Angelina was strolling across the school grounds, on her way to a spot near the lake. She needed to think, and she needed to be away from people.
She was feeling very conflicted at the moment. The offer from the others had been very appealing. She'd almost wanted to accept it right then and there, but she stopped herself short. She needed to think deeply about a decision that would affect the rest of her life.
She'd never thought about polygamy. It had not even entered her mind until her training sessions with Harry and Bellatrix had started up. From those nascent thoughts and desires to then being offered to join an actual coven, well, it was a very scary idea.
What would her mum think? Her grandma? What about her friends?
The ritual part of it was worrying as well. What would it do to her? Would it fundamentally change who she was? Of course it would, something like that had to change you in some unshakable way.
Despite all these questions, there was a large part of her being that wanted to be with Harry. And not just Harry, she wanted to be with all of them. She wanted to take that leap of faith and wade into the unknown.
When she reached her favorite spot, she found that there was someone already there.
It was a short, busty redhead that wore Hufflepuff colors. Angelina had seen her with Harry's group during the match, but she didn't know her name.
Before she could turn and leave, the girl spotted her. There was an awkward moment where they both looked at each other and said nothing, but then Angelina broke the silence.
The girl looked so hurt, so conflicted and scattered.
Angelina had never been one to butt into other people's business. But standing at her own crossroads, she felt a sense of camaraderie with this girl.
"Knut for your thoughts?"
The girl's eyes widened in surprise. "S-Sorry?"
"You seem a bit lost."
"You know who I am?"
Angelina shook her head with a smile. "Don't need to know you to see that you're hurting," she held her hand out, "Angelina Johnson."
The girl blinked a few times before holding her own hand out to her, "Susan Bones."
Angelina knew Amelia Bones was some sort of higher up in the ministry, and she'd heard Bellatrix mention some other Bones when she'd listed off distinguished duelists.
"Well, hey there Susan, what's got you so down?"
Susan sighed, staring out into the lake. "I…" she bit her lip, glancing back at Angelina, who offered only a kind smile and didn't attempt to pry any further.
Perhaps, she could open up just slightly to this older girl she barely knew. In a sense, the fact that they didn't know each other made it easier.
"I really like someone, like really really like them, but I'm not sure they even know I exist."
Angelina sent her a sad smile. "Have you tried talking to them?"
"I-I have! We're friends, but… but I'm not sure he sees me in any other way. I mean, sometimes I think he does, but other times I start to doubt. Plus… he sort of has a girlfriend."
Angelina felt bad for Susan. She'd been in the very same predicament up until the other day. Unfortunately, not everyone had a convenient little coven spring up to smooth things over.
"That's the eternal problem for people our age, isn't it?"
"I-I think I have a way of solving it, you know, the whole girlfriend thing. But, I'm not sure if its morally acceptable."
"You're not like, going to off her or anything, are you?"
Susan shook her head vehemently, "No, no, that doesn't work. It's stuff that maybe society doesn't approve of."
Susan was thinking of the books she'd been reading down in her new haven, books that talked about magic that had long been frowned upon by wizarding society, magic that had at first left her shocked, but had slowly seduced her by its promises.
She didn't elaborate verbally, and Angelina didn't ask. She was deep in thought about just how similar her situation was to Susan's. She was also thinking of entering something that might be frowned upon by the wider world, she was also at the precipice of a massive decision.
She looked at Susan, at how broken the girl looked, and she realized the answer was the same for both of them.
"Susan, how much do you care for this guy?"
"I love him with all my heart." She said with such conviction that Angelina wouldn't even bother to dispute it.
She found that she had reached her own conclusion. She was falling in love with Harry, and the night she'd spent with him and Bellatrix had been the most amazing moment in her life.
"Then I think you should just go for it. Fuck what everyone else thinks, go after your man, consequences be damned."
Susan straightened up at those words, and Angelina felt herself embolden just by seeing the life return to the girl's eyes
"T-Thank you, I have to go!"
Angelina grinned. "Anytime, girlie."
She watched Susan run off towards the castle, wishing her the best.
…
Harry followed behind an excited Colin Creevey as the boy led him to the antechamber behind the Great Hall.
He'd been pulled out of an admittedly boring Transfiguration lecture to attend the 'Weighing of the Wands'.
He'd never heard of such a thing, but he was glad he regularly polished his trusty holly and phoenix feather wand anyways. It would have been embarrassing to have whoever was 'weighing' his wand to comment on scuff marks and chocolate stains like Ron's poor old wand.
It seemed that he was the last to arrive. There were a smattering of people there. The two Beauxbaton duelists along with Madame Maxine. Fleur, who sent him a ghost of a smile before maintaining her emotionless mask, was next to Krum and the ever-so surly Headmaster Snape.
In his little corner were Bellatrix, Angelina and Dumbledore. The Headmaster winked at Harry, who gave the aged man a nod before smiling at Bella and Angie as he joined them.
"Did you guys know about this?" Harry whispered, receiving a head shake from Angelina and a narrowing of eyes from Bellatrix.
"They came up with it last minute. Said they needed to 'jazz-up' the dueling to make people more interested." Bellatrix was glaring directly at a brightly smiling Ludo Bagman, who was in the center of the room along with Percy Weasley, Minister Bagnold, Mr. Ollivander and a few people that looked like members of the press.
"I'm sure it'll be an enjoyable experience." Dumbledore assured, the ever-present myrth in his eyes.
Ludo clapped his hands together to draw everyone's attention. "Well, now that we're all here, I believe we can get on with the ceremony! If our duelists could step forward and present their wands to our esteemed wandmaker, may we begin with you, mademoiselle," Ludo gestured for the Beauxbatons duelist with the short brown hair to step forth.
Ollivander inspected her wand, twelve inches of spruce with a dragon heartstring core. Her counterpart with the thick beard (that Harry was now certain must have been the result of a potion) went after.
Next were the Durmstrang students. Krum's wand was ten and a quarter inches, made of hornbeam with a dragon heartstring core.
Fleur's wand was up next, and Harry now noticed how striking the bone-white wand looked up close.
"Interesting." Ollivander marveled as he inspected the wand, which was dotted with little slit-like holes and had two alternating protruding spikes that worked very effectively as a handle. "I dare say this is one of mine, young lady." Ollivander put the length of wood up to his line of sight. "Thirteen inches, yew, phoenix feather core… or at least it was." He sent Fleur a very unfriendly gaze. "The phoenix feather has been removed, replaced by veela hair. Modifying wands is very dangerous, not to mention disrespectful to the wandmaker. I do not recommend it, Ms. Delacour."
Fleur's face didn't budge, maintaining that neutral mask as she just quietly stood while the old man berated her.
Ollivander flicked the wand and produced a bouquet of flowers, though some of the roses that sprouted were black.
"Serviceable." He handed the wand back to Fleur, who snatched it back and walked away without a word.
Harry glanced over at Bella during all this, wanting to ask her for her take. He caught Bella staring hard at Fleur's wand, a small frown lining her face.
Next, it was time for the home team. Angelina's wand (Hazel, nine inches, unicorn hair.) passed with no issue. When it got to Harry, Ollivander's eyes lit up.
"Now this is proper wand maintenance!" He beamed as Harry squirmed under his gaze and the glares at his back, feeling like a teacher's pet.
"Holly, eleven inches, tailfeather of the most magnificent phoenix I've had the pleasure of working with. Truly, one of my best."
"Right, err, thanks." Harry held his hand out insistently, wanting to stop the gushing praise before he got hexed in the back.
Ollivander twirled his wand between his fingers with a look of pure wonder and pride. "Beautiful, truly stunning."
Maybe Harry went a bit overboard when he used two coats of wand polish.
"Mr. Ollivander, we are on a time crunch here." Minister Bagnold reminded, a stern look on her face as she pointed at her wristwatch.
Ollivander finally gave Harry his wand, who retreated back with a slight blush adorning his cheeks.
"Wonderful!" Bagman had on an overly cheerful smile as he glanced at the people Harry had rightfully assumed were members of the press. "Ms. Skeeter, Mr. Lovegood, any questions for our young duelists?"
Harry felt dumb. He should have immediately realized that the blonde man with the head of craggly shoulder-length blonde hair and the neon pink robes could only be Luna Lovegood's father.
Mr. Lovegood was holding a camera shaped like a pigmy puff. Next to him, it seemed that Ms. Skeeter was accompanied by her own cameraman. Skeeter looked more respectable than Lovegood, but only just barely. Her highlighter-green jacket and shirley-temple hairstyle wasn't exactly the most staid and reserved of looks.
Skeeter looked bored and uninterested, but Lovegood nodded eagerly at Bagman's words.
"I do, actually! Minister, with the tenth anniversary of the Rotfang Conspiracy fast approaching, are you finally willing to admit that cauldron cakes cannot melt tooth enamel?"
Mr. Lovegood was successful in leaving the entire room in stunned silence. Well, mostly silence, Bellatrix chortled as the Minister stared at the man as if he were a dangerous lunatic, which she most certainly thought he was.
"OUR YOUNG DUELISTS MR. LOVEGOOD! QUESTIONS FOR OUR YOUNG DUELISTS!" Bagman was sweating profusely as his smile withered.
"Oh," Lovegood's face fell. "Then, no."
"Rita?" Ludo turned to her pleadingly.
Rita shook her head. "This is page twelve news, Ludo. Why would I want to write something that'll be squeezed in between Mrs. Weasley's award winning lawn gnomes and those seedy Knockturn Romance blurbs?"
"Did you read the last one? 'Bent-over by a Banshee'…it was quite exhilarating!"
Percy Weasley turned beet red as he realized what he'd just blurted out. Everyone stared at the stiff young man, who coughed into his fist hoping for everyone to just move on and erase this moment from their memories.
Harry was grinning ear to ear, and a glance at Angelina told him she was thinking along the same lines as him. The twins would pay top dollar for a pensieve memory of this.
"We can take a group picture, at least." Rita's photographer offered, wanting to end the uncomfortable silence.
"Right, right, very well." Ludo began to wave his arms around. "If everyone could just gather up-"
They all bunched up together. Harry felt a pinch on his butt and glanced behind him to see Angelina flash him a grin and a saucy wink.
It was a very good omen as to where she was leaning in terms of her decision to join the coven.
"Where'd you get that wand?" Bellatrix whispered to Fleur. Before the blonde could answer, Snape sent Bellatrix a snide reply. "None of your business, Black."
"Robbing graves. I'd say I'm surprised, but nothing is below you, is it, Snivellus?"
Harry's ears burned from the words he was hearing. Carrying a deceased person's wand wasn't uncommon, though it was never recommended, but to steal a wand from a grave? Harry couldn't think of something more sacrilegious.
When they finally dispersed, everyone seemed eager to be done with the entire thing. Fleur was the first one out the door, and she managed to slip by just as another, much less appealing blonde burst in.
"Potter! What have you done!"
Draco was fuming, nostrils flared as he searched the room for Harry, the Hogwarts Heavyweight Belt slung over his shoulders.
"What is the meaning of this, Mr. Malfoy?" Albus asked, though his tone held a tinge of eager anticipation rather than sternness.
"Potter made the muggle leave! He pushed him out because he was jealous of my rising star!"
"Oh." Albus' face fell, having hoped for something a bit more bloody. "On our way."
"What the hell are you talking about, Malfoy?" Harry asked irritably.
"That filthy muggle just up and left us, said he got a better offer for more money!"
"Why didn't you just bribe him?"
"Don't you think I tried? His idiot mudblood son told him that wizarding gold is undetectable by muggles, making it useless."
Harry raised an eyebrow. "So, the whole wrestling thing fell apart then?"
"Yes, Potter! My rise to stardom has been stymied by whatever treasonous act you committed to cause the disgusting muggle to leave."
But Harry wasn't listening, he was grinning very, very broadly.
"Could the two of you please move? We important people need to leave and do important things!" Percy crowed with irritation as the two of them were blocking the door.
"With pleasure." Harry said.
He cocked his fist back and smashed it right on Draco's nose, without a single care for the now defunct rules they'd been following.
Gasps rang out, with the Minister and her entourage looking appalled.
Bellatrix smiled proudly, while Rita Skeeter whipped out her notepad and quick-quotes-quill as her photographer snapped picture after picture.
A tear fell down Dumbledore's eye.
Draco crumpled to the floor holding his nose while Harry stood over him with a satisfied smile.
"Man, it feels good to get that out."
He turned and realized just what he'd done, in front of dozens of diplomats and ministry officials.
"He had it coming, I swear."
…
Susan was sitting in the Hufflepuff common room, staring quietly into the fire, as had become custom for her so far this year.
Hannah squeezed in next to her friend, a look of concern flashing across her face before she tried to put on a friendly smile.
Susan had always been reserved, but this year, she had almost withdrawn completely into herself, especially after Harry and Daphne had started dating. There had been some flashes of hope, but eventually the girl always fell back into worrying quietness.
"Hey Suzie, ready to go down to Hogsmeade? I really want to stock up on sweets at Honeydukes."
Susan turned slowly away from the flames, and her face held an intensity that Hannah had never seen before on the redhead.
"It's fine, Hannah, you can go." Hannah got the distinct impression that more than looking at her, Susan was looking through her. "I have a lot of work to do."
"Work? I thought you finished that charms assignment."
Susan wasn't listening to her anymore, she had gotten up from her seat, a serene look falling on her face. "You've been a good friend, Hannah, I'll always remember that."
"Susan! Susan, wait!" Hannah called out after her friend, who had already left through the entrance to the common room.
…
The Daily Prophet had come out with a front page headline the next day, talking about the 'rampant violence coursing through Hogwarts' with a picture of Harry socking Draco front and center.
They'd come up with some crap about the Headmaster possibly being complicit in turning the country's premier (and only) wizarding school into a lawless warzone. They also talked about the shame it brought upon the nation for this to happen in front of an international audience.
Needless to say, Harry was getting relentlessly bullied by his friends about the whole thing.
"I saw an opening and I took it, alright!" Harry said in exasperations.
"I wonder what's going to happen now, with Dean's father gone, what are we going to do? Back to a play?" Daphne wondered.
Harry shrugged. "We'll have to discuss it with mum at the next meeting."
"I'm just glad I won't have to participate in that storyline he had me in." Blaise said.
"I'm just glad the papers are off me." Tracey said with a smile, bringing it back to Harry's headline moment.
Ever since that Hogwarts/Beauxbatons match, the Quidditch world had been transformed. Teams had begun to field multiple seekers, especially after perennial losers Poopensharten FC trounced Magi Munich, the number one club in all of Europe, in the German league by using three seekers.
The 'False Seeker' or 'Davis Deception' as it was being called had created a crisis in international quidditch as many declared the game broken. Needless to say, Tracey was happy that the spotlight had been taken away from her, even if only for a day. She'd received equal parts hate mail and flowing praise, with some professional managers even offering her an early apprenticeship.
"They'll come roaring back by tomorrow, Trace." Blaise said after taking a sip from his butterbeer. "The Harpies play Puddlemore tonight, big match, and a little birdie told me Gwenog Jones is going to field six seekers and a keeper."
Tracey groaned, slamming her head onto the table as Ginny rubbed her back.
It was Saturday, the day of the first Hogsmeade weekend, and they were on their dreaded triple date.
Though Harry had to admit it really wasn't that bad. They were at The Three Broomsticks, hanging out like always, just with Ginny instead of Ron.
Also, Luna Lovegood and Neville were there, for some reason.
Luna made sense, she was one of Ginny's closest friends and they'd invited her to the table when she passed by. Neville had just sort of… wandered in and no one had the heart to tell him to go somewhere else.
The two of them were actually engrossed in a side conversation, a side conversation that got upgraded to a main conversation as everyone began to listen in.
"I just… sometimes I feel like I'm almost a squib!" A distraught Neville had his hands on the side of his head as Luna nodded along to his words. "I've tried everything I can, and I'm still not any better at magic!"
"Did your mother take any of those nausea potions when she was carrying you?" Luna asked.
"Err… I'm not sure… probably, I guess?" Neville answered confusedly.
"What does that matter, Luna?" Ginny interjected. Neville blanched, realizing he was now the center of attention.
"It matters greatly, Ginny." Luna said sagely. "Everyone knows potions cause squibism."
Hermione spat out her butterbeer as everyone else shot Luna incredulous looks. "What did you say?"
"It's true. It's all part of the ministry's plan to take our wands. Just like all the mind control potions they feed us at school."
"You think they feed us mind control potions?" Daphne asked, her face filled with amusement, in opposition to Hermione's affronted indignation.
Luna looked at her as if the answer was obvious. "Of course. It's also to drive up the profits for Big Potion."
"Big Potion?" Harry asked, sharing grins with Blaise and Tracey.
"What about your wand, Neville?" Hermione asked loudly. Seeing that her friends were about to derail the conversation with Luna's conspiracy talk, she forcefully tried to refocus things on Neville.
"What about my wand?" The boy pulled out his wand, which even to the untrained eye looked rather worn.
"That wand looks like it's been kicking since Dumbledore was a first year, mate." Harry said bluntly.
Neville's face reddened as he clutched his wand defensively, "it's my great-uncle Aggie's. He wanted me to use it after he passed."
"We'll there's your problem, you dolt!" Tracey yelled, ignoring the looks she received from Hermione and Daphne. "And you said you tried everything! Everyone knows you can't be going around with a wand that didn't choose you."
"What she means, Neville." Ginny said with a bit more tact, "Is that you should go buy a wand that actually matches you."
"You guys think that'll make a difference?" He asked hopefully.
"Can't make it any worse." Blaise said with a shrug.
"Come on, Neville. Go to Ollivander's right now." Harry insisted.
"R-Right now? But we can't leave the village."
"It's fine, I do it all the time. Just talk to Rosmerta, she'll let you use her floo."
After a bit more encouragement from the group, Neville stood up and rushed off to talk to the barmaid.
"So, do you guys agree that the minister stole the last election? She let the centaurs vote illegally."
It was Hermione's turn to smash her head against the table as Luna plunged them into a cesspit of conspiracy talk.
…
"Ten galleons." Rosmerta spat out.
Neville paled considerably, "T-Ten galleons!? Isn't that a bit steep for using your floo?"
"It's one galleon for the floo and nine for me not to turn you in to one of your professors." Rosmerta explained calmly.
Neville gulped, digging into his money pouch as he hoped he'd have enough left over for the wand.
…
"The Comet Suite? That's gonna run us a pretty galleon." Blaise said.
Harry tipped his mug over to Rosmerta, who shot him a wink. A few rounds previous, she'd started spiking their butterbeer with firewhisky, on the house, and Harry greatly appreciated it.
"There's… what…" Tracy's pointer finger dangled as she struggled to count their group.
"Enough of us for it to not be too expensive. Now come on, we've heard all the legends!" Daphne urged them.
Hermione, usually the voice of reason or wet blanket that would have tried to put a damper on the plan, was too busy glaring at an oblivious Luna, who was happily gulping down her drink.
"Fuck it, let's do it!" Harry finally said as he hopped up, making a determined if not wobbly walk over to Rosmerta.
They were going to rent the Comet Suite. They were going to be a part of Hogwarts History.