Chapter 28
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It was midmorning by the time Healer Tonks let Kingsley in to talk to her patient.
"Talk, not interrogate," she insisted. "He is still magically exhausted. I'll be monitoring his vital signs and I will toss you out as soon as I see any sign of distress."
"Yes Ma'am, but I believe Harry will want to hear what I have to say," Kingsley replied as charmingly as he knew how.
"Is it true that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was really killed last night?" Andromeda demanded.
"Yes it's true, along with several of his more deadly Death Eaters, including Bellatrix Lestrange, Rudolphus Lestrange, Rabastan Lestrange and Lucius Malfoy," Kingsley said gently, reminding himself that the rest of the world might celebrate Bellatrix LeStrange's death almost as much as they did Voldemort's but this was her sister who must have some happy memories of the two of them together as children and was possibly one of the few witches and wizards in the world who remembered her fondly even if they condemned her adult life choices and actions.
"You needn't use that tone with me, Auror Shacklebolt. The sister I knew and loved has been gone for decades. What was left was neither sane nor human and there was no hope of redemption for her," Andromeda said bluntly. "I mourned for the sweet child I knew, a long time ago. I hope she can find peace in Hekate's embrace."
Kingsley was surprised to see Harry sitting up in bed and looking relatively well. "Andromeda would have it you were still near semi-conscious and in frail health," he said.
"Hello Kingsley, is Susan okay," Harry asked eagerly.
"She's fine, recovering well from the magical exhaustion and the shock of the attack, but from what I hear, you should already know that from the bond you have together," Kingsley replied.
"I haven't wanted to try to contact her. I don't want to be absent when Healer Andromeda or Tonks come in to check on me. It would make them worry and I didn't want to have to explain it, and I'm not sure I have enough magic to do it, I can't feel it," Harry said.
"Absent?" Kinglsey asked.
"I can still hear what's happening around me a bit but Neville said it looks like I'm asleep with my eyes open when I'm concentrating on the connection between me and Susan, he was a bit freaked out the first time he saw me doing it," Harry said.
"What do Ron and Hermione say?" Kingsley asked.
"I don't do it when they're around if I can help it. They don't know about my connection with Susan. I promised not to tell anyone, Neville only knew because he had a block on his magic too so he was there when we were discussing who we'd ask to help us remove the blocks and decided to do it together," Harry replied.
"Amelia was very insistent that I didn't tell anyone either. What is with that?" Kingsley asked.
"It's because the only way to remove the block is to have sex. At first Susan was worried that her parents might have signed a betrothal contract with a morals or virginity clause. Because Amelia is only a Bone's by marriage, they couldn't get into the Bone's vault to find out until Susan turned seventeen and she didn't want to leaver her magic bound like that. I think that now that they know she isn't betrothed her aunt is worried that if people know she isn't a virgin then it will reduce her ability to negotiate for what she wants in a marriage contract," Harry explained.
"I think her attitude is probably a little old fashioned, not too many of the witches I know cared about keeping their virginity until they're married. What does she want that's going to be so difficult to get a potential husband to agree on?" Kingsley asked curiously.
"The right to keep her house separate to her husband's, and therefor to guarantee the birth of a second child to inherit the leadership of House Bones, the right to make decisions regarding her house and ti sit in and vote her seat in the Wizengamot independently to her husband's if he has one and to have a career instead of staying home with the children until they start Hogwarts," Harry listed. "I think they're all pretty reasonable requests but she has a housemate in Hufflepuff that was already trying to tell her how to act and who she could hang out with because his parents had made her parents a betrothal offer, even though he didn't know whether it had been accepted."
"Well she's now the girl who killed Voldemort, Bellatrix LeStrange, the LeStrange brothers and Lucius Malfoy. I would imagine most light families would offer her everything she asked for in return for a betrothal contract," Kingsley said.
"Yeah, but as long as we have this weird connection she's kind of stuck with me, whether she wants to be or not," Harry said despondently.
"Harry she was barely conscious again last night before she began insisting that you needed someone to check on you, and she didn't settle down until Tonks came back and told her you were being seen by a healer and would make a full recovery. Even then she wanted to come and see you last night, in spite of the fact she was so tired she could barely sit up on her own let alone walk anywhere. I expect you will see her here as soon as Amelia agrees to let her leave her bed. That doesn't sound like the behaviour of someone who feels that they are stuck with you. That sounds like someone who really cares about you," Kingsley told him supportively.
"I just wanted to help her unblock her magic, so she wouldn't have to embarrass herself asking someone else to do it, it was a bonus that I didn't need to ask anyone else either and she is really beautiful and totally hot, I would have asked her to be my girlfriend if it had been safe to. I didn't mean to take her choices away from her like this," Harry said sadly.
"Harry you can tell how Susan is feeling, right? Not today, but normally you know what she's feeling emotionally?" Kingsley asked.
"Yeah, if I concentrate or if it's a strong feeling," Harry agreed.
"So has she ever felt resentful that she has this connection to you? She did agree to have sex with you to unblock her magic so she must think you're attractive too," Kingsley reminded him.
"Hmm, but there's a difference between finding someone attractive enough to have sex when you have to do it with someone and I was the best option, and wanting to spend the rest of your life with that person, and I think she was just desperate to find someone who promised not to tell anyone about it, and it saved her the embarrassment of having to choose and ask someone else," Harry said.
"Harry do you feel stuck with Susan, do you regret that you have this connection?" Kingsley asked.
"No, Susan's great! I couldn't imagine being connected like this with anyone else," Harry said smiling.
"Not even one of your friends?" Kingsley asked.
"No Ron and Hermione fancy each other, I think they fight too much to be a successful couple long term but they deserve to have the chance to find that out for themselves and they'd both have resented me coming between them if I'd chosen one of them. Besides Hermione's nearly as bossy as Molly Weasley in her way, she nags about rules and studying too much and she would have used the connection to dig in and find out everything and keep track of where I am all the time, she can't bear not to know everything. She's a great friend but it's hard to put up with that sometimes just being her friend, it would be horrible if she had this connection as well," Harry replied.
"What about one of your other friends? Would having this connection be better with one of them? You know them better than you knew Susan before the connection formed? Would it have been easier?" Kingsley asked.
"No, Ginny's too hot headed, too much like her mum. I hate rowing and she seems to enjoy arguing over every little thing and she's got too much of a crush on me for me to trust that she'd keep it secret. I probably would've asked Neville if we both swung that way, but neither of us do and I'm glad we didn't. Luna's sweet but she's a little crazy, I think being in her head might have been too much for me, even Neville's glad that that they didn't build a connection like this and he wants to marry her," Harry said laughing. "I shouldn't have said that. It was Neville and Luna's private business."
"Then why not trust that Susan might feel the same as you do," Kingsley said.
"What if she doesn't?" Harry asked.
"You're never going to find out lying here worrying about it. Talk to the girl," Andromeda said as she entered the room having evidently been close enough to hear a significant portion of the conversation. "Susan is a pureblood. She probably grew up expecting that someone else would choose who she married, she is probably fine with marrying you. After all, marrying The-Boy-Who-Lived is most little girls' dream."
"And most of them grow out of it quickly enough when they get to know me, if they bother to try to get to know me rather than believe the rumours and those silly books, that is. As for the rest, I'm not interested in a fan girl. I want a partner in life," Harry said.
"Harry, you already told me that the things Susan would want from a marriage contract all sound reasonable to you. If you were serious about that then being married to you will give her a better life than being married to most wizards and you're obviously at least good friends. A successful romantic life together isn't built on crushing on a girl and the excitement of a new relationship. It sounds to me she couldn't do much better than you, even if you didn't have this strange connection," Andromeda said practically. "Now it's time for your potions and a nap. I'll wake you for lunch."
"Will you wake me if Susan or her Aunt come too?" Harry asked anxiously.
"I will, if only so you're not going to lie there trying to stay awake for them," Andromeda said smiling.
"I haven't had the chance to question Harry, we got side-tracked when he asked me about Susan," Kingsley protested.
"Five more minutes and no more," Andromeda said firmly.
"I need to know how you and Susan learned the spell Susan used last night, the one you found in an old potions book. Do you know who invented it?" Kingsley asked.
"The Half-Blood Prince," Harry said smiling.
"Yes, Susan told me that was the name on the book it was in, but do you know who he is?"
"The handwriting's changed a lot since sixth year so you might have a job proving it but when I blast Malfoy into the mirror, Professor Snape assumed I'd used a dark cutting curse that produced results like that if cast weakly enough. I think that it was him, he knew the name of it and had an idea of what it did, and had a counterspell that wasn't in the book to heal the damage. Not to mention that the Half-Blood Prince was a genius at potions," Harry said.
"Susan said that's who you thought it was but how did you find out? I'll need more than a vague suspicion from someone he treats poorly to act on it," Kingsley said hoping Harry would have a verifiable reason for his suspicion.
"When I blew up the mirror and hurt Malfoy, Snape found me trying to get him to the hospital wing. He cast a healing spell I'd never heard before and the cuts closed up. I asked him if he should be making sure all the glass was out and he was shocked to find pieces of mirror in the wounds. Malfoy's clothing and back were ripped to shreds it did look a bit like the Sectumsempra cast with minimal power," Harry explained.
"Do you remember the healing spell he used?" Kingsley asked.
"Yeah, but even Luna couldn't find mention of it in any of the healing books in the library. It did work on the Sectumsempra on the dummies though, so we thought it might be part counter-curse since nothing else worked and it doesn't work better than the regular healing spells on any other curse injuries," Harry replied.
"Thanks lad. McGonagall keeps a copy of all the assignments she's ever marked, so it won't be as difficult as you assume to match the writing now I have a name for her to look for," Kingsley said smiling. "I'll get the book off you another time. Who did you teach the spell to?"
"Neville Longbottom, Luna Lovegood and Susan Bones, nobody else," Harry replied. "It's too dangerous. It's quick and easy to cast."
"Not Ron, Hermione, or Ginny? I heard you'd been training them," Kingsley asked, wanting to be sure.
"I haven't trained with Ginny since the DA in fifth year. We're not actually friends, she spends most of her time hanging around with her own year level. Even if I was training with her or teaching her defence I don't think I'd have taught her anything this easily destructive, she's too hot headed and too fond of cursing people with her Bat-Bogey Curse," Harry said. "The others didn't want to learn it."
"I would have said Ron was too hot headed as well," Kingsley commented.
"Yeah partly, but he tends to yell, and say cruel things rather than curse people when he loses his temper, besides Hermione never would have agreed to learn it if I wasn't willing to teach Ron and I really wanted her to have some spells like this that do a lot of damage without using a lot of magic to defend herself and her family with if they get attacked," Harry replied, showing his frustration at his friends' attitudes.
"Enough, say goodbye to Auror Shacklebolt and take your potions Harry. Auror Shacklebolt can come back tomorrow if he has more questions," Andromeda stated.
"Goodbye," Harry said obediently as he swallowed potions without any hesitation or facial expression for how bad they tasted. Kingsley was impressed.
-o0o-
"Kingsley, do me a favour and tell the girl to visit, before he frets himself into believing she doesn't want him," Andromeda said as she showed Kingsley out.
"Amelia was concerned that your sister Narcissa might try to visit having just been widowed as well as losing your sister," Kinsley said.
"I doubt she'd know where to find me, she hasn't visited since we were in that flat near St Mungo's, before Nymphadora was born. She knows she's not welcome here. Tell Amelia that her precious little chick will be safe, though she's welcome to accompany the girl if it sets her mind at ease," Andromeda said amused.
"The girl is as magically exhausted as Potter so it still might be a few days," Kingsley warned.
"I would encourage her to bring the girl anyway even if she has to dose her with potions to get her on her feet through the floo. If they're connected the way what Harry said indicates then they will recover more quickly in proximity to each other, and I'd be happy to provide for her here, Amelia too if she's worried about the girl's virtue," Andromeda replied.
"I'll pass the message on but I don't think that it's going to be very well received. Amelia seems determined to prevent their connection from becoming known," Kingsley replied.
"What in Merlin's name for! Wizards don't come more eligible than the Potter heir and Boy-Who-Lived and she isn't going to find a nicer young man anywhere and it's clear that he loves her," Andromeda exclaimed.
"Maybe the girl is betrothed?" Kingsley suggested sadly.
"Merlin I hope not, he will be heartbroken and from what he says she will be too," Andromeda said with a sad glance up the stairs where Harry lay sleeping.
-o0o-
"Welcome, Amelia, Lady Bones," Andromeda greeted.
"Andi, a pleasure to see you," Amelia replied.
"Hello Mrs Tonks, may I see Harry," Susan replied.
"Straight to the point I see," Andromeda replied amused. "Third door on the left from the top of the stairs."
"Thank you," Susan said scampering up the stairs.
"Kinglsey told me that she's still magically exhausted, she seems to be recovered well," Andromeda said.
"She is recovering but she's been sleeping most of the time since the battle, that's the most energetic she has been all day, I didn't know she had that much in her," Amelia replied.
"Young love," Andromeda replied smiling.
"She's clearly besotted but this bond they have worries me," Amelia said disapprovingly. "Kingsley suggested that you might know a bit more about it."
"He loves her, there's no doubt about that, though I don't think he knows that yet. When he was telling Kingsley and I about their connection his biggest concern was that Susan might feel she was stuck with him because of it. As a side note which might relieve your mind he explained to Kingsley exactly why he thought it was so important to you and Susan that losing her virginity be kept quiet. He thinks that it's so Susan has more power when negotiating a betrothal so she can get the concessions she wants out of the marriage, the ability to run her own house independently, to appoint a separate heir and to work a career even after the children are born if she wants to. He thought they were all very reasonable requests. He is muggle raised so he doesn't know as much about our customs as you might like but he is a strong believer in marriage being an equal partnership, and in witches having the same rights to manage their own lives and careers as wizards," Andromeda said.
"That's a relief since I believe that Susan is planning on marrying him," Amelia admitted.
"Their connection and ability to feel what the other is feeling would make an intimate relationship with anyone else difficult for all concerned," Andromeda said.
"So she is stuck with him" Amelia said grimly.
"No more that he is stuck with her and I guarantee he doesn't regret it at all on his own behalf," Andromeda said.
"I don't think Susan does either, at least half her waking moments since the attack have been spent worrying about Harry's well being and the other half worrying about what he's going to say about the fact she used his magic and put him in danger," Amelia said sighing.
"He hasn't blamed Susan for his condition at all, most of his thoughts have been worrying how she is, if she's recovering from the magical exhaustion and if she's having nightmares about the battle," Andromeda said. "I think that I would've had a lot of trouble keeping him here in bed if he'd known where she was staying."
"So at least he returns her feelings," Amelia said sighing.
"He's a good boy. Polite and gentle and he'd treat her well," Andromeda said encouragingly.
"I've not heard anything to dislike about the boy, other than all that rubbish in 'The Prophet' a couple of years ago calling him a deranged attention seeker when they were trying to deny that You-Know-Who was resurrected, and the fact he badly injured another student in a stupid fight even though it was proved that the other boy tried to curse Potter first," Amelia reassured her friend. "I just don't like the fact that Susie doesn't have a choice in her future partner."
"She did choose him though, she could have asked any boy at school to help her unblock her magic, or waited until the holidays and asked you to arrange something for her and she chose him. I know Harry thinks he was just the most convenient choice for her but she wouldn't have asked him to do something so intimate if she didn't at least trust him and find him attractive," Andromeda reminded the worried guardian.
"Yes but it was the choice of a single night, she wasn't choosing him for a lifetime, I've agreed to date a lot of wizards that I knew I wouldn't choose to marry, taken a few to bed as well," Amelia said snarkily.
"Yes perhaps, but she wasn't just agreeing to spend an afternoon in Hogsmeade, she was choosing to trust Harry with something intensely personal, and he hasn't abused her trust in any way. Due to their connection she probably knows Harry a good deal better than most witches know the man they agree to marry," Andromeda said. "If she's still happy with her choice then all you can do is support them both."
Amelia nodded resignedly. "I just hope she doesn't come to regret it."
"With the connection they have she would already if he wasn't every thing she thinks he is," Andromeda replied.
-o0o-
Harry was watching the door eagerly as Susan knocked and hesitantly entered looking at her feet when Harry called to.
"Why are you feeling so anxious?" He asked gently.
"I don't know. I've spoken with you so many times while you're in bed but not like this, it's just different," Susan said blushing.
"Well I don't have the energy to be a threat to your virtue today, so I think you're safe enough to come in and sit in the chair," Harry said jokingly.
"Are you alright?" Susan asked, worriedly.
"I feel fine other than being a bit tired. What about you?" Harry replied.
"I feel okay. I slept all night and most of the day though, and Auntie tries to feed me then drown me in potions every time I wake up," Susan said.
"How do you feel about what happened last night?" Harry asked.
"I haven't really had time to process, the healer forced Dreamless Sleep on me as soon as Tonks told me you were okay, and Auntie barely let me finish eating breakfast before making me take another dose, then high tea about 4 o'clock yesterday and dosed me again and then again after a very late dinner, I didn't wake up properly until late this morning. Then I woke up ate a second breakfast and asked to see you before I'd agree to sleep again so Auntie gave me a Pepper-up potion and spelled me clean so I'd have enough energy to visit you. I haven't been alone at all while I'm awake except to use the loo," Susan replied. "I think if anything I feel relieved, that Auntie and I weren't seriously hurt and that he's gone and we can get on with our lives, and a bit shocked that it happened at all. We expected it would take years before you could end the war and all of a sudden it's over and we have to plan what we're going to do next. I can't tell you where we are staying. I don't even know myself. I know it's with someone or organised by someone Auntie trusts but I haven't seen them at all yet."
"That's a good way to think about it. But I remember after I killed Quirrell it took a couple of days to hit me that I'd killed a person. A pretty evil person who was willing to let Voldemort possess him to get into the school and put all the students in danger. I know Voldemort himself would have killed him soon afterward if I hadn't, but still I killed him. I felt horribly about it for weeks.
"Who helped you through that?" Susan asked, wondering whether this was why Harry was such great friends with Ron and Hermione which had been puzzling her for a while now, since he didn't seem to trust most other people so easily.
"Hedwig more than anybody, by the time it sunk in like that and I was ready to talk about it, I was back at the Dursleys with no one else to talk to. That was the summer Dobby was intercepting my mail so I couldn't even really write to anyone about it, because I thought they weren't writing back to me," Harry said.
"That's terrible Harry. You should never have been abandoned like that even if your relatives were decent people, you should have been given access to someone to talk to who understood magic and knew what happened to help you deal with it all," Susan replied.
"It's happened every summer, after Quirrell, after been bitten by the basilisk second year, after almost being kissed and almost having my godfather kissed too in third year, after Cedric's death and Voldemort's resurrection in fourth year, after my Godfather's death in fifth year. This year is the first time I haven't had to deal with something terrible happening just before I left school and the only year my friends could write to me freely was after second year and even then Ron couldn't write because he spent most of the summer in Egypt and Hermione was in Spain. Since Voldemort was resurrected in fourth year, my friends have been warned not to write anything significant to me in case the owl in intercepted, and they go overboard with that and barely write at all, and if they do their letters are full of apologies for not being able to tell me where they are and what they're doing," Harry said bluntly. "At least this summer I wasn't truly alone or dealing with a new trauma since we managed to stop Malfoy from letting the Death Eaters in. Not that the bloody order who insisted I stay with the Dursleys until my birthday knew about what we achieved or about you and Melly helping me."
"No and look what good it did you, nearly dying of magical exhaustion because I used our connection and took too much of your magic in the fight instead of using more of my own," Susan said.
"If you hadn't been able to use my magic then you and your aunt would've died, and who knows what would have happened to me then. You needed my magic more than I did. I was safe alone at the Dursleys and you were fighting for your life against the Dark Git and his most powerful followers," Harry retorted. "I tried to send you help, but they took too long to arrive. No wonder the Aurors are so ineffective against Death Eater attacks, they can't react quickly enough to deploy Aurors while they'll still be able to do anything."
"I took too much magic," Susan said apologetically. "I'm nearly recovered and you're lying there still barely able to stay awake to talk to me. I could have killed you or depleted your magic to the point it couldn't recover leaving you a squib."
"I'm fine," Harry tried to reassure her. Not telling her about Andromeda rants that the wards on the Dursleys would have done exactly that if Nymphadora hadn't been there to call her. In his opinion it was isolating him at the Dursleys where help wasn't available that had done the harm. It was Dumbledore's fault, not Susan's.
"I've just spent a lot more time today awake than you have. So, I'm ready for another nap." He honestly felt that it would be a fair trade if he had given up enough magic to become a squib if Voldemort was dead and Susan was alive. It wasn't like he'd expected to survive killing the Dark Loser, so being turned into a squib would have been a win in his book other than losing Susan. He couldn't expect her to want to date a squib, and he didn't think that their connection would survive the loss of his magic. The worst would be that he wouldn't even get to see her at school if he couldn't go back to Hogwarts and he doubted most of his friends would keep in touch.
A/N: Thank you to all those who reviewed followed or favourited this story for your support.
