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Sorry I wasn't able to get this up yesterday, had a D&D game that went very long and I was exhausted when it was done. For those following both, ZPoW will post shortly.

IMPORTANT NOTE: For those trying to read FwB 96(+?), FFnet is not letting me upload files currently. I don't know why. There's no error report, it's just not saving anything I try and upload. I'll put it up when I can. In the meantime, you can read it on Ao3 under the same name(s).

Chap. 95 Consequence Falling

Boarding the Hogwarts Express was as chaotic as ever. While Harry and his friends were a sea of relative calm, the younger students were excited at the prospect of going home again and having a summer mostly free of school work. The older students, however, those who understood the gravity of the attack and the Headmaster's subsequent demise, were often just as energetic, but in a manic, anxious way. The attack at the start of the Yule break, and the more recent assault on the castle itself, seemed to have convinced many that the safety they had once believed they possessed was little more than a shaky illusion.

Even if Harry was bound and determined to provide that safety himself, if there was another attack.

They boarded the scarlet train relatively peacefully, his closest friends staying close once more while the rest went to spend time with their other friends. He wasn't aware of any organization like Pansy and the others had pulled off last time, but he was aware of several conversations he was expected to have during the ride. Once again, Harry's trip home was going to be busy.

At least this trip 'home' won't be going to see the Dursleys, he thought with a wry sort of smile. Even if things were undeniably better there now, and he would miss Penny, Jill, Sunny, and Chelsea in Little Whinging (or at least enjoy the variety of the girls' shag-styles compared to his more regular partners), he was glad to be going to the quaint town Sirius, and now his own home, rested in instead.

First, however, was the train ride itself and all the conversations (and hopefully other things) that would transpire.

Harry deposited his trunk in the compartment which Ron, Hermione, and Neville were sitting in, then told them, "I'm probably going to be in and out for a while, like last time. Keep your eyes and ears open, yeah?"

"Constant Vigilance," Neville and Ron replied with a chuckle that made Hermione roll her eyes as she fished through her backpack for the tome she had decided to read on the way home.

"May as well start with the hardest one first," he told Lyra, as Ginny passed them in the hall, headed for the circle of friends she had made before truly becoming one of Harry's.

"Do you want me to come, Master?"

Harry debated it as he spotted Daphne leading Tracey down the corridor of the train through the door that led to the next car, but shook his head, "Maybe stay close, but I don't think it's going to come to blows. And if it does, I'm sure I can handle those two."

"Suit yourself," Lyra shrugged, then rose up on her tiptoes to deliver a brief, searing kiss before she slipped around him to enter the compartment too, dragging her rarely-used trunk behind her. A few minutes later, the two Slytherins started to pass, when Harry held out his hand, "Excuse me, Daphne, Tracey. I need a word with you and your sister. It's important."

The blonde glanced back and forth around the crowded corridor, then shrugged, "I suppose it's not a secret who I've sided with any longer. I'll go get Astoria, then. Go with Harry, Tracey?"

"Actually," the young wizard said, "I specifically don't need to talk to Tracey about this. It's just you and Astoria for now, Daphne. Unless you have something else to talk about, Tracey...?"

"I do not," the waifish girl replied, though she seemed as confused and surprised by the statement as Daphne was, "I will go find a compartment, I suppose."

"You can sit in here if you want," he offered, "I'm sure they won't mind even without me."

The brunette stood on her tiptoes to see through the compartment door for a moment, then nodded, "I... have questions for Granger. I will do that, thank you, Harry."

Then she was gone, and Daphne hissed, "What's this about, Harry? The- the letter my father sent over Yule?"

"Not here," he told her just as quietly but a lot more firmly, "It's a private matter for you and your sister. Yes, it involves your parents and one of the letters they sent me over Yule. That's all I'll say about it right now."

Daphne gave him a measuring look for several seconds, then nodded and glanced at his friends' compartment, "Let me put my trunk in there, and I'll go get her. At least I know where she was, so it should save some time."

Harry nodded, "I'll be right here. I might be looking for a compartment for a minute, but I should be back fairly soon."

The witch nodded, then gave him another strange look before heading back up the train, struggling to go against the flow of traffic. It was, thankfully, starting to slow. Before long the line of cars would start moving, and several hours later, they would arrive in London. At least, if the journey went as it was supposed to. He hadn't had any visions of Voldemort at all since the day of the attack, nor had his scar prickled in the slightest, so it was hard to predict what he might be doing.

Of course the news of Dumbledore's death had leaked long before the funeral itself, so Harry was sure he was planning something. It would be too simple for him to have perished in the light of the sun as it destroyed half of Malfoy Manor.

Harry couldn't find a spare compartment by the time he reached the back of the train, but on the return trip, he was able to convince two fourth-year students to vacate one in return for some attention from 'one of the prettiest girls in the school'. He thought about sending Lavender to do the deed, as he knew she appreciated being shared around quite a lot, but decided on Lyra doing it instead. If it became a problem over the summer, she would simply have to assume a new persona before the next year started. Then again, she could simply look like someone else, too.

He made it back to his friend's compartment just after Daphne returned with her sister, and soon they were back inside the one he had bribed people to leave to him. His first order of business once they were in the compartment was to check it with Homenum Revelio, then he turned to Daphne, "Any privacy charms you can put up, you might want to."

He let her do several, then added a couple more he had learned about from Pansy, Hermione, and a some he had learned in the many Defense books he'd read for Dumbledore's Army, then pulled out the slightly wrinkled letter he had last received from their father before he sat down on one side, gesturing for the sisters to sit on the other, "Astoria, your father sent me this letter just before we came back to Hogwarts. I received it and read it on the day we boarded the Train last time. Daphne has read it, but hasn't been aware of my response except in general terms. I think it's time you read it yourself."

He held it out and waited patiently, watching as the younger girl's face turned red, then white, then back to red, before settling on pink. The whole while the sisters shared several significant looks but not a single word.

"You've had this for months," Astoria asked he and Daphne quietly, looking up at them for the first time in several minutes, "Months, and this is the first I've heard of it. I mean, I know what Father's doing, but why am I just hearing about it now? This is too much, even for him!"

"You did stay with him already," Daphne reminded her calmly, her blue eyes and placid expression behind the steely tone reminding Harry very much of an angry Dumbledore in that moment, "Perhaps that was just a precursor. Perhaps Father simply wanted to see what Harry did with you, or you with him. I'm still curious as to why he did not ask me."

Harry shrugged helplessly, "I don't know- I didn't know then, and I don't know now- how to tell you, Astoria. What was I supposed to say? 'Hi, Astoria, that was a good lunch, wasn't it? By the way, I'm supposed to become your Guardian after Daphne and my Contract activates.' I'm sure that'd have gone over well."

Astoria fought and failed to stifle a giggle as Daphne turned red-faced once more, "That doesn't mean anything. You could have spoken with me at any time."

"I could have, yes, I suppose," Harry agreed, "but you might recall the last several months have been a bit busy. Sometimes it slipped my mind. I know it's important, but I can't remember everything all the time, Astoria, I'm not Hermione. Other times, it was just a lower priority. And at others, it wasn't the right time, or I didn't know what to say. I'm saying it now."

Daphne's eyes narrowed, but her sister waved him on expectantly.

Harry sighed, looked at the younger girl, then back at Daphne, "I'm going to do it, unless either of you have strong objections. If you do, now or at any point before my birthday, tell me, and I'll do whatever I can to... I don't know, make alternate arrangements. I don't know how that will affect... us, our Contract, but I don't see any reason not to try and keep you and Astoria safe. This is the best way to do that. At least, I don't see any reason to believe your father's wrong."

"I don't like it," the older witch said, her voice dangerously silky and soft, "I don't like it at all. I didn't like it then, and just as little now."

"What part don't you like?" Harry asked, leaning back in the seat, "I don't really like it either. We've talked more than once about me not being ready to be a father. But this isn't that. It's close, sure, but it's more like what you'd do for her if I refuse. At least, I hope you would."

"Of course I would! But they're nothing alike!"

"How so?"

"Because you are you," Daphne all-but screeched, a very out of character reaction for her normally in-control, icy affect, no doubt because she was quite aware they were highly unlikely to be overheard, "and I know how you are around women!"

Harry closed his eyes for several seconds to try and fight off the urge to shout back. He was, at least, mostly calm when he looked over at Astoria, who was increasingly red herself, and asked, "Did I do anything inappropriate when you were sent to Sirius' house?"

"I saw your cock," the girl answered at once, glaring at Daphne, "and saw you shagging the Succubus, but no. You were a perfect gentleman to me."

Harry wanted to hex the girl for telling her sister the first parts, even while wondering when that had been, but by the second he had turned back to Daphne herself, "See? I've already told you this, Daphne: I think Astoria is cute, very pretty, but I'm not trying to put the moves on her. This isn't some ploy just to get in her knickers. It was your father's idea, not mine. This letter was literally the first I'd heard of it. So stop thinking I'm the bad guy here. I'm just trying to help you protect your sister if something happens to your parents."

"I- I don't think you're the bad guy," Daphne forced out through taut lips, her jaw barely moving, "but you have to admit I have reason for concern when it comes to... well, you and the people around you. I was there last night, remember?"

Harry nodded, "I do, I remember very well. Did something happen that upset you? Bothered you?"

"Not as such, no. But that's me, and Tracey. Not Astoria."

"I didn't invite Astoria, as you also recall, then," Harry reminded her.

Before Daphne could offer another retort, Astoria herself gave a hem, hem sound that was, like Ginny, entirely too much like Dolores Umbridge's hated throat-clearing noise for comfort. Once the others looked to her, she rather primly reminded them, "I think you're forgetting the most important thing in all this, both of you. What do I want to do? It's my life you're talking about. Shouldn't I get a say?"

"You are not of age," Daphne chided, "so no. You should not."

"What the- hey!"

Harry shook his head and held up his hands, "Hold on, hold on. Daphne, she's right. I know she's not of age, but Astoria really is the one who should have the biggest say in the decision. It is her life, not ours. Hold on, Daphne, let me finish. Astoria, Daphne is also right, and you have no actual, legal say in the matter. None of us in the compartment do, at least not right now. I did some digging over the term, and as none of us are of majority age, we can literally do nothing about this. Daphne's the oldest by several weeks, so she will have the first chance to appeal if it comes to a fight between us, but I don't want that to happen. I don't think it would help anyway, because by the time the Wizengamot got around to deciding anything-"

"It would be the Housing and Relocation office if anything," Daphne interrupted.

"Fine," Harry nodded, acknowledging she was probably right, but keeping it back that he might have inroads there already in Moira Wallside, the woman he had been in correspondence with the same day as Cyrus Greengrass, "maybe the decision would be final, but this was a signed, sealed, magically protected and verified letter. Your father sent it to me directly, in secret, without telling either of you. I don't want to guess at his motives, but I have some ideas anyway. He's worried. So I plan to accept, if it becomes necessary. But I'm open to hearing your thoughts, both of you."

He turned to Astoria first, largely because she was quicker off the mark, "I'm in. There's nothing else to discuss as far as I'm concerned. You have the power, the wealth, and you're a decent guy. That's all I can ask for."

Daphne spluttered, "As- Astoria! You aren't marrying him, this isn't some Contract barter! He'll become your Guardian!"

"So? I'd still benefit, and you wouldn't be shagging him if you didn't know he was a good person, sis. I don't know why you're so upset about it, I really don't. It sounds like mother and father put a lot of thought into it, and Harry has, too. I trust them, and I trust him. That's good enough for me. Besides, Sirius' place is nice. Quaint, almost like the lake cottage."

"I'm sure the house of an escaped not-convict is quite nice," Daphne shot back, "but that has nothing to do with it! As your Guardian, he would have- would have authority over you! He could make you do... things! He could put you in a Contract against your wishes!"

"Hey, I wouldn't-" Harry started, but Daphne held up a hand to shush him.

"I'm not saying you would, I'm saying you could," she continued, "Astoria, please, think about this. Just- just wait to decide, please. That's all I'm asking. Let me talk to Father, get an idea of why he wants this. Mother, too. And if- if they have a good reason, then I won't object."

Daphne took a deep, slow, calming breath, then continued, "Because contrary to what you might think, I don't... hate the idea. I hate the way it was done, and I feel like someone needs to argue some sense, but there are certainly worse options."

"Alright," Astoria shrugged, "I'll wait, then, but only for two weeks. If you haven't talked to them before that time, I'll do it myself and make my current intentions known. And I'm maintaining correspondence with Harry in the meantime. At least, if that's okay with you, Harry."

"Sure," he agreed, "I don't see why not."

"Then that's settled. Anything else?" Astoria asked. When neither of the older students had anything to add, she stood up, "Alright, I'm going back to my friends. Have a good summer, Harry. I might see you soon, but expect my owl either way."

"Alright. Have a good summer yourself, Astoria."

Once she was gone, Harry waited patiently for the trembling, pale witch across from him to say something. To move, to shout, to throw or cast a spell.

But she did nothing, not for several long minutes as the train started to gather speed. When had it begun moving? He hadn't even noticed it lurch into motion. After a while, a stray memory filtered through his over-wrought mind. Something Lilith had mentioned about Daphne, and how she felt about her sister. The realization of the depth of it would have floored him if he were standing. As it was, Harry was able to hide the palpable reaction only because the blonde woman across from him was staring at the floor between them, her hands slowly wringing each other out.

Once he had a better grasp on how he felt about the realization, Harry asked quietly, "You really love her, don't you?"

"Of course I do," Daphne whimpered, "more than life itself. She's my sister, Harry. My only sister."

He nodded. She hadn't said it, but he hadn't expected her to. He was not a person who felt he understood sibling bonds all that well, but he was no longer limited to just the Dursleys as examples. He saw how the Weasleys acted together. Colin and Dennis Creevy. Parvati and Padma. Even Hestia and Flora Carrow. It was those last four that Harry looked to, because he knew that look, and knew that pain.

It was what he himself had felt as he realized Hermione was falling for Ron.

A familiar sting, one Harry had first learned of as he realized how differently Petunia and Vernon treated him compared to their son.

Jealousy.

Envy.

Both, perhaps, as similar as they were.

"No, I mean you love her," Harry asked quietly, "like you do Tracey."

"Don't be ridiculous, she's my sister," Daphne snorted, not bothering to look up. But Harry could see the tips of her ears turn just a little darker red.

"It doesn't stop Ron or Ginny, even if what they have isn't that kind of love. It doesn't stop the Patils, or I think the Carrows."

"You're an idiot."

"Maybe I am," Harry told the girl, the one he'd lost his virginity to and whose he'd it turn, "but I know that look, and I'm getting stronger at sensing emotions. I'm not judging you, Daphne. Anything but! If I had a sister like Astoria, I think I'd fancy her, too."

"I knew it," Daphne whimpered, "I knew you fancied her."

"I don't," he responded softly, "at least, not really. I could. I know I could. But I try to wall off those emotions, Daphne. I do it for you. I know it would hurt you, if we ever... became involved. I didn't know why, until now. It isn't that you don't want her to have... intimacy. What you told me about you wanting her to experience what life had to offer proves that. It's me. You would rather share Tracey, your actual girlfriend, whom you also love dearly, than Astoria. Not because you love Tracey less, but you love her a little differently, because she isn't the sister you've looked out for and cherished for so long. Am I wrong?"

Daphne took several seconds, more than a minute, to reply. When she did, it was silent, just a simple back-and-forth shake of her head.

"I didn't think so. I won't say anything, not even to Astoria. That's between you and her. I promise you that. But I also meant it when I promised you I wouldn't involve her in... what I get up to. She wants to, her peeping on me proves that. I swear I didn't let her look or encourage it or anything. I might remember noticing the door was open after, but that was months ago and I'm not sure anymore. But that's it, Daphne, I promise. I'm not trying to steal her from you. If anything... if anything, I want you to be happy, and if possible, happy with her. I want her to be happy, too. I'm more than a little fond of her, the brat."

Daphne snorted despite herself, and lifted puffy, red-rimmed eyes that shone with tears, "She is a brat, isn't she?"

"Sure is. I do like her, though."

"She's alright. I... Thank you."

"For what?" Harry asked.

Daphne looked away a moment, then met his gaze again before she whispered, "For being yourself. For agreeing to- to protect her, if... if it's needed. For not judging my sick... my sickness. For everything."

Harry shook his head, a soft grin spreading over his face as he stood to cross the compartment and sit beside Daphne. He pulled her into a hug, and she didn't protest, "I seem to be saying something like this a lot, lately, but... I summoned a Succubus. I don't think I've got any right to judge people for what they want in a romantic life, Daphne. So you fancy your little sister. If you're both of an age to understand why that might be bad or wrong, or what consequences could happen, then what's the harm in trying? You can't knock her up, you know? If- when- you get Runes, that'll be really impossible, and any real danger would be gone. No disease, after all. That comes with the first set."

"I... I've never told anyone," Daphne whispered into his side, "How did you... know?"

"Lilith mentioned something before, over the summer. Sister complex, I think, or something like it. I just remembered, and things fell into place, that's all. Nothing super mysterious about it or anything, but the Empathic powers helped confirm it."

"Cheater," Daphne hiccupped.

"Maybe a little," he admitted, then tightened the hug for a moment before he loosed it up to look at her again, "I care. I really do. Hell, Daphne... despite myself, I've fallen in love with you, too. I know you don't love me back, and that's fine. If you want to continue our arrangement, great. If not, I might recommend a few other blokes who fit the bill. But I'm not going to hurt you on purpose, I swear. If you... want what I think you want, then you have my support. Whether that's tacit acknowledgment or explicit encouragement and advice, is up to you. It's not like I can judge, since I encourage Ron and Ginny, and they would be a far bigger risk without the Runes."

"I think I love you too," Daphne whispered.

"Oh."

That was all either said for a long time. Slowly, the mood in the compartment began to change, and Daphne suddenly bolted to sit upright, out of Harry's arms, "You pervert!"

"Guilty as charged, I'm sure," Harry protested, his brow furrowing, "but what did I do this time?"

"You- you were just thinking about me and Astoria! T- Together!"

Harry couldn't help it, he snorted, "Daphne, I hate to break it to you... that particular ship sailed five months ago."

He started laughing in earnest as the blonde girl tried to bodily rip the cushions off the seat across from her and whack Harry over the head with it.