6 Dobby
Harry woke up feeling very warm, despite being nude. It took him a moment to realize that he wasn't alone. A warm body was pressed at his left and another at his right. Judging by the soft bumps pressed to his ribs, both were female. He recognized Hermione's scent almost at once. He wasn't sure about the other. He then looked around, recognized the room and remembered what had happened just before falling asleep. He blushed at the memory. A moment later he noticed the many rings on his fingers and recalled a few earlier memories. 'I'm married!'
Both girls seemed to awake as well. Padma caressed his body from chest to crotch before stretching like a cat. Hermione also stretched, resting her hand on Harry's crotch, where a certain swelling was starting to form. Harry wasn't sure about it, but he thought both girls wanted a repeat of their activity before they had fallen asleep.
A loud growl coming from the belly area interrupted their mood, although it wasn't clear whose belly made the sound. "I fear we missed lunch," Harry said.
Hermione cast the "tempus" charm. "Yes, it's past two. Lunch is over now." She didn't seem too happy at the thought.
Padma shrugged. "It doesn't matter. We can ask one of the house elves to bring us food. We don't even need to get dressed for that. Can we call your house elf?" The last sentence was directed at Harry.
"I don't have any house elf!"
Padma rolled her eyes. "Harry, you have Dobby, at least."
"He's a free elf. He's not mine."
"How did he become free?"
Harry felt reluctant to tell about it, but then – Padma was his wife; he could tell her everything. "Well, after the events at the end of the second year, Malfoy was furious that he didn't manage to get rid of Dumbledore…"
"Draco?"
"No, his father. He was the one who made the cursed diary come to Hogwarts. I just took it, after removing the curse, and gave it to Malfoy. I first hid a sock in it, though. Malfoy was appalled at the destroyed diary and gave it to Dobby, including the sock, setting Dobby free."
Padma smiled now. "Well, Dobby is free of Malfoy, but by helping him, you bound him to you in a tighter bond than one created by a ceremony. Dobby is yours, whether you acknowledge this or not, bound by love and gratitude."
"Dobby?!"
The little house elf popped immediately into the room. "Did the Great Harry Potter Sir call Dobby? What can Dobby do for Harry Potter and his two missus?"
Harry looked Dobby in the eyes. As he was still lying on the sofa, this was quite easy. "Dobby, am I your master?"
Dobby seemed surprised. "Of course, Harry Potter Sir. Who else could it be after you set me free from nasty master?"
"I thought you were free."
Dobby shook his head. "Dobby can't be free. A house elf needs a master. With no master, house-elf dies slowly."
"But Hogwarts house-elves have no master," Hermione noted.
Dobby shook his head again. "Old long beard is their master by default."
Padma didn't let the conversation continue. "Dobby, we missed lunch. Can you bring us something to eat?"
"Of course, Mistress. Dobby will bring you food and drinks." He vanished at the last syllable.
Harry sighed. "Too many surprises for one day," he said to nobody in particular.
Hermione hugged him and Padma joined the hug. "Don't you like your surprises, though?"
He looked at the two girls, his wives, and smiled. "A few days ago it was not even in my dreams, but now it looks like it's all that I've wanted for quite a long time."
He thought for a moment. "Don't we need to inform the headmaster of our change of status?"
Padma replied immediately. "Not yet! Dad needs to find out who kept you in the dark for too long and then we may decide what to tell whom. We can spend most of the time together in this room and only sleep in the dorms until then – it's less than a week, you know."
Hermione nodded in agreement. Harry trusted her judgement. "I suppose so. What do we do about the rings, then? We can send them back, I assume," he said.
Padma frowned. "The rings protect us, and you seem to need all the protection they provide. You may hide them, though. They may still stay on your finger, undetectable by others."
"How can we do that?" he asked.
"Just order them to become hidden, the way you summoned them. That should do."
Harry looked at the multitude of rings and wished them hidden. A moment later, his fingers looked naked, although he could still feel the rings resting on them. Both girls also made their rings hidden.
Dobby reappeared with a large tray full of food and beverage. "Will that do?" he asked worriedly.
"That's more than enough," Padma said. "Thank you, Dobby. You're doing well."
Dobby beamed at the compliment. He put the tray down on a chair and then turned to the other pieces of furniture and clicked his fingers, making a broken desk become a round table, large enough for three, and three broken school chairs turned into nicely padded chairs. He took the tray and set the table. "Lunch is served, Master and Mistresses," he said proudly.
Harry thought it was weird, as the three of them were stark naked, showing some signs of their previous activity, while Dobby was the only one wearing clothes. Still, seeing how graceful both his wives looked even in the buff, he felt his heart overflow with emotions. He felt really lucky for having bonded with them, although he still wondered how that could happen.
They all ate heartily. Dobby stayed, making sure to pour them their selected drinks and to remove the empty serving dishes. Once they finished, he cleared the table and vanished silently.
"Care for a repeat performance of what we did before falling asleep?" Padma asked innocently.
Harry smiled. Just watching these two girls naked during lunch made his body react quite nicely. He was more than ready to do as requested. Returning to the sofa, both girls cuddled with Harry. It wasn't as fierce or urgent as they felt earlier. Their cuddling slowly turned into caressing and kissing, snogging, groping, and finally into leisurely lovemaking.
It was almost dinner time when they finally got ready to leave that room. Both girls made sure to use some charms to clean themselves of any residue of their activities, taking care of Harry as well. "Shouldn't we inform our parents, at least?" Padma asked.
Harry paled at the idea. He didn't think any parent would like to hear that his fourteen years young daughter was suddenly married.
"I'm going to write to my parents after dinner. I think you should too," Hermione said.
"Well, I expect my parents to visit at the new year. You both should meet them then," Padma said.
"What about your sister?" Hermione asked.
Padma frowned. "We have to tell her too. Luckily, it can be classed as a house secret until we make it public."
Hermione gave it a thought. "I think Harry and I can make our dating public. He's going to take me on a Hogsmeade date on the new year, so that can't be kept a secret."
"He dated me last Sunday. That's no secret either."
"He can date both of us, although that's not too common. We can't really escape the gossip, so it seems," Hermione said with a sigh. She knew how much Harry disliked that kind of attention, and so did she, but this seemed inevitable. "Alright. I'll tell Parvati about our 'arrangement' of dating Harry alternately. You may later tell her the truth. We must also start working on making Harry ready for the second task, since we need our husband for many years to come."
Padma smiled nervously. "I'll talk to Parvati. It would be safer that way. We should go to our houses now. Just tell Parvati that I want to talk to her after dinner."
She kissed Harry deeply before opening the door and walking out. Hermione only stayed long enough to return the room to its previous condition before grabbing Harry's hand and walking back to the Gryffindor tower.
..
"Where have you been all day?" Ron tackled them as soon as they came into the common room.
Hermione rolled her eyes. "I've been helping Harry get ready for the second task. The tournament is not over yet, you know."
"What do you care? You associated with the enemy?" he spat at her.
"I could just as well be spying on the enemy," she retorted, "yet Viktor is not an enemy. He's a competitor, and a fierce one at that, but I think Harry can beat him, if he really tries."
Ron seemed to be calmed down a bit by her words. "I could also help," he said plaintively.
"Could you do some research at the library or study spells in a book? That's most of what he needs now. Later he will need to exercise the selected spells until he casts them perfectly. Do you think you could coach him?"
Ron looked unhappy. "I'd be bored to death. He's much better with you helping him."
Hermione smiled triumphantly. "You bet!"
Parvati also noticed them. She waited for Ron to move some distance away before approaching the two. "Care to explain what you were doing with my sister? You left the library in such a hurry that I couldn't even see what you read."
Hermione felt thankful that Padma offered to talk to her sister. She didn't really want to give all the expected explanations. "Padma wanted me to tell you to meet her after dinner. I suspect she likes to tell you everything in her way."
Parvati wasn't happy with this reply that meant waiting for at least another hour, but she knew Hermione well enough not to push her. "Alright. I hope she has a good explanation for everything."
"I believe she has," Hermione smiled back.
She then turned to Harry. "I think I need a shower after our training. You probably need one too. I suggest we meet here in half an hour."
"I really feel that a shower would do me good, yet half an hour is more than enough. I'll be waiting here for you."
..
It only took him about ten minutes to shower and change to fresher clothes – some of those bought with Padma. When he returned to the common room he saw Ron engaged in a game with Seamus while Neville was reading a book. He chose to sit with Neville.
"Anything interesting in there?" he asked.
Neville showed him the book's title. It was "Magical Underwater Plants and Their Uses". Harry kind of expected Neville to read something related to Herbology.
"Prof. Moody gave it to me. Said I might be interested."
"Are you?"
Neville smiled. "I've just started reading it, but there are some fascinating plants in here. For example, this plant – Gillyweed – can make you grow gills and breathe underwater for about an hour. Then there's another that makes your skin as impenetrable as a dragon's. Now that I'm talking about them – they can both help you with your tasks. You said the next one's going to be underwater, didn't you?"
"Yes, most probably."
"I'll ask Gran to send me some Gillyweed for you, and the other – Dragonleaves – as well. We have them in our greenhouse, although I didn't know they could be used that way."
"Thank you, Neville. You really are a good friend."
Neville turned serious and looked somewhat apologetic. "I'm also your ally. Gran told me that Longbottom and Potter had been allies for many generations. She was appalled when I didn't stand at your side after the Goblet chose you. I'm sorry I wasn't brave enough to show I was at your side."
"We all make mistakes while we grow up. I think we're going to be good friends. This book of yours seems really helpful."
Neville seemed to have another thing on his mind now. "Are you interested in Ginny in any way?"
Harry shrugged. "Why should I?"
"Well, she's quite smart and is turning to be very attractive. I think I'm starting to like her."
"Good for you. As for me – Hermione is all that and much more. Ginny is just a friend, and not a very close one either."
"So, you don't mind if I date her?"
"Not at all. Beware of Ron, though. He may have some weird ideas about that."
Neville grimaced. "Yes, I know."
Hermione arrived a moment later and bee-lined to Harry, who seemed glad to see her. Neville noticed the way they interacted and smiled. It was about time these two became aware of their feelings.
