Visitors
Disclaimer: I have not claim to characters or scenes from the Harry Potter series, which belongs to JK Rowling and associates. I get nothing from this except the enjoyment of imagining and writing the story. If I did own any of the Potterverse, I could stop having to work for a living.
Time frame – Post–DH except for the epilogue which I am ignoring, for reasons that should become obvious.
A/N: Sunday March 19th, 2000 was a full moon.
On the weekend just before the March equinox, Harry held a party at the Manor for his classmates and friends and teammates from school. Ron Weasley was invited, but Ron had a game that Saturday afternoon, but said he and Viktor would try to come after the game (and the inevitable treatments by their trainer and mediwitch). Harry said that if they couldn't make it on the Saturday, some were staying over to the Sunday and they would be welcome then.
Ginny Weasley was also invited, but begged off as it had been only a month since she and Harry broke up, and she still felt a bit uncomfortable. Harry reiterated the invitation, and said she was always welcome, as an old friend and adoptive sister if nothing else, and that if she felt awkward around him there would be lots of others to visit with. He told her that he realized it would be difficult for a while, given what they had been for each other, but if there was anything she needed from him, or needed to discuss with him, he was there for her and always would be. From what Kingsley and Molly had said, he feared it would not be long until he heard from her.
Most of them were very surprised (and in some cases, insulted and infuriated) at Pansy Parkinson's presence, and even more shocked when Harry told them that she was now officially his social advisor for dealings with the wizarding world, and unofficially the head of his intelligence gathering network. He pointed out that there were still many in their world who had a hatred for all things related to muggles in general, and to him in particular, as he had messed up the comfortable way things had been for them (minus a few muggle or 'blood-traitor' deaths here and there). After these explanations, his friends (generally) agreed to give Pansy the benefit of the doubt, at least for the moment.
Over the winter just past (once he had recovered from his own shock), Harry had told Hermione, and Ron and Ginny about his meeting with Pansy the previous autumn. Ron was amazed that he would have anything to do with any Slytherin, and then Harry had let them know about Pansy's methods of negotiation. Hermione and Ginny had started giggling at Harry's astonishment, and then began laughing to the point of paralysis at Ron's reaction to Harry's news.
Now, Harry advised his friends that, as he saw it, he had two choices. He could either liquidate his assets and disappear, leaving the wizarding world to rot on its own, or he could use his resources to make things better. He admitted that he was extremely tempted to go with the former, but there were too many people he cared about still around, so he figured that the second option was his choice. With a smirk, he did mention that he owned some nice tropical property where his friends could hide out (either temporarily or permanently) if they choose, if they felt that they just didn't want to have to keep fighting.
Harry pointed out that, if they were going to fight, they needed information, and Pansy had sources that the rest of the bunch just did not have access to. He also asked his friends not to spread the word about Pansy working for him, as this would make her work more difficult, and would likely endanger her life as well. As they had all been through the danger themselves, they agreed that Harry had a point.
Neville was a bit put out for a short while for being overlooked as social advisor, as he was a fullblood (he refused, wisely, to use the term 'pureblood') and under his grandmother's tutelage knew his way around the wizarding society, and was eager to help Harry however he could. However, Harry pointed out that Neville was well known among the 'nasties' (as Harry dubbed them) as a friend of Harry, and hence a 'blood-traitor'. Consequently, Neville's value as a spy was inherently limited, while Pansy's Slytherin connections might prove useful. Harry also whispered to him that he (Harry) didn't want to risk him (Nev) unnecessarily, as he (Nev) appeared to be on the verge of proposing to Hannah or Susan (or possibly both), and he (Harry again) felt Nev deserved some peace and quiet, at least until children started arriving. Neville smiled quietly, and Harry asked why; Nev just said "Later".
Harry suggested that Nev might have a chat with Pansy, and see if they each could come up with some ideas that the other might not have thought of. The two would have different points of view, and each might pick up on something useful that the other had missed.
In the afternoon after lunch, various groups wandered around the estate, with the composition of the groups changing as the old friends mingled, and looked around. Knowing her interest in magical creatures, Harry walked with Luna around the orchard for a while, as Harry told her of his growing interest in the insects which pollinated the blossoms. He also showed her the grove of oak trees which were infected with mistletoe – she was quite disappointed that these particular trees seemed unpopulated by nargles, who were 'known' to infest mistletoe. She said that she hoped that the small timid creatures would find that, now that Harry had reclaimed his inheritances and settled at the manor, there was a the new peaceful atmosphere that would lure the skittish critters back, and that she looked forward to showing Harry that nargles were delightful little beasts.
Neville Longbottom looked over the gardens and the animals, accompanied by Hannah Abbott and Susan Bones, Seamus Finnegan and some others who had been classmates in Hagrid's Magical Creatures class. The day was reasonably warm, but Susan and Hannah both wore bulky jumpers (for warmth, they claimed). Neville commented on the plants in one area of the gardens, which seemed to be relatively undeveloped except for a row of olive trees surrounded by calla lilies. Outside the hearing of the girls, Harry had told Nev that it was his 'Ladies' garden, to be developed as appropriate – so far, he only had planted flowers and trees in honour of his mother and their Head of House.
Neville was also impressed at the broad band of 'Forget-Me-Now' flowers surrounding the estate. Luna informed him that the flowers had originally been developed by her father as a floral 'notice-me-not' spell. Harry had told Hermione that he had been reading some of the books her father had recommended, and thought of the plants as his 'Somebody Else's Problem Field'.
As Harry went off to show some others his quidditch pitch, Luna located Hermione and asked where they could talk privately, as she had something important to discuss. Hermione was puzzled by this rather forceful approach from the usually spacey blond witch, and suggested the swimming pool, where Harry had provided privacy charms for when he (or his guests) wished to swim unencumbered by cloth.
As the two women entered the pool area, Hermione asked Luna where her swimming suit was. The short blonde replied, "Why bother?", and calmly removed all her clothing, folding her garments and placing them carefully on one of the poolside chairs. As she turned at looked at Hermione standing there blushing at the site of the shorter nude witch, she said "Oh yes, you were away the winter of seventh year and you missed 'Advanced Charms and Transfigurations'.
As the older girl looked at the younger witch with a puzzled look on her face, Luna smiled and said "In that class, we learned all sorts of nature charms, which require you to be 'skyclad." As Hermione asked "Skyclad?", Luna replied "Clad only in the sky, without our robes on, or anything else for that matter." She then laughed at Hermione's discomfort and said "Some girls had problems with it, particularly when we did the sexual forces charms, which required mixed couples, although nobody actually coupled during the class." She sounded quite disappointed at this fact. "I thought Professor Flitwick was very cute standing there in nothing, with his face about the height of my 'curlies'" looking down at her body. I thought Professor McGonagall looked quite elegant and dignified without her robes."
Hermione was stunned at this revelation. "No! McGonagall? She wouldn't! Would she?"
Luna laughed as she smiled and took on a more distant (than usual) facial expression as she reminisced. She said "Oh yes. Minerva has quite a sense of humour. The first classes we just peeled down to our underwear, in order to start getting more comfortable with being undressed around other people. The Slytherin girls had some very pretty old-fashioned undies (you know the Slytherin fashions were like the ones you showed us in that book from the reign of Queen Victoria), while Parvati and Lavender wore some really risqué knickers that they saw in the fashion magazines your mum sent. McGonagall had an old-fashioned camisole and French knickers, about mid-thigh length, in her family tartan. The second class, Astoria Greengrass had gone up to the room the fashion and sewing club uses, and made herself some new things – her older sister Daphne (from your year) has taken up a modelling career, and Tori had some rather, shall I say, 'modern' ideas for underclothes. McGonagall showed up in a tiny bra and G-string pants, still in the family tartan, although it was quite difficult to see the pattern – she looked so funny in the skimpy things, still wearing her witch's hat. The next class was the first completely nude session, and Minerva took off her hat and let down her long dark hair which fell to below her waist – she stood there very dignified and statuesque; she was quite magnificent."
Luna smiled at the older girl, and said "You know, this weekend there is a full moon, and Harry had such beautiful groves of trees. I am going to suggest all the girls, and whichever boys want to join us, come out and dance in the moonlight. No clothes of course." Hermione said "I gather you have done this before." Luna smiled he wide-eyed blissful way, and said "Oh yes, my mother and granny and I went out every full moon and danced in the groves of trees. Sometimes the tree nymphs would come out of their trees and join us, but if you wear clothes, they won't come. My mother's family descended from the Norwegian tree nymphs, you know." Hermione was (for the umpteenth time) not entirely sure if Luna was putting her one, or believed the unbelievable, or might be telling the truth. Luna waved her wand and her waist-length hair arranged itself into a braid, which wrapped itself into a bun to stay out of the water; she then stuck her wand into her hair as a hairpin.
With that uncertainty whizzing around in her head, Hermione decided to go with the dress code of the moment, and stripped down herself. She was uncertain why, this time, she felt uncomfortable undressing in front of Luna. They had been friends for years, and they had showered together after DA practices. Was it because there was just the two of them, or because they were now older, or that they were no longer fighting for their lives but moving on with living them? Was Luna making advances? Hermione was not sure, but thought to herself "It's just Luna. She's a good friend, and it's just us girls in the pool." She still blushed all over as she undressed.
Both girls entered the water, and swam over to the hot tub area to sit and talk.
As they sank back, relaxing into the hot water, Luna looked over at Hermione and asked, "So, are you going to be Mrs Potter or Mrs Black?" Hermione sat bolt upright, and asked "What do you mean?"
Luna looked at Hermione with a dreamy look in her eyes, and said "I want to know which house I can be a concubine in. Therefore, I need to know whether you are marrying Harry as Mrs Potter or Mrs Black."
The brunette shook her head and sputtered "Harry and me, we're not..., he hasn't..., we haven't..."
Luna looked at the older witch with a mildly disgusted face, as if to say "Come on girl, get real!" What she said out loud was "Hermione, my dear friend, it is obvious to everyone around you two that you are together, or soon will be. Unless of course you're gay, which I don't think you are, and I don't think Ron Weasley would disagree with that. If you are gay, then I would like to be together with you; I've never tried it with another woman but some people seem to like it and I am happy to try it if you want to. Hermione, I love you too, on your own, as yourself." She paused, and then added saucily, "You can close your mouth now."
Hermione sputtered some more, and then her brain started working again. She asked "Why ask me? If you want to be with Harry, you should ask him."
Luna shook her head. "I love you both and don't want to hurt either one of you. For one thing, I have seen what you do to people who try to hurt you. It looks quite unpleasant. For another, I think you and Harry would want to be together, one way or another, and I would not want to get in your way."
The younger woman smiled and looked down at her body, and said, "Hermione, I want to be completely open with you on this. I have nothing to hide from you."
Hermione got a twinkle in her eyes, and looked over Luna's body carefully. She smiled and said, "I think you have some very nice things to hide." Luna blinked in astonishment at Hermione's comments, then smiled and thanked her for the compliment.
Hermione looked at her shrewdly and asked "From the way you asked your question, you obviously know that Harry is supposed to have a wife for each of his two houses. But you said you want to be a concubine. I don't understand. If you want to be with him, you could be one of his official wives. Both positions are open at the moment. Wouldn't that be better?"
Luna looked shocked and shook her head violently. "Oh no! Absolutely not! No way ! As an official wife, I would have to go to parties, and meet important people, and drink cocktails with foreign dignitaries, and maybe even sit in the Wizengamot sessions. I would have to smile and be polite to people who dislike me, who despise me for who I am, what I am, and the way I am. The purists call me a blood-traitor, and most of the rest of our world think I'm crazy. They may be right, but so what. I'm me, and I like 'me'."
"I would lose all my freedom to travel the world and study rare animals and meet people that I want to meet. I would lose the freedom to be me! As a concubine, my only requirement would be to have Harry's children. I think making babies with Harry would be fun."
"As the Head of an Ancient House, and being wealthy, Harry needs to have an official wife, but can also have as many concubines as he wants, or his wife will let him have. I want to be one of them. And I think you might let me, where other women might not.
"Hermione, I love you and I love Harry, for all the things you have done for me and with me. You taught me to fight, and you fought for me and beside me. You both saved my life over and over. You helped my Dad with his paper, and protected him when they attacked him. And more important, neither of you ever laughed at me like the others did, or stole any of my things. You both treated me with respect."
"I want to thank you for all these things. I want to thank you for these things in the only way I know that can express how much I deeply appreciate you, and him. I want to share with you all that I have, all that I am. I will share, but I will not throw or give away the essence of what is me."
"I would like to make love with you and with Harry, separately or together, if that's all you want from me, but I would be very pleased if we could make it on a more permanent basis. Hermione, I know in my heart that you and Harry will marry and be happy, and I want to be part of it as well. I don't know if you are going to be Mrs, Potter or Mrs Black, and I don't know who will be the other."
"I think Ginny is out of the picture now. She has been my best friend since primary school, but she has a selfish streak that I have seen hurts Harry; she craves attention which Harry hates, so I don't think she will be in contention. I see Pansy has entered the picture, and I think she is a possibility; she is a Slytherin, and other than Harry's godfather, all the Blacks were Snakes. But I don't know her, and until I do, I don't trust her. I don't know whether I could get along with her enough to be a concubine in her house. But I know you. I trust you and I love you."
Hermione shook her head. "It would be Harry's house, not hers."
Luna looked at her bushy-haired friend sadly, as if she had just said something stupid. Quietly, she asked, "And your mother has no influence on what happens in your house?"
Hermione blinked, and hung her head down and nodded. She knew how much her rather forceful mother 'had influence'. After all, Elly was the parent from whom Hermione got her stubbornness and bossiness. She said "Good point. You're right."
Luna smiled and said, "Of course I am right. So, are you going to be Mrs Potter, or Mrs Black?"
Hermione nodded at the explanation, and then smiled. She pulled the blonde into a tight hug, skin to naked skin. She looked into Luna's eyes and said, "We'll have to see; I will probably have to ask Harry. He is so clueless sometimes, I'm not sure he has even thought of it yet. And to be honest, I'm not sure where our relationship is going." Luna again looked at her as if she had just said something stupid. Hermione smiled and said, "Right. So, what time are we going tree-dancing?"
As the girls laughed, the rest of the group began pouring into the pool area. Seamus looked at Hermione and Luna, and smiled widely. "Great, we're skinny-dipping!" as he started to strip. Hermione blushed and covered her breasts with her hands as she sank deeper into the hot tub, looking at Luna accusingly. She whimpered "Didn't you cast the privacy charms?" The blonde looked at Hermione dreamily and said with a saucy grin, "I thought as you are almost the 'lady of the house', it was your job, so no, I didn't."
Luna then called to Seamus and the others, "Hang on a mo'. Everyone has to stand on the diving board as they undress!" Turning to Hermione, she said quietly, "I saw this muggle moving picture once where they had a nude swimming party, and all the people who came late had to do that. It seemed a lot of fun. Especially for the ones already in the pool."
Seamus called out, "You heard Luna, everybody. I'll go first." He hopped up on the diving board, and peeled down, then jumped into the water. Luna looked at Hermione and said "I assume you noticed how he looked at us while he dropped his underwear, and how part of him looked just like a little diving board." Hermione had a lot of trouble covering up her giggles, as her hands were otherwise occupied.
When Harry got up on the board for his 'reveal', Luna and Hermione stood up in the hot tub, and started cheering. Luna started chanting 'Take it off! Take it off!" which the others joined in on, then changing the chant to "Boxers or briefs? Boxers or briefs?" Once this question was visually answered to everyone's satisfaction, the group began applauding. Harry scowled over at Luna and Hermione (who had started this nonsense), and noticed that his best friend's bushy brown hair was not confined to her scalp. His now naked body reacted to this revelation in a predictable fashion, to the delighted whoops and hollers of the group. In his embarrassment and in his attempt to cover up the 'surprise visitor' caught his feet in his discarded underwear, lost his balance and fell off the board into the water, to the hilarity of his friends. Katie Bell yelled out, "You'd think a Seeker would be more coordinated!"
As Hannah mounted the board, Neville asked for everyone's attention. He announced that Hannah and Susan had been best friends since childhood, and shared everything. He announced that last autumn they had informed him in no uncertain terms that he was to be one of those things, and being of an Ancient House and being allowed by wizarding law to have a wife and concubines, he was going to marry them both (with details as to legal or official status and priority to be decided later). He asked all present to be at their (three-way) marriage ceremony on the first of May. At this point both ladies murmured a 'Finite Incantatem' charm, and their engagement rings appeared to the others. As Hannah undressed on the diving board, it became apparent that the threesome had anticipated the ceremony by some months, and this was also confirmed when Susan's turn came and her swelling abdomen became visible. Neville summarized by saying that if Harry's fears and paranoia were really true, he had even more to fight for than he had before, because nobody was going to hurt his ladies if he had anything to say about it, and he definitely would have something to say!
Harry decided not to kill the mood by adding that when they are after you, it's not paranoia.
When Pansy got up on the board, she flicked her wand at the pool's sound system, which started playing some basic striptease music. While the rest watched in surprise, she disrobed in a slow and very theatrical fashion, ending to applause from the assembled wizards and witches. After she finally jumped into the water, Luna swam over to her and said "I think you have done this before, lots."
Pansy looked sharply at the woman that all her housemates in Slytherin would have call a space-cadet (or worse), had they been in tune with muggle derogatory slang.
She said to the blonde "Why do you say that?" Luna looked at her with the dreamy look she got when she was reminiscing (although Pansy did not know her well to recognise the difference), and said "In my fourth year, your fifth, a bunch of us girls got together for a party. Ginny Weasley had got this idea from some magazines her brothers had showing witches taking their clothes off, and we thought it could be a fun way to break the ice and get to know each other better. We all got liquored up, and some of us did a strip show. You know we didn't really have any music or physical activity program at Hogwarts – to say we were clumsy and uncoordinated would have been kind, very kind. For a lot of them, getting publically naked was awkward too, but the liquor helped. When you did your dance just now, your moves were smooth and synchronized beautifully with your music. Your seductive glance over your shoulder when you removed your bra looked rather confident. It was obvious to me that you had a lot of practice." Pansy realized that this witch was far more perceptive than most of her classmates would have given her credit for.
Pansy smiled sadly and said "Well, yes I have. When I first came to Hogwarts, I got sorted into Slytherin, just as my family wanted. A house full of adolescent pure-blood boys, inbred to the point of imbecility, who had been told since birth that they were the be-all-and-end-all of existence. Girls, particularly girls like me who weren't pretty, were treated as their communal sex toys; there were very few virgins in Slytherin. One of the older girls pointed out that the one thing pubescent boys are not, is 'patient'. She taught me some of the striptease moves, telling me that by the time the first boy had had his way with me, the rest would have gone elsewhere, either to other girls, or to look after their own pleasure themselves. Of course, some girls had other ways to protect themselves. For example, Daphne had some really nasty impotence hexes, as well as a very hard and well-placed kick if subtlety and witchcraft didn't work. Because of my family's social and dynastic ambitions, I paired up with Draco Malfoy pretty quickly, so the rest of the boys tended to leave me alone. But then, Draco enjoyed watching me undress, so I got a lot of practice."
Luna commented "It sounds like it was horrible for you." Pansy looked at the blonde as if she had been slapped. For the first time in her life, someone had thought about, and actually seemed to care about, how she felt about her situation. All her life she had known, as the daughter of a lower-ranked noble house, she was a pawn in family and dynastic politics. Luna seemed to think that Pansy's feelings mattered. This was something new.
Pansy continued, "When I got out of school, I worked as a stripper for a while, because after Harry had killed Voldemort, my family lost all their money and society connections. When the only thing you are known for is hanging around with the kids of Death Eaters, nobody will give you a decent job, but with a little glamour charm as disguise, a young woman can always find 'employment'. Fortunately, I never had to go as low as some of my housemates have done, like poor Millie, (I want to help her get out of her situation if I can, and with Harry's help, I think I can), but it can be a very slippery and dangerous slope. A lot of the people you meet are not very nice, and that is being generous. However, it is a very useful way to find things out about what's going on – you would be amazed what you can get a young man to tell you when he is a bit drunk and you're not, and if you're a bit naked. It's a useful skill on any spy's resume. If you are dancing at a club frequented by pure-bloods, you can find out all sorts of useful things."
Luna blinked a couple of times and said "But you cared about your dancing, that the dancing itself mattered. If all you wanted to do was get the boys excited, you could have just torn your robes off, wiggled your tits and shoved your bush in his face. That always seems to work." Luna smirked at Pansy's shock at this statement (or rather at Luna making such a statement), then continued "Yes, I know the words; I just choose not to use them very often. But you have a 'flow' to your dance as if you actually enjoy the motions."
Pansy was rather stunned by this perceptive statement, as she had begun to enjoy the dancing for itself, not just keeping the patrons happy.
Pansy then looked at Luna and asked, "Why are you wasting your time with me, rather than talking with your friends? You came in here with Granger."
Luna looked at Pansy and said "Oh, I just finished propositioning Hermione, and she has to talk to Harry before we can finalize the arrangements." Pansy was a bit stunned by this statement, then Luna continued. "I am here with you because I don't know you. Yet. I know of you, and didn't much care for what I did know, but Harry trusts you now instead of wanting to kill you, which is what I would have expected. Something significant has changed, and I need to know what, and I think I owe it to you to get your perspective. You see, Harry is a very good friend. He was one of the first people who treated me with respect, and I am grateful for that. I intend to keep being part of his life."
"He is treating you with respect and trust, a person who spent years maligning him and threatening his life. Professor Dumbledore always said he trusted Professor Snape, who then killed him. I find that very strange. Now Harry says he trusts you. If you and I are both going to be part of Harry's life, we need to get to know each other. I thought I should start the process, as I didn't think you would come to me."
Luna's expression then changed to a cheery one, as she said, "Some of us are going out later to dance in the moonlight. Would you like to join us?" Again Pansy was surprised that Luna was offering an activity, which was totally up to Pansy to do or not, solely as she pleased.
Pansy agreed, and later that evening some of the group gathered under the apple trees (which were in full blossom). Luna had dressed in a diaphanous gown, which she dropped once they were in the grove. Pansy doffed her clothes, as did the others. Luna began to sing with what sounded like words, but in a language that none of the group had heard before. The blonde danced to her song, and the group joined in as well. Pansy soon noticed that the rest of the group moved very clumsily, as if they had either never danced before or they were very self-conscious about being undressed in the open air; Pansy felt no such self-consciousness, and realized that where she and Luna could be said to be nude, as opposed to the others being naked, and there was a definite difference. Pansy herself danced smoothly, but Luna flowed freely with the music as if she was part of it; she looked like she was part of the moonlight. Pansy had never seen anyone move so freely. As she danced, Luna went up to everyone, and gave them a brief hug and a kiss, and then danced on. When she came to Pansy, she took the dark-haired witch's hands and led her into a more flowing motion, and the two danced together dressed only in the light of the moon.
Luna and Pansy both had a lot to think about concerning this rather new person in their lives. Their lives had followed different paths, but they seemed to be converging. Pansy looked at the group of friends, and saw that these people were together in friendship and mutual respect, not because of fear or lust for power which had been her life to this point.
The next morning, those who had not returned to their own homes gathered for breakfast. Harry had the usual fare that they had been fed at Hogwarts, but also introduced them to pancakes, waffles, coffee, tea, and various fruit juices (apple from his orchard, as well as orange, tangerine, guava and pineapple), informing them that he had finally been able to convince his elves that juice could be made from things other than the pumpkins which seemed to grow in such abundance at or near the Scottish castle, and he had decided that he was just bloody tired of pumpkin juice! At Luna's look for dismay, he commented that he still very much enjoyed her pumpkin spice wine that she had brewed (surreptitiously) in her dorm.
As the bunch as digging into the 'muggle delicacies' (as Pansy jokingly described them), the fireplace in the dining area flared, and Ron's voice called out (or rather in) "Ron, Viktor and guests. Can we come through?" Harry immediately said "of course", and gestured to the elves to start preparing more pancakes.
Ron, Viktor and two young witches stepped out of the fireplace. The older of the two witches had bushy dark blonde hair, and was rather slim, while the younger had straight black hair falling to the middle of her back, and a stocky physique which indicated an active life. From her features, it was obvious that the younger witch was related to Viktor. The older witch was holding Viktor's hand, and an ornate wedding ring was visible on her left hand. The younger woman wore an engagement band with a large ruby.
Ron looked at the group in the dining area in front of plates of food, and remarked, "I see we timed our arrival well!"
Viktor smiled and said "Harry, Hermione, and friends I haven't met yet, I am please to introduce you my wife, Sophia", indicating the taller witch with the bushy hair, and then gesturing to the stocky younger woman, "and my little sister Magdalena. She is call 'Magda' to friends, so please do."
Harry stepped forward and greeted both ladies with a kiss on each cheek, and bid them welcome to his house. They each smiled and thanked him in halting English for his hospitality.
Harry embraced Ron warmly and shook Viktor's hand. The Bulgarian grabbed Harry by the shoulders and kissed him on each cheek.
Viktor smiled and said "Ron is helping me learning gooder English." (A voice coming from behind Harry muttered something about 'the blind leading the blind'). Viktor continued, smiling, "Magda and Sophia, still not so comfortable English-speaking as me."
Hermione came up to Viktor, kissed him on both cheeks and welcomed him, his wife and sister, in perfect Bulgarian. Viktor smiled, and turned to his wife, and introduced her as his long-term 'pen-pal'. Sophia smiled and said in English (smiling coyly at her husband) "I see now why Ron laugh uncontrollable when he first meet me." Touching Hermione's bushy brown hair and her own. "When Ron finally come up for air, he say that Viktor must have 'thing' about bushy hair!" The two women hugged, and Hermione said "I am so glad to finally meet you in person, Viktor has written so much about you."
Harry looked at Magda's ring and looked to Viktor, saying "You would have been welcome to bring Magda's fiancé", to which Viktor and Ron simultaneously said "we did!", as Ron embraced and kissed Viktor's little sister.
The group muttered, in astonishment, at which point Seamus got up on a chair, and called out "Come on, you lot. Ron's favourite expression! Everyone, all together now. One, two, three!" and as one the group exclaimed "Bloody Hell!", and gathered around the couple, congratulating them and expressing their best wishes.
Over the afternoon, the group talked over a range of topics.
The first topic, of course, was marriage. Ron told of how he and Magda got together.
Harry listened to the discussions, and then asked Neville a question which had been one his mind for some time. "Nev, how does it work, marrying two witches at once? I thought that the head of an Ancient and Noble House, like you and me, could have only one 'Lady of the House', but you could have additional wives of concubines. How are you going to work it with both Sue and Hannah being essentially of equal status?"
Viktor looked at Harry and Neville. "You are marry two witch, at same time? Interesting."
Sophia looked at her husband with a withering glare. "Viktor, Wizengamot may say okay for marry much witches, but I not! You my husband, my only. No two or three witch. "
Viktor looked to his wife, and smiled "Sophia, my love, I only for academic knowing, as scholar."
Sophia smiled sweetly and lovingly, and shook her head. "Vikkie, you know, me know, you good man, you good quidditch play. You no scholar!" Viktor laughed and went over to his wife and kissed her. "Of course, my love, you correct, as always."
Ron led the group in a collective sigh of "Ahhh...", and friendly laughter.
Then Sophia smiled shyly and looked lovingly at her husband, and said "And you be good papa, too."
Viktor's eyes widened. "Papa?"
Sophia grinned and said "I want tell alone. But here, friends yes? Family, yes? So." Looking at the group, she apologised "I sorry, not good England word; Italiano, si, Russky, da, England no." They smiled and indicated she should go ahead. She looked at Viktor again, "You know I not good feel sometime. Morning lose food. Not do woman time two time. I go healer. She tease, say 'Oh Sophia, problem you. Have grow thing in belly. Make much big, like eat quaffle. But only for time. Then go away, but give problem rest of life!' No, be two problem."
Sophia looked around the room. "Not England words. You know Zauberflöte? Mozart?" Hermione nodded and said that she knew the opera. Sophia said "Kleine Papageno, kleine Papagena, yes?"
Hermione gave a little shriek of joy. "Sophia! A boy and a girl? Twins?"
Sophia looked lovingly at her rather shocked husband. "Twins. Is good word. Yes twins."
Again, Ron led the group in a collective sigh of "Ahhh...", but this time with calls of congratulations.
Neville grinned, and returned to Harry's original question. "Harry and all of you, as you know, neither you or I have any choice in the matter. In your case, you are the head of two separate houses, and the law requires a separate 'Lady' for each house. In my case, well, shall we just say I was not given a choice in the matter", as he looked lovingly towards Hannah and Susan.
"When I told Gran what Sue and Hannah had decided, on my behalf, she laughed at me, and said I was the only wizard she knew that would see it as a problem. You know, since I grew up, and since the battle at Hogwarts, she doesn't treat me as a pathetic little boy any more. Sometimes as a pathetic big boy, but it's better. She told me recently that since the battle, she has seen me as a man to be proud of. That means more to me than my Order of Merlin!"
"Gran said that the fact that I was worried about Sue and Hannah, and their positions and feeling more than myself, spoke very highly of me. I loved the way she put it. She said that babies don't seem to care much for parchmentwork, and many a child has been conceived on one side of the marriage license and delivered on the other.
"Anyway, she tells me that times have become somewhat looser than they were. I gather that the decision on the official 'Lady', is usually decided by who got pregnant first. A hundred years ago, they didn't have the diagnostic spells that they have today, and it would be whoever gave birth first."
Pansy added, "Actually, it was a bit more specific than that. It was all to do with keeping succession and inheritances clear and orderly. If you were from a high-born family, until about ninety years ago, you couldn't even marry the second wife until the first had given birth." She conjured up a document. "The old law states 'If a wizard marries a witch, he may not marry a second until the first union prove fruitful. (Nowadays of course, we can detect the 'fruitful-ness' much earlier than at birth, but those are the words, and I guess that made allowances for miscarriages. Anyway.) Should the first marriage prove barren for a period of ten years, a Master Healer, skilled in such matters, shall be appointed by the Wizengamot to examine the witch and the wizard. If the deficiency be on the part of the witch, and it be not caused by malfeasance on the part of another, the wizard may have the marriage annulled, at his pleasure, and he may marry another. If the lack of issue be due to the actions of another, they shall be held to account as if they had killed one of the affected family. If the deficiency be on the part of the wizard, the witch may have the marriage annulled, and she will the inheritance due her as if the wizard had died, and the wizard may not marry again, except where his new wife has also been found barren, and has been turned away by her first husband.' Apparently, if the witch or wizard could not provide the family with an heir, things got messy. I really find the part about the 'malfeasance of others' interesting – I gather that there were some famous cases where a witch or her family wanted the inheritance of another family, and through spells or potions, prevented the new wife from having children. They were charged with 'impairment of the bloodline and attempted murder'."
"Some other odd items. A wizard can have mistresses, but if they are not legally married to him, their children cannot inherit anything for the estate, even if the wizard acknowledges the paternity. As I said, the laws are set up to make family property and inheritances work. They are not necessarily for the benefit of the people involved. Also, if the wizard was the 'deficient' one, the witch can remarry – I guess no point in keeping a fertile witch out of the family marriage lotteries."
Hermione looked at Susan and Hannah. "So whose going to get to be the 'Lady' of the House, then?"
Susan bit her lip and said, "Kind of hard to tell. Having lived in the dorm for so many years, and then living together, our cycles were pretty much locked in synch. As far as we can tell, Hannah caught about three days before me. Augusta, Nev's 'Gran', says that by custom, it will decided when we give birth. Whoever pops first gets the job, regardless of what the medi-witches say. If I want the top billing, I may have to get on a trampoline to hasten things along if Hannah looks like she is going to beat me out."
Hannah smiled and said, "Sue, stand up and turn around." The tall slim strawberry-blonde witch stood up, and turned her back to the group. Hannah, who was shorter and more stocky than her best friend, also stood with her back to the group of friends. Hannah giggled, and said, "You will notice that Sue's backside is rather petite, compared to mine. Between the two of us, we have decided that, until the gynaecological lottery plays out, she will be Longbottom, and I will be Widebottom."
The ladies laughed, while the men grimaced at seemed to be much more information than they really wanted to know.
Harry asked, "Sort of in a long way around. that kind of brings up another topic I have always wondered about. Hogwarts is listed as a school of 'Witchcraft and Wizardry', but most of our classes seem to cover the same stuff for both. What is the difference?"
Most of the witches blushed a bit, as did a number of the wizards. Hermione and Luna were not blushing, although Hermione looked a bit puzzled as well.
Luna, who always seemed to just take what the world gave her with the same calm demeanour, began to speak, "Oh yes, there are differences, and they were all based on sex, as they should be." Hermione began blushing as well. Luna said "Why blush? It is just the way it is. There is no shame, or pride, in accepting the fact that we are all sexual beings. I have never understood that."
Luna continued, "Harry, you and Hermione were away during what would have been your seventh year. That's when a lot of the sex-based magic was taught. Last night, I spoke to Hermione about the combined Charms and Transfiguration classes where we learned the nature charms which had to be done in the nude, and the sexual charms which had to be nude and in mixed couples. Most of us were really looking forward to that class, and I for one was quite disappointed in the purely 'theoretical' nature of the lessons."
"Anyway, we girls are the ones who are blessed or cursed by nature (depending on your viewpoint), with bearing children. When we first got to Hogwarts, we were taught a number of charms which I gather the boys were not. We were young girls coming into a school full of adolescent boys who were coming into the prime years for sexual energy, so in our first classes we were taught the 'contraceptus' charm and the 'impotentis' spell, to keep the boys unable to perform if we didn't want them to, and to make them unable to impregnate us if we did want them to perform but without those kind of consequences. Girls like some fun too, you know. Later, as it became necessary, we were taught charms to alleviate cramps and headaches. We were taught a spell to prevent our first time from being painful, as I gather it is for both muggles and witches who are unprepared. In seventh year, with all of us having become legally adults and getting ready for marriage, we all learned some charms and spells which were to, as Professor McGonagall put it, 'assist in having a happy and satisfying married life'. These included spells to extend a wizard's, shall I say, endowments and endurance. Others helped a witch have multiple orgasms every time, and so add to her own enjoyment as well as that of her wizard. We witches were taught charms to reduce morning sickness and stretch marks during pregnancies, and milk enhancement charms for while nursing (that was a fun class, although very messy!) I am sure the boys learned some things that I don't know about, but then, I don't know about them."
Seamus blushed a bit "We learned a version of the 'contracepto', which was rather interesting. It prevented you 'coming', which made it so you lasted for up to an hour. This was very popular, at some times, with our girlfriends as well. We also learned a rather useful little charm to make the vocal break less embarrassing – when your voice changed from a boy's voice to a man's voice, it happened all at once, overnight, so you weren't squeaking for a couple months like muggle lads go through. I had some muggle friends back home who got teased mercilessly when that happened.
Hermione thought about this for a moment, giving herself a mental note to talk to Susan, Hannah and Luna, and possibly Minerva McGonagall, to pick up what she missed in what would have been her last year at school. It sounded like it was going to prove useful and perhaps important in the future. She had missed the anti-pain charm, and unfortunately would have appreciated knowing it. Then she thought about another topic which had bothered her off and on for years.
"What about the restriction on underage magic? I can't imagine that you all stayed completely, shall we say, virginal, over summer holidays." She looked around the room at several blushing friends.
Susan nodded, and said "Well, no, I can't say that happened, at least not according to the dorm room scuttlebutt when we got back to school. In either sense of the word. But I don't understand. What do you mean about the restrictions? We knew there were some, but I never had any problems."
Hermione looked even more puzzled. "You all know, Harry got reprimanded by the Ministry for underage magic when he defended himself and his cousin from the dementor attack. I never did magic at home, so I don't know if I would have got a complaint. Did any of you get a reprimand?"
"Also, we all did accidental magic before we went to Hogwarts; I know I did, and it scared my parents a lot. Harry's relatives beat him, and worse, for it. But no reprimand, or did your parents get a note that you didn't hear about at the time? I would think that there would be a lot of issues about that."
Neville said "I know I never got a reprimand, and I am very sure that Gran would have told me if I had. I did magic at home. She taught me a lot of spells that we never learned at school."
Looking around the room, none of their other friends seem to have had problems either.
Hermione started to get angry. "This sounds like only us muggle-born or muggle-raised kids that got watched. Maybe another pure-blood supremacy thing?"
Seamus said, "That doesn't quite work, Hermione. I'm a half-blood too, even more than Harry. At least both his parents were magical, even if his mother was a muggle-born herself. My 'da' is straight muggle, no magic in him at all, although me ma has made some saucy comments after a particularly noisy night that they may not have assessed him properly." Giggling and laughter followed.
Harry thought for a moment. "So none of us got a complaint before we went to Hogwarts, and then only some of us muggle-related ones got caught. I wonder if it is just the specific spells that are tracked, and you only learned those spells when you go to school. Or maybe, it is that the tracking spells are not particularly accurate, so that in a magical household, they. can't tell who did the magic. Or maybe it is the specific wands that are tracked."
"If it is the spells that are tracked... no that's not going to work, because it wouldn't matter who did them, unless... Maybe it is only certain basic defensive spells that are tracked, that only kids would use... "
"What do you guys think of this? If the spells to detect underage magic are attuned to specific spells, maybe the Ministry can adjust them to detect Unforgiveables! We know that, because of bribery and corruption and Death Eater influence, they used to have no interest in tracking down people using them, but maybe now we can use this to our advantage."
"Pansy, can you please get in touch with Kingsley and look into this? I think we may have something we can use."