Chapter 28 - The Games We Play

Tracey woke up very early feeling a little sore in her lower back and hips, immediately kissing her sleeping man. His eyes instantly opened and every muscle in his body went tense, inadvertently pulling the brown-haired girl closer to him. He realised immediately what he had done, followed by the knowledge of where he was and who was with him, and relaxed by running his hands over the lovely girl underneath him, kissing her back.

As she came up for air, she grinned, "I was going to say good morning, but after that, it's a great morning, Harry." Her grin faltered a little when she tried to move. "Sorry, I'm feeling a little sore. Oh, not there, sexy," she confirmed with a kiss, "my hips and lower back, I'm not used to doing this."

Relieved, Harry just grinned and used more chakra to fix those problems. "I know, my sweet, tender Tracey. Please tell me whenever you need me."

She smiled wickedly. "Now that you mention it," she trailed off suggestively. She had checked the time and they had about an hour before Harry's usual morning run. That would let Tracey have a nap afterwards before they headed to breakfast. She was delighted when Harry got the idea, and they spent the rest of their time together kissing and caressing.

In the Hufflepuff dorms, Harry's clones had also started their day.

Hermione had wanted to test if there were any differences between Harry and his clones, which turned out to mean she wanted to make love to a clone. The other girls didn't go that far with Harry's clones. Susan and Hannah, their curtains opened to each other, were introduced to all the things Harry could do with his extendable tongue and magic fingers. Hannah decided she wanted to try to sleep joined to her sexy man, and Susan copied her, both girls laying on top of him, snuggling close. For Harry that was all sweet torture, but he eventually got to sleep.

Megan and Leanne were cursing the other girls' choice since it meant they heard everything.

The five girls eventually got up out of bed and left Harry's clones, before heading to wash up and compare notes. Hermione's tendency to lecture was surprisingly well received for once as she listed off the things she had tried, and how much she liked each of them, while they chatted under the showers. If they took a little longer to take care of things, well, no one would have to know.

Finally, all the circle of friends made it to the Great Hall, Tracey coming up to a cleaned and exercised Harry and giving him a quick kiss. "Thank you for forgiving me, Harry. I had a wonderful night's sleep because of you."

While her words were innocent enough, the other girls knew the signs of another girl who had become a woman. They weren't ready to do that themselves yet, but in time, they each thought.

Professor Sprout wasn't just the mother figure to her students that she appeared. She was also observant, as you needed to be to exercise any sort of control over so many teenagers. She had known from that first morning after that Harry's girls were starting to become young women. She thought they were far too young, but all of them were older than the boy himself, and for a wonder not a one of them had made a complaint where she could find out. She was definitely curious as to how he was keeping so many girls happy, but it was also another chance to tease her friend.

"Did you see that, Minerva? Another girl satisfied. I do hope you aren't getting jealous."

Minerva just sighed. Thanks to Remus Lupin, most of the staff had heard of Harry Potter's supposed crush. She admitted that he was certainly paying her more attention than any student had in, well, decades if she was honest with herself. Still, if his crush had survived, the young man showed no sign.

For the other students, there was more interest in the goings on among Harry's girls. The Hufflegirls were more confident, their self-esteem boosted by knowing that not only was their love requited in full, but they were sexy and able to please him like he pleased them. That confidence was in itself sexy, prompting some of the Fourth and Fifth Years to grumble that Harry was a very lucky guy. The first boy to mention that to him just got a one word answer. "Yes."

After all, what else was there to say?

Back at Cranleigh, Harry had mentioned his idea to his parents. After only a brief discussion, they helped send out the invitations to their friends and allies who were in on the secret. Unsurprisingly to the wizard-raised, the only people who rejected the invitation were those who literally couldn't make it. Between the fine food and drink and Harry's status in their world, any invitations were well received. Indeed, Mark's mother was rather smug as she gloated to her brother, David. The current head of the Greengrass family was laid up in bed and couldn't be moved, especially not by magic. His condition reacted badly to any magic cast on or near him, and he'd already broken his leg.

Diana later took pity on her brother, saying she would tell him all about it after. She said goodbye then skipped out of the room off to the manor's outbound Apparation Point, meeting up with her sister-in-law and leaving with a small clap of displaced air as they headed shopping in Diagon Alley. The party on Sunday was excuse enough to celebrate with a new outfit.

Friday morning, after the girls snuggled and kissed with their man, Harry got up and started getting ready for his day, while his clones headed off to the Hogwarts Library. With all the changes, Harry figured it would be worth the attempt to do the great copying project during the day. He had a feeling that at night, he and his clones would be busier than in previous years between guarding against Dementors and supposedly against Sirius Black and his lovers' newfound nocturnal delights.

During the day, Harry made sure to spend time openly with the guys. He was sure that if he didn't take steps, he could lose friends, and even if he did, it still might happen. To help keep them, Harry was prepared to do quite a lot. Playing Gobstones or Exploding Snap, or a number of games from Canasta to Trivial Pursuit was really quite minor compared to that eventuality. Outdoor games were just about out of the question for everyone. The Scottish rains had set in and the grounds were too muddy and cold. The castle's interior was cold enough so time spent in front of the fireplaces was definitely appealing.

Even Harry, inured to the cold, would prefer being nice and warm if he had the choice, especially if it meant snuggling with one of his girls. That day, the only classes were with Remus, Professor Flitwick and Professor Vector. Harry reflected to himself that for all he was glad not to have been sent to Slytherin, he was acquiring influence in the school to a degree that any of them could envy.

Only a couple of months in the new school year, he had an ally in the new DADA teacher. He already had friendly relationships with McGonagall, Flitwick and Sprout, all of whom liked him as a good student who helped them get the right atmosphere in their classes, which directly helped his friends and himself anyway, and for his saving the school from the basilisk. He was now seeing Professors Vector and Sinistra an evening or two each week to cook for the Arithmancy and Astronomy Professors, and even the very prickly Potions Master Snape didn't hate him so much as he seemed to hate just about anyone who wasn't in Slytherin. Binns was still an utter waste of time in History of Magic, unfortunately, as he didn't even care about the students he was putting to sleep. The Divination teacher Trelawney rubbed him the wrong way with her drinking and overblown Seer persona. Professor Babbling was, well, nice and all but she faded into the foreground. She was a wallflower and bookworm so while she knew her subject well enough, it was easy to ignore her outside of Ancient Runes.

Charity Burbage was another Professor who wasted her students' time and gave them wrong information in Muggle Studies, but he had overheard her complaining about having to teach to Ministry standards. They forbade her from making field trips or research of her own to update the course material. He was prepared to forgive her as a person for that, but it still meant that he was better off not taking the course at all. As for Hagrid, well, he liked Harry because of the Basilisk Incident as Harry thought of it, but he thought Cesarina the 'housecat' was too harmless to be cute or interesting. If he knew what Harry had done to the Acromantulas, Harry had no idea what the big man would do, though introducing him to the Clan's pets including the tigers like Cesarina would probably offset any harm done.

Eight out of twelve Professors were at least neutral to him, and six were at least somewhat friendly. With the students, well, he was friends with all of two Houses in his year and had some friends in the remaining two. Naturally, Slytherin was divided. The boys in that House, apart from Mark Wilkinson, weren't friends of his, though some were acquaintances. Mark had the envy of most of the House of the Cunning as a result of his fortunate position. The Sixth Year got to go to parties with the Head of the DMLE and was expanding his circle to include other important figures in their world. The fact that he was a Slytherin meant that other Slytherins were friendlier to him than to those from any other House. For the others, his friendship with the Boy-Who-Lived opened doors.

Harry's evening ended with showing an old classic movie on the ceiling of the Great Hall. The students were surprised, but it was a special request from the Deputy Headmistress and the girls enjoyed seeing Fred and Ginger dancing.

The weekend opened with a terrible storm for the traditional match between Gryffindor and Slytherin. While Malfoy had tried to complain to Hooch, threatening to take it up with his father, Hooch was remarkably unmoved. She docked Malfoy ten points for being utterly lacking in cunning and fifty points for threatening a teacher. Snape was furious. It seemed nothing would teach the boy elementary caution and planning. It also set back Snape's own efforts to win the House Cup.

All he could do was wait for the game and see which group of dunderheads were worse in the appalling conditions.

The game opened with terrible visibility, roaring wind and rain bucketing down. As Harry and his friends sat in the stands, he wondered again why they had to use stands open to the weather. Come to it, he wondered why the stadium as a whole was open to the weather. They were inviting colds and flu not just in the players whipping around but the student body as a whole by making them sit for an unknown amount of time exposed to the weather. Not to mention the increased risk of serious injury or death to the players of an already dangerous game.

Naturally, he hadn't been content with putting up docilely, but instead had put together a plan to minimise the problem, not just for himself and his friends, but for the other students, too. If too many of them caught the flu, they would pass it on to the rest of the school, defeating much of the point. Of course, that left the question of just where to direct the excess rain, and Malfoy happened to insult Hermione right as he was contemplating that very issue. With the other Slytherins agreeing with him, well, his problems solved each other.

As Hooch blew her whistle, she ignored the strange way the rain was behaving. Why so much of it was dropping on the Slytherin stand, she had no idea, but since they weren't involved in the match, it wasn't her problem.

Snape had noticed too but was at a loss to explain it. It wasn't even dropping evenly on his Snakes, with some like the Greengrass girl almost dry while her dorm-mate Pansy, watching her beloved Draco, was drenched to the bone. As he looked over his House, he noted that the ones getting inundated were all the most outspoken against Mudbloods. He also noted with disgust that there was absolutely no sign of any magical cause for the weird weather.

He looked over at Dumbledore who had already finished his own detection spells, his frustration clear to the older man, but Albus just twinkled his eyes. "How remarkable that even the rain is unhappy with the attitudes of some in your House, Severus. Perhaps it is telling that there is only a handful outside of Slytherin who are getting drenched, and those too have all espoused the same Dark line."

Albus was curious that Snape wasn't being drenched too. His curiosity would only have increased if he had found out not only that the whole thing was on the order of a prank but that Snape had been exempted from a Potter Prank. Partly the man had been improving his behaviour, however slightly, but mostly because if the downpour had included the greasy man, the consequences would have made the price too high.

For a start, Harry knew that Snape would take out his anger at the weather on the students of Hogwarts. Also, that amount of rain would have washed away every bit of his grease, something no one present had ever seen, and he didn't want to know what happened after that.

Mostly, though, it was the problem that the staff near Severus would be splashed by both the water and the man's anger. He couldn't do that to Remus let alone the others.

The players were still subjected to a lot of the storm's power. Harry's reach and control wasn't good enough to cover them just yet. Ron Weasley and Draco Malfoy, Seekers for the rival Houses, were slicing through the rain. Malfoy was gloating and showing off the Nimbus 2001 he was using, doing loops, while Ron was trying to do his job, ignoring the Slytherin's antics.

His concentration and his training finally paid off, though it took a while with all the rain and wind whipping around chaotically. While the teams were fairly evenly matched, between the Gryffindor Captain's studying of Slytherin tactics and the Slytherin cheating. Hooch was still not paying attention like Harry would prefer, and he wondered if someone had hexed her or if she was really that blind to all the blatant activity. When he asked Hannah and Susan, sitting either side of him, they were confused and told him that to them, while the fact that the Slytherins were cheating was obvious, the individual fouls were hard to spot. Harry hadn't realized just how much better his senses were until then, and resolved to exploit that in future.

As for the match, well, Malfoy had the Snitch right behind his head for about thirty seconds before Ron saw it on his next scan and dived after it. With everything going on, the shouting of the crowd and even their own teammates were hard to hear from so high above the ground.

A CRACK! of lightning right by him startled Ron and he started to fall, his broom following him, and he regained control only a couple of seconds later, getting a cheer from the Lions in the stands. The Snitch had kept moving, however, and Malfoy had finally noticed Ron's charge, following him on his faster broom. When Malfoy swerved and hit Ron, Ron took his eye off the Snitch just as Malfoy had intended. What neither expected was the Snitch changing direction just as Ron opened his mouth to shout at the 'slimy Slytherin'. It flew right into the open cavern of the redhead's mouth and it was a very close call against swallowing on reflex for the constantly hungry boy.

The crowd erupted as the match ended. Hooch noticed and blew her whistle a few seconds later, and Draco was furious that he had lost to the Weasel. The rest of his team would later be even angrier however, and with their Seeker, when they found out it was Malfoy's own play that lost them the game.

Harry was glad that he had positioned clones all around the stadium, as the sheer amount of rain meant that he needed the redundancy and multiple viewpoints to be able to assemble a good composite for the replay the following day. He was also glad that the match was over and he could soon drop the Wind technique he was using. It was draining his clones' chakra and they would have to be replaced before dinner time.

With everyone chatting about the game and heading to the Great Hall, well, no one was thinking about the strange weather very much. The only exceptions were the sopping wet bigots trudging into the castle after everyone else had gone in. These students had wanted to be first to get in and get dry, but between their lower energy levels and the way they tripped in the mud, the others beat them inside.

Once in the Great Hall, the guys and girls thanked Harry for his help during the match. Hermione had been the first to realise that it was Harry's doing that kept the rest of them so dry. The Ravenclaws also worked it out before the match was over when they noticed that the books that Padma was reading were completely dry.

After the guys clapped him on the back, and the girls hugged him, they settled in and enjoyed the hot lunch more than usual thanks to the cold and the late start. The Gryffindors tended to be happy that they won. The Slytherins poked fun at Ron nearly swallowing the Snitch instead of catching it with his hand as a better Seeker would have. The Hufflepuffs were angry at all cheating from the Slytherin team while the Ravens hit the books, trying to find any precedent for swallowing the Snitch like that.

Over at the Gryffindor table, a lone First Year was looking at her dream man with hearts in her eyes. She had never thought anyone could be so brave and selfless, putting his body on the line for the only true sport, Quidditch. Yes, she was looking at Ron Weasley and already picturing their lives together. They would have the same initials after they were married, too. Romilda Beata and Ron Billius Weasley. They were fated to be together. He just didn't know it yet.

That night, all Harry's girls were more energetic and rewarded him for his thoughtfulness. Their feelings increased after hearing that the young man had already taken care of their worries about pregnancy or being forced to tell their parents that they were already active in that way. Daphne applauded his cunning in doing it without her knowledge, and gave him a special reward, getting a taste of her new favourite flavour.

The next day in Cranleigh, dozens of wizards and witches Apparated in behind the Kitsune Compound, were escorted inside and given refreshments while they mingled and waited for the last guests to arrive. Soon enough, everyone was there who was coming. Taking seats, and in the case of the Cranleigh girls cuddling with Harry, the lights dimmed and the show started. The watching wizards and witches were amazed seeing the game so large, and despite the loss in quality from having to assemble the composite from multiple viewpoints, it was still more than good enough for those watching.

The game kicked off and straight away, they heard Lee Jordan's biased commentary, but also a flood of questions from everyone not raised to adore the sport about the rules and plays of the game. Thankfully, there were enough of Harry's clones on hand to answer the questions without interrupting the enjoyment of the more expert watching.

Diana Wilkinson cried "Foul!" barely a minute in, and the Muggles in the audience got a good introduction to how dirty the game could be played. The surprise ending of the match had half of them laughing and the other half cheering. None of those present were fans of the Malfoy family and seeing the cheat lose the game as a direct result of his dirty play was always enjoyable.

After the showing everyone relaxed and chatted about the match, the quality of the replay, the match, the food they were enjoying, the match, the current state of the Lily Potter Foundation and of course the match.

Diana approached Harry as the guests were mingling, asking for a quiet word, and he went off with her to one of the private rooms while another clone replaced him at the party.

"Harry, thank you for seeing me like this. First of all, I should say that was amazing! I had no idea you were so talented. Now, I can't wait for the game against Ravenclaw." In private, Diana had lost much of the reserved aristocratic air that characterised her in public.

Harry smiled at her. "Nor can I. I think Cho Chang is a superior Seeker, but our line-up won the Cup last year, and we have been good Hufflepuffs, training hard. I hope to show you a great ti- that is a great match." Harry cursed himself mentally, he only realised as he was saying it that his words could have been better chosen.

Diana tactfully ignored his slip, adding, "Also, thank you for helping Mark to overcome the Slytherin stigma. I am grateful that you've been helping my son, and I think you're very mature with the way you are allowing him to use your fame to form connections."

Harry waved that away. "Mark is a talented student from what I hear, and unlike his Housemates he's competing for top of his year with the Ravenclaws. He's worked hard to earn his place, and he's a good friend, too. It's great to see him doing well."

Diana was always happy to hear praise of her son, just as any mother would be. Impulsively, she hugged the young man who was doing so much for her. She decided to tease him by kissing his cheek after pressing his head close to her chest. It worked, Harry was blushing badly after she let him up, and she liked knowing that she was still sexy to young men. As Harry was big for his age and more mature, she found it easier for her to treat him as an adult than as a child.

They chatted about other things for a while, both content to let her teasing go unmentioned, before they headed back to the party, Diana smiling. Harry got quizzed by Anko as to why the older woman was smiling after some time alone with him. He confessed that he ought to be the one smiling, given the close examination of her body she had him perform. A quick use of a Yamanaka technique allowed Anko to observe from Harry's perspective what had happened, and what he had thought, and Harry escaped afterward back to his girls, giving each one an extra hug.

After the party was over, his girls stayed for dinner and managed to worm out of him the story of what happened with Diana. Ashley led them in laughing at the incident. "Ok, I think that we need at least ten kisses, each, to forgive you for that, Harry."

Teasing or no, that was an invitation Harry would always take.

Monday morning, after coming in from his morning run despite the poor weather, Harry enjoyed a longer and hotter shower, finding his girls waiting for him in the common room. Together, they headed to the Great Hall, and were chatting about their classes and other things when hundreds of owls made the morning mail run. There was a special edition of the Daily Prophet, one that made Harry groan in frustration.

"100 MUGGLEBORNS VANISHED!" Screamed the headline, and Harry felt like banging his head against the table as some students screamed. Malfoy, though he had nothing to do with the disappearances, preened as though he had performed the public service himself. A passing Prefect cuffed the back of his head and a glare reminded Draco that he was in public. He fought down his childish anger just in time since his Head of House looked over at him only a few seconds later.

Reading the article, it became apparent that the paper was claiming that the 100th Muggleborn wizard had dropped out of sight, rather than 100 in the same event, but the confusion was intentional on the editor's part. A report that one more down and out person had moved out of sight would never have sold papers.

The paper went on to sensationalise everything about the whole matter, despite the fact that there was absolutely no evidence of anything untoward going on. No attack took place, as the people had simply moved to Clan-provided accommodation away from the existing Wizarding settlements, so no magic, dark or otherwise was involved.

The statement from Amelia Bones as Director of the DMLE that there was no sign of foul play was buried near the end of the multi-page spread where only a curious person would ever find it. It was snuck in between a couple of advertisements for Jumping Jacks, small blunt knives guaranteed to make you jump by attacking any pedestrian's feet, and a warning that the Ministry had changed the regulations on cauldron bottoms again. Technically, they had reported her statement, but even the font used was harder to read than the rest of the paper.

Thus, very few wizards or witches would find out that way that the DMLE was confident there was no crime involved, just people choosing to move away from the slum conditions, or that the 'vanished' people had in many cases contacted the DMLE themselves, walking in openly to the Ministry to get their cases as Missing Persons closed.

Finishing the article, Harry decided to try to create a counter to the story. "Well, what bullshit!" he said loudly and distinctly. "I mean, I know the Daily Prophet care only about sales, but just look at the people named as having vanished. They don't mention that nearly half of the ones on their list have visited the Ministry in person, coming up clean of Dark magic or memory charms."

Minerva McGonagall came over to where he was sitting. "Mr Potter, that will be two points from Hufflepuff for your language, and thirty points to Hufflepuff for speaking out against the libellous rumours."

"Yes, Professor McGonagall." Harry allowed no trace of triumph to show on his face, despite the way he noticed students throwing away their paper in disgust, or simply skipping the so-called news and editorials to the sports pages, whereas before they were swallowing every word.

Harry decided to ask Amelia Bones next time he saw her what they could do about the paper's fear mongering ways. He also wanted to get rid of that damn manhunt. While Fudge was riding high on the reduction in unemployment and his hard-line stance against Sirius Black, Amelia had other things on her mind. She managed to get an appointment with the Prime Minister, advising him that they were now confident the escaped prisoner was no threat to his people, as several times he had been spotted in the last month but there had been no attacks or even aggression displayed.

She had also discovered that there were some irregularities with his original case, and the previous department head may have been involved. She didn't like admitting that, but it was better to tell the truth and lay the groundwork for the future announcement that Sirius Black was innocent of all charges. It also meant that Prime Minister Major was more likely to believe she was honest about the lack of threat he posed to the public. She was lucky that his first impression of her had been favourable, otherwise this would only have cost confidence in the competence of her department to do their jobs.

Unfortunately, Fudge was still being obstinate about the affair. He refused to consider reopening the case, unless it was to add more charges. Anything else would show the Ministry had made a mistake, and as Minister, he would get the flak for these purely circumstantial mistakes.

Amelia was working on other Ministry employees, trying to get sufficient support to change his mind, but it was slow going. Fudge was getting paranoid. As the Minister he would be able to fire just about anyone before he could be removed. There was no guarantee the unlucky person would be reinstated given the cutthroat atmosphere, either, something she would be sure to tell Harry at the next dinner, as he was a good listener and she needed to vent her frustrations.

The Hufflegirls were called in by Cedric, their team captain, to train harder in preparation for their first match on the fourth of December. He insisted on stepping up the intensity of their workout, and he found to his pleasant surprise that the girls had continued exercising over the summer.

As Harry had told Diana, they were preparing to win the Quidditch Cup even with such a young team. The other girls enjoyed watching him up there, showing off his speed and control, and the guys enjoyed seeing the girls in action, while both sexes liked the fun atmosphere and the practice going well.

At home in Cranleigh, his parents had managed to trap him long enough to get some answers about what he and his witches were doing at Hogwarts. Anko congratulated him on discovering the trick to making the first time completely painless for the girls. She knew that it had been one of Naruto's regrets when he learned more medicine, that he hadn't been able to initiate them without hurting the girls he loved. Happily, his Angels had helped him accept it and move on, but Harry's discovery brought it back to mind, and she gave him a long hug.

Harry felt the weeks fly by. He had spell practice, Quidditch practice, copying the Library, clones on guard, time with friends and of course time spent with his lovely girls. Thanks to that, he didn't have much chance to get bored before something appeared for him to do.

The day of the match opened clear and crisp and so very cold. Harry had some warmer clothing than usual on, as did everyone else. Harry thought they would be lucky if the temperature rose above freezing that day.

With the students rugged up against the cold, they walked out more quietly than usual and huddled together to conserve warmth on the stands. Madam Hooch came out and blew her whistle, and Ravenclaw started with the Quaffle. That didn't last too long, Hermione making an interception and passing not to Harry as the Ravenclaws expected but to Susan, taking them by surprise and and the redhead scored unopposed. When the ball came back, the blue and bronze were visibly more awake, and the game was on for real.

The pace picked up early and stayed hard and fast, with lots of plays and fast scoring until both Keepers could pick up their performance. The Ravenclaws had taken to a far more offensive style, much like the revamped Hufflepuffs, in an effort to compete on more even footing, and it was paying off early. Unfortunately for them, the Badgers were better able to last in a longer match and no sign had been seen of the Snitch. Cedric was content to draw out the game if he could, moving more to cut off Cho's patrols than to find it himself unless Cho was going to get there first.

If that happened, he was going to drive as hard as he could to win the game.

That cold Saturday was one of the times when it seemed the Snitch was particularly elusive, and Harry thought he saw it hiding in the staff box at one point, where the Seekers could never go. Not for the first time, Harry wondered why they wouldn't use a watch to mark the end of games, as professional games had in the past lasted for months.

He was brought back to his senses by Cho Chang speeding past his broom, giving him a grin as she drew Cedric into a chase. Harry signalled his teammates and used her diversion to steal the Quaffle, scoring another goal. Harry felt a little guilty that he was holding back his performance, but he wanted a fun game, not a slaughter, and the Ravenclaws were improving their game by being able to play the other teams, not by being humiliated. Already, Harry was putting in more effort just to stay ahead in the rat race.

Hufflepuff had clawed back the lead for the tenth time, and this time they were going to keep it. No fancy tricks like Gryffindors loved, no dirty flying like the Slytherins preferred, would be allowed by the Badgers to wrest away what they had earned there today.

The Ravenclaws knew it just as well as they did. They were tiring while the Badgers were still going strong, and they called their last remaining time out, desperate for more rest to give Cho time to grab the Snitch. When play resumed, it was obvious that it wasn't enough. The Hufflepuffs had also regained some energy, and the lead hit 190 before the Asian girl spotted the Snitch. She dived after it in the same way as previous feints of hers and totally fooled Cedric into thinking this was just another fake.

An unopposed chase led to a graceful diving catch and her broom pulling out, taking a turn in front of the Ravenclaw stand before she came to a stop. The match was over with Hufflepuff winners in a high scoring affair. Both Houses were pleased as it put both in a good place for a run at the Quidditch Cup, nearly four hundred points clear of Gryffindor and five hundred ahead of Slytherin who were lagging badly. It was in this euphoric atmosphere that the worst happened.

Dementors, every last one assigned to Hogwarts, decided to invade the grounds and attend the banquet of emotions and young students so kindly on offer. The sudden drop in temperatures, the inundation of horrible memories, the screams all heralded their arrival at what was effectively a big feeding pen for the terrifying creatures.

Harry Potter was pissed off. That state was directly caused by the arrival of the creatures. These foul things were listed as Class XXXXX with no known means to kill them and that idiot Fudge had assigned so many of them to a school full of children. The only magic that was effective against them was a tricky spell few adults were known to be able to cast, the Patronus Charm. Even then, the Patronus could only drive them off at best. Stuck in the middle of the Quidditch Pitch as he was, he was the furthest from the foul beasts, and their mental attacks were at their weakest there.

He saw Dumbledore and Lupin had both summoned their Patronuses, which was helping, but not even all the staff could cast the spell and there was far too much ground to cover with hundreds of students at risk. Harry signalled his watching clones to go on the offensive while the staff protected the students as was their duty.

At that sign, twenty clones divided up the Dementors between them based on position, five each, and unleashed their full Killing Intent. The Dementors paused in their approach, not really concerned up to that point with the Patronuses on patrol. That ended abruptly as they turned and fled beyond the wards again, as if to say they were sorry and wouldn't intrude again. Harry didn't believe they were sorry, but pursuit would have been inadvisable and he had already done what was needed to solve the problem.

With the threat passed, Madam Hooch gathered herself again and looked at both teams, handing out some emergency chocolate she kept on her person. Thanks to a Cooling Charm, the chocolate hadn't melted in her pockets during the game and each player quickly downed a large piece, the chocolate counteracting the effects of exposure. With that done, she released them and they flew off.

In the locker rooms, Cedric grabbed a quick massage to deal with minor muscles strains from staying in the same position for a while then he hit the showers. He knew Harry would be staying back with his girls with everyone still subdued from the Dementors.

Once their captain had left, Hannah was the first up on the table, insisting on a full body massage with a soft smile. The other girls agreed, keeping an eye out for any sign of a teacher or other busybodies. Instead, the knock on the door five minutes later was Cho turning up for her own reward. Harry's hands worked their magic, helping the girls recover their mental balance, and the act of helping them doing the same for Harry.

With the game over, and another Clan party to be held, Harry was given a lot of messages to pass on to the families at home. The students still used their owls fairly regularly, but for some messages, they liked to ask Harry to help out. It was useful to be able to send audio and video for things like showing new spells they had learned or just doing well on a test, and their parents loved the extra contact with their children.

This party was a more fun affair, turning into a celebration for Harry and his girls, especially Harry driving off the Dementors. More wine and brandy flowed as the wizards and witches considered that a single thirteen year old boy had done something none of them could yet again. The Clan were careful to cut off anyone who had too much until they sobered up. The poison purification technique got quite a lot of use, helping the older guests to stay buzzed but not drunk.

There was also much discussion about the coming holidays. Harry was the centre of what was going on, the central connection for their alliance, and the Kitsunes were offering house room to their allies and friends. The new girls in the relationship had to spend some time in Cranleigh to allow the local girls the opportunity to get to know them. It would also reassure them that their love would not be upset by the inclusion of these new factors.

As a counterweight, their own parents wanted time with their children. Also, they didn't want to impose on the Kitsunes nor have to be someone else's guests for the entire holidays, so they negotiated times and places to meet, and when their families would stay.

It wasn't exactly necessary to ask their children what they wanted, they had received plenty of letters and requests that told them all they needed to make the decision, generally boiling down to "Please, let us stay as much as we can!"

Lisa approached him the following day, shy but determined. Harry tried to relax her with a loving smile, but she just shook her head and pulled him to a deserted classroom. There, she sat on one of the desks and waved to him to do the same while she gathered her courage.

"Harry, you know I love you, right?" Lisa was smiling as she reminded him, which coincidentally prevented Harry from getting too worried.

"I do, my love, and I love you too."

"Really? Even though I'm not doing those things with you?"

"Of course, Lisa. I wouldn't push you to move faster than you're ready with any of it. I do believe you're very pretty, and I love the red highlights in your hair. Most of all, though, I love you, including for your brains."

Lisa beamed at him, and went over to him, cuddling. "Thank you! And I love your looks, too, sexy." She felt braver now, able to speak freely. "In fact, I have been thinking about you lots, lately. About you and I in bed together, away from all of the craziness here. I was afraid I had waited too long, that I was losing your interest."

"You won't, Lisa. Certainly not because you wanted to wait. You make me happy whenever you're happy," Harry smiled, "and while the packaging isn't important, it is beautiful too, just like you are."

Lisa melted against him, heart now racing for a better reason, as she kissed him tenderly. After they finished making up, Lisa was quick to tell the others what he had said and Harry wasted no time when questioned in giving them the reassurance they needed.

At Hogwarts and at Glebelands, the students had other concerns, namely the end of term exams. With a carefully made revision schedule, including time set aside for relaxation, the students were generally rather confident about their results.

And at the Ministry, Director Amelia Bones was finally getting traction with her push to get the Dementors recalled to Azkaban. While Fudge had tried to keep the whole thing quiet, enough Ministry workers had children at Hogwarts, and Harry had helped convince them all to write to their parents. Dumbledore, for whatever his other faults, did not want the Dementors around any more than he had wanted the Aurors around and was making a quiet but firm fuss as well.

Just after the last exams, Fudge finally bowed to the inevitable. He called a press conference where he claimed that the stern measures he had undertaken to protect Hogwarts from Sirius Black had been successful, but that it was now time for the Azkaban guards to return to their posts. When the Ministry worker turned up to give them their orders, the Dementors gave him no trouble at all. Harry had taken to expressing any frustration he felt by sending Killer Intent against the beasts, and they were only too glad to get far away from him.

This wasn't the only good news for Amelia. There hadn't been any attacks or confirmed sightings of Sirius Black and she rode the success of being the leading opponent of Dementors at Hogwarts, getting credit for her clear vision. The Director had used that prestige to reduce the priority of the search, reassigning some of her people back to their real jobs. It wasn't much, and certainly not enough, but it was a good start.

That evening at Hogwarts, the happier atmosphere and the absence of the magically induced fear had a follow-on effect for many of the students, none more so than for Harry's girls. While Daphne and Tracey, Hermione, Susan and Hannah were all eager to celebrate with their man, they weren't the only ones thinking of the green-eyed beau. Lisa Turpin had always been a curious girl, and now she was more curious than ever before, her thoughts revolving around her loving boyfriend and the things she wanted to do with him. Soon, she thought, soon she would be ready. Unlike the others, she knew just where she wanted to do it, too, and that was at home with no teachers, no prefects, no noisy students around. She gave her fingers a workout before finally being able to sleep, a satisfied smile on her face.

With the Dementors gone from the school, the weather warmed up, creating a snowy instead of frozen Hogwarts. Ginny had gained permission to stay at the castle. She would be away from all her family for the very first time, but as lonely as that sounded, it was better than staying under the same roof as her mother. She saw off her new friends as they took the carriages to Hogsmeade Station, then went back inside to the Gryffindor Common Room. Once there, she snuggled in front of the fire with the latest few issues of Teen Witch Weekly.

On the train, Harry's friends admitted they had never wanted to go home as much as this year. They quietly accepted that Harry's clones wouldn't be guarding them, so they wouldn't have to worry about anyone seeing them get up to mischief, but they missed their families and freedom.

Kings Cross station was packed with parents as they got off the express, parents who gave their kids long hugs even in public. Not even the children of Death Eaters were immune to the effect, their parents taking advantage of the distraction to show concern for their own noble offspring. Draco however just sneered at the whole affair, dowsing his mother's mood with cold water. Lucius imperiously commanded his son to follow as they left for the Floo connection, beating the crowds.

Pansy watched the Malfoys leave with mixed feelings. Draco had been horrible to her a few times in the last few months, so she had found her admiration for him cooling. She still felt he was her best prospect however, so her family's orders to stay close to him met her full cooperation,. Somehow, though, she was less cheerful when picturing a life with the boy.

Another pair of students in the silver and green trime were with their parents. Daphne enjoyed seeing them again while Astoria chatted away at a mile a minute. The First Year's sentences were far too filled with talk about Harry for a normal girl, but that's how Astoria was. She knew that her big sister had found a great boy and wanted one for herself, even if she didn't really know why just yet.

For Harry, he was going to be away from his Hogwarts friends for the first couple of days and he couldn't wait for the challenge his parents had promised.

Thanks again for reading. Your feedback and support are greatly appreciated. While I hope to have the next chapter out on Christmas Day, the following chapter will be delayed as I go on holiday.