Chapter 8

Wippery Cottage, December 24th, 2025

Rose and Harry get in from their morning workout to find Chastity dancing and cooking breakfast, wearing a white muggle apron, and nothing else. Korean pop, from one of the big girl groups is blasting from the loudspeakers. Harry would be annoyed with the stupid preppy tune, if Chastity didn't look quite so scrumptious dancing to it. Add to it the smell of coffee, eggs and freshly baked something, and the beginnings of a fine Yule are set.

They exchange a glance and a grin. Harry takes over the cooking, Rose kneels under Chastity's apron and Chastity leans backwards against the kitchen counter, eyes closed and a wordless humming coming out of her mouth. Soon, soft slurping and sucking sounds come from under the apron, Chastity breathes hard, with an occasional strangled moaning. She is usually quiet during sex, as opposed to Rose and Harry, who are fit to wake up the dead when having fun. By the time Harry is plating their breakfast, eggs and toast, with fresh fruit, butter, orange marmalade, and a big pot of coffee, Chastity is rolling her eyes, in a toe-curling finish that ends with her sitting bonelessly on the floor. Rose, a world-class grin in her slightly wet face, helps Chastity to her seat and serves her of coffee.

"Well?" Harry asks Rose.

"Outstanding. Tart, with a hint of Harry. Highly recommended." Chastity giggles.

They dig in, Harry and Rose enjoying the goofy smile on the face of their usually oh-so-composed lover. Then, a knock on the front door.

Harry should have felt someone crossing the wards, but, in his defense, he was a little distracted. He gets up and opens the door. A little blonde vision, wearing ballet shoes with thick red woolen socks, purple leggings, a tan dress with multicolored embroidered butterflies and many pockets over a white long-sleeve shirt, a blue woolen overall, a straw hat with feathers stuck in it, seashell earrings and her wand tucked behind her ear.

"Luna!" He grabs the little blonde in a bear hug, returned enthusiastically. He lifts her and twirls her around. "You're back!"

Harry sets her down, and after she stops giggling she replies. "We got back a little early."

"Found anything interesting?"

"Oh, yes!" She bounces a bit in excitement. "We've finally witnessed the mating rite of the Crumpled-Horned Snorkack. As we suspected, it involves three of them!" She stops and takes in the two girls looking at them, one with a pleased smile, and the other one looking curious and turns her attention to her friend. "Harry Potter, what have you been up to?"

"Well... you remember Rose, of course."

Luna gathers herself for a bit before answering. "Of course. Hello, Rose Weasley. Happy Yuletide."

"Hello auntie. Happy Yuletide to you and your family too."

"Thank you, dear."

Harry tries to continue his introductions. "And this is..."

"Hmm. Are you a Greengrass?"

"My mother was born Greengrass, Mrs. Scamander. I'm Chastity Fawley."

"Ah. Of course. Interesting name, considering..."

"Luna, care to join us for breakfast?"

"Oh, yes. Thank you. I just came by to drop your gift. And say hello, of course. Hmm...would you have any pudding?"

Harry smiles. "No pudding, sorry. But I do have something you might like." Harry opens his freezer and grabs a small cardboard container. He places it in front of Luna, with a spoon.

Luna eyes brighten with expectation. "Is this..."

"Yes."

Luna opens the box and puts a spoonful of a pale green concoction in her mouth, letting it melt. "Hmmm..."

The two girls look at Harry. "Pistacchio ice cream. I keep some around in case Luna shows up."

Harry takes the time to go to the closet next to the front door and, after a couple of seconds, emerges with a plain dark wood box and two small wrapped packages. He returns to his place, places the box and the packages on the table and goes back to his breakfast.

A few minutes later Luna finishes her ice cream and sees the things Harry has picked up. "Oh! Are these presents?" Harry nods. "I almost forgot." She fumbles through her pockets. At one point, she has her whole forearm, elbow and all, inside one of them. Rose snickers, and Chastity's lips curve up a little. Harry just watches fondly. "I must have put... yes! I found it." She puts a toy-sized clay pot on the table and touches it with her wand. It expands to a broad mouth pot, a quart or a bit more, wax-sealed, lid topped with a little clay ball. She pushes it to Harry. "It's your gift, Harry, but these two might enjoy it too. Happy Yule."

"Thank you." Harry picks up the pot, hefts it and looks at the bottom. "What is it?"

"Cloudberry jam. From Sweden."

Harry smiles, but both Rose and Chastity frown. "Cloudberry?" Asks Rose.

Luna explains. "It's a mundane berry from cold places. It's a little hard to find. There's a bit of detectable magic to it, which doesn't come from the plant, but from the drickles that pollinate it sometimes."

"Thank you, Luna. I love it, and I'm sure the girls will love it too."

Luna smiles. "It goes well with vaginal fluid."

Rose and Harry, knowing Luna, just blink. Chastity tries to stifle her laughter and ends up coughing, which makes Luna's smile widen a bit.

Harry pushes his gifts towards Luna. "The two packages are for the twins. They are muggle pocket knives, enchanted to be very sharp. Please, tell them to be careful."

"I will. Thank you Harry. I'm sure they will love it." The twins are on their fourth year, just the right age for this gift. She stares at the box, tilting her head.

"Open it." Luna does it and, inside the box, a rolled-up parchment and a lot of what appear to be plant bulbs. "They are blue night-tears."

Luna picks up one of the bulbs and looks at it close and sniffs it. "I fear I've never heard of it."

"It's a rare magical flower, from a couple of islands in Japan. I admired them a while back, and a friend sent me these. The parchment is from Neville. I asked him for instructions on how to grow them. He took three of the bulbs in exchange. There are eighty-eight left. It seems that fairies are particularly fond of their nectar."

"Oh!" Luna puts the bulb back and closes the box. "Thank you, Harry Potter. It's a very nice gift."

"Just invite us over when they flower."

"I most certainly will." She shrinks the box, stands up and places both packages and the box in one of her pockets. "I must be going, now. I was very nice seeing you today."

"Thank you for the visit and the gift. It's always good to see you."

"Thank you, Harry Potter." Luna turns to the girls. "I've never seen him this happy. For whatever it is you're doing, thank you."

Rose replies. "He makes us happy too."

"I know." She lifts a finger. "The secret to any relationship is to listen. This is specially true with three." She kisses all three in the cheek. "Ta-ta."

Harry and Rose embrace at the doorway, watching Luna walk away. Chastity hugs them both from the back. "So, this is the world-famous magizoologist Luna Scamander."

"Just Auntie Luna, love."

"She's the wisest person I've ever met." Harry adds with a sigh. "And I've met a whole lot of people that thought themselves wise."

=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=

The family doesn't fit inside. So, they put a big tent outside, three big tables, each with seating for twenty, plus an even bigger table for food and drinks. Muggle decorations, with a Christmas tree at one end. There were four borrowed house-elves manning the kitchen, all under the watchful supervision of Gram, now Grand Gram Weasley.

When Harry and Chastity arrive, purposefully a little late, most of the clan is already there, including Rose, who greets them with a wink. The moment Harry and Chastity step in the tent everyone stops talking and turns to them. Harry blinks, somewhat surprised by the reception and raises his voice. "Please, everyone. Meet Chastity Fawley, the future Mrs. Black." Scattered well-wishes, a couple of wolf whistles and a few raised glasses greet the announcement. The betrothal was featured in this morning's Prophet.

Several people approach them, but Harry has a very specific individual he wants to see first. He catches a glimpse of the right person and rushes in her direction, dragging Chastity along. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry..." he apologizes as he slides around people who wanted to talk to them. He gets to Fleur, who has a little bundle in her arms. "Hello, Fleur. Happy Yuletide."

"Hello, 'Arry. To you as well. Came to see our grandaughter?"

Harry nods. "It's about time too, I'm sorry to say." Harry bends a little, and Fleur pulls the cloth away, to show a sleeping baby face. She is close to two months old, A round head, covered with light brown downy fuzz. Upturned little nose and a cupid's bow mouth. She doesn't look like anyone in particular, at least in Harry's opinion. "Well, then. Meet Annelise Nymphadora Lupin." Fleur's laughter is a soft tinkling sound. "A big mouthful, for such a small person..."

Harry chuckles, amused. "I truly don't know if Tonks would feel honored or angry."

"Andy is pleased, and that's what matters, non?" She turns to Chastity. "It's very nice to meet you, Miss Fawley. I'm Fleur Weasley."

Chastity curtsies. "It's an honor, Mrs. Weasley. Please, call me Chazz."

Fleur hands Annelise to Harry and directs herself to Chastity. "Then you should call me Fleur. I hope this old reprobate is treating you like you deserve, hm?"

Harry looks smug and Chastity blushes a bit. "Every day, and in all the ways that matter, Fleur."

Fleur laughs. "I see. Bon." She slaps Harry gently on the shoulder. "How did you two meet?"

"Rose introduced us. I was in James' year at Hogwarts."

"So you know my daughters, Victoire and Dominique."

"I barely know Victoire, since she was three years ahead of me, but Nick, yes. She's a friend. We often eat together at St. Mungo's."

"What do you do at St. Mungos?"

"I'm finishing a Potions Mastery."

"Ah! Smart and pretty. Well done, 'arry."

Chastity frowns. "You barely have an accent. Why do you call him 'arry'?"

Fleur laughs. "Because 'e likes it."

=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=

Hermione finally manages to corner Rose. She speaks in an angry whisper. "Really? Her?"

"What are you talking about, mum?"

"That girl broke your heart!"

"Mum, that was your surmise at the time. I just chose not to dispute it."

"You came home devastated that year. What happened with that... slag damaged you!"

Rose sighs. She knew it would come down to this. "We were involved for several months. We ended it at the Express coming home. I was heartbroken about it. So was she. But. It. Was. Not. Her. Fault!"

"Are you saying it was your fault?"

"No." Rose casts a wandless privacy charm, which shocks Hermione. "Look, we fell hard for each other. Chastity had it even worse than me, I think. This was not in the plans. It was just supposed to be fun. At the end, we talked, and talked, but we could not see any future together. I had two years of Hogwarts still to go. She could not affront her family or risk losing her apprenticeship over a scandal. Neither one of us thought we could live with keeping it a dirty secret. So, we broke it up. It hurt like a motherfucker."

"Language," Hermione says without thinking.

"Fuck you, Mom."

Hermione glares a bit, and then snickers. "Fine. But isn't that a lot of baggage to bring into what's already a complicated relationship? And I'm asking you and not Harry, because I know this wasn't Harry's idea."

"Yeah. He had to be convinced..."

"So?"

"Of course it is! It's a big fucking risk." She looks at Harry and Chastity, laughing with Fleur and her eyes soften. "It's worth it, though."

Hermione shrugs. "Just be careful. I don't want you or Harry hurt, or worse."

"Worse?"

Hermione turns her gaze to Ginny and her new husband. "Yes. Worse.".

=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=

"I hope you know what you are doing." Ron whispers in Harry's ear, approaching after Chastity is grabbed by Dominique and Roxanne for a bit of 'girl talk'.

Harry gives Ron a fake-hurt look. "Are you kidding me? When have I ever known what I was doing?"

"Don't try to smoke me, Potter! You're a slimy Slytherin in red and gold and we both know it."

Harry snorts. "Maybe. But your daughter and my new betrothed run circles around me anyways."

"So, You say Blondie is smart."

"That doesn't do her justice. She and Rose are well matched."

Ron crosses his arms across his chest and frowns. "They are too young."

Harry smiles. "They are both grown women, I assure you."

"Now, that I don't want to hear."

"Then, perhaps, you shouldn't stick your ugly nose..."

"Right." Ron relaxes and sighs. "Look, I can see she is happy. Thank you for that."

"I promise I'll do my best to keep it that way."

"That's all a father can ask, I guess."

=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=

"You and Posey?" Roxanne whispers, a little too loud.

Dominique hits Roxanne in the ribs. "Xann!"

"Ouch!" She pushes Dominique away and points a finger at Chastity. "It's not fair!"

Chastity uses a finger to move Roxanne's away from herself. "I thought you had a boyfriend." She points at a tall boy who seems to be in an animated discussion with Hugo, Louis and Fred.

"Well..."

"Oh, stop it!" Dominique cuts off Roxanne. "She's betrothed to the man, silly."

Roxanne puts her fists on her hips pushes her chest forward and glares. Dominique, Chastity and a few of the people around would agree that the result is quite fetching. "And what does she have that I don't?"

"Rose, I presume." Dominique answers, a bit wistful and Chastity nods in agreement. "Who do you think got him to go along with it?"

Roxanne deflates a bit. "Rose always had him wrapped around her slutty little fingers."

Chastity smiles. "Still does. And me too, if I'm being honest."

Roxanne snickers and waves a hand in dismissal. "Forget about the mushy stuff. What about those pesky threesomes..."

=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=

"Ah, there you are. My favorite little flowers." Molly greets Rose and Lily with a pair of trademark hugs. "You've grown so much, Lily dear." In her seventies, Molly is still a lively witch, stout, her red hair shot with a bit of gray and her face etched with large amounts of both happiness and pain.

"Thank you, Grams. Happy Yuletide."

"Happy Yuletide to both of you." Molly turns serious. "Now, will you two tell me what's going on?"

Rose tries to play innocent. "What do you mean, Grams?"

"I mean Harry and that blonde tramp, I believe."

"Grams..." Lily begins.

"Oh, shush, dear. I'm asking Rose." Molly's eyes bore into Rose's and she flinches, just a bit.

"Her name is Chastity Fawley."

"I know the Fawleys. Rich and dark, that lot. Where did she come from? What is she doing with my son?"

Rose almost laughs with the way her grandmother casually adopts Harry. She tries again to deflect Molly. "Why are you asking me?"

"You're working with him, aren't you?"

"Yes."

"So, you must know. How did they meet?"

Rose stammers a little. She finds it impossible to straight out lie to her grandmother. Lily tries to help. "She was in James' year. Head girl, as a matter of fact."

"So, did James introduce them?" Her eyes now seem to bore into Lily, whose lips turn into a thin line, like she is trying to keep her words from escaping.

"No, Grams. I did. She's a dear friend. She's no tramp either."

"And why did you introduce them?"

Rose shrugs. "Harry met many of my friends. He and Chastity just clicked. Besides, it's what Harry said. He needs to continue the Black line.

Molly stares at Rose for a bit, turns back to Lily and sees the stubborn closed lips on her Potter granddaughter's face. "There's more, isn't there?" She raises her voice a little. "You two are hiding something..."

"Molly." Hermione's cuts off her mother-in-law, in a soft tone. "I couldn't help overhearing."

Rose and Lily relax a bit. "You're right, but this is not the time or place to discuss it."

Molly glares at Hermione. "This is still my family, girl!"

"Of course. Dinner at our place, say, on the twenty-seventh? You and Arthur, My parents, Harry, Rose and Chastity?" Rose nods, Molly looks angry and doubtful. "It's a wonderful party. You don't want to spoil it."

Molly looks uncertain. "Please, Grams." Lily adds.

"Oh, all right."

"Thank you." Rose mouths silently to her mother, who replies with a smile.

"You can join us too." Hermione says to Lily. She's noticed that Lily and Rose seem closer.

"Your cooking with a side of family drama?" Lily grins. "I think I'll pass, Auntie."

Hermione grins back. "Brat!"

=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=

James takes an opportunity to approach her. "Fawley."

Chastity steels herself. She's never liked him, but hexing him is probably not in the cards anymore. "Potter."

"Congratulations, I guess. You caught the big fish."

Chastity sounds frosty. "Thank you."

"Yet, you had me convinced you played for the other team."

"The only thing I've ever tried to convince you..."

"Was to leave you alone." James sighs. "Yes, I know." He checks her out. "You look smashing, by the way."

Chastity smirks. "You clean up all right too."

James smiles. "Well, thank you. That wasn't so hard."

A brief silence, which Chastity breaks with a Slytherin smirk. "I didn't like boys then. And I still don't." She gives a brief glance towards Harry, who is talking to a tall redhead and a gorgeous dark skinned woman. "But do I find some men... appealing."

James mimics a knife through his heart. "Ouch!"

She gives him the familiar icy glare. "You're still stalling about taking up your Head of House."

James frowns at the abrupt change of subject. Then he realizes maybe they were still on the same subject. Boys and men. He tries an airy smile, but doesn't quite pull it off. "Finance and politics. Not really my thing."

"It isn't his thing either. And he's got a lot on his shoulders. Always had."

He flinches a little. She is quite right. "I'll think about it."

"Very well. Happy Yuletide... James."

She turns around and heads towards Rose. James stares at her retreating back with an unfamiliar feeling of inadequacy. His old crush still there, with a dollop of respect added. He mutters to himself. "Dad, you miserable lucky bastard."

=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=

"Hey George, Angie." Harry greets them with a pleased smile. "Happy Christmas."

"And to you too, Harrykins. So, the pretty blonde and a nice looking Weasley too."

"Well..."

Angelina snickers. "Our Seeker was always a bit of an overachiever."

"Maybe he should have been playing with two snitches."

"Opposing seeker has to catch one."

"But our Harrykins here must catch both!" They cackle."

"Very funny, you two. Angie is channeling Fred now?"

George turns serious. "You know me... I have a hard time finishing a thought by myself. So my angel here steps up."

"We were hoping to keep quiet about Rose."

George places a hand on Harry's shoulder. "Family and secrets... once anyone knows, everyone knows."

"I guess."

"What's the deal there?" Angelina asks. "She's going to be the new Mrs. Potter?"

Harry sighs and shakes his head. "She is a contract-bound concubine to House Black."

George snickers, not entirely happy. "How pureblood of you, Harrykins. Marry the princess, keep the plebeian mistress on the side." Angelina crosses her arms under her breasts and nods in agreement.

"It was her idea."

"Rose's?"

"She says she doesn't want the exposure. And Chastity is more than happy to do it. This way, all our possible future children will be main line Blacks, apparently."

"All that, and two gorgeous young birds in your bed."

Angelina gives an evil smile. "At the same time, from what I hear." Harry clucks but doesn't answer.

"No comment?"

Harry shrugs. "It's just a little too much, guys. I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop."

Angelina replies with a chuckle. "Don't fret, darling. Even the Cannons win sometimes."

From his back, a very familiar voice, shouting at the top of her lungs. "Harry James Potter!"

"Uh, oh!" comes out of George's mouth.

Harry turns around to see Ginny, eyes blazing, fists on her hips. "Carrying on with our niece and that blonde tart?"

"Uh..." Harry's throat is dry. Every single pair of eyes in the tent is either looking at him or Ginny.

She takes a single step forward, screeching even louder. "The same age as our boys!"

"Uh..."

She takes another step forward. "Shameless!"

"Ginny, please..."

"You've got nothing to say for yourself?" She is now standing nose-to-nose with Harry. As Harry is still appears to be stuck, her face opens into a huge smile, she stretches on tiptoe and gives Harry a sloppy kiss on the cheek. "Good job. Sirius would be proud." She turns around and walks away.

There is a moment of silence, until George breaks it with a shout. "Best. Prank. Ever!" He starts laughing. Other people follow. Soon, everybody is laughing, except for Ginny, who stands next to her husband and Lily, looking smug.

The rest of the party is both enjoyable and unremarkable.

=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=

Celebrating Chastity's Mastery is done in a slow-moving party made up of several steps. First, Harry, Rose and Chastity spend a day in London's fanciest spa, getting outrageously pampered. At that moment, Harry is in his Holly Evans persona, a busty redhead with jade green eyes. After the pampering, the trio has an early dinner at the Lacroix, a Michelin two-star restaurant with a wizarding section. Then a stop home, where Rose and Harry labor to fulfill some of Chastity's dirtiest little fantasies. Tonight's feature was the two Roses, with stripping, tongue-and-finger foreplay with a little rope, a slow DP session with the Roses using magical silicone wands and a bathtub snogging party with Harry back at his black-haired, block-and-tackle equipped self. Then it's dress-up. Tux for the boy, high fashion for the ladies and dancing at the Brass Bell, a low-key muggle jazz club with thirties décor and a nice dance floor. A quick romp on the living room sofa and naked cuddling in bed gives it a fitting end.

=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=

The compound is a rectangle, surrounded by a cinderblock wall twenty feet high, security turrets at the corners and a double steel door, wide enough for a truck, with a small door cut into it. It sits in stinky squalor, surrounded by a poor section of Kinshasa. A cleared twenty-foot lane of beaten dirt surrounds it, to give the floor-mounted machine guns in the turrets a clear field of fire.

They spent two weeks casing it. Blacktip, disguised as a mangy, half-starved black mutt, got familiar with the comings and goings of the neighborhood. Harry using several different bodies or his cloak, followed people who came in and out of the compound, learning about what happens inside through legillimency, veritaserum and obliviation.

It's a mixed crew of wizards and muggles, collecting money from a crime network scattered through most of Central Africa. A blatant violation of the Statute of Secrecy, nearly impossible to remove by frontal assault without causing a war with the DRC's muggle government. The mission is simple. Remove the head. Discreetly. Harry went in nearly two days before, disguised as a south-african mercenary with a taste for whores. Harry can do a very tasty-looking African streetwalker when needed.

Since then Rose stayed as the disguised Blacktip, eating rats and drinking rain water, sleeping under rotting planks, and getting a kick or two from the locals. She is worried. It's taking too long.

It's late evening, but not quite midnight yet. First, the popping sounds of small caliber firearms. Screaming, muffled by the walls. Dull explosions. Blacktip waits for a few minutes, and then she sneaks up. She stops directly under one of the turrets, hidden by the shadows. She transforms, grabs a grenade from a pocket, removes the pin and levitates it into the turret. Even before it explodes, she casts three bombarda maxima at the other turret. Total surprise. The guns and wands covering the front door are neutralized, at least for now. There is another explosion, shots fired, and screaming. She transforms back, and runs back to cover, watching the front gates.

Ten minutes later the front gate explodes out. A small man, covered in blood and soot walks out, limping and dragging a large dismembered husk of a man by a rope tied around his torso. Blacktip transforms and rushes towards the man, helping him pull his load towards the scant cover of the first row of shacks. "I'm nearly drained," Harry says. "Burn it." Rose hesitates. "There is nobody alive in there." Rose shakes her head in dismay. They estimated over eighty people living in the compound.

She has cast fiendfyre before, but never in the field. Here, control is life-and-death crucial. Lose it, and she might end up killing a million people, a real-life Daenerys. She disillusions Harry and the husk, then herself, takes a few steps towards the compound. Lifts her wand, breathes in-and-out, focusing on the intent, the need to annihilate the building in front of her, and speaks the incantation. "Ignis Malleus". A giant fox made of fire erupts from her wand.

Controlling the spell is similar to using the imperio curse. The fire is magical, and it will follow the intent of the caster, as long as the caster retains control. It's relatively easy at first, but as the cursed fire consumes things it becomes stronger, wilder, and it fights back. Occlumency is useless as it closes the caster's mind, which is the opposite of what's needed. Focused, unbridled will. The fire begins to consume the compound. Hotter, stronger. Rose feels it buckling to escape, twisting under her will. She breathes faster. It's exhilarating and very scary. Her control slips for a second, and a tongue of fire in the shape of a snake leaps out, trying to reach the nearby shacks. Rose growls, clenching her teeth and intensifies her focus. She struggles, fighting the wild fire with her vulpine wildness until it's back under control. The minutes pass. The flames reach a hundred feet up, but there is surprisingly little smoke. The cursed fire burns everything. A few more minutes, and Rose begins to tire. Suddenly, some magical event, a little explosion and a dark oily aura that expands and dissipates. Harry gets up then, AK's the limbless thing, and levitates it up and forward, dropping the dead body into the fire. He sits down on the dirt and closes his eyes after that, too spent to do anything else.

The fire begins to die down, and Rose feels the magical will dissipate, leaving behind just regular fire. Her legs are wobbly. She drags herself to Harry, squats and hugs him. She whispers "tortoise". A hook behind her navel takes them both away.

The portkey drops them in an ICW compound hidden in the Atlas Mountains, in northern Algeria. They arrive in a large room, with a broad fireplace dominating one wall, windows showing a craggy landscape dusted with snow, a large wood table with long benches a couple of couches and a bookcase with a few scattered books. There's two people in the room when they arrive. One of them conjures a cot and places Harry on it. The other leaves through a door and comes back with another men. He introduces himself to Rose in heavily accented English as Healer Schmidt. He approaches Harry and speaks to him. Harry is unresponsive. The healer casts diagnostic spells, quite a few of them. He gives Harry a pepper-up, a blood-replenisher and a dreamless sleep potion. He turns to Rose. "Are you all right?"

"I'm uninjured. But I am magically exhausted, hungry and I haven't really slept in two days."

"Ah." He hands her another pepper-up. Rose drinks it, grimaces and feels herself a little less fuzzy. "Just a couple of questions Miss..."

"Evans." She points to Harry. "He is Jones."

"Very well, Miss Evans. Can you tell me what happened with Mr. Jones?"

"I didn't see it, but he was involved in some very heavy fighting."

"Muggle fighting?"

"Mixed muggle and magical."

"I see. Anything else I should know?"

"He's a metamorphmagus. He can heal almost any injury very fast. How is he?"

"Oh, he will live, Miss Evans. He is magically exhausted and he has two bullets in him, a broken femur and his left shoulder is severely damaged. There is signs of another four or five serious injuries, burns, cuts, dark curse exposure and severe soft-tissue damage everywhere, mostly healed by his unusual talent, I presume. There is some strange readings from his bloodstream..."

"He has traces of basilisk venom and phoenix tears in his blood, but that is due to exposure as a child. He is immune to most blood poisons as a result."

"Fascinating. An interesting man."

"Yes he is."

"I'll let him rest, and deal with the bullets tomorrow. I prefer to let his magic replenish a little."

"Thank you, Healer Schmidt."

"You're welcome."

The healer leaves and another man approaches. "A good night for sports." A passphrase.

Rose closes her eyes and struggles a bit to recall. "Specially golf and football."

He bows, pulls a chair and hands me a badge. ICW security. "Did you complete the mission?"

"Yes."

"Should we expect any problems?"

"No. All traces of our intervention were erased."

"That is very good. We will expect a full report."

"That's his job." She points to Harry. "I'm just the back-up."

"Thank you Miss... Evans."

"You're welcome."

Next morning Rose wakes up, takes a long bath and eats a large breakfast before seeking Harry. She knows he would probably sleep for a whole day or more. When she gets to his bed, his shoulder and leg are already bandaged, and he is peacefully asleep. She hunts in the bookshelf, finding a book on fertility rituals written in ancient Greek, and sets out to read while she waits. The healer comes back a couple of times, scans Harry, mutters to himself, and pours more potions down his throat. It's late at night when Harry wakes up. Rose is dozing on a chair next to him.

"Evans?"

She yawns and stretches. "Hi."

"Where are we?"

"Algeria. ICW compound." He looks a little uncertain. "You'll be fine. Good as new in a couple of days, according to the Healer."

Harry grimaces. "That's good, I guess."

Rose casts a couple of heavy privacy charms. "What happened, Harry?"

"The fucker had a horcrux. Couldn't squeeze the precise location out of him, just that it was somewhere around."

"Ah."

Harry looks bleak. "There were no innocents there. luv. They fucking ate their prisoners." Rose grabs his hand. This kind of mission chips away at his humanity, and sometimes she fears there isn't that much left. They both brood for a while. Later, Harry squeezes her hand and asks. "Did you talk to Chazz?"

Rose is thankful for the change of subject. "We flooed this morning. She had news."

"What news?"

Rose doesn't answer at first. She stares at Harry, a hard look he hasn't seen before. After a while, she sighs. "This was the last one."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean you're done. No more assignments for the ICW, or anyone else." Harry keeps looking at her. He knows there is more. "She's pregnant."

He blinks. A soft slow smile shows up and Rose smiles back. "That's fine, love. I guess I'm done."

She hugs him, hard, and the tears begin to fall.

-The End-