TITLE: The Stag and the Swan
PART: 02 of ?
AUTHOR: Red Jacobson ( )
DISTRIBUTION: , Hentai-Foundry, Archive of Our Own, HPFFA, Questionable Questing
DISCLAIMER: None of the Characters You Recognize belong to me, they all belong to JK Rowling and her publishers.
SUMMARY: At the end of his third year, Harry decides to get serious about his life, and over the summer, discovers one of the Wizarding World's Dirty Little Secrets
FEEDBACK: Of course! It Makes Me Write Faster
CATEGORY: Lots of Women
RELATIONSHIPS: Harry/Cho/Multi, Neville/Hermione/Multi, Cedric/Heidi MacAvoy/Others
RATING: NC-17/M (for FF. Net)
WORD COUNT: 4,573
SPOILERS: None, basically canon up until the confrontation in the Hospital Wing after Sirius Escapes in Prisoner of Azkaban
WARNINGS: There may be some lemons in this story, but not a lot of them. Frankly, writing lemons has gotten extremely boring over the years, and I have a hard time keeping my interest when they are the bulk of the story. There will be general Weasley bashing in this story, so if that's not your cup of tea, look elsewhere. Also, I'm going with a helpful Dumbledore in this story.
IMPORTANT AUTHORS NOTE: To Avoid the Underage Sex issue, Hogwarts students start the September 1st after their 14th Birthday.
YET ANOTHER AUTHORS NOTE: Readers with long memories will recognize 'Helga's Gift' that is mentioned in this story. For those of you who don't, it's something that I came up with in my Harry Potter and the Betrayal of the Phoenix, to explain the rampant female bisexuality in most Harry Potter smut fics. Basically in the founder's days, Helga Hufflepuff and Rowena Ravenclaw were lovers, and, one time, after a particularly great romp, Helga idly wished that all the girls in the castle could experience such a wonderful feeling. Being a Magical Castle, Hogwarts heard and responded, And, from that time forward the female students at Hogwarts had, at the least, bisexual tendencies.
CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE DEPARTMENT: This story has its genesis in Two plot bunnies that I saw on the Fanfiction Forum, unfortunately, I don't recall who generated the idea, so sorry if I don't give the proper credit. One was called "Penny's Dreadful Employment" and the other was called "Harry Potter and The Books of Casanova"
The Great Hall
Thursday Morning,
June 9th, 1994
The Hall was only half full when Harry and Hermione walked in, and fortunately, Snape wasn't sitting at the Staff table, because Harry knew that the greasy git would try to cause problems for him. He grinned, with Sirius free Harry had a feeling that Snape's unhappiness was just beginning!
"That's an evil grin, Harry," Hermione said, "what are you up to?"
He laughed, "Oh, just imagining how unhappy Snape is going to be when he finds out that Sirius has been cleared. I thought he was going to explode last night, and that was before I had the talk with the Minister!"
Hermione tried to look scandalized at the way he was referring to a professor, but started laughing, shaking her head. "He was more than a bit waxy about it, that's true. At least we don't have any more classes with him for the rest of term. Of course, I'm sure he'll find something else to be unhappy about by September."
Walking toward their usual seats, Harry saw that Neville was reading the morning edition of the Prophet, which announced that the hunt for Sirius Black had been called off. Neville looked up when the two of them sat down beside him, and he nodded in greeting as he drank his juice.
"Morning, Harry, Hermione. I see you had a bit of excitement last night?"
Harry chuckled, "You could say that, mate! But things worked out, as always."
Of course, they had to explain the whole thing to Neville, who whistled appreciatively when it got to the point where Harry talked about his confrontation with Minister Fudge. "Damn Harry, that was brilliant! Fudge isn't a bad Minister, but he does spend too much time worrying about his approval ratings, and pointing out how it would make him look good was a smart move!"
Harry shrugged, "It seemed like a good idea at the time, and it worked, so I'm not going to complain. Even if Hermione seemed like she was going to have kittens, the way I spoke to him!"
Hermione grinned, "Well, it was a bit out of character for you, Harry, you have to admit that. I'm just glad that Ron was still asleep, otherwise he would have said something to mess it up!"
Neville grinned, "He does have a tendency to open mouth before thinking, doesn't he? Speaking of Ron, where is he this morning?"
"He's still in the Hospital Wing. Madame Pomfrey had to keep him over night to make sure his leg was healed properly." Harry said, reaching for the platter of bacon.
Just then there was a flutter of wings from above, as the mail delivery arrived in a flock of owls. Harry looked up and grinned as Hedwig swooped down and landed in front of him. Handing his familiar a rasher of bacon he untied the letter from her leg and read it quickly. Turning to Hermione he said, "Sirius got my message and will be turning himself in today. Hopefully tomorrow's paper will announce that he's been cleared!"
Neville just shook his head, "You really do live an interesting life, don't you Harry? This makes it three years in a row that you've had something insane happen at the end of the year, and I'm almost afraid to think what might happen next year!"
Harry laughed, "You're not wrong, Nev! But as long as I've got my friends beside me I think it'll be alright."
He turned back to his breakfast, not noticing the shy smile that Hermione shared with Neville or the intrigued look on his quiet friend's face. As he finished eating, he glanced up and saw that Cho was sitting with a couple of her friends at the Ravenclaw table sharing the newspaper. As he watched, Cho looked up and saw him and gave him a quick smile, he smiled back and lifted his cup of tea to her, making her friends giggle, before he joined Neville and Hermione's conversation.
He missed the look of shared amusement between the two of them at the way he kept glancing over at Cho, and she kept glancing back, but even if he had noticed he wouldn't have cared.
DADA Professor's Office
June 9th, 1994
After Breakfast
"So, you're leaving?" Harry asked as he watched Remus packing up his office.
"I'm afraid so, Harry. Once the word got out about my illness the parents wouldn't tolerate me being around their children. I'm just saving Professor Dumbledore the trouble of actually letting me go."
Harry frowned, Remus had been the best Professor of Defense since he'd started, and it was a shame that he had to leave. Of course, it was Snape that spread the word, just because he was that big a bastard! Suddenly he remembered what he had been thinking the night before, well, other than Cho's breasts, and he said.
"Would you be willing to tutor me over the summer? Since I'll be living with Sirius it wouldn't be a problem for me to do magic out of school."
Remus shook his head sadly, "As much as I would love to, I would have to register as with the Ministry, and they would never allow me to take a job like that. It was hard enough for Professor Dumbledore to get permission to hire me, and he had to use the fact that I knew Sirius and could keep watch for him to get them to agree."
Harry swore softly, but Remus said, "I will try to find you a tutor, and I'm going to be around so I can give pointers if you want. Just because I'm not your Professor doesn't mean that you'll never see me again. After all, Sirius and I have all kinds of stories of your mum and dad that I could never tell you as a Professor, but as a friend of your parents have no problems telling you!"
The last was said with a wicked grin, and Harry laughed, before hugging the older man. "That would be brilliant! And if you can find a tutor that would really help a lot." Looking at Remus seriously, he said, "I was thinking last night that I really need to get a lot better at my magic than I have been, this is the third year in a row that I've ended up having to fight for my life, and with Pettigrew escaping, you can bet he's going to try and find Voldemort, especially with the prophecy that Trelawney gave last night!"
After a quick explanation of what had happened the day before, Remus swore floridly for several minutes before agreeing that Harry needed as much training as possible, and said that he would start searching immediately!
Harry left a few minutes later, he needed to try and find Neville to ask him for help understanding the way things worked in the Wizarding world.
Headmaster's Office
Same Time
Albus looked up from the paperwork that had piled up on his desk when the portrait of one of his predecessors coughed.
Turning in his chair he said, "Yes Professor Wilkins?"
The woman in the portrait said, "There was a very interesting conversation between the Potter child and the werewolf that you should know about." She practically sneered over the word 'werewolf'' but Albus ignored her attitude, he'd gotten a lot of practice at ignoring their complaints over the years that he'd been Headmaster.
Several of them were still complaining that the witches and wizards were taking the same classes, and those from before the laws were put into place are still scandalized at what went on in the upper-year dormitories. Of course, Albus was just as disgusted, and he did what he could, but he was just one man and those damned oaths that he had to swear...!
A slight smile crossed his face when he was told about Remus' promise to find Harry a tutor for the summer. "That would solve several problems at once," he mused, "She would certainly be an excellent instructor, and it would get her out of the worst parts of that horrendous contract she signed!" 'And Harry will certainly enjoy the other things that she has to teach him,' he thought. It was a damned shame that Percy had decided to end things with her and withdrew his sponsorship before they graduated, it had been far more trouble than it should have been to keep her in the Head Girl position for the remainder of the term, and she ended up signing that contract already.
Writing a quick note, he called for a house-elf to take it to Penelope Clearwater immediately.
Once the elf had popped away, he put the paperwork in his desk and locked it before getting up and heading out of his office.
Hogwarts Library
A Few Moments Later
From the piles of books scattered over the table in front of her, you'd be forgiven for thinking that Head Girl Penelope Clearwater was deep into revision for her NEWTS, and not getting ready to graduate. At least, you would think that until you got a closer look at the desperation in her eyes, and the paleness of her face as she flipped through each of the books in front of her, her eyes scanning each page rapidly.
It's obvious from the dark circles under her eyes, and the lank hair hanging down around her face that she's been at her task for a long time, but she finally closes the last book and collapses back in her seat, her eyes shut as tears well up, running down her face. Lifting her hands to wipe her eyes, the scars on her wrists are still an angry red, showing the healing from the cuts she had inflicted on herself in her despair.
She was sitting there, staring at nothing, when the elf got her attention, handing her a message. She stared at the parchment momentarily, trying to figure out why anyone would use a house-elf to contact her, but she eventually opened it up and started to read.
As she read, the first glimmering of hope rose in her breast, and she sat up straighter in her seat and gathered up all her notes before stacking the books and getting up from the table, heading for the door.
DADA Office
Fifteen Minutes Later
Remus was just emptying the last of the drawers in his desk when there was a sharp knock on the door. Looking up, he wasn't that surprised to see Albus and was about to give his resignation when he heard the sound of hurrying footsteps and saw the Head Girl, Penelope Clearwater rushing in. Albus didn't look surprised at all, so Remus just said, "Professor? What's going on?"
Albus shut the door behind them and said, "I'm aware that Harry has asked you to find him a tutor for the summer, and I would like to suggest that you hire Miss Clearwater, she's been the top of her class for the last several years, and Professor Flitwick has stated several times that she's exceptionally good at helping younger students understand the theory and practice of Charms and Transfiguration."
Remus nods, "That does sound like an excellent idea, you always did extremely well in my class as well. Does that sound like something you would be interested in, Penelope?"
He was shocked by the look of relief on the girl's face as she nodded, "That would be perfect!" Then she frowned, "But I've already signed a contract for the summer, and I can't find a way out of it."
Albus said, "Actually, if someone were to purchase the contract you wouldn't be required to work in that place. Yes, Miss Clearwater, I am aware of the situation of all of our graduates, and I regret what happened to you quite a bit. I have done what I can over the years to change things, but I'm only one man and there is four hundred years of tradition standing in the way of change."
Remus' eyes widen as he suddenly understood just what sort of contract that Penelope had been forced to sign, she wasn't the first muggleborn girl it had happened to, after all. Quirking an eyebrow at Albus he says "Are you planning to ask Harry to take up James and Lily's Crusade?"
"He does have a great deal more political clout than I do at the moment, and he will have more when he comes of age, and he could make the changes that need to be made, especially if Mister Longbottom joins him."
"That's right, I remember that Frank and Alice were just as angry about the whole thing as Prongs and Lily were. But they are still so young, Albus, do you really think that they can do anything?"
Penelope spoke up, "While I'm glad that you are planning on getting things changed eventually, can I ask if my tutoring Harry will include the 'other duties'?"
Albus grimaced, "Unfortunately, from what I read in the contract, you are still required to provide those services at least five times a week, but, since you will only have one employer, it should be an improvement, to say the least."
Penny paused, considering it, and nodded.
The three of them continue discussing the arrangements for Harry's summer. Albus doesn't want Remus to say anything to Harry about who he has found to tutor him until he gets off the Express, to prevent anyone from getting wind of it and raising questions.
Remus said, "What about the Sponsorship situation? What am I allowed to tell Harry about it? Miss Granger and his other year mates are going to be getting their lecture in the next few days, won't they?"
"Tell him whatever you like, once your employment ends at the end of term. The wards that were put on when the laws were enacted will prevent you from discussing it with him before then anyway."
Greenhouse Three
After Lunch
Harry looked through the window of the greenhouse and gave a sigh of relief at finally finding his friend. Opening the door, he stuck his head in, making sure that Neville wasn't in the middle of working with a dangerous plant, before stepping through.
Neville looked up from the cuttings he was working on and smiled, "Hey Harry, what's going on?"
"I was hoping that you could help me out, since you've been raised as a Wizard, and I realized last night just how much I don't know about how things are done."
Neville looked at him in surprise, and then nodded, "Right, muggle raised, that would explain it! But, sure, I can write my Gran and have her send some of the basic history primers and guides to get you started. But, one thing I would suggest you do as soon as possible is contact Gringotts to set up a meeting with your account manager. He could tell you if the Potter family had procedures in place to become the family Head while you are still a minor."
"Okay, what would that do?"
Neville says, "To start with, the Head of the Family is automatically emancipated, and can use magic where ever and whenever needed. It also gives you access to your family vaults and any properties."
Harry grinned at that idea, "That would be excellent, having a place of my own to stay, and not have to go back to my relatives!"
Neville shook his head, and grinned slightly, "I wish there were times I could get away from my Gran, so I understand. But that will change on my birthday when I take up the Head of House Longbottom position."
When Harry looked at him in confusion, Neville sighed, "I don't talk about it, but my parents were driven insane by Death Eaters not long after you and your parents did whatever it was you did to You Know Who, they've been in long term care ever since, and it looks like they won't ever recover, so when I turn 17 this summer I'm going to be taking over the family."
Turning away, Neville said, "Why don't we get together after dinner and work on those letters? If you don't mind, I think I'd like to be alone right now."
Harry nodded, uncomfortably, but left his friend to his thoughts. He really couldn't even begin to imagine what Neville had to deal with, with his parents still alive, but as lost to him as Harry's parents were. It was a horrible thing to consider, but in a way, he was luckier than his friend, Harry didn't have to see his parents wasting away, not knowing who he was.
Walking back to the castle, he passed the Quidditch Pitch and saw that there were a few people on brooms enjoying the warm spring day. With a grin, he called for Dobby, and the elf was thrilled to get Harry's Firebolt and bring it to him.
Quidditch Pitch
Half an Hour Later
Cho laughed as she and Harry raced after the snitch that Oliver Wood had released when he saw the two of them flying. She'd been a bit annoyed at first, she'd had more than enough chasing after the snitch during the season, she just wanted to unwind after her last exam, but when she saw the wide smile on Harry's face, she couldn't help but get caught up in his excitement.
As they flew, Cho was happy to notice that Harry was paying just as much attention to the way her arse looked in her skirt and how her tits moved under her vest as he did the flight of the snitch. She'd thought that Harry had been attracted to her when they met in the kitchens last night, but now she was certain, and she had to hold back a sigh of relief. She knew exactly what awaited her when she got on the Express in September, but if she was involved with Harry, he could protect her better than any of the other boys she'd been considering.
And he seemed to be a genuinely decent guy, so she wouldn't have to worry about him doing what she'd heard the Weasley's liked to do. Cho didn't know how Angelina and Alicia were able to tolerate it, she would have tried to jump off the Astronomy Tower if she could.
Catching a glimmer of gold out of the corner of her eye, Cho focused on what she was doing and dove toward the snitch, only to see a shadow cover it as Harry came in from above. Pushing her Comet 260 to the limit, she could see that Harry was still going to reach the snitch first, unless...
Without stopping to think about what she was doing, she gripped the broom with her thighs and used her hands to grab the bottom of her vest. She waited until Harry was right alongside her, and she whistled, getting his attention. When Harry looked over at her, she pulled up her vest, giving him a quick look at her tits before yanking it back down. She laughed at the dumbfounded look on his face and turned back toward the snitch. Harry was only distracted for a couple of seconds, but it was just enough. He was close on her tail when her hand closed around the snitch. Looking back over her shoulder, she saw Harry smirking at her, shaking his head. He flew closer as they were landing, and when they were both on the ground, he leaned over and put his mouth at her ear, "Very nice, but next time, wait until we are in private so I can show my appreciation, okay?"
Cho blinked, that wasn't the response she was expecting, but she managed to grin at him, "I'll keep that in mind, but now it's time for dinner, so I'll see you later."
It wasn't until she got to the bleachers that she saw Luna and Padma sitting there, tears rolling down their faces as they laughed, and she just smirked at the two of them. Looking back at Harry he was still watching her, but he was grinning, and Cho knew that if he wasn't interested before, he certainly was now!
Ministry of Magic
Minister's Office
The Night Before
"You wanted to see me, Cornelius?" Amelia Bones, the DMLE Director asked, as she stood in the open doorway. She wondered what was going on, because the Minister had a firm expression on his face, instead of the usual bluster.
He looked up and gave a slight smile, "Yes I did, Amelia, please come in and close the door, I've got a couple of memories I need you to watch. The first is about Sirius Black, and the second, well, I let it speak for itself."
It was then that Amelia noticed the Pensieve sitting on a table beside the desk, and she closed and silenced the door before sitting down.
"It started when I was summoned to Hogwarts earlier this evening, with the news that Sirius Black had been captured..." Minister Fudge began, speaking for the next fifteen minutes while Amelia listened intently.
"... I've already canceled the 'Kiss on Sight' order and had the Dementors recalled to Azkaban. When we finish, I'll be contacting the Prophet to make sure the news gets out in tomorrow morning's paper. I know you are questioning if you can believe what I'm saying, but the memories should answer your questions." With a gesture, he put his finger into the memory. Amelia was right behind him, still having a hard time believing what she had heard.
It was nearly a half-hour later when the two of them came out of the memories, and Amelia was doing her best to keep calm. "He's not dead, is he?" The pained look on the Minister's face was all the answer she needed, and she sat back in her chair. "Shite! We're nowhere near ready to deal with him starting up again."
Cornelius nodded, "I know, we've drawn down way too far, and yes, a lot of that is my fault, but we can't change the past, and I'm willing to fix the mistakes I made. What I need you to do is, without letting word leak about the prophecy, is come up with a plan to bring the Aurors and Hit Wizards back to pre-1981 levels. I want the plan on my desk no later than a week from Friday. I'll find the funding somewhere. But, I'm declaring the prophecy to be Most Secret, the last thing we need is a panic starting. I've already talked to Croaker in the DoM to start figuring out why the bastard didn't die the first time."
Amelia nodded, she already had a few ideas of getting her staffing back up, and it wouldn't take much work at all to present a workable plan. "At least the Sirius Black situation will be easier to deal with, and, since he's the Boy Who Lived's Godfather, you know that he'll be more than willing to support you in cleaning up the problem that Bagnold and Crouch left you."
For the first time, a genuine smile appeared on the Minister's face. "That's basically what Harry said last night. He's a interesting young man, have you met him yet?"
Amelia shook her head, "No, I haven't had any reason to, but my niece Susan has told me some stories about what he's done in the school the last few years. But getting back to the Black issue, how do you want to handle Barty Crouch? What he did was a clear violation of the law, and by rights should see him in Azkaban for the rest of his life, but what if he claims that it was an oversight, because the whole mess with his son and the Longbottom's happened about that time? He could make a case that he was distracted by everything, and just made a horrible mistake, and he's still got enough clout in the Wizengamot that he could probably get away with it."
Fudge nodded, and he said, "And you're right, he might be able to get away with it, except for the fact that Barty was into old Arcturus Black for several thousand galleons at the time. Apparently Barty had a bit of a gambling problem and had to borrow from Arcturus to pay his bets. From what I learned, Arcturus was pressing Barty to pay him back, and Barty didn't have the money. Now, I can't prove that Barty put Arcturus's grandson in prison to avoid paying his debts, but it does make for an interesting avenue to investigate, don't you think?"
Amelia's jaw dropped in surprise, and reminded herself that this is why Fudge was Minister! He had information on just about everybody and was ruthless enough to use it without hesitation. Too bad about Barty, but he didn't make many friends the way he ran the department.
End Chapter Two