Capítulo 407: hpml401-410
Chapter 401
"Mum? Dad? What are-what are you two doing here? You're supposed to be in Brazil!" she
squeaked.
"Peru actually," Mr. Babbling commented chuckling and shaking his head. "Did you think
we'd miss your first Christmas with a new family?"
"We did miss the first Christmas dear. And the second." His wife was obviously fighting to
hold in her own laughter as she teased them.
Shiva stood and glared. "Hey, that's unfair! I didn't have Christmas at home for the past
two years! Last year we were stuck at the castle for the Yule Ball and the year before that
we still thought Sirius was a dangerous madman! Made it difficult to leave for the winter
hols that did!"
"Excuses, excuses," her father said smiling and waving it off. "Now are you going to
introduce us to your new son and girlfriend you going to keep standing there arguing?"
Shiva rolled her eyes and waved towards Lily and Harry. "Mum, Dad, that's Lily Potter and
Harry Potter. Harry, Lils, my mum and dad, Rebecca and David."
"Bathy, really is that the best you can do?" David sighed. "We didn't even know you had a
son until we got their letter the other day."
Harry froze halfway out of his seat. A pin could've dropped on the carpet and sounded like
a cannon blast. All the color drained from Shiva's face. She started working her mouth for a
few moments before finally managing to squeak out a few words. "What? But…I…I sent
you a letter over two years ago…I know I sent it! I gave it to the owl right after I…picked
up…the guardian forms…oh bugger…"
Harry groaned and rubbed his forehead. "Shiva, you forgot to tell your parents you
basically adopted me?"
"I didn't forget! I didn't! There was that thing with Marge and the dog, you had all those
medical issues, all that stuff about the Magical Guardian and Dumbledore, I still thought
Sirius was going to try and kill you – " Everyone ignored an indignant "Hey!" from an
implicated godfather while Shiva kept babbling. "I didn't forget! They travel like all the
time with their work! They're gone for months or years at a time! I wrote a letter and I got
distracted…I could've sworn I sent it out…"
Lily finally took pity on her girlfriend and stepped forward, all smiles. "Well, the lack of
social skills aside, your daughter has been nothing short of wonderful to Harry and I. She's
been extremely supportive every step of the way and is a great reflection on the both of
you! Right, Harry?"
"Right!" Harry said noting his cue and walking up to briefly hug Shiva before stepping next
to Lily. "Shiva helped me trust people above my age group and probably saved my life a
few times. It's an honor to meet you in person, Mr. and Mrs. Babbling."
"Such a polite young man!" Rebecca exclaimed leaning in to wrap Harry into an embrace.
"Please dear, call us Rebecca and David."
David held out his hand to Lily and eagerly shook. "We really can't thank you enough for
the invite, Lily. We've been cataloging ruins and critters for so long out West that we had
no idea just how much we've been missing back home!"
Shiva glared at both Harry and Lily for a long moment. "You two sneaks…" Harry just
smiled back at her. From her stance and the way her arms were crossed it was pretty
obvious that Shiva wasn't actually angry at them.
Any further potential conversation was interrupted as Daphne walked in with both arms
covered in balancing plates and an annoyed expression. "What happened to helping me,
people? I volunteered to grab two dishes not seven! Oh – hello." Daphne's eyes widened in
horror at her outburst as she caught sight of the new additions to the room. Her cheeks
blushed red and she hurriedly tried to set the plates down on the nearby table.
"Umm…excuse me."
Hermione rolled her eyes and moved to help while Tonks and Fleur devolved into laughter.
Harry just shook his head in amusement and the elder Babblings took their seats on one of
the couches. Christmas with family…Harry smiled as he sat down. It had taken over a
decade but…he was finally getting to experience the holiday the way he'd always dreamed.
Rebecca and David had eagerly settled in and were in the process of being updated on all
the 'interesting' stories of Harry and Company's adventures in Hogwarts. Thoroughly
embarrassing versions of the stories that was. Harry had decided against listening in
almost an hour ago and had taken to playing chess with Tonks. It was far more likely to
prevent his cheeks from turning red – which was really saying something considering this
was Tonks.
"Nym, no matter how much you change your face I'm not going to get distracted," Harry
said grinning at Tonks' sun-yellow hair and pointed, Tolkien-esque, elven ears.
"But I'm Arwen. Arwen is too beautiful to be ignored!" Tonks protested with a smirk.
Harry rolled his eyes. "Arwen had black hair in the movies."
Tonks frowned. A moment later her smirk returned and her face morphed into a more
masculine appearance while she sat up straighter and struck a regal pose. "Then I'm
Legolas. He was so hot they had to bring him back for the next trilogy! Beat that!"
Harry raised his eyebrows at Tonks and chuckled. "Unfortunately for you, Nym, unlike the
rest of the group, I am not bisexual."
"You're going to break poor little Colin Creevy's heart, Wonder Boy."
"Pretty sure I already did when I started dating Daphne and killed his last hope." Still
laughing, Harry stretched out his hand and prodded his rook to march forward.
"Checkmate."
Tonks watched her pieces throw down their arms in surrender while Harry's started
cheering. She shook her head in defeat and changed back to her normal face and pink hair.
"Darn. Well, it's two to two. Want to go best of five?"
"And zat is when he popped up from ze lake wiz my sister and Mione under each arm,
flying across ze surface like a human jet ski!" Fleur's voice floated over with appropriate
gasps from Shiva's parents. Harry just groaned and looked to Tonks for help.
"Next game coming right up! Come on you lot, back to the starting positions!" Tonks said
hurriedly to the pieces. "Harry, you use these same examples yourself. Why do you get so
embarrassed about it now?"
Harry shrugged. "I talk about those things when I need to intimidate someone, Nym. These
are Shiva's parents. It's completely different."
"Pawn to E4," Tonks said. "They're going to like you Harry. Honestly, they could stay in
contact better themselves, two years is a bit long to go off the grid."
Harry just winced. "Knight to F6. True, but Shiva's mentioned they do it a lot. Part of the
job apparently."
"Still a bit weird." Anything else that Tonks was going to say was cut off as the door chime
rang again. "Ah, Remus and Katie finally made it. Daph, Mione, you had Katie added into
the wards so that they can just walk in right?"
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Chapter 402
"Yes, Tonks, we really should be polite though anyway," Daphne said standing. Remus
walked in before she could actually leave the room though so Daphne just sighed and sat
back down. "I am surrounded by savages. One day I will teach at least one of you some
etiquette…"
Harry rolled his eyes at her melodramatics and turned to flash a welcoming smile to Katie
as she entered the room. "Hey, Katie. You…okay…?" He trailed off at the look at wonder
and satisfaction on her face.
Katie shook her head and focused on him before nodding emphatically. "I am wonderful!
That was awesome!"
"Yes, well, you wouldn't have felt that way prior the contribution of the Fulcanellis,"
Remus huffed. He claimed a chair and crossed his arms though the small smile fighting to
keep from fully manifesting was evidence to his real feelings. "Harry, be a good nephew
and tell those two they've succeeded in putting their names back into the history books
once that potion hits the open market."
"That good, Moony?" Sirius asked as he leaned forward to peer at his friend. "Wow, you're
not pale or shaky and you're practically beaming. What the heck was in that stuff?"
"The closest thing to a cure we're likely to ever find," Remus said finally letting his mouth
take the shape it wanted. "The change was fully voluntary for me; the only reason I even
shifted at all was to keep Ms. Bell company and run around the cellar with her."
Katie snorted. "Yeah next time Professor, I'm totally going into a field or something and
howling at the Moon."
Everyone in the room had stopped what they were doing to stare slack-jawed at the two
werewolves. Lily was the first to somewhat recover. She sat back against her seat and
whistled low. "Voluntary change? Completely? No compulsion whatsoever?" Her voice was
faint, but still had an edge of scientific wonder about it.
"It was like an itch for me. Something that could be scratched by the change or simply
ignored for several hours," Remus said nodding. "Ms. Bell's transformation was
involuntary though she retained full human intelligence while in her wolf form. The First
Moon is part of the magic that seals the lycanthropy curse meaning that it is intrinsic to
the disease. It's highly likely that any werewolf ingesting this new potion after their first
transformation would have similar voluntary control of the shift that I did!"
Katie smirked and laughed. "If you have any sense whatsoever while a wolf even on
regular Wolfsbane, I have no idea why you hate it so much, Professor. Between the senses,
the power, the energy…that was just…awesome!"
Sirius laughed and lightly punched Remus' shoulder. "She has a point, Moony. You always
did focus on the negative."
"To be fair," Daphne commented her eyebrow arched, "there are quite a few negatives."
"I'm just saying, if you go into it as a defeatist, of course it's going to be the worst thing in
the world," Sirius said shrugging. "Think about it like this though, Remus got to explore the
grounds with his friends at least once each month and we all got to become cool animagi!"
Shiva nodded. "In a way, if Remus wasn't a werewolf you never would've survived or
escaped Azkaban."
"See! Point made." He sat back smiling and nodding. As far as Sirius appeared concerned,
the discussion was over and he'd won.
Harry just rolled his eyes at his family. "That was barely even about the good points of
lycanthropy."
"Well it's easier to get off for one apparently; wolves are randy. It's too bad Lee wasn't
around when the sun came up…" Katie commented. A few of the adults had to change
their snickers into coughs while Harry and Hermione groaned and dropped their heads into
their hands. Katie's face lit up like a traffic signal as she realized she'd said that aloud.
"And on that note, new topic," Hermione said. "Harry, you said you had things to give
out?"
Harry perked up and a grin split his face. "Right! Dobby, can you grab the presents for me?"
"Master Harry wants the war attire?" the House Elf asked as he popped into place in front
of the couch. At Harry's nod Dobby disappeared.
"War attire?" Shiva asked looking askance at Harry. "Something you forgot to tell us, kid?"
"Nope," Harry said looking extremely smug. "It's not my fault you forgot the initial plan,
Shiva."
Dobby appeared again with several large, lumpy packages in hand laying them at Harry's
feet. Harry's smile widened and he started passing the packages out to his family.
Hermione, Daphne, Fleur and Tonks all accepted them with minimal fanfare beyond a light
kiss while Lily and Shiva settled for amused glances and hugs. Remus took Harry's gift with
his typical reserved manner and Sirius was no surprise as he jumped up and wrapped
Harry into a bear hug.
"Sirius, let me go!" Harry said laughing. "You don't even know what it is!"
"Unlike these rapscallions, I have a pretty good idea, pup," Sirius said his eyes gleaming.
"Oh good, somebody remembers," Harry said. "Katie, Rebecca, David, I'm sorry, but I had
these commissioned ages ago so I don't really have any extra to hand out…"
Katie waved it off. "No worries, Harry. We don't exactly hang out regularly enough for me
to expect a super expensive Christmas gift."
"And we weren't exactly around prior to today," Rebecca said smiling. "Now stop holding
back everyone! What is it?!"
Paper rattled and crinkled as Harry's family tore off the wrapping followed quickly by gasps
and shouts of surprise. Daphne started chuckling and shaking her head as she looked at
Harry. "I can't believe I forgot about this. I was the who made sure you rendered the
thing!"
Fleur held up her new 'war attire' blatantly admiring the dull green scales. She held up one
of the arms on the suit and squeaked in delight when she saw it perfectly matched her arm
length and even had small slits on the back for her wings to poke through. " 'Arry! Zis is
magnifique! Zis is ze basilisk catsuit yes? Zis is why you ensured Dobby took all of our
measurements during ze summer?"
"Sorry they took so long," Harry said running a hand through his hair. "The scales make it
highly resistant to spellfire so if we combine it with the Armor Robes we get double
protection in a fight. Each one is sized to the individual with spells on the inside that allow
it to expand or contract to a small degree. As long as no one gains or loses a ton of weight
they should stay fitted. Fleur, yours is basically skintight since you mentioned you like that.
Nym, yours is a bit loose so you can shift easier. "
"Wow…" Lily murmured. "These are beautiful…did you have any additional ones made,
Harry?"
"Yeah, a few more. Amelia, Tracey, Luna and Neville all have one as well. Dobby delivered
them a little while ago." Harry smiled and shrugged. "There's enough left over for Astoria
and Gabrielle as well once they finish puberty."
Tonks leaned over the chessboard and pulled Harry's head down proceeding to capture his
lips until a light cough from the direction of the parents forced her to release him. Pulling
back enough to kiss his cheek, Tonks whispered, "Smart boy. You know Fleur and Daphne
are soooo going to repay that foresight later tonight. I will too."
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Chapter 403
Harry felt his face burn as Tonks shifted back into her seat and the others started to profess
their love for the protective outfits as well. Leaning back Harry couldn't stop smiling. With
the basilisk skin suits finished, they'd be much safer. Voldemort could try to attack his
family, but…the murdering madman would be very surprised at just how hard he'd find
such a battle.
Voldemort reclined on his throne as the meeting commenced. He allowed Lucius to
conduct the majority of the discussions. It wouldn't do for him to stoop to dealing with his
own business. Not with these pathetic creatures at least. He would likely have to speak
with the next two groups personally, but for the moment the need to intimidate and
display his power was far more important.
The werewolf alpha scowled at Lucius and slammed a hand onto the table. "We will not be
bullied Malfoy! With Greyback's death my pack represents nearly every remaining
werewolf in the United Kingdom and I speak for them. I recommend you address me as
such."
"Of course," Lucius said smiling and cocking his head. Voldemort suppressed a sigh. The
man had a silver tongue with those who lived for gold and commiserations. He had never
been nearly as accomplished with those who lived for battle. Not for the first time,
Voldemort cursed the loss of the Nott. "I merely wished to express the likelihood of
disaster. Especially now in the aftermath of a werewolf assault on Hogsmeade…"
"You are not the only power in this country anymore, Death Eater." The alpha growled low
before leaning back, smiling and crossing his arms. The urge to separate the beast's head
from his shoulders was strong, but Voldemort resisted. Killing this man would certainly
remove the remainder of his werewolves from the army.
"I'm sure you don't mean the Ministry." Lucius laughed and clutched his cane tighter.
"Those fools just ousted their own Minister for Magic!"
"And installed a competent leader," the werewolf said. Voldemort's rage grew further.
Amelia Bones. He should have killed her first while she was still undefended. Now she was
constantly surrounded by Potter's personnel or Potter's wards and was she was basically
untouchable until the rest of the country had been dealt with. "But no, I don't speak of the
Ministry. The packs historically align with the Dark or remains neutral. Our affliction makes
it difficult for the majority to accept us. Your administration would let us have free rein
but…there are rumors of a potentially more appealing option. I don't like you or your
cohorts, Malfoy. That said, if it was best for my pack I would still throw our forces behind
you." He paused, narrowed his eyes and stood to glare down at Lucius. "Unfortunately for
you, Lucius Malfoy, I don't believe you will win this war. Goodbye."
As the werewolf stalked out of the room Voldemort's wand arm literally began to vibrate
as he suppressed the murderous urge welling forth. He could not afford to have bodies of
envoys falling at his doorstep until after the army was established. There would be time for
revenge and retribution later. "Lucius, what rumors did the beast speak of?"
The blond man flinched and bowed low enough for his hair to brush the floor. "My lord,
there is talk that Potter has a new form of Wolfsbane Potion that can curb the destruction
of the werewolf form."
"And?" The threat in Voldemort's sibilant voice quickly drew out Lucius' remaining
information.
"My sources tell me that Lupin has claimed the potion allows for voluntary
transformation…"
Voldemort scowled. "More of his cursed runes no doubt…No matter. We will deal with this
situation as we obtain more information. Perhaps we'll be able to corrupt whatever rune
scheme he is using to create them."
"My lord, actually he is – " Lucius tried to expound on the failure, but Voldemort quickly
cut him off.
"Send in the soldiers."
Lucius winced and nodded. "Yes, my lord."
Voldemort waited patiently as four men in pressed military uniforms strode into the
chamber. The leader moved to seat himself at the table facing Voldemort's throne while
the others remained standing behind the chair. "Lord Voldemort. I am General Schulz, first
of Grindelwald's remaining Wizarding Schutzstaffel. We were surprised to hear your
invitation. You were never interested in allying previously."
"Times change my friends. I find myself more open to assisting you in your future
endeavors if you would assist me in mine," Voldemort said waving his hand dismissively.
The SS wizard smiled though the expression did not reach his eyes. "You mean that your
recruitment efforts are now as ineffective as ours."
Voldemort glared down and fingered his wand. "Careful, General. For half a century your
efforts have been barely enough to maintain your own philosophy. My setbacks are merely
temporary. Yours are endemic to a new worldview."
"If Harry Potter and his allies have their way, your problems will be the same as ours, Lord
Voldemort." The general leaned back and folded his hands on the table. "We did not come
to fight however so let us stop this foolish posturing. You seek the assistance of my men so
what do you plan to do in return?"
Voldemort stayed silent for several long moments taking stock of the man and the
situation as a whole. "I am prepared to seed you the majority of the mainland. I reserve
the right to claim France and Belgium. Once Britain is secure under my banner I will
allocate my Death Eaters and Aurors to assist you in taking over a single country of your
own choosing. From there additional negotiations would be required for anything further."
"That…would be acceptable," General Schulz said. "For that, I could agree to send 40 elite
personnel to assist. If you swear an oath to free Grindelwald I will send an additional 60."
Voldemort nearly laughed at the fool. Such a poorly worded request for a huge gain in
forces! "Done."
The general smiled and raised his eyebrow. "Free him and ensure he is alive and unharmed
upon delivery to my team."
Voldemort seethed inside. Perhaps the man wasn't as shortsighted as he seemed. You
never could tell with the WSS. Grindelwald's shock troops had always been too aligned
with the Nazis they had supported to be truly predictable. He'd avoided seeking their
support originally as they personally disgusted him. Growing up during the war had left
lingering hatred for these types of men that his knowledge of magic had done little to
dispel. The WSS cared nothing for blood status, they focused on the skin or religion.
Voldemort's Death Eaters on the other hand cared nothing for religion or skin color and
merely sought to 'purify' the nation.
In truth, Voldemort cared little for either philosophy. He was only interested in power and
he could stand to work with his hated rivals for long enough to obtain it. Once his base was
secure, he'd be able to stamp them out like the insects they were. "Agreed. Do we have a
deal?"
"We do. Assembling my forces and closing down our current operations will take some
time. Say we move to attack in May?" General Schulz said standing.
"That was my intention as well. A decisive battle will break them more than small fights.
My own forces will be trained for true combat by then and my alliances will be secure."
"Excellent. I'll ask for the oath prior to sending my people. We'll keep you informed, please
do the same. Good evening, Lord Voldemort." Nodding his farewell, the general stood and
all four walked out of the room in lockstep.
Voldemort scowled at their backs fingering his wand. Nagini slithered her way up his leg
and laid her head on his lap. "Ah my pet, if only I had time to take out my frustrations…"
He smiled as he saw Lucius flinch. The man deserved to be fearful. After the betrayal and
subsequent escape of Narcissa and Draco's utterly pathetic showing in life…Lucius was
lucky he was still useful. "Send in the giants, Lucius."
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Chapter 404
"My lord, they have already proclaimed themselves to your banner," Lucius said bowing.
Voldemort looked up in surprise. "A messenger arrived during your conversation with
Grindelwald's remnants. The giants ask only for further territory to the North which you
had already agreed to. The stupid beasts didn't even think to ask for more. The mountain
and river trolls are marching under your banner as well."
"Excellent," Voldemort said smiling. He rubbed his ring wondering at just how much
destruction his forces would cause to this country when they moved. Hopefully he
wouldn't have to rebuild everything. "Then let us move on to the vampire covens."
"Of course, my lord." Lucius hurried out of the door returning shortly after with two
vampire lords following in his wake. "Dark Lord Voldemort, I present Lords Elmont and
Shuzen."
Both vampires were tall and stately. The male seemed like he was born to the regal bearing
while the brown skinned female appeared to have only learned how to play the part
instead of having it ingrained into her since birth. Voldemort frowned at the foreign
sounding name of the female. What had a Japanese vampire done to get exiled to this
section of the world? "Please, sit. I can provide 'refreshments' if you'd like."
"No thank you. I try not to sate my appetite until the battlefield," Elmont said.
In direct contrast to her counterpart, Shuzen smiled showing off her fangs and nodded.
"Someone younger – late teens – tall, with silvery or pink hair and female if possible."
"Detailed. One would think you were substituting her for your actual target," Voldemort
mused. Nevertheless he snapped his fingers and Lucius scurried off. As far as he knew,
there were no personnel on the grounds that fit that description however Lucius would
ensure one of the slaves was properly glamoured before bringing her in.
"My stepdaughter," Shuzen said waving a hand dismissively. "Now, I believe we were
about to discuss how your Death Eaters want my coven to assist in killing off the humans?"
Voldemort smiled. He liked this woman. Ruthless and direct, it was a shame she was a
vampire; she would have made a good lieutenant. "That is correct. After I gain control of
this country the territory allotted to your kind will be greatly expanded."
"We will be allowed to war in the open?" Elmont asked leaning forward with an eager grin
on his features.
"Within reason. Until we have secured more of the world population under our control we
cannot risk revealing our full existence to the Muggles at large. However should you
ensure that any witnesses were permanently silenced, I see no reason to take away all of
your fun."
Both vampires smiled. Lucius chose that moment to return with a girl walking ahead of
him. Her dull eyes provided the proof of the Imperius curse and she stopped to the side of
Shuzen. "Ah, excellent. Dinner." Without further ado, the female lunged and latched onto
the girl's neck. In the thirty seconds it took to fully drain the child, the other three
occupants watched on with utter indifference. Voldemort stroked Nagini and thought to
what he would offer the acromantulas. With their help in addition to these others,
Hogwarts was sure to fall…along with Harry Potter and his primary backers.
"Ah, that hit the spot," Shuzen said pulling back and wiping the drops of blood off her
mouth. She dropped the corpse to the floor beside her and nodded to Voldemort. "My
coven will support you. We return to Japan come summer so I recommend you attack prior
to that."
"Mine will come to your aide as well," Elmont said. "I warn you, the other covens will not
be open to negotiations. They received visits from your Minister several months ago
thanks to leaked intelligence from one of your agents. They are very…unhappy that their
nests are known to the British Ministry."
Voldemort scowled. That fool who had allowed himself to be captured at Bella's manor
was still causing problems…No matter, when he took the Ministry, the man would suffer
greatly for allowing himself to be interrogated. "Then it seems you will be the primary
beneficiaries of the new order I bring to this country."
"It seems so. Perhaps I will move my operations here in the future if we are successful.
Good luck, Voldemort. I look forward to playing with your targets," Shuzen and Elmont
both nodded and left the room.
Voldemort idly waved for Lucius to collect the corpse and clear the table. He returned to
stroking Nagini as the Death Eater cleaned. "Soon, my pet. Soon, we will be able to claim
our right. Soon."
Harry, Lily and Daphne walked into Gringotts the day after Christmas in their finest cloaks
and basilisk skin armor. Shiva had opted out of this conversation in an attempt to present
the strongest front they could to the goblins with the people the beings seemed to respect
the most. After speaking with the teller they were quickly brought before Snapfist who
grinned at them and immediately left to retrieve Ragnok without even having to be asked.
"This seems to be going well so far," Lily commented shifting her suit slightly. "And I can't
believe how well this breathes!"
"Women," Harry muttered rolling his eyes. "Here were are about to negotiate an alliance
with the Goblin Nation and you're fawning over the new uniform, mum."
"Hush, son. Fashion is important no matter the occasion."
Daphne smirked and patted Harry's knee consolingly. "Get used to it, Harry. You have four
women who are all going to be extremely interested in shopping, clothes and playing
dress-up at points."
"Should just let Voldemort kill me. It would be less painful," he said shaking his head
despondently.
"Ah, but Warrior Potter with the proper mindset even a shopping excursion could be
treated as an epic battle for the ages," Ragnok said snickering as he entered the room and
sat down behind the desk.
Harry lifted an eyebrow at the goblin. "I like that way of looking at things, Director.
Perhaps I should approach those future trips as diving behind enemy lines."
"Men," Daphne and Lily said chuckling. Shaking her head and settling down to business
Daphne leaned forward slightly. "Director Ragnok, thank you for agreeing to see us. We
have important matters that need to be addressed. Matters that stand to gravely impact
both the Nation and the British wizarding population."
Ragnok clasped his hands and tilted his hand. "The Nation agrees with you on the latter
Warrior Greengrass, but disputes the former. Tom Riddle has yet to show any overt actions
against Gringotts or the goblins."
Lily shook her head and handed over several papers. "Actually, Director Ragnok, that is not
true. Tom Riddle has had his trusted lieutenants push for the legislation that has continued
to curb the Nation's rights and holdings. Here is the proof that Lucius Malfoy was at the
forefront of these laws."
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Chapter 405
Ragnok took several minutes to read through the offered files before carefully laying them
out and turning back to the humans. "Warriors, Lady, this evidence is damning, yet it also
lies heavily at former Minister Cornelius Fudge's feet. What assurances would the Nation
have that the current Minister Amelia Bones or the next Minister after her would not
simply continue this trend?"
"Minister Bones is a close personal friend of the Potters and is a leader in the Inventor
Alliance," Daphne said. "This alliance consists of a eleven major British pureblood families.
Twelve when I take command of the Greengrass estate. In addition the Alliance includes
the Delacours and the Krums, both highly placed and respected in their own countries. The
Lis and the Patils both have extensive holdings and status in China and India respectively."
She leaned back and spread her arms wide. "Should Minister Bones attempt to invoke any
legislature against Warrior Potter's allies she would quickly find the motion blocked by the
rest of the Alliance and multiple foreign countries. We have a history of taking care of our
own."
Harry nodded. "Warrior Greengrass speaks the truth. You've heard of many of our
accomplishments, Director. You know what a gaggle of school kids can do. Imagine how
much ground we'll cover in a few years. Even if our families don't respond to our requests
at this specific time, we will be leading those families one day. And we can vow that if
nothing has been done to increase the rights and privileges of the Goblin Nation, it will be
done as soon as we have control." A dark look crossed Harry's face as he scowled thinking
about the corruption, stupidity and racism rampant in the wizarding culture. "I will be
dragging this world into the 20th Century kicking and screaming if I have to. It's high time,
wizards grow up and get off our high horse."
Ragnok started laughing and shaking his head causing the humans to look at each other in
confusion. Eventually he settled down and wiped his eyes with a claw. "Warrior Potter, I
knew there was a reason I liked you. You would have made an excellent goblin. Warrior
Greengrass, I assume you have an alliance agreement already drawn up?"
The only surprise that Daphne allowed to show at the quickness of Ragnok's agreement
was a few rapid eye blinks. Harry had been around her long enough to recognize the tell
and he had to fight the urge to reach over and squeeze her knee. "I do. It's right here."
When she handed it over Ragnok started to read. Continuing his scan, the old goblin calmly
spoke to Lily, "Lady Potter, your opinion of the agreement and the other personnel in the
Inventor Alliance?"
"I believe Warrior Greengrass is a far more adept politician than many of the persons
currently sitting in the Wizengamot. She and Hermione Granger have drafted a
comprehensive and flexible agreement," Lily said. "All families in the Alliance are
trustworthy and honorable. Even the Bulstrodes have completely fallen into stride with our
group – largely due to the influence of my son and his friends on their daughter. With their
backing you can gain ground in the Chinese and Indian markets as well through the
contacts that the Lis' and Patils' maintain."
Ragnok nodded and finished the paper laying it down with the others. He slowly regarded
each of the three humans before nodding his head. "The Goblin Nation has received your
request for a formal alliance. Prior to agreement we require an additional stipulation."
Daphne sighed, but nodded. Harry grimaced. This wasn't unexpected, but it could be
painful depending on what Ragnok wanted. "What would the addition be, Director?"
Ragnok's grin was all teeth and very little humor. "We require assurance that Marcus
Greengrass will be abdicating his Lordship in favor of Warrior Greengrass. Gringotts is
willing to…help this state along." Three pairs of mouths dropped open at that. Ragnok's
grin only widened. "I have heard about his attempts to force the hand of respected
Warriors. I have also heard of how you easily outmaneuvered him. This is on top of
insulting us during his prior meetings. Gringotts collects its debts and Marcus Greengrass
has incurred a large one. We do not trust him to act in the Nation's interest. We do
however trust Warrior Greengrass to do so. Our only question is whether you wish him to
remain alive or not after we are through."
Harry couldn't stop the laugh from bubbling out. He turned to Daphne, grinning widely.
"So apparently we can cross your father off our list of people to go after now!"
"Apparently so." Daphne's grin matched Ragnok's. "I would prefer he live. The man may be
a bastard, but he is still my father; and it would be ever so sweet to have him watch as I
wrest control from him without even lifting a finger."
Ragnok laughed and nodded. "Then on behalf of my people, I accept this alliance request.
When the time of battle arrives, the People will march with you."
After leaving the bank Harry dropped Daphne off at Luna's, his mother off at home and
picked up Remus. Together man and werewolf left the manor again for the next meeting of
the day. This one was being conducted in a neutral location, a pub in downtown Muggle
London. Both sides wanted to be sure that the Death Eaters wouldn't be following along
and it had been decided that this was the best option available.
Walking into the pub, Remus' nostrils flared and he quickly nodded to a side booth. "Over
there, Harry. Remember, just because he will speak as an alpha werewolf he is still human
and will have personal motivations that will factor heavily."
"Pot meet kettle. I got this, Remus," Harry said smirking at the older man. "Come on."
Harry led the way over to the indicated booth and nodded politely to the sole occupant
receiving a similar response in turn.
"Harry Potter, Mr. Lupin, a pleasure. I am Martin Levinson, alpha of the London Pack and
representative of the six largest packs in the United Kingdom. Before we begin, perhaps
some drinks?" the werewolf said.
Harry nodded. "Sure, though I don't think these places sell pumpkin juice…"
Martin laughed shaking his head. "They don't, but they do have a great black tea here.
Soothes the throat after a Full Moon."
"Hopefully that won't be needed for much longer," Remus murmured.
"We had heard rumors about that possibility," Martin acknowledged. "To be perfectly
honest, that is why I am here instead of attending You-Know-Who's meetings. I want to
tear the man and his personnel limb from limb, yet I can't deny he talks a good game with
his promises regarding my people. I hope there is some truth to these rumors as I would
hate to crawl back to him."
Harry's lips twitched and it took a great deal of effort to avoid snarling. From the way
Martin's eyes shifted to his mouth, Harry knew that the werewolf had noticed and chosen
to ignore it. "Mr. Levinson, allow me to make something clear early on. Don't go back to
Voldemort." He took not a small amount of pleasure in the flinch that Martin displayed at
the name. Levinson may be alpha of several packs, but Harry was the one in charge of this
meeting. "Tom Riddle is going to die soon. One way or another, I can assure you he won't
survive the coming months. When he falls, the Wizarding World is going to change. No one
who supported him is going to get away without consequences. It isn't going to be like the
last time. If you or your people support Voldemort, you will all come away far worse off."
Martin smiled a toothy smile. "You have quite a deal of confidence in your abilities, Mr.
Potter."
"They are well warranted I assure you," Remus said. "I'm sure you've thoroughly
researched his history and accomplishments. When Harry says something will happen, it
will."
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-----------------
Chapter 406
"It also helps that I am not just talking about my own role in the coming fight, Mr. Levinson.
I am talking about the combined skills of all my friends and allies," Harry nodded towards
Remus and waved his hand in the general direction of the city. "The Inventor Alliance
comprises fourteen Houses, including four foreign Houses. We also have additional
non-titled families involved as well as many Muggleborns. On top of this, I am personal
friends with the Minister for Magic and have recently secured an alliance with the Goblin
Nation."
Martin made a strangled sound at that and reached for his tea gulping down half the mug.
"You are allies with the goblins?! Truly?"
"Truly," Harry said smirking. He had the man now. "But I believe we were going to discuss
the veracity of the new Moonsbane Potion?"
Remus snorted a bit and muttered, "Moonsbane?"
"They said I could name it," Harry said shrugging.
Martin looked between the two of them and started rubbing his forehead with two fingers.
"Would you care to explain just how effective the 'Moonsbane' is when you are done?"
Remus smiled and his eyes widened with glee. "Startlingly effective! I had a First Moon
wolf with me who was forced to change as usual, but with none of the normal pain evident
even with people welcoming the transformation. In addition she retained her entire
human faculty for the duration. Another First Moon wolf had the exact same experience."
Martin narrowed his eyes and sized Remus up. "Her entire reason remained? No
degradation at all?"
"None."
"Promising…That wasn't quite what I had heard though…"
Remus' smile widened. "Of course not, because that was not the most amazing thing. The
true benefit to the potion is for the wolves who have already transitioned. My change was
completely voluntary. And I actually enjoyed it!"
"Well call me a monkey's uncle," Martin said chuckling and leaning back. "Remus Lupin
enjoying a Full Moon, now I've seen everything. Alright, how sure are we that this isn't a
one-off deal?"
Harry took over at this point. "About 90%. My mother is gifted with potions and she's been
going over the formula to ascertain why it works like it does. She's convinced that this
should make the transformation voluntary for every werewolf not allergic to the
ingredients. We've also spoken with the creators of the new potion at length and they
agree with our conclusion. Their only addition was that there is a chance that one in a
thousand won't be able to prevent the change however every other aspect should still
work the same for them."
Martin whistled and crossed his arms in thought. "I've seen your record, Potter," he said
slowly. "I think it's safe to say that you will be distributing this potion whether I agree to
ally with you or not."
Harry sighed and leaned back into his chair. Sometimes he really hated being so noble…"As
much as I'd like to deny it, that would be a good assumption."
"Understood," Martin breathed out heavily and stared into his tea. "I can't promise more
than my own participation. I'll speak with the others and ensure they all understand the
stakes, but it will be up to each individual. However, I will say this…if you can deliver on
this potion, Harry Potter, you should expect at least 50 werewolves to join in your battle
against Voldemort. Possibly as many as 70."
Harry smiled and pulled out six vials. "Excellent. Thank you very much for your assistance,
Mr. Levinson. As a symbol of good faith, these six vials are samples of the Moonsbane
Potion. You should expect to see the recipe for it appear in the next issue of the Quibbler."
Remus and Harry both stood and bowed their heads towards the alpha werewolf who was
staring in wonder at the vials in front of him. "Thank you for your time, Martin Levinson,"
Remus said. "We hope to hear from you and your people soon."
XXX
Fresh off his success with the werewolves Harry left Remus at the manor and groaned
internally as he saw the time. "Damn. This is getting to be a long day."
"Long, but rewarding from what Remus was saying, 'arry," Fleur said sliding in behind him
and snaking her arms around to hug his back into her chest. "You secured ze werewolves?"
"As much as we can I think," Harry said nodding and leaning back into her. "You coming to
this next one, ma rose blanche?"
"Ma rose blanche?" Fleur asked, the smile visible in her tone.
Harry shrugged and nodded. "I, uh, asked Gabi how to translate it best. You're the only one
in the group without a nickname and your hair is silvery and…it seemed nice."
"It is beautiful, 'arry," Fleur said kissing his cheek. She sighed and pulled back. "Oui, I am
going wiz you. We should really be on our way, mon amour. Amelia will meet us at ze
office and I have ze portkey."
Harry nodded and turned around smiling. "Right. Last meeting for today." Fleur held out
her hand with a silver gauntlet clutched in it. Harry raised his eyebrows at her choice of
portkey.
"It seemed appropriate," she said shrugging.
Harry laughed and touched the piece of armor. Fleur tapped it and Harry felt the familiar
tug around his waist. As they roared through the space between origin and destination
Harry scowled at his continued inability to figure out why magical travel hated him and
how he was going to fix portkeys to make sure he had at least one method where he didn't
land on his arse.
All too soon, the portkey ride ended and Harry fell forward onto his knees. Grumbling out
his frustrations he let Fleur help him to his feet as she chuckled. "Yeah, yeah, we'll see
who's laughing when I come up with a runic stargate."
"I look forward to zat day, 'arry," Fleur said grinning.
"As do I, Mr. Potter," an amused baritone rang out from behind them. "Having to schedule
an international portkey just to see my daughter will get old quickly I am sure."
"Papa!" Fleur shouted quickly moving to embrace Sébastien with a glowing smile. "Has
Minister Bones arrived yet?"
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Chapter 407
"I have," Amelia said nodding hello to the others as she stepped into the receiving room.
"And, M. Delacour, depending on how well these talks go I imagine it wouldn't be much of
an issue to have a permanent two-way portkey set up between Potter Manor and yours."
Sébastien laughed and shook his head. "Somehow I don't see that being an issue no
matter what the results of this conversation. Considering my future son-in-law is 'arry
Potter. When this young man can't get away with ignoring the rules he simply forces new
ones that suit him!"
Harry winced. "You're making me sound like a Malfoy…"
"No, that fool bribes his way to what he wants. You have a silver tongue and allies, young
man. The difference is subtle, but extremely important. Now, shall we move into the
Minister's office and start zis talk?"
Amelia nodded and bowed her head. "Lead the way, Monsieur." Harry and Fleur followed
along behind the two through the reception area of the French Minister for Magic. Harry
took a deep breath seeing the foreign Minister smiling at them all and everyone took their
seats.
"Minister Bones, it is a pleasure to meet you in person; the same to you, Mr. Potter and
Mlle. Delacour. I am M. Louis Durant, Minister for Magic in France," the man said. "Now,
shall we begin?"
"Certainly," Amelia said. "The British Ministry formally requests the assistance of France in
quelling our…problem with Tom Riddle, aka Lord Voldemort."
Durant nodded and leaned forward clasping his hands on the desk. "I admit to being
surprised when I received notice of this meeting. Your predecessor was rather hostile to
my country. As are many of your own citizens."
Amelia sighed and nodded. "Fudge was an idiot through and through. Worse, he was a
corrupt idiot in the pocket of a terrorist. I have many issues that I'm trying to sort through
from his era. The British people may be annoyed that I am bringing in outside help, but I
will do what I have to in order to protect them. If they don't like it they can feel free to kick
me out when the elections roll around again."
Durant started laughing and shaking his head. "Oh I like you. Would you be willing to send
Aurors to assist us in rooting out remaining bands of WSS soldiers after Voldemort has
been eliminated?"
"Certainly. I can't guarantee a specific number as we are currently undermanned as it is
and I will need to rebuild our forces somewhat, but I see no issue with repaying your
assistance with our own," Amelia replied.
"Excellent." Durant turned to regard Harry and Fleur for a moment before he continued.
"And, Mr. Potter, I understand that you are beginning to manufacture items termed, Armor
Robes through Potter Runes in conjunction with a…" he paused while searching for a paper.
"Ah! Here it is, in conjunction with Weasley Wizarding Wheezes. Are you willing to supply
the French Ministry with a contract for these items in addition to the British contract
already in existence?"
"Of course, Monsieur. I have no issues at all with that. I'm not attempting to ensure my
friends have the best items, I'm mostly just trying to ensure that my more dangerous
inventions don't fall into the wrong hands," Harry said. "I actually have a set of order
forms with me. These include all of the rune stones that I feel comfortable distributing."
Harry handed a set of forms to the Minister who took a moment to look them over
nodding agreeably.
"This Tracekey is the modified portkey capable of tracking others, correct?" An answering
nod set the Minister's grin firmly back in place. "I would agree to this alliance solely for
access to that honestly. The patents are in place, Minister Bones?"
"They are," Amelia said.
"Excellent. One final piece of business then before we sign anything." Everyone leaned in
to see what else Durant was looking for. His grin spread from ear to ear as he wiggled his
eyebrows at the two youngest members of the meeting. "Will the Consort Bonding
Ceremony be in France and if not can I expect an invitation anyway?"
Harry's face blazed red while Fleur and her father started laughing hysterically. Amelia just
shook her head rolling her eyes. "You'll get an invite, Sir," Harry finally managed to
mumble. "Details on location won't be available for a while. At least two years."
While Amelia immediately left for her return to Britain Harry was persuaded to take a walk
around the Delacour manor before returning home. Once they apparated in Harry was
nearly bowled over by a silvery-blonde missile leaping into his chest. " 'Arry! You visited!"
Harry gaped down at the girl in his arms momentarily at a loss for words. Fleur laughing
behind him and Sébastien's chuckle jolted him out of his shock slightly. "Uh, hi Gabi. You,
uh, wow, you got a lot um…taller."
"Oui! I finally hit ze…ze…Fleur what is ze word in English?"
"Change," Fleur said.
Gabi nodded and pulled back from Harry doing a small twirl. Gone was the cute 9 year old
child; in front of Harry was a teenager nearly as tall as he was with hair cascading down
her back and breasts almost rivaling Fleur's. "Ze Change! Veela puberty iz um…it iz
um…darn it I should know zis word!"
"Weird, odd, unusual, strange, annoying?" Fleur said shrugged. "All are appropriate. You
can visit wiz him later, Gabi. For now I want to show my partner ze Manor."
"You mean you want to show him your room," Gabrielle retorted with a quirk to her lips.
Harry blushed as Fleur nodded emphatically.
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Chapter 408
"Oui. My man was quite attractive a few minutes ago and I wish to show him I approve."
Fleur moved forward and grabbed him arm pulling him gently into step with her. "Besides,
I still need to show him my gratitude for ze foresight he showed with obtaining a gift for
you."
Gabrielle bounced from foot to foot. "Gift for me? What? When? Where is it? Can I see?! Iz
it a secret?"
"Uh," Harry mumbled trying to placate his likely future sister-in-law's curiosity despite
Fleur picking up her pace and dragging him away faster. "It's just a suit of armor. I'll have
Dobby send someone to collect your measurements since you seem to have finished
puberty already! Bye, Gabi!"
\/
MATURE SCENE BELOW
\/
"Zat girl has far too much energy for a fourteen year old," Fleur said, shaking her head in
amusement. Harry fought to hold back his laughter at that. "I need to find her a man
before she sets her sights on you. Zere are already more zan enough and I don't want to
have to fight my sister off wiz a stick."
Harry lost his inner battle and shook his head at Fleur. "Somehow I feel like that would
devolve into fireballs incinerating clothing and singing hair rather quickly."
"Our fights were worthy of ze legends," she agreed nodding sagely. "Zis is ze West Wing by
ze way. My room is on ze zird floor."
"Er, Fleur, are we going to slow down a bit so that I can actually see the house?" Harry
asked raising an eyebrow.
Fleur looked at him with a dubious tilt of her head before continuing her forward
movement. "Do you want to see ze house or do you want to snog me?"
Harry tried to come up with an answer that would be considered appropriate and, failing
utterly, resolved to simply shake his head. "Lead on then, fair lady."
"Good answer," Fleur said.
"Oh good, I was worried it wasn't enthusiastic enough," Harry said chuckling softly.
Fleur laughed as she crested the landing and opened the door to her room. "You are
nervous, no?"
Harry grimaced and nodded slightly as he stepped past her. "A bit. I know it's stupid. It's
not like we haven't slept together before."
Fleur pushed her door closed, cast several locking and silencing charms at it as well as a
quick contraceptive one on herself – the potion was supposed to be foolproof, but they all
agreed it was better to be safe than sorry. With her spells cast, Fleur left her wand on the
table and walked forward to stand in front of Harry. She draped her arms over his
shoulders and pushed forward gently until he was back against the wall. She leaned down
to lightly peck his lips before pulling back and smiling. "Relax, 'arry. Just because zis is ze
first time I am alone wiz you does not mean zat I will act differently or zat you need to be
worried."
Harry shrugged and stretched his neck up enough so he could deepen the kiss she had
teased. After they were both panting slightly he smiled at her. "I'm more worried about
not being enough for you on my own, ma rose blanche."
Fleur's answer was simply an enchanting laugh as she moved her head to the side of his
neck. "Somehow, I doubt zat will be an issue, mon amour." She took his ear in between her
teeth and nibbled on the lobe gently eliciting a low murmur of approval from her partner. "
'arry, if you want me to stop at any time, tell me, oui? You know I can be…a tad aggressive
at times."
Harry could barely form the words of acknowledgement as Fleur kissed his neck and
popped the buttons on his shirt. "Will do."
Fleur purred in satisfaction, her arms reaching up over her head to force the shirt
completely down his arms. Harry shifted enough to let it drop to the floor. He tried to grab
Fleur's chin, to bring her back up to kiss her again but she had already dropped further
down his body. The Veela was trailing light kisses across his stomach as her hands
wandered lower and started to tug on his belt. It didn't take long, soon she had gotten the
offending item off of him and was quickly pulling open his trousers.
Harry blushed slightly as Fleur, wasting no time, took his rapidly hardening member into
her mouth, though the light groan that soon escaped his lips was more than enough
encouragement for her to continue. Threading his fingers through her hair Fleur started to
hum some tune she liked to use when they were together like this. It was enough to bring
his lower body to attention in moments and Fleur bobbed her head rapidly for a few more
strokes, even taking him into her throat just once, before she pulled back. Harry fell out of
her mouth with a light pop, and Fleur paused looking up at him with a smile on her lips
and a coy look flitting across her features, before giving him a wink.
" 'arry, now zat you are suitably...focused, would you like to try somezing a bit new?" she
asked in a sultry tone her hand still working him despite her mouth's absence.
"New?" Harry asked a bit dazedly, trying his best to swallow the urge to simply grab her,
throw her onto the bed, and have his way with her like some sort of caveman.
"Would you please take me against ze wall zis time?" Fleur asked innocently trailing a
finger along his length and tracing a circle around his lower head, a pouting expression
gracing her lips. "I have not mentioned it before as it tends to leave ze ozers out, but I hear
it can be quite...pleasurable."
Harry shuddered in anticipation as Fleur stood slowly, luxuriously, and stepped in, pressing
her body flush against him and trapping his penis between them. She rubbed up and down
slowly while he struggled to concentrate on her question from a moment ago. "Wall it is,"
he rasped between suddenly dry lips.
"Excellent," Fleur purred briefly toying with his sack before letting go. She grabbed his
arms and with one smooth motion switched their positions. Fleur was now the one being
pushed back into her bedroom wall, while Harry was draped against her.
She smiled slyly at him before she leaned in and captured his lips again while proceeding
to rub against him harder, obviously enjoying the sensation produced in her nipples as
they roughly rubbed against his chest through the fabric. Harry groaned into her throat
and quickly shimmied his hips back enough that he could carefully reach down under
Fleur's skirt to grasp her panties. He smirked in satisfaction finding them already dripping,
Harry shoved the fabric partway down. Fleur, tried in vain to kick it entirely loose but failed
to free one of her legs before succumbing to lust and pushing back against the wall pulling
him back flush against her. "No more teasing, 'arry," she mumbled thickly into his mouth.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Chapter 409
"You really need to play with Daph more. She teases a little first," Harry said smiling.
Fleur laughed and shook her head at him. "So naïve. Daphne does not tease, 'arry. Daphne
controls. Zere is a difference. Now stop talking and get busy!"
Harry needed no further encouragement. Grabbing Fleur's hips he lifted her up and leaned
forward gently sandwiching her between him and the wall. Fleur pushed against his
shoulders, and rolled her hips just enough that when he thrust his own hips forward he
slipped right into her without issue. "Never understood how you know just the right
angle," he moaned into her neck fighting to stay standing at the sensations rippling
through his body. It was like being gripped in a warm, wet, velvet vice.
"I am just zat good," she breathed into his ear, as he stretched her pleasantly. A shudder of
pleasure ran through her and Harry felt her legs wrap around his waist and a clatter
sounded as her shoes fell to the floor behind him. A moment later, her bare heels dug into
his backside pulling him into her even further, his tip brushing her cervix. "Hard, 'arry.
Make me feel it," she moaned piteously.
Harry bit down on her collarbone as Fleur loosened the hold her legs had on him enough
for him to pull back and thrust forward. A groan of pleasure sounded from both of them as
Fleur was pushed up the wall with a small amount of force. Harry pulled back again letting
her slip back down and rammed forward before she had a chance to drop too much, a dull
wet slap heralding their joining. She gasped and tightened her arms around his neck,
fingers digging into his shoulders painfully. He was sure there'd be a mark there come
morning. "Yes!" she hissed between her teeth. "I…told you zis was…an excellent position!"
Harry lifted his head enough to grind his lips against hers in answer. She responded eagerly,
her tongue threading into his mouth. Harry quickly found a rhythm to his thrusts that
worked perfectly for them both, and he felt a bit of her dampness running in small rivulets
down his length. Fleur soon started to pant into his mouth, occasionally nipping at his
lower lip, and Harry felt her limbs start tightening their hold around him. He pulled back
from her mouth and tried to focus on the bouncing of her breasts against his chest to keep
his own excitement from boiling over. In retrospect that didn't help much, and it was
rapidly becoming a losing battle.
Harry could feel the tingling building inside his groin and he squeezed Fleur's arse harder in
his hands. "Fleur, I can't hold out much longer," he growled.
"Zen don't, 'arry," she panted. "You can finish inside moi; just don't stop!" she encouraged
as they continued to meet with damp slapping sounds which were slowly driving her wild.
He grunted his acknowledgement and kept up the energetic pace. Fleur's fingers now
clutched his hair and he felt her legs start to shiver against his back. With a muffled cry
Harry thrust forward one final time burying himself inside her as deep as possible feeling
her button press against his groin and his tip bump against her cervix once again. His
release hit at nearly the same time as Fleur's. The feeling of him flooding her body with
warmth seemed to be enough to send her over the edge. A shudder ran through her body
as her legs pulled back hard pushing him against her even tighter than before. Fleur's
moan joined Harry's own and one hand left his hair to gently caress his cheek in
desperation, her walls spasming around his shaft repeatedly.
It took a full minute for her to finish her first orgasm of the night. They remained that way
with him still sheathed inside her, silently pressing her against the wall as she came down
from her peak. Finally parting, he let her down onto her feet and they shared a rueful
glance at each other as she paused to catch her breath. She smiled at him as he once again
turned his eyes on her. Fleur smiled wickedly, kicking aside the undergarments which had
until then still clung on stubbornly to her leg. The panties hadn't even hit the floor before
she was reaching down and pulling her dress over her head to stand gloriously bare before
him. Shifting close, Fleur draped herself over her momentarily stunned partner so that her
mouth was against his ear and Harry could feel the soft breath escaping her lips. "Round
one."
MATURE SCENE ENDS
Harry looked up at the bones of the basilisk in his entrance hall and sighed. "As much as I
love having you up and moving it's probably best to stay asleep for this next thing. I'll
animate you again when they leave." He tapped the stone on the crown of the skull that
stilled the charms and runes on the skeleton and the gentle undulations ceased. Harry
turned to see Shiva smiling at him.
"Probably for the best kid. We don't really need to intimidate the Australians."
He shrugged and answered with a small grin of his own. "Probably wouldn't work anyway.
Their continent is supposed to be so deadly even the grass can kill you."
Shiva laughed. "Likely a bit of an overestimation there, Harry." A knock sounded at their
door and she moved to open it. "Welcome, come on it."
Harry shook the hands of the two men who entered and led the way to the sitting room.
Both were dressed in nice business suits with one of the wizards having a faint runic design
embedded in his tie. Harry chuckled as he noticed a scheme on a bit of stone that would
allow him to keep the tie straight and ever-knotted. "Interesting way to put the tie on, Sir."
The man with the tie shook his head and shrugged with an easy grin. "My wife complained
that I could never tie it correctly so I got creative and switched one of the designs from
decorative to functional. Most people don't notice."
"Most people don't send their corrective notes to you either, Kevin," the other man said
winking at Harry. "Now, I believe introductions are in order. I am Douglas Greer and this is
Kevin Lyght. I'm the official Australian wizarding ambassador to Magical Britain. Mr. Potter,
I believe you already know the CEO of Outback Training Alternative."
Harry had to suppress his eye roll. "We haven't met personally, but yes, I believe I've sent
you a few letters, Mr. Lyght."
"Yes, indeed," Kevin agreed. "They caused quite a stir among my staff. Are we waiting for
anyone else or can I ask the most important question right now?"
Shiva shook her head. "Minister Bones was supposed to attend, but she was called away at
the last moment over a developing issue with the giants. I've been authorized to act as her
official representative for the duration of this meeting."
"Well then, in that case, Kevin, go ahead!" Douglas said slapping the other man on the
back.
Grimacing Kevin nodded. "Mr. Potter, Ms. Babbling, do I need to worry about being forced
to dissolve my company under whatever terms we are about to discuss? I know we have
had some product issues in the past that you've helped to point out and correct, but I want
you to know we've taken quite a round turn on the safety aspects of everything produced
through Outback Training Alternative."
Harry stared at the man in surprise. "Wow, I must really be doing good if you think that
Potter Runes can buy you out already…"
"Actually my marketing section says you hold nearly 30 percent of the contracts for the
European nations, the United States and Canada along with 80 percent of the United
Kingdom. Australia is lagging only slightly behind Europe with nearly 25 percent of our
prior customer base flocking to your equipment instead," Kevin said shifting
uncomfortably with his face blushing red a bit. "I'm not sure whether to congratulate you
or curse you."
Shiva whistled. "Goddess, kid. You didn't tell me you were doing so well."
Harry blushed crimson and leaned back into his seat blinking rapidly. "Honestly I didn't
know. I've let Fred and George deal with the majority of the order forms since they're also
the ones doing the actual manufacturing of the rune stones…They sent me a few receipts
and statements, but we've been so busy with Voldemort and the Soul Cage that I
just…never really got around to checking the details beyond the bottom line…"
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Chapter 410
Douglas laughed and slapped his knee. "Well I for one shudder to think how your sales will
improve when you can devote your full attention to it!"
Harry just nodded. "Yeah…Anyway, no, Mr. Lyght, you don't have to worry about a hostile
takeover. I'm not really interested in muscling in on your primary market yet. Instead I
intended to offer a formal partnership actually. We'd share some profits in several areas
with R&D on new designs being floated between both personnel. I'm also offering to
double check your rune schemes to ensure that no potential safety concerns were
overlooked as I would like some of your personnel to do with a few of mine. Between Ms.
Babbling and myself we tend to catch most things, but I know there are some mistakes I've
made in the past that an outside eye would've seen."
Kevin smiled and shook his head up and down rather emphatically. "Excellent! We are
certainly open to such an arrangement. I'll have my law department draft a…oh you
already have one."
"My betrothed is rather good at these things. Two of them actually," Harry said smirking as
he handed over another copy of a form that Daphne and Hermione had drafted. "Feel free
to have your personnel check it over. I just ask that you get back to us as soon as possible.
We're trying to be ready for an offensive against Voldemort's fanatics in May and your
additional manufacturing capabilities would certainly help us achieve that goal."
Douglas frowned at that. "May I ask why so late? That is five months from now after all…"
"Part of it is the preparation issue," Shiva said sighing. "We're trying to create enough of
the protection runic equipment for a good deal of Ministry personnel in addition to some
for Hogwarts faculty and the students." Harry repressed an amused snort that Snape had
actually managed to pass along concrete information about Voldemort's intended target
for once.
She grimaced before continuing at a much slower pace. "We're…also still attempting to vet
all of the Ministry personnel. There were some breaches in internal security and we need
to ascertain that anyone who will be participating in a defensive action or assault on
Voldemort will be on our side."
Douglas nodded. "That makes sense. Thankfully, we haven't had terrorist issues for quite
some time so we haven't really had to deal with such a problem. Is your government
seeking simple verbal support from the Australian Ministry or are you hoping for personnel
to assist in the operation as well?"
"We'd really prefer personnel if you can spare them," Shiva said. "Fudge gutted the entire
law enforcement branch and attempting to build it back up in short order has created
almost as many issues as it's solved. In addition to the partnership with Potter Runes,
Britain as a whole is prepared to offer tax incentives and support personnel of our own for
a future issue should you require it."
"Not a bad deal for us all as long as our people come home," Douglas said slowly. "I would
request that we also relax immigration restrictions – both for Australians attempting to
emigrate to Britain and British citizens seeking to make Australia their home."
Shiva nodded. "Minister Bones mentioned that that might come up. We're prepared to
accept those stipulations."
"Excellent," Douglas said smiling. "Then I believe we have the makings of a deal. I'll speak
with my Minister tonight and ensure that he signs the agreement with yours first thing
tomorrow."
"Thank you. We look forward to increasing the bonds between our two countries," Shiva
said shaking his hand.
Harry stood with the others and nodded to each. "I'm also looking forward to increasing
the economic business between our countries," Harry said winking to Kevin. All four
chuckled at the lame attempt at humor. Walking the visitors to the door Harry pushed it
closed and leaned his back against it sighing heavily. "Yup, this is Daphne's job as soon the
Voldemort thing ends."
"Amen, to that, kid," Shiva breathed out. She ruffled his hair and joined him against the
door. "Only one major group left before school starts back up."
"Thank god for that."
Cornelius Fudge scowled as he finished throwing his clothes into the open bag. "Running
away like a common thug. I can't believe this is happening to me! It was just a few pieces
of gold here and there! Why do these idiots care so much about it?"
Fudge hefted the bag and dragged it into the drawing room grabbing a few of his priceless
paintings and shoving them inside. "Bunch of foolhardy fearmongers the lot of them. It's
not like He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is actually back! At worst it's some trumped up Dark
Wizard stealing his name to play against our fears." A gleam entered Fudge's eyes and he
started laughing – the manic edge to the laugh would have been readily apparent to
anyone nearby. "It's probably that Pettigrew fellow! Yes, yes that makes perfect sense! He
stole You-Know-Who's name and is gathering allies to find Dumbledore and throw me out!
That must be it. It's the only thing that makes sense. This was all designed to kick me to
the curb and steal my power. Well I won't let them win! I'll be back and I'll show them why
I should be the Minister for Magic!"
Fudge nodded at his brilliance hard enough that his bowler hat flopped to the floor.
Quickly scooping it up, he grabbed the bag and trumped across the hall to the office. "Now
to get my nest egg and – " The bag clattered to his feet as Fudge pushed open the door and
caught sight of the figure sitting at his desk. A jet black robe ensured the pale white skin
and red eyes stood out even more than they normally would. The noseless visage staring
back at him caused Fudge to relieve himself right where he was standing and his mouth fell
open in a silent shriek of terror.
"Ah, former Minister Cornelius Fudge," He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named said calmly. The
demon tapped the desk idly and frowned. "Such a shame you were removed from office.
You were doing such an excellent job of assisting me and my personnel."
Lucius Malfoy pushed Fudge to the side as he strode into the room, nose crinkling at the
smell. "My lord, there is nothing in the bedroom. I know he kept at least six thousand
galleons here…it must be in this room."
"Aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" Fudge finally managed to regain his voice as he
saw his longtime friend bowing to the Dark Lord.
"Six thousand should be enough for some of the more impressive mercenary bands;
especially when we add in the priceless artifacts on display here," You-Know-Who said
nodding. His eyes narrowed and his voice took on a slight hissing quality. "I am glad you
were not the only one lining his pockets, Lucius. Such frivolous waste of resources would
have greatly displeased me."
Lucius gulped and hurriedly replied, "Yes, my lord. Should I search the room?"
"Let's just ask him first shall we?" The red eyes turned and bored into him.
"Cornelius…where is your gold?"
Fudge could only squeak as a wand raised to point between his eyes.
Harry shifted his weight and pulled at his collar with a frown. "Why do I have to wear this
again, Viktor?"
The Bulgarian Seeker chortled and slapped Harry on the back. "Ah, my young friend, you
meet our Minister! You must look good for this!"
"But why my Seeker uniform?" Harry asked. Behind him Sirius chuckled and snapped a
picture. "And will you stop that! I can pose for photos with Viktor after we win this war!"
"Yeah, but those will look staged," Sirius said grinning from ear to ear. "These on the other
hand…these are totally going into the scrapbook."
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