Loyal Pet

by H Bregalad

Bellatrix is an animagus and escapes with Sirius, Harry catches her and decides to keep her for a pet, she decides to raise him into a Lord and Master that she can be proud to follow. Rated M for sex and animagus sex. Warning: Polyamory eventually. There is also violence, including towards children and animals. You have been warned. Based on timbarney110's challenge 'loyal pet.'

36. Year 5 Chapter 10

The Heir

Content warning: sex, mood altering spells, gender bending to get around refractory period

My apologies that I couldn't induce this subchapter to be at the end of a post, but it only lasts a third of the post, so skip down about that far if you are skipping these.

Harry opened his eyes to find a naked witch pressed to his back, and an almost naked witch curled up between his arms.

His first muzzy thought was he was back in Hogwarts and Parvati had curled up between Sher's paws, and he'd accidentally shifted back in his sleep. But the fact that she was wrapped up in a short sleeved leather shift, 'as cool as the far side of the pillow,' and seemed to mass a bit more that Parvati gave him enough clues to work from.

He'd told Amelia he liked Susan, and she hadn't freaked out. She'd hinted about giving him the Jacob-Leah-Rachel ultimatum, and told him he was a perfect fit for their family as a breeding stud because of his magical strength.

And then she'd taken him to bed.

Yet again I accidentally pushed Susan a bit farther away to make room for someone else.

If I don't give her some kind of reward soon, she was going to up and leave, and I'll deserve that.

Maybe he could have an alliance to Amelia directly, but on Amelia's terms, (Harry must be a good little worker bee in Amelia's well oiled machine, also stud apparently), not according to the anti-corruption goal structures that He and Hermione and Padma and Susan wanted.

He wiggled a finger. Which rubbed … apparently Susan's nose. Drat, that was more intrusive than he meant to be.

Her eyelashes flickered across the inside of his knuckle, she wasn't asleep after all.

"Susan?" he whispered.

"Yes," she whispered, "I waited to change back to Leona, just like you asked."

That was a threat actually. A threat he fully hoped to capitalise on.

"Thank you," he said.

She tensed, "Are you listening, Harry."

"I am," he whispered, "Are we fully capable of negotiating in good faith, or should I wake up your aunt to witness our negotiations?"

"I already told her I'd sign the way it is, if either of you asked me to nicely enough, but … I would much rather escape clauses for each of us to cancel the breeding rights clauses and the guardian help clauses separately from themselves, and both of us separately from each other. And/or a section for the three of us to negotiate amendments."

"Ah," said Harry, "wise."

"On the assumption that we're on track for something we could all happily sign by the end of the week," said Susan, "may I take you to my room and … not let you leave until you've thoroughly accepted your birthday present?"

Harry picked up his head far enough to kiss just above the neck line of the shirt he'd made for her, "And what birthday present would that be?"

"My virginity," said Susan.

The world and logic wavered before Harry's eyes, and he tensed a little to make sure a blood-pressure drop wouldn't be sufficient cause for him to faint.

"Susan," he said.

"What?"

"I was going to ask for something along very similar lines," he said, "Except that … I hadn't thought in terms of you might still be a virgin."

"I've been chasing you for over a year," she said, "when did you figure that I had time to …"

That she'd been with anyone before that. "No," said Harry, "I've just … been so caught up in letting myself be toyed with by older witches that I forgot all about virginity being a thing that some people define, value, find significant, any of that. If you want to wait until the minute after we have something signed, I will totally understand and support you in a desire for … that kind of significance."

"Starting flirting with you the moment you wake up from Auntie Amelia wearing you out, and jumping your bones within an hour after she does, would be significantly more significant to me, and more to my liking."

"I understand," said Harry, "Lead on."

She rolled over in his arms and bit his lower lip.

He kissed her back for several seconds, then pulled away, "Merlin, where did you learn to kiss?"

"Luna," she said, a hint of defiance, and hint of apology.

"Ah hah," he said, "Thank you for the warning."

"You didn't like it?"

"I liked the vehemence and the energy," said Harry, "I didn't like the force behind the teeth."

"Alright," she said. She kissed him again.

Where her aunt had seemed to want to pull each bit of his mouth one at a time deep enough into her mouth to feel and taste it in its entirety, Susan seemed to think the name of the game was 'holding and worrying'. And several times she seemed intent on dragging her tongue or lip between his teeth, just to check if he'd bite back. He hadn't at first, but after he understood that she was offering for the game to be mutual, when she offered him her tongue again, and a much deeper length of it than before, he did bite down.

Not enough to keep it there when she withdrew, but enough to startle her that she pulled back and shivered.

"Was that something you wanted?"

She shivered and nodded, "Not nearly enough of it though, Let's go to my room?"

Harry nodded.

She climbed out of bed and picked up her clothes. Harry copied her.

It seemed reasonable to be prepared for the crowd next door to descend on them, and be significantly more appalled that they 'needed to walk the length of the house in order to dress' than merely that they 'had been napping' and 'needed to dress before they opened the door'.

.

"May I be Leona?" she asked as she put her clothes down and took off her shirt.

"I cannot stop you," said Harry, "But I'd recommend your first time, be either natural, or under the curse I was taught under."

"What sort of curse," she said.

"It will let you feel what you're doing to me, so that you can be sure that you're not hurting me, which can give you the confidence to do whatever you want."

She gave him an intrigued look, "I don't think I know that one, is it common?"

"It's rather famous," said Harry, "and relatively easy to cast, I'd be using the blue alignment, not the black alignment."

"'May you experience what you cause me to experience' sounds like the quintessentially blue curse."

Harry nodded, "It is, but it only transmits pain, and by extension the dimension of pleasure that is the cessation of pain. There is not, to my knowledge a charm for the other dimensions of pleasure."

"Wouldn't it be the cheering charm?" said Susan.

"Perhaps," said Harry, "I've never tried to cast that blue-immediate, instead of the unaligned-esoteric that Flitwick teaches."

Susan closed her eyes, drew her wand, opened her eyes and smiled at him fondly, then cast the cheering charm.

It was his first time experiencing the cheering charm since experiencing the effects of the imperious, and becoming an animagus, and learning the feel of the black aligned cruciatus. He felt the desire to dissociate and determine exactly where and how this was affecting him. He also felt the desire to ignore his qualms and trust Susan to not mess with his equilibrium maliciously.

"That took," said Harry, "feels immediate and sustained, is it blue?"

"Kiss me and find out?" she invited.

He kissed her. And soon found his hands wrapped around her, stroking her back and pressing her to his chest in ways that apparently she appreciated very much. Meanwhile instincts of his own, and remembered instincts from Leona started trying to guide him towards more.

He jerked back and caught his breath, then his equilibrium.

"What?" she whimpered.

"That," panted Harry, "might be dangerously intense."

She grinned at him, "Do me?"

"I think, only one of us at a time," he said, "and I think the progression ought to be, natural or natural with cruciatus, then Leona twice or more, until you're used to that and can control yourself anyway, and then, blue cheering charm."

"Cruciatus?" she said.

"Blue immediate," he clarified, "Not black, it feels pretty good."

"You cannot do that inside the wards," she said, "They'll kill you, or at least, they'll try."

"Good to know," he said.

She closed her eyes and looked thoughtful, "maybe someday we can visit France and you can show me how it feels."

It was in fact an unforgivable, and for good reason, it could kill, or at least destroy the mind, and only the victim could bear witness to what the effect had been.

He nodded, "alright, maybe someday."

She smiled, "so you won't cast the cheering charm on me my first time?"

"No," he said, "And I have a bad feeling about letting us both have one active on the other at the same time, at least not before we each have experienced it about three times and gotten used to it. Or something."

She nodded, "Alright, so … do you want me to take it off?"

Harry considered which of them ought to be under it, just because he and Hermione had wanted their first times to be about learning. He had the feeling that Susan wanted her first time to be about pleasure. And he wanted that for her also, and besides that he wanted to reward her for her patience so far.

And he didn't want her first time to be a never to be repeated sex + cheering charm combination, that might leave her addicted to a high that she'd never attain again.

"Not really," said Harry, "I just … I want to do this before I have a chance to forget again. Lasere Ducatus."

They both gasped and shivered and saw each other getting ready to wring their hands, and giggled.

"Because," he panted, "it's really easy to get carried away with the blue cheering charm."

She smiled, "Getting carried away sounds like exactly what we're looking for."

"Maybe," he said, and went to her bed and opened it.

She nodded approval.

He took a deep breath. "Now," he said, "I think we're ready to get carried away."

So they did.

It took next to no time and no negotiation for them to choose a position of him sitting on the edge of the bed and her knelt around his hips. Which was good because their mouths were engaged with her trying to find a way to worry his lips off (but without using her teeth) and his hands were busy stroking her bum and crushing her chest against his.

He'd never had such an easy time bringing anyone to orgasm.

After she finished a second time, she went limp and sort of rolled off of him toward her pillows, then lay still and stared at him, when he asked permission to keep going she nodded, and dragged herself just far enough away to have room to roll onto her back, and pull her legs apart and tuck her elbows to her sides. That was invitation enough so he climbed on and showed her what else he knew about that position.

When she'd panted long enough to again show interest in moving for herself, she propped her elbows back to lift her face up to meet his.

They kissed again, though now she was slower and gentler about it.

She didn't try to bite his lips, but she did try to catch her tongue in his mouth.

The first two times he bit down, she slid it out again slowly. The third she flattened her tongue as much as she could, seeming to beg him to bite harder.

He pulled away, trying to gauge from her expression exactly how disappointed she might be that he wasn't into her game, at least not enough to draw blood.

Her eyes flicked from his teeth to his eyes and back.

"Susan?" he said.

"Leona?" she said.

"I'd rather you didn't?"

"It'd feel better," she said, "I know it would."

"I expect so," he said, "but you shouldn't get used to it."

"I won't," she said, "I just want to know, and want you to help make sure I do."

So much for Susan not wanting a learning experience, she was just aiming hers differently than either Harry or Hermione had.

"I cannot stop you," he said, "your combination lock would keep me from changing you back, even if I wanted to."

She shook her head, "you can stand up and walk away."

Not sure I could with your cheering charm active.

Not without taking it apart to see how it makes me happy, and I'm not certain that I wouldn't go through as much significance withdraw from disbelieving in happiness as I did from disbelieving in pain.

But I could just walk away.

"I could," agreed Harry, "But I won't, not just for a Leona experiment now and then."

She nodded and smiled and closed her eyes and changed.

The change in the texture of pleasure wasn't immediate, but it started less than two seconds later, and built.

They went back to kissing again.

And this time when he obliged her by biting her tongue, he felt the echo of sensitivity and pleasure she got from the resistance and foreign manipulation that were his teeth on her tongue.

And then she was shuddering through another episode of panting.

When she again had enough breath to waste on holding her breath to kiss, she went straight for what she wanted, tongue between his teeth, and pause and flatten, he obligingly closed his teeth on her, and then she drew it back.

Except it stayed locked in place, and something was excruciating enough for her to arch her back and throw back her elbows even harder, grinding her chest against his, and dropping her head back, dragging his head down with her.

He hadn't thought he bit her that hard, and yet her tongue was caught in his teeth.

And there were other places that she was experiencing extra nubs of pleasure, And come to think of it, so was he.

He pulled his head back slightly, she fought slightly. He pulled back harder, and she lifted her head toward his to relieve the pressure, then seemed unable to stand the loss of whatever that tension was and dropped back hard.

There were more nubs of pleasure, definitely centred around her tongue and nipples and labial folds.

And she worked harder to drag them against his teeth, and press them against his chest, and compress them inward around his cock.

Again he pulled back, wondering what she'd done to herself. Then his fingers found her nipple. Piercings, several heavy stud piercings.

She might be into pain in a way that even Nim wasn't.

Or else Leona was.

He hadn't noticed that. But he had noticed other things.

And while Harry might not be into pain, he was definitely into helping her do whatever it was she was doing to herself, if she was enjoying it by that much, and she couldn't be damaging herself too much, at least, he had yet to taste any blood.

She'd started by worrying his lip and tongue and expecting him to retaliate, and she wasn't entirely giving him a lot of choice.

He gave up on his thrusting rhythm for the moment, and just pulled his head back, levering his chest down against hers. Her eyes went wide. And something new entered the echo of her desperation for pleasure.

He turned his head this way and back, he bent his neck this way and that. Dragging her tongue with him. Dragging her head after his. Sliding his chest left and right across hers.

She moaned, and her pleasure increased. It was her first vocalisation in quite a while.

It didn't seem like words, nor like desperation, so he didn't try to pause for communication. He just slowed slightly but pulled harder.

And he restarted the rhythm of his thrusts. His pleasure and hers both seemed to be different, with the labial stud piercings present.

He searched for a good rhythm. Her hands slid up and around his sides, one to lodge just below his bum, and the other between his shoulder blades.

And she helped guide him to a rhythm that pleased their genitals, without taking the stimulation away from her chest.

Then she moaned again, and her hands left his back to clamp onto his jaw and pry it open.

He widened his jaw and her tongue and its constellations of piercings fell out and she slumped back and panted hard so hard she sounded sick.

He was suddenly sure that more than half the time since she'd added all the piercings, had been a single orgasmic event for her.

"Are you alright?" he said.

"Don't stop," she said.

He returned to the grinding rhythm of before.

She nodded and went back to panting.

"Are you alright?" he said.

"Please tell me it's always that good?"

"I don't think it's ever that good for most people," he said, "At least not that I've ever seen, but four people and no more than two dozen times each is hardly a large sample."

She looked … positively depressed at that thought.

"Using Leona and your piercings, I'd bet we can make it at least half as good for you every time."

She nodded hard, and stuck out her tongue.

He contemplated her for several seconds, then leaned forward tentatively to wrap his teeth around her tongue piercings, and lifted her tongue, and her head.

But she didn't let him lift her, she drew back.

He let go and pulled back.

"Shake me like you mean it," she said.

"What exactly does it feel like?" he said.

"Think the tongue is the strongest most sensitive thing outside the vagina," she said, "I think my piercings are relatively well placed, you're not going to hurt me unless you go out of your way to bite my tongue off, or squeeze my piercings against each other."

"Ah," he said, "So not pain, but what does it feel like?"

"Some sort of physical & posture equivalent psychological experience to what a mark could be, if I belonged to myself enough to accept one from you."

"Rape?" he said.

She went still, then shook her head, "in submission to an active form of foreign control, yes. But it's not without my consent, so no."

"Hmm."

"Please?" she said.

"Is there words to go with my end of the simulation, stimulation, whatever it is?"

"Don't tom-cats hold their queen down while they mount her?" she said.

"Yeah," said Harry, "Usually by the scruff or the ear."

"Dogs don't do that, but they do play other games. Can you think of it like holding down your lioness for the duration, except … instead of just pinching my scruff like cats do to each other, you're rubbing it back and forth the way humans do to their cats."

"But it hurts you?"

"No," she said, "Not really, only if I resist being dragged a bit too hard. I won't, I like it."

"And none of the rest of this hurts?"

"No," she said, "just magnifies the sensation, which magnifies the pleasure."

"Alright," he said, "Come here Leona."

She wrinkled her nose, "when we're alone," she said, "I'd rather you call me by my name, or the name you think is mine, this form isn't my identity, it's just a tool for pleasuring each other."

Harry nodded, "Alright Susan, I don't mind that."

She smiled.

He lowered his lips to hers and she gave him her tongue, it took her two tries to stick it out far enough to catch her piercings behind his teeth.

And then they were wrestling again.

This time he could differentiate the moment when her fifth orgasm started. And just knowing that she was having it made his orgasm inevitable.

It was his forth seed release of the day, and he doubted he could sustain much more, at least not long enough to force her current orgasm to last as long as it could.

He dropped her tongue but kept grinding the rest at their current rhythm, "That's about all I can do as Harry," he said, "but …"

"But what?"

"There's a technique that I've watched Hermione and Nim perform for each other, I'd like to offer you my Leona's virginity, if you want me to try it."

She shrugged and nodded, "How does it go?"

Be Leona! He shifted, Then drew his wand and pushed up far enough to fill himself … herself with oil of Lasure, then conjured a dildo at what had always seemed the correct size to him, rather than the size he'd seen Hermione and Nim using.

As Leona, he mounted it, and her, and tried to return to their previous grinding. That speed seemed slightly wrong now for her nether regions, and more than slightly wrong for him, as his Leona body was merely a bit above its default horny level, not at the full arousal he'd just left behind or that Susan was still experiencing.

But Susan helped and soon they were going at it again.

.

After Harry as Leona had two orgasms, and Susan as Leona with piercings had another … whatever that monster of an event ought to be called, together they stopped and panted and stared at each other. Staring their hunger, but also their satisfaction.

"Remind me," Susan panted, "Why we were putting this off?"

"Distracting. Addiction, gets in the way, of revisions," panted Harry, "Also, no one wants, to share study space, with friends making, pig noises."

Susan laughed.

"Distracting from, revisions, considered rude," said Harry, "distracting with anything that, can affect brain chemistry, considered chemical warfare, not something, friends would do."

Susan closed her eyes, and nodded, "Space expansion," she said, "and transfigure a wall between Lion's-Keep den and Lion's-Keep revision room."

Harry nodded, "Good plan, do you know space expansions?"

"Only, so so," she said.

"Do you want to be in charge of that?"

"Don't mind," she said, "Request permission to consult … everyone else."

"Don't mind," Harry nodded, "No point duplicating effort if one of us already knows enough, and we only need it for one project. On the other hand: No point in not duplicating effort and collaborating if it's going to be on the test anyway."

She nodded and looked away.

"What?"

"Let's get out of our Leona forms, before we burn through our entire party time, doing something we could just as easily do tomorrow."

"There is that," agreed Harry and got off of her. As soon as he put the dildo to the side, Susan's piercings all vanished, and then her tan. She sat up and stretched.

"We should really do that again," she said.

He reverted being Harry shaped and dismissed the dildo. She went at both of them and the bed with cleaning charms.

"Not before a couple days," he said.

"I was thinking," she said … "in a couple hours, but I was also thinking in a couple weeks. Can you diagnose the reasons for the two different rhythms?"

Harry realised he was panting again, and took a deep breath to try to bring that under control, "I think there's the instinct to 'try new thing repeatedly until you feel you've mastered it and it becomes less interesting,' and an instinct for, 'sex is for making babies and cementing friendships, both those things can be spaced out some, Sirius's books say average teenage boy's craving will peak at once a day, then settle down to twice a week for most of the adult life, I … may not have memorised the female schedule, partly because there was more vague and more weasel words, but my understanding is that you're likely to want it a constant amount half the month, and then more when you're most fertile, just before your period, and least when you're least fertile, then back to normal for half the month again."

"'Want it a constant amount' means what?"

Harry shrugged, "I took that to mean everyone is different, one girl might want it every day and another might want it once a week."

"Hmm," she said.

"And you saying you want it again in two hours or in two weeks, makes me think that your normal schedule might be at the high edge of that range, except that we actually managed to satisfy you."

"So you're implying that it might be as sensible to be speaking about this as an appetite, rather than a schedule, and we might have just gorged enough to satisfy me for two weeks?"

"Yeah."

"Gorged," she smiled lazily, "pig noises."

Harry gave her an indulgent smile.

"How long are you satisfied for?" she said.

"Several days," he said.

She smiled, and let her eyes droop closed, "cruci …"

"What?" said Harry.

"Bellatrix taught you the blue cruciatus?"

"Yeah."

"And to resist the black one?"

"No, everyone complaining about me trying out the Leona disguise made me think really hard about the nature of gender, and the nature of the animagus transformation, and several other things. When he hit me with something impossible to bear, I …" Harry shrugged, "refused to bear it, it wasn't that different from casting off the imperious actually, except that attaches different, but the principle is the same. Refusing to believe what your body's sense of motivation is telling you."

Susan nodded, "Are you going to have him kissed for using that on you?"

Harry shook his head, "I should probably force him to take the unbreakable vow or something not to cast it with black alignment anymore."

"Who's magic would you indefinitely waste to be the binder?"

"Bellatrix?"

Susan shook her head, "She's like the queen on your side of the board, don't use her up like that."

"Queen?" said Harry.

"Because Auntie isn't on your side, she's the queen of an ally chess set."

"Right," said Harry, "alright … does it bother you that my chess set seems to be all queens?"

"No," said Susan, "That's just a fair handicap given the stupidly high odds stacked against you."

"Oh," said Harry, "That does not make me feel any better."

"It wasn't supposed to," said Susan, "Constant Vigilance."

"So I've heard."

Susan grinned.

They both sighed.

"Oh, and Luna is definitely a knight, not a queen, popping up where she's not expected and doing or saying exactly what you think you don't want but actually do want."

"Fair," said Harry, "I wonder if that's Rookwood's role also, name puns aside."

"Luna lives in a rook, too," said Susan.

"Oh, good grief," said Harry.

"What?"

"Or in the woods right beside a rook?"

"Luna doesn't live in the woods."

Harry smiled.

"What?" said Susan.

Harry shrugged, "She just has a nice play house, and her father sometimes forgets to check on her from Lunch until breakfast, it wouldn't surprise me at all if she sleeps there sometimes."

"Naaaakeeeeed?" said Susan.

"It wouldn't surprise me," said Harry, "Probably depends on the weather, and more especially on the seasonal number of bugs."

"Is she …?"

"What?"

"Is she lesbian, or just exhibitionist, or something else?"

"She's Luna," said Harry, "trying to categorise her by anyone else's labels is a cursed activity."

Susan frowned, "I've been trying to decide if she's been flirting with me, or if she's just affection starved, or if Ottery St Catchpole farm-child clothes-ethic is a different dialect."

"I think," said Harry, "no one has bothered to teach her any clothes-ethic dialect, she just interpolates between what she wants, and what Ginny will put up with."

Susan nodded, "Got it, I'll try to open lines of communication enough I'm not reading anything into anything that she doesn't mean to be telling me."

"When I found my proficiency with the Leona transformation, I considered all the things I might could get away with, being anonymous. When I gave her invisibility, one of the things that she immediately considered was dressing for home, everywhere, or at least everywhere that only Ginny or her father could see her."

"Weeellllll … of course," said Susan staring into space, "Yeah, she makes more sense now."

"In fact," said Harry, "We should go back outside before they come looking for us."

"Agreed," said Susan and climbed out of bed, "Um," she looked at her mounded clothes.

"What?"

"Dress me?" she said.

"Is this a game of 'dress the Susan doll'?" said Harry, "Because I don't think we have time for that, today."

"No," she said, "and going out in different clothes would raise some suspicions, that they ought to have to work harder for. Here's my clothes already. I was thinking more along the lines of, 'do you think you have sufficient control of your wild bulldog to convince it to let you put clothes on it?'"

Harry blinked, "do farm children just have … a bunch of really wholesome versions of what all everyone else does to pass the time, because you have animals to bully instead of fellow beings?"

Susan frowned, "You can just say 'no' if the answer is 'no,'"

"I didn't mean 'no' I meant, … I still want to know more farm dialect than I do, and 'what did you just say?'"

Susan came and grabbed his cheeks and pressed her lips ever so gently to his and withdrew, "That wasn't in any farm dialect I know," said Susan, "Just, a lion and a bulldog, if I let you put clothes on me once, will it help you feel more comfortable than you have been about requesting the right to take them back off again?"

Harry smiled, "Yes, I will valet you, to signal that I care about you, and about your comfort, and about your reputation, and that I don't mind at all whether you choose to dress for home or for town in front of me."

Susan twitched several times, but when he'd finished speaking she smiled and nodded, "My choice?"

"Your choice," said Harry, "Around me. Around the others, …" Harry shrugged, "be vigilant who you're offending or distracting, be respectful of the state of mind that they are in, or are trying to achieve."

"Yes, Mayor," said Susan.

"Is that what you can call me, instead of 'milord'?"

"Yes."

"Interesting," said Harry.

"Is it alright?"

"Yes, it's fine."

...-...

More Party

Back at Hanna's it was time for melons. Also Millicent had arrived and was now on Ron's arm.

Now with an option again, Ginny left Luna by Harry and went off to help Laura make Eleanor feel included.

"How is she now?" said Luna.

"Satisfied for several weeks I think," said Harry.

Luna snickered.

"How much of the party did I miss?" said Harry.

You missed Hanna pushing Ron and Neville out and changing into her new undershirt.

"That's alright," said Harry.

"Then she realised her mistake and let Neville feel what kind of shirt it was, after she had it on, Ron made a jealous pout, but waited until Milli arrived, and … 'snuggled' her instead."

"You're leaving something out?"

"It was girlfriend petting, not sister petting," whispered Luna, "They tried to hide it, but they forget how hard it is to catch me looking."

"Yes, well," said Harry.

Luna slid her hand inside his robes to snake up under his shirt.

"Interesting," she said, "I want one too."

"Alright," said Harry, "I'm thinking about making them for everyone."

"Everyone?"

"All Lion's-Keep."

"I'd like that," said Luna, "They do warm as well as cold?"

"Yes."

"Can I have mine half nightgown sized like the other Leona, instead of tight undershirt like yours?"

"Yes."

"Good."

.

"Hello Harry."

"Hello Ron, how's your summer been? Hello Millicent."

"Um…" said Ron, "It's been interesting, I've visited Millicent a lot, and invited her over some too."

Harry nodded, "Sounds nice."

Ron nodded, "It's been fun, I've been teaching her chess, she's a faster learner than you."

"I doubt that's … saying much," said Harry, "How's your homework?"

"Done," said Ron.

Harry blinked.

Ron smirked, "We're reading ahead in transfiguration."

Harry blinked again, "What did you say?"

Millicent smirked too.

"I said," said Ron, "We, are, read-ing, a-head, in, trans-fig-ur-a-tion."

"That's what I thought you said," said Harry and looked at Millicent, "what did you do to him? Make him and your cat trade places?"

Ron went red and Millicent pinked just far enough to show the outline of her previously subtle makeup.

"No, I can't do that too often," she said, "My cat's smart, but not smart enough to teach me chess or wand motions."

"Fair," said Harry, "My cat can barely teach me wand motions, usually she just hunts through the library for books for me."

Luna's hand tensed in his shirt.

Ron noticed, "Harry, what's wrong with your robes?"

"Luna's hot, and trying to cool off by laying in my shade and holding the blood points of her wrist against the coolness of my Leona shirt."

"You have a Leona shirt too?" said Ron.

"Yeah," said Harry.

"How did you get it?" said Ron.

"Payment for letting Leona copy the runes off the lining of my armour."

"Oh," said Ron, "So technically you have two, but one is more for everyday than the other?"

"Sort of," agreed Harry.

"So how did you and Leona meet?"

"At my cousin's house," said Harry, "Apparently she's a friend of several of my cousins, and Susan."

"Oh," said Ron, "I think we'd like to meet her," he squeezed Milli's elbow.

Milli nodded, "I want one of those nightgowns."

"I hear they're on back-order," said Harry, "probably because Leona hasn't figured out to charge professional rates for her labour."

"Well," said Milli, "her needlework isn't up to professional standards, but that hardly matters for nightgowns."

Ron smiled indulgently.

"I happen to like her choice of materials," said Milli, "It would be nice if she worked in rabbit fur too, but that would probably be out of my price range."

"Mine too, I expect," said Harry.

Ron gave him an odd look.

"Like Padma explained to me eventually," said Harry, "Some things are too expensive to actually sell fast enough to make money."

"Huh," said Ron, "that makes sense."

After a few seconds his face darkened, "Harry, may I talk to you privately?"

"Sure, I guess. Luna can you give us a few minutes?"

"Alright," said Luna and climbed to her feet.

Millicent wandered off also.

"What's up?" said Harry.

Ron bit his lip, "wanted to ask how your birthday was."

Harry shrugged, "I spent it somewhere out of touch with a calender, I knew it was coming, but I missed it."

Ron swallowed and looked away, "I'm sorry, I tried to start the ball rolling for a rescue operation again, I figured Hermione did that last year, but I wasn't sure when she'd get back, and figured this summer was the Weasley turn again, but Dumbledore managed to convince everyone that you'd gone crazy when your cat died, and if you weren't kept away from me and the twins, you'd probably instigate a rescue operation and go herring off all over the country looking for her.

Harry smiled, "What Dumbledore didn't know, and I'd rather you didn't tell him or … anyone except Ginny actually, is that the Delacours got hold of Sirius and convinced him to rent me out as a summer tutor for Gabrielle for two weeks, originally. It turned into three."

"Oh!" said Ron.

"Yes, the Missing Nim thing was bad, and I was probably a fraction of the tutor I should have been. But … I got back and have been keeping busy meeting Sirius' relatives, and visiting Luna and Susan."

"Nice," said Ron, and relaxed, "I'm still, really sorry about the … not being able to convince the Twins to go against Dad when Dumbledore is actively trying to convince everyone to stay away."

Harry nodded, "It's alright, anyway, turns out, Leona can kill dementors and even rescued Nim for me."

Ron gave him a pitying look, "I might have believed either one of those, but both, no."

"What?"

"Why don't you just admit you owled the Congo with a picture and ordered a new serval cat to match Nim's markings?"

Harry swallowed, and frowned, "Anything else I ought to cop to while you're trying to make sense of the world?"

"Has Luna found a way around the invisibility you gave her, and 'Leona' is how she likes to be called when she's being seen on purpose?"

Harry smirked, "Amazingly plausible cover story, but no, Luna is a being in her own right."

"And Leona?"

"Is perhaps only a mental construct that can be made manifest with correct use of magic."

"Leona is a demon?"

"I didn't say that."

"What kind of demon?"

"Seductress class probably," said Harry, "She's just bad at it, or out of practice, or bored with all the boring bits and more interested in honing her skills in other things."

"Like what?"

"Making clothes, finding cats, playing mind games."

"You're describing yourself," said Ron.

Harry shrugged and sat down again, "You know me too well."

"So Leona is your imaginary friend," said Ron, "She just happens to … kill dementors."

"Maybe," said Harry, "I still haven't seen official records of when where and how two dementors went rogue and how they got to Surrey."

"Or where they went, after your Patronus named Leona chased them off?"

Harry snickered.

"Oh, of course," said Ron, "and you learned to send patronus messages and sent one to Nim which helped her find her way home."

Harry smiled.

"I like the way you think," said Harry, "You were the one who got us all the way through the mystery of who was stealing the philosopher's stone, and I ended up in that last room facing Quirrell instead of Snape."

Ron shrugged, "No one saw that coming."

"Hermione might have," said Harry, "But she might have just been humouring us about a detail that she thought made no difference."

Ron shrugged again, "well it didn't make any difference."

"I'm not so sure," said Harry, "The professor Snape I know now would have wiped the floor with first year Harry, in a proper duel."

Ron shrugged, "Sure, but both of them were expecting a pawn, and you were more than that. I think it might have worked out ok in either situation."

"I hope I never have to go against Professor Snape in a real battle," said Harry.

Ron nodded then frowned, "you say that like you already have faced him in a mock duel."'

Harry shook his head, "But … back while Nim was missing, I was thinking about asking him for such tutoring."

Ron frowned, "Missing her really did make you crazy."

Harry nodded.

"Alright," said Ron, "I wish we could have been there for you, and I'm glad you have her ba— company again."

"Me too," said Harry.

"Can you forgive me?"

"So far you've apologised for not being able to control the twins, given that even the twins cannot control the twins, I'd say that is not an offence needing forgiveness."

Ron huffed, "I also tried writing Hermione for instructions how to visit you by myself, but the owl wouldn't take my letters to her any more than they'd take my letters to you."

"Oh," said Harry, "Because we were both out of the country right then?"

"Ah!" said Ron, "Probably?"

"Yes, Ron," said Harry, "I forgive you for being neither Hermione, nor a dark lord, and not being able to bend the world to your will, or your mind to the world, in order to find a way to comfort me in my loneliness."

"Are you funnin' me?"

"Only a little," said Harry, "Thank you for explaining, you're the only person who has noticed I might need either an apology or an explanation."

Ron looked startled for several seconds, then shrugged.

"No one else even tried to make excuses."

Ron compressed his lips, then shrugged.

.

"What has you so tickled, Mr. Potter," said Amelia drily.

Harry looked up to see an expression that ought to be as severe as any he could expect to see on Professor Snape's face. He sobered at once.

Then he noticed the wrinkles around her eyes.

"Hello, Mrs. Bones," he said, "Ron amused me."

"And what has he done?"

"He quizzed me about buying a new cat to match my old one, and about Leona, and several other things, and left with the impression that I did all the things I attribute to Leona, except the impossible ones, and probably, that Leona is the name of my Patronus."

"Doesn't take anything you say at face value anymore?"

"Well we've long shared a hobby of looking at the unexplainable mysteries and solving them," said Harry, "But lately I've been studying with members of all four houses and learning to do the impossible, and he's been hanging out with slytherins and learning to decipher the riddles they speak in public to confound eavesdroppers. He assumed that's what I was doing, even though he'd gone through the trouble to ask for privacy first."

"To be fair, probably less of an assumption, and more of a trained reflex action," said Amelia.

"Fair enough," said Harry, though he was unsure how that was a different thing than making an assumption.

...-...

An Unexpected Recomendation

Content warning: Sex is discussed, but it doesn't happen on screen.

Harry stepped out of the floo, and went to his room where he let Nim down onto his bed. Then doffed his outer robes and curled up with her.

She was in an odd mood, and so was he. She changed to human form and put a hand on his elbow.

"What are you thinking?" she said.

"I think that was the first birthday party I've … been welcome at."

"Ah," said Bella.

"Why, what are you thinking?"

She gave him a look like she'd expect him to invade her mind to check for himself.

"Sorry," he said and stroked her hand where it rested on his elbow, "Somehow, I want to talk."

"You haven't recovered from the Bones women shagging your brains out?"

"Oh, Is this a symptom?"

"Can be," said Bella, "What I was thinking, is that if those two like submission play with their sex, I should tutor you in it. … But I … cannot do that justice in this state."

"They said you'd be better in about three days," said Harry, "How much difference could waiting make?"

She sat up slightly, "take a wild guess?"

"You crave?"

She shook her head, "probably I'm too starved for that. I just desire … the submission play experience, and yet, there are parts of it that might be too real right now. She flinched her left arm and it rolled slightly. Without bones to lever against, the muscles, what there were of them, were somewhat pointless.

"Oh," said Harry.

"Too real, might be much more fun," she said, "Or it might lead to accidentally breaking off the lesson for a duel."

"Survival panic?" said Harry.

"It's a real thing," said Bellatrix, "And we're both fairly dangerous mages, if I convinced myself that my survival depended on not being subdued, we might mangle, if not destroy, several buildings before I regained my equilibrium. And you I think are even less accustomed to some of those emotions."

Harry sighed, "If you're lacking the energy to even crave sex, and I've already had enough in the last 8 hours to last for several days, could we just snuggle, in a way that might satisfy or even exemplify whatever your lesson was going to be about?"

"Probably," she said, "Let me think."

.

"Harry!" said an otter shaped cloud of glowing silver sparks, "I've got a massive letter to send you, do you prefer it by owl or by muggle post?"

"Either one," replied Harry, "I'm staying with some of Sirius' relatives, I think you could even visit, let me find out the address, call back in half an hour."

Before he finished climbing out of bed, Nim was small again; so he picked her up rather than letting her hurt herself trying to jump.

.

In the kitchen he found Andromeda and Ted preparing tea and discussing the news of the day.

"Aunt Andromeda, Uncle Ted," he said, "May I have Hermione over?"

"Your Ravenclaw friend?" said Andromeda.

Harry shook his head, "She's in Gryffindor, everyone just complains that she's not in Ravenclaw, because it throws the grade statistics off to have a student with top marks in more than one subject not in Ravenclaw."

Andromeda smirked and then caught sight of Nim and her face went slack, "What happened to her paw, where did you get … Is this the cat you've been moping about for weeks?"

Harry nodded. Then understood, "I'm sorry, did I not mention…"

"That she was more than a cat, no you did not," She said, "And her paw?"

"You-know-who's assistant ripped off her front paw at the shoulder and sacrificed her mark of the green eyed lion, as part of a ceremony to conjure a body for you-know-who. He meant to sacrifice the fact that she's my familiar, but got distracted by the larger power signature."

"You-know-who's been back for a month?" said Andromeda, "Bellatrix is your familiar? How does that even happen? You have a mark and are marking followers? Merlin, Harry, who do you think you are?"

Harry shrugged, and sighed, and nodded, "don't know the exact date, but he's been back for longer than three weeks. I discovered my mark when she showed me that her thrall mark had changed from a dark mark to mine. I think I've only marked one person intentionally. I offered the same to my other friends to keep anyone from getting jealous, but so far everyone else has been content with a small accessory, rather than wanting it on their skin, also there's some question about whether rulers of houses can accept them, or only heirs, What were your other questions again?"

"You've been holding out on me," said Andromeda.

"Not intentionally, Aunt Andromeda."

"Both of you sit down," said Ted, "Harry: Yes, you may have your school friends over, just notify us ahead of time if they're going to want meals. Andromeda: Ask your questions one at a time, and here are some of my own. I'll watch the stove." He slid the legal pad he'd been scribbling on across the table to Andromeda.

They did as Ted ordered.

After they were seated, Andromeda took one long look at the list, then went to the other room for another chair and offered it to Bellatrix.

"She says 'thanks, but she's content with skin contact for the moment; though she'll transform to interrupt if I tell things wrong.'"

"And for meals?" said Andromeda.

"She's eaten much more than her usual ration of scones, eggs, and birthday steak," said Harry and paused, "She says she'll be happy and very thankful to join us for dinner, and apologises for her larger than average appetite while her arm heals."

Andromeda nodded as if everything was right with the world and looked at the legal pad in front of her and read off the first question, she looked at Ted, "Ted, She's my sister, Bellatrix Lestrange, and apparently now Harry's thrall."

Harry nodded, "She still answers to Bellatrix, but her name is currently Harry's Nimrodina."

Ted turned to stare at him.

"No," said Harry, "the slave nomenclature was not intentional, I just didn't know she was an animagus for the first eleven months I had her, and apparently the thrall mark change-over is an event with a chance of being name changing."

Andromeda nodded, "I shouldn't wonder."

They worked through the rest of their questions. Andromeda and Ted both scribbling more as he answered.

There was a short but awkward discussion on the difference between the Tonks' Marriage covenant, and the Malfoy's Marriage contract. The fact that the oath of the former was written by Andromeda and Ted, where the clauses of the second were negotiated by their parents.

The practical result being that, unlike Narcissa, Andromeda had no intention of bedding Bellatrix for old times sake.

In addition to everything else, Harry found it an exercise in giving complete answers. Something that before he'd only practised in school essays.

.

Somehow the topic became Harry's 'self destructive tendencies' (and it wasn't his fault because a large fraction of victims of child abuse who end up either in abusive relationships as adults! Or worse: end up abusing their children also.)

But he should learn that abuse and violence are Not Normal, and about how to recognise it, and how to set proper boundaries for self care, and how to enforce them in a way that should generally de-escalate violence, etc.

(And Andromeda had a book to recommend about that, and Sirius probably had another).

Bellatrix' analytic mind was useless because she was sure that this was about the kinds of rough sex that she hadn't even taught him about yet. And she was feeling very defensive about that.

Eventually Harry figured out that this was about … going home with Dudley.

Harry laughed.

Both of Tonks' parents stared at him.

"Ugh," said Harry and scrubbed his face, "You've been drastically under-informed."

"What?" said Ted.

"First of all, … I'm not saying that you're wrong about my issues. I'm saying that Bellatrix has already been working on me about some of them. And I don't think any of those things were a factor in my decision to go to my muggle relatives' house to protect them from the minister's secretary's assassination attempt. I did that because Auror Moody asked me to."

"That doesn't sound like Auror Moody," said Ted.

"Yes, it does," said Andromeda.

"No, it doesn't," said Ted, "though he does often overestimate the ability of those around him to correctly gauge their own capabilities, and set their own boundaries for what risks they want to take."

"How is that different?" said Andromeda.

Ted turned to Harry, "Did he ask you to consider helping your muggle relatives, or did he ask you to help him plan what help your muggle relatives would need and how he could and should provide it?"

"Oh," said Harry.

Ted nodded, "helping plan a mission is not the same as being invited to volunteer for it. Don't mistake the two."

"Alright," said Harry.

Ted shrugged, "It's an easy mistake to make, probably even easier for gryffindor personality types."

"Oh," said Harry.

"Now that we've established that Auror Moody probably communicated badly," said Andromeda, "can we move on to—"

"No," said Harry, "Not yet."

They looked at him, and sat back.

"That's alright, Harry," said Ted, "go ahead,"

Harry sighed, "You weren't there, don't get to call what Auror Moody said 'bad communication.' He … treated me with respect. He talked to me like an adult! An adult without auror training perhaps, but still, like an adult who has killed a basilisk and a dragon, who has judged a trial, who has donated magic to mark vassals, and protected them where and when I knew how. Yes, he asked me for recommendations how he could prepare for and stop the assassination attempt in the field, should the worst happen and he not get it stopped before it left the ministry. Yes, he asked me if I could cast the patronus, (No, not reliably) and whether I wanted to be part of the team that went. If nothing else, to supervise how the ministry acted around my muggles."

Harry sighed.

"Yeah, things went stupid, with the dementors, and I can see how you could mistake that for suicidal, but it wasn't. That was just standard gryffindor rashness. And I will think twice next time, at least, about dementors. But about the muggles, the muggles that I, specifically am the expert about: everything went exactly according to my plan. I went, but I went in disguise. I wasn't going back into an abusive situation as Harry. I went as Leona, an accidental beggar, I figured (correctly) that they wouldn't abuse me. They could have kicked me out, they would have been within their rights to do so, but they didn't."

Harry turned to Andromeda, "Which yes, proves what I already knew, that if you wouldn't treat a stranger or a guest that poorly, it is not normal to treat your near relative worse."

Andromeda's eyes flashed, and she nodded.

"My aunt and uncle weren't affectionate, but I didn't expect that while portraying a stranger / beggar / guest. Dudley was affectionate, but he knew who I was, and reckoned I was transgender, and merely was using magic instead of hormones and surgery to transition."

Andromeda nodded, "Is that true?"

Harry frowned, "I'm not a girl."

Andromeda shrugged.

"But I'm not really a boy either," said Harry, "I seem to be a peer and a lion."

Ted took a deep breath, "To be fair, you might not yet have particularly helpful patterns for any of those things. (Either natural, mage, or mundane.) Nor enough experience to know yourself fully or choose whether fulfilling any of those patterns within the context of the social contract would be beneficial or detrimental to your protection of your own boundaries."

"You're saying that it's possible to be more than one?" said Harry, "and that they are … separate contracts within … an unwritten law?"

Ted nodded.

"Mostly he's saying that as a teenager, you aren't a child, anymore," said Andromeda, "But you also are not yet an adult, and that's ok. It's a 'pattern' that will take some growing into, regardless of whether you let gender enter into the equation."

Harry glanced at Ted, according to his expression, that didn't seem to be what he'd been saying, but he also seemed to agree with it and not mind that it had been said in his name.

"Alright," said Harry, "I think I'm done, about that. What did you want to move on to?"

"I wanted to say," said Andromeda, "That regardless of how much pressure you were under, it was still your decision to go, to place yourself in that situation again."

To choose between spending a week risking being 'Boy' again vs. being someone who'd let some muggles I barely care about get eaten by dementors.

Harry nodded, "Yes, it was my decision."

If you could not reliably cast the patronus, Thought Nim, the choice really was between them getting eaten by dementors, or them and you getting eaten by dementors.

Yes, thought Harry, but apparently when I face being eaten by a basilisk or a dementor, I figure out how to kill it.

Given that you were offered the choice, and that you didn't just give Moody a helpful tour of the neighbourhood, and then stay the heck out of the way. I'm not sure that doesn't just amount to crazy luck.

Whatever. If this is how crazy they get about whatever Tonks told them about me spending a week at the Dursleys and forcing them to make a mockery of themselves, by treating one teenage beggar that is a complete stranger better than they usually treated me as a toddler. I hate to think how they're going to act about Luna and I talking our way into Voldemort's zoo, and then back out again.

Ugh, I really should tell them about all that.

Don't you dare.

Then you'd better tell them yourself.

I'd rather go over it with you, than with them.

We can do that, but … Andromeda is crazy in a different way than I am. And Ted isn't aristocracy. You ought to collect their perspectives on the situation also. But … that can wait until you're sufficiently sure of your own perspective.

Thank you."And you're proud of your decision, we can tell," said Ted and shrugged, "I want to insert a disclaimer here, social pressure often does limit our most advantageous options in any given situation, walking into a bank and taking all the money or into a grocery and taking all the food are not 'the done thing'. And if they were, there wouldn't still be banks or groceries. But sometimes you're faced between telling the nice police man, 'yes, I'll politely go home now,' or 'I'm not safe at home, I would literally rather go anywhere else, as long as you can guarantee my safety, would it help your paper-trail if I went and shoplifted a candy-bar.' (It won't help their paper trail, please don't actually do this, and they almost always have somewhere safer and more comfortable to put you than in prison, but the offer will sometimes get the point across when nothing else will do.)" Ted made a face like that was not at all the example or explanation he'd wanted to give but it had gotten away from him.

Andromeda cleared her throat, "Just to be clear, a taxi and a hotel can be gotten, without involving the police, but his point isn't about that."

"You're saying that my actions are my own choice, even though sometimes I'm reduced to choosing the lesser of two evils," said Harry, "But sometimes it's only the rules of politeness that are restricting my choices, and I can also choose to be rude instead, if that gives me a better set of options."

"Exactly."

"Alright," said Harry.

"There's another aspect of this whole situation that is … at least mildly symptomatic of suicidal," said Andromeda, she held up her hand, "For some people, not for everyone."

Harry barely restrained himself from rolling his eyes, and made a 'go on' gesture instead.

"And even taking into account that a lot of 'suicidal' presentations are expressions not of a desire to die, but a need for attention and/or help. If you need help please ask for it. Either us or Sirius. There are lots of kinds of help that are above our pay grade, but it is our job as your parents or guardians to find the appropriate professional to get you the help you need."

Where the hell is this going?

Not sure yet.

Andromeda sighed, "For a lot of people, their gender is very central and foundational to their identity, wanting to change it, is tantamount to … wanting to destroy that identity and start over with a clean slate."

"So, about the same as animagus?" said Harry, "except that's usually presented as a way to learn a new way to express your emotional identity, rather than as a way to get away from your human / social identity for a while. Even though that's how some people use it."

"Hmm," said Andromeda, "I … don't know enough about that to talk about it, but it sounds likely."

Harry nodded, "Well, if that's what you're worried about: No, I'm not turning into Leona to kill off Harry, but sometimes I'm wanting a break from my fame, which is to say: the Boy-Who-Lived reputation isn't me, and sometimes I want to go out in public without it chasing me. (Or in one case, wanted to check how my muggle relatives acted when faced with someone behaving the way I behave, or wish to behave, but without feeling they have the right to mould me into their ideal.)"

Andromeda nodded.

"So what you're saying is that your identity is different enough from the public's perception of your identity, that you need to take vacations from their misconceptions from time to time."

"Yes," said Harry, "and using a temporary disguise isn't the same as switching to a totally new identity, even if, I can see that both have undertones of escapism or whatever."

Ted nodded, "Good."

Harry blinked.

Are we done here?

"But you can see why we were concerned?" said Ted.

"About what?"

"The whole, 'transgenderism sometimes is about wanting a new identity that fits better, and sometimes merely is about hating the old identity so much that any other identity is better, and sometimes it is only a cry for attention so that you can get help for something completely unrelated,' And we were a little concerned, and decided to give you time and space to explore and come to your own decisions. Add to that, that the look you chose was rather attention grabbing, so we had concerns whether that part was your own doing, or specifically to impress our child's aesthetics."

Harry shook his head, "Not to impress her or ingratiate myself with her, more to experiment with aesthetics I hadn't considered before meeting her."

Ted nodded, "Fair enough. But then you fought with Tonks and went home with a stranger, who wasn't actually a stranger, but a known relative with a history of abusing you. That mildly lines up with suicidal. It more lines up with, abuse victims having escaped and experienced freedom, returning to their abusers. (self-hatred is a relatively rare reason for that, more common reasons are more like: the victim never intended to leave permanently, and believe that they've had enough vacation that they want to go back. Or that they think they've learned enough interpersonal skills that they want to try their hand at changing people who … quite frankly have no intention of changing, though they may claim such to get their victims back under their control, etc.)"

Harry narrowed his eyes, "I've been begging 'the powers that be' to pick a new summer situation for me since just before leaving Hogwarts at 11. This is the first, (and I'm hoping the last time) I ever willingly went back to the Dursleys, I did not go back as a returning victim, (though … perhaps I outwardly portrayed something like that for scientific purposes), I went back as an avenging lord, in disguise though I might have been."

Ted raised an eyebrow, and turned to stare at his wife. After a few minutes they both shrugged.

"Alright," said Ted, "So, to summarise: We've said why we were concerned, and that you have our attention, should you need it. And you've said we don't need to be concerned about that."

"Yeah," said Harry.

"Is there anything else that you need, or even 'merely want' help with?"

"Like what?" said Harry.

"Finding a licensed nutritionist to double check that you've recovered as much as is likely from the malnutrition and neglect," said Andromeda.

"Oh," said Harry, "Maybe…"

"Finding certified therapist to talk to about the abuse?" said Ted, "Or a class about de-escalation strategies and techniques, which seems to be the skill set most predictive of whether child abuse victims perpetuate domestic violence in the next generation."

"Bloody hell," said Harry.

"Yeah," sighed Ted, "Not because they want to perpetuate any of that, but because they don't have better patterns to follow."

I think I'm learning better patterns from my friends, and their parents.

Not counting the Granger parents, You're learning better by practising peacemaking, not because any of them are particularly good peace makers.

Umm, what are you saying?

I can't teach it to you either, I think you should take the class. Or read the book and decide whether you need the class.

Oh.

"Bellatrix says that I don't get to turn down the option on that class, until I've at least read the book."

Ted's mouth dropped open.

But Andromeda just nodded. With a wry … or annoyed … smile.

It isn't hard to tell who is the older sister. Even if you're the brattier one.

No, Narcissa was the brattiest. Rebelling against Mum by following house of Black protocol rather than Rosier, and rebelling against my brattiness by studying and weaponising 'ladylike' behaviour, much farther than is standard in the mage world.

Somehow, I believe that.

Or rather, more than is standard in old money circles, which have no need of pretending anything. Which you must admit gained her a place of control in a new money house. Where pretending to power until one has acquired it, is entirely the point.

Oh, Merlin.

"I'll get you that book," said Ted.

.

Hermione did visit the next day, and taught him how to cast the messenger patronus. It was difficult, both because it required focus on an additional component, and because she only knew how to cast it as a light aligned charm, If Harry's gave in to his preference for blue alignment, only justice/revenge/reparations aligned messages could be sent without costing him extra concentration.

.

His experience explaining his last several years, and especially his summer to Aunt Andromeda stood him in good stead explaining about dementors to Hermione without nearly as much backtracking as the two inquisitive lawyers had required.

By the time that was finished, they were sitting on his bed in meditation poses, with Nim sprawled out between them. And Tonks in the nearby armchair with a legal pad of notes.

.

"And that's all?" said Hermione.

Harry shrugged and nodded.

"And how was France?" she said.

"Significant, and also wonderful."

"So tell me?"

"It's kind of … intensely private, in a way I do not entirely understand. I can tell you about all the den digging and nest building techniques I learned. Also about my ethical dilemmas with the sex, I don't think I could do justice to the hundreds of little reassurances we gave each other until we were both comfortable. I can only summarise the way Padma already did: It would have been unethical to do that with a human girl, who had any other way of learning several of those topics, she wasn't human and it was the only way for her to learn several of those topics. Therefore someone had to do it, and I don't feel bad that I turned out to be the convenient human available who wouldn't lose my mind to her allure, and also who she liked and admired enough to invite to join her. I can only imagine how bad it normally is for veela who settle for a human that does fall under their spell. Or the human for that matter."

"I think," said Tonks, "most veela aren't exactly bright enough to notice or care about the difference for the first decade of the relationship, and often they have enough children by then to not mind being single, they just throw themselves into the social or political scene that most catches their fancy."

"Plausible," said Harry, "They are creatures of passions and instincts, but then so are we, it's just more visible to the fish that the bird is dry than that the fish is wet."

Hermione nodded.

"So was that the favourite part of your summer?"

"In some ways, yes, in other ways, no, it was Hanna's birthday party."

"Oh? Hanna invited you?"

"Complexly, no, it was Susan who invited me, and all the rest of Lion's-Keep."

Hermione's eyes widened, "Intriguing. Am I missing something?"

"Whatever it is, I'm also missing it," said Harry, "Unless it's that Hanna and Susan might be Irish cousins."

"They're whats?"

"Cousins born close enough together, and raised close enough together, that they act more like twins than like siblings or cousins."

"Oh, I see." said Hermione, "and you're sure that's a different thing than just year-mates in school?"

Harry nodded, "For one thing, In the magical world, that doesn't start until age eleven. For another thing, when I pointed out the difference to my muggle cousin he said something along the lines of 'so you're begging for an upgrade from torture pet to snuggle pet?'"

Hermione snorted, "of course he did. Did you slap him?"

"That would have communicated the opposite of what I wanted him to understand," said Harry, "I think he got it later."

"Oh?"

"He apologised, and … later he offered to give me his room. Which we both understood wasn't entirely his to give. But it was a nice gesture, it's the most welcome I've ever felt in that house."

Hermione leaned forward, "Where's the most welcome you've ever felt?"

"The greatest contrast from unwelcome to welcome I ever felt, was first night at Hogwarts," said Harry, "The most welcome I've ever felt by … by fewest members of the household indifferent towards me, and the rest wanting me to feel welcome, is still a three way tie between the Malfoy's, Your house, and here, More of the Weasleys were welcoming, but not as high a percentage, or … maybe some of them just communicated differently and I didn't learn to understand them until later."

"And by most welcoming household member?"

"Your bed, Susan's bed, the … I believe the technical term is a tick, in Luna's play house."

"Hmm," said Hermione, "is that a three way tie also?"

"No," said Harry, "That's vaguely in order, from greatest to least, Dudley's bed probably could have made the list if I'd stayed for one more night. Not that … not that … with his parents not even pretending to be welcoming, perhaps it could not even be in the running." Harry shrugged.

"Ah," said Hermione, "maybe."

"So Lion's-Keep isn't on that list?"

Harry gaped at her, then closed his eyes to think, "I don't know what anyone else thinks. But in my head, that is, sort of, my bed, welcoming to whoever wants or needs to snuggle, whenever. Yes, of course I feel welcome there, or as welcome as I can with the whole thing being technically against curfew rules. But that's a different question than when I've managed to notice my feelings being anywhere close to reciprocated."

Hermione gaped for a moment, then nodded. Tonks made some inarticulate throat noise, but by the time Harry glanced over her face was neutral again.

"So you've had sex with Luna?" said Hermione a smile playing about her temples, but not her mouth.

"And Dudley?" said Tonks, drily.

"No to both," said Harry, "Though both have offered. I finally had to turn Dudley down until he's eighteen because he'd accepted my mark and couldn't concentrate properly anymore."

"You did what?" said Tonks.

"He's a muggle," said Harry, "Muggle tradition and law allow neither prostitution nor any other kind of sex between a child under eighteen and anyone with influence over them, the emotions required for a vassal mark definitely qualify."

"I've never noticed you paying much attention to that before," said Hermione.

"Everyone I've had sex with," said Harry, "is a wi—mage."

"And therefore safe from the addiction pathway activation of taking drugs or sex before eighteen?" said Hermione.

"In theory," nodded Harry, and turned to Tonks, "Is that actually a real difference?"

Or was that Susan grooming me for … passing on mage culture's grooming of their young to breed early and often? But they don't reproduce all that early and nor all that often. So…

Tonks shrugged, "You want proof? What proof would you accept? Lots fewer drunks, by percentage?"

"A lower proportion of addiction," said Hermione, "might just point towards a higher standard of living, even among those below the local poverty line."

And you already have your own experience with the animagus transformation, sex, and alcohol. Thought Nim, And you're less addicted to sex, than even Tonks expects.

"Good point," said Harry, "Never mind,"

"Backing up then," said Hermione, "Does the same go for Luna? She has your mark."

"Luna …" Harry swallowed, "it's not my story to tell. And even if it was, I don't know anyone who I could tell, except her father, who already knows."

"She was raped?" said Hermione.

Tonks went rigid.

"She had a veela," said Harry.

Hermione raised an eyebrow.

"The veela was near the common age, not years older-than-common like Gabrielle."

Hermione shrugged.

"Luna was near the same age."

Hermione closed her eyes and trembled. Tonks merely swore under her breath for half a minute.

"And the worst part," said Harry, "This is my interpretation, not a quote. My interpretation is that the worst part was not that an incomprehensible experience ate several weeks of her life, the worst part was that there was no one with whom she could talk about it. Well her parents of course, but what they could understand and what they could bear to listen to in one sitting, and what they might have been expecting to be the parts that she wanted and needed to talk about, may not have matched Luna's reality. In any event they were understanding enough to let her dig her play house the way she wanted, and when it failed in predictable ways, they helped her reinforce it in the ways she requested, which were fairly often fit for Luna's aesthetics, rather than veela standard or human standard, both of which are nominally informed by shall we say the necessities implied by muggle physics."

"Well obviously," said Hermione.

"I think, that being able to create that house according to her own inclinations, has been the best thing for her so far. I think being allowed to entice me into sex on her own terms, will also be good for her. Unfortunately, she cares that seducing me before Ginny has a turn will be bad for Ginny. And I have yet to feel … a lot of sympathy for … Ginny's emotional stability."

"Look at her Mom," said Tonks, "I suggest that's not going to happen this lifetime."

"Oh?" said Harry, "What do you suggest?"

"Bang her if you both want, don't if you don't, don't bother waiting for her to turn into Hermione or Susan first."

"More like Hermione or Padma," said Harry, "fine, I understand, I'm just not sure my gut agrees."

"What do you mean?" said Hermione.

Harry shrugged.

"Is this one of those, people claiming to like you but not showing it, leaves you cold, but them taking care of other people turns you on?"

"People taking care of me when I need it is nice," said Harry, "People being all weirdly concerned after the danger has been escaped or destroyed, are just annoying and embarrassing—" Harry stopped and looked at Nim.

What?

When you were missing, at least … when you first had gone missing Hermione and Neville and Sirius had … shown concern, I brushed them off with the fact that you seemed still to be alive, merely captured and asleep.

But later after it began to seem likely that I'd never get you back and you might already be dead, and I'd never know when you went because you'd been sleeping for weeks. I … That's when …

That's when you needed treatment for grief, but it had been long enough no one was paying attention to you about that?

Yeah, I guess.

I need you to teach me the proper treatment for grief.

I think that there isn't a proper treatment, there are merely traditional treatments. And they vary somewhat based on the beliefs that the victim has about the afterlife.

Oh, oof.

We can discuss it later, finish your conversation.

"Umm, People taking care of people who I know need it, before or in better ways than I can, become worthy of my notice, worthy of me trying to learn from. Sex is easiest with both admiration and love, oh and good communication. Ginny does give me things as often as she thinks she can get away with it. And she's helped take care of Luna for as long as she's been able. She's just … entitled in a way that Ron and Draco … used to be but have grown out of."

Hermione shook her head, "She's mostly grown out of it too, you just haven't been watching."

Harry shrugged, "Alright, I'll keep my eyes open."

"It's interesting to me that we're match making one night stands for Harry," said Tonks.

"No, we're not," said Hermione, "He's a lion, his instincts don't mind guarding a harem."

"You're saying they aren't one night stands?" said Tonks.

"Not to my knowledge," said Hermione and gave Harry an interested look.

Harry shook his head, "I haven't had sex with anyone I wouldn't be willing to have sex with for the rest of my life. Although, I understand why that wouldn't be an ideal situation for some of the other people involved."

Hermione nodded, "Also some of us want more than you can give."

Harry nodded, "I'm very aware."

"Who?" said Tonks.

"You two, for example," said Harry.

"Oh!" said Harry, "Hermione, this is my second cousin once removed, Tonks, who is a metamorphmagus, don't freak out if she changes gender or hair colour or whatever, also one of my two sex tutors. Tonks, this is my friend Hermione, my first and best student, so good a student we generally prefer to think of each other as lab partners, rather than tutor and student."

"Also I'm of Black descent," said Tonks.

"What does that mean?"

"No fear of death," said Harry, "Otter type instincts, about certain things."

Hermione's eyes widened, "Are you as bisexual as Bellatrix?"

"What?" said Tonks.

"Nim says, No. But she's close, and you have her blessing to try to adjust her perspective."

"Um?" said Tonks, "What?"

"We've switched from you two matchmaking for me, to Nim and I match making for you two," said Harry, "should we leave so you two can get to know each other?"

Hermione held up her hand, "Woah, hold up a minute."

She turned to Tonks and growled, "Don't go anywhere."

Tonks smirked.

She turned back to Harry, "I have Nim's blessing?"

"Yes."

"And I have your blessing?"

"… Yes."

"Not as emphatic?"

"I liked being your first choice," said Harry, "I wouldn't mind continuing to be your first choice. But Amelia and Susan wore me out yesterday, please feel —

"Amelia?" shouted Tonks.

Harry nodded.

"But … Amelia Bones?" said Tonks.

"You knew she liked me, but even I didn't realise how much," said Harry, "Anyway," he continued, turning his attention back to Hermione, "Please feel free to seduce someone else, especially someone who is related to me and won't steal your affections farther than merely lowering me to your second choice."

Hermione blinked and leaned forward, "That halfway deserves a kiss but I don't want to interrupt, go on."

"Also of note: Susan perceived some of Luna's antics as flirting with her, I happen to doubt that was Luna's intent, but from the fact that Susan noticed, I suspect Susan would also not mind being on your list of lesbian choices within Lion's-Keep."

"God," Hermione shivered, "that's … and I have your blessing for that as well?"

Harry nodded.

Hermione kissed him for several seconds.

When she leaned back she said, "and … and your blessing includes all of Lion's-Keep?"

"In theory," said Harry, "In practice I'm not sure if anyone besides you and Susan would be interested, and Nim is Nim."

"Ok, but why?" said Hermione.

"We both know I cannot keep you satisfied," said Harry, "I don't mind your help keeping as many of them satisfied as are willing for that sort of thing."

Hermione nodded and sat back, "I'm not sure if that's a big step for you, or if it's just a big step compared to the men I've been hanging out with all summer."

"Oh, yeah," said Harry, "tell us about that?"

Hermione frowned, and looked at Tonks, "if this bores you, you don't have to listen, but … I'll try to be brief."

Tonks shrugged.

Hermione turned back to Harry.

"Yes, there was sex," she shrugged, "That wasn't the interesting part, the interesting part was how feudal law has progressed differently in different parts of the magical world, compared to the different parts of the muggle world."

Harry nodded, "that does sound interesting, to the extent that I'm even likely to deal with other countries."

Hermione nodded, "Let me show you something."

She pulled an arithmancy book from her satchel and unfolded the back cover to remove a three page document, "how about this?"

Harry read it, it seemed Latin, so that was annoying, but other than that seemed remarkably similar in several sections to the Bones-Potter breed contract he'd been negotiating the day before. The child custody clause included Hermione had to hand over every other male heir at or before his second birthday, and the father and/or grandparents had right of second refusal for any daughters that Hermione didn't want.

Hermione would gain access through the wards to a beach front property on the Black Sea.

"How are the wards?"

"House wards are layered, unplotable from outside, there's two villages and the house families are politically prominent within the villages, for a greater share of the tax burden, of course."

"And that's not corruption because it's codified by law?"

"Right, and because the fees go to the village coffers, not to the mayor's pocket or the ruler of the house."

"Got it," said Harry.

"Anyway," said Hermione, "Family fields and residences of families are warded more strongly than merely the public areas of villages or the trade and conference areas of families. I got this offer both from Krum and after some introductions and errrr, trophy-ing each other around … basically the same offer from his head of house in regards to the heir of the house. Except …"

"Except what?"

"Except the Lady Albracca of Prandjeva, wants first and then alternating children, rather than alternating sons, and offered me either of her unmarried sons as bait."

Harry nodded, "and should she have offered you both?"

Hermione shrugged, "They're both too young yet still, no. The point was, she was willing for me to begin a fifth family within her house, or to start documents to recognise me as a new house, if I happened to have two other families willing to ally with me and call me their head."

"Merlin!" said Tonks, "She really wants your blood in her family."

Hermione nodded, "that's the impression I got."

"Are you going to go for it?"

Hermione shrugged, "That the possibility even existed was something of a shock, The path to nobility in England is catching the attention of the queen, which in the magical world is Not Done. That the procedure might instead be: gain the alliance of two family heads and the positive regard of three heads of houses, boggled me for a couple days."

"Harry," said Tonks.

"Huh?"

"I can tell you're confused," said Tonks, "The procedure for becoming a house, is an alliance with at least two other families. The procedure for a house becoming noble, depends on the region. In England at the height of feudalism it became the approval of the Queen, because she could give away land and the serfs native to it. But in several parts of Europe it was, and still is, the recognition of enough other houses that your house is worth allying with. They often use a different word for it than 'noble' but that might just be nomenclature, depending on your perspective. And land ownership is land ownership."

"So it's more of election or appointment from below, not being raised to peerage from above?"

"Yes."

"Alright," said Harry.

He turned back to Hermione, "I think you'd make a great head of house, regardless of whether you get there by marrying into a house that needs you, or by negotiating into existence a house that you'd actually want for your own."

Hermione smiled, "You seem more keen on the existence of houses than you were last year."

"I've seen how the Bones, Abbots, and Macmillans run their house, I still might not agree that it's a good fit for adult employment in the modern age, but seems to me an excellent environment to raise children."

Hermione stared at him for most of a minute, then nodded, "an important consideration."

"And I've got a feeling that floo travel and apparition are a large fraction of the explanation why it still works for mages … for some mages, centuries after it's stopped working for muggles."

"Ah," said Hermione, "I already have a few ideas along those lines, but … what makes you think it's a good environment for children?"

"Hmm," said Harry, "I saw … almost a country, tiny and simple enough that the children could comprehend it and be sure of their status and rights with in it, such that they were both free to be children and run wild, but also free to be citizens and take on responsibilities, form alliances, debate public projects, and choose spokesmen to present their proposals to the appropriate adults, etc."

Hermione nodded and stared into space, "I might have seen some of that … perhaps more in the children of the political families than in the soldier families."

Harry nodded, "And what would you be looking for in ally families?" he said.

"Not sure," said Hermione, "un-housed, or disgruntlement with the house they're already in is a given."

"Oh," said Harry, "Hadn't thought of that."

Hermione nodded, "it's a weird thing to look for, given that I need them to be disgruntled enough to leave, but I'm only interested if their goals and vision for what kind of house they want are similar enough to mine."

"Right," agreed Harry, "Do you have your own vision for what a house should be, or only parts but are willing to be flexible on the rest?"

Hermione shrugged, "still observing, still willing to be flexible," she glanced at Tonks.

"Don't look at me," said Tonks, "my parents are all excited for re-joining the House of Black."

Hermione stared at her, "Actually I'm still open to individuals as much as families."

Tonks nodded, "And don't forget you could be interviewing me for the position of husband, just as much as you could be interviewing me for the position of head of the Tonks family within the prospective House of Granger."

Hermione stared for several seconds, then smirked, "Let me re-iterate, 'don't go anywhere,'"

Tonks chuckled.

Hermione turned to Harry, frowned for a second, then said, "actually that was all of my high priority news, do you have anything else more important than getting laid by your cousin?"

Harry smirked, "I have lots of important things, but nothing so urgent. Go. Enjoy yourselves. Wake Nim and I up when you pause for a snack." He yawned, and waved his fingers to mock Draco's gesture for 'permission to wander off.'

Tonks scoffed.

"So many questions," said Hermione.

"Nim is on forced consumption of meat and gristle while her arm rebuilds itself," said Harry, "all the potions and the full stomach makes her more lethargic than usual, also the forced absence from before is catching up to us and we're snuggling almost as much as we did when I first rescued her, both physical and mental."

"And mental snuggles with a lethargic cat makes you lethargic?" said Hermione.

"Only while there's not stimulating conversation to keep me awake, but yes," said Harry, "now go away, didn't you have one of my cousins to snog?"

"Yes, oh selfless teacher." mocked Hermione.

Harry detected the urge to stick his tongue out at her, but decided to maintain his dignity by only offering her a playful smile instead.

She smiled back and went away with Tonks.

.

...-...

{End Chapter 10}