Chapter 49: Closure

"So now that the Dark Lord is simply another name in the history books can I assume we will be seeing far less of each other, Mr. Potter?" Madame Pomfrey asked raising her eyebrows with her hands on her hips.

Harry rolled his eyes as he swung his legs over the side of the bed. "You realize I don't ever intend to get hurt so often right?"

"All the same, I believe you've been my patient far too often young man. Hopefully this latest brush with death has been enough to sate you through the last two years."

"Barring Quidditch mishaps, sure," Harry said chuckling letting his eyes roam briefly over the plaque above the bed with his name on it. "I think I've hit my limit on almost dying for this lifetime. Besides, if it happens again my partners will probably end up making me wish I died." He paused and hefted the cream from the table as he stood. "Will this actually help with the scars or is it just to make me feel better?"

Pomfrey sighed and shook her head. "It should lessen them…slightly. I am sorry, Mr. Potter, unfortunately that is the best I can do. At least…at least you didn't take a Killing Curse on those gauntlets of yours. If I may be so bold, don't try to make those again."

Harry grimaced and nodded. "Yeah. I don't think I can get them to work any better than that and it's not really worth the damage they can do. Thanks for the help, Madame Pomfrey. And for keeping the reporters away."

"Me? Ha, I didn't do that, you can thank Miss Granger and Miss Greengrass for that." Pomfrey winked at him. "Apparently they drew quite a lot of attention for dealing the final blow."

"Good for them. With any luck people will forget I was even involved and I can just stay quietly anonymous," Harry muttered.

Pomfrey laughed so hard at that comment she had to clutch her sides before wiping away the tears leaking from her eyes. "Anonymous he says! Anonymous! Potter, I should keep you here for another few hours simply because you're delusional!"

"No thanks! I'm good! Bye, Madame Pomfrey!" Harry yelled quickly hurrying away from the still laughing witch before she could make good on her threat. His pace slowed as he made his way down towards Shiva's room and he took a moment to recenter himself before reaching out and quietly knocking.

"Door's open!" his mentor's voice shouted from within.

"Everyone decent?" Harry yelled back with a grin.

He could practically hear the eye roll in Shiva's reply. "No, kid, Lily is lying on the couch starkers and I'm dancing around in just my knickers. Open the bloody door!"

Chuckling Harry complied and walked in waving hello to his very much clothed red-headed mother sitting on the couch. Shiva was sitting on the armchair sipping her tea and looking with amusement at the pile of papers surrounding Lily. "Hey, mum, mum. Grading papers? I thought exams were cancelled?"

"Only for you, Harry," Lily said marking an 'O' onto the parchment in front of her before shifting to a bound notebook underneath. "Well, you and the ones actively involved in the defense of the castle. The rest of the school had to turn in their finals after all. Oh and it's less 'cancelled' and more 'postponed'. O.W.L. and N.E.W.T. periods will be rescheduled for the second week of June, give people time to 'rest and recover'."

Shiva snorted into her tea. "Bunch of bollocks if you ask me, but at least they're not really cutting into the meat of summer. Are you ever going to let that incident go by the way?"

"Not likely," Harry replied with a grin and plopping down into his chair. "I'm really glad you're both okay…"

"Us too, honey," Lily said looking up and smiling at him with a grin that seemed to light up the room. "Though I did lose some hair with some of the fire that your French friend was tossing around."

"Who, Apolline? I thought she had better aim than that."

"Sure. Let's go with that," Lily replied, her chuckling eliciting a raising set of eyebrows from both other occupants in the room. Lily just shrugged and zipped a finger across her lips turning back to her papers.

Shiva shook her head and shared a look with Harry. "I swear, you got your mischievousness as much from her as your father. In all seriousness though, kid, without that basilisk armor and those robes there probably would've been a ton more casualties."

Harry grimaced. "I wish we could've afforded to lay traps or just hit them with Yamatos all at once then there wouldn't have been any casualties."

"True," Shiva shrugged. "But then we wouldn't have been able to get Nagini or the ring before wiping out Voldemort. Better that a few die now than thousands if he got away to try again…with a better idea of what we were capable of too."

Harry sighed and nodded. "What was the final count? Pomfrey wouldn't tell me."

"The French lost about 15 total with over half falling to that Vampire Queen. The goblins lost six. We only knew Griphook, though Snapfist is going to have to get used to one hand now – from what I hear, he's pretty happy with the battle scar and is displaying it to everyone who'll listen to his story." Shiva frowned at that before draining her cup. "Never understood goblins…Anyway, the Bulgarians lost four. A lot of them fell back into the field I set up once they got injured so they're the group hurt the most but with some of the least deaths. Millie sends her regards by the way and says she's probably still better than you at dancing."

Harry laughed and shook his head. "She probably is which is pretty sad."

"Australians didn't lose anyone," Lily put in waving her hand and not looking up. "I advise you to never piss off Luna if half of what I was told in the pub was real. Between her, that snorkack and Andi, the Death Eaters were basically slaughtered. I don't know what Xeno has taught that girl, but she has no right to be that adorable while carving a path that even Voldemort would've appreciated."

Harry could only stare between the two women for a few moments with his mouth hanging slightly open. Finally deciding that they weren't actually having him on, Harry shut his mouth and tried to move on to a safer topic. "So uh…anyone from the school not make it through?"

Shiva grimaced. "We lost two. Zacharias Smith tried to fight for about a minute before deciding he wasn't cut out for it. He was hit in the back while trying to run back into the castle. Almost got Lavender killed too when he pushed her right in front of Su's spell as he ran – from what the girls said at least. Cormac McLaggen didn't do too much better sadly. He tried to take on Avery and lost. Marian saw the whole thing, but didn't get there fast enough to help."

Harry's eyes fell and he shook his head. "Cormac was a git, but he deserved better than to die at their hands."

"Things would've been a lot worse, Harry," Lily said softly. "We had a lot of injuries, but considering the force against us it was extremely few deaths. Proper planning and equipping cut this war off at the knees before it ever even really started. That's thanks to you and your friends."

"We shouldn't have been that good…Schoolkids have no right beating adult wizards with years of experience like that…It's almost enough to make me actually believe in Merlin or your Goddess, Shiva," Harry murmured.

"Don't piss off the Goddess," Shiva said playfully slapping the back of his head. "You never know when Morrigan is listening." Leaning back into her seat Shiva refilled her glass and shrugged. "It's really not that much of a mystery that you guys all did so well, Harry. Those arseholes were used to fighting a hit-and-run battle. They hit hard and fast and ran just as fast. They never really had people fighting back against them until a few months ago. You saw how quickly Voldemort pulled in his people once the citizens started defending themselves. You kids were fighting to live. They were only interested in causing pain. It's not really a fight if your opponent doesn't actually know how to hit back after the first spell is thrown."

Harry frowned. "I think you're downplaying them…But I really don't want to argue about this." He stood and stretched before walking over and hugging each woman hard. "I love you," Harry whispered with a soft smile.

Lily ruffled his hair and returned the grin. "Love you too, honey."

"I love you too, Harry," Shiva said setting her cup down and moving to his side. She gently pushed him towards the door. "Now stop bumming with us and go find your girls. Fleur and Tonks are back at the manor for the moment though Hermione and Daphne both stopped in to say they were heading to the Room to get some peace and quiet. I think they were using the Lounge Configuration."

Harry nodded and blinked away the sheen in his eyes. "Thanks, Shiva. I'll see you later, mum, mum." As he walked out they could hear him mutter softly, "Gotta figure out which of them is 'mum' and which is 'mother'. This is getting bloody confusing…"

Harry paced his third time in front of the dancing trolls and nodded to himself as the door appeared. "Lounge Configuration it is," he murmured as he stepped inside the Room of Requirement and glanced around for his partners. He found them both sitting on the couch staring intently at each other. Feeling a slight shiver of fear that they were about to fight Harry hurriedly walked over. "Hey, Mione, Daph, Pomfrey said I'm free! Girls? Hello?"

Narrowing his eyes and frowning Harry looked closer and chuckled to himself as he dropped into an armchair across from them. How he'd mistaken their Legilimency for hostile intent was beyond him. As he settled into the chair both girls blinked with Hermione shaking her head and grimacing. "I had forgotten how…brutal I was during that…"

"Brutal? Mione, that was…that was amazing!" Daphne said brushing away a tear. "You rode that bastard to the ground! And the way Harry jumped in afterwards with a magical grenade? Merlin that was – it was – oh screw it!" She reached across the gap between then and grabbed Hermione's face with both hands. Harry watched as Hermione's eyes widened slightly and Daphne pulled the brunette in mashing their lips together. Hermione froze for the barest of moments before melting into the kiss and wrapping an arm around Daphne's waist.

Feeling a blush rise on his face Harry coughed loudly trying to make sure that the girls realized he was in the room with them. His effort was apparently successful as they pulled apart and turned towards him. Hermione blushed while Daphne just snorted in amusement before smirking at him. "Like the show, Harry?"

That seemed to break the trance over Hermione who leapt off the couch and wrapped him into her arms. "Pomfrey let you out! You're alright!"

"About an hour ago, yeah. Hand alright, Mione?" Harry asked pulling back from her embrace enough to gently run his own hand along her left one, grimacing as he traced over her missing pinky.

Hermione smiled at him and shook her head. "It's fine. I barely use that hand anyway. If I wrote left handed I'm sure it would be more awkward, but as it is this is far easier to deal with than what some others have to face. I'm honestly having more issues getting used to short hair…strange I know…"

"Good. That's good…How about you, Daph? Hearing coming back in the right ear yet?" Harry asked.

Daphne shrugged. "Mostly. There's a bit of a ringing sound every so often. Now that we've all assured each other that we're alright are you going to ask?"

Harry rolled his eyes. "Okay sure, skip all the pleasantries then. What were you guys going over?"

Hermione shifted to the side to sit down next to him and shrugged. "I finally showed her when we met Fleur at the Quidditch World Cup."

"When you rescued her you mean," Daphne said raising an eyebrow. "That was…extremely impressive to say the least. And it bears some striking similarities to my own rescue…" Daphne fell silent, frowning. Harry stood and shifted over gently wrapping an arm around her.

"You okay?"

"I'm fine," she said.

Hermione sighed and joined the other two on the couch resting a hand on Daphne's knee. "It's alright if you're not, Daphne. It's just us here."

"I will be fine. Alright? It just dredged up some confusing memories. I already talked over all this stuff with Tracey the other day," Daphne said.

Harry nodded. "She doing okay? I heard that she killed Malfoy."

A large grin split Daphne's face. "She did. That seems to have helped her heal far better than I ever managed to. I'm not sure what that says about us as a whole, but I'll take it."

Hermione shrugged. "You can't be expected to fix everything, Daphne."

"I know. I'm going to have my hands full trying to fix the wizarding world soon enough. We have a responsibility now after all," she finished with a smirk at Hermione. "We're the Witches-Who-Conquered."

Hermione groaned and collapsed back into the couch. "Please don't remind me of that. I don't know how you dealt with it for so long, Harry. I haven't been able to escape anyone! Between the media, our schoolmates, the staff, the owls from 'supporters'…ugh!"

"Bet Daphne is loving it though," Harry said winking at his blonde partner who simply chuckled in return.

"To a degree. As long as it dies down at some point. I prefer to run things from the shadows after all. The spotlight isn't exactly my thing."

"Well if either of you get too tired of it, we'll just sic Luna on them," Harry said laughing.

The others chuckled and leaned into him. Hermione ran a hand down his arm tracing the scars starting from his left palm and running along his arm. Her hand paused as it reached the edge of his shirt sleeve. "Do these hurt?" she asked softly.

"A little," Harry said wincing slightly. "Pomfrey said they won't get much better than this. I should've just taken the crucio."

"Can I…can I see them?" Hermione asked. Her fingers lightly traced the lines again with a slight wince on her face.

Harry nodded and shifted enough so that he could pull off his shirt. As it was dropped to the floor he heard a slight gasp from both of the girls. Daphne gently touched the unbroken double lines etched down both arms and across his back causing Harry to cringe slightly. "I know they're bad…I understand if you girls want me to keep my shirt on from now on when we're together…"

Hermione's eyes narrowed though before she could say anything Daphne had grabbed Harry's head in both hands and turned him to stare into her gaze. "Harry James Potter, you stop that self-pitying right now! You have scars, so what? Hermione's missing a finger! Millie is missing a foot! I can barely hear from the right side! Su has scars across her cheek!" She huffed and leaned closer until their noses were practically touching. "You just defeated Tom Riddle! Mione and I may have killed him, but you were the one who beat him! You! You have confidence now. Act. Like. It!"

"Well, I wouldn't have put it quite like that, but I agree. If I don't need to wear a glove, you certainly don't need to wear a shirt, Harry," Hermione said hugging him. "Okay?"

Harry reached up and gently took Daphne's hands off his face. "I get it and I'm sorry. Still trying to kick that habit. You both realize you're going to have to keep yelling at me about this for another few years until it's not my go-to thing right?"

Hermione squeezed him before letting go and leaning back chuckling. "I've been doing that for five years. I'm used to it."

"I just like bossing people around," Daphne said shrugging and winking at them both. After a moment her easy grin morphed into something saucy and hungry. "Speaking of which…Hermione, I feel like we should demonstrate in detail how we are unaffected by Harry's scars. Take off your shirt."

Hermione raised her eyebrows in response and she crossed her arms over her chest only serving to highlight her bust. "Excuse me?"

"Take off your shirt, please," Daphne corrected visibly holding in her chuckle.

"Why of course! There's no need to forget manners, Daphne." She paused with her shirt halfway off before snorting and shaking her head with a smile. "Unless you're sleeping with Nym, then you're free to forget them." Her shirt quickly joined Harry's on the floor and Harry tried hard not to stare at the bright jade bra she was sporting underneath.

"Err…"

Hermione chuckled and patted his cheek. "I thought it appropriate considering I was hanging out with a Slytherin."

"It nicely offsets my red one for Gryffindors," Daphne commented drawing Harry's attention to the right only to be confronted with his other partner also sans shirt, her breasts covered only by a lacy red number.

Swallowing Harry closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Girls, I love you. I just wanted to make sure I said that while I can still speak."

\/

MATURE SCENE BELOW

\/

"That's good, because I do believe your mouth should be occupied elsewhere now," Daphne said smiling and leaning over to briefly capture his lips before gently pushing his head down to lodge it in her cleavage. "Mione, if you'd be so kind as to assist…"

With an amused murmur of agreement, Hermione reached around behind the two and popped the clasp loosing the red lace binding Daphne's chest. A quick roll of her shoulders saw the bra falling to the couch utterly forgotten by all three. Harry didn't need Daphne's hand on his head to know her thoughts as he shifted his attention from light, trailing kisses to teasing her peaked nipples. A soft gasp and her palm pushing against the back of his head harder told him he'd gotten it right and he let himself nip slightly harder eliciting a sharper gasp.

Hearing a settling sound, Harry reached around behind Daphne and found Hermione by touch alone as his hand trailed along her now bare back. A soft sigh escaped from his partner as his fingers left her spine and traced her side. As he shifted from Daphne's right breast to her left he tried to move his hands to pleasure Hermione's as well only to find his questing passage blocked. "Hmm, someone's been talking with Tracey…" Daphne murmured. Harry opened his eyes and pulled back enough to see that Hermione had pressed herself firmly against the blonde's back and was slowly moving up and down in an erotic parody of a massage.

"One must be prepared for all circumstances. As a Slytherin you should know this, Daph," Hermione replied moaning slightly at the end.

Harry had opened his mouth to reply with an anecdote of his own but was cut off as Daphne grabbed his head and brought him back to her breasts. "Not done, Harry. Back to work."

Chuckling against her, Harry decided he was done playing fair and started to murmur to her in parseltongue. The quick vibrations from his tongue along her peak had Daphne gasping in moments. He wasn't content with just one girl getting his sole attention however so he abandoned the pursuit of Hermione's breasts and shifted his hands downward. He let one cup her arse while the other threaded into her pants. Another moan from Hermione followed as he let his fingers trace the outside of her knickers pushing in just enough to feel the dampness on the material and provide a small amount of friction.

"I'm not the only one who's prepared it seems!" Hermione gasped as Harry rubbed against her button for a moment. She ground her lower body into his hand to prolong the contact and twisted her own hands around Daphne's body.

Daphne groaned and clutched Harry's head with both hands as a shudder ran through her. "No kidding. Merlin's beard that's good! How did parseltongue ever get labeled as a evil?!" Her breathing turned to pants and she shuddered again. With a final groan of approval, her grip around his head slackened and she collapsed back into Hermione. The move served to firmly wedge Harry's fingers directly over Hermione's most sensitive spot again bringing a pleased sounding yelp from the brunette. Lifting his head, Harry noticed the surprised grin spring to lift on Daphne's face and saw it morph into her more typical playful smirk.

Daphne wasted no time in starting to grind her arse against Hermione using Harry's trapped hand as an impromptu tool to get the other girl off. The increased stimulation and friction swiftly had Hermione panting and shaking. Hermione bit down on Daphne's shoulder muffling her cry of release as Daphne finally lifted her arse enough for Harry to remove his fingers from his partner's knickers. Shaking his hand to restore some feeling into his extremities Harry smirked at the two women collapsed back into the couch. "You both realize, I'm expected to satisfy four women, right? It pays to be a quick study."

\/

MATURE SCENE ENDS

\/

"Probably helps that one of your partners is a Veela," Daphne replied with a laugh as she shifted her bum to avoid sitting directly on Hermione.

"I was comfy like that," Hermione's murmur of displeasure brought smiles to the other two as well as a red face from the bookworm.

Rolling his eyes at Hermione, Harry turned to Daphne and raised his eyebrows. "Daph, you're getting along smashingly with Mione; you're more than welcome to join in with Fleur or Tonks as well you know."

"One step at a time, Mr. Hero. One step at a time." She took a breath and twisted her head to share a look with Hermione. As one, the girls turned back to leer at him with nearly identical smiles. "Now, we should shed the rest of these clothes. Two out of three isn't bad, but I do believe we should be aiming for a hat trick; don't you agree, Mione?"

"While I'd argue semantics on the use of 'hat trick' here," Hermione stated before chuckling and shaking her head, "I'm in complete agreement on the spirit of the statement."

Harry traced the hungry gazes from both girls and the remainder of his worry about his new scars vanished into the wind. "If this is my reward for conquering Dark Wizards maybe I should be an Auror instead of a shopkeeper," he mused with a smirk.

"Not on your life, Potter. Can't have you risking that fine arse too often after all," Daphne commented. She leaned up and grabbed one cheek to emphasize her point. "Trousers. Floor. Now." At a soft cough, she amended, "Please."

Laughing Harry arched an eyebrow at Hermione who shrugged. "You heard her. Please ditch the trousers, Man-Who-Conquered. We have a hat trick to complete."

The extended Potter family stepped off the plane into Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with Tonks clinging to Harry's arm and a very amused Hermione trying to hold in her chuckles as she walked behind them. "See, Nym, safe and sound back on the ground," Harry said patting her hand with a smile on his face. "We told you it was safe."

"Safe my arse," Tonks mumbled. "Give me a broom or a portkey any day. Hell, give me a freaking hippogriff!"

"You know, statistically speaking, it's safer to ride in a plane than a car," Hermione said. "And for some reason I rather doubt that a hippogriff would be able to last for an entire flight across the Pond. Or that you'd be okay on a broom for that long."

"We could've taken a portkey. We're not exactly wanting for money…" Tonks said glaring at the girl.

Harry leaned up and kissed Tonks' cheek. "But then you wouldn't have experienced travel that doesn't hate me! We're proud of you for soldiering through and humoring me, Nym. We can apparate to the facility from here."

"Thank Merlin," Tonks muttered. "I still say we should've waited for this trip until your O.W.L. results came back. Having more to rub in the old goat's face would've been fun."

"Yes, because there is so much doubt on how we did," Daphne commented with a dry tone.

Lily shook her head and led the small group out towards the airport exit. "You've taken them, that's good enough. I've waited long enough to confront Dumbledore and I have no intention of postponing this trip just to hold out for test results."

"Breathe, Lils," Shiva said placing a hand on the other woman's back and rubbing a slow circle. "Remember, no dismembering of old men."

"I'm not going to dismember him. I'm just going to strangle him with his own beard."

"I almost did that," Tonks volunteered finally letting Harry slip from her grip as she held up a hand with a smile. "Ah, good memories that."

Harry snorted and rolled his eyes. "Says the person who hadn't just gotten his arse kicked from fighting a chimera."

"While zis is true, Snowball is soo adorable zat I zink you got the better end of ze deal from zat battle," Fleur commented while grinning and patting Harry's head as if he was in his animagus form.

The group laughed at that and made their way into the alley. With a short apparition jump all seven of them appeared in an alley near the mental facility the Flamels had directed them too and strode towards the gate. Harry took a deep breath and set his features resolving to not let anything Dumbledore said get to him. Shiva appeared to do the same as did a few of the other girls – though Tonks' red hair showed off the ex-Auror's feelings on this meeting rather clearly.

"I should've let Sirius come," Harry said as they walked. "There is far too much estrogen in this group."

"Ah, but you can handle ze women far easier zan ze men, mon amour," Fleur commented with a wink.

Hermione wiped a hand across her face and glared momentarily at Fleur obviously trying to ignore her blush. "Let's stop with the innuendo for a bit, shall we? Please? We should aim to get this finished with as little fuss as possible."

A chorus of amused consent greeted that proclamation as all present dutifully said, "Yes, Hermione."

They came to a halt in front of the gates and Shiva stepped up waving a hand in greeting towards the guard. "Hi, we're here to see Mr. Brian. The Flemmings should've called ahead."

"Yes, they did. Hang on a moment and I'll get someone to walk you up. This is a private meeting correct?" the man asked as he picked up a phone.

"Yes, please." The guard nodded at her answer and spoke into the line for a moment before opening the gate and waving them through towards an orderly walking up the drive. The group followed along in his wake until they reached a side room with several comfy couches and armchairs scattered about.

They only had to wait a few minutes before the door opened again and a familiar looking old man walked in. Harry had to blink a few times to make sure it was really Dumbledore thanks to the changes in his appearance. While the ex-Headmaster didn't seem noticeably older he did appear visibly exhausted. When he walked he dragged his feet, when he paused he slumped, his beard was frizzy instead of well-groomed…the thing that most threw Harry off though was the thoroughly normal clothes that Dumbledore was wearing. The logical part of Harry's mind knew that the staff wouldn't have let Dumbledore use his eye-wateringly colorful wizard robes, but that didn't prevent the shock of seeing the old man in sweat pants and an 'I Heart The Liberty Bell' t-shirt.

As soon as Dumbledore saw them he stiffened and stood up straight, his hand instinctively reaching for his – missing – wand. Harry raised his eyebrows at the move and had to resist a snort at the reaction. Thankfully, Dumbledore appeared to possess enough frame of mind to wait until the door closed and Hermione activated a Privacy Stone before he started his ranting. "Harry, my boy, you have returned…"

"He's not YOUR boy!" Lily snarled rising to her feet with one hand balled into a fist and the other white-knuckled around her sparking wand. Dumbledore's reaction was extreme. As soon as he took notice of the red-head, the old man's mouth dropped open and he swiftly backed up until he was pushed against the wall with one hand held forward as if he could ward her away with the limb. Once upon a time he probably could…Harry resolved yet again to never piss off the Flamels.

"Easy, Lils. Down girl," Shiva murmured standing and running a hand along one of Lily's arms while her other reached down and carefully plucked the sparking wand from her hand. "Why don't I keep this until we leave? Just to be safe."

"He's your son too! Why aren't you screaming at the old fool!?" Lily growled never once removing her eyes from Dumbledore despite allowing herself to be guided back to a sitting position.

Shiva took the comment in stride and simply nodded as she grasped the other woman's hand. "Because I've already screamed at him several times for that comment and you have it well under control for the both of us. I don't need the old goat's approval, I just need Harry's. Breathe, Lils."

After several deep breathes, Harry watched his mother close her eyes and nod. Dumbledore however stayed in his defensive position. "Harry…you actually did it…I had hoped…I had hoped that it was embellishment. That you had not fallen so far…Necromancy? Truly? How could you desecrate your own mother's grave?"

Another growl issued from Lily though this time it was joined by a quieter one from Tonks. "How dare you…" the metamorph whispered as her hair flipped through a kaleidoscope of colors before settling on a deep crimson bordering on black.

"Nym," Harry murmured shaking his head. Tonks scowled, but waved for him to continue as she leaned back into her chair and crossed her arms. "Mr. Dumbledore, perhaps if you had actually followed my parent's wills instead of sealing them we would have had a far more congenial relationship. My mother managed to create a combination of enchantments that left me with protection against Tom Riddle by using herself to power the charm. When I touched her body as it laid in stasis the enchantment ended and her consciousness was returned, which served to end the stasis. Lily Potter never died Dumbledore. By ignoring the instructions left by my father, you effectively buried a woman alive for 14 years."

"Impossible!" Dumbledore yelled. His wide eyes and wavering hand served to show the truth of his feelings.

Daphne snorted and glared at the man. "Impossible? Why? Because you are the Great And Powerful Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore? Because you cannot possibly be wrong?"

Hermione sighed and shook her head. "Deny it all you want, Dumbledore, but your denial does not make it untrue. Simply because you did not think of it does not make it impossible."

Dumbledore shook his head violently enough for his beard to flop against his sides. "Even if that is true, it changes nothing! Harry is Dark. He has installed his own puppet as a Minister and has a harem of willing slaves! He has an army of schoolchildren he has trained to be elite killers!"

Fleur chuckled and shrugged at the raised eyebrows from the others. "What? Zat last one is actually true! You did raise an army and several of zem were still in school."

"I can be a slave in bed if you guys want," Tonks said raising her hand and winking at Dumbledore who shuddered.

Harry groaned and rubbed at the scar on his forehead. "You people are impossible…Tonks please stop trying to give the ex-Headmaster a heart attack, Fleur please stop egging him on."

"Sure take away all my fun," Tonks murmured rolling her eyes. Fleur simply smiled and shrugged again.

"Dumbledore, I didn't raise an army," Harry said turning back to the man who had finally sunk into a chair as far from the group as he could get. "I helped establish alliances between England, France, Bulgaria and Australia along with ensuring that the Goblins, the House Elves, the Centaurs and the werewolves were all treated better and given more favorable living/trading conditions in exchange for their help. All I did for my mates in Hogwarts was to make sure they could properly defend themselves. Something that all of your Defense teachers utterly failed at besides Remus."

"And I would like to establish that I am most certainly not a 'harem slave'. If anything, I am the reason that Harry is even dating multiple women!" Hermione huffed glaring at the old man. "He is Heir to two Ancient and Noble Houses, he needs at least two wives. I pushed him to accept that fact to better integrate into the wider wizarding culture. Daphne and Fleur both love him as much as Tonks and I and with their need to continue their own family names, the Consort arrangement is perfectly justified and acceptable by the standards of the community!"

Daphne couldn't resist chiming in at that. "You are old enough, Dumbledore, that you should remember such situations being commonplace."

Dumbledore narrowed his eyes at her. "You are completely biased. Your family is as Dark as they come! You have corrupted a good, self-sacrificing young man with your wiles and you have even managed to sway Miss Granger and an Auror!"

Daphne sighed and leaned back looking pointedly at Harry and Hermione. "I told you I should've stayed at home with Tracey and Luna. This is pointless and all I'm doing is antagonizing him further."

"You deserve to be here, Daphne," Harry said shaking his head.

"You helped kill Voldemort, you have every right to be present at this conversation as the rest of our family," Hermione agreed reaching out to squeeze Daphne's hand.

That set off a new goggling from Dumbledore as he stared agape between all the others in the room. "Voldemort is dead…?"

"That's right, old man, the Dark Wanker is dead and buried! Well dead and blown away to be more accurate," Tonks replied sending a toothy grin towards Dumbledore as she got up and wrapped Harry, Hermione and Daphne into a giant bear hug.

Fleur nodded with her own grin as she explained, " 'arry trapped ze arrogant fool inside a barrier before tricking him into zinking it was a spell battle when it was really a rune battle! 'arry's counterattack left Voldemort crippled and barely able to move. Zen 'arry's Hands – Hermione and Daphne for ze mentally challenged – arrived and finished him off togezer."

"As I stated in the Infirmary," Hermione said with narrowed eyes. "You took the prophecy far too literally."

Dumbledore sat back into his chair shaking his head and wiping his eyes. "You fools! You fools! He's not gone! He'll be back, even stronger than before now! He'll be more prepared and he'll – "

"Shut it!" Lily snarled. "You arrogant tosser! You don't hear a single thing we say do you? 'He's not dead!' " She stood and threw off Shiva's restraining hand to stalk forward and poke him in the chest. "Shut your mouth arsehole and listen when we speak!" Dumbledore pushed back into his chair and stared wide-eyed at the screaming Lily Potter. "Diadem, purified. Locket, destroyed. Cup, purified. Ring, destroyed. Diary, destroyed. Snake, killed. Harry, purified!"

"Impossib– "

"I said shut it!" Lily yelled grabbing his beard. The people behind her tensed slightly, but Lily merely used her leverage to jerk his head up so their eyes were only a few inches apart. "My son nearly doomed himself to being possessed by that abomination when he revived me. You left him with that thing inside him for over a decade! A DECADE! It was only linked to the scar at first! My enchantment kept it from linking to him for – at minimum – several months if not years. That was more than enough time to have the section of skull surgically removed before the soul fragment could begin to be a problem. But no, if you couldn't see the solution it didn't exist did it! Never thought to ask for a second opinion did you?!

"You let the fucking thing fester inside my child. We had to watch as he almost killed himself twice to get rid of it! He had to practically invent an entirely new branch of magic in order to destroy it without any danger." Lily paused and grinned down at Dumbledore. "How do you think he managed to save Rowena Ravenclaw's Diadem or Helga Hufflepuff's Cup? Harry James Potter did in months what you, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, couldn't do in years! Stop blaming my son for your own failures and act like a man for once you pathetic excuse for a has-been wizard!"

Lily let go of Dumbledore's beard and stepped back, the group behind her collectively let out a small held breath and relaxed their grip on their wands. Dumbledore could only weep as he stared between Lily and Harry. "It's just…not possible…" the old man whispered. "Harry is corrupted…he has to be, it all fit…"

"Why?" Lily asked softly looking at him. "Because he survived something worse than Ariana did? Because Harry didn't turn to suppression and rage like your sister? Why must Harry be evil, Dumbledore? Can you even answer that yourself?"

"I…I will find the truth one day…I must!" Dumbledore breathed out between his sobs.

"Does anyone else need more closure?" Harry asked with a sigh. "Because I'm done trying to make him see sense." As he received head nods from those assembled Harry stood and looked to Dumbledore shaking his head. "I'm sorry you can't see past your delusions Dumbledore. Goodbye. Come on, mother, let's go."

Harry gently reached out to take the rune stone from the table, deactivating it as he pocketed it. He reached the door and didn't even look back as he led the small file outside…never to see Albus Dumbledore again.

The morning started off as pleasantly normal as every morning for the past three years. Petunia Dursley had seen Vernon off in the morning with a nice plate of breakfast for him. She smiled as she set a new plate down in front of Dudley. Her little boy was taking the time during the summer hols to better his diet and exercise regime with his friends. The wrestling team had already served to remove some of the baby fat from her boy though he had to work on the rest by himself to ensure that the improvements continued.

As Petunia plated his meal a frown briefly crossed her face as her mind involuntarily dredged up bad memories. It was only a few weeks past the anniversary of the day that her…nephew had left them for good. They weren't entirely certain that the boy had ever made it to his new home – he certainly wasn't sending them a letter and why should they have to track the little runaway after what he'd done to Marge and Ripper? Vernon had made the recurring event into a sort of family holiday and used the excuse to take them all out to a wonderful dinner on the town. Of course her husband conveniently forgot that once the boy had vanished, Petunia had been forced to relearn how to take care of the house. Cooking, cleaning, laundry…weeding. The yard work had been some of the worst. Dudley was always being so sociable so she couldn't ask him to do the work and Petunia couldn't be expected to simply give up her Best Roses award now could she?

It had taken some time, but she'd finally figured out just how the Potter brat had managed to get her garden looking so beautiful. Petunia had already been informed that she'd won the Roses and the prize personnel should be arriving shortly to drop off her trophy. It would fit nicely on the mantle next to the picture of Vernon accepting his new promotion that they had heard about this morning. She couldn't wait to hear all about it once he returned!

The doorbell's ring saw Petunia quickly rising from her seat and waving Dudley to keep at his food as she moved to the front. Taking a brief moment to puff up her hair into an appropriate presentation, she opened the door all smiles. "Hello, I'm so glad you've finally seen the effort put forth into my roses again and – " Anything else she was going to say degenerated into choking, inarticulate sounds of distress and terror. The woman coming to her door was more appropriate to a visitor during Christmas. A ghost from the past. A dead woman.

"Hello, sister," Lily Potter nee Evans said with a sickly sweet smile spreading across a face framed by flaming red hair falling barely below her cheekbones. "I think it's about time we had a bit of a chat don't you?"

Petunia finally found her voice again and let out a high-pitched scream. She held the note for nearly five seconds with the ghost of her dead sister smirking at her before the world went black and she felt the floor rush up to meet her.

Moaning, Petunia reached a hand up to rub her forehead feeling a small bump there. "Well that's a perfect way to handle the stress of receiving my award," she muttered to herself. "Humph as if she'd come here."

Sighing, Petunia opened her eyes and searched for Dudley, assuming he'd been the one to carry her to the couch. Her eyes roamed over the occupied seating across from her before making their way to the kitchen doorframe. They'd covered half the distance before her mind caught up with her sight and Petunia's head froze. Ever so slowly twisting her head back around to stare across from her, Petunia saw the horrifying visage from her nightmare staring back. Her hand flew up to her chest while she kicked her feet back. The move succeeded in flipping the couch over and dumping Petunia onto the ground where she scuttled back towards the wall and tried to blend into the wallpaper while still screeching.

"Wow, Lils, your sister has almost as impressive a set of lungs as you do," an amused voice came from the other couch.

"Honestly, this would be funnier if Harry had felt comfortable enough to come inside with us," Lily Potter replied with a sigh.

"True."

Petunia finally had to stop screaming in order to breathe. She took in a shuddering breath and stayed very still for a few seconds longer to see if she could escape from the ghost. She'd have to find Dudley on her way out…

"Oh for crying out loud, if you're not getting her up, Lils, than I will," the second voice said. A second later Petunia screamed again as she was thrown into the air by invisible hands and plopped down onto her newly righted couch. "Better now, Mrs. Dursley? Not that I really care how you feel of course, but we should at least try to be polite about this. I'd rather this not end in bloodshed and as demonstrated by our last difficult meeting I need to be the one to maintain my cool." Petunia finally noticed that an unknown woman was sitting next to the ghost. This 'visitor' had light brown hair and wore shorts with a t-shirt though the wand in her hand left no dispute about the freakish nature.

The ghost snorted and leaned back into the couch crossing its arms. "Honestly I think you may be the one my dear sister should be more worried about here, Shiva. I'm pissed at her, but I unfortunately expected behavior like this from her. Maintaining a near constant state of disdain for your sibling really tends to tone done the vitriol that you can muster up at a moment's notice. I'm sure I'll get there by the end of this…conversation."

"Shiva…you're that woman! The whore!" Petunia screamed. She scowled and turned to glare at the ghost. "So this is just a trick by that little freak! Bravo, well done! Now kindly get out of my house before you infect my son!"

The ghost's mouth set into a thin line though the bitch that had 'adopted' her wayward nephew was the first to react. "A, I am not a whore. B, yes, I am the one who adopted Harry. C, this is not a trick, your dear sister is indeed among the living again; actually that is thanks to Harry from a certain point of view. D…keep your bloody opinions to yourself or I start cursing everything in this room."

"Told you, you had to worry about her instead of me," the ghost said with as her mouth relaxed into a smirk. "For the record Tuni, I really advise against commenting on the sex life of my girlfriend."

"Girl…girlfriend?!" Petunia sputtered. "But…but…but you're dead!"

"Try to keep up, sister. I never actually died. I've only been – in the words of a story greater than mine – Mostly Dead," Lily said.

Petunia felt the fear coil up inside her like poison. If Lily was truly here and not an illusion or an echo…she tried to scowl again and hide her terror beneath bravado. "Well, if you're alive than you obviously cared less for your child than we did. Dumping the little freak here with decent normal folk like us…" Petunia trailed off as she noticed the temperature in the room had plummeted and her breath was visible as she breathed out. The visible wand in Shiva's hand was vibrating and sparking while Lily's eyes had closed and she was breathing in short pants. Petunia performed probably one of the most intelligent acts of her life then as she very carefully stopped all movement.

After nearly two minutes the wand had stopped sparking and Lily was breathing more normally. Shiva unclenched her fisted hand and flexed her fingers before speaking very slowly, "Petunia Dursley, I am trying very hard to avoid killing you. I've already done it to several people who threatened my son. Please. Stop. Tempting. Me."

Lily nodded. "Petunia, I was in a coma until a little over a year ago. I have done everything since waking up to ensure that I was there for Harry to make up for his…upbringing with you. You had my son for twelve years and he never even called you a family. Shiva had been his mentor and friend for less than four years before he thought her as his mum. Perhaps you should consider that when you cling to your precious 'normality'."

Petunia frowned at that. She knew she'd never treated the boy like family. She didn't need her perfect little sister to explain that. Harry Potter simply hadn't been family. He'd been a freak just like Lily. He'd had the power to do things that Petunia could only ever perform in dreams. He hadn't been like her. He hadn't deserved to sit at the same table as her son and let Dudley grow up just as bitter and hateful as she'd been. It had only been right to try and ensure that Harry had learned what it was like to do things without the universe bending to his will…hadn't it…?

"Mrs. Dursley," Shiva said breathing out a long breath and shaking her head. "The only reason we haven't come here before now is because we've been busy killing Voldemort and his posse then dealing with the aftermath. Now that we're done though – "

"That insane terrorist is dead?" Petunia blurted out. Even she remembered the stories of the monster that Lily had spoken of so long ago. That he was finally under the ground…

"He is," Shiva said cocking her head to the side and staring curiously at Petunia. "Harry brought him to death's door and his girlfriends kicked him the rest of the way."

"Harry?"

Lily's smile was mocking as she replied. "Yes. That, 'worthless little freak' managed to defeat the most powerful magic user of our generation. Funny how that works out isn't it? Oh and he's also rather intelligent too for that matter. I'm sure you're proud of Dudley finally understanding that he actually has to attend class in order to graduate, but my Harry managed to start his own business before he turned fifteen. He's been so successful with it that he's entered into a partnership with a long established owner in Australia of all places."

Petunia could only goggle at the two women. Harry wasn't smart. He barely managed to achieve passing grades and he'd always been so slow to pick up anything that they tried to teach him and…and it had all been an act. Petunia scowled at that thought.

"We're here trying to figure out how to deal with you," Shiva said rolling her wand between her fingers. "Harry's sole request has been to not hurt Dudley. Nothing about you, nothing specific for Vernon other than that it be painful both mentally and physically." Petunia couldn't help a shiver running down her spine at those words and she wrapped her arms around her chest. "Now my vote was for Azkaban…child endangerment and abuse is taken rather seriously in our world you know? However, Lily has successfully convinced me that this would only serve to make you feel justified in your hatred of us and your treatment of my son."

"So we have a better idea," Lily said smiling as she leaned over and put a paper and pen onto the coffee table between them. "You're going to write a letter to the local paper. It will detail everything that you did to Harry while he was in this house. Shiva and I will review it to make certain that nothing is missing. We're not expecting you to make anything up, Tuni. We merely want you to write the truth."

Petunia felt the color drain from her face as she thought of what the neighbors would think reading such an account. How they would be horrified. How they wouldn't understand that she hadn't had a choice; she'd had to make sure that he grew up normal. That he…that he… "Oh god…please no!"

"Do you finally understand, Mrs. Dursley?" Shiva asked softly. "What better way to prove how unnatural you and your husband have acted than by having your own peers explain it?" She laughed softly before continuing. "Oh and a copy of the letter is going to be sent to the police as well."

Petunia felt herself start to cry as she shook her head back and forth. "Please…"

"You did this to yourself, Petunia," Lily said, all amusement gone from her cold, hard voice. "I understood eventually why you hated me, Tuni, and I made peace with that. But with Harry…all you had to do was treat him normally and you were just too blinded by hate to do that…you brought this punishment down on your head all on your own, sister."

Petunia wept louder and stared at the paper in front of her. Without another word she reached her shaky hand for the pen and started to write.

Harry twirled the high-backed chair around in a circle. Using his feet to kick it fast enough that he grew slightly dizzy, Harry kept the speed up for almost half a second before finally stopping the spin and wobbling back and forth. "Why doesn't Hogwarts have these? We need to bring some of these to the castle!"

A snort of amusement and a shaken head was his answer as Shiva leaned over and playfully slapped the back of his head. "You're practically more mature than me, kid, and you're acting like a toddler with a new toy. There is no way that spinny chairs are making an appearance in the school. No way."

"Always spoiling my fun," Harry pouted.

The phone on the desk in front of them buzzed and the third person in the room reached out and pressed the intercom's button. "Go ahead, Mary?"

"Mr. Dursley is on his way up, Sir."

"Thank you, Mary. Everything is ready for his arrival?"

"Yes, Chairman," the voice on the other end replied.

"Excellent, thank you, Mary, that will be all." He took his finger off of the phone and the line went dead. Turning a smiling expression on Harry he winked at the young man and nodded. "If you wanted to maintain the surprise, Mr. Potter, you should probably turn back around."

Harry sighed and sat up straighter. "Yeah, guess it's time to get serious. Thanks for your help with this, Sir."

Harry saw the Chairman nod again before his face was hidden from sight by the high back of the chair. Shiva reached down and gently squeezed his hand before she quickly left by the side door to wait for her cue with Lily. Harry followed the door as it clicked closed and shut his eyes allowing the sound to cement his resolve and set his spine. He'd made it through years under this man, his mothers had finished dealing with Petunia in the morning…he could keep his composure with Vernon long enough to make this work. He'd just have to keep thinking of it like it was all a grand prank by the twins. It was all mental. It was all…mental.

The main door to the corner office opened and thudding footsteps pounded into the room. "Chairman Brown, it's such an honor to meet you!" Vernon Dursley rumbled. Harry could already see the smile plastered onto the face of the walrus without even needing to turn around. He forced his mouth into a smile imagining the walrus bobbing his head and clapping for fish with that giant grin. "When I heard this morning that you wanted to see me personally, why I couldn't wait to tell my wife the news! I am so very proud to have been so recognized, Sir! That the Board itself has taken notice of my work…it's simply astounding!"

Yup, there was the head bobbing. Harry had to suppress the laughter bubbling up inside him. Letting it out before his cue wouldn't have nearly the right effect. Chairman Brown chuckled softly and said, "Mr. Vernon, I have never heard nor seen your name before this morning. Frankly from what I'm seeing at the moment, I'm amazed you're able to fit behind your desk quickly enough to get any work done." Harry didn't need to hear the blubbering to picture the wide eyes, slack jaw and bulging vein. "Thankfully for you, my opinion is rather immaterial at the moment. Grunnings Drills has a new majority owner and he has specifically requested to meet with you this morning to discuss your future here."

"Really?" The note of cunning in that single word was so laughably weak and transparent that Harry again almost lost his control. Daphne would've hexed the man for daring to think that that counted as shrewd. "Well I am more than prepared to show you exactly why the new owner has recognized that I am to be promoted."

"Well, let's see how well you do with that shall we?" Brown asked, the sarcasm practically thick enough to choke on. "Harry? Mr. Dursley has arrived."

Harry made certain that the huge smile was still plastered on his face as he kicked his chair around and stopped it directly facing Vernon. The walrus was sitting in a chair at the far end of the table with his blubber spilling out over the edges of the armrests. As Harry's turn completed and Vernon caught sight of him, the vein bulged and the man's face reddened. Vernon's eyes widened and his mouth snapped closed hard enough to rattle his mustache. Slamming his hands onto the table the walrus surged to his feet and raised a shaky finger to point at Harry. "You! You little FREAK! What have you done to the Chairman?! You've used your freakishness on him!"

Harry shifted his smile into a confused frown and cocked his head to the side before leaning over and asking the Chairman in a loud whisper, "Do you have any idea what he is talking about, Mike?"

Brown shrugged. "Not even an inkling," he replied in the same stage whisper obviously meant for Vernon to hear loud and clear. "Perhaps he feels you drugged me?"

"That's gotta it," Harry nodded rubbing his chin as he leaned back into the chair giving it a slight spin for effect. "He always used to accuse me of drugging his family, apparently he thinks my skills have improved if I can get the head of a major company 'under my spell'." A quiet snort of amusement from Brown greeted that comment and Harry barely managed to maintain his solemn face as he saw Vernon's face crimson.

"You've used your little stick on MY COMPANY, you little freak! How dare you!" the walrus screeched, his jowls trembling.

"Well that's just rude!" Harry said gasping and holding a hand to his chest. "To imply I'd stoop to sexual favors is underhanded, Vernon! And the fact that I'm still only 16…are you accusing Chairman Brown of being a…a pedophile?"

Vernon's lips curled and spittle flew from his lips though he couldn't seem to muster a coherent reply beyond a growl. Brown saved him as he sighed and shook his head. "I see this is getting us nowhere. Perhaps proof would assist in moving the meeting forward. We are all busy men and this is already looking to extend beyond the schedule." He reached over and tapped the intercom. "Mary, please send up, the owner's assistants with their acquisition paperwork."

"Right away, Sir," the intercom voice squeaked.

Harry had just enough time for a half spin of the chair before Shiva opened the main door of the room and waltzed in with several sheets of papers. She laid one in front of Vernon and waltzed around the table to place two more in front of Harry and Brown before standing to the side and looking through the rest in her hands. "Those are the declaration pages, gentlemen. Harry, Lily will be up in a moment with the entire document. They were taking longer to copy than we had expected since the machine jammed."

"That's fine, Ms. Babbling," Brown said waving off the 'issue'. "I imagine the final page is more than sufficient to assuage your worries, Mr. Dursley?"

Vernon swiped the piece of paper off the desk with one meaty paw without even glancing at it. His eyes locked onto Shiva's and his face turned puce. "That harlot is the same sort of freak as the boy! They've played with your mind, Chairman! Arrest them and throw away the key! The whore has already sold herself and she has been teaching the freak since he ran away!"

Harry's control slipped and the pens around the table vibrated for a brief moment while his green eyes seemed to flash. He clenched his hands and with a Herculean effort he forced a smile onto his face – though one would have to be blind to mistake it for something natural. "Still with the sexual references, Vernon? I had hoped we'd be able to keep this civil, but you're not really helping that effort…"

Vernon's face darkened even further all the way down to purple. Harry wondered for a moment if this was all going to end up being pointless since the man seemed only a few seconds away from a lethal stroke or aneurysm. His ponderings were interrupted as the office door opened again and his red-headed mother walked in. Lily was carrying a pile of papers so large that her face was hidden behind the stack. "Mr. Chairman, your secretary said you were waiting on the acquisition stack? I have three copies here, Sir."

"Mr. Dursley was the one who needed it, but might as well distribute the others here as well so we can answer the man's questions. If he ever gets around to reading the work. I don't see why you're still bothering to continue with this meeting, Mr. Potter. He doesn't seem very open to anything you have to say and I hate to show such discredit upon my company to the new owner…" Harry snorted softly and shook his head at Brown's sad tone. The man was apparently a far better actor than he was!

"It's no problem, Mike. We shouldn't be too much longer after Vernon takes a moment to peruse the documents and verify it's all legal and I haven't used any trickery," Harry replied.

Lily dropped a stack of papers close enough to skim Vernon's hair and mustache before she walked around and regally set the other two stacks down in front of the others. "The signed pages are tabbed, gentlemen. Mr. Dursley, you should really breathe before you pass out." Her amused sneer joined Shiva's muffled snort.

"That BLOODY BITCH is DEAD! The FREAK has used his MAGIC to raise her from her GRAVE! KILL HIM NOW before he murders US and brings us back as PUPPETS like he did with his two WHORES!" The walrus' vein was bulging so hard and so fast that it was almost hypnotic as Harry watched it.

Brown held two fingers to his head and murmured, "I think we've heard enough. If I let this go on much further, I'm going to kill the man…"

He didn't even have to reach for the intercom before it buzzed again. "20 seconds out, Sir!"

Harry sighed and spun his chair once more as Vernon started sputtering and seeming halfway between running towards them and throwing his chair. "Vernon, I want to thank you for making this easy. I honestly thought I might have to actually try considering we're sitting with the Grunnings head…but apparently you're even more idiotic than I remember."

"Oh and Vernon?" Lily said crossing her arms, leaning against Harry's chair and grinning evilly. "I already said hello to my sister this morning."

"YOU UNDEAD HARLOT!" Vernon's internal struggle ended and he knocked his chair to the side as he tried to rush around the table. He made it a quarter of the way before the door was kicked open and five police officers rushed in. Vernon's hands were outstretched towards the three smirking members of the Potter family as the first officer came to a halt and raised his hand from his belt. Harry's grin grew so wide it hurt as the copper let loose with the taser. Vernon reached the end of the table just as the little points of metal embedded into his back. A shrill shriek of surprise and pain sprung from the walrus as he flopped onto the floor twitching at Harry's feet.

"Excellent timing, gents," Shiva said saluting the police. "Appreciate that save."

"Please tell me we kept this fool going long enough to gain the rope to hang him with?" Brown asked still rubbing his forehead.

The officer with the taser shut it off and nodded slowly. "We were only moments away from calling it off ourselves, Sir. I'm…truly sorry you had to live that…that…vitriol again, Mr. Potter."

Harry just shrugged. "I learned to try and tune out Vernon Dursley years ago, but I appreciate the sentiment, Sir. I won't have to appear at the trial now?"

"Not if I have anything to say about it," the cop muttered. He walked over to the walrus and scowled. "Vernon Dursley, you are under arrest for child endangerment, threatening a minor, attempted assault, attempted battery, aggravated assault, aggravated battery, child neglect, child abuse, attempted murder…" Harry tuned the man out as the remaining officers lifted the fat fool from the floor and began dragging him out of the office.

Lily moved from her perch and reached down to hug Harry hard enough to leave bruises. "I am so sorry," she whispered. "One day, I'll figure out how to make up for you being forced to stay with him."

"It's alright, mum, it's in the past," Harry murmured patting her back and kissing her cheek. As she pulled back, Shiva moved in and lightly hugged the red-head from behind. Harry smiled to his rescuer and turned back to Brown giving the older gentleman a genuine grin and a deep, formal bow. "Chairman, thank you so much for helping us. I know this little show took up a lot of your time, but I really can't say how much it means to me being able to see that man behind bars."

Brown looked up and nodded to the young man with a warm smile. "I was happy to help, Mr. Potter. I am ashamed that such a person was employed by my company for so many years. Surely there were signs to his nature evident…a thorough investigation is already being launched to ensure that anyone who ignored the problems is brought to task." He paused and chuckled softly before continuing. "Are you certain I can't convince you to actually purchase part of the company? I think your imaginative tactics could greatly help Grunnings as we move forward and it might help you heal a bit to partially own something that your abuser once thought was rightfully his."

"No thank you, Sir," Harry replied with a shake of his head. "I'm honored, but that's a bit too expensive for me at the moment. Besides, I have my own business to run. We really shouldn't take up anymore of your time. If yourself or the police need to contact us, you have our number."

"I do," Brown said. Harry and his mothers stood and moved to the door. "One more thing, Mr. Potter, now that the microphones are off…was there any actual magic involved?"

Harry paused with his hand on the doorknob. He looked briefly to each of the women flanking him. Shiva sighed and turned her eyes to the heavens seeking divine assistance while Lily just rolled her eyes at him and waved her hand in a 'whatever' fashion. Chuckling, Harry turned just enough to meet the man's gaze. "Nothing today, Chairman Brown. Have a fantastic day, Sir." He twisted the knob and led his mothers outside breathing content that finally the Dursleys were getting their due.

The day after his relatives had been dealt with the local Surrey papers were having a field day with Petunia's confession and Vernon's arrest. Harry had read enough to know that both his Aunt and Marge were also expected to undergo trials before he'd set the paper aside and invited some friends to spend the day. Tracey, Neville and Susan had jumped at the chance and were currently lounging on his couch while Harry amused them all by having his stuffed bear ride a toy broom around the room. The bear might be fully Muggle, but a simple sticking charm kept it in place while the broom was enchanted to maneuver and avoid any objects and walls.

"Gotta say, figured you'd be a griffin person," Tracey said laughing as the bear zipped past her and curved around towards a small bookcase. "Or maybe panther or lion guy. I mean, you must have the stamina for a bear so that does make some sense…" her grin widened at the blush spreading over Harry's cheeks before she continued on, "but bear is really more of Neville's thing. Right, Sue?"

Susan rolled her eyes at her friend. "Sure, Trace. Neville, is a bear."

"Ouch," Harry said wincing in empathy for the other young man. "She's still mad at you huh, Nev?"

"They both are," Neville replied with a deep sigh. "Hannah dropped off cookies this morning – they were completely burnt, top and bottom."

"Of course we're still angry at you!" Susan huffed and crossed her arms glaring at him. "You tried to fight an army. ALONE! You're not off the hook with either of us until you prove you understand just why we're angry."

"I will never get women," Neville confided with a sad shake of his head towards Harry. "I feel for you, mate, stuck with four of them and two mums."

Harry chuckled as Susan rolled her eyes and punched her boyfriend in the shoulder. "Thanks for the sympathy, Nev, but I'm learning to deal with it. It's a constant battle."

Tracey snorted and waved her hand in dismissal. "Hey, none of you have to deal with Luna. She's worth like six girls. I love the little ball of energy, but she is bloody exhausting! Harry, I'm totally stealing Daphne back tonight. I need a break."

Harry's eyebrows raised at that. "Daphne is a break huh? Wow…Oh and by the way, the bear was a gift from my mum. It's hair is like mine too!"

"Ah, now I understand," Tracey nodded sagely while Neville took to peering closer at the bear as it kept zooming around. Dobby popped in with a plate of biscuits just as the stuffed animal zoomed in front of him. The elf squeaked in surprise and jumped back narrowly missing getting a broom tangled in his ears.

"Bad Bearsy," Dobby muttered glaring at the offending toy amid the chuckles of the humans. "Dobby must be checking landing area next time."

As he set his tray and popped back out, Susan rolled her eyes at the manic elf. "I wish our elves were that awesome. Hey did you guys hear about Snape?"

Neville perked up and nodded quickly with a wide grin. "Oh yeah! He's leaving Hogwarts! Finally the greasy git is running for the hills!"

"I admit to being slightly disappointed he didn't die in the battle…" Harry said grimacing. "I suppose he probably found a corner to hide in as soon as everything started though."

Tracey shrugged and grabbed a biscuit. "Yup, never left the sanctuary. Millie said he claimed to be 'providing necessary potions to the wounded'. Arse didn't even try to fight; probably too scared of being seen on the losing side to risk doing anything. Mum said that Slughorn is coming in to replace him now that he's resigned. From what I hear, old Sluggy is supposed to be awesome so that's a plus!"

Harry nodded. "Yeah, my mum only had good things to say about Slughorn. Snape sent word to her that he's going to establish a little apothecary in the middle of nowhere. Works out well for everyone I guess. We don't have to see him, he can keep living in his fantasy world that Lily Evans still cares about him and best of all he is going to be kept far away from children."

Tracey smirked. "Broody and alone in the woods running a shop for other broody, gits. Better than he deserves."

"Could be worse," Susan shrugged. "He did somewhat help us with his information this past year."

"He was never as evil towards your House as he was towards ours, Sue," Neville said. "I doubt we'll ever agree on this one."

"Probably not," the red-head said.

Before anyone could respond to that Harry caught sight of Fleur entering the room and looking around with a mild frown etched on her face. "Has anyone seen ze wayward metamorph? I was supposed to be teaching her how to cook ze cakes, but she has disappeared."

"Nym? In the kitchen?" Harry asked wide-eyes locked onto Fleur. "Fleur, are you insane?"

"If I can teach Gabi, I can teach anyone!" Fleur said. She shook her head and muttered, "So many fireballs to 'cook ze cakes'…I wish ze girl had done it to annoy me…zat she actually zought it was easier…" Trailing off Fleur frowned and turned her attention back to her current missing cooking partner. "If I could find Tonks I could train her. Ze woman is hiding from me, I am certain of it…"

The chime signifying a returning guest sounded then and all eyes turned towards the main entrance as clomping boots resounded through the hall followed shortly by a muffled greeting. "Morning, Skelly! Looking good and dead like always!"

Harry blinked at that and his mouth dropped open in shock as his currently pink-haired partner tromped past the door to the sitting room. "Nymphadora!" Harry finally managed to call just before she passed beyond the frame completely.

Tonks stopped and turned back cocking her head to one side. "Yeah? What's up, Wonder Boy?"

Harry worked his mouth for a few moments trying to find the correct way to address her. Around him the rest of the room's occupants had fallen completely silent and were no help whatsoever. His eyes took in the combat books, soaked in both water and grime; the military camo pants, covered in ash; the giant metal tanks on her back, connecting by a large hose to a nozzle-gun contraption Tonks held nonchalantly over her shoulder clutched in her fingerless black gloves. Finally Harry managed to shake himself out of his stupor and ask her the all important question: "Nymphadora, luv, is that a bloody flamethrower?!"

Tonks smirked and shifted the nozzle-gun. "Yup," she replied popping the consonant. "Just taking care of some loose ends, you know. Torching some zombies and all. Hate those undead bastards. It's all good now though; cave's been cleared. I'm just going to throw this back into the storage shed. See you all in a few!" Without further ado, Tonks bounced away whistling a jolly tune.

Harry slowly closed his mouth and leaned back into the couch as all eyes shifted from the open door towards him. Running a hand through his hair Harry groaned. "I lead a weird life…"