Actions and Consequences

Disclaimer: I own nothing but my own original characters and works, if you recognise it from somewhere else, surprise it isn't mine.

Betad by morde24, OoalGown, Hermes, Priapus and TheDonFluffles

Chapter 20: Actions and Consequences

— Minerva McGonagall —

The twins' latest bout of sheer idiocy was one for the record books, far beyond any of the little pranks or schemes they'd pulled off over the years.

It had already put a rift between them and Rose, who was understandably displeased to find out that the family artefact she'd lent them was destroyed, though she didn't blame Grayson after prying the full story from the twins.

But she should have remembered that it wasn't Rose they had to worry about as she escorted them both to the headmaster's office. They weren't in any legal trouble yet, but that was only because neither Grayson nor his mother had pressed charges and she had no doubt Yennefer Raum was scheming in the background, and Grayson seemed to be following in her footsteps.

But not all the Raums were so cunning or subtle in their actions, something that had admittedly slipped her mind.

"Hey, guys," an almost casual voice said, drawing all their attention to the speaker, her eyes widening as she spotted Damian's wand already drawn.

His tone was calm, yet his eyes were certainly not. Despite the smile on his face, the way his hand was clenched tightly around his wand told her exactly what the hot-headed eldest Raum had planned.

She had put hers away, not believing she'd be needing it, so as Damian's wand rose, sparking with his barely suppressed rage, she knew she wouldn't be able to draw it in time.

Damian was very good at silent casting, but she knew enough about magic to recognise the spell about to fly from his wand as he pointed it towards the twins as a rather dark blasting curse, not illegal but nothing they taught here.

"Expelliarmus!"

Watching as Damian's wand was ripped from his grasp, his smile falling into a fierce scowl as he turned to see who had dared interfere, they all paused as they watched Grayson catch the wand easily, letting out a sigh as Keira came running behind him, clearly having struggled to keep up with Grayson.

"Gray? What the fuck? Gimme my wand back so I can teach these two freckled fucks not to mess with my family," Damian growled, making Gray sigh.

"You can have your wand back when you agree to stop being stupid. This situation is under control and I don't need you getting yourself into trouble," Grayson said calmly, walking over to him.

"Told you he was going to attack them, didn't think he'd be dumb enough to do it in front of a professor though," Keira laughed, making Damian glance at her, spotting her now drawn wand.

His anger seemingly vanished as he gave them all a carefree smile, having realised he'd missed his chance.

"Tch, I wasn't going to hurt them that much," Damian said with a shrug. "But I couldn't let them get away with trying to fuck with my little bro," Damian continued, grabbing Gray in a headlock and ruffling his hair with a laugh.

Gray easily pushed his brother off, his growth spurt putting them on almost equal grounds as he sighed.

"And I appreciate the thought, but please… leave this to me," Gray said, handing over Damian's wand. "This mess calls for a more subtle hand. Politics can hurt more than any spell."

"Meh, I bet I could make those two traitorous fuck-ups disagree if you gave me five minutes alone with them," Damian scoffed, before ruffling his brother's hair again. "But fine, politics bore me so you and mom can handle this,"

"Thank you, truly," Gray deadpanned, making Damian grin before the older Raum turned back to them, his grin failing to hide his anger.

"You two better keep your fucking distance, Gray's not always going to be around to save your asses," Damian warned as he turned and stormed away, making her sigh.

She wouldn't try and punish Damian for this. He never actually fired a spell, and he was somewhat justified, all things considered.

His two closest friends just tried to blackmail his little brother, an emotional reaction like that was almost expected from one of her most hot-headed Gryffindors.

Turning to thank Gray for intervening and talking sense into his brother, she paused as she watched the large fourth-year, his work here done, already walking away with Keira following behind, giggling about something she said as she hung off him.

She was quite impressed with him to be honest, even if he'd intervened to keep his brother out of trouble rather than to help the twins.

Grayson had undergone quite the metamorphosis this year, going from the quiet and small but rather smart boy to a strong, confident, and very talented young man.

He was still quiet, preferring to keep to himself, but the changes were impressive to see, even if she and the other teachers doubted they were entirely natural.

"Come along, you two. You might have avoided Damian's wrath but this certainly won't be going unpunished," Minerva said, making the uncharacteristically quiet boys flinch.

For the first time, they seemed to understand that they were truly in trouble, beyond any detentions or lost house points.

Perhaps it would do them good, assuming that Lady Raum-Black didn't destroy their futures entirely.

— Grayson —

My new wand isn't as good of a match as my original one, which only solidifies my decision to kill those blood-sucking parasites for what they cost me.

"Thanks for the heads up, Keira, I didn't need Damian turning the perpetrators into victims," I say, smiling at her as I put an arm around her shoulder and give her an affectionate squeeze.

I'm taller than her now, which is a nice feeling, no longer the runt of the family.

"No worries, I just happened to hear from someone who heard it from someone else," Keira shrugged with a grin.

"Ah, I see the Hogwarts rumour mill is in full swing, and you're still a master when it comes to dealing with it," I praise, making her smile up at me.

"I need to be useful for you, don't I… master?" Keira whispers, making me glance around before I roll my eyes.

"You don't need to do anything, but I appreciate it all the same," I say, letting go of her shoulder.

Keira is probably the person I care about the most; Morrigan is using me and while I do think she (and even Damian) care about me, Keira's affection comes with no conditions.

Even mother is using me, for my own good perhaps, but I have no doubt she has schemes going on that she has decided to keep from me.

I love my family, and honestly, I'm using them just as much at this point, but Keira is the one who has always supported me, without any expectations.

Sure, I did her homework because she bribed me to do so, but we both benefitted.

But I digress, the Twins planned to embarrass her by revealing the nature of our relationship, or what they thought was our relationship, and I will not allow that to happen.

They can go after me, I don't care, but nobody will mess with Keira on my watch. I'm protective of all my family, but Keira is and always has been special to me.

It's why I want to make the twins pay for their pathetic attempt at blackmail. If they'd gotten me into trouble, so what?

Hogwarts is a useful place but realistically I don't need to be here, it just helps my long term aspirations to graduate from Hogwarts with a good record, but I don't want Keira to suffer because she decided to stay by my side despite this whole… demon lord thing.

"Good to know, I'm going to go and bother Damian, I don't exactly trust him to not do something stupid anyway," Keira says, squeezing my hand before she splits off from me and gives me a wave.

Damian isn't dumb enough to try this twice. He may be impulsive but he's smarter than I used to give him credit for.

Still, having Keira run interference and distract him works for me, just in case he gets any 'clever' ideas.

I've already received a message that Molly Weasley wants to speak with me, no doubt desperate to keep her disappointments in school, or at least out of Azkaban, and mother has agreed to leave this in my hands.

It's another test of course, but I don't mind. The Lodge has plans for me and she's trying to make sure I'm prepared to deal with them, one way or the other.

I don't intend to fail.

— Ginny Weasley —

"Congrats, Gin," Rose said, giving her a grin as Ginny beamed, clutching her… Gray's Firebolt to her chest.

It was almost unfair, to be honest. She'd spent so long compensating for the crappy brooms she had available that when she got her hands on a real broom she swept the floor with the completion, and now she was officially the Seeker of Hogwarts' junior quidditch team.

This could be massive for her, literally life-changing if she did well enough to impress any of the team scouts that would be attending the competition to scope out future talents.

"Thanks, I thought you were going to try out as well?" Ginny asked, making Rose shrug.

"I'm trying out for the senior team, same as Angelica, Katie and Alicia. Fourth years can apply for either," Rose said with a smile. "Still, wanna explain how you got your hands on a Firebolt? I thought it was mine at first but it's still in my room…"

"Erm, well… I borrowed it from someone?" Ginny admitted, hugging it a little tighter.

"Weird, cause I thought the only other person with a Firebolt was Damian," Rose said, making her shake her head.

"It turns out all the Raums have Firebolts, but Gray, Keira and Morrigan don't play Quidditch. I was talking to Gray and he kinda offered to lend me his for the tournament?" Ginny admitted, blushing as Rose's eyebrows twitched.

She could still almost taste his lips on hers, and now that she was on the team she owed him a favour, and two more if her team won.

"Gray? Not 'Grayson'? Since when are you on such good terms with him?" Rose asked, immediately picking up on her wording as she felt her blush deepen.

"Since we made a deal?" Ginny said, seeing Rose's lips twitch.

"Uhuh, you wanna tell me what you agreed to do to get him to hand over his broom?" Rose asked.

"It's a bet, if I didn't get on the team I didn't owe him anything, and now that I am on the team I owe him a single favour. If we win the finals, I owe him three favours," Ginny admitted, seeing the look on Rose's face. "I know, it was a dumb idea to accept something so vague but he even said if the favours are "too much" I can say no," Ginny half rambled, feeling small at Rose's stare.

"…you do know that the twins tried to blackmail him, right?" Rose asked, making her freeze as her eyes widened.

"W-what? Why the fuck would they do something so stupid?" Ginny asked, dumbstruck. You don't fuck with a family as powerful as the Raum-Blacks, how did they think that was going to go?

Wait, her brothers tried to blackmail him and then he offered her his broom? Was this some long term scheme?

Was he planning on using her against her family?

"Money apparently, they lost a bunch playing poker and tried to blackmail Gray into giving it back," Rose sighed, making Ginny facepalm.

You didn't bet what you can't afford to lose, everyone with a working brain knew that.

"What- do you think Gray is planning something?" Ginny asked, worried she'd fallen into a trap as Rose shrugged.

"I don't know, wanna go find out?" Rose asked, making her blink.

"What do you mean?" Ginny asked, making the older red-head grin without much humour.

"I need to talk with Gray about something anyway, so let's go make sure he's not fucking with you," Rose said, turning and heading into the castle as her eyes widened.

She didn't really want to confront Gray, but letting Rose storm off alone didn't seem like a great idea either.

Chasing behind her, she watched as Rose confronted Damian and Keira, making the siblings exchange a glance as she asked for Gray's location before Keira smirked and pointed them in the right direction, seemingly amused by Rose's demand.

If Rose was concerned by her amusement, she didn't show it as she continued her quest towards where Keira said Gray was, but with all the adventures she'd been through already, it made sense she wouldn't be particularly worried.

Reaching the door to Gray's suite, Rose immediately knocked on it loudly, neither of them having the password to get inside.

The door opened shortly afterwards, a short blonde girl looking up to them in curiosity.

"Astoria, right? Is Gray in?" Rose asked kindly, making Astoria pause before she looked over her shoulder.

"He's in the bath at the minute, follow me," Astoria said, an impish smile on her face as she turned and entered the room, Rose immediately stepping into the comfy common area. Astoria gestured for them to sit down as she ran down one of the corridors, opening a door with a grin. "Gray! A pair of hot red-heads are here for you, should I send them in?"

"Damnit Astoria, get out!" Gray shouted back from within the room, the sounds of splashing making them both blink at Astoria's boldness as she practically cackled, even as a towel was magically launched at her head, running away with a grin.

Running back to them, Astoria tossed the towel at Rose with a grin.

"He'll be out in a moment," Astoria said shamelessly, glancing back at the open door where they could hear the sounds of Gray getting out of the bath. "Now if you'll excuse me, I think I should be somewhere not here when Gray gets out of the bath," Astoria said simply, running for the door as she cackled.

That was Daphne's little sister if she remembered right, and she and Gray seemed close for what Gray called a mostly political marriage.

Gray's head popped around the corner, his usually somewhat curly black hair wet and messy as he glared at them, reaching out his hand as the towel flew out of Rose's hand and towards him before he went back inside.

Wandless, silent magic?

Rose looked reluctantly impressed as well, even as Gray came out of the bathroom, his bare muscled chest glistening with droplets of water as he moved towards them, looking around.

"She took your clothes didn't she?" Rose asked with a slight grin as Gray gave them a dirty look.

"It would appear so, I'll get her back for this later," Gray said, before shrugging and joining them at the table, wearing nothing but the towel around his waist.

Her own face was blushing bright red at the sight of a topless Gray, in far better shape than any of the boys she'd seen before, except maybe Charlie who was far older than him.

"So, what can I help you with?" Gray asked, his tone incredibly deadpan as Rose looked towards her for a moment. "I take it you got on the team?"

"Um, yeah, I did. Thanks," Ginny said quickly, making Gray give her a small smile.

"I'm glad to hear that, congratulations," Gray said with a calm smile, even as she failed to meet his gaze. "Ahh, that's what it is. You heard about Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum's latest fuck up."

"You've read Through the Looking-Glass? Wait never mind, yeah we heard about that," Rose started, making Gray glance between them and smile again.

"Ahh, I see what's happening. You're worried I'm using you to get back at them," Gray said, seemingly amused at the concept. "I doubt it'll be particularly comforting, but I don't need you to ruin those two, legally I could already destroy them in every way that matters," Gray said with a dark smile.

"I… oh-" Ginny started, making him chuckle.

He was right, that wasn't comforting. The twins were idiots but they were still her brothers.

"But you don't need to worry, our deal has nothing to do with that mess, I promise you that much," Gray said honestly. "This is between me, your two idiot brothers and your parents," Gray continued. "I don't plan to punish you for your brothers' mistake."

"Thank you, I'm sorry about what happened, I don't know what they were thinking," Ginny said shyly, a mixture of relief and fear confusing her,

"I do, greed is a sin for a reason, and those two have it in spades," Gray said with a dark chuckle.

They'd always been poor, and they all reacted to their poverty differently, the twins never seemed to mind but maybe they just hid it better than the likes of Ron or Percy.

Or even her.

"I guess so, I just always thought they were smarter than that," Ginny admitted as she reluctantly placed the broom down on the table. "Thanks for lending me your broom, I'll come to get it back for the next match if that's alright?" Ginny asked carefully, technically he'd only agreed to lend it to her during the try-outs.

"Why bother? Just take it with you, I'm sure you'll have to practice between matches," Gray said with a shrug as her eyes widened.

"Wait, you're serious?" Ginny asked, making him smile softly.

"I'm certainly not going to be using it, brooms just aren't for me," Gray said, making her smile at him as she took it back.

"Merlin, you and Hermione are more alike than I thought," Rose teased, making Gray turn to her with a raised eyebrow. "Well, not that alike, I share a room with Hermoine and I don't think I've ever seen her topless."

"I have nothing to be embarrassed about, and if you wanted me to be dressed you should have made an appointment. I'm getting back in the bath when you leave, so why get dressed?" Gray asked, making Rose shrug with a playful grin, looking over his body.

"Fair enough, and I don't mind the show," Rose said with an almost flirtatious tone, before turning to her. "Ginny, I need to talk to Gray alone, if you don't mind," Rose said, her tone not brooking any argument.

The hero-worship that came from growing up hearing stories of her, and then having her life saved by the heroic teen didn't help.

"I, yeah sure," Ginny agreed, not sure what Rose wanted but unwilling to disagree. Friends or not, Rose had this almost aura around her that made her hard to argue with. "Thanks, Gray, really," Ginny said, getting a nod from the handsome older boy as she left.

Leaving the suite and closing the door, she jumped as she turned and almost walked into grinning Astoria.

"Enjoy the view?" Astoria asked, making Ginny turn a deep red at the knowing grin.

"I- do you do that a lot?" Ginny asked, making her giggle.

"Nope, Gray's too alert and he always catches me. Still, it's worth it when I actually sneak past him," Astoria admitted, making her look at the younger girl. "But again, did you enjoy the view?"

"Aren't you a little young to be doing that kind of prank?" Ginny asked, not answering Astoria's question.

"Meh," Astoria replied eloquently. "I'm not too young to enjoy the sight of Gray shirtless so I'd say definitely not. Have fun riding Gray's broomstick," Astoria laughed as she headed down the corridor, still cackling to herself.

Why did she have to put it like that?

Heading back towards the Gryffindor common room, Gray's broom in her hands, she couldn't stop her mind from fantasising about having Gray's thick broom between her legs, the image of a shirtless Gray smiling at her making her blush as she felt a slight warmth between her thighs.

— Rose Potter —

Gray had grown up fast, way, way too fast.

"If you hurt Ginny, I'll hurt you more," Rose said simply, making his eyebrow rise at her tone as he chuckled.

He was taller than her, and could apparently cast some spells without a wand, but she'd faced bigger and far more dangerous things than him.

"How Gryffindor of you, don't worry I have no plans to harm Ginny, she's a nice girl and not at all responsible for her brother's mental shortcomings," Gray replied, his lips twitching in amusement. "So, what exactly do you have to discuss with me?"

She wanted to bring up Sirius, but now didn't seem like the right time with the current fuck up and she couldn't trust him not to turn Sirius in if he either didn't believe her or saw Sirius as a threat to him inheriting the Black titles.

"I want you to go easy on the twins," Rose said, making him raise an eyebrow at her.

"And why should I do that? Do you know what the punishment for trying to blackmail an Heir of a noble house is? Twenty years in Azkaban, of course they tried to blackmail two Heirs, so it's doubled. It turns out the law doesn't particularly care that the two heirs happen to be the same person," Gray said with a dark chuckle.

That didn't surprise her, the laws of the magical world were just weird, she'd learnt that in the lessons she did as the Heir of House Potter.

"Because I know the fines would break the Weasleys, I looked up the laws myself when I found out about this," Rose started, before pausing. "Okay, I got Hermione to do it but still. The Weasley's are good people, and practically my family at this point, I don't want to see them homeless because of this."

"Oh, I'm sure the Potter family has a manor or five to put them in, and if what I've heard about the 'Burrow' is true I'd be doing them a favour," Gray scoffed, making her pause for just a moment too long.

And it turned out Gray was very perceptive.

"You don't have access to your inheritance, do you?" Gray asked after a moment, making her pause before she nodded.

"Some people aren't thrilled with the idea of me becoming Lady Potter, let's leave it at that," Rose scoffed.

Some people (fucking Malfoy) had done a lot of work to make it hard for her to get her rightful inheritance, pushing through a law to 'help heirs and heiresses who grew up outside the magical community prepare for their duties.'

Until she passed her Newts (and a fucking Ministry designed course), her inheritance was outside her reach, and Dumbledore was no help either.

"So I should let them get away with this with nothing but a slap on the wrist?" Gray asked, his muscles tensing as he gave her a half-glare, making her shake her head.

"I said go easy on them, not let them off entirely. They fucked up hard, and I'm pissed about it since it got one of the only fucking things I've got from my parents destroyed. Don't worry, I don't blame you for that, it's on those two idiots," Rose said, she'd been furious at Gray to start with but she calmed down and saw sense.

He found out the twins were using it to spy on him, she'd definitely do the same in his position.

"Ah, the map? My apologies for that, I was rather… displeased at the time," Gray said, making her nod.

"Like I said, it wasn't your fault, and I've already made how I feel about this clear to those two," Rose said, before sighing. "But while they're idiots, we both know they wouldn't survive a year in Azkaban, let alone forty. It'd kill them," Rose pointed out, making him sigh.

"I will see them both punished for this," Gray said sternly, making her nod.

"Of course, I'm not saying to let them off the hook completely," Rose agreed, making him stare at her briefly.

"Molly Weasley has requested a meeting with me, likely for the exact same purpose," Gray admitted, making her pause. "It's why I was bathing, one must look their best for meetings between two families like this."

"Wouldn't it be better to meet with your mother?" Rose asked, making him laugh.

"My mother is less forgiving than me, and besides I've asked her to let me handle it, I need to get used to this kind of thing for when I become the Lord of my family," Grayson said with a certain amount of pride. "I was considering using this situation to have the twins sent to Azkaban and using the fines to vassalise the Weasleys," Gray admitted as she narrowed her eyes.

Her lessons hadn't covered this but she could guess what that entailed.

"Why?" Rose asked, the Weasley's were broke and didn't exactly have anything worth his time. She loved them but she could see the truth.

"Because as the future Lord, I should seek any and all opportunities to further my House's power," Gray said shamelessly, making her chuckle despite the dark situation.

She couldn't blame him for that, it was basically his responsibility to get the most out of any situation. Shouldn't she do the same to try and make her family proud?

"Then how about an alliance between a future Lord and Lady? House Potter isn't as strong as it was in my grandparents' time, but while I don't know if you're aware of this, I'm kinda a big deal,'' Rose joked, making Gray chuckle even as he narrowed his eyes in thought.

"Hm, an alliance? The Blacks and Potters have been close before despite having different viewpoints. Your Grandmother Dorea comes to mind, but we've never been outright allied," Gray said, stroking his chin.

"How bad is being vassalised? And tell the truth because I'm gonna double-check as soon as I get out," Rose asked, making Gray shrug.

"Depends on who you are vassalised by. In this case? Not that bad all things considered, both my mother and myself would have a measure of power over the members of the family, and they'd be expected to come to our defence in the event of a blood feud. It's an old law and system, even by our standards. There are a hundred smaller caveats to it that will either never make a difference or will barely matter," Gray explained.

Ah, it's one of those laws.

"I was planning on making Molly Weasley a live-in maid. I don't trust house-elves that I don't personally own and it turns out there's a Hogwarts by-law preventing me from bringing my own house elf into Hogwarts. I'd like to have some polite words with whichever idiot is responsible for that rule being put into place," Gray grumbled, making her think. "However, there's no rule against students having their servants attend them,"

Firstly, what on Earth did some idiot do with their house elf to get that law put into place, and was it really that bad to have the Weasleys become his vassal?

It wasn't ideal, obviously, but she just wanted to keep the twins out of Azkaban.

"If the Weasleys agree to become your vassals, without the twins going to Azkaban, that's fine," Rose said, well aware that she was treading on thin ice.

You really weren't supposed to get involved in affairs between two houses like this.

"And if we are to be allies, perhaps I can see about loosening the restrictions the ministry has placed on you," Gray offered, making her smile slightly.

This could actually work out a lot better than she expected. Plus, if they were allies she'd be able to spend time with him and test the waters with him about the serious Sirius situation,

"So you won't press charges?" Rose asked, making Gray pause before shrugging.

"I'll likely at least have the twins suspended—if only to save them from my brother's wrath—but if Molly Weasley accepts my terms, I will not," Gray agreed.

"That's fine, they deserve at least that much, Rose agreed as she stood up. "This actually went better than I expected."

"I'm glad you're happy, but it's getting rather cold so if that was all, I'd like to finish my bath," Gray deadpanned, making her pause.

Oh yeah, he was basically naked right now.

Glancing down at his chiselled chest, she gave him an approving nod, before grinning.

"That is everything, thanks… and good luck finding your clothes," Rose said with a giggle as she headed for the door.

She'd saved the idiots from Azkaban and laid the groundwork to help Sirius and maybe even get her inheritance.

Today was a good day.

— Molly Weasley —

Heading into the meeting room that she hadn't even been aware Hogwarts had, she paused mid-step as she spotted the boy, or man, she came here to meet already sitting waiting for her, wearing an expensive-looking black robe.

Wasn't Grayson supposed to be a young teenager?

The young man sat staring at her could pass for a seventh year, but she didn't hesitate for long as she moved forwards.

"Thank you for agreeing to meet with me, Heir Raum-Black," Molly started, her noble etiquette was extremely rusty but it was still better than Arthur's.

She'd never put much stock into fancy titles and bloodlines, but it was clear she should have taught her sons to at least respect the power behind the names. Just because she didn't think having a fancy lineage made you special didn't mean she didn't know that most of the noble houses could destroy her entire family without breaking a sweat.

Arthur might be a department head, but he was the head of a department that nobody respected or wanted to run, they'd fire him in a second to avoid angering a family as powerful as the Raum's. Yennefer Raum played the game entirely too well, and now the twins had put their family in her sights.

"Considering the current situation, it's the least I could do," Grayson said with a deadpan tone, making her sigh as she sat down opposite him. "First of all, I've asked my mother to leave this situation in my hands, so I will be making all the decisions on my family's side, and she won't be getting involved unless things go even more wrong."

That was a relief at least.

"Now, I gave some serious consideration to simply pressing charges and having them tossed in Azkaban, watching the fines devastate your family, but now that I've calmed down I've reconsidered and I have an offer for you," Gray started, making her pause. "Instead of being imprisoned, I'll simply push for the twins to be suspended, likely having to repeat this year, with this being placed on their permanent record. This is non-negotiable, and I will not allow them to get away with this without punishment," Gray said with a grim expression as she winced.

It was far, far better than Azkaban and crippling fines, but having something like this on their record would make it hard for them to get any legitimate job above minimum wage, likely for the rest of their lives.

But what could she say? He was already lowering the punishment substantially, and she couldn't even say it was unfair.

"And in return?" Molly asked hesitantly. She knew she wasn't in a position to negotiate, and Gray obviously already had something in mind.

"The Weasley family accepts vassalisation by the Raum family," Grayson answered immediately, making her eyes widen.

"I… what would that mean for my family?" Molly asked after a moment of silence, making Grayson smile slightly.

"For Arthur? Not much, there's laws in place to deal with Ministry employees being vassals to prevent corruption. William and Charles? Absolutely nothing, for Percy it will probably help his career more than anything else, the Weasleys aren't exactly a respected family and it's been hindering his prospects," Grayson deadpanned. "The Twins, Ron and Ginny would be expected to obey me, or my mother, but I have no interest in ever seeing the former again, Ron is a non-entity at best, and I actually get along with Ginny and have already given her my word that her brothers' actions wouldn't hurt her."

Ginny was friends with Grayson? That was certainly interesting to know.

"It will however affect you personally, because you will be the one paying off their idiocy," Grayson said, making her blink.

"What do you mean?" Molly asked, making him give her a smile she couldn't quite decipher.

"I want you to become my personal maid, living in my Hogwarts suite. Not permanently, you'd be given plenty of time to go home and spend time with your family, but you would be serving me and as such would be expected to follow my commands," Grayson said, making her stare at him in shock and confusion.

"Why would you want that? I'm sure your family has house-elves already…" Molly started, making him sigh. "And Hogwarts certainly does."

"We do, but let's simply say I've run afoul of the more obscure rules of Hogwarts and I don't trust any servants that report to anyone other than my family," Grayson said, making her blink.

Was he worried the House-elves were spying on him for Dumbledore? Slytherins were so paranoid at times.

"How long would I be expected to be your maid?" Molly asked, making Grayson raise an eyebrow.

"For my time in Hogwarts, at least. Vassalage isn't something that can be broken easily once agreed to, so I understand your hesitation, but that is my demand to not press charges," Grayson said, his tone holding no room to negotiate.

It didn't seem that bad, she didn't do much nowadays anyway, Bill, Charlie and Percy had moved out, the others were in Hogwarts and Arthur was either at work or tinkering in his shed.

"I'd have to talk with Arthur about this, I don't mind myself but I can't accept without his input," Molly said after a moment, making Grayson nod casually.

"Of course, only the head of the family can accept vassalisation," Grayson agreed. "I'll give you a week, on the condition that the twins are pulled from Hogwarts and placed under house arrest during that week," Grayson said with a shrug. "But you do realise what would be expected of you as my maid, correct?" Grayson asked, tilting his head.

"To cook and clean for you, and other small odd jobs?" Molly asked, making Gray chuckle as he stood up and walked towards her.

"As my personal maid, you would be required to see to all my wants and needs," Grayson said, making her tilt her head, not quite picking up on what he meant until he reached forwards and gently cupped one of her breasts through her dress, making we eyes widen in shock as she felt him start to grope her breast.

She almost went for her wand as he continued to squeeze and play with the large breast that didn't even fit in his hand before she forced herself to calm down. The twins were doomed if she attacked Grayson.

"H-heir Raum, I'm old enough to be your mother, and I'm a married woman," Molly said quickly, looking up at him in realisation of why he wanted her.

"You are, but neither of those are an issue as far as I'm concerned, I simply want to be very clear about what you would be agreeing to," Grayson said, still molesting her breasts before he stepped back.

"I-" Molly started before trailing off, frozen slightly as she looked up at him. "Why?"

"Because I want to get back at the twins, and if I'm not banishing them to Azkaban, this works well enough. Dealing with them will be easier with the knowledge that their stupidity ended up with their mother in my bed, moaning my name as she paid for their mistakes with her body," Grayson said, a smirk on his face as she stood up, unsure what to do.

He wasn't one of her boys that she could shout into submission, and she knew better than to even try.

"You're welcome to refuse of course, if you prefer the other solution to this situation," Grayson said with a shrug, making her pale.

The other solution being imprisonment for her sons and debt so deep they'd never claw their way out of it.

What a mess those two had put them all in.

"I… I'll need to think about this, and talk to Arthur," Molly said quickly, making him chuckle.

And she also needed to see if there was any way out of this that didn't end with her giving her body to someone her youngest son's age.

"Naturally," Grayson said, seeming amused by her sudden doubts and hesitation.

Maybe she would have been better off dealing with Yennefer after all, but honestly, she still doubted it.

"I'll go and speak with him if that's everything…" Molly started, watching as Grayson smiled at her, his expression a mixture of hunger, amusement and something she couldn't recognise.

"Well, there is one small thing," Gray said as he stepped forwards again. "Turn around please," he said, watching as she hesitated before she reluctantly turned around.

Placing a hand on her back, he forced her to bend over slightly as she gasped feeling her dress rising, being pulled up by the lustful teen behind her until he flipped it up and over her waist, exposing her pale legs and plain panties.

She was truly worried he'd simply pull them down and try and take her right here and now, because she truly didn't think she was in a position to stop him, but instead, he simply gave her buttocks a quick grope and let her dress fall back down.

"If you do accept, wear a more arousing set of underwear, or don't bother wearing underwear at all," Grayson ordered, making her shiver at his demanding tone. "Now why don't you get going? I'm sure you have a lot to think about."

That she did, starting with exactly how much she was going to tell Arthur about Grayson's demands.

Walking away, she glanced back and made eye contact with Grayson, a dark, hungry look in his eyes making her shudder.

— Fleur Delacour —

She didn't fail.

She was flawless, and she had never let her grandmother down before, so if her grandmother wanted a painting done by that stuck-up, horny little shit, she'd get it even if Fleur had to kidnap Gray and drag him to France herself.

Her job was time-sensitive because her beloved Grandmother wanted to be the first to get a portrait done by the duchess' new favourite artist and she planned to invite Grayson to her next ball.

So why did people insist on causing her problems?

Who the hell were the 'twins' and what had they done to cause Gray to basically ignore her in favour of whatever was going on? How dare he ignore her?!

Did she not cover for him after the parasite problem? Not mentioning that he was about to violate her before they were interrupted?

And why did the interruption anger her so much?! She should have been infuriated at some English dog pawing at her body, instead, she was disappointed and angered at the blood-sucking leeches that spoiled their game, and she could admit to herself that it was a game, in which she was a willing and eager participant.

She just didn't know why she wanted him so much.

"You're pacing again," Lelianna said idly, watching her storm around their shared bedroom with a small grin. "So, when do I get to meet your new infatuation?"

"I am not infatuated!" Fleur growled, swishing her wand as the pillow on her bed shot towards her laughing friend, who quickly retaliated, her worries and frustrations forgotten for a moment.

But she'd made up her mind, Gray was going to be painting her grandmother even if she had to throw him in a sack and carry him back to France.

— Bonus Scene -– Carmilla

It came as no real surprise that her vampire spawn had failed to do any real harm to the children of her enemy, they were weak in both body and mind but they could get into the castle where her targets hid and served as a good test of their strength.

Her other target, the sorceress Yennefer remained behind her wards, and they were crafted to stop monsters like her from approaching, one of her vampire brides was turned to dust just trying to cross the boundary.

But she was watching through her minions' eyes as they attempted to kill the youngest of the Raum children, and she'd felt the sheer power and darkness of the fire he'd used to incinerate them.

"You knew," Carmilla said, turning to the handsome demon that had freed her from her imprisonment, making Sebastian nod his head calmly.

"I did, of course. Grayson Raum is the true heir of the family, the next Demon Lord of Raum, I expected he'd deal with your slaves easily enough," Sebastian admitted, making her narrow her eyes.

She'd been aware of demons before she was sealed away, but she didn't think they could enter this world. A lot had happened while she slumbered, for this powerful demon to slip into this plane.

"And you didn't think to warn me? Are we not allies?" Carmilla asked, a sultry tone to her voice as Sebastian smiled, a gentle smile that spoke of the pain he could inflict on her.

She'd already realised that he was much stronger than her, as much as it galled her.

"Allies? Of course not," Sebastian said with a gentle tone. "You're just a tool to test my Lord Raum, to see if he deserves the position and my loyalty, nothing more," Sebastian admitted as she clenched her fists, sharp nails digging deeply into her flesh.

Grayson Raum, she'd been awoken and freed just to test this boy, this demon wearing the skin of a child.

She couldn't beat Sebastian directly, she'd found that out when she tried to feed on him immediately after awakening, being simply manhandled by the demonic butler until she submitted, but she wouldn't let this insult pass.