Warning: Avert your eyes! There's a sex scene hidden a little more than halfway through this chapter. No, I don't know how you'll read the rest of the chapter while looking away, but I'm sure you'll figure something out.
Author's note: This one is nearly twice the size of a normal chapter. I could have broken it up, but I think it works better all together.
As always, thank you to everyone for reading my story, and special thanks for those who review. Whether you love it, hate it, or couldn't care less, let me know what you think.
-o-o-
Chapter 20
Halloween is never simple.
-o-o-
"Where is Harry? I could have sworn he was right behind me." Neville wondered out loud when Luna and Wednesday sat across from him, and Harry was nowhere to be seen.
"He said he had something that he needed to work on." Wednesday answered.
"Did he have a good explanation?" Luna asked as she held out Thing, who grabbed a pot of jam for her.
"Explanation?" Katie looked up from the essay she was muddling through. "Did my captain land himself in some hot water?"
"He won't let me know why he went to Gringotts yesterday, but I'm starting to think he used his outing to get me a gift of some kind." Although her face showed no emotion, it seemed she was smugly pleased. "Halloween is coming soon, so I think he'll give it to me then. I'll have to find a way to get him something for the occasion as well."
Neville winced. "Uh, I don't know about the way Harry is now, but Halloween isn't a day he really celebrated before. His parents were murdered on Halloween."
Katie dropped her fork, and looked at Neville with her mouth agape. "How did that never occur to me? Merlin, it's no wonder he never... Okay yeah, I feel really bad now."
"I didn't know that Voldemort killed Harry's parents on Halloween. Now I really have to get him something good; I had no idea it was such an important day to him." Wednesday held a slender finger to her lips as she tried to think of a suitable gift.
-o-o-
"Your new pet is a wonder Wednesday. These webs make the whole room so much less pleasant." Professor Frump admired how the strong webs made drawing the blackout curtains of her classroom extremely difficult. "What did you say it's name was again?"
"I named her Lavinia. With any luck, some day she'll live up to her name." Wednesday affectionately scratched the acromantula behind its eyes. "What do you think would make a good gift Grandmama? It will be our first Halloween together, and I want to do something special for Harry."
"How about a séance?" Professor Frump suggested. "It might be nice to hear from his godfather, and then we could thank him for leaving Harry such a broken down home filled with vermin."
Wednesday thought for a moment, as she ran her hand across one of the crystal balls. "Do you think you could reach his parents as well? They died on Halloween, so that should help right?"
The old crone cackled. "Why not? A cozy little family reunion for your boyfriend. You'll need to find four more people though, I'm going to need a full circle of seven."
"Hmm. I think I can manage that without any trouble." The faintest hint of a smile flickered across Wednesday's face.
Pointing a wizened finger at her granddaughter, Professor Frump clarified. "They have to be willing. It won't work if you force them to come."
"Fine." Wednesday acquiesced. "A little trouble then, but I still should be able to do it."
"Remind me on the thirtieth, I'll need a day to make sure everything is set up for Halloween night." Professor Frump said before shooing Wednesday away. "Now leave, unless you want to help me teach my next lesson."
"No, I'll leave the third years to you." Wednesday opened her outer robes, and helped Lavinia crawl inside. The bulky nature of the robes let Wednesday transport her illegal pet with relative ease. The only way someone would be able to tell that she was hiding a massive spider was by touch, and nobody touched Wednesday Addams unless she allowed it.
-o-o-
Wednesday found Millicent in the library, and sat down next to the large girl. "Would you be interested in helping me with a surprise for Harry? I'd ask one of my roommates, but I don't believe they are open minded enough... yet."
Startled, Millicent looked up from her reading. "Open minded enough, what do you mean?"
"You're a smart girl, I'm sure you can guess." Wednesday waited for a response with unblinking eyes focused on Millicent.
"Yeah, I can guess. Whatever it is would probably offend your housemates' sensibilities, and since I'm a slytherin, you think I'll be fine with it." Millicent wondered if she was getting in too deep with her attempts to befriend the pale Hufflepuff, Draco had warned that Addams was dangerous. "I'm not agreeing to anything, without knowing what I'm agreeing to do."
"It's just a séance." Wednesday assured the Slytherin girl. "You won't have to do anything but hold hands with two others."
Millicent laughed, softly so as not to call down the wrath of Madam Pince. "You're joking right? That's just a ritual that muggles made up. Poltergeists will occasionally go to those, and rattle stuff to make the idiots think they've actually contacted the dead."
Wednesday raised her eyebrow, and looked over to where the Grey Lady was leading a first year Ravenclaw through the stacks. "Considering how common ghosts are here, you British have a surprisingly narrow understanding of necromancy. My family has been speaking with its dead for generations. Regardless, you don't really have to believe. Just keep an open mind, and let the magic flow through you during the ritual."
-o-o-
"Are you sure this is where one of those things is hidden?" Tonks asked Dumbledore skeptically.
"Sure? No, we cannot be sure until we go inside, but I have reason to believe so." Dumbledore took a confident step across the slick rocks that led to the mouth of the island cave.
Dumbledore was of two minds regarding the horcrux hunt he was leading. Thanks to the ministry's unknown source, he was able to continue his research even without his memory collection. His major regret though, was that so many knew of the foul creations. A small group of Order members composed of Tonks, Diggle, and Vance, were accompanying him in his search of the island where he was certain that a very young Tom Riddle had murdered some poor muggle child.
In an effort to take as much of the burden upon himself as he could, Dumbledore paid the blood sacrifice before the others caught up to him, and did not bring it to their attention. Instead, he moved onward into the cave's inner chamber.
The majority of the chamber was filled with a stagnant lake. Illuminated by a faint green light, a small island was visible in the center of the ominous body of water. The dark magic surrounding them felt oppressive, the air itself seemed saturated with ill intent. "Oh dear, this could prove difficult."
"Well, we didn't really expect it to be easy now. What's the problem?" Emmeline asked, while keeping a vigilant eye out for any danger.
Before answering, Dumbledore grasped an invisible chain, removed the invisibility, and by pulling the chain, produced a tiny wooden boat from the lake's murky depths. "It is as I feared. It seems that Voldemort only intended to allow one wizard across this lake. The boat is enchanted to sink itself if more than one attempts to use it, and the lake holds dangers that will most likely activate if we try to cross by any other means."
"That means that whatever protections are on that Island, probably require at least two people to bypass." Tonks guessed, thinking that the boat looked too small to accommodate two of them anyway, let alone all four. "Think we can just take turns getting across?"
"I doubt it." Emmeline shook her head after studying the chain that was now coiled on the ground. "I'll bet anything that the boat will only move with a wizard in it, or by being pulled with this chain, and the chain is only a few yards long."
While the three older members of the order pondered a way around the problem, Tonks simply shook her head. Her dad was right, if an answer was obvious, chances were a pure-blood or a half-blood would spend hours trying to see it. It takes a muggle upbringing to solve simple problems. Thankfully, though she would never admit it, Tonks had been taking her mothers advice, and had making an effort to use her brain more often. "So we make the chain longer. I'll go across first, I'm the auror after all."
Double checking that extending the chain wouldn't set off any traps, Tonks began doubling the chain until it would easily reach the island. "There. I'll go across, then the rest of you can follow once I get there."
"My dear, while I do not doubt your prowess, allow me to take the lead." Dumbledore objected as he made to step into the boat.
Tonks took a handful of Dumbledore's robes, and pulled him back. "I'm going to have to insist sir. The Order answers to the DMLE now, which means that I'll have to answer to Pius if anything goes wrong."
Considering that Tonks' plan worked, the minor power struggle didn't affect anything, and all four made it to the island safely. Unfortunately, at the island an even bigger argument broke out once they learned that the potion protecting Salazar Slytherin's amulet must be drunk.
Eventually, Dedalus Diggle won the dubious honor by pointing out that he was the least useful member out of the four of them. Should something go wrong, and the potion wasn't as non-lethal as they believed, he felt he was an acceptable loss. The real reason why he put his foot down and insisted, was that he felt incredibly guilty that he was the only fieldable Order member who had not been injured in some way. As he took his first gulp of the foul concoction, his eyes were on Emmeline, who had been hospitalized because she took a curse meant for him. It was his turn to take one for the team.
Upon swallowing the potion, Dedalus began shaking, but he managed to force himself to drink a second gobletful before collapsing to the ground and crying. The crystal goblet clattered to the ground, and he started whimpering.
Dumbledore reached for the goblet, to take the remaining burden upon himself, but Tonks was faster, and filled the goblet a third time. "I'll do it, I won't make either of you torture the poor man."
Ignoring objections from both Dumbledore and Emmeline, and with grim determination, Tonks forced Dedalus to drink again and again. Each mouthful caused the weeping man to crumble further, and by the last gobletful, he was begging for mercy with such intensity, that Tonks almost took the last drink herself to spare him.
Dumbledore pulled the locket free from the now dry basin. "We must make our escape quickly now, and bring Dadelus to Saint Mungo's immediately. Nymphadora, take the lead once more, we'll send Dedalus after you, and follow as soon as we can."
The plan seemed sound at first, but as soon as Dedalus was alone in the boat, the effects of the potion drove him to try to drink the lake water. A rotting hand shot out of the lake, and pulled the delirious man into the deadly water. At the same time, inferi began rising out of the lake, and homed in on the other three.
Swearing sulfurously, Tonks began blowing back the horde of dark creatures with bursts of fire from her wand. All the while she thought furiously, trying to think of a way to reach Dedalus. She knew he was already dead, but she had to try.
A massive whirlwind of fire spiraled out from the island, incinerated the inferi, and forcing Tonks to shield herself from the intense heat. When the flames died down, she saw Dumbledore standing alone on the island, with the boat heading her way.
Emmeline was out cold, and Tonks had to pull her out of the boat, taking care not to aggravate the obvious wound on her leg where an inferius must have bitten her. A large chunk of flesh was missing, and dumbledore's field dressing of the wound was acceptable at best. A hurried trip to Saint Mungo's was definitely still needed.
Tonks looked to Dumbledore who was pulling the boat back to him. The aged wizard nodded to her, and called across the water. "Go, I will be right behind you."
Gathering up Emmeline, Tonks turned to find the exit conspicuously absent. Seeing nothing but a rock wall, there was seemingly no way out. By the time she had managed to set Emmaline down, and use her wand to find a way through, Dumbledore had caught up with them.
"A blood sacrifice is required" He said simply, pressing a bleeding hand against the stones.
The exit appeared, and Tonks ran through with Emmaline, apparating away as soon as she was clear of the jinx preventing such an escape.
-o-o-
"Black, a word please?" Draco asked as Charms let out. "I have a favor to ask."
"If it's quick, Hermione and I have a project we're working on." Harry said while gathering up his notes.
Draco gave a short nod in acknowledgment. "I need a pet snake. You're a parselmouth, so you should be able to find me one that won't mind being carried around all day long."
Giving a short laugh, Harry drew back his sleeve to reveal his own pet, happily coiled around his forearm. "Like The Ambassador here? No problem, I'm going to skip lunch today, but I can bring you a new friend at dinner. Why do you want a real snake anyway? I know you can just summon one easily enough."
"Need one. I don't want a snake, I need one." Draco insisted. "I've been informed that Parkinson is ironically terrified of our house totem. If I have a pet snake, then she'll finally be forced to leave me alone."
Harry could only blink at that revelation. "She's afraid of snakes? I can't decide if that's funny or sad. Don't worry Draco, I'll find you a nice new friend to scare away the icky witch... Huh... Is that an issue? Are you not into witches?"
"I like witches just fine Black. Parkinson is just a simpering bootlicker who sees me as her ticket to power." Draco dismissed the idea out of hand.
"If you prefer blokes, you don't have to pretend." Harry assured the blond slytherin, putting his hand on the other boy's shoulder. "I'd be disappointed that you can't help repopulate the family, but as your aunt said, 'The heart wants what it wants.'
"I said I like witches. Okay? I just don't like Parkinson." Keeping his natural reactions in check, Draco brushed away Harry's hand, instead of knocking it off him forcefully. "Go do whatever it is you have to with the mu... Granger."
-o-o-
Black hadn't shown up to dinner, and when Draco had asked the Addams girl where he was, she was equally annoyed with his absence. When he let slip that Black was with Granger the last time he saw him, Draco was worried that her sudden shift from annoyance to anger would end poorly for him. Luckily, it seemed that she believed in the phrase 'don't kill the messenger.'
Draco couldn't care less what Black was doing with the mud-blood, he was smart enough to stay far away from that mess. Still, now that he had an easy way to get rid of Parkinson, he was beyond eager to receive the promised pet snake. He hoped that whatever stupidity Black was up to would be taken care of before curfew, he had an after hours patrol with Parkinson, and was really hoping to spend it without the witch trying to drape herself all over him.
From a blood purity perspective, Parkinson was a fine witch indeed, but that was her only positive quality. After her disastrous attempt to 'show him how much she loved him' during their fourth year, Draco honestly considered turning to wizards. His appreciation for the female form, and his complete disinterest in the male one, made him decide that the problem was Parkinson, and not witches in general.
-o-o-
"You know, we're supposed to be looking for students trying to be a little too affectionate." Draco drawled as he pulled his hand away from Parkinson's for the third time. "It kind of sends the wrong message if we're tangled up together don't you think?"
"You know the rules don't apply to us Draco. It's not often we're paired together this late, we should really take advantage of it." Parkinson smiled coquettishly, and stared at him, eyes filled with desire.
"I'll pass." Draco said dryly as he continued to go through the motions of opening closet and classroom doors.
"Come on in Draco, bring Pansy too." A familiar voice spoke from the gloom of the old classroom that Draco had just opened.
After recovering from being startled, Draco recognized the voice as Blacks, and suppressed a smile as he entered the room, lit wand held high, and motioning Parkinson to follow.
Black was sitting at the large teachers desk at the far end of the room, and was folding up a piece of parchment as he lit several candles with his wand. "Come, come. Take a seat, both of you."
"What are you doing out of bounds Po..." She sighed in annoyance as she remembered the repeated insistence that Potter was Black now. "...Black? You know we're going to give you detention right?"
As Parkinson was focused on Black, Draco closed the door. "Actually Parkinson, Black and I have business. I asked him to procure me a pet, and this was the best time for him to deliver."
"A pet? Draco you already have your owl, what kind of pet did you want?" A thought occurred to her, and she smiled knowingly. "You're getting me a gift aren't you? Aww, Draco you're a sweetheart."
"No, it's for me, but you're welcome to play with it I suppose." This was it, Draco only hoped that Bulstrode hadn't steered him wrong. "I'm a true Slytherin, and it's only fitting that I have an appropriate pet to show that. Only among friends of course, snakes have such a poor reputation nowadays."
Before Parkinson could object, Black set his arm on the desk, and hissed softly. Eighteen inches of scaly predator slithered out from within his robes, and coiled itself between the candles that had been lit. The snake lifted its head and looked right into Draco's eyes, studying him.
Draco was almost disappointed that Parkinson hadn't screamed, but she was visibly pale, and backing away from both the desk and him. She was clearly afraid, and that was exactly what he was hoping for.
"This little guy needed a new home anyway." Black commented as he released a fat mouse. The snake darted immediately, sank its fangs into the rodent, and slowly began to swallow it, leaving a small splash of blood. "Most of my pets are native to India, but this one says he's from China. They tolerate him, but he's not really welcome."
Finding her voice, Parkinson started pleading. "Draco, you don't really want a snake for a pet, that's crazy. Besides, it's against the rules. You don't want to get in trouble."
Like he'd seen Black do before, Draco pulled back his sleeve, and held out his arm to the snake. The creature looked back toward Black, who hissed and nodded, and then slowly coiled itself around Draco's forearm. "You said yourself that the rules don't apply to us. I think this is the perfect pet for me. Want to get a closer look?"
When Draco stepped toward Parkinson, she shrieked and threw a shield up in front of her. "Get that thing away from me!"
Draco felt he could have kissed Bulstrode as Parkinson ran out the door. Instead, he lifted his arm to look at the reptile around his arm. "Imagine, her being so frightened of you. I'll bet your completely harmless, aren't you?"
"Oh don't worry, he's fairly deadly." Black corrected in a reassuring tone. "He says he killed a man before he was captured, and sold to Sapera Addams."
Looking up sharply, Draco gulped. He really should have known better.
-o-o-
The rhythmic sound of a whetstone sliding across steel filled the dorm room as Wednesday honed the edges of her dagger. Staring into the distance, she had long since passed the point where her weapon was sharp, and was fast approaching a razor's edge.
Susan walked in unnoticed, and watched Wednesday uneasily for a moment before making her presence known. "Um, why don't you just get a knife enchanted to be ever sharp?" She couldn't help but flinch when Wednesday turned her head, and Susan found the pale girl's intense gaze focused on her.
"If I do it myself, then I know I can trust the edge." Wednesday answered with a dispassionate tone that contrasted with her fierce glare. "Besides, it's relaxing."
"You don't look very relaxed. What's wrong?" Susan asked tentatively. "If you don't mind talking about it that is."
For a few tense seconds, the only sound was that of the whetstone scraping along an already insanely sharp blade.
"Harry has been... distant lately." Wednesday's already pale knuckles turned pure white as she tightened her grip. "He's been spending a lot of time with Granger as well."
The anger seething beneath Wednesday's calm exterior suddenly made a great deal of sense. Susan carefully tried to calm her friend down before she did something she would regret. "I'm sure there's a good explanation. I can't imagine that Harry would cheat on you. Besides, those two are just friends. They've always been real close, but both have always insisted that they don't see each other that way."
"We'll see. I've let him dodge me enough. Tomorrow morning he had better explain himself." Wednesday said with narrowing eyes while turning to look off into the distance once more.
Glancing down at the overly sharp dagger, Susan looked at Wednesday with a half smile, and pointed to the weapon. "I'd be careful saying stuff like that, when you're holding something like that. It sounds like you're planning to kill him."
-o-o-
Halloween was normally a day to look forward to, but Wednesday was still in a foul mood when she woke. She took her time getting ready for the day, composing herself as she tried to think up acceptable reasons for Harry's behavior. By the time she was dressed, only Leanne was still in the room.
Unaware of Wednesday's mood, Leanne walked over to Wednesday as the pale girl moved various items from her trunk to her robes. Rolling her sleeves back, Leanne displayed her wrists. "Do you have any suggestions?"
Wednesday looked at the slight rope burns on Leanne's wrists, and raised her eyebrow. "Use a coarser rope next time. Tie it tighter, and you should break the skin too."
"What? No. I mean how do I avoid the rope burns altogether?" Leanne shook her head. She'd forgotten how rough Wednesday supposedly liked it.
"Why would you want to do that?" Wednesday asked in genuine confusion, for a moment shocked out of her bad mood.
"Right, what was I thinking... You know what, nevermind. I'll see if I can find a book or something." Wednesday had been a font of information at first, but anything regarding being gentle or safe, and the girl was clueless. Leanne figured that Wednesday and Harry must both have one heck of a pain threshold, some of the things she'd tried so far could really hurt. Granted, some of that pain felt really good at the time... She hadn't been expecting that.
-o-o-
Once again, Harry was nowhere to be seen at breakfast. What made matters worse, was that Granger was also conspicuously absent. Wednesday waited as long as she could, but neither one showed up. Murderous thoughts filled her head as she made her way through the empty halls on her way out of the castle. Hagrid's class was next, and she wondered if whatever creature they were to study next, would be useful for punishing Harry and his new playmate. She was so caught up in her visions of mangled bodies, that she didn't notice that she wasn't alone until a hand lightly touched her shoulder.
Acting on instinct she spun around, batted the hand away, and slammed whoever it was into the wall. Wednesday's eyes narrowed into slits as she realized she had pinned Granger to the rough stones. "I thought you were supposed to be smart. Did you really think you could steal my Harry and live?"
"Steal Harry?"
The look of confusion gave Wednesday pause, and the laughter that followed almost had her letting up on the pressure that was all but crushing the Gryffindor witch.
"That's almost as ridiculous as when Ronald thought I fancied him." Despite the situation she was in, Hermione smiled wistfully. "I'll admit, there was a time when I thought about Harry like that, but he's never been interested in me. I gave up on him years ago."
Wednesday's gaze bored into Hermione's eyes, but she saw nothing but honesty in the chocolate orbs. "Then explain why you two have been sneaking off together every chance you get."
"I've been helping him with a surprise for you. He tried doing it himself, but his spellwork wasn't quite up to what he needed done." Hermione explained calmly. "We just finished, and he sent me to get you. You should go to Myrtle's bathroom. Trust me, you're going to like the surprise."
Debating on whether or not she should lash out at Granger anyway, Wednesday finally relented, and let the Gryffindor go. Pugsley was the impulsive one, she was the calculating one. Besides, if Granger was lying, she could hunt her down later. A well thought out revenge would be more enjoyable than a spur of the moment murder anyway.
Turning away without saying another word, Wednesday walked at a brisk pace. Her thoughts focused on how she would confront Harry, and what kind of punishments would be appropriate if his surprise wasn't acceptable. At this point, it would have to be pretty spectacular.
-o-o-
Walking with purpose, Wednesday swiftly made her way toward the weeping dead girl's haunt. Myrtle was hovering just outside her bathroom, which was odd, and when the ghost noticed Wednesday approaching, she vanished through the door.
Wednesday nearly broke the door storming into the bathroom, only to find it empty. Neither Harry nor Myrtle were there, but the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets was wide open, inviting Wednesday to descend. As soon as she crossed the threshold, the portal sealed itself behind her, and a line of torches lit to guide her path.
"I know you've been upset with me lately." Harry said as he stepped into view. "I really wanted to surprise you, and it's taken me a lot longer than I thought to get everything ready."
"And Granger's been doing what exactly?" Wednesday said coldly, not yet ready to forgive Harry for disappearing so often with the bushy-haired witch.
"Hermione? You'll see in a second." He produced a Phial with a swirling violet liquid inside. "She also brewed this for me. Come on, let's go say 'hi' to Peter."
Her curiosity was just enough to prevent her patience from running out, and she followed Harry into main chamber. Even so, her hand found its way around the hilt of her dagger.
The wooden post that had been the centerpiece for the chamber was gone, and in its place a simple wooden chair. In addition, Harry's snakes were nowhere to be seen, but Wednesday could hear them slithering around the edges of the large room.
Strapped to the chair, dressed in clean robes, was Peter Pettigrew. The Animagus was staring at the floor, letting his head hang limp. The slight rise and fall of his shoulders was the only indication that he was still alive. A damp stain on the stones showed that he'd been crying
Almost gently, Harry lifted Peter's head up, and forced him to drink the potion that he'd displayed earlier. "This should prevent him from turning into a rat for an hour or two. Not very useful most of the time, but..."
Harry walked over to Wednesday and gave an out of place nervous smile. "I think it's time to finally kill him."
She was expecting that their toy would break before long, so Harry's whispered announcement wasn't surprising; however, the nervousness that he projected was completely out of place. As far as surprises go, Wednesday was thoroughly disappointed. Watching Harry kill Pettigrew would be nice, but it wouldn't come close to making up for his recent behavior.
In response to Wednesday's unimpressed stare, Harry licked his lips and took her free hand in both of his. "I... I want you to do it. I want you to feel what it's like."
That thought hadn't even occurred to Wednesday, and her eyes widened in shock. Why on Earth would Harry be giving up his revenge kill? "You're giving me his death?"
"Yes, and before you ask, I'm absolutely sure." He nodded and squeezed her hand gently. "We even healed Peter. Thanks to Hermione, he's practically in perfect shape. That's what we've been doing in secret."
The continuously building tension slowly vanished, and relief flooded through the Addams girl. Wednesday let her grip relax, and her dagger fell back into the depths of her robes. She still had a myriad of of questions running through her mind, but the worst of her fears were alleviated. Harry was not cheating on her, he just hadn't realizing what his actions looked like to her. She almost laughed as she remembered her mother telling her that no matter how smart a boy seemed to be, men were rather stupid creatures. Now she understood what that meant.
She let herself be led over to the doomed man. Pettigrew looked up, and whimpered, which brought a sadistic smile to Wednesday's face. She leaned over to look him in the eyes, her smile widening as fresh tears began to form.
Giving Harry one last chance to change his mind, Wednesday looked over at her boyfriend, silently asking if he was certain. He smiled and nodded in response, and stepped back to give her whatever room she might need.
Different manners of execution flew through her mind, but almost immediately she settles on something simple, something pure and satisfying. She tightly gripped Pettigrew's freshly washed hair, and stared deeply into his terrified eyes. "I'm going to kill you now. Enjoy your last few moments before you slip into sweet oblivion."
Pettigrew started begging, pleading for his life. Words spilled out of his mouth so fast that he was soon incomprehensible, only to be cut off as slender hands wrapped around his throat, and slowly applied pressure.
As Wednesday's grip steadily tightened, Pettigrew thrashed wildly in a futile attempt to save himself. She watched in fascination as her victim's eyes bulged, and his face turned purple once she had cut off his breathing entirely. His struggling grew weaker, until it stopped completely, and he lost consciousness. Maintaining her hold, she licked her lips, and held her breath. She could see the light fade from his still open eyes, and she let out a trembling breath as she felt his life escape. In an instant, a man transformed into a corpse in her bare hands.
"That was spectacular." Wednesday whispered to herself. Harry had definitely earned her forgiveness.
-o-o-
"I'm done. I'm quitting the Order, and I suggest you get everyone else to do the same." Tonks growled at her mentor, Alastor Moody. The metamorphmagus' hair was glowing red, and at times looked like it was about to burst into flames. "Dumbledore is going to get us all killed. Dedalus was probably dead already, but after Dumbledore flash fried the whole cave, he was definitely gone. If the inferi hadn't already dismembered him, Dumbledore's pyrotechnics boiled him for sure."
"Calm down, I'm not going to stop you kid. Hell, at this point I'm going to encourage you. You can do more good as an auror than an Order member." Moody pulled out his hip flask and tossed it to the enraged witch. "Have some firewhiskey, and tell me how Vance is doing."
"She's not going to make it. They're still trying, but it took too long to get her to the hospital. Whichever infurius managed to bite her was infected with something really nasty." She took a long pull from the flask, shook it, and then drained it completely. "Dumbledore might not have killed Dedalus, but he's definitely responsible for Emmeline. The entrance to the inner cave would only open if you bled on it. Instead of telling us, he just took care of it, and we didn't even know that the door was there. I just thought it was a natural opening... That's what it looked like."
Tonks gripped Moody's flask hard enough that it began to crumple. "If I had known, I could have gotten Emmeline to Saint Mungo's fast enough. I don't know what Dumbledore was thinking, but by not telling us about the damn door, he killed Emmeline. Her blood is on his hands."
Moody ignored his flask's slow demise, he was going to get a new one anyway. "I'll see if I can't knock some sense into Albus. Either way, I'll stick around for a while longer. I'll keep a closer eye on things, and try to curb the worst of his well-meaning mistakes.
-o-o-
"It feels amazing doesn't it?" Harry softy asked as Wednesday released her grip, and let Pettigrew's head fall limp.
Turning to answer, Wednesday eyes widened, and her mouth fell open in shock. Kneeling on the stone floor, Harry held out a small open box with a silver ring that displayed a polished onyx. The black oval stone glinted in the torchlight.
"Marry me?" Harry asked simply, his nervousness gone as he watched her expectantly.
Taking a few shaky steps forward, Wednesday cupped his face and leaned down. Kissing him passionately, she pulled him to his feet.
"Yes." She whispered softly.
Smiling joyfully, he took her hand, and slid the ring onto her slender finger. She gasped in surprise as she felt a sharp pain, and the onyx shimmered blood red for an instant.
"This ring is a Black family heirloom." Harry explained with a grin. "It's bonded to you now, and will only come off once you've died. The last woman to wear it was my many generations back grandmother, Serena Black née Crouch. She attempted to leave her husband, and the ring took her life when she tried to remove it forcefully.
Wednesday held her hand up to admire the ring, and looked at Harry, her eyes smoldering with desire. "I had no idea you could be so romantic."
Reaching deep into her robes, Wednesday brought out a set of wrought iron shackles. "I was planning on using these to punish you." She let them fall to the ground with a loud clatter. "I have other plans now."
Slowly, Wednesday undressed herself, letting her robes pool around her feet. By the time she unfastened her brassiere, she was breathing heavily, and as she stepped out of her knickers, her arousal was obvious. Standing in front of her fiancé wearing only her engagement ring, she all but begged, "You've given me death, and you've shackled me to you. Now, make this day perfect. I want you to have your way with me. Hurt me Harry. Show me no mercy. Make me feel fear."
Wasting no breath on words, Harry roughly kissed her as he firmly grasped her arms. Shoving her with all his strength, he sent her sprawling backward to land hard on the cold stones. He then drew his wand, and charmed the shackles that she had dropped to capture her limbs. Securing her by using sticking charms on the chains, she was soon bound and displayed before him.
Wednesday's arms were stretched out above her head, and her legs were spread wide. The chains were taut, and she could already feel her limbs begin to ache from the stress. Having hardly any time to enjoy the sensation, she felt rough calloused hands run over her body, and Harry entered her field of vision. He had an evil smirk, and hell's fire danced within his emerald eyes.
The first bite caught her off guard, and she couldn't stop her cry of pleasure as she felt his teeth sink into her breast, just above the nipple. By the time he had worked his way down to her thighs, she felt burning pain all over her body from where his teeth had marred her alabaster flesh. When he bit her inner thigh deeply enough to draw blood, she shuddered and cried out with a small orgasm.
She wasn't sure when he had disrobed, but she could feel the warmth of his skin pressed against her own nudity as he suddenly kissed her, letting her taste her own blood.
His warm breath tickled her ear as he whispered his intention to bring her to the brink of death as he brought her to the heights of pleasure. With that announcement, she felt the chains holding her go slack. The ones bound to her wrists swiftly moved in the opposite direction, so that her arms were pointing down, and were pinned underneath her. The chains attached to her ankle irons then slide across her calves, wrapped around her knees, and tightened once more. With her knees up in the air, her legs were now folded and held tight by the chains that now were secured to the floor above her head.
She felt his hands grip her knees as he joined with her. Moving slowly, he leaned over her, and rested his hands on her shoulders. The heat between her legs steadily grew as he picked up speed, but before she found release, his hands moved once more. Slowly cutting off her air, his hands were wrapped around her throat, and squeezing tighter with each passing moment.
Even as her vision began to dim, she climaxed forcefully. Her whole body quivered, and she gasped for air as Harry relaxed his grip on her neck. He had yet to find his own release, and was continuing to move within her. Wave after wave of increasingly painful pleasure crashed over her as he continued to relentlessly have his way with her.
When she was sure she would go mad, she heard him call out her name as she felt him climax. Breathing rapidly, he lowered himself to the ground next to her, and looked into her half glazed eyes.
"I love you Wednesday Addams, you're mine, now and forever." Harry said as his eyes slowly closed.
As Wednesday began to regain control of her body, she realized the chains still held her tight. Straining against her bonds, she managed to dislocate her thumbs, and pull her hands free. Harry's words echoing in her mind, there was something she wanted... no, needed to do now.
-o-o-
"You don't need to say anything Alastor." Dumbledore raised a hand wearily. "The loss of Dedalus and Emmeline weigh heavily on my heart."
"Tonks has left the Order because of the crap you pulled Albus. I don't blame her in the slightest." The grizzled ex-auror adjusted his eyepatch, and stared at his old friend with his remaining eye. "let's see it then,where's the bloody piece of filth that was worth losing Diggle and Vance?"
Dumbledore reached into his desk, and withdrew a small jewelry box. "I have yet to examine it, and was planning on taking it to the ministry tomorrow. Rufus insists on being present when we destroy it."
Moody snatched the box, and cracked it open. "I was expecting the blasted thing to reek of dark magic, it just looks like an ugly piece of jewelry. Are you sure this thing isn't a decoy?"
"Voldemort would have been completely confident that his horcrux was safe." Dumbledore explained, with confidence of his own. "He would not have used a decoy."
"Albus, this might not be a decoy, but it is fake." Moody said with a steady voice, then threw the locket across the room, and slammed a piece of parchment onto the desk.
Shaken by his old friend's outburst, Dumbledore picked up the parchment and read its message. "R. A. B... I can think of a small number of wizards who might be responsible for this."
"And I can probably think of several more, a few witches too." Moody's tone had shifted, it was low and unfriendly. "Vance and Diggle died for a fake. You've made too many mistakes that have cost us too much. Albus, it's time for you to step down."
"I... I am not perfect Alastor, but who is more qualified? You and your paranoia are not suited to lead in my stead." Dumbledore struggled internally, the acknowledgment of his mistakes against his vanity. Despite the cost of his failures, his perception of reality could not see anyone more able to lead the light than himself.
"Of course I'm no bloody leader. I belong in the thick of things dammit, it's why I always turned down promotions. Scrimgeour's not perfect by any means either, but he's got a good head on his shoulders, and he listens to those who know more than him. Dissolve the Order Albus. It's time to work with the ministry while we still have one."
"It's not that simple. By Rufus' own admission, the ministry has been infiltrated, and while he is a decent person deep down, Rufus has no compassion. He treads dangerously close to the dark in his pursuit of justice."
"There is no good answer Albus, but things are too far gone to be worried about light and dark right now. Besides, have you already forgotten all of the dark things you've done? You're so caught up in the legend of Albus the almighty Dumbledore, that you've forgotten that you're just another wizard." Spittle was beginning to fly as Moody's rant picked up steam. "You're powerful and smart, but you are not bloody Merlin! Your way is not the only way, or even the best. Now shut down the Order, or I'll shut it down for you."
A loud bang was heard throughout the Order's headquarters as Moody slammed the door. Left alone in his makeshift office, Dumbledore thought furiously about how to salvage the situation. His thoughts kept returning to Harry, everything started falling apart when the boy reverted. surely if he could once more regain control of the one destined to defeat Voldemort, everything else would fall back into place.
-o-o-
Harry awoke with a start, as he felt a sharp pain in his thigh. An attempt to sit up was thwarted by the same chains that he'd left Wednesday in.
"Stay still." Wednesday ordered from between his legs. "You don't want to ruin your new scars."
Keeping his leg still, he lifted his head to see what was going on. As he felt her carve the top of his left thigh, he saw that she had yet to clothe herself. Her pert breasts captured his attention as they moved along with each slice that she added.
Sitting upright, Wednesday carefully licked her dagger clean. "There. 'Property of Wednesday,' carved neatly in your leg, marking you as mine. The best part is the scar will never fade. Mother taught me how to curse a blade for special occasions. It dulls the edge quite a bit, but I think the end result is worth it."
Harry both laughed and winced at the image that popped into his mind. "Does that mean your father has a 'Property of Morticia' on his leg?"
"Maybe, I don't know. I do know that he's carved her initials into his own leg at least half a dozen times since they first started dating." She stood up, and stretched. "We've been down here all morning, and I don't know about you, but I'm hungry enough to eat a unicorn."
"Considering I didn't eat breakfast, lunch sounds like a real good idea. Just let me up, and we can get dressed and go." Harry agreed, then jingled his chains to point out that he was still trapped.
"You left me chained up, I'm sure you can figure it out." Picking up her clothes, Wednesday left Harry as she walked toward the exit.
Too busy staring at her arse, it took him a moment to register that she had stranded him. Noticing that his robes and wand were far out of reach, he pondered how he was going to escape.
-o-o-
One of the first to arrive at the Great Hall, Wednesday sat at the Hufflepuff table, figuring that Luna could join her as easily as she and Harry joined the Blonde Ravenclaw each meal. Knowing that her housemates would make a big deal about nothing, she had taken the time to cut a wide strip of cloth to use as a choker.
As Wednesday sat down, Susan noted that Harry was nowhere in sight. "Oh no, was Harry's explanation not good enough?"
Without changing her expression, or saying a word, Wednesday held out her hand to display her ring.
Eyes wide, Susan grabbed the outstretched hand, pulling it closer to examine the engagement ring. "Merlin, I knew you two were close, but he proposed already?"
"Already? We've been together for months now, how long of a courtship do you think I'd tolerate?" Wednesday replied, letting her hand be passed around among the other girls. "Whether he proposed or not, he would be my husband by year's end. Either that, or a corpse."
Susan coughed, nearly choking on her drink. "You really need to stop saying stuff like that. One of these days, someone is going to take you seriously."
Before Wednesday could explain that she was always serious, Leanne joked about Harry's absence with a smirk. "Where is Harry anyway? Or is he all tied up at the moment? Thick ropes I'm sure."
"Of course not Leanne, don't be ridiculous. Chains are much more effective than ropes." Wednesday explained as she reclaimed her hand, and began plating food.
"Until I figure out how to reach my wand, then there isn't much of a difference." Harry pointed out as he rested his hand on Wednesday's shoulder, and ran his thumb along her choker, making sure to apply pressure where he knew a bite mark was.
Wednesday leaned into the painful massage, and closed her eyes. "Mmm, I was wondering how long it would take you to remember that your pet was in the room."
Harry leaned in while continuing to roughly massage her hidden wounds with both hands. "Yes, well I had other things on my mind. It's not every day that your girlfriend becomes your fiancée." He punctuated his statement with a kiss that made several of the nearby girls blush. Wednesday moaning into the kiss didn't help matters.
"While I must congratulate you both on your impending nuptials, I will have to insist that you keep the displays of affection to a minimum." Headmaster Tofty chuckled, happy to see young love blossom in such a dark time. "There are young children present after all."
"Sorry sir, I just can't help myself sometimes." Harry halfheartedly apologized as he sat down. "Thank you again for letting me go to Gringotts to pick up the ring."
"Not at all Mister Black. I'm happy to help. If I may ask, have you put any thought into the wedding date? I assume you'll be waiting until after your NEWTs." The old wizard not so subtly suggested.
"During the winter break." Wednesday supplied in a firm voice. "My family will be arriving to celebrate in December."
Surprised at the declaration, Harry blinked and looked at his fiancée questioningly.
"Grandmama, Mother, and I have been making plans since July." Wednesday explained matter-of-factly. "Like I told you before, I had no idea you could be so romantic, so I wasn't expecting you to propose. We weren't sure whether or not I should propose, or just surprise you with the wedding."
Tofty was taken aback. It wasn't exactly unheard of for a couple to marry before their graduation, but it was extremely rare. Not to mention, the students involved were almost always of age. "I have no right to ask you to postpone, but there will be no special accommodations made for you. Married or not, you will still be Hogwarts students, and have to follow the same rules as everyone else."
"That shouldn't be a problem." Wednesday seemingly agreed without looking up from her plate.
"Well, congratulations again, and I'll leave you to your meal." The headmaster walked off toward the infirmary. He was young once too, and knew that those two would soon be indulging despite their agreement to follow the rules. Hopefully Madam Pomfrey would be willing to have a talk with at least one of them, and supply the appropriate contraceptive potions. He wasn't foolish enough to think that they would remain celibate once they were wed, and married or not, they would still be a bit young to be parents.
-o-o-
In the darkness of the Divination classroom, seven figures held hands around an oval table. Dim candlelight danced around the room, casting shadows, and setting the tone for the ritual at hand. At the head of the table, Professor Frump slowly chanted, while near the foot, Wednesday frowned deeper with every word.
The old crone's voice rose as she attempted to pierce the veil. "Let us ransom you from the power of the grave. Tonight, O Death, Let us be your plague."
Unable to hold silent any longer, Wednesday interrupted her grandmother. "Grandmama, what are you doing? You made up that incantation years ago."
"Well it worked once didn't it?" The professor argued, as the other participants looked at each other in confusion.
"Yes, but Uncle Fester wasn't actually dead." Wednesday countered. "Use the real one."
Sighing, the elder witch stretched out her arms, and cracked her bony knuckles. "Fine, have it your way."
Retaking the hands of those on either side of her, Professor Frump closed her eyes and began a new chant in a far more guttural tone. Slowly, an electricity began to fill the room, and her hair rose in a wild halo around her. As her voice began to crescendo her eyes opened, alight with an unearthly glow, and her words took on a cadence of power. The crystal ball that sat in the center of the table turned an inky black, and a single point of light appeared in its murky depths.
Wednesday lifted her chin high, and formally demanded the presence of three spirits. "Sirius Black, Godfather of Harry Black né Potter; James and Lily Potter, father and mother of Harry Black né Potter; I command you to come forth. On this dark night I summon you, appear before us, and confront the child you left behind on your journey to the beyond."
The point of light within the crystal ball pulsed, and split into three distinct sparks that slowly grew. Soon the lights consumed the ball, and three hazy figures rose from the crystal. Their top halves took the form that they had in life, while their lower halves remained indistinct, and tethered to the orb of light.
"Happy death day mum, dad." Harry greeted his parents' shades in turn, then looked at his godfather. "And a happy Halloween to you Sirius."
"What... How is this possible?" Confused and disoriented, James looked around until he laid eyes on his son. "Harry, son is that you?"
"I told you he looked just like you James." Sirius grinned and patted his fellow marauder on his transparent back.
"Harry..." Lily looked through her hand, and noticed Professor Frump, who was chanting softly to maintain the connection to the land of the dead. "Is, is this Necromancy?"
Lily whipped around, and slapped Sirius. "You said he was growing into the finest light wizard you'd ever seen. This is not light magic!"
Holding his hands out, Sirius attempted to placate the irate mother. Harry snorting in amusement didn't help. "Lily calm down. It's not that bad, this is just a séance. As far as dark magic goes, this doesn't even register. Trust me. As a Black, I know what I'm talking about."
"No, she's right. I'm pretty sure I qualify as a dark wizard." Harry corrected offhand. "Anyway, introductions! The lovely witch who is holding this ritual, is Esmerelda Frump. Sirius should recognize Hermione Granger and Luna Lovegood, the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw respectively. Draco Malfoy and Millicent Bulstrode are the two in Slytherin green. Finally, this hauntingly beautiful Hufflepuff is Wednesday Addams, my fiancée."
Each shade latched on to a different declaration, but all three were utterly shocked.
"Slytherins? And one of them is a Malfoy?!" James couldn't believe it. "This can't be real. No son of mine would ever befriend dark wizards like them.
"Dark? Harry, what do you mean you're a dark wizard? That can't be right." Sirius shook his ghostly head, also unable to believe what he was hearing.
Lily floated down to be eye level with Harry and Wednesday. Thoughts of light and dark utterly vanished as she studied her son and her soon to be daughter-in-law. "Fiancée... My baby is getting married."
What had caught his wife's attention finally registered to James, and he moved to Lily's side, relieved to see the yellow trim on Wednesday's robes. "A Hufflepuff... Thank Merlin you aren't engaged to a dark witch too."
Draco didn't even try to hold back the laugh that escaped upon hearing James' assumption, and Harry's father rushed to confront the Malfoy scion. "What are you laughing at? I suppose you'll try and tell me that you aren't as dark as the rest of your family, but your house gives you away snake."
"Compared to her, I'm as light as Albus bloody Dumbledore." Draco drawled.
Harry cleared his throat to get everyone's attention. "Well... I can't say this surprises me much, but I was hoping you guys would take all this better. I guess you won't be happy to see Peter after all."
"No! Sirius shouted, a crazed look taking over his features. "Harry, not the rat. Slytherins and dark witches are bad enough, but you can't possibly have forgiven that cowardly traitor."
Draco looked across the table to lock eyes with Millicent. "You know, It's subtle, but I'm getting the impression that they don't like us."
Draco's dry comment made Millicent roll her eyes and snort softly in amusement. She had been growing increasingly uncomfortable, but Draco's calm demeanor helped her relax. She might be in to something darker than she was expecting, but if a wimp like Draco could handle it, so could she.
At Sirius' accusation, Harry's smile fell, and he took on a hurt expression. "I didn't think that you'd think so little of me. Of course I haven't forgiven him for what he did. Thing, please show them."
The rustling of fabric drew everyone's attention to a small table behind Harry. The sheet that had covered the table was pulled to the floor by an unseen force, revealing the severed head of Peter Pettigrew.
The crazed look Sirius was sporting vanished, and he knew that if he still had a stomach, it would be churning. He had dreamed of killing Peter for so long, but seeing the lifeless head of his one time friend didn't sit well with him.
James opened his mouth to continue his tirade about how thoroughly disappointed in Harry he was, but his wife's hand forcefully silenced him.
"Harry, did you kill Peter?" She asked calmly.
"No." Wednesday spoke up. "He let me do it."
Lily studied Wednesday for a few tense seconds. "Good."
Tearing his wife's hand away from his mouth, James looked horrified. "Lily, what do you mean good? Our boy has fallen in with a dark crowd, and his girlfriend just admitted she murdered a man."
"James, hush. You too Sirius." Lily ordered in a soft, but threatening manner. "Wednesday was it? Do you love my son?"
"Of course." She said without expression, while staring into Lily's eyes. "We will be together long after death claims us."
"Lily..." James started, wanted to address the issue of their son falling to the dark.
"I said hush James." Lily snapped. "If I had survived that night, you had better believe I would have killed Peter given half a chance. I never liked him to begin with, and then he led Voldemort right to our front door."
The dead woman caressed her living son's cheek wistfully. "We are dead James, and our baby boy has grown up without us. We have no right to complain about how he turned out. If we had been smarter about who we trusted, we could have raised him ourselves, but we can't change what has happened."
"Harry, I don't like what you've become, but I'll always love you no matter what." Lily declared sadly.
Unable to take anymore, James all but screamed at Harry. "The Potters are a light family, and if you insist on defying that, then I have no son! Consider yourself disowned." He finished coldly. Both Lily and Sirius stared at their fellow shade, not believing what they had just heard.
"Prongs, James, you don't mean that. Harry's just..." Seeing his best friend treat his son the exact way his own family treated him, hurt Sirius more than he thought possible. Long suppressed emotional scars opened up, as fresh and painful as when they formed in his youth. "You can't just throw away your son like that..."
Talking in the same monotone that his fiancée normally used, Harry slowly spoke, his head hanging down as he focused on the grain of the wooden table. "You can't disown me. You have to be alive to do that, and you're not even a ghost. Besides, I disowned myself a while ago. I knew I wasn't a good Potter, so I used the gift Sirius bequeathed me, and changed my name to Black... Still, I thought you'd love me anyway dad."
Wednesday glared daggers at the shade of James Potter, and was trying to remember ways to effectively torment the dead, when she felt Harry's hand pull away from hers. With the circle broken, the shades faded away. She turned to see Harry nearly rip the trap door off of its hinges, in an effort to leave the classroom. Not bothering with the ladder, he jumped through the opening, and vanished.
In an effort to chase after Harry, Wednesday rushed to jump as well, but the portal sealed itself up before she could reach it. Where the trapdoor once was, there was only solid floor. Her grandmother's voice was the only thing keeping her from trying to tear up the floor with her bare hands.
"Let him be for now, he'll stew for some time, and work himself up into a proper depression. You can find him tomorrow, and remind him whose supposed to be making him miserable from now on." The elderly witch advised as she rubbed her temples, then muttered to herself. "Always forget how relaxing that ritual is... Need to fix that."
Reluctantly, Wednesday helped her grandmother put everything away, while the other four students tried to figure out how to undo whatever Harry has done to the trapdoor. Eventually, they gave up and blasted a hole in the floor, figuring that the caretaker or house elves could deal with the actual repair. Luna, Draco, and Millicent were content to leave it at that, but Hermione immediately headed toward the library to figure out how to do it anyway.
The two Slytherins, feeling rather uncomfortable about everything, headed back to their common room without a word, leaving the two Addams witches and Luna in the Divination classroom. Draco and Millicent were both nauseous after seeing the severed head, and were glad the night was over.
"What kind of wood did you want to use?" Luna asked, after picking up the severed head of Pettigrew.
"Wood?" Wednesday usually had a decent idea of what the blonde girl was talking about, but this time was clueless.
"To mount your trophy of course." Luna replied as if it were obvious. She cradled the head in one hand, while using the other to poke and prod Pettigrew's face. "It's not very impressive looking though, I can't seem to find an expression that doesn't look pathetic. Too bad he's not a snorkack, then you could just mount his horn like daddy did."
Professor Frump looked thoughtful. "Now that's not a bad idea, too bad you didn't keep a trophy from that Joe boy."
"His name was Joel Grandmama, and I tried. His parents were greedy though, and wouldn't let me keep his heart." Wednesday took Pettigrew's head from Luna, and slipped it into her robes. "Can you see if Uncle Fester can meet me tonight? He brought Peter here, I'm sure he wouldn't mind taking him away too."
"I'll get word to Fester to meet you after midnight, and I'll let your mother know to get her tools ready. It's been some time since she's had a chance to put those taxidermy lessons to good use." As she ushered the two girls out of her classroom, the crone snatched Thing from Luna's shoulder, where he had been sitting since the séance ended. "If you wouldn't mind lending an old woman a hand, I have a splitting headache that I need to develop, and Thing has magic fingers."
-o-o-
Author's note: Well, that was an eventful chapter. I hope you guys enjoyed it as much as I did. :)
To Guest reviewing chapter 19: There's a good chance that those who would have been involved with helping Dumbledore eliminate Voldemort for good, could be trusted to some extent. Dumbledore wouldn't have to explain how to make a horcrux, or even detail what one was. All Dumbledore had to reveal, was that they anchored Voldemort's soul, preventing him from truly dying. Until his resurrection, not too many Death Eaters were eager to continue being Death Eaters, so men like Lucius Malfoy probably wouldn't have even tried to stop them.
To den123456 reviewing chapter 2: You're right about Vernon, my version is just as much a victim of Dumbledore's machinations as Harry is. Petunia on the other hand, is kind of just as bad as her canon self if not a little worse, considering she willingly and eagerly mistreats Harry on Dumbledore's say so.
To den123456 reviewing chapter 4: First, I'd like to say that you're fortunate to not have encountered someone being obnoxiously passive aggressive like Harry was in his letter to Voldemort. I've seen some doozies in my time.
Harry's letter was meant to come off as mostly passive aggressive with a false bravado threat thrown in to show he meant business. New and improved Harry might have been, but he was nowhere near able to actually take on Voldemort yet. Like most teenagers, he was acting as if he was playing with a royal flush, when in reality all he had was three of a kind. Not a bad hand, but not good enough.
In a sense, the letter was Harry throwing a temper tantrum, with Dumbledore as the target, and Voldemort as the one being vented to. He was trying to show Voldemort that he wanted a truce by giving him information the Dark Lord would want, but his bitterness toward Dumbledore made a lot come out sounding wrong.
To Spuffylover19 reviewing chapter 19: Now you know why Harry had to go to the bank. Quite a few people figured it out ahead of time, but hopefully I surprised some. :)
Don't mess with Gryffindors, they'll never back down. Don't mess with Slytherins, they're sneaky bastards. Don't mess with Ravenclaws, they know a lot more about magic than you do. Thanks to Wednesday: Don't mess with Hufflepuffs, just don't; seriously, it's a bad idea.
How was that for Harry/Wednesday interaction? :D
To Guest reviewing chapter 19: Wednesday is treating the first years like family, but just to be clear, NOT like she's their big sister. Professor Sprout was very wrong with that observation. Addams siblings do not treat each other nicely.
Like any good Addams, Wednesday will love and cherish any children she might have. Of course, that also means she'll raise said children to be soulless little monsters.
If the younger 'Puffs find out just how monstrous Wednesday really is, they're reaction will depend on quite a few variables. They aren't really on her side though. The first years look up to her because she helps them, but only the three that she rescued are 'on her side,' due to hero worship and all that.
Yup. You and a few others called it, Harry was being all secretive about his trip to Gringotts because he wanted to prepare for his proposal.
Characters like Nott and Bulstrode are underdeveloped in canon, so it's fair game to mold them in whatever manner suits the story.
To den123456 reviewing chapter 12: I'm sorry that Harry's attitude bothers you, but I'm not trying to write him as a perfect Addams. He fits in with them, but he is not really an Addams, he has his own flavor of crazy.
To deepspob reviewing chapter 18: Luna's patronus is the Rabbit of Caerbannog. If you don't know the reference, watch 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail.' It's a classic, and like it or hate it, it's a movie that everyone should see at least once.
To Itc reviewing chapter 13: There are multiple variations of that rhyme, I just chose the one that suited Wednesday the best. It's not uncommon for the verses to be switched, Friday and Saturday are the ones most often mixed up. I will still agree with you that I goofed on her middle name though. She was given Friday as a middle name because she was born on Friday the 13th. It had nothing to do with the rhyme where her first name came from. I'm kind of annoyed at myself that I had forgotten that at the time.