A/N: Cecil Bruner is a type of rose. My mother-in-law's bush is 15 feet high by 30 feet wide by about 10 feet deep. No lie. It's absolutely gorgeous when in full bloom with hundreds of little pink roses all over it.
Chapter 5 – Explanations
Wednesday dawned bright and much too early in Harry's opinion. Today was The Day. The day he would really start receiving courtship offers. He wanted to stay in bed.
Eventually, his curtains were swept aside by a fully-dressed Neville. "Come on, Harry. Up and at 'em!"
Harry scowled and said sulkily, "Why are you so disgustingly cheerful today?"
Neville grinned and said, "Because I don't have thousands of pieces of mail to look forward to. I just have to help collect them."
Harry just glowered darkly and didn't move.
Neville tugged teasingly on the covers and said, "Come on, Harry. You might as well receive all your letters in the Great Hall instead of the dorm. At least then we can help you gather them all."
Harry groaned but got up and headed to the shower. The sad thing was, he knew he would be getting thousands of pieces of mail, probably not all today, but still…
Thankfully, the shower renewed his courage. He was ready for this. He had a plan. A well-thought out plan that would get him through all the suitors in record time. Hopefully.
He got dressed and walked to breakfast with Neville, making more and more outlandish bets with the other boy about how many letters he would receive today. Harry finally conceded defeat when Neville bet Malfoy's blonde hair that five hundred letters would come from the deserts of Africa carried on the back of a wild purple hippogriff. Although, it wasn't so much that he conceded defeat as that he was laughing too hard to think of a comeback. It wasn't that funny, it wasn't really funny at all, but you find the oddest things hysterical when you're stressed. Their verbal play had the effect of distracting him and reducing his nervousness, which, he was certain, had been Neville's plan all along. Harry was thankful once again for the quiet boy's friendship.
Breakfast was a tense affair with the entire school waiting to see just how much mail Harry Potter would receive today because of yesterday's article. Finally the mail did come and, while it wasn't five hundred pieces from the deserts of Africa, it was probably close to four hundred pieces from all over Europe. A dozen or so Gryffindors pitched in to release the owls from the letters and packages they carried and managed to gather the mail within about ten minutes, although it took another few minutes for Harry to get it all into his bag.
The remainder of breakfast was even more tense, at least for Harry. The comments he overheard were not, for the most part, deliberately nasty, but he had found them all offensive anyway. His courtships were not their business. Ron's comments were deliberately nasty, though, and Harry had been very hard-pressed to keep his mouth shut. A completely unexpected source had come to his defense against Ron, however. Lavender, to the jaw-dropping shock of everyone within hearing distance, had raked Ron over the proverbial coals. When Harry had grinned at her in thanks, causing the girl to blush, Hermione had scolded him about flirting with someone and leading them on. His newly acquired good mood had vanished instantaneously and he had scathingly replied that a grateful grin was hardly flirting and it wasn't any of her business anyway. From that point on Harry had only issued biting retorts to any teasing or comments about the number of letters he had received. Everyone had quickly learned to leave him alone.
Eventually the students left and Harry did the same thing as the prior days, taking out stacks of folders and postcards and arranging them around him on the table. Once again he was aware of, but ignored, the headmaster's scrutiny from the head table. Harry figured that all the time he spent at the Gryffindor table answering mail would be supervised by one teacher or another. He wondered if they were hoping to catch him actually skipping class instead of dealing with his courting tasks. If so, they were going to be wasting their time.
Harry pulled out a bundle of letters and grimaced at the knowledge that he was going to be here all day. And, indeed, by lunchtime he had dealt with not even a quarter of the day's letters.
"How far did you get, Harry?" asked Neville as he sat down and helped Harry re-bundle the separate stacks that were still sitting on the table.
Harry snorted and said, "Eighty-something, I think."
"Ouch," Neville said with a wince. "This is going to take you forever."
"Yeah," Harry agreed tiredly. "Most of them had gifts, so I had to actually write out the notes. It takes me ten times as long as simply addressing a postcard."
Neville sent a questioning look as he placed the last bundled stack in front of Harry. "Postcard?"
"Yeah," Harry said and pulled the top card out of the two postcard bundles. "Here," he said and passed them over to Neville before putting the now-bundled piles back into his bag to get them out of the way of his year-mates who were quickly filing in for lunch.
"Read it out loud, Neville," Hermione said as she took a seat opposite them.
Neville looked at Harry, who shrugged his indifference, then turned his eyes back to the postcard and began reading. "Thank you for contacting me in regards to the possibility of beginning a courtship between us. I am flattered by your interest. I am looking for a male mate, however, and must respectfully decline your proposal. Sincerely, Harry James Potter."
"Nice and to the point," Hermione said approvingly.
Harry shrugged. "That was the idea."
"You want to know what the second one says?" Neville asked, moving the first postcard to the back.
"Second? Oh, of course, for the males. Yes, what does it say?" Hermione said while arranging her school bag comfortably at her feet.
Neville cleared his throat and read, "Thank you for contacting me in regards to the possibility of beginning a courtship between us. I am flattered by your interest. Please come to a meeting in the Cecil Bruner room at The Rose Inn at 23 Vertic Alley in London beginning precisely at 10:00 in the morning on Saturday, October 19. At this time you will have the opportunity to feel my magic for compatibility with your own and be given my first tests of worthiness. Attendance is mandatory for all potential suitors. Sincerely, Harry James Potter."
"Well, I guess that's also to the point," Hermione said blandly. "What does it mean, though?"
Harry looked at her in puzzlement and said, "What do you mean what does it mean? It means what it means. It's pretty straightforward."
"Well," Hermione said, somewhat flustered, "What tests? And what do you mean by compatibility? And where is Vertic Alley? And why do all the suitors have to come? And why then? That's a Hogsmeade weekend, you know."
Harry held up his hand and waved it to stem the flow of questions. "Whoa. Slow down. Yes, I know it's a Hogsmeade weekend. That's why I chose that date. I am trying to make an effort to keep the disruption of my time at Hogwarts to a minimum, despite what anyone might think. They all have to come because that's when my first tests will be and, no, I'm not going to talk about the tests until afterwards."
Hermione looked a bit put out by his response and was about to ask another question when Parvati spoke up. "The Rose Inn is a nice place. It has a beautiful tea room."
"Yes," Harry nodded and gave the girl a small smile. "It also has large meeting rooms that can automatically expand in size and be set up like an amphitheatre if you ask. That's what I'm going to be using. Plus, it has exceptional security."
"How are you paying for that, Harry?" Hermione asked in surprise.
There was a moment of silence before Neville said softly, "That's a really rude question, Hermione."
Hermione looked taken aback and then a bit uncomfortable at the looks she was receiving and said, "Oh. I'm sorry. I didn't mean anything by it. I was just curious."
Harry gave a half-nod half-shrug, definitely not wanting to answer since he hadn't paid for it, and then promptly ignored everyone as he vied for the foodstuffs that had just appeared on the table. Everyone else did the same and questions were averted for the next few minutes.
"So," Hermione said, "Vertic Alley? Compatibility?"
Harry sighed. "Honestly, Hermione. Let me eat. Please?" Harry pleaded.
"Lunch just started, Harry," Hermione said impatiently. "There's plenty of time to eat. And I know you can hold a conversation and eat at the same time. You've done it before."
Harry sighed again in annoyance and defiantly took a bite of his roast beef sandwich.
"Vertic Alley is the eastern road of The Great Square," Parvati volunteered. "You can apparate straight there, or floo to Russell's Pub, or you can walk all the way down to the opposite end of Diagon Alley from The Leaky Cauldron to get to the crossroads."
"I've never heard of those places," Hermione said stiffly, obviously annoyed that she didn't know something.
Parvati shrugged slightly and said, "I guess you've never explored The Great Square, then, or walked all the way down Diagon Alley."
Before Hermione could jump in with more questions, Neville continued the explanation. "The Great Square is where almost all of the wizarding businesses and industries of Britain are located. It's a great big square with seven roads or Alleys. Vertic Alley runs north-south and forms the eastern part of the square – it has the more upscale businesses. Parall Alley runs north-south and forms the western part – it holds most of the industries. The Honeydukes factory is there, for example. Horizont Alley runs east-west and is the northern part – it has the businesses that need large spaces to show their wares, like furniture places and art galleries. Perpendicular Alley, usually shortened to Perpen Alley, runs east-west and is the southern part – it holds most of the services, like independent healers, travel agencies, realtors, stuff like that."
Neville stopped to take a drink of his pumpkin juice then continued a bit nervously as a lot more people than just Hermione were now listening to him, "Diagon Alley isn't just a funny play on the word diagonally, it actually does run diagonally from the southwest corner to the northeast corner and holds all the mainstream stores, including all the stores a Hogwarts student needs to go to in order to get their school supplies. Tangent Alley runs twisty and turny in the northeast triangle and connects to Diagon, Vertic and Perpen Alleys and holds all the international stores. Knockturn Alley, and nobody remembers why it's named that and not something consistent with the other Alleys, runs all twisty in the southwest triangle – it has entrances to Diagon, Parall, and Horizont Alleys and holds all the fringe stores. Despite its reputation, it's really not full of illegal stores. All the stores are perfectly legal, it's just that most people aren't interested in the more oddball things like, well…"
"There's a tattoo shop down there," Harry supplied helpfully when Neville trailed off. "And a herpetarium."
"A what?" Dean asked, not bothering to hide that he'd been eavesdropping.
"A reptile store. You know. Snakes," Harry said, then added quickly in afterthought, "and lizards."
"Right," Dean said with a grimace.
"Harry!" Hermione exclaimed indignantly. "I can't believe you went exploring Knockturn Alley!"
Harry raised an eyebrow and said, "Why not? It's perfectly safe to walk down there. At least, during the day it is. At night it gets a bit more raunchy with all the nightlife. There's nothing more illegal going on down there than there is in Diagon Alley."
Hermione didn't look as if she believed him but did let the subject drop in favor of another question. "So why haven't I ever seen the two Alleys that intersect at the southwest corner or even Tangent Alley?"
"Well," Harry said, "you probably haven't walked far enough down to see the entrance to Tangent Alley. It's a little beyond Ollivander's and most students don't go past his shop. As for Parall and Perpen Alleys, you have to tap a different sequence of bricks at the archway."
"How come I've never heard of this?" Hermione asked peevishly. "Is this just another attempt to keep out muggle-borns?"
Harry smirked and asked, "Did you ever ask for a map at The Leaky Cauldron?"
Hermione stared at Harry silently, stunned.
"Well, there you go, then," Harry said and took another bite of his sandwich to the snickers of some of the students around him.
Hermione was quiet for some time and Harry managed to eat one whole sandwich and get through half of another one before she had gathered herself together for more questions.
"Harry?"
"Yes?" Harry replied, wondering just how he was going to answer the question about magic compatibility without pissing off the young witch.
"How come you're not like Fleur Delacour? Your, um," Hermione said, blushing and waving her fork vaguely.
"My allure?" Harry asked in amusement and relief.
Hermione nodded, still blushing.
Harry shrugged. "I can control it. When Fleur was here, she hadn't yet learned how to control her allure. She may have by now, I suppose. I don't know." He hadn't kept in contact with Fleur, despite her being a co-champion and a half-Veela. In fact, he'd rather avoided her during fourth year given what he had recently learned about his heritage from his mother's journals.
"It can be controlled?" Hermione asked in disbelief.
"Of course. It takes a lot of practice, though," Harry said.
"You mean she didn't bother to practice before coming here?" Hermione asked angrily.
"She might have had some practice," Harry said in defense of his fellow champion. "She didn't have any need to practice while at Beauxbaton because that school gets so many half-Veela that they've peppered the school with allure-countering wards and the same is true for most of the businesses on Rue de Magique."
"She should have practiced once she knew she was coming here," Hermione declared stubbornly.
Harry rubbed his forehead in aggravation. "She might have, Hermione. Or she might not have. In order to get control, you need test subjects – willing and unwilling – and a competent tutor. Fleur probably didn't have those things the year she was here at Hogwarts."
"Well, it couldn't have been that hard," Hermione argued testily. "You managed to do it in a month. Why couldn't she?"
Harry stilled and took a deep breath. "It was very hard, Hermione," Harry said with tightly leashed anger. "I practiced my Veela skills…every…waking…moment…of August. I slept, ate, went to the bathroom, showered, and practiced, all month. That was it. I squeezed nearly four hundred hours of training into August. I needed control so I didn't have even more people after me than I already will. Fleur didn't need to do what I did, so she didn't. She also had a lot going on while she was here and probably didn't have much time to spare to practice her Veela skills. It's hardly her fault that stupid tournament was held here instead of in France."
"How did you manage that?" Hermione asked after a moment. "The Dursleys…"
"None of your business," Harry said sharply, angry that the girl hadn't even apologized for insulting him before asking another personal question.
"You said you had to have a tutor…" Hermione started determinedly, ignoring the warning in Harry's tone.
"It's none of your business, Hermione," Harry repeated angrily.
"Harry…"
"Shut up, Hermione," Neville said loudly.
Shocked at Neville's command, Hermione did just that. The rest of the nearby students had picked up on Harry's quickly worsening temper and left him alone. The remainder of lunch passed just as tensely as breakfast.
--HPDM--
Draco stared at the ceiling and considered the newest information from Pansy. His friend estimated that Potter had received between five and six hundred letters already. While that tidbit was interesting, Draco wasn't concerned with it. Quality, he knew, not speed, would be more impressive in regards to a courtship offer.
Pansy had also found out – from Padma who had found out from Parvati – several much more interesting things. Such as…Harry's temper. As in, Harry hadn't yet lost it. Not even once. That actually scared him a bit because it meant that when Harry finally did lose it, it was going to be big and he had no interest in being anywhere near a pissed off, mate-seeking, submissive's fireballs. Which led him to the second point of interest.
Harry's training.
Apparently, Harry had had nearly four hundred hours of training in August and wasn't that a feat in and of itself? It easily explained why Harry could both shift at will and control his allure. Draco wondered if part of that training included learning control of the Veela signature fireballs. If so, well, Draco really didn't want to be around when Harry let loose.
Next, Granger and Weasley were well on their way to permanently alienating Harry. Given Weasley's attitude of the past three days, Draco thought it likely that Harry had already written off the redhead's friendship. The reconciliation in fourth year had been somewhat reluctant on Harry's part and Draco didn't think Harry was going to be in a forgiving mood for a second time. Granger was simply too nosy and didn't know when to quit. Eventually she was going to push too far and Harry was going to snap back. As long as it didn't include fireballs, Draco would really love to watch it when it happened.
Unsurprisingly, the teachers, too, were being a bit idiotic. They had set a watch on Harry while he was in the Great Hall – an effort that Draco felt was a complete waste of time – and most were being standoffish and disapproving in their general interactions with him. While the watch was surely Dumbledore's idea, the attitude was likely solely their own. If they weren't careful, Harry wouldn't respect a single one of them by the end of the school year.
Also unsurprisingly, at least to Draco, Longbottom seemed to be stepping up to the plate to support Harry, quietly sliding into the position previously held by Granger and Weasley. Longbottom was an even-tempered wizard, undemanding, and had stood beside Harry quietly but staunchly for years and it wasn't all that unexpected that his presence seemed to be having a calming effect on Harry. If only for that reason alone Draco would cheer on the shy boy. Anything that kept a submissive from frying the Great Hall in a fit of frustration was a good thing in Draco's books.
However, there was a surprise in the social shifting of the Gryffindors. It seemed that Lavender Brown, air-headed and simple-minded gossip that she was, was also having a calming effect on Harry. He wondered if Harry knew that the girl had been married this past summer and was therefore "safe." It was well-known in the pureblood circles, but it hadn't been announced in the papers and both families had requested that the union be kept quiet until Brown, now Cadbury, had finished her schooling. And if Harry did know, it once again raised the question of where the boy was getting his information.
Another somewhat surprising development was that Harry was being very diligent and meticulous about his mail, in direct contrast to how he had previously approached his schoolwork. He worked continuously on responding to the courtship offers from breakfast to lunch, without break, and today had worked again from lunch to dinner. Evidently Blaise was taking bets as to how long that would actually last and so far only Pansy had bet that it would last indefinitely. Draco agreed and had Pansy place a bet for him as well. No sense in her getting all the gold.
Harry was also knowledgeable about halfling genetics. Draco had been surprised at first and then realized he really shouldn't have been. After all, if Harry knew enough about what he was to challenge the headmaster at the welcoming feast, then it stood to reason that he would know how it had happened. Still, the idea of lemon-lime visual aids was pretty amusing and Draco wondered just how knowledgeable about magical genetics Harry actually was and again where he had learned such information; the muggle-raised were almost universally clueless about the topic.
Draco levered himself up, wincing at the pull on his partially healed belly, and grabbed a quill and parchment from the top of a stack of textbooks for "entertainment" that Pansy had left for him. Once again getting comfortable, he started writing a very long letter to his great-grandmother. He needed some help with his plans and this was just the kind of thing she would love to get involved in.