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"Ooh roast lamb and Yorkshire puddings," Susan said aloud. Of course, Harry would normally never have heard her over the noise of the entire student body gathered in the great hall for the leaving feast but he'd gotten good at tuning in just enough to hear her voice as he saw her sit down so she could tell him what to eat to match her dinner.
"Roast potatoes, pumpkin and peas with lashings of gravy," he replied smiling, happy that they wanted the same thing.
Neville of course knew what he was doing, though the bond between he and Luna wasn't strong enough to convey sensations like taste enough to overpower or clash with the food in their own mouths. Ron and Hermione were now used to him telling them what he wanted to eat though they originally found it a bit odd. It was Hannah that had questioned Susan's sanity and table manners when she started announcing some of what she put on her plate.
Hufflepuff won the house cup, the first time in years but so many of the professors had been angered by Malfoy getting away with casting the cruciatus and had turned that anger into a chance to give the boy detention and remove points from anyone who complained that the Slytherins were dead last and of course Snape had retaliated so Gryffindor was right down there with them. Susan was pleased that they won but when she realised how unfair the point system was it took the gloss off their victory. Surprisingly it was Harry who encouraged her not to say anything to her housemates. "The older years have never won, let them enjoy it and the point system helps keep the younger years in line, if it stops working then it will be a lot more work for the prefects trying to keep the younger years from doing something stupid and injuring themselves and the only punishment left is detentions and removal of privileges and I for one don't need to serve any more of them than I do already," he reminded her.
Susan agreed with that, Harry seemed to have more detentions than their whole year level in Hufflepuff combined but Neville said that it was pretty much normal for him and had been that way since first year. Most of them were with Snape or assigned by Snape but served with Filch.
-o0o-
Susan had hoped to spare a moment to visit with Harry on the train ride home while his best friends Ron and Hermione were busy patrolling the train but he told her that Ginny, Neville and Luna were sitting with them as well. She didn't mind Neville and Luna being there, of course she would want to sit with her betrothed but being just the four of them once Ron and Hermione were busy with prefect duties left Ginny acting like it was a double date to Harry's mounting frustration. He got up and walked away visiting with Dean and Seamus for a while before roaming the train. Unfortunately, he ran into Ron and Hermione just outside the carriage Susan was in.
"What are you doing roaming the corridor Harry?" Hermione demanded.
Harry tried to make an excuse. "I needed to stretch my legs."
"Don't be ridiculous, we've only been travelling an hour," Hermione scolded.
"Did you leave Neville on his own with Ginny and Luna?" Ron asked.
"Yeah, though Ginny was talking about going to find her classmates when I left," Harry replied. It was true, she had started to get up to follow him claiming to want to sit with her friends for a while if Harry wasn't going to stay. Luckily for Harry, Neville had managed to delay her long enough for Harry to duck out of sight and don his invisibility cloak until she went past him, the last thing he wanted was for Ginny to accompany him up and down the train visiting like they were a couple. The rumours of them dating would be all over the train before he managed to get away from her if Neville hadn't come to the rescue. Then her mother would be furious with him for putting her at risk like that.
"Go back and sit down, we'll be there soon," Hermione said bossily.
"I'll wait here for you," Harry replied.
"What's got into you?" Hermione demanded.
"More like what was trying to climb on top of me," Harry muttered.
"What?" Hermione screeched.
"Way to go Harry but why are you trying to get away? Just pull the blinds and lock the door so people can't see in and gossip about you. I'm sure Neville and Luna wouldn't mind the privacy either and we know where you're sitting," Ron said.
"I told you already that I don't want to date Ginny and letting her climb on my lap, hang off my arm and flirt will only get her hopes up and upset her," Harry replied.
"Ginny wouldn't act like that!" Ron said annoyed. He'd thought Harry meant someone else.
"She really likes you Harry," Hermione said reproachfully.
We've had this conversation Hermione, nothing has changed. It isn't safe for me to date and if it was safe then I'd ask out a girl I like, and it will not be Ginny," Harry reminded her frustrated.
"Harry why don't you come in and sit with us, We'll protect you from Ginny Weasley," Susan called out teasingly, reminding him and his friends that their conversation was by no means private in the middle of a carriage hallway right outside a compartment with the door open.
Harry looked over and grinned. "You promise?" he asked.
Susan looked at her friends and nodded.
"We promise, one little Gryyfie girl is no match for four Hufflepuffs," Megan said.
Harry laughed. "Well if you promise," he said going in and sitting opposite Susan.
"Go Harry!" Ron said again smirking. He didn't know for sure whether the girl Harry liked was in the compartment but looked pleased to be joining them and he seemed to be getting along really well with Susan Bones the day she'd helped them capture Malfoy, though he didn't know when or where they'd become friends.
Hermione just huffed at him and walked away.
"She's pretty insistent that you date Weasley, do you think she's got money on the two of you getting together over the summer?" Hannah asked cheekily.
"No she's not a gambler at all. Ginny's her best female friend and Ginny's got this massive crush. She just wants her to be happy or maybe she thinks that if I'm dating Ginny Ron would be more likely to ask her out over the summer when it's just the four of us, I don't know," Harry said frustrated.
"Leave it alone Hannah, I invited him in to rescue him from being harassed about it, not to interrogate him," Susan said mildly.
Harry smiled at her gratefully. "What are your plans for the summer?" he asked in general.
"Sleep," Hannah said laughing.
"I wish, I'll be busy helping out on the farm at the crack of dawn," Megan said, smiling in spite of her complaint.
"I'm going to read up on household and personal warding and practice my self defence," Susan replied. "What about you?"
"Well the first half of my summer will be a lot like Megan's helping out my relatives with all the chores they've put off since I left last summer," Harry said lightly. "Then I'm not sure. I normally stay with the Weasleys for a few weeks but I don't think that that's such a good idea this summer."
"I'm sure Neville would be happy for you to visit him instead," Susan suggested. "And the two of you can work through your betrothal offers together when you turn seventeen."
Harry smiled. "Yeah I'd like that, though I do have a house in London. It needs a lot of work, or maybe some industrial bombarda and total rebuilding but it's an option. I should read up on house renovation spells."
The girls laughed.
"Hopefully Neville won't have any betrothal offers to sort through, he's got an appointment to meet with Luna's father to finalise their betrothal next week," Harry said.
"What about you Harry, is there a particular witch you're hoping to find a betrothal offer from?" Sally-Anne asked teasingly.
Harry blushed and looked at the floor.
"I take it that's a yes, why don't you ask her out?" Hannah asked.
"And paint a target on her back for the Death Eaters? They've already used my godfather against me and I reacted rashly trying to rescue him and got him killed coming to my rescue instead," Harry said harshly.
"I'm sorry Harry," Hannah said softly.
"You could date someone in secret," Megan suggested eagerly.
"How long do you think a secret like that would last? I can think of four or five couples that are dating or hooking up in secret that we all know about in Hufflepuff alone. The prefects may as well post a list of who they caught in the broom closets most days so many of them gossip about it. This is Potter, everything he does is gossip worthy, the whole school would know in weeks," Susan said scathingly.
"It only takes one person from a Death Eater family to include the news in a letter home and Voldemort will know who to target to hurt me. The Weasleys moved out of their home and totally redid their wards last summer, they've nearly got war wards up all the time now because of me, and that's just because I'm friends with them, and Neville's planning on talking his Gran into doing the same," Harry replied.
"What about Hermione?" Susan asked.
"Her parents are muggles so she's not allowed to have wards put up on her parents' house and workplace unless she's there all the time. She said she's going to encourage her parents to move out of England somewhere so they won't be found and then stay somewhere with better security, probably with the Weasleys," Harry replied.
"Then if they're protected, they'd be safe to date you," Sally-Anne suggested.
"My godfather lived under strong wards, including the Fidelius. He wasn't betrayed by his secret keeper like my parents and I were, and they still managed to lure him out and kill him. Very few people can retreat behind the wards on their home and stay there until the war is over without coming out to work or conduct business, visit Gringotts or Diagon Alley or friends," Harry replied bluntly. "In my godfather's case they tricked me into going to save him and he genuinely tried to come save me from my naïve stupidity."
That cast a pall on the whole conversation and they travelled silently for a while before Harry made his excuses and left.
"I didn't mean to upset him," Sally-Anne said.
"I think he knew that," Hannah said supportively.
"I never knew he had a godfather, he managed to keep that secret. I wonder who he was," Megan said.
"Sirius Black, he was killed at the battle Harry and his friends fought at the ministry last year," Susan replied.
"How did you know that?" Hannah asked.
"My Aunt spent half of last summer cleaning up over that mess," Susan reminded her.
"Do you think that Harry has someone he wants to receive a betrothal offer for?" Megan asked.
"Well if she's our age he probably will have an offer unless she's muggleborn or the daughter of a Death Eater or was already betrothed before that Halloween, I think the parents of every available little girl in Britain probably sent one in the month after the war," Susan said pragmatically.
"Merlin he'll be wading through a vault knee deep in offers," Hannah said laughing.
"Which probably isn't going to be as funny or as much fun as we think it is," Susan replied as she and the others laughed at the picture Hannah's words had made.
-o0o-
Susan was deeply disappointed with her aunt's actions at the school during the year, and it showed in the coolness of her greeting when Amelia met her at the platform.
"What's the matter Susan? Are you angry at me that I couldn't do more for Potter when you called me?" Amelia asked, wanting to clear the air.
"More? You didn't do anything! You let a marked Death Eater, get away with trying to torture one of my classmates!" Susan snapped. It was really difficult for me to convince Harry to contact you for help that day. He's been let down by every adult he's ever tried to trust and I was sure that you'd be the exception. I feel guilty for misleading him and setting him up for yet another disappointment. I worry that it's damaging his trust in me too."
"I thought we dealt with that situation when we came home for Christmas. Mr Potter understood that and agreed that it was better to let the situation lie since the only guaranteed outcome would be the death of the elf who saved his life," Amelia reminded Susan frowning.
"Not that time though that was bad enough. Then you did it again this term, and you didn't even have a decent excuse. You let Draco Malfoy get away with casting the cruciatus at Harry and didn't even investigate!" Susan said furiously. "Even after you knew his father had tried to kill a student a few years ago and saw the whole thing in your pensive. You had proof and you still let Dumbledore talk you into letting him off without even a slap on the wrist.
Amelia paled. "You believe that Draco Malfoy has the Dark Mark?"
"Harry told you he did when we met you at the Three Broomsticks," Susan said derisively.
"Mr Potter told me that he believed that Draco Malfoy had been Marked as a Death Eater but he had no proof and the Dark Lord has never been in the habit of marking underage wizards," Amelia argued. "Do you have any reason other than Mr Potter's belief to believe it yourself?"
"I don't just believe he has a Dark Mark, I know he does! I've seen it!" Susan snapped. "And then, after you refused to charge Malfoy with attacking a student in spite of having incontestable evidence, you sent an entire team of Aurors to investigate and interrogate half the school when he and his friends were stunned and battered about a bit and not one of them bothered to look at any of their arms or question why they were attacked."
"What do you know about the attacks on Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle?" Amelia asked.
"You mean other than that all three of them have the Dark Mark, that Malfoy deserved it and probably started whatever happened, and that his two bully boys probably deserved it too for following him and that half the school talks about wishing that they'd been the ones to do it. Or I know that this is the natural consequence of showing the hundreds of students he's bullied and belittled over the years that the son of someone like Lord Malfoy can literally get away with casting unforgivables at just about anyone without any consequences and that they might be next?" Susan asked sarcastically.
"Susan," Amelia said demandingly.
"I didn't curse them. I admit that I would have liked to if I thought I had the sort of influence or sneakiness to get away with it. I didn't go after Malfoy and his goons like that because it would hurt your career if I was caught. But I can tell you it's probably not the work of one person or even one group of people. The attacks were so different that I think each attack was a different person or group in retaliation for something Malfoy had done or defending themselves from something he was trying to do. After the first time, people started to realise that his father and godfather can't protect him as well as they thought they could as long as they're not caught in the act and nobody in the gang speaks out. Though, if Malfoy wasn't such a baby about the smallest papercut, I wouldn't totally rule out Malfoy and his friends planning at least one of the attacks themselves to try to get someone in trouble. Snape always blames Harry and they're all furious the last couple of times when he could prove he didn't do it."
"It's beyond believing that there could be three or four groups of vigilantes acting in the school and none of them have bragged to anyone who was willing to pass on the information," Amelia said disbelievingly.
"Who said they were vigilantes, after all your actions told Malfoy and the other Death Eaters in training that he'd get away with anything short of murdering a student, these could all have been acts of self-defence, and nobody's going to come forward and admit to having had to defend themselves against him after what happened to the Gryffindor Golden Boy, who's supposedly Dumbledore's favourite," Susan retorted.
"Nothing happened to Potter," Amelia reminded her niece.
"You're wrong! You mean nothing happened to Malfoy! Harry wasn't believed, everyone could tell that some of the professors were sure he was lying when he wasn't, and he would have served who knows how many more horrible detentions if I hadn't contacted you because none of the professors was interested in finding out what actually happened before they scolded and punished Harry," Susan said hotly. "And then, when Malfoy was attacked, every time Harry's been accused and had to prove that he couldn't have done it. His friends have taken to walking around with him like bodyguards to protect him from Slytherin retaliations, and we're all trying to shepherd the younger students through the hallways near the dungeons and warning them not to leave the common room on their own. I can't say it hasn't been necessary."
"Merlin, I had no idea things had gotten so bad at Hogwarts," Amelia sighed.
"Your lack of action against Malfoy and decision to support Dumbledore's give everyone multiple chances to repent, or to be forgiven even if they don't repent in the hope they will at sometime in the future, or worse your support for the Malfoys and the Death Eaters, did a lot of harm to a lot of people at Hogwarts, I'm surprised it hasn't hurt your reputation as an Auror," Susan said uncompromisingly, getting up and leaving the room.'
Amelia stared after her, truly shaken by the teenager's words. Had she really caused all this just by backing down on a fight she didn't believe she could win.
-o0o-
Susan finally understood what Harry had meant when he said that not being able to choose the same foods or see each other's food choices at mealtimes wasn't going to be a problem over the summer, and why he seemed to be taking more fruit from the table at the end of meals than he was eating for the last couple of weeks. They'd been home twenty four hours and she hadn't tasted him eating anything that she'd call a meal. He'd had a couple of pumpkin pasties and an apple late the evening before and a stale cheese sandwich well before she got out of bed this morning and nothing since. It was now nearly dinner time and she could taste him eating some raw carrot sticks and peas, though she could swear she could smell fried chicken. She'd also been feeling his hunger all day and wondered why he wasn't eating. Now as evening came and he was again snacking on pumpkin pasties and fruit, she realised that he'd prepared for not being able to eat meals. He wasn't eating because his family were denying him food. She didn't know what to do other than ask their elf to prepare some meals under stasis that she could send to him but she didn't know how he'd react to that.
She decided that the best thing to do was ask, but that was easier said than done. She hoped he wouldn't be offended.
'Hey Harry you there,' she said opening their connection on her side.
'Hey Susan,' Harry said quietly.
'You're hungry, is there a reason you're not eating. Is your aunt's cooking really that bad?' Susan said hesitantly. Trying to give Harry an excuse if he didn't want to admit his relatives were refusing to let him eat properly.
Harry sighed. 'No, I didn't finish all my chores today so I didn't earn the right to eat dinner,' he admitted, ashamed.
'But you seemed to be working hard all day,' Susan protested.
'Not hard enough to satisfy my uncle,' Harry replied resignedly.
'Would you like me to send you some dinner?' Susan offered.
'You don't need to, I'll be fine,' Harry said embarrassed.
'Harry, if the whole summer's going to be like this, I'm going to be snacking constantly and put on ten kilos if I can feel your hunger all the time and I'll hate myself for it. Not to mention that the constant taste of food in your mouth from my snacking will only make your hunger feel worse. Please let me feed you instead,' Susan said.
Harry could feel the truth in her words, even though he could also sense that she was trying to convince him to let her help him. His pride stung and there was no doubt she felt his shame in needing help to deal with the actions of a pair of muggles. In the end it was the knowledge that the hunger pains would only get worse before his stomach got used to not eating again that convinced him to let Susan help. He didn't want her to have to go through that.
'Okay,' Harry agreed.
Susan could feel his shame and was unsure whether it was about his family's treatment of him or just the fact he needed his girlfriend's help with something so basic as food. 'The way your aunt and uncle are treating you is not your fault Harry. You shouldn't have to finish chores to earn the right to be fed, much less an impossible list of chores like the one they gave you. They're the ones failing to act like decent human beings. They are the ones who should be embarrassed by their behaviour.'
'They're not though. They'd tell you that it's because I'm a freak that I don't deserve the things like hot meals,' Harry said to himself.
Susan wasn't sure whether he intended her to hear that but she felt compelled to answer. 'You're not a freak!' she insisted, hurt that he could think of himself that way.
'To them I am,' Harry replied.
'They're wrong Harry, but it wouldn't matter if you were a psychopath, a goblin or a house elf. How they treat you reflects on them, they're the ones who's behavour is appalling and amoral you would never treat any creature or being this way, let alone a child you're supposed to care for,' Susan thought fiercely.
She got up and consulted with the elves in the kitchen how was the best way to get a meal to Harry as quickly as possible.
"He be your bonded Miss Susie. If he calls Melly then Melly will find and takes dinner," the older of the two elves said.
"You can sense our bond?" Susan asked surprised.
"Yes Miss Susie," the younger elf, Netty replied. "He is yours. Yous not marrieds but close."
Susan smiled. "Yes, Harry is the man I want to marry but we haven't made it official yet. There are some things that have to happen before that. Please don't tell anyone. It wouldn't be safe for either of us if it becomes known."
Melly finished making Harry up a generous plate of dinner and two helpings of dessert. "Yous ask him to call Melly now," she said.
'Harry, Melly says she can find you through our bond if you call her name,' Susan said opening the connection so Harry would hear her.
Melly smiles and popped away. A moment later Susan heard Harry greeting her in the back of her mind soon followers by the taste of the sticky date pudding. She was going to scold him for eating dessert first but then realised that he was more than hungry enough to eat the main meal as well and that Melly had no doubt put it under a warming charm and if anyone had a right to choose to eat pudding before dinner it was Harry.
He ate his dinner much more slowly but didn't start on the second dessert. Susan could feel that he was no longer hungry but he definitely could've eaten more.
'Why not eat the cheesecake?' She asked.
'I'll keep it for breakfast,' Harry said.
'There's no need for that. Melly will bring you breakfast when you call her in the morning,' Susan said gently. "She plans on making sure you get three square meals a day and as many snacks as you need. She will be upset if you don't call and she cannot bring you the food she's prepared for you. In fact, now that she knows where you live she might bring you food anyway so it's best to let her know when it's safe for her to come."
"I might have to call at slightly odd times when I'm sure I'll be left alone long enough to eat," Harry warned her emotionally, touched by the level of concern he'd never had before. Sure, Mrs Weasley always made a fuss over the weight he'd lost over the summer before he arrived to stay with them and sent him some food over the summer but it was only a few treats, not proper meals and never enough to stop him from being hungry.
"That's fine Harry, she's up by six to get ready to make Auntie breakfast before work so don't worry about waking her up, or I could send her with breakfast foods now if that's not early enough," Susan said.
"No don't put her out, whatever she's making for your aunt will be fine. My relatives won't be up before seven," Harry replied.
-o0o-
'How come you always send me two desserts? Melly said it was you who insisted that I have both,' Harry asked a couple of nights later. He was feeling much better than he normally did after several days in Durzkaban. Even though his back and shoulders still ached from the amount of work he'd been doing, he was still well fed and full of energy and the sunscreen potions Susan had sent had saved him a nasty sunburn, and the muscle relaxer was doing its job too.
He could almost feel Susan's face heat up along with the embarrassment through the bond. 'If you eat both desserts then I get to taste them without consuming the calories,' she admitted.
'Are you dieting?' Harry asked slightly amused at the idea. He recognised the behaviour from Lavender and Parvati arguing over what dessert they were going to split since neither felt that they should eat a whole dessert every day. 'You don't need to, you look great.'
Susan felt his surprise at the idea of her dieting, 'You're sweet, Harry but you could definitely do with putting on a few kilos more than I could,' Susan replied.
'I don't want to get fat either you know,' Harry said teasingly.
Susan was surprised to feel some real worry through the bond.
'Harry you're currently underweight and with how hard you work all day you probably need the extra food. Don't worry any weight you put on will probably be muscle. Melly would serve you smaller portions if she didn't think that you needed the extra food. Are you worried about still being light enough to be seeker. Because Cedric was a decent seeker even in sixth year even when he grew tall, you didn't beat him because you were smaller and lighter, he freely admitted that even in first year you were a better flyer and seeker than he ever was,' Susan tried to reassure him.
'It's not just that. I don't want to be greedy like my cousin,' Harry said.
Susan understood that, having seen Dudley through Harry's eyes and heard him whining for a third or fourth helping of dessert several times. 'You didn't ask for the second dessert. If anybody is being greedy then it's me getting to enjoy the taste of two desserts and the benefits of not eating either of them, and the knowledge that I'm helping you grow even more strong and fit,' she argued.
Harry laughed and gave in, he'd make sure Susan had her half of their connection open as he ate the desserts so she got as much enjoyment as possible out of them. He had to admit being decently fed made getting through the chores the Dursley's gave him each day easier. Though he'd also overheard Dudley whining to his Aunt about how healthy he looked, and the muscles he was getting. His Aunt punished him for making poor Dudley feel threatened by depriving him of dinner yet again.
A/N: Thank you to all those who reviewed followed or favourited this story for your support.
