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.