Potter Isle, 18th August - Noon
Harry's hands actually trembled. Laid out in a row before him were three beautiful backs all begging for his touch? He had not only Irena wanting him to lather her back in suntan lotion but also Faith and even Hermione. All differing shades, all shapely and none of them had a bra on, their tops undone so he could pay proper attention to their entire backs. Essentially he had three topless beauties lying before him and frankly it was too much for him hormonal mind to cope with.
"Well?" Irena said her voice a purr. "Do me."
Harry let out a small growl and then coated his hands in lotion and began to massage the oil into her shapely back, thoroughly enjoying the experience.
"Don't forget us," Faith said, sounding amused.
"Didn't you have a weapons test?" Hermione asked innocently.
"Sod that," Harry said with feeling. "Tell you what, we'll sunbathe for a while and later you can help me blow stuff up."
"What did I tell you, Faith?" Irena said smugly.
"What's this?" Harry asked as Irena virtually purred under his ministrations.
"Nothing, darling, just you concentrate on what you're doing. You have a magical touch. Did you know that?"
"No, but I'm awfully glad to hear it," Harry said, once more with feeling.
Harry continued for a long moment enjoying the feel of her soft, supple skin under his hands and the oil was adding to the feeling. Irena was in heaven. She was on a highly exclusive private and beautiful beach. The sun was high in the sky, the water was lapping at the white sandy beach and she was in good company with a man she adored softly caressing her back and putting her in heaven. She couldn't think of a better way to spend the afternoon.
"Hey," Faith said, "when's it my turn?"
"Do her, Harry. She's so impatient but come back to me later," Irena said with a smirk in her tone.
Harry was only too happy to comply and moved to the next lovely back in line. She felt like satin and was just as soft and silken, though there was more muscle in her back than Irena. "Awwww, gawd." Faith let out a moan as he started to work on her, "This is the life."
"Hmmm," Hermione purred in a drawn out groan even though no one was touching her. "This is the life. You should have moved here years ago."
"I couldn't agree more, Hermione," Harry said with a smirk in his voice. "Trouble was I didn't know it existed. Frankly I can see having grown up here, away from all the troubles and strife of the Wizarding world, with my parents playing in the sea and on the beach. Had it not been for that damn prophecy, I could have as well. Or if Voldemort had just waited a while, I would be here with them now, soaking up the rays."
"Sorry, Harry," Hermione said with a sniff.
"Oh, hey," Harry said, shifting over and starting on her back. "Nothing to be sorry for. I was just day dreaming."
Faith let out a small snarl of "Cheater," to Hermione, who poked her tongue out at her.
Irena turned over, totally stopping what Harry was doing as his eyes locked onto her nude top half.
"Awww, cheater!" Faith and Hermione said together.
"Two can play at that game," Faith said, turning over
"I really have died and gone to heaven, haven't I?"
"Don't look at me, I'm not doing that!" Hermione said, sounding scandalized.
"Shame," Harry said dryly.
"Harry!"
Headmaster's Office - NoonThe Order meeting was in full flow in the Headmaster's Office and all under the watchful eye of the immortal bird of fire. He was a youthful soul but very wise and had lived pretty much for time in memoriam. He had several partners over the years, become bonded to quite a few as well. Never had he been more disappointed than he was at that very moment in time with one of them though.
"He must be found, at whatever cost," Dumbledore thundered, looking angry. "I find it impossible to believe he has been so stupid but apparently he has. After everything he's been through, one must wonder if he has the mental fortitude to actually be of use to the Order at all!"
"I've been saying that for years," Snape put in silkily.
"I can't believe you're telling us to use force," Arthur Weasley said softly, his quite words cutting through the din of the office easily.
"I am. I don't want him hurt but if he resists it must be done!" Dumbledore said. "He is far too important to risk over this stupid idea of freedom he currently is exhibiting."
"I would say there is nothing stupid about freedom," Remus said, his words quiet and dangerous.
"You would say that," Snape shot back with a sneer.
Fawkes watched all of this with a sinking feeling in his heart. Any minute now he would be asked and any minute now he would have to make a life altering decision.
"Can't we just ask Fawkes to find him?" Molly asked, her concern showing on her matronly expression.
Fawkes rolled his eyes. He knew that had been coming; surprised at the source, but knew it had been coming.
"Good idea, Molly. Excellent, in fact," Dumbledore said.
'Here it comes,' Fawkes thought and made up his mind in that passing moment, a sliver of time from one moment to the next. "Fawkes fetch, Harry."
Fawkes allowed himself a moment of doubt and then finally he let out a mournful song and severed the Familial bond.
Dumbledore fell back into his chair, clutching his heart and Fawkes took to the air, flaking out in a puff of fire. "No!" Dumbledore said mournfully. "Why has he done this!"
Across an ocean, Hedwig nearly fell off her perch when the immortal Phoenix appeared in front of her. He locked his eyes onto her much larger ones and they talked as only two magical creatures could. Finally Hedwig gave her blessing and Fawkes settled in. The time wasn't quite right yet, but soon it would be. Besides, Harry was nowhere to be found currently.
Quarry Dimension - Midday (It's always Midday) - 19th AugustHarry tapped his tablet and a huge wall of rock appeared before him. Hermione lifted a brow and opened her mouth.
"I know, normally I wouldn't have this much rock. This is granite and I wanted particularly big bits of it, so I fused several tons of the stuff. It's a good ten meter's by ten meters and a good testing surface," Harry told her, cutting her off.
Across from the great lump of rock was a laser looking device, the emitter glowing a bright red and the entire thing was humming with barely repressed power.
"You dreamed this up, literally," Hermione said with a huff. "You make me feel like a dumb arse these days, Harry."
"You're not only intelligent but beautiful," Harry said with a charming smile. "I can never beat that."
"Sure, you keep thinking that."
"You ready, Faith?" Harry called out.
Faith shifted the assemblage that the 'laser' was balanced on, sighting down the emitter. "Just about," she called back, making another adjustment. "Wouldn't do to miss and vaporize my boss!"
Harry chuckled, "Let me know."
"Okay, ready now, as long as you don't move," Faith called back. "Can I make it go boom?"
Harry shrugged, "Sure, why not?"
"Yay!" Faith cheered out with happiness in her tone.
Harry pulled on Hermione's arm, pulling her several steps away from where the beam would travel.
"What is it, exactly?"
"Well, you were telling me about Star Trek, so I put the island on Time Dilation and watched a load," Harry said. "This is my version of a phaser. It's only version one, but it should work"
"Should?"
"Yeah, should," Harry shrugged.
"Hitting it!"
The beam leapt out with a sizzle of displaced air and power. The feeling of a great energy increased tenfold and it hit the large lump of rock. It glowed under the onslaught for about a microsecond before getting brighter and then disappearing with no visible trace it had ever existed.
"SWEET!" Faith shouted, jumping around. "It WENT BOOM!"
"Yes, Faith it went boom," Harry chuckled.
Hermione was looking at the place the rock had been with wide eyes, "Jesus Christ Harry! That's the most deadly weapon on Earth."
"Luckily I'm not going to be handing out samples," Harry said. "Can't be letting some government or another getting a hold of it and holding the worlds to ransom now, can we?"
"The power," Faith exalted, dancing up to them with a wiggle of her shapely hips. "Ohh baby, that got my motor running!"
"Always nice to hear, Faith," Harry said dryly. "Well not bad for a version one," he said. "Let's test the second iteration I designed!"
"More power!" Faith called in a fairly good impersonation of a TV celebrity.
Harry smirked and tapped his tablet. The Phaser disappeared and a larger one appeared, this one glowed red at the tip and hummed even louder. Then another tap and an even larger lump of rock appeared. "I think we'll use this for a while," Harry said. "But we should shift to, say, the new alloy I'm using that should be a damn good test. In fact, let's do that now," he said, tapping his tablet and replacing the wall of stone with his new alloy. "Needs a name," he mused, tapping his fingers on his chin. "I know," he said, snapping his fingers. "You're a fan, Hermione; Trekanium."
Hermione rolled her eyes. A genius he was but naming things was obviously another matter entirely. "Better than calling it 'that alloy I made', I suppose."
"I also have a drive system to test, but I'll do that alone," Harry said seriously.
"No you won't, boss," Faith said. "You go and I go, that's the way it works."
"I dunno, Faith," Harry said. "It could be dangerous."
"Then you need to make that mind of yours come up with an emergency way of pulling yourself home!" Faith said seriously. "And makes me one, too."
"Okay, I can do that," Harry said. "I have an idea, actually," he said, then clicked his fingers. Two necklaces appeared in his hand and he passed one to Faith and the other to Hermione, "Yank the necklace and it'll send you directly to the Nexus, wherever you are. It goes invisible when you put it on, can only be removed by you and is always in reach," he said, clicking his fingers and making himself one as well.
"That was magic," Hermione said eyes wide. "Powerful magic and wandless."
"I'm capable," Harry said. "I just tend to use my brain more than my magic these days," he told her. "I
knew Faith would dog me about this so I made it quickly. Plus this is magical transport and instantly works from anywhere, unlike a more scientific approach. It can also sense danger and react accordingly. That takes a sort of sentience you only get by using magic."
"Fair enough," Hermione said thickly.
"Now, Faith, hit the button!"
"Cool!" Faith enthused and went back to aiming the Phaser, running off with a positive skip to her step.
A few moments later she called out the ready and they turned to the Trekanium and watched. The Phaser lashed out with a sizzling power and the entire wall glowed for a moment, then faded to black again, showing no visible sign anything was happening. "Hmm, tricky," Harry said. "I need to seriously increase the power ratio if I'm going to crack Trekanium."
"I say, that stuff is tough," Hermione said.
"Just programming the fabricator now," Harry said, his fingers flying over his tablet.
"You have a fabricator?" Hermione asked.
"Seemed like a logical step with the storage system. It'll take anything in the storage system and use it to fabricate what I want as long as I have a design specification for it," Harry said. "I have to put in each part in the process and it'll work out what to do from there. Takes a while but it has almost infinite possibility, if you ask me."
"I'll say," Hermione said, her eyes once more wide. She was looking at Harry with a damn right lustful expression in her brown eyes.
"There," he said. "Let's try this. Faith, incoming Version 10."
"What happened to the other versions?" Faith called out.
"They weren't powerful enough, had the wrong oscillation," Harry told her.
"Aww, but I wanted to play with them," Faith shouted back, sounding like she was pouting.
"Give a Slayer a weapon and it's a shiny new toy," Harry said with a fond smile.
"She's a slayer!?" Hermione asked surprised. "I had thought them a myth."
"Apparently we were both mistaken," Harry said. "Funny story but I'll tell you later." The old phaser disappeared and a new one arrived; it was no bigger but it virtually buzzed with restrained power. It was also glowing a Killing Curse green at the emitter.
"I hope this works," Hermione said. "If you have a weapon, it should be emerald green."
Harry smirked, "It'll work, just hope I go the shot timing right or we'll need a new moon here. Hit it, Faith!"
"SWEET! FIRE IN THE HOLE!" Faith called out and the beam REALLY sizzled through the air, slamming into the Trekanium, which glowed briefly before being blown away with a backwards explosive sound.
"CUT IT!" he called out. "NEVER MIND, IT'S STOPPED!"
"WOW, let's do that AGAIN!" Faith whooped
"That was impressive. The hair on the back of my neck is still standing on end."
"Mixture of magic and science again. Seems to win every time," Harry said. "In my experience, at least. I can control the aperture on that Phaser as well, from a fine cutting beam to a room clearance device to a street clearance device."
"Excellent," Hermione said in a very specific manner, rubbing her hands together.
"Never took you for watching the Simpsons," Harry said with a smirk.
"Oh, I didn't think you'd get that reference. What can I say? Bart is amusing."
Harry smirked again, throwing an arm around her slender shoulders and pulling her in for a hug. "I think Ron and I were a bad influence on you," he said fondly.
"You can say that again."
"I think...
"That was rhetorical," Hermione said, rolling her eyes and cutting him off.
Harry smirked a little wider.
"Hey!" Faith called out, "Stop the hugging and give me something to make go BOOM."
Hermione laughed, with Harry joining her a moment later.
"AWW, come on guys. This is FUN!"
Harry tapped his tablet and a thicker wall of Trekanium appeared, "Go for it. Twice as thick and tall."
"ALRIGHT! KEEP THEM COMING!" Faith called out and hit the button again.
Potter Isle, EveningHarry dropped his tablet into the cradle he had created for it. They hadn't gotten around to testing his drive system because Faith had been having far too much fun to disturb her. She loved blowing things up, so he knew who he was making his weapons officer on the ship when it was finished, which it was one hurdle closer to being now. If he had a weapon that could do 'that' to Trekanium, he had a winner, in his opinion. It was possible he would come across something that the main weapon couldn't take on, but then it was down to the shielding systems, both magical and mundane he had come up with, to protect them long enough to get the hell out of there.
He was distracted from his readings that were scrolling on his personal display by a flame appearing in his office. He crouched immediately and wished Faith was with him, but he had sent her off with Hermione to enjoy the beach again in the early evening sun. "I'm not going back," he said in a firm tone as Fawkes appeared.
Fawkes alighted on the desk and tilted his head. Then there was a pecking at the window and Harry turned carefully to open it; he would recognize his owl's peck anywhere. "Breck Breck," Hedwig said, alighting on his shoulder, and then she nudged his face almost towards Fawkes, Harry felt.
Harry narrowed his eyes. "I'm not going back," he said to his owl somewhat softer than he had to Fawkes.
'I don't want to take you back,' came a voice in his mind, totally bypassed his significant mental shielding, and it was full of emotion and sensation. It was a strange but uplifting experience. It was no longer that Dumbledore was always smiling with that sort of communication in his head. 'I've come to join you, to be your familiar. My old one has trodden over the line far too many times, especially in regards to you,' Fawkes said, his tone full of regret and sadness.
"I have a familiar," Harry said.
'Hedwig agrees with me. Your personal power is now too much for her. She wishes to go to your friend with the bushy hair, a Miss Granger, I believe she is called. She says she would make a good familiar bond and, while she loves her cat, she is not bonded with him. If you allow it, I will let her do that. You're not harming her yet but it is becoming painful for her. I will not have that problem.'
Harry looked at Hedwig. "Sorry, girl," he said softly. "I didn't realize. No books have mentioned that."
She pushed her face against his and lightly nibbled his ear, so he knew of old that he was forgiven. "Okay, if you're serious and this isn't an elaborate plot."
'It is no such thing; it is a life-long commitment for you and a long one for me. I will only leave the bond if I feel you are no longer deserving, as I have Albus,' Fawkes told him with annoyance in his mental feeling.
"Sorry," Harry said with a grin. "Okay, let's do this. And Hedwig, I approve of your choice."
'She is happy,' Fawkes told him. 'It is done,' he added.
"I didn't feel a thing," Harry said with a smirk.
'Why would you? Now, what trouble have you been getting into without a familiar to watch over you?' Fawkes asked with humor in his feel.
"Oh, where do I start?" Harry said, his voice thick with irony.
'What of this dimensional travel Hedwig was telling me about?' Fawkes asked and Harry realized his mental voice was actually a bit louder now than it had been before the 'bond'.
"Well, I've been creating dimension using a new... well, spell is as close as I can describe it."
'Go to one and call to me' Fawkes said. 'I need to know how to find you'
"Okay," Harry said, pulling his tablet from the cradle and triggering his favorite dimensional gate.
He arrived in a thickly forested area just outside the Log Cabin and then tried with all his might to call to Fawkes. Nothing happened for a moment and then there was a burst of fire and Fawkes appeared in a ball of flame. 'Found you!' Fawkes said, elated. 'That was invigorating and a little different from what I'm used to but our bound goes well beyond dimensional barriers, even into the afterlife.'
"Good," Harry said. "A familiar that can keep up with me" he said with a smirk.
'Just, next time, don't shout so bloody loud,' Fawkes said with an audible smirk.
Harry looked around taking the place in. "I like it here. I really must bring the girls here."
'Your...mates?' Fawkes asked, smirking again.
"Possibly, maybe, one of them for sure," Harry said. "And Hermione is in there somewhere as well."
'Ahh, the complexities of human interaction. Luckily Albus was well out of that by time I met with him,' Fawkes said with another smirk. He seemed to smirk a lot for a creature with a beak; of course it was all mental and more of a tone than anything else but it was still amusing in Harry's opinion.
"So, why me?" Harry asked.
'You are totally light sided. Oh, don't get me wrong, you have your gray areas, but your entire outlook is light sided. You are not bitter despite the fact you should be and are not revenge-based in your thinking despite the fact that everyone would understand if you were. I see you as being a great leader for mankind in the future and I think I can help guide you towards that eventual goal.'
"Ready to head home?" Harry asked.
'Why not let me take you?' Fawkes asked, flying down and resting on Harry's shoulder, 'Take a hold of my tail feathers and we'll be off.'
Harry did so and Fawkes lifted him high above the tree line, giving him a good visual look over his log cabin and the surrounding area and then they disappeared with a ball of flame in their wake and reappeared in Harry's lab.
Chantelle House, 20th August - MiddayIrena Isomov looked up as her door was knocked. "Come," she intoned, mostly bored. She was supposed to be interviewing someone today that might be good enough to join her ranks.
Her first impression when the young woman walked in was 'very nice'; she had long blonde hair to her waist and a very shapely body, slender but her breasts were quite large. She was dressed to impress and she had black nylon on her long, slender but shapely legs and very high heels on her feet. Bright blue eyes met Irena's for a moment and she saw a little devastation there, and that was actually rather unusual at the level of Chantelle House. Normally people that wanted to work there had either picked the career or were well past worrying about it. She was rather young, which could be a boon, or a curse, about Harry's age if she were to guess. The fact she even knew about Chantelle house meant that she had some connection, perhaps via her family. Irena studied her face for a long moment; she actually looked a little familiar, in point of fact. It was like she had seen her picture somewhere.
"Come on in," Irena said softly. If she had to guess this was a ditch effort and the girl wasn't THAT interested. Obviously she had a fairly low moral compass or she wouldn't have thought of this. There was some experience in her eyes, some life in them and a twinkle that told stories to one such as Irena. This girl liked to have sex and that was probably what led her to Irena's door in the first place. "Sit down," Irena said, still puzzling over where she knew the girl.
"Thank you," she said, her accent was basic British, no real regional accent except for a hint of the south in it, perhaps.
"What's your name?" Irena asked not unkindly.
The girl pinked. "Do I need to say?" she asked. "Or can I use something different?"
"For my records I'll need your real name. From that point on we can use a 'stage name'," Irena informed her.
"Lavender Brown," the girl said, pinking again.
"Ahhh," Irena said, the light coming on over her head. "Interesting. You're in class with Harry Potter, aren't you?"
"Is that a problem?" Lavender looked worried.
"That depends on your point of view," Irena said. "Tell me, Lavender, is this something you REALLY want to do? What brings you to my door?"
"It was horrible," Lavender said, weeping slightly. "I was caught with a boy from the neighborhood I lived in and my Mum went mental. I thought since she married a Muggleborn it'd be okay, but she was dead set against it and she went crazy on me. She got dad to agree that either I changed my ways or I was out. Then they caught me again, different boy," she said, looking part embarrassed and part frightened. "I'm awful, awful person, but I like it. So when they kicked me out, I'd heard of this place via my mum's uncle," she said.
"Harold Brown," Irena said with a nod. "A regular customer here," she said.
"Yeah, so I thought, I like it, so why not make some money. As it stands I can't go back to school and my friend doesn't know where I am because mum said something to them that made them not want to speak to me anymore. I've been using what money I had for a dive and this is used up my only remaining money," she said, fingering the Muggle outfit she was wearing. It was nice but obviously shop brought and designed to flatter her assets.
"Oh, my dear," Irena said, moving from behind her desk and comforting the distraught girl. "I might, and I mean might, have something else you can do. Failing that I need a new maid anyway. You don't want to leap into selling yourself until you're ready." Irena said. "The pay is crap, frankly, but there is room and board. But first, let me see if I can't do something better."
"Thank you," Lavender sniffed, worrying her rouged lip. "I can't believe I fell apart. I was going to be so 'cool'. I can't believe how nice you're being."
"We've all, well most of us, been there," Irena said, walking behind her desk and pulling out a pitch black mobile, made of Potterarium and not remotely Muggle. "Now, just you wait there, I need to make a quick call."
"Okay," Lavender said in a small voice but with a hint of hope in her startling blue eyes.
Irena walked out of the office to her personal chambers and hit a button on the 'phone'. Harry had 'knocked it up' when she had expressed a worry about not being able to get hold of him because he was 'out', as it were. It was actually mostly a mobile phone and worked like a top of the range smart phone, but it was just that it could also reach Harry, wherever he might be, including a different dimension that made the difference.
"Harry," she said when he picked up, "get your arse here now to help a school friend. You've been looking for an administrator. Well, with a bit of training this girl can be it. It's a sad story; she was kicked out of her home and is in desperate need. She came to me looking for work and I have some for her but she'll be paid more with you and given protection and room and board. I have to tell you, sweetheart, if you don't help, eventually someone will take advantage because this girl is beautiful."
"Who is it?" Harry asked finally.
"Lavender Brown," Irena told him. "Sad story, but one I've heard before. Parents didn't like she was fooling around with a Muggle, warned her and then kicked her out when they caught her again. She was stupid, but then again, they were far too harsh," Irena told him seriously. "I've heard that story before. Even the more radical types believe magicals should stick together, even if that means a Muggleborn, as long as it's, god forbid, an actual mundane."
"That's dreadful. Wel,l Lav is a laugh and it's not like I can't train her up. I'll be there in five. I was about to go drive testing but that can wait a little longer," Harry said, ringing off.
Irena smiled serenely. Harry would sort it out; he had a good heart and it was in the right place. Besides, she wasn't against putting another female close to him with low moral fiber. She was pretty sure that Lavender would be so grateful she would fuck him senseless and not give him a lot of choice about it, either. She strode back into the office to find Lavender had cleared herself up a little and was looking hopefully at her.
"I have someone on the way that will sort out all your woes and, before he gets here, let me say a few things. He's a genius of the highest caliber and he needs to be able to concentrate on that, so you'd be doing all the administration of him and acting as a personal assistant. You would have limited powers to enable you to deal with most things and only bring something to him if it's absolutely necessary. Understand?"
Lavender nodded. "I don't have the relevant experience," she said. "I helped a bit with dad's paper work sometimes but I'm not sure that is enough."
"He's got a full training course. As important as allowing him to focus, is occasionally ... distracting him, if you understand me?"
Lavender smirked, "I think I understand. Is he..."
"...attractive? Very, and you know him."
"I don't think I know any geniuses," Lavender said with a shake of her long blonde hair.
"Oh, you do, but this is a recent development. Now no one is expecting anything from you that you don't want to do. Consider this a favor if you're willing and only if you're willing. He's far too noble to try to use his position against you, or do anything against your will."
"Good," Lavender said. "I'll decide when I get to know him better."
Just then Harry appeared through the Floo, exploding into the office, rolling once and then rolling to a standing position, "Hey Lav."
"Okay, you're on!" Lavender said with a beaming smile.
Harry looked at her confused and then said, "I take it that means you'll take the job. I have to say you'd be doing me a real favor if you would. I understand you have no home or money, I suppose. Well, I'll sort out your education as I intend to sit my exams myself soon, just for the documentation, you understand. We'll do you at the same time. The Learning Library I have is first class. You can get started straight away; I actually have a ton of paper work I've not had time to even look at yet."
"Deal," Lavender said, smiling fully.
"I'll also set up a room for you in the castle and somewhere we can use as a shared office," he said, tapping his chin in thought. "Yeah, I can do that today. Thanks Irena," Harry said, "for bringing this to my attention. I hate to think of a friend in dire straits like this."
"I knew you'd want to do something about it, Harry," Irena said with a smile.
"Come on, Lav, let's get you set up. Oh, wait, you'll need to get your bags."
"I actually have them outside," Lav said. "I needed to find a new place to live today anyway, I ran out of money buying this outfit."
"And a nice outfit it is, too," Harry said with a charming smile. "Well, grab your bags."
"And tomorrow, while he's testing, come and see me, Lavender, and we'll get you a wardrobe fitting with your new position," Irena said, interrupting Lavender from leaving. "Harry will pay."
"Gladly," Harry said with a smile. "And anything else she might need as well. You're going to over the island, Lav."
"Oh, he's right about that," Irena said. "It's quite beautiful even with his building work still going on."
Lavender grinned, ducked out the door and came back with a suitcase with an over the shoulder strap. Harry quickly took it from her and tossed in some Floo powder, giving the address under his breath. "After you, Lav. You'll appear in the Nexus; just hang tight until I get there and key you into the wards."
Lavender paused before entering and looked at Irena. "Thank you SO much," she said tearfully and then entered the Floo.
"Look after her," Irena said. "It's not good to be so far down on your luck."
"I know," Harry said and triggered his own method of getting around and appeared in the Nexus. The shield was up and Lavender was looking around with some worry on her face.
Harry walked to the center and held out a hand. A Pedestal grew out of the floor and rested just below his palm. "Come and put your hand next to mine, Lav," Harry said and she quickly did as asked.
"Key in Lavender Brown, Restricted Access, Level 5," he spoke aloud, even though he didn't need to. "That gives you access to anywhere on the Island, but you can't use all of the dimensional gates here. You can use the ones to Diagon and London and such," Harry explained. "Some of the Dimensions are a little dangerous and I don't want you wandering into them unprotected." He clicked his fingers on his spare hand and a necklace appeared. "Yank on this if you're in danger and it'll bring you here. It turns invisible when you put it on, can't be removed again and is always to hand in the center of your chest. Please put that on straight away. I have dangerous experiments here and pulling on that key will automatically raise the shields here at the Nexus. From here, if there is a problem, you can get to Diagon etc."
"Oh, thank you, Harry," she said, leaping on him and hugging him tightly. He couldn't help but notice that she was a fine specimen of the female form as she was pressed against him. She pressed her lips onto his cheek and kissed him before finally letting go and stepping back.
Harry smiled at her, used enough to women now not to blush brightly at that display, "Come on, and let us get you set up with a room of your own."
"Take my hand," he said and she quickly and almost gleefully complied, and then he used his thumb to press a button on his tablet. Suddenly they were in a grand entranceway of a huge castle; it felt a little Hogwarts and a little something else, but was very warm and friendly.
"Wow," Lavender said, not letting go of his hand as she looked around. "Some place," she breathed.
"I had it custom made and I love it. Hogwarts was my first real home so I tried to capture that here and I think it worked. I think there are the beginnings of an ME here as well."
"What's an ME?" Lavender asked, totally clueless.
"Have you ever noticed that magic has a certain sentience?" Harry said, getting into his subject with glowing eyes. "Wondered how intent wards work, for instance, what tells the ward that ill intent is meant, or any other for that matter, or how does magic know exactly what you want with such things as the Room of Requirement, or even Hogwarts herself."
Lavender shook her head looking at Harry with a small smile on her face, lips just twitching upwards.
"I theorize that things like that have a Magical Entity. That is a magical sentience that tells the ward or what have you what it needs to know. It's capable of thought, of emotion, even, and capable of parsing commands and acting on them. I think there is a very young ME here already, there is a LOT of magic here and I used Potterarium here for a lot of the support joists. It actually generates magic that metal, so there is plenty of power. The wards require some sentience to work and thus we have an ME born."
Lavender gave him a slightly giddy smile, taken up with his enthusiasm. "Wow" she said finally.
"I know, quite exciting. I'm doing some experiments at the moment trying to find out if I'm correct, but I think I am. If I am then it has endless possibilities."
"If you say so, Harry. I'm willing to believe you," Lavender said, her tone light and a smile on her face.
He flashed a smile at her and led her up the stairs to what would become her room. He regained his hand and frowned. "This won't do," he said.
"Oh, but it's lovely," Lavender said.
"It's far too small," Harry said, his wand appearing in his hand, and he began to sweep it around in graceful arcs. Before Lavender's surprised eyes the room expanded radically, some furniture bouncing around and being moved, a partition wall appearing and the gorgeous four poster bed disappeared behind the wall.
"Right," Harry said, "that's better. Now we need more furniture." He tapped his tablet, "I'll fabricate this, Smart TV, computer system linked to the net here, drives ME Access, and a remote control. As well as some more furniture," he said and as he talked things appeared in the room at the co-ordinates he had specified, much to Lavender's shock. He walked over to the TV and connected a HDMI dongle to it, hooking that up to the USB on the TV and adding a drive as well and then starting up the TV and putting it on the right channel.
He passed Lavender a mini keyboard with touchpad on it at one end, "That's the remote for the TV, sort of. I found Smart TV's too expensive to make or buy, so it's cheaper and better actually to do it this way. It's all the fun of smart TV with the power of Android. Admittedly I had to license it, but it's a GPL anyway."
"I have no idea what you just said," Lavender admitted
"Think of TV you can use to browse the net, download movies and shows with. It will store it on the very large drive there," he said pointing. "You can use this custom made program here," he said, moving the pointer to an icon on the screen. "Make a list of your favorite TV shows and it'll download automatically when a new one appears on the net. Don't worry about being caught out; it's totally, 100% secure and untraceable here."
"So I can 'record' stuff, sorta?"
"You can do that, too. It's connected to our wireless network that connects to a burst satellite transceiver here. Basically ALL the channels, which you can record, or you can download episodes for stuff to watch later on. Plenty of room on the drive; if you do run out let me know. I'd spend the evening sorting out your preferences there; it acts as a browser for surfing the net. You do understand what that is?"
"Yeah, I'm half and half; dad's a Muggleborn but kept in touch and we lived in a Muggle neighborhood," she said, becoming sad.
"You're safe here. No one will kick you out. It's your home now and you never have to worry again," Harry said looking her firmly in the eyes. "Your job is going to be fairly boring at times, but I promise you it'll pay well. The island is beautiful and one could spend the rest of your life here just sunbathing," he said smiling at the end.
"Only if you do my back," Lav teased.
"A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do," Harry teased right back with a twinkle in his eye.
Lavender laughed gaily, "Is anyone else here?"
"Yes. Irena visits a lot now, which I'm pleased about. There is Faith, my bodyguard, and currently Hermione is staying with me for the rest of summer but I'm going to offer her the same deal as I offer you in regards to education. And there's Dobby and Winky - house elves."
"Hermione, huh?" Lavender said with a smirk.
"It's not like that; she's my best friend."
"Of course, Harry. Whatever you say, Harry," Lavender said teasingly.
Harry smirked at her, "Right, well, leave your bag, Dobby will unpack it for you. If you need either Dobby or Winky, call their names. They are family and I expect them to be treated thus, okay?"
"Of course," Lavender said. "I wouldn't mistreat anyone here."
"Didn't think you would," Harry said with a smile. "Just saying. Now is there anything I've forgotten."
"Office," Lavender said. "Or at least where you left the paperwork."
"I'll get that to you," Harry said with a nod. "It's mostly in the Lab. Probably should mention not to go in there without me. It could be dangerous."
"Okay, Harry. Is there an intercom or something."
"There will be by tomorrow," Harry said with a smile. "I hadn't thought of that. Thank you for mentioning it."
"No problem, Harry," Lavender said with a warm smile. She liked it here already; he was such a nice bloke and really a bit of a dish too. She would have NO problem 'distracting' him
"Now, settle in while I go make the changes I need and collect up all that damn paperwork," Harry said with a grin. "Then I really must get to my drive testing. See ya later, Lav."
"Bye, Harry," Lavender said with a smile, looking around as he disappearing after tapping his tablet. Her room was a dream come true; it was hers, it was away from her stodgy parents and, even better, her new 'boss' was hot as hell. This morning she had been in the doldrums, and now she was on top of the world. Going to Chantelle House had been one of the luckier things she had done recently. She was also thinking that her wandering eye had gotten her in quite enough trouble for the moment and perhaps it was time to settle back into something casual;fun, but casual with her new boss. Now she just had to convince him of the very real benefits of a casual relationship with her.