the way they'd fallen asleep the previous night, but it was an enjoyable way to wake up in Harry's considered opinion. He leant forward and kissed Daphne on the head, gently waking her from her sleep. She blinked and looked up at Harry and smiled, blushing slightly. "Hi."

"Morning."

"This isn't how we fell asleep last night," Daphne observed.

"Nope, but I'm not complaining," Harry replied.

"You're such a boy…" Daphne muttered as she got out of bed and moved to return to her room. She paused at the door when she found Hermione waiting on the other side.

"Good morning…" Hermione said stiffly as her eyes darted between Daphne and Harry.

"Uh, morning," Harry replied sheepishly.

"We should get ready for breakfast," Daphne stated, trying to break the tension that had suddenly appeared.

"Quite," Hermione commented, walking away.

Harry let out a breath and dropped back onto the bed. Daphne walked back and sat down beside him. "She'll be ok; this was her first time seeing another woman leaving your room. I'll admit the first time I saw Fleur leaving your room I had reservations, but I got past it. My mother prepared me for this; she knew that I might be one of several wives one day, Hermione is a mundane born witch; her expectations were different."

"I know, I just wished she hadn't found out this way. I hadn't thought about it, but I would have liked to have sat down and told her, instead of, well, that," Harry explained waving his hand towards the door.

Daphne shrugged. "It's done, Hermione will just have to deal with it, or she can return that ring…" She said, quickly adding. "She won't do that, Harry, I'm certain," when she saw the fear flood Harry's face at her suggestion. "You're stuck with us, remember?"

Harry nodded as Daphne scooped up his hand into hers, and he took a deep relaxing breath. "You're right; we just need to sit down and talk."

Harry, Daphne, Fleur, and Tonks joined Neville, Astoria, Susan, Hannah, and Tracy at the entrance to the Gryffindor Lords Quarters. They immediately sensed the tension radiating off Harry, Hermione, and Daphne and decided to hang back with Tonks and Fleur as they walked silently down to breakfast.

As they reached the bottom of the main staircase, Harry took Hermione by the elbow and steered her towards the Great Hall anti-chamber. Once inside, he cast a silencing charm on the room and spun around to face Hermione. "Is there something you want to say?"

"No," Hermione replied.

Harry let out a breath and ran his fingers through his hair. "Hermione, you're upset…"

"I'm not…"

"You are, it's radiating off you, and I get it. Being told you're going to be involved in a multi-person relationship is a lot different than seeing Daphne coming out of my room."

"That's not what I was upset about Harry," Hermione replied.

"Then what is it?"

"I..." Hermione began but stopped, blushing. "I was upset you hadn't invited me to spend the night with you first…"

Harry blushed and looked away, trying to hide the smile on his face. Hermione frowned, punching Harry in the arm. "Not like that, pervert, I wanted to sleep in the same bed with you and cuddle with you. When I saw Daphne leaving this morning… I was jealous. I thought it would be me that took that step first, and worse, it was Daphne… Stop laughing!"

Harry cleared his throat, trying to hold back his laughter. "You don't like losing to her, do you?"

"She's smart and pretty, and we're always competing to be the top student in whatever class we're in. Now we're competing for the same man."

Harry frowned. "No, you're not…" Harry walked to the door and summoned Fleur and Daphne to join them before reapplying the silencing charm. "Hermione just told me she thinks she's competing with Daphne for my affections. I want to be clear with all three of you, and you're not competing, I love all of you, you're all precious to me. I don't ever want you to compete if you do, I'll be very upset."

"Will you give us a good spanking, Arry?"

Harry's face went bright red as he looked at the floor. "Fleur, I'm serious."

Fleur walked up to him, swaying her hips for Daphne and Hermione's entertainment. She stopped, leaning into Harry's ear. "As was I."

"Fleur, if you keep teasing Harry, he's going to pass out."

"If that's the case, we will just have to carry him back to bed," Fleur replied with a sultry wink.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Sex, sex, sex, that's all you ever think about…"

"Oui," Fleur replied with a grin.

28 September 1996

Harry sat eating breakfast; it was Saturday on a Hogsmeade Weekend, once Harry was finished with his food, he would retreat to his Quarters to change into his silk Acromantula Robes. When Daphne informed her mother that Harry would be taking Susan out on a date, she immediately visited Twilfits and Tattlings for the most elegant dress robes Harry could afford, using Harry's measurements from his Hogwarts robes.

Harry paused with a piece of toast halfway to his mouth, a foul odour had just wafted through the Hall, as a harassed looking Aurora Sinestra entered. The Astronomy Professor's hair was sticking out, and her clothes were stained and stunk. With as much dignity as she could muster Sinestra walked to the Head Table to sit beside Professor Carlstrom, who immediately shuffled down slightly towards Professor Snyde, covering his mouth and nose with his napkin.

The Headmistress looked down her glasses in Sinestra's direction as House Elves appeared clear the air and protect the food. "Professor Sinestra, might I suggest you retire to your room to freshen up, before returning to finish your meal?"

Sinestra scowled looking down at the table. "I would love to Professor, but someone planted a bunch of Dung bombs in my rooms. They went off while I was in the shower, and now all my clothes are ruined, my shower broke after I used it."

"Would you like to use my shower to freshen up?" Carlstrom asked he jerked slightly glancing to his other side where Snyde was sitting, glaring at him after she jabbed him in the ribs.

McGonagall shot a glare out at the house tables, silencing them immediately. "Professor Sinestra, the Guest quarters near my office are available; I suggest you avail yourself of those facilities."

Sinestra bit the inside of her cheek to avoid biting McGonagall's head off for speaking to her as if she was a child. She rose and walked out of the Hall without speaking to anyone else. A minute or so later, with the assistance of the House Elves the smell, was gone, and everyone was able to resume their breakfast.

A regal-looking Barn Owl fluttered down to land on the table in front of Harry. It stuck out its leg for him to collect his letter before flying away. Harry read its contents before stuffing the parchment in his robes. "Is something wrong?" Daphne asked.

"Maybe, I'll tell you later," Harry replied.

Harry and company finished breakfast and returned to Harry's quarters, as soon as they were inside, Daphne grabbed Harry by the arm. "Harry, that was my father's post owl, what's going on?"

Harry pulled the letter out of his robes and handed it to Daphne. "Your Dad has requested a private meeting between him and me for tomorrow night. He didn't say why he just said it was important."

"Do you think it's about those attacks that were reported in the Daily Prophet?"

Harry shrugged, pulling his robe off as he entered his room. "Maybe, I'll know tomorrow night, until then I can't worry about it."

"Will you take me with you?"

Harry paused at the door and shook his head. "Your Dad asked for a private meeting, if I didn't think you'd all kill me, I'd go without Tonks."

"Yes, we would."

"See…" Harry replied, closing the door so he could change.

In the Entrance Hall, Susan stood with Hannah, waiting for Harry and the others. She was wearing a golden travelling cloak over a muggles blouse and jeans that Hermione and Tonks had helped pick out. Hannah brushed some hair out of her face and smiled. "You look beautiful."

Susan blushed. "Thanks, you think Harry will like it?"

"I do," Harry commented from the stairs.

Susan and Hannah turned around to watch Harry and his entourage descend the stairs; he looked every bit a young Lord on the ascendancy. He was dressed in black Acromantula silk robes with the crests of Houses Potter, Black, and Peverell emblazoned on his chest. Hannah glanced around the Hall; all eyes were on Harry, many of the girls, even ones with boyfriends, were eyeing him hungrily. She shook her head as Harry took Susan's hand in his and brushed his lips against her knuckles. "Shall we go?"

To Be Continued…

*Sigh* I'll be honest, I feel like this story has become a millstone around my neck in the last few months. I feel bad about that because there are a lot of you invested in how this will turn out.

Rest assured I have a plan for the rest of this story; we have about 1-2 chapters before we enter the final phase, the part I came up with when I envisioned this story. I hope it lives up to people's expectations.

I will say this after this story is done, I will NEVER pair five girls with any MC in any story I write ever again. If you're writing a story like Rune Stone Path (Which if you haven't read it you really should, you can find the story in my Favourites list.) which takes place over several years, you can do a large harem, because you're giving each character room to develop. You can apply that focus to mature the relationship between Harry and the character in question without depriving other characters.

This story takes place over about… five months by the end of it. That's not enough time to really develop these relationships. So, I cheated a couple of times by having Susan already be a Harry fan girl and taking the pre-established relationship with Hermione and developing that into a romance. And of course, the Soul Bond.

It's easier with my other stories, Dangerous and Where the Wild Roses Grow because I'm only dealing with a three-way relationship. That'll be my max after this. To be clear, regardless of who the other girl is my primary Harry Potter ship is Harry/Hermione, I've shipped them since I read book 4 in 2000.

So, next chapter, Hogsmeade, then… well, that would be telling.

Thanks for reviewing:

Ghidorah15, IceBlades, Time313, Guest, Meddlesome Guy, Starmaker60, (x3), lameduck987, Guest, xxPercyRoxxx, fvdv123, Fyr RedNight.