Chapter 20 - Close Encounters of the Strange Kind

During the last week of June and start of July, Harry was due to spend time at the Weasleys. They had invited Hermione over too when Harry had mentioned that the first date they wanted he was already booked to spend time with her. That had surprised both of them, but Hermione agreed. "I've heard from Luna that her friend Ginny lives in a delightfully strange home, and I've been curious ever since."

The pair took the Floo from the Leaky Cauldron to the Rookery, the Lovegood home, where Luna and her father Xenophilius Lovegood were waiting. Luna gave both her friends big hugs, copied from Hermione's style, and Xeno gave some small talk peppered with some flavour from the Quibbler, the magazine he published. Luna just smiled; this was what her father did with people he liked and she was glad they had his approval.

For their part, Harry and Hermione were polite and friendly, though neither believed in the 'alternative' ideas his magazine touted, since this was the man's own home. Xeno smiled at the pair. At some level in his mind, he knew he was broken. He had been ever since his wife died. It was just easier for him to play up his eccentricities where he could lose himself in the idea that she was alright somewhere, than to face the cold world without her. As much as he loved his daughter, he wasn't strong enough to cope without Selene. The best he could do was keep publishing, give his daughter all the love he knew how, and hope she managed to have a better life than he did.

After tea with the Lovegoods, they saw their guests off to the edge of the property, Harry and Hermione walking hand in hand following their directions to the Weasley home known as the Burrow. Harry had wanted to visit Luna again anyway, but for him the truth was he didn't want to take the Floo to a new destination. He'd rather approach it normally so he knew his surroundings.

"Harry, thank you for suggesting we go this way. It's a lovely day for a walk." The path they were taking was fairly roundabout, avoiding the village entirely as the walked through the countryside. At last, they came into sight of the oddest home either of them had ever seen, including the Lovegood's own which was shaped like a giant rook. That, at the very least, was architecturally sound.

"That... what is that place?" Both had stopped, stunned at the sight.

The Burrow looked for all the world like someone had just piled on rooms without any consideration for gravity or safety. Since the family had raised seven kids in the place, it couldn't have been as unstable as it looked, but what had started as a modest Tudor home had been added to with the oddest collection of building materials and styles, almost like some kids had just added whatever was handy and glued it all together. Certainly no other explanation suggested itself for a single home having four or five chimneys on its roof, or why it hadn't been built horizontally rather than vertically. From what Harry had been able to discover, the Weasleys had plenty of land for building a single-storey home big enough for their family, heck just from what he could see they had room to build it, if they couldn't do the expansion charms like the Patils.

"Well, let's get going, Harry. I don't intend to be late for anything, you know."

"Yes, I do know, Hermione." A quick hug and a smile, and they walked up to the home, calling out ahead of themselves as their friends had taught them was proper. "Hello, the Burrow."

Arthur and Molly Weasley, parents of the brood, came out followed by five of their seven children, from oldest to youngest, Percy, Fred, George, Ron and finally Ginny, who looked like she wanted to hide behind her father.

"Welcome, welcome, you must be Harry Potter! And Miss Granger, too! I hear your parents are -" Whatever Arthur was going to say, Molly cut him off hissing, "None of that now, Arthur! They just got here." She turned back to the guests, "Come on in, dears, come along now."

The interior of the place was much more comfortable than the outside to the pair, with a cosy and lived in feel and a jumbled and cluttered array of furniture and trappings. While it wasn't as neat as either Harry or Hermione would prefer for their own homes, they could easily get used to the ease of the place, and wouldn't dream of insulting their hosts.

Even though they'd just eaten a sandwich with the Lovegoods, Molly insisted on preparing lunch for all of them right away. Ron was the happiest about that, of course, given his infamously voracious appetite, but they went along with her.

Arthur introduced his kids one by one, something that was surprisingly useful despite going to school with them all. Percy puffed up like a peacock when Molly called out praise of his grades from the kitchen, but otherwise the boy was more bearable than he was at school with his Prefect badge.

Fred and George looked tired but mischievous as ever, Harry was glad they hadn't yet found a way to remove the tiny markers he'd made on each to help him distinguish them as they truly were good at confusing that issue. He wondered if the boys themselves had yet noticed the extra freckles on their face each in a pattern he'd chosen.

Ron was looking proud of himself, too. Harry remembered that the boy had boasted that Ravenclaw were lucky the match was cancelled or he'd have shown them how well a Weasley can play. Having watched all the matches, Harry disagreed on just who was lucky, but he admitted to himself that he could be biased since Cho was a good friend.

Lastly, Ginny was introduced. She was in a dress that looked newer than the clothes her brothers wore, one that made Harry hope there were some Cooling Charms on it given how much material and how warm the day would be. Her long mane of Weasley red hair had been brushed and arranged in a style that had been fashionable in the Wizarding World around the time Molly was in Hogwarts. Despite that, it didn't look terrible on her, or it wouldn't if she wasn't blushing as red as her hair.

"Thank you for inviting us, sir." Harry said.

"Nonsense, nonsense, how could we not after all we owe you, Harry. Take a seat, please!" Harry noticed that he hadn't specifically invited Hermione to sit, too, but the friendly expression conveyed that message well enough, and they elected to take spots side by side.

"Now, I hope you can tell me more about what was going on. I love my sons, but even the best letter would be nothing compared to being there." Arthur had an encouraging smile. He dearly wanted to know just what was going on at the school.

"Well, it started on Halloween. At the time, all we knew was someone had 'Petrified' the caretaker's cat, turning it stone hard and all but dead. Rumours spread like mad for a week, quite a few students believing that the twins were responsible given, ah, an interesting mutual history, I suppose."

Harry then re-told substantially the same story he'd told Dumbledore and the others, downplaying his discovery of the legendary Chamber as a happy accident, and his destruction of the diary freeing Ginny as another accident, the result of a lucky dodge while Harry carried her out of there.

Hermione watched as Harry had all the Weasleys spellbound, though not quite literally. While she wasn't as cynical as Harry could be, she did find it worrying that Hogwarts taught eleven year olds spells designed for immobilising people, even one for breaking and entering that was even called the Thief's Friend. She settled back in to listen to Harry's captivating story. She smiled, thinking he'd be great to tell bedtime stories, then her mind drifted to him telling them to her children, and then to what they would do to get those children, and groaned as quietly as she could. 'Ruddy hormones!' She complained to herself, 'Yes, Harry is yummy, and adorable, and oh his eyes and- Focus! This is not the time to dream about Harry like that.' Taking a deep breath as unobtrusively as she could, she managed to listen to Harry again.

Harry was just starting the description of the fabled Chamber of Secrets, one eye on Ginny's reactions. He hadn't really spoken too much more to the girl, both because of her shyness to him specifically and because he sensed she wasn't ready to talk about her experiences.

The poor girl flinched when Harry mentioned the enchanted diary, and a second later they found out why. "Ginny! Haven't I taught you anything? What have I always told you? Never trust anything that can think for itself if you can't see where it keeps its brain."

Ginny looked about to burst into tears, and Harry couldn't keep silent. "Excuse me, Mr Weasley, but she cannot follow that. There are enchanted paintings in the castle that seem to think for themselves, one of which she must trust to guard her as she sleeps in Gryffindor House. You certainly can't see where they keep their brains! Was there any call to humiliate her in public like this? She knows what she did was dangerous, she's the one that nearly died because of it. And lastly, sir, you completely interrupted my story while I am a guest in your home, after specifically asking to hear it."

Though Arthur to his credit had been getting more thoughtful and at the end was ashamed of being so rude to an honoured guest, Molly showed her temper here. "Now see here, I will not be spoken to in my own home like that."

"Mrs Weasley, I did not speak to you like that. And I will not sit idle while the girl I rescued from certain death is yelled at for something that wasn't her fault. Headmaster Dumbledore examined the diary in question and pronounced that your daughter should be given a second chance. Hasn't Ginny suffered enough already?" Harry hated it but Dumbledore's authority was useful.

Arthur saw his wife building up more and managed to cut in ahead of her. "Yes, Harry, I'm afraid I let my fear get the better of me." The firm grip he had on Molly's arm was the only thing restraining her until she calmed down.

"Please, go on with the story, and I won't interrupt again."

He was as good as his word, and shortly they were again deep into the tale which Harry spun out a little longer. Hermione really enjoyed this time, taking the excuse to clutch onto him during the scary parts, idly noting that while a twelve year old boy doing what he described was impressive, the real events had been even more glorious.

After he had concluded his tale, he managed to ask a question that he'd wondered for months now. "So where on Earth would Ginny have gotten it in the first place?"

"I... I found it in with my schoolbooks, Dad, after we got home from shopping. It was in the middle of my copy of the Transfiguration textbook. At first, I ignored it, it was just a blank book, but one of the days when my brothers were busy ignoring me, I got bored and tried to write in it. It wrote back, which scared me, but all it said was 'Hello', nothing threatening. I left it alone again, until I had nothing else to do and no one to talk to, and wrote more. He was really friendly, talked to me about, um, things, and listened to me, when no one else was there for me."

Harry saw Arthur was feeling guilty for his outburst, "So that answers where you found it, but now the question becomes, how did it get into there. I'm thinking either it came like that, which seems silly, or someone put it there."

Molly was still angry, only now the focus shifted from Harry to Arthur. "You silly man, it was your fighting with that Malfoy, I just know it was. He picked up one of poor Ginny's books and insulted you as he gave it to you, too."

Hermione hugged Harry a little closer, trying to remind him not to intervene again since she didn't want him hurt. Harry squeezed her back, acknowledging her request. They watched as Arthur just took it without complaint, then told the pair. "Molly is right, Lucius Malfoy did pick up her book, so he had a small opportunity. Unfortunately, that doesn't prove anything. Certainly not to the Ministry."

Harry nodded, he already knew that much from talks with Amelia Bones, and he'd passed on what he could of that to his girls.

"Now! Enough of all that. Everyone to the table, now." Molly was determined to get them eating, and Harry found that his earlier speculation about Hogwarts food had more evidence. The lunch was filling and there was a lot of it, but it wasn't very good. He and Hermione ate what they were given, of course, but were more relieved than anything else when the meal was over.

After lunch, Molly started handing out chores to everyone including to Harry and Hermione, pairing Harry with Ginny and Hermione with Ron on the pretext of them being able to show them around. Ron had improved since his disastrous first year, but he was still very much a young boy emotionally. It didn't take long until he was yelling at Hermione for being a know-it-all, and Harry was there in an instant.

"Is there a problem, Ronald Weasley?" Harry had an arm around Hermione who was taking comfort from his support.

"Yeah, she was telling me a better way to sweep up. I've been doing it for years!"

"Well, you were sweeping it into me! All I asked was for you to sweep it out towards the door, instead."

Molly arrived then, "Harry, why aren't you with Ginny? Go on, now."

"No, thank you, Mrs Weasley. Your son was yelling at my girlfriend for no good reason. I will remain until he apologises to her, then she and I will both leave Ron."

"Ronald Weasley-"

Ron took a deep breath, intellectually he knew he shouldn't have done it, but his temper got the better of him again. He was only just holding on now rather than yelling about how unfair it all was. 'I could have rescued Ginny if I'd had the chance!' He realised as soon as he thought it how wrong that was. He'd have had to face a basilisk to get her back, and Ron then recalled that Harry had broken rules and risked his life to save his sister, something Ron should have tried. Guilt washed over him, and he nodded.

"Miss Hermione Granger, I apologise for losing my temper earlier with you. I was angry at myself when you spoke and I took it out on you instead. I'm sorry."

Hermione was shocked, this was the first time she'd ever seen him give an actual apology. For his part, Harry was only slightly less shocked. Sure, the boy had come to his senses with the pranking, but he'd not been this mature before. It was a good surprise.

"I accept your apology. And Ron, thank you."

He blushed and nodded, then walked away before his mother could embarrass him any further. He just knew if he stayed, she would say something, and if he went anywhere but to his chores, he'd get in trouble for that. In the end, it was easier just to finish the sweeping.

Harry held back a sigh. Sure, he'd have gotten in trouble at being so rude, but Ron did just do the right thing and he didn't want to cause more problems. "Let's go, Hermione. De-gnoming the garden may be just the thing for you."

Hermione was a little confused as she followed him, then got upset that they were supposed to throw sentient creatures around until Ginny pointed out that they were coming back and smiling. Swinging and throwing the little potato-like creatures turned out to be a good stress relief after the episode, and while they were doing it, Ginny was almost able to talk normally to Harry.

The twins, Fred and George, were holed up in their room doing their own thing. After the rumours he'd created about the pair during their third year, they had tried to avoid each other but that barely lasted a day before they were off again, planning pranks again though without the Map.

After dinner, Fred and George asked to speak to Harry, thanking him for saving their sister. They were studying hard for once, and over the holidays to boot.

Fred opened the dialogue in usual fashion for the twins. "We'd spend more time-"

"-with you, Harry, but -"

"we really don't want to fail our make up exams!" Fred finished.

"Okay, Fred, that's fine. Having to spend an extra year with Snape would be murder for any Gryffindor, let alone you two."

"Oi, I'm George," Fred protested.

"No, you're not, Fred."

"Why don't you believe me, ickle 'Arry?"

"George has a G on his face, while you have a F on yours, of course."

"What?!"

"Yep."

"Come on, Harry, we don't have anything on our faces like that. We check whenever we switch for things like that. Not even our own mother can tell us apart."

Harry just smiled. "Good luck with your studies." The letters he mentioned were on their face, or rather the additional freckles created a pattern for them copied from Konoha codes. Each twin had a slightly different shade for these ones, but it took a keen eye to distinguish them and the twins were hampered by the locations. Hermione gave him a curious look on his return, seeing the Terrible Twins were worked up.

With a quick "Later", they settled in for an evening with the red haired family, complete with talking, yelling, fun and games of the wizarding sort, which is to say, crazy and/or dangerous for the most part.

They went to bed early, Harry treating Ron's snoring as 'good training'. He set a clone on watch, put up a barrier around his bed, and slept. His Dad would've grinned, even if Anko-mum chided him for taking the easy route. She would've grinned as she said it, too. They were ninja after all.

He woke with the sun, getting up for his normal run. When he came back into the Burrow, Hermione smiled at him, getting a quick hug before Harry tried to grab a shower. That's when he discovered the perils of leaving it too long to use the bathroom in a house with nine people. Harry sighed, substituting one of his father's jutsu to take care of it. He preferred a real shower when he had the option.

Molly and Arthur were in the kitchen, Arthur reading some notes from work while Molly cooked. Ron was still upstairs and snoring away. Ginny came downstairs, heading over to one of the couches on the other side of Hermione from Harry, chatting away. The poor girl was still prone to getting tongue-tied if Harry spoke, so he was letting his girlfriend do most of the talking, thanking her with a hand giving her a light back-rub.

Molly finished up, putting a stasis spell on each of the plates and coming over, talking with Arthur about his work and keeping an unsubtle eye on the kids. She frowned when she saw Hermione between Harry and her Ginny, but Ginny's eyes begged her not to do anything about it and she relented.

Ron finally woke up, no doubt from smelling breakfast, and yelled about having missed it, stomping around upstairs like a herd of elephants as he tried to get ready in a hurry, charging down the stairs and grinning stupidly in relief when he saw no one else had eaten yet.

"Ronnie, you're just in time for breakfast."

Harry and Hermione shared a look, and then Ginny chuckled. "She says that every morning, too. He still hasn't worked it out. Mum insists that we all eat together, she hates it if any of us try to skip a meal together."

Indeed, Molly was calling down Percy and the twins with a very loud voice, making Hermione wince and Harry narrow his eyes seeing her in pain. Once they were all seated, Molly carried out the food by hand, all the Hogwarts breakfast foods were present, and Molly did a very good imitation of their food. Sadly, that didn't help Harry or Hermione who had both enjoyed real home-cooked meals again. Still, they were at least familiar with the food, which was something.

Over breakfast, Arthur and Molly were telling stories about their days at Hogwarts when an owl arrived with the paper. Arthur opened it up, reading, and Molly kept talking, describing both little things, like who had liked whom at school, and bigger things like how the place had changed since her days.

Molly smiled and leaned back, reminiscing fondly. "Why, I still remember how I got your father's attention, Ginny. He was quite the looker even then, and I'd been flirting with him all through Fifth Year but he never noticed me until I decided to help him out. I saved up and bought some well-preserved Ashwinder eggs by owl order, and they were wonderfully potent, too. When I slipped the finished potion into your father's drink at Friday dinner at the end of the month, well, the wait was worth it. My, such energy!"

Molly was giggling with Ginny but Harry was looking at her with horror. First, he didn't really want to picture Molly and Arthur like that, neither of them were what Harry or regular British would call attractive, but most of all.

"Are you serious, Mrs Weasley?"

"Oh yes, he was vigorous, my Arthur. He still is."

"That wasn't what I meant, I mean, I wouldn't even ask about that. It was the bit about how you got his attention, I believe you said, with some sort of potion."

"Well, yes, of course. It was the easiest way."

"What kind of potion would do that, though?"

"Oh, a love potion. I keep forgetting you weren't raised right in our world. Just an ordinary love potion, nice and fresh."

"But what do they do to the drinker?"

"Well, they make you feel very 'affectionate' about the person they are keyed to. They work well," Molly's reminiscent smile turned a little more lustful and she missed Harry's shocked expression. Hermione was still just interested in the concept, she hadn't yet applied the knowledge like Harry had.

"What about if the drinker doesn't want that?"

"What does that matter?"

"You're talking about magically compelling someone to do something against their will."

"Yes, but this works better than Compulsion Charms since it only does one specific effect."

"And this is legal?"

"Naturally, Harry. I wouldn't be talking about doing something criminal like the Imperius!"

"This is just the same. That's Harry's point, right?" Hermione injected.

"Exactly, it's forcing someone into something they wouldn't normally want."

"Oh, nonsense, Harry, they're harmless. If they weren't, the Ministry would have banned them, wouldn't they. Now, let's have an end to it, this morning, Harry and Ginny will be going-"

Harry's phone rang, a new smaller model and more expensive for it. "Excuse me, please, Mrs Weasley." Harry headed off to answer it. "Yes, I'm here. What? What happened? Are they ok? Ok, I'll get her and we'll be going. Yes, I understand. Thanks, Dad."

"Excuse me, Mr and Mrs Weasley, that was my family. Something has come up and we are needed as soon as we can get back to London. May we use your Floo?"

Arthur nodded, "Of course, Harry, I hope that you will be able to return for dinner?"

"I'm sorry, I don't think we will, Mr Weasley. We'll have to pack up, too." Harry sighed like it was a problem, catching Hermione's secret smile. "Thank you for your hospitality, sir. I'm sorry we have to go like this."

"Oh, it's no problem, Harry, now go, I won't keep you longer." Arthur smiled at the polite boy.

"Thank you!" Harry dashed upstairs, quickly packing his gear in a minute, and helping Hermione when she asked.

"Is someone hurt, Harry?"

"No, Hermione, we just have to get going."

"Ok, Harry, but I don't want to wait too long, you know." They shared a smile, neither enjoyed being kept in the dark.

They were back downstairs soon enough, and heard as Ginny asked if she could go with them to say goodbye. Arthur had already crumbled as soon as she looked at him. "Alright, Ginny, as long as you're not a bother."

"I promise, Dad."

"And don't do anything unsafe." Arthur added.

"I know, Dad."

Harry and Hermione entered the living room at that moment, "I happened to overhear that, and it's fine by me."

Hermione nodded, "Me too."

"Oh thank you. Can we go?"

Hermione shook her head, "Just a minute, Ginny." They said their goodbyes to the rest of the Weasleys before Harry clearly called out "The Leaky Cauldron!" and stepped through the green flames. Harry still hated the spinning sensations every time, and the fire still tried to shoot him out like a cannonball, but he managed to land just as gracefully as ever.

A couple of the patrons were startled as Harry appeared spinning like a ballet dancer and one or two started to applaud before they realised no one else was joining in.

Hermione followed a few seconds later, then Ginny arrived as Harry was wiping soot off Hermione's clothes.

"Are you allowed to come with us to the other side, Ginny, or are we leaving you here?"

"Oh, I'd love to come with you, Harry." They walked out, Ginny at the rear, and she clutched the back of Harry's shirt at seeing all the people.

They headed to Leicester Square nearby the station at Harry's urging. "We've got the time." was all he said until they got there.

Once they sat down, Harry looked around. "Ok, we can talk here. I'm sorry for the subterfuge, Hermione and Ginny, but there was no emergency. My family didn't actually call me. I still had to leave though, and make sure Hermione left with me."

"But why, Harry, why do it that way."

"I was worried about what would happen to us if we stayed. Ginny, there's no good way to say this, I'm sorry, but I cannot trust your mother with my food and drink, and if we stayed I'd be worried about her trying something else to get what she wants."

"What do you mean?" Hermione was only slightly faster to ask this than Ginny.

"She thought there was nothing wrong with giving a love potion to someone. It was legal, therefore it was okay. Well, it's not okay. Using a love potion on someone to get what you want is evil, stealing away their free will, stealing control over their own body."

Ginny started shaking, and Harry took her hands in his. "I'm sorry, Ginny, I know that it's painful for you to be reminded of the diary, of Riddle, but that's just what this is all about. Using a potion, or a 'harmless' Confundus Charm, is saying that the victim doesn't deserve things like freedom of choice or privacy. In modern Britain, that kind of thing is illegal for a reason. I'm shocked that anyone from a 'Light' family would go along with such evil."

"But, but Mum always said it was romantic." Ginny said weakly, sounding preposterous to even her own ears.

"Maybe she believes that, but that doesn't make her right. Was Riddle right to use magic to use your body?" Harry countered gently.

"No!"

"Of course not. Would it be okay if he'd used a potion instead of a diary to force you into doing those things?"

"No..."

"Then why would it be okay for anyone else?"

"It wouldn't?"

"Exactly, Ginny," Harry smiled reassuringly. "It would have been different if she had gotten Arthur's permission - maybe he was too nervous to approach her without a little help - but she told us she just slipped it into his drink. That's why I can't trust any food or drink she serves me or any of my friends. How would I know that she hasn't altered it like she altered your dad's?"

Ginny was crying quietly. Hermione gave her a hug while Harry just held one hand, waiting.

"Ginny?" She looked up. "We don't hate you, you know. We both know this isn't your fault, but your mum, well, we can't stay under her roof after that. I was afraid she might try something more 'practical' just because she didn't think our opinions matter. How would we know any changes to our feelings were real?

"As it is, I'm going to see if there are ways to detect potions added to food and drink, and make sure my friends are all protected too."

Ginny nodded and Harry went on. "If you want, I could try to help you too, but you'd have to want my help first." He gave a lopsided smile. "I'd be a right prat if I tried to force it on you after all my talk, wouldn't I?"

"Harry!" Hermione scolded suddenly, almost causing Ginny to jump.

"Sorry, I had to lighten the mood, or at least try," Harry said, obviously not actually sorry. "Anyway, Ginny, you've got some thinking to do. Do you want to be my friend? I can't be friends without some trust, and I couldn't trust someone if I'm having to be on guard against them putting those kinds of potions in my drinks, or casting spells at me, that would force me to do something I don't want. I hope you'll choose to be someone I can trust, but it has to be up to you."

"Ok, Harry," the little redhead sighed, "I have to go. They're waiting for me, you know. Can I write to you?"

They each nodded in turn, getting a watery smile from Ginny.

She gave him an impulsive hug goodbye then ran off blushing after giving one to Hermione too, who had been looking on with her best neutral look, though it was easy for Harry to see she was slightly amused by the girls behaviour.

Harry took a seat with Hermione on the grass and slipping an arm around her. There, he took stock of his thoughts before opening his mouth. "Hermione, thank you for trusting me. I'm sorry that I told a white lie."

"But why so urgently, Harry?"

"Molly was already trying to split us up, pairing me with her daughter and you with Ron of all people. As bad as that idea was, it wasn't going to work, so while I was annoyed at her putting her guests to work, well, a little work wouldn't hurt me.

"But after she told us that 'funny story' about her casually abusing Arthur like she did, dosing his food and taking advantage of him like that, I couldn't trust that she wouldn't do something similar to us. She's already proven other people's feelings don't matter to her. Getting her daughter 'together' with the Boy-Who-Lived would be a great social coup, and all it would cost her were some potions ingredients, some time, and stealing away my free will.

"Maybe it's just paranoia, but I couldn't take the risk that she might tamper with my emotions like that. And if she would do it to me, then she'd have to do something to you at the same time to keep you from noticing, and there was Ron, already being pushed towards you.

"I don't want to be forced to stop caring for you, Hermione, and I don't want to lose you. Even if I am afraid I'll muck it all up," Harry added under his breath.

Hermione was able to catch it, and looked into his eyes. "I get afraid of that too. My first friend, my first boyfriend, my first kiss..." She smiled at her Harry, moving in closer.

After a tighter than usual hug and kiss held for quite a while, Hermione came up for air. "Harry, thank you. I've read enough that I know what you're afraid could have happened. While I wouldn't say she would do something like that, I'm glad you were able to get us out of there. You're right, I would have been worried too, and now we will have to look out for that at school, too.

"Oh, I don't think Ginny would do it, I'm certain she wouldn't know how to brew one herself, and I can't see her getting someone to do it for her, that doesn't mean someone else wouldn't try to get a potion into one of us." Hermione did her best to soothe him. That led to more kisses after she asked if he could keep anyone from noticing them and his nod, Hermione climbing on top of him and began kissing him more and more before she got a hold of herself.

They spent a quiet time waiting for her parents to arrive after Harry called home, telling them that they had to cancel their stay with the Weasleys, and Hermione asking if Harry could stay with them again as originally planned. Matt Granger's wishes were never heard on the matter since Athena overheard him discussing it with Liz. Athena immediately showed both her cunning and intelligence by using all the cuteness at her disposal while reasoning as best she could that since they'd already given permission once, they had no reason not to give it again.

Liz smiled to herself. She knew her husband could have withstood one or the other, but to use both gave him no chance at all. Besides, she was perfectly happy to have the young man over again. Any time he came over, he was liable to cook for them, and that was always to be encouraged. That he was a handsome boy devoted to her daughter who made her so happy was the real reason, of course, but a break from the kitchen was always wonderful, and Harry's cooking was delightful.

The drive to Leicester Square took longer than they liked, but honestly was quicker than they expected. When they got there, they saw Harry and Hermione sitting side by side, just waving at them. The kids got up quickly and headed over, putting their bags in the boot then getting in, sighing as they adjusted to the cooler air inside the car.

"Okay, we're here, honey. Tell us what happened that made you both cancel." Liz watched the kids, her daughter especially, as they took it in turns describing the visit.

"First, we took the Floo to the home of our friend Luna..." Hermione continued on, explaining what had happened with occasional input from Harry.

"Anyway, then Mrs Weasley was happily telling the story of when she used a potion on the boy she later married. She said it made him very 'affectionate', and that she enjoyed the results. Her husband was right there as she described how the love potion she slipped into his drink had altered his mind so he had to do it."

Harry added, "I think the worst bit is that everyone says their family have been in the Light for generations, and even they didn't see anything wrong with her doing this. She felt that they were alright to use because they were legal, like the Compulsion Charm, but unlike the Imperius Curse which is stronger and isn't blockable by magic. Anyway, I didn't want to risk Hermione in a home where the mother openly admitted to drugging up her husband. Who knows what she might do?"

Matt was glad that he had kept his temper under control, since it meant he noticed that Harry had done exactly what he would've wanted Harry to do, getting his daughter safe. "Thank you Harry for your prompt action. Have any of your other friends shown signs that they would use magic like that?"

"No, Mr Granger -"

"I've told you to call me Matt, Harry."

"I know, Mr Granger, but it wouldn't feel right. And no, none of my friends or their families have given any hint that they'd do that. If they had, well, I wouldn't stay friends with someone who would abuse others." His voice dropped as he continued, "You know my history, so you know why I couldn't accept that."

"Besides, I'm pretty sure the Oaths make it a lot harder for them to try to harm you or anyone else who gave them. The clause against harming each other, I mean. I wouldn't say it's a perfect defence, but it is a good protection for each of us. In short, it makes us all your allies. My parents suggested that to help them trust more." He rolled his eyes. "I would call them paranoid, but they have been betrayed before.

Hermione gave his hand a squeeze, and changed the subject. "So how's my little sister doing?"

Liz smiled, "Athena was fine when we left, in fact she really wanted to come with us. It's only the fact that it would have made it harder for Harry to come back with us that got her to stay at home. The lady next door is watching her until we get back.

"And Harry, you had better watch out. She might not let you out of her sight." She chuckled at the kids' reactions. Hermione looked the most annoyed, then smiled as she obviously recalled that Harry could give Athena what she wanted while Hermione stayed with the real Harry.

Matt noticed that too, and while he would normally be more upset at the idea of his daughters wanting to be alone with a boy, Harry had already saved their daughter's life, multiple times in fact. "Bloody Hogwarts..." He grumbled under his breath. He didn't know that Harry had heard him until he noticed in the rear view mirror that the boy had nodded. There was also the memory of Harry showing that he wouldn't take advantage of his princess, even swearing one of those Oaths about it.

"When we get home, how about a nice comedy to take our minds off of things?" Harry suggested.

"Oh yes, Harry, could you put on a show for my parents?"

"That's right, Hermione mentioned something about this in her letters during the year. She was thrilled when she discovered that it was you doing it. Something about playing movies without any equipment or magic, right? That'd mean it was that chakra stuff, wouldn't it."

Harry smiled at Liz, it was obvious to him that while Mr Granger was intelligent, it was from Mrs Granger that Hermione got her curious nature and tendency to run on. Little Athena had the same, if he wasn't mistaken.

"Yes, Mrs Granger, it is more of that chakra stuff. I shape it and it can display images that I choose. Since I learned some memorisation techniques from my parents, that lets me recall full movies and put them up on something like a movie screen at school. If you like, I would be happy to demonstrate what I did during my stay."

Hermione grinned, wondering if Harry would demonstrate in full, including adding a second illusion so her parents wouldn't see anything wrong. She whispered the question to Harry who just kept himself from grinning. He just smiled and asked her to wait and see. Honestly, he didn't think he would do that to the Grangers, but he didn't want to cause a scene in case they got curious about why Hermione looked disappointed.

That evening, the two couples were cuddling as they watched some old favourites courtesy of Harry's illusions. Matt was holding Liz in front of him, his wife leaning back into his embrace, and looked over to Harry and his daughters. One was sitting up front with Athena, letting her lean on him as they watched Han Solo in the Cantina scene. The other Harry was on the other couch, Hermione leaning away from Matt, cuddling into her boyfriend under a light blanket.

Harry for one was glad the lights were off, since Hermione wasn't paying attention at all to the movie, her right hand roaming over his chest and down lower. He was glad his clones were on guard, ready to warn him, as her hand dipped lower to the waistband of his shorts. He whispered, "You're very bold tonight, my Hermione. Are you sure you want to do that when your parents could find out at any moment?"

Rather than cool her down, her eyes flashed with desire and she gave her answer, hand sliding down to touch him through his clothes. Harry bit his lip to stop any betraying sound, and Hermione took that as a sign to explore this new thrill. Her hand and fingers wandered over him lightly, gently, and she gave a victorious smile when she got him rock hard, whispering, "I've been thinking of you, Harry, so very much."

She settled down after a few minutes, knowing as well as anyone that getting caught would not be a good idea at all, and just held herself close to him, taking his arm and holding it against her, trapping his hand between her thighs and smiling when he let her.

As they said good night following the movie, she added. "I feel safe with you, and I feel excited by you, Harry. When I'm ready for, well, I want it to be you." She gave him a quick hug and practically fled to her room at that, blushing, and Harry stood there stunned before he collected his wits and headed into the bedroom they had set aside for him.

While the real Harry was off at Hermione's, his clones were in various places across Britain. At the Greengrass home, Harry spent more time with his Daphne and her family. The revelation that the clones could cook but didn't need to eat had given Daphne the extra ammunition she needed to get him to stay a lot more. As such, as long as he was willing to help out, he would be allowed to stay almost whenever he liked. Similar reactions occurred with the other families, with the guys glad to hang out more, too.

That meant Harry got to know more of the Slytherin girls better. While Millicent and Pansy were tolerated at best, at the few social occasions that summer where their invitation was a necessity, Sophie Roper and Tracey Davis quickly grew to like and admire the real Harry, not the Boy-Who-Lived, not the ninja-in-training, but just Harry, a fellow student who was able to let down most of his barriers around the girls. The two girls were a little wary around him even after Daphne had vouched for him, showing some Slytherin caution, as he called it, when the ice was broken. Soon enough they just enjoyed being around a boy who didn't think girls were icky or evil.

The Ravenclaws in their expanding group, Cho, Lisa, Sue Li and Luna, had invited him back, playing games and then grinning evilly. "Harry," the four said in unison, "we want in."

"On your secrets, that is." Cho winked at him.

"And we are ready to give our Oaths to you." And that was pretty much that. The revelation that Harry had provided the movies was the cause of a lot of questions, of course, but they managed to wait until the various key events had been shown before they bombarded him. In the end, he created clones and split the girls up so they could each ask whatever they wanted. It was less of a headache that way.

His real surprise was Nymphadora, who had shown up at his home out of the blue on Friday night grinning. When she was invited in, she sprawled on a couch, looking up at him. "So, how's my favourite cousin's harem?"

"Cousin?"

"Well, I forget how far back we're related but it's sometime last century at least, never could get into all that stuff Mum's wanting to teach me, but she did point it out this week when I mentioned the rumours about you and the giant snake." Oh how she loved to tease the boy.

"You want to see my giant snake, eh? Naughty Nym-" Harry broke off, grinning.

"Don't call- oh, never mind, you win that round. Up for another?"

"Sure, anyway, don't you have other cousins?"

"Only one, you know him, too. That bleedin' ponce Malfoy in your year. He'd deny we're related, though, and the feeling's mutual. The little shite thinks he's better than me 'cos me Dad's muggle-born while his is that arrogant tosser."

"Yeah, I know Malfoy. So was that the only reason you came around? To tell me we're related and to try to tease me?"

"Nah, see, Mum's been hearing about you meeting up with all those others families and she's been on at me about it cos she hasn't gotten much time with you. She started saying it must've been your fault or something, but I defended my favourite cousin. When I explained it was my fault for forgetting to ask, well, I had to get out of there." Nym's hair was cycling colours instead of blushing.

"So! When are you free to come by?"

Chuckling, Harry checked his memory for a suitable time, and once that was sorted, Nym collapsed on a couch, her grin challenging him to say a thing. Harry shook his head, far too experienced to fall for that.

At that failure, Nym tried something more blatant, altering her body. Harry groaned. "Ok, you win the second round, there. How about we play a game with actual rules?" He got out a pack of cards, shuffling and dealing as they started playing games and chatting until Nym announced, "I forgot the time! Now, when was it again?"

"Any time from next weekend until I go away with the Grangers to France. That's the 18th."

"Ok, got it! Bye!" And with that, she ran out the door, stuck out her wand to call the Knight Bus, and enjoyed the active ride back to her home. If she'd looked back, she'd have seen Harry studying the bus intently.

"Bloody wizards, no sense of taste." Harry's grumbles made his parents chuckle, though they agreed with his assessment completely.

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