Chapter 17: Women Woes and Quidditch Quarreling

"Hey, Hermione," Harry said giving her a quick kiss as she came into the apartment. "Thanks for coming early. I have something I need to tell you." He ran a hand through his hair and moved to the couch.

"Wotcher, Hermione!" Tonks called from the kitchen. "I'm making the popcorn and apparently I got drafted to play bodyguard. So no harming the guy, yeah?"

"I promise, Tonks," Hermione said rolling her eyes. She got a little gleam in her eyes and continued playfully, "Though if he tries to start bragging about his accomplishments or discusses his latest scheme to defy death I make no promises!"

"I can understand that. Yell if you two need anything," Tonks finished and the teens heard the microwave start.

"She got here early as well?" Hermione asked sitting down next to Harry.

He shrugged. "I think she got annoyed with Kreacher and Sirius mostly. She came storming through the Floo muttering something about a horrible painting that refused to properly burn, an annoying house elf that seemed far too eager to get his head chopped off and a dog that kept making inappropriate comments." Harry paused and laughed slightly. "Which must have been pretty bad if they got Tonks riled up."

"Yes, well it is Sirius," Hermione said shaking her head and grinning slightly. "So what did you want to talk to me about? I actually have something to tell you as well." She shifted so that she was looking at him instead of leaning against his side.

"Oh, what?" Harry asked.

"You first, Mister Potter," Hermione said with a raised eyebrow. "You were the initial one to say something after all."

"Right," Harry gulped and shifted his eyes so that he was staring above Hermione instead of at her. "Err, this is kinda awkward. Well, more than kinda. I um, I stopped by Gringotts a while ago and um…well the thing with being Sirius' Heir is a tad bit more complicated than I had expected. And err…I kinda…havetomarryatleasttwopeoplenow," he finished in a rush.

Hermione blinked. "I'm not going to pretend I understood that last bit, but from the beginning of it I take it that you already know you need to have a second girlfriend for House Black now?"

Harry nodded dejectedly. "Yeah. I'm sorry. I understand that you want to break – " He cut off midsentence as her words caught up to his thoughts. Then he gaped and stared at her. Stared at her very amused expression. "You knew too, Mione?!"

"That was actually what I was going to talk to you about as well today, Harry." Hermione said with a slight laugh. She patted his cheek. "Harry, you're sweet, but you really need to look more closely at politics in the wizarding world. Did you ever bother to read those books that Neville, Daphne and I gave you? As soon as Sirius proclaimed that you were his Heir I knew immediately that you'd have to have a second girlfriend and eventual wife. Everyone present did. We all just assumed that you knew already so we didn't bring it up."

"Yeah," Harry muttered, "I figured that the others knew. I actually just sent off a letter to Neville, Daphne and Luna saying 'Thanks for the heads up guys. You all suck.' Amelia was carrying the message to Susan personally and I figured Tracey would've actually had a good laugh about it and purposefully didn't say anything. I didn't think you'd know too…"

Hermione leaned over and kissed him softly. "Harry, I'm sorry I didn't tell you. My parents asked about some things a little while ago and I only realized then that you probably hadn't realized that implication. I apologize for not talking to you sooner and for you having to find out via the goblins. I've been trying to think of a good way to bring it up." She reached into her bag and pulled out three sheets of paper, presenting them to him one at a time. "I've made some lists. This one is a list of partners I feel are most suitable for you in order of compatibility."

"Daphne?" Harry asked squinting at the top name. "What? She's with Tracey."

"She is yes. But this list disregards all prior existing relationships. Besides I've seen how she looks at you sometimes, Harry. She already stands beside you on most things as well. It's just something to consider. Moving on, this list contains partners that I would prefer to be with."

Harry took the second paper from her looking slightly shocked. "That you would…wow…"

"Oh, Luna is on that list somewhere by the way. The girl may be a bit odd but she can be somewhat adorable at times. I'm not sure whether she's interested in you or sees you as a brother though. You'd have to talk to her. I've seen that she does seem somewhat attached to Tracey as well so it's possible she'd be open to that sort of relationship too."

"Wait, you'd be okay with Luna? The same Luna that you shake your head at every time she brings up something off the wall?" Harry asked incredulous.

"Just because I don't find her particular method of evasion and distraction personally appealing doesn't mean I can't deny the benefits and effectiveness," Hermione shrugged. "I'm also somewhat convinced that she plays it up a bit sometimes just to watch me squirm. Two can play at that game," Hermione chuckled at that.

"Oh," Harry said still trying to catch up. He accepted the third sheet of paper from Hermione.

"This list is a set of people who I feel like you might want to date while still taking into consideration existing relationships and continuing to date me. It's probably the most relevant one at this time."

Harry nearly choked on his tongue as he stared at that list. "Tonks?!" he said in a strangled voice.

"You call?" Tonks asked poking her head around the wall.

"No! No, we're good, Tonks!" Harry hurried to call back, his voice breaking a bit.

"Actually, Tonks, you might want to come in here. I was intended to bring this up after the movie, but since you're here already…" Hermione said shrugging.

"Uh, sure," Tonks said furrowing her brow at the teen. She came in and plopped down onto the chair across from them with popcorn in hand. Harry's head was rapidly shifting between Tonks and Hermione. How in the bloody hell had he lost so much control of the conversation so quickly?

"Tonks, as you are aware, Harry is now the Heir Black in addition to the Heir Potter," Hermione said turning to Tonks.

"Yeah. I was there when it was brought up," Tonks said sounding amused.

"Well, I've been spending quite some time thinking about who might be suitable for Harry's second partner," she paused and her face got a bit red. Tonks just waved her along. "I um, well I've been watching how he interacts with the women around him as well as how they interact with him and…" Hermione took a deep breath and pushed on, "And I've seen how you both look at each other and I think you would make a very good match. It certainly helps that Harry has never shown any preference for a specific form you take and that you have never really seen him as a boy but as a young adult. I think two would balance each other nicely." Hermione finished her speech with bright red cheeks and wringing hands. Harry was trying to burrow into the couch to disappear while Tonks was gaping like a fish.

"I…I…what?" Tonks finally squeaked. Her hair had flashed through a rapid rainbow of colors before settling on a fluorescent orange and her cheeks had also turned bright red despite her best efforts to damp it down.

"Well obviously, nothing has to happen yet. Harry is only 14 after all so of course it's not something super urgent. But by the same token, I wanted to bring it up now to get everyone thinking about everything and...well I just wanted to make sure that there's no dancing around the issue and that we're all open with each other so that no one feels awkward or anything," Hermione rapidly said not stopping to breath. She seemed to have lost much of her earlier confidence.

"I feel awkward," Harry said raising his hand.

The two girls ignored him. Tonks got her breathing under control and her blush lessened. "You realize I'm six years older than him?"

Hermione shrugged. "I'm a year older than him myself and once we all graduate the age difference really won't be much of a factor."

"Yeah maybe then, but like you said, Harry is 14. You're about to be 15 – "

"Technically I am 15. Time Turner," Hermione said her voice settling back into a quiet assuredness.

Tonks nodded. "Right, 15. Point is I can't even let myself think about him that way, Hermione. I feel like a cradle-robber," Tonks said raising her eyebrows.

"Feel, not would feel?" Hermione asked with a bit of a wry grin. Tonks cursed softly and leaned back her hair staying bright orange.

"Fine. Feel. So maybe I have thought about it," Tonks muttered.

Harry's eyes widened. "You have? When? Why does nobody tell me anything?!"

"I'm supposed to tell a 14 year old that I started valuing his opinions more than my boss?" Tonks asked cocking her head at him. "Or that he was giving me more respect than anyone outside my parents? Or that you were literally the first non-asexual male to treat me like a normal person and not like a sex doll?"

"But…you were…I was…"

"I think you broke him, Tonks," Hermione said. She shook her head and lightly patted Harry's cheek again. "Don't worry, Harry, just us talk now. Whenever you reboot, you can rejoin the conversation."

"Look, Hermione, I'm flattered that you think we'd fit well but my point still stands. Sure, the age won't mean a thing in a few years, but right now I feel like a pervert for even thinking it. Bloody hell, I drank two bottles of tequila when I finally admitted it the other week!"

"Alcohol is never the answer," Hermione said. She paused and blushed a bit. "Well, okay sometimes alcohol is the answer but not a long term one. You know, I've looked this up, Tonks. While it's not largely practiced it's still considered acceptable and legal to get married as young as 12 in the wizarding world. In fact, the most recent case of this was just five years ago in a suburb of Westminster."

"What?!" Tonks asked with wide eyes.

"I know, I was rather shocked myself. But that's beside the point. Like I said originally, nothing has to happen yet. I just wanted to put it onto the table."

"Hermione, I'm not an idiot. Harry is surrounded by beautiful girls who would jump at the chance if he showed any interest in them at all. I'd put a lot of galleons on Tracey being willing to share Daphne and even if she doesn't then Luna is likely going to end up entangled with you two soon instead. Barring either of them, the castle is full of eligible young women more appropriate than me. There is no possible way that Harry is still going to be available by the time I feel comfortable entertaining anything with him," Tonks finished with a sad smile. Her hair had shifted to a darker blue.

"Besides Luna and Daphne, Tonks, there's not really anyone in the castle I'd even think about dating…" Harry said quietly. He finally seemed to have gotten his wits back and he shrugged. "Some of them are nice enough but most either see me as The-Boy-Who-Lived or just the guy with the awesome hobby. I'm really only 'Harry' to a few people. You were one of the first in that group along with Hermione and Neville."

Tonks leaned back and drew her feet up. "What about Daphne, Tracey and Luna? They think of you that way too, Harry."

"I barely spoke to Luna before last year. Daphne and Tracey, I didn't become friends with until halfway through Second Year. I met you before I met any of them. You were my friend before them and you made a pretty bad situation a lot more fun and interesting just by staying positive and distracting me. It…made an impression," Harry said. He was blushing as bad as a Weasley and couldn't look at either girl.

"I...hadn't realized that," Tonks said. Her hair had changed to a dark brown and a lock of it dropped in front of her face as she shifted positions. She held up a hand to scowl at it. "Stupid hair. I hate my natural color." She concentrated for a moment and it shifted back to pink.

"Tonks, Harry," Hermione said softly, "I'm not trying to play matchmaker or be your pimp." Hermione paused and rolled her eyes at her weak attempt at lightening the mood. Humor was not her strong point. "This is a very unusual situation and I'm just trying to do the best I can to make things easier for everyone. I'm…not very good at social situations – though I am improving. I truly think you two could be happy together. You're both very good compliments to each other. Harry is far more mature than his years would indicate and Tonks – please don't be offended as I mean this as nicely as possible – you are not quite as mature as your age would suggest. Harry is introspective and likes to plan – "

"I do?" Harry muttered frowning.

"Well just because your plans tend to fall horribly apart rather quickly, it certainly doesn't discount the fact that you do make your plans before attempting most actions," Hermione retorted with a smirk. Harry opened his mouth to refute that but ended up sighing and nodding his assent.

"Anyway, Harry likes to plan and you are somewhat impulsive."

"I plan," Tonks muttered sounding much like Harry had just done with his comment. The three paused for a moment as they realized that and then all of them snorted. "I really do try and plan things though."

"Is that your first instinct or have you had to train yourself to do it?" Hermione asked. Tonks considered for a minute before conceding the point.

"Hermione," Harry said softly. "I'm not a guru on relationships by any means but I don't think you can just talk someone into a one. It's not supposed to work that way."

Tonks shook her head and held a up a hand before Hermione could say anything. "That's not what she's doing, Harry." Her hair flashed through a few colors before settling back on pink. "She's trying to talk me into accepting that neither of you would feel like I was taking advantage of you." She stood up and her hair shifted back to her natural brown, lengthening to lie just above her shoulders. "I need to think for a bit." Tonks gave them a smile and heading towards the back of the house.

"Tonks," Harry called. She stopped and looked back over her shoulders at him questioningly. "Promise me you aren't going to go and drink, Nymphadora?" he asked no hint of teasing or sarcasm in his tone.

Tonks gently shook her head smiling wanly. "Promise, Harry. I'll talk to you guys in a bit. Let me know when the others get here."

As Tonks walked around the corner of the hallway she noticed Shiva leaning against the wall with her arms crossed. "How much of that conversation did you overhear?"

Shiva shrugged. "Nearly all of it. For what it's worth, I agree with Hermione. You are well suited for Harry and he'd be good for you. I teased him about it for a while, but I noticed after a bit that when he wasn't thinking of her he was thinking of you. It's been that way for a long time. He leans on the other girls around him a lot, but he defaults to you two when things hit the fan."

"He's fourteen," Tonks said. It came out sounding like a plea instead of a rebuttal.

"And thanks to how he was raised he's mentally been an adult since before he left single digits, Dora," Shiva sighed and pushed off the wall. "I'm not trying to tell you what to do any more than those teens are. I'm just saying, don't discount the possibility."

"You're two years older than me, Shiva," Tonks said wrapping her arms around herself. "It'd almost be like he was dating you."

"Now that is bullshite," Shiva walked past Tonks and squeezed her shoulder. "There's a quote by a Muggle writer, Twain something, 'Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter.' Think about it, Dora."

An hour later, everyone was gathered around the living room again, curled up on their various couches and chairs. Luna had claimed Harry's side snuggling into him while Tonks had dropped into an armchair in the middle of the room.

"She's not pulling away from you, Harry," Luna said softly as the movie started. Her voice was quiet enough that only Harry would be able to hear.

He glanced down at the blonde with a questioning look. "What?" he whispered back.

"Tonks." Luna met Harry's eyes with her disturbingly piercing gaze. "You two talked about something very important before we all arrived. It was a conversation that did not go as smoothly as it could have." It wasn't a question. "Look where she has placed herself, this evening: she is distant, but not far; apart, but not separate. She is open to what you discussed, but she is trying to hide it. She is not as skilled at that as I am."

"Luna…" Harry floundered for something to say and came up empty.

Luna just sighed and leaned further into him. "She needs to accept herself before she will be able to adequately reply to your conversation, Harry. In the meantime try to act normal. Your friendship will not suffer even if perhaps the hugs and teasing might."

Harry stayed quiet for over a minute considering what his friend had said. Finally he hugged the girl closer and whispered, "You know, you are scarily observant sometimes, Luna."

"I know," Luna chuckled. "I get that from my mother. Now, shush. I want to see the dinosaurs!"

That weekend saw Harry walking up to the gates of Hogwarts with Shiva and waving to his friends. Most of his core group had ended up deciding to come see the rendering of the basilisk. Luna was present with a camera borrowed from Colin Creevey to take some pictures. Neville wanted to see the thing since he had been so close to being involved in the battle. Susan and Hannah were mostly just curious. Tracey wanted to 'spit on it and kick it in the bollocks'. Daphne wanted to face it one more time. Tonks wanted to get a look at an actual basilisk. Hermione needed to see what Harry had faced down to avenge her injury.

Harry was mostly ambivalent about this adventure. He was more worried he was about to be swamped by people concerned for him and Daphne in the next few minutes than anything else. The slight tension between him and Tonks was more disconcerting than anything the Chamber could throw at him now. Harry nearly tripped as he went over that last thought. Hurriedly he reached out and knocked on the wooden Entrance Hall doors. And crossed his fingers. And, just for good measure, conjured some salt and tossed it over his shoulder.

"Harry?" Hermione asked raising her eyebrows at his antics.

"Just had an errant thought, Hermione," Harry said letting out a breath. "Better to be safe than sorry in case the universe happened to have been listening."

"I find it's always safer to let the universe play as it will rather than daring it to play with you," Luna commented with a smile.

"Yup, see, this girl knows what I'm talking about," Harry said gesturing towards his friend.

In front of Harry, Snapfist gave a deep laugh. "Ah, Warrior Potter, the best battles always come about after daring the Forge to toss more challenges at you!"

"I'm good for the moment, thanks," Harry snorted. "How come you decided to come, Snapfist? I thought we'd just be meeting the renderers?"

The goblin shrugged. "I named you Warrior. I want to see if I was justified in that and that the beast was worth the hunt."

Shiva shook her head and led the group of humans and goblins up to the second floor doing her best not to laugh at her ward. She nearly ran into Snape as they turned the corner to Myrtle's bathroom. "Shite. Sorry, Snape."

"Watch where you are going woman," the man muttered in an absent, disinterested tone. His eyes widened as he noticed her entourage. "What are all these…people doing here, Babbling? School is not in session and goblins have no business on these grounds."

"We are here on contract," the lead renderer, Crag, said with a distinct snort. "So yes, actually, we do have business on these grounds."

"The Headmaster did not inform me that any contracts would be in effect today," Snape said sounding less certain than a moment ago. "And that does nothing to explain Potter or his lackeys."

"Lackeys?" Daphne said with raised eyebrows. "I'm a lackey now am I?"

"Snape," Shiva said with a sigh, "we are here claiming Harry and Daphne's right via conquest with our chosen renderers. I informed the Deputy Headmistress that we would be on the grounds for a few hours doing exactly that. I don't know, nor care, why you feel you should have been personally informed. Kindly move out of the way or take up the responsibility of paying the goblins for their wasted time."

Snape glowered at her for another moment. He stepped aside with swish of his cloak and stalked off towards the dungeons.

"Well there goes the lack of anonymity," Tracey muttered. She continued louder, "So who wants to take bets on how long before Dumbles shows up?"

"No bet," Harry said immediately.

"Fifteen minutes!" Luna said jumping up and down with her hand in the air, smiling happily.

Snapfist raised his eyebrows at the perky blonde before turning to Harry. "You maintain very interesting company, Warrior Potter."

"You should see her when she starts going on about crumple-horned snorkacks." Harry shook his head. "I really, really hope she finds one someday."

"Crumple-horned snorkacks hmm?" Snapfist said rubbing his chin.

"Here we are," Shiva said opening the door to the bathroom. "Myrtle? Ah, not here. Well that does make it a bit dryer at least. Harry? You're up."

Harry nodded and headed over to the sink. He got the passage open and the staircase extended. On a bit of lark Harry hissed, ~Remain open.~ Surprisingly he heard a dull click resound. "Huh. I didn't actually expect that to work…"

"What did you say?" Shiva asked cocking her head at the hole in the floor.

Harry shrugged. "I just told it to stay open. Remember it shut on Daphne last time? I didn't really want to keep coming back up and down to open the door all the time if we have to make multiple trips."

"Yeah but now Dumbles can follow us," Tracey said frowning.

"The Headmaster has no part in this contract," Crag said stepping onto the staircase. His voice echoed back up as he headed down. "Whether he arrives or not is immaterial. The location of the battleground doesn't matter in the slightest when dealing with Rights of Conquest."

Snapfist followed the renderers into the passage with a predatory grin. "I would enjoy Dumbledore attempting to interfere with the contract. Then perhaps I could fine him enough to claim that…duty we discussed previously, Warrior Potter." Harry snorted at the goblin's humor and headed down with his friends.

As they reached the first corridor at the bottom of the stairs, Harry and the others found Crag and his team examining the shed skin nearby. "Warrior Potter, Warrior Greengrass. This item was not in the initial contract, but is still suitable for sale. We would be willing to add it in exchange for an additional four suits of basilisk armor."

"Six," Daphne said coming up beside Harry and nodding to the goblin.

He considered and held up a finger. "Five."

"Deal," both Harry and Daphne said. They gave each other a wry grin.

"Merlin, you fought this something this big, Harry?" Tonks said hesitantly reaching out to touch the skin.

Daphne laughed and shook her head. "This is tiny compared the real deal, Tonks. Come on everyone; let's get to the real prize."

Crag nodded and left one goblin to start processing the skin before following along. Harry opened the second door to low whistles from some of the group and muttered comments about elaborate doors for secret underground bases. As the door slid open, the torches lining the Chamber lit up and illuminated Slytherin's statue eliciting another round of comments about too large egos.

Then the light fell onto the corpse of the basilisk. And everyone present besides Harry, Daphne and Tracey drew in a sharp breath and froze solid.

The silence was broken when Hermione uttered a short scream before burying herself into Harry's chest. Neville gave a soft, "Merlin's balls…I wanted to fight that?" and was promptly engulfed by Susan and Hannah who were both trembling.

Shiva muttered several choice curses before wrapping Harry and Daphne both in a hug. "I can't believe I let you two go against this thing alone…"

"If it's any consolation, Professor," Daphne said, "had any more people been here we likely wouldn't have walked away without casualties."

"Doesn't change the fact you fought a monster alone," Shiva said with a sniffle. Harry patted her back as best he could with Hermione still wrapped around him.

Tonks was completely dumbstruck, merely blinking at the 60 foot snake in front of her. "Morgana's tits…"

"You okay, Tonks?" Harry asked his friend.

"I…I just…you said you weren't a kid a long time ago but…even with the Dementors thing I don't think I really understood until just now…" her hair had drifted back to its natural brown and her eyes were wide.

A flash illuminated the Chamber and Harry turned to see Luna holding up her camera with a huge smile splitting her cheeks. "Hermione, I need to borrow Harry for moment! Harry, Daphne, come over here! I need some shots of you both by its head for the Quibbler. Harry can you summon your sword and stick it back in its mouth? Please, please, please?"

Hermione carefully let go of Harry and pulled back, wiping her eyes. She sniffled but nodded at Harry's look. "I'm fine, Harry. I was just a little overwhelmed that you fought this thing while I was lying unconscious. Go. Go give Luna her shots." Harry leaned down to kiss her lightly before nodding and moving away with Daphne following behind.

Tracey had moved over to Crag and was talking to the older goblin. "So do you know where the bollocks would be on this thing? I'm not actually sure whether snakes have them or not…"

Crag let out a deep laugh as did the other goblins in earshot. "Come, youngling. This way."

After Luna got her photos, Tracey got her kick and Crag's team started their work, Snapfist sidled up next to Harry and Daphne. "You two, are certainly worthy hunters." His voice had lost almost all of the normal gruff tones that he usually used talking with humans. "I admit, I thought the story inflated. A basilisk is worthy prey true, but this specimen is of a different caliber. This beast would give many of Gringotts own guardians a worthy fight. It almost makes me wish the Nation had a higher honor to bestow than Warrior." Snapfist turned to the teenagers. He considered for a long moment before bowing to them. "Warrior Potter, Warrior Greengrass, the Goblin Nation officially congratulates you on your deed. Should you require our assistance in the future we will give the request its due consideration irregardless of your species. We will treat is as it befits your status and the respect you both command."

Daphne blinked several times before shaking her head. She hurried to curtsy and Harry followed suit with a bow. "Thank you, Account Manager Snapfist. Warrior Potter and I recognize the honor bestowed and promise to treat the concession with the same gravity that it is offered."

"We won't abuse that, Snapfist," Harry put in. Neville standing nearby rolled his eyes at Harry's lack of formality.

After that Harry and the other humans started to wander around the Chamber proper. There hadn't been time to explore during the first visit and he never had managed to come back prior to this. Finding most of the Chamber to be empty they did end up stumbling across one large tunnel out and a grate blocked by another parseltongue door. A quick sojourn showed that the tunnel opened up relatively deep into the Forbidden Forest which at least partially explained how the snake had been able to survive for so long down there.

Hermione was far more interested in the second find: a small room behind the statue which held several ancient tomes – at least three of which were written by Salazar Slytherin himself. "Harry! Harry, look! This is Salazar Slytherin's own personal diary! And this is a book on Hogwarts! And this is…well I don't know what this is but look! This is amazing!" Harry chuckled as he moved over to his girlfriend's side.

"It's parseltongue, Hermione," he commented checking her book. "Seems pretty boring actually. It looks like it is just descriptions of different kinds of snakes both magical and mundane. It has some notations on which ones are smarter, which ones are poisonous or have special properties and which ones make the best pets. Oh, apparently one of them can fly. That's both terrifying and awesome."

"I can't believe I'm reading one of the Founder's diaries…" Hermione said softly. She reverently turned the page with her wand. Tracey came up beside her and reached out to hold the book only to be batted away by the brunette. "Don't touch it! It's ancient! You could damage it!"

Tracey held up her hands and backed off laughing. "Whoa, sorry, Miss Bookworm. My bad. I promise not to hurt the awesome book."

Daphne shook her head and moved past Tracey to squint down at the book. "You did deserve that one, Trace. This is amazing."

"Daphne, look," Hermione said pointing to a section. "Is that what I think it?"

"Yeah, it's why he left…" Daphne's eyes widened and she stood up. "Wow. That is not what history teaches."

"Anyone care to share?" Shiva asked coming up behind them all.

Hermione nodded absently. "According to this account, Salazar Slytherin was never against Muggle-borns in general. He was against magicals being hunted and slaughtered. He advocated for raising Muggle-borns with other wizarding families so that we could hide our existence better. The other Founders disagreed with removing children from their families despite the staggering amounts of young ones who were killed before they ever reached Hogwarts for fear of being possessed by the devil when they exhibited accidental magic. The dispute grew until Slytherin could no longer remain with the others."

Daphne picked up the story. "It looks like the basilisk was left with the primary purpose of guarding the school. Slytherin felt that the attitudes of the other Founders would eventually lead to a war with the Muggles and he wanted to make sure that at least the children here would be protected…wow, that's actually rather sad what happened to the poor thing now…"

"I did try to talk to her," Harry said glancing at the corpse. "Yet another thing good thing that Voldemort destroyed."

Tonks shook her head, her hair long since returned to a black and gold pattern reminiscent of the basilisk's scales. "I doubt that, Harry. This thing was alone for a millennium regardless of whether or not it was asleep for the majority of that time. Even if Riddle hadn't convinced it to start trying to kill the students it likely wouldn't have been sane enough to be a decent guardian anymore."

"It still seems like a shame," Neville said. He sighed. "I preferred hating the monster. You're not supposed to feel bad for things like this."

"That's what makes us different from…Him," Susan said setting her mouth in a thin line.

"Agreed," Hannah nodded. "If we can feel bad for a giant monster that tried to kill us and a man who wanted to break up thousands of families than that just proves that we are better people than those like You-Know-Who and his followers."

"Yes," Luna said with a smile. "We few no longer are infested with nargles unlike most of the population."

"Nargles?" Hannah asked. Everyone else just laughed.

The goblins had managed to complete almost half the work before Snape and Dumbledore strode into the Chamber. Snape stopped dead upon seeing the corpse and his mouth dropped open. Dumbledore continued on as if he had seen this sort of thing every day.

"Ah, Harry, my boy, I see you are conducting a bit of Spring Cleaning. A few months late for that isn't it?" he asked a twinkle in his eyes.

Harry raised his eyebrows and glanced at his friends. Most just shrugged though Hermione's eyes narrowed as she stared at the old man as did Shiva's and Tonks'. "Hello, Headmaster. I thought you'd be away on business."

"We concluded the session early," Dumbledore said with a wave of his hand. "I am surprised you didn't think I should be informed of this…"

Shiva stepped in front of her ward. "Actually, Headmaster, I did inform the Deputy Headmistress that we would be conducting the harvesting today."

"Indeed? Minerva must have forgotten to mention it."

"She must have." Shiva flashed a wry grin. If he wanted to be difficult she could be too.

Dumbledore stayed quiet for a moment before continuing, "When may the school expect to see the extra income from the sale of the materials?"

That comment drew the laughter of nearly every goblin in the room as well as snorts from many of the humans. "By Right of Conquest," Snapfist said when he got himself under control, "Warrior Potter and Warrior Greengrass have claimed this corpse. A contract has already been struck between them and the Nation. Should they wish to donate any of their profits to the school that is their business. I rather doubt that you will be seeing anything like that anytime soon in my humble opinion, Albus Dumbledore."

Dumbledore's mouth set into a deep frown and he turned from the goblin back to Harry and Daphne. "Surely this is a school matter, Harry."

"Dumbledore," Shiva said raising her eyebrows, "just because the beast was under the school doesn't make it school property."

Daphne shrugged. "We can however, offer to donate several tomes penned by Salazar Slytherin to the school with the understanding that any and all rights to reproductions lie with us as the discoverers."

"Us?" Dumbledore asked.

"Harry, Tracey, Hermione, Neville, Luna, Susan, Hannah, Tonks, Professor Babbling, the goblins present and myself. Basically everyone who was here before you and Professor Snape arrived, Sir," Daphne clarified. Crag looked over at her with a surprised expression. He nodded to the girl and went back to his work.

"A Founder's tome you say…" Dumbledore slowly nodded. "Very well. I will have to go over these books to ensure that there is nothing dangerous in any of them prior to release."

Tonks shook her head. "No you won't, Headmaster. That is not your right at all. We found these. We own them until we hand them over. You'll receive the originals in a few days after we get some master copies made. If you're just going to sit there and whine you might as well head back up into the school, Sir."

Dumbledore pulled back as if he had been slapped. Snape finally seemed to snap out of his stupor. He looked over to the group and strode towards them at a pace just under a run with his cloak flapping behind him. "Greengrass, this is what you faced in your second year? This?!"

"I told you not to insult Harry or myself, Professor," Daphne shrugged. "I told you that we had not been exaggerating."

Snape just gaped at her. He turned back to the basilisk and started muttering, "Impossible. Potter was useless. An idiot and a bully. How could his spawn have…"

Shiva growled low and moved to step toward Snape but Harry reached out to pull her back. "Don't, Shiva," he whispered. "Let him have his identity crisis and keep trying to justify his hate. It's not worth fighting it and he has been at least slightly better the past year."

She scowled but backed down. The group slowly spread out again. Dumbledore tried several more times to gain rights to the basilisk or at least the books discovered yet was soundly rebuffed each time. It was early evening by the time the assemblage headed back up out of the Chamber with their parcels in tow. Hermione was clutching her box with the ancient tomes like it was filled with diamonds and Shiva and Tonks were helping the Goblins to transport the skeleton back above ground.

They had almost reached the Entrance Hall when Dumbledore asked one final question. "Where are you taking the skeleton? I would have assumed it would be rendered as well."

"Oh, I'm going to hang it up in my Entrance Hall," Harry said with a grin. "Should be pretty cool, huh?" Harry and the others laughed and continued out. Dumbledore stayed rooted to the ground with his mouth open and an expression of pure horror splashed across his features.

"Oww," Harry moaned from the ground near the Quidditch World Cup underneath several grumbling bodies a few weeks later. He had only himself to blame for these circumstances. Like seemingly every other method of wizarding transit, Harry was apparently horrible with Portkey travel. Everyone but him had remained standing as they arrived at the grounds. Harry, however, had managed to stumble and fall as soon as the magic let him go. He'd tumbled and proceeded to drag down Luna, Hermione, Sirius and Shiva on top of him.

"I hate magical travel," Harry muttered as his friends and family picked themselves off him and helped him up.

Shiva dusted him off and laughed. "It really seems to hate you too, kid. One day maybe we'll figure out why you suck at it so much."

"Or I'll just invent a new way to travel instead," Harry said sullenly. The others laughed and he scowled deeper. "You think I'm kidding. Not this time. This getting really old. And Portkeys suck."

"Eh, Apparation is more uncomfortable at first, kid," Shiva shook her head with a smile. "Come on people. Let's go find our tent. Luna, you said your father is going to be set up nearby right?"

The Quidditch World Cup tickets from Sirius had been a bit of a surprise but in hindsight, they really shouldn't have been. The Ministry kept trying to bribe Sirius so that he wouldn't try and crucify them for his wrongful imprisonment and had given him box seats to the game. Sirius managed to con them into a few extra tickets so he'd gotten enough for Harry, Shiva and Hermione to attend as well. Everyone had been somewhat surprised when Harry had asked his godfather to get seats for Fred and George to join them too. His only explanation had been 'business'. A few others from Harry's group were around but were in general seating and Luna was going to be joining her father in the press box. They were supposedly almost as good as the ones that Sirius had.

Harry admitted to himself that he was greatly looking forward to this game. While he enjoyed playing Quidditch as much as the next bloke it was really just the flying itself that made it fun. Getting to watch the professionals practice their skills though…that should prove to be amazing. He loved his Firebolt, but he had no illusions that the pros would know how to handle one far better than he did. Victor Krum in particular should be prove to be impressive. Harry was hoping his side bet with the twins would work out – he really didn't want to make a set a rune stones that forced someone to sing "I'm a little teapot".

When Harry entered the top box he scowled. Of course the Malfoys would be here. And the Minister too. "Why did I let you talk me into this again?" Harry asked Sirius.

His godfather chuckled and led the group towards the front of the box. "Hey, we get to thumb our noses at them, pup. Perk up!"

"Harry!" one voice belonging to a tall red-head sounded.

"Our friend! Our pal!" a second red-head grinned.

"Our partner!" Fred yelled clapping the messy haired young on the back and dropping into the seat next to Hermione. She just shook her head at the twins' antics while Shiva looked at Sirius who shrugged.

"Hey, guys," Harry said nodding to the twins. "Owl order form set up then I presume?"

"That it is partner, that it is," George said grinning like a loon. "Products will be ready to ship at the beginning of the term. You sure we can't convince you to ramp up production on your end yet?"

"Not just yet, guys," Harry said with a laugh. "It's going to be hard enough keeping up with the special orders. You sure you can handle the one time use ones?"

"Don't worry, Harry, we got it covered. Tested it out over the summer. Instructions worked fine."

Shiva tapped Harry's should. "What are you up to, kid?" She was smirking apparently already having a good idea.

Harry smiled at her. "I'm starting my business. Potter Runes are currently only offered via owl order through affiliation with Weasley Wizarding Wheezes. Part of the deal was getting them box seats."

"Nah, that was just a joke clause. Never actually thought you'd do it, Harry," Fred said lounging back. "Seriously, thanks, this is awesome. The rest of the family has some rather terrible seats somewhere down there." He waved towards a section of the crowd towards one of the hoop posts.

"We tried to convince Ginny we'd smuggle her up here, but she apparently got conned into following Luna to the press box instead," George continued.

Hermione peered between the three teens. "You three are actually starting that business you've been discussing off and on?"

"Well we don't have a place yet," Fred said with a shrug. "It takes a lot of seed money to open a physical shop on Diagon but we have enough products ready that we can at least start an owl order. Harry's inventory is far more limited since he won't let us sell a lot of the more impressive ones."

"More dangerous ones you mean," Harry said shaking his head. "I'm reserving some of those for Susan's Aunt and a lot I'm just not willing to sell. Do you really want a magical grenade to be available on the open market?"

George nodded. "We're not criticizing, Harry. It was just a comment. Whatever happened to those Reflector Robes you had talked about a while back by the way?"

"The what?" Sirius asked.

Harry just grimaced at the memory of that abortive attempt. "Yeah. Those are not happening. You know the rune on my glasses, Sirius? The one that bounces back spells? Well I tried making some robes with that stitched into them. It…was scary."

Shiva quirked her eyebrow. "Oh? How so? And why didn't I hear about this?"

Harry shifted uncomfortably. "I…sorta swore Daph to secrecy."

Hermione laughed. "Okay, now I seriously need to hear this story, Harry." The other four nodded their concurrence as well.

"Fine," Harry sighed muttering a curse under his breath. "I made the robes, we used that room to test whether they worked or not since the walls seemed to absorb spells for some reason. Daphne shot some stinging hexes and stunners at me and a few other things. It reflected almost everything, but the spells went everywhere. It's a good thing she hadn't thrown anything dangerous because she got hit by a ton of the ricochets. The design was interesting but it would just end up being a huge hazard in any sort of combat situation where you had allies remotely nearby. Plus it had…a minor problem…"

"Do tell," Sirius said grinning wildly at the scent of weakness.

"Cloth isn't a good magical conductor…" Harry sighed as Hermione just raised her eyebrows at him and motioned for him to go on. "The robes disintegrated after Daphne tossed out a few too many spells at once. And I had neglected to wear my pants that afternoon…"

Shiva started laughing uproariously and the others in the group quickly joined in. Harry turned bright red. "Yeah, yeah, laugh it up. Like I said, those are not happening again."

Hermione shook her head with a large smile on her face. "I feel somewhat jealous of her now. Daph has gotten to see something that I, as your girlfriend, have been so far denied." Harry just groaned as everyone laughed even harder.

Shiva clapped Harry on the back and wheezed out between her laughs, "Kid, that is impressive! Next time you try out new robes don't forget the underwear."

"You guys suck," Harry said though he had a slight upturn to the edges of his lips.

"Getting delirious from the altitude Granger, Weasels?" Draco drawled from across the aisle. "I can't say I'm surprised. None of you could possibly be used to such a lofty view seeing your meager means. Who did you have to bribe to get these seats? Offer any…alternative favors?"

The twins scowled but before they could say anything Shiva subtly shook her head and waggled her eyes at Hermione. The younger girl took the hint and leaned over to smile at Malfoy. "The problem with a pedestal Malfoy is that when you get knocked off one, you tend to break everything once you hit the bottom."

"Is that a threat Mud – " he cut off glancing around the inhabitants of the box with a scowl. "Is that a threat, Granger?"

"Merely an observation. We are in a box after all, not a pedestal," Hermione chuckled lightly. "I admit I'm impressed with your restraint. You managed to stop before finishing your customary slur and you have yet to say 'My Father' once!"

"Don't give him too much credit, hon," Harry commented waving towards a reddening Lucius Malfoy next to Draco. "He probably doesn't think it's necessary to say it since his father is right there."

"Shut up, Scarhead!" Draco shouted.

"Wow is that best he's got?" Fred asked. "Rather weak of a comeback there."

"Ah, brother, not everyone can approach our brilliance," George said shaking his head.

Fred smiled and nodded. "Too true, brother. Too true. I wonder which side of the family had the lack of grey matter?"

"Could be either," Sirius commented rubbing his chin. "My family certainly wasn't known for their stability. Besides Andi and me we're pretty much filled with oddballs and arseholes."

"I thought my grandmother was a Black?" Harry asked.

Sirius grinned. "Yeah but she married a Potter so my point is proven."

Shiva and Harry both laughed at that. Lucius' scowl had deepened the entire time and Draco eventually lost his cool. He jumped up and started to draw his wand before Sirius casually glared at him. "You really want to curse the Lord of the Noble House of Black, little Draco?"

Draco's expression darkened even further but Lucius jerked him back into his seat. "I would ask you not to antagonize my family, Lord Black," Lucius said in clipped words.

"Well, I consider not dissolving your marriage and reclaiming my family's dowry to be pretty non-antagonistic," Sirius said with an evil grin. He nodded towards Draco. "Control your son."

The Bulgarian Minister next to Fudge snorted and said something to his bodyguards who started laughing. Fudge just glared at everyone present except his counterpart and tried to shift his one sided conversation back to the upcoming game. How he was failing at that when the Bulgarian wasn't even speaking English made things even more entertaining.

"Oh, quiet guys, here come the mascots!" George suddenly said leaning forward. "Veela! Sweet!"

"Veela?" Harry asked as he reached for his omnioculars. "Whoa, they all look really similar."

"Oh, is that all, Harry?" Hermione asked far too casually.

Harry could sense a trap though he had no idea what the trigger was. "Umm, yeah?" Hermione made a noncommittal noise of acknowledgement.

Sirius laughed. "She's fishing to see if you think they're beautiful, Harry"

"Oh," Harry just shrugged and looked askance at Hermione. "Sure, they're pretty and that silvery hair is ethereal but none of them are as amazing as you."

Hermione smiled and patted his knee. "And that, Harry, is why I care for you so much."

Fred and George gave Harry a thumbs up before George started talking. "Veela beauty isn't entirely natural, Harry; it's partly magical. They have an aura, an Allure, that draws in most males and some females."

Fred continued, "They're pretty sexual people. We don't know much in depth stuff though. Not too many Veela in England. There's a whole enclave though in Bulgaria and another really big one in France."

Sirius was grinning into his own omnioculars as the women moved into the center of the field. "Never piss off a Veela, pup. They have a self-transfiguration ability that lets them become harpyesque. And they can throw fireballs from their hands when really mad."

"That's pretty cool," Harry commented. Besides him Shiva nodded in agreement.

The Veela started to dance and a quiet fell over the stadium. The more they swayed and sang the more charged the air felt. Harry found it a bit hard to breathe initially but he felt Hermione and Shiva's hands on his legs and shook his head. Whatever had been affecting him seemed to mostly dissipate and Harry turned to ask what had happened. His eyes widened as he saw Sirius practically drooling into his lap and the twins were on their feet seemingly torn between sitting back down and going straight up to the railing. Draco was insensate on the floor of the box and Lucius was slumped over in his chair along with Fudge, both had their eyes completely glazed over. "Bloody hell," Harry muttered.

The two girls on either side of him started and looked at him with wide eyes. Though Hermione's were a bit hazy, they cleared as she tried to focus on him. "Harry?" Shiva asked. "You're alright?"

"I'm fine. What's going on with the others?"

The Bulgarian Minister looked over at him and gave a polite smile and head nod. "They vill be fine in short order. Our Veela can overdue it bit much sometimes. Not many unaffected. You are of strong vill young man. Bravo."

Harry frowned but thanked the Minister for the information before his eyes were drawn to a commotion in the stands below. He raised his omnioculars to check it out and saw Ron Weasley trying to leap over the edge of the stands to get to the Veela. Arthur and another redhead – who he assumed was Charlie from the resemblance – had their arms around him and were dragging the youngest brother back towards his seat.

The Veela song stopped and Fred and George shook their heads and turned to each other before sheepishly dropping back into their seats. "We didn't do anything too embarrassing did we?"

Harry grunted. "Well neither of you tried to jump a hundred feet down to the stadium floor like your brother so I'm going with: no."

George groaned and covered his face with his hands. "Bollocks, Ron…really?"

"Yeah. Saw him through the omnioculars. Your father and – I think – Charlie pulled him back though."

"Makes sense Charlie wouldn't care," Fred muttered. "Charlie never seems to care about relationships or stuff like that at all."

Sirius shook his head and finally snapped out of his trance. "What'd I miss? Where'd the girls go? Amy?" Harry, Hermione and Shiva all just stared at him for a moment before bursting out laughing. Sirius still dumbfounded looked to the twins who both shrugged as well. The three of them quickly joined their friends in laughing along at whatever joke had been made before turning back to watch the game.

Fred and George had left to find their family and tease Ron about his failed attempt at unassisted flight after the game ended leaving Harry with the other three. They had chatted about the game for a while with Sirius attempting to give Harry pointers on how to use some of Krum's moves and include them in his own strategies.

"Absolutely not!" Shiva yelled smacking the back of Sirius' head. "Harry, it's bad enough you try to use the Wronksi Feint please, for love of the Goddess, do not do that turn!"

"It really didn't look that hard though, Shiva," Harry said shrugging.

Hermione groaned and slapped her head with one hand. "Of course it's not hard at normal speeds, Harry. You do that at full tilt though like Krum did and you're likely to lose your arm if the angle is even a fraction of an inch off."

"But imagine how much faster I could turn if I hook the poles like that!" he wasn't going to give up that easily. Flying was the only thing he could do half as well as runes.

Shiva glared at Harry but then got a scary grin and looked to Hermione. The girl cocked her head and let out a soft, "Oh." A moment later she smiled at Harry and moved to sit right next to the boy. His alarm bells were ringing again. She moved both hands to his cheeks and said, "Harry, you like kissing me right?" He nodded. "And you like when I hug you?" He nodded again. "If you want me to keep kissing you, you won't lose your arm while playing Quidditch. Deal?"

"Can I still try the move at lower speeds?"

"As long as you promise to remain intact," she said after giving it some consideration.

"Deal." He hurriedly agreed. Hermione smiled and pulled him down for a kiss. They broke off as screams sounded from a short distance away.

Sirius and Shiva frowned and stood, moving to the front of the tent. "You two stay here. We'll see what's going on," Shiva said. The screams increased in volume and number. "Scratch that. Head towards the forest, guys. Sirius?"

"I got your back," he said all levity and playfulness gone from his voice.

"Shiva," Harry started but was immediately cut off as his guardian shook her head.

"Harry, please. There are too many people here and you could be a target. This could just be a lure to draw you towards them. I'll catch up, but I need to know what's going on first. Please." Harry scowled but nodded. "Thank you. Hermione, make sure he goes. Both of you protect each other. Worst comes to worst, head to the nearest Floo and get back home, then send off Hedwig to us if we aren't back an hour after you return."

"If he'll listen to you, send my elf. I don't want to call him with this many people around…he's still not exactly stable," Sirius said.

Shiva gave Harry a quick hug and pushed him towards the flap. "Go. Sirius, this way!"

The four split as they ran out of the tent, Shiva and Sirius heading towards the group of panicking attendees while Harry and Hermione ran towards the forest.

Harry and Hermione had made it nearly three quarters of the way to the trees when the tent in front of them exploded. Little balls of fire rained down on them and the two jumped out of the way. With a loud crash a giant piece of the wood used to construct the stadium crashed to the ground. It fell between the two teens separating them and blocking Harry's way forward. He rolled back away from the smoking barrier yelling out, "Hermione! Mione, are you all right!?"

"I'm okay, Harry!" came a coughing reply. "Cut through the next lane of tents and circle around to me okay?"

"On it! Don't move, Mione, I'm coming!" Harry pushed himself to his feet still coughing. 'Got to do something about breathing runes soon. Smoke and toxic fumes are not healthy.' Harry ran through the nearest tents and picked up his Reductor from his utility belt as he hit the back wall, using it to blast a hole through and into the next lane. Thankfully that section was clear of debris so he ran a few tents down before cutting back towards where he had left Hermione. He was still a short ways away as a piercing scream rent the air.

Fleur was quickly learning that tempting fate was probably the stupidest thing she had ever done in her short life. The quick tour of the country had been interesting – especially the ancient magical sites such as Stonehenge and the supposed burial chamber of Merlin and Morgana. Even the World Cup itself had turned out to be more fun than anticipated. Celeste and her group had performed exceptionally, almost too exceptionally. They had grabbed the hearts and minds of nearly every male that Fleur had seen. One particularly sad red-head member of the crowd had actually tried to leap onto the field. She'd been rather amazed that the boy had been coordinated enough to get as far as he had – considering how little blood seemed to be in his head at that point…well, the head on his shoulders at least. For the game itself, Victor Krum's flying skills had proven exceptional just as she'd hoped. While it was disappointing that Bulgaria lost she hadn't much cared for the results either way. It was just exciting getting to see the skill with which all of the participants were competing.

Afterwards, she had been invited to stay with the group of her people for a short afterparty that had quickly turned into a far more intense experience than she had anticipated. When many of the Veela began partnering off with the Bulgarian teammates, Fleur had called it a night. It wasn't that she was opposed to such activities – it was after all, part of her very nature – but she did prefer to at least know something about her potential partner. She was not some floozy who would just jump into bed with the nearest warm body simply because she was aroused. Now if Celeste had been interested the night might have proceeded differently, but her friend had been otherwise occupied. So Fleur had left.

Which led her straight into the current predicament...and cursing herself for tempting fate by expecting a boring trip. In her inebriated state, she hadn't noticed that the screams in the distance hadn't been simple shouts of delight but were in fact sounds of panic. By the time that had penetrated her mind it had been too late. She'd been surrounded by five men in black robes and white masks. She knew enough of recent history to recognize Death Eater garb when she saw it and it had sent a chill down her spine. Fleur tried to grab her wand but an ever so slight fumble was all it had taken.

Her first spell missed by a fraction of an inch and the man behind her slammed something into her head. Fleur went down with the world spinning. She tried to pull herself together enough to transform into her avian battle form or even just ramp up her Allure but…between the alcohol and the head injury she wasn't able to concentrate well enough. Whoever had reached down and grabbed Fleur succeeded in unintentionally further complicating matters. He pulled her torso up and locked her arms behind her back with his knee between her shoulder blades lewdly pushing her chest forward.

"Ne me touche pas! Lâche moi, espèce de pourriture!" Fleur screamed. The position of her arms and his leg effectively limited her ability to shift as her wings weren't able to form and that prevented the rest of her from changing as well.

One of the men grunted from behind his mask and reached a hand into his robes near the groin. Fleur screamed, fighting as hard as she could against her attackers. Another of the masked men sent a spell into her side knocking the wind out of her. The world swam in front of her eyes and Fleur sucked in a deep breath. This was going to be it. This was how her life was going to end: beaten, raped and killed by arrogant rioting terrorists who had had the good fortune to be lucky at just the right time…

Or perhaps, not such good fortune after all.

The man standing in front of her with his robes parted and his manhood swinging was suddenly hit in the chest with a bright red disarming spell. His wand shot away and his body was thrown backwards nearly ten feet from force of the spell, crashing to the ground in front of his other companions. The four men, plus Fleur, simply gaped for a moment as the prone attacker gave a shuddering gasp and fell still.

Spells flew past Fleur, streaking towards two of the other men, but they sufficiently recovered their wits enough to start blocking. Fleur felt her arms released as her captor shouted from behind. She twisted out of the way, trying to kick or punch the man but he had already started to fall to the side, a mass of brown hair riding his back into the ground. Fleur blinked. Whoever her rescuer was, the girl – for she looked to be a teenager only slightly younger than Fleur herself – had delivered a flying knee into the rioter's back and latched onto his shoulders as he fell to the ground. The girl rolled off the man as he hit, her elbow driving into his neck – and quieting all his flailing – before her maneuver was finished. She turned just in time to raise a shield around Fleur and herself as spells came flying at them.

"If you can stand, get ready to run!" the girl yelled. Fleur tried to nod but it was still hard to focus and she only succeeded in grimacing as the world swam around her again.

"I don't zink I can," Fleur hissed between her teeth as she blinked away the pain. "But I can fight from 'ere."

"You don't have your wand!" the girl shouted back. Her shield cracked as more spells impacted. "Here! It's a Concussor," she tossed a small stone at Fleur who stared at the little engraving dumbly. A rune stone? "It launches confrigos, point it at them. On my mark, three, two, one – "

Before the girl could finish her count the battlefield erupted again. Another small stone hexagon soared into the clearing and almost immediately exploded into a shower of light and raw magical energy. Two of the attackers were caught in the blast, one dropping unmoving ten feet away from where he started while the second was pushed into the wall of a nearby tent dazed but still standing. He had no chance to raise his wand to counterattack though. An arm's length stone spike at least 14cm thick shot through the air and embedded itself in his chest.

Fleur shifted her eyes and saw a messy haired young man with blazing green eyes charging into the space between the tents, fury and panic written across his face. His right hand was clutching his wand while his left was holding a rune stone. Spells shot from his wand while another spike formed, shooting from the rune and streaking towards another one of the remaining attackers. That man managed to shatter the stone but the brown haired girl dropped her shield and launched a cutting hex. He turned at the last moment and instead of striking his arm, her spell hit him in the chest and caused a spray of red to blossom, the rioter collapsing to the ground. The green eyed man jumped towards Fleur and the girl completely missing the final attacker now positioned just behind him. The girl tried to shout something and the man started to turn back but the attacker had already raised his wand to curse them.

Fleur snarled. She didn't have time to fully transform, but she was angry and scared enough to force the shift in her arm. A light downy sprinkling of pure white feathers sprouted along her right arm as the fire formed above her palm. Fleur drew her arm back and launched the ball of liquid flame towards the final rioter. She coalesced a second fireball before the first had even impacted but it turned out to not be needed. Despite her condition, Fleur's aim had been true. Her fire hit the attacker dead center and flowed over him. He dropped his wand and screamed but a Veela's fire was not as simple as normal flames. These were hungry. Before her two saviors could do anything beyond raise their wands the masked man, dropped dead to the ground, his clothes still burning.

Breathing hard, the green eyed man and the brown haired girl turned to each other. "Are you okay?" They asked simultaneously. Both nodded and replied, "I'm fine."

The girl turned to Fleur and dropped down beside her. "Are you okay?"

"Oui, je ne suis pas blessée. Est-ce que tu vas bien?" Fleur said levering herself into a sitting position and attempting to ignore the spinning sensation.

"I'm sorry, I don't speak much French," the girl said with a frown.

"Ah, oui, of course," Fleur said with a groan. "Apologies. I am mostly fine. Are you 'urt?"

"I'm okay. A little bruised, but fine," she said turning to the man who came up and put his hand on her shoulder still looking around the clearing. "I'm, Hermione and this is Harry. If you can stand we should leave before more of them come."

"I…may need some assistance with zat. Ze hit me on the 'ead and I am still a leetle dis…dis…I do not know ze word. It iz spinning."

"Disoriented. Harry?"

"Got it," Harry said. "Take the Spiker, Mione. But…be careful…I knew it wasn't exactly a nonlethal cluster but…" His voice faltered slightly before hardening again. "Nevermind. If they're going to wear Death Eater robes and try to kill you then they deserve it." Handing off the rune stone to Hermione, the boy moved to Fleur and helped her to stand. She groaned and held her free hand to her head, waiting for the world to calm down again. Her other arm was draped over Harry's shoulder as he supported some of her weight.

"Alright, let's move," Hermione said holding her wand out and leading the way. Thankfully they made it into the trees without further incidents and Harry carefully let Fleur slump against one of the trees a short ways into the woods.

"Merci, vous m'avez sauvée. Je vous dois la vie," Fleur said smiling at the two youths. Harry cocked his head at her and Hermione was about to say something before Fleur waved her off. "Sorry, I meant, zank you. You both saved, at minimum, my virtue and more likely my life az well. I owe you a great debt."

Harry blushed. "Don't worry about it. Saving people seems to be a habit of ours…"

Hermione sighed and rolled her eyes. "More like a habit of Harry's that we all just keep getting dragged along with. Do you know any healing spells…?"

"Oh, where are my mannerz…I am Fleur Delacour," Fleur said with a wry grin. "And no, I not know any of ze healing spells. I will be fine in a few minutes zough. I imagine I am quite sober by zis point and the world has been spinning far less for some time now. Ze head injury was not bad, merely frustrating."

"You should still get it looked at," Hermione said frowning. "Concussions are never something that should just be brushed off."

"I will. I promise, 'ermione," Fleur said nodding. She was quite pleased when there was only a dul twinge of pain at that movement.

"Good. Harry, are you alright?" Hermione said turning to her companion.

"I'm fine, Mione," Harry's eyes narrowed as a burning green and black skull shot into the sky with a snake curling through its mouth. Screams rang out anew and distant pops heralded a retreat by the remaining rioters. "That's the Dark Mark right?"

"Yes, it is," Hermione said growing pale. "You don't think…?"

"I doubt it," Harry said. "Voldemort's not that stupid. He'd never attack something this big without a ton of followers and he'd probably be more organized about it."

"I hope you're right, Harry," Hermione said softly.

"Voldemort? I zought he was dead?" Fleur asked looking between the two. "Wasn't he killed over a decade ago?"

"He's only mostly dead," Harry said sighing and rubbing his forehead. "It's complicated and now's not really the time to explain. Hang on a second and let me see if I can contact Shiva or Sirius. Comm on, contact Shiva."

Fleur's eyes widened as she turned from Harry to Hermione. "He can do wandless, long distance voice throwing charms? I didn't zink that was possible!"

Hermione chuckled. "It's another rune cluster just a miniaturized version." She turned her head and tapped her earring. "See? Harry's quite skilled with runes. We all have a Comm Stone so that we can contact each other in emergencies. I think his guardian rather forgot about it in the heat of the moment earlier when she told us to send an owl after her if she was missing," Hermione finished with a soft grin.

"Don't worry about it, I promise not to tease you. Yeah, we're fine but we found an older girl and she's hurt. Not badly, but someone should still take a look at her…By the pink flaming tent and about two rows further north and a hundred feet in…err, I'd prefer to talk about that at home, Shiva…no, I'm fine…yes, really…yeah, I did…I'm okay. I do want to talk about it but not over a rune line, Shiva, that's why I said I'd wait til we got home…Hermione am I in shock?" Harry asked shaking his head in exasperation and turning to the brunette. Fleur just peered between them utterly lost. Hermione shook her head and gave him a thumbs up. "Hermione says I'm fine. Oh, I see you guys. Hang on," he took out another hexagonal rune stone and held up it. A second later the most beautiful silver panther jumped out of it and prowled through the trees towards the tents.

"Mon Dieu...Is zat a Patronus? From a rune stone?" Fleur asked, gaping.

"Like I said, Harry is good with runes." Hermione sighed. "It's not technically a Patronus. We're not entirely sure what it is to be honest. He's kind of breaking new ground with the Silver Spirit. Oh, there they are."

Hermione stood and waved to two adults striding up to them following the silver panther as it loped back through the woods toward the teens. The woman appeared a few years older than Fleur though the man was quite a bit more mature – perhaps mid-thirties? As soon as she caught sight of Harry and Hermione, the woman sped up from a quick trot into a full out sprint with the man only slightly slower behind her. She crashed to a stop as the panther dissipated and pulled Harry into a bone-crushing hug.

"Shiva, I said I was fine," Harry muttered pushing her back and running his brilliant eyes over her critically. "You're hurt though." He reached out a hand to gently touch a burn on her right arm.

"It's nothing, kid," Shiva said brushing off his worry. "I have a paste at the house and it'll be gone in a day." She eyed him. "And your 'fine' tends to translate to 'I almost died a few minutes ago but everything's cool now; excuse me while I bleed out over here'."

The other man – Sirius? – came forward with concern also evident in how he checked over all three of the teens. Fleur noticed his eyes slightly unfocus as he looked at her. Cursing inwardly, she reigning in her Allure not realizing it had been leaking out. Her injury must have been greatly diminished now going by that. Sirius' eyes refocused and he nodded at her before pulling Hermione in a quick hug. "You guys are really alright?"

"Yes, Sirius," Hermione said with a sigh. "After the adrenaline wears off I doubt we will be okay for long, but yes for the moment, Harry and I are uninjured beyond some bruises. None of their spells hit. Fleur has a concussion though she said the dizziness is abating. I believe she also has several bruises, but we managed to reach her before they had much of a chance to go further than that."

"And the attackers?" he asked.

Harry and Shiva both scowled while Hermione grimaced. Before either of the youths could say anything Fleur cut in, "Ze have been dealt with. 'Arry and 'ermione saved my life. They were quite impressive and quite...determined?"

"I'd say decisive not determined," Hermione sighed. "They're dead. Five bodies back near the flames."

"Better them than you," Sirius said and Shiva nodded her agreement.

"Is anyone going after the others that got away?" Harry asked.

"Sorry, kid," Shiva sighed. "They used portkeys to escape when someone sent off the Dark Mark. No way to track them now unless they were stupid enough to use Ministry registered keys which seems very unlikely."

"You can't track portkeys?" Harry asked looked incredulous. At the shaking heads he scowled. "Another thing to add to the To-Do List," he muttered.

"Kid..."

"It's just folded and overlapping spaces. Tracking it will be easier than making the Silver Spirit."

"Harry!" Shiva said tone harsh. He looked up and shut his eyes before taking a deep breath and nodding.

"Right. Sorry. We should get Fleur to a Healer," he said.

Fleur pulled herself to her feet. The world stayed perfectly still this time. "My muzzer has some basic healing skills. Our tent was near ze stadium with ze Veela mascots from Bulgaria."

Hermione nodded. "Oh, that would explain how you could throw that fireball then."

Fleur grimaced but nodded. She hesitantly turned to the four but surprisingly none seemed to care about the revelation. She blinked at that. Fleur and her mother had been facing prejudice somewhat regularly since entering this country. Yet another good reason for leaving Gabi at home.

"That's pretty cool," Harry nodded. "Did you have friends in the cheerleaders then?"

"Yes," Fleur said still shocked. "A distant cousin once or twice removed..."

"Nice. Hope she got you good seats then." He pulled away from Shiva and walked towards her offering his shoulder again. "Need help still?"

"I...oui. Zank you," Fleur almost shook her head but caught herself before starting the movement. As the group started towards the tents to find her parents, Fleur couldn't help but wonder just who these people were.

"Bloody cowards. Pathetic, weak, despicable, little bloody cowards," Barty Crouch Jr. muttered as he limped through the alley. His father had been distracted and lax ever since the truth about Sirius Black came out and his control had been steadily slipping for weeks. Barty had used the confusion in the riot at the game to fully shatter the control. He'd killed his father right there but Winky had banished him before he could steal the man's wand. Stupid house elf. Wouldn't even come when he called now. Knocking his father's body towards her shouldn't have counted as giving her clothes. She was a fanatical little beast and she wouldn't have wanted that to count. Whatever. He didn't need a house elf. He had done fine on his own long before getting chained.

At least he'd managed to steal that fool redhead's wand. The boy had left it in his back pocket of all places! Did he want to get his arse blown off? That sister though...she was a sharp one. She'd seen Barty slip the wand and managed to get a cutting curse off at him. A powerful one at that. He'd just barely gotten the Dark Mark up before her wand came up and he'd had to immediately apparate away in order to try and dodge her curse. The little bitch had still managed to get his leg pretty good. Barty grunted that in actuality it was a nice shot. After binding his wound and despite the danger, he'd been unable to stop himself from dipping back into the World Cup grounds for a short kip. He found it deserted of his kin – the Death Eaters having run as soon as the Mark appeared.

With a scowl Barty had left to start his plan. Finding his master had been deceptively easy. Riddle Manor was not really the most secure of hiding locations though it was true next to no one in the ranks had been trusted enough to be told of the significance of the building. Barty was relatively certain that only he and Bella had been told and even then it had only been after enough magical rituals that little if any of his master's birth father's genes remained in the body. Seeing the coward rat, Wormtail, attending his master was shameful. Oh how he longed to torture the fool! But no, his master had forbidden it...for now.

The plan to infiltrate the upcoming Tournament was both simple and ingenious. Taking his father's place would certainly have worked better, but Black had closed off that option. He was forced to go with the second best solution. Alastor Moody. The man was known as horribly paranoid with those he didn't trust implicitly so it wouldn't look odd when Barty kept drinking from his own flask of polyjuice instead of school supplies. There was even once a time that Barty had enjoyed acting so playing a curmudgeonly old veteran skilled at both Dark defense and Dark offense should be simple enough. It might even be fun. The decision to willingly give up the use of his leg for months was made far easier after the damage that girl had done to him.

No the real trick to this plan would be keeping Harry Potter in a position to win the Tournament. The boy may be more competent and powerful than originally anticipated, but Barty had heard the rumors about the Tournament being far more intensive than the original plan. Dragons had been difficult enough and he didn't relish finding ways through the newer challenges. Assuming he even bothered...if the boy died during the Tournament his master would be disappointed certainly but...there was a large assortment of enemies who could be used for the solstice ritual. Harry Potter didn't need to survive to bring his master back...

Eh, he'd wait and see how things progressed. Perhaps the boy would surprise him anyway. Right now, Barty had a paranoid old man to kidnap.