TITLE: Ménage à Quatre
DISCLAIMER: All things Harry Potter belong to J K Rowling... basically, if you recognise it, it isn't mine... Please don't sic the Aurors on me, I'm just here for the fun.
Holy House
Holyhead
Holy Island
Anglesey
Wales
Sunday 28th September, 1999
Upon waking up, Harry groaned to himself, quickly shielding his eyes from the bright sunlight that was coming through his bedroom window and grimacing at the fuzzy feeling and odd aftertaste in his mouth that came from drinking a decent amount of fire whiskey last night.
A quick glance to his side showed Ginny and Katie quite happily cuddled up together, leaving him surprisingly free from their arms. Ginny was seemingly content to be the little spoon no matter which way they cuddled, and was happily secured within Katie's arms, the far taller witch wrapped around her with them both cuddled up under the duvet.
He stared for a moment, smiling at how tender and peaceful the pair looked before quietly slipping out of bed, doing his best not to move the covers too much before he quietly grabbed some clean clothes and went to get washed up.
Splashing some cold water on his face and running it through his hair definitely helped him feel more alive, and the toothpaste and mouthwash fixed the fire whiskey aftermath in his mouth thankfully.
He took his time to have a quick shave as well, having got used to shaving every day or every two days now since Ginny complained about his scratchy stubble if he let it grow out too much, something Katie had commented on and seemed very pleased that he kept his face as hairless as possible.
Finishing his morning routine he quietly came back into the bedroom, taking another look at the bed and smiling at the pair of witches that were still snuggled up together and enjoying their sleep.
The bedroom was still an utter tip from whatever had happened last night. There were empty cartons of ice cream on various surfaces, glasses and a completely empty bottle of fire whiskey on the side table, along with a various mismatch of chairs, stools, and big beanbags for some reason, that had been conjured around the room.
Shaking his head in amusement he grabbed his wand from his bedside table and slipped it into his jeans pocket, choosing to ignore hunting around for a t-shirt for now until he'd had coffee and was more awake so he could actually sort out the bedroom once the girls were awake as well.
Slipping out of the bedroom he closed the door silently behind him, happy to let Ginny and Katie sleep in for as long as they wanted.
Heading downstairs he could already smell coffee and some breakfast type smells in the air, which meant Hermione was probably awake already. He did snort with laughter as he reached the ground floor, moving through the living room and seeing Alicia, Angelina and George quite happily cuddled up together on a conjured bed with a duvet over the three of them.
A pile of discarded clothes by the bed told him they'd got themselves pretty comfortable last night after he'd gone to bed, and he was happy they'd at least conjured or transfigured a bed instead of doing whatever they ended up doing on his couches.
"Hey," He whispered softly as he walked into the kitchen, smiling as Hermione looked up from the book she was reading on the kitchen table while enjoying a coffee and some jam on toast.
"Morning," Hermione smiled back softly.
"You OK?" Harry asked, moving around the kitchen to flick the kettle on before readying himself a mug and pulling over the coffee and sugar jars.
"I'm... yes, I'm OK." Hermione nodded after taking a deep breath, standing up from her seat and bringing her empty coffee mug over to him. "I sent Ron an owl earlier," She said as Harry collected the milk from the fridge. "I told him we're over." She said firmly when Harry looked at her curiously.
"You sure you're OK?" Harry asked, putting the milk down and spooning out some coffee into the two mugs, adding three sugars to his and smiling softly at the face Hermione gave him.
"I'm fine, honestly." Hermione confirmed. "It's... it's a relief actually." She explained. "It really felt like a weight off my shoulders last night when I decided to do it, but actually doing it?" She steeled herself and took a breath. "It truly felt like a burden had been lifted. Knowing that I don't have to put up with his rants anymore, or him and Molly shouting about you, or her telling me what I should be doing, her thinly veiled comments and prodding for me to just settle down with Ron and start a family as soon as we can."
"Ugh," Harry shook his head at that as the kettle boiled, letting him fill up the two mugs before adding some milk to each of them. "It took me ages to see it too." He said with a reassuring smile. "Ron's was always just a fair weather friend to anyone really. As long as he's happy and getting what he wants, he'll be there, but as soon as he gets jealous or angry about something, he just doesn't care who he hurts as long as he's having his little tantrums and... you know..." He trailed off with a shrug. "Molly's the same way. She's happy and fine as long as everyone is doing what she says and living according to her rules, but if you don't..."
"Then she starts yelling and screaming," Hermione nodded, filling in the end of Harry's sentence and seeing the parallels between mother and son all too clearly, frowning at the thought of what Ron would likely turn into as he grew up.
"Do you have anything at The Burrow you need? George or Bill could grab anything you left there if you need it?" Harry asked.
"I didn't leave anything there," Hermione shook her head, smiling in thanks as she accepted the mug of coffee from him. "Maybe it was just that I was used to keeping all my things in my bag, but.. I think... I think I always knew really." She said softly. "That it wouldn't last." She explained when Harry looked at her. "I never really felt welcome at The Burrow, not... It never felt like it was a home or somewhere where I could be myself." She said with a sad smile. "It was like... I don't know, Ron, Molly and Arthur never looked down on me or anything... but... the way they talked about my parents sometimes, and muggles really... like they felt they muggles were dumber or just... it's hard to put their attitude into words really, and none of them even made an effort to try and understand muggle life properly. And Ron's room... ugh." She grimaced, remembering all the bright orange Cannons posters and the mess he kept around.
Harry simply snorted at that, grinning in amusement as he tried to picture Hermione staying in Ron's room for any real period of time.
Hermione was always keeping things neat and organised, tidy and with everything where she knew she could find it. From what he remembered, Ron's room was quite literally chaos, with clothes and quidditch paraphernalia thrown everywhere, not a single book shelf in the room, with all his school bits and everything simply thrown in his trunk and forgotten about until he took them to Hogwarts every year.
"This is your home," Harry smiled at her, reaching out and pulling her into a hug after she put her coffee down by her book again. "For as long as you want to stay here." He smiled, wrapping his arms around her.
"Harry... you're sure you don't mind?" Hermione asked in a quiet voice, actually revelling in the warmth and comfort that she felt from his hug. "I just... I don't want you to feel like I'm taking advantage of you or anything... I already feel like I owe you so much, I can't just..."
"I'll keep telling you until you accept it," Harry chuckled, cutting off her tirade squeezing her gently with a reassuring smile. "You've done more charms on the house than I have." He grinned when she let out a small laugh at that. "This is your home, forever if you want it." He said, smiling down at her.
Hermione simply looked up at him before smiling with a small nod, leaning into his hug and giving him a thankful hug bag, her mind warring between enjoying the comfort and reassurance of his hug, and the knowledge that he was topless and she was pressed against his bare chest.
"Are Ginny and Katie still asleep?" Hermione asked, breaking out of the hug and returning to her coffee, pulling her eyes away from Harry's naked torso where she was idly looking for the bite marks or scratches that Katie had told her about.
"Yeah," Harry chuckled, returning the milk to the fridge and tidying up the side counter a bit. "Looked like they both needed the lay in, so I left them cuddled up together."
"They... they seem really happy together, you all do." Hermione smiled, smirking a bit when he turned to the fridge and she saw his back littered with faded scratch marks in parallel lines that must have definitely come from either Katie or Ginny's nails. "I'm still trying to understand it all, but it's making you happy, so it must be a good thing."
"It is," Harry chuckled, leaning back against the counter and sipping at his coffee, happily breathing in the smell and relishing in it. "And if you figure it out, let me know... because I'm still trying to work it out myself." He said with a laugh as Hermione rolled her eyes at him.
"Whatever it is, it's..."
"Is that coffee?"
Harry and Hermione looked over at the voice, spotting Angelina padding towards the kitchen doorway in just her knickers and bra.
"Uh, yeah." Harry nodded absently, shaking his head quickly and turning from the sight. "Milk? Sugar?"
"Milk and three please," Angelina said, ruffling her messy bed hair with a yawn and pulling it back out of her face. "Morning you two."
"Morning," Hermione replied automatically, staring at how Angelina simply sat down at the kitchen table in her underwear without a care in the world. It wasn't really racy or particularly revealing underwear, but the white and lacy bra along with matching french knickers stood out vibrantly against her dark chocolate coloured skin.
"How much did we drink last night?" Angelina groaned, leaning down on the kitchen table and sinking her head into her arms.
"About a bottle and a half between you all," Harry laughed as he boiled the kettle again and got a mug ready for Angelina, bringing down a few extra mugs for when Alicia and George woke up too.
"No wonder I feel like the Hogwarts Express is running full steam around my brain." Angelina groaned from her arms. "My mouth feels like I've been snogging a phoenix too." She muttered, lifting her head up and scraping her tongue against her teeth.
"Toast helps," Hermione laughed, standing up from the table and heading over to put two slices of bread in the toaster.
"Bathroom's upstairs if you want it, help yourself to anything in there." Harry said with a smile as he mixed up her coffee and brought it over. "Here you go." He chuckled, sliding the coffee mug in front of Angelina and grinning when she brought it right in front of her face and inhaled the aroma with a deep sigh.
"Thanks," Angelina said before blowing on the coffee and sipping it gently, letting out a contented sigh as the taste hit her tongue and she swallowed her first mouthful. "I'm so glad we don't open up on Sundays." She said with a small laugh. "I wouldn't be able to face customers today." She muttered with a shake of her head.
"Will Alicia and George be up soon?" Harry asked, returning to his spot leaning up against the counter, concentrating on his coffee and doing his best to look anywhere but at Angelina's half naked body.
"No idea," Angelina muttered absently as she sipped more of her coffee. "We normally sleep in on Sundays since it's the only day off we get." She explained. "If they're both feeling the same hangover I've got, they're probably wanting to stay asleep as long as possible."
"George shouldn't be that bad," Harry laughed quietly. "We didn't drink too much."
"Nice for you," Angelina grumbled into her mug, causing Hermione to smile and shake her head.
"Here," Hermione smiled as the toast popped up, letting her collect it from the toaster and put it on a plate before taking it over for Angelina. "I don't know what you normally have on it..." She mused, returning to the cupboards and collecting various jars before bringing them over to the kitchen table with a knife.
"Huh..." Angelina stared at the selection, not having heard of most of what Hermione had put in front of her. She recognised butter, strawberry jam and peanut butter, but others like 'Nutella', 'sandwich spread' and 'liver pâté' left her confused.
Picking up the jar of 'Nutella' she unscrewed the top, sniffing at the brown contents curiously. "What is it?" She asked, looking up to Hermione again as the younger witch sat back down at the table.
"Chocolate and hazelnut," Hermione explained, handing over a knife. "It's a bit rich for me, but I like it as a treat every so often."
"Chocolate?" Angelina shrugged, accepting the knife before dipping the tip into the brown spread and tasting a bit curiously, smiling when the taste hit her tongue. "This... I need this in my life!" She said firmly, digging more of the brown spread out with the knife to slather onto her toast.
"You can get it at most muggle shops," Hermione laughed, returning to her coffee with a smile. "It's pretty cheap as well."
"It's good on sandwiches, like those long french bread stick things with poppy seeds on top? Especially if the bread is warm and it gets all melted inside." Harry added with a shrug as he watched Angelina taking a contented bite out of her toast and sighing happily at the taste.
"Ginny loves it too," Hermione smiled. "There's far more options in muggle shops than magical ones." She explained.
"I'll have a look sometime." Angelina nodded, enjoying another sip and starting to feel more human now with food and coffee. "You doing better today then?" She asked, looking at Hermione.
"I'm fine, really." Hermione confirmed with a half smile, knowing she was likely going to have to put up with everyone worrying about her breaking down and crying or something for at least a couple of weeks now. "I know I'll probably have some sad times too, me and Ron... we did have some good times, it wasn't all arguing and... you know, but honestly... it's feeling more like relief than anything else right now."
"Good on you," Angelina smiled over reassuringly. "And if you ever start getting the urge to take that idiot back, just come and find any of us, we'll snap you out of it and talk some sense into you." She said with a grin as she happily munched on a triangle of Nutella covered toast.
"Definitely," Harry nodded firmly at that, definitely on board with the thought that Ron certainly didn't deserve someone like Hermione after all the shit he'd pulled.
"I won't," Hermione shook her head. "Yesterday... yesterday was an eye opener. I don't want the rest of my life to be like that." She said firmly. "Worrying about Ron's jealousy and his temper, I couldn't live my life worrying that he was going to fly off the handle every time I got something better than him."
"Good," Harry smiled, moving over to join the two at the kitchen table. "I didn't want to say anything bad about him while you were together... but..." He sighed, shaking his head. "I just didn't see you two lasting. Ron hasn't got a loyal bone in his body, after he's turned on me so many times... I could just see him getting to the point where he demanded that you stopped being friends with me." He said sadly.
"I'd never chose between you two," Hermione said firmly. "If Ron had tried to make me chose, he would have lost, that would have shown me that he didn't know me at all." She said before she sighed. "Then again... after everything he accused me of yesterday, I don't even know if he ever did really know me."
"After everything, I look at Ron and I really see him as my version of Remus when I think about it." Harry explained, drawing a curious glance from Hermione as she considered that. "Remus claimed to be best friends with my parents, but he was never there when he promised he would be." He explained. "There was always some excuse or a fobbed off reason why he couldn't talk to me or spend time with me. Like he couldn't be there for me when I was growing up, or he couldn't talk to me about being friends with my parents until I confronted him about it." He rolled his eyes. "Then when Sirius died he just ran off again and didn't speak to me at all, and then he tried to run away and abandon Tonks when he found out she was pregnant."
Hermione grimaced as Harry read off his list of Remus' faults, knowing she was guilty of at least one of those when she'd sided with Dumbledore when he'd told her not to contact him over the summer when Sirius had died.
She knew he'd forgiven her for it, but now she knew about Dumbledore's duplicity and how he'd used her to enforce Harry's isolation, it hurt even more knowing she'd been used like that by someone she'd looked up to at the time and hadn't even realised it.
"Ron just abandons everyone whenever he doesn't get what he wants. He's a jealous and angry idiot who thinks he should get everything but doesn't want to work for anything." Harry rattled off, shaking his head in disgust. "I remember first year, me and Ron saw that Mirror of Desire thing? The magic mirror Dumbledore hid the stone in? It showed us our biggest desire apparently."
"You mentioned that in the interviews with The Prophet," Hermione nodded, remembering she'd been confused when Harry had spoken about it, as she hadn't known he'd seen the mirror before the end of the year when he'd fought Quirrell.
"Right, Ron saw it too." Harry explained. "He saw himself as the Quidditch Captain and the Head Boy, holding the Quidditch Cup." He shrugged, seeing Hermione's curious expression. "What I mean is, that was apparently his greatest dreams... but did he ever actually work towards any of them? Did he try to get the Quidditch Captain or Head boy?" He asked. "We know Dumbledore and McGonagall only gave him the prefects badge to make sure I didn't get it, but did Ron actually put in any work towards anything he wanted?"
"No," Hermione sighed, shaking her head when she thought about it.
"He's an idiot," Angelina muttered, enjoying a deep drink from her coffee. "I mean it, if you ever think about going back to that tosser, just drop by the shop and we'll happily remind you of how much of a git he is."
"I won't... but thanks for the support." Hermione smiled over. "I'm definitely not going back to Ron, not for anything. He can say whatever he wants, I'm done listening to him now." She said firmly.
"That's the spirit," Angelina smiled over.
"I just want to focus on my studies and finish everything I want. Everything else is second place now." Hermione smiled, content in her decision. She'd go back to Hogwarts for classes tomorrow, and would tell Professor Flitwick that she'd made up her mind and would like to pursue a mastery in enchanting.
"You doing anything this week?" Angelina asked, looking over at Harry curiously.
"Not much," Harry shook his head. "Going to see Bill at some point, talk to him about the defence books he'd recommend, but that's about it I think." He said with a small shrug, knowing full well that his week was extremely empty compared to Angelina and Hermione's weeks.
"Morning,"
All three at the table looked around at the voice, spotting George and Alicia coming into the kitchen. Both actually fully dressed, though with equally rumpled clothes and messy hair.
"Coffee?" Harry offered, standing up from the table and kicking out another chair so there was room for Alicia and George to sit down and join them.
"You're a god among men Harrikins," George smiled over.
"Thanks." Alicia smiled, taking the offered seat next to Angelina. "What time did you wake up?" She asked, looking over at her girlfriend.
"Not long, twenty minutes maybe." Angelina shrugged, leaning to the side and resting her head down on Alicia's shoulder. "I regret the fire whiskey." She muttered with a groan.
"You're more of a lightweight than a pygmy puff," Alicia laughed, stroking Angelina's hair tenderly. "Where's Katie and Ginny?" She asked curiously.
"Still asleep," Harry explained as he put the kettle on the boil again.
"It's too early for Ginny," Hermione said with a small laugh. "She won't be up before ten, eleven maybe since she was the one drinking the most last night."
"She hasn't changed much then," George said with a small grin, remembering all too well how Ginny would sleep in given any opportunity.
"I thought I remembered her taking some pretty big swigs," Angelina muttered, lifting herself from Alicia's shoulder to return to her coffee. "She's so short, where does she put it all?" She muttered mostly to herself.
"No idea," Harry laughed, spooning out coffee into the three mugs and bringing the jar of sugar over to the kitchen table along with the plastic bottle of milk. "You three got anything to do today?" He asked curiously.
"Nope," George smiled happily. "We were working on ideas for new stock, opening up a whole new section." He explained. "But I don't think we'll be ready for it until the holidays, plenty of time."
"A new section?" Hermione asked curiously.
"It was Katie's idea actually," Angelina explained with a grin. "Something to balance out all the pink and horrible Wonder Witch stuff on the main floor."
"Oh?" Hermione asked, intrigued now. The Wonder Witch section of the Weasley's store was a disgusting pink area, filled with glitter, overpowering perfumes, and garish pinks that only someone like Dolores Umbridge could have appreciated.
"The Wicked Witch line," George explained. "More adult type stuff than the pranks and joke stuff we have around." He said with a shrug. "These two seem to think it'll sell well." He said, indicating Alicia and Angelina.
"It will," Angelina nodded assuredly. "We've also got some ideas for some great enchanted clothes. Like bras and knickers and bits. Extra comfort, feather-light charms, warming and painless charms on knickers for bad weeks." She rattled off.
"Wow," Hermione nodded. "Wait... adult stuff? You mean magical... bedroom aids?" She asked, trying to put the term as politely as she could.
"Exactly!" Angelina grinned widely. "Katie thought it up when those tongue toffees got messed up, we've come up with a ton of ideas since then though."
"And a load of the prank stuff we can rework to add a sexier flavour." George grinned. "Already got some lust perfume brewing up, just waiting on some more ingredients to start figuring things out and testing ideas."
"That... I don't know what to say to that." Hermione stammered out, staring across in surprise.
"It's a new market," George nodded happily as Harry brought over the coffees, leaving the sugar and milk on the table for everyone to help themselves. "There used to be a polyjuice trade down in Knockturn, but since the aurors cleaned that all up..." He trailed off with a shrug.
"Polyjuice trade?" Hermione asked curiously.
"Veela hair mostly," Angelina clarified. "Witches, or wizards really, who want to be be a sexy veela for a night." She explained.
"Oh," Hermione blinked. Polyjuice sex fantasies... that was... wow...
"We won't be selling anything like that though, just the more fun stuff." George explained, mixing in some sugar to his coffee and ignoring the milk before sipping it contentedly. "The scaled down Tongue Toffees are a pretty good starter, going to mix them in with red liquorice instead though."
"Licking Liquorice." Alicia grinned.
"Right," George nodded. "Can see how they sell first, might scale them up for people who want longer tongues. Eight inches? Ten?" He shrugged.
"Wish we could figure out how to duplicate your trick," Angelina smirked, winking over to Harry and causing Alicia to grin widely at him too. "I've got no idea how we'd even start to do that though."
"I bet it feels so strange," Hermione mused, shaking her head and concentrating on the actual practical research of what they were talking about, rather than the lewder uses being discussed.
"Huh?" George looked around the table, utterly confused why Harry seemed to be blushing and staring into his coffee while the witches apparently knew exactly what each other were talking about and looked to be sharing grins.
"Parseltongue," Angelina took pity on her boyfriend.
"Talking to snakes?" George blinked, still confused and not understanding the link at all.
"Snakes flicker their tongue at high speed, vibrating it to make the hisses." Hermione explained, spotting the exact moment George cottoned on to what the girls were saying when he turned to Harry with a look of awe on his face before that expression quickly turned to horror and disgust.
"I was about to congratulate you and offer a high five, but my brain just reminded me that that's ickle Gin Gin that probably knows about that... so... I don't want to know." George said, shaking his head firmly and intending to keep his brain as far away from that side of the conversation as possible.
"It's actually a fascinating idea," Hermione mused aloud. "Replicating a magical talent like that... I don't even know how it would be possible though, does polyjuice replicate magical talents as well?" She asked, looking between Alicia and Angelina. "I never actually thought to try it when I was polyjuiced as Harry during the war."
"Forgot all about the snake speaking thing," George nodded as well, knowing he hadn't thought about it either.
"Don't think so," Angelina shook her head. "Just makes you look like the other person. Like the veela stuff, you'd just look like a veela, you wouldn't be able to throw fireballs around or turn into a harpy or anything." She explained. "You wouldn't become a metamorph if you used some of their hair in a polyjuice potion, you'd just end up looking however they did when you took the hair."
"Interesting," Hermione nodded, accepting that and resolving to research the matter further when she got chance. "And also another rather idiotic gap in the plan when we escaped with Harry." She sighed, rubbing her forehead. "All Voldemort would have had to do would be to stun us all, conjure snakes and the only one that could talk to a snake would be the real Harry."
"Wow, yeah," George frowned. "That... that kinda makes the whole polyjuice escape kind of useless when it's that easy to figure out which one was the real Harry." He said, shaking his head and moving back onto the main topic. "It's tricky too, polyjuice takes forever to brew, doesn't last long either." He explained. "No point in stocking stuff like that, if it didn't sell in a few weeks it'd be ruined."
Hermione nodded absently, already knowing the problems with polyjuice. It certainly didn't make sense to have as a pre-made potion given how quickly it spoiled, which meant they were only looking for long term ideas for stock that wouldn't spoil or fail while it was on the shelves.
"There's certainly some charms that could be used I think." Hermione mused aloud. "I can think of a few, but I'd have to look in to how you'd actually enchant them into products properly. I haven't even started looking at enchanting books properly yet, so I only really know the basics." She explained when Alicia and Angelina looked at her.
"I get the feeling we're probably not going to like this conversation mate," George chuckled, sharing a grin with Harry.
"Because all men care about is boobs and butt," Angelina rolled her eyes. "Half the time it's not even worth wearing anything sexy because you just tear it off without appreciating it properly first."
"Hey! I appreciate your fancy underwear just fine." George defended himself with a huff. "But it's what's under the wrapping that counts, like a Christmas present." He said with a grin.
"Men," Alicia and Angelina huffed at the same time, drawing a snort of laughter from Hermione, and vaguely offended looks from Harry and George.
Katie woke up feeling extremely content, her arms wrapped around Ginny and her eyes filled with the younger witch's flame coloured hair.
Lifting up her head a bit, a quick glance across the bed told her that Harry had already got up for the day and had left them to sleep, which meant he was likely downstairs with Alicia, Angelina, George and Hermione.
She did smile as Ginny grumbled a bit at her movements, snuggling down a bit and pushing herself back into her. It was cute, she had to admit the little redhead fit perfectly in her arms, and it felt amazing holding her here.
Leaning down she peppered some soft kisses along Ginny's shoulder, marvelling at the spread of freckles that decorated her skin. She could very happily spend all day counting all of these freckles and leaving soft kisses over every last one of them.
Hearing Ginny's pleased moaning she continued her kissing, working slowly across her shoulder to her neck before gently kissing her way up and around the tender throat that Ginny was exposing to her.
Grinning at the way Ginny was responding to her even in her sleep she gently released her hold around her, leaning back slightly to look around for her bag. Thankfully it was tossed down on her side of the bed along with her discarded clothes, so she could get to it easily enough.
It was a bit tricky to angle herself around, laying flat on her back while keeping one arm underneath Ginny, but she managed to fumble around and grope for her bag with her free hand, dragging it up to the bed so she could actually see what she was doing.
Right now she was definitely thankful of all the practice she put in catching and throwing quaffles with her left hand, as she dug through her bag before grinning gleefully when she found the paper bags inside.
Pulling one out first she glanced at it before looking inside and seeing the vampire vines and tucking it back in her bag and reaching for the other one. While fangs could be fun right now given how Ginny was very happily displaying her neck for her, it would be much more fun to wake the redhead up by testing the toffees that Angelina had given her.
Sliding the other paper bag out she put it to the side of her pillow before gently putting her bag down on the floor again, making sure she didn't wake Ginny up as she fiddled with everything before reaching in to the paper bag and picking out one of the 'failed' ton tongue toffees.
"Good morning Ginny," She whispered with an devious smirk as she unwrapped the toffee, using her free hand and her teeth to pull off the waxed paper before spitting it aside for now and slipping the toffee into her mouth.
The effect was quite literally instantaneous, as soon as she started chewing the soft toffee she felt her tongue swell up and push against her teeth, forcing her mouth open so her tongue could push its way out and making her to swallow the toffee quickly.
She couldn't help but grin as she actually saw how long her tongue was, bending it up it came far above her nose and almost reached up to her eyes.
"Hank 'oo Ajeeleena!" Katie grinned, unable to actually speak properly with the monster tongue.
Sliding her arm out from underneath Ginny she grinned at the muffled complaining coming from the redhead before rolling over and bracing herself on her knees and arms over the top of her and sliding down her body.
One thing she hadn't thought about was how impossible it was to actually kiss when your tongue didn't fit in your mouth anymore. That was irritating because Ginny's body was literally littered with extremely kissable freckles, and she wanted to kiss and lick her way down each and every one of them. That was something she would have to mention to Angelina when she got a chance.
Sliding down further she watched as Ginny wriggled a bit in the cool air as she pushed the duvet down with her, exposing Ginny's body to the daylight and grinning at all the delicious freckles that were tantalising her and begging to be kissed.
Kissing would just have to wait for another time, but she would certainly be returning to that freckled chest once her tongue was back to normal.
Nuzzling further down she positioned herself between Ginny's thighs, slowly sliding them apart before she used the tip of her tongue to start teasing and licking up the inside of her thighs. The sleepy moan she got in response was truly delectable, so she continued working up, reaching up with one hand to start gently stroking her way down and around the ginger lightning bolt that she'd left on Ginny's public region before ever so gently teasing her fingertips around her mound.
When Ginny's moans increased she flicked her tongue over the exposed folds, watching with glee as Ginny moaned again and spread her legs a bit further, enticing her to bolder movements.
She was actually amazed by how flexible and strong her tongue felt, it was definitely strange feeling it this long, but she still had complete control over it and it didn't feel unwieldy or like it was going to just hang loose from her mouth somehow.
Using her fingers to gently separate her folds, she ran the very tip of her tongue around the exposed and delicious entrance, the taste of Ginny's arousal hitting her tongue and driving her on as she licked right up across her entire slit before swirling the tip of her tongue around her exposed clit.
Ginny's loud moan came like an aphrodisiac, making her smile widely around her extended tongue and continue her assault.
"Hnnnnn..." Ginny moaned, her eyes fluttering open as Katie continued licking around her pussy and savouring every drop of arousal that was being produced. "Katie!" She moaned, looking down her body and seeing Katie's face there nestled between her thighs.
Katie simply wiggled her eyebrows as she stared up Ginny's body and looked her in her sleepy eyes, gently pushing her tongue into Ginny's folds and moving her fingers around to continue working on the sensitive area that nestled her clit.
"Oh... oh Merlin!" Ginny gasped out as she felt the tongue pressing into her, causing her to close her eyes again and spread her legs wider as Katie's tongue slid into her hot sex.
Katie almost laughed at the invitation, pushing her tongue firmer now until it slid through and found the hot and wet prize that she'd been searching for. Ginny's loud moans were the perfect invitation, and she took it with vigour and pressed herself forwards, relishing in the taste and sensations as she slid her extended tongue deeper than ever before into Ginny's tight pussy.
"Ohhhhhhh!" Ginny moaned loudly at that, bucking her hips upwards and arching her spine as she felt Katie's tongue push impossibly deep into her while her fingers played around her clit and teased it like it was a direct button that led straight to her climaxes.
Having a tongue as long as a cock was definitely interesting, and so much fun. She could control it much more than a man ever could control his penis, flexing and bending it deep inside of Ginny, twisting it and using the tip to slide around and press against her walls.
Every little ministration made Ginny writhe and moan harder, the little redhead grinding herself down before she reached down with both hands and gripped around Katie's hair.
"How... how deep..." Ginny moaned out, staring down at the mischievous eyes that were glinting up at her from between her legs.
Katie simply pressed herself in deeper until her mouth was sealed around Ginny's pussy, sucking firmly on her lips as she pushed her tongue as deep as it would go and flexed it firmly before wriggling it around inside of her sex.
The moans and writhing increased, so she sucked harder and continued her oral assault until Ginny bucked widely, forcing her to use both her hands to hold Ginny's hips down while she climaxed and flooded a torrent of liquid directly into her mouth.
"That... that..." Ginny gasped out, trying to catch her breath from what was the most intense oral sex she'd ever felt before.
Katie simply grinned before she hooked the tip of her tongue upwards, slowly pulling her mouth back so that the very tip of her tongue scraped down the inside walls of Ginny's pussy, causing her to moan erotically and writhe on the bed, bucking her hips up again at the sensation.
'Round two', Katie grinned to herself before she pushed forwards again, burying her face in Ginny's pussy and pressed her tongue deep inside of her before sliding out again, literally fucking Ginny with her tongue and holding her hips down so she could force her to another climax.
Ginny's high pitched moans reached an entire new crescendo at the sensations, her hands fleeing from Katie's head and fumbling on the bed-sheet, gripping into it for dear life as Katie literally face fucked her towards another orgasm.
"KATIE!" She screamed out in pure pleasure as she felt the tip of Katie's tongue pressing hard against her g-spot deep inside of her, the sensations rivalling anything that she'd ever felt before as her body tensed to an unimaginable degree when the start of a furious multiple climax tore through her body.
That was definitely a scream to be proud of, and Katie kept her eyes focused upwards on the bed, locked and watching the pleasure on Ginny's face as the moaned and writhed, gripping onto the bedsheet as she manipulated Ginny's g-spot with the tip of her tongue, massaging and teasing it, and using every trick she could imagine to draw out every inch of pleasure she could as Ginny squirted uncontrollably in response to the manipulations going on inside her.
Ginny's expression was a pure picture as her body was wracked with waves of pleasure, and Katie kept her eyes fixed on it, memorising every moan, scream and utterance.
Oh yes, she would definitely have to thank Angelina for these toffees, and maybe get the recipe from them sometime, because reducing Ginny to this screaming and pleasure fuelled writhing mess was an act she was definitely going to enjoy again, and again, and again.
The Daily Prophet
Diagon Alley
London
Minerva McGonagall had lived with many regrets over the last eight years, more if she was being truly honest with herself.
For the past twenty years she'd stood back and let Albus Dumbledore run rough-sled over Harry Potter's life. She'd repeatedly convinced herself that Albus knew what he was doing. She'd listened to his honeyed words and placating comments about The Greater Good, and how everything he was doing was to secure a better world for everyone.
But being faced with all her mistakes, all the losses and abuses that she'd turned a blind eye too, the Potter Editions of the Daily Prophet had broken her long before Miss Granger had thrown all of her complicity in her face.
She'd lost her job at Hogwarts the next day. Filius had gone directly to the Board of Governors with every single accusation Miss Granger had made, and told them that she'd admitted to them all.
She should have known it was coming. That the Board of Governors would automatically flood to the defence or Mr Potter. After his entire life had been put into the public's view through the issues in the Daily Prophet, and with his popularity higher than ever due to his defeat of Voldemort, The-Man-Who-Vanquished was by far the most popular wizard in the country right now, possibly the world. There was no way that the Board of Governors were going to risk alienating him by keeping her employed at the school after everything she had done.
She should have resigned, walked away like Horace did. Before he'd fled, he must have come to the same realisation that she had done, but she'd held out a glimmer of hope that maybe things didn't look as bad from the outside as they had to Mr Potter and Miss Granger.
Her forceful retirement had come at a very strongly worded letter from The Board of Governors, and stated plainly that she was expected to be out of the castle by the end of the day. There was no room for bargaining or discussion, it was spelled out firmly and left no indication that any reply would be taken into account to or paid any attention to at all.
"Yes?" The young witch at the front desk asked, looking up from where she'd been writing in a small note book. "Can I help you?"
"I am here to see either the editor in chief, or whoever is in charge of writing the Potter exposés." Minerva admitted after taking a deep breath and steeling herself for what was to come.
"Who shall I say is here?" The witch asked, looking at Minerva blankly.
"Pro... Minerva McGonagall." Minerva answered, almost calling herself by her old title before she caught herself in time. Surprised that the young witch didn't recognise her, but she just assumed she was a home schooled student or someone that had moved here from abroad.
"I'll see if Mr Amorim will see you." The witch said as she stood up. "Please take a seat while I find out for you."
Minerva nodded in thanks, moving over to one of the comfortable looking chairs in the building's entrance way while the witch headed off inside and spoke to someone just by the main doors.
Letting out a long sigh, Minerva sat down and contemplated everything she was about to do. None of it would truly be groundbreaking news, and it wouldn't be anything that hadn't fully been covered in Mr Potter and Miss Granger's memories and interviews already.
She didn't even know if The Prophet would be interested at all really, but she had to try. The thought of actually telling her side and confirming everything was the only balm that even hinted at easing her conscience these days, she just had to hope that it would be taken as the apology it was truly meant as.
She could only sit there in silence, watching as the witch returned to her desk and carried on scribbling things down in her little notebook.
It was nearly five minutes later that the main doors opened and a silver haired man wearing a muggle looking suit came through and stared at her. The look of contempt on his face was plain enough, so he likely knew exactly who she was and everything that she had done over the past years.
"Ms McGonagall." The wizard said flatly, not bothering with any other greeting as he strode over. "I am Rupert Amorim. Editor in Chief."
"Thank you." Minerva said as she stood up. Noting that Rupert didn't offer a hand shake or any greeting at all really as he watched her with cold grey eyes.
"What can I do for you?" Rupert asked, his tone belaying exactly how little he really cared for anything Minerva wanted.
"I am here to offer penance," Minerva admitted. "A confession, an apology, think of it as you will Mr Amorim." She explained. "I want only to explain the things that I know, and show how Albus Dumbledore and Severus Snape treated Mr Potter, and planned his death." She said, voicing things aloud for the first time in her life and feeling the truth settle on her like a crushing weight.
Rupert simply stared at her, his eyes judging her and weighing her words.
"I can offer my memories as proof, I simply wish to make my apology known and let people know what really happened." Minerva explained.
"From behind the scenes so to speak?" Rupert asked, raising a single silver eyebrow at her as he contemplated her words.
"In a manner of speaking," Minerva sighed. "While Mr Potter and Miss Granger spoke of many things that happened at Hogwarts, there was far more that they did not see." She admitted sadly. "For many years now Albus had been constantly tweaking and changing the Hogwarts curriculum, making the courses and exams easier year after year."
"Why?" Rupert asked, frowning as he considered what he was being told.
"I cannot speak to his mind personally, though from his decisions and their consequences, I can only infer that he intentionally sabotaged the school's education to ensure that Mr Potter, and incidentally his entire school year, were not taught to the best of our ability, limiting his use of magic to only the most basic of spells." Minerva explained. "The harder spells and course work pushed to later years than they should have been, from what I saw, only the courses that Mr Potter did not attend, such as arithmancy and ancient runes, were allowed to return to their previous syllabus without Albus' interference."
"Hnh," Rupert mused on this, drumming his fingers against his thigh as he thought about what that actually meant. The magical population would definitely be in an uproar after finding out their children's education had been intentionally sabotaged in Mr Dumbledore's efforts to hold Mr Potter back from his full potential, the worry was that there was no target for the population to vent their ire on anymore. Mr Dumbledore was long since dead, and he could easily see that Ms McGonagall was looking to leave the country as well after making all of this know. "And Harry Potter?" He asked, staring across at Minerva coldly.
"It is perhaps my greatest regret that I did not stand up to Albus more and demand that Mr Potter be treated better." Minerva admitted forlornly. "I am content to offer any memories you need to explain what Albus actually planned for Mr Potter, and my complicity in his actions."
Rupert simply stared for a moment before he gave a single nod. "Come with me." He said, turning on his heel and heading back towards the main doors, pushing through them and holding one ajar for Minerva to follow him through.
A few steps behind Minerva simply took a deep breath as she followed, looking around and noting how busy the offices were. There were people bustling around constantly, all with notepads and dicta-quills, some sat at desks interviewing people, others researching through books and discussing things between each other.
She couldn't help the disappointed look that crossed her face when she saw Percy Weasley sat at a rather old and unkempt desk. The placard that 'corrections and spelling' giving the only indication of why he was here, with piles of parchment surrounding him as he worked diligently through them.
He looked very different from how she remembered him. Percy was always immaculately dressed and groomed as a student, and even more so when he'd been working at The Ministry. Now it was clear that his shirt and robes were ill fitting, he had the scruff of a five o'clock shadow around his jaw when it wasn't even noon yet, and even from here she could see how much he loathed his position at The Prophet.
Sadly she knew that Percy, just like herself, had made too many mistakes over the years. Siding with Fudge and then working for the Death Eater run Ministry had killed any opportunities for Percy Weasley to have any real progressive job now that the war was over.
Many might not remember him, but those that did remembered him firmly at Cornelius Fudge's side, and remembered all too well how he belittled Mr Potter and his friends, and helped organise the attacks on Mr Potter's reputation prior to Voldemort's resurgence.
Following Mr Amorim, she quickly looked away when Percy looked up at her, not wanting to meet his eyes and see the regret and sorrow mirrored there.
She simply walked on in silence, following Mr Amorim to one of the cordoned off offices where she noted a set of notebooks and several dicta-quills already waiting. It was clearly an office they used regularly for interviews, and was likely the most comfortable she was going to be for the next few hours.
"Very well Miss McGonagall," Rupert said as he closed the door behind them before walking around the table and sitting down, opening one of the note books and bringing his own quill out before setting up a second note book with a dicta-quill floating over it. "Shall we start?" He asked, gesturing for her to take the chair opposite from him.
Minerva nodded silently, taking the offered chair and sitting there with her hands clasped in her lap.
"What is it precisely that you want to tell the wizarding world then?" Rupert asked, making sure his quill was ready as he waited for the answer.
"First, I have many apologies to give, first and foremost to Mr Potter and the rest of his Gryffindor year for my behaviour and lack of attention while he was at school." Minerva admitted. "The truth is, I should have argued for better treatment and fairer processes for the Gryffindor students, but to my regret I did not."
"Why not?" Rupert asked, flicking his attention over to the side to make sure the dicta-quill was writing this all down correctly.
"Because I foolishly believed that Albus Dumbledore was doing the right thing. I believed, to my endless regret, that he truly did have the best interests for the world in mind..." Minerva admitted with a sad expression on her face. "Something I now know to be the greatest falsehood he ever told me."
"I see," Rupert nodded. "Why don't we start with Albus Dumbledore then?" He asked. "What happened, from your perspective of course, the night that James and Lily Potter were killed?"
Minerva took a deep breath to steady herself, closing her eyes as she felt the regret of that night flood her once again. "It started the day before, during a meeting in Albus' office at Hogwarts. We were planning a full Order meeting that very night, but he asked for me to come and see him separately to discuss a particular mission he wished for me to undertake."
"This was the day of the attack on Godric's Hollow correct? The Thirtieth First of October?" Rupert asked, making a note of the date when Minerva nodded at him. "What did he want you to do?"
"He asked me to evaluate a muggle address over the course of the next day." Minerva admitted with a pained expression. "Number Four, Privet Drive." She confirmed before continuing on. "That was the first time I witnessed the abhorrent behaviour of The Dursley family." She explained.
"The family Harry Potter was placed with." Rupert nodded, noting that down on his own notebook. "What exactly did you witness there?" He asked.
Minerva answered, keeping her voice as even as she could as she spoke about that day that she'd spent as a cat watching The Dursley's. She then continued on, talking about how she'd stayed at the house late into the evening, when Albus himself appeared shortly before Hagrid arrived with the baby Harry Potter in tow.
It was going to be a long and painful confession, but she owed Mr Potter this much at the very least.
Holy House
Holyhead
Holy Island
Anglesey
Wales
Harry's laughter was the first thing that welcomed Ginny and Katie as they finally made their way down the stairs into the living room, Harry was simply grinning in amusement at the pair as they came into the living room, while Alicia and Angelina started cheering at them and applauding, much to George's consternation, while Hermione was simply sat on the couch next to Harry with her head in her hands, actually giggling at them both.
"What?" Ginny asked, looking around the living room at everyone.
"You... you forgot the silencing charms again. We... we all heard everything!" Hermione got out between giggles. "God Ginny, how loud are you?" She demanded before falling into giggles again, causing Alicia and Angelina to break out into guffaws of laughter.
"I tossed a silencing charm on the stairs as soon as I realised what the racket was." George said quickly. "But bloody hell Gin, you inherited that banshee yell from mum, must have." He said, shaking his head in horror at what he'd heard.
Katie simply grinned, offering a bow when Alicia and Angelina started clapping and cheering again.
"Alright, alright, no more of that." George shook his head, trying to speak up over the two's cheering. "You really need to stick some proper silencing charms around your bedroom mate." He said, levelling a glare over to Harry.
"That's what I keep telling him." Hermione huffed. "But you thought it was funny when I had to suffer through it." She exclaimed with a suitably evil smirk towards George. "I don't know if it's terrifying, or simply mortifying, but I've heard it so much that it's starting to not bother me anymore."
"It's not your bloody sister," George muttered in disgust, giving a mock shudder at what he'd been forced to listen to.
"I've got to ask..." Angelina grinned up as Ginny and Katie came over to join the group, both sitting on the couch next to Harry and forcing him to squish up next to Hermione. "Was that the toffees?" She asked with a wiggle of her eyebrows.
"Yup," Katie grinned proudly as Ginny laughed and nodded.
"How long did it last for?" Alicia asked with a wide smile. "Any after effects or anything?"
"About forty minutes I think," Katie said before shaking her head. "Nope, went back to normal just fine." She said with a shrug. "Worth making a sign or something to point out that you can't kiss after eating one though."
"Oh, huh..." Angelina nodded, thinking that through. Of course you wouldn't be able to kiss with a six inch tongue, not unless you were interested in tasting whatever was down your partner's throat at the same time.
"I can't believe you actually did that!" Hermione gasped out, shaking her head as she stared at Katie with wide eyes.
"Alright, no more... please?" George asked hopefully. "There's only so much I can take." He said quickly.
"Fine," Angelina huffed, rolling her eyes. "But we know the doofus weed works now, the timing is off as well, but we can balance that out with a few tweaks to the other ingredients." She said, making a mental note of everything she'd learnt so far.
"Oh it definitely works," Katie grinned widely at her.
"We'll try it tonight," Angelina laughed.
"Was it... was it just like a normal tongue?" Hermione asked. "I mean, could you move it around like normal, and taste with it? I just imagine it being so unwieldy being that long." She explained her thoughts.
"It's was just like normal, just longer." Katie nodded. "It was a bit weird that I couldn't put it back in my mouth, because it was so big I couldn't close my mouth either, so I couldn't talk properly with it."
"We figured that one out with the old toffees." Angelina nodded, knowing all this already.
"So... how's school going you two?" George asked loudly, looking at Ginny and Hermione, and doing his upmost best to derail any sex conversation while his baby sister was in the room.
"It's good," Hermione smiled, seeing how uncomfortable George looked. "It's weird flooing in and out every day, but honestly... I actually think I prefer it." She said, musing on the idea. "If it had always been like this... I'd have spent more time with my parents, like a family. Instead of only a couple of months every summer."
Harry spared a glance at Hermione at that, knowing how much she missed her parents. She might have done the right thing in sending them away for their own safety, but it didn't really help her feel any better, he knew this for a fact.
"It's definitely weird," Ginny nodded in agreement. "It's like... it's like we're not proper Gryffindors anymore." She tried to explain it. "Without the dorms and everything, we're just there for the classes and stuff, then we come home and I don't even think about most of the other people in my year."
"Can't imagine that," George frowned, remembering all too well how much he'd loved being in the dorms with Fred, Lee and the others. "Reckon they'll keep it like this for the final year?"
"Maybe," Hermione nodded thoughtfully. "There's no actual reason to stay in the dorms if you can floo there, and once you're old enough to do magic outside of Hogwarts, we can do our homework and practice just as well here as we can at school." She explained with a shrug.
"Guess that does make sense," Angelina nodded. "Still think it'd be weird though."
"It is," Hermione confirmed. "Hogwarts itself is... different somehow. Better." She clarified when everyone looked at her. "The new teachers, and the new rules. Bullying is getting stamped on hard, and the new teachers actually seem to care about teaching properly."
"It's definitely better, I'm not taking potions but everyone's said it's far better than it was when Snape was teaching it." Ginny explained.
"Not hard," Harry snorted, shaking his head at the thought.
"Professor Vector is really good as a Headmistress, and with Professor Flitwick taking over Professor McGonagall's old job, things are really changing there." Hermione said with a smile. "I wish it had always been like this." She exclaimed.
"Between Dumbledore, Snape and McGonagall, we never had a chance at getting taught properly." Harry complained. "You know they were aiming to hold me back as much as possible, it didn't matter to them that they were ruining everyone elses lessons at the same time."
"I can't believe Dumbledore did it for so long," Hermione complained, frowning at the thought. "He must have ruined hundreds of peoples chances at a good education, just because he wanted to ensure his plan of you having no chance against Voldemort succeeded." She exclaimed in a huff. "That man was a menace to education systems everywhere."
"Things are that much better now?" George asked curiously.
"Definitely," Ginny confirmed. "Probably because there's barely any Slytherins there, and I think the ones that did come back weren't Death Eater kids or anything, they're pretty much just keeping their heads down and staying in their common rooms from what I've seen."
"They have been pretty quiet," Hermione nodded in agreement. It was actually really nice to be able to walk around the castle and not have to worry about Slytherins shouting 'mudblood' or their other idiotic taunts at her all the time.
Hogwarts now was peaceful and quiet, exactly how a place of education should be. Safe and welcoming, where the focus was on studies and not bigoted ideology and bullying.
"So you both going back next year then? Doing your mastery things?" George asked, looking between the two of them.
"Professor Flitwick said that we don't have to stay in the castle for them," Hermione explained. "It'll just be like this year really, studying there and staying for lunch, maybe dinner, and coming home afterwards." She explained with a smile, finally coming around to actually thinking of Harry's house as her home too.
"That's how I'd want to do it," Harry nodded firmly, he definitely didn't want to go back to the Gryffindor dorms for anything, and staying anywhere else in the castle would just be filled with constant horrible memories and nightmares of what happened in the various classrooms and corridors, and all the people that died there.
"I think I would too," Hermione gave a soft smile of agreement at that.
The Daily Prophet
Diagon Alley
London
As Minerva finished speaking she hung her head, mostly in shame, but equally to hide herself from Mr Amorim steely gaze.
She could feel ever ounce of disgust, disapproval, and anger in those steel grey eyes, and knew she deserved every single bit of it. She'd learnt all too well ever since the first issue of The Prophet had run their Potter Exposés, and seen exactly how horrified the country was with Albus, Horace and Severus, and all the revelations that followed.
She should have done this weeks ago instead of hiding in her home, ashamed of everything she'd done and avoiding the accusing glares and disappointed expressions that she knew she would see on every single face outside.
It would be easier to have simply stayed quiet, to know that only Mr Potter, Miss Granger, and perhaps a few of their closest confidants knew the truth of her involvement, but in a strange way, speaking these secrets and miss-deeds aloud for the first time with the intent to make them public, was cathartic on a level she never could have imagined.
Talking about these events that happened nearly ten years ago, but felt like a lifetime ago, made her remember how small and innocent Mr Potter had been when he'd first entered Hogwarts school. That innocence was very short lived sadly, it had been sacrificed on the altar of Albus Dumbledore, much like he'd planned to sacrifice Mr Potter himself for his vaunted Greater Good.
"That was the end of the school year then? The summer of nineteen ninety two?" Rupert asked, double checking for clarification.
Minerva simply nodded silently, she'd said enough already and there were still six more years worth of horrors awaiting to be brought out into the light.
"And you thought it wise... Not only wise, but in his best interests, to simply send an eleven year old boy back to an abusive home, only mere days after he killed someone in self defence? Not to mention the emotional disturbance of facing the murderer of his parents?" Rupert asked, the disbelief and disgust practically dripping from his voice as he stared across the table at her.
There was nothing Minerva could really say to that. The excuse that it had been Albus' decision was paper thin, and quite literally a pathetic excuse in every possible meaning of the words. She was her own witch, she should have known better. She should have made sure Mr Potter spoke to mind healers and had people to support him.
She should have done something, anything.
Her silence apparently spoke volumes, as Mr Amorim simply shook his head at her and returned to looking at his note book. "Did Mr Dumbledore ever give you a suitable explanation for his disappearance on the night that Mr Quirrell attempted to steal The Philosopher's stone?" He asked, looking at Minerva again for an answer.
"Not that I am aware of, certainly not to me." Minerva answered in a quiet voice. She hadn't really asked, at the time there were far more important things to discuss, and it had simply slipped her mind that he'd been missing for the entire evening. "He implied that he had flown via broom to The Ministry for the evening and returned the same way, though in all my years I have never known Albus to fly a broom when a floo or apparating would be far more convenient, much less why he would be at The Ministry so late when all the staff would have retired for the evening long before he arrived."
"Indeed," Rupert nodded. "A rather flimsy excuse that fails to hold water to any reasonable and intelligent questioning." He said sharply, glaring at Minerva before continuing. "And Mr Dumbledore covered up the death of Mr Quirrell to avoid any investigation into the events of the year?"
Minerva simply nodded in response, having actually been the one to lie to the students and inform them that Professor Quirrell had left on a sabbatical early and would not be returning the following year.
"I see," Rupert frowned, flicking through his notes quietly for a moment and leaving Minerva to her thoughts. "Looking at these events from an outside perspective, it looks to me like Mr Dumbledore was intentionally setting up a confrontation between Voldemort and Mr Potter while he was in his first year. Perhaps to engineer the confrontation before Mr Potter could grow and become a threat and move out of his sphere of control?" He asked.
Minerva simply stared, she couldn't quite believe what she was hearing, but couldn't deny the possibility either. Had that actually been Albus' plan in the first place? To have Mr Potter die in his first year at the hands of Voldemort?
It would explain why he chose that specific year to lure Voldemort to the school with the Philosopher's Stone, and why he went missing on that particular night and ensured she would ignore any talk of the stone or rumours about someone trying to steal it.
She couldn't deny it was a possibility now knowing that Albus had planned Mr Potter's death all along. Luring Voldemort to the school to murder Mr Potter while he was in his first year would certainly fit in with what she now knew about Albus' plans.
That realisation made her feel sick to her stomach, and she could only sit there and feel the horrified weight of Mr Amorim's gaze on her as she thought about how complicit she had been in the planning of Mr Potter's murder.
"You made mention that Mr Dumbledore specifically told you to ignore any students who came to you with news about the challenges or The Philosopher's Stone itself. Did you ask why?" Rupert asked, his voice controlled and even, though she could easily see the loathing in the man's eyes.
"No," Minerva admitted quietly. "I assumed he was simply content in the security we had placed around the stone, and did not believe any students in the school would be able to make it through them."
"You didn't believe ANY students could make it through? But in actuality, three first year students did." Rupert scoffed. "Not just any three students though, but one who you actually note was one of the worst performers in the year, and two muggle raised students with less than nine months worth of knowledge of magic, no actual magical skills to speak of, and it's painfully clear that if they could, then any single fourth year or above would have been able to, much less any competent adult wizard or witch."
Again there was nothing Minerva could really say to that, because it was all true. How could she defend the security around the stone when it had been so easily beaten that it made calling those protections 'security' laughable.
"I see," Rupert said, frowning at her lack of explanation or any real response to his insinuations and closing his note book for now. "Obviously I will need corroboration of these events. You said you are willing to share your memories of this period of time for verification and to allow our photographer to take photos of your memory?"
"Yes," Minerva said softly with a confirming nod.
There was so much that the photographer could use, more than enough for multiple exposés just from what she had shared so far. The truth about the night the Potters had been murdered, and how Albus had known about the attack long before it had actually happened, and simply done nothing but sit back and let it happen. The truth about him allowing an innocent man to be imprisoned in Azkaban just to ensure his plans for Mr Potter went uncontested.
Albus' blithe and uncaring attitude, and his insistence that Severus be allowed to continue his abhorrent behaviour uncontested, and his actions in luring Voldemort to the school to confront Mr Potter when he was only eleven years old, allowing a wizard possessed by Voldemort to actually teach at the school for an entire year, then covering up the murder before any questions were asked.
If the public didn't already loathe Albus Dumbledore and Severus Snape, their names would become equal to that of Voldemort's by the time The Prophet had corroborated and verified everything that she had told them so far.
"Very well." Rupert nodded, standing up from his chair. "I shall have a pensieve brought in and a photographer join us, I think it would be best if we do this year by year." He said, pocketing his note book for now. "I will have refreshments brought in for you as well."
With that said he simply walked around the table and left the room, closing the door before Minerva had a chance to say anything in response.
She simply sat there and hung her head, staring blankly at the table in front of her and wondering exactly how many horrific mistakes she was going to bring into the light this afternoon, and how much Mr Amorim would hate her when he learnt the full culpability of everything she had done.
It wasn't as if she didn't deserve it, and she was trying to do everything she could to repair those mistakes now, for what little it was worth anyway. She could only imagine the public's response when this all came out, but she'd already made up her mind to leave the country once she'd paid her penance.
She would have to, it would only be a few days before the entire country knew everything she had done to help Albus in his crusade for his vaunted 'Greater Good', and by that time, she would be long gone...
AN: Just a note for people asking about Harry being very quiet about things in the last 10 chapter batch... it was literally the first 2 weeks of Katie joining them... Harry was still figuring things out and adjusting to having 2 dominant women with strong personalities in bed... he will start to become more vocal and talk things out more as time goes on, but he's still figuring things out and coming to terms with the idea that he is actually wanted and loved in a relationship like this...