HPF171-180

Chapter 171

"Ah! Percy!" replied Harry. "You've been

misinformed. First, I am not a Champion, I'm

an unwilling competitor. Hogwarts's

Champion is Cedric Diggory; and, I assure you,

he's waiting outside with his date for this

evening, Miss Cho Chang. Second, I am here

with two dates this evening, my two fiancées,

Miss Daphne Greengrass and Miss Hermione

Granger."

Harry heard either Tracey or Lisa squeal a

little and immediately demand to look at

rings.

"Third, I made the fact I intend to sit with the

other students for this evening quite clear to

both Headmaster Dumbledore and Professor

McGonagall quite some time ago. I'm sorry

you weren't informed, but it wasn't my place

to do so. Will there be anything else?"

Percy looked so shocked he almost looked

stricken. "But; you have to sit at the head

table. It's all been planned!"

Harry frowned back and said, "Now you're

beginning to annoy me. I don't have to

do squat, Mister Weasley. What I could do,

however, is publicly question Dumbledore, in

his role as Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot,

as to why I... the Head of an Ancient House...

am being brow-beaten by a low grade

Ministry flunky in front of my fiancées and

friends. Would you like me to do that?"

Percy gaped a little and blanched in shock

before he stuttered, "Err... n-no. I'll... go and

find out why I wasn't informed. M-my

apologies." He quickly scurried back to the

head table.

"Aaaannnd... slap!" said Horace. "Nice put

down, Harry."

"Percy always was a pompous prat," smiled

Harry right back. "That boy's got a stick up

his arse so long it's cutting off circulation to

his brain."

While Daphne was trying hard not to snort in

an unladylike fashion, Hermione told him off

again, "Harry James, you will mind your

language in front of others! I don't

know where you developed such a potty

mouth, but I suspect it was the bad

influences of Finnegan and Thomas. I can't

see Neville using that sort of language."

"Ha!" Harry shot back. "Don't be fooled by

that meek and mild exterior he's cultivated

for the public. Neville gives as good as he

gets in the dorm."

"I don't think I want to know what you got

up to in that dorm," huffed Hermione.

"Oh, just the usual," Harry said airily. "Fart

competitions; things like that."

"Fart competitions?" asked Horace, clearly

amused.

"Yeah, you know; like who has the loudest,

who has the smelliest, who has the

longest..."

"Harry James!" barked Hermione, while

Blaise and Horace roared with laughter.

"With the way he eats you'd think it'd be a

clean sweep for Weasley, but

it's Finnegan who can clear a room in about

three seconds flat," said Harry. "I tell ya, it's a

wonder all the curtains, linen and clothing in

that room haven't rotted by now."

"Stop it!" cried Hermione.

Harry, seeing he was now clearly upsetting

Hermione, relented. "Alright, Hermione. I'm

sorry. I'll stop."

It was just in time, as the three Champions

were announced and escorted their dates

into the Great Hall.

By the end of the evening, Harry felt he'd

done his best to make sure both his fiancées

received equal attention from him both on

and off the dance floor.

It also hadn't taken long for news of their

engagements to sweep through the school.

Both girls were constantly having others

approach them during their time off the floor

to look at the rings and asking questions such

as about when Harry had asked, were they

surprised, where were the rings purchased

from, were they heirlooms, and similar.

Harry was just glad the official

announcement and story would be in

the Daily Prophet the next morning, courtesy

of the Bancroft woman. She had promised it

wouldn't be a sensationalist story à la

Skeeter. But, also said it didn't need to be; as

it was sensational enough on its own merit.

The idea was to delay the story of the

three-way engagement for as long as

possible and to counter-effect any story

where Harry refused to play the role of a

Champion for the Ball.

One of the most relieving aspects of the ball

was that Harry had only seen Ron once, for

the meal. The boy disappeared almost as

soon as the meal was completed. He did not

see Ginevra, at all.

With about ten minutes before their return

portkey was due to take them back to

Greengrass Farm, Harry made sure his

fiancées were aware of the time before he

began gently herding them towards the

Entrance Hall antechamber.

They made it with about two minutes to

spare. That was just enough time to check

that they hadn't left anything behind, and to

don their cloaks.

With about fifteen seconds remaining, Harry

withdrew the return portkey from his pocket

and offered it to the girls. They both grabbed

on and, a few seconds later, were whisked

away.

They arrived in almost the exact same place

from where they left.

Daphne called for the Farm house elves and

they were popped directly to the entry hall

of the main house where both mothers stood

waiting for them.

"How was your evening?" asked Cele, first to

ask.

"It was amazing, Mum!" gushed Hermione,

before she then frowned. "But, Harry almost

ruined the start of it by telling Daphne's

friends in Slytherin about how the boys in

the Gryffindor fourth year boys' dorm

engaged in... flatulence competitions."

"I thought it was funny," grinned Daphne,

just as Sirius walked in.

"Flatulence competitions?" asked Sirius.

"Don't encourage him," huffed Hermione. "I

don't believe boys engage in that sort of

thing."

"Smelliest, longest, loudest?" asked Sirius,

grinning.

"Yep!" replied Harry, pleased his godfather

'got it'.

With a mock sigh and sniffle Sirius said, "I

miss those days."

Hermione harrumphed and, with her nose in

the air, said, "Come, ladies. We'll talk in the

kitchen." And stalked out.

Snickering, Daphne followed with both

mothers following her. Harry had no idea,

until that night, that 'Ice Queen' Daphne

appreciated fart jokes.

After the ladies left, Sirius asked, "So, who

was the champ? It'd be that Weasley boy,

right?"

With a grin Harry said, "He was the

undisputed king of the longest. No surprise

considering how quickly he shovels food into

his mouth. But, it was Finnegan who

consistently had the smelliest; and it was a

toss up between me and Thomas for who

had the loudest."

Chapter 172

"With us, it was the rat," Sirius said quietly.

"He had the record for them all. It was about

the only thing he was good at."

To get past the uncomfortable silence, Harry

said, "Well, I learned tonight that Daphne

appreciates good fart humour. It surprised

the Hell out of me, to learn that."

"Then the evening wasn't a complete loss,"

smirked Sirius.

With both of them laughing, Sirius led Harry

into the parlour where the two fathers were

quietly conversing over a glass of some

alcoholic beverage.

"What's so funny?" asked Ant, looking up as

they walked in.

"Harry learned tonight that Daphne

appreciates the subtle nuances and rules of

the fart competition," replied a chuckling

dogfather.

"Oh, yes," said Matthias, smirking back. "Her

humour has always been of the more ribald

variety."

"Anyway," said Ant. "Did you have a good

evening? But, more importantly, did both

girls have a good evening?"

"Yes to both," replied Harry, sinking onto a

couch with a sigh. "I made sure both ladies

had plenty of dances; and they enjoyed

showing their engagement rings to all and

sundry. I think they also enjoyed some of the

jealous looks some of the other girls were

throwing their way.

"Their outfits were a hit, their hairstyles

were a hit, their jewellery was a hit, the

news of our engagements was generally a hit,

and both utterly loved it."

"Good," said Matthias. "Now that you've

experience in attending balls, expect to

receive invites for the summer months.

Society will want to meet you and the two

future Missus Potters. Besides that you're

quite famous in your own right, there'll be

many who want to see your unique

relationship in action for themselves."

"Yeah," breathed Harry. "I'll get Daphne to

take care of those sorts of things."

"As you should," nodded Matthias. "The

social aspect of running a House is the

responsibility of the lady of the House. That'll

be Daphne and Hermione."

Nodding, Harry said, "I kinda figured that."

Sitting forward again, he sighed and said,

"Anyway, this is way beyond my usual bed

time. So, if you'll excuse me, I'm heading for

bed. Good night."

"Good night," the other three replied as

Harry headed for the stairs.

Two days later, Matthias took them into

Knockturn Alley under heavy glamour. They

had gone to get their second wands.

The store was, as per most stores in that

particular alley, quite non-descript. However,

inside it was clearly a place that had done

quite a bit of business. They were met inside

by a kindly looking man who immediately led

them through to a workshop behind the

counter.

Unlike with Ollivander, where their wands

were pre-made from a narrow selection of

core materials, their new wands came from a

wider variety. Eventually, Harry came away

with a wand that contained basilisk eyestring

in an elder wood. It was pretty close to being

a match for length with his holly and phoenix

feather wand. "A true combat wand, that

one is, young Sir," the wandmaker said.

Daphne came away with a mahogany and

thestral hair wand - good for combat,

defence and transfiguration. And Hermione

picked up a spruce and gryffin mane hair

wand - whippy, good for charms and

enchanting.

When they returned to the Farm, Harry and

both girls immediately donned their second

wand holsters and fitted them to their left

wrists. It was Hermione who first mastered

the skill of shooting both wands into her

hands at the same time.

Using the room of requirement over the past

few months, all three had already developed

some skill with casting with their 'off' hand.

They now looked forward to practicing

casting with a wand in each hand. Thankfully,

Greengrass Farm had a well-provisioned

practice range in the basement; and all three

spent quite a bit of time under instruction

and receiving advice from Matthias on how

to maximise the use of two wands in fighting.

"Very few can master it," he said. "It requires

you to be able to think extremely quickly. At

times, you'll need to hold, for example, a

shield in place, while you cast an attack with

the other wand. It means you'll need to

maintain, and pump magic through, two

different spells.

"However, even if you can't reach that feat,

being able to cast through two wands means

you can rapidly shift from one spell to the

next switching from one hand to the other

and back again. That's the first stage you

need to master before moving on to

simultaneous casting."

While spending a lot of time practicing with

their new wands, the three also spent time

just being themselves. Outings included trips

to the cinema, to some of the wizarding

sights, and also to Godric's Hollow. This time,

Harry didn't have the horcrux hunt hanging

over his head while visiting the graves of his

parents. They took along the parents and,

with effort, convinced Sirius to accompany

them.

That night, after Sirius was able to compose

himself after a delayed reaction and breaking

down at the gravesite, he told them some

wonderful anecdotes of Harry's parents.

Harry always enjoyed hearing stories about

his parents.

A couple days later, Remus returned to visit

the Farm and asked for a private chat

between him, Sirius and Harry.

Matthias loaned them the use of his

'business meeting' table in his private study.

Entering and without putting up any

anti-eavesdropping charms or wards, the

three went to the table and sat around it.

Remus, looking quite agitated, took a few

moments before he began to speak.

"Dumbledore sent me an owl to come and

talk to him," he explained. "His note said it

had to do with something 'of mutual

importance', I think, was the actual phrase.

"Anyway, when I arrived in his office at

Hogwarts he wanted to know if I'd been

talking to you, Harry. When I said I had... and

that I'd visited you, here, on Christmas Day...

he asked what we'd talked about."

Both Harry and Sirius remained silent, letting

Remus tell it his way.

"That got my hackles up," he explained. "So,

I told him it was only about what we'd both

been up to, recently. So, he then wanted to

know what you'd told me. I told him it was a

private discussion between the two of us and

I didn't feel comfortable discussing it with

him."

This time Remus sighed. "Dumbledore then

tried those things you said he would, Harry.

He raised how he was disappointed in me,

raised how he'd allowed me to go to school

there and make friends, and then tried the

Greater Good angle.

"I was shocked," he continued, getting a little

angry. "Partly, because you'd

covered exactly what he'd try, and did. And

partly that he actually did it."

Harry reached over and gave the old wolf's

forearm a gentle squeeze with a face of

sorrowed understanding.

"I got angry, then," Remus continued. "That's

when I began to shout at him and accuse him

of heinous and immoral acts, that I didn't

care one whit about his much vaunted

Greater Good, and that I thought him a

bastard for trying that on me."

"That's when he accused you of going dark,

didn't he?" asked Sirius.

Surprised by how accurate both Sirius and

Harry had read the situation, and of what

had likely occurred straight after, an upset

Remus simply bowed his head and nodded.

"What do you do when the man you most

look up to and admire, is proven by his own

words and actions to be nothing but a

manipulative old goat... molester?" he

near-plaintively asked.

"You promise yourself never to fall for his

silver-tongued bullshit ever again, and move

on with your life," Sirius firmly stated.

"I tossed him my old Order of the Phoenix

medallion, hitting him in the chest with it,

and stormed out," said Remus.

Turning to fully face Harry, he gave his throat

a little clear and held himself up. "I let you

down, Harry. Even up to today, I thought

what I'd read and heard about that old

bastard was either misrepresented or a lie. I

now know I was wrong."

"Now that you've seen the error of your

ways, you're forgiven," Harry firmly replied.

"It might have taken you a decade and a half

to figure out Dumbledore is not the Leader of

the Light he portrays himself to be, but

you've reached there in the end."

"Thank you, Cub," Remus softly said back.

"And, I promise to do better from now on."

"That's all I can ask," said Harry.

It wasn't too long before the three were

packed and ready to return to the castle the

night before catching the train. Sirius also

picked that moment to bring Harry the locket

horcrux. He also had the Cup.

Surprised, Harry asked, "How'd you get the

Cup?"

"That took some creative legal

manoeuvring," Sirius replied with a sigh. "I

asked for it from the Potter account keeper,

Senior Sharpclaw? He handed it to me when I

asked for it. They still recognise I'm your

guardian, even though you no longer need

one being emancipated and all.

"I also used the opportunity to announce the

dissolution of the marriage between Bellatrix

and her idiot of a husband for cause. It was

part of the marriage contract that she was to

produce two heirs within five years. It's been

triple that without heirs, so I cancelled the

marriage and claimed back the dowry.

"Next, I kicked her out of the family for

transferring her allegiance from the family to

Riddle; and used that to claim any and all

heirlooms from the remainder of the

Lestrange vaults, plus backdated her familial

allowance as a Black back to when it was

known she had become a Death Eater, and

claimed all payments back.

"While I was at it, I offered Narcissa the

chance to get rid of that idiot, Malfoy. I

haven't heard back from her with her

decision, yet. However, I've also informed

her that if I discover she's taken the mark,

she too will be kicked from the family for

giving her allegiance to Riddle.

"I've also blocked Malfoy Junior from ever

becoming an Heir of Black by proving Malfoy

Senior had taken the mark, and the sins of

the father pass to the son.

"Finally, I've brought the Tonkses back into

the family and made Andromeda next in line

after you to inherit if anything, Merlin forbid,

happens to you."

Smirking back, Harry said, "You've been

holding out on us, Sirius. You've been busy."

"Well, I've been working with the goblins and

that Stewart Ackerman of yours to make sure

everything is legal and tight. Plus, while

we've been here, I've also had a team of

goblin-controlled curse breakers and then a

team of renovators and the like going

through the Black London House at

Grimmauld Place and cleaning it up.

"Gone will be the dreary wallpaper,

doxie-infested curtains, elf-heads mounted

on the wall and dark items. I'm having the

whole thing redone with enlarged windows,

polished floors, light and cheery paint on the

walls and new furniture."

"A complete makeover," said Daphne. "It

sounds as if it'll be really nice."

"And I'm hoping you'd do this old dog the

honour of spending at least a few days with

me during summer," said Sirius, clearly very

hopeful. "Maybe, a day over Easter?"

"That, too, sounds nice," Daphne smoothly

replied. To which Sirius gave a huge beaming

grin.

Once away from Sirius, Harry quietly said to

Daphne, "Thank you, for what you said to

Sirius. He really wants to be a good godfather,

and feels he has twelve years to make up

for."

"That was my impression, as well," replied

Daphne. "Plus, it would be nice to spend a

couple of days with him."

"He's a lot less... psycho, now," said

Hermione. "I suspect he'll be even better by

Easter."

"Hermione Jean, what a horrible thing to

say!" Daphne softly exclaimed.

"No less true, though," muttered Harry. "I

just hope Remus can get over his shattered

Dumbledore hero-worship soon, so he can

spend more time with him. Beyond anything

else, I think what Sirius needs is the company

of friends, both old and new."

With both horcruxes, current and

goblin-stripped, wrapped separately in heavy

silk, and then stored in the bottom of Harry's

trunk in his new secret compartment, the

three went to bed for their final night of

Christmas break at Greengrass Farm.

Chapter 173

The final breakfast before the trip to the train

station on Sunday, the 3rd of January, also

included the Grangers and Sirius adding the

final touches to their own packing; as they,

too, were leaving the Farm. The Grangers

were returning to their home and dental

practice in Crawley; and Sirius was returning

to the Black House in London.

However, there was none of the utter chaos

Harry and Hermione witnessed at the Burrow

when the Weasleys packed to return to the

castle; especially, the end of last summer.

Here, everyone was well finished packing

before they even sat for breakfast.

Sirius volunteered to take the three to Kings

Cross, so the three bid their goodbyes to

family at the Farm at about 10.30am. Then,

together, they travelled by Floo through to

the Floo point on the platform. That a Floo

point existed on the platform was yet

another check mark against the Weasleys

and their method of travel to the station.

Again, the ride back to the castle on the

Express was quiet and quite peaceful without

the usual rude visit by Malfoy and his

minions.

As they rode the carriages back to the castle,

looking at it, Harry sighed and said, "Once

more unto the breach, dear friends; once

more."

"Shakespeare. Apt," replied Daphne,

somewhat distracted and also looking to the

castle.

Surprised, Harry was shocked to discover

Dumbledore wasn't waiting in the Entrance

Hall for the three, especially Harry, to arrive

back in the castle. So, they simply headed

directly to the Ravenclaw table. Luna had

'reserved' their seats for them opposite.

"You had a good Christmas," she said, by way

of greeting. "I'm glad."

Harry grinned back and said, "You know,

you're supposed to ask if we had a good

Christmas; not just tell us we did."

With her own grin affixed to her face, she

said, "I know. But, it's more fun this way."

Chuckling, Harry asked, "And how was your

Christmas, Luna? No troubles with the fairies

hiding your stuff, I hope?"

"Oh, no," she replied. "They've been

behaving themselves. I think it's because

they've been busy performing their roles as

Christmas decorations."

"I'm sure," he softly replied.

With those who departed for Christmas now

returned and seated, Dumbledore stood and

welcomed everyone back, before

immediately calling for the feast.

At the end of the meal, he again stood and

reminded all that classes recommenced on

the morrow, and that they should make an

early night of it.

The three walked with Luna back to the

Ravenclaw corridor before wishing her a

goodnight and walking the short distance to

their apartment.

Stepping in, the girls immediately drew their

wands and began casting detection charms

about the place. Barely a few moments later,

Hermione drew everyone's attention and put

her finger to her lips in the gesture of be

quiet. Then she pointed to the coffee table

and caused it to glow for a moment.

Though the three were now quite angry,

even Harry joined in with scanning

everything.

They discovered listening and monitoring

charms in every room except the ensuites.

Once the search was complete, the three

stepped back out into the outside passage

and also scanned the surrounding area.

There was another affixed to the wall next to

the alcove that held Professor Whittaker. So,

they stepped even further away.

Casting a privacy shield about themselves,

Hermione was first to speak. "That

manipulative old... so-and-so! How dare he!"

Though angry, Daphne was also amused by

the vehemency in Hermione's voice and

expression. "Well, what do we do with

them?" she asked.

"Alright," Harry began. "Clearly, the one

outside the alcove is so he can hear the

password. Can we cause that one to have

him hear nonsense words...

no... swear words... used as the password?"

Amused, Daphne replied, "I like your thinking.

And, yes, that shouldn't be too hard to do.

What next?"

"Well," muttered Hermione. "If we're going

to do something like that, rather than just get

rid of them, how about we have the one on

the coffee table change what we say to...

plans for murdering the staff in their sleep?

We can discuss ways to bypass their wards to

get to them."

Harry laughed while Daphne snickered.

"I like it," he said. "How about the one in one

of your rooms be a recording of

singing... Henry the Eighth and have it on

loop?"

"That's... evil!" gasped Hermione. "I want

that in my room."

"Henry the Eighth?" asked Daphne, not

having heard it before.

Hermione sung it once through for her and

said, "Then you put it on loop; that is, have it

repeat over and over again without end. It's

the sort of little ditty that gets into your head

and you can't shift it."

Daphne laughed out loud. "You're right," she

laughed. "That is evil."

While the three laughed about it for a few

moments, Daphne then said, "How about the

sound of an annoying mosquito buzzing

around for my room?"

Again the three laughed. "Brilliant!" said a

gleeful Harry. "Now comes the big

one. My room."

They thought about it for a little while before

Hermione blushed and said, "Well... he

obviously knows what goes on in there..."

"Yes?" asked Daphne.

"How about we let him hear just that... a lot...

and loudly," she blushed even more.

Harry guffawed and had to bend at the waist

he was laughing so hard. "No, no!" he gasped.

"Not what we're doing. That is, what we're

doing; but, so much more!"

"You mean, make it sound like a full on

debauched orgy?" asked a shocked

Hermione.

Harry could only nod back trying not to laugh

again. His face had turned red and his eyes

were twinkling with unshed tears.

Both girls were also blushing away. Daphne

said, "I don't think I can set something

like that up. I mean, I can... I just... it's too

embarrassing."

"How about we ask the red-haired devil

twins do it for us?" asked Harry.

"The Weasleys?" asked Daphne, surprised.

While Harry nodded, she thought about it

before saying, "Yes, I can see that. But, we

set your room back up with a single bed

before we let them in. I don't want to give

them things to talk about, about us."

Chapter 174

"Alright, I agree," said Harry. "So, how about

we just muffle it for tonight and ask them to

do it tomorrow?"

"Agreed," replied Hermione, while Daphne

nodded.

"As for the other four," Daphne said, "I think

we can get them all done before we go to

bed."

"Let's get started," said Hermione, agreeing.

"Oh, and we're going to need a new

password for Professor Whittaker.

Dumbledore would have heard and recorded

it when we first entered, tonight."

As they were about to head back to start on

their pranks, Hermione stopped them. "Hang

on a second," she suddenly said.

When she knew she had their attention, she

said, "I think Dumbledore placed that

listening charm outside the alcove before we

left for the Christmas break. That's how he

learned of the password to get in. Plus, I

think we need to question Professor

Whittaker of who else has been in and

possibly when.

"I'm going to put a muffle on the listening

charm outside first," she explained. "We

need to chat with the good Professor as to

who's been inside."

Surprised, Daphne replied, "That's very

Slytherin of you, Hermione. I approve."

"Right then," said Harry as Hermione blushed

a little at the praise. "Let's do this."

When they returned to the alcove, Hermione

immediately cast a muffling charm over the

existing listening charm.

"Done!" she said.

Looking to the statue, Harry asked,

"Professor, has Headmaster Dumbledore

been in our rooms since we left for Christmas

break?"

The statue appeared to think for a moment

before it said, "The castle answers directly to

the Headmaster. If he gives us orders, we

must obey them."

"Ah!" said Harry. "In that case, we must

assume he gave you orders not to tell us

what he was up to. However, did he give you

orders to tell us what he wasn't up to?"

The statue smiled before it replied, "No."

"Then we need to ask him questions based

on what he wasn't up to," said Hermione,

understanding.

Nodding, Harry asked, "Professor, did the

Headmaster enter more often than once?"

"No," replied the statue, clearly amused.

"Did the Headmaster enter after Christmas?"

asked Daphne, understanding what Harry

and Hermione were up to.

"No," replied the statue.

"He didn't muck about waiting to set them

up, did he?" Harry mused.

"Did the Headmaster enter accompanied by

a member of staff?" asked Hermione.

The statue didn't respond.

"Hmmm..." said Harry. "Excluding speaking

about the Headmaster... and Professor Snape,

has any staff member been in our

apartments since we left for Christmas

break?"

"No."

"So he entered with Professor Snape...

Wait!" said Daphne. "Has Professor Snape

been in our apartment unaccompanied by

the Headmaster?"

"Yes."

"Nosy wanker," fumed Harry. Neither of his

bondmates berated him for his language.

"So, Dumbledore has only ordered the castle

not tell anyone what he's been up to; not

what the rest of the staff has been up to,"

said Daphne. "We can use that."

"Any other questions we want to ask?" asked

Harry.

"Yes," replied Hermione. "Professor, even

though we have a password to allow us or

those we give it to, to enter, can the

Headmaster simply order you to let him in?"

"No," replied the statue. "He cannot order

me to let him in as the apartments are

considered private. However, I must let him

and anyone else in if he or they gives the

password. The same applies to the guardians

of the other apartments. However, for the

common rooms of the four Houses, both the

Headmaster and his Deputy have automatic

access. And the four Heads of the Houses

also have automatic access to each of their

Houses' common rooms."

"Good to know," said Daphne.

"Right, then," said Harry. "We need a new

password for the Professor, here."

"This time I have no problem if the password

is 'manipulative old fool'," said Hermione.

"Agreed," added Daphne.

"'Manipulative old fool', it is then," declared

Harry.

To the Professor, he said, "Change of

password, Professor."

"Old password?" asked the statue.

"Double-H Dee," replied Harry.

"New password?"

"Manipulative old fool," replied Harry.

"Password change accepted," the statue

stated.

"Brilliant," said Harry. Turning to his

bondmates he said, "Alright, who's going to

put the swear word charm on the listening

charm?"

"I will," replied Daphne, before she turned to

Hermione. "Could you remove the muffling

charm, love?"

Hermione nodded and quickly removed her

charm. And Daphne stepped forward and

applied hers.

"Done," she said. "I'll use a similar charm for

the one in the living room as soon as we step

inside."

She then turned to look at the Professor and

said, "The Headmaster's a manipulative old

fool, Professor."

The statue smiled and immediately turned

out of the way. "That he is," he murmured.

The three bondmates entered and closed the

door behind them. Daphne immediately

went to the coffee table and, after

discovering the one Hermione had found,

cast the almost identical charm on the one,

there.

Indicating with hand gestures, she then led

the other two into Hermione's room and

closed the door. Hermione went to the foot

of her bed and indicated the whole

footboard.

With another quick quiet gesture, she started

to cast at the footboard. Suddenly, she

stopped and, in a loud and clear voice, sang

the ditty Henry the Eighth. As soon as she'd

finished, she cast again.

"Alright," she said. "That was a recording

charm I used over the top of the listening

charm, and charmed it to continually play

back the recording. Then I used a silencing

ward to lock them together. He can now no

longer hear anything in here but me singing

that silly song."

"Now for the mosquito," said Daphne.

Chapter 175

She pulled a loose thread from the inside

hem of her robes and transfigured it into a

mosquito. Then hit it with the Imperius curse.

"If you can use that same recording charm,

Hermione, I'll have this little thing fly around

near the listening charm in my room. It's the

knob on the left top most drawer of my

vanity, by the way."

"I can do that," replied Hermione.

Harry then went ahead and opened the door

back out into their living room, before then

walking over and opening the door to

Daphne's room. He held the door open as

Daphne forced the little insect to fly into her

room.

Standing back a bit to give Hermione room,

she then caused the mosquito to fly around,

in and out, near the indicated knob.

Hermione allowed it to fly around a fair bit

between when she cast the start of the

charm, and ended it before nodding to

Daphne.

Daphne forced the mosquito away and

Hermione cast the silencing ward over the

knob while Daphne ended the

transfiguration on the mosquito, returning it

to a single piece of thread, which dropped to

the floor.

"That's going to drive the old coot barmy,"

chuckled Harry.

"Alright," said Daphne. "I'm just going to cast

a silencing ward over the one in Harry's room.

Then I think we should rescan."

"Agreed," replied Hermione.

After blocking the charm in Harry's room

they found others on effects in Harry's trunk.

A quick duck back into the living room for a

mini-conference and Harry said, "How'd he

manage that?"

"The house elves," replied Daphne, angrily.

"He intercepted the trunks being brought

from the train to the castle and applied them

then."

"Well, we're not going to play with those

ones," sighed Harry. Turning slightly, he

called, "Dobby! Winky!"

Immediately, the little house elves popped in.

"Yes, Master Harry?"

"Hello, my little friends. Here's what I want

you to do," he said before explaining the

existing charms around their apartment.

"Now, besides those, the Headmaster clearly

had one or more of the castle's house elves

bring him our trunks before they were sent

to here. There are tracking and listening

charms all through our personal effects.

Please, strip them away."

"Yes, Master Harry," replied the elves before

popping away.

"Let's give them a few moments to sort that

all out before we go to bed," said Hermione.

"There's something I wanted to talk about

before we went to bed, anyway," said

Daphne with a rush before blushing a little.

"Sure," said Harry. "About what?"

Daphne and Hermione looked at each other

for a few moments before Daphne turned

back to Harry. Taking a deep breath she

quietly said, "I think... no. I know...

I'm... we're," she said indicating her and

Hermione, "... ready to finalise the bonds."

Surprised, Harry looked from Daphne to

Hermione and back again. "You're sure?" he

asked.

"Yes," they firmly replied.

Thinking a bit, he asked, "Do you want to do

this individually... or together?"

"Together," replied Daphne. "I think... if you

don't mind, that is... I think I want Hermione

to be there when I... finalise the bond with

you. If that's alright?"

"I expected you would want to," Harry

replied with a gentle smile. "And, of course,

it's alright with me. We've done

everything else when the three of us have

been together; I pretty much expected you'd

want to do this together, too."

Letting out a sigh of relief, she quietly said,

"Thank you."

"There's nothing to thank me for," he replied,

stepping forward to give her a hug. "Now, is

it alright with Hermione?"

"Yes," replied Hermione, stepping in to make

it a three-way hug. "Daphne and I have

already discussed this. It's what we both

want. Besides, we want you to be there

when we two finalise our part of the bond."

Nodding in his arms, Daphne said, "I think it

would weird me out, if you weren't."

"So, you want to finalise the three aspects all

together, on the same night?" he asked

them.

"Yes," they both replied.

"But, not tonight," sighed Hermione. "It's

late. I think we should plan to do this on

Friday night. That way we have the whole

weekend to recover."

"Good," said Daphne. "I think I need the time

to make sure I'm going to be ready."

"And, Daphne?" said Harry. "If you discover

between now and then you feel

you're not ready. Tell us! It doesn't have to

be this Friday night, yeah?"

Nodding, Daphne replied, "Thank you. But, I

don't think I'll be changing my mind. I

don't want to change my mind."

"The option to do so is still open to you;

to both of you," Harry firmly said.

A few minutes later, the three headed to bed.

Harry had to re-enlarge it as the initial charm

to widen it had worn off while they'd been

away. Or might have been stripped off by

Dumbledore or Snape.

Classes recommenced the next morning and

the three were quickly back into routine.

Harry kept a close eye on Daphne to make

sure she wasn't getting stressed about the

coming Friday evening. Since the night of

their return they hadn't spoken of it since.

Amusing all three, and Luna as they'd let her

know of the listening charms Dumbledore

had put throughout their apartment, the

Headmaster appeared a little... frazzled after

only a couple of days. It appeared clear to

them the old fool had been checking his

charms.

They hadn't approached the Weasley twins

until the Tuesday morning as they used the

Monday evening to go to the rune circle in

the Room of Requirement and destroy the

soul pieces and charms on the locket horcrux.

Checking, the Cup was already stripped of all

charms except the ancient ones placed on it

by Hufflepuff herself.

"That now leaves just the ring and Nagini,"

Harry was pleased to state, once they were

done. The two ex-horcruxes then went back

into the hidden compartment in Harry's

trunk he'd had installed.

Chapter 176

When they let the two know what the

Headmaster had been up to they were both

horrified with the old fool's actions, and

eager to begin to use them to prank him. So,

immediately after dinner that night, the

twins ducked up to their apartment and

discussed how they were going to do it.

"You want to add what?" Hermione asked,

horrified with one of their ideas.

"A goat and a dog," Fred, or George, smugly

replied.

"It'll blow his mind!" added the other.

"Well," said Daphne, "Do what you want, so

long as I don't have to hear it."

"Easy," said George. "That idea of wrapping

the charms together in a silencing ward is

brilliant."

Once they'd decided what they were going to

do, the twins quickly set to work. Even after

knowing them for as long as he had, through

both timelines, Harry was still amazed with

how they could easily work with one another

without even talking.

Finally, both stood back and gestured to

Hermione to step forward while miming

sticking their fingers in their ears and singing.

With a grin of her own at their antics, she

stepped forward and cast the same

enshrouding silencing ward over the spot to

which the listening charm was affixed.

Stepping back, she firmly said, "Done!"

"I wish we could see what was going on in

the Headmaster's office," mused Fred, or

George.

"If he's attending to his charm he'll be

looking horrified about now," snickered

George.

"You know he's never going to believe it,

don't you?" asked Hermione.

"Oh, that's where the beauty of what we've

done comes in," said George as both boys

looked quite smug.

"Why? What else did you do?" asked Harry.

"We added a sort of compulsion charm to

the listening charm," said George.

"We weaved the compulsion into the original

charm," said Fred.

"So, the longer he listens to it..." said George

"The more he'll want to listen to it!"

exclaimed Fred.

"And he won't be able to talk to anyone

about what he hears, either," crowed

George.

"That's..." began Daphne, shocked, before

she gave both a quite pointed look. "How is it

you two never ended up in Slytherin?"

"Oh, that's easy," replied Fred.

"We told the hat to put us in Gryffindor,"

added George.

"Threatened to burn it if it didn't, we did,"

said Fred.

As the five returned to the living room,

Fred/George asked, "So, what did you do

with the other listening charms?"

"We found one in the alcove just outside the

door that Hermione figured out must've gone

up before we left on the Express for the ride

home at Christmas," replied Harry. "She

figured, and we agree, that he must've used

that to hear the password given to the statue

of Professor Whittaker.

"Then, when we left on the Express, he

quickly used the password to get in. That's

when he cast the charms throughout the

rooms in here."

"That charm was overlaid with a

gobbledegook charm to change what was

said into nonsense swear words for the

listening charm," explained Daphne.

"The one on the coffee table, here," she

explained, indicating the table between them,

"Changes what is said by whoever is in the

room at the time, to be whoever is in the

room planning the imminent murder of

various members of staff."

Unabashedly turning and grinning at one

another for a moment, they both turned

back and chorused, "That's brilliant!"

"Is it doing that now?" asked Fred.

Daphne smirked and nodded.

"What else?" asked George, eager to hear

more.

"The one in my room has me singing a

muggle ditty called Henry the Eighth,"

explained Hermione. "It has the sort of

tempo and tune that gets into your head and

won't leave. It makes you want to sing it

yourself."

"It has a compulsion charm attached to it?"

asked one of the twins, thinking their idea

was unique.

"No," laughed Harry. "It's just the sort of

tune that makes you want to sing along with

it. No magic involved."

"Overlaid on that, and binding both charms

together, is a silencing ward just like I cast in

Harry's room," continued Hermione. "That

way he won't hear anything but the ditty. I

really don't want him to know what I'm up to

in my room, thank you very much."

"And the one in Miss Greengrass's room?"

asked one.

"Similar," explained Daphne. "Same idea, but

it's the sound of a rather annoying mosquito

buzzing in your ear."

Both boys almost winced. Living, as they

were, very close to a creek, they were well

accustomed to the sound of annoying

mosquitoes."

"E-vil!" exclaimed one of the twins.

The twins hung about for a little while longer

before they took their leave. Just as they

were about to walk out the door, one turned

back and said, "The Headmaster's going to

probably try to fix his little monitors and

listening charms. George and I'll see if we can

come up with other ideas to tamper with

them."

"It sounds like, if you can figure out how to

enchant something to do it, there's a prank

product or two in there somewhere," offered

Harry.

Both twins grinned back before one said, "A

great idea, there, Harrikins!"

The other added, "Yes. Thank you for the

idea."

After the door had closed behind the twins,

Hermione accused, "You know what you just

did there, don't you?"

"Yes," replied Harry. "Set them on the path

to invent anti-eavesdropping devices. That'll

be something to go hand-in-hand with their

Extendable Ears."

"Extendable Ears?" asked Daphne, amused.

"The twins have... or, soon will... invent a

product that looks like a human ear on the

end of a long piece of string," explained

Hermione. "They place the ear where they

want to listen in on something, even through

silencing wards, and stick the little knob on

the other end of the string in their ear.

They'll then hear everything as if they were

where the ear is."

"What's the range?" asked Daphne, quite

curious.

"No idea," replied Harry. "I know it's the

length of the string that determines the

range; but, I have no idea how long they can

make the string. We know the ear will not go

through an existing sealing ward, but we

think it'll still work if the ear is in place

before the ward goes up."

"Do you know if a Notice-me-not charm will

work on them?" she asked.

Harry and Hermione looked at her before

replying. "No idea," replied Hermione, while

Harry shook his head.

Chapter 177

"Think about what you can do with them if a

notice-me-not charm can be placed on them;

with a long enough piece of string,"

explained Daphne. "You can hang one in

Dumbledore's office directly above his desk

with the string hanging down to somewhere

where you can listen in.

"Or, you can still do that, but maybe you can

place a listening charm on the knob end of

the string; and listen in from somewhere

else."

Harry and Hermione, again, looked at one

another before Harry said, "I think we need

to talk to the twins again."

Turning to look at him, Hermione asked,

"Harry, are you going to fund the twins for

their shop again?"

"Yeah," he replied. "Their store was... will

be... brilliant! I definitely didn't lose anything

by funding them. Actually, I'm pretty sure I

turned a decent profit."

"You don't know?" asked Daphne.

Shaking his head, Harry replied, "I was a little

busy attending sixth year, getting tortured by

Snape under the pretence of Occlumency

lessons and hunting horcruxes while the

store was operational. I only know it was

turning a good profit from what I saw of the

store in operation. Plus what the twins told

me."

"But surely, your..." she began before halting.

"No. You wouldn't have been receiving your

bank statements, or hearing

anything else from your Account Manager."

"Exactly," affirmed Harry.

"The twins developed quite a good range of

products that aided the aurors, last time

through," said Hermione. "Those Shield Hats

were one such product. However, the Death

Eaters also made use of some of their

products, such as the Peruvian Darkness

Powder."

"Yeah," said Harry. "Maybe, this time, we can

voice our 'concerns' about Death Eaters

getting hold of their products and see if

something can be done to stop that; or, at

least, greatly reduce it."

"I was always surprised those two created

such a good business," said Daphne. "After

all, word has it they're below average

students."

Harry grinned and said, "They're fudging

their assignments and exams."

"They're what?" asked a dismayed Hermione.

Clearly, she didn't know they were doing

that.

"They're deliberately downplaying just how

brilliant they are by turning in average

assignments and doing poorly in exams,"

replied Harry.

Dismayed that anyone would do such a thing,

Hermione gasped, "But, why?"

"Because, if they do well, their mother would

force them to take jobs within the Ministry,"

he explained. "By doing poorly... or

just seeming to do poorly... with their

schooling, they make themselves pretty

much unemployable for the Ministry. So,

when they want to open their shop, they

believe their mother will not put up such a

stink."

"Just how good are they really?" asked

Daphne.

"Just about every prank they've come up

with since about second year has included

potions and spells they've invented," he

explained. "That's second years, inventing

potions and spells. Lately, they've also been

inventing rune-based pranks and products.

Shield Hats, Extendable Ears, and such; that

involves enchanting with permanency.

There's your evidence of just how brilliant

those two really are."

Hermione sat back and looked a little upset.

"Why didn't I see that?"

"Because they're also brilliant at hiding what

they're doing," replied Harry, trying to

soothe Hermione's distress. "If you can figure

out what they're doing, then so can one or

more of the staff. That would then lead to

letters going home to their mother."

"And how did you figure it out," Hermione

grumped. "Did they tell you?"

"Because I used to do the same thing; both in

muggle school so I wouldn't get better marks

than Dudley, and here so I wouldn't look like

such a swot to Ron."

"And yet you let me," she grumped.

"I'm sorry, Hermione love. But, those loyalty

potions I was getting dosed with..." he

began.

Hermione looked horrified for a moment

before she almost leapt into Harry's lap.

"Oh, God, Harry! I'm sorry! I forgot!"

Giving them a moment, Daphne asked, "So,

does this mean we can see a vast

improvement in your scores, now?"

"It does," he firmly replied with a grin.

Hermione used the opportunity to give him a

kiss on his cheek before hopping off.

"Thinking further about it, I think we should

share the secret of the Room of Requirement

with them," he suggested.

"Give them somewhere to develop their

products?" asked Daphne.

"Yep," he nodded. "Plus, I think it's time for

them to be properly introduced to the last

two original Marauders, Padfoot and

Moony."

Having been told about the Marauders by

Sirius while he was sharing anecdotes about

Harry's father, Daphne snorted and said,

"Give them ideas and ammunition for further

pranks?"

"Yes," agreed Harry. "However, I'm more

interested in Sirius and Remus giving them

more ideas for products.

"I think it's Moony who kept their pranking

journals. But, I also seem to remember

Padfoot also has a few notes. That way, I can

start our partnership with the twins by

coming to them, not just with the one

thousand galleons prize money, but with an

introduction to the original Marauders and

their depth of knowledge."

"I want to read those journals first," Daphne

said, quite firmly.

"Me too!" said Hermione.

"Gemino," said Harry, reminding them of the

copying charm.

"No, I just want to make sure there's nothing

in them that Slytherins consider secrets; or,

can only be used against Slytherins,"

corrected Daphne.

Chapter 178

"Fair enough," nodded Harry.

"And I think that's enough time spent

discussing the twins," Hermione firmly stated.

"We've got assignments to write."

Harry turned to Daphne and smirked, "Slave

driver, she is."

But, the homework was pulled out and

worked upon.

After they'd checked out Harry's improved

knowledge of Ancient Runes - something

he'd worked hard upon during the Christmas

break when they had quiet times - Harry was

rewarded by both his fiancées that night in

bed.

The next morning, the three bondmates

were early down to the Great Hall for

breakfast, and were amused to watch the

Headmaster enter, appearing quite shocked

and horrified.

He hurried over to where Snape was sitting

and whispered a few words into the Potions

Master's ear.

With his own eyes widening in shock, Snape

suddenly cast his eyes on Harry and his

bondmates.

Quickly looking away, Harry murmured to his

two girls, "It looks like Fumbledick's been

listening to the charm in my room. He's

in quite the animated discussion with ol'

Sevvie."

Both girls, as surreptitiously as they could,

looked to see what Harry was talking about.

Both saw that Dumbledore was looking quite

horrified while Snape was clearly trying to

calm the man down.

Snickering to themselves, Luna leaned over

and quietly accused, "You pranked the

Headmaster, again; didn't you?"

"We did," replied Harry. "One of his listening

charms had the most amusing sounds

attached to it. Plus, with the help of the

Weasley twins, there was added a bit of a

compulsion for him to believe what he

heard."

"Yes, but it appears the 'not telling anyone

about it' was either not strong enough or

didn't take," said Hermione.

"Or, it did and he can now only tell Professor

Snape," said Luna.

"That's possible," agreed Daphne. "He also

took Professor Snape into our apartment

with him, so that might have exempted our

Potions Master from the compulsion."

"Actually, I think it's more likely a result of

the listening to the charm in the living

room," corrected Hermione. "That explains

the actions, and that he can talk to our kindly

old Potions Master about it."

Both Harry and Daphne thought about that

for a few moments before Daphne said,

"She's right. That makes more sense."

"It doesn't make it any less funny," he

snickered.

"No, it doesn't," smirked Daphne. "Maybe

we should get the twins to diddle

with that listening charm, too; with their

compulsion alteration."

By this time, the Headmaster had gone to his

own seat and was making himself breakfast.

All the while he was pulling a Moody and

scanning everything on his plate, around him,

and his tea. A glance at Snape could see him

doing the same with a very amused

faux-Moody watching on.

"We're going to turn him ultra-paranoid,"

said Hermione.

"Good," said Daphne quite firmly. "It'll keep

him occupied."

"It may lead to him putting extra monitor

and listening charms on us," Hermione shot

back.

"I don't think that's possible, love," Harry

gently said back. "Besides, Dobby and Winky

are having fun constantly removing them as

soon as they go on."

"I think they've actually tagged us with

monitoring charms and are using those to

monitor when ol' Twinkles applies more,"

said Daphne.

"Well, I wouldn't put it past old Dobster,"

mused Harry. "I don't think Winky would

have the guts or initiative to do something

like that, though."

With the help of the two house elves, when

Friday evening arrived, Harry had a private

dinner held for the three of them in their

private apartment.

So, as soon as classes finished for the day, he

took them directly to the apartment. He told

them both he'd planned out a private dinner

for the two of them where they could openly

talk with one another.

Secretly, he thought it would give either or

both of them the opportunity to call off that

evening's... fun... if they wanted to.

Hermione insisted in getting some homework

done first, as she felt she couldn't relax

enough if they had that hanging over them.

Then, after a few hours of homework, Harry

called both elves and told them they could

set things up for the dinner.

Very quickly, the same round table, chairs

and table wear that they'd used most

evenings they'd had a dinner in their

apartment were set up. This time, though,

that included a white linen tablecloth, cloth

napkins, and candles.

After an excellent meal, they were relaxing

while their dinner settled talking about

inconsequential things.

When he thought the time was right, Harry

said, "Well, ladies. Do you still want to go

ahead with finalising the bond tonight?"

Both blushed but both also firmly said, "Yes,

Harry."

"Then, shall we retire to the bedroom?" he

asked, standing.

Before he could get a chance to go around

the table to pull their chairs out for them, the

girls already stood.

The two glanced at one another for a

moment before Daphne asked him, "Harry,

would you mind waiting to join us for about

thirty minutes?"

Confused a little by the request, he shook his

head and said, "No, I don't mind. Is there

something..."

"There's just something Daphne and I need

to do before you come in, alright?" replied

Hermione.

Though he didn't really understand, Harry

replied, "Of course."

"Thank you, Harry," they both said before

heading into his room and softly shutting the

door.

A quick check of his watch and Harry moved

to one of the couches, calling Dobby, and

asking him to clear away the remains of their

most excellent dinner.

From the coffee table he picked up a book

about advanced charms and was studying

the Fidelius charm.

Inside the room, as soon as the door closed,

Daphne called Winky.

"Yes, Mistress Daffy?" asked the little elf.

"Winky, I need you to go into Hermione's

trunk and get her periwinkle-coloured

negligee. Then go to my trunk and get my

mist green-coloured one, too, please. Plus, in

that little compartment I showed you within

the trunk, I need you to get the two phials

with bright pink potion, and two of the ones

with pale blue potions. Can you do that for

me?"

Chapter 179

"Yes, Mistress," Winky replied and quickly

popped away, before returning only a few

moments later while the required items

appeared on the foot of Harry's bed.

Both girls thanked the little elf before

allowing her to leave again.

Walking over to the bed, both girls quickly

stripped off before donning the sheer, sexy

garments. As she was changing, Daphne

indicated the potions and explained. "The

pink potion is called Maiden's Relief. It makes

it easier to... experience... the first time you

experience sexual penetration. And the light

blue potion is the one Mother told you about;

it's to prevent pregnancy. It will provide

protection for the next three months."

"I was just going to use the sterility charm,"

said Hermione.

Shaking her head, Daphne said, "The sterility

charm is alright for most situations. However,

we're finalising a bond here. We have no idea

whether or not the finalising of the bond will

cause any or all charms to fail or not. That's

why Mother picked up the potions for us."

Having already changed, Hermione bent over

and picked up one of the little stylised phials.

She carefully looked at it and found a small

label affixed to the base.

"Madam Primpernelle's?" she asked,

surprised.

"Yes," replied Daphne. "Word has it old

Madam Primpernelle does more business

with these sort of potions, and others, than

she does with her beautifying potions. But,

for us, we know we can trust them, implicitly.

She never has a 'bad batch' of any potion

come through her store."

"When do we take them?" asked Hermione.

Now changed herself, Daphne picked her two

up and said, "Now. Blue potions first, wait

about ten to fifteen minutes, then the pink

potion. That is, of course, unless you intend

to fall pregnant as soon as possible." And

promptly uncorked and downed the blue

potion.

Hermione quickly followed suit. "Definitely

not," she replied, licking her lips. "That's one

of the better tasting potions I've had. I intend

to finish my schooling and, hopefully, my

Mastery before I have to start looking after a

little one."

Conjuring a freestanding mirror, Daphne then

collected the small make up bags both had

taken to leaving in Harry's ensuite, and both

lightly 'fixed' their makeup. Under the advice

of both mothers they'd started wearing very

light makeup daily since just after the start of

the Christmas break; though, Daphne had

been wearing a little since the start of the

year.

With makeup done and, after checking each

other, Hermione returned the bags to the

ensuite while Daphne banished the mirror

and called Winky to take their clothes away

to be put in their laundry bags.

When they were ready, Daphne used a quick

Tempus charm to see how much time they

had left before sitting on the foot of the bed

and asking Hermione to sit alongside her.

A little worried, she asked her bond-sister,

"Can I ask you to go first with Harry? Then

me; then... us?"

Hermione, knowing Daphne was still a little

worried, slowly nodded her head back. "If

that helps you, of course," she softly replied.

Then, more firmly, she said, "But, if you want

to stop, at any time, just say so. Harry won't

think any less of you, if you want to stop

things and try again another time."

With a sigh of relief, Daphne replied, "I know.

But, inside, I know I'm ready for this."

"I know," replied Hermione. "As long

as you know that, it'll be fine."

Quickly standing again, she said, "Now; how

about helping me ready the bed."

With a small smile, Daphne stood and both

girls walked to either side of the bed.

Working without speaking, they quickly

pulled the comforter down and left it folded

at the foot of the bed. Then they untucked

the top sheet.

"On or off?" asked Hermione.

"On," replied Daphne.

And left the top sheet pulled up.

A quick glance at each other, a nervous laugh,

and they hopped in. After initially about to

lie down, Hermione flipped the pillows on

her side onto their ends and pulled herself

up to a sitting position, leaning against them

against the headboard.

Daphne followed suit on her side.

After sitting there for a long few moments,

Hermione softly asked, "Do you remember

the talk Harry gave on the second night we

were at the Farm... where he explained his

views about how... it's our souls which are

attracted to one another?"

"Mmm?" said Daphne.

"He said, we need to think about how we

need to think of ourselves as souls, not just

as bodies?"

"Mmm?"

"That helps... you know?"

"I know," Daphne softly replied. "That's

what's helped me reach this point."

"Me too," replied Hermione. She hesitated a

few moments before she said, "It also helped

me understand something."

"What?"

"I... love you," replied Hermione. "And, I've

realised, I'm attracted to you... physically."

Worried she'd upset her, Hermione carefully

looked to her bond-sister to see her reaction.

After a few moments, Daphne, who

appeared to be looking off into the distance,

softly said, "Me too." Then her face shifted

into an expression of wonder before turning

to look at her sister. "Me too," she softly said,

again.

Both girls smiled at each other.

After a few moments, Daphne said, "Maybe

we should make it you and Harry, then us

two, then me and Harry."

"Why the change?" asked Hermione.

"I was worried you didn't love me as much as

I've discovered I love you; or was attracted to

me as much as I'm attracted to you," she

replied. "Plus, you know Harry needs a little

while to... you know... recharge."

Both girls broke into relieved giggles.

When Harry walked in a few minutes later, it

was to see both his fiancées sitting up in the

bed, with the sheet pulled up to their waists,

and happily chatting away. The sight of

seeing the upper halves of their bodies

through the translucent material, he found,

was even more erotic than just their nude

forms.

Chapter 180

As he walked in and gently closed the door

behind him, Hermione softly said, "Here he is,

the man of the hour."

That had both girls giggling again.

"Get your clothes off, stud," said Daphne.

"You have two willing witches, here, waiting

for you to service them."

Relieved that neither was stressed out,

especially Daphne, Harry grinned back before

shucking his clothes with his back to them.

When he turned back, Little Harry was

pointing the way to the bed.

"Oooohh! Is that for us?" Hermione coyly

asked.

"It certainly is," he replied, walking to the

foot of the bed and slowly crawling up it.

That night, the castle was rattled three times

over the space of two hours by what the

muggleborns were adamant were three sonic

booms. The last was the loudest of all,

causing the castle to shudder, ever so slightly.

In her office just off the infirmary, when the

first one went off, Madam Pomfrey looked

up and smiled. She didn't turn in until after

the third.

The Headmaster, however, was horrified by

what he had heard through his listening

charm before he quickly deactivated it. "Dogs

and goats?" he muttered to himself.

Fawkes was utterly amused by his familiar's

antics.

The next morning, once the three finally

emerged from their bedroom into the living

room, Daphne spotted a typical Gringotts

barn owl perched on Hedwig's long roost;

something that clearly annoyed the snowy

owl.

Walking over, the barn owl regarded her for a

few moments before offering her the leg

with a small package attached.

Relieved of its load, the bird quickly took

flight and launched itself out the owl

window.

Daphne opened the letter and read it before

grinning and handing it to Harry.

~ # ~

Gringotts

Office of Inheritance and Marriage

Mister Harry James Potter,

Gringotts congratulates you, Mrs Daphne

Anna Potter nee Greengrass and Mrs

Hermione Jean Potter nee Granger on the

sealing of your soul bond. In the eyes of

magic you are now married.

The sealing of the soul bond now marks you

as an adult in the eyes of Gringotts. As such,

irrespective of the wishes of your late father,

you are to be granted access to all vaults of

House Potter. To effect this change you will

need to see your Account Manager,

Sharpclaw, at your earliest opportunity.

Yours in business,

Blockrig

~ # ~

Handing the letter off to Hermione, who was

anxious to read it, Harry grinned and swept

Daphne up his arms, planting a deep kiss to

her slightly bruised lips. Neither cared about

the slight ache it caused.

Turning to Hermione, as soon as it was clear

she'd finished reading and was sporting a

wide grin of her own, he swept her up for a

similar kiss. After they parted, the two girls -

his two wives - without any hesitation kissed

each other just as deeply.

"Dobby!" called Harry.

When the little elf popped in, he came

bearing a note. Before reading it, Harry asked

the elf to set them out a late breakfast.

Winky popped in and asked, "Do the

Mistresses want Winky to move their

thingsies into Master Harry's room now?"

"Yes please, Winky," Hermione immediately

replied. As the little elf immediately popped

away again, she turned to Daphne and asked,

"I hope that's alright with you?"

"Definitely," replied Daphne. "A wife should

sleep with her husband... and sister-wife."

Meanwhile, Harry had opened the note and

read it. Turning to the girls he said, "Madam

Pomfrey asks us to come and see her in the

infirmary when we're ready. But, some time

today, at the latest."

As the three sat down to a lovely breakfast

provided by Dobby, Harry said, "I wonder

where the owl from the Ministry is. After all,

when the bonds were initiated we received

letters from both Gringotts and the Ministry.

I'd have expected there to be one waiting for

us, just as the Gringotts one was."

"I don't think there will be one," said Daphne.

"At least, not yet."

"Oh?" asked Hermione.

"It was important for us to be informed that

the soul bond had been registered by the

Ministry," explained Daphne. "That's why the

owls were immediate. However, since we

already knew of the initiation of the bond,

there's no hurry for us to be informed it has

been sealed.

"Plus, I think someone, quite some time ago,

was offended that the Ministry knew when

they... you know... were that intimate for the

first time. So, since then, the Ministry has

only recorded it, but not sent out owls. The

argument is, we already know we've… done

that, and sealed the bond. No one else needs

know."

Thinking about that for a bit, Harry asked,

"We should let our parents, and Sirius, know.

But, I'll leave it up to you how and when we

tell them."

"We've already discussed that with our

mothers," Daphne calmly said. "We'll

let them know, and they'll tell our fathers

when they think they're ready to hear it."

Hermione just nodded in agreement.

Glancing from one to the other, Harry asked,

"This is one of those things you four ladies

talked about one of those times when you

disappeared together, isn't it?"

"Of course," said Hermione, as if it was

obvious even for Harry.

"And, I take it your fathers aren't aware of

this cunning plan?" he asked, amused.

"Of course not," she replied with a smile.

"Fathers like to believe their daughters are

virgins and always will be; even when they've

already given birth," grinned Daphne. "It was

mother who organised the potions for us."

"Potions?" asked Harry.

"Anti-pregnancy potions for Hermione and I

to take from now until we're all ready to

have children. And a special potion that

allowed us to feel things our first night,

without the initial pain women can feel."

Sheepishly, Harry muttered, "Yeah. Sorry

about that. I was rather... umm..."

"Vigorous?" asked an amused Hermione.

"I'll say!" said Daphne, before both girls

broke out in giggles while Harry blushed.

"Yeah," he said. Thinking a bit he asked, "You

were both... umm... you're both... happy?

With what we did?"

"Yes, love," Hermione softly replied with love

while Daphne nodded in agreement.

Relieved, Harry said, "Good. Because, I was

worried that... with two of you... I...

ummm..."

"Trust us, Harry; we went to sleep well

satisfied," said Hermione.

"And this morning was a bonus," said a

pleased Daphne.