Chapter 12: Secret To A Happy Life

Harry sat alone on the sofa that evening and thought about how his life had changed. He could not believe that he had been a moody, irritable and depressed boy he had been. Life definitely changed for the better. He still missed Sirius and couldn't help chuckling that the Marauders would be proud of him. After all, he was pulling the biggest prank on this world. Sirius, who was known for the frequency with which he changed his girlfriends, would definitely have appreciated the fact that he now had four wives who loved him. Wait, when did I start to think of my bond-mates as wives? His thoughts drifted back to Voldemort and wondered what he was doing. He wondered where he was going to attack next. Most of the DA's homes have been warded. The only exceptions had been Hermione's parents home, as they were currently on vacation and Neville's which Harry vowed to rectify that in a day or two.

He made a list of probable Voldemort's targets and came up with: DA members homes, Other Slytherins who did not join Voldemort, Diagon Alley, Ministry, Order Members, Azkaban, Gringotts and finally Hogwarts. He wondered about how he could salvage businesses in Diagon and Nocturn Alleys that did not support the dark forces. Unfortunately most of the real estate of those shops were owned by Death Eaters and hence every business in Diagon Alley was now contributing galleons to the Dark Lords coffers.

Harry was so lost in his thought that he did not realized when Daphne had come over and cuddled with him on the sofa. Harry had unconsciously pulled her closer. Daphne interrupted him by asking, "Harry, what are you thinking about?"

"Hey Daph! I didn't realize when you came over here!" He pulled her closer and kissed her forehead and Daphne sighed contently. "Daphne, is anything the matter?"

"No Harry! Its a girl thing. You wouldn't understand." Daphne mumbled into his chest. Her head fitted nicely in the space between his left collarbone and his neck. "Try me Daphne! As you know, I am not your typical guy."

"Well, we witches missed you. I know we are together most of the day, but we miss having a one-on-one emotional exchange sessions with you. But I am content now. This amount of cuddling will do for the next one week." Daphne joked.

"You are right Daphne! I haven't been a good friend. I never realized that I was only taking emotional support from you all and not been giving. Thank you for pointing it out to me. I like cuddling with you too. Wonder what I did to deserve such a smart and beautiful girl as my wife?" Harry pulled her closer and she moved onto his lap. Harry didn't see a smile form on Daphne's face when he called her his wife.

"Umm... Would you prefer me in this position or would you want it to be Tracey?" Harry joked which earned a swat from Daphne on his wrist. "You know the answer to that question Harry" Daphne said sultrily and snuggled in closer and Harry's body couldn't help but react to Daphne's teasing. "Looks like somebody down south likes it too!" Harry face flushed red with embarrassment. "It's normal for you guys to be excited Harry! Don't be so embarrassed."

Harry desperately needed to concentrate on something else. "Daphne, we never did have a talk about Tracey. As I said earlier, I don't mind if you want to see Tracey exclusively. I wont even mind if you wish to be in both relationships. I have already told you my limits on physical relationships. But please do not insist on a Ménage-e-trois with her. I don't think our other bondmates would appreciate that." Harry laughed. "But seriously, have you given it any thought?"

"Yes Harry, I did, but I am still confused. A primary reason why I started a relationship with a girl was that I felt that I was not attracted to a boy. Tracey felt that way too. After the bonding, I realized that I only felt that way because of the enchantments. Now I am confused because I like being with a man, but I don't want to abandon her. She has been my only friend for many years." Daphne explained. "And don't worry about Ménage-e-trois, she never liked you that way. She used to say that if she were a bisexual, she would probably hook up with someone like Neville. She thought that you were too flashy for her tastes!" Daphne grinned.

"Flashy? Moi?" Harry spluttered. Then he grinned and said, "Neville, huh? Maybe we should set them up. He sure could use the extra confidence you get with having a girlfriend." Daphne grinned at the plan too. "Say Daphne, did you guys check Tracey for any chastity enchantments too?"

Daphne suddenly shot out of the sofa and landed on her feet. "Harry, I can't believe we haven't done that! That is a wonderful idea! Do you want to go on an adventure?" Daphne grinned like a Cheshire cat. Seeing the confused expression on Harry's face she explained. "Remember how we witches linked our meeting rooms with each other?" Harry nodded.

"Tracey and I had made an oath when we were children and I used it to create a connection with her. We can't reach each others magical core, but I can try and visualize her core. Do you want to see if there are any bindings around her core?" Harry grinned at the brilliant idea and asked, "Does that mean that you both are soul-bonded too?"

"No Harry! we just have a connection that can easily be broken. Only soul bonded people can visit each others magic core. So are you ready?"

Harry and Daphne sat down on the sofa and went into a meditative state. Harry reached across Daphne's door and crossed into her meeting room. He was surprised to see that it was the shape of the living room of the Den. It had the same furniture and they both decided to sit down on the couch on the mental plane too. "Very cozy Daphne! I am surprised at what you chose though."

Daphne smiled and said, "I chose it because I consider the Den my home. I don't want to live in a huge impersonal mansion, but live in a cozy place with the people I love and doing things I love." Harry reached across and gave Daphne a hug.

"Let me call Tracey!" Daphne sat back and concentrated on Tracey. "Hi Tracey Darling! How are you doing?" she said. Harry was surprised to hear Tracey's voice loud and clear, "Daphne Babyyyyy!" She squealed! "I was just thinking about you! I am in my bedroom, naked on my bed hugging a picture of you."

"Too much information darling! I am here with a friend who taught me this technique to communicate with you. Tracey meet James, James meet Tracey. I trust him with my life. He suggested that we should check your magical core for any enchantments and bindings just like mine. Do you trust me Tracey?"

Harry was surprised at how easily Daphne made up the story. Then he realized that she did the right thing. He did not want his bonding-status to be known to a lot of people. "Hi Tracey! I am James."

"Hi James! It is good to meet you. I am surprised that Daphne has made a new friend. I thought that it was impossible. But I am happy for her. I will get the full story later from her! wink! wink! And if Daphne trusts you with her life, I trust you too. So go ahead and do your magic." Tracey turned out to be a really jovial person.

"Alright Tracey, I want you to relax. This may feel a little weird and maybe slightly painful." Daphne commented as she concentrated to visualize Tracey's magic core. Harry suddenly blanched when he realized that this must be what Voldemort must be doing to send him bad dreams. He was soon brought of his reverie when a holographic image started forming in front of them. As the image cleared, they visualized Tracey's core as a huge bunch of bamboo stems. Around the collection of the stems, there were 5 bands of multi colored ropes keeping them tied up as a bunch. Daphne gasped when she saw this.

"That really felt very weird you know! It felt like I was being pulled out of my body. Once that feeling settled, it was like I could almost feel you both in a room. Is that supposed to happen? Are there any bindings?"

Daphne nearly choked when she gave her best friend the bad news. "Yes Tracey, there are at least 5 bindings and enchantments around your core. But don't you worry! I will teach you how to break them if that is the last thing I do."

"I am not surprised! My grandfather was a sexist and he believed that women should never be stronger than men! Dirty pig that he was. For all you know, I could also be under similar enchantments like you. So when can I meet you? You have been gone so long!"

"Patience my darling! Patience. We have to go now, doing this exercise has really drained of my magic. Take care Tracey."

Harry and Daphne moved back to the real world. Daphne slid back into Harry's lap, hugged him hard and cried for her friend. Harry held on to her and comforted her. He kissed her forehead and whispered, "I love you Daphne, and I promise that I will help your friend." Very soon, both Harry and Daphne drifted off to sleep in that position.

Harry and Daphne were jerked out of their peaceful slumber when they heard a very loud, "Awwwwwwwwwwwww! Look at you! You both look so cute!" This caused Daphne to blush a Weasley red. "Where is a camera when you need one?" Susan dug through her bag and found a camera. Before she could take any pictures, Harry tackled her and after throwing the camera on the couch, he dropped her on the carpet and tickled her. Daphne initially embarrassed at being caught like that, got over it quickly and started laughing along with them.

After many minutes of tickling, Susan conceded and said, "I give! Please stop tickling Harry." When Harry finally stopped, they both realized the position they were in. Harry was lying on top of Susan and Susan had her legs wrapped around his hips. Harry blushed when he realized that. "I wouldn't mind being in this position often you know!" Susan joked. "SUSAN! You are incorrigible!" Harry started the ticking once again and kissed her on her lips before finally disentangled himself from her. Little did they know that Daphne had documented the whole thing on camera while they were busy.

They were interrupted when Dobby popped in and said, "Master, you are needed upstairs, your aunt in trouble!" Harry, Susan, Daphne and Dobby made a circle by linking their hands together and disappeared from the Den with a faint pop and reappeared in Harry's old bedroom.

When Harry and the two witches entered Uncle Vernon's bedroom, he found his aunt whimpering in a corner of the room. His uncle's face was purple in color and he held his belt in his hand ready to use it on his wife. "Stun him!" was all Harry said, when both the witches pulled out their wands in a smooth motion and sent Vernon Drusley into the wall. Dudley hearing Harry's voice ran into the room in rage. "How dare you freak!" was all he managed to say before both the witches stunned him too. Daphne and Susan thanked Merlin for small favors, for if Harry had stunned them, they would not have been alive.

Harry walked to his Aunt and kneeled down beside her. He gathered her in his arms and gave her a hug. "Harry! Help me from them please!" she pleaded and sobbed. Harry held onto his sobbing aunt as she cried herself to sleep. Harry nodded to Dobby, who held onto him and popped him and his aunt into one of the guest bedrooms in the Den. Winky brought a vial of Dreamless sleep potion which he gently coaxed his aunt to drink. She was out within a minute.

The next morning, Harry woke up early and disentangled himself from the various bodies that held him. He walked towards his aunt's bedroom and he heard her sobbing. He walked in and hugged his aunt. "It is alright Auntie. I promise that I am going to protect you from those goons."

Aunt Petunia sobbed harder. "I am sorry, Harry. I was not strong enough. I let him do all those nasty things to you. It is a wonder how you are not a psychopath."

"All is forgiven, Auntie. You have never scolded me or beat me, except when Vernon forced you to. But all along, it was Vernon and Dudley who bullied me. I didn't realize until today that you were a victim in that household as well. You have actually been extra nice to me when these two were not around. I am sorry that I did not help you earlier."

Aunt Petunia looked at Harry in shock when she heard him apologizing. "What a sweet boy you turned out to be! Lily would have been proud of you." Petunia hugged him back with pride.

Harry had to ask the inevitable. "Auntie, you are welcome to stay with me for as long as you want. Now I need to know what you want to do with Vernon, so that I can make the arrangements."

"I want him out of my life! I want to divorce him. I have had enough of his abuse." Petunia said with conviction.

"Excellent! What about Dudley?" Harry asked hesitantly.

"There was never a question. Dudley is not my son. Vernon refused to let me adopt him." Petunia sighed.

"WHAT?? What do you mean?"

"Around the time your mother was pregnant with you, both I and Vernon's mistress were pregnant. My child was magical and I showed various signs of magic. Vernon called me a freak and beat me and starved me. I had difficulty during my labor and my child was a stillborn. I went into a post-partum depression. Vernon brought his mistress' son to me to bring me out of the depression. I so wanted to have a child that I begged Vernon to let Dudley stay with us. I was forever afraid that Vernon would make Dudley go away if I did not do as he asked. I was afraid to go back into depression. Dudley is Vernon and Marge's son."

"WHAT?? I thought Marge was Vernon's sister!"

"You are such a naive boy! Why do you think I was so obsessed with being normal? Because my life was abnormal. I was so scared of anyone knowing about the reality of my situation."

"Auntie, Vernon endangered two magical children and is indirectly responsible for killing one of them. He should be tried in the magical court. As I have been named a Goblin-friend, I think they will try him for crimes against us both." Petunia shuddered at Goblin justice. "I want him to permanently stop hurting everyone. If he loses his life, so be it. I thought that by paying him off, he would behave himself. Apparently I was wrong."

Petunia looked at Harry with a newfound respect. "I agree with you Harry. Can you memory charm Dudley and Marge so that they will live together?"

"Yes Auntie, we can manage that. Umm... I have one more question that I wanted to ask you for a really long time. May I ask?" Petunia nodded.

"Why do you hate my mother so much?" Harry asked innocently.

"Harry, have you ever wondered why your mother and I look so different? She was the beautiful little girl while I was a horse-faced giraffe? My whole family had red hair, while my hair changed color to blonde around the time when my features changed?"

"Auntie, are you saying that you were not born with blonde hair?" Harry enquired.

"Of course not! But no one would listen to me. How can someone have blonde hair on their head, but still have red hair at other places on their body?" Petunia asked.

Harry flushed when he understood what his aunt meant. "What age did this happen after? Did you two have a fight before it happened?"

"Umm... I was 7 and your mother was 4. We did have a major fight over a teddy bear. I got so angry that I threw her teddy bear into our fireplace. All I remember was that something happened and I fainted. Over the next few months, my hair color and my features changed. Everyone thought that it was normal. I hated my new look and I was jealous of my pretty little sister. My parents doted on her when they found out that she was a witch. But how much ever I hated her, I would never have done what was done to you to her son. I am sorry that I was not strong enough to stand up to Vernon."

"Auntie, I think my mother did accidental magic when you had a fight. It is surprising that it was never detected and reversed. It might be possible to change you back to how you are supposed to look. Do you want me to try it?" Petunia looked at him wide-eyed and all she could do was nod.

"Winky!" Harry called the Elf. "Winky, could you see if my aunt has any left over traces of magic from her childhood? It seems that my mother did some accidental magic on her which was never reversed."

"Yes Master." Winky concentrated on Aunt Petunia who started changing. Her blond straight hair changed into wavy red locks. Her horse-shaped face changed into a more attractive oval face. Her eyes changed to a lighter green color. Her neck was more proportionate to her body now. She looked like a very attractive middle-aged lady.

When the transformation was complete, Winky gasped and said, "Priscilla Crouch?"

"My mother's name was Priscilla Evans. I don't know her maiden name. We never really discussed her family much, Winky, is it?"

"Yes Mistress Crouch!" Winky did a courtesy. "You are my old master's sister's daughter. Your mother was thrown out of her family as she was a squib. That is why you are a squib too." Winky said.

"Wow! Auntie, you look beautiful! You look just like mom!" Petunia for the first time in many years blushed at the compliments. "This solves a question I had Auntie. When Winky first told me that you were a squib, I wondered how you would have had magical blood. A squib is a non-magical person born to magical parents. Unfortunately, prejudices run high in the wizarding society and squibs are not treated on par with witches and wizards. We had wizarding relatives but they are all dead. Winky used to work with them. Mr. Bartemius Crouch, your mother's brother, was a chief Auror, notorious for capturing death eaters and his stint at the Ministry was cut down when his son, Crouch Junior, was outted as a death eater. His wife died of some illness. and his son Barty are both dead. Crouch Senior was responsible for imprisoning my godfather Sirius Black for 12 years in Azkaban without giving him a trial. But before we go any further, I guess we should get Gringotts to confirm your mother's identity for us. Why not we move to the dining room for some breakfast and I will introduce you to my friends?"

Harry and his aunt walked into the dining room where the four witches were already seated at the table. "Auntie, I would like to introduce you to my four wives. Everyone, meet my Auntie."

"Four wives?" Aunt Petunia fainted.

Harry enervated his aunt and proceeded to tell her the story of his life. As expected, she was angry, happy, scared and shocked at various parts of the story. Following an emotional 4 hours of listening to the story of her nephew, Petunia retired to her bedroom which Harry went in search of his wives.

Harry found Hermione in the library where she was furiously working on some runes and charms. She also had sheets of Arithmantic equations that she was working on. Not wanting to disturb her, Harry stood behind her chair and gave her a neck massage. Hermione initially surprised at his ministrations, finally learnt to relax. Harry silently transfigured her chair into a recliner and then into a soft bed and continued to massage her whole back. Neither Hermione nor Harry realized that Harry was pushing some magic wandlessly through his finger tips making her muscles relax.

"Harry?"

"Yes, Hermione?"

"Why did you never fight Ron when he tried to stake his claim over me?"

Harry recollected the conversation he had with Ron after the Yule Ball. Harry had earlier suspected that Ron liked Hermione and Ron had confirmed that during that conversation. He never really thought about why he let Ron stake his claim.

Hermione interrupted his thoughts. "Harry, I might have a theory to explain your behavior."

At Harry's urging, Hermione continued. "Harry, imagine a life with multiple siblings. There is a constant need to establish yourself in the pecking order. Who wants what present, who gets chosen to do a particular chore, who gets to go somewhere and who gets left behind. There is always a constant competition among siblings and it is a common occurance that the earlier you stake a claim for something you want, it is possible you will get it. That is the reality of Ron's life."

Harry had never analyzed a life with siblings. "Umm..."

Hermione continued. "Now, I have two theories to explain your reactions to Ron's behavior. First, you are an only child and hence learnt early on to share your things with others, lest others abandon you. You were hardly in situations where you staked your claim on things. You learnt to accommodate others and you expect that others will accommodate you. And trust me, Ron has never been taught that life lesson." Hermione chuckled. "Does that explain why Ron gives you Cannons stuff for your birthday?"

Harry became pensive on hearing her thoughts. He continued massaging Hermione's back. "That sure explains how Ron dictates what we do during our free time or when we are lazing around. It is always things that he likes to do, chess or talk about Quidditch. You said something about another theory?"

"Well, the other theory explains why you are so willing to support or forgive him. Remember the Firebolt incident? Or how your behavior reverted back to lazing around as soon as Ron apologized after the first task."

Harry's only reaction was a momentary slowing of his massaging. "I believe that you were so attached to the concept of having a friend, that you were willing to excuse any kind of behavior from him. This could be explained by the fact that Dudley and his gang never let you have friends. So you really did not want to lose Ron. You failed to realize that you could have other friends who were more loyal than him. Also, subconsciously, I think you related to Ron when you first met him. You both were poor, you both were oppressed. You by Dudley's gang and he by the pressure of living up to his other more successful brothers. So it was much easier to just go along with his prejudices against Slytherin house or against bossy know-it-alls and be as lazy as he was."

Harry was amazed at how accurate Hermione's theories sounded. "Or it could be that you were fed a loyalty potion keyed to Ron."

There was a long silence following that. Within 20 minutes, Hermione's breathing indicated that she was fast asleep. Harry smiled at the reaction and bent down and kissed her cheek, before covering her with a blanket, silently closing the door and walking out in search of Luna.

Harry spotted Luna lying down on the king-sized bed in the bedroom reading her fathers publication, the Quibbler upside down. Harry crawled into bed behind her and snuggled into her, barely noticing her muscles tensing when he did so. She did not even bat an eyelid before turning around and hugged him. She moved one of her hands to his head and started playing with his hair. Very soon, he was almost in the same relaxed state of Hermione.

"Everything okay Harry?" Luna asked in a soft voice. "I just felt that I was ignoring my wives. So I made a resolution to at least spend some quality time with each of you everyday."

"That is wonderful Harry! Thank you" She leaned over and kissed his nose.

"Umm.. Luna, would you want to come with me to the meet the centaurs?"

"I think that is a brilliant idea Harry", Luna beamed happily. Harry had never invited her to do anything with him. He had always maintained a courteous distance in the past.

Four witches happy in one day! What more can a guy want?' was the last thought Harry had before drifting off to a relaxed sleep.