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.
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Hogsmeade
Scotland
Wednesday 31st September, 1999
"No, it's not completely useless I suppose, but so many of the things in there are just outright wrong." Hermione huffed, sitting at the Gryffindor tablet with Ginny, Neville and Susan. "We all went through Hogwarts believing everything in that book, but it's all wrong!" She glowered in annoyance.
"Well, you did, the rest of us barely read the damn thing." Ginny chuckled as she enjoyed her morning bacon sandwich and coffee.
"Yes, thank you Ginny." Hermione rolled her eyes. "I was reading through it last night. There's nothing about the common room statues in it, and there's more mistakes that I found before. Like it says electricity doesn't work around magic, which we all know to be a complete and utter lie now." She explained with a huff.
"I didn't know that," Neville piped up, with Susan shaking her head from next to him.
"It's obvious really," Hermione sighed. "Like think about Diagon Alley or The Ministry, they're in the middle of London with absolutely ridiculous amounts of magic happening all day right? If magic interfered with electricity, the city of London would have massive dark spots in it that would definitely break The Statute of Secrecy." She explained. "And we know it's a complete lie anyway now, because Harry's house has electricity everywhere, and we're all living in it and casting spells and nothing has ever happened."
"Oh, well, that makes sense I guess." Neville said thoughtfully, not that he really knew much about electricity anyway, only really what he'd picked up from Harry and Hermione's conversations.
"It's terrible really, they get away with publishing such blatant lies. It shouldn't be allowed!" Hermione huffed, frowning at her copy of Hogwarts: A History, utterly disillusioned with it now that she'd started to catalogue all the mistakes that were turning out to be more and more blatant lies by the author.
"You should write your own then," Ginny shrugged, idly looking up as the morning owls started flying in with their parcels, letters and papers. "Just don't make it thick enough to actually beat someone to death with, because that..." She reached over, tapping on Hermione's copy. "Is a doorstop, not a book."
"This is a perfectly acceptable size for a book." Hermione frowned over. "Honestly though, I don't even know where I'd even begin to write my own version of this." She said, musing on the idea for a moment. "I'd have to go through every single page of this version and write down every lie and mistake, and then I'd have to research everything and collate what..."
"Hermione!" Neville said urgently, drawing Hermione out of her rant. "Ginny, you... you need to see this." He said, thrusting his morning copy of the Daily Prophet towards them.
"What..." Ginny started to ask as she took the paper, turning it around so that she could read the headline. "Murder, Malfeasance, and Magic! Minerva McGonagall's Misgivings, Mistakes, and Malicious Manipulations!" She read aloud, staring at the photo on the front that showed a very contrite looking Minerva McGonagall standing in front of Hogwarts castle.
"What is it?" Hermione asked, shuffling up next to Ginny so she could read the front page as well. "Oh my god!" She whispered in shock as she started reading the article.
"Does Harry know about any of this?" Ginny asked, wide eyed as she reached the point in the article where McGonagall firmly stated that Dumbledore had ordered her to evaluate The Dursley's before Voldemort's attack had even happened, and that the people at the newspaper firmly believed that Dumbledore not only let the attack on The Potters happen, but actively ensured it would by adding 'security' around the cottage that prevented them from escaping when they needed to.
"I don't think so!" Hermione gasped, staring at the paper in horror.
Quickly she took the paper off of Ginny, standing up from the table and easily seeing how many eyes in The Great Hall turned to her from where they'd been reading the day's copy of The Daily Prophet.
Ginny stood up only moments behind her as they both dashed towards the front of the hall, seeing Professor Vector and Professor Flitwick standing up from the Professor's Platform and walking around the table there to intercept them.
"Might I assume Mr Potter does not know about this?" Professor Flitwick asked as the two young witches approached the front of the hall.
"No professor," Hermione shook her head. "I didn't... I didn't think Professor McGonagall had done anything like this!" She gasped out. "If I'd known..."
"I'm quite certain that if Mr Potter knew how deep Minerva's complicity in his life went, then he would have confronted her long ago, or been present when you confronted her." Professor Flitwick said thoughtfully. "Still... there are things mentioned here that I would not have believed without the accompanying photographic evidence." He said, clearly saddened and equally angered by what he had read on the front page of the article so far. "The fact these are Minerva's own confessions... it truly disheartens me to learn she was not the witch I believed she was."
"This is not going to look good for the school," Professor Vector sighed. "Albus Dumbledore's reputation was already ruined, but this..." She said, gesturing to the paper in Hermione's hands. "I fully expect to hear from The Board of Governors before lunch time."
"We need to see Harry, he doesn't get The Prophet at home... if he doesn't know and goes into Diagon Alley or something..." Hermione trailed off.
"It will be a mob scene," Filius grimaced at the thought. "Very well, I shall speak to your professors and see that you are both marked down as an authorised absence for the day." He said with a small nod. "Please convey our... sympathies for what he has learnt today, and do let him know that none of us here knew Albus and Minerva's complicity in those tragic events."
"I will professor," Hermione nodded. "Thank you." She offered a small smile to him before looking to Ginny and jogging back to their place at the Gryffindor table, happily ignoring everyone else around the hall who was staring at them openly now.
"Harry?" Neville asked, watching as Ginny and Hermione collected their bags quickly and started stuffing all their belongings inside.
"He doesn't know," Ginny explained quickly.
"Gotcha, tell him... I don't know, that we're all here for him if he needs us?" Neville offered with a small smile. "I'll come and see him at the weekend alright?"
"Me too," Susan nodded.
"Alright," Ginny nodded. "We'll see you tomorrow OK?" She asked before dashing off with Hermione before Neville even got a chance to reply, heading straight towards the Gryffindor tower so they could floo back home, and hope that Harry hadn't gone out already today.
The Burrow
Ottery St Catchpole
Devon
West Country
England
Bill Weasley knew the morning was going to be a complete and utter shit show as soon as he read the headline of the morning's Prophet, by the second page he was grimacing and knew precisely how bad this was going to be.
He didn't even need to read far into the paper itself to know it was only going to get worse, and could very easily imagine this being the tipping point that brought things crashing down around them.
Flooing through to The Burrow he could hear his mother's sobbing clearly as he walked from the living room through into the kitchen, seeing her sat at the kitchen table and reading the morning paper with tears running down her face.
"William?" Molly asked, looking up at him. "Have you... did you..."
"I saw it," Bill nodded, casually walking over to the table and sitting down opposite her, waiting to see exactly what his mother would say now that more people were coming out in support of Harry and proving her wrong.
"It's... it's all true, isn't it?" Molly asked, her eyes almost begging him to tell her that it was all a lie or a trick of some kind.
"We've all been telling you that for months mum," Bill said, his tone soft but firm. "We all knew something was off, but when Harry and Hermione gave their memories to The Prophet for their articles, everyone else saw it pretty clearly."
"That poor boy!" Molly gushed out, fresh tears running down now. "How... how could they do something like this to him?" She demanded. "I have to... I have to speak to him!"
"No mum, you don't." Bill said calmly, simply looking across the table at her. "There's nothing you've got left to say to him anyway." He clarified when she simply stared back at him, not comprehending what he was saying.
"No, no... I have to... I have to talk to him, make sure he's alright." Molly said firmly.
"Mum!" Bill raised his voice slightly, making sure his mother was paying attention to him now. "He doesn't want to see you." He said clearly. "He's made it clear, he doesn't want to see anyone that didn't believe him."
"But... but that means..." Molly stammered out.
"Ron too," Bill nodded, knowing what his mum was saying. "From what I've heard, Harry's more likely to curse Ron the first time he saw him now than listen to him anyway."
"What?" Molly demanded, her eyes wide in surprise. "They're friends, Harry wouldn't curse Ron. Surely not."
"Were friends," Bill clarified with frown. "I don't think Harry ever really got over Ron abandoning him when they were fighting Voldemort."
"But... but he went back." Molly argued.
"Then he turned on him again as soon as he told the truth about Dumbledore and everything that had happened." Bill continued on, looking at her directly now. "Remember how everyone turned on Harry before when he told the truth about Voldemort being back? That's how he sees everyone who doesn't believe him this time." He explained.
"That's... but we're not... it's not the same thing." Molly shook her head defiantly, refusing to even contemplate that she was the same as the idiots before who had believed all of The Ministry's lies during the war.
"It's exactly the same thing." Bill said firmly. "Then at the weekend, Ron broke up with Hermione. According to George he was yelling at her, calling her a slut and all sorts of things." He explained. "He really thinks that if Harry sees Ron any time soon, he'll be cursing first and asking questions later."
"Ron... Ron wouldn't do that!" Molly whispered, firmly in denial.
"Yes, he would." Bill sighed. "Mum, Ron... Ron yells a lot without thinking, and he's burnt all his bridges with both Harry, and Hermione now. Neither of them are going to want to see him any time soon, maybe not ever again." He said with a sad expression on his face.
"But... they were friends." Molly whispered.
"Not anymore." Bill said quietly. "You should have known that Harry wouldn't lie about anything like this." He said, looking down to the newspaper that was still unfolded on the table in front of Molly.
"It was Professor Dumbledore though... I thought... I just... he might have been mistaken?" Molly offered, her eyes pleading with Bill.
"He wasn't." Bill said flatly. "Even if he was, yelling and screaming at him, and calling him a liar wasn't the way to convince him about it. You made the choice not to support him when he needed you. Now it's his choice..." He said, shrugging as Molly looked at him.
"But... I didn't know." Molly shook her head. "Ron... Ron couldn't have known either."
"Everyone else believed him." Bill said, not really having any words of comfort to offer her. "He's been right every single time before, and Ron should have known better after being his friend this long." He said with a tired sigh. "He's turned on Harry more times before, this... I think this was just the last straw for them."
"But it was Professor Dumbledore! How... we couldn't have known he would do something like this!" Molly said, quickly defending herself.
"That doesn't matter mum," Bill shook his head sadly. "You and Ron have spent the last seven months yelling at Harry, calling him a liar and kicked him out of here after he actually died in the war to defeat Voldemort and came back to life. What a great thank you that was." He snorted in disbelief. "Do you really expect him to just forgive and forget after all of that?" He asked, staring at his mother with a raised eyebrow.
"But... but he can't... it's..."
"You and Ron made your decisions, you chose to kick him out and shout at him instead of believing him." Bill said firmly. "Everyone else did. Even Ginny believed him."
"Ginny..." Molly whispered, the full weight of everything that had happened over the last six months hitting her now. "She... she's..."
"She doesn't want to see you either," Bill shook his head.
"But she's my baby!" Molly shrieked out.
"Not anymore." Bill said, levelling a gaze at her to quieten her down. "You yelled at her and kicked her out, you said she wasn't welcome here if she was still seeing 'that disgusting liar', so she left." He explained, waving his hand with at 'so there' gesture. "Dad told me all about it. She's an adult now, it's her choice where she lives and who she wants to date, and she's made it."
"She'll come back though... she... she's my baby, she has to come back!" Molly cried out, almost begging Bill to reassure her now.
"Mum, it's about time you realised that all your shouting and screaming, ranting at everyone who disagrees with you, that's what's driven everyone away." Bill explained, holding up his hand when she got an offended look on her face and started to speak. "George moved out, he's said outright he's never coming back." He ticked off one finger. "Percy hasn't been back since he finished school." He ticked off another. "Charlie left the country to live his life how he wanted, Merlin knows he's never coming back again, not after what happened last time." He touched another finger.
"What do you mean by that?" Molly screeched.
"You, shoving Charlie down and cutting his hair? Just because you didn't like it long?" Bill reminder her forcefully of how his mother had treated Charlie only a couple of years ago now. "As soon as the war was over, he left... I've only spoken to him a few times since, and he still hates that you treat us all like babies, like we can't make our own minds up for what we want to do with our lives." He said, shaking his head in dismay. "I don't think Charlie'll ever come back now, not after that."
"I just... I... I just wanted him to look nice for your wedding photos." Molly whispered sadly.
"And you think I would have minded him having longer hair than mine?" Bill scoffed. "I know what Charlie's like, and I wanted him standing by me just as he was, as my brother. Not shuffling around and feeling like he was pretending to be something he wasn't just because he wasn't living up to how you wanted him to look." He snapped back.
"William, I didn't... I didn't mean it like that, you have to believe me." Molly cried out.
"You always do it though." Bill retorted with a glare. "Fred and George? Remember how they'd been working on building up stock of their sweets and prank stuff for ages? So they could sell them and fund their store properly?" He asked. "What did you do? Toss all of their hard work in the fire, burnt it all. Just because they weren't doing what you wanted them to do with their lives." He shouted.
"I... I just wanted them..." Molly stammered, trying to justify all the behaviour that her eldest son was throwing in her face right now.
"Mum, I'm only here because I knew nobody else would come and talk to you about this." Bill said, shaking his head. "Nobody else is going to come to The Burrow anymore, it's just going to be you and dad and Ron... I'm just sick of all the shouting and trying to keep you happy so you won't go off on one at Fleur again... I'm just tired of it all." He said softly, blowing out a frustrated breath of air.
"But... but..." Molly stammered out, trying to find something to say.
"No mum, you did this." Bill said firmly. "Fleur doesn't come here because she doesn't want to bring Vicky here and risk you turning her against her. And I don't blame her one bit, so I'm not going to try and convince her to come here when you've made it blatantly clear that she's not wanted here."
"I wouldn't do that!" Molly shrieked.
"No?" Bill asked, repressing a snort. "We both remember how much you hate Fleur. We heard all your rants and snide comments. You just couldn't accept that she was the woman I loved, just because you didn't like her." He bit out sadly.
"Bill... I... I just wanted..."
"You just wanted everyone else to live by your rules and do what you wanted." Bill interrupted, shaking his head. "She's my family now, her and Vicky, they're my future, that's my choice and you should have accepted it." He said firmly. "You've driven Ginny away now just the same as everyone else. It's only Ron that's going to be coming back here any time soon." He explained, seeing the truth of everything finally sinking in to her.
"I... I didn't mean for any of this." Molly whispered, fresh tears staring to fall down her cheeks as she realised exactly what she'd done. "Fleur really thinks I'd turn her baby against her?" She asked, disbelief and horror in her voice.
"Can you blame her?" Bill asked, rolling his eyes when she refused to answer. "You and Ron need to take a long hard look at yourselves, and understand that all you've done is drive everyone else away." He said firmly. "Ron especially, because right now The Minister's offer to get him into the Academy is all he's got going for himself."
"What do you mean by that?" Molly demanded.
"I mean that he's still got to pass the Auror exams," Bill said, levelling a glare at her to stop her from raising her voice again. "And after that, he's got to be an auror and hope that he never gets injured or really hurt, because he's got nothing to fall back on if that happens."
"But... but... Kingsley said..."
"That he'd get him into the academy," Bill finished for her. "Not that he'd become an auror or that he'd give him a job forever." He clarified. "Ron's got no NEWT's and doesn't even want to try to go back for them. No friends. No job prospects other than The Minister's offer. If he doesn't pass all his exams... what's he going to do with his life then?" He asked.
"I... I don't know?" Molly asked in a quiet voice.
"Like I said, you both need to take a long hard look at yourselves." Bill said, shaking his head. "You both did this, driving away everyone else. Now you have to deal with everything that happens because of it."
With that said, Bill stood up from his chair, intent on leaving his mother alone with her thoughts to see if she would really actually pay attention to anything that he'd said.
"William..." Molly asked softly. "Do... do my babies really hate me that much?" She asked, pain tinging her voice as she looked up at him.
"We don't hate you mum," Bill shook his head. "We just hate that you try to run our lives and dictate who we should be and what we should be doing." He explained. "Ginny always hated it, you just gave her the excuse she'd been looking for so she could leave without feeling bad about it." He said calmly. "Harry won't be coming back, he's given Ron every chance he was going to get and then some, and he's had it thrown back in his face every single time." He said, shaking his head. "I've got my own life, my own family now. That's my priority, not trying to mend wands between you and everyone else you've driven away."
He waited a few moments for her to say anything else before he turned and headed back to the fireplace, he had to check on Harry and make sure he was alright, and it was clear that his mother now had a lot to think about before deciding whether she was really going to change her ways or not.
Holy House
Holyhead
Holy Island
Anglesey
Wales
Ginny and Hermione came through the floo without even stopping, running through the living room where Hermione ran through to the TV room while Ginny immediately looked to the kitchen to check if Harry was there before running back to Hermione and shaking her head.
At that they both bolted for the stairs, both hoping that Harry was still in bed and actually hadn't gone out for the day already.
Charging up both flights of stairs in record time the pair made it to Harry and Ginny's bedroom, barging in and both of them breathing a sigh of relief when they saw Harry and Katie still in bed exactly where Ginny had left them earlier in the morning.
"Harry!" Ginny exclaimed, running to the bed and sitting down on the side, shaking Harry's shoulder to wake him up.
"Hnn, what...Ginny?" Harry blinked, slowly waking up and staring up at Ginny and Hermione. "What's going on?" He asked, frowning before rubbing his eyes sleepily and blinking at the pair that were looking down at him with worried expressions.
"Um... something's happened," Ginny explained, seeing Katie waking up and looking at them now through sleep laden eyes. "The Prophet, this morning... it's..." She trailed off, looking to Hermione for support here.
"It's bad Harry, really bad." Hermione said quietly.
"What's happened?" Harry asked, more awake now and worried as he sat up in the bed. "More Death Eaters?" He asked. "Malfoy hasn't come back has he?"
"No, nothing..." Ginny took a deep breath. "It's Professor McGonagall... she's... she did an interview with The Prophet."
"Oh," Harry blinked, wondering why that was so awful that it made both Ginny and Hermione look worried for him. "What did she say?" He asked.
"A lot," Hermione whispered. "I haven't read it all yet, but... it's really bad Harry." She explained quietly.
"Is she going after Harry for what you two said about Dumbledore?" Katie asked, sitting up in the bed properly now to pay attention to what was going on in the room.
"No, no, nothing like that." Hermione shook her head, thankful that she'd had time to get used to the whole Harry, Ginny and Katie thing, because seeing Katie sleeping in the same bed with Harry would have really thrown her for a loop only a couple of weeks ago. "She's... actually she's confirming everything Harry said... and then some." She explained quietly.
"Wait... aren't you two supposed to be at school now?" Harry asked, his brain finally catching up and recognising that they were both in their Hogwarts uniforms.
"Professor Flitwick marked us down as absent for the day," Ginny explained. "Harry... it's really bad." She said softly. "It's... it's about Dumbledore and your parents."
"Oh..." Harry whispered, letting that sink in as he simply stared up at them.
"We thought... we were worried you might have gone out and found out from people in Diagon Alley or somewhere." Hermione said softly. "I didn't think... I mean, I know you wouldn't want everyone else talking to you about all of this."
"I thought you already figured out everything that McGonagall had done?" Harry asked, looking up to Hermione now.
"So did I," Hermione sighed, shaking her head. "Like I said, I haven't read the whole thing yet, but it looks like she gave The Prophet her memories of what happened, all the times Dumbledore talked to her and planned things about you." She explained.
"McGonagall really did all that?" Katie asked, feeling utterly betrayed by her old head of house right now.
"Yeah," Harry nodded absently. "Hermione figured it out when we were telling our story to The Prophet, she was in on it with Dumbledore all along." He explained with a frown. "What's she saying then?" He asked, looking to Hermione now.
"It's... it's a lot Harry." Hermione said, worrying at her bottom lip nervously. "Some of it... some of it's about your parents." She said quietly. "You should probably get up... a coffee might help you be more awake to read it."
Ginny nodded at that, idly watching as Katie climbed out of the bed and stood up.
"I'll go and put the kettle on," Katie said, offering Harry a reassuring smile. "Whatever it is, we're all here for you, got it?" She said, smiling softly before moving to grab her bag.
Hermione desperately tried to keep her focus on Harry, but couldn't help her gaze flicking towards Katie as she moved around and rummaged through her bags. Seeing her actually naked was a complete shock, and she could see every single muscle on her body as she walked around the bedroom and started getting dressed.
Right now she could completely and utterly understand what Angelina had said about wanting to lick down those abdominal muscles because Katie looked absolutely perfect, standing there like an amazon with her toned and strong body that was almost too perfect to be believed.
"Right... um... coffee..." Harry said, nodding slowly as the thought filtered into his brain. "Hermione?" He said, looking to Hermione meaningfully. "I'm going to get out of bed, so unless you're watching for some reason..." He laughed as he saw Hermione turn her head to him quickly with wide eyes.
"Oh, OH!" Hermione blushed, realising what Harry was saying. She hadn't actually put it together that since Katie was sleeping naked in bed with him, he was likely naked under the duvet too. "Sorry, I'll... I'll just..." She stammered awkwardly before turning and fleeing from the room, taking the newspaper with her as she dashed downstairs to the safety of the kitchen.
"It's really that bad?" Harry asked, looking at Ginny as he climbed out of bed and went to grab some clothes of his own, opting for just some boxers and jeans for now as he watched Ginny quickly changing out of her uniform and into some more casual clothes.
"Really," Ginny confirmed softly. "You think Hermione would miss school if it wasn't?" She asked.
That really added a foreboding note to the conversation, leaving Harry really worried now as he made his way downstairs with Ginny and Katie following him for moral support, all of them worried exactly what McGonagall had known or done that could have been so terrible.
Privet Drive
Little Whinging
Surrey
England
Kingsley Shacklebolt strode up to number four Privet Drive with thinly veiled contempt on his face, debating whether or not he should actually bother warning these abhorrent muggles about the truly catastrophic shit storm that was about to come down on their heads.
In the end, his duty won out. He was still appalled by everything he had learnt about Albus Dumbledore and Minerva McGonagall over the past six months, and had reached out to Mr Potter only to be rebuffed several times and be told flatly that he wanted nothing to do with him anymore.
In that, he couldn't blame the young man. At Albus' insistence they'd kept him isolated, alone and locked in an abusive home. He had known things were rough between Mr Potter and his relatives, but hadn't known how bad until now.
Now knowing all the facts, he was truly horrified to know exactly what he had been a party to, and now knew exactly why Mr Potter loathed him so much.
Striding up to the door he knocked loudly with his knuckles, clenching and unclenching his fists repeatedly to try and work out some tension from his body as he waited on the door step. Thankfully he didn't have to wait too long, and only moments later the door was pulled open, showing a face he certainly recognised from helping to hide away The Dursley family during the war.
"You!" Petunia Dursley spat out. "What are you doing here?" She sneered, the disgust dripping from her voice. "The boy doesn't live here anymore, we want nothing to do with any of your kind ever again."
"Believe me Mrs Dursley, it would be an upmost pleasure for me never to bother you again." Kingsley said calmly, putting his politicians face on as he spoke. "I am here to give you a warning, nothing more."
"A warning?" Petunia sneered before the blood fell from her face. "You said the war was over... that... that those freaks had all been killed!" She whispered.
"Indeed, the war had been over for nearly a year and a half now." Kingsley nodded slowly. "I am only here to inform you that one of Mr Potter's old teachers has made a full interview with the newspapers." He explained. "In which, she firmly describes the abuse you littered upon him, and his living conditions as a child."
"She... we did nothing of the sort!" Petunia denied automatically.
"A rather useless denial given the proof of pictures accompanied the article, including pictures of Mr Potter's first acceptance letter to Hogwarts that she personally signed. Quite literally addressed to The Cupboard Under The Stairs." Kingsley said flatly, fixing Petunia with an even stare.
Petunia said nothing to that, simply looking away from Kingsley and refusing to confirm anything.
"It really matters very little to me," Kingsley admitted. "There are several Privet Drives in the country, it will take most people a day or two to narrow it down and locate this address to compare it to the one in the photos, but they will in time, you can be certain of that." He said firmly.
"But... but you have to protect us!" Petunia gasped out.
"Why?" Kingsley asked, honestly bemused by the demand. "Mr Potter is regarded as a war hero in the country, he has been awarded the highest honours and is respected by almost the entire country." He explained. "In turn, you apparently kept him in a cupboard not fit for animals, let alone a child, and now you expect me to protect you from people who quite rightfully want to exact revenge for what you did to their hero?" He asked. "And I have very little doubt that is the worst of your actions towards him, perhaps some day he will fully share his memories of living here, so we all know exactly what his childhood was like with you." He stated coldly. "Frankly, if you weren't relations of Mr Potter, even if he might not consider you relations anymore, I would not even be bothering to come and warn you of this. You are not under my jurisdiction, or my control, I am doing this simply as a courtesy and out of duty, nothing more."
The fact was that he remembered the vile Dursley family all too well from the war when they'd had to hide them away. He remembered their insults and sneers, their constant condescension and calling everyone 'freaks'. He hadn't spoken about it at the time, but now knowing how Mr Potter had grown up here, he could very easily imagine that Mr Potter's childhood was not a comfortable or happy one with guardians like these.
He could see Petunia was struggling to say something to defend herself, to excuse her actions somehow. He knew because he'd been struggling with the same, trying to think of anything that he could say to Mr Potter that wasn't just a rephrasing of 'but Albus Dumbledore told me to...'
That excuse wouldn't fly with Mr Potter, and he knew it wouldn't be accepted by the voters or The Wizengamot either. He was Minister only on borrowed time right now, and he knew that sooner or later he would be called to account for his actions, and could only hope that by that point he had some small measure of confidence that he would be able to explain why he had enforced Mr Potter's isolation without truly knowing what he was going through.
"What are they going to do?" Petunia asked in a small voice, her shoulders slumped as she finally seemed to accept the truth of her situation.
"I don't know," Kingsley admitted. "I don't have the manpower to protect you, and even if I did, many of the men who I would trust to do so, would be equally willing to take revenge for everything you did." He explained.
"So... we're just supposed to accept it?" Petunia demanded.
"Like Mr Potter was forced to accept all the unjust punishments I have no doubt you heaped upon him?" Kingsley countered, raising one dark eyebrow at her, and forcing her to look away again. "My only advice would be to move. Take your family and leave, change your name if you must, I am not aware of any photos existing of you or your family, and it is unlikely that those who do not know you will be able to find you in another town or city."
"Why is this happening to us?" Petunia screeched, her outraged face demanding an answer from the man on her doorstep. "What... what will those freaks do to us? To my poor Diddikins?" She yelled.
"Whatever they want." Kingsley stated, not bothered at all by Petunia Dursley's impotent ire or her use of the 'freaks' word. "As for your question, why is this happening to us, I can say with reasonable certainty that Mr Potter asked the same question many times over the childhood that you denied him." He said, not bothering to offer her one whit of sympathy. "Did you honestly think that he would grow up and thank you for what you did to him? For how you treated him?" He asked, watching as Petunia looked away from his gaze again.
"We never wanted him here in the first place, it was that teacher Fumblemore that forced us to take him in." Petunia spat out.
"And he is now dead," Kingsley said with a small shrug. "I made my own mistakes regarding Albus Dumbledore, and I am certain I will have to pay the price for them soon. As will you." He said, turning on his heel and stepping down from the doorstep. "I have given you your warning, told you what is likely coming. If you stay, it will be on your head. Consequences come to us all in time Mrs Dursley, you may try to outrun them or hide from them, but in the end, you will have to face up to what you have done, mark my words on that."
Petunia looked away at that, a small sneer on her face attempting to cover the fear that he could plainly see in her eyes.
"As for why this is happening to you, I would think that would be obvious." Kingsley said simply. "If you'd had treated Mr Potter like any other child, with respect, care and love, he might care somewhat or share his fame and wealth. With magic, you might never have wanted for another thing for the rest of your life. Instead, you treated him with scorn and disgust, and the consequences for your choices are now falling upon you." He gave a small shrug at that. "Do what you will with the rest of your life Mrs Dursley, it matters very little to me one way or the other. Once I have left here I will likely give very little thought, if any at all, to you and your family in the future."
With that said Kingsley simply twisted on the spot and vanished with a loud crack, startling Petunia and causing her to jump slightly in the doorway before she looked around the street in agitation, her nervous and fearful eyes looking for anyone that might look out of place, before slamming the front door shut and locking every bolt there was across the threshold.
She stood there, her back against the door and her heart feeling like it was going to explode out of her chest for a long time, thinking on the words and warning she'd just heard.
Had they always assumed that the freak would just forget them and move on with his life after everything they'd done to him? Hoped, maybe... but now the freak was an adult, he wasn't forbidden to do magic outside of school, and he would remember all those nights when he'd been crying for his mummy when he was locked in the cupboard under the stairs, only for Vernon to throw a shoe at the door and bellow for him to shut his freak mouth.
He would remember everything, and the thought of it left a vile taste in Petunia's mouth as she realised that not only would he remember everything, but now every single freak in the country would know about them and what they had done.
Moving and hiding was the only option, she just had to convince Vernon of that and hope that they could get away before the freaks found them.
It was a vain hope, but it was all that she had right now.
Holy House
Holyhead
Holy Island
Anglesey
Wales
When Ginny heard the floo she stood up like a shot, Hermione and Katie following as all three ran through to the living room with their wands drawn, ready for whoever was coming through the fireplace unannounced this morning.
She couldn't help the relief that covered her face when she saw Bill standing there and ran to him with a smile, quite eagerly sinking in to her big brother's hug.
"Aren't you supposed to be at school today?" Bill asked, looking down at her and raising an eyebrow as he gave her a firm hug before letting go.
"Professor Flitwick sent us home and gave us the day off," Ginny explained while Bill was waving over to Hermione as well.
They'd both changed into their normal clothes now, and felt a lot more comfortable chatting amongst themselves like this casually. While the Hogwarts robes were comfortable enough, neither of them would ever wear robes normally day to day, it was only because it was the school uniform that either of them actually owned any robes at all.
"You saw The Prophet then?" Bill asked with a grimace as all three witches in the room nodded at him. "Harry?" He asked.
"Out flying," Ginny said. "He took his broom out after reading the paper, think he needed to get some space and just get away from everything." She explained knowingly, it was something she could definitely relate to, having done the same thing plenty of times in the past when she needed to clear her head and get her thoughts together.
"Ahh," Bill nodded, he could understand that. "I thought Harry might be alone today with you two at school." He explained. "Figured I'd come through and make sure he was doing alright after everything." He said, offering a curious glance at the far taller witch in the room that he didn't recognise, assuming this was the Katie that Harry had told him about.
"Oh, sorry." Ginny smiled, seeing who Bill was staring at. "Um, this is my oldest brother Bill." Ginny explained to Katie. "And... this is Katie. My girlfriend." She said, taking a breath and looking up at Bill for his reaction, her favourite brother being the first person outside of close friends that she had actually told about her new relationship.
"Girlfriend?" Bill asked, both eyebrows raising to his hairline.
He could definitely see the similarities between his sister and Katie, she clearly looked like loved being athletic like Ginny, and definitely had the body to match, though Katie was far taller than Ginny was, and looked to be in even better shape than his baby sister.
"Yes," Ginny said defiantly, offering a small smile over to Katie who was just watching with a surprised expression on her face. "George already knows, but I'm not hiding what we're doing. If people don't like it, they can go hex themselves for all I care." She said firmly, walking to stand besides Katie and sliding an arm around her waist.
"Easy," Bill smiled, holding up his hands in surrender. "Just took a minute to sink in. You know it doesn't bother me, just... I take it you mean like George and his two witches then?" He asked, looking down to Ginny again. "You're still with Harry right?"
"Yes," Ginny nodded. "To both." She quickly clarified. "Me, Katie and Harry." She nodded firmly.
"Alright, if that's what you want..." Bill shrugged with an easy going smile. "Whatever makes you happy Firefly, if that's having a girlfriend as well as Harry, then that's what you should go for, and don't let anyone ever tell you different." He said with a grin. "Nice to meet you anyway, just kinda wish it was better circumstances." He said, offering a smile to Katie. "How's Harry doing?" He asked, looking back to Ginny and then over to Hermione.
"Angry, really angry." Hermione said quietly. "I don't think I've ever seen him like this before." She said with a frown. "I really think if Dumbledore was still alive, he would have gone after him before he'd even finished reading the article." She explained with a sigh. "Honestly... I think I'd have gone with him too, knowing what he did now."
"Me too," Ginny confirmed with a firm nod of her head.
"Wouldn't blame any of you," Bill sighed, shaking his head in dismay.
"Come on, we were just talking in the kitchen, you don't have to leave right away right?" Ginny asked hopefully.
"Nope," Bill shook his head. "Had the day off today anyway, Fleur's at home with little Vicky, she'd have come as well, but I didn't think a crying one year old would be a good distraction for him right now." He explained with a short laugh.
He smiled easily as he followed Ginny through into the kitchen area where he'd had a coffee with Harry before, looking around at all the strange muggle things that were around that he had absolutely no idea what they were all for.
The three witches had obviously been sat around the table where the three mugs were, and he recognised this morning's issue of The Prophet laid out on the table between them easily enough.
"We were going through it, trying to figure out everything and see how much of it was actually admitted by McGonagall, or proven by the photos." Hermione explained, seeing what Bill was looking at. "And how much of it was the paper suggesting or reading in to things."
"Right," Bill nodded in understanding. "The Prophet's got a ton better since the war, well, since Skeeter got fired anyway. Haven't seen anything in there that was anything like their old stuff really."
He watched as the three girls returned to their seats before taking the spare chair for himself, looking down at the newspaper between them all and sighing sadly at the animated memories displayed in photos throughout the article.
"Sorry, did you want a drink or anything?" Hermione asked quickly, standing back up from the kitchen table. "Harry might be flying for hours yet, he doesn't seem to think about time much when he's on his broom."
"The best flyers don't," Bill chuckled, sending a knowing glance over towards Ginny. "I could do with a coffee actually if you're offering, I left the cottage as soon as I read the paper, didn't even get chance to make one myself."
"Coffee's easy enough," Hermione smiled, walking over to turn the kettle on before fetching down one of Harry's big mugs and moving to the fridge.
"What is that?" Bill asked, curiosity getting the better of him as he watched Hermione open the big white metal cupboard. The light inside confused him, as it seemed to be some sort of metal cupboard with glass shelves, and filled with random bits of food and drinks. "I saw it before when Harry got something out of it, but didn't want to ask..."
"Oh, I know this one." Ginny grinned. "It's a fridge." She laughed happily when Bill turned to her curiously, having got used to all the weird muggle things Harry and Hermione had around the house. "It's like it's got a constant cooling charm inside. So you put things in it to keep them cold."
"Muggle?" Bill asked in surprise, honestly a bit surprised that his baby sister seemed to know more about muggle things than he did. "Right, muggle house of course." He nodded to himself, realising that Ginny must be quite happily getting used to the same blend of culture that Harry and Hermione seemed quite content with here. "I've just never seen one before."
"They're really common, every muggle house will have one." Hermione explained. "It was in the kitchen when Harry bought the house, so we just left it here and carried on using it." She said with a smile as she mixed up Bill's coffee and returned the milk to the fridge. "I guess it's just what me and Harry are used to, like the kettle and the microwave and everything else." She clarified with a small shrug.
"Never let dad come here," Bill mock whispered to Ginny, causing both her and Hermione to laugh at the thought as she brought Bill's coffee over and handed it to him.
"Dad's a bit... muggle mad," Ginny explained when Katie gave her a questioning glance at that. "He collects plugs, and he'd never shut up about everything here if he ever came over." She explained with a laugh.
"Which we're definitely not going to let happen," Hermione said firmly. "At least not before we actually explain to Arthur about electricity and how dangerous it is." She said with a grimace. "I'd rather not see your dad poking around in a plug socket and finding out just how fast electricity can kill someone thank you very much."
"Oh, right, that sounds... dangerous." Katie grimaced. She knew about electricity of course, her mum had been a muggle born, so she'd grown up in the same mix of cultures that Harry and Hermione did, but she'd never really thought about how dangerous some of these things could be to someone who'd never heard or used anything electrical before.
"Harry mentioned a Katie before... Holyhead player right?" Bill asked, looking to get to know Ginny's new girlfriend.
"Forward chaser," Katie confirmed with a proud smile.
"Got the build for it," Bill nodded in amusement. "How long have you two... three sorry, been together then?" He asked curiously.
"Just over two weeks," Ginny answered with a grin. "And yes, I'm happy with it, and yes, I wanted this." She answered in quick succession, causing Bill to roll his eyes in amusement.
Hermione simply watched the conversation as she returned to her seat, paying specific attention to how comfortable Bill was with the idea of Ginny being in this sort of polyamorous relationship. There were no questions, no doubts or worries about her being looked down on or her reputation being muddied because of it. He just accepted it happily and supported her without a second thought.
She could easily imagine him having been this accepting with George, Alicia and Angelina, but seeing him just accepting it as part of Ginny's life, literally when he was only just learning about it for the first time, was really eye opening for her and showed her exactly how normal and acceptable it was in the magical world.
He even just accepted the idea of Ginny and Katie being together, showing her that even the idea of his little sister being in a same sex relationship didn't bother him in the slightest.
"Like I could picture anyone trying to force you into doing something you didn't want to." Bill gave an easy laugh at that before lifting up his coffee mug. "Thanks," He smiled, nodding to Hermione as he sipped at his coffee. "Spoke to mum earlier, think McGonagall's interview has finally got through to her about Dumbledore and everything."
"About time," Ginny snorted, shaking her head.
"She wanted to try and talk to Harry, I think I convinced her it'd be a bad idea." Bill explained.
"It really would be." Hermione confirmed. "She really hurt him with all her yelling and everything she said." She explained when Bill looked at her. "He's pretty set on never wanting to speak to her again."
"I don't blame him either." Ginny nodded, definitely siding with Harry on this one.
"I don't know much of what happened, only that mum didn't believe all the interviews you two gave, then when you sided with Harry, she kicked you out too." Bill said, looking towards Ginny. "I know she outright called Harry a liar, she ranted about that enough in front of everyone, and dad told me a few others bits, but I don't know much else about what she said."
"Mum completely lost it when the interviews came out, she was screaming about Dumbledore being the greatest wizard and how Harry should have been so thankful that he did everything for him." Ginny explained, her disgusted expression showing exactly what she thought of all that.
"It was when Molly said that Harry should be thankful that Dumbledore sent Hagrid to steal Harry from Sirius that everything really blew up." Hermione explained. "She started really ranting about how Harry was far better off even with his abusive relatives than he would have been with Sirius, and that she was glad he'd died before Sirius ruined everything for him."
"Shit," Bill breathed out.
"She really went off on one, I know she always hated Sirius for some reason, but this was really nuts." Ginny confirmed what Hermione said. "I think that was when Harry'd had enough."
"No wonder," Bill muttered, sipping at his coffee again to try and get his thoughts in order.
"I think that was the tipping point for Harry too. He can just ignore people calling him a liar, it's happened so many times before that he just ignores it now, but Sirius was one of the only links he had left to his parents. Molly saying she was glad his godfather was dead... it really hurt him, worse than an unforgivable." Hermione explained.
"Ron sided with mum, he started yelling at Harry for yelling back at mum, and everything got really bad from there." Ginny explained. "I'm surprised Harry didn't curse the both of them right there. He just walked out and apparated away. Think that was the last time he even went to The Burrow." She explained.
"Ron should have known better than that," Bill sighed, shaking his head. "Take it Harry bought this place soon after?" He asked, continuing when Ginny nodded her head. "Damn sight better the Grimmauld, it's nice here, homey, quiet, out of the way... It suits him." He said with a smile.
"Harry never wanted to stay at Grimmauld for too long, I think that's why he bought this place as quick as he could." Ginny explained. "It just makes it better than nobody knows where we all live now. Not mum, or Ron or anyone."
"Speaking of, I saw George in the shop yesterday actually, he told me what happened." Bill said, looking to Hermione with a sympathetic expression now. "Sorry he was such a prat to you." He said with a sigh. "Seems neither of you are having much luck with Ron and mum lately." He said with an apologetic grimace.
"I wish I could say I didn't expect it to happen at some point or another," Hermione said, giving Bill a sad smile back. "Ron's jealousy always makes him like that, I just can't cope with it anymore." She explained. "I'm not going to be tiptoeing around through my life just hoping that I don't do anything to make him jealous of me."
"You deserve better than him anyway," Ginny shrugged, more than happy to know that Hermione was fully moving on from Ron and wasn't about to go running back to him.
"He's always had a temper," Bill nodded in agreement with what Hermione was saying. "I honestly don't know how he's even going to get past the auror entrance exams."
Ginny actually snorted at that, shaking her head in amusement. "He's not." She said bluntly when Bill looked at her. "He only passed his OWLs with Hermione's help." She explained. "Think he's actually going to bother reading through all those books and learning about laws and procedures without anyone reminding him to actually study and work for it?" She scoffed at the thought.
"He really isn't, isn't he?" Hermione asked, shaking her head sadly. "I should have realised before. All the laws he'd have to know, what crimes and what restrictions he'd have to enforce. What spells and everything was legal and what wasn't? He'd have to know all of that to pass the exams."
"He hasn't got a single hope," Ginny said, in full belief of what she was saying. "Between Percy siding with the Death Eaters during the war, mum being... mum, and Ron just being a dick... I think it all just really soured Harry on even bothering to try and talk to any of them again, especially Ron."
"There's only so much someone can take," Bill sighed in understanding. "I'm just glad he didn't let it ruin his relationship with you or the rest of us." He said with a small smile.
"Nah, he's fine with you and George, probably Charlie too, but I think he's only met him a couple of times, at your wedding and during the war." Ginny smiled happily. "George and Alicia and Angelina pop around every so often, it's like a proper quidditch team reunion night here sometimes."
"It's horrible," Hermione quipped with a small teasing quirk on her lips as she looked at Bill in the vague hope that he would understand.
"Oi!" Ginny laughed over, pushing Hermione on the shoulder with a grin while Katie laughed alongside her.
"Sorry, love the game myself." Bill grinned at Hermione. "Never went mad on it like Charlie, Ron or this one did, but I'll fly any chance I can get." He said with a nudge to Ginny.
"Am I always going to be outnumbered?" Hermione sighed forlornly.
"Sorry," Katie grinned at her unashamedly.
"Probably," Ginny laughed. "You could always join us and start enchanting broomsticks for us instead. We'd all happily be your testers." She grinned at the thought as Hermione rolled her eyes at her.
"That's right, Harry said Filius was pretty excited about snatching you up for a mastery," Bill smiled at her. "Enchanting's pretty hard core stuff, can count on one hand the proper enchanters I've ever met." He mused on the thought. "Reckon the last one I know about that Filius actually took on was Harry's godfather back in the day, and that was back in the seventies before I'd even started Hogwarts."
"Sirius was an enchanter?" Hermione asked, dumbfounded by this bit of knowledge.
"Oh yeah, he was right good at it according to Filius," Bill nodded, seeing both Hermione and Ginny were surprised by this bit of information. "I know he did that flying motorbike thing that Harry's got now, but he must have done tons of other stuff as well."
"Of course, the motorbike is filled with all kinda of enchantments." Hermione blinked, surprised that she hadn't actually put that together herself.
"You should tell Harry that," Ginny said, looking to Bill. "He never got to know much about Sirius or his parents because of Dumbledore." She said, waving down to the paper on the table. "Might be good to tell him what you know to try and take his mind off things."
"True," Bill nodded. "Don't know much about his parents though, can't really help there, but I chatted to Sirius enough while he was hiding out at Grimmauld, and he always spoke about Harry and how proud he was of how he was turning out."
"He'd love to hear all that," Hermione smiled softly at the thought. "I don't know if it'd be a good idea or not, but Harry's got a pensieve upstairs in the library..." She explained, letting the idea sink in for them all before continuing. "I just don't know whether seeing memories of Sirius being practically kept prisoner at Grimmauld by Dumbledore and Molly would be a good idea at the moment."
"Right, yeah." Bill groaned, rubbing his forehead as he remembered how bad his mother had been at Grimmauld Place, ordering Sirius around and screeching at him constantly whenever she didn't get her way. Put that together with everything she'd yelled at Harry recently, and it might be enough to really tip Harry over the edge.
"If you have any memories of just you and Sirius... just not with anyone else in The Order, that might be good." Hermione said softly.
"I'll have a think," Bill promised. "Dumbledore really did a number on him, didn't he?"
"He screwed us all over," Ginny nodded, gesturing to the paper again. "Did you know he changed all the courses around just to make sure Harry wasn't being taught properly?" She demanded. "That means none of us were, we all barely scraped by our OWLs because the professors were dumbing down the lessons and teaching spells in later years than they should have been."
"I read about that," Bill nodded with a sad expression on his face, not really knowing how to feel about McGonagall right now.
"Hermione thought they were, but we didn't have any proof or anything." Ginny explained. "Well, until this..." She said with a nod towards the newspaper.
"It's abominable really," Hermione huffed in annoyance. "He ruined everyone's education just so he could try and control Harry and ensure that he didn't have a chance against Voldemort." She frowned. "It's honestly ridiculous, I mean Harry's signature spell is the expelliarmus, he literally learnt it in second year." She frowned, shaking her head.
"No wonder he wanted to talk to Filius about actually learning proper defence," Bill shook his head in disgust. "Reckon everyone else around the country will have something to say about that as well. Wouldn't want to be up at the school right now, they must be dealing with howlers coming in like swarms."
"I didn't even think about that," Hermione gasped, wondering how all the professors were dealing with the deluge of complaints from angry students and parents.
"I'm pretty pissed off with that too," Katie admitted. "It doesn't change much now I know, but still..." She frowned, wondering if things would have turned out different for her exams if they'd actually been taught properly.
"Maybe we wouldn't have lost so many people in the war if we'd actually had proper teachers." Hermione said with a frown.
"Maybe," Bill nodded, it was certainly possible. Dumbledore's manipulations had some pretty far reaching consequences that most people hadn't even thought about yet. "Do you think it's going to get worse?" He asked, tapping the newspaper on the table. "The articles I mean?"
"Probably," Hermione sighed sadly. "This... this article only talked about what happened with Harry's parents and everything through the eighties. How Dumbledore started dumbing things down and gave Trelawney and Snape jobs at the school." She explained. "I think the next one will probably be about our first year at Hogwarts."
"Oh Merlin, what about my first year!" Ginny gasped. "Do you think they're going to print everything about what happened?" She asked, paling as she remembered that horrible year.
"I don't know," Hermione worried on her bottom lip as she considered that. "I don't think McGonagall actually did much with everything that was going on then, not that I remember anyway. She certainly didn't do anything when Harry was being bullied by everyone and people believing he was the one petrifying people."
They'd been very careful when writing up their interviews with The Daily Prophet, she'd made sure to go through everything that Harry wrote and every memory he offered for them to take photos from, to make sure that there was nothing mentioned or shown anywhere that identified Ginny as the person who had actually opened The Chamber and let the basilisk out during that horrible year.
"I can't believe she let so much go on right under her nose," Bill shook his head sadly. "None of that would ever have happened back when I was at Hogwarts. She'd have stamped right down on any bullying going on and really laid into people about it."
"She always let it happen to Harry, and me." Hermione said sadly. "I don't remember her actually standing up for us once, not even against Snape or even when Malfoy let the Death Eaters into the school. She didn't care about us at all."
"So this is... what? Her guilt finally getting to her?" Bill asked curiously.
"I did kind of yell at her about everything when she asked me about coming back for my NEWTs." Hermione admitted. "I don't think she realised that we'd figured everything out, but when I confronted her she didn't say anything about quitting her position or doing anything like this."
"You figured it all out, we'd have still been clueless if you hadn't realised what was going on." Ginny corrected her with a thankful smile. "It might have been the push she needed to actually do the right thing for once," She frowned down at the paper. "She's been kissing Dumbledore's arse for so long now, it's about time she realised that she's been on the wrong side all along."
"I honestly didn't think she actually knew right from wrong anymore," Hermione sighed sadly, remembering only a couple of years ago when she still idolised Dumbledore and McGonagall, and wouldn't have even dreamed that they would have been capable of this sort of evil.
"Should we go out and check Harry's OK?" Bill asked. "I mean, I know flying around is good to clear the mind and everything, but talking it out and knowing people are there with him would help him a lot more I'd reckon."
"Right," Ginny nodded. "I've got my old Cleansweep in the garage, you can use that and come and find him with me?" She offered, looking at Bill.
"I'll stay here with Hermione," Katie shook her head when Ginny looked at her. "He'd probably hate having too many people crowding around him right now." She explained at Ginny's curious look. "I haven't got my broom here with me anyway."
"He does hate it when people do that," Hermione confirmed.
"Got it," Bill nodded. "Your old Cleansweep?" He asked, emphasising the word 'old' before draining the last of his coffee down quickly and shrugging off his faded and worn copper coloured dragon skin jacket, hanging it over the back of the kitchen chair.
"Yup," Ginny grinned. "You might be my favourite brother, but there's no way I'm letting you ride my Lightning Bolt!" She said with a wide grin at Bill's incredulous stare.
"Oh god, there's two of them." Hermione muttered to herself, shaking her head in amusement as Bill chased Ginny out of the back door and around to the garage, shouting out questions about Ginny's fancy silver broom and begging her to let him have a go on it sometime.
"Three," Katie laughed at her in amusement, smiling at the more lighthearted air that was settling around them now. "Harry's going to be alright, isn't he?"
"Yes," Hermione said, surety in her voice as she nodded. "He'll be angry, furious really, but he'll be alright once he works through it." She said, knowing all too well how Harry worked through his anger.
"Good," Katie smiled. "Everything was so great yesterday, and... well, aside from Ron and everything," She gave an apologetic smile at that. "Life just felt like it was finally going good for once and getting back to normal after everything."
"I heard," Hermione rolled her eyes. "Last night I mean, I heard Ginny. Again." She said with a small smirk. "And I saw the nail marks on Harry's back. I can guess that was either the toffees again, or did you try those vampire sweet things?" She asked.
"The vampire fangs, he loved them. I'm definitely going to stock up on those for some fun." Katie grinned widely. "At least he's got me and Ginny to keep his spirits up now and keep him distracted from all of this."
"That'll definitely help," Hermione smiled. "Maybe you can actually teach those two some proper silencing charms." She said with a small laugh, exasperatingly rolling her eyes at the thought of how many times she'd had to suffer through hearing their erotic escapades.
"That's Ginny," Katie laughed. "You know she forgets them on purpose right?" She explained with a devious grin when Hermione looked at her with a confused expression. "She gets off on it." She explained with a sly smirk and a secretive wink like she was sharing a secret.
"Really!" Hermione gasped in shock. "Ginny... she... she knows I can hear her?" She whispered, staring at Katie in disbelief.
"Definitely," Katie laughed. "She loves it." She grinned. "She's really got a big exhibitionist streak in her." She explained. "The first time we really talked about anything... before we started dating or anything, she wanted me to watch them at first."
"Watch them... having sex?" Hermione asked with wide eyes. "She likes that?" She demanded, her hand covering her mouth in shock.
"Definitely," Katie nodded with a wide grin. "She probably gets off harder every time she knows you can hear her, you should have seen her face when Angelina walked in on us the other night, it was half shock and half her nearly ready to pop just knowing she was being watched." She explained with a laugh.
"Oh my god!" Hermione laughed back, shaking her head at the thought. Thinking back to the times she'd actually walked in on Harry and Ginny before, and now wondering if Ginny had actually done that on purpose so she would be caught.
"That's her favourite position, me on Harry's face, watching her while she rides him." Katie explained with a laugh at Hermione's wide eyed and shocked face. "She really gets off on me watching her like that." She grinned. "And, well... I'm certainly not going to complain if Ginny wants me sitting on Harry's face so much." She added with a wink and a grin.
Hermione was simply staring back at Katie, unable to say anything as that erotic mental image settled firmly in her mind and refused to shift no matter what she tried. Now that she'd actually seen Katie naked, her imagination was running rampant and giving her a very erotic and detailed image of just how glorious Ginny, Harry and Katie must look in the throws of passion like that.
"Never know, maybe she'll ask you to come and watch her some time." Katie said with a devious grin, biting back her laugh when she saw Hermione flush bright red at the thought. "I bet she'd pop so hard if she saw you watching her."
"Oh my god, I can't even imagine someone watching me... doing that." Hermione shook her head firmly at that thought. Sex was... it was personal, private. Definitely not something she would ever want an audience for.
"She really loves it." Katie laughed. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to..." She asked quietly. "But didn't Ron have any kinks or anything?" She asked. "Or you?" She added on. "Is the rope thing still interesting you?" She prompted with a smile.
"Me and Ron... we only really... had sex? A couple of times." Hermione explained with a red face. "We never really talked about it you know? Not like you and Ginny do, or Harry I'm guessing?" She asked, continuing on when Katie nodded. "It was... I don't know, a lot of fumbling and trying to make it feel good? Trying to feel around in Ron's single bed was just a mess really. Most of the time it was just quick with us both trying to be quiet in case Molly heard us, and then he took Kingsley's offer to go to the Auror Academy..." She trailed off, not needing to say how little time she'd actually spent with Ron ever since he got his place at the Academy.
"Ah," Katie nodded knowingly.
"I have been... you know, reading more of those books though." Hermione admitted bashfully. "Some of the ideas and pictures... they do look very sexy." She said in a quiet voice.
"Which ones?" Katie grinned. "You can tell me, if it's about tying people up and ideas like that, I'd probably love them too." She explained with a laugh. "I can try them out and tell you if they're any good or not?" She offered with a wiggle of her eyebrows.
"I just... I couldn't get it out of my head, when Angelina said she'd walked in on you... you know... on Harry's face." Hermione whispered the last with wide eyes. "You really do that?" She asked, still in disbelief about what Katie had just said about Ginny's favourite sexual position.
"Really," Katie gave a wide and toothy grin at that. "Didn't Ron ever do that for you? Not just with you on top, but him going down on you?"
Hermione simply shook her head at that, knowing she'd already admitted it to Ginny so there was no real point in lying or refusing to answer anymore.
"That boy needs lessons in how to please a witch," Katie snorted, shaking her head.
Hermione actually giggled at that, her hand flying to her mouth in embarrassment as she remembered the old book she'd found in Ron's bedroom titled 'Twelve Fail-Safe Ways to Charm Witches'. If he'd even read the whole thing, she doubted there was anything really helpful in there. For all she knew, it was about as useful as one of Gilderoy Lockhart's text books, it might even have been written by him really, she never actually bothered looking close enough at the book to see who the author actually was.
"There were... in the rope books, there were pictures of men... all tied up with women on top them... you know, like you said you do?" Hermione said, looking at Katie meaningfully.
"Ohhh," Katie grinned. "Did you like that idea?" She wiggled her eyebrows, laughing when Hermione blushed fiercely but gave a very small embarrassed nod. "It's really fun, and it feels amazing!" She smiled reassuringly. "We haven't done it with Harry tied up yet, but I'm definitely going to when I get the chance." She smirked at the thought.
"I just... do men... do they really like doing that?" Hermione asked in a quiet voice.
"Some do," Katie nodded. "Some don't." She shrugged. "I dated someone in Hogwarts who wouldn't do it for anything, even when I asked... he wouldn't even kiss me there, let alone use his tongue for anything." She explained with a roll of her eyes. "But he expected me to do it to him whenever he wanted."
"Ron liked that too," Hermione frowned. "But he never showed any interest in doing it back to me."
"Some men are just selfish like that, Harry loves doing it though. Me and Ginny have got a little competition going now to see who can cum the most from his tongue in one sitting." Katie laughed when Hermione stared at her with eyes as big as quaffles. "Shall we get another coffee and you can actually show me these rope books? I'd love to see them and get some ideas." She said with a smile.
"Oh... OK." Hermione nodded, still feeling very embarrassed talking about sex things so openly like this, but it was also kind of nice, knowing that anything she said Katie wasn't going to judge her or make fun of her because of it.
She'd had more than enough of that in Hogwarts with the girls in her dorm making fun of her and calling her prudish just because she didn't have regular boyfriends or talked about kissing and groping constantly, so it was actually really nice to have a friend that she could talk about these things with without worrying about being judged or mocked for not having the experience that other girls did.
Making up fresh coffees each, Hermione led the way upstairs to her room so they could look at the books and talk privately, because as much as she could be open about this with Katie and Ginny, there was absolutely no way she was ready to talk about anything like this with Harry.
That would just lead to a lot of stammering, blushing, and horrified expressions, she just knew it.
Floating above the coast line, Harry was simply sitting on his broom, hovering in silence and listening to the rhythmic sounds of the waves crashing onto the rocks far below him.
It was peaceful here, serene almost. From his vantage point hovering just above the coast, all he could see was ocean and blue skies, stretching out as far as the eye could see to the horizon and beyond, like an empty world of water that was just calm and quiet.
He knew Ireland was somewhere out there, and the Isle of Man, they might even be faint blobs on the horizon really, but they weren't anything he could really make out or distinguish from the bright blues of the sky and ocean below.
"Harry?"
The quiet voice broke him out of his peaceful thoughts and he allowed a soft smile to cross his lips, recognising Ginny's voice only moments before she flew up alongside him on her matching Lightning Bolt broom.
"Hey," Ginny smiled softly at him, laughing when she turned around to see Bill still slowly flying towards them on her old Cleansweep.
"Bill?" Harry asked in surprise when he followed Ginny's gaze and caught sight of Bill as well, wondering what he was doing here following Ginny.
"Blimey, that's a view and a half." Bill whistled in approval as he flew up alongside Ginny, staring out at the blue horizon. "Hi." He said, smiling over to Harry. "Couples broomsticks too I see." He laughed, noting the pair of silver Lightning Bolt brooms.
"Bill saw the paper and didn't know we'd come back home." Ginny explained with a glance over to Harry.
"Thought I'd drop by and make sure you were OK, didn't expect to walk in to a house full of witches." Bill said with a small laugh. "Just thought you might want some company today." He said with a reassuring smile.
"Are you OK?" Ginny asked.
"I don't know, I feel like I should be really angry about everything... but..." Harry sighed, slumping down on his broomstick slightly. "Dumbledore's dead, I can't exactly go charging after him and demanding answers now."
"What about McGonagall?" Bill asked, wondering if he was going to have to stop Harry from going after her instead.
"Blaming her for all of this would be like blaming you and Shacklebolt for keeping me locked up at Privet Drive all that time." Harry frowned, shaking his head. "I'm just sick of it, sick of finding out new and worse ways the magical world has screwed me over." He explained, still staring out to the ocean.
Bill nodded, he'd already apologised for following Dumbledore blindly, and he knew quite a few other people had too. He had no idea what had happened between Harry and Kingsley though, only knowing they'd had another blow up argument that had been in The Prophet, but now wasn't the time to ask about any of that.
"Hermione's just as angry," Ginny explained. "Think it's like McGonagall betrayed her personally, dumbing down lessons and not teaching her properly."
"That must be an unforgivable sin for Hermione," Harry chuckled slightly before laughing freely, shaking his head and feeling the emotion bubble up inside of him. "I'm just fed up of being angry all the time. It feels like every time something is really going good for me, something else comes along to kick it away." He sighed, shaking his head. "It's odd you know, ever since the war... since the last battle," He said, making sure Ginny knew what he was talking about. "I don't get as angry as I used to, it doesn't feel like I want to blow up and kill Dumbledore for what he did... it's just... I can't even explain it right."
"We're not going anywhere buster," Ginny shook her head firmly. "Me and Katie and Hermione, you're stuck with all of us now." She said with a wide smile.
"It's really nice out here," Bill said, looking away from where his baby sister was giving Harry a look of pure reassuring love. "Can see why you'd come out here to think. It's like nothing else exists in the world." He explained, looking out at the expansive ocean view.
"There's Ireland over there somewhere I think," Harry said, looking away from Ginny with a soft smile. "Probably an hour or two's flying, but it's out there." He laughed at the thought. "Hermione would probably be able to show you on a map better though."
"Probably," Ginny laughed. "I still remember her seeing that stupidly long place name that was near here. Just down on the other side of the island?" She asked, looking to Harry.
"Yeah, I couldn't even pronounce that." Harry shook his head, remembering Hermione's utterly bewildered face at seeing the welsh town name for the first time. It just looked to him like someone had spilled an entire can of alphabet spaghetti and decided that was what they were going to call the place.
"I got Lllan fair something something something, a lot of somethings." Ginny grinned, looking at Bill. "You have to see it, it's insane. Muggles are crazy around here." She laughed.
"I'll take your word for it," Bill chuckled at the thought.
"No, really. I'll get a photo or something." Ginny laughed. "I want to see you try and say it." She grinned mischievously.
"She loved trying to figure out how to say it, think Hermione just wanted a challenge to have some fun with." Harry laughed, feeling much lighter now he was talking about something fun and taking his mind off of everything. "Thanks, for coming out and talking." He said, smiling to both Ginny and Bill.
"You're practically family, it's what we do." Bill nodded back. "Besides, I got to find out the real story about Katie by coming over here, and spend some time with the Firefly here." He grinned as Ginny rolled her eyes at the childish nickname. "Worth it in my book."
"Oh, I... er..." Harry stammered out.
"Relax Harry," Bill laughed. "I know Ginny well enough to know she wouldn't do anything like this if it wasn't a hundred percent her idea in the first place." He smiled over. "It's none of my business what you three get up to, just as long as Ginny's happy, that's all that matters to me."
"I am," Ginny said, beaming a wide smile as she slowly drifted her broom closer to Harry and leaned across to give him a kiss. "Want to head back home, or give these brooms a proper workout over the water?" She asked, her eyes glinting at the idea.
"Another time," Harry laughed. "Home, home sounds good right about now."
"Good, because this old Cleansweep wouldn't be able to keep up with those shiny things," Bill chuckled, nodding towards Harry and Ginny's shining silver birch brooms. "And I could do with another coffee right now, it's colder up here than I thought." He admitted with an exaggerated shiver. "Back at your place, I can show you how to put up some proper owl restriction charms if you want? Stop you being bothered by anyone sending letters or anything you don't want?"
"That'd be amazing," Harry smiled, honestly thankful for the offer. He'd simply been tossing any letters he didn't recognise in the fire for now without even opening them, a proper charm to stop any owls delivering hate filled letters would definitely be a much better option.
"Home?" Ginny asked before pushing herself forwards and swooping her broom around smoothly.
Harry simply nodded, smiling as he followed Ginny's path around and waited for Bill to join them before the three started flying back to Holy House together.
Bill was simply watching the couple, smiling at how close they were, but inwardly a bit sad at the confirmation that Ginny now firmly thought of Harry's house as home now, having completely replaced The Burrow in her mind, and probably their mother along with it.
He would try and get her to open up a bit and maybe talk to their mother sometime, but now after hearing why Harry and Ginny had broken off all ties with her, he wasn't holding out much hope for that at all.
Ginny's life seemed to be here now, settled in at Holy House with Harry and Katie, and Hermione, and she seemed very happy with how things had turned out. He just wished that he didn't have to see their mother's face when she realised exactly what she had lost...
AN: The town close by to Holyhead is ridiculously called "Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch"... no, I'm not kidding... it's as real as Holyhead is, and you'd need an entire bucket of phlegm just to try and pronounce it properly lol