Chapter 20 Pranks and Discussions

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

Chapter 20

Remus held up a mirror, and showed it to everyone. "This is a two way talking Mirror. The Marauders used them to talk to each other when we were in Hogwarts" The twins were looking at the mirror with pure awe in their eyes as Remus continued. "I put a Disillusionment Charm on one of the mirrors and placed it in your Relatives' living room and muted this one so they can't hear us but we'll still be able to hear them. We will only be able to see what's happening in the living room though, but hopefully it will give us an idea how the pranks are working. We have someone very interested in the situation that will monitor this mirror as much as he can. Now for my first prank I transfigured two dozen buttons into rats. I put a sleep spell on them so two of them will awaken every week," Remus said. "So for the next few weeks your Aunt Petunia will have some guests to keep her company."

Petunia noticed the small black half inch long things on the floor of the kitchen but didn't think anything of it at first. She immediately got the broom and cleaned them up. Over the next couple of days she found more and more of the black cylindrical items. Finally one day she was in the kitchen making herself a cup of tea when she heard a scraping sound behind her.

Vernon Dursley could hear Petunia before he could even turn off the car after returning from work.

"VERNON! HELP! VERNON!"

He immediately rushed into the house to find his wife standing on a chair in the kitchen shouting at the top of her lungs.

"What is it Petunia dear?" Vernon asked.

"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?" Petunia shouted. "I'VE BEEN ON THIS CHAIR ALL DAY."

"I've been at work like I do every day," Vernon answered. "Why are you standing on a chair?"

"RAT!" Petunia continued screaming. "WE HAVE A RAT!"

"Just a rat?" Vernon asked. "Surely you're not afraid of a rat are you Petunia dear? I'll call an exterminator in the morning and have him come take a look," Vernon quickly found out that this was exactly the wrong thing to say to his wife. Not only did he have to call an exterminator for an after hour rat removal, but he also received no dinner since Petunia refused to move from her chair and Vernon was required to spend the two hours until the exterminator showed up looking for the rat the extermination company was going to kill.

"You know Moony," Sirius said to his friend earlier in the day as they listened to the mirror. "She's had to have been screaming for three straight hours, you'd think she'd have gotten tired of it by now."

"I think we're going to need some headache potions down here," Moony replied. "Or we will have to mute the mirror and maybe miss something."

"Maybe, but for now, those screams are music to my ears."

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"We added foolish fragrance to your Uncle's cologne," Fred said and then went on to explain. "When he first puts it on, it smells as it should, but an hour later the smell starts to change."

Vernon Dursley was driving his car into work when he started smelling an odd smell. "There must be a dairy farm around here somewhere," He thought. By the time he got to work, he was concerned that the smell had got into his car and now he couldn't get it out.

"VERNON DURSLEY!" Vernon's boss yelled a couple of hours later.

"Yes sir?" Vernon answered nervously.

"You smell Vernon. Several customers and even employees who work near you have already left the building because of the way you smell."

"It was a dairy farm sir. I passed one this morning and the smell got into my car."

"Well go home, shower and get back here as quickly as you can."

"Yes sir. I'll do that sir," Was all Vernon could say. He quickly drove back home where he showered in cold water for the second time that morning, changed clothes and put on a liberal amount of cologne to make sure the smell was gone.

The rest of his day was so unpleasant he forgot to call about having a plumber come check on his hot water heater. When he got home that evening Petunia was again waiting for him in the living room holding two magazines that had been delivered that day.

Flashback

Petunia Dursley liked to meet the Postman when he delivered the post. Sometimes he would have a bit of juicy gossip to share in his passing. This time as he handed her the envelopes he also passed over two plain wrapped magazines.

"I honestly didn't think Vernon would be interested in such things," The Postman said. He had seen enough return addresses and types of deliveries that he knew exactly which magazines he had just delivered.

"What do you mean?" Petunia asked as she glanced down at them. "What are they?"

"Oh," The postman quickly replied. "Maybe I shouldn't have said anything. Well good day Mrs. Dursley," He then strolled over to the next house. Petunia could only follow the man with her eyes and as he started conversing with her neighbor, she saw them both glance in her direction and smile the types of smiles like you're hiding laughter.

She quickly went inside and ripped the cover off of one of the magazines and saw a very buxom and very nude woman staring back at her.

"VERNON!" She screamed. Though he was nowhere near the house at the time, her husband still felt a cold shiver run down his spine that reminded him of the two morning showers.

End Flashback

"VERNON DURSLEY!" Petunia spat holding up the magazines. "WHAT ARE THESE?"

"Petunia dear, I…I have no idea," Vernon replied.

"JUST LIKE YOU HAD NO IDEA ABOUT THOSE KNICKERS?" Petunia yelled.

"Uhm...dear, I really have no idea. Obviously they made some mistake at the processing center."

Though Petunia was irate, Vernon might have had a chance to talk his way out of the situation if the doorbell hadn't rung a few minutes after a very silent dinner.

When Petunia answered the door, she found Mrs. Merriweather standing there holding a partially opened plain packaged magazine. Mrs. Merriweather immediately thrust the package into Petunia's hands.

"Here," She said. "This was misaddressed. It's for your husband," The last word was more spat that spoken.

Petunia looked down and saw it was indeed addressed to Vernon Dursley, only it was addressed to number fourteen Privet Drive instead.

"I'm sure there must be some kind of mistake," Petunia said weakly.

Mrs. Merriweather's nose wrinkled as she said. "I'm sure there must have been. Please have your husband change the address of that thing immediately. I do not want his filth delivered to my house ever again," She immediately turned around and stalked off.

Petunia watched the gossipy Mrs. Merriweather disappear off of her walk and looked down at the new magazine where a man seemingly attired in some kind of rubber outfit was being restrained... "VERNON!"

Vernon Dursley spent another few nights on the sofa which, in light of the fact Petunia had just replaced the sheets including the pillowcases in their bedroom wasn't exactly a bad thing.

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"Arry you said your Aunt liked 'er 'ouse clean," Fleur said. "Well I placed several stains zat will come visible over time and will not come up unless you use a magical stain remover."

"We added neversun to the fertilizer bag in the garage," George said and seeing the look on Harry's face he explained. "It's the stuff Vampire use to be able to go out in sunlight. If they liberally coat themselves in it and use strong sunglasses they are safe for a while. We expect when the stuff is absorbed into the grass and plants, they will stop absorbing sunlight and die."

"The time tape works great," Fred said. "We put it everywhere."

"It did work on that black cable thingy Hermione," George continued. "We put it on both it and the TV power cable so they would both go out at different times."

"They will not have hot water at all. I put a cold charm on the pipe that comes out of it," Remus said.

"The cabinet doors in the kitchen are charmed to randomly open."

"SLAM!" Petunia slammed another cabinet closed. "Vernon Dursley if you can't remember to close these cabinets you're never getting off that couch, do you understand me?"

"Uh...yes dear," The very much confused Vernon replied. He was positive he'd closed that cabinet.

"Sniff...Oh Vernon did you leave the refrigerator open as well? The milk is spoiled."

"No dear, I...I..."

"Like I'm going to believe you?" Petunia replied as she glared at her husband. "I honestly don't know what's got into you. Did the plumber get back to you?"

"Yes, he said he can't install the new hot water heater for three days," Vernon replied.

"Three days?" Petunia snapped.

"He said he couldn't find anything wrong with the one we have so he's ordering one from a different company."

Petunia pursed her lips but said nothing. Soon Vernon was out the door.

It was early afternoon when she finally sat down to watch her shows on the telly. She had her tea, and her box of tissues. Fifty minutes later she was wiping away a tear as he favorite character Edward was about to kiss his ex-wife's best friend's cousin whom he'd secretly had a crush on for years when the TV signal was lost.

"NO!" Petunia screamed at the snowy picture that now was being displayed on her TV. A call to their cable provider had her on hold for thirty minutes before she got to speak to a live person.

"I'm sorry Mrs. Dursley but we show no outages in that area. Do you wish us to send someone out there?"

"YE...no the signal's back now."

"Excellent. Have a pleasant day Mrs. Dursley," The customer service representative said and then hung up.

Petunia sat back down in the chair and as she did, she noticed a small stain in the carpet next to Vernon's chair. "What has that man done now?" she muttered. "Eating in here again probably," She spent the next hour trying to get the stain up to no avail. She tried again the next day and the next. Finally after supper later in the week she turned to her husband "You destroyed our carpet in the living room with whatever you spilled in there. We have to replace it."

"But Petunia dear, we can't afford it. We've already spent a good portion of our savings on the new hot water heater and refrigerator and now the plumber is saying he might have to redo the pipes in the house if we want hot water," The look his wife was giving him made it perfectly clear that they would be getting new carpet in the living room. No stain was going to be anywhere in a house she lived in.

Later that evening a strip of tape along the bottom of the master fuse box activated and every fuse in the box blew. Vernon stubbed his little toe twice as he made his way to the fuse box and reset them. Twenty minutes later, they all blew again.

"Bloody great," Vernon thought. "Now I've got to call a bloody electrician."

The next morning because the alarm clock wasn't working, Vernon and Petunia overslept. Vernon was an hour late for work and spent several minutes being chewed out by his boss. He was also chewed out again about the smell that seemed to always be around Vernon.

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"You know ze spell I used on zat idiot who insulted Gabrielle and me?" Fleur asked.

"Malfoy?" Harry asked, "The spell that emptied his digestive system?"

"Yes zat one," Fleur replied. "It has a potion equivalent which I brewed and dried into a powder. All it takes is some skin contact and ze effects occur. I added it to several of the bog rolls stored in zeir cupboard."

"So five minutes after they leave the bathroom…" Hermione asked.

"Zey will need to return…oui."

"And when she told us what she was doing," George said, "we added a bit of a surprise ourselves."

"If he flushes the toilet while still seated on it," Fred continued, "Like he will probably do under that much release. The toilet will not drain."

The twins turned to Fleur, "By any chance do you have any of the powder left?" George asked.

"We want to put a little more on Malfoy and a few other of the Slytherin scumbags."

"A little," And when she handed over the vial in her pocket the twins looked at it like it was more valuable than Galleons.

"Empty," Vernon grumbled as he saw the empty bog roll dispenser. "Why can't that woman ever replace it," Of course, he kept his voice to a minimum since he was still sleeping on the couch because of those magazines. He walked over the cupboard and grabbed a new roll and put it in the dispenser. He didn't notice the faint white powder that was on the roll. He only spent a minute before finishing his current business. He was too fat to actually see where he aimed when he urinated so he had to sit down or risk Petunia's wraith.

He'd just settled into his favorite recliner ready to turn on the telly when he felt the unmistakable urge to return to the john immediately. For a fat man, under that type of pressure, he was actually quite nimble and made it just in time. Over the next few minutes he felt like his entire insides had turned to liquid as it poured out of him.

Shortly he reached over and flushed the toilet to make sure the mess wouldn't create some kind of stoppage. He heard the water start to enter the toilet, but no accompanying flush as it exited. He was too fat to look between his legs, but then he felt it. The cold touch of liquids as it came in contact with his arse. The tainted water continued to rise until it poured out of the toilet in all directions. Unfortunately for Vernon, he was still adding more liquids to the mess and could not move.

"PETUNIA!" Vernon screamed as he literally started crying amongst the smell in the john.

Petunia responded to the cry to find her husband sitting on the toilet with the floor covered in brown smelly liquid with partial brown bits floating in it. The smell caused her to immediately vacate her dinner into the mess on the took several hours to clean the bathroom, but when it was over, Petunia felt sorry for her husband and allowed him to return to their marital bed.

That night Vernon once again fell into a deep slumber with dreams filled with Waterfalls. The smell of urine wouldn't come out of the bed this time and they had to replace the mattress.

Severe diarrhea raged through the Dursley home for the next couple of weeks with overflows happening several times as well. They even visited the doctor where he gave them anti-diarrhea pills and told them to drink plenty of liquids. One day after leaving the loo Petunia made her way to the kitchen where she saw another rat. This time she pushed the chair over to the phone before hopping onto it, and as she was screaming at her husband to get the exterminator back she felt that pressure that had come all too familiar recently.

"Petunia dear." Vernon called when his wife's voice stopped. "What's wrong?" The next thing he heard was a groan from his wife and a sound like water pouring onto the floor.

"VERNON! COME HOME NOW!" Petunia screamed.

"What's wrong?"

"WHAT'S WRONG? I'LL TELL YOU WHAT'S WRONG, I JUST MESSED ON MYSELF, NOW GET YOUR FAT ARSE HOME NOW AND HELP ME," Petunia screamed at her husband and then started sobbing.

A man with shaggy black hair was sitting at a table in the Chamber of Secrets. On the table was a mirror he had been watching. As the screeching voice of his Godson's aunt declared she had messed on herself after she had been yelling at her husband about another rat, he couldn't hold in the laughter. He could just visualize the horse faced bitch standing on a chair surrounded by her own mess. It wasn't long before the stitch in his side was aching. Finally composing himself, he pulled the parchment over and made another note to share with everyone later.

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Severus Snape was fuming inside as he accepted the offered potion bottle from Harry Potter. He could already tell by the color that it was nearly perfect and he hated it. "You can return to your seat Mr. Potter," He snarled.

"Yes sir," Harry replied and smiled at his Potion's professor.

It was no secret that Severus Snape hated Harry Potter. Hated the son of the man who had stolen the women he loved from him. Stolen the only happiness he'd ever known. That he looked like James Potter was even worse. In the past years it had been relatively easy to ridicule and berate the boy in class because of his poor potion making abilities. Severus loved to use the power he had to make the son of his most hated rival suffer.

"I might have agreed to protect Lily's son," He thought, "but it's doesn't mean I can't make James Potter's son life a living hell," Seeing the anger burn in young Mr. Potter's eyes without him being able to retaliate was candy to Severus' soul.

Recently that had all changed. Potter's potions had become on par with Miss Granger's. "The bloody Miss know-it-all," Snape thought. Even when he put them on opposite sides of the room so there was no way for her to be helping Potter, his potions were still coming out close to perfect each time. "I can't even get him angry anymore," He thought to himself. "Every time I see a glint of anger in his eyes, he seems to master himself and that stupid smile returns."

The one consolation the Potions Master had was that Potter wasn't showing romantic interest in Granger. If the ghost of James Potter ever started dating the smartest witch in the school who happened to be a muggleborn, it would be the past all over again.

"Damn him," Snape thought again as he watched the class file out the door. Potter did what he'd done every class for the last couple of weeks. He turned and smiled that damn smile at him.

"I want to know what's behind that damn smile," Snape thought. "It's too much like the smile his father had when he started dating Lily. Is that it, because he's dating that Veela?"

That was the other problem. "How did Potter develop Occlumency? His mind used to be an open book. I could easily find ways to make him angry. Worse it's like no Occlumency I've ever felt. It's like his mind isn't even there. Normally I should at least feel the walls a person erected, but his is more like nothingness."

Snape sat back in his chair trying to piece together the puzzle that was Harry Potter. "Maybe Dark Arts were used. I wouldn't put it past him to try something like that. That probably what that smile is about," Snape got up from his chair. "I need to speak to the Headmaster."

Twenty minutes later Snape was sitting in front of Dumbledore's desk.

"Yes, I am very familiar with Mr. Potter's ability to shield his mind Severus," The Headmaster said.

"And how did he do it so quickly?" Snape asked. "What dark arts did he use?"

"How it was done is none of your concern for the time being, but I will assure you that it was neither illegal nor dangerous for Mr. Potter."

"How am I supposed to protect the boy if I don't know such things?" Snape argued.

"You are but one part of Mr. Potter's protection," Dumbledore said with a more firm tone. "You do not need to know everything. The secret is Mr. Potter's to share if and when he desires to."

Snape was frustrated. If Potter had been dabbling in something he wasn't supposed to be, it would be something to hold against the brat, but the Headmaster was quite convinced the boy had done this in some fashion that was legal. He knew Potter's new girlfriend was part Veela. "Of course it's typical Potter behavior to convince some girl that he did something to make it look like he saved her life," Snape thought. "If she was in peril he probably caused it like his father's friend did with me. He then probably arrogantly convinced her to fall for him since she owed him," Severus almost snarled at the thought as he remembered his old nemesis and his friend Sirius hitting on any girl they could. Bringing his mind back to the younger Potter he thought of his girlfriend again. Her being part Veela made passive legilimency difficult if not impossible. Even if it was possible the fact she was the daughter of the Deputy Minister of Magic of France would prevent him from trying. "If it was found out, even Dumbledore couldn't protect me if a formal complaint occurred from the French Ministry," The Potion Master thought.

Albus knew Severus Snape was an extremely good occlumens which is the only way he had survived the previous war as Dumbledore's spy in the ranks of the Death Eaters, but he didn't need to be able to read Snape's mind to know what he was thinking. "Severus, leave young Mr. Potter alone. He has enough to deal with right now with the tournament.."

"Another arrogant attempt at fame," Snape sneered.

"For someone who spends an inordinate amount of time probing Mr. Potter's mind, you don't seem to be interested in determining facts concerning him," Dumbledore said in a hard tone. "I've told you several times that Mr. Potter did not enter himself in the tournament, of that I am very certain. Who did and what their ultimate aim was I am not sure but I am greatly concerned as is Alastor. Now as I was saying, young Mr. Potter has enough to be concerned with at the moment for you to add to his problems. Do I make myself clear Severus?"

"Yes Headmaster."

"On another topic, is the mark still darkening?"

Snape glared at the Headmaster for a few seconds before pulling back his sleeve displaying a red tattoo of a skull with a snake coming out of its mouth. "Yes," He spat out then continued, "Karkaroff cornered me again the other day. As I told you at the Yule Ball he will run if it burns."

"The crimes of one's past always seem to catch up with us before the end, don't they Severus?" Dumbledore said quietly. "And those are the ones which hurt the most," He thought as he watched the glare intensify in Snape's eyes before his Potion Master turned and stalked out of his office.

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Harry and his bond mates were in the Chamber again studying. The door to the secondary area had been forced to stay open so Remus could work on the discarded Basilisk skins. Hermione kept glancing over at the door and finally threw down her quill.

"I want to know what a Horcrux is," She said as she got up and walked into the area headed for Slytherin's library again. It had been a growing irritation for the young witch to have a book snatched out of her hands and then not be able to find out what exactly that word had meant. She'd even researched the restricted section of the library with a pass from Professor McGonagall to no avail. She hadn't told McGonagall the real reason she wanted the pass since she had been afraid that the Headmaster might try to prevent her from looking for it if she told him. She'd told her Head of House she wanted to see if the restricted section had anything more on bonds. She had felt guilty about lying to her favorite professor, but she couldn't help but feel it was important.

"We've already looked over the books in there love," Harry said. When Dumbledore hadn't requested a return visit to the Chamber library after taking the books he did, the bonded quartet had waited the day and then started looking at the books themselves. Fleur knew the protection spell for older books and had quickly taught it to Harry and then it went to Gabrielle and Hermione. There had been several books written in Parseltongue that Harry was making extremely slow progress in trying to understand. Being able to understand Parseltongue did not mean he could take that knowledge and apply it to how the magic behind the speech worked. He spent some time each day trying to translate the squiggly lines into English words.

"I'm looking again," Hermione replied shortly.

Harry sighed. He knew why she was short and irritable, but also knew it would end sometime tomorrow if the previous month had been a good indicator. The previous month he had wondered how he never realized there were times that Hermione had been a bit more emotional and argumentative. He followed her and found her staring at the books on one of the bookshelves. He walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer to him. He moved some of her hair away from her neck and lightly kissed the spot right below her ear where he knew she loved being kissed as he whispered, "I love you," He felt her relax some in the bond. After a few more kisses he asked "What can I do to help?"

"You go finish your assignment," Hermione said. "I'll look around here some more," Though as she said that, he felt her arms tighten over his holding them in place.

"I prefer to hold you," Harry told her. Hermione smiled a little as she knew he really meant it. But of course his assignment was an essay for History of Magic so he would probably prefer to hold Millicent Bulstrode rather than finish the assignment.

"Not Millicent," Harry said after catching her thoughts, "Maybe Parkinson though," The instant change in her emotions meant he had forgotten his golden rule, 'No teasing on these days.'

"I didn't mean it love," Harry said quickly, "It was a joke."

"I know and I'm not mad at you," Hermione replied. "You're picking up my emotions before I can control them. If you were not inside my head, you'd have never known I even reacted to you saying that."

"I like being inside your head," Harry said as he turned Hermione around and looked into her eyes. "It lets me know when I'm doing something that hurts you and I never want to hurt you," He kissed her softly. "Not even for an instant," He kissed her again. He felt her desire to make the kiss deeper and he responded. After a few minutes when they separated, his eyes returned to hers, the intensity of the emerald gaze caused Hermione's whole existence to fade into them as he continued, "I don't know what I did to earn your love, but whatever it was, I want to make sure I keep doing it," Harry lips touched again and again deepened into a passionate kiss that Fleur and Gabrielle felt as they were doing their work. They looked at other and smiled, quickly getting up; they dashed to find their bond mate and sister.

"Eet is 'Arry snogging time?" Said a voice from behind them as Harry and Hermione's kiss came to an end. They both knew that Fleur had joined them and when they looked at her, she smiled. "Perhaps you were searching for zis 'orcrux thing in 'Arry's mouth? Maybe I can 'elp in ze examination?"

"Me too!" Gabrielle chimed in as she came in behind Fleur.

Hermione couldn't help but smile at her bond sisters' antics. "You let them do their searching," She said to Harry. "And I'll look some more at these books."

"Sure you're alright?"

"I am love," Hermione replied.

The two of them kept their eyes locked for several more seconds until finally Hermione gave him one more quick kiss on his lips and pushed him toward her bond sisters. As she was watched Fleur snag Harry's lips first, Hermione smiled as she shook her head. She reached into a pocket of her robes and pulled out a piece of Honeyduke caramel filled chocolate that she had put there from the box Harry had given her the previous day. "I would love to go back in time to earlier this year just to see my own face as I told my earlier self that in just a few months she would be love bonded to her best friend, whom she actually loves, along with two other women who just happen to be the Veela that she despises and her sister," She thought, and then she put her hand to her forehead as she realized what she had just thought. "I think all of this talk about pranking is getting to me. I'm now thinking of pranking myself in the past," She shook her head again as she turned back to the books even as she felt the sensation of Fleur kissing Harry creeping into her mind.

"Maybe I can ask Papa about ze 'orcruxes 'Ermione," Fleur said a couple of evenings later. Hermione had gotten permission from Professor McGonagall to spend time with Fleur studying in her bond sisters' Carriage room past curfew. Harry was asleep in Gryffindor Tower and Gabrielle was already in bed almost asleep. "Even if 'e doesn't know what zey are, 'e's got people to find information."

"I wouldn't want to put your father to any trouble Fleur," Hermione replied. "Not for something silly like this."

"It's not silly. And wouldn't you ask your own father if 'e could look up ze information?"

"Probably, but he can't."

"Yes but you are family. Papa told you zat you should consider yourself one of 'is daughters so we'll be asking your father as well," Fleur argued. "Besides I'm just as curious."

"But what if it's something we shouldn't be asking about?"

"Did your 'eadmaster say not to?" Fleur asked. "Even if 'e 'ad, what right would 'e 'ave to prevent you from learning something?"

Hermione fidgeted as she thought. "But it had to have been Riddle who wrote it which means it's probably Dark Magic of some sort."

"Eef it is Dark Magic do you plan on using eet?" Fleur asked.

"Of course not," Hermione replied but realized the verbal trap Fleur was so excellent in setting. She sighed and recited a line Fleur had told her at an earlier time. "All knowledge is useful in developing an overall understanding of a subject, even that which has been discovered to be wrong or outdated. So even Dark Magic in understanding has a purpose in understanding magic overall?"

"Exactly my sister," Fleur responded. "You told me already zat your Defense teacher taught you ze unforgivables, even put you under ze imperious, could zis be worse?"

"If Voldemort was researching it, it very well could be. But okay, we'll ask your father."

"Non, we'll ask our," Fleur's hand gestured between the two of them, "Papa. You 'ave two fazzers now. You know 'e and Maman ask about you in every letter."

Hermione smiled as she remembered the letters Fleur and Gabrielle received and even a few letters addressed directly to her. "I wished my father was that accepting."

"It will 'appen with time 'Ermione. 'E already supports your decision, but it will take time for 'im to really see 'ow 'appy you are and will be. Besides your mother did say it was alright for me and Gabrielle to visit zis summer."

"But they haven't decided on whether it would be 'appropriate' for Harry to join us."

"Zey are still seeing it as zeir fifteen year old daughter wants to bring 'er boyfriend 'ome. Zey might say zey understand ze bond is permanent, but it really 'asn't sunk into zem yet what zat means." Fleur replied. "Besides it will make sleeping next to 'Arry all ze better when we are back with 'im at my 'ouse."

Hermione's cheeks turned pink as she thought of the morning she woke up being held by her bondmate and of how Harry had used his memory of that moment in creating his Patronus. "Your parents will allow us to sleep with him?"

"Of course. Zey might 'esitate slightly over Gabrielle but not much. Especially with what Maman said. But my parents understand ze bond and what it means, and ze French culture doesn't 'ave ze same…same views on sex as you do 'ere."

"I get to sleep with 'Arry too?" Gabrielle asked quietly from her bed.

"Of course Gabi," Fleur said, "Zo Maman might 'esitate a little with you."

"Je ne peux pas attendre," Hermione heard along with a long sigh from her younger bond sister. She gave a quizzical look at Fleur. Though Hermione had read several French books, hearing the language, especially spoken that softly made it difficult to translate.

"She can't wait," Fleur replied to the look. "Neither can I."

"Okay, I can't either," Hermione agreed. "But are we talking about just being in bed with Harry or actually…well..that?"

"Sex?" and when Hermione blushingly nodded Fleur continued. "At ze moment I was speaking of just being in 'is bed, but you've figured out what's going to 'appen when one of us does 'ave sex with 'Arry?"

Hermione nodded again. "Harry and I sort of discussed it when I woke up beside him," She said. "I…I was nervous he might think I meant something more when he found me in his bed. Truthfully I really don't think I could have told him no if he had wanted to go further, but I...I don't think I'm ready for that yet," She said nervously. "He was very understanding. He said he wouldn't ask until we were ready. But once it happens then.." Hermione's voice trailed off as she looked at Fleur.

"We're all going to feel eet…oui," Fleur replied. "And once zat 'appens for one, zen we all will want to do eet."

Hermione looked over at the younger Delacour. "But Gabrielle."

"Eet will 'appen for 'er as well."

"So three years?" Hermione knew Gabrielle's fourteenth birthday was on May twenty-seventh, which was a little more than a month away.

"Non, eet won't be zat long."

"But she's too young."

"Speaking as 'er big sister, I'll always think she is too young, but as 'er bond sister I know she won't be," Fleur replied.

"So you don't think we will be married first?" Hermione asked. It wasn't a big factor in her life, but she had thought of possibly of her first sexual encounter being her wedding night.

Fleur sat down the quill that was still in her hand, and looked away for a few seconds before turning back to Hermione. "I don't want you to mention zis to 'Arry and try to not think of eet to 'im, s'il vous plait, because I don't want 'im to feel any pressure to be or do more zan 'e's already doing," When Hermione nodded her head but with a look of concern in her eyes Fleur continued. "To Gabrielle and I, 'Arry is already our 'usband." At the look of shock on Hermione's face she quickly explained. "I don't mean we're magically or legally married or anything like zat. But what is marriage 'Ermione? It's when you commit yourself to ze one you're going to be with for ze rest of your life is eet not? And declare zere will be no other besides 'im?"

Hermione started to get a look of recognition on her face as she slowly nodded.

"Gabrielle and I 'ave committed ourselves to ze man we will spend our lives with and zere will be nor even can be any other. You 'ave also, but you 'ave to come to terms with what you call eet in your own mind. But to me, 'Arry is my 'usband and someday I 'ope I am one of 'is wives," Fleur's smile appeared on her face, "Someday I want a big ceremony and a beautiful dress and have 'Arry declare 'e takes me for one of 'is wives."

"Of course that will happen," Hermione said. "He already thinks of you and Gabrielle as his family so why wouldn't you? And when we were discussing it at the dinner with my parents, he was already talking about how he would be married to all of us."

"It's still 'is choice and zat's why I don't want you to say anything to 'im," Fleur said. "I don't want 'im to think 'e 'as to marry me because of ze bond or try to be a 'usband without being ready for eet. We will always be connected and 'e will always be my love, but eet is up to 'im to develop ze love for me and my sister as 'e does for you and decide 'e wants to marry us."

"He will love you," Hermione insisted. "Besides, I wouldn't accept a proposal from him unless he was also going to propose to you and Gabrielle at the same time."

"You wouldn't?" Fleur asked a little surprised.

"No, I really wouldn't. You and Gabrielle…well I can't think of the words to say the feeling I have for you two. I've never been this close to other females before. You're my friends, my sisters and well everything. I've never had a female friend I could discuss personal things with," Hermione declared. "But as for him loving you, it's not even a concern. Harry can't help but fall deeply in love with you two."

"Can I tell you something else and you not tell our bondmate? Or at least try to keep it from him."

"I'll try."

"E is already starting to love us," Fleur said with a small smile. "I first noticed it when we did ze patronuses, but ever since zen it's been growing."

"That's wonderful," Hermione exclaimed. "But why don't you want Harry to know?"

"I just want 'im to discover it for 'imself or at least let it grow more," Fleur explained. "I can't wait for ze day 'e tells me 'e loves me like 'e tells you."

"I...I never realized it bothered you," Hermione said realizing how many times Harry told her those words but he never said them to Fleur or Gabrielle.

"Non..Non, eet does not bother me 'Ermione. Eet is a good thing," Fleur responded immediately. "Eet makes 'im 'appy and it makes you 'appy. I just want to hear 'im say ze words to me and feel it when 'e does. Try to keep it from 'im if you can please. 'E will eventually do eet and eet will be very special when 'e does."

"I won't tell him," Hermione said. "And I'll try to not think about it."

"Thank you," Fleur said then continued. "But back to your question, we might wait until marriage to 'ave sex, but only if ze marriage 'appens pretty quickly. One or two years at ze most."

"But Gabrielle?" Hermione objected again. "She won't be old enough to marry by then and my parents would kill me."

"Gabrielle will be ready. You 'eard my Maman when ze topic of marriage came up. She said zat it would probably 'appen before Gabrielle turned seventeen," Fleur replied. "I think she 'ad already figured out 'ow ze sex was going to be an issue and thinks zat marriage or at least ze proposal would 'appen either before or shortly after we start being intimate with 'Arry."

"So you think Harry will propose and marry us within the next two years?"

"I don't know. I think my mother thinks zat, but I am sure we will be intimate with 'Arry before two years."

"But Gabrielle will only be fifteen or sixteen. You really think she will be ready for that?"

"After one or two years of experiencing ze kisses 'Arry gives and being entranced by zose eyes of 'is? She won't be just ready, she'll be demanding. Especially if 'is love for us grows into something similar to what 'e 'as for you. It will be no different zan for you and me. Do you think you can wait longer zan zat?"

"It is a pretty powerful affect he has isn't it?" Hermione said blushing.

Fleur actually blushed as she responded to the question, "Yes it is. I..I already want 'im 'Ermione. When 'e looks at me with zose eyes of 'is and zen kisses me I…well I just want more sometimes. I've been teasing 'im trying to get 'im to look at my body. I'm probably doing more zan I should but…"

Hermione couldn't help but continue her blush at her bond sister's declaration. "But shouldn't we wait for Gabrielle to be old enough, I mean to be seventeen?"

"If we try it prevent it from 'appening because of Gabrielle, she might start feeling guilty or we might start resenting 'er. Remember that Gabrielle is unique in zis situation, she transformed months before she should 'ave and bonded immediately afterwards. She could be the youngest Veela bond ever to 'appen. But we will agree zat it will not 'appen zis summer oui?"

"Definitely not this summer."

"Zen when ze summer is over we will discuss it some more."

"Fair enough," Hermione agreed.

The two older bondmates continued to discuss other things but a little later Fleur had another question.

"Did your 'air never settle down?" She asked seeing her friend's bushy hair. "As it at least been more manageable?"

"Oh..yes it did," Hermione asked excitedly. "It's been much easier to comb and a week ago it did this," She picked up her wand and gave a wave over her head and muttered a finite command. Her hair quickly descended from the bushy mess it normally is to a very stylish slightly curled look. "I've been using a spell to keep it bushy looking so not to have too many questions asked."

"Does 'Arry know?"

"I 'aven't told him and he hasn't asked," Hermione replied. "Not sure if he knows from me thinking about it or not. I've been waiting for the right time to show him."

"Can you change it magically?"

"Like you can?" Hermione asked. "No, I...I haven't thought to try it. I was just excited it was doing what it's doing. I mean it's exactly what I've always wanted as it is now."

"If it's doing zat on its own, I imagine you can. Especially if it's exactly 'ow you want it to be. Go over to ze mirror, and look at yourself," Fleur said. "When you can visualize yourself perfectly with what you want your 'air to look like, close your eyes and picture it in your mind zen desire it to 'appen."

"You really think I can do it?"

"One way to find out," Fleur said smiling at her bond sister.

Hermione looked in the mirror and after a few minutes, Fleur saw her close her eyes, and noticed a look of concentration appeared on her face, and a few seconds later Hermione opened her eyes and looked back in the mirror. She had wished for perfectly straight hair and she saw it was now perfectly straight until it reached her ears and then it was the same slightly curled hair she had already, giving her a very odd looking hair style.

Hermione could see in the mirror that Fleur was giggling quietly behind her. After a few seconds the part Veela controlled her giggles and said to Hermione. "You made a common mistake. I did ze same thing when I first did it. You only thought about how it looks around your face so zat's exactly what you changed."

"You didn't tell me everything did you?" Hermione complained with a fake glare on her face.

"No. I wanted a little laugh if you succeeded," Fleur smirked. "Try it again, but zis time don't use ze mirror. Just try to make it as it's always been."

Hermione closed her eyes and brought up the image of her bushy hair that had stared back at her for years. This time she concentrated on the entire length as it fell past her shoulders. When she opened her eyes and looked in the mirror a very familiar sight of her hair as it's been for years greeted her.

She turned back to Fleur and smiled, "We aren't even anymore. You can't imagine what this means to me. Harry and manageable hair? Hmm...tough to decide which is better."

Fleur playfully rolled her eyes at Hermione "So you play with your 'air tomorrow, and I take your 'Arry time?"

"Okay, so Harry's better; much better than the hair. But it's still just amazing and it's something else I owe you and Gabrielle for."

"It wasn't something we gave you, it just 'appened because of ze magic. Besides zere is no owing amongst sisters is zere?" Fleur asked. "Even if zere was you gave me somezing earlier zat was more precious zan changing 'airstyles."

"I didn't give you anything," Hermione replied, trying to think what Fleur might be talking about.

"Yes you did. When you said you wouldn't take a proposal from our bond mate without it being for all of us," Fleur replied, "it meant ze world to me."

"But it wasn't even necessary. Harry would never do that," Hermione replied.

"But it means you also see us as family 'Ermione. You said it instinctively as you truly feel you are our sister."

"Of course I do!" Hermione exclaimed.

"Okay you two," Gabrielle said quietly, "I was 'aving a perfectly wonderful dream about 'Arry and you two woke me up. Now go to sleep so I can get back in 'Arry's arms."

"Yes Gabi," Fleur said as she smiled at Hermione.

"Well I better get back to the castle," Hermione said as she looked at her watch. "Wow, how did it get so late."

"Girl talk will do zat sometimes," Fleur said. "Stay and sleep here. You can sleep in my bed."

"With you?" Hermione asked suddenly nervous.

"Is zere something wrong with zat?" Fleur asked.

"It's just I..I mean except for the night with Harry I've never slept in the same bed with anyone except my parents."

"Well you might want to get used to it, I doubt it will be ze only time we end up in ze same bed," Seeing the look in Hermione's eyes, she rolled her own eyes "I've got to stop talking about sex with you," She said with a smile to let Hermione know it was more of a joke. "If sometime in ze future we are going to be married to ze same man, it is likely we will sleep…and I do mean sleep in ze same bed with 'im at ze same time."

Hermione's mind immediately realized quickly the other implications that sentence carried with it. "What about…"

"Don't even think of it now, we'll figure zat out when it 'appens," Fleur said cutting Hermione off.

"Will you two go to sleep, or I won't let either of you sleep with 'Arry," Gabrielle grumbled.

Hermione smiled at Fleur and then they both looked over at their sleepy bond sister. "Okay, we're going," Hermione replied.