章節 36: Chapter 37 (Part 1)
Halloween. Potter Manor.
When will it end? Harry thought with some desperation as he gave a
polite greeting to the newest arrivals and pretended not to notice
how their daughter was eyeballing him.
Narcissa had warned him that the turnout was likely to be larger than
normal since he was the one hosting it, but he hadn't really
appreciated what she meant. It felt like half the magical population of
the British Isles was cramming itself into his ballroom.
Narcissa was very pleased, unlike him. Then again, the only
contribution he'd made for this ball was to tell the ravens and crows
to make themselves scarce for the day. No need to be giving people
any ideas.
The youngest Black sister had really gone all out with the
preparations, so Harry supposed she had every right to feel satisfied.
She'd advertised, spread rumors and gossip, issued invitations, hired
musicians, decided on the food and drinks, made seating
arrangements and much more. She'd even colluded with Bryanna,
Tiana, Jade and Isabel to usurp control of their wardrobe.
Not that the results were displeasing. Harry himself had been
crammed into an outfit that bore only a passing resemblance to
formal dress robes and emphasised his physique. It was a tad
uncomfortable, but mostly because it wasn't what he usually wore
than any other reason. It was custom made after all.
The girls were much more interesting to look at in his opinion.
Fleur was as gorgeous as ever of course, but she was especially
eye-catching today in a dress that looked like liquid silver and
hugged all her curves. She had been the cause of much staring and
stuttering already and was noticeably smug about it. Noticeable for
him at any rate, everyone else was too busy either drooling on
themselves, scowling enviously or fuming jealously.
Luna was still a bit young to pull off those kinds of shenanigans, nor
would she ever have the curves or oozing sexuality for it, but she
was looking very nice in an emerald-green dress and her hair styled
into pretty curls.
The real showstopper turned out to be Dora however, much to the
metamorph's vast discomfort. From what Harry had been able to
discern in the lead up to the ball, she was simulataneously every
clothing designer's and stylists wet dream and worst nightmare.
On the one hand, she could wear anything at all, in any color and
adjust herself to match it perfectly. On the other, that meant that
there was no way to be sure that they'd gotten her 'best look'.
Though if her current one wasn't way up there, Harry would eat his
boots.
She was a bit taller than normal and a lot more curvy, with breasts
and hips that attracted at least as much staring as Fleur did. Her
dress was also chosen to take maximum advantage of her ability to
have a perfect figure on demand. the elaborate garment shimmered
a royal purple and hugged her body perfectly, revealing just enough
slightly tanned skin to emphasise her beauty without being trashy.
The final touch that made it so much better was the matching royal
purple color of her eyes and the dark blue hair to contrast it, thick
and wavy so that it looked like dark ocean water running down her
head. Even her face was different, more sensual and attentiongrabbing, though still identifiably Nymphadora Tonks. He'd had
trouble not carrying her off to bed when he first saw her like this.
All three girls were standing to his right, the position for spouses or
other kinds of dates. It was a bit awkward since there were three of
them, but they made due by standing in a line with linked elbows,
arranged by height, first Dora then Fleur and lastly Luna.
Narcissa stood to his left, in the position reserved for important
servants or family members. Or both as the case often was.
She was wearing a pale lavender dress in a style similar to Dora's,
though noticeably less impressive, with a small Black family crest
sitting over her heart like a badge of allegiance.
The final member of their greeting party was Etal, who hovered
above Harry's head at full size. That, aside from looking impressive,
also let him get a taste for the magic of everyone that approached
them.
They had been standing like this for a nearly an hour already and the
stream of arrivals didn't look to be lessening just yet.
Harry couldn't spare much effort to feel annoyed though, he was far
too busy continuously sending Dora a sense of support through his
magic, or at least as best as he was able in this setting. She was
feeling incredibly uncomfortable and was suppresing the urge to shift
into a less extraordinary form. She'd always had the ability to make
herself as beautiful and exotic as she pleased, but had instead
chosen to be merely pretty and a bit quirky.
Given the usual reactions that her talent generated from people, it
was understandable why she'd have an aversion to looking too
good.
So standing at his side in an implicit public reveal of their
relationship, looking criminally beautiful, was very hard on her. Harry
had actually not expected her to go this far, he'd thought she'd show
up looking as she normally did aside from a fancy dress and he
would have been perfectly happy with that. Skeeter was no doubt
gnashing her teeth in fury at being unable to write some
sensationalist garbage about a junior auror using her abilities to
seduce him or something. The vicious shrew would have liked
nothing better than to simulataneously imply that Dora was a whore
and that he was just using her for her looks.
Harry had no idea how Narcissa had managed to convince her to do
this, but he did know that he was going to have to do something nice
for her above and beyond just taking her to a concert. Come to think
of it, he'd also need to coordinate with Fleur and Luna so that they
could all reassure her that she was loved and appreciated regardless
of how she looked.
"Horace Slughorn, Potions Master!" The door herald announced, the
name breaking Harry out of his thoughts.
"Slughorn?" Harry muttered to Narcissa through clenched teeth as
the corpulent walrus waddled through the door. "What is he doing
here?"
He'd never met the man, but he had heard about him. A shameless
social networker that liked to 'collect' the acquaintance of the rich,
the famous and the powerful. The old wizard had been sending out
subtle feelers for some time in an attempt to meet him, but Harry had
never been interested.
"He must have wrangled an invitation from one of the other guests, I
certainly didn't invite him." Narcissa hissed back, sounding pretty
displeased herself.
" I wonder how far he would roll if you pushed him down a hill? " Etal
mused just before Slughorn reached them.
Harry's expression cracked into a smile at the amusing thought.
Slughorn turned out to be more refined than his appearance would
suggest. Not that it was a big achievement, but he was courteus in
his greetings, gracious in his acceptance of Harry's welcome and
didn't slobber over the girls' hands when he kissed them, which was
more than some had been able to manage.
He was a bit too hasty to be considered polite in his attempts to
establish connections however.
"Please call me Sluggy." The retired professor insisted with a wide
smile. "Most of your parents did after all."
"So I've heard." Harry said non-committally.
"Wonderful!" Slughorn enthused, looking utterly pleased. "I do hope
you'll make some time to talk to me later on."
"I'll do my best." Harry prevaricated.
"I look forward to it." The human walrus said and waddled off.
" Porc. " Fleur muttered.
"I was thinking walrus myself." Harry offered.
Fleur considered that before nodding. "You are right, that disgusting
mustache does make him look more like a walrus than a pig."
Harry smiled slightly, noting Fleur's now perfect English
pronounciation, though she still had a distinctive French purr to it.
Narcissa had coached her on that for the better part of a month,
much to the veela's irritation.
"I wonder how far he would roll if we pushed him down a hill?" Luna
mused.
Harry had to quickly bit his lower lip to keep from laughing.
"Etal was wondering the exact same thing earlier." He said, his voice
trembling slightly with laughter.
"Great minds think alike." Dora quipped.
Etal preened and Luna giggled.
"Don't giggle!" Narcissa hissed. "Here comes the next one."
"Thorfinn Rowle and his escort, Adrastia Zabini." The herald called.
Harry could only sigh wearily, resisting the urge to palm his face.
"What the hell is she doing here?!" Dora hissed furiously.
"I'm sure she'll let us know soon enough." Harry sighed in defeat.
Rowle was a very big man, both in height and in girth. Unlike
Slughorn however, his size was all muscle, a very rare feature on a
wizard. Narcissa hadn't known if he was a death eater or not, but
she did know that he held those kinds of views, which is why he'd
been invited in the first place despite not being from a prominent
family. Pureblood yes, but not noble or even significantly old.
And Adrastia looked as stunning as ever of course, wearing a tight
black dress with a plunging neckline. In spite of Rowle's hulking size,
she still managed to be the greater presence between the two of
them.
"Mr. Rowle and Ms. Zabini, be welcome in my home." Harry said
formally for the umpteenth time this evening.
"Thank you, Harry." Adrastia purred back, making Rowle tense.
"Lovely to be here again."
"You two know each other?" Rowle asked, with a worried crease
appearing on his forehead.
"In passing." Adrastia said airily, as if it was of no consequence.
"Why don't you go say hello to some of your little friends?"
"You'll be there too, right?" Rowle asked further, a sliver of worry
entering his tone.
"Of course, darling. Now off with you, I need a brief word with Harry."
Adrastia shooed him away.
"Husband number eight?" Harry asked sardonically once the big
blond lump skulked off. It was plainly obvious to him that Rowle was
already caught in the Black Widow's web.
"I had number eight while you were in America, the poor dear fell
overboard and was eaten by sharks while we were on our
honeymoon cruise." Harry, Dora, Fleur and even Narcissa snorted
disbelievingly at that. "Sometimes, only the fact that he left me his
private yacht, his pride and joy, sustains me through the tragedy."
"My heart bleeds for you." Harry replied sarcastically.
Adrastia favored him with a sultry smile that gave her dark eyes a
predatory gleam. "Will you save a dance for me, Harry? I would love
to catch up."
"Sure, whatever." He sighed.
"Wonderful! I look forward to it."
"I bet you are." Harry muttered once Adrastia sashayed off, no doubt
to put the leash back on Rowle. "Looking forward to complicating my
life again that is."
The torturous routine of acting like a stiff-necked ponce as he
greeted his guests did eventually end, even if not quickly enough for
Harry's tastes. Then came time to open the festivities.
Harry danced with each of his girls while the other two danced with
each other. It was a convenient way to shut out any outsiders looking
to dance with one of them, either lecherous wizards or gold-digging
witches.
Harry did still end up dancing with possibly the most dangerous
woman present in short order though.
"So, what's up with you and Rowle?" He asked. "I didn't think he had
anything worth taking."
"He makes for a convenient coat rack, but other than that you are
spot on. The only thing I needed him for was to get into this party.
Shame on you for not inviting me, Harry." Adrastia said, finishing with
a pout.
"Could it have been because I didn't want you here?" He asked
sarcastically.
"Nonsense." She dismissed airily and changed the subject. "I must
congratulate you though, you've amassed quite the harem."
Harry rolled his eyes but decided not to argue semantics. "Why are
you here, Adrastia?"
"Several reasons." She said lightly. "Foremost among is of course
my desire to see you again after such a long time."
"Of course." Harry didn't believe a word of it.
"The next is to offer you a little gift."
"What gift?" He asked warily.
"Why, my date's life of course. He is on your list, isn't he?"
Despite his best efofrts, Harry froze for a moment.
"What makes you think I have a list?" He asked.
"Come now, Harry, there's no need to be coy." Adrastia chuckled.
"First you kill Lucius Malfoy in such a spectacular fashion, then three
known pureblood supremacists vanish into thin air. Then you leave
the country and things settle down, but soon after you return, two
more disappear? That seems a bit unlikely to be coincidence, so I
ask again, is Thorfinn Rowle on your list?"
Harry stared hard at the smiling woman, wondering what her game
was.
"No." He answered without elaborating. The Rowles were blood
purists according to Narcissa, but not all blood purists were
necessarily dangerous and he couldn't simply start killing everyone
that might be a recruit for Voldemort. That would require wiping out a
good 20% or more of Britain's magical population.
"Hmm, perhaps he should be." Adrastia suggested casually. "His
idea of pillow talk is to complain about you killing his precious Dark
Lord and dream about how glorious the life of a lackey would be.
Apparently he and a few of his friends were to have been initiated
into the ranks of the Death Eaters during the 2001 Christmas
holidays."
"I see." Harry frowned. "You wouldn't happen to know the names of
these friends, would you?"
"Purely by chance, I do happen know their names."
Harry nearly snorted. Purely by chance, yeah right. He had yet to
encounter Adrastia in a situation where she didn't have some kind of
leverage.
"And what would it cost me to get you to share?" He could
investigate Rowle's friends himself, but he'd never be sure if he got
them all… or if he got too many.
"Very little actually. Bjomolf would like to speak with you again."
Harry felt his expression harden at the mention of the vampire. He
was still feeling sour about his last interaction with one of them.
"I can't say I'm eager to meet with him."
"Yes, that bad business you had with Ophelia. Bjomolf understands
and will come to a time and place of your choosing, alone."
Harry's eyebrows shot upwards in surprise. That seemed terribly
uncautious for someone that had managed to live for over a
thousand years.
"Why would he put himself at risk like that just to talk to me?"
"He has his reasons I'm sure, but he didn't share them with me. Now,
do we have a bargain?" Adrastia asked just as the dance was
ending.
"I'll think about it."
"Excellent. Do let me know your decision before the night is over,
yes?"
"Sure."
Narcissa sighed sadly as she looked over at the guests. Her son
hadn't accepted the invitation she'd sent him. Harry had warned her
that Draco would probably refuse to come to any party hosted by
him, but she'd so hoped to reconcile with him…
With an effort of will, she pushed her disappointment aside and
focused on enjoying her success. Harry was the host of course, but
she had been the one to do all the work and that was something that
she could take credit for. Everyone who was anyone knew that she
was a trusted confidante to Harry and that carried a lot of prestige.
Her word was taken seriously and she could wield plenty of
influence, more than she'd ever had as Lucius' wife.
None of Harry's three ladies cared much for this aspect of their lives,
but they were still very young. Until they were ready to take over, she
would be happy to act in their place, though she wasn't above
nudging things along a little bit.
"May I have this dance?"
Fleur looked up from her conversation with Nymphadora's parents
and saw a familiar face. The face of the wizard that had asked her to
the Yule Ball during the Twi-Wizard Tournament two years ago. What
was his name again?
"You may." She said, holding out her hand so that he could help her
up. She hadn't accepted many requests to dance so far, not with the
unworthy wizards that had asked, but this one made her curious.
"It's been a while, Fleur." The wizard said. Fleur still couldn't
remember his name. Something that started with an R?
"Almost two years." She said.
"How've you been?" He asked.
"Great, Harry has been wonderful." As if she didn't know why he had
sought her out. Men were so transparent sometimes.
"Really?" He asked, sounding skeptical. "Does he even have any
time for you with all those other women around him?"
Fleur nearly scoffed. Clearly he hadn't learned anything about veela
over the past two years. Then again he didn't feel any stronger than
he had then either, so that was hardly a surprise. The only reason he
wasn't drooling already was thanks to her much greater control of
the Allure.
So unlike Harry, who had never stopped growing more impressive.
"They are my women too." She purred, taking glee in the way his jaw
slackened in surprise.
"Excuse me, Fleur, do you mind if Roger dances with me?" Luna's
voice intruded, sounding a bit… giggly.
Fleur suddenly experienced an intense feeling of déjà vu.
"Not at all." She said, going along with what she presumed was
happening.
"Wonderful. Come along, Roger." Luna said imperiously and
dragged the surprised wizard off.
"But-" He tried to protest, only to have Harry talk right over him.
"Have fun now." He said and muscled into Fleur's arms, with her help
of course.
"This feels familiar." She said with a grin as she watched the now
identified Roger stare at them in disbelief.
"You don't say?" Harry said, smirking wickedly. No doubt he and
Luna hadn't been able to resist a re-enactment of their Yule Ball
save.
"You still don't dance as well as a Frenchman though." Fleur smirked
back.
Harry leaned in for a possessive kiss that left her breathless.
"It's a good thing I have other skills then, isn't it?"
Yes, that was a very good thing indeed.
Amelia Bones hated these parties. She hated having to attend
because of her position, she hated the politicking and backroom
dealing they covered, but most of all she hated seeing criminals in
expensive robes strutting around and pretending that they weren't
scum.
With that in mind, she was doing what she usually did at these
things, staying off to the side somewhere and keeping to herself.
And watching of course.
Potter was playing the gracious host well, but Amelia couldn't help
feeling as if she was watching a man prowling for victims. It was
possible that she was projecting, but there was just something about
his body language when he spoke to certain people and the way he
and that quetzalcoatl were hissing to each other in Parseltongue that
had her hackles up.
Amelia's eyes slid over to one of the young wizard's dates.
Auror Tonks… Amelia wondered how much the junior auror knew.
She was unlikely to be ignorant of it, given that Moody had trained
her. Was she turning a blind eye much the same as Amelia herself
was, or was she actively participating?
Amelia had to admit to having mixed feelings about that relationship.
On the one hand, Auror Tonks was a promising witch with a good
head on her shoulders and the idea that she was keeping an eye on
Potter's actions was a relief. On the other, Potter might have
subverted her loyalty like he'd clearly done with Lucius Malfoy's
widow. Moody had praised her abilities and potential and that was no
simple thing to achieve, so she was inclined to believe that Tonks
wasn't truly compromised even if she was infatuated with Potter.
Of course, this all hinged on whether or not Potter was the one
behind the recent rash of disappearances, but her gut was telling her
that he was. Moreover, her gut was also telling her that Potter knew
that she supected him, and that he also knew that she wasn't all that
upset.
As luck would have it, the shapeshifting auror noticed her regard and
started approaching.
"Hey, boss." The metamorphmagus greeted with the usual
irreverence she had when not working. Amelia could never openly
admit it, but she did like that. "You're looking about as happy to be
here as me."
"Not enjoying yourself then?" Amelia asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Not in the slightest." Tonks briefly grimaced and shook her head,
sending her currently dark blue hair spilling across her shoulders. "I
can't believe I let Narcissa talk me into this shite. 'Your parents will
be so proud' she said, 'you'll stick out like a sore thumb if you don't
look your best' she said. What a load of bollocks, I feel like a prize
poodle with the way people are staring at me."
Amelia wasn't surprised that people were staring. Tonks was looking
incedible tonight. She'd also overheard some mutters over the
presence of Andromeda Tonks, the banished Black sister, and her
husband Ted. They were seated right next to Potter, which drew yet
more muttering.
She decided to change the subject. "So, you and Potter? And here I
thought that those stories about him hitting on you while we were
discussing Black's innocence a few years back were just rumors."
"It's complicated." Tonks grimaced again.
"Yes, I imagine it is." Amelia said with a glance over to Potter's other
two women, rather amused. The amusement quickly faded when she
saw Potter dancing with Adrastia Zabini again. "I think you might
want to rescue your beau before the Black Widow gets her hooks
into him."
How it burned her to know that she was looking at a killer and the
best she could do was give out warnings. Zabini could have given
Lucius Malfoy lessons on being slippery.
Tonks glanced over and a hard expression crossed her face. "Harry
can handle Zabini."
That was a rather lot of faith placed in a teenager with known
womanising tendencies. Amelia wondered if Zabini would
mysteriously vanish soon as well. It would certainly serve her right.
"He's good at that, is he? Handling people?" She probed.
Auror Tonks looked distinctly discomfited by the question. "Pretty
good, yeah."
"I suppose you help him do it? Keep him from screwing up?" Amelia
continued casually.
Tonks briefly froze, confirming a great many of Amelia's suspicions.
"All three of us do, you know how men can get, haha." The
metamorphmagus said with a nervous and obviously forced laugh.
"I'm sure he'll be fine then." Amelia nodded, ignoring the reaction.
A few minutes of tense small talk later, Tonks made her excuses and
left her alone again. Amelia watched as she made a B-line towards
Potter and whispered something into his ear. The powerful young
wizard looked directly at her and gave a brief nod.
That was good, her tacit approval of what he was doing had been
received. Hopefully so had the warning to select his targets carefully.
Without any solid evidence, especially in light of Potter's
prominence, it was about the only thing she could do, so even this
fragile understanding between them was reassuring to have.
Revenge for her family was good, but not at the expense of
innocents.
"Well, I think that we can call tonight a resounding success."
Narcissa said with satisfaction once the party was over and all the
guests had gone home.
The youngest Black sister felt that she had good reason to be
satisfied, especially in light of the fact that she had been the main
organiser. The turnout had been beyond expectation, Potter
business interests had been advertised further in the wines used and
clothing worn, the coming communication mirror enterprise had also
been talked about. Perhaps most importantly, Harry had cut an
imposing figure and all three of his girlfriends had been the picture of
grace and elegance. Gaining support for Harry's plans should be a
cinch now.
"And I cant believe I forgot how much I hated these things."
Andromeda groused from where she was slumped on the couch.
"Serves me right for letting my baby sister cajole me into attending
with the thought of seeing my daughter dolled up for a change."
"She did look amazing." Ted had to say even though he hadn't
enjoyed himself overmuch either. There had been too much
snobbery everywhere.
"She did." Andromeda allowed and looked at her sister suspiciously.
"You were in charge of the outfits too, weren't you, Cissy?"
"I was." Narcissa nodded proudly.
"I figured as much with the way it was all arranged so that it
practically screamed that Nymphadora was to be the next Lady
Black."
"What?" Ted blinked.
Andromeda and Narcissa exchanged a look that communicated
volumes of exasperation with the male species.
"Narcissa was basically dressed in a much less impressive version
of what Nymphadora was wearing. By itself that would have been
just a subtle indicator of their respective esteem in the eyes of the
family head, but she also had the Black family crest on her dress.
Again, by itself that would have been nothing more than an archaic
bit of symbolism denoting loyalty to House Black. Combined, along
with the occassion and whatever rumors Cissy might have been
spreading, it all came off as a heavy-handed hint that our daughter is
the Lady Black in all but name." Andromeda explained to her
clueless husband before turning a glare back onto her sister.
"Though I have a feeling that Harry and Nymphadora aren't aware of
it."
Ted blinked again and shook his head. All these unspoken social
cues that the purebloods were so fond of were ridiculous.
Narcissa lifted her chin unrepentantly. "Her manners may be a bit
rough around the edges, but she would make an excellent Lady
Black. I'm sure that Harry will eventually stop being obstinate and
marry her. Maybe it'll even get you to stop being stubborn and
accept a reinstatement into the family."
"The boy's only sixteen, you can't expect him to be marrying
anyone." Ted protested, but was summarily ignored by the Black
sisters.
Andromeda growled in aggravation. Her sister had been insistently
pestering her to accept Harry's standing offer of reinstatement for
some time now.
"What good would that do, Cissy?" She demanded. "It's just a load of
pointless posturing:"
"I just want my big sister back." Narcissa said, staring back soulfully.
"Don't give me that look!" Andromeda snarked. "It hasn't worked
since you were seven and it isn't going to work now. And we're still
sisters."
"Would it really be so terrible?" Narcissa asked with a sigh. "You
know that it isn't the same Black family that you walked out on. Aside
from Harry, Sirius is the only official member left and he'd like
nothing better than to watch it go extinct."
Andromeda scowled, but Narcissa didn't ease up with the doe eyes.
"I'll think about it." She finally huffed grudgingly a good minute later.
"That's all I ask." Narcissa said smoothly, prompting a snort from her
sister.
"We should probably get going." Ted said after a slightly awkward
moment of silence.
"You could spend the night." Narcissa suggested. "There's plenty of
room."
"I'm not sure if I'm comfortable staying in the same house that my
daughter is probably having an orgy in at this very moment." Ted
grimaced.
"Nymphadora?" Luna questioned.
Some incomprehensible sounds were the only answer she received.
Of course, that was only to be expected since the metamorphmagus
was currently lying belly down on the bed, with her face buried in a
pillow.
It was a position decidedly lacking in grace.
"Nymphadora?" Luna tried again, only to get the same incoherent
reply.
Luna turned to look at Harry and Fleur, who were just watching with
amused eyes.
"Come on, Dora, talk to us. What's wrong?" Harry asked.
"Nothing." She huffed.
"If there's nothing wrong, then why are you sulking?" Luna asked
reasonably.
"Can't a girl sulk for no reason?" Nymphadora sulked.
Luna considered that for a moment before nodding to herself. A girl
could, in fact, sulk for no reason.
"But why would you want to?" She questioned out loud. "Sulking isn't
a very pleasant activity, now is it?"
"This ball wasn't a very pleasant activity, but we still did it."
"It wasn't that bad." Fleur said, sounding like she was holding back
laughter.
"Yes it was!" Nymphadora pouted. "Sirius had the right idea in
regards to it."
Sirius had barely heard the word 'ball' before making plans to be
elsewhere on the day. Luna knew this because Narcissa had
chewed him out for it quite loudly.
"So how long are you going to sulk?" Luna asked.
"Until I forget how everyone was trying to suck up to me just
because I'm fucking Harry."
"You should try actually being me for a day." Harry said with a
chuckle. "I had four men trying to pimp their daughters out to me in
exchange for favors, one woman offering both herself and her
daughter, five offers of a bathroom quickie and three subtle inquiries
if I have room for more mistresses. And that's just the sexual parts, I
must've gotten at least three times that amount of non-sexual
propositions."
"Yeah, I got some of that too." Nymphadora said grumpily, propping
herself up on her elbows. "I'm going to have to deal with that bullshit
all the time now aren't I?"
"It's a distinct possibility." Harry admitted.
Nymphadora sighed in defeat and slumped back into the pillow.
"My life is ruined."
"Don't you think you're being just a little melodramatic?" Harry asked.
Luna had to agree. It was rather melodramatic.
"No!" Nymphadora wailed melodramatically.
"How is it that the oldest of us is the most immature?" Fleur
wondered.
"You don't understand!" Nymphadora continued unabated. "How am
I supposed to do my job properly if everyone thinks of me as just one
of Harry's harem girls?"
Harry rolled his eyes and reached out with his arm as if grabbing
something. Nymphadora levitated into the air with a yelp.
"Hey, what gives?" She demanded. "Put me down!"
"Girls, could you please undress her." Harry requested.
"Okay." Luna chirped.
"Gladly." Fleur smirked.
"Don't you dare!" Nymphadora threatened, but was rather hindered
by the fact that she was floating in the air.
Despite the metamorph's attempts to resist, Luna and Fleur had no
trouble undressing her, at which point Harry stepped forward and
took her into his arms bridal style.
"What you need is a nice warm soak to calm you down." He said,
calmly walking towards the bathroom.
Nymphadora muttered something that Luna didn't catch, but she
didn't struggle and merely leaned her head against Harry's chest.
A few minutes later, all four of them were sitting in the large tub and
enjoying the hot water. Nymphadora was still trying to sulk, but was
failing to do it properly thanks to the pampering she was receiving.
"I know these parties are a pain in the arse and that the sudden
public exposure doesn't agree with you, but it'll be fine." Harry was
saying soothingly. "Give it a week or two at the most and the sheep
will lose interest."
"Did you at least get what you needed?" Nymphadora asked with a
sigh, leaning against him.
"Oh yes, Etal got all of their scents. A little time spent gathering
intelligence on their movements and making plans and we can
snatch them up." Harry answered with a vicious smirk.
Luna didn't much care for this business of hunting down the Death
Eaters. She didn't like hurting people in general. Still, these were the
same people that had taken Daddy away from her and would kill
Harry and Fleur and Nymphadora and her if they got the chance.
They weren't likely to change their ways and if Voldemort came back
they would return to his side. Killing them was the only way to stop
them, so it had to be done. She was just glad that Harry could do it
since she doubted she would have been able to by herself.
"That's good I suppose." Nymphadora muttered. "And Bonesy as
good as gave us her blessing."
Luna decided that things were entirely too grim, so she grabbed
Harry's erection and beamed at him. "Dibs!"
"Hey, that's not fair!" Fleur protested immediately.
"All is fair in love and war." Nymphadora quoted with a snicker,
getting a betrayed look from the veela.
Luna was pleased. Her loves were smiling and laughing. She was
almost tempted to let Fleur have the first go at Harry's penis to make
her happy.
Then he pulled her into his lap, kissed her and wrapped her in his
powerful magic and she decided that she didn't want to do that after
all.
November 5th.
Adrastia poured herself a glass of wine and looked over at the
sleeping wizard sprawled on her bed.
Thorfinn Rowle was dumb as a post and had certain notions about
women. The lump had thought to turn the tables on her and take the
money she had amassed for himself, after he got bored of fucking
her of course. A fool, but not the first to think up that scheme.
Certainly not the brightest.
She was on her third glass of wine when the knocking that she was
waiting for came.
"It seems the Raven has come, knocking upon my chamber door."
She quipped to herself, smiling at her own wit.
"'Drastia?" Rowle mumbled, voice still slurred from sleep.
A jet of red light sent him back to unconsciousness.
"Nevermore." Adrastia said mockingly, putting down her wand and
tying off her silk robe.
The trip through the empty house that had once belonged to her fifth
husband was short and she didn't bother checking who was at the
door before opening it. That presence could belong to only one
wizard.
True to her expectations, Harry was there along with his women. All
of them were dressed in basilisk hide as if preparing to go to war.
Silly of them really.
"Harry darling." She greeted, throwing her arms around the young
wizard and sending a thousand welcoming whispers sliding across
his magic. "I was beginning to think you wouldn't show."
"Adrastia." He replied shortly, not returning the embrace and ignoring
her magic as a mountain ignored the wind.
"Please come in." She invited, allowing the foursome to enter.
"Would any of you like something to drink?"
Three of them refused as she had expected them to, but the
youngest surprised her.
"Do you have any fruit juice?" Luna asked.
Apparently it surprised her guests as well.
"We'll get you some fruit juice when we get back home."
Nymphadora Tonks promised, shooting Adrastia a distrustful frown.
"Do you think I would be so uncouth as to poison guests in my own
home?" She asked in amusement, quirking a challenging eyebrow at
the metamorph.
Both she and the veela clearly thought so, but Harry was smarter
than that. He knew that she'd only be that overt in dire need.
"It's fine." He said, giving a quelling look at the two suspicious
women that made them subside.
Adrastia felt a familiar heat pool between her legs at the subtle show
of power. Ah, if only he would let himself be tempted to her bed, she
was sure that the ancient dance of flesh and magic would be like
nothing she'd ever experienced before. Even if she lost the struggle
for dominance, it would be worth it to try at least once.
"Come." She beckoned and led her guests into the kitchen and
making for the magical version of a refrigerator in it, basically just a
box with cooling and preservation charms on it really. "I hope you like
pear juice."
"I've never had any." Luna said. She took a curious sip and her eyes
lit up. "This is really good! Harry, we should start having pear juice."
"Sure." Harry agreed without issue.
"Can we just do what we came here to do?" Nymphadora asked
tersely. So impatient.
"There is no need to rush." Adrastia said with a smile, knowing it
would annoy the metamorph.
"Dora's right though, we really should get this over with." Harry
interjected.
Adrastia sighed. "Very well then, follow me."
She led them up to her bedroom and waved her hand at the naked
and uncoscious wizard. "He's all yours."
"Had one last shag with him before handing him off to die?"
Nymphadora asked caustically as Harry cast a Duplication Charm on
the sheets and used them to wrap the burly pureblood in them.
Was that supposed to be an insult? Adrastia felt her lips twitching
into a smile again.
"Obviously." She drawled.
"Dora, could you please grab his robes?" Harry asked, neatly
preventing the metamorphmagus from escalating the situation.
Adrastia admired the elegant control he had over his women.
"Well, that's that." Harry said, the sheet-wrapped Rowle slung over
his shoulders. "We'll be going now."
"Do get in touch if you need help with any of your other targets."
Adrastia graciously offered.
"Right." Was his only reply and she doubted he would be doing
anything of the sort. A pity.
"Thank you for the juice." Luna said with a bright smile, handing back
the now empty glass.
"I'm glad you enjoyed it." She said with a smile, finding herself rather
liking the young girl's sincerity.
Then they were gone, apparating out with a series of pops.
Adrastia sat back down at the small table and poured herself another
glass of wine.
Now what was she to do that her plaything was gone? Rowle may
have been boorish clod, but training him had at least been passably
amusing. Not much of a challenge, but a distraction nonetheless.
Bjomolf had better appreciate the boredom she was suffering at his
request.
November 8th.
Harry sat waiting at the park table, dressed in his basilisk hide coat.
It was well after dark and public parks were not necessarily safe
once the Sun went down, but he had little to fear from any hooligans
that might show up trolling for trouble and the man he was waiting for
had an extreme allergy to sunlight.
It was no more than fifteen mnutes into his wait that Bjomolf showed
up, right on time. The ancient vampire was not wearing the
expensive suit that he'd last seen him in, but a far more casual outfit
of hiking shoes, plain black trousers, nondescript black T-shirt and
an open black leather jacket over it.
He was also carrying a plastic bag.
"What's in the bag?" Harry asked tersely without bothering to give a
greeting. He was ready to activate his emergency Portkey at a
moment's notice.
Bjomolf grinned and pulled a Jenga box out of the bag.
Harry stared. What the fuck?
"I thought we could play while we talk." Bjomolf answered the
unasked question, still grinning.
"You want to play… Jenga?" Harry said slowly, still having trouble
believing it. Somehow the thought of an eleven-hundred-year-old
vampire playing Jenga just didn't compute.
"Yes." Bjomolf said without elaborating and sat down.
"So, what did you want to talk about so badly that you'd send
Adrastia to play messenger girl?" Harry asked while the ancient
vampire set up the tower of blocks.
"I know that your feelings on vampires must not be too charitable
after what Ophelia attempted." Bjomolf said.
"You'd be right about that."
The old Viking nodded, both at the response and in satisfaction at
his Jenga tower. He removed one block from the bottom, placed it on
top and gestured for Harry to make the next move.
"I warned her not to do that, but I suppose your blood proved too
tempting. She always was a bit of a glutton." Bjomolf said.
"So… what? Is this supposed to be some kind of apology?" Harry
asked.
"No, of course not." Bjomolf smiled toothily. "We both know that
apologies are not worth the breath wasted on them. Think of this as
more of an attempt to re-establish relations after Ophelia's blunder."
"I'm not sure I want anything to do with your kind after Ophelia's
blunder, as you call it."
"I thought as much, but the future is chaotic and we may well find
ourselves in a situation that requires interaction. Would it not be
better to have resolved the tensions between us before that
happens, if it happens?"
"What are you implying?" Harry asked suspiciously. It sounded
reasonable, but he couldn't help feeling that there was some kind of
hidden meaning behind all of this.
"I have lived long and seen much, enough to know that letting
trouble fester often has deadly consequences."
Wasn't that the reason that Harry was currently purging the Death
Eaters?
"And how do you propose we resolve tensions?" He asked a tad
sarcastically. "Play Jenga until we're friends?"
"Ah, if only it were so easy." Bjomolf said with a grin. "No, I am aware
that we must move slowly if we are ever to be allies in the future. To
that end I am offering my aid."
"In what exactly?" Harry asked skeptically.
"Riddle." Bjomolf said, badly startling him. "He's still alive, isn't he?"
"What makes you say that, and how do you even know about him?"
Harry asked cautiously.
"We do like to keep track of dangerous wizards - Albus Dumbledore,
Tom Riddle, yourself… As for Riddle's continued existence… well,
he dies in mysterious circumstances with no body ever being found,
then you begin eliminating his old followers. Not to mention the
prophecy between you."
Harry was once again badly startled by how much this vampire
knew.
Bjomolf apparently noticed, as he grinned at him again. "I sent one
of my people to snoop into your Department of Mysteries in case you
were wondering how I knew about that. I don't know what it says, but
I'm going to assume that it's a standard 'kill or be killed' type. The
ones involving dark lords usually are."
"Let's say that you're right, how do you think you could possibly help
me kill him for good?" Harry asked slowly.
"Well I would have to know what kind of help you need first." Bjomolf
said, seemingly paying more attention to the Jenga tower than the
conversation.
Harry scowled and clammed up. He simply didn't trust Bjomolf
enough to give him any more information.
They moved a few more blocks on the Jenga tower in silence before
Bjomolf spoke again.
"Well, I just wanted to let you know that we are willing to help you
with your little problem if you need it."
"I'll keep it in mind." Harry said and activated the Portkey.
Bjomolf contemplated the Jenga tower. It was almost ready to fall.
"Riddle, huh?" He mused. "A violent, sadistic dark lord, ready to rise
again? A selfish, easily disliked champion to oppose him? How
convenient."
He deliberately removed a critical block from the Jenga tower and
watched it topple across the table with a smile.
November 13th. Nott estate.
Thaddeus Nott sighed to himself as he walked through the hedge
maze of his private garden. His wife had loved this place and he
came here to remember her, but it was hard for him to relax even in
this place these days.
Everything just seemed to be going the wrong way lately, had been
going wrong for some time to be honest.
It was tempting to think that it had started when the Dark Lord fell,
but that wasn't true. Treasonous as the thought was, the Dark Lord's
downfall had been quite beneficial for him and his peers. They'd
been able to avoid prison and use the post-war period of rebuilding
to get their society on the right track.
No, things had started going wrong when Potter had killed Lucius.
The damned boy was ruining everything. He cared nothing for good
breeding or tradition and seemed intent on ripping their society apart
down to the bedrock. Fudge, the fool, was of course doing whatever
the boy wanted. The Boy-Who-Lived was simply too popular - and
more importantly rich - for it to be any other way.
This absurd werewolf legislation was only the most prominent
example of Potter's lunacy, and it actually stood a good chance of
being passed! If there was ever a sign that proper values were being
discarded, that was it.
But that was far from his only worry these days. People were starting
to disappear, good people. Not nobles, but still people of good
breeding. Every time he thought about it, Thaddeus felt a cold chill
creep into his blood. It was eerily reminiscent of how the Dark Lord
had begun to make his bid for power - by killing off the mudbloods
that had the temerity to attempt rising above their station. The only
difference was that this time it was purebloods disappearing.
Deep in his heart, Nott knew who was behind it. Potter was like the
Dark Lord had been in the early days, but his polar opposite in goals.
That was damned scary, because if the Dark Lord hadn't started
becoming so erratic towards the end, he'd likely be in control of
Britain now.
A raven croaked above him and he threw a dirty look at the bird. The
blasted things seemed to be everywhere these days.
Without warning, Thaddeus felt a spell slam into his back and
unconciousness quickly followed.
Thaddeus woke up groggy, his mind still fuzzy from being stunned.
The first thing he noticed was that he was bound in a hard, stone
chair.
The second thing he noticed was the emerald-eyed wizard staring at
him with a knife in hand, his three sluts behind him.
"Hello, Thaddeus." Potter said with a smile that made his stomach
drop.
November 23rd.
"For a self-proclaimed anti-social bastard, I sure do seem to be
playing host to a lot of parties lately." Harry muttered, watching the
flurry of activity going on around him. At least Teeny and Kreacher
were happy with the extra work.
He wasn't sure what had happened to the original idea of a small
family get-together concocted between Fleur and Andromeda that
would have consisted of just Fleur and Dora's immediate relatives,
but he had been informed that it would be held at Potter Manor
rather than in France as originally envisioned.
That change of plans had led to a domino effect of more changes.
Since they were having the party at Potter Manor, Narcissa and
Sirius were included by default. Narcissa had in turn suggested that
he also invite Penny and Septima as senior employees. Penny had
then asked if she could bring her boyfriend and parents and Septima
had suggested inviting those of her former students that had signed
employment contracts for Potter Communications, arguing that it
would be good for morale or something like that, what with the
business slated to go into operation soon. At that point, Harry had
abandoned all hope of it being a small event and invited Bryanna,
Tiana, Jade, Isabel and whatever dates they might have as well,
figuring that it was only fair. Sirius must have been feeling left out,
because he had invited the Weasley twins and Remus at about the
same time. Fred and George had also brought their own dates,
Angelina Johnson and Katie Bell, though which went with which was
debatable.
Luna had even asked if they could invite Ginny, which had honestly
thrown Harry for a loop. He hadn't so much as thought of the
redhead in a long while, but Luna apparently still considered her a
friend. Fortunately, that idea was nixed by an exasperated Dora, who
pointed out that Ginny was still in Hogwarts and couldn't just leave at
will, something that both Luna and Harry had actually forgotten
about.
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