I'm baaaaaaaaaaaack! Phew, sorry for the delay, I hadn't realized how long it had been since I last updated, and I was again quite busy IRL. While this chapter is likely not going to appease the action fans, I felt it was necessary. Things will be heating up in next chapter, which I hope to get out for Christmas or before that, hopefully.

Now enjoy!

I don't own Harry Potter or Sekirei

29

Due explanations

"Do you have any idea of what they would do if they were aware of the fact that there is a race of super-powered, mainly female aliens waiting to bond with their partners, and who would do anything for said partners?! All you needed to do was give me a fucking call, I would have explained things to Hermione before taking her to meet with Mutsu! Instead of that, you're risking the discovery of the Sekirei by a bunch of narcissistic, inbred morons who would sooner enslave them all than actually consider them sentient beings!"

With a wave of his wand, Dumbledore shrunk the silvery-white figure of Harry who had been ranting at Minaka, the strikingly accurate figure losing its' shape and eventually falling apart, the memory collapsing back into the Pensieve currently sat in the middle of the Headmaster's desk. Surprisingly, the office was extremely silent, a stark contrast with how loud Harry's voice had been when the memory had played, each of his words perfectly audible, and in English, despite the fact that the teenage Pillar had been careful to speak in Japanese at the time.

Were present, Dumbledore of course, the aged wizard sat in his throne-like chair and his face surprisingly neutral, his eyes not twinkling for once. The Headmaster was currently staring at his guests, the four sitting in front of his desk having stayed silent so far. In addition to the aged wizard, and outside of the four people sat in front of the man's desk, Minerva McGonagall and Severus Snape were present, the Transfiguration Mistress standing behind the desk of her mentor, while the Head of Slytherin was, as usual, staying mostly in the shadows of the room.

Harry was present, of course, as were his Sekirei, each with different expressions on their faces after hearing the memory play. Akitsu, as always, was neutral, likely waiting for Harry to tell her what she should do. Homura was grimacing, and nervously tapping her fingers on her thighs, the Fire Sekirei understanding just how bad the situation was, not to mention that she had reasonable doubts on Harry's ability to solve the situation peacefully. Karasuba was grinning, the battle maniac likely thinking the same as Homura, and instead of being worried for the violence likely to happen, she was hoping for it, eager to shed blood, her fingers curled on the handle of her blade.

Harry himself, though, was carefully neutral, something that worried the elder wizard, who quite preferred when the Boy-Who-Lived showed how he felt openly. It was quite a jarring contrast, comparing the snarling memory of the teen with the perfectly blank-faced one sitting in front of the Headmaster's desk.

The reason for the teen's apparent detachment was that he realized he had screwed up, and screwed up badly, which had led him to do everything he could to reign his temper, at least momentarily. The second he had been reasonably sure that he wouldn't fly off the handle again, he had penned a very clear letter to Gringotts, asking them for the hardest, bloodiest mission they could find him, since simply reigning in his temper would do him little good in the long run. As such, he intended to vent his nerves by doing what he had always done since Karasuba had begun raising him when he needed to vent his anger: murder things. And in this case, he was hoping to find a nice mission involving mass slaughter, so as to get his temper back to a reasonable level.

"Quite the interesting discussion, don't you think, Harry?" smiled the old man, "Of course, it is fortunate that nobody understood what you were talking about, otherwise the Ministry would likely have called for your companions to register as non-humans."

Seeing the glares he was receiving, the aged wizard sighed, taking off his glasses and peering at the group as he rubbed his eyes.

"I will freely admit that I am quite intrigued by your claims, Harry. These…Sekirei, as you called them, do not, by their description, match with any other humanoid species listed by the ICW, even the few whose existence is only known to high-ranking officials. Of course, given the points you raised, I cannot fault you for being worried about what would happen should their existence become known to the Ministry. Until laws were passed to stop the practice, forcefully binding Veelas was something done by quite a few families-"

"What do you want, Dumbledore?"

Harry's voice was perfectly level, not polite, but certainly not filled with the same anger than what he had been expecting. The aged wizard inwardly smiled. Of course, he had long thought about what to do with the knowledge he had acquired from the memory, using an obscure charm to translate what Harry had said into perfectly understandable English. It was fortunate that such a nifty little charm was relatively unknown, since few wizards bothered to use Pensieves to try and translate foreign people speaking.

He had actually pondered for a while on what the best course of action would be. He could have used this information to blackmail Harry into complying to his wishes, for it was clear that he didn't want that knowledge become public, but it would have been detrimental to their relations in the long run, and might even have pushed him to act on darker thoughts. Instead, the best solution he had found was to prove to the mistrusting teen that he could be trusted. For that, he needed Harry aware that he knew, and aware that he wouldn't use this knowledge against him or his companions, provided that they accepted to not harm anyone in Hogwarts. Such a concession was something he was sure Harry would eventually agree to, since the teen was clearly someone used to scheming, and able to see the opportunity for what it was. Simply put, he intended to use the fact that he wouldn't divulge the existence of those Sekirei to compel Harry to be more willing to listen to him, to consider his advice instead of rejecting it outright.

He was aware that he had little hope to have Harry see things his way immediately, given the anger and resentment the boy felt for him, but he had not succeeded in politics by being an idiot. Everyone had their weaknesses, the only problem was to find what they were. And now that he had found Harry's, he would use it to slowly, ever so slowly stir him towards the Light. It would be a slow process, undoubtedly, but he had a full eight months to work on it and have the Boy-Who-Lived to be more willing to listen to him.

"Mister Pot-Minaka! Please show some respect to the Headmaster!" scowled his Deputy, and before she could continue, he raised his hand.

"Minerva, please."

"But Albus-"

"Please."

"…Fine."

"Thank you," he bowed his head towards his former student, before looking back at Harry," This is not about what I want, Harry. An obviously intelligent young man such as you, certainly knows that any new magical species must be registered by the ICW, and be studied to better understand their specific needs, especially sentient ones. Your earlier reaction leads me to believe that such is not the case with the Sekirei, and that you obviously don't trust wizardkind with the knowledge of their existence?"

The deadpanned look he received told him all he needed to know. Certainly, he couldn't fault the teen, given how Veelas had been treated prior to the laws protecting their species being voted. Even now, most British people considered the race of beautiful women as sub-humans at best, something not helped by their inhumane beauty and the ease with which they could ensnare men. From what he understood, the Sekirei were similar in that aspect that they were mainly beautiful women, but what made the matter worse was that Harry implied they were very powerful, and able to bond through a simple kiss. If such was indeed the case, then the moment their existence became known, numerous criminals and Dark Families would be snapping at their heels in the hopes of getting one for themselves.

"You needn't worry, Harry, your secret is safe, this I swear," he smiled.

"And I am supposed to trust you?" grunted the teenager, his mismatched eyes boring a hole through his skull, "In case you hadn't understood yet, Dumbledore, I loathe you, your very existence, and your stupid concept of "Greater Good". I wouldn't trust you with a Knut, what makes you think I'd trust you with something as important as this?"

He smiled. He had expected that question, and already knew how to respond to it. Taking out his wand, he ignored the sudden tensing of his guests, before waving it in front of him:

"I, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, swear on my magic and my life, that I shall do everything in my power to keep the existence of the species known as Sekirei secret, and, should their existence become known nonetheless, to do everything in my power to see that they be treated fairly, so I swear, so mote it be!"

As a brief flash of light showed that the Oath had entered in effect, he was treated with the sight of Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, quirking an eyebrow and looking slightly surprised. Yet for the first time since they had met, he didn't see a speck of hostility in the mismatched eyes of the teen, instead catching surprise and wary thankfulness. He was no fool, and was aware that it would take far more than that to have Harry to trust him, but it was a start.

-Break-

Harry was no fool. Despite how clever Dumbledore thought he was, the old man was still easy to read given the situation, and thanks to Tom's memories, he had an edge on the aged wizard in that he knew how he worked. The old man was powerful, of that there was no doubt, but what made him truly dangerous was his talent at getting people to lower their guard around him, using whatever he could to bring them to his side. It was no stretch of the imagination to say that Dumbledore was a puppet master, since he had a hand in pretty much everything of importance in the Wizardry Society of Great Britain. In one way or another, he used his resources to push things towards what he estimated to be the optimal course, more often than not subtly manipulating people through honeyed words or grandfatherly behavior.

Still, he had to admit that he reluctantly appreciated the action. Not nearly enough to even consider being willing to listen to the old man's tripe, but enough so to do his best to not be insulting, no matter how much his pride stung for that decision. The fact that he had asked for an Oath from both Snape and McGonagall was also appreciated, and he had been happy enough to divulge a few things about the Sekirei to the old man. Not nearly enough to truly matter, he was not that stupid, but things like what their planet of origin was, how far from Earth it was (though it had been hilarious to see the faces all three magic users had made when they had realized just how far from the Solar System it was) and what the Sekirei world was like. He himself had been fascinated with those things, and he genuinely enjoyed talking about it, though he had done so more to give the old man the impression he was opening up than for the benefit of talking.

Now though, was going to come the hardest part of the day: explaining things to Hermione. He had no doubts that she had perfectly understood every single word he had shouted during his one-sided argument with Minaka, and that the only reason she was not pressing him with questions right now was because she expected him to explain things to her as soon as possible. The question was: how was he going to explain to the very opinionated witch that she had unknowingly gained a mate for life, one who would likely be almost slavishly devoted to her? She might have become more open to other people's opinions, be more reasonable, she was still someone with a very strong set of morals. While he wasn't afraid of her, he did dread how she would react, for it might cause problems in their working relationship is she took things badly.

Well, at least he would enjoy the chaos Mutsu's arrival would create. He idly wondered how people would react to Hermione getting someone as good-looking as the number 05 as a lover. Most likely some would react favorably, most likely the female students who would strive to get closer to the Sekirei through Hermione, even if their attempts to court Mutsu would be doomed to fail. Others, like Ronald Weasley, whom his student considered as a complete failure, or Draco Malfoy, would probably have far more extreme reactions, and he was quite curious about how Hermione and Mutsu would deal with them. It would be nice to kick some people around, even once he worked his nerves out with some murder.

Now, he only had to find a way to nicely break the news to Hermione, and for that, he fully intended to have his Sekirei with him. At least it should show her that they weren't his slaves, and allow him to better explain the bond between them…

-Break-

"What."

Hermione Jean Granger may have been a very intelligent teenager, or rather, a very intelligent witch, there were still things she had trouble understanding, what with Magic screwing up any scientific law you could care to name and even some that didn't even exist.

After her teacher's explosion earlier that day, she had resolved to let him deal with the Headmaster first, before having him give her some answers. She knew Harry was a secretive person, she would have to be blind to not notice, and she had learnt to respect his privacy after a few rather violent punishments when she had tried to pressure him into answering some of her questions at the start of their work together. However, he had never kept a secret when she asked about things that involved her, and she fully intended for him to keep things that way. Given what had happened the last time people had kept secrets from her despite the matter actually involving her, she wouldn't allow him to keep silent on the subject.

Granted, given what he had blurted out, she had been able to make some educated guesses, though they left her with more questions than answers. What were Sekirei? Harry had said they were aliens, if so, then where did they come from? Why had they left their homeworld? Why did they bond with their partners? Why was she supposed to be a Sekirei's mate?

But, most of all, she wanted to know why. Why was she supposed to be an alien's mate? What made her, Hermione Granger, better than another for said alien, Mutsu Harry had called him. Don't get her wrong, she was enough of a teenage girl to appreciate the fact that an extremely handsome man would be interested in her, but she had trouble comprehending what made her special in his eyes.

"Why me?" she asked, a bit shakily. She was not ready! She had only started contemplating romance, she wasn't ready to commit to something as serious as magical marriage!

"Eh, reactions don't often make much sense," commented Karasuba, who was polishing her sword, lounging comfortably in the sofa created for her by the Room of Requirement, "Best way to put it would be that you're compatible, since reactions are more or less based off the souls or some crap of the same order. I know I reacted to Harry-chan because he had everything I wanted."

"That's probably something you'll have to ask Mutsu, though I wouldn't worry too much about it, Hermione," tried to reassure Homura, "A Sekirei would never go against their Ashikabi, unless it was for their own good. You have to understand that for Mutsu, you'll be the most precious person in the world, and that there will be literally nothing he won't do for you."

"But I don't want that!" cried out the witch. She didn't want a slave! She wanted someone who would love her, with whom she'd have arguments but eventually would kiss her in reconciliation, someone who'd support her and whom she'd support! What Harry and his Sekirei were describing was like a prettied form of slavery!

"Hermione, despite what you seem to think, this isn't slavery, or anything like that. When we say that they'll do anything for you, it means that they'll always help you, but they will disagree with you on more than once occasion, and they won't do anything you don't want them to do. You aren't going to ask things like that from Mutsu, are you?"

"Of course not!" growled the Ravenclaw, earning herself a smile from Homura.

"Then where is the problem? Learn to know Mutsu, I'm sure you'll learn to appreciate him," sighed Harry, who was quite unamused with the conversation. He probably saw little reason to make a fuss over something that had happened to him three times already, Hermione mused, and given how good-looking his Sekirei were, he probably saw nothing wrong with their relationship.

"It's just…"

"Hermione, you're living the dream of every teenage girl interested in men: you have a handsome man who'll be willing to do anything for you, from guarding you with his body to massages, and you aren't happy?" deadpanned the wizard, making her blush. When it was put like that, it did make her seem like an ungrateful girl.

"Or is Hermione-chan afraid that Mutsu will want to do adult things with her? Given how much you read, I'm sure you have nice foundations, don't worry, girl," grinned Karasuba, giving Hermione a leer as the teenage witch "eeped".

"That's not…I mean maybe…But I don't…" blubbered the Ravenclaw, while the Black Sekirei chuckled.

"Relax, Hermione, she's only teasing you, "sighed Harry, "Just because I have sex with my Sekirei doesn't mean you have to go that far with Mutsu yet, though I'm pretty sure your hormones will be acting up quite a bit if he's always around you, so be prepared. Don't want you to become pregnant before finishing your studies."

Hermione just squeaked a denial, looking horribly uncomfortable. While she did have an interest in sex, she was, of course, still a virgin, and had only just begun accepting the idea of masturbation, let alone real intercourse, and even less the consequences of careless sex. She didn't want to be a teenage mother! Though she had to admit that Mutsu was very handsome, and that if he was to stay around her at all times, she might sometimes lose control. Then again, losing control in her case would only involve kissing and maybe, in the most extreme case, making out, but nothing more than that!

Deciding to change the topic so that she wouldn't spontaneously self-combust out of embarrassment, she decided to ask something that she had been curious about ever since she had first met Harry and his Sekirei.

"Is the bond the reason why Akitsu is so…devoted to you, Harry-sensei?"

She had been very receptive to the Japanese way of thinking, with the honorifics used to denote the hierarchy between people, given her love of authority, she had found it extremely fascinating and useful. For someone who respected authority such as her, having as much honorifics to use to show respect was very nice. It was also very enjoyable to know that nobody aside from her teacher, his entourage and her knew them, meaning that she could basically show some people just how little respect she had for them.

"It's only part of the reason, actually," admitted her teacher, who looked a tad unhappy at something, "Sekirei have to be adjusted, since their strength is many times greater than the average human's, which means they could accidentally kill their Ashikabi if they weren't careful. The person responsible for adjusting her made a mistake, causing her to bond to herself, and making her lose her ability to bond with her true Ashikabi, which would have been enough to drive any other Sekirei completely insane with grief and madness.

In Akitsu's case, it caused a great depression, so severe in fact that she pretty much became an empty shell. Due to some…circumstances, I became her Ashikabi, even if we weren't bonded, and given the fact that I was a wizard I assumed that I might find something to bond with her so she stayed with me. In the end I did find something that would allow her to bond, and she pretty much decided to become my Sekirei at that point."

"Ah…It felt good," blushed the aforementioned Sekirei, who was sat next to Harry with her hand on his thigh.

Given how open Harry had been with the fact that he was sexually active, and how the buxom beauty was blushing, Hermione's face lit up a fiery crimson, for there was very little doubt in her mind that what he had found to create a bond involved sexual intercourse. Granted, the analytic part of her brain could see how that would help, for having intercourse was one of the few known ways to lower the barrier between two people's souls and magic. There were other ways, of course, but they weren't as effective or involved very Dark magic. And while she was aware that Harry was pretty much a psychopath, he wouldn't use Dark magic without very good reason. Like killing people.

"Akitsu-chan is pretty much Harry-chan's willing slave, Hermione-chan," grinned Karasuba, "She'd do anything he asks given what he's done for her, so be careful to not insult Harry-chan when she's around, or she'll get angry."

The Black Sekirei's declaration was punctuated with a firm nod of the buxom beauty. Given what little she had been told about their species and how their mates were pretty much their reason to live, she could see why the brunette would be so protective of Harry, especially if she had thought she'd never get an Ashikabi.

"What about you, Karasuba-sama?" she asked.

She had to admit she was curious, the Black Sekirei was not someone she could see accepting something like a bond to another, she would see such a thing as a weakness, something she wouldn't want. Yet for some odd reason, she seemed happy with being bonded to Harry, but aside from the fact that he had a similar temper and mannerisms, and that he was extremely powerful, she didn't see why she'd accept to be bonded.

"Eh, I met Harry-chan when he was just a kid. He was pretty messed up back then, and well, I'll admit that I liked the idea of having him as an Ashikabi, since he proved he was at least better than the apes that populate the planet. Besides, given how young he was at the time, I had pretty much free reign into making him into my ideal Ashikabi, which is better than getting a whiny little shit who won't learn what I want," admitted Karasuba, grinning as she licked her lips, "The fact that he's got crazy stamina and can fight back in bed is a nice bonus too."

As she once more blushed beet red, Harry grunted.

"Get used to it, Hermione. Sekirei have very little taboos about sex, and a crazy sex drive, at least mine do. I have no clue if Mutsu is the same, but you can bet that once you've slept with him, you'll be going at it like rabbits."

"Eeep!"

-Break-

"Lily?"

James Potter was many things, a prankster, a Marauder, a Lord, but at the moment and above everything else, he was a man who deeply cared for his family. Most of his actions nowadays were taken mainly in that direction, and though he would admit that he was giving the cold shoulder to his daughter, said daughter was still a Slytherin. Don't get him wrong, he knew not all Slytherins were evil, but he had trouble accepting that one of his children would end up in old Snivellus's house, that they would prize ambition and cunning over courage. There was also the fact that he actually couldn't act too much like he was protecting her, since he wasn't there for her constantly. He was no fool, no matter what people said about him, he knew that if he tried to protect Ivy, that he would only make matters worse for her. She was already despised due to her status and a Half-blood, hated because of her blood ties with the Potters and the Boy-Who-Lived, if he tried to act in her favor he would only risk her being taken advantage of when he wasn't around to protect her.

But at the moment, it wasn't his daughter who was at the forefront of his mind, no, it was his wife. Lily had been acting oddly ever since Harry had arrived at Hogwarts, and he was not blind enough to believe it was only because their son didn't hide the fact he hated them. No, what was hurting her was deeper than that, and was likely connected to the conversation she had had with that Takami woman. Whatever had been said had really rattled her, to the point that she was only a shadow of herself these days. He hadn't missed the few vials of Dreamless Sleep potion hidden in her trunk, and he had decided to act before his wife really started hurting herself. He had already tried to speak to her, only to have Lily avoid the subject entirely or get angry, making him drop the subject. But no more, he would do what he did best, charge forwards and face the music.

"Go away, James," came the mumbled answer from his wife.

Not deterred, he pushed the door to their bedroom open, and his eyes fell on his wife, who was clutching a pillow to her bosom while staring vacantly at a wall. The usually radiant redhead was nowhere in sight, her hair was disheveled and her eyes were red from crying, not to mention the dark bags under her eyes. The spark that was usually present around her was nowhere to see, and her once vibrant green eyes were dead, lacking any kind of emotion.

"Lily?!" he choked, rushing to his wife's side, "Honey, what's wrong? Talk to me, please!"

"What's wrong?" was the whispered answer, before she turned to look at him, soulless emerald eyes staring in his hazel ones, "What's wrong?" she repeated, a bit louder this time, "WHAT'S WRONG?! OUR SON HATES US, JAMES! HE WAS TORTURED BY PETUNIA AND HER HUSBAND, AND HE DIDN'T UNDERSTAND THAT PEOPLE COULD LOVE HIM BEFORE HE WAS PICKED UP BY A WOMAN WHO MAKES BELLATRIX LOOK SANE! NOW, HE HAS BECOME SOMEONE WHO KILLS PEOPLE AS A HOBBY, THAT IS WHAT IS WRONG, JAMES POTTER!"

By the end of her tirade, her hands, who had clutched his shoulders, were shaking him like a ragdoll as she shrieked hysterically, her fingers digging in his skin with surprising strength. His mind, struggling to process what his wife had just screeched, took several moments to compute what he had been told, but when it finally did, he paled.

"What?"

For answer, a folder crammed full with files was shoved into his hands by a teary Lily, who was wringing her hands together.

"Takami, she…she told me things, James. Horrible things about Harry's life, but I didn't want to believe her, so I owled her for proof. She refused to send me everything they had, but she still sent me Harry's medical file from when they picked him up."

James gulped. Given how Lily was almost shaking, whatever was inside that file couldn't have been good, then again, even someone as thick as he was could tell that something was seriously wrong with his son, and given what his wife implied, it was tied to what happened to him before he was picked up by his current "parents".

"Lily flower?" he asked, taking her hands in his own and using his fingers to trace soothing circles on them, "What…what did it say? The file?"

Emerald eyes stared in his own, haunted with something that made his stomach churn painfully. They had seen things during the war, things that had often made them wonder about Dumbledore's insistence of capturing Death Eaters instead of outright killing them, but never had he seen Lily look so lost, so vulnerable, not even when the Longbottoms had been found, tortured into insanity.

"They…" she choked, a few tears spilling from her eyes, "they did everything they could to break him, James. My own flesh and blood, and yet Petunia treated him…treated him like…like a diseased animal! She…the Healer who oversaw Harry said that pretty much the only form of abuse he didn't receive was the sexual kind, thank Merlin, but everything else, they did to him! He's been burned, whipped, beaten, treated like a slave, told he was worthless since he was sent there! He was just a child, James, just a baby!"

He couldn't hold his own tears as he embraced his wife. He knew Petunia wasn't on the best terms with his wife, that she disliked wizardkind, but for her and her family to treat a child that way…Even he hadn't seen it coming. When he had learnt that the Dursleys had been those who had raised Harry, he had assumed that he would have gotten, at worst, the cold shoulders from the adults in the family, not…that. Of course, had he known that Dumbledore had planned to send their son there, he would have objected, since there were plenty of families able to look after him whom they trusted, even if they weren't British.

"Wait a moment…" he muttered, something wasn't right, "Even if she didn't like you, she wouldn't treat a child that way without a reason. If she hated him so much, why not just give him away?"

"What?" asked Lily, her eyes red from crying, looking at him strangely.

"Come on, Lily, you're the brains of this family! Think about it: why would your sister treat Harry like that? I mean, I know she doesn't exactly like us, but she wouldn't go that far, she'd probably just do her best to ignore him or at worse, try to convince him not to use his magic. So why would she go that far? Even if her grudge got a lot worse, why not just abandon him, leave him in an orphanage?"

"True, it's strange, but what are you getting at, James?"

"What I mean, is, who was it who had Harry put there? Who told us he would be safe there? I know at least three people who tried to use spells to locate Harry after You-Know-Who's death, if only to thank him, and none worked. What kind of Muggle house has that kind of protection?" he asked, his mind whirling with the realization of what his reasoning could mean.

His wife just stared at it blankly, before uttering what he had been thinking ever since he had begun his reasoning:

"You are saying that this is Dumbledore's doing?"

-Break-

"Was it wise to keep the existence of these…Sekirei a secret, Albus? If the Ministry gets wind of this, they will not hesitate to fire you from Hogwarts!"

Dumbledore smiled grandfatherly at his Transfiguration Mistress. Minerva had always been one of his most loyal followers, perhaps because he had been her favorite teacher back when she had been nothing but a student, and she always worried for him, despite the fact that he could take care of himself. Though more often than not her concerns did bear some weight, he was often able to make use of his reputation or contacts to curtain any negative consequences of his actions. Unfortunately, now that he was nothing more than Hogwarts' Headmaster, his power base had been reduced to almost nothing, not to say that he was powerless. He had still quite a lot of contacts willing to help him despite the loss of his positions, and he was always careful to see that nothing could be traced back to him anyway.

"Worry not, Minerva, if Harry is as serious about keeping their existence a secret, then what reason would the Ministry have to suspect their existence?"

"Shouting their description right in front of the Minister does not strike me at being careful, Albus," frowned the Scottish witch, "While it was fortunate it was in this foreign language of his, if he repeats such a stunt I fear that Umbridge will learn of it. Have you see her face when he went off at the Minister? She is out for blood, and she will not stop until she has destroyed him or that he is rotting in Azkaban."

As they argued back and forth, he caught sight of his Potions' Master frowning heavily. He knew the man well enough by now that he could tell that he was contemplating something, and he found himself curious as to what could deserve such heavy thinking from Severus. Despite his best efforts, the man was still very opinionated and usually hardly bothered to contemplate matters for a long time, given that his cunning nature allowed him to grasp the best course of action at all times.

"Severus, is something bothering you?"

"Yes, something does. While you were focused on these Sekirei of his, did any of you remember what was said during the original conversation between Potter and his lunatic adoptive father? That man seemed to imply that one more of these Sekirei would be coming to Hogwarts because he reacted to Granger, and he referred to her as Potter's student."

His eyes widened minutely. He had, indeed, missed that detail, too busy as he was to plan for bringing Harry to his side. He had focused only on what had appeared important at the time, not on the relationship that had been put right under his nose. It explained so much, he wanted to berate himself for missing it. The suddenly Pureblood-like behavior, the coldness with which she now regarded him and her former Head of House, who was a known associate of his. The incredible prowess in practical classes, where she had only excelled in theory previously, everything came together to paint a picture that he had completely missed until then.

Yet something was still missing from the puzzle. Harry, no matter how much he would like to say otherwise, clearly wasn't an altruistic person, if anything, he was rather selfish and hardly cared about anybody who wasn't his Sekirei, and, perhaps, this Takami woman, though to a lesser degree. Then why would he bother helping an admittedly very intelligent first year, when she had nothing that he wanted and that he didn't have? After all, her intelligence paled compared to his own if he had truly absorbed Voldemort's Horcrux and gotten his NEWTs at eleven. What could she bring him that he didn't…Of course!

"You suspect her of being a spy?" he asked, earning a frown from his Transfiguration Mistress.

"Miss Granger, a spy? Aren't you overthinking things, Severus? While I will freely admit that it seems that Mister Minaka might be her benefactor, why would she be a spy? She could simply have returned to Hogwarts to finish her magical education," huffed the Scottish witch.

"After what happened to her? I find that idea very unlikely. While she is undoubtedly a brilliant student, she wouldn't return here if she felt it wasn't safe, or the best school for her to learn magic. With Beauxbatons being easy to reach by Portkey and their policy to accept everyone willing to learn, I find it suspicious that she would return here when she could as well have gone to France to study," grunted the greasy-haired Potions Master, "I know that if I had been attacked by a troll in what was supposed to be a safe school, I would not want to return there if I had other options available."

"I happen to agree with you, Severus. Given the unfortunate event that cost Miss Granger her legs, I doubt that she would return here willingly, since as you said Beauxbatons would be more appealing to her. It is likely that Harry, after offering her the means by which she had her legs healed, told her that in exchange she was to enroll back in Hogwarts. The question is, what did he want her to spy on? Or who?" mused the Headmaster, trailing his fingers through his beard thoughtfully. He had a few ideas as to what Harry wanted to keep an eye on, and if he was right, then he had severely underestimated both the grudge the teen held against him, and his cunning.

However, their musings were interrupted when the door to his office was banged open, and a very angry Potter couple strolled inside. Lily was holding what appeared to be a folder in her hands, which were trembling with rage, while James looked positively murderous, his fingers twitching as if itching to grab his wand and start cursing people.

"Lily? James? Wha-" started McGonagall, only to be ignored as the couple finally reached Dumbledore's desk, the file in Lily's hands being violently thrown against the venerable piece of furniture.

"Explain. NOW," growled the redheaded witch, her magic spiking in fury.

Quickly composing himself, Dumbledore peered at the folder on his desk, a folder with the annotation Medical File of Harry James Potter, age 7. As he made to reach for it, he was interrupted by Lily, who was almost snarling with anger, her green orbs glaring at the old man with nothing but loathing and scorn.

"Don't. Now explain to us why our son was tortured by the very people you put him with, claiming he was safe. And no bullshit, Dumbledore, not now. We're well aware that you had to have placed wards around the house, and unless you want to claim you are going senile, you cannot deny that you had means to keep an eye on his physical and emotional state."

"Tortured? I assure you-"

The window behind his desk was suddenly broken, Lily's hex having barely missed his face.

"LILY! WHAT ARE YOU-"

"Minnie, quiet please," all but demanded James, his eyes not leaving the old wizard sat behind his desk. This was enough to have the Scottish witch close her mouth, since James very rarely bothered to be serious, and when he did, it was usually because the matter was very important to him.

"This," seethed Lily, "is the medical file compiled when my son was adopted. It has photos of his state, as well as an extensive analysis of his wounds, ailments, overall mental state, and the theorized reasons behind each of them. The people who were supposed to keep Harry safe, my own blood, treated him worse than the Nazis treated the Jews during the Third Reich in the concentration camps.

Now, what I would be very interested to hear about, is how you could have missed this, given the fact that you likely had wards surrounding the house to prevent people from finding Harry. Surely you at least thought to add a few monitoring wards to keep an eye on our son? On the Boy-Who-Lived? Or were you too busy to even bother with basic security? I AM WAITING, ALBUS DUMBLEDORE!"

"I assure you, Lily, Harry was perfectly safe with your sister. I do not…MERLIN ABOVE!" gasped the aged wizard upon opening the file.

Countless photographs spilled from the folder, each one damning evidence of the hellish treatment Harry had been subjected to when under the Dursleys care. Photos of his back and the scar tissue covering it were mixed with x-rays showing the damage done to his skeleton, close-ups of each scar with annotations about what could have caused the damage sat next to general plans showing larger portions of his body. Each and every one painted the tragic tale of what had happened to the child on the photos during his formative years, hollow green eyes staring dully ahead as Harry was photographed.

While Dumbledore paled as he examined the contents of the folder, his Transfiguration Mistress and Potions Master walked over to see what could have so badly rattled the Leader of the Light. As soon as they glimpsed the contents of the photograph, however, they each paled, though in Snape's case it was only a little, given his experience with far more gruesome scenes.

"As you can see," sneered Lily, "I highly doubt that my son was safe given the amount of damage done to him, and I would very much like to know why you didn't seem even aware of this!

We trusted you with our son, you old bastard, trusted you'd keep him safe! But you not only lost all traces of him for over four years, but you weren't even aware that he would have died if this kind of treatment had continued! What do you have to say for that? What excuse do you have for almost allowing the death of a child?!"

Albus' mind was reeling. While he had been aware of Petunia's grudge against Lily, and against pretty much anything magical, he had made sure to check before leaving Harry with the Dursleys that they wouldn't go too far with their nephew. He had needed Harry to be humble, craving for attention, and he had been certain that having his family ignoring him or scorning him would have been more than enough for the child to develop the mindset required for him to eventually become the martyr he was destined to be. He had not excluded some physical roughhousing, but he had expected at most a few slaps here and there, nothing too bad, not…this. He didn't understand! The protections he had woven around the house were perfect, flawless and would have alerted him the moment Harry's life was in danger, yet he remembered no such warning.

And the Blood Wards…Those would have collapsed long ago had there been no love between the Dursleys and Harry, and he would have definitively noticed that!

His musings were interrupted by a loud growl, Lily looking moments away from physically attacking him.

"So? I am waiting, Dumbledore!"

"Lily, I…"

What could he say? What could he say? That he had been so confident in his wards that he had not considered the possibility that Harry was being abused? That he had been willing to turn a blind eye to the lesser abuse, because he needed Harry to be ready for his grooming once he came to Hogwarts? That he had trusted Blood Wards, forbidden magic, to keep the boy safe until he went to fetch him, and might have actually made a mistake? No matter the answer he gave, Lily would be calling for his blood, and he couldn't afford that! He needed to stay at Hogwarts, to keep at least that position, to be able to mold Harry in the Savior they needed, to influence the children so that they would turn to the Light!

Fortunately, he had spent decades lying and manipulating people, such were the requirements of any political position, and he quickly decided to allow himself to take some of the blame, since it was clear would accept nothing less. Better to accept the lesser evil and admit to his lesser faults than have the Potters finding out his plans for the Greater Good.

Taking off his glasses and rubbing his eyes, he sagged his shoulders, adapting his body posture to one belonging to a defeated man, which wasn't that hard. He was indeed quite shocked by what he had seen, and nothing on his part would be enough to justify what Harry had gone through. Setting someone to have an unhappy childhood was one thing, having a child tortured was another entirely, and he once more felt the weight of his years on his shoulders. This was the last in a series of mistakes that would haunt him until he died, and the only thing he could do to atone was to make sure that it had not been in vain. Harry Potter would defeat Voldemort, he would make sure of that. And once it was done, he would accept whatever punishment would befall him for his actions, in this life as well as in the next grand adventure.

"I…don't know what to say. When I left Harry with your sister, I made sure to stress the importance of raising him right, of taking care of him, and Petunia didn't seem to be the kind of woman to treat a child of her own blood wrong. Not to mention that I made absolutely certain that Harry would be safe there. As you said, I did put wards around the house to make sure nobody would be able to find Harry, least his enemies find him, and I also put wards that would monitor his health. I do not understand how they could have missed such a thing, and before you suggest the idea, I double-checked the wards before leaving Harry there, so no, I most certainly did not make a mistake while casting them.

The only other possibility is that despite my efforts, someone found out where Harry was, and modified the wards in such a way that I would not be alerted should something like…this, happen."

It was mostly the truth. He had put wards around the house to monitor Harry's state, and he certainly wouldn't have allowed things to go this far had he been aware of the treatment the boy received from his family. The fact that he was also certain of how well-protected the house was, was also true, as it wouldn't have done to have Harry die by accident, or to have someone aware of who he was, find him and take him from the Dursleys. However, he had lied when he told them he thought someone might have altered his wards, even if it was a possibility. No, he knew more than most how complex warding was, and it was very possible that the Blood Wards had altered his own protection over time, since Blood Magic, while powerful, was also very finicky. Of course, he couldn't say that, if he had admitted to using Blood Magic, he would lose whatever little he had managed to salvage from the scandal of Harry's disappearance, and people who stop listening to him. For the Greater Good, that could not be allowed.

"You think someone knew where Harry was?" growled Lily, looking at him suspiciously. It was obvious to him that with all his mistakes, the Potter matriarch had a healthy dose of suspicion for anything that came out of his mouth, but with no proof there would be little she could base herself on to make accusations.

"No protection is perfect, Lily, you know that more than most. All it would take was one of Voldemort's followers finding out where Harry was, and it is entirely possible that they would modify the wards, or have someone do it for them. Remember that many of His followers went free after the war, many of them would hold a grudge against your son, and what better way to get their revenge than to have him killed by the very people he lived with?

I will not deny that I should have been more vigilant, and for that you have my deepest apologies, but what happened to Harry was a tragedy clearly orchestrated by someone who held ill will towards your son. Unless you have a reason to believe your sister would allow such harm to befall Harry, that is?"

He knew very well that such was not the case. Petunia, when he had last seen her, had been quite the harpy, but nowhere near as heartless as to allow a child to be abused in her own home, not even her nephew. What mattered was that he shifted the blame on someone else, without having the Potters suspect anything about the Blood Wards set up around the house. Even if they did suspect something, given that Harry hadn't lived there for over seven years, the wards had already faded into nothing, without anything left to be tied to him. The only way for someone to prove that he had used Blood Magic was if someone had indeed noticed the wards when they had still been there, and it would be their words against his own.

Suspicious green eyes peered down into his, full of anger and scorn. He could tell that Lily was barely refraining from cursing him six ways to Sunday, and that only the fact that she couldn't be sure that he was lying prevented her from doing so. Nonetheless, if he had had any doubt that the Potters would fight his plans for their son every step of the way, now he had all the confirmation needed. Lily would never allow her son to be manipulated, even if he did manage to sway James to his view, which meant that when he would need to call the Order once more, they could not be made aware of what he had planned for Harry.

"Be glad, Dumbledore, that I can't prove you wrong. Be very glad, because otherwise you would be fighting for your life. Do not take me for a fool, headmaster, because I am everything but. It seems awfully convenient to me that someone would just so happen to find out about Harry, even with protection created by someone rumored to know more magic that any other single wizard.

I will be keeping an eye on you, Dumbledore, and at the first sign of something I don't approve of, this file will find its way to the Prophet and the Board of Governors. So tread carefully around my son. I lost him once because of your negligence, it won't happen again."

With that, she turned her back to him and marched out of the office, followed closely by her husband.

He had never been gladder for what remained of his influence than he had been now. Had he been anyone else, he'd have been booted out of the castle already. But Lily knew that he still counted a lot of supporters, and that if she had him removed, which would happen if she was serious, it would be after a long struggle that would likely see someone even less interested in the well-being of her son as headmaster. Lucius Malfoy had made no mystery that he had his eye on the job, and that man was not Headmaster material, even Lily could see that, which was probably the reason why she had not already sent the file to the Prophet.

-Break-

Severus Snape was not a nice person; he was the first to recognize that. He was hateful, bitter, and hated pretty much everyone, save for a few souls that he could tolerate because they understood him enough to leave him his space. Very rarely did he admit, even to himself, that he was wrong, one such occurrence was when he realized how he had pushed Lily, his first and only love, away from him in a moment of weakness. It had led her directly in the arms of that idiot of James Potter, Dumbledore's Golden Boy. While he could admit that the man was more mature now than when he was a child, the way he treated his daughter was a clear proof that at heart he was still the anti-Slytherin idiot he had met when arriving at Hogwarts.

Now though, comfortably sat in his office's armchair and sipping on a glass of Firewhiskey, he was contemplating what he had learnt earlier that day about Harry Potter. He had been ready to hate the boy, after all the brat had made it easy, with his arrogant attitude and the way he strutted around, as if he was better than everyone else. Even going so far as to parade his harem with him, the nerve!

At least that had been how he saw things, until he had seen the folder. What he had seen…it topped quite a lot of things he had seen in his tenure as a Death Eater. Most of them hardly had any imagination, happy to use the Cruciatus and psychological torture when they had the time to, but that, that had been the systematic destruction of everything about Harry Potter. The boy hadn't even had the chance to experience life before he was utterly crushed by hateful people. As an abused child himself, he empathized with those few whose families didn't tolerate their gift, and any of them that he found in his house, he made sure to have them moved to more suitable families. He himself hadn't been among the worst cases of abuse he had seen, after all his father had been violent mostly when he was drunk, and his mother had done her very best to take the brunt of the man's anger. But Potter…Or Minaka, he supposed, since it was how he wanted to be called, he had nobody. No one had been there to save him from his little Hell, and he had endured seven long years of suffering before being free, that is with such impressive mental scars that it was pretty much assured he'd never be considered mentally stable.

Perhaps he ought to be more open-minded about the boy. From the looks of it, he loathed Dumbledore and saw his attempts at control as nothing more than annoyances, when most people fell for such manipulations easily. And he was rather tired of being forced to teach brats, he'd much rather spend his time researching new Potions than teach dunderheads how to make Boil Cure Potions. Maybe he could use the boy for his own purposes, provided of course that he himself had something to offer in return. He was not foolish enough to try and manipulate someone who by the looks of it, had the power necessary to back up his threats, not to mention that the plan to use Granger as a spy had been brilliant, worthy of the best of Slytherin. He had a healthy respect for people who were not mere muscleheads hiding behind their personal power, be it magical or political, and something told him that the Boy-Who-Lived was someone you did not want as an enemy.

And even if he couldn't get anything out of the boy himself, well if he at least managed to form a cordial relationship with him, it was something he'd be able to lord over Potter, and speak about with Lily. Even if he knew he had no chance to ever be with his first love, it didn't stop him to want to be able to speak with her about something other than the students or her family. He even went as far as to keep an eye on her daughter, just in case, since he was well aware of the "traditions" of Slytherin House, traditions that he couldn't stop lest he wanted his cover as a spy blown. It didn't mean that he couldn't prevent things from spiraling out of control though, and he had managed to keep things relatively reasonable, given the situation that is. No girl below fourth year was to be involved, and no female student before sixth year was to be forced into intercourse, which was already not too bad given that things could have been much worse.

Harry's arrival was going to change a lot of things, of that much he was sure. Now the question was, did he want to be a part of that change or did he want to stay chained to a dreary castle, following the orders of a delusional old fool while teaching brats?

The answer was obvious.

-Break-

In a plane heading for the United Kingdom, a silver-haired man was comfortably seated in an armchair, slowly polishing his blade and inspecting it carefully in case of defects that would need correction. Sekirei number 05, Mutsu, member of the first iteration of the Discipline Squad, was feeling quite restless, for he knew than in only a few hours, he would be meeting his Ashikabi, a girl named Hermione. A girl who happened to be an honest to Kami witch.

Of course, given what I am, I can hardly call bullshit, he mused.

He had tried to find her himself, at first, only to fail miserably as his reaction led him deep into the mountains of Japan, to an empty valley without a single person living there. Worse, his reaction had mostly subsided after about two months, leaving him very aware that he knew who his Ashikabi was, but that she likely had left the country. It had been repeated the following year, leaving him tearing his hair out trying to find her, before he caught a glimpse of someone else in his dreams, someone whom he was very aware of: the Black Sekirei's Ashikabi himself, Harry Minaka.

He was not stupid, and thus had opted to not ask the boy himself, instead going to Takami, who had only stared at him dully for a moment before muttering something about Harry's tendency to attract trouble and giving him the basic rundown of the current situation. He was now perfectly aware that he was heading into a nest of highly venomous and treasonous snakes, but it was for his Ashikabi, so he would endure. Not to mention that Hermione seemed highly resourceful after her training with Minaka's adopted son, who was there himself, and who was clearly a force to be reckoned with himself.

Sighing, he sheathed his sword and opted to try sleeping a bit, as dealing with the drama bound to happen when he showed up would likely drain him quite a bit.

And here we go! You might wonder why Lily and James allow Dumbledore to stay Headmaster, given what they've found out about their son, but remember that in their world, it's often that you have to choose between the lesser of two evils. Either Dumbledore stays, or the odds of them getting a Death Eater headmaster are high.

Reviews and constructive criticism are welcome, flames are not.