Grimmauld Place was as suitably grim as Harry recalled when he returned to it. The years during which it had been left alone had not been kind, despite the protections placed over it, and a number of magical pests had to be dealt with. Dealing with pests was a simple task for a wizard of Harry's caliber, however, and within a couple days of his return to England, it had been cleared of them. That didn't mean that the cleanup was over, of course, but with him and Kreacher working together, they had managed to make short work of the job, with him even managing to remove Walburga's portrait and move it to a more suitable location.

"Master has honored Kreacher," the old house-elf said as Harry finished putting the portrait up in the elf quarters. "Though, I do not think that dear old mistress likes this much."

Walburga just glared balefully at Harry, having been threatened into silence once she saw that he could undo all of the protections placed on her portrait.

"She'll adjust," Harry said flatly. "I am the lord of her house, and she must accept that."

"Oh, to see how far the noble and most ancient house of Black has fallen," Walburga lamented.

"Well, you shouldn't have pushed so many of your kin to join Voldemort's cause," Harry said. "Goodness knows what might have become of them if they'd been smart enough to keep out of it."

That earned another frosty glare, which he ignored as he left the room. The house was still dark and dreary, something that he'd work to fix down the line, but it was still radically different from how he'd found it.

"Has Andromeda gotten back to me about seeing her and Teddy?" Harry asked.

"She has, master," Kreacher replied. "She and her grandson are still in New Zealand and will be back within two weeks."

"I'll just have to wait then," Harry said, making his way to the kitchen.

A black and gray owl he recognized arrived just as he did, holding a letter that made him smile before he even opened it.

Harry,

Dinner at your place sounds lovely, especially if you're as talented a cook as you claim. I can leave work around five, so seven works. I'll bring a lovely bottle of Bordeaux I've been saving for a special occasion.

See you then,

Susan

Harry grinned at the short letter and set it down, almost unwilling to trust his good luck. The muggle restaurant he'd been planning to take the vivacious redhead to had to close for the day due to a watermain break, and he'd had to think fast to find something else. Dinner at his place wasn't something that he'd normally have suggested for a second date, but she seemed to be as eager as he was for them to get together again. While he'd originally decided to get to know Susan better for Hermione's sake, he found himself enjoying her company a great deal. She was fun, flirty, and hot as all hell, though he could tell that there was a deep pain lingering under the surface.

KNOCK KNOCK

Harry turned towards the front door, though Kreacher was already there, willing it open to reveal Hermione.

"Miss Granger," the house-elf said flatly before disappearing.

"He still doesn't care much for me," Hermione commented as Harry went to greet her.

"He's a work in progress," Harry sighed. "I've managed to train basic civility into him, at least."

"He doesn't call me a mudblood anymore, so that's something," Hermione said.

"Would you like to come in?" Harry asked.

"Yes, thank you," Hermione said. "I can't stay long, but I just wanted to know if you had given any further thought to what we discussed regarding my campaign."

"I'm still keeping a low profile for now," Harry replied, "but I've got another date with Susan for tonight, so I might be able to make some progress there."

"D..date?" Hermione stuttered.

"Mmhmm," Harry replied. "I told you that I ran into her at the Hog's Head after you left the Three Broomsticks. I took her to a lovely muggle restaurant the other day and managed to talk her into another date tonight."

"I…" Hermione trailed off, looking conflicted. "When you suggested trying to bring Susan over to my side, I had no idea that you meant to do so like this. I'm not entirely comfortable having you lead her on just for political purposes."

"I'm not leading her on," Harry said. "We had a nice night at the pub and another at that Italian place. I'm going to be perfectly upfront with her about the fact that I'm not looking for a serious relationship at the moment before we progress any further. If that's a dealbreaker for her, then I'll focus on just befriending her, but either way, I'll try and convince her to drop out for your benefit."

"She might have the same idea," Hermione pointed out. "She might be trying to win your support for her campaign."

"I suspect that she'll try, though it didn't come up the other night," Harry said, shrugging. "You don't have to worry about that. You had my support from the start."

"Just be careful," Hermione said, hugging him.

"I'm always careful," Harry replied. When Hermione pulled back and gave him the most incredulous look he'd ever seen, he amended, "I've grown more careful with age."

"Thank Merlin for that," Hermione muttered, and Harry could see from the look in her eyes that something was still bothering her.

"Is there some other reason that you don't like the idea of me dating Susan?" he asked.

Hermione paused for a moment, as though deciding what she was going to say. "The war changed her, as it changed all of us. I like her well enough, and she's generally sweet, but there's a viciousness in her that wasn't there before. It's not like we were ever close, but I got to know her a little during the D.A. meetings, and that vein of iron in her is new."

"She lost all the family she ever knew," Harry said. "I know what that's like and what dark places losses can take you when they start to stack up."

"I suppose you would," Hermione said softly, her voice full of sympathy. "Well, as I said, I have to get to the ministry, so I have to be off."

"I'd say 'have fun,' but it is the ministry," Harry grinned.

"We can't all be globe-trotting adventurers," Hermione chuckled.

"No, I guess some of us have to be responsible adults," Harry sighed, earning a laugh. "I'll see you later."

"See you then," Hermione said, hugging him again.

The hug lingered a little longer than theirs usually did, but Harry chalked it up to her still getting used to seeing him regularly again. Burying his face in her wavy brown hair, he allowed himself to enjoy the pleasant vanilla scent of her shampoo. She pulled back and looked up at him with an odd look on her face before turning to leave. As she apparated away, Harry smiled and started thinking about what he was going to make Susan later.


Hermione sat down at her desk and buried her head in her hands. When she wrote Harry that letter, it had been with the expectation that he would read it and reply in a little while. She didn't, for a moment, let herself hope that he'd actually come home. That hope had died long ago, and yet he was back, back in her life.

And he was so damn hot.

Hermione groaned and shook her head. She had never considered herself a particularly shallow person. The men she found herself attracted to were usually smart enough to stimulate her intellect or capable of making her laugh. She had a thing for tall men but had never placed significant importance on looks. Then in came her best friend, back from his grand tour of the world and just dripping with sex appeal. She had noticed the changes in him when she first laid eyes on him; it would have been impossible not to, but she was too distracted by her joy at having him back to really consider them.

Now the shock had passed, and she was honestly surprised that she had yet to drool when she was around him. He was so tall and so broad, with the chiseled features of the sort of guys who graced the covers of her romance novels. She couldn't help but think that if he had looked like that back in Hogwarts, she wouldn't have looked twice at anyone else, and she didn't like what that said about her.

"I could claim that the attraction is due to how much more knowledgeable and worldly he's become, but, while that's certainly a factor, I'd still be lying," she thought to herself.

The idea of him dating Susan Bones was deeply unpleasant to her, and while the reasons she had given him to be wary of the redhead were valid, neither one was the real reason. She was experiencing a sort of envy she hadn't felt in years and didn't like it.

"Ma'am," Olivia said as she entered the office. "I have your papers arranged and your schedule completed here."

"Thank you, Olivia," Hermione said, accepting the red box that she knew would be filled to the brim with things for her to go over and either approve to send on to Kingsley or send back with questions. What's on the docket today?"

"Your meeting with the minister has been pushed back to four," Olivia replied. "He's meeting with his French counterpart and expects that to run long."

"That's alright," Hermione said, opening the box and digging the plethora of papers out.

"Anything this morning?" Hermione asked.

"Percy Weasley wants a word about his proposed changes to floo regulations," Olivia said. "I couldn't put it off any further without it looking like we were doing so. He'll be in around nine-thirty."

"Alright," Hermione sighed. She'd long since gotten over the way that Percy had hurt his family, but she still found the man dreadfully dull. "Anything else?"

"Your meeting with the Head Auror to discuss the rise in complaints against the force is at ten," Olivia said. "A light day all in all."

"Oh," Hermione said. "I'd forgotten that that was today."

"That's what I'm here for, ma'am," Olivia said, smiling.

"Meeting with Susan might give me an opportunity to ask about Harry, so long as I'm subtle," she thought to herself.

"Alright, let me know when Mr. Weasley arrives," Hermione said.

"Yes, ma'am," Olivia said, nodding dutifully and returning to her desk, closing the door behind her.

Hermione pulled the first of many documents out of the red box and got to work.


"Lady Greengrass," Oliver Fawley said as he joined her in the elevator.

"Mr. Fawley," Daphne replied.

"What brings you to the ministry at this early hour?" Oliver asked.

"Meeting with Herbert Moon," Daphne replied, happy to give her preselected excuse for her presence.

"I hadn't heard of any major catastrophes," Oliver said.

"There haven't been any, and I'm looking to ensure that things stay that way," Daphne said. "I've heard a proposal for a new bill that would change how the obliviators operate, and I'd like to know more about how their department functions as is before I decide whether or not to support it."

"If you'd like to discuss this proposal in detail, we could talk about it over dinner," Oliver said. "I have a cousin who's worked as an obliviator for years."

"I'll consider it," Daphne said flatly.

Mercifully, the elevator opened on the next floor, which turned out to be Oliver's destination.
"I'll see you around, Lady Greengrass," he said, giving no reaction to her response.

"Indeed," Daphne replied, smiling faintly.

He left her alone, and Daphne relaxed a touch. Fawley was nice enough, though far from her type, and she wasn't about to reject him forcefully just for fun, but she also didn't want him following her around for what she was going to do next. A quick homeum reveleo showed that there were people waiting for the elevator on the floor she meant to go to and no one else until then, which was perfect. Waiting until it had passed the floor before her own, she disillusioned herself and slipped right out past the man and woman waiting for it with practiced ease.

Neither one of them questioned the fact that an empty elevator opened in front of them because they had called for it, and so Daphne was able to make her way to a spot she'd gone to often enough over the last couple years. She knew where Granger's office was located, and she happened to know where an easy entrance to the ventilation ducts was as well. It would be far too small a space for her to fit in normally, but luckily for her, she didn't need to limit herself to her own form. Making sure that no one was looking, she willed herself to transform into her animagus form and crawled up into the vent.

Learning that her form was a common squirel had been irritating at first, as she'd been hoping for something more impressive and majestic, but it hadn't taken her long to realize that there were certain advantages to having a form so small and capable of stealth. She wasn't registered, having gone through the grueling process of attaining her form on her own, and had used it to spy on her opponents more times than she could count. People had to consciously map out in their minds the spaces that they wanted silencing charms to cover, and it wasn't difficult to find little spots where even brilliant minds like Granger failed to consider.

"I've spoken to them already and made it very clear that they went too far," Susan said. "They'll be more careful in the future."

"If this was an isolated incident, I'd be happy to leave it at that, but it's becoming an alarming pattern," Hermione said.

"Not with these particular aurors; it hasn't," Susan argued. "They were a little too zealous in acting to take down a drunken idiot who had already started firing off hexes. If said idiot didn't belong to a prominent family, you wouldn't have even heard of the incident. It's not like any permanent damage was done."

"Because the healers managed to reattach his hand," Hermione hissed. "The public was happy to see a more proactive and well-funded auror force after what became of it under Fudge, but if we have many incidents like this, that won't remain the case. This is the last thing we need while people are already up in arms about your comments to the American ambassador."

Daphne couldn't see Susan's face, but she did notice how the redhead tensed at that.

"Those comments were taken wildly out of context," she hissed.

"Oh?" Hermione asked.

"Ambassador Thurman was bragging about how his country hadn't had to deal with anyone like Voldemort since before he was born, and he said that it was because of their strict magic control policies," Susan said. "He was born during the yanks' civil war, to put that in context. The man's a decade older than Dumbledore would be if he were still around."

"And your reply was, 'sadly, we could never pull that off here,'" Hermione said.

"I get why we never could, and I can't really say that I support the idea myself," Susan said, "but the thought of a world where that monster never rose once, much less twice, sounds bloody good to me."

"I can understand that," Hermione sighed, "but security cannot come at the cost of even basic freedom."

"The countless men, women, and children who died at the hands of those monsters weren't very free in the end," Susan said bitterly.

"It's ultimately a question of what the public is willing to pay," Hermione said, "something we'll discover soon enough, provided you're staying in the race."

"Nice try," Susan said, "but I'm not discussing my campaign."

"Worth a shot," Hermione said lightly. "We might be opponents in this, Susan, and we might have our differences, but know that I have no qualms about continuing to work together in the future."

"I feel the same," Susan said. "By the way, you do know that Harry's back in Britain, yes?"

"I do," Hermione replied, tensing just a touch. "You ran into him?"

"Met him at a pub," Susan replied. "He's...different."

"We all are," Hermione said. "He's been through a lot. More than most of us could claim to have gone through."

"Outside of the D.A., we never really talked much back in school," Susan said. "I'm hoping to get to know him better."

"Harry's a good man," Hermione said, and Daphne focused as much as she could on the bushy-haired woman's face.

Hermione Granger had developed a far better poker face than she'd had back at Hogwarts. It was an essential thing for anyone in politics, and she had learned well. It was rare even for someone as skilled at seeing through people as Daphne to know what she was thinking these days, which made the little flashes of regret she'd seen on her face since Harry Potter was first brought up all the more interesting.

"Are you and he…" Susan asked.

"No," Hermione said too quickly. "No, we've only ever been friends."

"Good, good," Susan said. "Was there anything else you wanted to discuss?"

"No, I think that just about covers it," Hermione said, shaking her head. "If there are any further incidents of excessive force, suspensions are going to have to follow. Is that clear?"

"Yes," Susan said flatly. "Farewell."

"Goodbye," Hermione said, and as Susan turned and left, that look of regret returned to her face.

Daphne sat back and considered what she'd just watched. Granger and Bones seemed to be in the same spot that they generally were, allied for the most part, yet with different enough positions that they couldn't partner up outright. Her little hitpiece on Bones seemed to help increase the gulf between them as she'd wanted it to, but the reintroduction of Potter seemed to be going differently than she'd thought it would. It was early yet, but he seemed to be trying to keep a low profile, something that she hoped he'd continue to do.

His connection to Bones was surprising but not terribly useful. Her campaign was circling the drain, and even his considerable influence likely wouldn't be enough to save her. The more interesting thing was Granger's reaction. She didn't look happy for him at all. She looked like she regretted the connection entirely, which was fascinating. Had she asked him to try and convince Bones to drop out, only to have him take a romantic interest in the other woman that she was beginning to resent?

It was a leap, but she couldn't think of anything else that might make Granger look the way that she was. The woman had few weaknesses that she could strike at and was generally annoyingly calm and collected. When she'd first figured that Potter had returned to Britain, Daphne feared that he'd end up being a powerful ally to her rival, and that was still a distinct possibility. As the beautiful blonde sat and pondered what she'd just seen, though, she began to wonder if there might be a way for him to be useful to her. She'd never get his direct support, of course, but if he left her greatest rival rattled, that itself could be a boon.

She'd said perhaps a half-dozen words to Potter during the six years that they'd spent at Hogwarts together, and as she quietly left the vents and, after making sure that no one was looking, retook her true form, she decided that that simply would not do. It was high time that she met her nation's hero properly.


"Oh, that smells wonderful," Susan sighed as she set the bottle of wine down on the table.

"It'll be done in a moment," Harry said. "Right now, I'm just browning the top under the broiler. You said that you liked lamb, so I figured a proper shepherd's pie would be nice."

"Like I say, it smells divine," Susan said. "That's just the sort of comfort food I could use after a long day at the ministry."

"You mean working for the government isn't fun?" Harry asked, his lips quirking upward as he spoke.

"The work's important, but that doesn't make dealing with bloody bureaucrats any more pleasant," Susan said. "Where's your corkscrew?"

"It's around here somewhere," Harry said. "I'm still getting some things sorted, but I can handle that."

He held out his hand, and the bottle levitated off the table. Susan watched in awe as the cork twisted in the bottle, slowly peaking out past the green glass until, with a pop, it emerged entirely.

"You can do wandless magic?" she asked.

"I can," Harry said, levitating a couple large wine glasses over to the table.

Picking up the bottle by hand, he cast a spell to aerate the rich red wine as he poured it so that they could drink it more quickly.

"Here you go," Harry said, handing a still-stunned Susan one of the glasses.

"Incredible," Susan said, her blue eyes shining as she looked up at him. "Just how much magic can you do wandlessly?"

"At this point, I can do most things without a wand," Harry said. "The spells are a touch slower and were much slower when I was starting out, but it means I'm not limited to using a wand. Drove the Americans bloody mad when I was there."

"I can imagine," Susan chuckled. "Their entire basic security network is predicated on controlling people's use of their wands."

"Yes, they weren't pleased by the idea of having a powerful wizard around that they couldn't control," Harry said, "but they also weren't willing to outright ban me from the country. I didn't stay long."

"What were you doing there?" Susan asked.

"I was…" Harry was cut off by a sudden ding and quickly removed the shepherd's pie from the oven, setting it down on the stove to cool.

"That looks amazing," Susan said.

"I've been around the world, and sampled many different cuisines, and this is still one of my favorite things," Harry said.

"I still can't believe just what you got up to over the last several years," Susan said.

"It's been fun and often dangerous," Harry said.

"Well, here's to some less dangerous fun," Susan said, holding her glass.

"To less dangerous fun," Harry chuckled, clinking his glass against hers and taking a sip of the wine. "Mmm, that is lovely."

"I was gifted a few bottles of the stuff by a wealthy lord," Susan said.

"A suitor of yours?" Harry asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"Hardly!" Susan laughed. "The man's old enough to be my grandfather. He lost a child and a grandchild to the Death Eaters, and when I took down the prick who killed them, he wrote to thank me. Officially, the bottles were a birthday gift."

"Ah," Harry said.

The shepherd's pie had sat long enough to cool by that point, so Harry cut a couple portions, and the two of them sat down to a quiet date. He had regaled her with stories from his many adventures abroad during their first date, and she seemed to decide that it was her turn this time. To his relief, she didn't seem interested in trying to recruit him or anything, though he was sure the thought had crossed her mind. As capable as he was sure he would have been in the role, he knew that he'd have found the rules they had to follow infuriating, not to mention the greater public scrutiny.

They sat there, enjoying the good wine, good food, and even better company for some time.

"So there I was, staking out the place that I just knew this worthless SOB was holed up in when suddenly…" Susan went to say, only to go completely still.

"What's wrong?" Harry asked, instantly alarmed.

"I have to go," Susan said, rushing to her feet and flicking her wand into her hand. "Someone's trying to break into my manor."

"The wards alerted you," Harry commented. "Why not just call in your men?"

"We have a couple significant operations being run tonight," Susan replied. "If I didn't have such faith in my lieutenants, I would have rescheduled. As it is, we're stretched rather thin, and beyond that, it's my manor. The idea of someone daring to try this after…"

"Your aunt," Harry breathed, recalling what happened the summer before their sixth year.

"I had the place rebuilt once you'd put that madman in the ground for good," Susan said. "I'm not letting anyone ruin it again."

"I'm coming with you," Harry said.

"What?" Susan asked.

"Whoever broke in is probably trying to lure you in alone. Having backup of some kind would be a good idea," Harry said. "Also, you know damn well what I'm capable of."

"I do wonder about the timing," Susan admitted.

"It could be a coincidence, or you could have a traitor in the department," Harry said. "Either way, making use of me would be a good idea."

"Not exactly the sort of way I was hoping to make use of you," Susan smirked, and Harry grinned at the comment. "Just a moment."

She cast a silent spell over herself, and the delightfully form-fitting robes she'd been wearing became even more form-fitting. Harry watched, quite impressed, as she transfigured her outfit into something more suited to combat. By the time she was finished, she was wearing something more akin to a muggle tracksuit than anything he'd seen a pureblood wear before. The black fabric clung to her like a second skin, displaying her mouth-watering figure and also allowing her to move with ease.

"And I thought you looked good before," Harry murmured.

"So you said the second you saw me," Susan smirked. "I have everything I wear enchanted for greater protection, and I usually just do this if I need to leap into combat."

"Impressive," Harry said.

He just wore muggle suits most of the time, having long since gotten tired of bulky robes, and had also enchanted his clothing for similar purposes. Susan led the way and took his hand as she apparated just outside a stately-looking manor. If this was the place Voldemort wrecked when he killed Amelia Bones, then considerable work had been put into its restoration because he wouldn't have guessed at all.

"There are five of them," Harry said. "They haven't spotted us yet."

"How can you be sure?" Susan asked. "About the number, I mean. We're too far away to have been spotted yet."

"I cast a silent revealing spell," Harry said. "Your house-elf is holed up in the attic; two of the wizards are upstairs, looking around, and the other three are waiting by the main entrance."

"So they did mean to lure me in," Susan said.

"We'll just have to ask them," Harry said, disillusioning them both.

"Wow, that's pretty much perfect," Susan said.

"I still occasionally get a slight shimmer around the edges, but otherwise I manage to pull off complete invisibility," Harry said. That was one spell that Voldemort never reached Dumbledore's level of mastery with, and Harry had to put in significant work to exceed his old enemy's proficiency.

"Go around back and surprise them," Susan said. "The front door will open for me, so I'll be able to slip inside once you've engaged them."

"Sounds like a plan," Harry said. "I'll try to keep the damage to a minimum."

"Thank you," Susan sighed.

Completely invisible, Harry didn't even hesitate to take flight. He hadn't told Susan that he could do that yet and didn't think that this would be an ideal situation to do so. The back door would have been a possible point of entry, but he didn't want to start with the three arseholes on the main floor. The two upstairs would come rushing when they heard the commotion, and he wanted them to be out of commission by that point. Flying up to one of the windows, he vanished the glass panel and silently flew inside what turned out to be the master bedroom.

"Imagine that bitch in these," one of the goons upstairs said as he palmed a pair of red silk panties.

"Bones might be a cunt, but I have to admit she's a hot one," the other said. "I wonder if the boss will let us have any fun before he guts her."

Harry cast a silencing charm on the room to make sure that no one would hear when he dealt with these two.

"Why's he so sure that she's going to show up alone?" the first one asked.

"For one thing, she's an arrogant bitch," the second said. "But apparently the aurors are fucking busy tonight."

"Well, we've searched the whole place and found no one," the first goon said. "Let's head bac…"

A red beam of light hit him square in the chest, and he crumpled in a heap immediately.

"Oh fuck!" the second goon cried, drawing his wand and looking around frantically. "Where are you, you bitch?"

Harry flew above the man, grinning as he watched him point in his wand in every given direction he could think o,f as though he hoped that his enemy would just appear before him to be killed.

"Oh, fuck this," the man hissed, pointing his wand down at his fallen companion. "EnnervAHH!"

Harry descended on the man, grabbing his wand arm with his left hand and bringing the heel of his right palm down onto his elbow. He felt the bone break under his strike just as surely as he heard it, though his scream quickly replaced that. Ripping his wand from his hand, Harry grabbed the back of his head and slammed his face into the wall.

"That looks painful," he murmured, pressing his fingers into his victim's broken arm. "Let me do something about it."

With a quick charm, he vanished all the bones in the man's left arm before swiftly stunning him.

"Two down," he murmured to himself.

After quickly checking to make sure that none of the others had moved, he placed Susan's panties on her side table, opened the door, and flew out into the hall. As soon as he reached the main stairwell, he heard the three men talking.

"Where the hell is she?" one of them hissed.

"Will you relax, Greg?" one of the others said. "The bitch will be back soon, and then we'll make her pay for what she's done to us."

"I just expected her to come running," Greg said.

"It is taking longer than expected, Theo," the third man said.

"Bones is probably already here and scouting out the place," Theo said calmly. "When she sees there's only one of us, she'll rush in and you two will help me take her down."

"Theo, Theo…" Harry thought to himself. "I knew a Theo back in the day. Who the hell was...oh, Nott."

Admittedly, it took seeing his old schoolmate to jog his memory, but he did recall the Slytherin when he saw him. Theodore Nott was the son of Thaddeus Nott, one of Voldemort's earliest recruits. It wasn't until Harry laid eyes on them that he saw what Theo meant by there being only one of them. The other two were wearing invisibility cloaks.

"One man to lure her in, two hidden next to him to help take her down, and two further ones upstairs to come completely overwhelm her," he thought to himself. "Not a terrible plan, I suppose."

It wasn't good by any stretch and would only work if Susan really did rush in with her wand out and not check first to see if she could detect anyone else. Planning hadn't been Thaddeus' strong suit either, if he recalled correctly. Secure in his own invisibility and ability to handle these neanderthals at any rate, he flew down to the entryway and grinned. The most timid of the three was watching the fireplace like a hawk, while Nott and his unnamed companion watched the front door.

"Did you really think this would work?" Harry asked, using a quick charm to throw his voice down towards the backdoor.

"Who's there?!" Greg shouted, turning to point his wand at the source of the sound.

"No one in particular," Harry chuckled.

"Show yourself, whoever you are!" Theo snarled.

"Why should I?" Harry asked. "Your goons are invisible after all."

"I knew this wouldn't work!" Greg exclaimed.

"Shut the fuck up!" the third man shouted.

"Accio invisibility cloaks," Harry said, while instead just reaching out towards the cloaks and tugging them in the direction of the fireplace.

"Bombarda!" the third man shouted, hitting nothing but the crumpled cloaks themselves.

"Damn it, Avery!" Theo shouted.

"Yes, watch it, Avery," Harry said mockingly. "Theo paid a lot of old Thaddeus' money on those cloaks for this idiotic scheme."

"What did you say?" Theo asked, a sudden, icy rage overtaking his voice.

The other two went still, and Harry figured that he'd found the reason for all of this. Feigning ignorance, he threw his voice behind Greg and said, "You clearly got your planning skills from your old man. How is the old bastard doing?"

"Avada Kedavra!" Theo hissed, hitting Greg square in the chest.

"Shit!" Avery shouted just as Susan threw the front door open.

"Shit," Harry thought to himself. He hadn't thought that Theo would be quite that much of a loose cannon.

"Occio Ruptor!" Susan hissed, sending a bright purple curse at Avery's right leg.

His femur shattered like glass, and he fell forward with a cry that was cut off by Harry's stunner.

"You fucking bitch!" Theo snarled. "Cru…"

Harry sent a cutting curse at his wand with pinpoint accuracy, slicing clean through the red wood. Theo looked down at his severed wand in horror, just long enough to see what happened before Susan managed to stun him.

"You can fly?" Susan asked as Harry revealed himself and descended to the floor.

"I managed to reverse engineer Voldemort's technique," Harry lied smoothly. "The other two are stunned upstairs. Nott killed one of them himself, trying to hit me."

"Well, that'll guarantee he never gets out of Azkaban," Susan sighed as she glanced at the corpse.

"Did you arrest Nott's father?" Harry asked.

"Killed him," Susan replied. "He was one of the ones who escaped after the Battle of Hogwarts. Hunting him down was what earned me my promotion. Did he mention it?"

"No, but I got the sense from hearing those idiots talking," Harry said. "If you want to floo this in, I can go upstairs and collect the other two."

"Thank you, Harry," Susan said, "for everything."

"It's no trouble," Harry said.

It really wasn't. These five had been such non-threats that he'd spent most of his time in the manor just screwing with them for his amusement. He had underestimated Nott a touch and did regret the death that resulted, but what mattered was that Susan was safe and violent arseholes were going to prison.

The aurors showed far greater efficiency and competence than he remembered in dealing with the crime scene and taking his statement. They hardly needed much from him since they had these idiots dead to rights, but they were thorough yet quick enough, and an hour later, he was left alone with his lovely date.

"And here I thought we'd have a quiet night in," Susan sighed. "I know it's been said already, but just to reiterate, you're not going to end up in any trouble over this."

"I know," Harry said. "I must say, this isn't exactly how I would have pictured being invited back to your place after a date."

Susan snorted at that and then turned to him, saying, "Don't let anyone ever say that being around me is boring."

"You're talking to me," Harry chuckled. "My life hasn't been boring since I was eleven."

"I guess compared to the kind of things you used to get up to in school, much less what you did during your travels, five incompetent assailants was nothing," Susan said. "I think there might be more to this attack than it seems."

"Oh?" Harry asked.

"Daphne Greengrass all but admitted to being behind a pretty damning hitpiece on me a few days ago," Susan said. "She might have been behind this too."

"Going from a hitpiece to an assassination attempt is a pretty big escalation," Harry said.

"Oh, this wasn't an assassination attempt," Susan said. "I would have torn all five of those idiots apart, and I think that was what she was going for."

"You'd have reacted with brutality, and she'd have had another thing to hit you with," Harry said.

"The timing's suspect," Susan said.

"You do have four living suspects to question under veritaserum," Harry pointed out, "including the ringleader."

"Greengrass is too smart to leave such obvious clues," Susan said. "I'll check anyway, but even if she did put this idea in Nott's head, I doubt he'd even realize that she manipulated him. It wouldn't have been hard to play on his hatred for me."

"This is why I hate politics," Harry said.

"If this was an attempt to make me turn five purebloods into smears on my walls, you ruined her plans," Susan said, stepping forward, "and that, I think, deserves a reward."

"I have all the galleons I could ever need," Harry commented, playing dumb.

"Then it's a good thing that galleons aren't what I have in mind," Susan whispered, wrapping her arms around him and pulling him down for a searing, hot kiss.

Harry replied in time, groaning as she slipped her tongue into his mouth. Her tongue dueled his for dominance, something that it became quickly apparent that she was very used to. He responded in kind, also being accustomed to being the dominant partner in bed. He could tell from the first kiss that this was going to be fun.

"Mmm," Susan sighed as she broke the kiss for air, looking up at him with lust-darkened eyes. "How much damage did you do to my bedroom?"

"Less than I'm about to," Harry replied, and Susan squealed as he picked her up and kissed her again.

With her arms and legs wrapped around him and his hands on her glorious arse, Harry walked upstairs towards her bedroom. The two of them made out passionately along the way, and once he crossed the threshold, she backed off so she could take a look around.

"Wow, I would not know that you took down two arseholes in here," Susan murmured.

Her house-elf had already replaced the window, so it really did look like nothing had ever happened.

"I hardly had to fight them," Harry chuckled. "The first one was stunned before either knew I was there, and the second fell not long after."

"I do love efficiency in a man," Susan purred, pulling him down for another kiss and backing up towards the bed.

Harry let himself be led, loving the feeling of her curvy body pressed against his, and didn't hesitate to go with her when she fell back into the bed. She wrapped her legs around him as they continued to kiss, and then used her surprising strength to flip them over.

"Let's see what I'm working with here," Susan whispered, drawing her wand and charming the clothes right off of him.

Being well-endowed, Harry was used to dropped jaws and shocked exclamations when he removed his pants in front of women. Susan didn't do either of those things, just grinning and licking her lips at the sight of him, but the way that her blue eyes went nearly black was unmistakable.

"We should have gotten to know each other back in school," she cooed, looking his muscular body up and down.

"A lasting regret of mine," Harry rumbled, snapping his fingers and sending her clothes over to lay next to his.

He let out a low whistle at the sight of her body, which was every bit as incredible as he'd imagined. She was one of the most athletic-looking women he'd ever seen, and every inch of her was taut and toned, which made her massive breasts even more impressive. He had never seen a woman with both abs and large tits before, and his mouth watered at the sight. His gaze traveled past her abs to the neatly kept triangle of ginger hair that lay between her gloriously wide hips.

"You must work out religiously," Harry commented.

"Six days a week," Susan replied, doing a little twirl, showing off her tight, round arse, and making him groan. Cupping her breasts and lifting them slightly, she said, "It started as a way to relieve the back pain my baps gave me, and then became something I did because of the job."

"Did it work?" Harry asked, feasting his eyes on her sizable mounds.

"The difference is night and day," Susan replied before climbing into his lap and kissing him hungrily.

Harry groaned as she ground her heated sex on his shaft. Sitting up, he cupped her tits, kneading the soft flesh and making her moan into his mouth. He left her plump lips and kissed along her jaw to her slender column of neck as he slid his hand down from her chest, along her sides, to her round arse.

"Ahh, just like that," Susan sighed as he moved lower and captured one of her pebbled nipples between her lips.

Burying his face between her incredible breasts, Harry grinned and then froze as he realized that, in the excitement of the day, there was something he had forgotten to mention.

"Wait, wait, wait," he said, shaking his head and trying to ignore the throbbing in his rock-hard cock.

"What's wrong?" Susan asked, sounding annoyed.

"Before this goes further, I need to make it crystal clear to you that I'm not looking for a relationship," Harry said.

"You decided to wait until now to say this?" Susan asked, arching an eyebrow at him.

"I was distracted tonight," Harry said sheepishly. "I don't want to lead you on, though."

"That's sweet, but you don't need to worry," Susan said. "I'm not looking for anything like that either. To be perfectly honest, so few men even do it for me that I haven't bothered dating in ages."

"At all?" Harry asked.

"I'm busy with work; I have no use for a guy who couldn't beat me in a fight, which is most of them, and…" Susan trailed off, grabbing her wand and waving it towards the far wall in her room. A compartment opened, revealing what looked to be a very impressive collection of very large dildos in various shapes. Just as Harry thought that they explained her lack of shock at his size, she said, "I'm pretty good at taking care of myself."

"So I gathered," Harry chuckled, ghosting his hand over her taut abdomen and down into the short curls that crowned her sex, "but there are some things that toys can't replicate."

"Ahh!" Susan cried as he gently rubbed her clit. "Oh, I don't know about that."

"Why don't you sit on my face and find out?" Harry asked, smirking at the look of desire she gave him.

"You actually want that?" Susan asked.

"You have no idea," Harry replied.

He laid back then and grinned at Susan, waiting for her to decide what to do. To his delight, she made a show of slowly crawling up to him, her pendulous breasts hanging under her as she moved, and then turned around as she reached his head. As she moved to straddle him, he licked his lips at the sight of the slick folds of her pussy. He grabbed her hips as she drew close and pulled her in.

"Oh fuck!" Susan cried as he gave her a long, probing lick.

She ground her cunt on his face, moaning aloud as he began to devour her. He licked and kissed her all over her labia, specifically avoiding her clit for the time being as he tasted her tangy fluids. Clearly not one to just enjoy herself passively, Susan soon reached forward and grabbed his cock, giving the bulbous head a warm, wet kiss that made him shudder.

"I didn't...ahh...say it before, but you have easily the biggest cock I've ever seen on a guy," Susan said. "I honestly thought dildos were the only way I'd ever get size like this."

She stroked him gently, swirling her tongue around his sensitive glans, and Harry groaned against her heated flesh. Proving that she did more than ride her dildos, she soon started taking far more of him between her pouty lips than he'd have ever expected her to manage. Not to be outdone, Harry swirled his tongue in a tightly controlled pattern around her engorged clit, being careful not to actually touch the nub just yet.

"Oh Merlin, right there!" Susan cried.

He continued to avoid directly stimulating her clit, wanting to draw things out a bit more. Susan grew audibly frustrated after a while and started grinding on him harder, trying to move him closer to the spot she wanted him to focus on most, all while bobbing her head up and down on his length. When that failed, she decided to try something else and quickly swallowed his length to the root, making him cry out in shock.

"Holy fuck!" Harry groaned.

"If you want that again, stop being funny and suck on my bloody clit," Susan said, peppering his length with teasing little kisses.

Harry laughed and decided to shock her in kind. Wrapping his lips around her throbbing pearl, he sucked very gently and then pressed his tongue against the sensitive spot and did something he was sure she'd never experienced before.

"Cum," he hissed in parseltongue.

The effect was immediate as she shrieked in pleasure, cumming hard. Her fluids splashed over his eager mouth, and he greedily drank down what he could as she continued to writhe atop him. He held onto her hips to keep her steady and pushed his tongue inside her quivering hole, vibrating it against the sensitive flesh inside. Her keening wail turned into a warbled whimper as the pleasure continued to course through her in wave after mind-melting wave. Eventually, he relented, and as she slumped forward, he caught her and carefully moved her to the side.

"Mother...fucker…" Susan panted, shaking like a leaf.

With her face still red and a sheen of sweat across her otherwise creamy, pale skin, she'd never looked more beautiful to him, and he smiled as he softly caressed her still-twitching form.

"To answer your obvious question, parseltongue," Harry said.

"That…" Susan trailed off, her eyes widening as she recalled the hissing sound she'd heard before she lost her mind. "That's what we were all scared of back in second year?"

"Mmhmm," Harry replied.

"Hmm, well, I'll just have to make it up to you for being such a bitch that year," Susan said. "I can deepthroat this gorgeous cock again later, but right now, I want to ride you."

"Keep talking like that, and you'll never be rid of me," Harry chuckled, and she grinned.

Pushing him back, she straddled him and kissed him deeply, not minding that she could taste herself on his tongue at all. As the two kissed passionately, she reached down to grab his cock and, after taking a second to line herself up, sank down to the base in a single movement.

"Holy shit," Harry hissed, amazed at how well she took him.

Her tight, slick inner walls felt amazing around his cock as they clung to him, and she clenched her eyes shut as she enjoyed the feeling of being stretched by his girth. Harry went still, happy to give her a moment to get used to him, even if she did manage to take him surprisingly easily, and was surprised himself when he felt her fluttering and squeezing around him.

"You like that?" Susan asked, opening her eyes and grinning wickedly at the look on his face. "I've trained my whole body, Harry, including my pussy."

"Fuck me," Harry groaned as she continued to squeeze her inner muscles around his cock.

"This is the other reason that I've rarely had use for men," Susan said. "No one's ever managed to last with me. Do you think you'll be any different?"

He grinned at openly challenging him and said, "I think I've already proved that I'm no normal man."

"True," Susan replied. "I guess I just need to find out if you're as good with your cock as you are with your wand and your tongue."

Without another word, she placed her hands on his chest and began riding him hard. She squeezed tightly each time she rose up along his cock and relaxed when she descended back down, milking him in a way he'd rarely ever experienced. He could see why most men would fail to last with her, but luckily for him, he wasn't most men. As her breasts began to bounce from the force of her riding him, he craned his head up and caught one of her nipples between his lips.
"Oh fuck," Susan sighed, and Harry grinned.

"Oh, Susan?" Harry asked, grinning devilishly. "You know those inner muscles you mentioned?"

"Yeah?" Susan asked.

Leaning in, Harry whispered, "I had heard of them before."

Susan's eyes widened as he grinned at her, and then she cried out as he began thrusting up into her in time with her movements, pounding her pussy.

"Holy fuck!" she cried out as he grazed one of her nipples with his teeth.

"Thanks to my work strengthening them, I can last pretty much indefinitely," Harry rumbled, reaching down to stroke her clit.

"Staying power, a big cock, and your tongue vibrates?" Susan asked, laughing lightly. "I hope you're planning on staying in Britain for a while."

Harry grinned up at her and said, "I could be convinced."

He brushed against a particularly sensitive spot inside her, and she cried out in bliss. He had been with a fair number of women in the past, but none had been quite as athletic as Susan. Her hips were a blur as she rode him hard, and her moans grew louder as she went. She was unrelenting, but as she went on and as a sheen of sweat began to form on her gorgeous skin, she began to falter a little. As her movements grew erratic and her moans turned to staccato cries, he knew she was getting close and flipped her onto her back.

"I don't usually let men be on top," Susan said, her eyes narrowing.

"How about if you haven't cum within a minute, you get to ride me for the rest of the night?" Harry asked.

"No parseltongue?" Susan asked.

"No parseltongue," Harry replied. "I can't say no snake, though."

Susan rolled her eyes and snorted at the bad joke, only to cry out and grab the sheets above her head as he started fucking her as hard as she had fucked him. He grabbed her legs and moved them up to his shoulders as he fucked her with hard, deep thrusts, searching for a spot near the back of her pussy that he knew would make her scream. As he changed the angle of his thrusts a few times, and paid careful attention, it didn't take him long to find what he was looking for.

"Ahh fuck!" Susan screamed as the head of his cock slipped inside a small opening near her cervix. "What in the gah!"

Enjoying the feeling of having his glans enveloped by the spongy flesh of her fornix, he grinned at her reaction and began hitting that spot with his every deep thrust. She let out a scream each time, looking shocked by the sheer intensity of what she was feeling, and it wasn't long before he felt her start fluttering involuntarily around his cock.

"FUCK!" Susan absolutely shrieked as she came hard, her back arching off the bed as her whole body went taut.

A gush of fluid sprayed out of her quivering cunt, soaking his balls. Harry groaned at the feeling of her cumming around him, amazed by just how much stronger she felt than other women. Knowing that he'd be able to get hard again quickly enough, he let go with a loud groan, cumming deep inside her. The two of them clung to each other as their orgasms overwhelmed them, lost in the pleasure of it.

His orgasm ended first, and he caught himself on his forearms, holding himself up to avoid crushing the still-writhing woman under him. With some effort, he managed to pull out of her and roll over. She immediately went with him, resting her head on his chest and clinging to him like a liferaft.

"Merlin's...balls," Susan panted, sounding exhausted.

"That just about...sums it up," Harry panted, laughing.

Susan looked up at him with dazed, unfocused eyes and smiled. The two of them took a moment to recover, basking in the afterglow together. When her breathing returned to normal, Susan sat up, brushing her long red hair out of her face.

"Was that under a minute?" she asked.

"Hmm?" Harry asked, not immediately getting what she meant. When he realized she was talking about how quickly he'd gotten her off, he just laughed and said, "It's not like I set a stopwatch."

"So we can't say for sure," Susan murmured, grinning.

"You can ride me for round two if I can fuck you from behind for round three," Harry offered.

"How many rounds do you think you could go for?" Susan asked, eyeing his rapidly hardening cock.

"With how you look, I think I could go all night," Harry replied, looking her gorgeous body up and down.

Susan shivered and said, "I think you and I are going to get along swimmingly."

Without another word, she grabbed his cock and swallowed him to the hilt, making him moan loudly. He got the sense that sex with Susan was going to end up being a permanent competition between them for as long as they continued sleeping together. As his fingers snaked into her hair and he groaned at the pleasure of her sinful little mouth, he thought that that was perfectly okay with him.