Harriet Potter and The Guardians of Atlantis, Part 5: Harriet Potter and the Dark Lady of Avalon
Rated: M for language, sexual content, nudity, and brief graphic violence.
Chapter 1: The Quidditch World Cup Final
Harriet woke up at 3am the day of the Quidditch World Cup Final.
She was spending the night at the Burrow, and it was full up. Charlie and Bill were back from abroad, and Neville Longbottom was here as a guest of Ron's. Harriet and Hermione were sharing a room with Ginny, but they had one bed and a sleeping bag. Harriet had drawn the short straw, so she was crammed into Ginny's small bed with Ginny. Harriet actually was relieved at that though. Hermione had insisted that Ginny be part of the little straw pick, so it might have been Hermione that Harriet spent the night with. And for various reasons, that wasn't something that Harriet was eager to do right now.
Especially since it was so warm tonight. Harriet was wearing a tee shirt and pants, but no shorts. And that simply would cause problems for Harriet.
But now Harriet couldn't sleep because of excitement. She just lay awake in Ginny's bed, thinking about Quidditch. It distracted her enough to let her miss that fact that Ginny's bum had pushed itself up on top of Harriet's hand. Harriet did notice after she relaxed her hand and suddenly had a handful of Ginny's bottom. Luckily it didn't wake Ginny, and Harriet got her hand out from under her friend. Okay, so maybe Harriet had gripped for a second longer than she had to, but Harriet was very new to this whole 'being aware she was attracted to girls' thing.
Not that Harriet was particularly interested in Ginny. Far from it! Oh, she found Ginny cute, but she wasn't particularly attracted to her. Still, when someone cute forced their bum into your hand, it was kind of hard not to feel something about that, even if it was an accident.
Sighing, Harriet got up and sat down at the small desk in Ginny's room. She wasn't getting back to sleep now. The window was open, throwing starlight and moonlight in the window. Harriet looked out the window and breathed in the fresh air.
Harriet must have dozed off, but not for very long, because when she opened her eyes next she saw the darkness on the horizon begin to lessen almost imperceptibly.
"You up, Harriet?" asked Hermione.
"Yeah," replied Harriet.
"I'm up as well," said Ginny, who waved her hand. Enchanted lights in her room came on.
Harriet smiled and went to her pack, looking for her shorts.
"Gotta pee," said Ginny, "be right back."
Ginny threw open the door. Right at the moment Ron was walking by the door. And while Harriet was leaning down over her pack, her bum pointed at the door. In her underwear.
Ron's face went red and he fled.
Ginny slammed the door shut.
"I am so sorry!" said Ginny, her face showing how flustered she was.
"Oh don't get upset," said Harriet dismissively, "It's just my underwear."
"Your pants were riding up," teased Hermione, "He definitely saw some cheeks."
"Well, I have nice round bum cheeks, what can I say?" replied Harriet, rolling with the punches, "They like to be seen, so they keep rolling my knickers up!"
"I think your bum cheeks are perfectly fine," said Hermione before she caught herself, "I mean normal! Normal!"
"Sounds like Hermione likes your ass, Potter," joked Ginny. Harriet had taken her to see some movies that summer, unfortunately it had led to Ginny discovering the word ass as a substitute for arse. So she now used it as often as possible.
"In any case, I'm not worried about Ron seeing my backside exactly," said Harriet as she quickly changed the subject, "I just don't want him getting the wrong idea."
"I thought you liked him," said Ginny.
"I like him," agreed Harriet, "But I'm not really interested in anyone right now."
That was a lie of course. Harriet was very interested in one person. But she couldn't very well say so right now. Not right to Hermione's face. Not when there was no way that Hermione returned her feelings.
Harriet pulled her shorts on. "Feel free to open the door now."
"Right!" said Ginny as she ran out the door. Then she grunted frustratedly as she got stuck at the now occupied bathroom.
"Serves her right," said Harriet.
Harriet walked out of the room and walked downstairs to the kitchen. Ron was down there and went red again when Harriet entered the room. Harriet considered talking to him, but decided to give him some time. He had a bit of a crush on her after all, and she wasn't completely sure how to handle that. Within moments, Ron had grabbed his plate of food and ran upstairs.
Molly was in the kitchen, finishing up laying out a light breakfast for all of those who were going to the Quidditch World Cup. She had a puzzled look on her face.
"What was his problem?" asked Molly.
"He's embarrassed because he saw me in my underwear," answered Harriet a bit mischievously, "Ginny opened a door at a really bad time."
Harriet sat down and began eating, taking time to pour herself some tea.
"You don't seem particularly bothered by it," noted Molly.
Harriet shrugged. "Why would I be? Ron's a friend, and it was an accident. I have better things to do than to get upset over things I can't change, that involve people I trust."
"Uh huh," said Molly in a tone that shouted her real feelings. Oh god, she thought Harriet was interested in Ron. Worse, denying it would only reinforce Molly's opinion that Harriet was embarrassed, and thus lying about not liking Ron.
"Mrs. Weasley, I'm not interested in dating anyone right now. Not even Ron," said Harriet, hoping this would end run things for a while at least.
"I understand, and it is a little early for you to start that," said Molly.
Harriet breathed a bit easier. The last thing she needed was Molly Weasley trying to play matchmaker.
Harriet had some serious concerns about revealing the fact that she was a lesbian at all. The magical world (or at least Magical Britain) was not a place where same sex attractions were discussed publically. Oh there was a pureblood tradition of young girls having quiet lesbian trysts rather than get themselves knocked up back from the days of marriage contracts, but marriage contracts had been out of style for a century. In modern terms, magical society was rather homophobic.
Ironically, Harriet was pretty sure that Hermione wouldn't feel that way. The one person she absolutely couldn't tell, at least not at first. Sirius had made a few gay jokes in her time with him, which made her uneasy, but none of his jokes had been mean, just suggestive. It still meant she didn't feel comfortable coming out to him first. Harriet laughed at the idea of coming out to Petunia or Dudley. They were much improved people, but Harriet still saw them as being aggressively conventional.
Part of her brain was screaming at her to tell Dumbledore for some reason. She couldn't put her finger on why, but part of her mind was convinced that he was gay. There was no evidence of this though, and Harriet wasn't going to approach him without evidence.
There was one person that Harriet knew that she was certain had been in a same sex relationship, but she hesitated there as well. Morgan Solaire's relationship had been with Rowena Ravenclaw in her previous life as Morgana, but it had been a teacher/student relationship. Morgana had been an adult when the relationship happened, but that didn't mean that the relationship had been appropriate. Harriet was concerned that Mogan would take her admission the wrong way. Harriet had to admit that she did think Morgan was pretty, and she might have a small crush on her in the way young people often had crushes on their mentors, but Harriet was intelligent enough to know that any sort of romantic contact with any adult was just a horrible, horrible idea. Harriet was only 14 years old!
Luckily, Harriet had never gotten any hint of inappropriate contact from Morgan. Morgan herself was the first to admit that her relationship with Rowena had been a bad idea. And in the end, Morgan was likely going to be the only person she would be able to talk to about this. Unfortunately, Morgan had returned to her chalet in Switzerland for most of the summer, so Harriet hadn't been able to contact her.
Harriet would just have to tough it out for a few more days.
XXXXX
The absolute inefficiency of the Quidditch World Cup set up infuriated Harriet. And as she marched with the Weasleys to Stoatshead Hill, she made her opinion known.
"Why timed Portkeys?" demanded Harriet, "Why not use temporary floos? I could build 100 of them in an hour using magic."
"How would we explain hundreds of fireplaces in the middle of nowhere to any muggles, who we regretfully have to use to help with this event," asked Arthur Weasley
"Cooking contest," said Harriet and Hermione at the same time.
"Oh, well, that would probably work," admitted Arthur, "but it would be a lot of effort for Floo Control. Though, probably not as much work as setting up hundreds of timed portkeys."
"See?" asked Harriet, "The Ministry is still badly in need of someone to just simplify matters."
"I guess so, though I would settle for someone to enforce anti-discrimination law effectively," replied Arthur.
Suddenly, Ginny poked Harriet hard in the ribs. Turning, Harriet saw Ginny pointing at Ron, who was off on his own now, as Neville was talking with Bill.
So Harriet stopped for a moment so she could fall in step next to Ron.
"Hey, about earlier," said Harriet.
"I am so sorry," started Ron, but Harriet cut him off.
"Nothing for you to be sorry about," insisted Harriet, "First, it was Ginny's fault and not yours. Second, I'm not the most modest person in the world. At some point during my Hogwarts career it's a pretty likey that I will end up streaking and absolutely everyone is going to see me starkers. In general, as long as you aren't a creep, and if my fanny isn't hanging out, don't sweat it."
Ron seemed to think on that for a while. "So you mean, I have you streaking to look forward to?"
"Absolutely," said Harriet somehow feeling that this conversation was getting away from her, "Though I am thinking more that I would be part of a group of people streaking as opposed to doing it just on my own."
"Well," said Ron thoughtfully, "If you do organize something like that, let me know. I'd be happy to help."
Harriet wanted to hit herself. She had completely fucked this up. He was flirting with her now! The last thing she wanted!
"I'm sure," said Harriet dryly, as she ran off to rejoin Hermione.
"So?" asked Hermione.
"Well, I may have overdone it," admitted Harriet.
Hermione grimaced and simply said "Oh."
It wasn't too long before they reached the aforementioned Stoatshead Hill, where their portkey was located, just as light was beginning to come up over the horizon. Amos and Cedric Diggory were already there. Harriet liked Cedric, he was the Hufflepuff Seeker and so had some run ins with Harriet previously. A lot of the girls at Hogwarts thought he was extremely attractive. Harriet guessed she saw what they meant, but for obvious reasons it didn't really resonate with her.
"Hey Cedric," said Harriet, "You bummed about Quidditch this year?"
"What about Quidditch this year?" asked Fred suddenly. George was right behind him equally interested.
"Your father hasn't told you?" asked Cedric.
"It's supposed to be a secret," said Arthur testily.
"Wait, you didn't tell Fred and George about the Triwizard Tournament?" asked Harriet, "You just let them go thinking they'd be playing Quidditch this year? Not how I would have handled that."
"As Dad said, it's a secret," insisted Percy. Percy was working in the Ministry these days, now in the Department of Magical Transportation. He'd almost been assigned to the Department International Magical Cooperation, but Arthur had told the Minister, that Percy probably would be a bad fit for that position, as he had to live with several people who knew that Barty Crouch Jr. was a Death Eater.
"It really isn't," said Bill, "Pretty much everyone knows. I know, and I live in Egypt."
"In any event," said Cedric, "I figure I'll try out for the tournament. Probably won't make it, but you never know."
"Triwizard Tournament," said George speculatively, as Fred nodded his support.
"We had better get in position," said Amos.
And so, they all grabbed an old boot that had been sitting on the hill. It constantly amazed Harriet how absolutely silly the magical world could be sometimes. She supposed reusing muggle trash as a portkey was good recycling, but it wasn't very dignified.
The portkey trip was a bit rough, but Harriet had used a portkey before, so she knew what to expect. She was even able to land on her feet, something any of the other underage witches or wizards in their group (aside from Cedric) couldn't do.
After separating from the Diggorys, Harriet and her group came to the campground they were staying at. The Manager of the campground was a muggle named Mr. Roberts. But in the middle of Arthur's conversation with him, an obliviator walked up and obliviated the poor man. Which, all things considered, was a poor idea on the part of the unsuspecting obliviator.
"What the hell was that for!" shouted Harriet angrily, "Why on Earth would you obliviate a man in the middle of a conversation!"
"He was starting to recognize the patterns of magical activities," said the obliviator.
Harriet shook her head in disbelief. "We are here for two days. You could just obliviate him tomorrow."
"And have him go running off tonight to tell about what is going on here at the pub?" asked the obliviator.
"Oh, for goodness sake! What muggle would believe him?" demanded Harriet.
"He might get a photograph or something," said the obliviator.
"Forbid him from bringing a camera!" snapped Harriet, angrier than ever.
"How could we ask that?" asked the now thoroughly exasperated obliviator.
"Say we're a group of nudists or something, I don't know," suggested Harriet.
"Can you control her?" the obliviator asked Arthur plaintively.
"No," said Arthur with a grin, "Or rather I choose not to."
"Hmph," said the obliviator before beating a hasty retreat.
"Really, what is the Ministry thinking," said Harriet, still upset, "They'll have to obliviate these poor men dozens of times. That has to be dangerous."
"I agree Harriet, but nothing we can do about it now," said Arthur.
"We could ambush the obliviator when he comes back and fight off all comers until they leave him alone," said Harriet.
"Then they would send aurors. After you," said Arthur with a smile.
"I always wanted to die in a blaze of glory," joked Harriet, "Bring 'em on."
"Oh Merlin, do I even want to know?" came a familiar voice.
"Sirius!" shouted Harriet as she ran over and gave her godfather a hug.
"Harriet objected to the way that obliviations are being carried out," said Hermione.
"Good for her," said Sirius.
"I like the alternate explanation that Harriet has been creating," sniped Ginny, "We just tell the muggles we're all nudists holding a cooking contest."
"So we can ban cameras and put up floos," considered Sirius, "Not bad."
"Wow, well we know where she gets it from," said Fred.
"No one else could have put that together," agreed George.
"All hail Padfoot!" they shouted.
Sirius looked pleased. "Well I just came down to make sure you got here safe."
"You have to go already?" asked Harriet sadly.
"We'll watch the match together, don't worry," laughed Sirius, "I have to go hobnob with visiting dignitaries for Crouch. He wants to make it clear that I'm supporting him for Minister."
"You're supporting him for Minister?" asked Arthur sceptically.
"If he's only got Greengrass running against him? You bet," said Sirius, "But I will admit that the trust we used to have isn't quite as strong as it once was. He has absolutely refused to handle you-know-what until after the election."
You-know-what was the fact that his son was an active Death Eater who tried to kidnap Harriet. But Harriet fully supported Sirius' position here. Bryant Greengrass was too much of an old pureblood to be trusted.
"He just wants to make sure you don't run against him," said Harriet.
"Perhaps," admitted Sirius, "But if I'm not going to run, I have to pick my poison. And Crouch has agreed to ditch Crouch Jr. as soon as the election is over."
It was too long, but Crouch Sr. had been stubborn. Unless Sirius wanted a full scale war with the Ministry, he would have to be patient. Sirius had very nearly reneged on his deal with the Minister when he had learned Crouch Jr. would be organizing the Triwizard Tournament. In the end it had been Cornelius Fudge who convinced Sirius that there was no way to remove Crouch Jr. before the election, as the Crouches could always call Harriet, Hermione and Morgan's testimony a dementor induced hallucination. And if they did do that, neither Crouch Sr. or Greengrass was likely to fire the younger Crouch after the election.
So Sirius could openly oppose the Minister, but if he successfully deflected the accusations, the only way to get rid of the younger Crouch would be for Sirius to run for Minister and win.
As Harriet watched her godfather walk away, Arthur laid a comforting hand on her shoulder. "You think he should run for Minister?" asked Arthur.
"Probably," said Harriet, "But I see so little of him as it is these days. I know it's selfish, but I don't want to lose him to the Ministry entirely."
"I understand," said Arthur, "Well, I don't think he'll run. Not yet. Another year and he'd probably be convinced, but he was out of things a long enough time that it made him reticent."
Harriet nodded. She didn't like politics. She understood the necessity of politics, but she didn't like them.
"If I ever become a politician, punch me," said Harriet to Hermione quietly.
"Says the person who already has a Wizengamot seat," chipped in Ginny.
"A seat which will remain vacant barring a complete catastrophe," assured Harriet, "I am utterly opposed to the idea of Hereditary Wizengamot seats. I will not take mine up when I come of age. Unless I have to, I suppose."
What sort of event would force Harriet to take up her Wizengamot seat wasn't something she wanted to contemplate.
XXXXX
It wasn't too long before they found their campsite. Arthur had tried to set up the tents without magic, to hilarious results. In the end it had taken the combined efforts of Arthur, Bill, Charlie, Percy, Ron and Neville to get it up non-magically.
"You could have helped," said Harriet pointedly to Fred and George.
"You could have as well," laughed Fred.
"Oh, you do not want to mess with me Fred Weasley," said Harriet, "I know how to get back at you."
"Really?" asked Fred, "How?"
"I'll just go have a chat with Angelina," she said, an evil grin on her face.
George broke out laughing, while Fred actually did look flustered. "What does that have to do with anything?" he asked nervously.
"Nothing…maybe," she said innocently, but her eyes were still mischievous.
"Truce then?" suggested Fred.
"If by truce, you mean that you surrender, sure," laughed Harriet.
"Oh, shit," said George, "We have a problem."
Harriet turned to look at what he was looking at. And she inhaled sharply when she saw it.
Ludo Bagman and Barty Crouch Jr. were approaching. Ludo Bagman was a nothing as far as Harriet was concerned. He was the current Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports and he'd once been a star Quidditch player, but his career had ended after he'd been accused of providing intelligence to Augustus Rookwood, a Death Eater. While he had been acquitted, the accusation should have been a hindrance to him in the Crouch Ministry. The only reason Crouch Sr. tolerated him was because he had been a vocal supporter of Crouch's reforms, though most people thought he probably only supported them so he could get promoted.
No, Harriet didn't care about Bagman in the least. But she very much did not want to have an encounter with Barty Crouch Jr. Unfortunately, he didn't seem to feel the same way. He made a beeline for Harriet.
Suddenly, Arthur was standing in between them. "Leave, now," said Arthur angrily, his wand in hand.
Bill, Charlie and Percy had also all drawn their wands, though no one was pointing them yet. In fact, Fred, George, Neville, Ron and Hermione all had their hands in their pockets as well.
"Arthur, is this really necessary?" asked Bagman nervously, "I don't know what is going on here…"
"That is correct," said Crouch Jr. snidely, "But it is only the tip of the ice continent that is 'things that Ludo Bagman doesn't know.' You should probably stay out of this. I will leave, because I want to, not because of any other reason."
And Crouch turned around and left. Quickly.
"Sorry Arthur, didn't know there was bad blood there," said Bagman apologetically.
"No reason you would have," said Arthur, "The issue has to do with Harriet over there. If she hadn't been here…"
"A problem between Sirius and the Minister's son?" asked Bagman.
"Something like that," said Harriet dryly. As she had previously thought, Bagman was a nobody, not even connected enough to hear the rumours about Crouch Jr. that surely must be percolating by now.
"Well if anyone wants to make the Final match a bit more interesting, I might be able to help out a bit," said Bagman, moving on to his real reason for being there.
Harriet wasn't too surprised when Fred and George decided to approach him. She was a bit surprised that he would take their bet. They wanted a wager on Ireland winning, but the Bulgarian Seeker, Viktor Krum, catching the snitch. In any other match that would probably be a sucker's bet, but Harriet had actually been handicapping this match (with Hermione's help). The odds on that had been fluctuating, but, given the high skill of both Krum and the Irish Chasers, it seemed to be settling around 3-1. Or at least they should have been. Bagman was offering a much higher payout.
"Fred, George, do not give him your money," said Harriet, "He's giving you a 10-1 payout on 3-1 odds. He isn't on the level."
"Boys, who else is going to take a bet from two underage wizards?" asked Bagman.
"Being underage means he can fleece you without consequences," retorted Harriet, though she suspected that it was actually Bagman who was the one being fleeced.
"You know what? We should have Charlie be the one to put in a bet," said George.
"With someone else," insisted Fred.
Bagman angrily turned away and stormed off in a huff.
"That was a good catch Harriet," said Fred.
Finally Arthur pronounced the tents ready. Harriet, Hermione and Ginny went into the girls' tent, and immediately Harriet was annoyed.
"Why didn't we use this last night, as opposed to having my hand get crushed by Ginny's bum?" demanded Harriet.
"Uh, you're welcome," joked Ginny, "It isn't my fault you had your hand turned the wrong way."
"I didn't," said Harriet humourlessly, "I got a handful."
Ginny giggled. "Oh," she said finally, "I guess you have a legitimate criticism then."
"Anyway," said Hermione, "Anything we need to take care of?"
"Yeah," said Harriet as she claimed one of the beds, "I'm taking a nap, I've been up since about 3."
XXXXX
It was a thoroughly rested Harriet who entered the Ministers Box that evening. She hadn't napped for that long, and had taken the time to explore the camp a bit even. Sirius hadn't shown up until it was time to leave for the actual match. He'd been angry when he heard that Crouch Jr. had been there, but just as he'd been about to really go off, Harriet had managed to distract him.
The Minister's Box was full of people that Harriet knew. Luckily Crouch Jr. wasn't one of them. The Minister for Magic was having a conversation with the Bulgarian Minister. The Greengrasses were also up there, along with Draco, who was sitting next to Astoria. His eyes went wide when he saw Hermione.
"Oooh, I have to ask Astoria something," said Harriet excitedly, running up to talk to the younger girl. Hermione followed reluctantly. Astoria leapt to her feet, meeting Harriet halfway. Draco followed about as reluctantly as Hermione.
Astoria smiled. "Harriet! Did you have a good summer?"
"Passably good, yes," replied Harriet, "How about your summer? Did you get a chance to scandalize your parents with that item I sent you?"
Draco's face suddenly turned beet red.
"Oh, yes," said Astoria with a laugh, "My parents actually took us to a muggle beach this year, on Daphne's insistence. They were already scandalized when we got there and they saw how most women were dressed! I think my father nearly had a heart attack when he saw me wearing that bikini for the first time. In any event, they couldn't say much, because it wasn't all that revealing, not compared to every other woman on that beach."
"And then I started sunning in it at home," said Astoria, "which has made my skin a bit darker."
"You do have a bit of a tan," agreed Harriet, though she suspected the tan wouldn't last. Astoria's natural colouring was too light.
"Anyway, that's how Draco saw me in it," said Astoria, her eyes twinkling. Draco's face was still every bit as red as it had been."
"What is the big deal?" asked Astoria, "Everything was covered! I swear, men are weird. My father got angry at me and Draco could barely look at me."
"It isn't a proper way for a pureblood lady to dress," insisted Draco.
Harriet thought of warning Astoria that Draco could be pretending to be awkward in order to get her to keep teasing him, but she didn't because not only didn't she believe it, she also figured Astoria wouldn't care. Astoria seemed to have her own ideas about what she wanted from Draco, and Harriet had to admit that she could handle him herself.
"Pureblood decorum is boring," said Astoria.
"Amen," joked Harriet fervently. Of course that only confused Astoria, who was not at all familiar with the phrase.
It was at that moment that Barty Crouch Sr., the Minister for Magic, walked up.
"Harriet," said the Minister anxiously, "I wanted to apologise for my son's behavior today. He was out of line, and I have made it clear that if that… misunderstanding is repeated, there will be consequences."
Harriet's eyes widened. This was not a good time or place to do this. The last thing they needed was Bryant Greengrass discovering that Crouch Jr. was an Death Eater. Which was probably why Crouch was here, Harriet realised. She was talking to Greengrass' daughter. He probably thought she was making trouble.
"Oh it was all an accident," she said, trying to sound as sincere as possible.
"Barty Crouch accidentally made a comment that disparaged my aunt," lied Harriet to Astoria, "But it wasn't intentional. He just misunderstood a common muggle term."
"Strange how such a minor incident gets an apology from the Minister himself," said Hermione, "But when the Minister decided to throw the trial of… the person who attacked me, I got nothing."
The Minister stood flabbergasted. This had gone very badly for him, and it was obvious that he wanted to get out of this conversation as soon as possible.
"I've always done what I felt was best…" started Crouch, but he was interrupted by the last person Harriet expected.
"I'm sorry," said Draco, "What I did to you was unforgivable, and I am sorry."
Crouch used the opportunity provided by Hermione's complete shock to retreat.
"I… I won't forgive you," stammered Hermione.
"As I said, I don't expect you to," accepted Draco, "Anything else I say right now will be self-serving, so I'm going to go sit down."
Draco turned and left. Astoria seemed as stunned as Hermione.
"He actually did it," noted Astoria, not quite believing it.
"Did you put him up to it?" asked Hermione.
"I mean he had previously said he wanted to apologise, and I encouraged it, but we haven't talked about it since June," explained Astoria.
Hermione looked at Astoria for a long time. "You are too good for him," said Hermione, "But… oh dammit, just don't let him think this changes anything!"
Hermione ran back to her seat. Harriet followed with a wave to Astoria. Harriet sat down next to her friend.
"What happened?" asked Sirius, who was on the other side of Harriet.
"Draco Malfoy apologised to Hermione," said Harriet.
"Whoah," said Sirius "that's a mindfuck."
Harriet waited for Hermione to correct Sirius, she still disapproved of harder language. But she didn't.
Instead she said, "You're telling me."
"I think it's a nice gesture," said Harriet.
"You don't think I should forgive him, do you?" asked Hermione.
"I haven't yet," said Harriet, "But he did save your life in second year. Not today, but one of these days, someday, you know you are going to want to forgive him."
"Yeah," said Hermione, "You're right."
"But it's a long way off," said Harriet, " and there is still time for him to unearn your forgiveness."
"That… does not make me feel better," admitted Hermione, "I wanted Draco to be reformed…"
"Also remember, forgiveness doesn't mean you have to become friends," said Sirius, "Look at me and Snape!"
"He still hates you because you have never apologised," snapped Harriet, "despite the fact that I have begged you to do so. The only reason he ignores you rather than sniping invective at you these days is because I asked him to."
"Uh, bad example," agreed Sirius.
"Very bad," said Harriet darkly.
It wasn't long before the fans were more or less all in the stadium. Ludo Bagman began announcing an introduction to the event, an introduction Harriet was ignoring.
"Do you know if Fred and George found someone to take their bet?" Harriet asked Ginny, who was sitting on the other side of Hermione.
"Mundungus Fletcher set them up," said Ginny, "He was surprised at the odds Bagman gave them. He was pretty certain it was a scam."
"Mundungus?" asked Sirius, "I'm not sure he is much better than Bagman. Though… did he charge a finders fee?"
"He did," replied Ginny.
Sirius nodded, "That's probably fine then. Mundungus would certainly know someone who can hook them up, so as long as he makes money off of the deal there is no reason for him to cheat them. Oh, they're about to show the mascots."
Harriet nodded, but suddenly something strange happened. Her face suddenly began to get hot. Turning to face the playing field, she saw a number of beautiful women had walked onto the Quidditch Pitch. They were dressed just provacatively enough to encourage speculation as to what the viewer was missing. And all around the stadium, men were going crazy. Ron was waving and shouting, while Neville was looking around for a way to get down to the pitch. A few rows up, Draco was trying very hard to look like he wasn't affected, but he clearly was still staring at them. Despite that, Astoria seemed happy with his behavior, maybe just because at least he was putting in the effort.
Veela, thought Harriet.
Arthur Weasley wasn't affected at all. Sirius was openly admiring the women down below, but he also wasn't acting as if he wasn't in control of himself. Which Harriet found suspicious.
Because she was having a hard time not jumping over the railing to get to those Veela. And that would not do. Not at all. She needed a distraction, and fast.
"Have you been with a Veela, Sirius?" she asked, choosing the first thing that popped into her head.
"Harriet!" scolded Hermione, "That's inappropriate!"
Sirius gave Harriet an unreadable look. Then he smiled. "I don't mind Harry," he said, "I have. I went to France on Ministry business, oh, two Februarys ago. Met with a colleague, Henri Delacour. His wife Apolline was a veela, and she introduced me to one of her cousins. It was a rather… intense affair. I wouldn't recommend it for someone unless they very much like being constantly enthralled by their partner."
"What do you mean by that?" asked Harriet.
"Oh no!" said Sirius with a laugh, "You are not getting any more details than that. You don't want any more details than that!"
And with that Harriet's head was forced back to watching the Veela dance. Luckily they were basically done, though the end of their routine caused Harriet to make an involuntary "Ugh."
Hermione gave her a look.
"Just… men, you know," said Harriet as she tried to gather her wits.
"Yeah," said Hermione in agreement, "If Sirius can control himself, no one else has an excuse."
"Thanks, I think," said Sirius, with a grin that showed exactly what he thought of her insinuation.
The Irish mascots were leprechauns. Which was fairly stereotypical of them really. People rushed around trying to grab leprechaun gold. Not Harriet of course. She knew the secret of leprechaun gold, that it didn't last very long. And she didn't know why everyone in the stadium was forgetting such a basic fact.
When she mentioned this to Sirius, Sirius smiled faintly. "Gold can have a powerful hold on some people," he said, "All through history men have killed over it. For some people the mere sight of it makes them lose their minds. Forgetting that leprechauns don't make real gold is just an excuse."
XXXXX
The match itself was… well Harriet wouldn't call it disappointing, because the outcome had been expected. And the match had been exciting enough. But to anyone who had been paying attention Krum taking the snitch and Ireland winning the match was the most likely single scenario. Harriet had hoped something dramatic would happen.
The Irish chasers had just played too well. They were good. Bulgaria wasn't a bad team, but they relied on Krum to win their matches for them. And Krum really was good. The Irish seeker had been no match for him. But the fact was that only 40 percent of professional or international Quidditch matches were decided by Snitch prior to either team scoring at least 150 points. But every single one of Bulgaria's wins this World Cup had been decided in exactly that way. By the odds, they'd been in for a rougher match, and Ireland had been up to the challenge. They had dominated both offensively and defensively.
Still, Harriet was happy for the Irish. They really had been the best team this year, and it hadn't been close. At the same time, she felt sorry for Krum. If he'd had a little more luck, he could have won it all. She knew most people thought Seeker wins were boring, but Harriet was a Seeker.
So she hadn't been in much mood for celebrating with the Weasleys. Ron kept trying to get Harriet's attention, and Harriet knew that he was wanting to talk to her from the way Neville was giving her slightly strange looks. Harriet wasn't interested in having that conversation tonight. In fact, she wanted as few people nearby as possible when it happened. There was only one way that Harriet would get through that conversation without seriously hurting Ron's feelings, but she was reluctant to admit her true feelings where others would almost certainly overhear.
Hermione had sensed her reluctance, and they had gone over to their own tent to get ready for bed. Harriet reluctantly put on shorts to sleep in, she didn't need the whole camp to accidentally see her knickers. But Harriet's nap had ensured that she didn't need to go to sleep early. So she lay in bed awake, just listening to the sounds of celebration coming from the camp.
Eventually she heard the low voices of Arthur and Sirius. They were just outside.
"Need me to cover tonight?" asked Arthur.
"Nah, Remus agreed to come by at around 2," said Sirius, "That way I can get some sleep. Thanks for handling Crouch Jr. earlier today, by the way. The Minister is trying to keep him in the dark as much as possible as to what is likely to happen. And apparently Jr. was under the impression that he was untouchable. He has been disabused of that notion. Honestly, it's amazing how differently Crouch Jr. thinks from his father."
"Well, we lit a fire, so have a good evening." said Arthur.
Harriet stood up and crept from the tent as silently as she could, so as not to wake Hermione. Sirius was sitting by a fire, watching the fireworks and the like going off in the Irish camp.
"Are you keeping watch over me?" asked Harriet.
Sirius turned towards her. "Didn't see you come out. Guess I need to be more alert."
"I just came out," replied Harriet, "You don't need to…"
"Yes, I do," said Sirius, "There are people who want to kill you or capture you or I don't even know what they want. But you deserve to be allowed to live your life. So when you are not safely at the home of someone we trust, you are kept under watch. We know you aren't quite up to fighting Crouch Jr. yet, for example."
"You think he'd try something here?" asked Harriet.
"He's been more brazen than I would ever have imagined," said Sirius, "It's good I wasn't around when he approached you, I probably would have killed him."
"I am tired of playing this game," said Sirius, "So tired. But Sr. can only see the political harm firing his son right before an election would do. He doesn't care about the actual harm that might be done to you."
"The thing is, I want to call him out on this, but if I do, I am essentially breaking the progressive movement away from Crouch," explained Sirius, "But if I do that, I have to run for Minister. And I might not win. Crouch certainly wouldn't win, but Greengrass might slip in. And Greengrass is an actual pureblood supremacist, even though he is opposed to the Death Eaters and their extremism."
"Greengrass can't be allowed to become Minister," agreed Harriet, "You should concentrate on that I think. But I'm only fourteen. You should take my opinion with a grain of salt. Still, if you do think you can beat him, you should. No matter what it means for me."
"I promised your parents…" started Sirius.
"Aunt Petunia can take care of me," said Harriet, "And I don't need constant supervision anymore. And do not get started about having failed me again. I won't have it. But again, what it means for me shouldn't come into this, one way or the other."
"I still have a hard time believing anyone would follow my leadership," admitted Sirius.
"I think you would be surprised," said Harriet. She was now convinced that Arthur was right. Sirius was still about a year away from having the confidence to actually run for Minister. A year too late. She hoped it didn't come back to haunt them.
"So you are avoiding Ron?" asked Sirius.
"I really like Ron, but I'm just not interested," confirmed Harriet, "I don't want to lead him on, but I don't want to hurt him either."
"Anything in particular bring this on?" asked Sirius.
An older Harriet would, of course, realise that Sirius was trying to get her to open up and tell him about her sexuality. But at this moment her self-confidence was so low that she couldn't even imagine that Sirius had guessed her secret. Still, if he had pressed the matter, he might have gotten an honest answer out of her. She wanted to tell him. She almost did tell him.
But suddenly there was a shift in the tenor of the ruckus coming from distant parts of the camp. It had become abruptly more frenetic, and less spontaneous. The sounds seemed less like carousing and more like genuine terror.
"Something's wrong," said Harriet, pulling out her wand, "That isn't a celebration anymore."
Sirius listened, and he stood up. "Good ear Harry. Sounds like it could be a riot, but… best warn everyone to be safe. Get Hermione."
Harriet ran into the tent and began to shake Hermione. "Wake up Hermione," she shouted, "wake up!"
Hermione groaned awake, "What's wrong?" she asked.
Harriet could now hear discreet screams. "I think… I think the campsite is under attack!"
Hermione leapt to her feet and grabbed her wand.
They met with the Weasleys outside.
"That is not a riot," said Harriet as the screams grew closer, "It's something worse."
"Fred, George, Ron, Neville, Harry, Hermione and Ginny," said Arthur extremely seriously, "Head for the woods. Stay there until someone comes for you. The rest of us are going to join the Ministry response."
"No arguments," said Sirius, "This could be very bad, and we don't need you getting involved." He looked significantly at Harriet.
Harriet wanted to protest, but she recognized that this wasn't the time. She nodded and followed the twins towards safety, while the adults headed off in the other direction.
Two things immediately became apparent once they'd left the adults behind. First, getting to the woods was going to be harder than walking in a straight line. A rush of panicked campers had upended tents and equipment in a stampede. They could try to follow the crowds, but that would mean that they would move at a glacial pace. Or they could try to pass around behind the crowds. The problem with that was the second thing that had become apparent.
The disturbance was moving in their direction.
Being a group entirely made of Gryffindors meant that there really wasn't much discussion of the matter though. By default they seemed to follow the more straightforward, but riskier path. Even Hermione didn't object.
Of course it very nearly was their undoing. Soon they came to a major path through the camp, and suddenly they could see what was going on. A number of wizards, probably at least 10, but there were likely more Harriet couldn't see, were casting spells. They wore pointed hooded robes and masks with skulls on the faces. Death Eater robes, though Harriet had never actually seen one before today. But they had Mr. Roberts, and what must have been his wife and children, and were levitating them upside down, exposing his wife's knickers.
Harriet's sight went red. She pulled out her wand and levelled it at the Death Eaters, but suddenly she felt a firm hand grip her wrist and force her wand arm down.
"There are too many of them Harriet," said Neville. He was the one who had grabbed her arm. Ron had leapt in between Hermione (who had also drawn her wand and pointed it) and the Death Eaters in an attempt to stop her charging them.
"If it was one or two, yeah I'd say take them down," said Ron desperately, "But we are outnumbered."
Hermione put down her wand reluctantly. Harriet did not.
"I know that this is your fight Harriet," said Neville quietly, "But not today. Not quite yet."
Harriet nodded brusquely, then turned towards the woods and safety.
As they entered the woods they passed the Bulgarian Veela. Ron began yelling about a broom that could fly to Jupiter or some such nonsense. Harriet ignored that, as she felt a sudden urge to beg the Veela to notice her. She gripped Hermione's arm tightly, which seemed to help a little.
"Ron is making an ass of himself," said Hermione kindly, "but he can't really help it."
"Oh I know," said Harriet, trying to suppress an urge to brag about her ability to fly around the world in an hour, "I just hate seeing him lower himself like that. Let's get away from the Veela."
They went a little further into the woods. Eventually they stumbled upon a group of Slytherins that included Draco, Astoria, Daphne, plus their friends Blaise Zabini and Tracey Davis. Harriet suddenly remembered the previous year, when she had walked in on them tormenting Theo Nott, along with his goons Crabbe and Goyle, in much the same way that those muggles had been tortured. In fact, none of the purebloods had been wearing underpants, so their bits and bottoms had been on display. Harriet didn't think that was quite as bad as what the Death Eaters were doing now, as the wizards at least could have tried to defend themselves, but the similarity made her uncomfortable.
"Hey!" said Daphne as they approached, "Are you guys all right? We got rushed out as soon as the trouble started, so we didn't see what had happened."
"Yeah," said Fred, "We didn't get caught up in the chaos but it was a near thing."
"Nearly ran into the main body of the attack," said George.
"They were too busy holding the muggles upside down and humiliating them to notice us," said Harriet scathingly.
The Slytherins all looked very guilty.
"That isn't right," said Astoria.
Blaise looked like he was going to disagree, but Tracey shook her head.
Harriet shook her head, letting go of the rage that had been building at the back of her head. She knew they regretted their actions, or at least Astoria did. And what the hell were they supposed to have done anyway? Harriet reluctantly decided that she wouldn't be able to tell any of her friends about what had happened next year. Well, maybe Luna. Luna would keep anything a secret, so long as she promised that was. Anything you didn't get a promise for was likely to bubble up at the weirdest times.
"Anyway," said Harriet, "There are a lot of Death Eaters there."
Draco grunted unhappily.
"We don't know your father is involved, Draco," Daphne tried to reassure him.
"He's involved," said Draco, "Count on it."
Suddenly a voice rang out. It sounded a bit like Barty Crouch Jr.'s voice to Harriet, but she couldn't be sure. It was a single word.
"Morsmordre!" shouted the voice.
A giant green skull with a snake coming out of its mouth appeared in the sky. The Dark Mark. The mark of Lord Voldemort.
Suddenly the sound of apparitions filled the woods. People were fleeing. But the sound of the attack suddenly stopped.
"No free Death Eater would dare summon the Dark Mark," observed Draco darkly, "Not unless…"
Draco trailed off seemingly unwilling to continue. Harriet wasn't having it though.
"Not unless what?" demanded Harriet.
"Not unless they were actually working under the aegis of the Dark Lord," said Draco.
"Fuuuuck!" moaned Harriet. Hermione poked her in the ribs.
"That's why the attack broke off," explained Draco, "The Death Eaters were afraid that someone who actually had contact with the Dark Lord was here. Any free Death Eater… well he isn't likely to have much positive to say to any of them."
"So… you're saying Voldemort may be trying to return?" asked Harriet.
Draco shuddered. "I really, really hope I'm wrong, but yes."
XXXXX
The group returned to the remains of the Weasley campsite after Arthur and Sirius came to get them. One of the tents had been trampled to pieces, but the other tent was still in one piece.
"The entire situation is a mess," said Sirius, "And it wasn't even lax security. This was a very public reminder that the Death Eaters still have friends running interference for them at the Ministry."
"The Minister was madder than I have ever seen him," said Arthur, "Did his son have something to do with this you think."
"I think it was his voice that summoned the Dark Mark," said Harriet, "Whoever did summon the Mark was close to us in any case. But that does mean he wasn't taking part in the attack."
"Why?" asked Bill, puzzled.
"Because summoning the Dark Mark was meant to be a criticism of the other Death Eaters," explained Sirius, "A reminder that they have forsaken their oaths to Voldemort. I bet you Voldemort thinks they all should have gone to prison for him. I am surprised that Crouch Jr. had the guts to summon it though. He didn't go to Azkaban for the Dark Lord either."
"Draco thought that this meant that Crouch has contacted Voldemort in some way," offered Harriet.
"Merlin, I hope not," swore Sirius lightly, "If Crouch and Bellatrix have contacted Voldemort, his return is only a matter of time."
Harriet could tell that Sirius wasn't taking Draco's warning seriously. Well, he had reason to not trust the younger Malfoy, but Harriet was pretty sure he was telling the truth, as far as he knew it.
"We're short a couple beds," said Charlie as they all came into the tent.
"Harriet and I can share, right?" asked Hermione. The slight quaver in her voice gave Hermione's trepidation away. She wanted something.
"Yeah," agreed Harriet.
Minutes later they were both lying in bed as everyone tried to settle down. Both were on their backs, waiting for the other to say something.
"What is wrong?" asked Harriet in a whisper.
"I can't stop thinking about Mr. Roberts and his family," admitted Hermione, "That could be my family. I just…"
"Yeah," said Harriet, "It was a tragedy, but also a reminder. We can't let our guard down."
"No we can't," said Hermione, her voice heavy with emotion.
Harriet turned on her side towards Hermione, and pulled her friend into a hug. Hermione hugged back hard, and suddenly Harriet found herself chest to chest with her best friend.
Harriet was full of so many emotions she didn't know what to do. So she just clutched Hermione even harder. And before long Harriet had fallen asleep in the arms of the girl she loved.
Author's Note: Sorry, you'll have to wait one more chapter to get more info on Morgana, but it was important that Harriet have this full chapter as a POV chapter for reasons that will become apparent as the rest of the story unfolds. I will clarify one thing for some reviewers though, because some of the reviews seem unclear about this. Morgana's motivations haven't really changed at all, just the means by which she will attempt to achieve her goals.
This part of the story doesn't lean into the horror aspect like part 4 did. There aren't any dementors after all. It definitely focuses on the personal relationships Harriet has with her friends and family. That being said, not all of the relationships depicted in this story are going to be healthy relationships. A lot of shit is indeed about to go down.