Chapter 54 - Revolutionary

Early in August, Amelia Bones had taken on the pleasant duty of informing the three Veela ladies that their applications for permanent residency had been provisionally approved.

Arriving home in Cranleigh, she bore half a dozen scrolls of parchment and a big smile as she walked inside. A quick jutsu and her clone was off, checking through the sprawling home for the girls. She found them, as expected, in the day spa that the Clan had built for themselves, working on their tan and casting lascivious looks at their pool boy Harry.

"Fleur! Yvette! Angelique!" she called, getting their attention. "Get dressed!" She chuckled at their pouting looks before they caught notice of the scrolls in her hands and scurried away to the changing areas, dressing hastily. Others heard her call and headed in to see what the fuss was all about.

Once everyone was gathered, she handed out one scroll each to the Veelas, a short nod telling them they should open them.

"It is my pleasure to inform you that your applications for temporary residency have been approved, allowing you, if you so decide, to apply for permanent residency."

The three ladies each gave her a hug and kissed both cheeks, their smiles making plain their feelings.

"Having examined each case, it is my pleasure as Minister of Magic to grant Fleur Delacour, Yvette Baudin and Angelique Marquette permanent residency with a probationary period not to exceed three months." Minister Bones continued, handing out the other three scrolls saying the same thing but in more formal language.

She laughed as the thanks began all over again and then stripped off her robes and headed over to take her own massage table, the three ladies taking the lead in her treatment this day.

It was a sadder and tenser atmosphere at the Burrow.

Molly Weasley, housewife and mother, Did Not Approve. She did not approve of a number of things, such as the Muggle influences on the Wizarding World. Muggle things were fine in their place, and that place was with the Muggles, not in her own home. That was why she had banished her husband's collection of plugs and batteries to the shed, refusing to allow them in her house. They were strange and unnatural and dangerous, not things that proper witches and wizards played with.

She did not approve of her eldest son William's earring, of his decision to work for Goblins, of him taking a posting out of Britain. Nor did she approve of the way he and Charlie never seemed to spend time here in their home, always pleading the press of work kept them too busy.

She definitely did not approve of how frivolous her twin sons, Frederick and George, were. They were always spending their free time dreaming up pranks rather than getting ready to go into the Ministry like a respectable wizard should.

But most of all, Molly Weasley did not approve of her youngest child and only daughter cavorting around in a harem of all things! Since her children had returned from Hogwarts, she had found it hard to keep calm. Whenever she saw Ginny, she kept remembering the good little girl she raised. 'Where did it all go wrong? Why in Merlin's name is she punishing me like this?'

She sent Ginny to degnome the garden then glared at the girl when she returned only five minutes later, claiming the job was done. That was the last straw. The chore took Molly herself a solid half-hour and that was with the aid of magic and Molly knew for a fact that Ginny's wand was still where it should be, in Molly's own pocket as a guard against temptation.

The idea that Ginny had done it in five minutes was laughable. No, it was an insult and she had just started to raise her voice when Ginny turned her back on her mother.

Molly reached out to grab her wilful daughter only to miss. "Ginevra Molly Weasley! You will come back here this instant! You are going to give me an explanation about why you lied to me!"

"No, Mother. I did no such thing and you didn't even bother to check." Ginny walked out on her mother, heading to the shed where she knew her Dad had overheard the argument.

Molly was stunned by the wilful disrespect from her daughter. Following her a few seconds later, she ignored the sight of the crowd of gnomes grouped up at the edge of the property where Ginny had thrown them, storming into Arthur's shed.

There, Ginny was in his arms, crying. "Ginny Weasley! How dare you walk out on me like that! Never have I seen such blatant disrespect in this house!"

Arthur glared at his wife. "Molly, calm down. Can't you see she's upset?"

Molly was still seeing red but she knew from long experience that she had to be reasonable. "I can, Arthur, but our little girl just lied to me and ran away when I was trying to find out just what had got into her. I know she knows better than this!"

"I do!" Ginny put in. "I degnomed the garden just as you told me to, then when I told you it was done, you started to shout at me! I don't see why I should be yelled at for doing what you told me to do. It's so unfair," she finished.

"You didn't degnome it at all! You were only out for a minute then you lied to me, saying you had finished."

"You haven't even looked!" Ginny accused her. "Go on, look!"

"I don't need to look." Molly shot back. "There is no way you could have finished so quickly."

"How do you know?"

"Because missy, I couldn't have finished it that quickly, even with my wand, and I know you didn't use magic."

"I did it without magic or complaints about how unfair it was to keep giving me that punishment for no reason. Now, when I did what you told me to do, you want to punish me again! Go on! Look!" Ginny screamed.

Arthur had looked, and had been speechless to that point. "Princess, how did you do it?" he asked in a reasonable tone before Molly could scream back.

"I went over and herded them into a corner before throwing them all, rather than hunting down each one." Ginny answered. "I learned about it from one of the Muggle shows at Harry's place. It works with sheep so I thought I would try it with the gnomes." What Ginny left out of the explanation were the Earth techniques she had used to change the terrain enough for it to work, corralling the little creatures together.

Arthur nodded and smiled. "How ingenious those Muggles are!" Arthur declared. Ginny bit back a comment at how patronising he sounded and just nodded since she really did agree. Without magic as a support, regular people had accomplished so much and she was learning what she could so she could be useful to her Harry.

Molly was not mollified though. "What rot! Now you're lying to your father, too! Go out and do your chores, Ginevra!"

"She has." Arthur put in.

"Of course she hasn't!" Molly pointed her arm out at the gnome free field and asked rhetorically, "Does that look like she has done her work?"

"Yes, it does, dear." He bit back the other words he was tempted to use which were far from suitable for young ears.

Molly whirled around, staring in disbelief, as Arthur went on, "Ginny followed your order and did the job very well so you were going to punish her. You ought to know better than that, Molly. Didn't you even think that our daughter was smart or capable enough to get it done? She was near the top of her year. For Merlin's sake she beat out all the Ravenclaws except for Xeno's child."

"You're taking her side!"

"Yes, I am, Molly. It is clear that she was right, so I should take her side." Arthur was biting off each word, trying to keep the infamous Weasley temper under control.

"What about those scandalous clothes she's always wearing, then? Is she right there too?"

"It's summer, Molly. If she wants to wear something cooler while she's at home, why not? She still has her knees covered."

"That's not what I mean. I know we didn't buy her them so who did? Hmm?"

Arthur turned to his little girl, "Well, Ginny?" he asked, still holding onto his temper.

"They were a gift from Harry. He didn't want me to feel left out at school when all our friends have good clothes." Ginny added hurriedly.

"We don't take charity! And you shouldn't be accepting expensive gifts like that without consulting us. Why didn't he talk to us first?"

"Because he wasn't giving the gifts to you, Mum."

"Well, you can get rid of them right this minute!"

"Mum! I can't give them back!"

Molly thought for a moment then grudgingly agreed, "Fine, but you can still get rid of them. Go on, get out of those clothes so I can burn them!"

"No! Harry gave me those clothes. I am not going to let you burn them!" Ginny shouted back, forgetting for a moment that they had been made fireproof but not really wanting to put it to the test. "They are my clothes, not yours." She turned back to her father, adding, "I know that he only wanted to make me happy with them."

"He wanted to turn your head with his money!" Molly accused. "He knows we can't afford to give you everything new so he's flaunting his wealth to turn you against us!"

"Oh Merlin." Ginny laughed. "That couldn't be further from the truth. He didn't spend any more on this than our other friends did at Christmas." She became a little wistful, remembering the fittings. "He made it all himself. The clothes are all hand-made, that's why they're precious to me. That's why I won't let you burn them."

"Ridiculous! No one can sew that fast."

"Machines can, and they've got sewing machines at Harry's home to do just this." Ginny shot back. "I'm sure Dad would love to see them, too, if you haven't already." She added to him. "They're so intricate and precise. Some of the people in the village should have them, you know. They're really common."

"Really? Fascinating."

"Arthur!"

"What, dear?"

"You believe her?"

"Well, the Muggles are ingenious, getting things done without magic." Arthur Weasley defended himself.

"Not that, I meant her clothes."

"Oh, that? You didn't want her to accept any expensive gift and Ginny told us he didn't spend much money on them..."

"Less than a Galleon," Ginny put in, nodding, hiding her thoughts that technically, Harry hadn't even needed to spend that, gathering the materials from home and putting it together from scratch. He hadn't used a sewing machine, either, though the Clan did own several models so she hadn't lied to her parents even as she kept Harry's secrets.

"So he put in a lot of work to make our daughter happy and brought out her beauty. He has risked his life rescuing our daughter, he makes her happy, and he makes her clothes."

"He cooks for me and studies with me, too."

"Now, does that sound like a boy who thinks he's above our little girl?" Arthur asked. "No, it doesn't. While I still want Ginny to finish school before she settles down, can you honestly point out a better boy for her?"

"He sounds too good to be true!" Molly returned.

"Honestly, mother, if you will return my wand to me, I will swear an Oath that it's all true. I'll even swear it on my life if swearing on my magic isn't good enough." Ginny grumbled.

"Oh, no, you don't. You just want your wand back."

"Of course I want my wand back. It is mine, after all. I was willing to help lay your fears to rest, too." Ginny turned to Arthur. "Dad, you know it's my wand, she knows it's my wand, and she is refusing to return my property to me. I am going to get it back."

Molly drew out her own wand at that remark, preparing to cast a spell, when Ginny was suddenly on the other side of Arthur, looking a little winded but holding up her wand. Molly was startled and felt in her pocket for the wand. It was gone!

"Now that I have recovered what was mine, I am going to take a walk on the grounds." Ginny sighed. "For some reason, I don't feel welcome in the house any longer."

As she walked away, Molly was still trying to work out just how Ginny had done it, seizing on the most obvious explanation. "How did she learn to Apparate?"

"That has nothing to do with this!" Arthur finally allowed his temper out now that his darling little girl was out of sight. "Your only daughter just told you that she doesn't feel like this is her home and you are fixated on a trick? Merlin, what is wrong with you, Molly?"

"Don't go blaming me, Arthur Weasley!"

"Why not? You seem perfectly happy to blame everyone else! No more! If I hear of you giving out another punishment to any of our children without a good reason, you will answer to me. Do you understand?" Arthur had finally found that inner fire he had been lacking, finding it in the defence of his children. Neither he nor Molly knew when he had drawn his wand but the tip was lit an angry red as it was pointed at the ground.

"I-"

"Do. You. Understand?"

"Yes but-"

"Good. Now, Molly, let Ginny calm down for a while, and for Merlin's sake, and mine, calm down yourself before you say anything you later regret."

Molly took a deep breath automatically, cowed by the display of will from her normally spineless husband. She found it exciting, really. It was what had originally drawn her to him and led to her using enticements to catch his attention.

Molly found herself in the kitchen, kneading dough by hand rather than by spell, something soothed her about the work and she started thinking clearly again. Unfortunately, her thoughts went to Ginny and her inner voice was complaining that Ginny should trust that she knew best. Instead, Ginny had refused her, doing things her own way. That same part of her still remembered the day Ginny was born and saw her as the bright child growing up in a world free of You-Know-Who. It didn't recognise the teen who had been learning to think for herself, on the way to becoming an adult in only a few short years.

That frustration built again as she recalled other instances when Ginny had defied her - others would say disagreed with her - or ignored her. Even her lectures as she passed on her wisdom, often straight from whatever Witch Weekly article caught her attention, would be ignored. At least when she had been forced to endure listening to all that rot, Molly had shown her mother proper respect. Well, until she got out of the room.

She realised she was grinding her teeth again and stopped, looking at the dough which was now ruined from her hands kneading it for nearly an hour, and started afresh. The old dough was set aside to be baked anyway and used to bait some birds for the dinner table.

As she settled into the new one, resolving to pay more attention this time, that inner voice pointed out that Arthur couldn't really have meant what he said before. She had been married to the man for over twenty years and in all the time of their marriage, Arthur had always listened to her advice. Well, except when it came to his job, she admitted, but they always made do with his pay.

The Burrow was the place she ruled, and no mere slip of a girl would show her up! Molly made dinner, just as good as Hogwarts, she thought, and called her brood in when it was ready, feeling herself restored to her usual confident self.

Ginny had walked off her bad mood, a quick signal had let Luna's clone know that she could use some cheering up and they walked together over the grounds that the Weasleys had taken for their home years before. It was a beautiful part of the country and the two girls let nature's sights, sounds and scents refresh them.

When she was called in for dinner, Ginny gave her best friend a tight hug and a smile. "Thanks, Luna. You're the best."

Luna shook her head and smiled. "No, that's Harry. I'm Luna." They shared a smile and another hug before Ginny dashed inside, using a Body Flicker to get close then walking the rest of the way. Luna went home to a Harry-cooked meal. She hoped Ginny would come over soon. She missed sharing her bed with both Ginny and Harry. Those sleepovers were such fun.

As the Burrow came into sight, Ginny felt all the tension returning and sighed, trudging through the door of the place she used to call home. She gave her father a small smile which fell as she saw her mother. Molly appeared just as confident as ever that everyone needed to do things her way. That look on Molly's face that said nothing was wrong was a big warning sign to Ginny and she felt like crying.

She tasted the meal, a heavy roast beef, lots of mashed potatoes drenched in butter and cream and beans boiled until all the goodness had leached out, and nearly bolted for the door, freedom and Harry's healthy, tasty cooking. The dinner would be heavy, filling and terribly fattening. That wouldn't be too big a problem if she was free to continue her ninja training as normal since she could burn off every calorie on the table but that was impossible at the Burrow. Her Oath to keep Harry's secrets forbade it. So now, she had been given a big helping of everything but it looked just like Hogwarts' food.

Something of her feelings was visible to the others and Molly got upset. "Now, what is the matter, young woman? That food right there is just as good as you'll find at Hogwarts, I have you'll know!"

"It tastes just like Hogwarts' food, too, Mother. That's why it doesn't appeal-"

There were gasps from the others at the table at the criticism.

Ron snorted. "Just like the Boy-Who-Lived! How can you get better than this?"

"By trying new recipes." Ginny replied absently. "The shop in the village does a lovely fish and chips, Ron. You'd love it."

With Ron effectively distracted by visions of new culinary delights, the others were now free to speak their minds.

"I would like to see you do better, young lady!" Molly yelled.

"I'm not as good a cook as Harry is, but I could give it a go, I guess." Ginny replied calmly, if unsure.

"Now, Molly." Arthur interjected before his wife could make things worse. "Remember what I said earlier."

Molly nodded shortly. She remembered, alright, but she still didn't believe he would carry through. Still... "Alright, Ginny, you can cook tomorrow's lunch for the family."

"Ok, but I want an Oath from Fred and George that they won't use any prank. I don't want to be blamed for lunch being ruined because of them." She glared at the unrepentant twins who were grinning at the acknowledgement of their pranking prowess.

"A fine idea, Ginny." Arthur declared. "Well, hurry up."

Startled, the twins slowly drew their wands as they tried to think of a way out of this. The looks from both parents and Ginny told them there was no way out and they gave their Oath that they wouldn't do anything to disrupt the meal. The flash of magic sealed the deal and they looked down, depressed for a second before looking up grinning. Their Oath didn't stop them from doing other pranks.

The evening went slowly for Ginny. She spent some time talking to Harry on a phone he had given her, both for moral support as well as for tips and ideas for the lunch. That night, one of Harry's clones snuck into her room and held her through the night, driving away any nightmares she might have otherwise had.

In the morning, he gave her a kiss goodbye and she went downstairs to the kitchen, making sure that she knew what ingredients were available and where everything was. She was just about finished when Molly chased her out of the kitchen, ostensibly to make breakfast but really because she didn't like anyone interfering in 'her' domain.

After breakfast, Ginny tried again and Molly told her to degnome the garden. "But I need to know where things are, Mum. I am not going to fail just because I couldn't find the salt, for example."

Molly relented and kept a sharp eye on the interloper in her kitchen. Ginny felt her mother's eyes on her, groaning inside at the distraction before concentrating on the task at hand. Finally, she nodded and got out of the kitchen and the house, making a clone once she was out of sight that headed up to the Rookery to borrow some ingredients from the Lovegoods. Luna was happy to help her find whatever she needed, accepting payment in cuddles and a promise to save a bite for her.

Around eleven o'clock, Ginny looked up from the newspaper and stood up, heading to the kitchen to start preparing lunch. Molly's displeasure was plain to see and the twins made themselves scarce, leaving Ron to take the brunt of her bad mood.

Luckily for Molly, Arthur was again out at his shed or he would have come down on her for taking out her feelings on Ron. She studiously ignored what was happening in the kitchen while Ginny struggled to get things ready.

Ginny conceded defeat and went out to the shed. "Dad, could you light the stove for me? I can do everything else but I can't light it without using magic, and I know I'm not allowed to do magic over the hols."

He smiled at his daughter while again sad that she wouldn't go to her mother for such a simple thing. Their relationship had been such a happy one before that blasted enchanted diary came into their lives.

With the stove lit, and Molly angrier than ever, Ginny got to work, cutting up some vegetables for a salad for everyone while she waited for everything to cook. The delicious smells drew in Ron from the garden where he and the twins had been flying, and a few minutes later, with everything ready, she called in them and her father as well.

Ginny served up for everyone, starting with the caesar salad before bringing in the leg of lamb that she had roasted and accompanied by beer battered chips, letting her dad do the carving.

Soon, the only sounds were those of determined chewing as the family ate their fill, Ron keeping quiet lest he lose the chance to eat to a full Weasley argument.

With the last plate cleared, Ginny popped out to the kitchen and got out the strawberry sorbet that she had had her dad place under stasis for this moment, bringing out dessert to everyone and taking her seat. There were raised eyebrows as normally they didn't have dessert at lunch but Ginny wanted the chance to show off what was one of her favourite dishes, one that she had learned early on under Harry.

The sounds of spoons on bowls followed and she got grins from the twins before they shared a look then bowed in unison to her. "We're not worthy!" they cried, laughing as they got up from the table to head to their room. On the way past, Fred, or was it George, bent down and whispered in her ear "It was worth that Oath to taste that, Ginny." She couldn't help but smile at the compliment. It was high praise indeed from the twins to prefer anything over some mischief.

Ron grunted out his own thanks for the food after finishing his thirds before leaving the area, going out flying again to practice his catching.

That left the room clear of everyone but Ginny and her parents. The tension in the room was high but Ginny kept her chin up.

"I suppose it wasn't the worst meal I've eaten." Molly allowed.

Arthur looked at her, then back at his daughter. "Thank you for lunch, Ginny, that was very good. That salad reminded me of some of the lunches I have seen at work lately."

"It probably was the same, Dad. I know Minister Bones has a fondness for it."

"Ah, I thought as much. Now, Molly, don't you have something to say to your daughter? She did meet your challenge, after all."

"No, I said what I meant. It wasn't the worst meal I've ever eaten, but it wasn't any better than my cooking!" Molly was certain of that.

"No, Molly, she isn't a better cook than you. She did use a better recipe, however. That was her point, really, right, Ginny?"

Ginny nodded quickly. She disagreed with her dad about the skills involved, but it wasn't worth fighting about it. "I just wanted to have something tastier than the same old boring Hogwarts food." She smiled much like Ron would as she remembered some of the meals she had eaten. "I would have served up some nice Thai food, but I didn't want anyone to object to 'foreign muck'. As long as we get to eat some light, tasty meals, that's all I was hoping for. There's a whole world of good recipes out there but what use are they if we don't get to try any?"

Arthur agreed but his wife was still upset.

"I don't see what's wrong with good, solid Hogwarts fare." Molly complained. "It was good enough for us. It ought to be good enough for you, too."

"Really? I thought you would want your kids to have a better life than your own." Ginny asked, knowing it was a risky thing to say. Her dad was already agreeing with her but her mother was just as stubborn as any other born Weasley.

"Are you implying I am a bad mother?" Molly screamed.

Privately, Ginny wanted to do just that. After thinking on it, she had decided that sending Howlers to her kids was certainly a sign of a bad mother. It was broadcasting private matters, publicly embarrassing and potentially deafening them during meals. Then there was the way she had driven both of her eldest sons away from home just as soon as they could get away.

Instead, she shook her head. "No, Mother, I was just expressing my surprise. I am sorry I upset you."

Molly didn't believe her apology and ignored it. "I bet you think you're a better cook, too. None of this would have happened without Harry Potter and his harlots!"

"I can't believe you just said that about him!" Ginny was furious. "You do know he saved my life, don't you?"

"Only so he could corrupt you! It's obvious he just wants you to spread your legs for him, just like all the rest."

"What in Merlin's name is wrong with you, woman?" Arthur yelled, having cast a silencing spell on Molly. "Are you honestly trying to drive away our only daughter?"

Molly broke the spell and growled back "No! I am trying to make her see sense! The little idiot is obviously in a rebellious phase, disrespecting me under my own roof and I'll not have it!"

"This is her home, too, Molly."

"No, it's not, Dad." Ginny put in sadly. "This place holds some good memories, but it doesn't feel like home. It hasn't been my home for over a year, now. I feel like a guest who's overstayed her welcome."

"You're darned right you're not welcome if you talk back at me like that!" Molly shot back.

Arthur felt like tearing out what little hair he had left. Instead, he cast another Silencing spell and followed it with a Disarming Hex so his wife couldn't interrupt again.

"Come here, Ginny." he ordered gently. When she sat on his knee, he probed deeper. "What's wrong? You grew up here all your life in the Burrow, the home I made."

"I am growing up, Dad. I'm learning lots thanks to my friends, including how to think for myself and how to stand up for myself, to prove I am a true Gryffindor. Only. Well, that's not what Mum wants from me, is it? I'm not sure just what it is she does want, but I know I can't give it to her if she won't explain and she doesn't talk to me. She just, just, well, you've seen it, Dad?" Ginny took a breath.

"I have to get away, Dad. I don't feel safe living under the same roof as her any longer."

Arthur was swept away. He had suspected it was bad but he didn't think the problems ran that deeply!

"Are you sure, honey? Moving out is a very big step, after all."

"I know, Dad. And I've looked at the law. I'm not old enough to do it on my own, not for over two years, but I can do it with your permission."

"But where would you go? And why do you think I would ever give you permission to leave?"

"I could live with one of my friends. Heck, I have lots of friends who would be happy to put me up for a week at a time, which is plenty to last through each summer, spending a week or a few days at each house." Ginny glanced at her mother and took a breath. "Or I could live with Harry's family. I've got a standing invitation to spend holidays there, anyway. And you could still visit me there, they live with Muggle neighbours and have electricity and a telephone and would be happy to teach you. You will still get to see me, and it will make me feel safe again." Ginny ran out of words at last, hoping her appeal worked.

Arthur was torn. He knew his little girl had mentioned the Muggles to entice him, which reduced the effect of it, but he could also see she really did want to leave.

"Please, Dad, I need you to do this for me. It'll be much quieter here without Mum yelling at me all the time, too."

He had to agree. Molly was far quieter without Ginny rubbing her the wrong way or whatever the reason was. In the end, he had to balance out him missing her, with her happiness. Put that way, it was no contest.

It still took him hours to begin to come to terms with that decision, however. In the interim, Ginny was on tenterhooks.

At dinner, Molly wouldn't even look at her daughter. It was the only way she could hold onto the tattered remnants of her temper. Molly had refused to entertain any suggestion that Ginny make dinner, either, as she had had enough of interlopers in her kitchen.

The work which usually satisfied her just left her feeling tired that evening. Even though she had used her best magic and cooking skills, her three sons at home failed to appreciate the meal half as much as Ginny's lunch.

Hearing Arthur give the little bint permission to leave was the last straw. Molly went out into the garden to do some degnoming of her own, punting the little blighters as hard as she could. Ginny packed up her trunk, modified for greater security and privacy, and carried it downstairs. Luckily Molly wasn't around to see her carrying it one-handed for she would have immediately accused Ginny of using magic. It wasn't, just the extra strength that the Clan had given to their friends and allies at work. She didn't mind if her Dad saw her. He would ask, or at worst assume someone had enchanted it for her.

With a hug for her Dad, Ginny was off through the Floo to the Rookery for the night, getting to spend it between Luna and Harry all night long. It was the best sleep she had had since she left the Kitsune Compound.

The next morning, with Ginny ecstatic at being fully attired in Harry-made clothing for the first time all summer, the two girls Floo'd through to Harry's place, arriving at the outdoor fireplace and skipping merrily inside. There they were met by Naruto and the real Harry who welcomed them back. Inside, Amelia Bones was the first Jewel to welcome them home.

Once they were sitting down and a clone had taken their baggage, Amelia gave Ginny a thorough looking over. "Well, you certainly know how to make things interesting."

"I'm sorry. I couldn't stand that woman any longer."

"No, Ginny, it's not that. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to imply I blamed you. I only just started as Minister and already I've got what could have become a scandal on my hands. Your dad, whatever else his faults, clearly values your happiness above his own comfort and maybe even his job.

"If this had happened under the old ways, with Fudge in power and the Prophet doing its usual routine, it could have blown up into a big scandal about how the 'Muggle-loving fool was clearly a bad father' et cetera. Maybe even be used to push through more measures that hurt such 'dangerous elements' as first generation witches and wizards trying to fit in in a new world or start a business."

As the Jewels nodded, she continued, "Well, for a start the Prophet has been defanged, a little at least. It would still want to write about such a juicy topic, of course, that's just what sells papers. Oh, we could quash the story but it could end up hurting us in the long term. I'm sure that snake Malfoy would love to leak the story to them anyway, couched in the most damaging terms possible. Such a shame he lost his influence there."

"Anyway, the good thing is that you aren't a runaway, legally speaking. You have the permission of one parent which is enough, and that means you aren't going to cause any problems for us. You thought your way through the problem. I'm proud of you." Amelia finished, echoed by the others.

The support was too much for Ginny's frail control and she broke down in happy tears, wrapped up in hugs from Harry and his clones and kissing every single one.

There was a much different change late on the same day that Ginny arrived to stay at the Kitsune Compound.

Andromeda Tonks was swearing up a storm, which would have shocked anyone who knew the normally polite and respectable witch, as the twins chose to interrupt a massage and day-spa treatment with their demand to be let out right as she was getting the last of her tension worked out of her.

Strong but caring hands lifted her up, carrying her smoothly to the clinic the Clan had set up on the property. Unlike the exhibition theatre where the bloodline transfers had been done, this was a more intimate room with soft soothing colours and the scent of fresh flowers. Andi was moved to lay back, legs elevated and asked to relax while one of the Clan took care of the delivery.

Tsunade had made sure to explain their procedure when she made the offer to the witch who now felt as big as a house. Andi would get a quick feeling of pressure in her mind as Tsunade inserted her awareness, her body would be briefly stretched allowing for an easy delivery, the baby would be popped out, and then it would be over. No fuss, no time to feel much pain, either, with delivery taking barely a minute.

It lived up to the Clan's promises, though she disliked having to wear the prisoner handcuffs that suppressed her magic and allowed the procedure to take place without risk. It just felt wrong to be treated like a criminal, but she was smart enough to realise that it was much better to have a minute of that than the day and a half that Nymphadora took to see daylight.

Sitting up feeling much lighter, Tsunade handed one twin to her and the other to a beaming Ted Tonks. Andi gave her a grateful smile and brief hug before accepting both twins who were, naturally, hungry.

Happy, the new parents went to bed, their babies safe and sound in a cot at the foot of it, much less tired than they had any right to be. As a result, they were kissing and cuddling when their new son and daughter wanted to feed again, and Ted loved watching his Dromeda so happy. She was a wonderfully loving mother, and this time, he wouldn't allow her to carry on the silly naming traditions of the Blacks.

Ginny had a wonderful night when she went to bed, celebrating her return by staying up late and keeping her Harry up in more ways than one. She was surprised when Daphne came into her room to join them.

In the morning, grinning ear to ear from their wake-up, the two girls slipped out of Ginny's room to freshen up. Behind them, the clones dispersed and Harry grinned wickedly, too. Daphne came over to him, giving him a kiss and sitting in his lap, letting him feed her and shamelessly preening.

As a cleaned up and clothed Ginny headed to the breakfast table, she saw Nym cooing over a couple of babies.

"Who are they?" she whispered to Hermione next to her.

Hermione looked at her strangely for a moment. "They're Teddy and Cassy, you know, the twins? They were born last night and Nym's going gaga over her new brother and sister, and it's our turn next." She giggled at the surprise on Ginny's face, correctly guessing that Ginny had been too caught up in catching up with Harry to pay attention to anything else.

A few minutes later, the pair of giggling girls took their turn holding, smiling and making silly noises at the newest expansion to the Potter Alliance.

Over the next few days, Arthur visited twice, each for nearly an hour, spending time to make sure his daughter truly was happy again. The brilliant smile he received convinced him he had done the right thing in spite of his wife's nagging and by the end of the week, he had put in the paperwork to make it official. "In payment of the Life Debt owed by my daughter, she has offered to repay it by becoming his ward," was how he put it to the reporter from the paper.

That phrasing made it impossible for anyone to make a fuss in public. Even Molly knew that if she did such a thing, everyone would turn on her. There were a few comments from Arthur's coworkers, congratulating him on repaying the debt in such a good way, hearkening back to their ancient traditions. Their words meant little to him, however. All that he cared about was making Ginny happy.

He was called before the new Minister who praised his handling of a difficult situation and reaffirmed the promise that he could visit his little girl as much as he wanted. "Although calling ahead to make sure she is at home would be a good idea."

It was a reasonable request, as long as they didn't use it to keep him away. Even if they did, he was committed now.

While he hated the price his family had paid, he had shown Molly that her husband wasn't the spineless wimp she thought she had made of him. He proved that he still had an echo of the strong man he was in his youth, something that put some pride back into the man.

The next event of any importance was something that went unnoticed at the time. Hermione's clone was in her room at the Grangers, sitting on the bed and reading when her mother Liz came into the room and closed the door behind her. She wasn't too careful about it, however, knowing that her husband was out and Athena was downstairs watching one of her nature documentaries.

She had a saucy grin on her face as she cleared her throat, her first hello having gone unheard.

"Oh, hi, Mum." Hermione blushed. "I'm sorry I didn't hear you come in. Is it that time already?"

"It is, Hermione." Liz took the chair by the bed, getting comfy as she watched her daughter get lost in thought for a minute, reviewing the week just gone and nodding to herself as she arranged the memories.

"Well." The bushy-haired witch began, relating some of the fun times she had enjoyed with Harry and the others. The barriers had fallen that first time Hermione had accidentally confessed, and desperate to regain the open relationship with her daughter, Liz had refused to let them return, even accepting this as a way to keep communication going.

By now, Liz had come to love hearing about all these acts, from the sweet to the kinky, the mundane to the bizarre. Her own love life was drying up, a product of years of falling energy levels due to stress and work and her husband's falling libido. The bloodline transfer from the Clan had done wonders, at first, the extra energy helping to get her itch scratched but over time, it was no longer enough. His libido had improved but so had hers, making that gap just as insurmountable. She hated begging or pressuring her husband but she needed more than he was comfortable giving, and she refused to cheat on him.

Leaning forward, she made sure to catch Hermione's every word and expression. Her agile imagination painted vivid scenes for her of everything that took place, the sweaty, naked bodies, the passion and most of all, the pleasure they made together.

Her pulse loud in her ears, Liz never had a chance at hearing Athena sneaking up to her sister's room, determined to find out what the secret was. Managing to keep herself quiet, she crouched outside the room and listened in, hearing only every second word but putting together her own version of events.

A smart young girl about to enter Hogwarts, Athena had already read a number of texts describing the processes involved but this was the first time she had heard them made so very appealing. The knowledge that Harry really enjoyed these activities just made her want to share them with him even more and she cursed the ruling that said she couldn't join, having to wait positively ages.

Later, she had to stand up straight again and snuck back to the kitchen, getting a tall drink to cool off. It felt like the air conditioning had broken down but when she checked, the lying thermometer said it was fine.

In the room, Liz noticed anew just how beautifully Hermione dressed these days, something the old Hermione would never have bothered about. The new Hermione was proud that other people saw how beautiful she was and attributed the change, rightly or wrongly, to her Harry. All this, Liz already knew. It was the realization that she had started to spend more time, money, and effort on her own clothes and appearance that jarred her awareness. She was even going so far as to match some of what her daughter was doing, in an attempt to entice her husband into wanting her more.

It would be so much nicer if he wanted her on his own rather than having to beg him for the loving she wanted, and it felt good in its own right to be desirable. If only Matt would see her like that. She knew Hermione didn't have any such problems with Harry and both Hermione and her agreed that Liz was still a sexy woman. She didn't want to blame Matt for another problem in their marriage, but a part of her already was.

She felt guilty as hell about it, but she still blamed him for failing to see. She had tried to talk to him about it, but Matt didn't see there was anything to talk about. They both loved each other, made love at least twice a week and enjoyed raising their two daughters. The fact that they were spending more time apart was an ache in her breast. They were supposed to have more time together, not less, as their daughters grew up and she missed him just as much for his smile, his laughter, as for the way he could make her scream his name.

So, these sessions had become a way for her to enjoy herself vicariously. If Matt was home at the end of a talk, she would usually take him to bed and have a great time, though aggravatingly he begged off on occasion. If not, she went to bed alone, picturing all the fun things and new ones besides. Lately, Matt had been out more on the weekends, trying to keep their practice in top shape despite increased red tape in the way, and she was grateful he wasn't neglecting it, but she did wish he wouldn't neglect her.

As Hermione came to a close, finishing up the recap of her romps for the week, she noticed her mother's eyes had glazed over.

"Penny for your thoughts?"

Liz startled, her right hand already halfway down to her legs and looked at Hermione, blushing. "I think you can guess, dear."

"Fair's fair, Mum."

"I guess, Hermione, but I think you're more than smart enough to work out the kinds of things I might have been thinking."

"Hey, you asked me for details, Mum, so can't I ask you too?" Hermione smiled, knowing she had won.

Liz tried to refute it but knew she couldn't, not without risking the loss of her hard-won closeness with her daughter or, almost as bad, the loss of these weekly stories that helped quench the fires.

"Alright." Hermione managed to keep the triumph off her face as she lay on her side, watching and listening as Liz started to tell of her daydreams and fantasies involving a man whose hair kept switching between the straight, dark hair of her father and messy black hair and whose eyes drifted between chocolate brown and green, depending on how distracted her mother got as she told the stories.

While Liz didn't name names and tried to keep it hidden even from herself, it was clear that Harry's lean body had invaded her dreams just as he invaded her body in those dreams, ravishing her thoroughly in ways that drenched her daughter's panties just listening to them.

'Of course, the real Harry is even better,' Hermione giggled to herself, 'and that tongue of his is out of this world, literally! Mum doesn't know what she's missing...' She tuned back into the tale, biting her lip as Liz talked about having her arms pinned behind her back as the mystery lover kept her face against the pillow while he drove into her so hard it took her breath away. 'Oh yes! I remember Harry doing that to me last week, too, and it was just as sexy as it sounds.'

That brought to mind another time Harry did that to her after their End of Year party. "You know, Mum, one thing that is always fun is the partying we get to do with our friends." She grinned. "It also gives us girls an excuse to dress up. Sometimes we have themes but the ones without can be just as fun and even funny.

"You see, just before breakup, we threw a party for it, Mum. We decided that we would just go in whatever made us feel sexy. Well, Lavender as usual wanted to push the boundaries of what was decent. I swear, that girl, anyway, we had agreed to keep our party clothes a secret until we got to the East Wing, which is where we were having it, so we all went up there covered in those blasted Hogwarts robes. They cover just about everything, I mean, you can't tell if a girl is going barefoot or not with them on!

"So we get in there, and there's Harry looking scrumptious as always, him and his clones each dressed slightly differently, and there we are, and on the count of three, we drop our robes to show off what we had chosen. I almost burst out laughing seeing the 'daring' clothes Lav had chosen. Her skirt was so short that you could see her knees, you see, and there was a small cut up each side to expose an extra inch of leg as she moved. The whole thing was sexy, of course. Harry never makes bad clothes and all that. But there she was, looking proud of herself for how far she was going, and there I was in a tight t-shirt and tennis shorts, showing far more leg than Lav and I hadn't thought anything of it."

"So the standards really are that different?" Liz said.

"Yeah! Lavender turned to me shocked. 'What do you call those?' she asked me, and I just said they were light and sexy. She still had trouble believing that any girl would go out like that until she came to Cranleigh and headed into town, seeing girls dressed much like I was walking down the street and no one batting an eyelid. Of course, Lav didn't let my 'challenge' defeat her." Hermione grinned at the memory. "She grabbed her wand and altered her dress right there, lengthening the slit several inches and strutting like a peacock. All of us who were raised in regular society were dressed in generally shorter dresses. It's far more comfortable, especially in summer."

Liz was laughing and nodding. "Do you think the fashion will catch on?"

"Definitely! The next day, the other girls were following our lead and Lavender was hunting through fashion mags, asking us if girls would wear this or that, and all that. Parvati wasn't asking as many questions but I could see she was just as curious as her Ravenclaw sister ever is about things."

Liz smiled, "My little girl, the fashion revolution leader."

"Oh, stop it, Mum," she laughed, "there are far more important revolutions to lead. The Great Indexing Revolution needs me!" They shared a laugh at her over-the-top manner, though it was something Hermione felt was very much needed.

None of their textbooks had indexes of important information and their contents pages were bare bones, merely chapter and location without indication of what a particular chapter contained. The Potter Alliance was already working to fix it but it was accepted that the project would take years of work, even with clones.

"So, after we compared clothes and makeup, and a couple of the girls made their own alterations, we chatted, ate some of Harry's lovely snacks and had drinks from both societies. I like butterbeer but cream soda is still my favourite." Hermione blushed at the look from her dentist mother. "Yes, Mum, I do take care of my teeth just how you showed me. While most magicals don't, the other girls have also gotten into the habit since they noticed Harry prefers to kiss girls with better smiles."

Liz nodded, glad that proper oral hygiene was making its way into the Wizarding World.

"And at the end of the night, Harry carried me to my bed and we made out. I couldn't believe how good it felt, even though he's always that good."

"Always?"

"Always. His hands always know just where and how to touch you, and he's a wizard with that tongue of his, too," Hermione defended her man.

'Yes.' Hermione thought. 'As long as I have my Harry, as long as he makes me complete like he does, all was well.'

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