On the Wings of Dragons

by Bobmin356

The Weyr prepares for the step of going public against the backdrop of heightening international tensions and increasingly complex personal issues. And is Britain really secure now that the Ministry has been conquered? Sequel to The Queen Who Fell to Earth. Harry/Hr/OCF

10. Chapter 10

Standard disclaimer:

Harry walked out onto the stage followed by Chekiath. He bowed to the audience. "Good evening," he said after a moment. "I know you were expecting Bob and Alyx, but unfortunately Alyx is currently running from an eight state wide manhunt for substituting her Who Who story for prayer books in 1200 churches."

"Bob on the other is running down the road trying to escape the six overly amorous naked donut delivery girls he was locked up with," Chekiath added.

Harry glanced up at his dragon and nodded. "In case you're interested, in this weeks episode of the great Who Who epic, the Evil Darth Dumbledore and the deathstar are closing in on slobnovia. Princess Hermione is about to save the day with the Millennium Pigeon."

He paused and looked at Cheki meaningfully. "Awww do I have to say this part?" whined the dragon.

"Yes Chekiath," Harry said firmly.

"Fine," grumbled Chekiath. "Draco and Snape have had their Who Who hunt sidetracked by a male hooker that rolled Snape leaving them penniless in Monaco. Snape is scrambling to earn money dancing for dollars while Draco is experimenting with plaster sculpting of Who whos."

The huge dragon turned and glared at Harry who looked away shamefaced. "Don't blame me, Bob and Alyx wrote this crap!" he muttered.

Chekiath turned back to the audience. "Well then we'll put an end to that. The authors don't own Harry Potter or the Dragon riders of Pern!"

Harry looked up at Chekiath, appalled. "But but what about the rest of this script?"

Chekiath flashed the script with a gout of flame and looked at Harry innocently. "What script?"

Alyx glared at the pair from her super secret hideout in a VERY FAMOUS Washington DC capital building closet. "Drat I hate when the guests ad lib the disclaimer!" she muttered.

---

We're all a little weird and life's a little weird, and when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall into mutual weirdness and call it love.

- Dr. Seuss.

Harry's office, Campbeltown Weyr, March 1st...

The door opened and James stuck his head in. "Harry, Franklin Lewis is here."

Harry looked up from inspecting his flight harness. Even with its modern nylon construction, it still needed to be carefully inspected to make sure it wasn't developing cracks.

"Come on in, both of you," he said, waving him in.

The door opened wider and James led Franklin Lewis into the room. Harry hoped fervently the man would have a solution for him.

Harry waited until both men were seated, then he waved towards his large wall map noting every country that contained a Weyr. "There are thirty six Weyrs in the world, and to be frank, the idea now terrifies me."

The two men exchanged an alarmed look, then James leaned forward on his chair. "What idea, Harry?" he asked worriedly.

"Thirty six Weyrs in twenty six unique countries. I've personally dealt with several of those countries. The United States was easy. They wanted a Weyr badly and would have agreed to nearly anything I asked for. The Dutch, on the other hand, were handled mostly by the British. The Chinese had me within inches of ordering Maziang and its village evacuated to Campbeltown or Condron."

Harry took an explosive breath. "It took nearly six hours to come to an agreement that was little more than a restatement of my original conditions and I know I got off lucky. Those talks could have taken weeks of time that I don't have to spare. I spent days preparing for those talks and little of what I read was any help to me."

James leaned back and smiled slightly. "I wondered when you would come to that conclusion," he said softly.

"What? I thought you wanted me to handle this stuff, otherwise why bring Franklin here?" Harry said angrily.

James held up a hand. "We didn't bring him here to turn you into a diplomatic negotiator. We brought him here to teach you a basic understanding of diplomacy and politics. First off, your talks with the Chinese Ambassador went off a lot better than you thought. You might have been sorely frustrated, but you didn't break off the talks. You handled yourself far better than anyone could have possibly expected. The PM and the Chinese Ambassador were very impressed with your performance.

"The Prime Minister told me that Ambassador Enzhu is planning on personally presenting your case to his Premier. In fact, he left this morning for Beijing," James said.

Harry leaned back in his chair and relaxed a little. "That's one small relief, but it doesn't solve the basic problem."

He turned to Lewis and bluntly said, "Would you like a job? I know you're in retirement now and doing odd jobs. The job I have for you doesn't get any odder."

Lewis' eyebrows raised until they nearly touched his hairline. "You're offering me a job?"

"I need someone who can talk to these other countries and knows what they're doing. I spent two days before that meeting reading everything I could find on China, it's people and it's government, and obviously I missed the important stuff because little of what I read actually helped in the talks. With twenty three more nations to go, plus all of the other nations out there that will want our hot rocks, I need someone who can negotiate for us. I need someone that can represent our interests when dealing with countries," Harry explained.

"I told you it would come to this, Lord Mills," Lewis said with a slight smile, then he turned back to Harry. "As it was described to me, your role was effectively the same as a Head of State. While you do need to have instruction in politics and diplomacy, very few Heads of State routinely engage directly in diplomacy. The American President, Jimmy Carter, for example, was a unique man who brokered the first Israeli/Egyptian peace treaty, but that's not the norm."

He paused for a moment to let Harry think about what he was saying. "As much as I would like to help you, I'm an old man and my days of spending hours on end flying from one city to another are at an end. If you'd like, I can recommend someone, a former student of mine who I think could be even better than I was. He's a bit of a maverick who's opinions have gotten him in trouble from time to time, but he's also one of the best negotiators I know. I think he'll be agreeable considering I know he's between jobs at the moment. Once he understands your position and his limitations, he'll be a real asset to the Weyr. Even if you do hire Al, I believe we should still continue with your lessons."

Harry nodded, he wasn't against the lessons, especially now that he understood the deeper meaning behind them.

Lewis wrote down a name and address, then gave it to Harry. Reading it, the Weyrleader's eyebrows rose and he looked at the older man for an explanation.

Lewis grinned. "As I said, he got himself in a bit of a bother with his last employer and ended up unemployed. He decided to try his hand at writing and wanted someplace peaceful to do it."

Harry passed the paper to James, who noted the address and frowned. The man had chosen a really remote location.

"James, could you contact this Mr. Ford and arrange for us to meet?"

"You're going to invite him to the Weyr?" asked James.

Harry nodded. "Yes, but first we'll probably visit him."

The two men nodded, having forgotten for a moment about the dragons ability to travel around the world in seconds. "I just asked the dragons from Weyr thirty to help me locate the area, especially since we now know the dragons can read," Harry announced after a moment of silence.

"Wait, I knew about all the rider's dragons being able to read. Are you saying all dragons can do so? World wide?" James asked.

Harry shrugged and smiled regretfully. "It would be really nice if we humans were truly telepathic like the dragons. What one person learned could be passed to another without much effort. The non bonded dragons here passed the information to the others. Every book, every story, every textbook that a rider reads is spreading around the world to the other dragons. I don't see why they wouldn't be able to find an address for us."

Harry held up a hand to stem the protest. "I'm not going to jump there today, James. It'll take a few days even for dragons to find the area. In the meantime, we need to talk to him first. That can be done with a phone call or two. He might not even be interested."

James nodded in relief and leaned back in his chair.

Harry turned back to Lewis, "So, we'll continue our lessons, but would it be possible to ask for your help and advice from time to time? I don't want you risking your health for our benefit, but sometimes we could use another opinion."

When Lewis agreed, Harry sighed in relief and for the first time in twenty four hours he felt like things were coming under control again. "Excellent. If you have the time, I'd like to go over what happened between the Chinese and myself."

James stood. "I better try and contact Mr. Ford. I'll see you both at lunch."

"James, thank you for your help," Harry called as he walked from the room.

Harry was just turning back to Lewis when another knock interrupted them.

"Harry have you got a minute?" asked Lee Jordan.

He shot a glance to Lewis and the man shrugged. He was starting to see the point Harry had been trying to make.

"What is the problem, Lee?"

"I just wanted to let you know that we've finished arrangements with Ollivander concerning the wood-less wands. The buyer will either have to be an auror, hit wizard or have a special permit from the ministry. Our cut will work out to twenty three galleons per wand, after Ollivander's mark up," Lee said excitedly. "Ollivander will be selling them at fifty galleons each."

"Will we be making them or will Ollivander?" Harry asked, leaning forward in his chair.

"He'll make them for the most part, but we'll make our own for those bound to the Weyr," Lee explained. "He also asked if we could assist in making them in case he got swamped with orders. I didn't see any reason to deny that. If we make the wands for him we'll get thirty galleons per wand instead of twenty three."

Harry thought about it. It wasn't a great deal of money and would never come close to what the hot rocks would make, but it was an added revenue stream that they could expand world wide, along with the basic wand cores they were selling now. "Well done, Lee. Thank you."

Lee grinned and left the room and Harry looked back at Lewis Franklin with an apologetic shrug.

"It's like that all day, isn't it?" Lewis asked.

"Pretty much. Between classes and Weyr duties I really don't have a lot of free time," Harry said with a sigh.

Lewis sat up straighter and looked at Harry appraisingly. "I've heard from several sources about your talks with the Chinese and I do think you are being too hard on yourself. You are absolutely right. There is no way you can be expected to handle every country. But you must be prepared to meet with ambassadors and Heads of State. Sometime, not too far in the future, you will find yourself thrust onto the world stage and people will be flocking to meet you and your dragons. You will be invited to high profile events and interviewed on television."

As he spoke, Harry hunched lower in his chair and really wished he knew how to apparate. When Lewis finally stopped speaking, he opened his mouth to retort, but was interrupted by another knock at his door.

Lewis started laughing and Harry gave him a weak glare, then yelled, "Come in!"

Sir Robert bustled into the room with Narcissa close behind. The little gnome-like scientist was waving a print out at Harry. "By George, they've done it! We should have the prototype at the end of the month!"

Harry held up a hand. "Wait, Sir Robert. Who's done what?"

Sir Robert blinked and then he grinned as if he just realized he was in Harry's office. "Oh, the company we contracted for the dragon message system expects to ship a prototype keyboard and display in two weeks. They're also well along in creating a book reader for the dragons. It's amazing what advances technology is making, my boy! Simply amazing."

Sir Robert spotted Lewis and he looked at Harry questioningly.

"Erm, Lewis Franklin, allow me to introduce you to Sir Robert March, chief scientific adviser to Her Majesty, and I suppose to the Weyr, as well. Lewis has been tutoring me in politics and diplomacy, Sir Robert."

Sir Robert and Lewis shook hands.

"Diplomacy and politics, eh? Well, I don't envy you, Harry. Until your dragons came along, that was ninety percent of my job. I'll leave you to your discussion. Come along, Narcissa. We still have those pesky x-ray problems to worry over."

Narcissa smiled at Harry and handed him a sheet, detailing the information he needed to know about the machine that would be delivered. "Thank you Mrs. Malfoy," he said softly.

"Figure the end the month, Harry," she said softly. "I swear these muggles have no concept about time."

She turned and quickly left the room, following after her boss.

Lewis stood and chuckled lightly. "Harry, I should have known better to come here unexpectedly. I'll come back at our regular time. In the meantime, if you can find the time, write up your thoughts on how things went with your talk. Remember, look at things objectively. I want to know what you thought went right, and what you thought went wrong."

Harry nodded and tried to stammer an apology, but Lewis waved it away with a laugh and let himself out, leaving Harry to stare at the door.

"Harry?"

"Yes, Cheki?"

"What are you doing?"

"I'm waiting for the next interruption," he replied.

"So you're just going to sit and stare at the door?" Chekiath asked incredulously.

Harry grinned sheepishly. "Well, why not? Plenty of people seem to think they need to talk to me today."

"Harry?"

"Yes?"

"I know I've said this before, but sometimes you people are very strange."

Harry turned to glare at his dragon, who was now rumbling with laughter.

May's Quarters, Campbeltown Weyr, March 5th...

Harry trudged slowly from building fifteen towards his quarters. He had visited with Sir Robert, who wanted to show him the plans for installing the dragon speller machine in hangar two. It was cumbersome and slow compared to a typewriter. The dragons would never be able to handle a human sized keyboard, however, so it would have to do for now.

The first of the female dragons had risen yesterday, signaling that all of the first riders had mature dragons. He hadn't wanted to press for details, but he felt it necessary to ask Karen and Ronan if the calming drought had helped.

To his surprise, both admitted to getting so caught up in the moment that they'd forgotten to take it. They were an established couple and had already been intimate so there was no expected fall out from their coupling, other than the pair now appeared to be closer than before.

Despite his mad blush, he congratulated the couple and made a hasty retreat. He was very concerned for his riders, but he didn't want to appear as if he wanted intimate details.

Just after breakfast, he had sent Wing two off to Disko with no small amount of reluctance. The dragons coloring was very intense, but he didn't know what else to do. All of the first riders were in the same boat. Wing two would be at Disko for the next week, helping Hagrid train the new riders. The riders from the third hatching were too inexperienced to be of much help to the half-giant.

He reminded the first riders to carry their calming drought. Beyond that, he didn't know what else he could do. He was coming to believe that he was the only one that had any faith in the calming drought.

"You are unsettled tonight, Weyrleader," Spath said. He had just exited his Weyr in hanger six and Harry could see his eyes shining in the gathering darkness.

"I suppose I am. The dragons are maturing quickly and rising for their first mating flights. The riders are anxious and tense. It's a difficult time for everyone," he replied.

"The dragons know your worries and they are trying to not affect their riders too badly."

He smiled at the ancient dragon. "I know, my friend, and we all appreciate the effort. I suppose this is a bit like trying to worry about the dawn. No matter what you try, the dawn will come all by itself."

"Mating is a fact of life, Weyrleader. A well mated dragon is content. I've noted that Smelly Dog and Wolf are content after mating. Don't you wish your riders to be content?"

Harry grimaced. "I do, but some of our riders are younger than usual for mating. I want my riders to be more than content, but I also know that a mating is a powerful feeling from a dragon and it may influence a rider to do something they may end up regretting."

Spath turned to look towards the administration building for a moment. "It is a difficult thing, this delayed mating of you humans. We should speak more of this, but later. You are needed at the Weyrhealer's Weyr. Trath is rising and Chekiath will undoubtedly cover her."

Harry blinked in shock and noted the sound of a female dragon bellowing her challenge. "I'll talk to you later, Spath," he said, then he spun on one heel and ran in the direction of May's cottage. He was still more than a block away when he spotted Trath leap skyward with Chekiath right on her tail. There were some other males vying for her attention but it seemed unlikely that any could keep up with the two large Horntails.

Harry reached her front door and pushed his way in, thankful it wasn't locked, since the building pass keys were kept two blocks away in the administration building. He stepped into the cottage just as May stepped from her bedroom, looking flushed and disheveled. He could see she was panting and staring at him as if he were a meal and she hadn't eaten in a week.

"Did you take your potion?" he asked, but she only looked at him blankly, then she slowly licked her lips. She moved closer to him in a manner he could only call a swish.

"Harry," she said in a breathy moan.

"Bugger," he swore, then he stepped up to her. In an instant her hands were tugging at his clothing.

"Harry, I need you," she said huskily.

He grabbed her face and pulled her too close for her to continue pulling at this clothing. "May," he said. "Come on, come back to me. I'm not going anywhere and I'll help you the way you want, but you need to come back to me. I need you to be in control."

She looked at him blankly for a second, then she mashed her lips against his and kissed him deeply. "May," he gasped after pulling away. "Think, dammit! Don't let Trath control your actions."

This was one of the hardest things he had ever done. He had learned to control himself when Chekiath had a shagging flight, but the emotional connection he had with May was making his own feelings ten times worse. He wanted her very much, but not like this, not when she wasn't in control of herself.

"May, come on, you're too strong for this," he urged again.

She blinked several times, then fear replaced the glazed look in her eyes. "Oh. god, Harry. I would have taken any guy who walked through the door," she said, ashamed.

He leaned forward and kissed her forehead softly. "Yeah, but I walked through your door. When Spath said Trath was rising, I ran here."

She let him pull her into a tight embrace and shivered slightly.

"It'll be all right, May," he said softly. "It's only this bad the first time your dragon rises."

She shivered again and he tightened his grip.

"You sure? You promise?" she asked, looking up at him. She moaned slightly and a delicious shiver ran up her back.

He nodded. "You've seen me when Cheki joined a shagging flight. Did I ever force myself on you? We've even made love when he's flying."

She shook her head. They had made love when Chekiath covered another female, and while it did affect him, making him more passionate, he'd never lost control or pressured her. "No," she answered slowly, "but I still want you so bad, Harry. It's under control now, but I want you."

He leaned down and kissed her. "Good, because I want you, as well," he replied, then he led her back to the bedroom.

When they stepped into the room, her grip on his hand tightened and she pulled him to the bed. It wouldn't be their first intimate encounter, but tonight would be different - special.

Harry awoke the next morning with May draped over him like a blanket. He smiled and ran a hand through her hair.

She lifted her head and looked at him with a wide smile. "Good morning," she said, then she blushed slightly. "I want to thank you. If you hadn't come around I really think I would have left the cottage looking for someone to shag. When you walked in, I was ready to tear your clothes off."

She shuddered and realized that what once almost happened to her, she nearly inflicted on someone else. It was a very sobering thought.

He sighed and brushed the hair from her face. "You weren't in control last night until after I started talking to you. I know you weren't there, but when Chekiath rose for the first time, I thought I'd die if I couldn't orgasm; the urge was that strong. And no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't. Susan... she had to heal me first, then she talked enough for me to get myself under control."

He looked over at the clock. "We better get up. I don't think yours was the only dragon to rise last night."

She chuckled against him and he realized she wasn't wearing anything. "We'll get up in a little while. I want to show you how much I appreciate what you did for me last night."

She traced a trail of kisses from his shoulder down and he sucked in a breath. Short of someone declaring war on the Weyr, I think it's going to be a great day, Harry mused as he realized that May had other plans. Breakfast was going to be late.

Walking into the kitchen hall at lunch time, May and Harry noted Mariah sitting next to Lee, who had a bit of a shocked expression on his face. And it was impossible to miss Luna, who sat with a Mona Lisa-like smile on her face.

He also noted Millicent sitting between two boys who looked a little surprised. The smile on her face, however, said it all. Harry was very pleased for her. She was a sweet girl who'd gotten a hard reputation at school because of her parents and her house. In the Weyr, however, she was quickly shedding the armor she wore to protect herself.

"I wonder who Luna managed to catch?" he whispered to May.

May glanced over at the whimsical blonde and shrugged. "It's hard to say with Luna, but I don't think she really cared one way or the other. I know she was among the girls interested in you, but other than that, she didn't show any particular interest."

He frowned slightly and May picked up on it.

"What's the matter?"

"I guess I just don't want anyone hurting her. Or any of the girls. for that matter. It's clear to me that the first time the dragon rises there's a lot of room for someone to be taken advantage of," he said softly.

She reached up and caressed his cheek. "And that's another reason why you're the Weyrleader. You care so much for all of us."

"Trandieth was covered by Pandorth, Harry. Luna was in complete control of herself. She went to Pandorth's Weyr to help Jack," Chekiath said privately.

He leaned closer to May. "Cheki says Luna went to Jack's cottage last night," he repeated softly.

Luna turned in her seat and glanced over at Harry, then she very deliberately winked at him.

May picked up her sandwich and paused. Jack Bruno was one of the normal students who had a fondness for taking care of the food herd animals and he was one of the few who seemed truly interested in helping Luna find her strange animals. He was from a broken family and had been very wary when he first came to the Weyr. "Good. Jack's a good guy. She could have done far worse."

Harry nodded and picked up his own sandwich.

"May? Do me a favor?"

She arched an eyebrow. "This morning wasn't enough?" she replied playfully. This was something she never thought she'd be able to do, but Harry made her comfortable enough to flirt. His blush was enough of an incentive that she promised to do so more often.

He smiled. "This morning was wonderful, but I wasn't talking about that. Just circulate among the girls and make sure they aren't feeling pressured."

"Harry, we've all felt pressured since we learned what the dragons could do to us," she countered.

He sighed and looked down. "I just don't want anyone feeling like they were forced to do something with someone they didn't want," he said quietly.

She reached over and gripped his hand. "I know, but I'm not sure there's anything you can do about it. Most of us girls expected this and you confirmed it when Chekiath flew. We're all smart, Harry. We saw the writing on the wall and knew what was coming. In the past three months, we've all been pairing off."

Harry nodded, still unhappy with the situation.

May looked at him closely, then grimaced. She knew who he was thinking about. All of the girls had been pairing off, except Hermione, who was still thought that she could meditate through the experience.

He loves me, May pondered, but he also loves her.

Knob's Flat, New Zealand, March 8th...

Albert Ford walked out of his house and down to the chicken coop. It wasn't much of a farm – twenty chickens and a few hay fields – but it was his.

To some it was an idyllic existence. To Albert, it was an unmitigated disaster. He'd been employed as a high ranking negotiator for the British foreign office until he differed with his boss over a human rights issue that his boss wanted to ignore. As a result, he had been fired and blacklisted.

Leaving England where he still had friends and contacts was his first mistake. Sinking most of his available cash into this run down farm was his second. And all because he thought the peace and quiet would allow him to write the next great work of literature was his final mistake.

With most of his money sunk into the farm, he found himself forced to work the farm in order to pay basic bills. He sold the hay and sometimes eggs to the locals and managed to squeeze a few hours a day into writing.

Possible relief came just a few days ago when he heard from his old mentor, Lewis Franklin, who told him he had recommended him for very unique position. Franklin told him that he'd be dealing with Lord James Mills and someone named Harry Potter and that it was a classified position for at least another year.

He had already heard from Lord Mills by the time Franklin had called him and he was extremely relieved to know the man wasn't just some crackpot.

Mills had told him that someone would probably fly out to see him in a few days. He again reminded the man that his security clearance obligations were still in effect and Ford replied that he understood perfectly. He did try to wheedle some additional information from Lord Mills, but the man was unsurprisingly reluctant to discuss details over the telephone. The only thing he would say was that he would try to accompany Mr. Potter on his trip out to meet with him.

That was three days ago and since then he had heard nothing from either Franklin or Mills. He still had bills to pay and food to put on the table.

He'd just stepped from the chicken coop with a large selection of eggs when he felt a blast of bone chilling air and heard what sounds like huge wings flapping. He shivered and looked around. Not seeing anything, he rushed to the farmhouse and slammed the door closed behind him, relieved that he was now protected.

He placed the basket of eggs on the counter and quickly lit his stove, planning on cooking some of the eggs for his dinner. When a knock came from his front door, he nearly jumped out of his skin and shut off the stove before going to the door.

"Who is it?" he called. While he thought himself a thoroughly rational man, he was rather spooked by this point.

"Mr. Ford? It's Lord Mills. I'm here with Harry Potter," said a voice.

He blinked in surprise and opened the door.

James and Harry stood on the front porch looking at him. He had expected Lord Mills to be what he sounded like - a middle aged man with slight graying around his temples. Potter, on the other hand, was clearly a surprise.

He looked around and didn't see any car which caused him to frown. "I thought you'd call," he said uncertainly.

"That would be my fault. I was in such a rush to talk to you and see if we could convince you to join us that we rushed things," Harry said.

Ford eyed Harry, noting his youth and attitude. He glanced at Lord Mills, who grinned back at him.

"He's the one doing the hiring, not I," James offered. He was used to the reactions to Harry's age at this point and learned to see the humor of it.

Ford turned back to Mills. "And this is a government job with an official security clearance?" he exclaimed.

James opened a brief case and handed him a sealed envelope.

Ford stared at the envelope for a moment. It had the seal of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom on it. He grabbed the envelope and motioned the two to enter the house, then he turned and walked into the living room.

James and Harry exchanged a shrug, then they entered the house. They found Ford reading a letter from Prime Minister Major with a trembling hand. Finally, he looked up at the pair. "Who are you that you can pull this kind of clout?" he asked.

"If I may, Mr. Ford, let me tell you a story about something that happened to me a little over a year ago," James offered.

Ford nodded numbly and sat down in an armchair facing a worn down couch. Harry and James moved to the couch and Harry listened while James explained about the dragons.

Outside, perched on the barn, Chekiath raised his head and peered into the distance. Comaloth was rising for her first flight and he wanted badly to be there.

"A Weyrleader's dragon must sometimes make sacrifices," Spath commented from his side. "I know the pull is great, but your rider is involved in important business for the Weyr. It would not do for you to run off for a silly female when he may need your help. Your rider does not need to be distracted right now."

Chekiath turned to look at Spath and gave the dragon version of a sigh. "It is true. Being the Weyrleader's dragon brings a lot of responsibilities. Comaloth will fly again and I will cover her many times in her life."

Spath rumbled with amusement. He was one of the largest of the non-bonded dragons and Chekiath was nearly twenty feet longer than him. "And Trath? Are you planning on only having two consorts? All the Weyr knows the Weyrleader is covering her rider."

Chekiath's eyes twirled anxiously. "Do you think I should add more? I am not sure Harry could handle more. I know he cares deeply for both riders so he could learn to care for more maybe."

"So true. Humans are such frail things at times. As strong as the Weyrleader is, in matters concerning females, he is woefully incapable of dealing with them firmly," Spath agreed. "Comaloth's rider needs to learn this lesson. Stay today, young dragon. Trath will be happy to assist you later. Soon you'll be able to add Comaloth as another consort. Plan on just two for now. You will have an entire Weyr vying for your favors and not even the First Egg can tell what the future might bring."

Chekiath dipped his head in respect. "Thank you, honored elder. I am grateful for your help. I do not think I would have wanted to be the Weyrleader's dragon without your advice."

Spath rumbled again and his lids half closed in the warm sunshine. "You would have done well enough by yourself, Chekiath. Now, let us enjoy the warmth. All too soon we will return to the Weyr and it's gray skies and chilly rains."

Chekiath turned his large head to watch the farmhouse where his rider and Sheep Guy were busy talking to someone that the Weyr needed.

Great Hall, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, March 8th...

Neville sat heavily in the seat next to Hannah and he shook his head. "Now I know what Harry went through. I never understood how bad it could get."

"Bad? What? What do you mean?" asked Hannah.

The two had been dating for a number of months, and despite coming from a mixed blood marriage, Neville's grandmother had made it plain that she approved of the level headed girl. In fact, she had told Neville over the Yule Holiday that she came from a similar mixed background. It was one of the reasons why the Longbottoms never fell for the pure blood bigotry.

"Ever since the attack on the school I've had all sorts of girls following me around and whispering. People stare at me," he complained.

Hannah suppressed a laugh and leaned against him, nudging him with her shoulder. "Well, now that Harry's gone, you're the only real life hero we have at school."

Neville gave her a sour look. This was exactly what Harry hated and now he understood why.

"They only see the top layer of Neville Longbottom," she said smugly. She chuckled, unable to refrain from using a herbology pun.

He turned slightly and eyed her carefully. "And you see more?"

She nodded. "I do see more. I know you had the shakes following that fight. I also know that it still gives you the occasional nightmare," she said softly, then she reached out stroked his hand gently. "I know because I held you afterward. I was never more proud of you than I was then. You showed the world what you're capable of doing and helped protect the school. To those girls, you're a bigger than life hero. To me, you're something much better – you're Neville. My Neville."

He smiled at her. That was something he could live quite happily with.

"Uh oh, here comes your new shadow," Hannah warned.

Neville glanced up and groaned to himself. Since the attack Ron Weasley had attached himself to Neville like a limpet, following him everywhere.

"Nev, mate, come sit at the Gryffindor table," Ron called.

Neville took a heavy breath then he looked up at Ron, sitting a table away and pointing to a spot next to him.

"No, thanks, Ron. I think I'd rather sit with Hannah right now. I have something important I want to ask her," he replied.

When Ron scowled at him, he turned back to Hannah, who arched an elegant eyebrow.

"Something important? This wouldn't happen to have anything to do with your Grandmother sending my father a marriage contract, would it?"

Neville winced. "I had hoped to warn you about that before she did it. I wasn't sure if she was kidding or not."

"I don't like the idea of being forced into doing something, Neville," she said in warning.

"Han, honestly, I meant to warn you about it. Tell your father to turn it down if it'll make you feel better," he stammered.

She leaned closer to him and ran a finger over the buttons of his shirt. "No, I said I don't like being forced. But I'm not being forced in this case. You're mine, this just makes it official," she said fiercely, then she leaned in and kissed him.

His arms slipped around her pulling her tightly against him. I'll never understand girls, he thought to himself before giving in to the kiss.

Disko Island, March 9th...

Luna cast her spell and waited. A moment later her wand indicated there was only one person in the Weyr. She had been sure that was the case, but it didn't hurt to check. Comaloth reported that Marty had left in the middle of the night, very unhappy with himself and more than a bit afraid.

She arrived in Disko after leaving an email to Harry and several others saying she had something important to attend to and not to worry if she were absent today.

Luna shook her head and wished people weren't so stubborn. In the past she would have told them that they were infested with wrackspurts or something. She didn't have to pretend anymore and it was something that greatly relieved her. The riders accepted her as she was and never made fun of her. Even Lisa Turpin, who used to be among those that stole her possessions, had apologized to her.

Luna wasn't looking for people to love her. All she wanted was for people to accept her, and she had found that in the Weyr. She smiled at that thought. She loved her fellow riders and they loved her and if she had the chance she intended to love as many of them as she could. Jack had been a very kind and gentle lover for her first time and she had had a few more encounters with him since then, but both agreed they were too young to be looking for anything permanent.

And therein lay her problem. She wasn't sure she wanted to settle for just one person. The Pern Weyrs were much more open when it came to sexuality and it wasn't uncommon for a woman to have children by several riders. It was something she still needed to think about, but her entire life was still ahead of her and she had time to decide. For now, Jack was fun and sweet to be with.

Opening the door to the Weyr, she heard the sound of soft crying and she shook her head sadly. She knew this would be happening. She knew it last night when Comaloth rose at Disko and Chekiath was off with Harry and Lord Mills in New Zealand.

Luna stepped into the room and nodded to Comaloth, who watched her rider with solid yellow eyes. Her rider was upset and it was upsetting the dragon.

She moved over to the bed where the young woman lay sobbing quietly.

"Hermione," she said firmly, "you need to stop this. You're not only hurting yourself, you're hurting Comaloth."

Hermione lifted her head. She looked about wildly before she locked onto Comaloth, who lay in her sand bed looking back at her with a miserable expression. "Oh, sweetie, I didn't mean for you to hurt," she said.

"It is my fault," Comaloth replied sadly. "If I had controlled myself better, you would not be so unhappy."

"All right, that is enough of that," Luna said firmly, getting a bit annoyed with the pair. "Comaloth, you did nothing wrong and certainly did nothing to be ashamed of."

Luna turned and poked a finger into Hermione's chest. "You, on the other hand, have gone out of your way to make yourself unhappy. In the process, you've managed to damage friendships and hurt people. First, you hurt Harry, and when everyone told you that you were wrong, you refused to believe them. Hermione Granger is never wrong! The first time our dragons mated caught all of us by surprise. Very few of us managed to remember the calming drought, and to be honest, I'm not sure it would have helped."

Luna glanced around at the clothing that lay on the floor, most of it ripped and torn. "Harry is far to much of a gentleman and would never dream of saying it, so I'll say it for him. We told you so. We told you this would happen and you refused to believe it." She took a big breath and shook her head. "I can't believe you've finally managed to get even me angry with you."

Hermione hung her head in shame. Her reaction to her dragon's rising was obvious by the torn clothing strewn about the room. "I'm sorry," she whispered. Last night had been a disaster and it was compounded by the fact that the boy hadn't even wanted to spend the night. He'd obviously slipped out in the middle of the night.

Luna snorted. "I'm not the one you should be apologizing to." She took another deep breath. "It's time to start putting this behind us and start fixing the problem."

Hermione looked up at Luna. "Fix it? How? I've lost him to May and lost his friendship as well!"

"You're forgetting one important factor - Chekiath. Wasn't last night enough of a lesson to show you that what a dragon wants, a dragon invariably gets? Chekiath happens to want Comaloth very much and it's not possible to separate rider from dragon. That means you need to first figure out what you want. Comaloth will allow herself to be swayed by your needs, but not to an extent where you can ask her to swear off sex until you can find some acceptable man and marry him in a couple years time."

Luna's eyes bored into the girl who shrank back under her scrutiny.

"You're talking about sharing him," Hermione replied with a touch of dismay.

"No, I'm talking about having the person you want. He wanted you the night Cheki rose. And your refusal to go to him hurt him even more than pushing him away afterward. Harry is a difficult person to get close to. Right now, he's content with May, but he also still loves you. If either of you insist that he chooses between you and May, you will both lose and Harry will pick neither. If things hadn't played out between you the way they did, and had he not been away on Weyr business, he would have been with you when Comaloth rose. But you've made it abundantly clear to him, as well as others, that you didn't need anyone to help you through it. You could meditate yourself right out of the mating, right?."

She shook her head sadly. "Like it or not, your actions from the tournament back at Hogwarts opened up a place in his heart for May to slip into. But you want to know what kind of guy Harry really is? Think of everything you've said to him since then. Remember all the dirty looks and snide comments that you gave him and only once did you manage to invoke any anger – and he still treated you better than you have treated him. Even with all of that, he still holds you in his heart, just as deeply as he holds May. He loves you just as strongly as he loves May.

"The question you should be asking yourself, Hermione, is whether you can put aside everything you think you know about love, relationships and Harry Potter, and lead with your heart, rather than your head."

Luna stood and looked at her. Sometime during the night she had put on a t-shirt as a nightgown, but other than that she was still naked. "Now, get up and face the day, Hermione. Marty Benson's dragon covered Comaloth and you lost your virginity. Learn to deal with it. He's still your Wing leader and he's probably terrified of what Harry is going to do to him."

"Why would Harry," Hermione began.

"Hermione!" Luna snapped. "I swear you could teach a nargle to grind teeth it doesn't have! Harry loves you still, and he loves May. I can't make that any more plain. You need to talk to Marty about what happened last night so it doesn't cause problems in your wing. You also need to apologize to Harry. You were wrong. Say it a few times for practice until you stop choking on that fact. You need to grow up and deal with this right or it can spiral out of control. This could destroy a lot of things, Hermione - you, your dragon, Harry, Cheki, May and possibly the Weyr itself!

"Get dressed. By the First Egg, you're a Wing second! Act like it!" Luna spat, then turned and strode out of the weyr.

Hermione stared after Luna, astonished by the blonde's anger.

She glanced over at Comaloth, who was still watching her. "I've made a right mess of things, haven't I, love?"

"I don't like it when you're so unhappy, Hermione," replied her dragon, not really understanding why her rider was so distressed. "It feels like a dull ache in the back of my head that won't go away."

"So, was Luna right about Chekiath and Harry?"

"Chekiath told me he wanted me, but then you fought with Harry, which made him and Chekiath very sad. I wanted Chekiath, but Momnarth said he was away on Weyr business and couldn't make it. She also said that Chekiath knew you didn't want Harry anymore.

"Chekiath is the Weyrleader's dragon and the largest dragon in the world. Any female would be honored to be one of his consorts. In his position, he could have a dozen consorts. But he only wants Trath and me. I believe his rider is influencing his choice without knowing it," Comaloth replied.

Hermione finally realized what people had been telling her all along. The dragons had their own sense of morality and sharing a mate wasn't an unusual dragon behavior, especially for a prominent dragon like Chekiath.

She curled up on the bed and bit her lip. She'd made a mess of things and had several orders of crow on her future menu. Last night she had tried to meditate through Comaloth's first mating flight, but within minutes she was tearing at her own clothing and ready to go seek a willing partner. She would have, too, but Marty entered her Weyr in almost as bad a shape as she was and she was on him in a flash, pulling and ripping at his clothing.

She had been so sure that she could meditate through the mating and instead she ended up screwing her Wing Leader like someone who'd taken a lust potion. She shivered and sniffled a little. She had always dreamed her first time would be with someone she wanted and loved. She never imagined it would be with her Wing Leader, a young man that she liked, but not in that way.

The actual act passed in a blur of dragon induced frenzy. Unlike the dragons, where the act itself was very brief, it lasted longer for the riders and most of them enjoyed the experience because they were with a partner they'd chosen. Except Hermione.

She groaned at her own stupidity and climbed out of bed. As she dressed, she resigned herself to several painful conversation before things could return to normal. What bothered her the most, besides the knowledge that she had hurt some of her fellow riders, was that her own emotional storm in the aftermath actually caused her dragon pain.

Once she was dressed, she turned and gave her dragon a weak smile. "It'll get better, sweetheart. You'll see," she promised.

Comaloth eyed her rider. The yellow of her eyes had been slowly fading for the past hour, thanks mostly to Luna's intervention. "I know it will, my heart. You're the best at what you do."

Hermione snorted and gave a rueful laugh. "Yeah, and when I mess things up, I really mess them up. Well, let's see if I'm good at fixing things, too."

She squared her shoulders and walked from the Weyr, looking for her Wing Leader. She found him walking out of the Hatching chamber that Hagrid used as a class room after he had the riders clean up the egg shells from the hatching. It was becoming a tradition. The new riders cleaned up the hatching ground, removing the shells from their dragons so that it would be ready for the next hatching. Most riders would also admit to keeping a piece of the shell that their dragon hatched from as a keepsake.

Marty looked at Hermione warily as he approached. "I'm surprised to see you. Luna told me she traded places with you today so you could deal with some business back at Campbeltown," he said.

Hermione blinked in surprise, then smiled slightly and made a note to include Luna in the people she needed to talk to. "I wanted to talk to you before I left."

He crossed his arms and eyed her. "Oh?"

She took a step closer and took a deep breath. "Marty, about last night. I didn't treat you very well afterward and I'm sorry about that. But the truth is, I'm not looking for anything from you or expecting anything. It just happened."

Marty relaxed a little. "To be honest, I didn't exactly plan last night. If you can tell me you can continue with your Wing second duties without any problems, then we're good. If not, I'll ask Harry to place you in another Wing."

Hermione shook her head. "No," she replied with a weak smile. "You won't have any problems with me. I promise."

He nodded and smiled for the first time since last night. His ego had taken a bit of a bruising, but he hadn't been a virgin when he went to Hermione and knew that he didn't normally cause a girl to break down in tears.

"All right, I'll see you tomorrow then?" he asked.

Probably," she replied. "I'm not sure how much time I'll need. If it goes over, I'll have Coma bespeak to Olaronth."

He nodded and gave her a brief wave and walked off.

Seeing Comaloth standing in front of their weyr, waiting for her, she smiled and summoned her flight jacket.

"Come on, love," she said as she caught her jacket and put it on. "Let's go talk to a few people." She straightened her shoulders and walked to her dragon.

A few moments later, a pair of slate gray eyes watched Comaloth spring into the air and vanish. Satisfied, Luna turned to re-enter the Hatching chamber. Now that she had Hermione on the correct path, she could start teaching the new riders about their real job - finding the elusive Snorkack.

Dragon Infirmary, Hangar Seven, Campbeltown Weyr, March 9th...

"This is our infirmary, where our healers tend to any dragons who are ill or have an injury. In some cases the dragons come from all over the world to be treated here. For those unable to come to us, our primary Weyrhealer goes to them," Harry explained.

Albert Ford stood next to Lord Mills, wide eyed as Harry showed him around the Weyr. His head was spinning with facts and figures, twenty six countries, thirty six Weyrs, thousands of dragons. Dragons! Thinking dragons!

Harry had returned to the Weyr a few hours ago with Lord Mills and Albert Ford to show him around and allow him to understand the magnitude of their need. He planned on spending two days examining the Weyr and their plans, then a dragon would return him to his farm so he could close up there and come back to the United Kingdom via a more conventional international jet.

Harry waved May over and she approached them with a curious look. She didn't recognize the man, but she knew Harry had traveled to New Zealand to talk to him. She had missed being in bed with Harry last night. She'd realized then just how comforting it was to have him nearby.

"May McNulty, this is Albert Ford. James and I are showing him around the Weyr. Albert is going to become our negotiator," Harry said.

Ford said nothing about her youthful look, but so far every rider he had met seemed to be less than twenty. "Call me Al," he said in a friendly manner.

She smiled at him prettily. "Welcome to our Weyr, Al," she replied, then she turned to Harry. "Should I email you the daily report?"

Harry shook his head. "No, I'm here. You might as well tell me now."

She nodded and pulled a small flip notepad from her pocket. "We have six dragons down with scale bulges. No infections have formed as yet, but we're watching them. Later today, Hagrid will be bringing a major infection in from Sakushima Weyr. The dragon has developed an infection on a wing sail. It's a full grown adult, so we've prepared the stall we use for wing problems."

"Excuse me?" asked Ford. "Am I to understand you're bringing an adult dragon here from Japan? The only Sakushima I know of is an island off the coast of Japan."

"Yes, that's right," Harry replied. "As to how, in the case of a dragon being unable to fly, our Weyrhealers have developed a sling we can rig under a dragon so that four dragons can lift the injured dragon. Normally we wouldn't dream of taking any injury or illness Between. Something about Between makes most conditions worse. If they are bringing a sick dragon here, it must be pretty bad."

"Bad enough," May said. "She is going to require around the clock care to fix the problem and I'm not sure we can yet."

"Is that why you wanted me to purchase those microscopes?" asked James.

May nodded. "We need them anyway, but I think we're going to need them for this case. Hagrid doesn't know what's causing the infection, but the standard antibiotic isn't working. Doctor Sheppard promised to show me how to figure out what kind of infection we're dealing with, but he needed a microscope."

Harry nodded. "If you need anything, May, let me know," he said.

She smiled at him. "I will, thank you."

Harry turned back to Ford and May returned to where her help were still raking out the stall. "Now you see the scope of our problem, Al? We have dragons from all over the world. Some of them in places that could be a real Weyr with riders, like Campbeltown. Some will need to be relocated and honestly I don't have enough time in the day to do the research on each country," he said pleadingly.

Albert held up a hand. "You've sold me, Weyrleader. Since you can easily return me to my farm, I'm going to spend today and tomorrow poking around, then I'll go home and talk to a realtor about selling the place. It'll take a week or two, but I'll be back here then and I can start."

He glanced around and shook his head, then he turned back to the pair. "I lost my last job because I refused to ignore a human rights violation that my boss wanted swept under the rug. But what you have here takes my breath away. Dragon rights, a new race of non-human... people. It's incredible."

"Brilliant!" Harry exclaimed, very glad the man was willing to work with them. "Let James take you to the security office to pick up a temporary ID card that the guard force will accept. Then poke around at your leisure."

James nodded and gestured for Albert to follow him. Harry watched the two walk away then he glanced over at one of the stalls where a dragon was watching him closely. "Hello," he said with a smile for the dragon.

"Hello, Weyrleader. I am Garackeath from Weyr thirty four. I am very grateful for your help."

Harry instantly placed the Weyr in his mind. Lake Toba, Indonesia, the Weyr was nestled against one small corner of an enormous caldera. Toba was classed as a super volcano with a caldera that was more than fifty miles long. It had last erupted hundreds of thousands of years ago and then filled in with water to form a huge lake.

Harry smiled and came closer. "We're here to help, Garackeath. How are you injured?"

The dragon held up one large paw that was heavily wrapped in a bandage. Paws, tails and the neck were about the only places that regular bandages could be used for dragons. "I stepped on a sharp metal thing and it hurt. I could not pull it out so I came to the Weyrhealer."

"Garackeath came to us with an old railroad spike in her paw," May said stepping up behind him. "We removed the spike and gave her a large tetanus shot."

Harry winced. The only place where dragons could take a needle was in their gum. They claimed it didn't hurt them, but it still made Harry and the others cringe.

"We'll keep her here for a few more days, but I don't think she'll have any problems," May concluded.

Harry stepped a little closer and scratched along Garackeath's eye ridges. The Swedish short snout whistled with pleasure. "You're in the best hands, Garackeath. Our May is going to be famous some day as one of the first Weyrhealers," Harry said softly, then he glanced up at May, who was blushing furiously.

She made a shooing motion so that she could check the bandaged paw. Harry stepped out of the way and gave a nod to the dragon. "Rest and get better, Garackeath. If you need anything, ask Chekiath and he'll let me know."

"Thank you, Weyrleader."

Harry gave May, who was kneeling on the ground, a jaunty salute and walked away.

The dragon craned her neck so she could watch May. "You are lucky to have the favor of one such as him. He is truly special," the dragon said softly.

May leaned back on her knees and wiped one hand across her brow. "I know he is," she said with a dreamy smile, then she looked up at the dragon and her smile broadened. "I think tomorrow we'll change this for a smaller dressing. With a little luck, you'll be walking about in no time."

"Thank you, Weyrhealer. I think the Weyrleader is right. You are as special as he is."

May's blush deepened and she chuckled to herself. She didn't see herself as special in any way.

Emma Granger's office, Campbeltown Weyr, March 9th...

"Mum?"

Emma looked up from her computer and smiled. "Hermione! I thought you'd be at Disko for another two days."

When Hermione stepped into the room and closed the door behind her, Emma frowned. "Are you all right?"

She sat down in a chair across from her mother and shook her head, then gave her a weak smile. "No, but I think I will be. Comaloth rose last night and Marty Benson ended up coming to my Weyr."

Emma's eyes widened and she leaned forward in her chair. "I take it you now understand what Harry went through?"

She'd been very disappointed with her daughter when she turned on Harry and refused to listen to any reason from anyone. Now the shoe was on the other foot. She didn't wish her daughter the pain she was going through, but some lessons were harder to learn than others.

Hermione nodded. "I do. Although I suspect his first time was far better than mine."

Emma sighed and shook her head. "I'm so sorry for that, love. As much as we'd like that first time to be special, it rarely is. I recall many of my girlfriends at the time reporting it was anything but good," she offered. She'd been fortunate in that regard. Years of riding horses when she was young had taken care of that issue.

She paused. "So are you and Marty..."

"No," Hermione said firmly. "Marty and I spoke this morning. Neither of us were expecting anything. I'm afraid I wasn't very good for his ego because he snuck out of my room without a word in the middle of the night. I daresay any guy would find it a bit ego crushing when the girl breaks down and cries."

"Oh, Hermione," Emma said with a sigh and shake of her head. Then she stood and walked over to where she kept a pot of tea and poured a cup for her daughter. Walking back, she gave the cup to her daughter and caressed her cheek. "You'll find the right guy, Hermione, and when you do, you'll find it's a magical, unlike anything you've ever experienced."

"I had the right guy," Hermione said sadly, then she shook her head. "And Luna says if I want him now, I'll have to share him."

Emma sat slowly and played with a pencil on her desk for a moment before nodding. "Yes, we are starting to see some of that. I wondered if it might happen."

She looked up at her mother in shock. "What? You don't disapprove?"

Emma frowned. "Naturally I don't approve of something like that for myself," she said slowly. "But then I don't have a dragon inside my head altering the moral codes that I was raised with. Millicent has found happiness with two different guys. It's not my place to question it. She seems happy and both boys seem content. Luna is a dear girl who I'm convinced is trying to reinvent the free love days of the sixties.

"Harry has worked very hard to try to keep the boy/girl ratio one to one, but it wasn't one to one for the first hatching. Now my daughter tells me that she may end up in a similar situation. All I can say is if it will make you happy, go for it. I lack a frame of reference to say whether it's wrong or right."

"All of this is so pointless. Before I could even approach Harry I'd have to talk to May and I doubt she'll be in the mood to share when she's won."

Emma nodded. "That's true. What will you do? Will you approach Harry directly?"

Hermione snorted. "About this? Heavens no. His head would explode. No, I'll talk to him because I need to apologize and maybe do some serious groveling. Sharing him with May is not something I intend to bring up with him until I've talked with May."

"How much of this desire for Harry comes from your dragon's desire for Chekiath?" Emma asked.

Hermione shrugged. "Honestly, mum, some days I wonder where I end and Comaloth starts, we're that mixed together. I've been interested in Harry ever since he jumped on the back of a troll. It's only in the last year that we even tried to take it beyond mere friendship. When I came to the Weyr, I knew instantly that May was competition," she said, then she laughed. "Harry doesn't even know that he set the stage for this just by trying to be an honest friend to two girls who both wanted a friend very badly."

Emma smiled. She knew Hermione's early years had been hard on her and she was thrilled when she started writing home about Ron and Harry, who seemed to be real friends. She and Dan had been slightly concerned that they were both boys, but the fact that their daughter had made some friends surprised them.

"I don't think it matters at this point, mum. It's impossible to separate the rider from the dragon. I'm certain that if I didn't have Coma I would never consider sharing any boy. But I do have Coma and I never want that to change."

"And I don't want it to change either," Comaloth said fiercely.

"It won't, love. I promise," Hermione said with a smile.

"I see what you mean," Emma said with a small laugh. It was nearly impossible these days to have a conversation without Comaloth throwing an odd comment or two into the discussion. She realized at that moment that one thing her daughter had sacrificed when she impressed was privacy. She was never alone and never would be. Even if she did enter some kind of three way thing with Harry and May, she'd still always have a fourth partner in her own dragon.

"So how are you feeling otherwise?"

"Physically, a little sore. Mentally? I think I'll be kicking myself for a few more days. I yelled at Harry and when it happened to me I had no chance of escaping it. Had Marty not be willing it, would have been a kind of rape." She sighed. "Mostly I feel very foolish right now. You know I don't like being proven wrong about something. It's a character flaw I have. I know that now. I was proven so very wrong and now I have to try to fix things. I may never have Harry, but I want to do everything I can to repair our friendship."

Emma breathed a sigh of relief and then she decided to really test the waters. "And what have you learned from this?"

Hermione blushed and looked down. "I need to think things through more. I hurt people that I had no right to hurt. I let my temper and my arrogance get the best of me."

Emma nodded in satisfaction. "Good girl. I'm afraid you get that from your father. He grew out of it, but it cost him his relationship with his father. You never knew your grandfather. He died a few months before you were born, but your father and he fought a couple years earlier. They weren't able to patch things up before he died and you're father has always regretted it. Do try hard, Hermione. Don't let that happen to you."

Hermione placed the teacup on a side table and stood. "I won't, Mum. If I can fix this, I will. If I can't, it'll be something I'll remember for a long time."

Emma watched her daughter leave, then she turned back to her notes. She helped teach the teens, offering classes both in History, as well as English Literature, which allowed her to indulge her passion for Shakespeare.

The only consolation for her at this point was the fact that all of the girls had seen the gynecologist and were on the birth control potion. Shaking from her sour mood, she turned back to her notes on the second act of Julius Caesar.

Office of the Deputy Minister of Magic, March 9th...

Sir William O'Hearny looked up and smiled when he saw Albus entering the room. He had been away in Berne helping set up the peace talks between Italy and Greece. Both countries had come to the talks with a great deal of anger and hostility aimed at each other and the people that had forced the talks to occur.

"Albus, welcome home!"

The old man smiled at the muggle and nodded before going to his desk and sitting heavily.

"Rough going?" Sir William asked. He stood from his desk and went over to a tea service kept in the office, and poured two cups. He handed one to Albus, then he leaned against the desk.

"The two involved parties are being... difficult," Albus admitted. "The embargo is in place and there have been several attempts to circumvent it. We believe we've foiled most of them, but undoubtedly some have been successful. The Greek and Italian ministries are telling their own people that the embargo is an attempt to force their countries to submit to a foreign power. Neighboring wireless stations are broadcasting the truth and we are trying to get newspapers to the populace, but results have been mixed, at best. As I reminded my fellow delegates, these governments had a firm control over everything until we stepped in.

"I think that, in the end, they will have no choice but to talk. It will take time, but they will have no choice really. Already there are shortages of wizarding products that they rely on. The travel ban is hurting their industry and scaring their populace. People are starting to lose faith in their ministry of magic."

"I have to tell you, you really shocked the PM when you altered his requirement to include returning the power back to the normals," Sir William said.

Albus took a sip of his tea and smiled at the taste. It was so hard to get good tea on the continent! "William, I have seen first hand the power your people wield. I know Lord Kennewick was making plans for forcing the wizards to give up power. We hold the power to hurt each other very badly, but your numbers and technology would assure a victory. Don't let our experience with the WDF lead you into believing all wizards would be that incompetent and arrogant.

"I made that change because without it, many people would have died on both sides before the normal people regained control of their country. In some ways, I guess I am working to atone for past mistakes," Albus admitted.

"Atone?" asked a surprised Sir William.

"I have done much good in my life and much that was questionable. I made a serious error in judgment and condemned a child to a life of neglect and abuse. I can't undo that mistake. The best I can do is make things as easy as possible for him, and for all the other children that come after him. If I can prevent a war between normals and wizards, then that is what I will do. So that all children can grow up in peace."

William nodded. "We all have regrets, Albus. And while I can't lay claim to as many years as you, I can tell you that, sooner or later, you have to look back at your life and say you did your best. That's all any one of us can do."

Albus smiled at that. "Perhaps you are right. Regardless of my motivation, it was the right thing to do."

Sir William laughed, "It was, but I need to warn you. That kind of action is liable to either get you a solid kick in the pants or high honor from the Queen herself. It's still debatable which you'll earn, but if these talks pay off, people may soon be calling you Sir Albus."

Albus blinked and looked up. "No! I never expected," he protested. He stopped when Sir William laughed again.

"None of us do, Albus. I understand you hold an Order of Merlin for your actions against Grindelwald. Did you set out to fight him with the intent to win the award, or did you set out to deal with a problem that was spiraling out of control?"

"I was just trying to end the madness," Albus said softly.

William nodded. "And you earned the thanks of your people because of it. Should Greece and Italy return power to where it belongs, I suspect you'll earn the thanks of a grateful monarch because you will have saved the lives of her subjects who would otherwise have had to fight. What is it that you and Lord Mills have been telling the Weyrleader? This is one of those times when you smile and say thank you, no matter how embarrassed it makes you feel."

Albus nodded numbly. His added requirement had been a spur of the moment thing that he was sure would be rejected. To his surprise, the ICW adopted the wording of his proposal in its entirety, including the stipulation that those countries return power to the muggles.

William straightened and walked back to his desk. He waved towards the empty desk normally occupied by Croaker. "I wish I could say events on all fronts are proceeding as well. I'm afraid that the dragon's intervention at the Hogsmeade school has caused quite a stir in our little rebels. Our man inside their group reported that they are pulling back from running anymore operations until they can come up with a counter to the dragons. If they can't counter them, they'll start attacking targets that aren't protected by the dragons.

"Alejandro is down in the DMLE office right now trying to make sense of some of the reports they're getting. There's been a recent rash of sightings of people, foreigners mostly, looking over places like Diagon Alley and Godric's Hallow. We don't know what to make of that just yet."

Albus nodded unhappily. It seemed like things were happening here at home. He made a note to talk to Croaker later.

"Let me prepare this report to the PM, then I'll go talk to Alejandro. Perhaps another set of eyes will help figure things out," Albus offered.

Sir William nodded and sat back down. He had his own report to write, this one addressed to the Ministry of Defense. Lord Kennewick wanted to stand down the ready brigade of heavy tanks and he was planning on asking that Kennewick delay that order for now.

Chinese Embassy Athens, March 9th...

Colonel Jin Tan Mu paced the small room he had been given as an office. The embassy was smaller than the one in London and not as well equipped. The station chief had been a corrupt fool who was unprepared to deal with the Colonel.

He hadn't been on location at the embassy more than two days when he ordered the station chief arrested and returned to Beijing for trial. The condition of the station and the security of the embassy itself were at risk, thanks to the man's lack of action. The chief of station had then tried to cover up his incompetence by bribing the Colonel with money and offers of western women.

The downside to that move on his part became immediately apparent when the detail arrived to escort the former station chief back home. They carried coded orders telling him that he would have assume the duties of station chief and put the embassy to rights. The Colonel was appalled. He knew the Ministry of State Security concentrated its resources on sending spies to the Russian and English speaking nations. Finding someone who spoke Greek and could fill in under the typical cover of Press Attache could take months.

He resented the cavalier dismissal of his concerns by Beijing and he resented being stuck in this backwater embassy when a real crisis was brewing in Britain!

He glanced up at the map showing the island of Othonoi which had been heavily damaged. What few resources on the ground that he had were in the wrong position to tell him much about what happened there. He had reviewed some footage shot by Skynews that was far superior to the half dozen snapshots taken by the only agent they had who could get to the scene.

Fully one third of the island was gone, including a town of seventy five hundred people. It had been wiped from the face of the earth by, if you believe the eye witness reports from Skynews, a series of soundless flashes of light.

He shook his head. Skynews had found several people that the Imperialist Government were now laughing at because they claimed to have seen all manner of monsters before the soundless explosions rocked the island. The Colonel knew better, however. The witnesses had reported creatures he had seen for himself in the past.

This was looking more and more like a war of some sort between magical forces and didn't involve the Imperialist government at all. And that was exactly what he planned on reporting to Beijing. In that same report, he would repeat his request to return to Britain with all possible haste to deal with the developing threat there.

He had no way of knowing that the Ambassador to Britain had returned to China days ago and had been in high level talks with the Premiere since he arrived.

Dragon Infirmary, Hangar Seven, Campbeltown Weyr, March 9th...

"May?"

May looked up from the large cauldron she was using to create more bandage paste and sighed. It seems the rumor mill was right for once, she thought unkindly, then she straightened up and motioned to Alice Wagner to watch the cauldron.

"Come on, Hermione. Let's talk in my office," she said softly.

May walked across the large floor of the hangar to an office right next to Hagrid's. She opened the door and flipped on the lights, then held the door open for Hermione. Once the other girl had entered, she closed the door again and went to sit behind her desk, motioning Hermione to have a seat opposite her.

"I take it your here about Harry," May said flatly. This was the time she had been dreading. Hermione wanted Harry back and was here to tell her that. She knew Harry held considerable feelings for Hermione.

Hermione nodded. "I am, but I don't want to give you the wrong idea."

May blinked and looked closer at the girl, "About?"

"I have, once more, hurt him badly. I need to tell him how sorry I am and apologize, but I don't want you to get the wrong idea."

Hermione's hands twisted in her lap. "I tried to meditate. I really tried. But when Marty entered my Weyr it was like someone flipped a switch in me. Suddenly I was tearing at his clothing. There was no emotion except pure lust."

She shook her head, trying to throw away the memory, while May stared at her in shocked surprise. May understood that had Harry not come along, she would have responded exactly like Hermione did.

"Anyway, I want you to know that I'm just going to apologize, not take him away from you," Hermione offered softly.

May relaxed slightly and smiled. "Actually, I don't think you could take him away from me," she replied. "Something Luna said to me the other day has been going through my head constantly. She said if he had to make a choice between us, he would refuse to hurt either of us. So he wouldn't choose either."

"Luna said something similar to me, as well," Hermione admitted. "She also said the only way I could have Harry now was if I shared him with you."

"The only way that would work is if we had strict rules," May replied cautiously, she wasn't rejecting the idea, to Hermione's intense surprise. "I don't know about you, but girls aren't my cup of tea. I like sleeping with him, and I expect you'll want the same."

Hermione nodded reluctantly. She couldn't believe that she was really considering this with any degree of seriousness. "What the dragon wants, the dragon gets," she muttered a bit sarcastically.

May started and peered across the desk at her then started to laugh. "That is so true. Chekiath wants our dragons and our dragons want him."

Hermione crossed her arms and looked away. "You don't have to do this, May. I appreciate the offer, but really at this point you've won anyway."

May nodded and smiled sadly. "No, I wish that were the case. But this really isn't a competition. Despite the hurt you've caused him, once he found out you were unhappy, he'd dig incessantly until he found out why. And once that happens, you, Harry and I will all lose. He'll pull away from me and none of us will be happy. I don't want to think what that would do to the Weyr. A lot of our morale comes from Harry and our belief in him. An unhappy triangle involving Harry could undermine everything he's trying to accomplish."

"Luna said something very similar, if more bluntly," Hermione said quietly. She looked at May. "Maybe we should talk to Millicent, find out how she's handling it?"

May shook her head. "I don't think you'd like the answer. Milly is with Bob Malwich and Sammy Hinerman. I don't know if it's true, but rumor has it that all three are very active participants and not limited to any particular gender," May said with a bit of a blush.

Hermione blinked several times. Millicent seemed rather happy with the arrangement so no one was going to pry into what went on behind closed doors.

May laughed. "Harry's going to his pop eyeballs out of his head when he learns of this."

Hermione shook her head, picturing it. Then, leaning forward, she looked at May seriously. "So, rules?"

May nodded. "Rules. This might appear to be a teen males dream, but I am not interested in girls and I have no wish for you to join us when we make love. Harry's going to have to live with that."

Hermione nodded. "I agree wholeheartedly. Equally important, we try very hard to make sure we each get equal access to Harry. If there's a conflict, you and I resolve it and not make it a war or drag Harry into it."

May nodded in agreement.

"Sleeping arrangements, then? Do we need to use a schedule? Odd days, even days? That sort of thing?" asked Hermione.

"That's too regimented and I think Harry would object to it," May said with a shrug. "I'm willing to try sharing the bed between the three of us for sleeping. It's big enough now and with your magic it can be made even bigger. If that doesn't work, Harry has extra bedrooms in his house that aren't being used. We can either each take one, or just use one and split up week nights between us."

May leaned back in her chair. "There's a thousand little details to consider, but Harry's got one of the largest houses in the Weyr. There's room for us and several children. I don't know about you, but I really want some children someday."

Hermione nodded. "I guess this is going to take a lot of trial and error," she said, then she sighed. "I still have to apologize to Harry."

May nodded and her expression hardened. "You do. And so help me, Hermione, you hurt him like this again and I'll do my best to talk Harry into moving you to another Weyr. And I won't be the only one. It was only the fact that hurting you would have hurt your dragon that stopped several of the girls from taking their anger out on you."

Hermione flinched and looked down. "I know. Believe me when I say I learned a very valuable lesson last night."

May eyed her for a bit then her expression softened. "Hermione, apologize to Harry, but do not bring this up to him until you are certain what you want. I don't think I need tell you what kind of lover Harry can be. But don't let any issues you have with last night get in the way or you just might ruin things altogether."

Hermione nodded and stood. "I will, May. Thank you," she said softly, then she turned and exited the room.

May sighed and shook her head. She made a decision to talk to Harry tonight and make it plain to him that she hoped they would have a future together. She wouldn't bring up Hermione, but she wouldn't do anything to shoot her down either. May was secure enough in her relationship with Harry to know he wasn't going to throw her out because Hermione apologized to him.

Hermione paused outside of May's office. "Coma, love, are Harry and Chekiath in the Weyr?"

"They left the Weyr a little while ago, something about having to deal with a problem at Condron Weyr," Comaloth said. "Are you just about done apologizing?"

Hermione shook her head. "No, love. Since Harry's away, I'll have to catch him later. How about Susan? I should really talk to her."

"Susan is in the social hall sitting with Mark Harper," Comaloth offered happily. She was very pleased that her rider was making peace. The last few months had been hard on both of them.

Hermione nodded. She knew Susan had an interest in Mark and idly wondered if Susan slept with Mark when their dragons rose.

Campbeltown Weyr, much later that same day...

May glanced up from doing her homework when she heard the wall mechanism start to slide clear so Chekiath could enter the building. She had been waiting for Harry to return and wasn't sure when he'd be back. She had also asked Dobby to prepare a platter of cold cuts and breads along with some hot soup so that she and Harry could have a meal together.

Harry trudged in with Chekiath and when he saw May, he smiled tiredly.

She closed her book and stood up while they both waited for the door to close. The dragon doors had a major drawback of letting out all the heat, but that was offset by the fact that the dragon beds radiated warmth so it didn't take long for the house to warm up again.

"You look beat," she said.

He nodded and ran a hand through his hair. He peel off his flight jacket and laid it carelessly over the back of a chair. "It's been a long day, and my trip to Condron turned out to be for the exact reason why I didn't want two Weyrleaders," he grumbled, then he shook his head. "They're still working things out but they wanted me to mediate a very simple matter."

She nodded and gestured towards the bedroom. "Why don't you go take a hot shower and get comfortable. I had Dobby make a light meal for us. There's some hot soup and fixings for sandwiches. We can talk while you eat."

He nodded and disappeared into the bedroom.

She moved to the chair, intending to picking up Harry's jacket and put away, when Dobby appeared and took it. The little elf smiled shyly at her. "Dobby takes extra good care of Harry Potter. You don't have to worry about that, Miss May."

May smiled. "I never worry when you're around, Dobby."

The elf blushed and popped out.

She sat at the table and poured herself a cup of tea. Dobby popped back in and with a snap of his fingers the soup was steaming again.

Twenty minutes later, Harry stepped from the bedroom wearing a robe over his boxers and t-shirt. He smiled at her, took a seat across the table and quickly assembled a sandwich and ladling out soup for two. He passed her a bowl and she picked from the platter some cheese and a hard roll.

"Skip and Kat were arguing with each other. And while this is the first time they asked me to get involved, it turned out to be a rather lame reason for fighting," he said after taking a bite of his sandwich.

"What were they fighting about?"

He paused and looked over at her. "Skip is a large guy and I think Kat is a little intimidated, even if she is a witch. He wanted to shuffle the wing pairs so that each normal rider had a magical partner. It wasn't possible to match everyone up because they don't have an even mix. That led Skip to decide that the searches should strive to be more evenly mixed. Of course Kat took that to mean Skip was trying to set up couples where the normals would be mixed with wizards.

"I spoke to Skip about it and he honestly had no idea along those lines. He just felt that a wing pairing that mixes normal and magical would give the pairing an extra advantage. On the other hand, Kat seems to think that it's some kind of breeding program.

"Jasper Brady told me that he thinks Kat has some interest in Skip, but Skip is so easy going and gets along with everyone that she's a bit jealous of that. She is one of those people that seem to be very formal until you get to really know them. Jasper told me he thinks Skip is interested in Kat, but her magic intimidates him."

She blinked and stared at him in surprise. The idea of Skip being intimidated shocked her. He was enormous! Over six feet and with a powerful physique, she couldn't imagine little Kat causing him any problems.

He smiled at her. "I can practically hear what you're thinking," he said.

"Oh? What am I thinking?"

"That you can't imagine someone like Skip being afraid of someone a foot shorter than he is, but you're forgetting she's a witch," he said, then gestured with his hand and his wand snapped into place from its holster on his forearm. "We don't make a big deal about it, but this is a dangerous tool. A wand capable of casting magic like this wand killed my parents. It can be used to cure or kill. One of my friends had his parents tortured into insanity shortly after my parents were killed. They've been confined to hospital ever since. Skip understands that. It's not so much that he's afraid of her as much as he respects the fact that magic levels the field between them. He might out mass her, but she can flick her wand and have him dancing a jig naked in front of his parents and enjoying it. So he's cautious around her. They'll work it out, I'm sure."

"And the wing pairings?" she asked.

He grinned. "I called in the Weyr and explained the idea to them. Then I suggested that they separate into groups based by Wing and talk to each other about pairing up. The pairings aren't permanent, nor does it suggest in any way their future relationships unless they want it to happen. I told Skip and Kat to let them shuffle their pairing if they wanted and just try it for a couple weeks."

He leaned back in his chair and took a bite of his sandwich. He shook his head a few moments later and chuckled. "I pulled them aside a bit later and chewed them out for not solving this kind of problem themselves. When I left they were talking to each other instead of Kat yelling and Skip trying to calm her down, so maybe I got through to them. Did I miss anything here?"

May thought about that for a moment. "Hermione came back from Disko. Luna volunteered to fill in for her for a few days."

Harry stretched out his legs under the table and looked at her. He knew far more about what was going on than the girls knew. "Oh? What brought her back here?"

"Her experience with Comaloth rising wasn't a good one, Harry," May said softly. She knew she was on thin ice here but she didn't feel comfortable lying or trying to evade the issue with him.

He nodded slowly. "Marty?" he asked.

May glanced up sharply and nodded.

Harry frowned and had to admit that hurt just about as much as when she didn't show up when he needed her. He sighed then. "Cheki told me that Olaronth covered Comaloth. I'm sorry she had to go through that," he muttered. "Marty spoke to me via Olaronth today. Now I understand why Olaronth wanted to know if I was mad at his rider. He probably thought I was going to kick his arse."

He fell silent for a moment and when he began to speak again, it was very quietly. "I cannot be angry for what happens between riders during first risings. It catches us all unawares and none of us used the calming potion we made available. By the time the feelings hit, it's too late. I am sorry that Hermione went through that."

"So you don't feel the urge to go to her now?" May blurted in surprise.

Harry looked across the table at her for a moment. Pulling off his glasses, he wiped his face tiredly. "May," he said slowly, putting his glasses back on, "in case you haven't noticed, it's you who has a key to this cottage. It's you who sleeps in my bed. I admit, I care very deeply about Hermione despite the hurt she's caused, but she caused her own problem and now she needs to find her own solutions."

He paused and pinned her with his gaze. "I also know that you and Hermione spent considerable time together bargaining with each other. I think you were bargaining over how you were going to share the Weyrleader," he said. It was clear from his tone that something about that prospect wasn't making him happy.

"How did you know?" she blurted, suddenly feeling like she was eight and caught with her hand in the cookie jar.

Harry pointed behind her and she craned her neck around to see Chekiath laying in his stall, rumbling softly, his eyes twirling softly with streaks of green. "As Cheki told me, he wants Trath and Comaloth as his... 'consorts', and you were bargaining with Hermione to see how I would get their riders as my consorts. I have spent the last year explaining to Chekiath that humans don't do relationships like that, but he refuses to listen."

Chekiath increased his rumbling. He knew his rider had just about given up fighting him over this. He would be much happier with two riders than just one. It was the way of dragons for the powerful males to have consorts. Chekiath was very content with the bargain the girls agreed to. Dragons were incapable of more than one on one mating, so as far as he was concerned, Harry limiting himself to one girl at a time was right and fair.

She turned back to look at him. "I would have thought the idea would appeal to you. After all, two girls willing to sleep with you must be the dream of every teen male," she said in surprise.

He reached up and scratched the back of his neck for a moment. "It probably is the dream of every guy, even me, but I'm a realist. I'm not sure I could fully please one girl, let alone two. There are some nights where you leave me exhausted. And when you add in the idea that you and Hermione are making decisions that involve me but not asking what I feel? I'm not too thrilled by it. I will let this slide this time, but do not go behind my back again, I've had my fill of people manipulating my life and won't stand for it anymore, not even from people I care deeply for."

May winced because his comment was spot on. She and Hermione had made decisions without involving him and was she surprised that he was upset by that. "I'm sorry," she said contritely.

Harry leaned across the table and lifted her chin with a gentle hand. "I know. Just don't do it again. Consider this our first real fight and we'll move on from here. I still think that I can't handle one girl let alone two. But if you're both set on it and the dragons are already set on it, we'll give it a try."

She knew that he would doubt his abilities personally. That seemed to be an inherent part of him. He exuded confidence as Harry Potter, the Weyrleader of all of the dragons on Earth, but Harry Potter the man had little confidence in himself on a personal level.

"Harry, nothing has been decided other than how Hermione and I can approach this problem without hurting you, adding further pressure or attempting to kill each other. It's true we were working things out between ourselves first, and perhaps we should have included you in that discussion, but you weren't here at the time. You were at Condron Weyr.

"Each of us have our own fears to deal with because of this. This isn't going to be easy for us. But never think that we'd do something without you knowing about it," May concluded.

"Fears?"

"You think you'll have trouble pleasing one girl, let alone two. You know how I feel about you. You're everything I could wish for in a lover. And you've never failed to leave me a melted puddle of happiness in bed," May said. To her amusement Harry blushed and looked down. "Hermione had a terrible first time and is afraid you'll never forgive her for what she did."

He nodded, expecting that from Hermione. "And you?" he asked gently.

May looked down and didn't speak.

"You're afraid I'll leave you for Hermione?" he prompted.

She nodded.

He sighed. Standing, he walked around the table and knelt by her side so he could look her in the eye. "May, maybe I am a sicko, or maybe Chekiath has finally convinced me, but I've wanted you since I met you. Both of you, actually. Chekiath is hoping for Trath and Comaloth to have eggs from their coupling. I'm a little more conservative, but I hope we're together long enough that I can have a family."

"Hermione and me?" she whispered.

He smiled. "Only if you can avoid killing each other," he said, then his expression turned serious. He waved a hand around, taking in the room. "This little house needs to be an island of calm. I know having children would bring a disruption to that, but it's a different kind of disruption than what I deal with outside in the Weyr. And children are a disruption I'm not ready for yet. Maybe in five or six years, certainly after we're done with our schooling."

He reached up and ran a hand along her arm. "I promise you that I'll not do anything to hurt either of you."

May smiled a bit wistfully, understanding what he was saying.

"I do love you, you know," he said softly, surprising himself.

May laughed at his expression. Gently wrapping her arms around his head, she pulled him to her breast. "I love you too," she whispered.

---

Author's Notes and Mockeries:

- A minor note to the folks that love to leave reviews of "Good chapter X" where X is the chapter number. Yes I have blocked you from reviewing. Sorry if this bothers you, but I do read reviews and honestly you might as well be entering "Kilroy was here" for your review. It has the same impact and meaning. In one particular case a person was sent a pm asking them nicely to cease stamping chapters like so many movie tickets and it was ignored. So if you're one of these people now you know why you can't review anymore.

- BJH complained that Harry and Hermione spent valentine's day at a hatching. I'm sure many a president, king and prime minister have also spent general and personal holidays doing crap they didn't want to do. It's called responsibility.

- A number of folks left reviews agreeing with my complaint about people spitting back canon at us. Folks, there is a review system that allows you to make your opinion known. I have ripped into authors for repeating canon, but I'm in the minority. If you don't like the fact that you know what's coming because the author is following the books, say so. If more people did that, there would be less canon copies out there. Believe it or not, the author isn't going to try to track you down to beat you up if you leave a critical review.

- The number of people that want a public flogging of Hermione is amazing and amusing. But, it's not going to happen. She's a teenager and for all her vaunted intelligence, she's still a stupid teenager. The issue here is complex because it's not just people involved. Chekiath influences Harry and Harry influences Chekiath. The dragons are playing such a role that even with the relationship between May and Harry, it also included Chekiath and Trath. Hence its already a FOUR WAY relationship even if the dragons aren't included in the human sex acts. Chekiath is the alpha dragon in the whole world, he could have asked for dozens of consorts, but he's allowed Harry's influence to moderate that to a more manageable number.

- ladywatertiger wants to know if we'll be writing any other Harry Potter crossovers. At this point there are no plans to do so. My take on crossovers is simple. I must be intimately familiar with both universes. That little requirement puts a heavy restriction on what kind of crossovers I can write. Fortunately this also means you won't find a HP/Muppet Babies or HP/Pokemon crossover from us. Thank god!

- Let's clear up one minor issue. A dragon that is sufficiently distracted can be photographed. Ordinarily they have to want to have their picture taken.

- A lot of people want to see Colonel Jin Tan Mu stir fried and hoisted up by his cojones. Well all I can say is patience grasshoppers. Some plot elements are like a fine wine that needs to be aged gently before sampling.

- RDG2000, Draco is in the story, but he's not a main person like he was in our Sun rise/set series. In this particular story he's one of the lucky few to become a rider and he does have some distinction as Wing leader of Wing Three and a cute muggle girlfriend, but that's about it. We'll see him from time to time as needed.

- And finally a story recommendation with a twist.

Guy Fawkes Day by MisterQ

StoryID: 4081448

This is actually a one shot horror story where you are left deciding for yourself if Harry is evil or not. It's also VERY different. Published in 2008 it's a decent tale of a conversation between Harry and Hermione. Harry destroys the Wizarding world leaves Hermione with a very unpleasant problem. Enjoy!