Chapter 27: Yule Tidings

Harry walked into the Common Room early the morning after his talk with Shiva to see Hermione already sitting in her favorite spot and reading a book. Smiling he walked over to sit with her. "Hey."

"Good morning, Harry," Hermione said marking her page and setting it aside. "Sleep well?"

He nodded. "Yeah. So would you like to – "

Hermione put a finger over his lips before he could finish the question. "Before you ask, we need to talk for a minute."

"Is this a good talk or a bad talk?" Harry asked frowning. "Because I just had a rather emotionally draining talk with Shiva last night and I'd like to have a bit of warning if I'm about to have another one."

Hermione's eyes narrowed. "Oh? What kind of emotionally draining talk? Do I need to go and threaten her again?"

"No, it wasn't that bad. It was just – wait 'again'? When did you threaten Shiva the first time?" Harry asked gaping at his girlfriend.

Hermione blushed and looked down at the ground. "I…may have threatened to…end her after waking from the basilisk attack. You had just mentioned she was trying to become your legal guardian and I wanted her to understand that you trusted her and that if she used that to hurt you I'd make her life a living hell…" Hermione mumbled her face beet red.

Harry continued goggling at her before finally bursting out laughing and hugging Hermione to his chest. "Man, Mione, you are scary when you're angry. Thanks for sticking up for me back then though it really wasn't necessary." She nodded against his chest. "And it's not necessary now. She tried to convince me I should leave the wizarding world with her. That we'd move to a foreign country after the Yule Ball and only keep in contact with the main group."

Hermione pulled back drawing in a breath in a sharp gasp. "But the Tournament! That would make you lose your magic!"

Harry nodded. Before she could freak out further he kept talking. "Don't worry, I'm not going. I did consider it though. I agree with her that I'd be fine living a Muggle life if it kept me out of a casket, but I convinced her that I think it would only push off – and probably assure – my untimely death. Eventually Voldemort would come back, track me down and kill me without much of a fight. At least if I have my magic I can try and defend against him. The Tournament hasn't killed me yet and I'm getting a bit better."

Hermione sat back in the couch and didn't speak for a long time. Harry had almost decided to reach for her book when she started talking quietly. "You would've told me and Nym before you left right?"

"Of course," Harry said staring at her confused at the obvious question.

"And where you were going so we could follow you?"

Harry raised his eyebrows. "You wouldn't have been rid of me that easily, Mione."

Slowly she nodded. "I can understand why she'd advocate for that solution then. I certainly prefer you breathing as well."

"It would be rather gross trying to kiss a corpse," he said smiling.

"Don't even joke about that," Hermione shuddered. "Well, the talk I was going to initiate is…nowhere near that level of difficulty. It will likely be awkward and require some time to think about, but ultimately it rather pales in comparison."

"Well that's good to know. Shoot."

"You know I stayed with Fleur the other night…" When she paused Harry nodded. "We spoke. Quite extensively. Harry, I don't know how much you've noticed, but Fleur has not exactly been subtle about trying to get closer to the both of us."

"Yeah, I know," Harry said running a hand through his hair. "Even I can't exactly miss the flirting."

"I got her to tell me what she was hoping to have come about at the end of all this," Hermione said wringing her hands. "Hear me out okay? Don't just dismiss it out of hand, Harry. Fleur is…well she's hoping for…umm…to be our Consort…"

Harry closed his eyes and sighed. "So she's not just being playful then, but she's actually well and truly serious."

"Yes, she is. She's – wait!" Hermione's head whipped up and she stared at him mouth agape. "You understand the implications?"

"I did my research after getting blindsided with the two wives thing," Harry said shrugging. "I didn't want to end up being roped into something similar because of some ancient tradition that no one pays attention to but is still on the books. Found out about Consorts in the process. I can apparently take one official Consort per line. Not that I had ever planned on exercising that right," he said.

"Harry Potter," Hermione said her eyes narrowing. Yup she was angry. At least she was sticking to just two names instead of three. He could always call Dobby for a quick escape if she transitioned into three names. "You knew about Consorts before we returned to school and you never told me?"

"You knew about the two wives thing long before I did. I just assumed you had already read about Consorts too." It wasn't enough, Hermione wasn't backing down. "I'm sorry?"

Hermione shook her head and leaned back crossing her arms. "For future reference, this is the sort of thing you should bring to Tonks or I. Arg! That could've saved me some awkwardness the other night!"

"Sorry," Harry said contritely. Frowning he continued almost to himself, "Daphne did said that Fleur would likely be going a different direction since Tonks was dating us, but I didn't think…Fleur really wants to be a Consort?"

"Yes, Fleur is interested in being a Consort," Hermione said still sounding mildly annoyed, but at least she didn't sound angry any more.

"Despite us dating Nym too?"

Hermione nodded. "She didn't quite say as much, but I think she likes Nym as well. She identifies with us all on some level since we were all rather isolated growing up and she craves a relationship with someone who understands that feeling and the loneliness."

"She wants to continue her line as well correct?" Luna said leaning over the back of the couch. Hermione and Harry let out a shout of surprise and fell off the couch as they scrambled away.

"Merlin! Don't do that, Luna!" Hermione said clutching her chest.

"How are you so quiet?" Harry asked trying to calm his racing heart. Coco wandered over, licked his face and lightly headbutted him, before giving that odd laugh she had.

Luna shrugged. "I've always been quiet." She hopped over the couch and sat cross legged there looking down at her two friends with a big smile. "So, you three are going to start dating Fleur now? I like her! She's very nice!"

"We hadn't quite gotten to that point in the conversation, Luna," Hermione groaned.

Harry shook his head and chuckled at the girl. "She did ask two valid questions though, Mione." He got to his feet and pulled Hermione up as well. Both sat back down with Luna in between them eagerly looking to each face in turn.

"Yes, Luna, in answer to your first question, Fleur is interested in continuing her father's name which a Consort option would allow for."

"That's probably what I'll have to do as well," Luna said nodding along. "Unless I end up in Tracey's harem in which case I'll just have to find a donor father who doesn't need a long term relationship."

"Luna," Harry said looking at the girl critically, "you do mean 'donor' like in those Muggle methods I was talking to Daphne and Tracey about a few months ago right?"

"Where's the fun in that?" Luna asked confused. "It would have to be the old fashioned way. If I am going to have a child one day then I want to enjoy the act of conceiving the child as much as actually having the child."

"Uhh, right," Hermione said blinking rapidly and trying to ignore the implications of that statement. "Fleur did stress that she was more interested in a fulfilling romance than being a trophy Consort for someone she didn't care for."

"And she thinks she can have that with us," Harry said looking carefully at Hermione and becoming completely serious.

The brunette nodded. "She does. She said being involved with the three of us would essentially be the best possible outcome for her. Fleur did however make it clear that if the three of us were not comfortable with it then we should not feel guilty for turning her down. She would move on and find love with someone else. She did ask for us not to dismiss the option though until the end of the school year if only so that she could pretend a bit longer."

"You should date her. She'd be good for you all," Luna commented bobbing her head. Hermione shut her eyes and visibly counted to ten while Harry just leaned back into the couch and thought. He was quiet for a long time before he shifted slightly.

"Mione, are you interested in dating Fleur?" Harry asked with a furrowed brow and quiet voice.

"I…I just…" Hermione sighed and sat back in defeat nodding. "Yes, Harry, I am. It's selfish and greedy and I already have two amazing partners who care for me very much, but yes, I am interested in her."

"Can I ask why?"

"Part of it is related to how she is actively pursuing us. You and I just sort of fell in together after dancing around each other for months. It's mostly the same situation with Nym. Fleur though is trying to actually seduce us. It's…nice to feel like I'm worth pursuing."

Harry opened his mouth to dispute that but Luna quickly covered it with her hand. "Shush, Harry. Let Hermione talk."

Hermione nodded thankfully at the younger girl. "That's not the entire thing of course. I understand the loneliness she spoke of. How being a Veela forced her into social isolation. I experienced similar issues due to my intelligence and love of reading. Nym has a direct correlation with her metamorph powers forging a complete parallel. You've always been isolated yourself thanks to the Dursleys in the Muggle world and the Boy-Who-Lived thing in the magical one."

Hermione sighed. "So, yes, Harry. I admit to feeling a kinship with Fleur and I am open to exploring that."

Harry considered that before asking, "Your parents wouldn't have any problems with that? Actually, how do they feel about you being with Nym too?" He shook his head ruefully, "How have I never asked that?"

"My parents knew I'd have a girlfriend in addition to a boyfriend before I talked to you over the summer," Hermione shrugged. "They didn't really put up much of a fuss about it all. I told Nym how I think they were just ecstatic that I wasn't already married to truly mind. I haven't quite told them yet that I've already gotten a second partner…I should probably do that soon…"

"If they read the Quibbler they already know," Luna said patting Hermione's leg as the brunette lost some color.

"Yes. Well. Moving on," Hermione sputtered. "We're not really talking about my parents, Harry. We're talking about you and me and Nym and Fleur."

"Yeah, you're right." He ran a hand through his hair and shook his head. "Honestly I knew she was flirting with us, but I didn't really think that Fleur was aiming long term. I'm uncomfortable enough with two girlfriends, Mione. I'm…not sure I'd be okay with a third. I like Fleur. I really do. I get that we all have a similar background and can understand each other. The thing is that I really am not sure I can handle a fourth leg in this relation at this point."

"I understand, Harry," Hermione said softly reached over to squeeze his leg. "There's nothing wrong with that."

"Can I take some time to think about it? I don't want to string her along but I have to sort out how I feel and whether it's something I could see lasting. I am not going to jump into something that could jeopardize what I already have with you and Nym."

"That's fine, Harry. This is why I brought it up now. Just like when I brought up Tonks during the summer. I feel it needed to be addressed so that everyone could start thinking about it," Hermione said smiling at him.

"Mione…" Harry said turning to look at her. "If you want to date Fleur, I think you should. Don't let my baggage and insecurity hold you back."

Hermione's eyes widened and she gaped at him for a moment. Luna calmly reached over and closed her mouth jump-starting Hermione's brain somewhat. "Come again?"

"If I can have two wives, then you should be able to have a second partner as well. I'll tell Nym the same thing and – "

"No." Hermione shook her head cutting him off. "Thank you for the offer and I appreciate the sentiment, Harry, but no. I already have two partners. I have you and Tonks. Tonks has two partners as well with you and me. I really should've brought her into this discussion to begin with and that's my fault for not thinking things through but my point stands. Just as you don't want to jeopardize what we have, I don't plan to do anything to endanger it either. I'm sure Tonks feels the same."

"Oh," Harry said, a warm feeling spreading in his chest. He fought a blush as he mumbled, "Good to know."

"I'll talk to Fleur and let her know to try and tone things down a bit while we figure out whether or not the Consort thing is something we'd all be open to. Okay?"

"Sounds like a plan though I may talk to her at breakfast. Thanks, Mione." She just smiled back at him and both chuckled slightly as his stomach rumbled. "Breakfast?" Standing, he pulled Hermione up as well and they moved around the couch. "We'll meet you down there, Luna."

Luna waved to her friends and sighed down at Coco who had jumped into her lap to be petted. "Oh poo. Now I don't get to bring out my chalkboard to chart their relationship!"

"Wotcher, Harry, Hermione," Tonks said as both sat down across from her at the breakfast table. It was still somewhat early so the Hall wasn't filled yet.

"Morning, Tonks," Harry said piling food on his plate.

"I expected to see you two here earlier considering none of us really seem to sleep in anymore – even when I give you the morning off," Tonks said eyeing them speculatively.

Hermione sighed. "We got distracted by a…discussion."

"Way you put that, it sounds like an important one."

"We were talking about our relationship," Hermione admitted. "It got complicated. Luna got involved and seemed ready to start making diagrams or something before we made our escape. She was going for a chalkboard."

Tonks blinked at her before looking to Harry who kept nodding. A moment later Tonks shook her head and chuckled. "Why does that not surprise me? So what were you even talking about concerning us that inspired her like that? Should I be worried?"

"We'll tell you later," Hermione said blushing.

Harry looked between his partners while a few more people came to sit down. "We might as well just tell her now."

"What?" Hermione's eyes widened as she turned to him. "Harry, it is breakfast! We should wait and talk in private!"

"Do we have to? I'm really not looking for another confusing conversation of trying to understand girls and Tonks likes it straight anyway. Right, Tonks?"

"Uh…right?" she squinted between the two. "I feel like I'm missing something important here though…"

"Come on, Hermione, let me rip the band-aid off?" Harry asked giving the brunette his best puppy dog stare. Hermione groaned and covered her face in her hands. "I'll take that as a yes! Tonks, we were talking about, Fleur."

"Ah," Tonks nodded sagely. "Yes, that makes so much sense now." The sarcasm was nearly visibly dripping from her tone.

"Empty classroom," Hermione said from beneath a curtain of hair. "Please for the love of all that is holy don't talk about this in the middle of the Great Hall…"

"Oh fine," Harry grumbled grabbing a muffin, standing and heading for a room a little ways off the Hall with a thoroughly bewildered Tonks and a blushing Hermione trailing behind.

As soon as the door closed, Harry charged onwards. "Okay, so long story short: Fleur's flirting is not because she's playful and likes us, but more because she likes us and wants to try for something long term. She's interested in us because she feels that she can relate to us all better since the four of us all grew up as anti-social loners with few friends. Hermione is open to the idea but I asked for time to think about it because I don't want to risk damaging what the three of us already have and Hermione agreed that our current relationship is paramount. It's…weird having two girlfriends and I'm not sure I'd be able to be there enough for three." Harry paused and turned to Hermione. "Did I miss anything?"

Hermione just groaned and raised her eyes to the stars in prayer. "Tonks, Fleur isn't interested in muscling either of us out of a wife position. She wants to be a Consort with someone she cares about so that she has love as well as the potential to continue the Delacour name."

Tonks looked between her partners completely bewildered. Her hair flashed through several colors before settling back on pink. Furrowing her brow she turned to Harry. "So short version is Fleur wants to date, Hermione is willing to date, you are unsure about dating, and neither of you will date unless I agree?"

"Basically," Harry nodded happily.

"You should've said that to begin with," Tonks said shrugging.

Hermione growled and balled her fists. "What is wrong with you both?! This isn't something that can just be summed up in a minute and a half conversation! We need to have an in-depth discussion and establish how each of us feels and how this impacts the larger dynamic and whether or not we accept that this is even remotely plausible without hurting each other! And, and, and, arrgg!" Crossing her arms she glared at Tonks and Harry both of whom were looking at each other in confusion. "You both have the emotional range of a teaspoon."

"Hey!" Harry mock glared at her. "I resent that! Ron has the emotional range of a teaspoon. I'm at least a tablespoon!"

"Quite right, Wonder Boy," Tonks agree stepping beside him. She shifted to match his height and crossed her arms to mirror his posture and join in his mock glare. "We are tablespoons when it comes to emotions."

Hermione kept her own glare for almost ten seconds before cracking and shaking her head in exasperation. "Tonks can you please be serious about this for a moment?"

"No sense of humor," the metamorph said shrugging and reverting to her normal form. "Okay, fine, to be completely serious…I'm not surprised. I've known Fleur was interested in more than just a fling basically since I got here, guys. I was pretty jealous for a while at first; which really wasn't fair to her at all since I wasn't even dating you at the time." Tonks sighed and leaned against one of the desks. "Part of my problem was that I thought she had a really good shot. She's smart, funny, smoking hot and also very interested in you because of who you are and not what you are. I've gotten over the jealousy thing though."

"That's why you glared at her for a few weeks…" Harry muttered. "I really have no clue about girls…"

"Yeah, but you're sweet as hell, Harry, so it's endearing," Tonks said smiling at him. "Anyway, my mother's a Black whether she has the name or not anymore. I grew up hearing about her ranting about contracts and mistresses and Consorts and vows since before I could walk. I'm not going to lie and say that it wouldn't be a little weird and a huge change, but I'm also not going to deny finding the idea at least mildly interesting. The girl is a freaking Veela. I'd have to be mad to not at least consider it. And she really is crazy about you both. I talked to her for a minute after you went to get your scores, Harry."

"You did?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah. Nothing deep, Hermione. I just let her know that I had withdrawn my objections to her trying to get into Harry's Harem. I was however, perfectly clear that if she is to join us in any form whatsoever she has to win you both over first. I'll follow along with the majority decision. I'm not remotely interested in screwing up the one good romantic relationship I've ever had in my life."

"Nym," Harry said frowning, "you get a full vote too. We should make these decisions together."

"And we are," Tonks said shrugging. "Harry, I'm rather forceful in pretty much everything bar relationships. I've always been that way and it's why I had so much trouble when I first started dating. 'Can you make your breasts bigger?' 'Sure.' 'Can you take off two inches? I hate being shorter than the girl.' 'Sure.' I don't have to worry about you or Hermione taking advantage of that part of my personality though. All it means is I let you both more or less take the lead in stuff like this."

"But if you're not comfortable…"

Hermione sighed and patted Harry's shoulder. "She already said she was okay with Fleur, Harry. She's simply not willing to say 'yes' until we do."

Harry frowned further and crossed his arms thinking. "Girls make no sense at all," Harry eventually groaned while shaking his head. "And can we not call it Harry's Harem please? I'm trying really hard to make this a poly-poly-Hermione what was the word?"

"Polyamorous."

"A polyamorous relationship, yes – one where we're all together and not one with two wives and one husband," Harry said emphatically.

Tonks raised her eyebrows and cocked a thumb at Harry while whispering to the brunette. "Is he always this confused?"

"About women?" Hermione asked sighing. "Yeah, pretty much."

Tonks shrugged. "Eh, at least he's cute about it. Besides this whole thing is moot anyway since you're going to take some time and see how you feel, Wonder Boy."

Hermione and Harry both started to protest before looking at each other and chuckling. Harry turned to Tonks and held up his hands in defeat. "You know if you had led with that we could've finished this talk in the minute-and-a-half discussion it started as."

"Where's the fun in that?" Tonks asked far too innocently to be believed. "So onto a related, but different topic while we have the time: Yule Ball. How are we handling this?"

Harry shrugged. "Well I'm dating you both. I had figured I'd just ask you both. Hermione, Tonks, would you like to attend the Yule Ball as my dates?"

Hermione goggled at him while Tonks laughed. "You can't take two dates, Harry!"

"I checked the rules. Nothing says I can't. It hasn't been done before best I can tell, but if I ask McGonagall to make sure we have an extra setting at the Head Table, it should be fine."

"Oh I can't wait to see McG when you tell her that, Wonder Boy!"

"Nah, she expects it from me," Harry smirked. "I'm far more interested in seeing her face when Neville shows up with Susan and Hannah on each arm."

The trio walked back into the Great Hall only to run into Luna standing by their spot with her hands on her hips. A flicker of fear crossed Harry's mind before he settled on a plan of attack. "You two ran away," Luna said. "I wanted to make sure I had the diagram correct."

"We didn't run, Luna," Harry quickly explained. At her look he hurried to keep talking. "I mean, we just wanted to make sure you didn't have to change the diagram by the time breakfast was over in case Tonks was mad for deciding without her."

"Oh." Luna considered that and put a finger under her chin before nodding. "That's nice of you. Reworking things can be frustrating at times. So the verdict is unchanged?"

"For now, yes, the verdict is unchanged," Harry said nodding and sitting down next to Fleur while Hermione and Tonks sat next to Luna. Everyone else at the table just looked on in confusion. Fleur stared between the two, raising her eyebrows. Harry leaned closer to Fleur and said softly, "Fleur, Hermione talked to me earlier this morning."

The French witch nodded. "About me, I assume."

"Yeah," Harry ran a hand through his hair. "Can you give me some time to think about it? I'm barely comfortable with just Hermione and Tonks. I need to make sure I can deal with it before giving you a firm answer either way. I like you, Fleur, but I don't want to screw up either my current relationship or our friendship."

"I understand, 'arry," Fleur said quietly. She turned and gave him a small smile. "It is not a full rejection so I will take comfort in zis. Truly, I did not expect anyzing zis quickly zough it was nice to hope. Let me know what you end up deciding?"

"I will. Thanks for not pushing."

"You are my friends. I will never push for somezing if it makes you uncomfortable."

"The flirting didn't make me uncomfortable by the way," Harry commented with a smile. Then he grimaced. "But perhaps we can avoid one particular shop in Hogsmeade for a while."

Fleur laughed and nodded. "Zen I will just have to leave zat particular mezod of enticement to Hermione and Tonks." Harry could only groan louder in response. "So who is everyone taking to ze Ball?" Fleur asked the group.

"Well, Harry has decided to be different like usual and is taking both Tonks and myself," Hermione said giving an annoyed huff and glaring at Harry. The amusement present in her eyes took any heat out of the rebuke.

Neville rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "You can do that?"

Harry shrugged. "Nothing in the rules says you can't. It's probably the same thing as with Fred's potions: nobody's done it so no one thought to say you can't."

"Huh." Neville looked to Susan and Hannah on either side of him and raised his eyebrows. Before he could do more than open his mouth, both girls nodded.

"Sure, Nev, you can take us both," Susan said smiling.

"I love you two," he replied sagely.

Daphne rolled her eyes. "I suppose I can't really comment since I'm going with Tracey. Same sex couples don't usually tend to go out together to these functions without at least a pretend buffer."

Tracey chuckled. "Yeah, but we have enough of a rep at this point that nobody's going to say anything."

"I can't go. I don't have a date," Luna said shrugging.

Fleur frowned. "Zat will not do at all. Luna, would you do me ze honor of accompanying me to ze Ball? As friends of course."

Luna's eyes widened. A grin split her face and she nodded enthusiastically. "Of course! I would love to go as your date, Fleur!"

"Fred and Alicia are going together," Hermione mused. "So that's three out of four Champions. Should we try and set Viktor up as well?"

"Already taken care of yesterday," Harry said waving his hand in dismissal. "Millie mentioned at the beginning of the year how she claimed first dibs remember? Well, I followed through and got her the date. Rest is up to her."

Tracey goggled. "Wait, what? How the hell did that happen?"

"Viktor said he needed a date after we were complaining about the last Task together. I told him Millie was available and wasn't just interested in him for Quidditch so he said okay."

"Harry Potter. Matchmaker," Tonks said smirking.

"I just hope one of them knows how to dance…" Daphne mused.

"They have to be better than Tonks," Harry said grinning back at the metamorph. She's downright deadly at times."

"Hey! I take offense to that!" Tonks replied.

"You almost cracked my head on the table when you tried to teach me dancing, Tonks," Harry said raising his eyebrows.

Hair flashing to a quick orange, before she mumbled, "The floor was uneven."

"Your legs were uneven."

"Same difference."

It was the comment that broke the dam and the entire table started laughing. Harry rolled his eyes and turned back to eating breakfast.

The executive at Outback Training Alternative reached out to the letter that had just been dropped on his desk by a snowy owl. It was a little confusing how the letter made it to him to begin with since only official business owners were supposed to be able to contact him directly and the owl was certainly not a typical business correspondence owl. For that matter the bird was glaring at him quite strongly.

Opening the letter with a slight frown, Kevin Lyght began to read. Before he was even two lines into it he paled. "Marge, get R&D up here immediately!" he yelled to his secretary.

To Whom It May Concern,

I am not particularly fond of Howlers, but you really deserve one. My name is Harry Potter and my friend and I recently had rather large issues with one of the Aspect Columns you designed and sold to the British Ministry for use in their Triwizard Tournament.

To clarify: your creation created a double of my friend that mind-controlled thousands of people into trying to kill her and then my own doppelganger tried to eat my soul.

No, I'm not exaggerating and yes, he really could have done it. You idiots included a Soul rune into your focusing array, but didn't link anything through the dissolution matrix! I'll grant you, the Soul rune is a good idea to make sure that the Aspects are keyed into their originals. I cannot understand how you ignored basic safety measures though! Seriously! Did you have a five year old draw your clusters?! Soul runes are unpredictable at the best of times let alone when they are included in a complicated etching like your Aspect Columns. I've included diagrams on how to link limiters into your dissolution matrix without disrupting the rest of the cluster. This should stop the Aspects from doing any actual harm to their targets. For the love god please have someone double-check this change and include it into your Columns. I'm sure that our experiences with these safety concerns weren't a one-time affair.

Sincerely,

Lord Harry Potter, Owner and CEO of Potter Runes

The night of the Yule Ball saw Harry standing at the foot of the Grand Staircase and pulling at his shirt collar. Fleur reached over and slapped his hand away. "Stop zat. It is fine. You look very dashing."

Harry straightened and smiled. "You look beautiful yourself, Fleur." Her deep blue dress was close cut enough to accentuate her figure without being inappropriate and her hair was cascading down her back in silky waves. Harry felt his emerald dress robes didn't really measure up, but then he doubted anything he put on would ever measure up to any of the girls' dresses. "I'm still not sure why you all insisted that we wait here though. We could've just escorted Hermione and Luna down from the Common Room."

"Well, Wonder Boy, you needed the full effect of seeing us in the gowns and we enjoy being able to watch your reactions." Tonks commented with a grin as she stepped into the atrium. Her tight black dress ended just below her knees and almost seemed to flow around her as she swayed up to him and kissed his cheek.

"Wow…" Some part of Harry acknowledged that Tonks was right. After all he had practically gaped when he first saw Fleur a minute ago. And he was doing the same thing now while looking at Tonks. "That dress is beautiful, Nym…"

"Thanks, Harry. What do you think, Fleur?" Tonks asked turning to look over the blonde.

Fleur nodded approvingly. "Ze dark purple hair certainly sets off ze rest of ze outfit. Zat was a good choice."

"I thought so too. Took a while to get the shade right," Tonks said. Harry still mostly speechless stared between the two as they chatted. "Did you notice my eyes were silver? I think it adds to the mystery."

"Oui. It matches ze necklace as well."

"Aww! You noticed!" Tonks turned to Harry and patted his cheek. "You better appreciate this, Wonder Boy. I don't generally like getting all dressed up so enjoy this while it lasts."

"Definitely," he said in agreement. Tonks and Fleur both giggled and rolled their eyes. A moment later, Hermione stepped onto the landing and Harry's brain halted again. He barely recognized his best friend as she walked down the rest of the stairs. Her periwinkle dress flowed around her and her she was wearing a set of opera gloves. Her hair had been pulled up into a bun and either charmed or conditioned to such a degree that it rivaled Fleur's for apparent silkiness. Strolling up to them with a wide smile on her face, Hermione gave a light kiss first to Harry and then to Tonks.

"I zink you broke him, Hermione," Fleur said chuckling.

"I'm fine," Harry croaked.

"Sure you are, Wonder Boy," Tonks chuckled.

Hermione rolled her eyes and looked at her partners. "You are very dashing, Harry. Those robes definitely set off your eyes. Tonks, I like the hair choice. It goes very well. Fleur you are even more striking than usual."

"You're not so bad yourself, hon," Tonks replied.

Fleur nodded. "Oui. You are beautiful tonight. And zis hair!" She reached up and rand a soft finger along the bangs along the side of Hermione's face not caught in the bun. "Magnifique."

"Thanks," Hermione blushed. "Lavender helped. The charms from the book weren't quite enough, but she had a bottle of Sleekeazy on hand. Remind me to get her something nice. Luna should be here in a – oh never mind. There she is."

Harry nodded appreciatively as his friend came down the stairs smiling widely. She was in a gold dress which highlighted her hair nicely and set off the sapphire necklace she was wearing. Luna had on short heels as well which helped to make up some of the difference in height between her and Fleur. "Hello everyone!" Luna said. You all look amazing!"

"Thanks, Luna," Harry said smiling. "You do too." The other three nodded emphatically. She grinned even wider and moved next to Fleur.

"Mr. Potter, Miss Granger, Miss Tonks, Miss Delacour, Miss Lovegood," Professor McGonagall said as she came to stand near them. "If you'll all follow me, we will be opening the doors shortly." The group all nodded and stepped into line behind Fred and Alicia. Alicia immediately started chatting with Hermione while Fred just smiled and swore again that he wouldn't be pranking anyone during the Ball when McGonagall asked.

McGonagall had just started to turn away when she froze and her face took on an expression of complete shock with her mouth dropping open. "Mr. Longbottom! What are you doing?!"

"Greeting my dates for the Ball, Professor," Neville said nonchalantly as Susan and Hannah took his elbows.

"Dates? Plural? But-but-but…"

"Well, if Harry can have two dates, I didn't think it was fair to ask one of my girlfriends to go alone just to keep up appearances." Neville smiled and started to walk into the Hall to find his seat. "See you inside, enjoy the evening, Professor!"

McGonagall was still sputtering as Viktor came up and slotted into line behind Harry and Tonks with a dark haired girl in a green robe accompanying him. Harry smiled in recognition and waved hello. "Hi, Millie. You look very nice tonight."

"Thanks, Harry. You're quite handsome yourself. Tonks, good to see you out of the combat boots for once," Millicent said with an easy smile.

Viktor laughed beside her and shook his head. "Ve disagree on that point. I prefer the boots. It means a voman knows how to defend herself. Granted Millicent has made it clear she can do so vithout the boots."

Millie shrugged. "What can I say, I'm intimidating."

"Vhich is very good. You keep the fangirls at bay!"

Tonks laughed. "Funny how that works huh? You never appreciate the value of a good menacing stare until you need to beat others off with a stick to stay away from your date. Either of you need backup tonight let me know."

The doors opened and the Champions walked in. There was a collective intake of breath from the crowd as they saw that Harry had one girl on each arm. He snickered and whispered to Hermione, "You'd think they had thought I was joking when I said I was taking you both." Hermione rolled her eyes and shushed him.

When they finally were allowed to sit down the Champions took one look at the seating arrangements and mutually agreed to shift things around. Instead of Umbridge sitting next to Krum, she ended up next to Fred.

Harry made sure to sit next to Alicia. He'd originally planned to be between his two partners but…well he really wanted to watch Fred work.

Umbridge lasted longer than Harry had expected. She ignored whatever Fred did that caused her to fart every time she opened her mouth. She ignored her hair suddenly turning a shade of roaring pink and sticking out in all directions. She ignored when her plate started to move away from her – shrieking in fear – every time she lifted a utensil. She ignored the fact that when the farting wore off she instead started to croak when speaking. Finally almost halfway through the dinner, Umbridge sat up straight and shuffled woodenly from the room.

Grinning like a loon, Harry leaning to the side and raised his eyebrows at Fred. "So, what did you do? What was the final one? I didn't see anything different."

Fred conspiratorially looked from side to side before leaning down too and beckoning Tonks and Alicia into the small huddle. "George and I developed something for Percy originally but never got around to using it."

"Oh?" Alicia said with raised eyebrows. "And what new form of torture were you going to use on your brother?"

"Well, you know how we always say that Percy has a stick up his arse?" All three nodded. "Well obviously Umbridge has the same problem. So I just thought that maybe we should help her remove that particular ailment. Bowel loosening charms can be quite healthy for you I hear."

It was only through sheer luck that Harry, Tonks and Alicia were able to stay on their seats through their gut wrenching laughter. Wiping his eyes, he saw McGonagall collecting a few galleons from Flitwick and Shiva and quietly saluting Fred.

When the time came to open the dancing up Harry and Tonks took their places next to Fleur and Luna while the other two Champions and their dates were on the other end. Tonks had tried to argue that Hermione should get the first dance but the brunette had insisted that the older girl take it. "Remember," Harry whispered to Tonks, "let me lead."

"Very funny, Wonder Boy," she whispered back seemingly concentrating heavily on her legs.

"You really don't have to concentrate that hard, Nym."

"I do if you don't want us to look like idiots," Tonks muttered. "These stupid heels make remembering how long my legs are at the moment even harder than normal."

"You really don't trip as much while I'm leading."

"Yeah because I can concentrate on my legs, Harry. Now shush. The music is starting."

Harry listened to his date's request and paid attention to the music and the steps in the dance. They made it through the song with Tonks only tripping once and even managing to look up at him once they were halfway through. Smiling, the song ending and he bowed to her while she affectionately shook her head at him. The rest of the students started to file onto the dance floor and Harry moved sideways to stand in front of Hermione. "May I have this dance, my lady?" he asked holding out his hand. Grinning back at him, Hermione took his hand and stepped into his waiting arms.

As Harry moved Hermione to the side, Tonks stepped up to take the vacated spot as Fleur's dance partner while Luna went to find Tracey. "I'll try not to make us fall," the metamorph said softly.

"Even if you do, we will have somezing to laugh over," Fleur murmured back with a grin. "Relax, Tonks. Zis is supposed to be fun, not work."

"Dancing is always work for me," she replied in an amused tone.

"Zen perhaps I can finally do ze tango? Zat would get you to loosen up on ze dance floor."

"No that would get me worked up not loosened up. Since I'm not about to sneak off to a broom closet with you tonight and neither Harry nor Hermione and I are that far along I think I'll pass," Tonks said openly grinning as they started to move. "Just because you can tango and salsa better than whatever-this-is-called doesn't mean you get to tango with me. Not until either of my partners says so at least."

"Oh well, I will just to wait until it is my turn with 'arry zen," Fleur said sighing theatrically.

Harry's conversation with Hermione meanwhile, was going down a starkly different path. "I still can't believe that Dean asked Ginny to be his date for tonight," Hermione said while they moved with the music.

"Really?" Harry asked laughing. "They apparently started dating last week." Hermione stared at him in surprise at that and she almost missed the twirl she was led into.

"Well…I didn't know that. I do hope Tracey at least attempts to rein Luna in soon," Hermione said caught sight of the little blond twirling around on the dance floor all on her own showing off why they had all refused to let her teach Harry.

"I'm sure she will. Let Luna have her fun for now, Mione." He directed them through a full spin and his eyes widened a bit as he caught sight of someone he hadn't expected to see on the dance floor at all. "Mione, did you know that Ron had a date?"

"Yes. He asked Lavender two nights ago and got lucky. Her boyfriend had apparently just broken up with her so she said yes. I'm surprised he's dancing actually. I wouldn't have thought he'd know how…"

"Yeah me neither. I hope he makes sure she has a good time," Harry said frowning.

"If he doesn't he'll regret it. She's getting quite good at stinging hexes from what she told Parvati."

The song ended and Harry bowed to Hermione and shifted positions again to hold his hand out to Fleur. "Miss Delacour, may I have this dance?"

Smiling Fleur nodded and accepted his hand. Hermione paired off with Tonks and both sets were swaying around the floor again. "So I saw you kept Tonks on her feet," Harry said.

Fleur smiled back. "It was difficult, but yes, I managed. Are you enjoying ze dance, 'arry?"

"Actually I am," he said. "I was a bit skeptical at first, but this has worked out a lot better than I expected and it's a very nice evening so far."

"Well I am glad you are enjoying zis. Balls can be so much fun as long as ze friends and partners are interesting," the French girl chuckled. "I do still wish we could tango zough."

Harry blushed and softly replied, "Maybe next time, Fleur. That's kind of a step too far."

"I know. No one wants to tango with me zough," she said rolling her eyes. "It does not have to be sexual. It generally is but it does not have to be."

Harry laughed. "Fleur I think you'd give most of the people here a heart attack if you tried to tango with someone."

She nodded sagely. "Ah, yes, you British folk are so sensitive at times. Oh, before I forget, zis weekend after Christmas is for ze eggs yes?"

"Yup. We'll open them together and see if we can get a head-start during the holiday."

The next song had Harry dancing with Shiva. She laughed as he started to lead her. "You got pretty good at this, kid. At least for someone who was deathly afraid of the dance floor when we started."

"I decided that if I could fight a chimera and an evil twin I should at least be able to dance," Harry commented grinning. "When are we getting you a date by the way? I have two and a third girl trying to become official. You need a boyfriend, Shiva."

"Or a girlfriend. I'm not picky."

Harry laughed. "Or a girlfriend. What about Bill? You guys seem to get along well."

"A, he's out of the country way too often. B," Shiva said shaking her head in bemusement, "I am not taking love advice from a teenager. Especially not you. You never do anything normal, kid."

"Well Millie and Viktor certainly seem to be having a good time. I can do the match-making thing on the side."

"You keep telling yourself that, Harry."

The song ended and Harry's next dance was claimed by Daphne. The music had barely started again before she was swinging him rather forcefully around the floor. Harry knew from when she had taught him that Daphne liked to lead her partner so he let her take control. "You okay, Daph? You seem a bit annoyed."

"It's nothing, Harry," she said shaking her head.

"People aren't giving you a hard time for coming with Tracey are they? You know you aren't the only same-sex couple here, Daph. Fleur and Luna may have just come as friends, but Katie Bell and Su Li came together together just like you."

"No, Harry, it is fine, really. I've just gotten a few comments from Malfoy tonight that have me riled up a bit."

"Oh." His eyes narrowed. "I should sic the twins on him then. When he left Hermione, Tonks and I alone I thought he'd have taken the night off."

"No, he has merely focused on a more convenient target. He appears to think I should be on his arm. Sanctimoniously little prat," she glowered.

"Hey, don't let the git ruin your night, Daph. At least you and Tracey aren't fighting."

"True. Don't be too surprised if I hang around your group a bit tonight though. Tracey rather has her hands full keeping track of Luna. Shouldn't that be Fleur's job?"

Harry chuckled. "Fleur took Luna solely so that the girl could come to the dance. Hermione and I have agreed that when Tracey gets exhausted one of us will step up and take the next spot. The goal is to make Fleur be the last one standing so that she can leave with Luna and escort her back to the dorm."

Daphne grinned shaking her head. "We'll make a Slytherin out of you yet, Harry."

Tonks had just grabbed a new drink when she spotted one of her targets this evening and made a beeline to intercept him before he could run off again. He spotted her just before she reached him, but wasn't fast enough to move in time. "Hey, Mad-Eye, are you even trying to enjoy the night or are you too worried about assassins popping up?" she asked with a grin.

"You can never be too careful, girl," Moody grouched, his magical eye spinning and focusing on random women before moving on. "Constant vigilance is of the utmost importance. Now more than ever what with these insane events."

Tonks' eyes narrowed though she nodded in agreement. "It has been rather worrying, though I don't think it's likely for anyone to try anything with this many people."

"At least you got the right idea sticking close to Potter, Tonks. With you at his side, it'll be a lot harder for anyone to get to him outside the Tournament."

"True, but that's not why I started dating him, Mad-Eye." Something was definitely off here. The conversation had gone on long enough and he had only given one of his code phrase answers instead of the three she had given him openings for. She'd only actually said her own version once though and he'd answered that one correctly…Maybe she was just being paranoid. Her old mentor would of course answer her second code phrase correctly. "So it feels like you've been avoiding me. Anything brewing in the winds I should know about?"

"Nothing specific. Just have to maintain constant vigilance. I taught you that if I taught you nothing else."

Wrong. Completely wrong. "Yeah, that you did. Well, if you'll excuse me, I need to go find my date. Try to loosen up a bit and enjoy the night for once, Mad-Eye." She smiled as she left though it was forced. Hermione had the map. She needed to check it immediately.

Dumbledore practically ran down the corridors. The pass phrases to insure against impersonators and the Imperius! How had he forgotten that?! How had he not realized the danger of allowing Tonks and Crouch to speak! He'd already known the Death Eater only knew of a single code from his own initial talk with the man. How had he overlooked this for so long?!

It was just lucky that he was close enough to overhear their conversation and recognize the importance of what had been discussed. He knew the woman would be going to that frustrating Map that the children possessed. He only prayed he had enough time to reach his office before it was too late.

"Hermione, do you have the Map on you? I need to see it," Tonks said as she pulled her partners aside.

Hermione frowned. "I do. You need it here? With all these people around?"

"Yeah. Please, it's important."

Hermione hesitantly reached into her purse and pulled out a small folded piece of parchment. Harry looked at Tonks with a piercing stare. "Nym, what's going on?"

"Something's weird with Moody. I just want to check to be sure. I solemnly swear – "

"No," Hermione said cutting her off. She took her own wand and laid it on the parchment. "I promise to never disrespect a book." The parchment began filling with lines and the title at the top read The Librarian's Aide and Tonks gaped for a moment before turning to Hermione. The younger girl blushed. "Sirius has the original. I've been working with Daphne to try and recreate and improve their work using Harry's mother's notes and Remus' and Sirius' recollections. There are still some bugs, but I felt it more appropriate to keep this one on us despite the issues. It…has a search function."

Tonks whistled quietly. "That's my girl. Alright, well let's see. Moody, Moody, Moody…he should be right here…Barty Crouch? What the hell?"

Dumbledore was breathing hard as he ran into his office. He cast a quick freezing charm on the portraits and leapt to the Ward Anchor. Hurriedly he pressed the symbol that would display a visual list of the presences detected by the inner wards. The feature had initially been implemented nearly three centuries ago by a teacher particularly annoyed at students leaving the grounds and it ensured he could track when they were actually at the school. Dumbledore put it to a decidedly different use now.

Taking a deep breath, he raised his wand and directed his magic between the names of Barty Crouch Jr. and Alastor Moody. Nearly 30 seconds of chanting later, the names swapped. Dumbledore closed down the display and resealed the Anchor.

He could only hope he was not too late.

"I told you it has some bugs," Hermione said shrugging. "Try wiping it and restarting it. That tends to clear any issues. Knowledge safeguarded."

Tonks nodded distractedly and hurriedly activated the Aide again. "The name switched to Moody…Hang on a second. Comm on, contact Sirius. Hey, cousin, I need you to grab your Marauder's Map. Yes, I'm at the Ball. Don't ask questions, I'll explain later. Okay great. You see the Great Hall? Who does the map say is at the corner near the main doors? It does show Moody? Okay, thanks. Yeah, I'll call back later and explain. Thanks again, cousin. Disconnect." Tonks tapped her Comm Stone and sighed. "Well I guess it is Moody. Maybe he just didn't think that he needed to give all the code phrases since we've seen each other around for almost four months now?"

"What do you mean code phrases?" Harry asked as Hermione slipped her version of the map back into her purse.

"Moody's paranoid to high heaven. He has three code phrases he teaches people he trusts and they're supposed to slip the phrases into conversations with him the first time they meet after being apart for three or more months." Tonks shrugged. "It's a safety measure to avoid the Imperius curse or polyjuice incidents. Since this was our first real conversation since I got here I figured he'd want to use more than just one."

"Could he be under the Imperius?" Harry's gaze had turned to fix on Moody.

"Not very likely. The old man's practically as good at throwing it off as you, Harry. Plus if it was Imperius he wouldn't know any of the code phrases. Same with polyjuice." She paused and sighed. "It's always possible he's just drunk. That flask isn't always filled with water you know. With this many people here tonight he might have actually decided it was safe to drink a bit."

Harry and Hermione looked at each other and frowned. "All the same, I think we should keep a closer eye on him. My track record with Defense Professors is…not great, Nym," Harry said.

Tonks nodded. "We'll keep watch just to be safe. For now though, I think one of you owes me another dance. I didn't wear heels just to sit around and speculate about the enigma that is my old mentor!"