Chapter 31- The Step That Wasn't There

In Cranleigh, with the week ending, Harry finally found the time ask Naruto for some time alone with Vicky to get another viewpoint on his problem. While Naruto was definitely curious, and he had offered to help out, Harry had kept his reaction to that suggestion from showing, only smiling at his Dad and turning him down gently.

Shrugging, Naruto closed his eyes for a second to ask his tenant then nodded and Vicky, once known as the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox or Kyuubi, appeared, taking on the form of Naruto's Sexy technique as always before morphing it to the sexy redhead form she preferred.

Taking his shoulder, she took them both away into the forest behind the Clan's Compound. Relaxing in a clearing, she looked sinfully comfortable and just as breathtakingly sexy as she intended. Blinking away the visions of Vicky in other settings, Harry leaned back against a tree.

"I have a problem."

"Of course, you're not a fox like me."

"Oh, you're a foxy one alright." Harry replied under his breath, forgetting how good her hearing was. Her pleased laugh reminded him, though Harry refused to blush.

"Thank you, now, what is the problem?" Vicky asked, all business.

"The recent training I received from Anko-mum and the others. It has given me a new awareness that I don't know how to handle."

"Why is being aware a problem?"

"It's a problem because now whenever I see any of the six of them, I don't see my Mums, I see beautiful, sexy women!"

"But they are beautiful, sexy women."

"Yes, but I'm their son. It's not right to feel that way, is it?"

"You aren't related to any of them. You could make lots of healthy offspring with any of them."

"Gurrk!" Harry failed to suppress those images in time, breathing hard as he regained control enough to speak while Vicky just smirked at him.

"I still don't see why you wouldn't want to appreciate their fine looks. Are they not far sexier than the rest of these humans?"

"The reason is that it makes me want to do more than just look, and that's wrong. They're my Mums! They're married to my Dad. They'd kill me. He'd kill me! He still might if he finds out I want to try, even if I never did." Harry moaned, quite well too in Vicky's opinion, but any of it was still too much, and she slapped him. Not hard enough to damage him, but enough for the task at hand.

Harry glared at her before remembering just who he was looking at, settling down.

"Better," she pronounced. "Now, you know better than this. Naruto has raised you as his own, spending years on the task, cared for you. He would not throw away all that just because you have started using your eyes. Likewise, none of his Angels would do it either. That would hurt Naruto and themselves, thus they would never try it."

Nodding, Harry was grateful to hear someone else tell him what he already knew. "Okay, but what if I tried something. That's what I am really afraid of, that I might try something in a moment of weakness and end up with them hating me, or disappointed in me. At least I don't have to worry about them being unable to stop me."

"Have you ever pushed yourself on another girl?"

"No, never!"

"Then there you go."

Harry was certain it wasn't that simple, there were the emotional aspects. Still, talking with Vicky was very useful. She knew all the people involved, even better than he did, really. Also, she was unlikely to be interested in spilling his secrets. While Naruto and the Angels were grateful to Vicky for the bloodline they now shared, and Vicky was always happy to get the grooming and massages that Naruto could offer, there was still that shared history between them. That history included a lot of hatred, destruction and fear that coloured all their interactions. Plus, both sides assumed that the other would understand them despite the very different ways their brains operated.

As a result, they still suffered from misunderstandings, and as the Kitsune for whom the Clan named themselves Vicky was a prankster with a sense of humour that simply didn't always mesh with the humans.

Having grown up with the Clan, and Vicky as an associate but not truly part of it, Harry was used to their differences, and he had no cultural history with the Tailed Beasts telling him to fear and loathe and covet their power. Instead, Harry had managed to become Vicky's friend, through a process she didn't understand, and he was important to her. If he hadn't been, she wouldn't have bothered to explain things to him.

They spent another ten minutes talking before Vicky grew impatient and pulled Harry into her mind so she could get this over with faster in real time and work on her tan. In her mindscape, Vicky took Harry to a meadow and made him lay down. Relaxing the body helped to relax the mind, after all, and she didn't like seeing the kit upset. Unlike Naruto, Harry had been so eager to please from the start and that included using his mind. In fact, he was growing up quite nicely.

Harry was answering Vicky's questions, knowing that if he failed to, she would find a way to trick it out of him, preferably in a very funny way. To others. Thus, he was surprised, to say the least, when she was suddenly pinning him down and kissing him. His body was responding without his control, and while he could blame that on Vicky's control of the mindscape, the truth was she was just that damn sexy. As suddenly as she started, she stopped, grinning wickedly.

"Was that so bad?"

Harry chuckled, "Vicky, you know it wasn't bad at all."

"Good. In that case, let me work on my tan before I have to return to that seal."

"Ok, want me to get the lotion?" Harry chuckled.

"Do you even have to ask?" she purred.

As unorthodox as her style was, it was effective, getting Harry out of his brooding. With that over, he accidentally confessed what the problem was to Anko-mum as she casually asked if he was feeling better. She just smiled at Harry, "Thank you for noticing, young man, you're not so bad yourself."

Harry was surprised but pleasantly so that none of the Clan teased him at all about it, not realising that they weren't going to tease their son until they were sure he was able to handle it.

As the ides of January approached, Harry found himself getting more physical with the girls in Cranleigh. Knowing that Harry was active with the other girls, and those girls giving glowing reports by owl post, Ashley and the others were more willing to go further with their hunk of a young man.

That led to unintended consequences, like Ashley discovering sweet Meaghan in Harry's lap when she visited him one Saturday morning, which wasn't too big of a surprise. Seeing Meaghan's hands trapping Harry's under her shirt was. Meaghan gave Ashley a teasing grin and told her "Come over and try it for yourself." Ashley nearly fainted. Of course, Harry's clone behind her would have caught her if she had, instead of carrying her to a vacant lounge chair and seating her in it like a throne.

They had a lot of fun. On the more intellectual side, poring through engineering magazines was becoming more common as was tinkering with their own projects. There was also the silly side of things, snowball fights or mock arguments over soap operas like Neighbours or Coronation Street. They even debated what name they wanted to use to describe themselves. Only Luna and, surprisingly, Tracey were happy with being called Harry's Harem. After a long debate and much silliness, Ashley seized on one of Harry's comments about considering them to be precious jewels, and the name stuck.

School was far easier for the girls since the Clan had relaxed one of their rules, allowing the non-magical allies to get some 'minor' help. In the girls' case, that meant that, with their and their parents' permission, the Angels would give them extra tutoring that amounted to a thorough education in maths, physics and chemistry up to university level. Their parents had advised their girls not to get too far ahead this way as it would just create boredom. Shuddering at the thought of boredom, the Clan agreed with them, and not even all the pouting the girls could muster would change their minds.

At Hogwarts, Harry could honestly say that his life was great. There was no threat to his life, nor to his girls or other friends, unlike previous years. He was getting enough time for physical training that he was slightly increasing the number of clones he could maintain rather than barely holding steady. His friends were all healthy and generally happy, and his girls accepted and returned his love. Oh, and that magic thing was cool too.

With the help of Professor McGonagall to make the request of the house elves, at the suggestion of Aurora and Septima, Harry had a few clones down in the kitchens to make meals for his friends and demonstrating the recipes for the little people. Since all Harry wanted was to improve the quality of food, he freely shared various of his own creations, making sure each one was perfectly made for the demonstration.

Dobby had popped in too, learning from the Great Harry Potter Sir and singing his praises to the other elves. He told his rapt audience how Harry's family said please and thank you, actually cared about Dobby's feelings, and created new ways to make messes for Dobby to clean up as a reward for Dobby's good service. Harry still found that intensely bizarre, but it made Dobby happy. True, Harry Potter Sir did want to make Dobby a free elf but Harry Potter Sir was so Great that he didn't force the Great Punishment onto Dobby.

The house elves ignored the bit about the wizard wanting to free them, considering it a small price to put up with Harry's lunacy if it meant they got to do better work. They were quickly learning the first dishes, and oddly, there were complaints about the change from some quarters. The new food was more sensitive to tampering, which upset the Weasley twins as it meant they found it harder to do their 'harmless pranks'. Percy disliked change for any reason, and the food was no different in that respect. Ron also wasn't good with change but he was improving, and since he got to eat his fill he was one of the first to adjust, finding he really enjoyed the new avenues of flavours opened to him. Ginny welcomed the new food. It tasted far better and it was Harry's doing, so she would never complain.

The more conservative in the Great Hall actually complained to their Heads of House, Snape and Flitwick. Snape didn't even notice the difference, all the potions over the decades had dulled his tastebuds, and he sent the students packing with a scathing reply.

Flitwick advised the few unhappy students in his House to write up their complaints with a coherent, logical argument, if they wanted it reverted to the previous way. Since they were generally the dullest as well as the most bigoted, he expected that would solve the problem. As he explained to Septima once they were gone that composing their complaint in the required way would take months, by which time they would no longer want to return to the old food as that would mean another change.

The evening after the first of the new recipes was unveiled to the students and staff, Padma knew she was ready for Harry to make her a woman. Having talked to the other girls, and enjoyed Harry's fingers and tongue, she was sure she could handle his size and she wanted to know the feeling of being complete. Hermione had been talking about it for the last couple of months.

Padma woke up the next morning in an unfamiliar bed with someone behind her! She relaxed into Harry when she remembered where she was, her man spooning with her and holding her close. "Good morning, my sexy girl." Harry's voice rumbled in his chest.

"Good morning indeed," Padma purred, bringing his hand up to cup her breast.

Later, the guys were paying Justin his winnings as he had bet on Padma being the next girl with Harry. Padma would have been upset except she realised how silly that would have been. They all knew that Harry's girls were getting closer to him, so instead, she just asked Justin for her cut, chuckling. As for Harry, he just shook his head amused. He didn't really want his love life to be the subject of gossip and bets, but it was better than the alternative of being the subject of plots and potions.

That week saw Cedric Diggory, Hufflepuff captain, approach Harry with a sneaky suggestion. Since Hufflepuff had good brooms, and school regulations didn't say anything about it, they could offer the other Houses their use during the game, if they wanted. In that way, they could influence who won each match.

Cedric took it as the complement it was when Mark Wilkinson called him "wonderfully Slytherin". Since the next match was Lions vs Ravens, they could, if they wished, aid either side. In the end, Harry, Hermione and Susan offered their brooms to the Flying Foxes. The Ravens were already neck and neck for the cup with Hufflepuff, so it would be better for their own House if the Ravens lost. Cho, Padma and Lisa all wanted bribes to keep quiet about the move, taking their pound of flesh from Harry.

As January ended and February began, Sue Li was getting anxious. She was still one of the shorter girls in their year and Harry was easily the biggest boy in their year. As much as she was wanting to explore her passion and love for him, that difference still daunted her. Every kiss and hug, she felt the barely restrained power in his body, simultaneously exciting and frightening to the compact girl. In an effort to get past it, Sue was taking Harry to her bed, laying on top of him during their making out and having Harry massage her any time she got too tense.

Quidditch wasn't Sue's idea of a good time, not really. While she liked flying, the wind in her hair, she felt the game was too violent and spoiled the whole thing by making it competitive rather than free. Still, she did enjoy seeing the skill the wizards and witches brought to the game. With her co-girlfriend Cho Chang flying, that made it a better spectacle. Cho was a superb flyer in her opinion, a joy to watch, as were Harry and Cedric from the Hufflepuff teams.

That day, the Ravenclaw team was nervous, having spotted the Gryffindor Chasers, already tough opponents, now flying on much faster brooms courtesy of the loan. Cho was the lone exception, riding Harry's Firebolt after assuring him, needlessly, that she would take great care of it and return it in perfect condition. Harry's only real worry over the game was that Oliver Wood, Keeper and Gryffindor captain, might carry through on his threat to kiss Harry in thanks for the brooms his Chasers had borrowed.

Harry was more open-minded these days, but the thought of Ollie or any other guy kissing him was just not one he was prepared to entertain. If the older student tried, he would discover just how hard to pin down Harry could be, right before he discovered the anger of Harry's girls.

The match was far closer than the audience, generally unaware of the substituted brooms, had expected. While Ollie was a fanatic about the game, he wasn't as imaginative as the Ravenclaws. That meant he didn't make contingency plans that were able to handle all the developments as well as his opponent, while his style meant that he liked to drill his players past the point it hurt their flexibility. In most cases, that was more than made up by the increased competence, but the Ravenclaws had been studying him just as much as he studied Quidditch.

In short order, Wood was flustered by the Ravens not acting according to any of his plans and it showed in his Keeping, letting through easy shots. At the other end of the field, the Flying Foxes, Alicia, Angelina and Katie, were taking advantage of their better brooms and scoring freely too. Another high-scoring match was clearly the order of the day. Since both teams were better off if the match went longer, Cho had been directed to have fun. As long as Ron Weasley didn't catch the Snitch, Ravenclaw didn't care what else Cho did.

So, Cho had fun, flying loop-de-loops, Wronsky Feints, and anything else she wanted. Ron Weasley ate dirt after her first Feint, but eventually got the idea that Cho really wasn't trying to win, something that really confused him.

"Who wouldn't want to win Quidditch?" he muttered to himself, sitting astride his broom a hundred feet in the air and thinking hard on the matter for a few minutes. He eventually gave it up as a bad job and resumed circling the pitch, looking hard for the Snitch.

What neither Seeker knew was that the Snitch had already been found and taken by Harry early on. While Cho wouldn't really mind, since it fit her team's goal and allowed her to fly free, Ron would have blown his top. The action was completely legal, not being one of the hundreds of recognised fouls in the game, since no one had anticipated a spectator seeing and catching the Snitch without any magical aid whatsoever. With Hermione and Susan at his sides, Harry grinned when Hermione slipped her small hand into his pocket for some risky fun.

"Harry!" she hissed. "Is that a Snitch in your pocket?"

Harry barely refrained from making crude jokes and just nodded.

"Why do you have it?"

"So Cho can enjoy a good day for flying and we can enjoy a better Quidditch Cup. If you think about it, the only ones losing out with this are Ollie Wood," the girls growled at the mention of that man-stealer, "Ron Weasley and the Slytherin team. Though I'd argue Ron is having a good time anyway."

"True," Susan allowed, "he does like being in the spotlight and up there, he can look at least halfway professional."

"Better than he ever does on the ground." Hermione still didn't like the boy even if he had matured a little. Really, the only Weasley she liked so far was Ginny who was cute, eager to please (Harry) and willing to learn and work hard. Lately, Harry's girls had come to think that the Hat had made yet another mistake with her Sorting as the girl clearly would be Hufflepuff material, while she wasn't that brave. That idea lasted until they remembered that she was cutting herself off from her parents because it was the right thing to do.

As the match neared the end of its first hour, Harry flashed a mirror at both Seekers, before throwing the Snitch into the centre of the pitch. Cho had started looking for it just a minute before, her captain signalling that they had played long enough. The Firebolt between her legs was the fastest thing in the sky and she shot off towards the flash of light, as did Ron Weasley after her, realising that the game was back on at last. Off to her left, Ron far behind her, Cho saw the glint and drove hard, following the Snitch as it ducked and weaved, scattering the Gryffindor Chasers and scaring both their Beaters when she flew right at each of them in turn. Sadly, while Ron managed to avoid the girls, he wasn't so lucky avoiding his brothers, the bristles from his broom scratching Fred's face just as Cho grabbed the Snitch. The game was over, and Ravenclaw triumphant.

On Sunday the thirteenth, having been with Harry in Hogsmeade and looking over the town from one of the hills, enjoying a picnic lunch, Sue was pleased with her progress in conquering her fears. She was now very comfortable around Harry, especially with his strong hands caressing and massaging her.

Opening her eyes and seeing his love and lust, she knew he was the one for her, and headed to her bed mid-afternoon, where Harry made love to her.

They took a short nap together before he fetched dinner for her from the kitchens, and they cuddled as he fed her, then she fed him before they lay and cuddled more. He woke her up at midnight with a kiss and a red rose. "I love you very much, little Sue." She straddled him, kissing again until the pair fell asleep.

She was far from the only girl to have enjoyed her date with Harry, the other Jewels scattered through the castle or grounds in the day and evening, anywhere they could have some privacy not only from the rest of the population but from each other. That let them dance, or cuddle, or sing even, with their man as he did his best to give each of his loves the best date suited to their tastes and needs.

Cho and Harry were in the Room of Requirement, flying in a meadow created for them by the room's magic. Hermione was laying back against Harry, letting him read Pride and Prejudice to her. Susan and Hannah had taken to having a double date, with an extra Harry acting as their personal chef. Each girl had something different, and each girl was treated just as special as any diamond.

After Leanne's date, she was also seriously considering giving Harry her virginity. She was just a sucker for the proper day. Harry just smiled when he saw the look in her eyes and gave her the sweetest kiss she had ever had. As they came up for air, Harry asked, "Tonight, beautiful? Is that what you wanted to ask me?" She nodded and snuggled closer before they went out to breakfast. Leanne let the other girls know her plans and got a thumbs up from Daphne.

Little Astoria had approached Leanne at lunch to make sure she wouldn't hurt him which she found cute, and Tonks who was like a big sister in some ways to the girls just chuckled to herself. She was too busy studying and studying for her Sixth Year classes to give much thought to Harry's situation, though he had started appearing in her dreams again.

The Hufflegirls were a little late to head down to the Common Room that Monday morning. First Sue and then Leanne happily told the stories of their first's in the showers, then took extra care with their makeup. The Hufflepuff guys had gone ahead when Harry offered to wait alone for them, Tonks making them all laugh with the pig snout she had finally perfected.

Heading off, the group of six with Harry at the centre arrived to receive a few glances before people returned to what they were doing, now accustomed to Harry Potter surrounded by good looking girls. Tonks, however, just muttered, "A clean sweep". When Cedric overheard her, she managed to make him think she was thinking of buying one of the brooms from the Cleansweep Company.

While Harry was curious if others in his rather large group of ladies would take the step to becoming his lovers, none seemed likely to do so just yet, and he was somewhat grateful. Each time he made love to a girl for her first time, he worried about being good enough for her, a fear that they had shared about him, or so they had told him when he mentioned it. As wonderful as it was to cause such pleasure, such joy to his ladies, it was also stressful. Of course, he was only somewhat grateful, because he truly did welcome each of them into his heart, and wanted to show them all the pleasure and love he could. Making love was, unsurprisingly, Harry's favourite pastime.

The rest of February, Harry and his Hufflegirls got busy with their Quidditch training taking up a lot more time. Since that ponce Malfoy had, somehow, retained his place on the team despite everything he had spewed, all of Hufflepuff wanted to see the Slytherin go down in flames. Failing on the Quidditch pitch would be an acceptable second.

Hermione, in particular, was eager to the point that she let her worries about homework slide, even cutting back on some pleasure reading, in order to make sure she was in top shape for the match. Harry, after consulting with his parents and theirs, gave the Hufflegirls the same boost to bone strength as Sirius had received the summer before. The girls gave their own consent as soon as the idea came up, but they were too young to be the sole arbiter of their medical treatment.

He was worried that the Slytherins' rough play might go right at his girls who would be more vulnerable than Harry himself would be. He was right.

On the fifth, when Hooch blew her whistle, the Slytherins showed from the outset just how dirty they intended to be. Marcus Flint 'accidentally' collided with Hannah, who other than a slight grunt gave no sign of feeling any pain, something that annoyed the Slytherin. When he tried again, he found himself swung upside down by a rogue gust of wind. Harry's clones gave the other Slytherins just one chance before giving them the same short gusts.

Of course, that was when Madam Hooch decided that it must be the Hufflepuffs at fault and she started awarding penalty shots to the Slytherins. It was official, as far as Harry was concerned. Hooch was a bad referee, whether she was intentionally biased or not, the effect was that she unbalanced the game. The Slytherins were taking advantage, daring Harry either to respond to their provocations or allow his girls to get hit. Well, there was no reason Harry had to play by their rules.

No, next Harry signalled his clones to force the Slytherins to fly right. It took a lot more control, but if they wanted to try to out-cheat a ninja, then Harry was going to prove how bad an idea that was. He still had a way to go with his control at that range, and even then he didn't really have the capacity to keep it going all the time. If only because the Slytherins would adapt.

So when the Slytherins tried to hit the Bludger at his girls in ways that broke the rules, the air thickened in the path of the heavy iron balls. When the Bludgers were hit at them, the wind gave them a little push, hitting that bit harder. And when a Slytherin tried to ram one of his girls, they found the wind would slow them down or throw them off course enough that the Hufflegirls got out of the way.

However, when they tried to play the game right, the winds were fair, and their disadvantage disappeared. By the end of the game, the team had discovered that the sooner they played by the rules, the sooner the winds were normal. At least, most of the team had discovered that as Harry's clones were operating on an individual basis. If say one Chaser learned fast to play by the rules, he got the benefit earlier than, well, Draco who kept fouling Hermione and Leanne over and over.

Or at least trying. After all, he was trying to out-cheat a ninja. In the end, his much vaunted Nimbus 2001 was flying through gale force winds that slowed him to a crawl no matter which way he turned. Not a single one of the detection spells cast by a frantic Snape found any trace of foreign magic on the brat, his broom, clothes or even the air around him. To the crowd, it looked like Draco was just idly flying around without any intention of playing seriously while his team were working as hard as they can. The other Purebloods were sweating furiously as they pushed themselves and their brooms to work harder.

It was a massacre. While Slytherin had raced to an early lead thanks to the terrible calling from Hooch, once Harry decided to retaliate they barely got a single goal on the board. Cedric was flying rings around Draco, dodging the spittle as Malfoy ranted at him silently from the elder boy's point of view, before lazily catching the Snitch. The final score was 800-150, rubbing the Slytherin team's noses in their defeat. It wasn't really subtle, but then again, it wasn't supposed to be. Stripped of their dirty tricks, the Slytherin team were just about hopeless on the pitch, having spent the same time the other teams spent on improving their game but instead mostly on improving their cheating.

After the game, once back in their changing rooms, Harry called for Hannah to let him know if she was hurt. Slapping his own face, "I mean, if anyone is hurt. I do know Hannah got 'accidentally' bumped by that neanderthal Flint. I'd much rather help you myself than make anyone wait until Pomfrey can see you. I still can taste some of those potions we've had to make, ugh. Disgusting!"

Hannah, Cedric and the rest laughed as he pulled a face, then took benches, letting Harry examine them for injuries. It didn't hurt or take long, and by now they knew he worried about his friends, about those close to him. Besides, it also meant they got to the massages quicker. Cedric didn't see why the girls loved them that much, but they were useful, he had to admit. He gave Harry a wave, heading off to the showers, while the girls relaxed under Harry's hands.

That lunchtime, while most of the students were digging in, Harry was talking with his friends behind an Illusion technique and a sound barrier. It wasn't perfect, but it should do as long as it didn't raise suspicion.

Looking at some unhappy faces, hearing their accusations of cheating, Harry wanted to set the record straight. "First of all, you all know who cheated. The Slytherins, starting with Marcus Flint, were intent from the outset on playing a dirty game. We all saw that, right?"

After getting agreement, he continued. "Well, I wasn't going to stand for that. So whenever they were trying to hit my friends, I made them fumble. That is, only when they were already committed to breaking the rules did I do anything. Does anyone here think that they hadn't earned that response?"

A few of the elder 'Puffs were reluctant, but agreed. "Then, when bloody Hooch decided that she would actually see the incidents, she punished the intended victims. So rather than continue and let Hooch wreck the game further, I changed tactics. Rather than making the Slytherins lose control after they tried to ram my teammates or myself, my clones sent them gently away. Rather than allowing them to bash skulls in with those damned Bludgers, my clones slowed them down, and in return sped up the ones fired at them.

"But, when the players stopped trying to cheat, they found themselves able to play again with their full normal talent and skill. By the end, the only one who hadn't realised that dirty play just wouldn't work was the yellow ponce."

He looked around, surveying his friends. "If you think I went too far, just tell me so and why. I wanted a clean game, and that's just what I tried to get. The one-sided score was the result of a clean game between a team that spent years learning and practising dirty play, and a team that has spent its time learning and practising Quidditch."

"I don't expect that to have convinced everyone, and I don't want to repeat that demonstration, either. I doubt anyone here does, really."

"Well, seeing the slimy Snakes beaten is fun." Lavender teased the Slytherin girls, winking at Daphne.

"Hey, I loved it too! What, those idiots on the team are perpetuating the stereotype, they don't even care how lacking in cunning that proves them to be." Daphne replied quickly, not even noticing her use of the Muggle word. "The more of them we can encourage to start thinking again, the better."

"Harry, I think you corrupted her. Isn't it great?" Lavender grinned.

Daphne would have responded but she had Harry next to her, and that wasn't an opportunity she wanted to miss, cuddling close and smiling. Astoria smiled too, watching. As far as she was concerned, Harry had just shown once again how much better he was than those fools on the Quidditch team, which she knew, but like Lavender she loved seeing them put down after putting on airs.

Tonks, though, she was treading a more dangerous path, plonking herself down in Harry's lap just after Daphne had whispered to him what she wanted him to do to her once they were alone. Tonks almost shot back up again when she discovered her seat had a spike in it, jiggling a little to the visual entertainment of the others before settling in. She was still over-acting her flirting, and it was working, Harry's girls just rolling their eyes and perhaps cursing Tonks for getting there first. When she added some wriggling in Harry's lap and settled in, well, Cho demonstrated just why Ravenclaws were feared rather than ridiculed for their love of reading. Like most Ravenclaws, Cho knew a lot more spells than any three wizards from the other Houses.

With a quick wave of her wand, Tonks' uniform was shrinking then lifting up, making it harder to breathe until she moved, cancelling the jinx. Harry was privately impressed with both Cho's speed and her spell selection. It did exactly what she wanted by getting Tonks to remove herself from Harry's lap along with providing a warning about just what was and wasn't tolerated. It was also a reasonably weak spell, though he didn't think Tonks recognised it, that was literally unable to hurt a fly.

During March, the business allies his parents had made were putting in the final touches on their move to Cranleigh. The town's growth over the last decade as a result of the economic resurgence had created vacancies that just happened to be filled by these families. Harry didn't trust coincidence with his parents around, especially not when all five of those families had girls around his own age. Still, that didn't mean he could blame the girls at all. The girls were innocent of his parents' machinations, something that Ashley and his other Cranleigh ladies accepted before Harry as it happened.

He knew it was wrong, misplaced, but it also meant that Ashley, Meaghan, Michelle, Ella and Stephanie bonded well with the new girls, defending them from Harry's occasional problem. After the fifth time it happened, Harry had spotted the pattern at work. His parents had set him up in order to make Ashley and the others trust the new girls faster. He had to admire the quality of their work, blindsiding him so much, but it was still going too far using him like that to manipulate their emotions. When he confronted them, Naruto just shrugged. "It started as a prank, then became a test of you. Your defence of them shows we judged your character right, while the time that you took this long means that Anko wins the damn bet." Naruto smiled. "And for what it's worth, son, I bet you would work it out after the second time, but they were more devious than I anticipated."

After the confrontation, they didn't try it again. The worst of it all was that Harry had actually asked for them to keep him on his toes so that he didn't let his skills get rusty. With some extra effort at meditation, and apologies to both sets of girls for his behaviour, he was able to move past the incident. His sincere efforts to make up for what he did endeared him more to Jennifer, Nicole, Jessica, Amanda and Lauren.

Especially when he gave them a massage each at Ashley's urging. When Ashley and the others volunteered to go first "to prove that Harry was a good masseur", Harry chuckled and gave in.

Afterwards, when the new girls cuddled with Harry's clones, Harry's girls just smiled, feeling too relaxed to care. Besides, if Jennifer and her group wanted Harry, it just showed their good taste. Later, his girls realised they didn't really have a problem with these new girls joining. There probably would have been issues if they had tried to push in any way. While the existing Jewels knew intellectually that they had been maneuvered to liking the new members to their ranks, it didn't make the emotion any less genuine. Harry gave up resisting at that point. He knew it was all over bar the shouting. Shouting at girls for not being jealous or bitchy was something so stupid he could never do it.

Of course, March also brought the end of term, and end of term exams, as the Equinox and Spring Holiday approached. It was what followed the exams that had made Harry's girls so excitable. For the first time, all of them were allowed to spend time at the Kitsune Compound with Harry, the same Harry they loved and adored, without parents to hold them back from anything they wanted to do with him. The Compound was large enough that there was plenty of room without having to double up, though some girls intended to do so anyway like Hannah and Susan, and Parvati and Padma.

In private, Lavender was fast becoming the most insatiable of Harry's lovers. She would give him a look or a flip of her hair to signal her need, before leading him off to enjoy quick, hot sex. Afterwards she returned to whatever she was doing before, her itch scratched for now. In public, however, she strove to remain the same bubbly and talkative girl. She loved her life and her friends and her Harry too.

The final week, with the results all in, saw a party mood in the school. Even Draco Malfoy was looking forward to getting home for the holidays. He wanted to get away from the Mudbloods and Blood Traitors. They had stolen the influence Draco was entitled to with the Boy-Who-Lived, they ruined his triumphant rule of the only good House and they pissed all over his class standing. Indeed, despite being a Pureblood with impeccable breeding and despite having the best private tutors Malfoy money could buy, Draco was only barely in 30th position. Even that Weasel was ahead of him.

The sole exception to the improved outlook was Severus Snape. Snape, while he would enjoy his freedom from having dunderheads underfoot, had no intention of making things easy for the fools. It was just not something he could ever willingly do. He gave his standard exams with the standard Slytherin bias, knowing that if his bias went any further that Minerva would just erase the marks Snape gave and do it herself. All the while she would gloat about how much closer it got her to getting him fired from Hogwarts where he had unfettered access to potions ingredients and to the young heirs of powerful families.

Eventually, however, all seven days passed, the students who were heading home, which was almost everyone, were bundled aboard carriages and delivered to Hogsmeade Station, and got on the train.

The guys in their growing circle of friends relaxed with more movies and sweets from the trolley, while the girls cuddled and chatted excitedly about getting to stay over for just about the whole holidays with Harry's family. Their own families would spend a day or two with them, but had bowed to their daughters' requests (and puppy eyes) to get to know the rest of their new friends and co-girlfriends.

Life was complicated for Harry Potter, but never dull.

Thanks for reading and for your support. Your feedback is appreciated.