Chapter 30 - Ups and Downs

Lisa Turpin was nervous, and telling herself it would be fine was no use. This would be the first time she had ever had a boyfriend visit, and this wasn't just any boyfriend. No, this was Harry Potter visiting, the same boy whose name had been on every wizard's and witch's lips when he survived an attack from You-Know-Who, no, Riddle, that Halloween night. More than that, the same young man who had captured her heart with his kindness, his intellect and his cunning, the sexy green-eyed wizard who starred in all her good dreams.

Actually, maybe she did have reason to be nervous. After all, even if they had been introduced to him, she still wanted so much for her parents to like him enough that they would accept what she ached to do with him. It was the day after Boxing Day already, and she was running out of time. She just about jumped out of her skin when the doorbell rang, racing to answer it and yanking Harry inside where she started kissing the life out of him. She was brought out of it by her mother clearing her throat with a disapproving frown on her face.

"Lisa Anne Turpin! You let that young man stand this instant." Lisa blushed realising she had pinned Harry to the wall in the entry hall of her home, letting him go and looking down. "Better. I know I raised you better than that, assaulting guests like you did."

Harry noticed what Lisa could not with her eyes on the floor, Mrs Turpin was mostly playing. By the look of it, she really didn't like Lisa losing her dignity like that, which Harry could understand at least after Lisa stopped kissing him and he could think again. Mostly, however, it was just a mother's teasing.

He took her hand, making her look up again, and she quickly apologised to her mother before guiding Harry to the living room where she cuddled at his side, drawing comfort after being caught like that. Harry whispered to her that Mrs Turpin was only teasing, and Lisa buried her head in his chest while she blushed anew.

For her part, Mrs Turpin was favourably disposed towards the boyfriend. While she felt Lisa was still too young for anything serious, she was glad that her little bookworm had noticed that boys weren't all a bunch of dirty brutes like she had thought at the local primary school. As for Harry Potter, well, she had been impressed by how he had resisted the corrupting influence of the fame thrust upon him, and that he was already helping her stay in touch with their daughter at that blasted boarding school. That would endear just about anyone to her. She never wanted to send her daughter away to school, much less to a school she herself couldn't even see, let alone visit!

No, she would forgive much of the young man who was helping her stay close to her precious daughter.

Her husband was, if anything, even worse. Very much an academic, he had been most annoyed that there was an entire society hidden away, complete with such earth shaking abilities, that had excluded him from birth. Harry provided another window into their little world, provided protection to his little girl, taking on giant spiders and that snake, and was making Lisa happy in the bargain. Oh, he knew he was expected to be the overprotective father, but between knowing Harry had taken one of those strange Oaths to do right by his Lisa, and knowing Harry had attacked and killed things he couldn't face, well, it all just seemed silly.

Lunch was a small affair by Clan standards. It was just the four of them there for the Sunday roast but he was made welcome by both of Lisa's parents. They chatted about various topics, switching as the mood took them, then watched one of the typical movies in the afternoon. Since he was staying for a couple of days before switching with one of his clones who would do the cooking for the rest of the holidays as his way of thanking them, they showed him to the guest room and left the teens to themselves before dinner.

As much as Lisa would have relished moving ahead with her plans for Harry's visit, she was Ravenclaw enough to know it was not the time to do anything of the sort. Instead, they played games on the computer her father had bought until they were called for the evening meal, a light one of soup and fresh bread after the big one in the middle of the day.

After dinner, Lisa managed to get some kissing and snuggling with her man on one couch, while her parents were on the other during the movie, then it was time for bed. The morning brought a smile to Lisa's face, for both her parents had to head to work, leaving her alone with Harry all day!

A different smile came over her face when she smelled breakfast. She smelled all the signs of a meal cooked by Harry and she couldn't wait, getting up eagerly and joining her parents at the table. Harry had turned down their offer to help. "This is what I agreed to do while I was here, and I am happy to do it."

The breakfast was quick and tasty, bacon and scrambled eggs on toast, and hot coffee just the way her parents liked it. Harry had noted the night before their preferences, he explained, and was glad he got it right. A kiss on the cheek from her parents, and they were all alone in her home.

She took Harry by the hand, gently this time, and showed him her bedroom. It had been repainted in Ravenclaw colours more for her father than for her after she had written home from Hogwarts in her first year. She was glad of it now. Much better this way than showing the frilly and pink room she'd had when she was younger.

"And that's the bed, Harry," she smiled, pulling him on top of her in her single bed.

Harry just ran his hands over her back slowly, smiling down at her as he leaned in to kiss his sweet Lisa. Over the next few hours, they caressed, kissed and cuddled, as well as discovering more about each other's bodies.

In the afternoon, Harry asked if she would like to do anything outside her bedroom this time, gently trying to make sure he didn't disappoint or push her. She gave him the sexy smile she had been practising, and just took him back to bed, laying on top of him this time and moving his glorious hands to her butt as she kissed him more. Feeling bolder, she enjoyed further explorations with her man that afternoon before she settled down for cuddles as evening approached. They were in the living room watching one of her favourite movies when first her father, then her mother arrived home, just in time for the dinner Harry had put on.

After dinner, Mr Turpin brought out Trivial Pursuit to a resigned Mrs Turpin's chagrin, but they enjoyed the games, seeing that Harry was just as smart as their little girl who he praised. Harry had atrocious luck with the dice, leaving Lisa the clear winner of the first game and her father the next, before it was again time for bed.

Lisa went to sleep, determined that Tuesday, the twenty-eighth of December would be the day she happily gave away her virginity. After some frustrating dreams where she got interrupted over and over before the good bits, she woke up a little grumpy, staying annoyed until breakfast was almost over. She was cheering out loud when her parents had finally headed off to work.

Harry chuckled and gave his dear girl a cuddle in the hallway which turned into a long, passionate kiss as Lisa released her tensions. She came up for air and gave him the first real smile of the day. "Mmm thank you, Harry, I needed that."

"Me too, Lisa, tasty too." Harry grinned, making the cute girl blush while she took him back to her parents' bed. "So eager, Lisa?" He stopped her at the edge of the bed, taking her in his arms and rubbing her back, sitting on the bed and moving her to straddle his legs as they made out, gradually moving onto the bed fully and her hands slipping under his shirt, caressing his bare chest.

The young woman groaned and made out with her lover, intent on kissing the hell out of him for making love to her and making her feel wonderful. When Lisa opened her eyes some time later, she asked Harry, "Want to wash my back, honey? We seem to have gotten all sweaty. Whoa!" Lisa found her legs wouldn't carry her quite yet, and Harry carried her to the shower, her legs wrapped around him. When he let her down, he made a clone that cleaned up the bedroom, certain that none of them wanted the conversation that would result if her parents had come home to that.

Back in Cranleigh where the Clan lived, Sirius was dancing a jig and Remus just laughing at his friend. "Alright, Padfoot, what's got into you to make you do that ridiculous dance?"

Sirius showed his maturity by sticking his tongue out, then cackling. "It's here! It's finally here!" He pulled out a long wrapped package from one of his coat pockets, obviously it had been enchanted and expanded. "Now, where's Harry got to?"

The childish man bounded through the Compound trying to track down his godson, eventually catching sight of that famous Potter hair where he and Ayame were sitting at a table talking business. "Harry! Here you are. Excellent! Now, I know it's a bit late, but, Merry Christmas!"

"What are you talking about, Padfoot? You gave me my present on Saturday. Pictures of you and my father together, as well as ones of my mother."

"Oh, that? No, that was just something I threw together because your real present was running late, well, here it is! Go on, open it, open it." Padfoot was incorrigible and his enthusiasm infectious.

Grinning up at the man, Harry took the parcel, already having an idea what it could be because of its shape. Opening it, Harry's jaw dropped. "A Firebolt? Aren't these the most expensive brooms on the market? I mean, they don't even advertise the price, you have to go in and bloody request it."

"Yes! That's right! Am I not the greatest godfather around?" Sirius started dancing again to the laughter of Ayame and Remus, while Harry gave him a hug.

"Thanks, Padfoot! You know you didn't have to buy me anything so dear, right? Still, I do love it, and it would be a good way to make that Malfoy brat greener than his school robes." Harry knew that would appeal to his godfather. "Plus, I'm sure the team will do better if I have a better broom. I'll have to see if Cedric wants my old Nimbus 2000. I know it's better than what he had this term, anyway. Oh, and you know I'll show you the games where I'm flying on it!"

Sirius was over the moon, this was just the response he wanted, but he had to make one thing clear. "Harry, it's the first present I've been able to get you in twelve years. I owed it to you to make up for that. I can't change the past, but I'll make damned sure that you have a great future. You've already got parents that love you, girls who adore you, and by Merlin, you're doing better with the ladies than I ever did. That just leaves spoiling you, like a godfather should."

Harry chuckled and gave the man a hug. "Thanks, Padfoot, you really are great."

Ayame smiled, adding "I for one am glad you finally have your priorities in order, too."

"Yes, yes, duty before revenge," Sirius sighed then brightened up, "still, some duties are pleasures too, right Harry?" Sirius eyed the Firebolt.

"Right."

While all his friends were excited about the Firebolt, the reaction from Cho Chang to hearing about his belated present was amusing to her parents and friends. Harry admirably kept from laughing at her predicament when she passed out. He merely helped her back to her feet, hugging her and seeing the look in her eye, promised her she could certainly look at it. "Can I ride your broom too, Harry?" she whispered, fully aware of the double meaning of her words.

Harry nodded and set her back in her seat at the dinner table before they continued their meal after the interruption. While her father was suspicious, Harry had behaved perfectly, giving him nothing to upset his world.

As the year ended, the Potter alliance, as Sophie had dubbed it, were intrigued to see more articles in the Daily Prophet about the Sirius Black affair. The scandal had taken on a life of its own, with Fudge caught in the middle, trapped between looking weak on crime or a supporter of injustice, or both if he did nothing. With Lucius whispering in his ear one way, and Amelia and most of his department heads going the other, the outcome was not in doubt. It was only a matter of time before he surrendered to the inevitable and scaled down the manhunt rather than cutting back on his own perks or savaging the budgets of other departments to restore the DMLE's.

Lucius was seething in Malfoy Manor as he saw the writing on the wall. It was the first time that fool Fudge had really gone against him. He had believed that enough gold would lubricate the man's morals sufficiently to get anything Lucius really wanted. Now, the blasted Aurors and the rest of the DMLE would have the time and resources to start actually going after he and his associates! Almost as bad, it meant that the perception that those wizards trying to save their society were being hounded for their upstanding views was in danger of cracking, even as it might start becoming true.

Lucius read through the latest lists of like-minded wizards and witches who had come on board with his attempts to gather a coalition powerful enough to protect Lucius Malfoy from anything. Oh, he hadn't been so foolish as to tell any of them that was the goal, giving them some twaddle about preparing for their Dark Lord's inevitable return lest they be found wanting and punished accordingly. The chance to torture Muggles was good enough to get the rest on board who didn't fear Voldemort enough, and he had even led a few recruits on a raid of some Mudblood filth. Lucius had known going in that the filth had already scurried away like the rats they were, but it felt good to use the powerful magic again against the symbols of Muggle corruption of their society. Unfortunately, they hadn't managed to do more than set the place ablaze, sealing anyone stupid enough present inside, before Aurors arrived and challenged them. The recruits had activated their Portkeys as ordered and returned to the safe house. The whole attack had lasted far longer than Lucius had expected, nearly an hour for the fools to get the fire to catch!

Back in his day, they would have got it done in five minutes, or the Dark Lord would have them all under the Cruciatus for every minute they took!

For Harry, though, the scandal was great news. They had resorted to buying space in the paper, writing articles in a similar style to the Daily Prophet's usual approach, that called for the trial records to be released. Since there was no trial, that was impossible, but it meant they could hound the Ministry for draconian secrecy measures, for trampling the rights of upstanding wizards, for being too incompetent to find the files.

As the pressure mounted, Amelia kept herself to the side, allowing it all to flow right to the Minister who had been warned by her months before. Judicious comments from 'neutral' employees convinced Fudge that Amelia was keeping out of it due to 'conscience'. In truth, it was more her fear that if she got involved, it would only slow down justice as Fudge used her actions to justify resistance to it as a way of holding onto power. Whilst it was unlikely he would be able to remove her from the Ministry, the mudfight would delay the day Sirius could walk freely in Diagon Alley again.

Sadly, the fool didn't realise, couldn't accept, that she didn't even want his damned job! He craved the power and recognition, so he assumed everyone else did, too. So to do her job, she was forced to walk on eggshells around any hint that could tell the delusional man he was under threat. Really, if he got much worse, she would be forced to start working at removing him just to get some peace.

She Apparated herself to the Clan Compound, belatedly sending a message to her bodyguards about the change in plans as she stalked inside. "Damn it, where is that young man?"

Harry heard her approach and was on his way already, curious about what had come up to bring her here unannounced. "I'm here, Amelia, what's the emergency?"

"Is it true that you have been giving my dear niece, my only remaining family, massages that leave her a pile of warm goo?" Amelia demanded.

Cautious, Harry replied honestly, "I have given her massages, and it certainly looked like they helped. I wouldn't have described them as quite that good but-"

"Good enough! What do I have to do to get one?" Amelia barked.

Bemused, Harry just led her through to the Clan spa. Amelia's jaw dropped. There was a huge indoor heated pool, massage tables and other accoutrements of a Kitsune style monument to relaxation. She hopped up on one of the tables, unconscious of the way she took off her robes and top, laying face down and groaning as his hands descended. His questing fingers found and attacked every bit of tension in her back, the poor witch nearly falling asleep as her body was fully relaxed for the first time in years. Harry left her warm and feeling good, reading a computer journal and trying to distract himself from just how the older woman had felt in his hands, while Amelia floated on a pleasurable haze. When she became aware of her surroundings again, she got up and gave Harry a rare hug.

"Thank you, Harry, and I apologise for being so unpleasant when I arrived. I was so angry and stressed I couldn't think straight."

"It's nothing, Amelia, being able to give a good massage helps me too. Knowing that I'm helping someone I care about makes it better still." Amelia had gotten closer to him than just being his Susan's aunt. Over the many dinners she had become something of a friend too.

Amelia, however, was quick to show the intellect that made her a power in the Ministry. "Does that mean you would be willing to help out again if I needed it?"

Her tone had a slight edge to it telling him he had better have a good reason if he wasn't willing to repeat it, and while that wouldn't have stopped him from telling her no, well it's not like he had lied at all to her.

"Of course, Amelia, we Hufflepuffs stick together," he added laughing. He knew that she would be back for more in the future when the stress of her job built up again, and that was fine by Harry. If nothing else, Susan would be upset if he didn't help her aunt.

Sunday came around too soon for the hundreds of parents on Platform 9 and 3/4, seeing off their children who had to return to the cold, drafty castle. Liz and Matt Granger reflected that it still wasn't easy to send off Hermione to boarding school, and neither of them looked forward to the time when little Athena would have to go too. 'The best thing about sending our not-so-little girl away is of all things a boy, well, young man,' Liz corrected herself, 'who has helped bring Hermione out of her shell, befriended her and through him she now has dozens of others.'

The way he was polite and friendly, helped them see more of their growing girl, and had put himself in harm's way for her meant they were free to like the boy she had chosen for herself. Liz would much rather that than worry Hermione would become interested in some gluttonous, lazy boy they could never respect, or worse some 'poor misunderstood bad boy' who she was sure would be sorry for spending years trying to hurt or kill people like her as soon as she fixed him.

On the train, Tonks had taken charge of their group at the start, getting one carriage of the train as 'theirs' for the ride. With the help of the other Hufflepuffs, she had expanded the compartments internally. In the process, she demonstrated the spells involved for the younger students and brought back some of the awe of magic.

After that, their group, which had expanded over the couple of years since Harry arrived and now numbered close to a hundred, took their seats in the various compartments in the carriage. Tonks had tried early on during the ride to name their group, "Puffs for Potter", thinking to tease him, but the Ravens upped the ante, Cho proudly offering "Ravens for the Raven God". The suggestions went silly from there, though thankfully someone had stopped Luna's "Potter's Committee for the Liberation and Integration-" before she scarred innocent minds.

That set the tone for the trip, a lot of silliness and joking around, a lot of light-hearted good times. Each of Harry's ladies sat on a clone's lap for much of the trip. Justin suggested a couple of movies to watch which got a lot of support, though they ended up with two in different compartments, one for the boys and one for the girls. To the amusement of a Ernie and Wayne, Tonks stayed with the boys throughout the gory action movie.

Towards the end of the journey, though, Tonks took a ride in Harry's lap to the laughter of the guys as she exaggerated everything about it. When Harry's ladies heard about it, well, the guys laughed harder seeing the Sixth Year afraid of the younger girls.

Back at school again, the girls looked forward to everything that meant. For the Ravenclaws, the classes were top of the list, but for the rest it was getting more time with their friends, and especially with Harry. Indeed, that first night back all his girls made sure to tell him how much each had missed him, kissing him, and each of his Hufflegirls took him to their beds, Megan and Leanne leaving their curtains open this time, starting the rounds of the girls getting heated up.

The Hufflegirls weren't the only ladies to welcome Harry to their beds. Lisa surprised the Ravenclaws when her boyfriend joined her in their dorm. "You really are full of surprises," Sue commented approvingly, getting her own Harry to snuggle, while Padma was already kissing her Harry. None of the Ravenclaws were going to tell what had happened. Among other things, they were all bound by their sworn Oaths to keep his secrets, and it didn't take any thought to know this was one of them. So was the way Lisa had an extra spring in her step the following morning but that was one secret that would get out without their help.

In the Gryffindor dorms the scene was repeated. Little Sally-Anne Perks slept curled up on his chest, getting the best night sleep she ever had according to her, and also getting better acquainted with his body through their nightclothes. Lavender and Parvati, while also getting more dirty thoughts by the day, were just not ready for anything like that, snuggling and enjoying the strong heartbeat beneath their heads.

This was the pattern of Harry's nights, each of his girls wanting to curl up with their man when they slept, and some of them enjoying more active pleasures in bed with their gorgeous hunk while they were awake. Mostly this was done reasonably openly, though Luna, Cho and the Slytherin girls all had to do it in secret.

In his own bed, the clone Harry had left was awake, unable to sleep despite his best efforts. His parents had done what they could to teach him tricks to get sleep no matter where he was, but right now none of them worked. He kept remembering who had taught him, and now had no choice about viewing them as sexual creatures in their own right.

He had been able to deal with their obvious affection for Naruto, the man who had adopted him, given him this new life. He had even dealt with the knowledge that they did all the things a husband and wife do when they are in love, until now.

Now, Harry had been brought face to face with all the things a man and a woman, or a man and several women, could do together by his parents, and he couldn't look at them the same way again. No, instead he saw them as the beautiful, attractive and rather kinky women they were, and each time he closed his eyes in his empty bed, he saw their faces.

Anko-mum, Tsunade-mum, Ino-mum, Kurenai-mum, Yuugao-mum, even sweet Hinata-mum, had all revealed a side of themselves he had never seen as part of the training, and he was having to deal with his awareness that he found them each to be sexy, very sexy. Harry was definitely grateful that his newfound awareness, an unwanted awareness, of them didn't extend to the rest of the Angels.

He was having a difficult enough time already. The only thing he could think to do was to ask Vicky about the matter. While he trusted the other Angels, he knew he couldn't bring himself to talk to them about this strange development, and talking to Naruto was right out. Loving father or no, Naruto could be damned scary!

As classes resumed, Harry mostly got back to normal, pushing that worry about his training to the back of his mind as he dived headlong into the Hogwarts life again. Hagrid had profited from the help the other professors had given him, just as eager as Remus had promised. Speaking of whom, Professor Aurora Sinistra had received a surprise present from the Clan, presented by Harry, of a new model telescope for her personal use. Not left out, Septima Vector received a laptop computer, one of the new Pentiums, whatever that meant, with a Clan-supplied charger that Harry could recharge for her in lieu of a regular power source.

The Muggle Studies teacher, Charity Burbage, was fascinated by both devices, especially since previously she had believed the old witches tale that those Muggle devices wouldn't work at Hogwarts. She started doing research into the tale, finding that it started with the radios that wouldn't pick up anything, surrounded as Hogwarts was by the Highlands, and later on with something called Donkey Kong games that didn't work after the house elves had cleaned them. Questioning the house elves eventually led to the discovery that the cleaning had of course involved washing them thoroughly, and voila, the mystery was solved. She wrote a paper on it, only to see Malfoy and his cronies quash the publication quietly, thinking that had ended the matter.

The new item that garnered the greatest interest wasn't the revolutionary presence of the telescope or the laptop, but the Firebolt broom now owned by one Harry Potter. It wasn't even that it was the Boy-Who-Lived, really, but the Firebolt had a very successful advertising campaign and British wizards and witches were Quidditch mad. Cho received many jealous looks when she gleefully took the Firebolt for a turn around the castle.

After that, there was a scramble as a bunch of other students mobbed Harry, any time he wasn't in class, really, trying to get permission to borrow it. Malfoy predictably sneered at the purchase, covering for his own envy and jealousy as his own father was too busy spending the Malfoy fortune like water buying allies to get yet another new broom for his rather disappointing son. Draco also showed that he was still just as stupid as in First Year, going over to the Hufflepuff table and getting a Banishing Charm to his gut.

"What is all this?" McGonagall demanded, jumping up from her seat and ensuring she was on the scene before Snape could interfere.

"They cursed me! Completely unprovoked!" moaned Draco as he was laying on the floor, trying not to puke over his robes.

"What utter rubbish!" The Hufflepuff senior prefects had been on the scene, indeed both of them were close to casting spells on the little ponce, but it was the male prefect who spoke, his tone conveying his utter loathing for Draco.

"That person came over, shoving people out of the way to get close and reached out to grab Harry Potter's brand new broom. When Harry moved it out of range of that Malfoy's grasping little hands, he complained about how he was entitled to have a look at it."

The other prefect took over where he left off. "When Harry ignored Malfoy in favour of helping his friends get back to their feet, Malfoy snarled and reached for his wand. At that point, N- Tonks here defended her friend from his attack and removed Malfoy from the area." She breathed a sigh of relief that Tonks hadn't complained about her slip up with her first name.

Seeing all the others present, including several Slytherins, all agreeing with the Prefects, Minerva was satisfied. "That will be twenty points then, Miss Tonks, for defending your friends, though may I suggest that other spells would be more appropriate in future. Mr Potter, five points for refusing to escalate the situation despite the provocation of Mr Malfoy's attempted theft and his mistreatment of your friends."

Minerva knew just how ready Harry was to do violence at all times especially in defence of his friends.

"But what about punishment?!" Draco cried out.

"Very well, Mr Malfoy. I had been inclined to think that you had already learned your lesson. However, since you asked, that will be twenty points from Slytherin, and you have a week's probation. If you start showing the maturity expected of Third Years, then I may be inclined to permit you to attend Hogsmeade with the rest of the students."

Snape was angry, nothing new there as anger had been his closest companion ever since he could remember. This time, rather than trying to confront Minerva as he normally would, he blamed Draco's utter incompetence. No longer was attacking the Lioness a safe activity since she grew a spine.

Minerva was finished with allowing Snape to handle matters involving his Slytherins that also affected other Houses. Indeed, she and the other Heads would interfere in purely Slytherin affairs if they saw them before he did. It was just as he had been doing for years to the other three Houses whenever he could, in fact!

It was particularly galling when they parroted back at him his own excuses about why they got involved. Since he couldn't take out his anger on the staff, and could no longer take it out on the other Houses, that only left the Snakes who were quick to put the slow and the weak in his path whenever he was looking extra vindictive.

Sadly for Draco, this meant he was going to lose out as most of the House had recognised him to be the perfect scapegoat.

The next day provided a welcome distraction from Draco's woes, as everyone commented on the unsigned letter decrying the Ministry and its injustice to Sirius Black. Draco, believing Black to be a Death Eater and pureblood just like his father, was loudly agreeing with the letter to the editor, prompting laughter in private from Hermione at the irony. Since Harry was also in favour of the letter, having penned it himself, it was surely a first for the would-be leader of their year and the young man who held that position to be in agreement politically.

There was also a small article reporting that strange green lights, reminiscent of the Killing Curse, had been seen reflected off the clouds in Wiltshire. When questioned, that self-described lord and pillar of society Lucius Malfoy denied all knowledge of the incident. Of course, he had to. It was only the new strength of his wards that had stopped the Aurors from entering his property and looking for signs that the Unforgivable had indeed been cast. That and the sizable bribe he had offered Parkinson to create a diversion should circumstances like these arise. With the Parkinson's reporting an emergency, the two Aurors on scene were the closest forces and sent to respond. Parkinson was levied a small fine for filing a false report but still made a profit.

Unbeknownst to the rest of the school, there was another attack about to occur. Not Lucius and his band of has-beens, nor the enigmatic Sirius Black, legendary escapee of Azkaban, but a young girl in Hogwarts, with not a Dark artifact in sight. Sally-Anne Perks planned her ambush carefully. She knew her target's habits and had set up her plan accordingly.

Just after Transfiguration class ended, she started hunting her prey, finding him on the way to the Library as expected. She gave the signal to the other girls who walked away without a word and pounced Harry, kissing him as she pushed him up against the wall. Coming up for air reluctantly, she pulled the unresisting wizard to the next room where she had left pillows and blankets, locking the door and windows and grinning at her beau.

When they rejoined their friends in the Library, Cho set up a silencing spell around their area to prevent the stern Librarian, Madam Pince, from coming over to complain. Parvati was mentioning the gossip about one of the First Year girls having a crush on Ron Weasley of all people, and how Ron was over the moon. He had a girlfriend who loved Quidditch, and he had managed to do something better than all of his brothers who had had to wait longer. She wasn't ugly, either. For her part, Romilda was slowly succeeding on Ron's manners at the table.

Fred and George had whined loudly about Ron of all people getting a girlfriend before such dashing specimens as themselves. They sunk forever any hope of the Flying Foxes of Gryffindor, otherwise known as Alicia Spinnet, Angelina Johnson and Katie Bell who were the Chasers on the team, ever agreeing to a date thanks to their comments. Ginny just grinned having arranged for the girls to overhear her brothers in full snit mode. Prank her will they? Ha! Revenge was sweet.

"So when I told the Terrible Two about what I had done, they threatened to get revenge. I just reminded them that I had successfully avenged myself on them and that if they wanted to try their luck, they could go right ahead and risk even worse. After all, I hadn't even used my wand or a potion."

Ginny grinned as Harry smiled at her. He had taken the time to explain his views on proper pranking, and this was her first attempt at a real prank under his restrictions. It was precisely targeted, it didn't go too far, and it didn't hurt any innocents in its effects. All she had done was to make sure other people saw and heard the twins for themselves.

Sally-Anne just let the conversation flow around her while she cuddled with Harry. She was feeling too good to get involved in the interactions, preferring to replay her memories.

Cho and the other girls knew the signs of a well-pleased witch in their midst, and Cho sitting next to the girl could smell their recent activities. She felt a strong surge of desire when she looked into Harry's eyes, but pushed it down. 'This is not the time or the place to ride his broomstick!' Cho was glad for the concealing robes as otherwise Harry would have seen how her thoughts affected her. 'Ok, maybe this would be the hottest place to ride him, but definitely not now.'

Harry did notice Cho's increased desire but was tactful enough not to give any sign. 'After all, just because I find someone attractive, like Anko-mum, doesn't mean I am going to sleep with them.' He cursed as his traitorous brain supplied the name and several images to go with it.

The rest of the day was quiet, with Sally-Anne being the first Lion to make love to Harry in her bed that night. Like the other girls, she accepted that his clones were just as good as the real thing, and fell asleep with a warm feeling inside her.

The next morning, Cho awoke with a blush, startled by one of her roommates out of the most intense dream about Harry. As she went to class, or when her mind wandered, she recalled images of Harry pinning her against bookshelves in the Restricted Section. During lunch, she whispered to Harry, asking him to bring the Invisibility Cloak tonight to the Library so she could try to find something. The extra swing she put into her hips as she walked to class after lunch made Harry hope she was thinking of something other than books.

Harry and the others were curious when Susan received a letter from her aunt at dinner, then asked for them all to head to one of their remodelled rooms to talk it over. Once everyone made it, and all including Tonks settled down, she read out the letter from Amelia Bones:

Dear Susan,

I am writing to you so that you can pass on a message to our friends and allies in this matter. Firstly, I have received written authorisation from the Minister's Senior Undersecretary, a most political witch, to downgrade the search for Sirius Black.

This set off a quick round of applause, making Susan smile and thank them on her aunt's behalf.

I had been instructed by Madam Umbridge to make all efforts to apprehend a thief who had dipped into the petty cash in her department, and to make it my utmost priority. Naturally, you can imagine I was rather resistant to her attempts to bring pressure, demanding that if she wanted that, she would have to sign an authorisation form for such a massive shift to the DMLE's efforts. She was surprisingly agreeable to such a thing, allowing your humble servant to draft it for her signature like I really was some flunky she could order around, then signing it without even reading it through.

Really! I can't imagine how she rose to her present position, but I digress. The wording of the authorisation was that in order to facilitate the search for the thief in question, the Director of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement was thereby granted full authority over any and all investigations in terms of assigning departmental staff and resources.

Armed with the parchment in question, I walked out on the witch, ignoring her cries that I must stop and listen to her. It is now five hours since that authority was restored to my position for the first time since it was removed during the early days of the rise of Riddle, and she still hasn't realised what she has done. Now, neither she nor the Minister have any input into the running of my Department, and we can finally do the work we swore to do! My first act was to call a halt to the manhunt for Sirius Black. My second was to initiate a much quieter search for the rat, Peter Pettigrew.

Oh, and the 'thief' in question turned out to be Madam Umbridge herself. She had dipped into the petty cash in order to buy extra quills and parchment a few times without ever bothering to update the appropriate records. She really must learn how to keep the books.

Your ingenious aunt,

Amelia Bones.

"I ought to kiss her for that!" Harry exclaimed, laughing.

"Yes, and imagine a mind like that trained for Slytherin cunning." Mark chuckled at the image.

Susan just swarmed into Harry's arms instead, making the sacrifice of accepting Harry's kisses. "Mmm, don't worry, Harry. Aunt Amelia might not enjoy that but I think I'll take them on her behalf." The other girls laughed in the background.

"I can live with that." He smiled down at the slender girl pressed against him.

That evening, Cho was waiting by the Ravenclaw tower for Harry to arrive. She only just kept from crying out when she felt an invisible hand take hers and pull her to the nearest alcove where Harry revealed himself. He smiled at her before they both slipped under it, having to stay very close. Harry wasn't complaining at all since that meant Cho was pressed up against his back as they slowly headed to the Library before it closed.

They entered as Cho whispered in his ear, "The Restricted Section, Harry." He shivered at her breath in his ear and guided them to the quiet area, setting up a masking Illusion as soon as they were out of the cloak. He was turning to Cho who didn't give him a chance to talk, kissing him and slipping her right hand under his shirt, moaning into him. The experience exceeded her wildest fantasies. After they finished, he walked with her back to her bed, unconcerned about Padma who was concealed under a Disillusion Charm. Padma's spell dropped in her surprise when Cho started another round and she watched in rapt fascination until Cho collapsed on his chest.

"What are you doing here?"

Blushing, Padma still answered, "I was watching you both. I thought you knew. Harry I am sure did."

Shrugging, Harry nodded. "I thought you knew too."

Cho was too tired to care right then, and just shrugged too, cuddling with Harry under the covers. Padma left quietly, having had her questions about Harry answered, and Harry went to sleep with a smile.

Of course, the issue of the manhunt wasn't quite over just yet. The Daily Prophet caught wind of the change three days later but in a refreshing change of pace they bothered to investigate the matter. A 'senior Ministry source' was quoted as saying: "With Black never getting a trial, he should never have been sent to Azkaban. Madam Bones never did want to persecute the innocent. She joined up to hunt down Death Eaters."

Draco blew up at Pansy when she tried to get him to keep quiet, since Professor McGonagall's stern face was already aimed his way, ready and waiting for the expected breach of courtesy and sense. Instead of the usual form it took, his outburst at the girl trying her best to help him reduced Pansy to feeling two inches tall.

After breakfast, while Millicent Bulstrode happily ignored the girl, the other three girls who shared the dorm found themselves forced to deal with the upset girl who had hidden herself in a bathroom. With Daphne in the lead as per pureblood protocol, the trio of Harry's Slytherin girls took up station around Pansy.

Pansy was expecting just about anything other than what happened next. As Daphne provided the distraction, Tracey and Sophie hit the girl with a Cheering Charm and a minor makeup spell. "What?! Why on Earth are you trying to help me?"

"Isn't it obvious, Parkinson?" Daphne replied, adding her own efforts.

"I know you're upset, but you mustn't let that stop you from thinking," Tracey added, falling into her normal role of Bad Cop to Daphne's Good Cop.

"First, if you look bad, that makes us look bad." Sophie held up one finger.

"Second, if you're unhappy, you're likely to make us unhappy, too, since we have to share a dorm with you." Tracey chimed in.

"Third, you didn't deserve that treatment from Draco, no girl does, and if we help you get revenge on him, that makes us happy. And the best revenge is living well." Daphne finished for the trio.

The bad news continued for Draco. He had written to his father to complain about his public humiliation and punishment. Lucius was furious in his reply, the letter dripping with his disappointment in his lacklustre son. Goaded by his anger at the loss of face before his peers, Lucius' rantings included details and implications he should never have committed to parchment let alone sent in a letter to his son. This was the same son living in a dorm full of unscrupulous, ambitious wizards and witches and Daphne had found and copied the letter before the day was out, nor was she the last. It wasn't sufficient to start legal proceedings against the Malfoys let alone convict anyone but it was enough for Amelia to start a black investigation to monitor the elder blond's dealings.

In the short term, it meant Draco loudly complained about 'damned blood traitors and Mudbloods' just as Minerva was walking in behind him to the staff table. "Detention, during the Hogsmeade visiting hours, the first half with Mr Filch, the second half with Professor Hagrid. In addition, thirty points from Slytherin."

The Weasley twins were in awe of their Head of House. Just by doing her job, she was creating more chaos and damage to the nasty Dark families than they had managed in over four years. Add that to whoever it was who was showing those movies who still hadn't been identified, much less punished, and they had serious competition. They wracked their brain trying to come up with something to show they were still able to strike fear into the hearts of those who opposed their fun.

Their teachers had been known to lament that if the twins had put their efforts into their classes instead of their pranks, they would be contenders for top of their year. That wasn't strictly true. If they had done as the staff preferred, they would clearly be numbers one and two, such was the fervor and hard work they brought to their passion. Unfortunately, neither of them could be bothered doing that, despite the glaringly obvious potential for the magic they did learn to be used in their japes and pranks. No, because it was schoolwork, it was therefore boring, as so many things have become when they are presented to certain types of students.

Fred and George were creative enough for Ravenclaw, hard-working enough (on pranks) for Hufflepuff, ambitious enough (making a joke shop work in their small community) for Slytherin, but it was their lack of fear, commonly confused for courage, that sent them to Gryffindor, that and their indoctrination against going anywhere else. In the end, the twins settled on potioning up all the Prefects to make their noses and ears neon pink by contaminating their cutlery.

Thanks to my betas , and Slicerness for their help editing this story. Happy new year to all! And to all my readers, my thanks for your support and feedback. Thank you for reading!