Author's Note There is some more risky business in the explicit version of this chapter, which can be found on AO3 here /works/29620767/chapters/75211575
Harry let the elves rest that night as breaking and reforming bonds took a lot of energy and was emotionally taxing.
Hermione stayed the night, but again, it was innocent. After celebrating the obvious win, she passed out around two in the morning after a very long day indeed.
Harry took a pepper up potion and got to studying. One vitally important topic had risen to the top of his to do list and he would not have been able to sleep without crossing it off. Violently.
He apparated to the closed library and began to study in the restricted section by candlelight. Chuckling all the while at the childish security systems and hexes 'protecting' the section. Child's play.
After an hour of hard work, he stretched and popped out for a quick trip to Russia. He had a quidditch player to meet.
If there had been any doubt in Harry's mind, any niggling shred of remorse or nerves, it vanished as soon as he took in Victor's room. The impotence charm had either failed or Krumb didn't put much stock in traditional fucking.
Two girls slept fitfully in the corner. There were bloody, beaten, naked, bound and gagged.
His plans changed.
Life can be funny. You can study and prepare to formulate the best possible strategy, but sometimes Fate drops the perfect inspiration directly in your way.
After healing the women, who didn't wake but their restless shifting stilled, he scanned their minds. With surgical precision, he removed the memories and details of the past several weeks. In their place he left a simple explanation of the events he took and a heartfelt apology for tampering with their minds without permission. He left each other's contact details in each other's minds and promised to send an owl in two weeks' time in case they wanted the memories back.
He conjured them clothes and silently apparated each to their own beds before resuming his work.
His studies yielded creative and poetically just torture methods for the monster obliviously sleeping away the night before him. Nothing compared to the justice the poor women gifted him with.
After an hour of hard Leglimancy that was normally well beyond Harry's skill level, he returned to Hogwarts.
Krumb woke with a start as Harry let the natural sound of apparition crack through the room as he left.
The rapist remembered every horrible thing he'd done to the women as if they had been done to him by Karkaroff, including the most detailed memory Harry could imagine of Hermione's story. All memories of inflicting or enjoying any forced sexual act in his mind had been reversed, corrupted, and tied to the very essence of who he was along with the knowledge that he had earned every moment. No one could repair the damage Harry had done without leaving the Seeker a vegetable.
Krumb had been a busy boy. There was hardly a single country or favorite building that wasn't irrevocably twisted to a place of horror. To top it off, several of the experiences Krumb remembered had been inflicted on his victims a thousand feet up. He now sported a very legitimate phobia of heights.
Harry slept soundly as soon as he had Hermione wrapped tightly against his chest.
Sunday morning, Harry woke with Hermione lightly drooling on his chest while snoring soft as a cat's purr. His heart cramped at what could possibly be the cutest moment he'd ever experienced.
His soulmate. He woke with this precious girl in his arms and knew he couldn't bear to wake alone ever again.
For half an hour he remained motionless until nature screamed for him to get up.
After the pair got dressed and ready for the day, he took her hands. They popped out of existence only to reappear at the Black estate in Victoria.
Sirius greeted them as they came down from Harry's bedroom.
"Why aren't we at the Shrieking Shack?"
"The ritual space hasn't been set up there yet." Harry explained. "There is quite a powerful one in the Forbidden Forest, but I haven't had a chance to work in or purify the space. This is too important to risk the circle being corrupted."
"If elf family magic is tied to the land, as you said, doesn't it have to be performed in Britain?" Hermione asked.
"Clever girl. Of course. Everything we need to set up a proper circle at the Shack is here. Some lazy old mutt didn't bother to pack the supplies."
"Oi! Don't go blaming me. How was I supposed to know you wouldn't be using the school's space?"
"Don't give me that. I lead a cover and you didn't think I'd need a private place to cast?"
"Let's get on with it, boys," Hermione said. "We've got a long enough day already."
They collected all the tools and materials they needed before apparating to the basement of the Shrieking Shack. To Harry's excitement, an old ritual circle already existed in the cement floor. It only took a half hour to strengthen the magic. Another hour to purify it.
Around one in the afternoon, Harry summoned one elf of each family. Then the real work began.
Six other men arrived at the front door.
"This is Asmodeus." He was blond with eyes so blue they were violet and a cock-sure grin. Shivers coursed through her as that piercing gaze assessed her like a horse he contemplated betting on. Harry glowered as Asmodeus kissed the back of her hand, but said nothing.
The name would have freaked her out if Harry hadn't explained that each coven member chose a name of power for themselves. In the days of witch burnings, the aliases protected their identities and invoking their patrons' power boosted the coven's abilities. Harry's coven had been established over a thousand years ago, along with the tradition of going by demonic or otherwise dark names.
"Moloch."
A pale male with dark hair and coal black eyes shook her hand with one hand, pushed his horn rimmed glasses up with the other, and dropped his old leather-bound tomb in the process. With a muttered apology, he retrieved his book to go read in the far corner, though his eyes spent more time darting from cover member to cover member than on the page.
"Ramiel."
Hermione gasped at the seven foot tall red-head covered in scars, tattoos, and banded in thick muscle. Danger oozed from his pores and the grace of movement boasted years of training. She squared her shoulders, gave a sharp nod, and a firm handshake. His face split into a huge grin, displaying teeth filled to razor sharp points.
"I like her Loki," Ramiel said. "Your minx has spunk. If you tire of the pipsqueak, little firecracker, I'll show you how to ride a- "
"Quite enough Ramiel. As you were."
Ramiel laughed off the reprimand and moved on.
"Don't be intimidated. Ramiel is one of the only people I would trust with your life." Harry kissed her cheek before continuing. "Azazel."
A man who looked about forty wearing a cardigan and khakis gave her a warm hug. Peppermint and fresh rolled tobacco. Hermione was reminded of her own father with a pang. He hadn't hugged her that way since she got her letter to Hogwarts.
While her parents loved her, they were devote Catholics. Fear of God trumped devotion to family. Witches were spawn of the devil. They tolerated her.
"Dagon."
A mouthwatering man with dark cunning eyes, black hair, and modern short beard over a chiseled jaw. Normally, Hermione would be a blushing ball of nervous factoids, but with Harry beside her she noticed the cruel glint behind his eyes, the dissatisfied twitch of a cheek, and slight twist to his mouth. Cold, arrogant, and mistrusting.
"And Crowley."
A man as slimy as his hair was greasy. He dressed more richly than Harry and had a car salesman grin plastered to his face.
"Pleasure," he said.
"I'm sure." Hermione kept the disgust from her face as he too kissed the back of her hand.
"These men are my inner circle. Another six make up our outer circle to bring our number to thirteen. The largest parse/tongue coven for millenia."
"It's wonderful to meet you all I'm- Persephone." If they could have code names so could she. She didn't trust any of them further than she could throw Ramiel. Not yet.
Harry grinned at the fitting name. A goddess bound to the dark half the year but who brought the spring. He'd told her his name was Loki for tradition sake, though everyone knew his identity. Sirius had picked it for him in an attempt to cultivate his love for pranks. Harry had joined the coven after his sixth birthday and hadn't known what to name himself. He'd done his research, which grew his appreciation for the name tenfold. Loki, who was a chaotic neutral Norse trickster god, is perceived in a dark enough light for the coven to allow. Striding the line between light and dark. Always.
After a few minutes of catching up with those he actually liked and giving Hermione a chance to get a feel for all of them, Harry led them into the ritual space. Hermione had to sit on the last step into the basement.
Harry stepped into the center of the circle. For this ritual, the altar had been removed. The six other parselmouths took their places around him. At a signal Hermione couldn't see, the forty two elves that represented the ancestral families popped down to the basement. Forty of them created a solid wall of bodies around the circle. Cismy and Hobrey were in the center with Harry as the Matriarch and Patriarch that governed the Potter elves on his behalf and had a unique connection to all the elves as a result.
"I beseech Merlin and the gods and goddesses that rule over Magic itself. Bless this circle," Harry intoned.
"We are your servants. We prey and obey," the six men chanted in perfect unison.
"I call on the five elements Wind, Water, Fire, Earth, and Spirit. Join and protect this circle."
"We are made of and by you to serve. Take us not back to your bosom this day."
"I call on Fate, Death, and Rebirth. Hear our plea and allow our will be done."
"To your wisdom we bow."
"To this circle I welcome the forty-two families. Stewarts of the land from time immemorial. Join us."
The ring of forty elves took a single step into the circle as one while Cismy took Harry's right hand and Hobrey his left. The three were engulfed in a glowing golden aura shot through with glacial blue and jade green.
"Though your houses our many, your soul is one, your cause the same, and your bond to your ancestral home stronger than any bond to family or wizard.
Today we honour the bond of these children of the Moon and Earth, and seek to break false bonds by strengthening that bond."
Gaia, mother of the Earth. Selene, goddess of the moon. We beseech you and welcome you to our circle."
Hermione's ears pricked forward and a tingling sensation began in her fingers and toes. Apollo and Artemis apparated from the castle to coil around her neck.
"In our circle we shelter your favoured children who have been used and abused by magicals for centuries. Hear their cries."
All the elves began to keen softly. Anger rose violently through Hermione's soul and the tingles turned to flames that engulfed her entire being. Apollo and Artemis pulsed with energy around her neck.
"We would break the false fetters your children struggle to bear. Feel their suffering. Join our circle and strengthen our purpose."
Hermione screamed as light, joy, and life filled her past the point of agony. She rose into the air on wings of pure white light. Flowers grew from her hair. Her clothes fell to dust. Apollo and Artemis's length lit with blue fire so cold it burned, though Hermione felt nothing.
She hovered over Harry and the two elves, all three of them knelt in awe. The rest of the circle, elves and wizards alike, were quick to follow their example.
"We hear your cries, we feel your pain. We come, Vanquisher of the Twisted Spirit, to strengthen your noble purpose." Artemis and Apollo spoke the words as one, while Hermione held the will of both goddesses and channeled their intent to the double headed snake wound around her neck.
For a moment, the carefully constructed words of the ritual he had painstakingly crafted flew from his mind. He cleared his throat and mentally reworked the words to address the deities directly.
"We are honoured and humbled by your presence Mother Earth and Pearl of the Sky. Lend us your power so we may free these children of their false slavery."
Hermione glowed brighter and channelled that energy into the three below her. From them, light shone through to light every wizard and elf with a soft white glow.
"Take this boon. Strengthen the bond. Sooth the suffering," Hermione's voice joined the snakes in perfect harmony.
Elves and wizards began chanting in the ancient and long forgotten language of the elves which everyone present became fluent in instantly.
They named each of the forty two ancestral families and the long forgotten true name of the land that spanned most the land now known as Europe. They tied the two back together. They called on the racial bond of family and the deeper connection to their home to tie each individual elf back to the land and ley lines.
Harry felt every bond to every elf shrivel, except to Lily which only strengthened oddly enough. Something in her shifted, but with the extraordinary power rushing through him, he couldn't figure out what changed.
As soon as their bonds broke, they reforged and strengthened until he could feel their emotions just for a moment. His eyes stung as he realized the very souls of his elves had chosen to bond with him on a new level without the outdated words in between them. He sent them all his joy before the connection faded back to a pleasant hum in the back of his mind.
All across Europe, elves belonging to the forty two families were freed. In Britain's' neighboring countries, almost every elf immediately rebonded their masters in the deeper way Harry and his elves had just experienced.
In Britain, however, only a handful bound with their masters. Instead, almost all of them popped to the grounds of the Shrieking Shack where they were met by the nine Potter elves, who weren't part of the ritual, and Sirius Black to explain and give medical aid to a shocking majority.
"Your work is done, little wizard. We thank you. However, our parting gift is not for you, but your mate. Her pure heart and genuine compassion allowed our direct interference and we are grateful."
"You honour us, mothers. In good faith and with lighter hearts, depart as we close our circle. Merry meet, merry part, and may we meet again."
Once the inner circle and elves had chanted the last line, the light, life, and fire winked out.
Hermione fell lightly into Harry's waiting arms.
Mortal once again, but not quite as human as she once was.
Hermione woke up in Harry's bed in the castle as light streamed in through the window. She gave a content sigh as she stretched. Then panic set in. Far too bright for seven in the morning and she lay in an empty bed.
Harry wouldn't go to class without waking her, right? She leapt from bed and rushed out into the front room.
Harry stood at the stove whistling to himself in nothing but boxers as delicious smells wafted from the pan in his hand. Blueberry pancakes, bacon, eggs, and she even spotted a bowl of fresh fruit
"You couldn't have waited five more minutes?" Harry turned to flip two pancakes onto each waiting plate before loading them with bacon, eggs, and fruit. Cut strawberry, honeydew melon, and mango. After he finished, he looked up. His eyes hooded and jaw slackened as his eyes roamed over her body.
She looked down. She only wore an oversized t-shirt and could thankfully feel a pair of panties. An image of her clothes disintegrating came to mind and her cheeks flamed. She'd been naked hovering over a group of strange men.
"Back to bed," Harry growled. He looked at her like he found something he'd prefer to the food in front of him.
"We don't have time! I need to get dressed. We need to get to class. What time is it anyway?" She caught the time displayed on the stove. "Nine thirty? We've missed first period!"
"Take a breath love."
"But-"
"A breath. Now." He waited. She complied, though it came out more like a huff. "There aren't classes today. And you, missy, are on bed rest. Pomfrey's orders. Now back to bed."
She went back in the room and sat on the bed as he followed with the tray of food.
"Bed rest? You took me to Pomfrey?"
"Your body housed two goddesses to provide energy for a ritual and then you slept for twenty-four hours. Of course I did."
"Twenty-four? I missed Monday?"
"Yep. Don't worry, there weren't any classes."
"Why?"
Harry insisted on feeding her a few bites before answering. The food tasted amazing and her stomach cramped painfully to remind her she hadn't eaten for more than a day. She didn't put up much of a fuss and accepted everything he held to her mouth.
"We freed the house elves, beautiful. Only five of the schools' elves rebonded to the hearthstone. Plus, about half the student body has been pulled out of school because their families are freaking out. The wizarding world has effectively shut down."
"Shouldn't we be going to the ministry or something?" She took a quick break to ask before accepting more pancake.
"They've had numerous warnings. I told them if they didn't deal with their house elf problem then I would when I returned. They didn't listen. Today is for you and I. We deserve a break. Tomorrow we'll go first thing." He continued to feed her, a goofy smile on his face.
"What if they force the elves back to work before then?"
"They can't. The elves can feed off the magic of the earth again. After you passed out, we communed with all the elves through their family connection to tell them under no circumstances should they rebond or work for magicals that haven't earned their respect and loyalty. My elves took it upon themselves to transmit their experience with me as the standard. I was very touched. Of course, those are the standards I expect Britain to enforce. Come to think of it, I have homework for you." He chuckled as her eyes lit up. Harry cleaned up their breakfast and returned to bed with a scroll.
"These are the rights I want the Ministry to enforce. I'd love your input."
Hermione beamed at him before feeling her cheeks heat.
"When the goddesses took control, my clothes... How many of them saw me?"
Harry chuckled and caressed her cheek. "You look lovely when you blush. Yes they saw you, but no it isn't a big deal. Rituals are often done in the nude. Plus, I summoned clothes for you as soon as they left the circle."
She blushed harder realizing he'd dressed her. "I'd hoped the first time you saw me naked we would be, well, alone. At the very least I would've liked to be the one in control at the time."
"We're alone today." She suddenly realized they were both barely dressed alone in his bed. Quicker than she could follow, Harry vanished their tray and flipped on top of her. He straddled her hips and propped himself up on his hands on either side of her head.
"The elves have been told not to interrupt unless there's an emergency only I can solve and I've placed a silencing charm on the door." He leaned down to press his lips to hers gently. "We don't have to do anything you're not ready for, but we won't be interrupted again," he said against her lips.
He trailed one hand down her arm and over to cup her breast and kiss her again deeply. With a happy sigh against his lips, she clung to him, pulling him down so she could feel his weight on her.
As he claimed her mouth, his hand grew more insistent massaging her breast and tweaking her sensitive nipple through the thin tee. She moaned and ground her hips up against him. His bulge pressed against her core, promising to sooth the growing ache. Harry groaned.
"Baby, I want to give you time and space to come to me on your own, but if you keep doing that I will hold you down and fuck you into oblivion."
She squealed, but heat and moisture gathered in her core at his words. Their gazes were locked together as a moment of tense silence past in absolute stillness. She ground against him once more.
The day passed rather pleasantly for the pair as they fully explored their new relationship. As they cuddled at twilight, Harry placed his hand on her lower abdomen and muttered a quick spell to heat her uterus two degrees. It killed the sperm and any eggs that had made their way down her fallopian tubes, while leaving her ovaries well enough alone.
Quick, effective, and soothing, it was the most pleasant and safe birth control charm he knew.
The morning found a remorseful and repentant Harry begging for forgiveness.
"I've been looking forward to this bond so long, I lost myself. I never intended to push you so far or do so much. Not on our first day." They had spent most of the previous day having sex in every room of his quarters in new and sometimes challenging positions.
"Did you hear me complaining?"
"I didn't want to push you too far."
"If you did, you wouldn't be able to get hard right now."
They both looked at his dick. She began scraping her nails along the muscular grooves of his lower abdomen and it immediately perked up. Giggle.
"See? We're good. Now get ready to go. If I miss another full day of classes you might just break my vagina."
As they got ready to go, Hermione could feel their newly formed bond humming along in the back of her head. She had a vague idea of how he was feeling, still weary but plenty happy. The bond needed time to grow and solidify, more like a naturally occuring familial bond rather than a house elf contractual bond. They had no magic words to say. They needed time together.
The forming bond made their attraction to each other almost undeniable. It also accelerated their developing feelings greatly. From what she remembered reading about soulmate bonds in her more idealistic younger years, they were where most people would be after about a year of serious dating. That half remembered factoid kept her from freaking out over trusting him with sex after so short of time, given her history.
Soulmate bonds could be broken, but it was almost impossible. The pull too great to resist. Fated couples were literally perfect for each other in every way. Resisting the bond caused excruciating pain for both parties, couldn't be broken by one party without the other, took years to complete, left both feeling hollow, and usually shortened both lives dramatically.
"Harry," Hermione said, while she summoned her mostly full trunk from her dorm with an absent flick. He'd asked her to move in when they were between bang sessions the day before. She could hardly deny him with her brain flooded with dopamine and ocytocine. "Is it true that rejecting his soulmate drove Voldemort mad?" She hardly paused before the name at all now.
Harry nodded sadly. "Though after experiencing it first hand, I think he had to be half mad to resist it in the first place. Drove his mate mad too."
"Who?"
"Grindelwald."
Hermione gasped.
"The age difference was scandalous at the time and Grindelwald mentored Voldemort back when he went by Tom Riddle.
Despite their romance, they realized they had different goals for the Magical community. Diametrically opposed even."
"Romance?"
"They were together five years, their bond fully developed when Grindelwald began his plan and Voldemort decided to leave."
"Five years? I thought Grindelwald and Dumbledore were together before the war."
"A cover, though there could have been truth behind it. I never had either of them stuck in my head. Thank Merlin. If they were involved, Tom didn't know.
Their bond stayed the ultimate secret. I believe I might be the only one still alive that knows, except for Dumbledore possibly, and now you.
"Originally, Grindelwald wanted magicals to reproduce with mundanes to create more magicals at a rapid rate. He planned to kill off the rest. In his mind, this would both solve the growing overpopulation problem and make the whole world magic. Short-sighted blitter didn't see the necessity of balance. Without mundanes to balance the scales, wild magic would tear the world apart."
Hermione nodded along as they often discussed that basic principle of magic in Arithmancy.
"They decided their ideals made them incompatible and neither could stand being bound while fighting on opposing sides in the war they knew was inevitable.
"The break drove Tom to create the horcruxes. In the beginning, he didn't fear death, just dying before the war was won.
"Grindelwald, on the other hand, welcomed death as an escape from the constant loneliness. He took his own life once the battle turned south. Many people celebrated their victory, but I think he gave up. I don't think winning meant anything to him once the reality of his self-imposed eternal solitude kicked in."
"Can you imagine the world we'd live in today if they agreed on one vision?" Hermione shuddered.
"I believe Fate, in her infinite wisdom, gave them to each other as a punishment and to keep either from subjugating the world. I never knew Grindelwald, but if Tom had kept his soul intact he would have won, prophecy be damned."
"And us?" she said after a moment. "Why do you think she gave us to each other?"
"I'd like to think it's my reward for being her favorite pawn, but I have a feeling it has something to do with saving the world. Again." He sighed.
She took his head in her hands. Tilted his head back for a gentle kiss. "Then we'll do it together. You'll never be alone again," she whispered.