Compilation of Hinny Works

by LegendDairy

I've got too many Hinny one-shots, and there are more coming. So they are all going to be posted here instead of individual stories. And Harry/Ginny pairings only, no others. Will be updated sporadically.

95. Cloak and Dagger

AN- This one is for Compuncules

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Cloak and Dagger

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Harry poked his head around the corner to make sure the coast was clear. The last of the after-school clubs should have cleared out by now but there was still the custodial staff to deal with. The janitor, Filch, he was downright hostile towards all the students, and seemed to think that Harry was responsible for getting himself in all the sticky situations, sometimes they were literally sticky situations, that he wound up in.

He was an easy target; because, as his tormenters liked to point out repeatedly, he didn't have 'mummy or daddy' to go running to. He also found himself regularly underfed and having trouble keeping up with everyone else, physically and mentally.

Sixteen-years-old and still only around nine stone, meanwhile he'd grown to nearly five foot ten.

He was supposed to be at his group home right now, not lurking in the school hallways after hours on this mission of his. What he'd done though was wait until his name was checked off as having been at the group home then paid off his bunk mate with the promise of provisions to cover for him. His mission tonight was to get into the cafeteria and steal food and other supplies that the school had that would make his and several other kids at the home lives easier. They had their necessities covered at the group home but having a stash of food or something they could trade with for other supplies, like decent razors and shaving cream, that would make a difference.

His first stop was to sneak into the guys change room and see if there were any unlocked lockers.

Carefully, he snuck around every corner, keeping his ears peeled for any sounds of movement. He got in the changeroom and found a few lockers he was able to open. Inside them were a few hygiene supplies, some condoms and what added up to seventeen pounds on loose notes and coins.

Next, he went into the girls changeroom and struck gold with several power bars stashed in the first open locker he found. There was also a decent amount of pounds and pence around that added nicely to his wallet. The captain's office wasn't locked either, so he took a look through the drawers there and didn't find anything worthwhile in the desk, but in the file cabinet there was a bottle of Jack Daniels that was still three quarters full.

Harry added it to his backpack and left the gym area to head for the cafeteria.

Still there was no sound through the hallways and he made it in and out of the kitchen with plenty of food to tide him and his mates over for a week.

He checked all the classroom doors along his way from the cafeteria to the nurse's station. If he could get his hands on a few upcoming tests, then he might be able to get his friend Denis to sell them to some of the dumber guys in the class. No such luck though because the doors were all locked.

The nurses station wasn't locked though.

After stocking up on antiseptic and band aids he checked around for his best method of escape back to the group home.

A window would do, seeing as all the doors out were locked. All of the windows looked to be too high off the ground though. He'd only just stolen and drunk a carton of milk, there was no way the calcium had automatically made his bones resistant to breaking from a fall onto the flagstone that surrounded the perimeter of the school like a shale moat.

The library was the last place he had access to with windows and there wasn't a tree around outside of them for him to climb onto and get down to solid ground.

There was a vent though, and the vent was large enough for him to fit into and hide there until the school opened in the morning. There was supposed to be a football practice that began at 7 am. It would be just enough time to get back to the group home before morning call was taken and it was his best option.

He climbed up onto a chair and unscrewed the screws and popped off the cover before heaving his backpack into it and looking back once more at the library and all the books. It wouldn't hurt to get some reading in before falling asleep. So, he took the first book on the closest shelf in the fiction section and climbed carefully into the vent, managing to refit the covering just so, so that it wouldn't fall off while he was in there.

Harry rifled through his bag and felt around for his flashlight. Turning it on he saw it was a book he had read before that he'd grabbed at random, a fantasy story about a hero and a villain set in medieval times.

He didn't know when exactly he'd fallen asleep, his dream had involved him being the hero in the story he'd just been reading, except he was rescuing a maiden, not fighting a villain.

When he awoke it wasn't because of bells or an alarm or light coming in through the slats in the vent, it was because the aluminum venting he was laying on was vibrating. Harry blinked and looked around in the darkness, reaching his hand out and finding his flashlight again he shone it out towards the library, then looked back behind him and didn't know what he was looking it; it was a swirling purple and black vortex that was making the venting around him shake more aggressively with each passing second, and it was expanding and coming closer to him.

Fear gripped him for a moment before he grabbed his things and shoved them in his bag, attempting to army crawl his way out of the vent as soon as possible.

He didn't make it though.

The solid surface beneath him gave way and he fell and kept on falling.

In fact, the sensation of falling continued for so long that the fear that had gripped him initially evaporated away into a feeling of confusion and wonder. Confusion about how he could have possibly still been falling and wondering if he had been crushed by the building and this was what death felt like.

If this was death, then it wasn't so bad. Feeling-wise anyhow; if he had to go on for always and eternity surrounded by darkness, feeling as though he were skydiving without a parachute, that could get very tiring.

Finally, he heard a sound. It was a girl's voice; he just couldn't make out the words at first. She was chanting something repeatedly. "Co- sa- sh- u- hero. Come- sa- show- u- hero. Come sages, show us our hero."

'What the fuck?' Harry thought.

Then he stopped falling and hit the ground.

Hard.

"Damn it!" he exclaimed.

"It worked!" another voice exclaimed, a male voice.

"See! I told you it would! Oh, this is so exciting. This is the first time I've tried to do a summoning all on my own. I've read all about it and talked to people who have performed the rites before. I can't believe it. Oh, can you help him up? I hope he speaks our language. There is a chance he is from another place entirely that doesn't even know of our language. Maybe he can speak Elfish though, I know that one, obviously, and I've a bit of Troll that I know, Mermish would be a nightmare though."

"Hermione, calm down. Just give us a minute to get him sorted, alright?" the guy told her.

Harry squinted at his surroundings and felt someone lifting him under his arm.

"Well, he looks human at least. That will help with blending in," the same man announced.

"His clothes will need to be changed though. Have you got a spare tunic for him? We can have Gin fashion one out of something," the girl named Hermione said.

"Who are you?" Harry asked them, rubbing his eyes with his palms and then blinking repeatedly at his surroundings. It looked like he was in a cave and there was some kind of cauldron floating in the air over a blue fire, with something inside it that was like liquid green light.

"Oh, excellent! He speaks English! Hello," the girl stepped towards him, and Harry took a step back from her. The enthusiasm in her voice was hard for him to comprehend. People didn't usually get excited to see him.

She was at least a foot shorter than him with large brown eyes and bushy, curly hair that was weighted down with some kind of chain like hair accessory. Something about her features didn't look right though, she looked like a life-sized rendering of an animated character.

And she had pointed ears!

"Are you and Elf?" he asked in confusion.

"You're familiar with my kind?! Are there Elfish persons where you come from? And where is it exactly that you come from? Your garb is entirely foreign to me. What should we call you, hero?"

"Hero?" he repeated.

"Your name is simply 'Hero'?" she asked, tilting her head and staring at him unblinkingly.

"What? No, my name is Harry." He turned his head away from the elf in front of him and to his right and saw that the guy that had helped him to his feet was wearing chainmail and leather. "Are you supposed to be some sort of knight?"

"I am!" he said proudly. "Knight Ronald of the Kings service." He then did some sort of salute in the form of clutching a dagger upright in his hand and placing it over his heart. "You can call me Ron though. And this is my wife, Hermione."

"Wife?! Aren't you a bit young for that?" Ron looked to be the same age as him, there was no way.

"Yes," Hermione grinned. "We were hand fast on his fourteenth year and married a year later. Now we are on our quest to find our hero to assist us in leading the charge against the evil Voldemort and free the northern Kingdom of Hogwarts from his tyranny. And now here you are!" She exclaimed this by jumping up and down once and clapping her hands together. "I will tell you our roles; my husband is the knight, our soldier and guide, I am the sage, the wise one, and Gin," she gestured into the darkness on the other side of the cave where there stood another person that was covered in a cloak, their back facing him and their hands working furiously with something, "is our servant."

"And now we are four with our hero," Ron proclaimed. "It took longer than we expected to get you here, but now that you are, we have to plan." He gave Harry a clap on the back that nearly had him falling forward onto the dirt again.

"Er, hold on a minute," Harry stopped them. "I haven't got a clue what's going on here. One minute I'm in a library, the next I'm falling for what felt like an eternity, now I'm here, in some video game type world and you're calling me a hero. I'm not a hero, I'm just… me."

"You're not a hero?" Ron asked him, sounding baffled, then turned to look at Hermione.

Hermione looked back at her husband with wide eyes. "I know I did the spell right! You know I would never mess something like this up." She turned back to him then. "Are you resourceful?"

"Well… yeah," Harry admitted.

"Are you brave?"

He opened his mouth to say 'no', then thought about what he'd just spent his evening doing and how he had no regrets about it. "Yeah."

"Do you wish to protect people from harm?"

"Well… doesn't everybody?" he argued.

"Have you got someone to lose where you came from?"

Harry stared at her because of that question. He had friends, he had people looking out for him and vice versa, but the way things were with his situation, orphaned and in a rotating world of foster kids and underpaid staff that had no time to put in more than the minimum effort.

He shook his head. No, he didn't have anyone that would be putting out an amber alert for him. If he went missing then he would just be one of the many teenagers that ran from the system.

"Then you are the hero we are looking for," Hermione said happily.

The person on the other side of the cave came over to him and held out clothes, ones that it looked like they had just fashioned from fabric that was laying around.

"They will fit you perfectly," Hermione encouraged. "Gin doesn't make mistakes."

"You want me to change my clothes?" Harry asked them incredulously. "Right here in front of you?"

"There is a curtain erected," Ron pointed out for him. There was a kind of Chinese paper folding curtain thing in the corner of the cave.

In a dreamlike state, Harry went towards the curtain, taking his new clothes and his backpack with him. He had no idea what was going on, but if this was a dream it was incredibly detailed.

"So, just how, er, vast is this Kingdom of Ho… er, what's the Kingdom called again?" he asked from behind the curtain as he stuck his clothes in his backpack.

"Howgarts," Hermione replied. "The land stretches from sea to sea all around and has several climate changes. My people inhabit the Western coast while Ron's inhabit the East. There are mountains separating the North and South, each with their own stretches of forest and plains. Each can provide for its people on either side. While the Kingdom of Hogwarts may rule it all, the Evil Lord Voldemort started his own band of people wanting to rule themselves in the North, and they've been horrible about it. They have now captured the princess of the South."

Harry rolled his eyes, of course there was a princess to rescue, that was the whole point behind Mario and Zelda, the two video games he was most familiar with.

"She has now fallen under his spell given the years that have passed since her capture and is advocating for Lord Voldemort's rule in the North."

"Would it be so bad if he did rule the North?" Harry called out after he'd managed to get the tunic over his head. He'd expected it to feel more like burlap and scratchy, but it was soft and comfortable, like fleece.

"He would never stop there," Ron chimed in. "The people of the North have started abandoning their homes and seeking refuge in the South, so we know that he isn't a good ruler. There have been tales of his men burning the crops of the farmers who refuse to pay his taxes. Taxes that aren't imposed by the Kingdom of Hogwarts."

"Farmers don't pay taxes?" He was taking a Social Studies class and had just learned about how the taxing system worked. Taxes were needed to run the government and build roads and fund the education system.

"They do," Hermione told him, "but only on the sale of their crops. I don't know how Voldemort will expect to get anything done if he does take over completely. He is also bigoted against our kind."

"What kind is that?" Harry asked, slinging his backpack over his shoulder after fishing through the bag to grab a power bar.

Hermione appeared to be happy that he had asked the question, Ron was staring at the power bar in interest, and the servant, who was still covered, rested nearly out of sight against the cave wall facing the three of them.

"Anyone non-human and inter-race couples," Hermione explained. "He has strong beliefs that each kind should marry and breed with its own."

"Oh, that's bollocks," Harry shrugged. "Sounds like he just needs to get educated. I've learned about this in Biology. There are chromosomes that each race carries, some weaker than others, and when a baby is made it will likely take the stronger of the chromosomes from the mother or fathers' side and wind up being less susceptible to illness and such, probably smarter too. Where I come from there are mixed race people everywhere. But we don't have Elves, they're all humans, but all different colors and backgrounds."

Hermione's enormous eyes grew even wider with excitement. "You are schooled then! Please, I have so many questions for you."

She then went on to ask them all, at a rate much faster than he could ever possibly keep up with. Harry exchanged a look with Ron who appeared used to his wife's behavior. Then Harry held up a hand, "how about you write them down and I'll do my best to answer. If we've got a… mission right now, then maybe we should get on with it?"

The servant made a sudden movement and Harry noticed they were starting to assemble all of the items that had been brought into the cave, packing them away in some sort of never-ending satchel that kept expanding and shrinking as the items were stored.

"We will find a safe place to make camp closer to the next town. Tonight we will go into the town and talk to the townspeople about how best to cross the mountain range," Ron told him.

Harry looked down at his shoes. They were just sneakers but had a fair about of tread left on them.

"We'll see about getting you new shoes as well. Those she can't make," Hermione assured him.

"She?" Harry asked, then realized Hermione was referring to their servant. He hadn't been able to tell that Gin was female, her cloak didn't display her gender. The grace that she moved around the cave though, it was swift, like a dancer.

The cauldron was left where it was after the fire was extinguished. Hermione explained that her people had hidden sanctuaries like the cave that were all over the Kingdom, you just needed to know where to look for them, and they used them while on their travels to perform their magic.

She explained this all to him as they climbed out of the cave and the sunlight came bursting all around him. It was like he was transported once again. He now found himself with his companions standing in the countryside beside a rock wall separating two farm fields. He looked back at the rock wall and couldn't see where the cave entrance was.

"It's strange for me too," Ron told him. "It is the elf magic that tells her where these hidden gems are."

"Was it her elf magic that told her you were a hidden gem as well?" Harry joked. Ron grinned in appreciation of the humor.

"That food item you had before. Is it all you need for a meal?"

"No. It's just a snack. It's supposed to give you more energy. I'd been sleeping before I came here. I'm still not convinced I'm not dreaming."

"Judging by your clothing when you arrived, I'm not sure I would believe your world real either."

Harry nodded and they began following behind Hermione who was leading the way to what Harry hoped would be a road. It smelled like it had rained earlier and going through the grass was making his runners wet.

His feet being uncomfortable like this, it was too real a sensation for this to be a dream. The sun on his face, the weight on his shoulders, the tall grass brushing against the back of his hands as he walked.

"How long do you figure it will be before we get where we're supposed to be going?" Harry asked him and adjusted his backpack strap. It was starting to feel like it was weighed down with bricks.

"Likely an hour more until the village and a tavern, after which we will make camp."

"Er, right. And how about to Lord what's-his-names fortress, or castle, or whatever? How long until we find that?"

"That is something we will find out in the next town. The mountain passing is the part we are the most unsure of. Could be two or three days, maybe more. Once we're on the other side of the mountain we'll have to be careful about who we talk to."

"And there's no other way to get there? No flying machines or automobiles?"

"No… what? Did you say flying? Like a bird? What are automobiles? Are they like mechanical horses?"

"Er, do you have carriages here?"

"Yes."

"Well, an automobile is like a carriage with an engine that doesn't need a horse, and it can go really fast."

"Incredible. And the flying machines?"

"They're like metal boats that can go through the air with really strong engines and carry a lot of people."

"But… how?"

They climbed over a stone wall and were on a road. Harry pulled his backpack around to his front so he could grab a piece of paper. "So, it's like this," and he started folding it into a paper airplane, then stood still so he could throw it. Ron came to a stop to watch it soar. Harry was surprised at how well it soared. Usually when he made one and threw it, it would soar for a moment and then nosedive into the ground.

"That's amazing! And they make them large enough for people to ride?"

Hermione raced after the paper airplane and started examining it with glee.

"Yeah. Well, they come in all different sizes. Some of them are for only one person, some for 6-10 people. I think the largest one though can hold up to 600 people. I've never been on one though."

"We haven't got anything like that. Just ships and horses. Do you have ships where you come from?" Ron wondered for his own assurance.

"Yes, we have ships. I also live in a place surrounded by sea."

From there Ron and Hermione started asking him more and more questions about his world; about people, animals, technology and education. It had gotten to the point that he was desperately thirsty and his voice was growing hoarse from all the talking.

Thankfully, they spotted the town they had been headed towards in the distance and he was given a break.

Harry didn't have nearly as many questions for them as they did for him. This new world he was surrounded in simply reminded him of the Middle Ages, but with magic and elves and a villain. Well, the villain part was pretty accurate for the Middle Ages. His history classes had been full of tales of war and blood baths. It was amazing the human race was still around after all the horrible things that people had been doing to one another since the dawn of their existence.

"Should I be going into this Tavern with you?" Harry asked Ron.

"Of course! We need to eat, and we will buy a meal for someone else as well, that will be the best way to get information."

"What if there isn't anyone that knows how to get through the pass?"

Hermione took care of that question. "With how close we are to the mountain pass, everyone here will either have travelled it, or will have spoken to someone who travelled it."

"After a few pints we should have everyone giving us enough stories that we can piece together the truth," Ron assured him.

Harry observed the village more closely as they drew nearer. It was strange though, one moment they were seeing it in the distance, then suddenly they were walking into it, as though two or three miles had just evaporated.

The buildings were made of either timber or stone and each of them had thatched roofs. There weren't many buildings either.

He wasn't sure what the point of this village was. There didn't look to be anything around for industry or agriculture, and he knew that was how villages were established. There weren't any bodies of water that he could see either, so fishing was out.

"Why is this village here?" he asked Hermione finally. "Is it just because it is the closest to the border?"

"Closest to the mountain," she corrected. "They make building blocks from the stone." She then brought her hood up over her hair and made sure that her ears were tucked out of sight.

"Are they prejudiced?" Harry asked her.

"Many are untrusting of my kind. We put more stock in educating than humans do, so we have a greater understanding of how things work, including people. Some humans think that means our magic allows us to read their minds."

"When really you're just reading their facial expressions and drawing conclusions," Harry nodded.

Hermione appeared pleased to have heard that.

As they went through the village following Ron's lead, Harry noticed that there were a few more people covered up the way that Gin was. He looked behind him and saw that Gin was still there. She hadn't said a single word and her footsteps couldn't be heard. She was like a shadow. He had almost forgotten about her.

Ron reached the Tavern and pulled the door open, holding it for everyone. Harry took a seat at the far end of a long table and drank greedily when a cup was placed down in front of him, sputtering a bit in surprise when he realized it was ale, not water. He drank it down though, and his throat felt infinitely better.

Ron had spoken to the barman who sent over plates of food. There were four plates, but the fourth person had never sat down, and Ron simply picked up her plate and handed it out towards the far end of the bar where Gin was standing.

"Why doesn't she sit down with us?"

His two other travel companions were surprised at the suggestion.

"Because she is the servant," Ron stated in confusion.

"Servants need to keep watch," Hermione explained. "She can't keep watch with her back to half of the room." She then indicated around the perimeter of the room and Harry noticed there were four other people that were covered up completely and lurking in the shadows.

Harry shrugged and started filling up on his food and drink, feeling both fat and lazy by the time he was done.

He wasn't used to feeling completely full after a meal, and the alcohol had made him sleepy.

Ron was going around the room the whole time they were there and talking to several different people, when he would come back to the table and tell his wife what he'd learned, then she would go off and start talking to people as well. It also looked like she was… flirting with them?

"Are you okay with that?" Harry asked Ron and pointed to Hermione, who had her foot up on the bench beside some man, adjusting her boot with her cloak hung open and her dress pulled up enough to display a good amount of leg.

"I know she is faithful, if that's what you're asking. And if any of the men get funny ideas and try to act on it, she can take care of herself. Or Gin can take care of it for her," he added with a shrug.

He was about to ask what Ron meant by Gin taking care of a situation on Hermione's behalf, but then Hermione came back to the table.

"It looks like the biggest issues we'll have are with Trolls and bandits," Hermione stated when she came back. "I've another crude sketch of how to get across," and she handed over a ripped piece of paper and added it to their pile she and Ron had gotten from various people.

"Daytime or nighttime?" Ron asked her.

"Daytime."

"Same conclusion," Ron said to her, then turned to Harry. "Looks like we'll keep heading towards the mountain and make camp at the base. Hermione will be able to call up her magic to make it hard for someone to find us."

"Cool, like a cloaking charm," Harry said happily from the drink.

He wasn't feeling as happy an hour later when they had finally found some place to sleep for the night in a field; he was too tired to feel anything other than grumpy. His feet hurt now, and he knew it was because his last 'night of sleep' was interrupted around the time that it had begun.

He didn't know if he would wake up back in the vent at the library, but he hoped not. This had all been an interesting experience and he wanted to see where it led, even if it was just a dream.

Ron and he got two tents erected while Gin started a fire and Hermione walked around the area chanting something under her breath.

There were only two tents though.

"Am I supposed to share with Gin?"

"You don't have to," Ron dismissed. "She can sleep by the fire."

"What?! No. She's been walking just as much as we have, and she had to stand all through dinner. It's fine, I'll share. I was just asking, that's all."

He'd never slept that close to a woman before. He was curious what she looked like too; even making the fire she hadn't removed her hood, and her hands were still in gloves the whole time. She also hadn't made a single sound, not said a single word the whole time they'd travelled.

Once Hermione was done with walking the perimeter, she came to the fire and chanted something else and made a sweeping movement with both of her arms in the direction of the entrance to the tents.

"There," she exclaimed happily. "Now the tents are warm and no one will be able to find us."

"Cool," Harry offered by way of congratulations with a sleepy smile. "I'm going to lay down then."

The inside of the tent was small, but there was a bit of extra cushioning on the floor of it and he'd gathered up a sweater of his that had been in his backpack for his pillow; It was comfortably warm as well. He lay down and listened for a bit for Gin coming in, but he didn't hear her at all and drifted off to sleep, wondering if they had flies or the like that would find their way into the tent.

When he awoke the next morning, it was to find that the entrance to the tent had been closed. He rolled over and saw that Gin was on the other side of the tent with her back to him, still sleeping.

Harry sat up and leaned over towards her, trying to be as quiet as possible.

The tent was allowing some light to come through from the day that was breaking over the horizon, but it was still pretty dark, and Gin still had her cloak on with the hood pulled up, but there was some of her hair that had become visible. It was long, and even in the faint light he could tell that it was red, like Ron's.

She made a slight movement and he quickly pulled back so he was properly on his side. It wasn't a large tent though. He would have been able to simply roll over in his sleep and put his arm around her, that's how small it was.

Not wanting to get caught staring at her, he struggled with the tent flap and managed to get out of it. He took another look around their tent and didn't see his backpack there anymore.

The fire was still burning, and Gin's bag was resting against a log beside it. His backpack wasn't anywhere to be seen though, so he drew the conclusion that it too had been put in Gin's bag with everything else.

He pulled open her bag and went in search of his own, having to bury his arm completely inside of it and feel around, accidentally touching several sharp things that made him wince.

"Come on," he grumbled. "Stupid never-ending bag of holding. Where's my fucking backpack?"

He was still struggling with it two minutes later when a rock rolled across the ground and gently hit his shoe. Harry looked up and saw Gin was now standing in front of their tent with her arms crossed. Her hair was tucked away and she was completely covered up again, but he could somehow tell she was glaring at him.

"I'm just trying to find my bag," he explained.

She came over to him, took the bag and put her hand in, just her hand, not her whole arm, and retrieved his bag.

"Oh," he blushed. "Cheers."

He opened his bag and started making breakfast for them all out of the items he'd pilfered from the school. He offered a peanut butter and jelly sandwich to Gin, who took it with hesitation. He made a show of eating his own, like he was proving to her he hadn't poisoned it, then rubbed his stomach and said 'mmm'.

The movement of her shoulders in response to his actions made him blush, she was laughing at him.

Soundlessly laughing at him.

She did take the food then and started eating it under her hood though.

He didn't know if there was some kind of magic that kept her face in the dark while she wore it, or what the deal was. The other servants at the tavern last night had been wearing the same kind of cloaks in different colors and he hadn't been able to see any of their faces either.

Once Gin had finished her breakfast, she took down their tent, and they both paused as they heard girlish giggles coming from the tent that Ron and Hermione were still in.

It was still weird to Harry that the two of them were married. They were so young. And they'd already been married for at least two years.

"Have you been travelling with them for long?" Harry asked Gin once she had the tent stored away in her bag and had sat down to stoke the fire.

She took the stick and drew a 'Y' and an 'N' in the dirt and pointed at the 'Y'.

"Are you allowed to talk?"

She pointed at the 'N'.

"Ever?"

Apparently, that wasn't a clear enough question because she didn't move the stick.

"Is there something that can be done to let you talk?"

She pointed to the 'Y'.

"Do you want that to happen?"

Again, she pointed to the 'Y', but followed it up with the 'N'.

"Is it Ron or Hermione that commanded you not to talk?" Harry hoped that the answer would be no. He liked the other two already and hoped they wouldn't do something to indenture someone to them and forbid them from talking.

Thankfully, she pointed to the 'N'.

"Is it a rule for servants?"

It was a 'Y' response and he felt relieved.

"So, in order to talk again you will have to, what, work your way out of servitude?"

The stick didn't move.

"Run away?"

'N'.

"Er," he looked back at the tent that was still erect and had some muffled sounds coming out of. "Get married?"

'Y'.

Harry frowned down at the letter 'Y'. "But how can you get married to someone when they aren't allowed to see you? I didn't even know you were female until Ron mentioned it." If he was forced to marry someone, he would want to know what they looked like at the very least. Although, he knew there were some cultures and religions where the bride and groom didn't see each other until the day of the wedding. "That would be why you pointed to the 'no' as well then."

'Y'.

Ron and Hermione emerged from their tent then and Gin got up to take it down. Harry wasn't sure why, but something told him he should stamp out the letters drawn in the dirt.

"It looks like a beautiful morning," Ron announced.

Harry just stared at him incredulously. Clearly, he and his wife had already enjoyed a certain part of their morning, now he was boasting about it?

"I've got some breakfast for you," Harry said, moving on to a safer subject, and started assembling more peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

Ron wound up eating two of them, Hermione ate half of one, explaining that she didn't need as much food as humans did, but that she found it delicious all the same.

Once they were fully packed up and ready to leave, Harry started asking more questions. "What exactly am I supposed to be bringing to this quest? Are you expecting me to… I dunno, kill the villain? What was his name again?"

"Voldemort, and no, it isn't solely your job," Hermione stated. "He must be brought down and the Princess returned. We are sure she is under some kind of spell. It is the only explanation for how she has changed all of her views."

"She couldn't just be rebelling against the King?" Harry saw a lot of that at school; girls with dyed black hair and too much make-up or wearing clothes that barely met the school dress code and claiming their parents just 'didn't understand'

"Why would anyone rebel against him?! He is a great man!" Ron nearly exploded.

Harry put his hands up. "Whoa, hey, I don't know the King. He might be the greatest person on the planet but I don't know him from the bartender back at the tavern that was staring at Hermione's leg last night, so ease up."

"He's right," Hermione told Ron, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder. She then turned to Harry, "King Albus has been a great purveyor of peace in the lands. Once he took over, his first order of business was to find ways to bring an end to feuds between families and end prejudice. He still has a bit of work to do on the prejudice end, but he is the reason that Ron and I were bound to each other, and we are happy for it. Meanwhile, Voldemort thrives on hostility, which we told you about yesterday. He is making people miserable and they are having to go to inconceivable lengths to try and afford to keep their land and life."

Harry nodded, "okay, I get that, but back to the 'needing to kill him' bit. I don't know how to use a sword or a bow and arrow. I don't know how you're expecting me to help with it. I've never killed anything, let alone a person."

Hermione gave him a kind look. "The magic wouldn't have brought you here if you weren't going to be instrumental in bringing him down," she assured him.

Harry wasn't so sure. His escapade at the school, snagging all the food and stealing money from open lockers, that had been his first time doing that. Whatever it was they were expecting him to do once they found this Voldemort guy, he didn't think he was up for it.

It was a long and tiring day, there wasn't much talking amongst them, not that Gin ever did talk, because they were putting all of their energy into the climb up the mountain. Harry had expected it to grow colder as they ascended, but it didn't. Then, when the sun began to set, they set up camp once more.

Hermione put up her spells, Gin started a fire with firewood that she'd had in her pack, and he and Ron set up the tents once more.

"Today wasn't as bad as I had feared," Ron announced when his wife was seated beside him again.

"Perhaps we won't encounter anyone on the pass. There aren't many people with a purpose to use it anymore. Those who wanted to flee have fled and there isn't any trade going on anymore, that I know of."

"There's still the trolls," Ron pointed out.

"They aren't giants," she rolled her eyes at him. "Trolls can be a very peaceful bunch. All we have to do is not disturb them."

Harry was too tired to listen to their bickering as it continued, he just ate the food Gin had handed him and climbed into the tent for sleep.

His legs had been bothering him before he went to bed, when he woke up in the morning they felt stiff and sore. He rolled over onto his back and let out a groan at the tension in them from the movement.

Gin was in the tent beside him again and she sat up at his noise.

"Sorry," he whispered. "My legs are complaining from the exercise yesterday."

A moment later he felt her hand on his left leg, just below his knee, the other went to the underside, pulling on it so that he would bend his leg. She then moved around in front of him and pushed his bent leg toward his chest to stretch it out and he let out another groan.

"Oh, why does that feel so good?"

She pushed against that leg a few times, rocking it against his chest, then switched to the other leg and it felt just as good when she did that. Then she took both his bent legs and curled them against his chest, pressing against them with her own chest for the right amount of pressure.

She repeated this three times and he felt worlds better after that.

"I think after that I owe you another breakfast," he joked, and he swore her shoulders straightened up as though in great interest. She headed out of the tent and retrieved his bag for him quickly enough anyhow.

Their second day climbing the mountain was just as arduous as the first, but they finally crested and began their descent when Harry noticed that Gin was having more trouble than usual keeping up with them.

"Did you want me to carry the bag?" he offered.

And, of course, Gin didn't answer with anything more than her hooded face remaining in his direction.

"What was that?" Ron called up to him from where he was a few feet ahead.

"Uh, just, it's really hot out and Gin's been carrying the bag the whole time. I offered to take a turn carrying it is all."

Ron and Hermione exchanged a look before both turning their eyes skyward and then surveying the rocky terrain around them.

"I suppose," Ron started slowly.

"It might be what's kept them away thus far," Hermione added warningly to her husband.

Harry didn't know what the big deal was. He'd picked up the bag before, it wasn't that heavy, but on top of the cloak thing she was always wearing it might have been uncomfortable. Wasn't the cloak the sign of her being a servant? How would his carrying the bag change anything? And how would her being the one to carry the bag keep people… or Trolls… away from them?

"Them thinking we don't have a servant and trying something could be to our advantage. We could question them," Ron thought aloud. Hermione gave him a thoughtful nod and Ron turned back to Gin. "You can remove your cloak, then give the bag to Harry."

The three from this land remained still for a moment while Harry looked back and forth between them all, wondering what the big deal was. Gin finally gave a nod and started with placing the bag on the ground at her feet and pulling off her gloves, then undoing the knots at her side that kept her cloak in place. Once they were undone and the cloak hung loosely, she pulled her hood back and took off the cloak entirely.

He didn't know what he was expecting her to look like, but not someone who was younger than them. She'd been stoic and silent the whole time, he had wondered if she would be an older, meek-looking woman.

She wasn't.

The tunic she wore underneath was like armor, but made of cloth, it showed off her strong arms and compact little body. He'd been right about her hair; she was a red head. Her skin was very pale, but with her being covered in a cloak all the time, that made sense. There were a few freckles here and there, but not nearly as many as Ron had. She had big brown eyes too.

Gin tucked her cloak into the bag and closed it shut, handing it to him. When she finally made eye contact with him, he was struck by how pretty she was.

As she pulled her hand back he noticed a reflection of light off of a necklace she wore. It was a very thin chain and it looked like it was on a bit too tight around the base of her neck. He fought the urge to fix it so it sat higher up on her neck where it would likely be more comfortable.

"Alright then," Ron started, sounding awkward, "onward we go."

They continued in silence again down the mountain and Harry kept stopping himself from checking behind him for Gin's progress. He was damning himself for being more concerned about her now that he knew what she looked like than before when she was just, for lack of better terminology, a Sherpa.

He was grateful when Ron got a bit farther ahead and he and Hermione were close enough to talk quietly without Ron overhearing.

"Are they related?" Harry asked her.

Her nod was almost imperceptible.

"Sister?"

Another nod.

"Why is she his servant then?"

Hermione answered him by talking out of the corner of her mouth, as discreetly as possible. "His father asked him to take her on when we were married. It's another reason why we married so young. All of his other brothers had gone off and gotten themselves servants already or settled somewhere where they didn't need one. Then his father found out about her and told the tale to Ron of his indiscretion that led to her being. He was worried someone else might hire her if she was left at the training facility until she blossomed into womanhood."

That explained why Ron and Gin didn't have a close, sibling-like relationship, but Harry didn't understand the 'training facility' bit.

The 'blossoming into womanhood' bit, he could draw his own conclusions about what Hermione meant by that based on the darker side of the history books he'd read and movies he'd seen about girls becoming women and how that meant they were ready to be brides.

The descent down the mountain was much quicker and less tiring that the previous day had been, but the temperature had remained hot on the North side. Harry's stomach was telling him it was near time to stop for food when they encountered their first bunch of other travelers on the path.

"Well, well, what have we here?!" a man standing in the middle of the group of five men before them questioned.

They had just rounded a large boulder on the path that had obstructed all the men from their view until they were right upon each other, which must have been the intention since none of the five before them looked at all surprised by the sudden appearance of their party.

The five of them looked like they could have done with a bath, or a toothbrush at the very least. They were all slight and had a deranged look in their eyes which was made all the more imposing by how each one of them had a sword or dagger in their hands.

Harry waited a moment for Ron to say something, but he didn't.

"We're just looking to pass," Harry told them. "Let's keep this peaceful, shall we?"

The men gave a chuckle, and one of them had his eyes zeroed in on Hermione. "Is she an elf?"

"Gross!" another proclaimed. "You southerners are all freaks. What about the other one? She an elf too?"

Harry instinctively took a step in front of Gin. "Like I said, we're just looking to pass. Let's not make any mistakes that we'll be regretting later."

The leader took a step towards them. "Judging by his clothes and you being so protective of her, I'm going to go ahead and guess that you lot will be the ones regretting your choices today."

Harry wished he had some sort of weapon that would make him look imposing as well, but all he had were his fists.

He'd tried never to make the first move when it came to bullies at school, mostly out of the hope that they were all talk and no action. That hope had only ever come back to bite him in the arse though. Here and now, he didn't want to make the same choice.

The group of men started moving towards them and as soon as one of them was close enough, Harry punched him in the nose as hard as he could and grabbed for the dagger in the mans hand. He wouldn't let go of it though. Their hands clenched in each other's turned the dagger this way and that until Harry had managed to point it toward the man he was fighting with and someone gave the man a hard push so he fell forwards, sending Harry down onto his back, resulting in the man coming down hard on top of him and being impaled by the dagger that was blade side upwards. Harry scrambled to get out from underneath him and looked back towards the group, only to see that Ron and Hermione were standing off to one side and Gin was the one fighting the other four.

She was swift like a gymnast and giving punches and kicks like a ninja, using their own weapons against them. He stared in awe as she took one man down, then another. Ron stepped in and took care of the third, using his own sword on the man before coming out victorious, but then the fourth grabbed at Gin and pulled her back against him with a dagger at her throat.

"I see now that you have a servant with you!" he growled loudly. "I didn't hear any of you commanding her to fight."

"She isn't a servant!" Ron protested, lying through his teeth.

Now Harry was sure he had missed something, but quickly stood up and interjected himself into the conversation. "That's right." He saw Hermione taking a shaky step towards Ron. "She's… she's my wife."

"Yes," Ron grabbed onto Harry's announcement like a lifeline while Gin's eyes grew wide with bewilderment and outrage. "She is his-"

Then Gin dug her fingernails into the man's hand and twisted his wrist hard so the dagger would point outwards before dropping to her knees and elbowing him hard in the stomach, then gave a swift kick upwards from her crouched position, her hands on the dirt in front of her for support, and the man fell backwards down the rocky pass to their right.

"Wife," Ron finished in awe.

Among the screams of the man that was just thrown off the path there was another sound, a 'chink' of a metal catch releasing.

It was a lot for Harry to take in, there were four bodies on the ground around them and one that had just been thrown to his death. Adrenaline was pumping through his veins as he thought about how any one of their group could be lying dead on the ground right now in place of their attackers. He felt light-headed and needed to lean down and braced his hands on his knees while he waited for the sensation to pass.

When he stood up again, he saw Hermione was pulling all the bodies to the side of the pass to throw them over with the other one and get them out of the way. Ron and Gin were standing and staring at each other for a reason Harry didn't know, so he started helping Hermione and trying not to vomit.

Once they'd pushed the fourth body over, Hermione gave him a consoling pat on the back and stood back at Ron's side, looking to Gin as well.

"You did an amazing job," Harry told Gin, wanting to break the silence. "But what was that about her being a servant and not being commanded to fight?" he asked Ron.

He should have asked Hermione, she was the one that always answered anyhow, and she was ready with an answer for him again. "Servants care for their masters in any way that is needed, they are only allowed to fight, however, if specifically ordered." Hermione gave Ron a pat on the arm. "They aren't supposed to be a blood relation though. That makes the rules of their warfare a bit different."

"It doesn't matter anymore though, does it?" Ron said miserably. "Gin, I'm sorry."

Harry looked between the siblings again and then saw that Gin was holding something in her hand, the necklace that had been wrapped so tightly around her neck. Again, Harry didn't understand the significance of it.

Gin moved slowly towards them, directly towards him, Harry. She took his hand and placed the necklace in it, then folded his fingers closed over it.

"Gin?"

"Ginevra," she corrected. Her voice was soft and lovely, a startling contrast to the warrior he'd just seen she was.

Once again, surprise hit him and he didn't acknowledge the chain she'd placed in his hand, just that she'd spoken. "You're allowed to talk now?"

"I'm not a servant anymore, am I?" she said sadly. "I'm your wife."

"Gin-" Ron started.

"Save it," Gin snapped at him. "I had the situation under control." She glared at Ron then. "You didn't think I could handle one man? When I'd just taken down the others?"

"I- wasn't sure. It looked like he'd gotten the upper hand on you."

"Then you should have just let him kill me, not given me to someone else."

"Hold up!" Harry interjected. "What the fuck is going on? You're some sort of monk-warrior-princess and him simply saying you're my wife mean's it's true?!"

His three travel companions stared at him in confusion. Hermione was the first to speak. "Harry, what is it servants do in your land?"

He struggled for a moment to find the words to answer her. "They, you know, clean, make and serve food. That's about it."

"That's it?" Ron asked incredulously. "Who looks after your horses?"

"Well, if I had any, it would probably be a different person. I've also never had a servant before. Where I come from, they'd be more like hired hands at a pub, or tavern, or local watering hole, whatever you call it."

"It's a little different here," Hermione told him.

"Clearly," Harry said dryly. He turned to Gin then and hoped that she would explain.

"I was raised in a … facility," she explained to him. "Trained to read, write, fight, shown how to use all sorts of weaponry, how to survive in desolate conditions. We're brought up to do anything that our masters ask of us."

"And there are a lot of… servants?"

"You saw some at the pub the other night," Hermione said helpfully.

Gin nodded. "The men we just killed; they didn't know I was a servant because I wasn't wearing my cloak. It could by why we haven't come across anyone until now."

"What? Everyone knows that the odds of fighting against a servant skew heavily in the servants favor?" Harry asked.

"Yes," she said plainly. "Knights are only shown a tenth of what we are, they are more about strategy," she gestured to Ron, who was clutching his sword hilt. "Those men might have had time to run or been more on guard if they'd heard him tell me to fight. But I didn't need his permission. I never have."

Ron stepped forward, towards her. "You know?"

"My own heritage?" she scoffed. "Yes, of course I know. Everyone I grew up around was curious of how they came to be there. Records are kept, it wasn't hard to piece together. We share blood. Which also means that you agreeing with Harry's tale that I'm his wife, even if it was a bluff, makes it official."

Harry's hands fell numbly to his side.

She really was his wife?

"B-bu-but, but, how old are you?" he stuttered at her.

"Younger than Ronald, yet old enough to marry." With that, she went to take the bag with all their belongings that had been dropped on the ground and continued descending down the mountain trail.

The three of them stood there a moment longer, processing, then Hermione was the first to follow after Gin.

Harry looked to Ron. "I had no idea. I just heard the way he asked about her being a servant and knew that it would somehow make things worse if we said yes. I saw you and Hermione, and, well, it just slipped out."

Ron drew in a deep breath. "And I agreed." He let the breath out slowly. "You aren't from this land. I didn't think things through; Hermione says that I never do. The chain breaking though, that means it's true."

Harry looked down at the thin golden necklace. "Is there a way to reverse it? I dunno, put the necklace back on her? She really doesn't seem pleased with the match."

"No," Ron shook his head regretfully. He then gave him a curious look. "You have a way of reversing marriages where you come from? Here it is only by death."

"It's called divorce. Or, I guess this would be annulment, since we haven't done anything, er, marriage-y yet."

"Your world is very strange," Ron commented.

Harry let out a single laugh of derision. "Say's the guy with a ninja-assassin-half-sister-sherpa and an elf-wife. That is not something I ever thought I'd come across."

Ron considered this for a moment, "I suppose we both have things to learn about each other's worlds. You seem to have adjusted to our world just fine, I didn't think something as basic as a servant would be a point of so much confusion."

"Well, my world used to have people that were knights and no quick modes of transportation, so being here is just a huge step backwards with the added bonus of magic being a real thing. And elves, I suppose. You mentioned trolls too, we don't have those. Just humans and animals."

Ron nodded, then inclined his head towards where the women had disappeared around the next bend. "It looks like we are brothers now," he said suddenly.

They shared a look that communicated their surprise and awe over their new common title of brother-in-law. Then they started walking again.

"Is there really nothing else that needs to be done to make that official?" Harry asked him. "I feel like it should be more than you just saying 'she's his wife'. Hermione told me something about a hand-fasting ceremony followed by a wedding for you and she."

"She did not have a father or brother to give her to me. She's also an Elf, so they require more to make their marriages binding."

They carried on down the mountain, descending it twice as fast as they climbed it, and didn't come across anyone else meaning to fight them. Ron and he didn't catch up to the girls intentionally, always keeping them in their sights though. It felt right to give them some space, and it looked like Hermione and Gin were talking to each other a lot.

Harry wondered about that as he watched them. Gin hadn't said anything at all in who knew how long, suddenly she can start talking and begins to carry on as though she had never had that restriction put on her?

Would she be able to talk to him like that once they set up camp for the night?

They had reached the base of the mountain as the sun began to descend and found another place to set up camp for the night. Their chores for this task hadn't changed at all. The only thing that had changed was that Harry could see Gin properly now, and she looked really pretty by the light of the campfire.

She wasn't talking to him though, nor to Ron either.

They ate, he and Ron went over the map of this part of the land and tried to figure out where they would be at this time tomorrow if they continued at this pace, then it was time for all of them to get some sleep.

What exactly he was supposed to be doing once they got to the fortress, or whatever, Voldemort was in, he didn't know. Maybe there was a one eyed, three-legged spider/scorpion thing for him to kill with a sword and a slingshot, like in Zelda. Maybe there was a fire breathing dragon he had to swing around by its tail, like in Mario.

The chances that it would be something as ludicrous as that were slim, but as of yet the others hadn't told him otherwise. He was just their 'hero'.

Well, if 'servant' meant something more here than it did back home, then maybe 'hero' meant something different too.

Only two nights had passed and yet he was already used to Gin sitting watch until after he'd fallen asleep, she didn't do that tonight though. Once they'd finished up their meal, she went into the tent.

It was properly dark when Harry went to lay down, and he went straight to his side of the tent and pulled off his shoes, grabbing his sweater/pillow and trying to get comfortable.

With his eyes closed and resting on his back, he felt like Gin was staring at him, then he felt her shift and he could feel the warmth of her body coming closer to him.

"Harry?" she asked.

Harry kept his eyes closed, feeling even more nervous about having to sleep beside her now than he had before, because he couldn't just see what she looked like, she could talk to him as well. "Yeah?"

"Aren't you going to…" she paused.

He gave her another moment of silence before saying anything. "Going to what?"

She was silent for a few heartbeats. "Going to lay with me?"

His eyes shot open at that question, and he sat up, turning sideways to face her in the dark. "What?!"

"It's what is supposed to happen, isn't it?" she asked innocently.

"What 'it'?" But he knew exactly what 'it' she was talking about, he just didn't come to the conclusion that his time for 'it' to happen was now. He'd kissed exactly one girl before, and that had only been because someone dared her to do it. He'd never had a girlfriend, or someone showing more than a passing look of interest in his direction.

"When a man and a woman are married, they lay together," Gin spelled out. "Is it not like that in your world?"

"Er, well, it is. But, this isn't a real marriage. It was just something Ron and I blurted out in the heat of the moment. We both thought you were going to be killed by that guy. I don't expect us to… to… consummate the relationship just because according to your traditions, you're my wife now. We only just met!"

She was quiet for a while, then he heard her moving to the other side of the tent again and he felt his anxiety go down a notch.

Then he heard her sniffle and the anxiety shot right up again.

"You, you aren't mad, or upset, that I don't think it's a good idea, are you?" What the hell did he know about sex? The only thing he retained from health class was about using protection and they didn't have any of that around here.

Oh, wait.

He did.

He'd grabbed a few condoms from the nurses station, they were in his backpack.

Suddenly, the thought of them there, and Gin here, being willing, it started stirring some things in him.

"I'm okay," she whispered. "I guess Hermione isn't right about everything."

His jaw dropped. "That's what you two were talking about? She thinks we're in here, er, doing that?"

He heard Gin roll over again. "Is it because you don't find me attractive?" she asked outright.

"No! You're, well, you're way out of my league. In my world, you wouldn't give me a second look, I promise you."

"What does that mean?" From the sounds of it, she had just sat up and was much closer to him now.

"It, it means you're beautiful. And hell, I liked you before you could talk, before you removed the cloak even. People in my world talk a lot. It was a nice change to be the one doing all the talking for once. I'm just, I mean, I've never had much experience with girls so you asking if we were going to… it just surprised me."

"So, you do want to," she asked to confirm.

Well, now that they were talking about it, he answered in his head. "I just think it's something that's built to, not something that's done out of obligation."

"How do you build to it?" she shifted even closer.

He stared into the darkness and wondered how in the hell he was supposed to start telling her about the birds and the bees and the joys of kissing when all he knew was what was told to him through teachers or television.

"Er, well, kissing, I guess. You know, getting comfortable with each other before shagging."

"Shagging? Is that another term for 'laying with'?"

It was such an innocent question, and from someone who had killed grown men earlier.

"Yes."

"So, should we kiss then?"

"Erm, okay," he croaked. This was strange for him, but he couldn't bring himself to disappoint her further by refusing to kiss her.

Some hero he was. She was the one that took down all those men, Ron was the knight, Hermione had magic powers or something, and here he was with his stomach all tied in knots because a pretty girl wanted to kiss him.

He could do this though. This wasn't scary. Well, it wasn't supposed to be scary. His nerves were telling him otherwise, however.

They shifted closer to each other, and he reached out, his hand finding her arm and moving up so he could hold the side of her face and know what direction he was supposed to be moving in.

"Sorry if I'm terrible at this," he told her softly before their lips touched.

Hers were soft and warm, it was strange, but felt really nice too. He'd fantasized about what it would be like to kiss someone. There had been no thought process that decided whether this was going to be a quick kiss or not, like they were simply ripping off the Band-Aid.

But it wasn't a quick kiss, it was a proper, thorough, kiss.

Their lips touched and he felt the warmth of their proximity radiating from their touching lips to his cheeks and then radiating downward through his whole body. He felt a pull to make the kiss last longer, and then longer.

He was grateful it was so dark, it was much easier to give over to the lovely feelings he was having right now because of the darkness. It was like that one sense was muted, so he could hear her soft sighs better, her responding kisses were somehow magnified because of the darkness as well. The longer it went on the more the knots in his stomach unraveled and his enjoyment in the situation took over.

Harry wasn't sure whether it had been something he'd done or her that caused them to be laying down and continuing to give each other kisses. All he knew was that she was pressed close against him and it felt marvelous. At one point she was laying on top of him, and that felt incredible.

Running his hands through her hair, holding her waist, grazing his fingers against her cheek; his fantasies had never been this detailed.

Their need for sleep won out eventually, it felt like it was an hour later that their kisses grew languid, and she settled back down at his side, using his chest as her pillow.

"I didn't know it would be like that," she whispered to him. He imagined a smile on her face as she said it. He certainly had one on his.

"Me either."

"I had been worrying about this evening."

"And here, I hadn't even considered that you might be expecting… us to lay together. The fact that you and Ron are calling you my wife, it just doesn't feel real to me."

"I was angry about it," she admitted.

"You should be angry about it. If I'd've known, I wouldn't have said anything. You were just in that position and I was picturing him tossing you off the mountain ledge because you were a 'servant', so I just said it in the hopes he wouldn't, unsure why it would make a difference if you were a servant or my wife."

Her hand ran down his chest, he really enjoyed her hand doing that. He had barely managed to keep himself from getting too excited while they were snogging, her hand still tracing up and down his chest was just stirring him up again.

"I'm not so angry anymore," she admitted.

"Yeah," he grinned. "I'm now a very big fan of kissing."

He felt a huff of breath leave her as she laughed silently. Her arm moved so she was hugging him then and they both drifted off to sleep and woke up in the same position.

She was the first to wake properly and he felt her pull away from him.

"Hey, I was comfortable like that," he protested.

"We have to get moving," she whispered.

His eyes opened and he saw there was just enough light illuminating the tent that he could see how disheveled her hair was. He looked down at himself and saw he had morning wood. It didn't look to bother her at all, even though it was obvious.

She started to move around and he sat up and caught her arm before she undid the notch on the tent.

"Are you still okay with… things?"

It was hard to make out her expression with the shadow cast over her face, the sun coming in from behind her. She didn't answer with words though, she leaned towards him and gave him a kiss. One that was unfortunately much shorter than any they had shared last night. He could somehow feel that this kiss was only of assurance before she hurried out of the tent and went to stoke the fire back to life.

Harry took a few deep breaths to try and control his arousal. He lay back down and counted to ten with his eyes closed but knowing this was the exact spot where they had snogged all night wasn't helping.

He felt like they had got snogging figured out really quick too.

Maybe that meant something? Weren't first kisses supposed to be a bit of a disaster?

None of their kisses or touches last night had been a disaster, they'd been really freaking hot!

It's too soon for sex, his subconscious reminded him.

But, if she was willing, and if they really were married, then maybe that made it okay? They were young, sure, but plenty of the students at his school, even the kids younger than him, were having sex already and treating it like it wasn't a big deal.

So then, why was he the one to turn her down last night and suggest snogging instead? Wasn't that more a female response?

It had just been so new, he reasoned with himself. Just too much all at once.

And she'd been emotional, worried he didn't find her attractive.

Didn't bat an eyelash when she was killing those bandits, but him saying no to shagging her she found upsetting.

Good to know that women were just as confusing to him in this world as they were in his own world.

He let out another slow breath and felt like his body had calmed down enough. And he did feel himself grow soft as his confusion overpowered his arousal.

"Just get up and go have a wee," he muttered to himself.

Gin was looking over the maps when he finished relieving himself. She really was beautiful. He'd always been more interested in the shorter girls, and ones that looked like they could take care of themselves in a fight. The waifish ones that were all done up with hair and makeup looking perfect, those were the girls that had never been nice to him and he'd tried to ignore them.

As he looked at Gin though, he thought she might have been the type of girl in his world that wouldn't have minded sitting beside him in class, maybe offering to partner up with him on assignments and didn't care that he didn't have a family or clothes that he'd been the sole owner of. Maybe they would have been friends and then eventually grew that friendship into them doing what they did last night.

"I estimate two more nights before we make it to his fortress," she told him. "Maybe three depending on how careful we'll have to be now we're in the North."

"And here the people will be more like the bandits we met on the mountain pass?" He sat down beside her and started assembling their peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Now he could see the expression on her face as he made them; excitement and hunger.

"Not necessarily," she told him, her eyes never leaving the food. "Some of the people here will be nice, probably just not as willing to share information as those in the South. The Northerners that Ron and Hermione talked to said it had become such an unpleasant and highly taxed place to live. People here are being punished for not meeting quotas from their fields or not paying their taxes."

"And your Lord, or King, in the South, he's tried talking to the Voldemort guy? There's just no reasoning with him?"

"King Albus tried. He sent men to speak with Voldemort and only one returned. There was a battle at sea after that where neither side won. The King has to be careful about his next moves, that is why he requested his Knights each take their own approach to Voldemort's fortress and arrive there within the seven days time period."

"What? We're not the only group going North?" Harry slapped together the two pieces of bread and handed her the sandwich. "I'm only getting drips and drabs of information from all of you. I still have no idea what I'm doing here. And why the hell would a Knight need a 'servant' like you? Aren't they supposed to be the one's doing all the fighting? You shouldn't have needed to be the one killing all those men yesterday, it should have been Ron, shouldn't it have?"

She gave him a curious look, tilting her head and staring at him while she chewed the contents in her mouth.

"I know, you're a fighter," he rolled his eyes. "That was something I didn't know about servants until yesterday. Where I come from, the Knights are the ones that do the killing and save the princess or whatever. We don't really have them anymore. I mean, people get Knighted still, but it's like… musicians and actors or whatever, not guys running around on horseback."

"And what is their purpose as Knights if they are entertainers?"

He opened his mouth to speak, but he didn't actually have an answer for her. "Huh, you know, I haven't really thought about that. I guess Knights in my world don't do any slaying or princess saving either."

She smiled at him in amusement. "I like the look you wear when you are confused."

"You do?" he asked hopefully.

She nodded. "Our Knights have the responsibility of being strategists. They come to the aid of anyone who needs it and sort out disagreements. There isn't always a call for them to come to arms, they are more the messengers and problem solvers of the King."

That made sense.

"And servants are aids to the Knights and the real fighters."

"Yes."

"What about heroes then? What do you suppose I am supposed to do?"

"You are supposed to give us strength and a different point of view."

"Strength," he repeated heavily. "Thus far I've just provided the group with breakfast and snacks. I suppose that has given you protein, which gives you strength."

"You've also now provided me with some freedom," she pointed out. "I am not a servant anymore. I can use my voice and don't have to wear the cloak that shows I am indentured."

"What will happen if this is all over and I wind up getting sent back to my world though? Hell, what will happen if this is all over and I am stuck here? If I go back, then will you still be here, technically being my wife? Or will you be indentured again immediately? And if I stay, how am I supposed to be a husband? Doesn't that mean I need to at least have a home for us to live in? And what am I going to do for a living?"

She chose to give him a kiss to silence him.

It was very effective.

"How about we just focus on getting nearer to the fortress and meeting up with the other Knights? Tackle one task before plying ourselves with several others."

He liked her method of calming him down. So much so that he leaned toward her and took another kiss.

"Servants are really smart too, aren't they?"

She smiled at him. "It comes from being able to do nothing but watch and listen for so long. The being able to quiet you bit though, that comes from my newfound freedom."

"I like it." He gave her another kiss.

"As do I." She gave him yet another kiss, while smiling this time.

"Good morning," Ron announced his presence to them loudly. "I see we are feeling better about my error in judgement made yesterday?"

she pulled back from Harry and took another bite of her sandwich so she wouldn't have to answer. Harry answered for her, "that means you're still on thin ice."

Hermione came out of the tent as well and was quick to Gin's side. Harry watched as they communicated through expressions alone; Hermione raised her eyebrows at Gin, to which she pursed her lips and looked down, to which Hermione frowned, until Gin caught Hermione's eye again and offered a small, secretive smile which Hermione appeared pleased with.

He gathered that meant that he had made the right move last night about not 'laying with her'.

Now he wondered if he'd be more comfortable with it by the time they met up with the other Knights and their people. It was two whole nights away at least, she'd said.

()()()

The days of travel had not been kind to his feet. His whole body felt sore from all the walking they did, but he didn't complain. All four of them were doing the same amount of walking. And crouching and hiding behind trees every now and then when they heard other people approaching.

He wasn't hungry though. Harry didn't know how much food there was stashed away in that bag of holding that Ginny, whom had now informed him she preferred to be called that by him, had but none of them were ever left wanting at their mid-day and dinner time meals.

The food supplies he had brought, those were going to run out by the time they met up with the others.

Now it was the second night that he and Ginny were going to spend in the tent as a 'married couple' and he had been distracted all day by what it was going to be like when it came time to set up camp and get some sleep.

He wasn't so interested in sleep anymore. He just wanted to know if she would still be interested in snogging as much as they had the previous night.

For something he had only just discovered the joy of less than 24 hours ago, he was already addicted to it.

Once they'd found a place to set up their tents, had their food and all poured over the map and figured out approximately where they were on the map, Harry was quick to feign how tired he was and excuse himself to lay down.

He lay there anxiously for a few minutes, then for what felt like an hour before Ginny came into the tent. Then he wasn't sure what he should do. They had kissed a few times that morning, but he couldn't just start snogging her now that they were alone again, could he? He didn't know the protocol.

"Are you very tired?" she asked.

"No. Sore from walking, but that's it."

"Good," she responded, and he felt her lay down beside him and cuddle in. "You had said that the building process started with snogging, I was wondering what came next?"

Harry felt his heartbeat pick up. Her question was asked so innocently again. It was hard to believe that there hadn't been some class that she had to take at her facility between the courses on fighting and living the life of servitude that gave some kind of overview on how relationships progressed.

They must have had books like harlequin romances or Shakespeare.

"Er, well, next I suppose it would be about, erm, kissing places other than lips and, you know, having our hands, erm, wandering a bit more."

"Does that require us to be naked?"

Now he was sure his heart had skipped at least three beats. He didn't know whether he should say yes or not. "No," he decided on being truthful. "That would also be something that we get to as we become more comfortable with each other."

"But I am comfortable naked," she stated in confusion. "Privacy wasn't something we had a lot of at the facility. It is only after we are brought into servitude that we were dressed most of the time. It has been a while since I've been able to remove my clothes and I was looking forward to that."

Harry had no idea how to respond to that. He just lay there dumbly, picturing her taking her clothes of and then asking if he was going to join her.

They hadn't stopped to shower or bathe though. That was three days since he'd been properly clean. There was no way she was going to enjoy just how ripe he smelled.

Apparently, he waited too long to say something though, because she pulled away from him and he could hear the shifting and movement of layers of clothes coming off of her. "Ah, that feels much better."

She came back to lay beside him but didn't snuggle in like she had before.

Now he felt like it was all down to him. Complete nudity wasn't something he knew anyone to be comfortable with. He'd shared a room with several people for as long as he could remember and couldn't recall a single person taking their time getting changed.

Slowly, he sat up and pulled his shirt and tunic over his head, then slid his trousers down, but left his boxers on, then lay back down.

She cuddled back up against him once more and he could feel her breast against his side, her hand on his chest. The hum of contentment she let out vibrated through him. "This feels nice."

"Really nice," he agreed as she began massaging his chest gently.

"Where are these kisses supposed to be if not on the lips?"

Harry bit his lip at that question. He'd had so many fantasies about kissing several different faceless women on all sorts of locations on her body. "Wherever you want," he nearly panted. "Usually, you just start at the lips and then work your way down to the neck, or wherever feels natural, I suppose."

"Okay."

Then she was straddling him again and he could feel his hard length twitching as it was trapped between their bodies. "Ohh," she shivered. "That feels interesting."

Interesting, right, he thought as his eyes rolled back, that's one word for it.

She started kissing him a moment later, on the lips. His hands went to her hips, then down her thighs as the kiss grew deeper. Next, she started kissing his neck and his hands wandered up her back to pull her closer, so her chest was flush against his own. It amazed him just how many nerve endings there were on his neck.

His want to take control won out and he rolled them over and started kissing her neck instead, as well as palming at her breast.

"Oh, yes, I like this," she whispered.

He did too, he also liked rocking his pelvis against her and the way her hips would move back against his own.

"Is this how good laying together feels?"

He kissed her lips again before shifting down her body. He'd always wondered what it would feel like to have soft breasts pressed against his cheek, or what the reaction might be to him sucking a nipple into his mouth.

"Likely at least ten times better than this," he muttered before cupping the sides of both her breasts in his hands and pushing them together to bury his face in them. They weren't very large, but they weren't very small either.

He now understood how people got carried away doing this. His hormones were driving him wild and he wondered if he could nip out and grab his backpack and one of the condoms in it, or several of the condoms in it.

She shifted down, pulling him up her body so that their lips could meet once more. "I want to feel what I did before."

He didn't know what that meant until a loud groan escaped his lips because her hand had taken hold of his erection and lined it up with her pelvis and brought them together so it was just his boxers that were stopping them from going all the way.

Then she started moving against him in the most brilliant way possible and he matched her movements.

"Oh, this feels incredible," she sighed as her back arched and her legs locked around his own.

"So fucking good." His mind was turning to mush and he let his body and needs take over completely.

She was naked, he was nearly naked and on top of her, moving against her, his erection becoming slowly more nestled between her legs. If he moved just the right way then he might poke out between the flap in the boxers, then he'd be inside her and they'd be shagging.

Or some more flowery term than shagging.

No, he wouldn't last that long, it would result in nothing more than a disappointing experience for her.

Actually, it didn't matter either way because he wasn't going to last very much longer the way they were currently doing things. She was just so warm, her hands were clutching at him, she was just as into this as he was.

His whole body gave a jerk as he let go.

He was breathing hard and losing momentum, then the next thing he knew he was on his back and she was pinning him down, keeping up the rhythm she wanted, making this mewing sound, like a sort of pleading whimper before her own body gave a lurch like she'd had an electric shock, then did it again, and a third time.

"Wow," she shivered, then rested down, her head on his chest, both of them still breathing hard.

Wow was right.

()()()

"One more time then?" Harry asked Ron.

Ron gave a sigh but humored him none the less. "The fortress has only two ways in, by a single bridge, or by the sea. There are other knights that are there already and centuries that have been sent ahead; they will have a plan of attack that we will use."

"And what if this Voldemort guy has magic and can just zap us all away?"

"He doesn't have magic, he's human."

"You don't have magic, but your wife does. What if he's got a few Elves as well?"

"He wouldn't," Hermione chimed in. "He sees us as lesser beings. And our magic doesn't work that way. We can't just 'zap' people or destroy things."

"You can call me from another universe, but misplacing a few rocks is too difficult? Can't you summon a cornerstone from a building? Wouldn't that make it all fall down?"

Hermione and Ron stopped walking and stared at him. Ginny simply smirked.

"They don't have it in them to think that way," Ginny told him.

"Well, I thought of it," Harry pointed out. "I'm sure there's a chance that Voldemort might think of it too. If he's as bad as you say he is, then he could bully or torture an Elf into doing what he wants. I've heard stories of people getting others to do all kinds of terrible things to get what they want done. Plus, he won't necessarily need magic to destroy a road. He could have a catapult and launch things at it to make it impassable."

"Then you think that by sea would be the best approach?" Ron asked.

"Well, I mean, we have to see the place first to know if it's really an option."

They crested a hill then and could see a town in the distance and just make out the buttresses of a castle or fortress beyond that.

"Is that it?" Harry asked the group.

"Must be," Ron nodded. "Hermione?"

Hermione sat down then and put her hands together like she was about to meditate. Harry knew she was trying to reach out with her magic to find where the others were; the other knights and servants and such. She'd tried to explain to him the feeling she got when there was magic around and as best he understood there was some kind of vibration she sensed that grew stronger as she grew nearer to it.

Five minutes passed where the three of them stood there looking down at Hermione and waiting for her to give them direction. Ginny had come to stand by his side and clasped their hands together. It made a warm feeling resonate outwards from the center of his chest.

What they had done last night had been replaying in his head all day. She didn't seem nearly as effected by it as he felt. Then again, there were a lot of things that didn't bother her that he would have trouble with, like killing people, asking embarrassing questions, embarrassing to him anyhow, and the complete lack of modesty when it was just the two of them.

He really liked that last one though.

"That way," Hermione announced and pointed to the west. "There are several there already. Once I found them, I was able to focus properly. There must be thirty of my kind there at least!" She got to her feet, grinning at them all.

"That's a good size. Thirty elves mean at least 120 persons strong if their party is the same size as ours."

Ron and Hermione led the way towards where their group should be, and Harry and Ginny took up following behind them.

"I'm still not sure why I'm needed," he admitted to her.

"Your idea about summoning cornerstones is an interesting idea. There is a chance that we could use that."

"What do you mean? Attempt to make his fortress fall in on itself?"

"Why not? Anyone that still chooses to be there-"

"That's the thing though," he cut in. "What if there are people in there that don't choose to be there. What if they're chained up in a dungeon or something? How are we supposed to know if they are there by choice or being forced? It could be farmers that couldn't pay their new taxes and are having to work it off, or sons of farmers that had to be sold into some kind of slavery that are forced to fight when they don't want to?"

Ginny clutched his hand a little tighter in sympathy. "Perhaps this is exactly why we need you here. I was taught never to question my orders, to just do it. Ron is a strategist and operates at the command of King Albus, Hermione and her people bring a magical component to protect us, but you, you question, and that is a good thing."

He brought her hand up to his lips and gave a kiss to it in thanks. It felt like the most natural move to make.

"I know we're new to this whole marriage thing, but so far, I really like you."

Ginny grinned at him and brought his hand to her lips to return the gesture. "I don't hate this marriage thing as much as I thought I would either."

Harry looked over at the fortress in the distance again. "How do we even know if he's home? Doesn't he ever leave? He could be out on a boat at sea somewhere."

"If he isn't there then we will take the fortress and begin to reform the people. He should know this. And, if he doesn't, then he really is an absolutely terrible leader."

That was a very good point.

"I wonder if he's sent anyone into the South to try and attack the castle, or whatever, that the King lives in?"

"Then it really would be easy to take the fortress," Ginny laughed. "He certainly doesn't have enough knights or followers that he can spare them to separate his forces. And he hasn't been in power in the North long enough to have brought up servants that would be loyal to him."

Harry's brow furrowed at that. "Does that mean that you were brought up being told that your King is the greatest man alive?"

"I was, all the servants were, but we also have our own minds and can see how well our society is run and the happiness of the people. I've never been ordered to do something I didn't find the justification in." She sounded confident so he had no cause to second guess that. "And now, now I can't be ordered around anymore," she grinned. "I can sit down when I want, and I don't have to wear that horrible cloak!" She had already taken apart the cloak at the seams and turned it into three separate tunics. Something she had done over breakfast. It was amazing how fast she could work!

It felt like Ron and Hermione were picking up their pace, the distance between the pairs was certainly growing wider, then Hermione came to a sudden halt.

Harry and Ginny caught up with them and Hermione was making some kind of movement with her hands. Ginny leaned over to whisper in his ear that she was making a hole in the ward to let them slip through.

It took longer for her to do that than it did for her to find the place.

Harry stared at the emptiness before them and wondered if there were several other people on the other side of the ward simply standing there and staring at the four of them.

Then there was a circle of spinning sparks that started in front of them and grew progressively wider until it was large enough for the four of them to slip through.

There hadn't been anyone standing on the other side of the ward staring at them, there were several people in his sights now though, all mulling about and carrying on with their own business. There were tents all over the place as well, and one large tent that looked like it was set up in the dead center of the encampment.

"That's where we have to go," Ron pointed at the large tent. "The other Knights will be in there."

They wound their way through the tents, nodding at the few people that they passed. Harry saw that a few were holding a sparring session with their swords off to their left and to their right it looked like a sort of kitchen area had been set up where everyone was sharing their food.

Stepping through the cloth of the large communal tent he had to catch himself so he didn't accidentally walk into the person in front of him. The tent was completely packed with people, several of them were talking over each other. He followed Ron's lead and went around the outermost area of the tent to the other side where there was a table set up with names listed on it, Ron put down his and Hermione's name, then he wrote Harry and Ginevra, then looked over to him with his eyebrows raised in question.

"What?"

"Your surname. I never learned what it is. It needs to be recorded, and it is Ginevra's surname now as well."

"Oh, uh. Potter."

"Potter?" Ron and Ginny exchanged a look then before they both turned to look at him once more. "Your full name is Harry Potter?"

"Harry James Potter if you want to be thorough," he said jokingly.

"Wait a moment," Hermione stepped between Ron and Ginny to stand right before Harry, staring up at him with intense eyes. "You say you are orphaned? Never met your parents?"

"Er, yeah."

"You grew up in a home with other orphans and have no recollection of your parents at all?"

"Yes."

She then reached up and brushed his hair aside, staring at the faint scar that he had on his forehead, then gasping and holding her hands over her mouth. "My word! I didn't think my magic would be so strong as to find you!"

"Is this going to be a problem?" Ginny asked, now sounding more panicked than he'd ever heard from her, which was causing his stomach to begin twisting.

"What is it? What's going on?"

Ron was the one that explained. "There was a Harry James Potter that was sent into hiding when he was just a child, not yet two years old. Story has it that Voldemort was hell bent on killing him. It was the reason that the last war ended, him being sent away. The Potter's have been searching for him since then, but… but they've had no luck.

"Wait, wait, are you saying that I'm not actually from my world, that I'm from this one?!"

Ginny's eyes grew wide then. "I'm married into the Potter family?" She sounded completely awestruck. "And I'm happy about it," she whispered, more to herself than anyone else.

To Be Continued…

()()()

AN- That's right, this is a two parter!